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Welcome to the Writing Life! (Read 1061 times)

Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #475 - Sep 13^th, 2014 at 4:53am	Print Post
	I've added about a thousand words to "Cliffside Story" today so I'm reasonably pleased since most of it is worth keeping -- at least for the moment. The current word count is a bit over 7,900 so I still have some room under my self imposed limit to play with. I need to use those words very carefully so I'm taking it slow and easy.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #476 - Sep 15^th, 2014 at 1:13am	Print Post
	I finished "The Guide" yesterday and decided to order a couple of books that deal specifically with the "short story" form. One of them is by Damon Knight, one of the greats of Science Fiction who was published before I was born and definitely was NOT a "one shot wonder." I expect to learn a lot and I'll be working up my thoughts on the subject once they've jelled sufficiently. Another thing that is starting to "jell" is what will be going into one of the gaps in "Cliffside Story". I may start roughing it in tomorrow while we're at the park if I find myself needing to rest while Skywise and the girls hike. I'll have a notepad in my totebag just in case.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #477 - Sep 17^th, 2014 at 5:18pm	Print Post
	This is "vacation" so no writing is being done but "thinking" is proceeding nicely and I expect to have a decent first draft of "Cliffside Story" when it's finished. Then I'll let it rest a bit -- but not too long since what's already been written is resting now -- and then begin editing.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #478 - Sep 18^th, 2014 at 9:22pm	Print Post
	While Skywise and the girls were running around an interactive science museum today, I settled down with another book on the art and craft of writing. I now understand why a piece of writing doesn't engage me. Before I knew something was wrong but I didn't know exactly what. Now I do and will be able to recognize it in my own writing. I'll be keeping this information in mind while I finish the first draft of "Cliffside Story" and when I start editing it. I'll be doing the same thing with the novels when I pull them out and start revising them to bring them into line with what I'm discovering about the situation on Samgara. And believe me, the "rot" runs deep but.... happy lives make boring books.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #479 - Sep 19^th, 2014 at 3:26am	Print Post
	I'm now up to a little over 8,300 words in Cliffside Story. I think I'm going to quit for the night because my eyes are burning and I'm in danger of repeating myself. I'll decide if this scene needs more info when I take it up again.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #480 - Sep 20^th, 2014 at 2:09am	Print Post
	I'm studying the section that I wrote last night. It says what I want it to say but not exactly the way I want to say it -- and it still needs a little something to tie up the end which I'm also working/thinking about. The fact that the eyes are burning isn't helping my concentration any.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #481 - Sep 21^st, 2014 at 2:45am	Print Post
	Another "writing" book arrived today. I have several in the "delivery pipeline" and they'll all probably get here before I'm finished with the one I'm reading now. The one I'm digging into now was written by a man who founded and runs a very successful writer's workshop in Chicago and he spells out things that I "knew" but couldn't articulate. Such as knowing that a piece of writing was NOT working but not being able to put my finger on WHY. Or at least not usually. He not only explains why an example isn't working but goes on to show how to fix it. I have a feeling that this book will be at my side a good deal from now on. I'm hoping that the others I ordered will be as useful.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #482 - Sep 25^th, 2014 at 3:50am	Print Post
	I've added bits and pieces to "Cliffside Story" tonight and did a bit of editing. I know I need to add another "combat" scene and put more detail into the other one but I'm a bit too tired tonight. Still, I'm working through various scenarios for the new combat so I'm not a complete slacker.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #483 - Oct 1^st, 2014 at 2:48am	Print Post
	Vacation's almost over and next week will see me splitting my writing time between working on the short stories and doing the necessary (occasionally mind-numbing) work on the larp rules. Once the rules are done, I can sharpen my editing skills on it. Right now, everything is going in. I'll decide later what stays. One thing I've learned is that my "paradise" needs more "snakes." Most of the population lives in the cities and the immediate area around them and those areas are pretty safe but most of the continent hasn't been mapped or explored since the Great Catastrophe and while I've *said* that anything could be out there, I haven't shown it and I'm gonna need to do that. And soon. So I'll be working on that and creating some new characters and filling out the details of some of the old ones. The ones that I haven't killed off that is.�
	« Last Edit: Oct 1^st, 2014 at 2:50am by Penthesilea »

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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #484 - Oct 2^nd, 2014 at 1:41am	Print Post
	Since I don't have to make dinner, I've been working on "Cliffside Story". The word count is a few words over 9,200 and I think I'll be able to do a bit more tonight before the cognitive functions shut down. I'm leaving some gaps between scenes that I'll have to fill in later but with the lead in and the aftermath written, filling in the middle isn't too hard. I got the latest issue of Writer's Digest today and I'm going to have to make time to read it. Maybe the next time the knees demand that I get prone. Provided that the Queen will let me read, that is!


