Next Steps...

Finished documenting my problem list: 79 scenes made my unanswered question list.
They were divided pretty evenly between easy (24) [come up with a name for this thing], medium (29) [change the way she reacts to this] and hard (26) [figure out a new rule/explanation for the world] scene fixes BUT the nice thing is there is lots of overlap (so solving one problem could clear out 5 or more troubled scenes)

Next up will be sorting my questions by category- so that all similar issues are together and I can attack each group as a whole. This will be my true count of issues. Ran out of time so I'll handle that tomorrow. Then I should be ready to create a new write track calendar because I've never met a deadline I couldn't miss.

I really wish I didn't have to quit yet tonight.

Goals Today

Dvorak update: I am up from 21wpm to 35 (so that's something).  Not enough but something...

I'm currently at 92/117 scenes (I got 26 completed during lunch).

Goal Today:
Finish documenting the scene notes.
Organize list and come up with my next Write Track calendar.

struggles with dkorat- oops, I mean dvorat- gah, nevermind

Dvorak is really bumming me out.  I suppose it's  never a good time to switch but it's so painful to say anything now. I catch myself- can I make my point with less words?
And it's a struggle to communicate the simplest concepts. At work "sounds good" has become "k" Not that I was the poster child for friendly before but it is such a struggle to say ANYTHING.

I want to give up.  I talk myself down from the ledge: This will pass too...some day...I hope.

On the writing front I got through 58 more scenes. New total 66 out of 117.
I was getting trapped in fixing so now I'm mostly copying my questions to a separate doc (unless it's really quick)

[gah, trying and failing for the same letter 3 times (rinse/repeat for at least 5 different letters in the same word) (AND constantly selecting the SAME wrong key for that letter) - I have no words for how sick I am of the backspace key. I miss my old flying 110 wpm fingers]

And I'll be honest, I keep making the mistake of looking up and realizing how far I have left to go with this revision. Because even once I get all the unanswered stuff answered and the scenes updated to match, I then have to edit out all the awkward yuck writing, so prevalent in each and every paragraph of each and every scene.

Forming the unanswered question list...

Today I'm going through all the questions/comments I made while wearing my reader hat:

1.) If they're straight forward fixes, I'm making the changes.
2,) If they require thought/contemplation, they go to my question list for later (and this should keep them front-and-center on Muse's radar too, to percolate). :)

Today I got through 8 out of 117 scenes. I like what I'm getting and it's fun.

For me writing is very black-hole stressful but this is ALL play. I wish I could write in this easy-going state. I'd be so much more productive.

Revision going well

I put in a lot of work tonight fixing the end. Technically completing the read through with a critical eye. It's not nearly as broken as I'd thought, which is pretty exciting. This was definitely the right decision. I need to make the ending work before I can be confident enough to move forward with book 2.

I'm quite in shock that I like the ending now.  There are still some holes and problem scenes but not nearly so bad as it was.

Novel currently sits at 110K and soon to grow.

I am starting to get hopeful again that this will one day be a book worth reading. And maybe the second one is possible too.

Goals Redone

My husband and sister share similar viewpoints- if I've finished writing the story, it's time to put it out there.

I hesitate because what if book 2 needs something to be desperately different in book 1. But maybe it's right.  I'm still trapped in wanting things to be perfect before I jump off the ledge.

But maybe it's time to take a risk; let the writing be out there for better or worse.

Time to revise and make book 1 a book.

Goals Today

All right time to get in some goals (the exciting part):
Write Track has me at 710 words/day now so I need to get this story moving.

Time to get a scene written that moves the story forward and has a little fun

The Dreck

I've still got dvorak but that's it.

I used to be up around 100/110 wpm; now I'm crawling around 20. It's frustrating to start over like this (and slow down my thinking in order to communicate) and it makes me wonder if it's worth it or just another distraction from the writing I should be doing. Then again I never finish anything so maybe I should suck it up. It won't be like this forever. I'll get this.

The writing. I'm bored with the story to be truthful. It doesn't seem to have enough left to do. But when I take a step back and remember what Muse did with the stuff from bk1. This book has just as much going for it. So what's going on?

