Blogger and NaNo are eating my time. I'm not really complaining because it's my choice to partake of these activities, but I spend way more time online than I used to. And online time is time not spent writing or studying or doing any of those nasty errand and shopping thingies. Seriously, I used to check my email, facebook, myspace, bank account, and blog and be off in thirty minutes flat. I'm staring the clock now wondering how an hour and ten minutes have passed. I need to say it: I'm out!
Oh, and Book B is up to 6530 words. Yay for eensy weensy progress :) It's still progress...
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Ah, the Thrill of a Challenge...
Writing is so much fun! Have I ever mentioned that? Yes? I have? Oh, well, I thought it needed reiteration.
I've been snooping around NaNo and other blogs and I'm amazed at how many people cringe before a writing challenge.
Sure, I've had rough patches while writing Book 1 - times when I couldn't figure out how to accomplish a scene, or how to explain something. Times when my creativity flattened and I couldn't write period. Times when I doubted myself and the quality of my work. But those were not - let me repeat, NOT - the most prevalent times.
For 90% of my rough draft experience with AUC, I trilled at telling Paige's story. I loved the character interactions and how characters and events managed to surprise even me. I love the feeling that I was outdoing my expectations by writing better than I thought I could.
I write because I love writing. If you don't love it, then why force yourself to go through what many have described as an agonizing process? It just doesn't add up to me...
Anyway, my update for the day is that I've finished chapter 1 of Book B (5K words). Time to sleep.
I've been snooping around NaNo and other blogs and I'm amazed at how many people cringe before a writing challenge.
Sure, I've had rough patches while writing Book 1 - times when I couldn't figure out how to accomplish a scene, or how to explain something. Times when my creativity flattened and I couldn't write period. Times when I doubted myself and the quality of my work. But those were not - let me repeat, NOT - the most prevalent times.
For 90% of my rough draft experience with AUC, I trilled at telling Paige's story. I loved the character interactions and how characters and events managed to surprise even me. I love the feeling that I was outdoing my expectations by writing better than I thought I could.
I write because I love writing. If you don't love it, then why force yourself to go through what many have described as an agonizing process? It just doesn't add up to me...
Anyway, my update for the day is that I've finished chapter 1 of Book B (5K words). Time to sleep.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Book 1 (AUC) Rough Draft is DONE!
As promised (at least to myself) the rough draft is finished. In keeping with my number freak-ish-ness, here are the ending stats.
Standard
Words per average ms page: 550 (12pt TNR single spaced)
Words per average book page: 300
1. AUC
Began: August 29th, 2008
Finished: November 4th, 2008
Average words per day: 2-5 thousand
Average chapter length: 3,950 words, 7 ms pages, 13 book pages
As of Draft 2:
Half length (thru ch 13): 96 ms pages, 177 book pages (~53,000 words)
Full length (thru ch 25): 178 ms pages, 330 book pages (~99,000 words)
And I'm thoroughly pleased... not with the draft, just that it is done...
The Road of Revisions is sure to be long and windy, but for now, I'm setting it aside to work on NaNoWriMo (and pass my classes and read wonderful books like Iron Kissed...)
My first book ever is DONE! I feel like Dr. Frankenstein, only it won't really "live" until it sees publication so that other people can enjoy the world that haunts my waking moments...
Standard
Words per average ms page: 550 (12pt TNR single spaced)
Words per average book page: 300
1. AUC
Began: August 29th, 2008
Finished: November 4th, 2008
Average words per day: 2-5 thousand
Average chapter length: 3,950 words, 7 ms pages, 13 book pages
As of Draft 2:
Half length (thru ch 13): 96 ms pages, 177 book pages (~53,000 words)
Full length (thru ch 25): 178 ms pages, 330 book pages (~99,000 words)
And I'm thoroughly pleased... not with the draft, just that it is done...
