My two-month old computer suffered a catastrophic screen failure about two weeks ago. For the past two weeks, I’ve been struggling to put together the How To Think Sideways Walkthrough from my laptop, with all the material I had on the main computer unavailable while it was in the shop. And, as noted elsewhere, the migraines and vertigo are back with a vengeance.
The current version of TalysMana was in the other computer’s backups, which I cannot mix with the laptop backups. So no words for me, other than putting together the How To Think Sideways Walkthrough. The computer is back now, though, and I’m getting ready to set it up again and put all the data back on it.
Hoping things will be less eventful from here on out, and I’ll be able to get more on the story soon. The villain and I were having such an interesting conversation.
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I spent all of yesterday cleaning my apartment and gathering all my revision materials into one corner. The dining table I bought and never used is now the ARC table piled with binders and folders and story cards.
And I spring-cleaned the digital side of my writing world too. I’ve got a hold of a program called yWriter – it’s free, and pretty simple, but I like the feel of it more than Scrivener, Liquid Story Binder etc. Been using it to keep my documents cohesive.
I seem to be missing a few of my 1Bs, either that or I never wrote as many as I thought to begin with – which is a no-no, so I may actually have to go back and -gulp- do Lesson 1, or rather 1B, again. HORRORS. I’m still officially on Lesson 2, up to 11 of the 2b sheets, finding Promises everywhere and other things that need addressing. Plotlines I can tie to plotlines, etc, and seeds of ideas for future books.
The best musebomb this round has been that I can use last round’s musebomb (the ‘soulscape’ dimension the heroes enter into instead of having hackneyed flashbacks) to get the series’ uber-antagonists on the table at the end of book I.
I hesitate to do this because they’re soul-crushingly horrifying and overwhelming in terms of not just in-world power but also in terms of the power to dominate the Plot. My heroes are not ready to even see them yet. But letting them catch a glimpse – just a glimpse – when the Book I villain tries to open a literal Pandora’s box inside one of the heroes…that’ll drive home what they’re facing without any blah-blah from the mentor necessary AND make the cryptic prologue make perfect sense to the reader… it’s gonna be so damn good. Again, I could kiss Book I villain for being so freaking useful. but I don’t. because he’d taste like other people’s blood.
And having Them back in the game is nostalgic. They were taking a back seat to the more accessible, ‘human’ villains to the extent that they’re only mentioned once in the first draft. Putting them back in gives me the feeling of the “Magic” worksheet, that the story’s returning to its roots, ironically, the more I revise it.
I also spent all of last night organizing my ARC computer folder. This is not a simple thing, this is Herculean proportion insanity. First, I’ve been working on some kind of incarnation of this story for fifteen years (RPG, movie scripts, short stories) so that’s fifteen years worth of accumulated TXT file notes, RTF and DOC writeups, artworks and sketch-scans, Flash trailers, midi and mp3 soundtracks (yes, I was writing this in the era where MIDI was the best music format available on a computer), PDF files, and my now-useless Sophocles .SCP script files that nothing will open because the Sophocles program is now defunct. :/
Then consider that all of these files have been stored on multiple computers over 15 years, backed up in multiple places, and each time a computer explodes and dies I rescue the files and carry them over to the next computer, or if i lose them, I have a few trusted friends send me ZIPs of backups of certain things…all of this leads to my ARC folder being an impenetrable labyrinth of nested folders, duplicate and dummy files numbering in the tens of thousands waiting just beyond the safety of the “Current Draft” folder. To look into that abyss is to stare into the face of madness, yet there are so many good notes, good ideas, good seeds, nostalgic artwork, I can’t throw them away.
More on the actual process I went through last night on my tumblr, so I don’t spam here.
Back on track, sounds good.
…I rambled a whole lot there, didn’t I? x.x sorry guys.
Hi Wanders!
Your story sounds amazing.
It’s good to see you’re back on track with the revision.
Hang in there. I know revision is a tough road–I’m on it myself. But it is so worth doing though. Keep at it!
