11/15/16 - I hit a block months ago, and I blamed it on my busy schedule. However, I think I have found the true source of the problem: There are now 14 main characters, and it's a bit too much to keep track of. I'm not sure if I should kill a few off, or string it out to introduce them more slowly, or just delete them altogether. I find myself having to refer repeatedly to this one file, a sort of cliff's notes for my own novel, and I feel like I shouldn't have to do this. If I can't keep track of my characters, what hope do my future readers have? So I've gone back to the beginning, with the intent of re-reading and spot-editing as I go. Tonight, I edited chapter 1. Well, no - It took me an hour and a half and I edited the first four paragraphs of chapter 1. However slow my progress has been, though, it is progress nonetheless. I am VERY pleased with my changes. For anyone who gives a crap, current word count is 25,101.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Weekly writing goal update, part III
4/9/16 I had several hours worth of work that resulted in edits. The book is still around 20,000 words but I had to modify my original "measurements" of Everes and the chimps. I had originally based Everes' "enhanced" stats on Andre the Giant, making Everes over 7 feet tall and 350 lbs. However, this morning I read several articles (at least one of which was in a reputable journal) that basically stated that humans, although as a species are taller than we used to be, would not continue to gain in height indefinitely, but have probably tapped out our maximum average height. (By the way, people in the middle ages were actually taller than those in industrial England, because they had healthier, less polluted food, but also less travel and thus fewer chances to spread epidemics.) We will probably not ever be 8' tall behemoths. Since Everes lives in a time and place where the average height for a man was 5'6", I decided to make his enhanced stats closer to Shaq, who was 7'1" and 325 lbs. Lot of research, very little writing in the last two weeks. Two days ago I wrote with pen and paper some ideas for a future chapter, probably chapter 15 or 16 in my outline, although I could do a "time jump" like I did in my first book and just say "two months later" or "a few years later", rather than outline in detail all of the behind-the-scenes stuff. Then again, perhaps the background material would be more interesting for potential readers. I will start writing, based on my notes, and then decide. That's probably going to take me the rest of the day.
Evening of 4/9/16. Did the "time jump" and converted my notes into Chapter 13. It's a short chapter, only 4 pages long, but it ends at a good point. The total for the book is now 21,717 words, 57 pages. I intend for the final book to be 80,000 words and 200 pages. We'll see. I also was inspired today to work on a children's story, but I was driving at the time. Such is the life.
I tried to explain months ago that one of the reasons that my first novel took so long to complete is that I also had a full time (paying) job and a second, full-time (unpaid) job of raising my kids as a single parent. The few moments when I was truly inspired to write rarely coincided with moments when I was physically able to write. It has been a long and difficult road but the first novel is done and now I'm working on the second. Three full months and 1/4 of my word goal mathematically translates into a year for the novel, but I may go a month without writing anything, if the past is any predictor of the future.
Eh, who can apply statistics to art?
5/10/16. Another month, another chapter. So much for two chapters a week. Still not entirely satisfied with the direction that I've taken just now, and I may go back and change it later, but this is what I have for now. Finished (temporary) chapter 14, 1038 words. New book total is 22,776 words.
6/23/16 Another month, another chapter. I've been on vacation, camping and swimming with the kids, and have finished chapter 15. I'm very satisfied with the writing quality, even if I haven't written as many words as I would have liked.
Evening of 4/9/16. Did the "time jump" and converted my notes into Chapter 13. It's a short chapter, only 4 pages long, but it ends at a good point. The total for the book is now 21,717 words, 57 pages. I intend for the final book to be 80,000 words and 200 pages. We'll see. I also was inspired today to work on a children's story, but I was driving at the time. Such is the life.
I tried to explain months ago that one of the reasons that my first novel took so long to complete is that I also had a full time (paying) job and a second, full-time (unpaid) job of raising my kids as a single parent. The few moments when I was truly inspired to write rarely coincided with moments when I was physically able to write. It has been a long and difficult road but the first novel is done and now I'm working on the second. Three full months and 1/4 of my word goal mathematically translates into a year for the novel, but I may go a month without writing anything, if the past is any predictor of the future.
Eh, who can apply statistics to art?
5/10/16. Another month, another chapter. So much for two chapters a week. Still not entirely satisfied with the direction that I've taken just now, and I may go back and change it later, but this is what I have for now. Finished (temporary) chapter 14, 1038 words. New book total is 22,776 words.
