So excited. I definitely made my goal for tonight. And I am at the doorstep of the next scene, quite literally. While I don't know exactly what will happen in my next confrontation, I have a few hours to figure that out. [to be honest, I feel I might have cheated in the last scene. Someone didn't react the way they should but I think the reason I made up is kind of interesting and potentially terrifying if it came out right.]
Time to update WriteTrack... my daily goal is now 464 words/day until the end of March. I shall see how I can improve that tomorrow. :)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
And yet another ceremony
I have a fun scene to write next. I probably need to figure out the transition of how she got there from last scene too but I might even wait until after "The End" to figure it out. Playing it loose today. :)
I am really excited that I met my goal yesterday. WriteTrack has my goal for today as 484 (as expected). Time to get started... (per typical, I'm sure there will be plenty of updates tonight).
UPDATE: So as usual, perfect has me by the throat "every word must be PERFECT" "whatever you do, do not write anything until you know whether it is the PERFECT way to get to The End." sigh. Just write. Revision happens only after I've written something down; revision will not work in my head.
UPDATE 2 (5:02pm): 876 words. The scene again is very rough and light on details but it's on paper- I can not stress the importance of that. Hurray for such incredible progress already! (another scene that's been planned for a year already is finally written out in only an hour).
On to my next scene...
UPDATE 3 (5:14pm): Ok, I'm back. So time to tink about my next scene. Again, I don't care about perfect, just going to get it out there in all its rough, crappy glory. kind of a different challenge, have no idea what should happen here. I'm assuming, in order for it to exist, it must be justified. Need some kind of conflict, things can not go smoothly. It'd be nice to learn a little something about someone. That too is important. Maybe hit an interesting piece of backstory. Well, nice thing is, I hit my word count goal for the day so I can finish this hour just struggling against the tide- I won't fall behind now.
UPDATE 4 (5:28pm): hah- perfect's getting a good stranglehold going again, just when I thought I had him whipped. Ok, time to get serious about this scene. It would be great to get this one on paper. It's okay if I don't know what should happen. I am going to write out the scene and just see what the characters say. Maybe something interesting will come up- this group has been known to gift me in that way before. :) and let's face it, this group is rife with enough natural strife that it should happen without any planning.
UPDATE 5 (6:12PM): 784 words in the next scene. I haven't even gotten into actually the scene. Instead it's been the transition part. But some interesting things happened. And it's not as terribly rough as the rest have been. And a couple of interesting things happened that I didn't expect but I like. Win/Win.
I am really excited that I met my goal yesterday. WriteTrack has my goal for today as 484 (as expected). Time to get started... (per typical, I'm sure there will be plenty of updates tonight).
UPDATE: So as usual, perfect has me by the throat "every word must be PERFECT" "whatever you do, do not write anything until you know whether it is the PERFECT way to get to The End." sigh. Just write. Revision happens only after I've written something down; revision will not work in my head.
UPDATE 2 (5:02pm): 876 words. The scene again is very rough and light on details but it's on paper- I can not stress the importance of that. Hurray for such incredible progress already! (another scene that's been planned for a year already is finally written out in only an hour).
On to my next scene...
UPDATE 3 (5:14pm): Ok, I'm back. So time to tink about my next scene. Again, I don't care about perfect, just going to get it out there in all its rough, crappy glory. kind of a different challenge, have no idea what should happen here. I'm assuming, in order for it to exist, it must be justified. Need some kind of conflict, things can not go smoothly. It'd be nice to learn a little something about someone. That too is important. Maybe hit an interesting piece of backstory. Well, nice thing is, I hit my word count goal for the day so I can finish this hour just struggling against the tide- I won't fall behind now.
UPDATE 4 (5:28pm): hah- perfect's getting a good stranglehold going again, just when I thought I had him whipped. Ok, time to get serious about this scene. It would be great to get this one on paper. It's okay if I don't know what should happen. I am going to write out the scene and just see what the characters say. Maybe something interesting will come up- this group has been known to gift me in that way before. :) and let's face it, this group is rife with enough natural strife that it should happen without any planning.
