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McAnally's (The Community Pub) => Author Craft => Topic started by: Paynesgrey on January 30, 2014, 07:40:43 PM
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Part 3 of "Celebrate the pages you've written.
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probably won't have anything to post here until tomorrow, i just wanted to say I like your title.
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For some reason the thread was locked before I could up in the (55k - Falon II) for yesterday!
Plus, what's up with the new name PG?!
I'll post again later today after I've got some words pounded out. This sequel won't write itself.
The Deposed King
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probably won't have anything to post here until tomorrow, i just wanted to say I like your title.
All part of the service! :)
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For some reason the thread was locked before I could up in the (55k - Falon II) for yesterday!
Plus, what's up with the new name PG?!
I'll post again later today after I've got some words pounded out. This sequel won't write itself.
The Deposed King
Had an attack of Dread Whimsy. It's all the editing. Makes my thinking parts gooey.
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Had an attack of Dread Whimsy. It's all the editing. Makes my thinking parts gooey.
You have to be careful Paynesgrey because you know what they say about editing don't you?!
Editing Rots your Brain!!! Beware the creativity killer~
The Deposed King
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No choice though... A lot of unnecessary and redundant exposition in that first chapter... gotta dig the polish out of the turd.
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No choice though... A lot of unnecessary and redundant exposition in that first chapter... gotta dig the polish out of the turd.
Gonna put a nice stain brown sheen on it huh?
The Deposed King
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It will gleam the purest gold, like Mark Twain's tears.
The part of the draft is stuff I wrote over 100,000 words ago... I'm spotting a good many flaws and problems I didn't realize were flaws and problems at the time. Tense, telling, and some chunks of exposition that can be cut entirely. It's coming together though. Kind of like returning to a model kit you gave up on as a kid. Suddenly how to do it right makes sense. :)
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56k - Falon II
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57k - Falon II
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Finished editing what there is of volume #3 and gave it 600 more words of connective tissue.
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58k - Falon II
After and extended absense from writing I gave myself a good swift kick in the rear and started writing again! The Conquest of Europe by Poland just isn't on par with writing (Europa Universalise) or so I'm telling myself :o
59k - Falon II
60k - Falon II
61k - Falon II
62k - Falon II (5k)
63k - Falon II
64k - Falon II
The Deposed King
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65k - Falon II
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66k - Falon II
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No choice though... A lot of unnecessary and redundant exposition in that first chapter... gotta dig the polish out of the turd.
Didn't the Mythbusters actually polish up a fecal matter ball? ??? ???
(And NO - that was not a comment on PGs writing - his stuff will/would shine no matter
how much drek was on top of it!)
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Finished through pass on what I have of TIWTBWO #3, 870 words of additional frame, and 2600 words of new chapter 13. Gosh, I like writing new stuff for a change.
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67k - Falon II
68k - Falon II
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TIWTBWO #3:
Chapter 14: 2735 words. Stopping because a) work tomorrow and b) want to make up my mind whether I am splitting here (in which case next chapter will be short) or not, as that's not covered what I wanted to cover in this chapter at all.
Total; 59,131 words.
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69k - Falon II
70k - Falon II
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71k - Falon II
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72k - Falon II
73k - Falon II
74k - Falon II
The Deposed King
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111, 500 on The Sequel tonight.
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111, 500 on The Sequel tonight.
Great job Liz! It looks like you're within striking distance, so keep charging at it hard!
75k - Falon II
76k - Falon II
77k - Falon II
The Deposed King
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111, 500 on The Sequel tonight.
excellent! And DKs consistency is awe inspiring.
Side pass into series side story that's a blast to write. 1100 words into it.
1st book from fellow new imprint author comes out April 1st and it received great PW review. I'm 6th in list. Now I'm terrorified. PW review possible? Eek. Find hole with rock to cover me up out of sight.
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3300 words, Chapter 15 is done, taking #3 over 60,000 words. (Working Thu and Sat this week as work is closed Fri.) This now looks like being 36 chapters in total, or a third as long again as the first two.
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excellent! And DKs consistency is awe inspiring.
Side pass into series side story that's a blast to write. 1100 words into it.
1st book from fellow new imprint author comes out April 1st and it received great PW review. I'm 6th in list. Now I'm terrorified. PW review possible? Eek. Find hole with rock to cover me up out of sight.
I'm glad you're feeling inspired cause from over here its feeling pretty pathetic. Here I am writing full time and that's all I'm managing? I need to do better!
78k - Falon II
The Deposed King
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Finished with the latest part of the chronicle to the Dresden Files Rpg-campaign I play in. That is now up at 77 pages and slightly over 56 000 words. Now if only my other writing stuff went as well.
But I have managed to do some writing every day though this year, even if not much every day. Yay me.
/Ulfgeir
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That's the way to do it, Ulfgeir and way to go.
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600 words into Chapter 16, pausing for dinner.
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And that came out a touch over 4400 words in total.
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79k - Falon II
80k - Falon II
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81k - Falon II
82k - Falon II
83k - Falon II
84k - Falon II
85k - Falon II
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I just uploaded my Akantha II novel up on amazon. It comes in at about 74k words.
Admiral's Lady: Ashes for Ashes, Blood for Blood should be live in about 12hours!
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Thanks for the post DK.
I'm up and writing for an entire morning. Still under blizzard and extreme cold. High of 0 degrees I believe.
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2000ish words into the next chapter, ran out of energy and fell asleep.
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86k - Falon II
87k - Falon II
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Chapter 16 finished at just under 4000 words, and a couple of thousand on the next one. Though the failure mode with starting to write at 8 on a weeknight is looking at a clock and realising it is a quarter to one in the morning, then waking up stupidly early because my back can only take so much lying down and I didn't time some sensible sitting up in between writing and trying to sleep.
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Chapter 18 finished at 6165 words, leaving me just over 77,000 in total. By chapter count and plot movement both, that's halfway done.
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not doing bad balancing three projects. I've never tried that before. Short story, Book II, and my old MG was requested. happy writing all.
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The annoying thing about being halfway there is how much of the last few days I've spent with "Living on a Prayer" stuck in my head.
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Up to 117,500 on the Big Damn Sequel, and I'm working on the final scene.
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My artist's bunged-up shoulder's finally mending up, so she'll be finishing the cover for Valorous Daughter fairly soon. That novella's about ready to go to e-press. In the meantime, I'm polishing up the novel A Kiss For Damocles and shuffling my meager collection of short stories from slush pile to slush pile.
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Up to 117,500 on the Big Damn Sequel, and I'm working on the final scene.
Excellent work Liz!
The Deposed King
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88k - Falon II
89k - Falon II
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90k - Falon II
91k - Falon II
92k - Falon II
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2,000 more words, half another chapter.
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93k - Falon II
94k - Falon II
95k - Falon II
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96k - Falon II
97k - Falon II
98k - Falon II
99k - Falon II
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1500 more words, Chapter 19 of TIWTBWO #3 is done, and I am a bit grumpy because it then took a ridiculously long amount of time to find a working floppy to transfer from my writing computer to my desktop and ensuingly I did not have time last night for the long hot bath my back is in need of.
That takes me just over 80,000 words. This is thrashing about a lot; I think I am going to move forward to the next inflexion point, which should be about chapter 24, and then rework some of the earlier stuff. (Rather than having a Big Middle, this is a book of three parts, and chapter 24/25, depending on how the intervening scenes organise themselves, will be the end of the second part.)
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1500 more words, Chapter 19 of TIWTBWO #3 is done, and I am a bit grumpy because it then took a ridiculously long amount of time to find a working floppy to transfer from my writing computer to my desktop and ensuingly I did not have time last night for the long hot bath my back is in need of.
That takes me just over 80,000 words. This is thrashing about a lot; I think I am going to move forward to the next inflexion point, which should be about chapter 24, and then rework some of the earlier stuff. (Rather than having a Big Middle, this is a book of three parts, and chapter 24/25, depending on how the intervening scenes organise themselves, will be the end of the second part.)
