#ROW80 Check-in 7/26/15

The past few days have been a bit rough. I’ve been extremely tired from the new medication and I have experienced some breakthrough pain. Even so, I am still happy with how it’s working because it is taking the pain away most of the time. I’m hoping to adjust to the sleepiness at some point (she says hopefully…).

That said, my progress has been a bit up-and-down.

Survivor – Today I continued to work on the outline. I rearranged a few things and considered some ways to torture my characters. 😉 It is growing in ways I hadn’t anticipated. I think this will be a tremendous improvement over the first draft. I am still thinking about a potential sequel to include the last quarter of the original first draft and then write the actual sequel I planned years ago as the third book in a trilogy. Still noodling, though.

Fireborn – 1,376 new words, broke 21k in draft. However, I may need to rework the last few scenes. I’m getting the feeling that I may not be on the right track. Typically, I write drafts straight through with the exception of this type of situation. It is giving me the heebie jeebies.

Covenant – 916 new words written, up to 9k in draft. I have an interesting situation going on there and I’m eager to continue working on it.

Camp Nano – up to almost 9k, goal is 10k. 🙂

Etsy shop – just began the process to set up a shop. I couldn’t have any of the names I thought up, so I went with one that’s kind of unoriginal but supposedly you can change it later. So. Getting there.

Camera repair – Hoping to go next Saturday and get it done so I can run my first test roll! Also hoping to do more digital infrared pics.

Chocolate consumption report: A bit more than last week. Yesterday was my mother-in-law’s birthday party and my hubby bought a chocolate cake with chocolate fudge-like frosting. And we bought M&M ice cream and oreo ice cream so uh, chocolate overload! In just one day! For the rest, minimal as per my one-per-day plan.

That’s it from me. How’d you do?

#ROW80 Check-in 7/26/15

The past few days have been a bit rough. I’ve been extremely tired from the new medication and I have experienced some breakthrough pain. Even so, I am still happy with how it’s working because it is taking the pain away most of the time. I’m hoping to adjust to the sleepiness at some point (she says hopefully…).

That said, my progress has been a bit up-and-down.

Survivor – Today I continued to work on the outline. I rearranged a few things and considered some ways to torture my characters. 😉 It is growing in ways I hadn’t anticipated. I think this will be a tremendous improvement over the first draft. I am still thinking about a potential sequel to include the last quarter of the original first draft and then write the actual sequel I planned years ago as the third book in a trilogy. Still noodling, though.

Fireborn – 1,376 new words, broke 21k in draft. However, I may need to rework the last few scenes. I’m getting the feeling that I may not be on the right track. Typically, I write drafts straight through with the exception of this type of situation. It is giving me the heebie jeebies.

Covenant – 916 new words written, up to 9k in draft. I have an interesting situation going on there and I’m eager to continue working on it.

Camp Nano – up to almost 9k, goal is 10k. 🙂

Etsy shop – just began the process to set up a shop. I couldn’t have any of the names I thought up, so I went with one that’s kind of unoriginal but supposedly you can change it later. So. Getting there.

Camera repair – Hoping to go next Saturday and get it done so I can run my first test roll! Also hoping to do more digital infrared pics.

Chocolate consumption report: A bit more than last week. Yesterday was my mother-in-law’s birthday party and my hubby bought a chocolate cake with chocolate fudge-like frosting. And we bought M&M ice cream and oreo ice cream so uh, chocolate overload! In just one day! For the rest, minimal as per my one-per-day plan.

That’s it from me. How’d you do?

RSW Progress Report 7/20/15

It’s that time again! Ready, Set, Write! Progress incoming.

How’d I do?

How I did on last week’s goals

The road in front of our campsite. Raw image, no post-processing has been done.

~1,500 words minimum on Fireborn (Camp Nano) NOPE. 444 words.
~1,500 words minimum on Covenant (Camp Nano) NOPE. 0 words.
~Work on Survivor outline (midpoint, doorway of no return, and clue/discovery/setback)DONE! And got most of the rough outline done.
~Start book #3 for review NOPE. Still working on book #2…very close to being done.
~Photography stuff: take pics at camp (this weekend), play with new camera if it arrives this week DONE and DONE! Took several lovely infrared pictures. They need post-processing, but they look the way they are supposed to look. (Funny thing. Apparently this model does not have the option to shoot in B&W like my other one. Oops. So part of post-processing will be converting to B&W.)

Our campsite. Raw picture, not post-processed yet.

This week’s goals

~500 words minimum on Fireborn/rework current scene
~500 words minimum on Covenant
~Finish book #2 for review
~Start Survivor Rewrite…again.