UPDATE 5 (6:12PM): 784 words in the next scene. I haven't even gotten into actually the scene. Instead it's been the transition part. But some interesting things happened. And it's not as terribly rough as the rest have been. And a couple of interesting things happened that I didn't expect but I like. Win/Win.
Monday, January 30, 2012
A good writing day
493 words- target met.
I'm going to take some time to rest my eyes and brain. I am firmly in the new section now. It is just as stressful as the last one but I am holding 'good enough' and 'let it go' firmly in my mind. I don't have time to dwell so much. Call it good and move along.
I'm going to take some time to rest my eyes and brain. I am firmly in the new section now. It is just as stressful as the last one but I am holding 'good enough' and 'let it go' firmly in my mind. I don't have time to dwell so much. Call it good and move along.
Time to put everything else away
I have set my timer for 2 hours (11:30). (I have Sun/Mon off, work Sats)
Hopefully I will not have any interruptions before then.
Time to focus on this scene. I've imagined much of it out but have not applied butt to seat to add sentences to the project. Time to do that.
Everything else I am thinking about, stressing and arguing about, can wait.
Time to move forward with the story, focus and see what magical words come out. The rest of the world can wait...
THE SCENE IS DUE TODAY [done in all it's half-assed glory] :)
Update: Sigh.. writing is hard, no, starting to write is hard. The first sentence is killer, death on a stick. I've tried, "it doesn't need to be perfect" or "start in the middle" but I am paralyzed by needing it to be perfect before I am allowed to start tapping out words. one word at a time, one word at a time. It doesn't need to be perfect, start in the middle of the scene and work my way backward and forward. Type about nonsense and see what happens.
Update 2: 365 no good, very bad, all new words. Woot. I couldn't be happier. And I can change the scene later. This is a placeholder only. Final count for scene: 406 words. Obviously this is very light on detail and character but the story has moved forward a timy step.
Now the next scene- ugh, right back at it. Previous scene was more of a sideways step forward- MC is still in the same place. She still has to get to the meeting in a way that makes sense and I am not sure what she should learn. but not much. and then she needs to get out of there. If anything comes of this scene, I think it will be the little bits she picks up. But nothing immediately big. Just useful for future scenes.
Update 3: needed to step away for a bit but i am back. I need to get myself out of this next scene and on to the next one before I can call it a day. I have been avoiding this yucky section for over a year. I need to move along to the fun stuff.
Update 4: Things are not going so well. I am so tired and I would rather be reading right now. I left my scene in a bad spot last time I attempted this one. And what's worse, I have no idea what's really supposed to happen, just general crap. So just like last scene, I am staring at the screen, not daring to put in the wrong thing or boring stuff. ENOUGH ALREADY. just write out the scene so you can move on to other things. I CAN CHANGE IT LATER- THAT'S WHAT REVISION IS FOR- HELLO!!!
Update 5: Wrapped it up and called it good. I am now at 478 words for the day, 10 short of what I need according to Write Track. But on the wonderful side, 2 scenes accomplished. It only took me a year and a half to get those words. geez. good enough people, good enough. And on to the next scene. I need to move firmly in to the next section before I can call it a day- 10 words left that are due today- life is good!!!
Hopefully I will not have any interruptions before then.
Time to focus on this scene. I've imagined much of it out but have not applied butt to seat to add sentences to the project. Time to do that.
Everything else I am thinking about, stressing and arguing about, can wait.
Time to move forward with the story, focus and see what magical words come out. The rest of the world can wait...
THE SCENE IS DUE TODAY [done in all it's half-assed glory] :)
Update: Sigh.. writing is hard, no, starting to write is hard. The first sentence is killer, death on a stick. I've tried, "it doesn't need to be perfect" or "start in the middle" but I am paralyzed by needing it to be perfect before I am allowed to start tapping out words. one word at a time, one word at a time. It doesn't need to be perfect, start in the middle of the scene and work my way backward and forward. Type about nonsense and see what happens.
