Book in a Month: Day 3

Day three is done. Fitting in the time to write isn't easy, but it helps that I broke it up throughout the day. Work was slow, so I took a few breaks and wrote then. I just now finished up that last of the pages before youth group started.

I have to say, I'm only on day three and I already feel really accomplished. Sitting down and actually meeting a goal, even a small one like writing eight pages a day, makes me feel pretty good. And seeing those pages add up is really great feeling. I'm already up to 26 pages. Which is awesome cause normally it takes me forever to get that many pages, but now they're just piling up

But my wrists are hurting, so I'm going to cut this post short. Here are the numbers:

Pages: 8.5

Total Pages thus Far: 25

Words: 2,903

Total Words thus Far: 8,490

Book in a Month: Day 2

Writing eight or nine full pages in one sitting is HARD! Okay that sounds ridiculous, but it's true. And not because I have writer's block. Granted, every once in a while I get a little stuck trying to figure out exactly what to say next. But that usually passes very quickly. The most difficult parts are the actual typing and the not going back to rewrite stuff as I go. Why?

The rewriting part is hard because I am a re-writer. I write something, then decide, no that doesn't sound right, so I rewrite it. But then it doesn't mesh with something I'd written before, so I have to go and rewrite that earlier bit. And so on. This can really detract from forward progress (which is probably why it takes me so long to finish anything). But I do it so readily that not rewriting as I go is really hard. Really, really hard.

The other thing, the typing, that's just hard cause it hurts. Literally. My hands don't do so well with extended periods of typing. Or really any repetitive motion. They start hurting really quickly. So I have to rest them. But if I rest them, then I lose the momentum I had been building up and that stinks as much as the pain does. So it's always a game of how long can I push myself before the pain just becomes too overwhelming.

But enough of the boring downer stuff. Here's today's numbers.

Pages: 8.5

Total Pages thus Far: 16.5

Words: 2,977

Total Words thus Far: 5,587

I'd say it was a good writing day. :)

Book in a Month: Day 1

So I started this thing today called Book in a Month. I'm going to write an entire draft in 30 days. I decided to do this, mostly to see if I could, but also because it's a great way for my to get a draft done quickly. It's (hopefully) going to help me buckle down and get the draft done in an actual, measurable amount of time. I have to focus and write a particular amount each day to accomplish this in 30 days. I'm excited and super nervous about this.

So what am I writing this month? I've decided to give this first try to my first full novel that I ever wrote. I am rewriting it in first person and changing some of the plot elements. This is an attempt to make the story flow better. Doing it in thirty days makes me feel like I won't have wasted too much time if I wind up hating what results from this. It's only a month.

As for my daily goal, it's to write a minimum of eight pages per day for the entire month. I've already written my eight pages for today, and they felt pretty good, though it was a little difficult to write for eight pages without getting distracted or giving up. But I think the longer I do this, the easier it will get. At least I hope so.

The results of my day today -

Pages: 8

Total Pages thus Far: 8

Words: 2,607

Total Words thus Far: 2,607

I will update this count daily, just so I have something to keep me accountable.

Long Day of Nothing . . . Sort Of

I hate those days when I feel like I have accomplished absolutely nothing at work. The days when I only close out one or two or three projects and it's taken me the entire day to get in touch with a consultant or two. And of course, today was one of those days.

But complaining about my day job seems some what pointless. These days will inevitably happen. I just wish less occurred less frequently.

In other news, I'm working on character stuff again. This time it's for my contemporary fiction story. I found this great character tool a while ago and just rediscovered it. I've been using it to get a better handle on my characters. Creating normal but interesting people is kind of hard. I'm used to building characters around some bit of magic or another. I don't have that in this story.

But now that I think about it, maybe that is a good thing. Honestly, these characters feel more like they have personalities than my fantasy characters. Maybe I should do this more often.

Ah well, enough of me boring you with my musings on characters you may never meet. I'm off to watch more Star Trek (the original series, since I've never actually seen all of those) and muse some more.