The Road of Revisions is sure to be long and windy, but for now, I'm setting it aside to work on NaNoWriMo (and pass my classes and read wonderful books like Iron Kissed...)
My first book ever is DONE! I feel like Dr. Frankenstein, only it won't really "live" until it sees publication so that other people can enjoy the world that haunts my waking moments...
Monday, November 3, 2008
Determined to Finish
Between work, sleep, school, and not one, but two writing projects, my juggling skills should be improving right? Add to that the fact that I'm completely addicted to a good book (like now, Iron Kissed, by Patricia Briggs) and am completely incapable of focusing on other things when in the middle of one.
But I'm determined to finish Book 1 (AUC) tonight. All that's left is to wrap everything up and wind it down, and I fear that if I don't get too it soon, my own interest will wind down. I also feel guilty working on my NaNoWriMo project with this one still not done, so with any luck, I'll get to post around 7AM tomorrow morning that AUC is all done and I'm celebrating...
That would be wonderful, considering I have an exam on Thursday to study for. But then there's still Iron Kissed to get over. Ah, the life of a book-a-holic...
*sigh*
If I could... No, I would still rather be an addict :-) Wouldn't you?
But I'm determined to finish Book 1 (AUC) tonight. All that's left is to wrap everything up and wind it down, and I fear that if I don't get too it soon, my own interest will wind down. I also feel guilty working on my NaNoWriMo project with this one still not done, so with any luck, I'll get to post around 7AM tomorrow morning that AUC is all done and I'm celebrating...
That would be wonderful, considering I have an exam on Thursday to study for. But then there's still Iron Kissed to get over. Ah, the life of a book-a-holic...
*sigh*
If I could... No, I would still rather be an addict :-) Wouldn't you?
Saturday, November 1, 2008
NaNoWriMo - the Book B project
Howdy to all of yous out there in cyberland,
Well it's morning on November 1st, which means the start gun went off almost seven hours ago... the race to a 50,000 word (or longer) novel(la) has begun. And like all long distance races, for most of us this is about finishing rather than coming in first.
I've begun my second book this morning, and for the purposes of this blog, I'll call it Book B. It is in the same world as Book 1, with a few of the same characters, but it's not really connected with Book 1, so I'm not wanting to call it Book 2. The MC of Book B is a secondary character in Book 1 and it's told for his POV. I'm a little over 2,000 words into it and so far I'm liking it better than Book 1. Not sure if that's a good thing or not...
Anyway, I'm still about 4K away from finishing Book 1, or a little over a chapter. That's all the updates for now... tata!
Edit: as a secondary, unrelated note, I just noticed that the full trailer for Twilight has been posted. So here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxjNDE2fMjI
Well it's morning on November 1st, which means the start gun went off almost seven hours ago... the race to a 50,000 word (or longer) novel(la) has begun. And like all long distance races, for most of us this is about finishing rather than coming in first.
I've begun my second book this morning, and for the purposes of this blog, I'll call it Book B. It is in the same world as Book 1, with a few of the same characters, but it's not really connected with Book 1, so I'm not wanting to call it Book 2. The MC of Book B is a secondary character in Book 1 and it's told for his POV. I'm a little over 2,000 words into it and so far I'm liking it better than Book 1. Not sure if that's a good thing or not...
Anyway, I'm still about 4K away from finishing Book 1, or a little over a chapter. That's all the updates for now... tata!
Edit: as a secondary, unrelated note, I just noticed that the full trailer for Twilight has been posted. So here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxjNDE2fMjI
Thursday, October 30, 2008
It's All Downhill From Here
I finished chapter 23 last night and it feels GREAT! The main conflict and fights scene are done, down on paper, and out of my worry closet. I’ve been looking forward to writing the resolution for a long time so I don’t imagine that will be hard. It is all downhill from here. Yeah!
The main fight scene will probably require a lot of revision, but I’m happy with it thusfar. As a rough, it’s not terrible. I’m thinking I have two chapters left to write and right now I’m at 92,500! That’s pretty darn close to where I should be at this point.
