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Welcome to the Writing Life! (Read 610 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 #775 - May 15^th, 2016 at 3:37am	Print Post
	I'm adding some new material to Book 4 tonight between making dinner and wrangling kids and cats. It's "fill in the gaps/expand what's already there" type stuff. I have an image in my head of the above mentioned mage slithering around a corner to Our Heroine's utter horror but where that happens and why hasn't jelled yet. sigh I've finally got the cataract surgery off my mind -- no more worry or frustration at not being able to see -- and all that's left to do is get the prescription reading glasses I'm going to need which I'll probably order on Monday so maybe now I can think about writing Book 4, revising Books 1, 2 and 3, keeping the Writer's Guide up to date and finishing the LARP rules for those who will want to adventure in Samgara as well as read about it! A lot to have on my plate but I knew what I was getting into when I decided to make my own world to play in. There are certainly easier genres to write in, especially those that are set in this world or one like it, but my heart belongs to SF/F -- magic and blasters all the way!!
	« Last Edit: May 15^th, 2016 at 3:38am 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 #776 - May 19^th, 2016 at 4:54am	Print Post
	I've added about a page of new material over the last couple of days. Not a lot by some standards but I prefer quality over quantity -- a paragraph/conversation here and there that will lead into more new material later. I don't write "in order". If something pops into my head, I write it down in the manuscript where I think it will eventually fit. I may have to move it later but at least I have it written down so it can't escape! I'm going to have to write some scenes involving a character being rude and I'm finding it difficult probably because "random rudeness" was trained out of me at an early age so I have to be really angry to be rude and this character isn't angry. She's just a self-important bitch who thinks she can treat (most) people like dirt. She will have a rude awakening -- already written -- but I have to come up with some incidents that show the reader what kind of person she really is. Post # 37,673
	« Last Edit: May 19^th, 2016 at 4:56am 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 #777 - May 20^th, 2016 at 2:07am	Print Post
	Working on Book 4 tonight. I'm also thinking about some Agents of SHIELD fanfiction that I'm thinking of writing. I have an idea and if I can get a good handle on it, I'll write it up. But tonight, I'm writing Book 4.


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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 #778 - May 26^th, 2016 at 4:14am	Print Post
	I've been writing the fanfic, mainly to get it "out of my head". The whole thing will run about 11 to 12 pages and I'm breaking it up into several 2 to 3 page "parts". People have expressed an interest in seeing it so I'm going to post it in the facebook fan group I belong to. The first post/part is done but I'm not going to post it until Tuesday to give me time to proof and tweak 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 #779 - May 26^th, 2016 at 7:52pm	Print Post
	I've been creating some unfriendly wildlife to make Samgara more interesting. I don't know if I'll ever use them in stories but if I need an absolutely terrifying "not-magickal" critter to provide real menace I'll have some to chose from. So far I've described a rhino sized bovine, the world's largest crocodile, a "wingless dragon" and a horrifying predatory salamander. I've mentioned "plains cats" in the books so I really should write them up too. I'm trying to have at least one entry in all the ecological niches although I seem to leaning heavily toward predators. Maybe that's because Our Heroine and Hero run into so many things that would like to eat them..... Post # 64,777 for the site
	« Last Edit: May 26^th, 2016 at 11:41pm 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 #780 - May 28^th, 2016 at 12:36am	Print Post
	Still need to come up with a couple of names for wildlife. I think I'm going to lay off the "big, scary predators" now. I have some really heartstopping critters (40 foot long, 13,000 pound saltwater crocodile anyone?) for land and sea and I really don't think I need any for "air" at this time! The people of Samgara have enough to contend with although those living in the thickly settled areas are safer than those in more remote regions. Anyway, I need to consult the main map to define the range of that Samgaran "crocodile" and name the last two then I can put the entries everywhere I need to so I CAN'T lose them. I hope.......


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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 #781 - Jun 13^th, 2016 at 9:56pm	Print Post
	A new writing book by James Scott Bell came in the mail today. I haven't read even 20 pages yet and I'm already nodding and going "hmmmmmm". I'd keep on reading but the damned dishes won't load themselves into the dishwasher....... I've said it before and I'll say it again..... I NEED A STAFF!!!! Or at least a cook/housekeeper.