6/23/16 Another month, another chapter. I've been on vacation, camping and swimming with the kids, and have finished chapter 15. I'm very satisfied with the writing quality, even if I haven't written as many words as I would have liked.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Weekly writing goal update, part II
My initial goal was 4000 words a week. This would let me write an 80,000 word novel in 20 weeks, or roughly 5 months. I could then spend a month editing and searching for a publisher before delving into the third and final book in this world. I have been writing at something more like 4000 words every three weeks, though. However, there is truth to the whole, "the busier you are, the more productive you are" way of thinking, and as spring has been blossoming, I have been busier and busier. This week was the first week that I passed my 4K/Wk goal. I just tallied, and wrote words in the last 6 days. I'm going to keep writing tonight. In order to finish my 80,000 words within 6 months, giving myself the 7th month for editing, I will need to write 80000-20270=59,730 words in the next 14 weeks, or 4266 words/wk. Do-able, but not realistic. More likely, I can write 3000 words for another 20 weeks, and pass the novel/novella split around mid-August, rather than the end of June.
3/4: I was not happy with the direction my story took in chapter 8. I've read other authors comment that the story "got away from them". I bore such a dislike for chapter 8 (in which I made Stanislaw Golomb a corporal and Doc a lieutenant) that I scrapped it and started over. The new chapter 8 is over 2000 words, and the total for the book is now 14,783. But the net result is that in nearly 3 weeks I only covered the ground of one more chapter. I also began work on my first serious magazine article. We'll see where that takes me.
3/15 Finished chapter 9, at 27 paragraphs that were mostly dialogue, so only 980 words. Total for book is now 15,075 words, 42 pages in MS Word.
3/18 Finished chapter 10, lots of dialogue, 48 paragraphs and 1333 words. Total for book is now 16,408 words, 45 pages in MS Word. Also wrote my court statement this week and continue to work on the article.
3/21 Scrapped the article after a google search proved that this topic has been written on by professionals in the field, with no added benefit from my weeks worth of research. Finished chapter 11 today, 31 paragraphs, 1551 words. Total for book is now 18,697. This is not promising. An 80,000 word book (DAW's minimum) in 6 months should mean 40,000 in 3 months. It is now 10 days from the 3 month mark, and I haven't even hit half of that. At this rate, it will take me slightly under a year to write this novel.
3/24 Finished chapter 12, 1859 words and 30 paragraphs. Total for book is now 20,556, and the book is 54 pages long.
5/6 Wrote chapter 13 a month ago, but I'm not really happy with it. Don't know if I'll keep it.
3/4: I was not happy with the direction my story took in chapter 8. I've read other authors comment that the story "got away from them". I bore such a dislike for chapter 8 (in which I made Stanislaw Golomb a corporal and Doc a lieutenant) that I scrapped it and started over. The new chapter 8 is over 2000 words, and the total for the book is now 14,783. But the net result is that in nearly 3 weeks I only covered the ground of one more chapter. I also began work on my first serious magazine article. We'll see where that takes me.
3/15 Finished chapter 9, at 27 paragraphs that were mostly dialogue, so only 980 words. Total for book is now 15,075 words, 42 pages in MS Word.
3/18 Finished chapter 10, lots of dialogue, 48 paragraphs and 1333 words. Total for book is now 16,408 words, 45 pages in MS Word. Also wrote my court statement this week and continue to work on the article.
3/21 Scrapped the article after a google search proved that this topic has been written on by professionals in the field, with no added benefit from my weeks worth of research. Finished chapter 11 today, 31 paragraphs, 1551 words. Total for book is now 18,697. This is not promising. An 80,000 word book (DAW's minimum) in 6 months should mean 40,000 in 3 months. It is now 10 days from the 3 month mark, and I haven't even hit half of that. At this rate, it will take me slightly under a year to write this novel.
3/24 Finished chapter 12, 1859 words and 30 paragraphs. Total for book is now 20,556, and the book is 54 pages long.
5/6 Wrote chapter 13 a month ago, but I'm not really happy with it. Don't know if I'll keep it.
Friday, January 15, 2016
Why this page exists
So about 4 years ago I published my first book. I didn't really plan on "becoming an author," it just sort of happened. Four years before that, my husband left me, and someone suggested that I keep a diary. At the same time, I had a lot of relatives who lived far away and I was spending almost every day on the phone, telling my aunt in NM that he hadn't talked to the kids in months, or my sister in PA that I was taking him to court for overdue child support. Then I would call my aunt back to talk to her some more. I would say, "did I remember to tell you..." and I got the feeling that I was becoming a nuisance. Nobody came right out and said it, but I could tell. It became much easier to just make my diary a blog. Then, I still had the benefit of writing everything down. I still had the benefit of keeping friends and family informed. I changed the names of everyone involved, except for the other woman. She gets nothing from me.