Frustrating as some of it sounds, it also sounds like you're making some good progress. Keep after it Neuro.
100k - Falon II
The Deposed King
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Fixed a major plot hole last night. Figured out who murdered the artist and why, which is always a good thing to know about one's own character.
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I sadly broke my habit of writing every day this past week due to last weekend being away for an archery-competition,and getting up VERY late. But I am now back in the habit again. It goes slowly indeed.
Now I only need to finish a new piece to use to enter the writing competition on a gaming convention in Gothenburg next month. No pressure at all. Yeah right.
/Ulfgeir
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101k - Falon II
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102k - Falon II
103k - Falon II
104k - Falon II
105k - Falon II
the Deposed King
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106k - Falon II
107k - Falon II
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Not nearly as many words as I hoped for over the past three weeks. (Family visited and, hey that's important too.) About 6000 over that time frame. Also a lot of mental work on the last 1/4 to ending. Also a personally hard decision to cut back on a sub-plot thread. Time well spent.
On the other hand, am I the only one who loves it when the manuscript is large enough that it takes quite a bit of time to load and get to your last writing sentence? It used to be irritating, but I'm taking pleasure in the small things these days.
Best writing all.
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My writing right now is divided between work for a Superhero RPG Catalyst Games Lab is doing, outlining a novel for Rick Chessler's new series, and my Battletech writing. I may have to clone myself.....
Craig
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108k - Falon II - For yesterday
and
115k - Falon II (7k)
But I'm going to go home and keep writing.
120k - Falon II (12k for the Day!)
The Deposed King
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On the other hand, am I the only one who loves it when the manuscript is large enough that it takes quite a bit of time to load and get to your last writing sentence?
I don't stick my chapters together into one file until the very end, because I way too often find myself rearranging them.
Chapter 20, 3100 words tonight. This is the chapter 20 on the original plan, not the new chapter I thought went in at 20 and I now think goes in at 21. It's not done but I may finish it tomorrow or Sunday.
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133k - Falon II (13k for the day!)
The End!!!
So baring the brother telling me the ending doesn't work or that I need to add chapters (likely I suppose) that's a wrap on The Painting, Book 2 of the Witch Guard featuring our main Heroine Falon Rankin.
12k for yesterday and 13k for today equal a grand total of 25k in two days. Its amazing what you can do when you get to the end of a book. Know what you need to write to wrap it up and don't have any access to the internet or off line tv series you've been waiting for.
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Congratulations on finishing your draft!
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Congratulations on finishing your draft!
Thanks Liz! Falon II felt like it was taking forever to write and I just decided to sit down and finish it. It feels good, I was afraid I was going to miss another deadline but instead, I came in under the wire with a few days to spare. Still wish I could have finished it by march 1, but before april 1 is still a blessing!
The Deposed King
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Well, my 22nd story for Battlecorps, "State of Grace" went live up on the Battlecorps website. Third story this year, and it's looking like a good year for me so far! ;)
Craig
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9k - Admiral Invincible (from the original 5.5k and what I've written over the past two days)
And here we go! Here we go again!!!! Time for the new writing project. A writer's job is never done.
The Deposed King
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124K tonight on The Sequel. The home stretch!
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Yay! 125,000 words and the first draft of the Big Damn Sequel is finished! It's rough. Some of it's good rough; mostly it's just rough rough. Think I'll let it sit for a while (even though the urge to edit is strong) and work on finishing the first draft of my Urban Fantasy, provisionally titled "Raising Angels", though I'm not sold on that title.
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Congrats on the Big Damn Sequel done, Liz!
I'm standing at the top of the Big Hairy-Scary Bobsled Run to the bottom. wait, not ready... Back to fixing some thread clarifications and tie-ins between scenes...
Yeah, chickened out, but every time I come back to leaping into that Bobsled, I've got more details firmed up in my mind. It really is a win situation. And my excitement level is building.
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Yeah Liz, really, way to go. You are the woman!
Congrats,
The Deposed King
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Finished my initial web site design ideas last night. It's been months in the mind hopper and scribbled on napkins, phone message pads, and spiral ring stenographer's pad (my preferred hand note method.) Pretty f-ing cool. Now it's a matter of money and finding the right talent to take my stuff and tell me what will work, what won't, what they think will enhance, and then... can't wait. Won't be live until Dec 1st or so. Plenty of time. Not sure when my cover art will be finalized for Book I anyway, but from the other imprint authors, I'm getting comments that it will be later than I wish, but I'm at the point that I want it all now. Not a good publishing hat position. Months to go, Meg, months.
Writing front, book II needed more boost before the ride begins. So time well spent yesterday. Cranking up the tension on all fronts for ascending higher rocky mountain peaks before the ride down. So #amwriting. :-)
Best writing everyone!
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Thanks! :)
This may well be a question for a new thread, but...how do you go about finding cover artists anyway? Advertise on CraigsList?
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I don't think advertising on Craig's List would net you a good illustrator.
There was a discussion on some thread in this Forum about Illustrators
but I don't remember which one.
I think you'd do better to check with various writing groups or Forums
than Craig's List.
Sorry to not be of more help.
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Well, I was joking about the CraigsList thing :) but I'm still curious about how one goes about finding reputable artists, how much they typically charge, and so on. (Actually, my older brother is a professional artist and a very good one, but whether I could actually get him to commit to creating something for me is the question.)
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Well, I was joking about the CraigsList thing :) but I'm still curious about how one goes about finding reputable artists, how much they typically charge, and so on. (Actually, my older brother is a professional artist and a very good one, but whether I could actually get him to commit to creating something for me is the question.)
Deviant art has artists you can hire to do a cover for you. As for me, me and well its mostly my brother, but anyway we hire different guys over here in the Philippines and get them to crank out covers for us. Its cheaper than deviant anyways.
The Deposed King
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Deviant Art is one I've heard about in the past. Great artists. On the SCBWI site, you can find picture book artists. Some of them would probably take on a cover. Also, I found this on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/837698-book-cover-artists-illustrators It seems to have several art portolio addresses. Google has a bunch of sites as well.
Cover art is a strange mix--it's not just the art, it's the placement of the name etc so there is an element of copy ad to it as well. I've sat in on SCBWI classes about authors reporting months of endless meetings that editors go through to find the perfect cover. Even Walmart and Barnes and Nobel can nix a cover during the process. Gives me a headache.
Goodreads also has an annual best cover awards. I found it fascinating to see what the genre readers liked and how they varied from other genres. Also it felt like I could get a sense of the way trends were headed in different genres.
I don't think I get any say in the matter, but I also assumed they wouldn't like my title and would pick there own. My publisher didn't like my title, but just waited for me to come up with a bunch more. I hate finding titles. I'm a nickname type of gal. Even my characters will often go for half the revision process with place names until something magically firms up in my mind. I even changed a main character's name during my first edit review. In fact, I changed two names...
Maybe if you narrow it down, you could post and we could help with a poll? It would be fun!
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Got my thousand in with a nice character beat included. A bit more tension, but not nearly enough.
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Another 1000 this AM. Good news. The media marketer at Poisoned Pencil says she's handle the website, but if it's more complicated she has a designer I can hire. Anyone else have any names?
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One more chapter, 2700 wordsish.
I think I am on track for hitting the two-thirds mark by May 21 and then doing the through repass on what I have so far, and minor additional edits to the first two for consistency, with an aim to be done on that by at the very latest the beginning of August when I go to Hyperborea for three weeks, lots of friends, some family, some Shakespeare, and a Worldcon.
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10k - Admiral's Revenge
11k - Admiral's Revenge
12k - Admiral's Revenge
13k - Admiral's Revenge
14k - Admiral's Revenge (5k)
15k - Admiral's Revenge
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about 10,000 to go. Then party time before editing begins in ernest.
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Too tired to work on new stuff last night, so revised four chapters instead.
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About 1000 words on the urban fantasy last night.