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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 #782 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:02am	Print Post
	Time to get THIS thread caught up.... August 8, 2016 The more I study writing and the more I analyze the ending of my first book, the more dissatisfied I am with it. I was told that it was great -- by people who probably wanted to curry favor -- but of the three books, the ending of Book One is by far the weakest. So now I have a little "subroutine" whirling away off to one side of my brain devoted to fixing that problem. There are a couple of possibilities but since I don't want to rewrite the beginning of Book Two, I'm going to be limited to what I can do. Still, I'm sure that I can strengthen it. I just have to figure out the best way to do it.
	« Last Edit: Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:03am 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 #783 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:04am	Print Post
	August 10, 2016 Last night I pulled my “revisions” copy of Homecoming out, put it on the desktop and started work. I condensed, substituted, reworded and cut, shortening the first chapter by 251 words. The plan is to go through it a chapter at a time, take care of any obvious problems then go back a second and maybe a third time. I haven’t given myself a deadline to finish this. I think that “deadlines” may be what got me in trouble in the first place. So I’m going to work consistently but thoroughly with no timetable until it is as good as I can make it. THEN, I’m going to have a professional editor go over it. After that, I’m going to investigate the various “print on demand” services and decide which one will give me the most bang for my buck. I’m committed to self-publishing not only for the creative freedom one has but also for the percentage of the cover price paid to the author. After having worked for so long and so hard on these books -- and I’m committed to continuing to work long and hard -- I want to make more per copy than the “big guys” are willing to pay a beginning author. I also don’t want to have to gut the story just to meet an arbitrary word count. At some point, a traditional publishing house may exhibit interest in my work. If one does, fine. We’ll talk. If not, that’s fine too.


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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 #784 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:05am	Print Post
	August 11, 2016 I’ve quit for the night. I’ve made it through Chapter Two and have come to the conclusion that those who said that they read Book One prior to publication either just skimmed it or outright lied about reading it. I’m finding holes that “should have/could have” been found by anyone reading it. Not just little mistakes but sizable holes in the plot that anyone but especially someone who calls themselves a “writer” should have spotted. I am more determined that ever NOT to rely on amateurs that may or may not have my best interests at heart when it comes to my work. I’ll pay for a PROFESSIONAL editor, thank you very much which is what the author of the writing book I’m reading recommends. She may not’ve been burned herself -- she doesn’t say -- but she’s in a position to have seen plenty of people who have. I’ve added 73 words to Book One and cut almost that many. I don’t expect the word count to change much until I get to the last chapter and the climax that needs to be rewritten. How much will be cut or added between the beginning of Chapter Three and the end is anyone’s guess at this point. Post # 38,038
	« Last Edit: Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:12am 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 #785 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:07am	Print Post
	August 17, 2016 I’ve reached Chapter 11 and I’m at or near the point where the rewriting is going to have to begin. If I’m going to add a “boss” who will meet his doom at the end of Book One I may have to go back and add him in but that’s okay. I’m going to finish this first round of editing before I start wholesale revision since I haven’t decided if he/she should be a minion of Athanasia or someone from Penthesilea’s past. The latter might be more interesting since I’ve implied that she has made a lot of enemies in her life.


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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 #786 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:08am	Print Post
	August 18, 2016 I’ve cut over 1,700 words from the last chapter of Book One just now. I’ve set them aside in a word document. Some of those words will probably go into Book Two but not all of them. I’m going to add a completely new Chapter 15 to the book which I intend will provide a much stronger ending than it currently has. I’m going to finish the editing -- tonight I hope -- and start on the new chapter after that, tomorrow if I finish the editing tonight.


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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 #787 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:09am	Print Post
	August 19, 2016 I’ve started on the new chapter. The death of the “boss” is already written and Moonie has pronounced it suitably bloody so that’s good. I still need a name for him and I’m going to need to create a “flyer” big enough and intelligent enough to carry off a man and deliver him to its master since that seems the best way to get Our Hero where I want him which is in a Rube Goldberg influenced death trap. Yeah, I gotta design that too......


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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 #788 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:13am	Print Post
	August 20, 2016 I’ve tried writing the “death trap” scene and I need a “visual aid” so I can describe it so tonight, I ordered a couple of reasonably priced LEGO sets that I can use to build a deathtrap -- or at least the approximation of one. I settled on a Samgaran “Quetzalcoatlus” for my flying beastie. It isn’t terribly intelligent but it gets commands like “fetch” and “guard” which suits my purposes.


