Category: How to Write a Novel
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The words FLEW, I tell you. They FLEW!
It’s not even 9 AM, and I already finished my words for the day (and even ran over a bit). My objective was 1000 words, and I got my scene, and 1,173 brand new words. Better yet, they fit the line-for-scene outline, they move the story forward — and they are angry. These are words…
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Ohio 3 goes dark — 1331 words and an unexpected callback
And darker yet. My MC had one of those “best news in the world, worse news in the world” days today. And while she had the last part of truly wonderful news, I got a big chunk of writing to finish up Chapter 3 and got 729 words into Chapter 4 before I managed to…
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Ohio 3: A thing about family – the VERY good writing day
Today was a tough writing day — not because of getting the words, but because the words are about things that hit me hard. Family, and what that world could mean, and should mean, and also what it sometimes doesn’t. This chapter is deep inside the magic of the world… and the conflict there comes…
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OHIO 3: MURDER… and another solid writing day!
The words went happily and twistily today, and I’m delighted with what I got. Evil is afoot, (and probably a couple of knees, and a hand or two), and my main character has just had her whole life flipped upside-down. Nice thing to have happen in Book Three. So now I’m getting to work on…
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Second take on Ohio 2 done in first draft
So… I didn’t use a word of the first version of Ohio 2. Even my “and’s” and “the’s” are brand new, and fresh and sparkling. NOW, HOWEVER… the novel sits for a week or two or maybe three while I outline Ohio Three. Ohio Three will also be brand-new. I won’t even be reading the…
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Attics and Basements and Monsters, Oh, MY!!!
Good writing day today in spite of having to fight with some software. Not the software’s fault, but owning both the version sold by Apple and the version sold by the software’s creator… Should not be news to anyone, but buying from the creator turns out to be the way to go. You get fantastic…
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Last day of the year… and about ready to get back to work
It hasn’t been the best year in my life. It hasn’t been the worst, either. I wrecked four first drafts of my Ohio Series (books two through five) by exuberatant pantsing. After a longish Think Week and some time spent away from fiction writing and away from deadlines, I’m rested and ready to go through…
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Replotting Ohio 2… The Experiment that Went BOOM!
Book 2 has a lot of salvageable material. A lot of awesome world stuff, some wonderfully funny scenes, some pretty scary scenes. It was fun for me to read, and I made myself laugh a bunch of times, got a little teary-eyed, did a light revision and passed it off to my Editor. Matt, however,…
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And more of the same… OHIO 2 (NO… THREE) Revision
I’m going through all five novels. At the moment, I’m tearing apart Book One, which I got right, to find out where I need to take Book Two THREE in the revision. It’s a complicated process, and I’m managing to give myself regular headaches going through it. And all of this is my own damn…
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Still replotting, still restructuring on Ohio 3
There’s damn little I’m going to be able to save. Ohio 3 is lost in the weeds. So at this point, I’m barely even looking for things to save. I’m just looking for the story I wanted to tell but didn’t, and if I can use any of what I already wrote, great. If not……