So everyone told me that the writing was good. Really good. Like, "you should get this published" good. Well, I didn't see it. I self-published and made a whole $75 off that first book. *shrug* Better than zero.
But I didn't want to stop writing. So I began a science fiction novel. I have *ahem*, um... let's call it "bad luck with laptops." It could be shoddy decision making, but we're calling it bad luck, okay? So I didn't want to save my novel to a laptop that might not work in another week. I also didn't want to put it on a flash drive that I might lose. So, I opened a new blog, here, only instead of publishing blog posts I was publishing chapters. At first, I began writing, publishing a chapter at a time. But about three chapters in, I decided to pursue a different story and took all of those chapters down and just kept each chapter as a "draft". That way, I could access my book from any computer with a modem, and even work from my cell while I waited in the doctor's office.
Now, I've finished that novel. I'm trying to publish it traditionally, and one of the tidbits of advice that I got is, begin writing your second book as soon as you've finished the first. So if you're here, this is it. This single post is probably all you'll get to read, because everything in books 1 and 2 are "saved as draft."
P.S. If you really want to read about my divorce, you can buy the self-published paperback or e-book at this website
So everyone told me that the writing was good. Really good. Like, "you should get this published" good. Well, I didn't see it. I self-published and made a whole $75 off that first book. *shrug* Better than zero.
But I didn't want to stop writing. So I began a science fiction novel. I have *ahem*, um... let's call it "bad luck with laptops." It could be shoddy decision making, but we're calling it bad luck, okay? So I didn't want to save my novel to a laptop that might not work in another week. I also didn't want to put it on a flash drive that I might lose. So, I opened a new blog, here, only instead of publishing blog posts I was publishing chapters. At first, I began writing, publishing a chapter at a time. But about three chapters in, I decided to pursue a different story and took all of those chapters down and just kept each chapter as a "draft". That way, I could access my book from any computer with a modem, and even work from my cell while I waited in the doctor's office.
Now, I've finished that novel. I'm trying to publish it traditionally, and one of the tidbits of advice that I got is, begin writing your second book as soon as you've finished the first. So if you're here, this is it. This single post is probably all you'll get to read, because everything in books 1 and 2 are "saved as draft."
P.S. If you really want to read about my divorce, you can buy the self-published paperback or e-book at this website
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Weekly writing goal update
Jan 3: I set myself a goal of 4000 words a week for the month of January. The first week was short (Jan 1-3) but I managed 3,350 words.
Jan 5: Two days in to week two and I've written a 601 word blog post as "Cecelia Shay" and only 160 words in book 2. I didn't do any "writing chores" tonight, like hunt down agents, or submit a short story to a magazine, or work on my third edit of book 1. I shouldn't feel discouraged, because it was just one night, but I was going to work on my writing every day. Update: I forced myself to write tonight, Tuesday, and wrote 352 words. Hopefully the muse will strike in the morning.
Jan 8: Friday night, wrote 1096 words. Have been working on research more than writing lately. Also, the "n" key on my keyboard has been sticking lately so I either have to consciously tap it harder than I usually do, or go back and fix each word. I can't trust spell-check, since leaving the letter n out of words like month, hunt, and, been, or then results in legitimate words as well. And if I am skimming while editing I might miss one of those words. So I type a sentence, then read that sentence, to see if I missed an n. The ed.
Jan 10: wrote a little over 2,900 words this week, 601 word blog post on Tuesday, 2236 words of chapters 2 and 3 (haven't actually finished ch 3 but I kept yawning so I'm going to sleep) and 79 words of chapter 6. I jumped ahead and started writing that one when I got stuck on Thursday. It worked, and got me unstuck, as you can see from my Friday night update. Then Sunday night I wrote the other 1100 words toward my weekly goal.
Maybe in the coming week I'll write 6000 words, and bring me up to par. I thought 4K/wk was a realistic goal but I'm starting to question it. I'm discovering that part of the problem is that I'm measuring "net" words, not the entire scenes I play out in my head, or the scenes that I write and then delete. Golly, if I included stuff that I wrote and then cut I'd be WAY over my goal by now. Either way, my goal of 4K/week would have me write a complete novel in under 5 months. At this rate I'm averaging 3100 words/week, and it will take me almost exactly 6 months to finish. Which is still not bad.
1/11: 937 words tonight, all book 2 in order. It was very productive.
1/13: 656 words today.
1/15: 790 words today puts the weekly total so far at 2383. I still have 2 days to get caught up.