Update 2: 365 no good, very bad, all new words. Woot. I couldn't be happier. And I can change the scene later. This is a placeholder only. Final count for scene: 406 words. Obviously this is very light on detail and character but the story has moved forward a timy step.
Now the next scene- ugh, right back at it. Previous scene was more of a sideways step forward- MC is still in the same place. She still has to get to the meeting in a way that makes sense and I am not sure what she should learn. but not much. and then she needs to get out of there. If anything comes of this scene, I think it will be the little bits she picks up. But nothing immediately big. Just useful for future scenes.
Update 3: needed to step away for a bit but i am back. I need to get myself out of this next scene and on to the next one before I can call it a day. I have been avoiding this yucky section for over a year. I need to move along to the fun stuff.
Update 4: Things are not going so well. I am so tired and I would rather be reading right now. I left my scene in a bad spot last time I attempted this one. And what's worse, I have no idea what's really supposed to happen, just general crap. So just like last scene, I am staring at the screen, not daring to put in the wrong thing or boring stuff. ENOUGH ALREADY. just write out the scene so you can move on to other things. I CAN CHANGE IT LATER- THAT'S WHAT REVISION IS FOR- HELLO!!!
Update 5: Wrapped it up and called it good. I am now at 478 words for the day, 10 short of what I need according to Write Track. But on the wonderful side, 2 scenes accomplished. It only took me a year and a half to get those words. geez. good enough people, good enough. And on to the next scene. I need to move firmly in to the next section before I can call it a day- 10 words left that are due today- life is good!!!
To read or not to read, that is the question...
I'd much rather be reading book 2 (song of fire and ice series) but I know I need to eat my vegetables first.
It's so sad that writing is equated to veges. But I'm addicted to stories and it's just so much easier to read [or watch, for that matter] someone else's hard work than to put in my own.
Ok I have all day to read the book. I just have to put in two hours of work to move my story forward one scene. That will more than cover my 500 words due today.
And it IS due.
I have to stop shirking the work, and the habit will get easier once I start doing it again. And I will finally be able to see the next scene in my head, which is SO much fun.
Writing a story iz not veges, iz movie director with ze unlimited special effects budget.
It's so sad that writing is equated to veges. But I'm addicted to stories and it's just so much easier to read [or watch, for that matter] someone else's hard work than to put in my own.
Ok I have all day to read the book. I just have to put in two hours of work to move my story forward one scene. That will more than cover my 500 words due today.
And it IS due.
I have to stop shirking the work, and the habit will get easier once I start doing it again. And I will finally be able to see the next scene in my head, which is SO much fun.
Writing a story iz not veges, iz movie director with ze unlimited special effects budget.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Now that's out of the way...
I updated Write Track's calendar. I can finish end of March at 484 words/day (assuming about 30,000 are left).
As usual, why do today what I can put off til tomorrow? I made my calendar start on the 30th.
As usual, why do today what I can put off til tomorrow? I made my calendar start on the 30th.
Irrational fears...
Well, I didn't show up and I didn't show up. And I still haven't shown up.
As I contemplate sitting down in front of the computer screen, puzzling and struggling with "what happens next", I feel this claustrophobia set in. I feel the room's walls close in on my mind. I can see the blackness as I imagine sitting in front of the computer. I am paralyzed. It's a fear I don't understand.
A while ago I decided that I just want to reach the end. I look back at the first 3/4's and I find it's easy to think of different versions of the scenes, once they are written out. I just need to get the last quarter written out and then I can take a step back from the whole story. I can see it as a whole. I've been at this same section for over a year now. I should be long done by now.
I know it's irrational. It could be the biggest room with skylights and high ceilings but it's the space between me and the computer screen- it's a little box and getting smaller and there's so much heaviness.
I finished Game of Thrones last week. It's added to my special pile of 'I'm in awe' books. It's alongside Harry Potter, Dune, Octavia Butler books, The Belgariad, Ender's Game.
