Month: September 2009

  • Update on the Novel Revision Course

    This is some fascinating stuff. I’ve now gone through ALL the comments, questions, and problems folks describe having with revising their novels, and I’ve sorted out 146 unique issues that ARE revison-related and revision-critical, and 7 that aren’t. Let me get the 7 “These Are Not Revision Problems” issues out of the way first. 1)…

  • Killed a man tonight… but in the future.

    DTD. 451 words. And tonight I wrote this delicate, innocuous little section of a scene in which one character casually mentions to the other character the action she took that will, a few miles down the road, lead to his horrifying murder. I LOVE the way it turned out. Everything the reader will need to…

  • DTD — 495, and the professor digs deeper

    Aleksa got a chance to unearth the forged artifact from the dig tonight, and now she’s royally bugged, because the earth layers at the site looked authentic, even though the artifact that’s come to light clearly is not. I felt like crap all day, but am actually feeling pretty decent tonight—enough so that I’m hoping…

  • DTD — 653 words, and No Kiss

    I got pure dialogue tonight, as Aleksa turned down the marriage proposal of the man who loves her. And while they were talking, I planted the seeds that are going to explode into disaster a few chapters down the road (stuff I’ve already written for the second part of the novel). I like what I…

  • WABWM–The Weekend Words, Part II

    Your words. How are they coming, are you having fun, are you getting some neat new insights? Hope your weekend is being wonderful to you. Download as PDFPrint Page

  • WABWM–The Weekend Words, Part I

    Okay. I feel like a wrecked train. And I’m DEEPLY grateful it’s now my weekend. But…you’re writing. So. How are the words coming? Download as PDFPrint Page

  • DTD — 584 Words, and The Rock God Unplugged

    Got a nice little scene tonight, a cut-out scene in which we watch three strangers in a coffeehouse: A brilliant young guitarist, an aging rock god, and a red-headed woman in the audience. Omniscient point of view through most of the scene, settling into the POV of the young woman as she suddenly realizes she…

  • DTD — 401 words. And other things.

    In spite of still being sick, I had a pretty good work day today. Got 1800 words finished on the first lesson of How To Revise Your novel, and got the next three lessons completely outlined. I want to have a significant amount of the course already written before my two test students start class—and…

  • DTD — 371 words: What the mind forgets

    Tonight’s addition to the scene I’m digging through worked well for me. My hero has come face to face with the reality that the horror he left behind, far in his past, has once again caught up with him. And to deal with it, he can’t have the comfortable life he’s created for himself. While…

  • Not Writing Tonight

    The thing I was coming down with yesterday, I woke up with today. Sick, and not up to writing, so I’m going to go to sleep and hope I’m better in the morning. Hope your own words are going well. Download as PDFPrint Page