The obvious answer is that I'm taking this way too seriously. The pressure is way too high. And I fear failure way too much. What's the worst that can happen if I finish the book and it's terrible?

I know it sounds terrible but seriously the dreck that gets published - at worst mine will be just another story added to that pile. And if I could just learn how to let the expectations go, get in to the story and write. Let it all go and enjoy the process, just write for me.  And me doesn't care if the magic makes sense right now, she just wants to find out what happens next.

If I could just keep in mind that everything can be fixed in revision and that I'm writing this because I like the world and the story and the characters and it's fun!

Touch typing at its most entertaining...

So far I have 690 words.  But that was last week and I'm running out of excuses not to show up here every day.

(On a side note, I'm finally learning dvorak. This post brought to you by the letters J P Q Y X and all the punctuation marks I can no longer find.)

Actually I'm hoping this will take a little of my focus off the quality of my prose and refocus it on getting words on the pagev

Starting Over

Everything is fresh and new. Brand new page, new scene, new book.

Goal 90,000 words
Due: May 31st
Daily Word Count goal: 800 (rounding up cause I'm going to need it)

So this is the first page of Book 2. Brand new story. Nothing attached. This is fun
And I know of some great things I want to include in here.

Time to get started. Let it be what it will be. Write now, revise later...

Brainstorming mode today

Ok, so apparently I'm still in stall mode. Technically I made it through HTTS Lesson 6, but I haven't actually done anything, just letting the ideas swirl around.  I've determined that my Antagonist and Conflict is going to need lots of work.

I still like book 2's ending scenes but I haven't figured out the overarching conflict to resolve yet and what the resolution/big scene will look like.

I don't know- I pretty much guarantee I'm going to keep re-reading more HTTS lessons.  Yikes. Not good, not good. But I just really want to be reminded of more of the HTTS stuff before I start trying to make Book 2 a legitimate story instead of filler.

I'm still alive...

So, a lot has changed since last we "spoke"

Big Thing: I am on to plotting book 2.  Yesterday I made up a quickie scene list/outline.
And low and behold, found a new place to break book 2 and book 3.  (My Muse has been bugging me for awhile to break the book sooner but I was resisting, but now it's perfect).

Anyway, I am restarting HTTS and Gifford's 2YN class to get the plot completed.
Currently the plan is to plot all the way through the end of book 3. Because this must NOT expand beyond a trilogy. I need to get this thing sold and start making money at this.

I know I'm the most boring blogger in the world. But I promise to always kill the boring in my books!

And ruminating on things, I plan to have the first cover letter in the mail by Jul of 2014, my 40th birthday.


Jan - Jun: Book 2
Jun - Jul: Plot Updates
Jul - Jan: Book 3
Jan - Jun: Revision
Jul: Cover Letter Due

Back for more

(Around 10 or so): So I've decided to really focus on just the high-level documentation like I'd originally planned. I have no idea if that's the right decision.  The other option is to take the month to go through every scene and fix it now. But that would leave me to think about the messy end at the end of the month, rather than start working on it right now, as part of my next revision phase (when I attack all the unanswered questions).

UPDATE (12:03): Starting to feel burned out again. Trying to keep it high-level though so it's definitely going a little faster for me. 10 scenes completed so far this morning.

Progress Report

12:11pm:  I am now at scene 60.   [57 scenes to go]
Really liking what I'm getting. I've actually revised to add some details in.  Loving the description. I want to live there so that's a good sign.  (Now, whether the reader can picture any of it is another story).
Also, I took a quick pause to hang up the laundry so truly nothing is hanging over my head! I love that.
Now back to story...

Wow, I have a long way to go - yikes! Must not look too far ahead.

Just one scene at a time. I can do this.

12:54pm: Took a break for lunch.  I'm now setup in a new room (slightly less comfortable but hubby's got the TV going and I know it'll be way too distracting for me).

