Category: Stand-Alone Fiction

  • YESTERDAY’s work… finished Lesson 5 of the new Big Writing Course…

    YESTERDAY’s work… finished Lesson 5 of the new Big Writing Course…

    Got my fiction first TODAY — had to toss a bit of the most recent scene, came in with new words, and even came out a bit ahead. Came out with a net gain of 148 words. Not what I’d hoped for, but I’m glad to be getting fiction. And the RETHINK part of the…

  • To quote Meatloaf, “Some days it don’t come easy…”

    To quote Meatloaf, “Some days it don’t come easy…”

    It is a Monday. I’m trying to be objective by keeping that in mind. Mondays can be a bit tricky sometimes, and this was one of those. So… I got words… They fit, they moved the story forward, they let me build out the obstacle my characters are facing, and I genuinely like what I…

  • Another slow, struggle-y day today working through Chapter 6

    Another slow, struggle-y day today working through Chapter 6

    The story has taken a (planned) dark turn. MEANWHILE… I’m struggling a bit to show the conflict without going darker than I want. And I have to be very, very careful right now NOT to let the magic run amok. It’ll do that, you know — magic will. Run AMOK… AMOK… all over the damn…

  • The Mystery Deepens… Ohio 4 and Important People Lying

    The Mystery Deepens… Ohio 4 and Important People Lying

    Some days, writing is like flying — it’s effortless, and exciting, and maybe a bit scary and windy, especially when the ground seems a long, long way down. But these are the days when you have to pull yourself away from the words when all you want to do is keep going. I managed to…

  • 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…

  • ‘Twas a fine day in writing land… with vengeance…

    ‘Twas a fine day in writing land… with vengeance…

    You know how you have heroes who you watch take a beating from the world, and get trampled by minions who’ve taken over something they’ve created? And you watch the over-throwing bastards who trample them ruin all the good stuff they made, and make a complete mess of this wonderful thing they put into the…

  • A very good Ohio Wednesday… and a disturbing twist

    A very good Ohio Wednesday… and a disturbing twist

    I got 1319 words today, nicely over my 1200-word objective. And I like what I got. Yesterday’s stuff was funny, but today’s words got serious as my main character and a friend of hers started investigating a project they want to take on — and my MC pointed out that there are some significant dangers…

  • And… YEP… Still outlining on Ohio Four

    And there’s really not a lot you can say about that. It’s one 30-word sentence per scene that has to encompass the essence of the chapter while moving the whole story forward, and it is a pretty fast, efficient way to give yourself a migraine. It works. It’s essential to my process of getting books…

  • It’s “Make Yourself Cry” Day…

    It’s “Make Yourself Cry” Day…

    I got good words. 997, to be exact. And I love what I got today. But some of what I wrote was pulled out of my real life, and part of it was me getting to do in fiction something I never had the opportunity to do in real life, because my real childhood was…

  • Heading in — teeth bared, knives out… because the BIG bad is coming

    Heading in — teeth bared, knives out… because the BIG bad is coming

    Rolled out of bed early — couldn’t sleep. Got the shower, drank the coffee, and cleared all the office shit first, because today I’m heading in to the BIG MIDDLE SCENE, where everything changes. I’m taking a deep breath. I have the Rock Gods going, because this section of the book needs my full focus…