A favorite line from my story OR a word or phrase that sums up what I wrote/revised Not. Enough. Time. (Okay, three words!) I had some issues finding the time — sounds crazy, but it’s true. Hubby and I went camping this past weekend, so a lot of my time went into packing and prep and seeing the in-laws. I had bad eye pain on Tuesday that made me want to stab my eyeballs so that wasn’t helping matters. While camping I thought about writing, but because I got sick from the heat (yes, that is possible), all I did was lay in the camper in a haze. Seriously. I did nothing. Oh, I did nap a few times.

The biggest challenge I faced this week (ie finding time to write, getting sick, having writer’s block, etc): See above. It just wasn’t happening for me last week.

Something I love about my WIP: Talking more about Survivor (sorry!), I love the dynamic between the different characters. I have several POV characters and their lives intersect in interesting ways. In my new outline, I was able to bring that more to the surface and increase tension and conflict. Yet the original bones are still very much there. I *may* need to split the book into two (or three — I have a sort of sequel planned) and that part is about 50k so far. Might work better, but we will see.

How did you do?

 

Why I love pantsing. Why you should do it, too.

For those of you not familiar with the term, “pantsing” refers to writing “by the seat of your pants” or “winging it.”  Some writers, like me, use a rough outline while others will not use one at all.  I actually considered myself a hybrid between pantser and outliner because some of my outlines can get detailed, whereas sometimes I’ll just have a vague idea of where I’m headed but nothing is EVER in stone.  EVER.  If a change I come up with on the fly serves the story better, than I’m all for it.

The thing with pantsing is that there’s so much discovery.  In my first drafts — especially those — I discover, literally, the story as I’m writing it.  Sure, I might have a rough outline that says “Susie gets married” and “Jenni goes to the store and meets someone there” but then maybe it’ll mutate and become something different, but something similar.  Usually, when I’m doing this, I’ll subconsciously (almost magically) combine things differently than the outline, but the result is usually pretty close.  Other times, it’s completely different, and that’s okay.  Now alot of writers need an outline.  They have to have that security — and that’s okay.  Hell, I feel pretty solid if I have some ideas of what I’m doing.  For Broken, I’ve got a pack of notecards with possible scenes on them that aren’t even in order.  They’re just ideas.  I might use them, I might veer off.  But I would hesitate to call it an outline.  And that’s okay, because sometimes, that’s the way I like it.

My characters work best as they hit the page.  I’ve done alot of prework on characters in the past, and in Survivor, that prework was invaluable.  However, I consider that to be the exception.  Because with all my other projects, nothing I did ahead of time stuck.  Alisia in Pirouette was supposed to hate her magic and herself.  Huh?  She doesn’t, although she does take pains to conceal it from everyone for different reasons.  I’m not entirely certain how it would have worked if I’d forced that part in.

So my characters show me who they are as we go.  The reason for this post is part of a revelation about Claire.  The main one touched down a few days ago and it left me stunned.  But today, going about my day, the reason why — which had eluded me so far — hit me.  And it made perfect sense.  As if I’d friggin planned it.  And that, my friends, is the power of pantsing.

I believe that the Muse (or subconscious) knows all.  She may not let you in right away, or never, or she might toss up hints here and there and then lightning will strike.  I learned about this in Holly Lisle’s How To Think Sideways class and I am a total believer.  In one of her lessons, she talks about things that you’ll be compelled to write that you don’t understand at the time but then later, it all makes sense.  It’s kind of like that.  My muse knew what the deal was, and tossed me that clue, and BAM! Today it came together beautifully.  I couldn’t have planned it better.

So now I know something fundamental about Claire, an elusive, enigmatic character.  And I didn’t have to do up any character sheets, or questionnaires, or anything.  Not that that’s wrong or bad, but as I’ve said, my process doesn’t seem to work that way.  And it worked well and almost too perfectly.  i can’t recommend this method enough.

If you’re an outliner, and you’re stuck, try this.  If it doesn’t work, fine, but maybe you’ll discover something you never knew before.  Maybe you’ll find out that this works, too.  And no one says to give up outlining — but sometimes writers need to be open to new things.  Hell, the idea of having a conversation with a character stuck me as odd, but now?  It’s one of the first things I do when I’m stuck.  Or freewriting.  That’s another cool trick I discovered just by being open to new things, new ideas. 

So that’s why I love pantsing.  Broken is at 9k currently and there’s very little that I know for sure, but for me, that’s where the magic is.  Where the story lies and where it leads.  It may take some twists and turns and detours, but I’m always amazed at what I can come up with on the fly.  It’s really amazing. 

So, pants it.  You’ll be glad you did.  😉

Writing theme songs

All of my projects have at least one theme song attached to them, be it the whole book or an aspect of it.  I thought it might be interesting to list what they are and why.

Pirouette – all drafts (3rd draft in progress now):
 “Space Dye Vest” by Dream Theater.  I used this as Alisia and Lucien’s main “fighting” song.  It’s sad and torturous, and it brings up all kinds of heart-wrenching images in my head.  It just seemed perfect.

