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Welcome to the Writing Life! (Read 1227 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 #625 - Aug 12^th, 2015 at 7:20pm	Print Post
	I've spent the last hour and some minutes tracking down some notes I made late last year/early this year, polishing them and putting them into the two separate files they need to be in. In the process I located an entry in another file that needed to be copied into the previously mentioned two files that I knew that I'd written up but hadn't been able to find. Now that I have those notes located and filed where I can find them, I can explain exactly HOW our amazingly stubborn and strong willed Hero can be controlled by the Forces of Evil. (Short answer: NOT VERY EASILY!) He is the hero after all and canNOT therefore be a "pushover" so I needed a good, solid way to explain why he acts the way he does for at least half of Book 4. It's almost like his personality has been split. (It hasn't but from the outside, it looks like it.) I now have that reason and can proceed with making him act like I need him to in order to make the story work. That's the thing. If a character has to act "out of character" there has to be a reason and it has to be a damned good one that's logical and internally consistent with the setting. Otherwise, thy readers may throw thy book across the room and into the wall in disgust!


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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 #626 - Aug 13^th, 2015 at 3:34am	Print Post
	Currently puzzling out how best to enslave Our Hero to the Forces of Evil. I know the method. What I'm thinking about now is how the scene should go, how graphic it should be and how much awareness of what's happening should/will he have since he's unconscious as the scene starts. Post # 35,858
	« Last Edit: Aug 13^th, 2015 at 3:35am 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 #627 - Aug 14^th, 2015 at 5:23am	Print Post
	Did some work on Book 4 today and started a couple of shorts. One seems to be jelling so I'll see how it goes. I'd like to bring it in at 4,000 words or less. I need to work on telling a complete story in the short form since I "do" tend to be wordy.


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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 #628 - Aug 20^th, 2015 at 2:35am	Print Post
	I realized that the shorts I'd started couldn't really be told in 4,000 words or less so I've put them aside to work on Book 4 which I'm doing now. The section I'm working on now concerns how Our Heroine's agents uncover "the plot", escape capture and get that information back to her. The fact that my damned eyes are watering from strain is NOT helping as I try to figure out how the sequence of events should go. I'm keeping it condensed for the time being, I can always expand if more detail is needed. sigh Time to put another load of wash in the dryer. And I should think about eating.... DAMN IT! I NEED STAFF!


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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 #629 - Aug 21^st, 2015 at 3:55pm	Print Post
	Currently trying to plot then write a sub-plot that feeds into the main plot in that the actions of the characters in the sub-plot (a group of elite spies) results in Our Heroine getting vital information. So it must be done right and "spy thriller" is NOT my genre! So it's gonna take a lot of thought and maybe a bunch of false starts.


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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 #630 - Aug 22^nd, 2015 at 3:45am	Print Post
	I currently have two Book 4 word documents open on the desktop and I'm switching back and forth between them. It might be kinda confusing but when you have two separate scenes in your head clamoring for attention, it is about the only thing you can do!


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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 #631 - Aug 22^nd, 2015 at 4:37am	Print Post
	I've quit for the night. The cognitive functions are shutting down and my eyes aren't being all that cooperative either and when you can't think OR see, it's time to pack it in!
	« Last Edit: Aug 22^nd, 2015 at 4:39am 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 #632 - Aug 25^th, 2015 at 11:19pm	Print Post
	I originally intended for the "subplot" to unfold in two different "non-Castle" locations but that's proving to be too unwieldy plot wise so I'm going to have to combine the two locations with the resulting reshuffling of characters. At least there is nothing in the first three books establishing exactly where this subplot is taking place. I see more "false starts" in my future.....
	« Last Edit: Aug 25^th, 2015 at 11:23pm 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 #633 - Aug 25^th, 2015 at 11:47pm	Print Post
	How many times am I going to have to rewrite this sentence before it says what I want it to?


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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 #634 - Aug 26^th, 2015 at 12:28am	Print Post
	Okay. The scene is written. I may tweak and/or revise it later but it does what I need it to do reasonably well which means I can move on to the "what's next?" part. I'd like for this subplot to run 30 to 45 pages scattered throughout the first half of the book since once the "mission" is accomplished, the action will shift back to Our Heroine, Our Hero and the "main action" line straight through to the end.


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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 #635 - Aug 27^th, 2015 at 10:44pm	Print Post
	I was thinking about Book 5 and how much time, effort and page count I wanted to spend on it and came to the realization that I'd have to pad like hell to make a book out of the situations it would cover. So while leaving the Book 5 document intact, I've copied and pasted it into Book 4. If it turns out the Book 5 section is long enough to be its own volume, then I'll separate the two. If not, Book 4 will tie up the major loose ends and I'll be able to let Our Hero, Our Heroine and their immediate family rest for twenty years (their time) or so before I pick the story up again. Post #35,959
	« Last Edit: Aug 27^th, 2015 at 10:45pm 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 #636 - Aug 28^th, 2015 at 1:06am	Print Post
	sigh I've come to the inescapable conclusion that if I'm going to get anywhere with Book 4 with any degree of efficiency, I'm going to have to write a pretty detailed outline. I "thought" that I'd written the first three books "by the seat of my pants" and it wasn't until I started studying outlining that I realized that I DID have an outline -- in the form of the posts from the original thread -- to work from. So now, I'm going to have to more or less master outlining then take what I've written and what I know needs to happen and make an outline as least as detailed as those posts were. THAT will probably take some time. sigh But since vacation is coming up fast and I won't be able to sit in front of the computer for hours on end until October, I'll be hauling my "outlining" materials around with me in my writing tote and working while Skywise drives -- there is at least one several hours long road trip to Louisville on the schedule and I "may" haul my stuff to some of the museums too. First thing to do tomorrow afternoon is to run off the worksheets I'm going to need as well as the references I'll need to have on hand. It feels like I'm taking "two steps back" but if it gets me past this block, it's worth the effort.