(P.S. Try to resist the impulse to rewrite during the early lessons. Each lesson seems to bring new revelations, so that by the time the actual cut comes all the ideas are gathered into one massive rewrite.)
I can’t wait to see how this comes along for you.
Thank you!
I know exactly what you mean. I’m itching at the fingers. but I’m still on lesson two. It’s been such slow going, I haven’t actually written-written anything in so long my Muse is being extremely cranky with me for ignoring its impulses to write all these funky new scenes.
(To clarify)
I haven’t touched the manuscript. The last round of musebombs I caved and wrote a couple of separated teaser scenes to add in later, but this time I’m behaving myself and just jotting down notes as I go.
‘wrote a couple of teaser scenes to add in later’
Yup, that’s pretty much exactly the way it happened for me.
By the time I was in lesson five or six-not sure anymore-there were some scenes I just HAD to write. (Characters get to talking, you know, and they want to be heard!) I wrote them separately, just to get the idea down, and didn’t edit them at all.
The ideas, though, stuck with me all the way through to the cut and I ended up being glad I had them sketched out, even though some parts of the scene did change.
I think you’re on the right track.
Whew! I was hoping so
That’s awesome that you did that too. How’s the revision coming?
It’s coming, but I am very, very slow.
I am typing up a new manuscript after block revision in preparation for line edits. (Just finished Lesson 17) The block revision was quite an experience. There were times when I looked at what I’d written and couldn’t believe what had come out of my own brain, but there were others when it felt like an exercise in futility. Now that I’m getting this all into one Scrivener document it feels like a real novel, for the first time ever. I’m obsessed with getting it all typed up nice and pretty with chapters, as I read all the little parts I hand wrote that I forgot about.
I have to admit, this was a really hard course for me so far, and if I hadn’t loved this story so much (and sometimes I had to wonder why I did with all the problems it has!) I might have given up.
It sounds like you have a story that you love. It will be worth the effort.
Reading the previous threads, sorry to ask, but do you mean going through HTRYN are the lessons you were referring to?
I am talking about HTRYN, yes, assuming Larkk is too.
Up to my scene cards at long freakin last. lol.
Yay, scene cards! Dig in…
)
(And, yes, that was HTRYN for me too.
I’m about 99.9% sure we were both talking HTRYN, yes ^^
I am so ready to get back to my revision, but I still need to do some research and have some serious discussions with my characters. The book is simmering while I figure out how to fill the holes.
I went through the chapters a few days ago. Some are great, and some are “what were you thinking?” But, that is what a first draft is supposed to be, right?
Yeah, they’re always messy. Mine is…well, I thought it was very solid but now I’ve gone over it with a keener eye it’s kinda patchwork due to the large amount of time that elapsed between writing the first half and writing the second. And that whole cutting it at a midpoint and not having a real ending thing. :/
I found a box today I can put most of my notes, etc. into. I might have to get a bigger one. One problem I have is that I have notecards, typed pages, chapters on envelopes, ideas on whatever … I want to get it all into one place.
I am following along with the walkthrough but about to turn full time to HTRYN, and the walkthrough will be on the side.
So, mid-scene carding, had a good little pop in my head, realized it would be much much better if the Athoi in the opening scene were disguised as Kivoshians and not Turantians. What, that totally makes sense! Pay attention! Really, Turantians, what was I even thinking? Who would ever mistake an Athoi for a Turantian in the first place? Whereas Kivvies are The Empire so it’s more interesting if I bring them in this way annnd they have those ridiculous masks and gowns so they’re a perfect disguise. Honestly it’s a wonder they don’t get knocked out and disguised as more oft..e..nn…..oooh…BOOK FIVE!! HA-HAAHH!
I was in Texas and found out I was near a Half Price Books store. I really miss them, there are not any in my two living areas, Florida and Maryland. I found several books I can use to do more research. Bought 4, noted more. I am halfway through one book, realizing why I have holes in my story, and I am so glad I decided to do this. The holes are because my world is not complete! I guess I should be down about this, but I am pretty psyched to know I am on the right track. I have my characters, I have most of their conflicts, but how to put those conflicts into perspective … I was struggling with it, as was my Muse. So, here we go!!