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You know we all crank up some impressive numbers in total, don't we. that's so cool. Kinda like seeing this 'I'm focused on writing bit from everyone.'
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22k - Admiral Invincible
The brother helped... or rather wrote a big chapter tying in a secondary character giving a report to the Admiral which I revised (slightly) and extended (a good 2k+). Plus of course a good 1k of new material so far!
The Deposed King
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Managed to finish another short story (a Horror-story in Swedish), on the night between last Wednesday and Thursday. The intention was to enter it in the writig-competiton on the annual gaming convention in Gothenburg that were held this weekend. Which I did, and I managed to win. Yay.
Might not have been the best idea to go in to such a convention with a severe sleep deficit... Beacause, one does not sleep much, as there is gaming almost all night long.
Not computer-games but almost 2000 persons playing boardgames and rpg's and such during a whole weekend. ;)
/Ulfgeir
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So a few months ago I shelved an almost finished first draft of my project for the last yeat and a bit
the ending is too obviuse so I wont write it
its no longer fun as a project
its also way too short
but I will not get rid of it
I may come back to it one day
and there are concepts in it that I am going to use in other projects in the futour
I defently learned a lot trying to write it...
learning and enjoying the creative outlet is why I write
so yay
(the yay is me quoting neuro ;)) )
I have started a new project
this is a syfy short story
its a few 1,000 words
again learning not sireuse peace... but will also use what I already know to write ti
one day I might write something that wont make me cringe when I read it...
good luck
C
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So a few months ago I shelved an almost finished first draft of my project for the last yeat and a bit
the ending is too obviuse so I wont write it
its no longer fun as a project
its also way too short
but I will not get rid of it
I may come back to it one day
and there are concepts in it that I am going to use in other projects in the futour
I defently learned a lot trying to write it...
learning and enjoying the creative outlet is why I write
so yay
(the yay is me quoting neuro ;)) )
I have started a new project
this is a syfy short story
its a few 1,000 words
again learning not sireuse peace... but will also use what I already know to write ti
one day I might write something that wont make me cringe when I read it...
good luck
C
Most writers cringe at their first draft. It's in the editing where ugly stones become diamonds. The first trick, and the hardest, is to finish something, no matter how badly it stinks. From there you craft it into something you don't want to bury in the yard.
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maybe one day I will write the ending and have time to think about edditing it
but I need something creative to do...
editing feels like work.... and is not fun
if I don't write the ending then I can have fun with it later
if I wanted work I would ask for more homework....
plus its so bad it might be worse then twilight (only with less kissing and sparkily vampires....)
okay its not that stupid.... but still reading it makes my head hurt....
(there was a point I was reading it and realised I forgot that gravaty was a thing and had to fix it and yeah.....) I can't write at 2am apparently
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maybe one day I will write the ending and have time to think about edditing it
but I need something creative to do...
editing feels like work.... and is not fun
if I don't write the ending then I can have fun with it later
if I wanted work I would ask for more homework....
plus its so bad it might be worse then twilight (only with less kissing and sparkily vampires....)
okay its not that stupid.... but still reading it makes my head hurt....
(there was a point I was reading it and realised I forgot that gravaty was a thing and had to fix it and yeah.....) I can't write at 2am apparently
It's always work in the end, if it wasn't, everybody'd be doing it. And the harder it is, the greater the sense of accomplishment when you're finally done.
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#amwriting. Love revising char intro scenes. After rough draft, I understand them. Fun to in their physical actions and appearances.
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Another 1000 words last night on Raising Angels.
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creeping out only about 300/day and some major editing. I'm going back to flesh out those placeholder characters. In my case, those are key characters to the plot but not in my main cast.
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1000 this morning. Love when my teen heroes kick FBI budget administrative butt. :-)
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Revise revise revise. Finally happier with the opening of TIWTBWO #1. Even if it means two more nights going through the rest of it to make sure it's all consistent with the minor changes in the beginning again.
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23k - Admiral Invincible.
the Deposed King
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i finished the outline of a first chapter
now to poke it in to something that actually makes sense and can be read with out going that the flaming monkey poo is going on and how are these people...?
lol
*pokes words* work damn it work
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okay chapter one poked in to looking more like a chapter and less like buletpointed dieas
:)
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24k - Admiral Invincible
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25k - Admiral Invincible
26k - Admiral Invincible
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DK, you are awesome! You're like a freaking machine in creative output!
I've had a great week and averaging 1200 to 1400 per day. Interestingly, I'm now writing backward rather than forward. The ending (epilogue) came so crisp and sharp that I completed it. There will be major revision work to interrupt as I flesh out characters and plot details to mesh with the ending, but I can smell the end of the first draft. And I'm going to be happy with the result.
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I'm trying to get back in the saddle and crank out this next book. Its time to get #6 in the mainline series out!
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Nine more chapters revised, got a cool new concept in but most of this is minor. One more night and I'll be done on that.
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good morning of dead on editing and about 750 new
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27k - Admiral Invincible
28k - Admiral Invincible
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My reward for finishing rough draft and completing major inconsistency edits will be Skin Game. It works every time. Don't even peek at the advance chapters. And it's so frickin' hard not to do so.
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29k - Admiral Invincible
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chapter one fixed plot wise
grammar spelling nazi needs to attack it for me but *shrugs*
feel sorry for neuro everyone as they agreed to read said chapter.....
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30k - Admiral Invincible
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feel sorry for neuro everyone as they agreed to read said chapter.....
Hey, reading your stuff is fun.
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Hey, reading your stuff is fun.
*blushes*
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My 70,000 word rough draft is going to be 80,000. That much more to edit later, but I continue to plow through. Enjoying it greatly, which with a first draft is kinda fun.
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31k - Admiral Invincible
32k - Admiral Invincible
33k - Admiral Invincible
34k - Admiral Invincible
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35k - Admiral Invincible
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36k - Admiral Invincible
37k - Admiral Invincible
38k - Admiral Invincible
39k - Admiral Invincible
40k - Admiral Invincible
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yep, definitely 80000 to finish. Muse also insists that the ending be written backassward. That has never happened to be before, but--hey, it's good stuff. (What back assward isn't a word? huh? :-) )
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Editing. Forever editing. But Valorous Daughter is pretty much ready to go, just waiting for the cover art. Been doing clean ups and revisions of the actual novel, A Kiss for Damocles, and I've expanded a few scenes. That counts as writing, doesn't it? Please... someone tell me that counts...
(Yeah, I'm going crazy wanting to start the next book, but I gotta get this one out the door first or I'll never, ever quite editing.)
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It counts PG.
But one step at a time.
Get the first one done and then do the second one.
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41k - Admiral Invincible
42k - Admiral Invincible
43k - Admiral Invincible
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44k - Admiral Invincible
45k - Admiral Invincible
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And edit, edit, edit. And research, research, research. And crank it out. It'll be another locked in weekend.
Anyone else add word count when editing? Love it. Love the depth. Love returning to the beginning now that I know the characters and where the plot threads will be going. BUT still cranking out those ending scenes of the rough draft. I think I'm up 2500 in the past couple days.
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And edit, edit, edit. And research, research, research. And crank it out. It'll be another locked in weekend.
Anyone else add word count when editing? Love it. Love the depth. Love returning to the beginning now that I know the characters and where the plot threads will be going. BUT still cranking out those ending scenes of the rough draft. I think I'm up 2500 in the past couple days.
If you're not adding words, then you're likely just proofreading, not editing. Editing is often where a story can get depth, ambience and authenticity.
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With editing I'm either gaining words or losing them.
the Deposed King
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Writing marathon in session. Shutters drawn. No visitors. Great editing and cool 500 so far. Restricting Internet but I'll be around during breaks.
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46k - Admiral Invincible
The Deposed King
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How bad would it be if I skipped my grand-daughter's baptism to continue my weekend writing marathon? Yeah, I know. Get showered Meg.
I won't read Skin Game until the rough draft is finished. After that, there's this horrid game my mind plays with me. It says, "You can't hope to write on Jim Butcher's level. Forget writing." It takes a couple weeks of self hate. Then I put the take-aways from his highlighted book to work and hone my skills...