On another note, I am signed up to do the NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) next month. It’s where writers across the world (read: a writer is anyone who puts words down on paper, or a computer screen, so you can do this too if you feel so inclined) spend the month of November writing a 50,000 word novel from scratch. Now, I know that sounds daunting, but I banged out the first 72,000 words of my current novel in the first month, so I know it’s do-able.
Now the real question in… What story should I tell?
(Join in if you think that sounds like fun! I’ll be your cheerleader and you can be mine.)
Edit: Hey I'm 92.5% done! Does that mean I get an A for effort? No? Darn!
The main fight scene will probably require a lot of revision, but I’m happy with it thusfar. As a rough, it’s not terrible. I’m thinking I have two chapters left to write and right now I’m at 92,500! That’s pretty darn close to where I should be at this point.
On another note, I am signed up to do the NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) next month. It’s where writers across the world (read: a writer is anyone who puts words down on paper, or a computer screen, so you can do this too if you feel so inclined) spend the month of November writing a 50,000 word novel from scratch. Now, I know that sounds daunting, but I banged out the first 72,000 words of my current novel in the first month, so I know it’s do-able.
Now the real question in… What story should I tell?
(Join in if you think that sounds like fun! I’ll be your cheerleader and you can be mine.)
Edit: Hey I'm 92.5% done! Does that mean I get an A for effort? No? Darn!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Real and Tangible
Tonight I finished Chapter 22, am up to 86,800 words, and right up to the beginning of the climax. Excitement!
This is the first time that I’ve thought of my book and my world as believable for other people. It’s always seemed real to me, as in tangible, where what you see is only the tip of what’s all there, but I think I’ve finally gotten enough on paper to convey that realness. I feel like there is finally enough depth.
I hope it’s not bad that it didn’t fully happen until the 22nd chapter, but hey, maybe that’s normal. At least it happened before the end of the book, so that when a reader finishes it, the whole thing can feel real to them, like it does me. Okay, maybe it won’t be AS real to them as me because I still hold about a thousand cards in my paw. We’ll see how many I get to deal out over the course of a few books…
The next chapter is my big, glorious, action-packed battle / climax. And now that its here, I’m both excited to get the privilege to write it and terrified of screwing it up. I’ve never written a battle as large as this one, but then hey, I’ve never written a book before this one either, so that shouldn’t be a deterrent. It’s just the fact that so much has to happen in the scene for several characters, and they can’t all die, but it has to be tough, and believable, and scary. It is the culmination of everything my MC has learned up to this point and she somehow has to win. Yeah, daunting to me at least…
Perhaps I’m the one that has to win this battle instead of my MC. Hmm…
This is the first time that I’ve thought of my book and my world as believable for other people. It’s always seemed real to me, as in tangible, where what you see is only the tip of what’s all there, but I think I’ve finally gotten enough on paper to convey that realness. I feel like there is finally enough depth.
I hope it’s not bad that it didn’t fully happen until the 22nd chapter, but hey, maybe that’s normal. At least it happened before the end of the book, so that when a reader finishes it, the whole thing can feel real to them, like it does me. Okay, maybe it won’t be AS real to them as me because I still hold about a thousand cards in my paw. We’ll see how many I get to deal out over the course of a few books…
The next chapter is my big, glorious, action-packed battle / climax. And now that its here, I’m both excited to get the privilege to write it and terrified of screwing it up. I’ve never written a battle as large as this one, but then hey, I’ve never written a book before this one either, so that shouldn’t be a deterrent. It’s just the fact that so much has to happen in the scene for several characters, and they can’t all die, but it has to be tough, and believable, and scary. It is the culmination of everything my MC has learned up to this point and she somehow has to win. Yeah, daunting to me at least…
Perhaps I’m the one that has to win this battle instead of my MC. Hmm…
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