The worlds are so big, or the story is so fun, or the story/pace just doesn't stop.
There is something freeing about reading a book like that. I cannot aspire to give someone that experience. It somehow makes me breathe out with a sigh of relief- I don't need to worry about perfection anymore- it's been done. I can move on to just writing this story that I enjoy. I'd really just like to see how the rest of the story comes out.
And then I read another story that I had to force my way through. It gives me inspiration that I could give someone a better experience than that. And the piece I identify that I don't like, I can add to the growing list of things I won't do to my reader. In this case: if someone knows something and wants the protagonist to know it too, the character tells the protagonist. He doesn't leave obscure clues. (kind of like Dumbledore in all of Harry Potter (but mostly book 6 and 7) (or Lupis in book 3). But HP had so much fun going for it that I could get through it. This one was just terrible. It was a filler book. Instead of moving the plot along, it just got hung up in getting from one clue to the next. And I'd already figured out the big secret at the end of book 1 so that made it even harder to read filler book number 2.
Sigh.
I just wanted to write down what's been going through my head. Maybe if I get it out there, the claustrophobia will go away.
I know the next scene. What big bad terrible thing will happen if I don't get it quite right? What is the worst thing that can happen if I waste 2 hours staring at a blinking cursor?
Isn't it worth it to just get the scene out there and move on to the next one?
I know where I'm going. I know how the book ends. Obviously I don't need to worry about the story being too long anymore. If it's interesting, I will happily read 800 pages, so will other people. And once I can take a step back, I can cut out anything boring that remains because I have plenty of length to work with.
As I contemplate sitting down in front of the computer screen, puzzling and struggling with "what happens next", I feel this claustrophobia set in. I feel the room's walls close in on my mind. I can see the blackness as I imagine sitting in front of the computer. I am paralyzed. It's a fear I don't understand.
A while ago I decided that I just want to reach the end. I look back at the first 3/4's and I find it's easy to think of different versions of the scenes, once they are written out. I just need to get the last quarter written out and then I can take a step back from the whole story. I can see it as a whole. I've been at this same section for over a year now. I should be long done by now.
I know it's irrational. It could be the biggest room with skylights and high ceilings but it's the space between me and the computer screen- it's a little box and getting smaller and there's so much heaviness.
I finished Game of Thrones last week. It's added to my special pile of 'I'm in awe' books. It's alongside Harry Potter, Dune, Octavia Butler books, The Belgariad, Ender's Game.
The worlds are so big, or the story is so fun, or the story/pace just doesn't stop.
There is something freeing about reading a book like that. I cannot aspire to give someone that experience. It somehow makes me breathe out with a sigh of relief- I don't need to worry about perfection anymore- it's been done. I can move on to just writing this story that I enjoy. I'd really just like to see how the rest of the story comes out.
And then I read another story that I had to force my way through. It gives me inspiration that I could give someone a better experience than that. And the piece I identify that I don't like, I can add to the growing list of things I won't do to my reader. In this case: if someone knows something and wants the protagonist to know it too, the character tells the protagonist. He doesn't leave obscure clues. (kind of like Dumbledore in all of Harry Potter (but mostly book 6 and 7) (or Lupis in book 3). But HP had so much fun going for it that I could get through it. This one was just terrible. It was a filler book. Instead of moving the plot along, it just got hung up in getting from one clue to the next. And I'd already figured out the big secret at the end of book 1 so that made it even harder to read filler book number 2.
Sigh.
I just wanted to write down what's been going through my head. Maybe if I get it out there, the claustrophobia will go away.
I know the next scene. What big bad terrible thing will happen if I don't get it quite right? What is the worst thing that can happen if I waste 2 hours staring at a blinking cursor?
Isn't it worth it to just get the scene out there and move on to the next one?
I know where I'm going. I know how the book ends. Obviously I don't need to worry about the story being too long anymore. If it's interesting, I will happily read 800 pages, so will other people. And once I can take a step back, I can cut out anything boring that remains because I have plenty of length to work with.
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