6000 max words left of the first draft, plus editing continues. Primarily going back to firm up the clue and subplot lines to mesh smoothly with the updated angles as the draft proceeded.
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How bad would it be if I skipped my grand-daughter's baptism to continue my weekend writing marathon? Yeah, I know. Get showered Meg.
I won't read Skin Game until the rough draft is finished. After that, there's this horrid game my mind plays with me. It says, "You can't hope to write on Jim Butcher's level. Forget writing." It takes a couple weeks of self hate. Then I put the take-aways from his highlighted book to work and hone my skills...
6000 max words left of the first draft, plus editing continues. Primarily going back to firm up the clue and subplot lines to mesh smoothly with the updated angles as the draft proceeded.
I always say you don't have to be as good as (insert name) you just have to be good enough to make a living at it. Or alternately sell enough copies to get at a certain daily sales amount or amazon ranking.
I mean heck there are lots of published authors not as good as Jim Butcher and yet you don't see them packing up their chips and going home.
You don't have to be the best, only good enough!
Oh Just did 3k additional chapter for The Painting, Falon II, tonight.
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Thank you DK. i know logically you are right, but I've learned to leave about two weeks to get myself back on track. I don't have that problem with other books. It's his books. The sparse words, the right mix of interior and clear action, the reader's instinctive empathy with his characters. But you are 100% right. The writer's mantra, Hang in there. Trust the muse.
Weekend writing/editing marathon continues. Down to 5000 words to go now. The baptism took longer than I thought--should have skipped the shower. LOL Here's my notes concerning the last scene. It's going to be a b**** to get right, but that isn't for now. On to the motocross race down the Missouri River bluffs. That and one more hard action scene and then it's wipe up left to handle.
My comment bubble on the major assault scene: OKAY you've gotten the fight scene logistics down. You’ve set the scene. The players are in place. The dangerous action is there. You know what’s going to happen. You’ve sketched it in. Now leave it and finish the draft. Fix it later. Only how the hell do I fix it? Time to yank apart some large assault scenes from books to figure this out. How much is over view when a lot is happening in clumps all over the place? How much is interior thought? How do I keep everything in place and moving forward at a frightening speed. Or should I slow it down? Sounds like I need a reread of the Summer Knight giant blow out. ARGHH. Questions for Jim ‘s master class at WyrdCon. Poor guy has no idea how much I'm going to peel back his head and look at his processes.
First though, I need a long walk to clear my head. Then I'm back at the keyboard to write the motocross race down the Missouri River bluffs. That and one more hard action scene and then it's wipe up what's left to handle.
Looks like I'll finally get to read the released first chapters by Thursday night.
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Hell, Jim's the guy who got me into all this back when he gave us a peek under the hood of genre writing with his livejournal entries. I don't read anybody's work as something to compare myself to. It's all a resource I can learn from. Reading for the pure joy of it, but also being able to giggle and point and say "I see what you done there," at some bit of clever story-craft. Understand the writer's layering, get examples of this or that done right or wrong.
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Approximately 3300 words to complete the rough draft, as well as the major smoothing out of the prior days work each morning. Managing my writing time from 6 - 8 like normal. I'm at WyrdCon and Gamers sleep late. Lots of quiet places to write while eating breakfast. Great staff that give you lots of room and privacy.
And WyrdCon is awesome. Jim's class was great and I made tons of notes, but the most notable for me to put to use? Ping Pong... Yeah, cryptic, but very helpful for two applications:
- Dialog - even in group dialog scenes plan it out so two are communicating at a time before moving on to conversation between a different grouping of two. This keeps the reader tracking smoothly. Ping Pong between them and it will also clean up excess dialog tags. Not as clunky and awkward as it sounds.
- Fight scenes - again Ping Pong between two characters at a time AND keep it to Stimulus - Response, Stimulus - Response, etc. In other words keep it moving like a Ping Pong, but don't break the sequence above. Of course never reverse, which would be, uhhh, stupid.
I have a list of about ten new things for me to consider and search out when working on my edits.
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Just popped another book up on amazon. The Painting book 2 of my Rise of the Witch Guard series will be live in less than 12 hours.
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rough draft done 82712 words *happy dance*
Revision and edits for months on end to go. In the meantime, I'm reading Skin Game. Happy writing all. AND CONGRATS DK! I'll be looking for it.
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Simple line edits cut 280 words over 12 pages. At my beginning page count of 296 that means I'll pull off 6,775 over the entire manuscript. I want to get to 60,000. That's another 13,275 to trim via major revision work. For starters, that doesn't look too bad...
Waiting for midnight to download Skin Game. Might as well keep working.
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sooo final year of highschool/alevel exams means I have to stop my self writing
soo every time I wake up I get a new idea for a past project or a new one
my brain it hates me
and I have to be sooo self controled not to write short stories in my lunch brakes (as I wont stop until they are finished)
I am proberly never going to manage really long novels any time soon...
but as I find short stories fun I am okay with that
the bright side to not allowing my self to write till I finish exams is I can listen to neuro read one of their books
which is awesome
and a lot of fun
and they really need to be less modist about their stuff
okay enough ego stroking/ wishing I could write more
good luck everyone
(I am 19 if I finish a project and it does not make some's eyes bleed to look at it that is awesome)
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I'd say you're off to a hell of a good start, just keep making "butt in chair" time happen. In the meantime, I suggest getting "Scrivener." Great program. Any idea you get that you don't have time to sink your teeth into, just open a new project for it, slap down those basic concept or character sketches you have, and you can get back to them later without fear of forgetting the idea...
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Ooh good idea I am still using the pen and note book method...
Might just find Kindle app due to possibility of losing all files and computer access in the next month
Yeah I can't compare my writing to others as I have not been doing it long enough or read as many books as them...
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Comparison is useless. Forget it. You want your own voice and your own story and tell it in your own way. Art is art.
You know what I wish I'd done at your age? Forget even the short stories if you're out of time. Forget sentences! Just write your emotions. Write what happens during your day. Write about your friends. Write about your hopes. Write about your dreams.
As a young adult writer, what I wouldn't give for all those journals I tossed after college. What a freaking waste! I wish I had those written words so I could remember what it really was like being your age.
Write! Maybe it's not even a sentence. Maybe it's just a thought. Write! And don't freaking throw it away when you run out of space. LOL That was my situation. Yours? Get it on a flash drive and don't lose it!
Best wishes moon. You inspire me!
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I try to do that...
its about the only use my FB and LJ accounts get these days
keep writing!
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OK, so I'm in official cut down the words. I got it down a 1000 yesterday. Today, I included an adjustment to key scene, cut out the blasted dog that I thought was cute (even the crit group liked it) but I didn't want to continue to worry about where the heck it was all the time during the action scene--and I didn't want to add yet another character---
Even so, I'm up about 350 words. arghh.
And I'm meeting with the press' marketing person today. That's exciting.
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writing a plan for new project
really want to do first bit today...
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Wrote 4k yesterday and got up to 56k on Admiral Invincible.
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just over 500 words on new project... not bad
also read/listened to three of neuros chapters
which are awesome
but OMG CLIFF HANGERS!!!!!!
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Actually adding more words in edit rather than cutting. I'm in shock. I really am improving; as what I've written is tight and strong. I'll still need to cut words to be where I want, but I'm okay w press at this length if need be.
There is a subthread that I'm worried might be an author's little precious, but I hope not. Might even do two versions (1 w/out and 1 with) & then decide.
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Actually adding more words in edit rather than cutting. I'm in shock. I really am improving; as what I've written is tight and strong. I'll still need to cut words to be where I want, but I'm okay w press at this length if need be.
There is a subthread that I'm worried might be an author's little precious, but I hope not. Might even do two versions (1 w/out and 1 with) & then decide.
That subthread could be your 'ugly doorknob'. A friend told me about the 'ugly doorknob' theory years ago.