“Walk in the Shadows” by Queensryche – Raelan and Alisia’s theme.  In the last third of the book, [something spoilery happens] and for a time, Alisia and Raelan (who’s the villain) are….aligned.  This song, which talks about walking on the dark side of life, giving ino the darkness, fits the feeling of those scenes perfectly.

“The Killing Words” by Queensryche – Alisia and Lucien’s theme.  Just screams tragic, love, betrayal, heartbreaking stuff.  Sniff.

Flamebound (currently in revision):
“Take Hold of the Flame” by Queensryche.  The entire story is based on the song — or rather, my interpretation of it.  So many things tie to the world and story.

Survivor (recently finished first draft):
Operation: Mindcrime by Queensryche.  Yes, the entire album.  The book pretty much wrote itself to this awesome, magnificent album.  Since alot of the themes ran parallel to my story, it was almost eerie how the entire thing seemed like a metaphor for Survivor.  Some of it, like the brainwashing and mind control, were literal.

“Eyes of a Stranger” by Queensryche (on Operation:Mindcrime) – Amber’s theme.  Amber is the main character, and as she goes through some painful, traumatic stuff, she’s kind of transformed….and thus truly has the “eyes of a stranger.”

Requiem in Blue (2007 project)
“The Hands” by Queensryche – Meredith’s theme.  Meredith, the main character, is saved by someone.  “The Hands” makes me think of that, and salvation in general.

“Suite Sister Mary” by Queensryche – Some of the story was inspired by this song.  Especially one part about two people joining together to “make it through the night.”

Broken (currently in progress):
“Broken” by Lifehouse.  Also the why of the title, at least for now.  The song talks about being broken, and Amara, the main character, and the antagonist are both broken in a sense.

“Unbreakable” by Fireflight.  New band that I just discovered.  Totally Amara’s theme.  I realize that the songs seem contradictory, but it works, I swear!

Eowyn (perc’ing project for future):
“Ordinary World” by Duran Duran.  Theme of the book.  Because we’re dealing with quantum mechanics and alternate universes, and a “home” universe, it seems appropriate.

MindBound (future project):
“Lightning Field” by the Sneaker Pimps.  I saw a video of it and HAD to have the song, even though I’m not into that type of music.  Went on a wild goose chase and finally just today got ahold of it.  It’s THAT close to what this story is to me.  It (the story) has to do with an empath and pain and brainwashing, and the song is so perfect.  First words are “Strike me down…”  Can we say perfect?  Literal or figurative, it works. 

Soulfire (The Nano That Never Was):
“Lady Strange by Def Leppard.  Liana’s theme.  She’s the main character, and she isn’t exactly human and has non-human goals and wishes and such.  She’s a bit offbeat in her own way.

“Baba O’Riley” by The Who.  Book’s theme.  Completely encapsulates the dystopic future-Earth setting and the insidious reach of the New Regime.

Hereafter (Nano ’08):
“Women” by Def Leppard.  For no other reason than it gave me some compelling images inside my head, and somehow spawned plotty things.  This one I don’t really understand, but don’t question it, either.

At the moment, that’s all I can think of.  Will add more if I remember anything.

2009 in review and 2010 goals

This year hasn’t been the best as far as emotional stuff is concerned.  The family drama that started in mid-October is still ongoing, and kind of derailed me a bit.  But, I persevere!

As far as productivity goes, I did very well.  I started and finished Pirouette’s five One-Pass Revision, got it out to critters, and have been rewriting the draft, implementing suggestions, cutting, adding, and hopefully making it better.  I’m almost halfway through the draft.  I hope to be done with it early next year.

It’s taken me longer than anticipated, which is okay, but sort of screwed up my schedule.  But it is really okay, b/c I’ll take however long it takes to make it submission-worthy.  As such, no query letters were sent.  I’ve decided to wait till the draft is done and critted.  The story, while essentially the same, has been morphing in interesting ways.  Hopefully in good ways.

Flamebound is on its way towards being totally revised, using Holly Lisle’s How to Revise Your Novel class.  I have high hopes for this.  I want to get Flamebound revised, critted, and submitted somewhere next year.  I can do this.

I planned on participating in Nanowrimo and writing a new novel.  Unfortunately, life had different plans.  Two days in I ended up quitting.  The book was to be Soulfire.  I’ve come to the conclusion that the timing just wasn’t right on this one.

I finished Survivor, which was a HUGE goal.   I hope to rewrite it in the next few years (depending on if I sell something, etc).

I don’t think I broke 100k on new words, but that, too, is okay.  Because I said I’d do some serious editing and finishing unfinished projects, which I accomplished.