PS 12-13 century Italy, the area around Florence, pre-Renaissance, end of the middle ages
PSS I did not set out to write historical fiction, it just happened.
Cool
is that a happy just-happenstance, for you? Sounds like you’re having fun! Good stuff.
Yes, I am. Circumstances keep getting in the way of progress, but I find ways to stay connected to it.
Hi, it’s so nice to see people back here again. I miss all the daily reading I used to do- catching up, and getting inspired to keep up with everyone. I really miss the old days where Holly would post every night with what she’d been working on that day.
I’m so impressed with you all in revision already. I have not been able to muzzle “safe” or “perfect.” …yup, that’s completely it. I haven’t figured out how to transfer my understanding of my portals to interplanetary space travel and make it fit with my different magic groups: they all have different ways of doing it and levels of success (from not at all to easy, etc). And somehow I just can’t get my mind unstuck.
And I would leave it but it feels so critical to my villain’s plan: both how he got world in current mess and as part of his end game.
So I pretty much just don’t work on it. Even though, in the past, when I MADE myself show up, I would make progress. argh. (It feels good to vent though)
I NEED to make this little venting session make a difference- not sure whether I will be able to show up tonight though.
I, too, miss the daily reports on who is doing what and why.
After re-doing the barriers with the walkthrough, I understood it differently and slammed out the rest of the 1st draft. (And, finished or shelved a few home projects that just were not happening.) And believe me, my first draft is pretty … awful, a far cry from “awesome.”
I also had to be willing to write badly to just get past the hurdle. (I got that from another writer I follow.)
I wont’ be doing nano. I have too much reading to do to finish my research and plug the holes in my story.
Gabby, how many different magic systems do you have?
Would it help to pick one and stick with it? I’m also having a lot of trouble with my world’s ‘gimmick’. D: lemme know if you have any success with this!
Sorry, I didn’t even see your replies before.
If you’re interested Hanna, I really just want it to be like here (so you don’t have to do Nano or anything). I thought it might get more activity because we could start new threads more frequently.
Wanders, I know what you mean. I have FOUR!! lol And it has caused nothing but problems. (although I’ve liked what I’ve gotten out of it). and me no wanna give any of it up.
Yiiiikes. Well if it’s all pertinent to the story, I’m guessing you should keep it!
Now I think about it there are at least three magic systems in my story too (the heroes’ powers, the demons/angels/spirits powers, and the gods’ powers, all work very differently) -maybe- four if I threw in ‘normal’ magic, i.e the magic available to various cultures. But I kinda shunned putting any traditional wizards / spellcasters in this book…
None of that is relevant to anything xd how’s it going now?
Hi Wanders, yeah, that’s kind of similar to my 4 systems as well.
I am in avoidance mode right now. But these ideas for another story keep leaping up and down for me. And so I’ve decided to take a story vacation and work on that one instead(maybe even do Nano with it). Definitely not giving up with it, just giving it a little time–with less pressure and stress–to percolate a bit.
Actually if anyone is interested, I have a thread started on HTTS for “Yes, We Nano” board. A place to post word counts and such. I’m going to try and post there every night.
Yaaa, how do we get there? I haven’t yet got the hang of Holly’s student forums…never quite sure how to bust in or where is the best place for new /infrequent posters!
I agree, I have had trouble with the forums. And it is too bad, I lose track of good posts there very easily. I might dive back in there again … or not.
Hi,
I agree, it’s easy to get lost in there.
What I do is log into how to think sideways and click on forums. And then login again. And then scroll all the way down to “Yes We Nano” (it’s below all the walkthroughs).
Then towards the top is the thread “Nano 2011 Warmup- October- 250 words/day”. I put it for anything: backstory work or char development or writing. Or you could track your revision pages if you wanted.
I’m not really sure the best way to post it- totally open to ideas.
But I wanted it to be like here but we could start new threads when it gets too long.
also, not sure whether I should have put it in “writing discussion” instead…?