He said that people buying a new house unconsciously or maybe consciously want to be able to change/correct
something so if you give them a really 'ugly doorknob' - they can happily change something and will
tend to be more forgiving of other things elsewhere in the house. I suspect that editors are probably
the same. Give them an 'ugly doorknob' so they can put their 'stamp' on a piece and they may be
less likely to savage other parts of your work. I thought it an interesting theory and a moderately
plausible one.
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Snowleopard. Love the ugly doorknob story. Stackpole once in conference said to leave something icky for editors. They'll focus on that rather than other stuff.
I've written every day (except 6*) since 3.22.14.
*More than made up in double session days.
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Dropped a raw egg prior to writing to day. Takes forever to clean up. Freaking had to scrub the whole floor.
Didn't bode well for writing but its been two hours and it'd going okay.
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Been a couple of rough weeks for me -- A relative has been diagnosed with dementia and we have to get them into an assistant living home and clean out their home. It's been physically demanding and a mental drain, and I have a couple of writing assignments for a RPG that due out around Gencon. So, that's going to be my life for the next couple of days.... :( :'(
Craig
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Hey Craig, so sorry for the family situation. Yeah, it probably really knocked you off your game.
Maybe it's lucky you have a deadline? It'll force you back into 'butt' time at the key board. Have you noticed how grief and emotional stuff seems to reside in the same area of the brain as our writing skills. Really makes it tough!
Hang in there and hugs!
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2nd of 200 word shorts for contest. I'll keep creating new ones until I'm happy. I have til Aug. Photo prompt.
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Big, long slog to dial back Shaifennen's dialect and patter. Aggravating but necessary. On the up-side, it's letting me catch a number of other small errors as I go through it again.
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Big, long slog to dial back Shaifennen's dialect and patter. Aggravating but necessary. On the up-side, it's letting me catch a number of other small errors as I go through it again.
Never give up. Never surrender PG!
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Couldn't quit if I wanted to. Those stories want out. ;)
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Will be off-line for quite a while. My 2nd edit came through on Book I. Ellen says, "The book is amazing; your characterizations are amazing, and, what is most exciting to me, the last fifty pages are unputdownable." And also she says, "...an extremely deep edit, which is a good thing and a compliment to you."
I take that to mean, now we will make the first 250 pages as unputdownable as the last fifty! Ha! Although I haven't yet opened the actual document she's warned me it will be exhaustive. She did in-line suggestions and track changes for the house style as well as the editing letter.
Every step will be filled with learning opportunities. I can not wait!
Book II will have to sit. An accompanying short story will have to percolate without key strokes, as will blogging. In addition, the to-be-read list and reviews will go on hold.
*fading into the internet with a smile all*
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Will be off-line for quite a while. My 2nd edit came through on Book I. Ellen says, "The book is amazing; your characterizations are amazing, and, what is most exciting to me, the last fifty pages are unputdownable." And also she says, "...an extremely deep edit, which is a good thing and a compliment to you."
I take that to mean, now we will make the first 250 pages as unputdownable as the last fifty! Ha! Although I haven't yet opened the actual document she's warned me it will be exhaustive. She did in-line suggestions and track changes for the house style as well as the editing letter.
Every step will be filled with learning opportunities. I can not wait!
Book II will have to sit. An accompanying short story will have to percolate without key strokes, as will blogging. In addition, the to-be-read list and reviews will go on hold.
*fading into the internet with a smile all*
Way to go Meg_! Best of luck, that edit sounds exhausting.
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Line edits completed tonight. Now the real work begins...
And thank you DK.
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Congrats Meg and best of luck.
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Chucking through the comment lists for the easy fixes while contemplating the more complex ones.
Can't leave the other manuscript dangling though. I'm finding time to revise both. Added an evening short session to manage time.
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Editing the crap out of stuff. Didn't want to see the parade any way... Will probably be at it all weekend. Still working on easy stuff and trying to get my head around alternatives for the hard stuff.
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Decided to split the droid arc into two books. so part one is at the end point. A couple sneak peek and maybe more spalding chapters and that's a wrap for this.... although with the book being split either part one or part two will be able to keep the invincible title. Not sure but I might change the name of teh first half
anyway have a blast people.
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wake up everyone! I'm still in edits, but I've cranked out a couple shorts for a contest. Might even post them for fun to get your feedback. 200 words - exactly type contest.
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Admiral Invincible needed some work. Especially since its now going to be part one of two. I think we're going to rename the book Admiral's Spine instead of Admiral Invincible.
Also just finished cranking out about 7 more chapters or 17.8k of new material since my last post here.
I think its going to be a great book and the plan is to get together with my brother one last time and then fire it off for sale on amazon, this week!
best of luck everyone, I know I haven't been very active here lately but when I start back in on the next book, which will probably be called admiral invincible too ahhaahahah I'll be back to regular updates.
But as for the rest of you, for shame! letting this thread die down like this. I'm sure there are other people than me out there cranking out new materail.
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Well said DK. This place has been a valuable kick-in-the-butt and be-accountable-point, let alone all the great advice you guys hand out! I do use #amwriting on Twitter, but it isn't the same.
I've finally surfaced. The 2nd round of edits for Chaos Theory was sent off last night at 2:30AM. *yawning* There will be one more pass perhaps before it goes to copy editors.
I have 24 hours to finish up two pieces I have for a short story contest at WPA. They are written and polished, but I will review once more before sending off. 200 words exactly-- very specific rules to follow.
Then I'm back to revising Book II. At this point, I'm craving simple creative writing time, so I might start a short story idea (5000 or so) for an author's website Easter egg gift.
happy writing all
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Well, I've been working on a Novella for Battlecorps, a big risk, as it so universe-based, it can't be rewritten if it's rejected. But its time to stretch my writing muscles, and this story is the one to do it with. I'm aiming for something in the 32-35,000 words range. So far, I have 22,000 of it written. As I said, its a risk, but one worth taking.
Craig
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I just uploaded Admiral's Spine (was Admiral Invincible Part One) to amazon, so book 6 should be up and for purchase in less than 12 hours!
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Congrats again, DK.
And good for you Trbo. For a stretching exercise, 35,000 doesn't seem like a waste of time at all. Especially if you're already 22,000 words in on rough draft. Let us know how it goes? What in particular are you finding challenging?
As for me, doing my best to simply read my rough draft for book 2. I'm tempted to duck tape my fingers to keep from revising. I've been away from it a month while working on Book 1 edits. The forced rest means a fresh view, if I don't get mired down trying to revise without seeing the whole picture.
Best writing all!
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Congrats again, DK.
And good for you Trbo. For a stretching exercise, 35,000 doesn't seem like a waste of time at all. Especially if you're already 22,000 words in on rough draft. Let us know how it goes? What in particular are you finding challenging?
As for me, doing my best to simply read my rough draft for book 2. I'm tempted to duck tape my fingers to keep from revising. I've been away from it a month while working on Book 1 edits. The forced rest means a fresh view, if I don't get mired down trying to revise without seeing the whole picture.
Best writing all!
You can do it Meg! Stay focused and bear down! Bear down! You'll have the book done and pushed out in no time.
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just woke up with a new idea for a story
i have not written in months due to crazyness
but brain 1am is not the bext time to give me ideas?
now i just need someone to pok me in to actually writing the idea down and not just role playing it in my room as the people here think i am mad alreadyand talking to imaginary people does not help lol
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Finally started writing again. didn't get much done yesterday but it's a start.
Had a long slump in my daily writing routine. And did some rewriting on my synopisis this past weekend.
/Ulfgeir
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Well, one of my shorts is in "the next level of selection" for a magazine. They're semi-pro by SFWA's new standards, but that doesn't make much never-mind to me. Another story tied for 2nd place in Pittsburgh's Sci-Fi group's annual competition. Better than I'd dared hope, because the contest had a specific theme, and my story barely acknowledged that theme. More like it walked in, tipped it's hat at the theme with two lines, and then toddled off to be about it's business.