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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 #789 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:14am	Print Post
	August 24, 2016 Chapter 15 is up to a bit over 3,200 words and I still have about half of it to write. I “may” cut out some combat sequences but since this is to be the climax of the first book, I want it to be impressive so I may end up with a higher word count that I started with. I finally settled on a name for the “boss.” His reasons for wanting to kill Our Heroine haven’t been revealed and probably don’t need to be. He has a grudge, he wants her dead and he’s willing to do whatever he has to -- including capturing Our Hero and putting him in a death trap -- to get her to come to him.


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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 #790 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:16am	Print Post
	August 26, 2016 I haven’t gotten much work done today. We had slow moving thunderstorms in the area and while most of the nonsense missed us, I thought it prudent to NOT be using the computer while there was lightning anywhere in the neighborhood!
	« Last Edit: Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:16am 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 #791 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:17am	Print Post
	August 27, 2016 12:56 am I’ve finished the final combat with the “boss”. It may need some touching up but in the main, it’s there. I still have some gaps to fill in and a couple of combats to write but I “should” have Chapter 15 done by this time next week, barring more thunderstorms that oblige me to shut down the computer for hours at a time. I really should be thinking about getting a laptop so I can work when I can’t have the computer on........ The current word count is a bit over 4,200 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 #792 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:19am	Print Post
	August 29, 2016 While checking something else, I found a large section of Book One that I could cut without sacrificing “story” so I did. It was a rather lame exchange between Our Heroine and the little bitch who was trying to get into Our Hero’s pants. It was lame in the original thread and my rewriting it didn’t improve it much so it’s out! There’s a similar section later on and another in Book Two that may go as well. I’ll decide when I get to them. The current page count on the new “last chapter” -- which won’t be long enough for a separate chapter -- is now 5,003 and I’m not finished with it yet. I’m making progress though!


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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 #793 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:20am	Print Post
	September 1, 2016 The current word count on the “last chapter” is 6,037 and I still have one “obstacle” to write up. If I can’t come up with something really good -- and at the moment, I’m not -- I may just skip it and head straight for the flying dino and the big rescue of Our Hero. If I do that, the “last chapter” will be done and I’ll patch it into place and put Book One to bed while I work on Two and Three.


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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 #794 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:21am	Print Post
	September 2, 2016 I decided that the last obstacle really worked better in a visual medium so I scrapped it and went for the grand finale. I finished Book 1 last night (final word count: 230,842) and started on Book 2 this morning. I cut stuff, added stuff and rewrote stuff and reduced the word count by nearly 500 words in the first two chapters. I’ve also adjusted the timeline to give me a little more “time” where I needed it. I’ll do a final check when I’m done with Book Two. Right now, my eyes are burning and I’m quitting for the night.


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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 #795 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:22am	Print Post
	September 19, 2016 I’ve finished the first edit of Book 3. There’s a road trip scheduled for tomorrow so I’ll be taking my study materials along to read whenever I have the chance. The next thing will be to continue reading the “writing” book while going through Book 1 with an eye to what can be improved. I expect the process to take some time. What I’ve just finished doing is the easy stuff. What I’ll be doing next is the hard stuff.


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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 #796 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:23am	Print Post
	September 20, 2016 Today’s road trip turned out to be shorter than originally planned. Fortunately, we found out that our destination was closed for the day before we got on the road. Our second choice was closed too but our third choice was open so we went to the Indiana State Museum and saw some cool Indiana related stuff.


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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 #797 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:24am	Print Post
	September 21, 2016 I started on the second edit of Book 1 tonight. I’ve reduced the word count by another 384 words and that’s just in the first chapter. I’m working much slower this time since I’m analyzing everything in light of what I’m learning. We have another “field trip” planned for tomorrow so I’ll be hauling my study materials with me and reading when I can.


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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 #798 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:25am	Print Post
	September 22, 2016 I got a lot of reading done while Skywise and the kids explored the museum we were at. A lot of the things covered are things I already do but wasn’t aware that I was doing them. The results, I think, of nearly six decades with my nose in a book! Still, my writing could be sharper and that’s what I’m working on.


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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 #799 - Apr 13^th, 2017 at 1:27am	Print Post
	September 25, 2016 I haven’t worked the last couple of days -- I wanted to get my swordbelt finished -- but I did go through and fix a ton of formatting errors. I also highlighted that previously mentioned “lame exchange” for deletion when I get to it that will shorten the book by several hundred unneeded words. The section didn’t advance the story or reveal anything about the characters involved that the reader didn’t already know so.... OUT it goes! One of the ways that I’m making my writing sharper. The long road trip that got cancelled last Tuesday has been rescheduled for this Tuesday so I’ll be hauling my study materials and getting a lot of reading done then.


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