I'm not sure what made this day such a hard writing day. I know I had a weird dream before I woke up, but would that have done it? I was trying to sneak out of a house and the friend I was with was dragging her feet. Not sure what that was about!
I seldom write on the weekend, but that didn't stop the great ideas that seemed to gush out. I dutifully wrote them all down in a little notebook, but when it came time this morning (8:30 AM) to start, the ideas didn't seem to gel as I thought they would.
Still, I kept at it for a good four or more hours (took some breaks looking for good restaurants in Denver...) and then finally stopped when I was starving for lunch. I was up nearly 1,000 words but didn't feel satisfied. Maybe I will tomorrow when I look at what I did today. I think one of the difficulties is that I'm more and more aware that it's time to reread. I've been inserting various scenes, and I think the ms. may need to be sorted out yet again. I don't want to take the time to do this as it will kill a whole writing session, but I may need to.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Back again...
Has it really been nearly nine months since I was on this blog???
Yikes. I will try to do better.
Really.
The good news is that ever since the end of January 2015, I have been racking up the words. Not to say that I haven't had the usual stare-at-the-screen days which make me pretty grumpy, but I am making progress. I am up to over 72,000 words. I think I need 80 or 90K. I have solemnly resolved to finish this book by the end of 2015. That means not only the first draft, but Draft #45 and all the way to Finished Draft.
Really.
So, stay tuned. I will try to write every day or at least once a week to update this blog and let you know where I am with word count and also with staring...
Yikes. I will try to do better.
Really.
The good news is that ever since the end of January 2015, I have been racking up the words. Not to say that I haven't had the usual stare-at-the-screen days which make me pretty grumpy, but I am making progress. I am up to over 72,000 words. I think I need 80 or 90K. I have solemnly resolved to finish this book by the end of 2015. That means not only the first draft, but Draft #45 and all the way to Finished Draft.
Really.
So, stay tuned. I will try to write every day or at least once a week to update this blog and let you know where I am with word count and also with staring...
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Happy July!
Happy July 3, soon to be Happy Birthday, USA!
I just passed the 50,000 mark and am thrilled! I may have also passed that deadly middle part of a manuscript where I sometimes don't know where I'm going. I have lots of scenes in my head, so even if I'm not sure what's next, I have scenes I can write while I wait...
Plus, I am more and more sure that I will be able to get the bones of this story down by the end of the summer. Then I can spend the fall editing, a task I actually love as it's a bit like putting together a puzzle.
So for those of you who love fireworks as much as I do, here's a little preview of some rollicking Fourth of July sparklers!
I just passed the 50,000 mark and am thrilled! I may have also passed that deadly middle part of a manuscript where I sometimes don't know where I'm going. I have lots of scenes in my head, so even if I'm not sure what's next, I have scenes I can write while I wait...
Plus, I am more and more sure that I will be able to get the bones of this story down by the end of the summer. Then I can spend the fall editing, a task I actually love as it's a bit like putting together a puzzle.
So for those of you who love fireworks as much as I do, here's a little preview of some rollicking Fourth of July sparklers!
Monday, June 30, 2014
Got a little sidetracked last week. I wrote most days but not on Wednesday because of errands in Tulsa. (No CVS in our little town of Bartlesville - but one is coming soon, thank goodness...)
Still, I finished up the week with a halfway presentable 3953. Not the 1K/day I want, but not bad considering I skipped Wednesday.
Romance novels have to have LOVE in them, and so I was working on kissing today... I'm not sure how it went. But then, I often don't know how it is until I go back and reread the next day.
Now I'm about to venture out into the blazing heat of Oklahoma (I know how that will go - HOT) to pick up produce at my favorite fruit stand, V & G's in Dewey. I guess you could call it my reward for this morning's success.
Still, I finished up the week with a halfway presentable 3953. Not the 1K/day I want, but not bad considering I skipped Wednesday.
Romance novels have to have LOVE in them, and so I was working on kissing today... I'm not sure how it went. But then, I often don't know how it is until I go back and reread the next day.
Now I'm about to venture out into the blazing heat of Oklahoma (I know how that will go - HOT) to pick up produce at my favorite fruit stand, V & G's in Dewey. I guess you could call it my reward for this morning's success.
Monday, June 23, 2014
I truly am back!
I have to apologize for being gone so long. It's not that I haven't been writing. It's more that I haven't been blogging. (Well, also not writing as much as I should have been...)