Chugging along on The Big Damn Edit for the novel still... Had to go back to page one and dampen my protagonists's dialect down somewhat, but now I'm rolling along, maybe 80% finished with this run. Finally getting new material into the hands of my Reader Monkeys, which will naturally lead to more editing, but that will hopefully be the odd tweak or tickle.
Be nice when I get this finished and can open new playgrounds... writing's way more fun than editing. ;)
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Thanks DK, but my fresh look was cut short when the 2nd round of edits came in. So back in editing mode. Take a look at my new thread? Could use some of your insight.
just woke up with a new idea for a story ... now i just need someone to pok me
Consider yourself poked! And something is wrong talking to imaginary people? Since when? Is that why they stare at me at Starbucks?
Finally started writing again. didn't get much done yesterday but it's a start. /Ulfgeir
Yeah! Ulfgeir! Doing a single writer's stadium wave from kitchen table. Best luck on sticking to it.
Well, one of my shorts is in "the next level of selection" for a magazine. They're semi-pro by SFWA's new standards, but that doesn't make much never-mind to me. Another story tied for 2nd place in Pittsburgh's Sci-Fi group's annual competition. Better than I'd dared hope, because the contest had a specific theme, and my story barely acknowledged that theme. More like it walked in, tipped it's hat at the theme with two lines, and then toddled off to be about it's business.
Chugging along on The Big Damn Edit for the novel still... Had to go back to page one and dampen my protagonists's dialect down somewhat, but now I'm rolling along, maybe 80% finished with this run. Finally getting new material into the hands of my Reader Monkeys, which will naturally lead to more editing, but that will hopefully be the odd tweak or tickle.
Be nice when I get this finished and can open new playgrounds... writing's way more fun than editing. ;)
Ain't that the truth, but I do enjoy editing too. I wish I could figure out how to do both--something new while editing something old. I either 1. don't have time or 2. I'm too inflexible... It's good to have you post again, my friend! And how great to get second on your nod to the theme! Very exciting. I've a goal of getting into SFWA someday, but I've not proven to be a short story person or a dedicated regular submission-type person. We'll see. Someday...
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i started to err write again.... so far I have half a chapter....
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i started to err write again.... so far I have half a chapter....
so maybe the poke helped? Ha!
OK, up to page 197 of the 2nd editor requested revisions (out of 274 pages), but there is a fairly substantial rearrangement of material. I expect a slow down as I work with that...
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maybe
but it was funny when i was talking to neuro while we went out for lunch together and i got an idea and started writing it down during the convisations
i hae written the idea in to actual paragraph now
so yay
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Thanks DK, but my fresh look was cut short when the 2nd round of edits came in. So back in editing mode. Take a look at my new thread? Could use some of your insight.
Consider yourself poked! And something is wrong talking to imaginary people? Since when? Is that why they stare at me at Starbucks?
Yeah! Ulfgeir! Doing a single writer's stadium wave from kitchen table. Best luck on sticking to it. Ain't that the truth, but I do enjoy editing too. I wish I could figure out how to do both--something new while editing something old. I either 1. don't have time or 2. I'm too inflexible... It's good to have you post again, my friend! And how great to get second on your nod to the theme! Very exciting. I've a goal of getting into SFWA someday, but I've not proven to be a short story person or a dedicated regular submission-type person. We'll see. Someday...
I love the feeling that comes with fixing a scene that didn't quite work... figuring out what the hitch or burr was, and nailing it down... but the spellchecks/read-throughs and such are too damn much like work. ;) Still, it's the only way to get from A to B. Slog on, MacDuffy!
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So, in the same vein as PaynesGrey above...
Can I count it as writing when I spent my writing time cutting up print copies and reorganizing like a pre-schooler? I needed to take about 500 words and relocate it earlier in the manuscript. I simply couldn't see it, or more likely I needed to feel it and the pages, to get the job done...
Either way, I'm counting it as successful writing time since I worked out the problem. Now to doing it on the computer and re-writing the transitions tonight or tomorrow morning.
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you can if I can count reasearch to make sure a seen will be accuret as writing time
if so
2 hours
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It's a deal moon. Research away.
Periscope is down for editing deadline on the 18th. Shouldn't be a problem--I hope.
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Been getting some good revisions on the Big Damn Sequel despite (or perhaps because of) major family issues.
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5 hours of reasearch and a draft of the second half of chapter one that needs neaterning in to full sentances
i call this a win
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Been getting some good revisions on the Big Damn Sequel despite (or perhaps because of) major family issues.
yep, it can be like that sometimes...
And yeah on the win Moon
Deadline met. Sent it off around 4PM Sunday, immediately went out riding with very pouting and neglected horse. She was thrilled at the attention. Also mowed yard. House still looks like nuclear disaster.
Even so, this morning was great to be back on my normal writing schedule with time for writing, work, house, pets, and me! Spent it charting out what additional series books look like. Already have the ideas, but I wanted to see a time line. It was FUN. And after all those edits, I'm ready for fun!
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Sigh,
I have been stalling, The six part braided short story collection for the GG is calling. 95% finished)
How ever I have been making this,
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss146/Thorgierr/70fd512a-88bd-4efb-85ee-0e2e6fc504fc.jpg (http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss146/Thorgierr/70fd512a-88bd-4efb-85ee-0e2e6fc504fc.jpg)
It is all handmade except the barrel, .50 cal, cut rifling, sixty two inches over all, and can be reloaded in the prone position.
In my defense, it is from one of my co author's NYT best selling novel.
Back to making literary sparks,
Kevin
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Oh, that's a lovely piece of hardware you're working on there. Never big on blackpowder myself, but I respect and appreciate the craftsmanship there. Gorgeous work.
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Thanks,
As I said the rifle is new technology introduced in to the 1632 story cycle. It has the advantage of being reloadable in the prone position, this changes 17th century warfare dramatically.
One of our rules is that tech for the "New time line" has to work, there were question raised, so we made one. Grin.
This was not the first thing made, in the past we have hand made an aviation propeller, a two pound to the HP wooden block steam engine (bolt on iron cylinders), and a lead screw for a lathe starting with a drawn rod and wire.
Back to our writing (my wife and I), we just received the contract for "Murder and Chocolate" that comes out in Grantville Gazette vol. 55 Sept 1.
The work was actually written three years ago, publishing lead times are fun!
Regards,
Kevin
Oh, that's a lovely piece of hardware you're working on there. Never big on blackpowder myself, but I respect and appreciate the craftsmanship there. Gorgeous work.
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9k AI Part 2
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African Firestorm --- 1.5K
Craig
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2.6K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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4.4K --- African Firestorm
5.1K --- African Firestorm
6.4K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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8K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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30k - AI part 2
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9.7K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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11.7K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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Wow, look at these numbers being posted! Super great.
I've completed the short story in rough draft. Now I'm back in the final copy edit stage on Book I. After that, I get to dig into Book II.
The exciting news is that the cover art is complete but not yet public. And the title page says, "Book I of the Kami Files" with the title under that. I take that to be a good sign that they anticipate a book II being purchased after my many months working on bringing MS up to snuff for submission.
Please take a look at my new thread I set up. I especially would like DK's opinion, because I think he's the most knowledgeable person I know on Amazon stats etc.
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15.2K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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37k - AI part 2
An I put up a pretty long post on the other thread meg. Don't know how much of an authority I am on the subject. I just put in my 2 cents, which can and has changed over time!
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An I put up a pretty long post on the other thread meg. Don't know how much of an authority I am on the subject. I just put in my 2 cents, which can and has changed over time!
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17.1K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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19.5K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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26.4K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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48k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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50k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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52k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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28.6K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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54k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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32.2K --- African Firestorm
33.5K --- African Firestorm
36.4K --- African Firestorm
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=509344532501669&set=a.126252057477587.15383.100002783818310&type=1&theater (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=509344532501669&set=a.126252057477587.15383.100002783818310&type=1&theater)
Craig
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56k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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38.9K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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58k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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Lades and Gentlemen....Dueling Novels!!!! ;D
Craig
(Just like Dueling Banjos,only with novels...... ;D)
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40.1K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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61k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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43.5K --- African Firestorm
44.8K --- African Firestorm
46.6K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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51.0K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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64k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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116K and counting on Body For Hire; almost ready to send to betas.