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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 #637 - Aug 28^th, 2015 at 6:52pm	Print Post
	I have tea. I'm caught up. So I'm going to transcribe a few more outlining worksheets to Pages before I start printing. Hopefully, my eyes will hold out until I get at least a couple of the long ones done.
	« Last Edit: Aug 28^th, 2015 at 6:53pm 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 #638 - Aug 28^th, 2015 at 7:59pm	Print Post
	Okay. The eyes are giving out so it is time to quit for a while. I did manage to get several worksheets copied. Okay, the Queen has arrived and is insisting that I pay attention to her. Gotta go!


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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 #639 - Aug 29^th, 2015 at 1:28am	Print Post
	Debating copying out more worksheets. I've been getting caught up and my eyes are starting to water a little bit. My instinct is to push myself but I know that if I do, I'll pay for it with a headache and burning, watering eyes. Maybe I can find a worksheet or two that won't be too hard to copy....


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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 #640 - Aug 29^th, 2015 at 1:40am	Print Post
	IF the Queen will let me 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 #641 - Aug 29^th, 2015 at 2:10am	Print Post
	The Queen is now asleep and WP has arrived to keep me from working.....


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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 #642 - Aug 29^th, 2015 at 3:20am	Print Post
	The felines have left me alone long enough to copy out an 11 page worksheet plus some shorter ones. My stomach is informing me that it is time to make dinner. Fortunately, it's a "quick and easy" night. Post # 63,000 for the site.


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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 #643 - Aug 31^st, 2015 at 2:38am	Print Post
	I haven't done any writing today it being Sunday and a "family day" and all but since we were in the Children's Museum and the girls take a lot longer to look at things than I do, I took a book along. The book "A Writer's Guide to Persistence" by Jordan Rosenfeld is proving to be most helpful. One of her recommendations -- creating a "Writing Support Group -- isn't going to be possible for me -- once burned, twice shy and I've been burned more than once thank you very much! -- but the recommendations that I've read so far (I'm about a quarter of the way through the book) are solid and I'll be using them. Tomorrow I'll get back to transcribing the worksheets I need and hopefully getting some new material written. If not, at least I'll be moving forward with my self-designed writing course which I consider progress.


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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 #644 - Sep 4^th, 2015 at 7:05pm	Print Post
	I was just on Amazon checking on an order and editing my browsing list when I discovered a new book on the subject of writing fight scenes. Since my characters tend to get into physical confrontations it can't hurt to have a reference book devoted to that very thing so I ordered it. It should arrive during the vacation, hopefully in time for me to read it on road trips. Yes, it is possible that when the "Revised/New Material" editions of Books 1 through 3 are published the fights will be more intense than they are now.


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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 #645 - Sep 10^th, 2015 at 4:29am	Print Post
	I've been working on "species profiles" this evening with an eye to working them into Book 4. More "diversity" is needed on Samgara and I'm working on it!


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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 #646 - Sep 18^th, 2015 at 4:31am	Print Post
	I've been doing some minor editing/revisions on Book 1 tonight. Nothing major, just a few words here and there and some basic "cleaning up". Even though it's epublished I'm looking for ways to make it better and as I learn more, I've finding them. I'll "unpublish" at some point but I don't know when.


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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 #647 - Sep 20^th, 2015 at 3:52pm	Print Post
	I've been thinking this morning -- around an allergy induced headache -- that the mapping system that I originally used to keep track of where cities were in relation to the castle isn't going to work for the long haul. It's not something that needs to be changed RIGHT THIS MINUTE!!!!!!!! But, it is going to need to be done. A book on creating/drawing fantasy maps is on its way so I'm thinking about just how I'm going to map an entire continent roughly the size of Eurasia. I'm not, at least not entirely but I am going to be mapping the major city-states and the area around them and, of course, the area within about a hundred or so miles of the castle. At the moment, each map will be eighty miles square but that's subject to change. I'm going to have to sit down with my original map, my major "scientific" calculator (which handles REALLY big numbers), various measuring sticks (from 6 feet long on down), graph paper in various sizes, 36 inch wide "banner" paper, 24 inch wide tracing paper, pencils, pens and erasers -- LOTS of erasers -- and work until I have it hammered out. But not today. Today is for thinking and telling this damned headache to go away!


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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 #648 - Sep 20^th, 2015 at 7:21pm	Print Post
	We went into town for lunch and I'm using the time between now and when we go into town for dinner to collect and organize all the Samgara data I have that would apply to maps and map making. I've started by figuring out how big the estate around the castle is (16,000 acres) and putting that info in a word document that is going into a file with everything ELSE that I'll need to make maps. As far as individual maps are concerned, I'm going to start with the Castle/Castletown/Crowhaven area. After that, the Madridoor Twins. Hidden Bay is gonna be a hoot 'cause it is the highest tech and potentially weirdest city on the planet. I'm still deciding just HOW weird it will be. It "may" turn out to be the only original city to survive the Great Catastrophe more or less intact which makes sense given what I've located there.. Anyway, I'm gonna run with this for a while -- at least during the rest of the vacation when we'll be on the run more often than not.


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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 #649 - Sep 20^th, 2015 at 9:18pm	Print Post
	Since I've decided to make the area around the castle and inside the "Mile" wall bigger -- since I ended up putting so much inside the wall -- I just made some changes in Book 1 to reflect that. I have a little more to do there but I've highlighted in red for later since we'll be leaving for dinner shortly and I don't want to start something I may not have time to finish.


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