Category: Professionalism

  • So… TODAY was epic…

    So… TODAY was epic…

    Still working from my line-for-scene outline, today the scene i started yesterday just took off. I now have 9245 words done on the first draft. I got 1432 words today, AND discovered the thing I needed to see, and it was completely different than I’d been imagining… but I love it so much. Some days…

  • It’s been a good writing week… but today was EPIC — 4220 words, and a major plot twist

    It’s been a good writing week… but today was EPIC — 4220 words, and a major plot twist

    When your fingers are moving so fast you can’t quite keep up with them, because you cannot wait to see what’s going to happen next, that could be described as a GREAT writing day. That was today. And holy crap, I love what I got. I was MEAN today. Bad things happened to a character…

  • Why I’ve been AWOL from blogging (AKA the dangers of stand-sliding on the playground)

    Why I’ve been AWOL from blogging (AKA the dangers of stand-sliding on the playground)

    In my first run through my five-novel Ohio series, I carefully plotted the first book, wrote it, love it… And carefully plotted the next four books. Followed by ignoring my outlines and pantsing the novels. Why? Because it was fun, it was exciting, it was like being a kindergarten kid again, standing on the top…

  • The Ohio Novels: Sheldon, Because…

    The Ohio Novels: Sheldon, Because…

    I’m revising. It’s a process. I’m doing back-to-back read-throughs of five novels (over 500,000 words of fiction, and then I’ll be doing the work to make them the books I want them to be). First draft is where I explore what the story can become. That’s all finished. Revision is where it becomes the story…

  • To manuscript page 228 on the type-in

    To manuscript page 228 on the type-in

    Today was tough. I had a LOT of hand-written stuff that had to be typed in, and a number of existing pages that had to be either heavily re-written or deleted entirely. Writing-wise, it was a good day, in that I love this story and the way all the pieces are coming together. But it…

  • So today I start the type-in of the Ohio 2 Revision

    So today I start the type-in of the Ohio 2 Revision

    I was up at six, (when you’re fasting, it’s weirdly easy to roll out of bed at the crack of dawn and be through the shower, done with the first cup of coffee, before seven AM… and at my desk and finished with necessary work emails and the one help desk ticket only I could do…

  • FINISHED BOOK FIVE OF THE OHIO SERIES!!!

    FINISHED BOOK FIVE OF THE OHIO SERIES!!!

    No, I didn’t plan this. I thought I had another three weeks of writing to hit the end. Yesterday, I was galloping along, and I’d planned to pick up today with the logical continuation of the scene I wrote yesterday, where my characters were in trouble… And when I loped back into the office this…

  • Mwah-ha-ha-ha-HA! Evil is afoot, and fun is right on its tail!

    Mwah-ha-ha-ha-HA! Evil is afoot, and fun is right on its tail!

    Boy, today did not go where I thought it would. Not at ALL. In the back of my mind, I had this fun little scene planned, and when I popped out of the shower, I knew pretty much where I was going to start. And I did start there — but absolutely none of the…

  • “Something wicked…” might be me!

    “Something wicked…” might be me!

    Mondays can be hard starts. You’re back into work after taking the weekend off, you’re a bit cold on the book because you spent the previous week re-launching your writing classes and your mind has been elsewhere… And the first hour, I did some gear-grinding and backing and filling trying to get back into the…

  • Doing a Line-for-Scene re-plot of Book 5 from Chapter 7 to Chapter 30

    Doing a Line-for-Scene re-plot of Book 5 from Chapter 7 to Chapter 30

    I got 281 words, and am up to 18,423 total, and was rolling along pretty nicely. Hit the end of Chapter 5, rolled over to Chapter 5, and found stuff written clear through Chapter 8 that I’ll either have to save or delete. But I also discovered that the book I’ve been writing since the…