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55.0K --- African Firestorm
Craig
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70k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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55.8K --- African Firestorm
2.7K --- The Death Throne (NaNoWriMo attempt)
Craig
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57.0K --- African Firestorm
4.0K --- The Death Throne (NaNoWriMo attempt)
Craig
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Some good progress today on my climactic scene.
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71k - AI part 2
The Deposed king
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72k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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My mind isn't working well with Business Author, Editing Author, Creatining long work author, Creating Short Work Author... All on 2 hours each morning and my entire weekend.
Hanging in there, making progress, and loving it, but it's not easy. I'm too old for multi-tasking for my hobby. For work, you bet--it's part of life, but this is hard.
My website is up (still under construction) but stop by... MEvonneDobson.com Leave a note so I know you've been there. AND YES, I can't figure out how to put in the little buy buttons... That's on the list, along with a bunch of other stuff. Now, I'm back to writing.
Hugs and write on!
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Finally finished the chapter where the protagonist of my Steampunk-story met with the person she needed to meet, so now the story can continue with the proper heist and all the fallout from that. Getting to this point where things start happening has been tough. Hopefully the story will flow better now.
Current word-count: 20700+ words, and 11 chapters so far.
/Ulfgeir
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58.3K --- African Firestorm
6.5K --- The Death Throne (NaNoWriMo attempt)
Craig
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76k - AI Part 2
The Deposed King
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80k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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so i wrote a chapter
now i have to write the second one?
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83k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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Had to make a major change to African Firestom's plot --- now at 59K, don't know what the effect going to be once I'm done. The Death Throne is sinking fast at only 8.4K
Craig
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84k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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88k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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89k - AI part 2
the Deposed King
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103k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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116k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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120k - AI part 2
The Deposed King
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I just finished my second feature length screenplay or the first first draft of one.
165 pages I didn't have before.
Hazzah...
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Congrats, Land, screenplays are a whole nuther ball of wax from writing prose.
Good on you for getting 'black on white' to borrow a line.
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Way to go on the screen draft. Keep after it.
140k - AI part 2
Rough Draft Completed! I pulled a 15k all day/all nighter and got it done!
The Deposed King
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I am impressed. the most I can do in a day is about 3,000words
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We all work at our own speed.
Don't judge yourself by anyone else pcpoet, that never works out well.
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not judging myself but I am still impressed
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I can do a little over 1k an hour when I'm motivated. If I have an outline on paper and clear image of what I want to write inmy head I can burn through it. For the 15k day I did 8k in 5-6 hours sitting at McDonalds where I switched out 3 fresh batteries in my laptop and for the remaining seven it took me something like 12 hours as I sat on the couch and just ground on it on the couch at home refusing to go to sleep until it was done.
Frankly with outlines I have two factors. One I 'can' write faster when its there. Two my motivation to write goes down because I know pretty much exactly what's going to happen so my fun level as a reader/writer goes down.
I figure that if you treat writing like a full time job and pull 1k per hour for 6-8hours every day then 6k+ per day is reasonable so long as its all plotted out before hand. So I set my target for 5k as reasonable to achieve. But if you're just putting a couple hours of serious work in every day then 2k per day is easy to accomplish. Again if you know what you need to write about before hand and give it the same focus as you would the day job for that time.
Writing gives you back what you put into it and its great cause at 2k per day x 360 days you'd get 720k words written in a year and at 80k-120k for a book that's a minimum of 6 books you could write in a year, just working part time 2 hours/2k every day without fail. With fail for weekends and holidays maybe 4 books.
It all depends on how many stories you've got ready and free time etc.
Best of luck with everything,
The Deposed King
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FYI - the most I've ever heard written in one day was from John Ringo who said he once sat down and wrote 25k before stopping.
I've never done that.
FYI 2 -And I know Chris Nuttal writes about 8k a day every day without stop until the book is done. Then he takes two weeks to plot out his next book and rinses and repeats. (40 odd books up on amazon and more every month)
Haven't done that either.
So like snowleapord said, don't judge yourself by others. Figure out what you can and what you want to do, then go out and try to do it. I can't run marathons and I haven't run 5 miles in a day but that doesn't mean the mile or two I have done is anything to sneeze at. The same goes for writing.
The Deposed King
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I just started writing last January. I spent the last year teaching myself to tell a story. I have had three false starts in writing a book because my skill at telling a story changed so drastically that I decided to start fresh. I am just happy to be at 11,000 word and not ready to start from scratch. I final am not embarrassed to show my work to others while my grammar skills need to improve. I have story flow and structure down. my writing so far has been free form no story board but I have decided that I got to sit down and outline my story so that I have belter structure to the writing.
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at the moment I am trying to get 1,000 words a day for me that is about 4 hours of writing.
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Typing speed can be a big issue. Also as for story telling, I've found that running a D&D campaign and having to react to characters who without fail want to roam around outside of the campaign manuels to be excellent training. As is telling stories to my children where they can be the characters. It started with little red riding hood, my oldest son only hadto hear the story a couple times before he wasn't going up the stairs to see grama but wanted me to finish telling him the story all the same. Then all original stories with him as the star.
Other than that reading thousands of sci-fi/fantasy books. Practice practice practice.
I spent about 8-10 years never getting more than 10k in a story down and was asked if english was my second language. Then my life was falling apart and I decided I would either write a book or stop the dream. I sat down and even though my story skipped between 1st person and 3rd person and it stank so bad my brother and I had to do multiple rewrites, I didn't stop. Its a heck of a lot easier to edit a bad story than it is to write one.
My advice don't give up, don't stop, don't go back and rewrite. Just type until its done. Then go back and spend a couple weeks fixing it up nice and pretty. You'd be amazed.
The Deposed King
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I have a book by Jon Winokur called - Writers on Writing.
It's all quotes by writers on the craft, the process, and their fellow writers. (There are some zingers in that section.)
One of the ones I like goes like this - "Get Black on White!"
Just like the Deposed King says - just keep on plugging at it.
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thanks for the advice on writing. I no the key is to just write. I myself decided to write because. my life sucked I suffer from bipolar illness and have been on disability for years when ever I have tried to work or go to school my illness would get in the way. Last year I was so tired of being sick and tired. I decided to take up writing and to treat it as a full time job. it feels good to do this because if anyone asks me how I spend my days I now tell them that I am writing a book.
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Well just make sure to save your work so that when you cycle down you can't delete everything because it all 'sucks'. Maybe give copies to a friend who doesn't even need to read it just hold it.
Other than that I don't think it really matters why a person writes so long as they enjoy doing it. If you enjoy what you're doing, then people will pick up on that and they'll enjoy it too.
I've often if I ever did a writing workshop for new would-be writers what I would say. I've thought perhaps open the class with a question.
"Do you think you could write a book so bad that no one would ever read it?" "A full length book?"
Cause most people never do. And I guarantee that if you (the general student you) wrote a full length book you could fix it up and make it sing and somebody would buy it. Studies have shown that 2% of people will buy just about anything.
The Deposed King
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I save every thing now even the stuff I hate. you never no when you have gold. years ago I did poetry. I destroyed everything that I wrote when I was doing poetry because when I came down from my manic high all it did was remind me how sick I was when I have a mania. I have a few examples that somehow managed to miss the great purge and it sickens me because one or two pieces are truly brilliant.
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Just a little note of reality here - keep copies of everything you've saved in a least one
off site place. Be it someplace like Carbomite or a flashdrive at Aunt Berthas but
do keep one somewhere. This way - heaven forfend - something happens to your computer or,
even worse, your place - you've got those copies to fall back on.
Not trying to be a downer just passing on some advice given to me years ago.