A year ago, we moved from CA to OK, and I'm finally finding time to update my website (soon to be complete) and also to blog about the progress on my latest manuscript, a contemporary romance.
I'm using the abbreviation, CCK, for the title since I'm not totally sure what the actual title will be. But I've finally had some free weeks to totally devote to writing, and I'm thrilled to say (after way too many mornings staring at the computer screen) that I'm up to 42,000 words. My first goal is to have 65,000 by the end of July. My second goal is to have a first draft by the end of the summer.
This manuscript has been especially hard because I started it in the fall of 2012, right after my son went off to college. I made good progress through the fall and even through the holidays. But I quickly got sidetracked that spring with packing to move. Then unpacking in the summer, a very busy fall, the holidays again with little or no work done, some writing in the spring but mostly trying to decide if I should downsize from three main female characters to just one. Then to a writers' conference in AZ during which I figured out lots of things. One was: I needed to have just one main female character.
Oh, and I also spent some time wondering how things were going in Africa where my son was studying for the spring semester... Then May comes and he comes home! And I finally get back to business, so to speak.
While I was working today, an email came in from a Yahoo writing group I'm part of through RWA (Romance Writers of America). The question posted was about motivation. I read a lot and one thing that bugs me is when the author does not set up the motivation. The characters have to want something and want it bad. That's one of the qualities of good writing. The other is the set-up. I like to say that you can make just about anything believable if you set it up. For example, Jane Doe, your main female character really would chew on bark - believably - if you set it up that maybe that's what she used to do as a kid while out in the woods with her dear ol' grandpa.
My other gripe? No story. I mean, NO STORY. I can't tell you how many books I've started this summer that did not have a story. So, we need to add story-telling to the list of talents a writer should have. I hope it's one I have.
Total words today: 1343
Total manuscript words: 42,031
A year ago, we moved from CA to OK, and I'm finally finding time to update my website (soon to be complete) and also to blog about the progress on my latest manuscript, a contemporary romance.
I'm using the abbreviation, CCK, for the title since I'm not totally sure what the actual title will be. But I've finally had some free weeks to totally devote to writing, and I'm thrilled to say (after way too many mornings staring at the computer screen) that I'm up to 42,000 words. My first goal is to have 65,000 by the end of July. My second goal is to have a first draft by the end of the summer.
This manuscript has been especially hard because I started it in the fall of 2012, right after my son went off to college. I made good progress through the fall and even through the holidays. But I quickly got sidetracked that spring with packing to move. Then unpacking in the summer, a very busy fall, the holidays again with little or no work done, some writing in the spring but mostly trying to decide if I should downsize from three main female characters to just one. Then to a writers' conference in AZ during which I figured out lots of things. One was: I needed to have just one main female character.
Oh, and I also spent some time wondering how things were going in Africa where my son was studying for the spring semester... Then May comes and he comes home! And I finally get back to business, so to speak.
While I was working today, an email came in from a Yahoo writing group I'm part of through RWA (Romance Writers of America). The question posted was about motivation. I read a lot and one thing that bugs me is when the author does not set up the motivation. The characters have to want something and want it bad. That's one of the qualities of good writing. The other is the set-up. I like to say that you can make just about anything believable if you set it up. For example, Jane Doe, your main female character really would chew on bark - believably - if you set it up that maybe that's what she used to do as a kid while out in the woods with her dear ol' grandpa.
My other gripe? No story. I mean, NO STORY. I can't tell you how many books I've started this summer that did not have a story. So, we need to add story-telling to the list of talents a writer should have. I hope it's one I have.
Total words today: 1343
Total manuscript words: 42,031
Friday, November 1, 2013
OUCH!
I thought I was back. I really did. Honestly. But the fact was that I still didn't have a clear vision of where I was going in the story. The major problem was an inability - a complete paralysis - about cutting any of my precious words.
You see, I really liked what I had written, thought it was clever and sharp. Maybe it was. But that's no matter because if it doesn't move the story forward, then OUT it goes.
Slice, chop, eliminate!
OUCH!!!!!!
I may be back now. Stay tuned...
You see, I really liked what I had written, thought it was clever and sharp. Maybe it was. But that's no matter because if it doesn't move the story forward, then OUT it goes.
Slice, chop, eliminate!
OUCH!!!!!!
I may be back now. Stay tuned...
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
I am back!
I did it! 883 words in just about ninety minutes. Again, I don't know whether it's any good. (In fact, I may be heading in a complete new tangent.) But at least I put myself in the chair and wrote.
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