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #485 - Oct 2^nd, 2014 at 2:33am	Print Post
	Doing a bit of editing now. The word count is in "flux" at the moment but still over 9,200 words.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #486 - Oct 2^nd, 2014 at 3:10am	Print Post
	Okay, I'm quitting for the night. I'm having to stop and think about what should happen next a lot and every time I do, I want to get up and grab a handful of Oreos! THAT will NOT do! So I'm gonna do my waistline a favor and quit for the night. I'll have some "handwork" available the next time I sit down to write so maybe the temptation to stuff my face while my brain is working will not be so intense! Finishing word count tonight is 9,557.
	« Last Edit: Oct 2^nd, 2014 at 3:12am by Penthesilea »

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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #487 - Oct 3^rd, 2014 at 1:41am	Print Post
	Working on Cliffside Story and dinner at the same time. We're expecting "weather" before too much longer so I probably won't get a lot done but I've closed a gap in the narrative and I'm working on another so the day won't be a wash as far as writing is concerned.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #488 - Oct 3^rd, 2014 at 2:40am	Print Post
	I think I'm going to quit for the night. I've closed another gap and I'm pretty sure that the "weather" is going to get here before I can close the next one, given that it will require some thought and I've had enough Oreos today. Finishing word count: 9,862


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #489 - Oct 4^th, 2014 at 12:57am	Print Post
	I was going to write tonight but given that the power could go off at any minute, I think my time would be better spent reading. Once the tree mentioned elsewhere is taken care of, I'll get back to work. Or if I get desperate enough, I'll write in longhand!


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #490 - Oct 5^th, 2014 at 2:36am	Print Post
	The lights have stayed on and I've added 410 words to Cliffside Story this evening. I'll probably add another 2 to 3 thousand words before I call it "finished" but that's just a rough guess. After that I'll probably let it set for a day or two before I start serious editing.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #491 - Oct 5^th, 2014 at 4:47am	Print Post
	Finishing up for the night. Final word count on Cliffside Story: 10,441


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #492 - Oct 5^th, 2014 at 5:43pm	Print Post
	Lights are still on and I've closed another gap in Cliffside Story. I'm running out of "gaps" so I "should" have the first draft finished this week, barring "real life" interruptions. One gap is pretty big and I anticipate it taking a couple of thousand words to fill unless things move faster than I expect.
	« Last Edit: Oct 5^th, 2014 at 5:44pm by Penthesilea »

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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #493 - Oct 6^th, 2014 at 4:10am	Print Post
	Tonight's word count: 11,172


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #494 - Oct 6^th, 2014 at 5:13pm	Print Post
	"Cliffside Story" is on the desktop and I've added about a hundred words between chores this morning. I may have to move some text around, not sure yet, but what I want to say is getting written down and that's the main thing.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #495 - Oct 7^th, 2014 at 5:21am	Print Post
	I figured out how the big fight scene I'm writing is going to end -- gruesomely -- but not how we get to that point. Oh well, tomorrow is another day with hopefully fewer distractions. Final word count for the day: 11,512.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #496 - Oct 8^th, 2014 at 8:30pm	Print Post
	I got nothing done yesterday thanks to waiting for the REMC to show up and a Tornado Warning. I'm doing better today. I'm embellishing some scenes where it's occurred to me that a bit more explanation or "filling out" is needed. I'm still working on the "choreography" of the above mentioned fight scene. "sigh" At least it's starting to take shape in my head.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #497 - Oct 9^th, 2014 at 2:06am	Print Post
	The choreography is still taking shape in my head but I've made up for yesterday. Several small gaps are now closed and I've added over 1,000 words to Cliffside Story. Today's final word count (cause I really should eat something, put a load of laundry in the dryer and bring order to the kitchen) is 12,555.


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #498 - Oct 10^th, 2014 at 11:12pm	Print Post
	I've pretty much mastered the scanner this afternoon which means that all the logos, diagrams and such that I've designed or will design can be put into The Writer's Guide to Samgara, not to mention it's sister work "The Reader's Guide to Samgara". The point is that it all the info and graphics will be in the same place. No writing has been done today thanks to SunLord hurling all over our bed this afternoon. Load after load of bedclothes going through the wash....sigh


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Penthesilea Forum Administrator Offline Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster Posts: 47422 Location: The Castle..... Joined: Jun 21^st, 2006 Gender:	Re: Welcome to the Writing Life! Reply #499 - Oct 12^th, 2014 at 1:37am	Print Post
	I'm working on the battle scene that's been giving me trouble while dinner cooks. I'm writing it from the end toward the beginning. It sounds weird but it seems to be working since getting the bout started is giving me trouble but the ending isn't. So the "death scenes" (both of them) are written and I'm slowly working my way backwards through the fight. I will eventually figure out how this thing starts but it may/probably won't be tonight.


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