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I hear you Snowleopard, I almost lost an entire manuscript. Well 80%, because my computer crashed and I hadn't backed it up since like 20k words.
I'd just plain forgotten and when I tried to go and get some of the files I'd saved on yahoo that were like 60% through the book, the mail program kept having an error, said it was a bad file type for them. I was just about at wits end until I managed to get my hard drive hooked up to something other than my dead lap top and retrieved the file.
The relief was palpable. So yeah it doesn't matter why, just save your work! I was in a funk for days until the IT guys finally managed to get me back that file. Months worth of work, yeeee
The Deposed King
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years ago when I was going to the university. I was new to owning a computer and my computer windows program failed only two months after getting a computer. I had ten page paper on it which was most my grade for my class. I paid 100 dollars just to get someone to either retrieve the paper or to fix the computer. they fixed the computer. I had a setting wrong on the computer that made it so I could not access other programs using windows. I think it took the person all of tem minutes to fix the problem. I felt ripped off by the company at the time. but since then it has been back up everything digatal
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I heard a tale of someone who was saving his work to a - wait for it - rewritable CD-R - despite warnings not to -
so guess what happened? Yup, rewrote over most of his novel and had to rewrite most of it.
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With the name of the thread being a bit surreal, I was trying to figure out what this thread was for. After reading through the first few pages, I realized I was being a dunce. Since I do blog fiction, everything I write immediately gets published the day I write it - this also creates a backup on the blog.
Now that I know what this thread is about, I love the name :)
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Its a great thread but its been pretty slow lately. We used to have a lot of people posting their new word counts but its faded away a bit. And with me on a 'just completed a book' cool down period, there's not a whole lot of action.
Good to see you here Farmerbob1
The Deposed King
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my word count is 10,218 as of this post and counting
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Its a great thread but its been pretty slow lately. We used to have a lot of people posting their new word counts but its faded away a bit. And with me on a 'just completed a book' cool down period, there's not a whole lot of action.
Good to see you here Farmerbob1
The Deposed King
In my case, I had to go back and rip apart several chapters because I was making things too complex when they didn't need to be. Back on track now, and the WC for African Firestorm is now 59.1K.....
Craig
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Great to hear some new word count action guys!
The Deposed King
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Knights of Broken Swords is at 15,355 words including a little bit of header info for each of three chapters.
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My books title at least at this point is periwinkle. it is the story of a sprite (fairy) who gets trapped in a jen bottle for four hundred years and escapes entrapment in the1960's.. I want to do a whole series of books dealing with the the historical and cultural events of the 1960-1970 and my character periwinkle.
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Knights of Broken Swords is at 27,802 words including a little bit of header info for each of the five chapters.
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"Valorous Daughter" (novella) is in the hands of the very model of modern capable copy-editor. I've got another short story finished... purposefully ignoring it for a week or so while I revise some other shorts before sening them back to the slush pits. And the ongoing edits of "A Kiss For Damocles," which will hopefully be ready to go to aforementioned copy-editor once he wraps up his work on Valorous Daughter. Been a productive couple of months.
The big news is that I took everything I've learned over the past year... reader feedback, betas, personal rejections, and a couple story critiques from P.N. Elrod and looked at the novella I self-published a year ago. Learned a lot since then, so I revised that sucker, fleshing some things out more, trimming redundant expositional overexplaining that was excessive. Also added a historical timeline and rather exhaustive glossary of terms. Just goes to show that when you think a piece is "perfect," putting some time and words between you and that piece will invariably point out some room for improvement.
http://www.amazon.com/Ravati-Aziz-Terror-Twelvety-Town-ebook/dp/B00GZEDSIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420414604&sr=8-1&keywords=ravati+aziz
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Knights of Broken Swords is up to 36,212 words, including headers.
I was intending to use this crossover short novel as an experiment in planning (planning being something that I've never really done before for writing), but I've once again discovered how painful it is to write in other people's universes, with other people's characters.
Nothing feels quite right.
That being said, I don't feel like it's terrible either. I'd be interested in hearing what you folks think about what I've done with Butters and Bob.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10888845/1/Knights-of-Broken-Swords
If you aren't familiar with Pact by Wildbow, it can be found here. It's web serial urban fantasy, but much darker then the Dresdenverse.
http://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/about/
I'm currently working with some other Pact readers to get Pact added to the list of Fanfiction titles.
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Just finished chapter 12 of my Steampunk novel. At the moment 34 pages and slightly more than 23 000 words long. I expect it to end up around twice as long, unless I totally scrap some of the planned chapters that are in the synopsis.
The chapter made for a point where the protagonist reached the goal she set out to do earlier. Now, the remaining chapters will be the fallout of that. The chapter also contained as close as a sex-scene that the story would contain "on camera". Other such encounters are alluded to having happened "off camera". Yes, it had a definitive reason to be there for the plot, and no, the character in question is not happy at all that she didn't get more out of it. ;)
So far my New Year's resolution of writing every day holds.
/Ulfgeir
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Knights of Broken Swords up to Chapter 7 and 43,494 words.
One more chapter to go. The whole planning thing seems to have worked reasonably well :)
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'Knights of Broken Swords', a fanfic, is now up to 53,987 words and is complete, though it will probably get a little poking and prodding to clean up issues.
Next Project is 'Set in Stone' Working on series backstory and story structure for the arc and the first book.
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The backstory for my next project, 'Set In Stone' has been written. 9360 words at this time, but that will almost certainly change a bit as the backstory is massaged.
'Set In Stone' is original fiction, and will be multipart. It will also be rational fiction in a stonepunk theme. Humanity on the colony Nirvana had advanced technologies taken away, but not all of its knowledge. As the simplest possible way to describe it, imagine the Flintstones, but with everything making sense.
The backstory describes how the people of Nirvana got to be where they are. The in-universe writing will rarely reference elements of the backstory.
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farmebob1 this sounds interesting. if I got your premise right it is people living with stone age technology but they have the written knowledge of advance technology but because they don't have the infrastructure they cant take advantage of the knowledge.
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Folks just be careful of what you post here.
We don't want to muck JB up.
See the (READ THIS) thread below.
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,15778.0.html
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Snowleopard,
If I understand correctly, based on the information that you link to, links are acceptable, but direct posting of content is not. This makes a great deal of sense for fanfiction. As for original works, practically every written work of fiction these days has its roots in something else. Any established successful author who sees an idea they like will certainly be capable of taking that idea and running with it in a different direction, adding their own twist and making it their own.
In my case, I do blogfiction. The concerns about me allowing the public to see my work are somewhat silly, as my work is intended to be seen by the public as it is created, step-by-step. I have also done background discussions with folks over at Reddit, in the public.
All that being said, in the interest of getting along, I will not discuss specifics of my 'Set In Stone' project here, and ask that folks would instead discuss the project on the site where the work can be read as it is created.
https://setinstonestory.wordpress.com/about-the-series/
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Hey, Farmerbob,
Yeah, links are acceptable.
I think a general content comment like - I'm doing a Steampunk story or I'm doing a Space Opera story
is okay also.
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I'm doing a Stonepunk story set in the future
The "punk" suffix is kind of being watered down a bit at this point, I think.
(Note to self; come up with story set in the 1970s and push it as "Punkpunk".)
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Heyla Neuro, how are you doing?
That sounds interesting. ::)
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The "punk" suffix is kind of being watered down a bit at this point, I think.
(Note to self; come up with story set in the 1970s and push it as "Punkpunk".)
I believe 'punk' has grown to simply mean a strange combination of technology levels. Steampunk has an interesting wiki page where various punk subgenres are discussed.
I had absolutely no clue how to define my next project succinctly, until someone else described it as stonepunk. Sure enough, the subgenre exists - and it has for a long time, before the word existed. The Flintstones were stonepunk. They aren't rational stonepunk though, which is where I'm trying to go :)
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I hope you have a pig garbage disposal system.
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'Set In Stone' Chapter 01 is posted at 5170 words