Does it matter if you’re not actually doing Nano?
oh no, I don’t care at all. anyone can join in. It’s more trying to get myself to actually show up every night again
HTRYN Lesson Two FINALLY done with a whopping 21 worksheets worth of 2bs!
And Lesson 3, which I was doing simultaneously (because the scene cards were easier to smuggle into work than the manuscript, and I could copy my SFRs from yWriter in my breaks) is about half done, so I’m making a lot faster progress with HTRYN than I have in months.
Success!
Be sure to check Holly’s post from yesterday.
http://hollylisle.com/fifty-one-at-the-start-of-my-second-half-century-im-rethinking-everything
Lesson 3 and parts of Lesson 4 are DONE!
With Holly’s big news I was thrown a bit so I have been a bit out of it in general. But I have decided that, as if I go self-pub I won’t necessarily be restrained by traditional ideas of novel structure…(it sounds like I’m about to do something really pretentious and stupid, doesn’t it? Lol. Well read on and decide for yourself!)
…I’ve had the thought that my book’s tangled plotlines might be far more easily digested were I to break it down into shorter “Episodes” which link together to form each book. Looking at what I have already, this should be relatively painless, my first draft splits easily into three parts (and the revision will add a new finale Episode / Act) and I’ll just have to ensure each is relatively self-contained. I’m looking at this as a way to keep things structured and paced and keep the writhing tentacles of my tendency to over-plot under control.
Ironically, given the story’s seeds as a tabletop roleplaying campaign, this is yet another nostalgic return to its roots – each episode could be described as an ‘adventure’!
P.S Also intending to do a Sentence for each Episode. So, that’s
Series Sentence —> Book Sentence —> Episode Sentence —> Chapter Sentence —> Scene Sentence.
That sounds quite structured to me! And, actually I don’t see why that wouldn’t fit into a ‘traditional’ novel structure-kind of like having a three or four act sequence?
The chapter sentence intrigues me as well. It’s awesome to hear about your progress!
Wanders, that sounds great!
I have a week left to finish char development, and write a whole bunch of sentences before nano – yikes!!
That’s so cool you’re doing Nano.
You can ‘buddy’ me, if you want–and if they get the buddy thing up and running over there. (I’m ‘Larkk’, just like here.)
Happy Writing!
(I see, it’s coming soon…) Hopefully they get that feature running soon.
Hi Larkk,
that would be great. How do I buddy?
My user name is: Beldaran
I signed up many years ago but never actually did it before.
I’ve switched gears from revision mode into first draft mode as I prepare to do my third Nano novel. It was kind of weird to go from nit-picky analytical revision thinking into free-wheeling all-words-welcome first draft writing. But I’ve been writing five hundred words a day to get back into the swing of it, doing scenes from before the actual novel, and trying to get to know my characters, as well as something about the setting. Since I’ve been planning this one since summer, I’m super-excited to FINALLY get to write these characters and this world. The story is fantasy with some sci-fi thrown in, and since I’m revising paranormal romance, it should be fun to get a little bloody with a post-apocalyptic fantasy story. It’s crazy fun, and yesterday I even had another character introduce himself while I was minding my own business at work.
What is it now, four more days to November 1? I’m so psyched!
Hi hi.
New here. Gonna start writing again on my summer project while waiting for my next HTTS lesson and November… hehe. This is gonna be so much fun! I’ll report tonight with what, who, why and how many words.
Rei
Welcome aboard, Rei, and nice to meet you
I just found this site from Larrk: WABWM but with a new thread every day! So cool!
http://wabwm.com/
Hi everyone…
I got my internet back.
My writing is… well, moving forward, at least, but slowly. My characters aren’t talking lately. There are hints this may have something to do with how much sleep I get. Everything feels flat and I can’t figure why.
Wanders… holy cow, you’ve been busy!
Hi Rei!
Hi Gabby!
Hi everyone else!
Yes, yes I have
Hi Danzier! Welcome home, you were sorely missed!
Time to punt kick those characters in the rump and get them talking again! Or threaten to kill one of them if they don’t start.
No, serious, this worked for me. And roll a dice to see which one dies first. Make it random. That’ll get ‘em yammering.
Blink blink…
This is becoming a theme lately. ( http://xkcd.com/982/ )
Actually, I rolled a die to pick which of three plotlines got executed. The characters didn’t realize that with the death of the plotline I could kick them out of the story and leave them starving and wandering on the streets. They’re not all my characters–I’m revising SP and it’s a fanfic–so they thought they were all safe. Mwahahahahahaha!!!
So, the not-as-great scene where a random accountant who came in on Saturday gets promoted to head of accounting? Gone. Totally unnecessary. The story’s about a kidnapping and rescue, not corporate finance. I’m sure when I need an accountant character somewhere else this guy will be there. His buddies won’t be.
I also am revisiting the timeline. I was thinking 24 hours, but the timeline in the original work gives me no more than 12. This will make the second half of the story far more interesting.
The plan is to break out Crash Revision and insert breathing, sleeping, and light homework into it, thereby making it possible to both revise and survive until Christmas. I’m hoping to give SP to the writer of the original as a Christmas present, and no later than New Year’s.
…By the way, what’s the time difference between Australia and the U.S. again?
I’m really sorry, I’ve been on Christmas holidays and didn’t see this. As for your question, depends drastically on which respective parts of the US / Aus one is talking about, since both countries are rather large and cross several timezones.
That’s ok. I wasn’t overly serious about it; I have a globe. But speaking of Christmas, how was yours? Has life gotten back on track somewhat? Any offers on your book yet?
Minor update. 1500 words today–all copying the handwritten trash that is AJCTA into a word doc so I can start HTRYN.
I can’t believe how awful it is, really I can’t. Example of a mid-level bad sentence: “There were no lights in the hidden spiral stair, but Chris could see prefectly.” I should mention he’s standing in the doorway at the top of the stairs, next to a window, at noon… /shudder. The first decent, coherant, spelling-error-free, grammar-error-free, logical, contextually valid sentance of the book is on page 47. I wish I were joking. But I found one, so there have to be more, right? I’m not fixing them yet–all their gory glory is going in the word doc.
Meanwhile, I’ve got HTWAS 1-4 in progress, and I’m trying to get lesson 2 nailed down (at the end of lesson 2 I get to rewrite my beginning into something that matters). I’ve done that several times, and keep getting half of what I want and half junk. I’m also trying to pin down which of my main characters should open the book, and I could use a little advice on that one.
So. My two main characters are a kid who grew up in a monastery until the monks all died of plague and he got sent away by the monk-impersonating bandits who claimed the space, and a 19-year-old linguistic prodigy (yet somehow total ditz) whose twin brother just got kidnapped. The long story of the series is the monk kid getting help to retake his home; the smaller story involves the kidnapped brother. In the draft, POV bounces around like a superball, but the majority belongs to the girl. I’m thinking it may have to belong to monk boy.
And just to make life interesting, I got a bunch of playmobil guys for Christmas, and they are now my cast. Except Zorro–he’s too awesome to reassign.
Ok. I can’t spell sentence. It’s either sentence or sentance, and I *always* have to stop and think about it, and it’s 50/50 which spelling I go with. I’ve looked it up a hundred times. I really need to fix that.
Argh. I have wasted an entire day catering to what someone else wants, only to discover just now that he wasted his first day of the spring semester accidentally skipping to hang out with me. It makes me mad, not because he missed his classes, but because I didn’t get to write.
My priorities may be skewed, but I’m once again facing “carve out writing time and protect it with your life”. I never pictured a carving knife dripping blood before when saying that…I’ll have to spend some time tomorrow getting my time carved out.
I have 20 pages to go, typing up AJCTA, so I can start HTRYN. (Mind you, I have week 7 sitting in my inbox right now, taunting me.) School is starting again (final semester, knock on wood) and I got a job that isn’t an EVIL day job, at a radio station, starting with one night a week. I’m going to have to take HTRYN slowly.
But I have nearly 15,000 words all typed up from handwritten pages. Progress!
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