WRoE - July 1, 2012

Wrote a chapter in Hidden in the Mist and began a second one. I did do some notes on Dream Stealer and even considered a new opening that would shift the dynamic a bit and clarify the inciting incident. I was actually a bit excited about that. Someone once suggested something along those lines. Proving once again that we don't actually forget anything, we just let it stew a bit before trying it. I think writing something else actually helped me a bit. Maybe loosened up the cogs or something. 

At any rate, small amount of writing but not according to my own rules. Will the person who said "rules were made to be broken" please email me. I need some more insights.

WRoE: May Accountability Day

I'm late again but not too late.

No writing on the Primary Project. I worked on three existing chapter, well two. I wrote the third for Baptism in the Basement. If I ever finish this one it should be a fun edit. It is fun writing it and fun reading it. Maybe because I actually recognize the characters.

That's it.

WRoE: Accountability Day for March

I'm a day late with this but since there was virtually nothing done in March on my novel. I did 3 hours on the 3rd of March and that was it for the month. I think that's around the time we realized someone was getting terminated. I also had some pain problems during the month and wasn't resting well.

I don't suppose it matters. I'm frustrated by it but I'm not going to cut my wrist over it. It happens. It wasn't a good month no matter how I try and polish it up. From day one it sunk like a stone and I'm thrilled it is gone. April hasn't started terribly well either but it is early days yet.

On a positive note, I did get some things done around the house.... but it doesn't count for this.

I'll try and sit down and do some planning this week.

WRoE: Accountability Day for February

I would ask if you know what day it is but the title sort of gives it away. Yes, it is my self-imposed Writer's Rules of Engagement Accountability Day. This is my day to give an account of my time for the previous month.

I didn't get off to a roaring start in February. It was several days before I got any writing in. And the last couple of weeks were a wash. I had pain problems and stamina problems. I did do a lot of crochet in the evenings. It doesn't require that I do much but sit and well... crochet. I'm making slow but steady progress. I began a second crochet project that is now on hold. I need Sarah's measurements and until I get them, the second project lies unfinished.

So, how did I do in the shortest month of the year? 13 hours total in editing The Dream Sealer. I don't think it is as much as last month but I think this month I've had more physical problems than in January. I'm hoping that improves this month.

In the midst of all that I had two Writer's Hangouts in G+. They lasted about two hours each. I was able to talk writing with and meet "face to face" four of my online writing and blog friends. There are actually six of  us but two members were unable to join us. We've already planned our next online writer's hangout. We intend talking about various writing related topics and doing some critiques. The plan is to hold hangouts on two Mondays a month. It is so easy to just turn on the webcam and all of us are able to see each other and talk. This was really a very cool experience. My hat's off to Google... again.

And that is how the month of February rolled. I have to lock down some time wasters and get my focus back on nightly writing sessions. Or else spend more time on Saturdays. Of course, crochet is going to be a regularly task. Once it warms up a bit more, sewing will also be on my to-do list.

So, how was your WRoE this month? If you're not doing WRoE, did you write at all? I'd love to hear how you're doing.

Monday WRoE Update

Things progress. I have Chapter 1-3 roughly structured. I'm not 100% pleased but it's ok. I am a bit excited about it. I  like it. {sigh} Will other people? {sigh} 

I don't know how this is going to come out. It makes sense to me but I know the story. I'm hoping it will make sense to everyone else. There seems to be the idea that you shouldn't tell the reader too much. I don't feel like I'm doing that. In fact, I get uncomfortable because I am withholding too much and don't think they will get it. Still, I'm not playing that game. It is what usually stymies me. 

So, as of tonight, I have one and a half hours of editing. I'm tired and stopping for the night. 

The Days WRoE

I have spent the last two days working on The Dream Stealer. Last night I manged to work from 8:30 p.m. until 11 p.m. with a short break in between. Today, I came home from church and worked from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. with a baking break. I made cookies from a prepackaged mix. Took about 30 minutes total but I didn't have to stand around and watch them rise. I just mixed, put them in the oven, and let them bake. I worked in between. 

I actually moved my work area into the spare room on my make do desk. It is warmer here and more comfortable. Had a time finding a chair that would work and then remembered a foam pad I had left over from doing Mike's chair... at least 6 yrs ago! It was stored in the closet. A nice four inch thick pad. I put one of those store bought chair cushions on top of it and that gave me a bit of height in the chair. It isn't perfect but managable. 

I've got two chapters fairly organized. I like the structure of them and I'm not sure what to add to them. I'm impressed with myself, perhaps unjustifiably so. They feel like they have what they need. I'm not worrying about that at this point. I know that later sections are sadly not this "put together". The current items are actually from when I first started writing it, those early scenes. But a bit of it came out of NaNo... filling in some gaps. I let three friends read what I had last night but since then, I've done a bit of rearranging and deleting and adding so it is different already!

Anyway, I'm tired now and I am supposed to go to church in about an hour so have to stop here. I've got a total of about 4.5 hrs work in for the weekend. Under WRoE rules... that is 4 days work! Simon would say, "Well done, love! Let's take a break, shall we."

