Comments on: DTD—286 words, and digging into the mystery

By: Mike P.

Mike P. — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:42:50 +0000

475 words and counting today.

By: james mc donald

james mc donald — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:49:05 +0000

This is the diary of seamus sia bhoin (prononced shean bon if you.re a sasanach) ,the heir of cu culain the greatest warrior that ever lived in the fair isles and i am also the (reluctant) master and commander of the Dia Anles (fairy type people), who have been keeping the forces of evil at bay known as the avlochs who also have a child of prophecy which has treathened to unleash the hordes of chaos into the mortal realm,s.

By: Patricia Guy

Patricia Guy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:16:52 +0000

Thanks for this blog…it certainly helps focus the mind. I finished the scene breakdown last night and started writing this morning: a tad over 2000 words.
Thanks. I am unlikely to have started writing without the push that this website gave me.

By: Patricia Guy

Patricia Guy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:15:26 +0000

Thanks for this blog…it certainly helps focus the mind. I finished b scene breakdown last night and started writing this morning: a tad over 2000 words.
Thanks. I am unlikely to have started writing without the push that this website gave me.

By: KQ

KQ — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:11:30 +0000

1200 words for me. I have approximately 70,000 on my current novel.

By: Julia GD

Julia GD — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:08:03 +0000

Sounds like a good idea. Since you are writing from a first person POV, reveal only what she sees/hears. If you want to, write down what you KNOW happens somewhere separately or as a comment. Your narrator may make assumptions and may be wrong – and that would be fine. I think it is actually better than disclosing all the information outright, it leaves the reader guessing and doubting together with your character. You can also tell what theories she has about the events and why she thinks her companion is (or may be) involved. And I agree with you. Battles do cause damage. especially to furniture. It takes a lot to damage a ship’s deck itself nowadays, but it surely can be done!

By: Julia GD

Julia GD — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:00:52 +0000

Yes, I learned this lesson the hard way. I wish I read your course before starting my novel. I think I have my first three chapters re-written about two dozen times. Well, not anymore. Your great advice, NaNoWriMo and frustration for a year taught me that a badly written chapter is way better than nothing. Plus, I do feel a bit more confident about my English now, which helps to avoid the paranoia of “just checking if everything is spelled correctly”.

By: Dee

Dee — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:55:52 +0000

What I was thinking of doing was having her confront the person she’s with just before they arrive at their destination and demand to know if he’s been involved in any of the “whatever they were” that caused the damage to the upper decks of the ship.

(Hey, good battles cause damage)

By: Julia GD

Julia GD — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:55:17 +0000

I agree with Holly entirely. The summary for the sake of a summary is a waste of time. However, if there are events you feel really compelled to mention, sometimes if is easier to spill them out on a paper in a sort of “stream of consciousness” style and edit them out into a much more concise and interesting paragraph (or even single sentence) later.
If you write from a first person POV, you can I guess say something like “While I was enjoying my quiet trip and peaceful meals, the bloody battle for survival was raging in the kitchens between the Chef and his assistant…” or something

By: Dee

Dee — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:54:40 +0000

First person, present tense. I personally journal constantly and that’s how this is turning out. I tried third person first, but it just would NOT write at all, so I switched to what I’m most comfortable with. I actually would like to finish and publish someday, so …