Anyway, I feel the need to celebrate my accomplishments in the revision so far.  At the moment, I'm way too overwhelmed and negative.
I'm almost 1/2 way through the book already and I've gotten lots of great stuff documented. Hmmm, not sure what else I meant to put here. But it's okay. Time to really get refocused- meaning one scene at a time.  One scene done is a big step forward.  And this process is easy - way, way easier than the first time through, when it was blood pouring out of every pore.  To be honest- this part is pure fun.
(and alternate note, because we had company, the house almost sparkles.  Not sure how long it'll last but it's really nice not to feel any guilt about what I should be doing right now.  And again, this is fun so it's what I want to do right now.

2:13pm: Well, that's dedication for you- hubby is watching a movie and I'm in here, continuing the good fight against this scene. Getting lots of good stuff and I've seen the movie before, so that helps.  Still, an hour and I'm only halfway through the 60th scene! LOL. But the results are worth it.

3:15pm: Well, scene 60 is in the can.  A little rough in one spot still but light years improved.  Love it in fact. On to the next scene- I think this one will be much less involved. And I've broken 2 of the scenes so far in half, so my scene count is a bit off now.

4:35pm: 2 more scenes processed (about 7 so far today). I have about 53 left to go.  Progress is alot slower than expected. But I wasn't expecting to revise today either.

I'm burned out and taking a long break.

The plans the thing...

Ok so real life has receded and it looks like I have the entire weekend to work at the revision. I don't even have dishes hanging over my head (woot).  (Although now that I think about it, I should probably get some laundry going)... (update 10:16: laundry's going, beds made, a few other chores finished and I am good and leftovers for lunch) WOOT- this is great.

Plan today:
(Yesterday I got through about 15 scenes, something like that)
1.) Finish the read through, documenting any issues I find (about 60 scenes to go)
2.) Next I need to go through all my annotations and organize any questions into one word document (places wherever I wasn't sure which way to go with it or need to really decide what a character was thinking/knows). And just to clarify: I will be making all decisions before I move on to next step- even the tiniest thing- If I don't know the answer, I will include it as a question and get the decision made (ex what symbol, what name, what color, etc, etc.)

Then the rest of the plan (whatever I can fit in, this weekend and into the next couple of weeks):
1.) Make the decisions/choose which way to go with it.
2.) Update the novel to match my decisions- by the time I'm done, all annotations should be accounted for (unless it's a note about awkward wording).
Part that scares me and will take the most time:
3.) Create/rewrite the ending so that it's an actual ending and feels like a reward for reading the book.
4.) And then I think I'll stop there and start planning book 2.  (I think I'm going to leave all the prettying up on bk 1 for after I'm done with the bk 2.)
5.) Get book 2 written... :)

(Due date for completion of high level revision: End of January)

Another 15 scenes tonight

I got through 15 scenes tonight.  Real Life has conspired but at least I got some done tonight.
To make my goal, I need to get 38 scenes done tomorrow and the next day,.

I'll probably be playing a bit of catch up on Saturday.

Anyway, will write more this weekend when I finally have time.

30 scenes due tonight

During lunch I only got through about 2 scenes so I have lots to read tonight to stay on track with my due date. (Of course I'd love to get many more scenes read to get myself a little ahead).  A month to get all of this done is just not enough time. But I'll see what happens.

So far I'm liking what I'm getting. And focusing on being the reader instead of worrying about how I'm going to make it work is much less stressful.

Will update soon!

Update: 26 scenes completed but I'm tired and starting to go cross-eyed. Will work some more tomorrow.

Up Next- Re-read with a critical eye

2.) Gathering a list of unanswered questions, plot holes and character back-story questions. DUE 1/4

I need to read about 30 scenes / day.
As I'm reading a scene,  I would like to be at my most critical and document any and all issues and concerns. But also I would like to document the elements of the scene card to see whether it's there and rate the scene (how close it is to first draft/share with the world level). And also document story lines and rate whether they can be cut.  (So kind of a lot to get done this week, I admit).

Brief Desc/Action:
Where/When:
Goal:
Against/With:
Conflict:
New Goal:
Twist/New Info:
Rating: