1: The Story

Had no idea where the story was going to take me tonight—I ended up pursuing the logical approach of folks trapped on a hill surrounded on all sides by enemies.

430 words, and Emerald steps in to prove his worth in an ugly situation.

Now I know I’m going to have to face a different battlefield—and I’m intrigued about how my folks are going to find it.

Otherwise, it was a crap day. I have a kid in the middle of a personal mess, and I’ve had a screaming migraine all damn day.

How have your words come along?

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…And Builds The Lies That Bind is up. Wrote 524 words tonight in just a smidge over twenty minutes, got to the end of the chapter, posted it into Aweber, and some folks will be getting it tonight or tomorrow.

I got the rough idea of what I was shooting for in this scene, but it’s going to take a lot of work, I think, to get it right in revision. Still, I think I’m back on the right track.

And I don’t feel to badly, which is a nice change.

How’s your story coming?

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534 words tonight in 23 minutes.

And my monster is proving his worth this time, instead of being a stumbling block to the story in the part I ripped out.

My total story count is 36,340 words out of a planned 50,000 for the first draft. I estimate the revision will run around 90,000—I tend to write so lean in first draft that the revision explodes.

This also means, of course, that reading the first draft, you’re just getting a pale broth of the final story. I can feel the weight of the real story building as I sketch out this part of it. It’s interesting. I know I’m not getting the real words—but I’m getting the watercolor laid down where the oil paint will go.

Anyway, how are your words coming along?

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I ended up pulling about 700 words tonight. Wrote 64. I’m having to rethink my monster. I dithered while I tried to find the right direction, but it was not a great writing night.

You?

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The collective will of humankind stepped into the story today in the form of several odd personifications.

Again, partly this feels like a great direction to take in the story, and partly it feels like unfortunate plot drift. I’m going to run with it for a while—if I have to shift gears or backtrack, I will.

391 words in spite of insane vertigo and, still, the freakin’ headache.

You get any words?

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Started new scene with 525 words tonight. It started rough…had a hard time finding the story.

Last week was awful, and I’m working on yet another migraine tonight.

But I’m hoping this week to be able to maintain a steady 250 words or more.

The monsters Fred found last week revealed his name tonight, and something of his origin. I’m not sure where he’s going—he’s a walk-on I didn’t expect or plan for. He might disappear in the revision, but for now, I’m letting him tell his story. It, too, isn’t what I would have expected.

How are you doing? Sorry I vanished again. Hoping to be around every night this week.

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Got 323 words tonight, in spite of dizziness and a migraine hangover. And posted the next scene. I’m hoping this week will be better than last.

Fred revealed a lie, and an uninvited ally joins the hunt for Blade.

How about you?

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Still in the same scene, 409 words tonight. Fred caught something, and now I’ve seen it, and heard it…and I’m not sure what to do with it. Which will be something to sleep on.

The vertigo is awful. The headaches today have been steady, but not as bad as they have been in the past. A few icepick clusters, the low, inescapable baseline headache. Does not make anything easy.

How is your story coming?

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Got 452 words tonight on the story. None last night. Wasn’t up to it then, not really up to it now, but I don’t want to give in to the vertigo and the headaches, so I’m doing the 20 minutes as my “I can do this, dammit” to all the things that remain undone today.

Today’s story hinged on my folks discovering that they need to look not at what they see, but at what they don’t.

Hope your words are going well.

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