It's Been a While

As I've stated many time before, I'm kind of bad at keeping up with this blog. It's so easy for me to get distracted by other things (the Sims, watching Netflix, earning a living) that I often just don't feel like posting. There's also the issue of not really being sure what to write about.

That's actually my biggest obstacle. If I actually felt like I had something worth saying, I'd probably post more. Generally, though, I don't feel as if I have much to say.

As of late I've been working on a new project (when I'm not traveling to Italy. Well, actually I only did that once, but still, it was Italy). I needed a break from my first WIP. Time to be away from it. Time to get some distance. So I've decided to step back for a while and work on a couple of other ideas that I've had for a while.

The problem I'm facing at the moment is trying to decide how to spend my writing time. I really want to work on my new fantasy project, but I also find myself being drawn back to a contemporary project that is far more lighthearted than any of my fantasy. It's fun to write in my sarcastic voice. I wish I could figure out a way to bring that voice to my fantasy. I think it would make it more interesting.

Anyway, that's what I'm working on at this point. That and my day job.

I will try and write more often. Struggle though I might, I know it's important.

Is it Time to Move On?

By move on, of course I mean, start fully focusing on another project. This is a question I've been asking myself for months now. I'm not sure what the answer is.

Why am I thinking about this. Well, let's face it. I've been working on one story for something like ten years, and honestly, it's not any closer to being published now than it was a few years ago. It needs an overhaul, or at least I think it needs an overhaul. But I just can seem to see it clearly anymore. I've spent so much time caught up in it's world that i can't get out of it. And I'm not sure that's a good thing. Not being able to see it clearly means I can't do the story justice.

The second reason is that I haven't finished anything else in all these years. Not a real novel length story at least. I've written some short stories and started a few novel length ideas. But I haven't finished another book yet. And I really need to. I need to be able to write more than one book. And it's pretty much a given that your first book almost never gets published. Sad, but true.

But this is really hard for me. I love this book. I love the characters and the story and the entire concept. It's been my baby for so long that I'm honestly scared to call it quits. I find myself thinking that I won't be able to finish or come close to finishing anything else. I fear getting stuck and never getting published.

But the more I think about it, the more I think it's necessary. As i said before, i can't see it clearly anymore. I am stumbling around trying to find the right way to write it, and I can't, at least not right now.

So I think it's time to say farewell to this project for now. As much as I love it, I know I can't give it what it needs right now. So it goes on the shelf, and it's time to turn to something else. Perhaps, hopefully, one day I'll be able to come back to it and make it the amazing story I know it is. I just can't do that right now. So I'm moving on.

Life and Creating New Characters

Who knew that writing could cause physical pain. Oh sure, I spend so much time trying to figure out the right thing to write next, how my characters work together, reworking plots, and everything else about writing, that I sometimes forget that writing can be kind of hard on me physically. I don't generally mention this to most people, though, because, like everything having to do with my health, I hate talking about it. But lately, it's really been getting in the way, which is part of why I don't update this blog as regularly as I'd like. I spend eight or more hours per day writing up reports at my day job, that I often have trouble typing more when I get home or finish my work for the day. Thus, I have not been writing as much as I'd like too. *sigh* But enough of my physical issues. How about some writing ones.

I am attempting to work on a new story idea that is unconnected to my current WIP. I've had the idea for a year or two now, but I've just started working on the characters and plot lines. It's kind of exciting because, though it's a fantasy, it's also another genre that I've never thought about working in before. It's kind of exciting, but a little stressful as well. It's difficult, but I'm very excited about what will hopefully come of this. As usual I have no title (I'm really terrible at those), but hopefully one will come to me as I go. I'm also excited because I'm thinking of setting the story in a culture similar to the Byzantium Empire. Of course, this means lots of research, but I like researching stuff.

So know I'm going to give my poor wrists a rest, and possibly do some more research on Byzantium and this other genre.

Later.