1/24: After editing, my first four chapters come to 8300 words exactly. I have written other things that I counted toward my weekly writing goals, but I probably shouldn't. So 3350 + 2236 + 2383 before editing = 7969. It's been 9 days since my last update and I've only added 331 words to my net word count. Still, this is good. If I write no more before the end of the month (and I'm sure that I will) 80,000 word novel/8300 words/mo = 9.6 months to finish. My first novel took me 3 years. My Jan. 1st goal of 4000/wk would have me done in 5 mos. My "realistic", adjusted goal of 3100/wk would take me 6 mos. I am now averaging 1660/week. *sigh* I retract my previous statement. This is not good. I suck.
1/26: Wrote 1862 words, finishing out chapter 5, in the last two days, more than making up for my sick days last week. New total is 10,162 words in slightly less than 1 month, leaving me with a projected 7.9 months to meet my goal, instead of 9.6. Still not as good as writing a novel in 5 or 6 months, but 8 is better than 10. If I want to meet my original January goal I basically need to write twice as much as I've been writing for every day left in January. Barring some serious struck-by-muse luck, it's probably not going to happen. Oh, well.
2/5: wrote 1169 words, finishing chapter 6. Side note: blogger thinks asymptote is a spelling error. Total for book is 11,331.
2/11: wrote 1434 words, finishing chapter 7. Total for book is now 12,766.
2/21: wrote 1327 words, finishing chapter 8. Total for book is now 14,093.
Jan 5: Two days in to week two and I've written a 601 word blog post as "Cecelia Shay" and only 160 words in book 2. I didn't do any "writing chores" tonight, like hunt down agents, or submit a short story to a magazine, or work on my third edit of book 1. I shouldn't feel discouraged, because it was just one night, but I was going to work on my writing every day. Update: I forced myself to write tonight, Tuesday, and wrote 352 words. Hopefully the muse will strike in the morning.
Jan 8: Friday night, wrote 1096 words. Have been working on research more than writing lately. Also, the "n" key on my keyboard has been sticking lately so I either have to consciously tap it harder than I usually do, or go back and fix each word. I can't trust spell-check, since leaving the letter n out of words like month, hunt, and, been, or then results in legitimate words as well. And if I am skimming while editing I might miss one of those words. So I type a sentence, then read that sentence, to see if I missed an n. The ed.
Jan 10: wrote a little over 2,900 words this week, 601 word blog post on Tuesday, 2236 words of chapters 2 and 3 (haven't actually finished ch 3 but I kept yawning so I'm going to sleep) and 79 words of chapter 6. I jumped ahead and started writing that one when I got stuck on Thursday. It worked, and got me unstuck, as you can see from my Friday night update. Then Sunday night I wrote the other 1100 words toward my weekly goal.
Maybe in the coming week I'll write 6000 words, and bring me up to par. I thought 4K/wk was a realistic goal but I'm starting to question it. I'm discovering that part of the problem is that I'm measuring "net" words, not the entire scenes I play out in my head, or the scenes that I write and then delete. Golly, if I included stuff that I wrote and then cut I'd be WAY over my goal by now. Either way, my goal of 4K/week would have me write a complete novel in under 5 months. At this rate I'm averaging 3100 words/week, and it will take me almost exactly 6 months to finish. Which is still not bad.
1/11: 937 words tonight, all book 2 in order. It was very productive.
1/13: 656 words today.
1/15: 790 words today puts the weekly total so far at 2383. I still have 2 days to get caught up.
1/24: After editing, my first four chapters come to 8300 words exactly. I have written other things that I counted toward my weekly writing goals, but I probably shouldn't. So 3350 + 2236 + 2383 before editing = 7969. It's been 9 days since my last update and I've only added 331 words to my net word count. Still, this is good. If I write no more before the end of the month (and I'm sure that I will) 80,000 word novel/8300 words/mo = 9.6 months to finish. My first novel took me 3 years. My Jan. 1st goal of 4000/wk would have me done in 5 mos. My "realistic", adjusted goal of 3100/wk would take me 6 mos. I am now averaging 1660/week. *sigh* I retract my previous statement. This is not good. I suck.
1/26: Wrote 1862 words, finishing out chapter 5, in the last two days, more than making up for my sick days last week. New total is 10,162 words in slightly less than 1 month, leaving me with a projected 7.9 months to meet my goal, instead of 9.6. Still not as good as writing a novel in 5 or 6 months, but 8 is better than 10. If I want to meet my original January goal I basically need to write twice as much as I've been writing for every day left in January. Barring some serious struck-by-muse luck, it's probably not going to happen. Oh, well.
2/5: wrote 1169 words, finishing chapter 6. Side note: blogger thinks asymptote is a spelling error. Total for book is 11,331.
2/11: wrote 1434 words, finishing chapter 7. Total for book is now 12,766.
2/21: wrote 1327 words, finishing chapter 8. Total for book is now 14,093.
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