I submitted my poetry chapbook, Life as a Moving Target, to a publisher.  Did not bite, but that’s okay.  I might try again next year.

For next year, I have a few more projects besides Pirouette the Third and Flamebound.  I have Unforgiven, which is a personal challenge to myself for various reasons.  I also have MindBound, the next book set in the Flamebound world.  And I’m seriously considering pulling out Darkweaver and starting work on it.  And then there’s Pirouette book 2 (Blood Dance). Ambitious, I know, but want to aim high.

I think the biggest goal for 2010 is to get something submitted somewhere, be it Flamebound, Pirouette the Third, or something else entirely.  I need to start moving forward with my goal of getting published.  I’ve been working like a madwoman, but I need to focus on that more.  So, hopefully I can do something about that next year.

So, to all, Happy New Year (a few days early!) and reach for the stars.

Survivor is FINISHED!!!

I’m so fucking happy.

That is all.

Not quite there yet.

The final scene of Survivor is partway done.  590 words to be exact. Then I got sick.  😦  That killed any hopes of finishing tonight.

And, besides, I’m not entirely certain I like what I got.  That’s never stopped me before–after all, that’s what edits and rewrites are for–but this feels monumental, and I wanted something at least somewhat good.  Something I don’t look at with disgust.  Of course, it could be my Inner Editor talking.  But, as it is, I think it needs more.

So tomorrow, if I feel okay, I’ll attack it again.

Almost there.

Just wrote the 2nd to last scene of Survivor.  It feels really good and a bit surreal, as it’s been in progress for 5 years.  Five long years.  When I think of Amber’s adventure, it feels a bit bittersweet.  Her story is coming to a close.  The ending I envisioned 5 years ago is not quite what it is now, although it has a bit of a tie to the original.  But alot of it was decided last year on the fly, but that was a good thing.  I think it’s stronger for it.

Unless I sell this thing and get a sequel, this is it.  I might someday try writing Ghost.  Just to see if I can.  Barring any delays or emergencies or hurting wrists, I should finish this book tomorrow.

:faints:

Tricking the muse.

For the past 2 weeks, I’d been blocked on the climax of Survivor.  I was crawling along, writing maybe 100-200 words a day if that, and it ws painfully slow and difficult.  Something wasn’t gelling.  All of my ideas about what could happen seemed stupid or cliche.  Usually, I’d plow on through, but this time, I took a step back and looked at it in a different way.

There was a barrier keeping me from my muse–or, maybe a barrier keeping me from  my muse’s knowledge.  We talked.  She whispered stuff in my ears.  In the shower, we brainstormed.  But nothing fucking gelled.

At the end of those 2 weeks, I was desperate.  Scared, b/c I couldn’t remember being this blocked.  Testy b/c writing sucked.  And, sleep deprived, due to a new medication.  I’d love to blame it, but I think it might have been a contributing factor, but not the cause.  Anyhoo, drastic action needed to be taken, or I’d stuff the whole thing in a drawer and forget about it.  And after 5 years of working on this puppy, there was no way I was going to abandon it that easily.

Soooooo I remembered something from somewhere (clear as mud, huh?) that said that switching to Notepad makes the writing seem not as serious.  It’s not a Great American Novel.  It’s just fun.  Playing. 

So that was my first step: I switched to Notepad.  I used to use it for poetry drafts, so maybe that connection has always been there. 

Then I thought, hmmmm.  I need to change something about this, to further trick the muse into thinking it was playtime.  I decided to use a POV I use rarely for protagonists AND present tense, which is a bit awkward, but what the hell?  I was desperate for something, anything.

Put on Queensyche on the iPod and went to town.

And….it worked beautifully.  It worked so beautifully that after I was done (in less than an hour), I sat there wondering if I’d dreampt it all.  And didn’t remember writing it all.  It just….poured out of me.  It was as if the story was already there, waiting for me, waiting for something to let it come to the surface.  It was fantastic.

I’m convinced that if I hadn’t done that, many of the cool things I came up with on the spot wouldn’t have come, or maybe would have taken longer to come.  The muse is a funny thing.  Our communication is usually really good, but something just wasn’t right.  And by removing the indicators that it was Serious Fiction, my muse thought she could come out and play. And play she did!

It did take an edit pass to clean up the typos, change the POV, and change the tense.  I ended up adding about 100 words to it in details and such.  It’s not perfect, but it’s words I didn’t have before, and that was good.  Very good.

I highly recommend this.  I don’t know if it will work all the time, but it’s definitely worth a shot.

Also, I wrote a prologue/backstory thing for Soulfire.  Liana, the protagonist, has been whispering to me for a week.  I wanted to get it down before it disappeared.

Soulfire is my next new project, after I’m done with Survivor and Pirouette the Third.  You hear that, muse?  Focus, focus, focus.