OWS Occupies an already Occupied home - NYPOST.com

Link

I don't do politics often. They bore me. As far as I'm concerned, everyone has an agenda and it is usually selfish. And all I've read about the "movement" up to this point has done nothing to change my mind. This is a nice example of politics in action, socialist politics (aka Robin Hood Politics).

One Day Down...Three to Go!

Felt like I'd stepped off a curb just as the proverbial bus happened by. My right leg did no want to work this morning. I'm not doctor but this just isn't right. And they keep ignoring it. I shuffled down the hall until I could get it moving but I nearly fell. And on the way here I had sharp pain in the lower right quadrant of my back... (sigh) And my left shoulder and neck hurts. I just took two acetaminophen.

I go over this sort of stuff because it is the easiest way to keep a record of it. LOL, so you can skip that part if you like.

Regarding WRoE, I finished merging last night. I didn't get started till late but it took about an hour to finish it up. I ended up with roughly 66,000 words all together according to Scrivener. About 8,000 of those I have no idea where they go in the story. All of them won't for certain. Remember this is a work I started as a lark and it has changed considerably over time. And there is more writing to do. 

I'm dreading the rest of it. The opening is still not clearly defined. But... the tedium of merging the two stories is done and for that I am truly thankful.

I started my work morning watching Celtic Thunder. I love this group. You either smile or you cry but either way it is a pleasure. I posted videos, as most of you probably know by now. I have to get some CD's! I'm a sap for Celtic music anyway. 

O.k. who knew Celtic men could sing like that and look so good. Must plan a trip to Ireland or Scotland. Problem is the language barrier.... I love the sound of their speech but can't understand them sometimes. Of course, I could just sit and listen and not worry about understanding if a fella looked like these guys! 

All right. Now I have to go clean the keyboard ... drool everywhere. Hope you all have a good day.

WRoE Day Three Progress Report

Actually yesterday was day three. I didn't get to a post last night but I suspect the day after is more appropriate of a progress report for the day before. 

I was so tired when I got home. I had stopped at the grocery store, going a couple miles out of the way because I went to the wrong store first. So it was nearly 6 p.m. when I got home.

I immediately made some cream of chicken soup. I ate and watch something. I read blogs. Then, I got a hot shower and sat down. Worked on another square, which I kept messing up , miscounting stitches and doing the wrong row. I finally got it going but did not finish the square. I watched another show and then made myself get up and work on my novel for an hour. Unlike Monday night, it was so overwhelming. There are just pages and pages of new stuff I have to sort and put into place. I still don't have the story order well structured in my head so it makes it hard. Does this go here? Or is this later? That doesn't seem to be usable in the story at all! Will I need this or should I make a slush folder for it? 

That's what I spent most of the hour doing last night. And going through it to be sure I had marked all those already moved. I found early on that everything I move to the main work I have to change the font color in the NaNo work to let me know I've already moved it. That way I don't waste time re-reading scads of stuff I already dealt with. I have at least 45000 words to go! I don't need or want to keep continually going over finished sections.

I finally gave up. I was too tired to be effective and found myself confused by the disorder. So, I shut down and went to bed. I was even too tired for bed and tried to read a bit but exhaustion won after about 15 minutes. I don't remember falling asleep. 

Now, I'm getting ready to head for work. For the record, I'm still in the early stages of WRoE and working out my schedule and my determination. It is a difficult plan. But honestly it is the only thing that will work for me. I learned that not doing the writing first, before everything else, is probably bad. I have to have an hour at least to work and waiting until I'm blind with tiredness won't do it. I knew my job drained me but I think this holiday showed me just how much. I put a lot of energy in getting through the day. The days of being able to go 18 hours at capacity are over. I did it for NaNo but I felt terrific for most of October and all of November. I am having pain issues at the moment so a deterrent.

Tonight is writer's meeting and I won't get a lot done before that but there is nearly an hour before the meeting so I will probably work on it instead of crochet. 

I do not know if I'll update daily. May just keep a record for myself somehow and post on the Accountability day. 

All I can say is it is working all right, if not smoothly.

WRoE Begins

This is my first post regarding my Writer's Rules of Engagement challenge to myself. I officially started today and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Although, after three hours of work, I'm wanting a good t.v. show! But I can't. 

I've spent several hours now working on consolidating my 2011 NaNo novel into The Dream Stealer (my WIP). It is tedious and time consuming. I have to search the NaNo work and find pieces to copy and paste into the WIP in the supposed place it goes. Remember, my NaNo was written missing pieces of the WIP, or rather, things I felt were missing. Now it is actually like putting together a puzzle. 

I'm tired and I have taken a couple of breaks between tasks. One was to take a hot shower. The other was to read that stupid new bill... that took a few hours. However, when I was done I was more than ready to get back to Simon. 

I have to say, truly once again, I love this story. Every time I read over parts of it, I'm enthralled. I can't believe I wrote any of it. Of course, I may find it suck when sent out for readers. 

Speaking of which, if I ever get to readers, I will need volunteers. My plan will be to send hard copies to the readers to mark it up. Yes, hard copies. No way am I wading through a dozen computer file copies to try and make sense of reader notes and suggestions. My first draft is going to be a nightmare as it is. I really want to get this order down tight before I do anything else. So, keep it in mind. Once I get to reader stage, I need readers.

Now, it is ice cream break and then I get back to work.