Holly Lisle: Writer

DTD — 498 words, and the walls come a-tumbling down

The story is shifting under my feet, but what I got tonight was solid. I have to remember to make sure my main characters are concerned about their man down…but for right now, Ki has finally decided to come clean about who he is.

And even in coming clean, he isn’t going to give Aleksa the whole truth, and he’s going to let her jump to some false conclusions if he can tip her in that direction.

But that’s what I’ll face on Sunday night. For me, this is the end of the fiction week. I’ll be back on Sunday. (And maybe tomorrow with nonfictionish stuff.)

But both Friday and Saturday posts will go up so that if you’re writing on the weekend, you’ll have a place to record your progress.

Have a wonderful weekend!

image_pdfDownload as PDFimage_printPrint Page

Posted

in

, , , ,

by

Holly

Tags:

Comments

62 responses to “DTD — 498 words, and the walls come a-tumbling down”

  1. Danielle Lanois Avatar
    Danielle Lanois

    323, and I’m loving reading through what everyone else is writing about on here! It’s really cool to have access to so many writers – I don’t get to deal with many in my day-to-day life, and sometimes I forget that I’m not the only one dealing with icky scenes and characters that don’t cooperate… and when I’m dealing with those, it’s nice to be reminded that, sometimes, things are wonderful!

    Reply
  2. Kerry Avatar
    Kerry

    301 words yesterday, and 582 today. I had a hard time remembering exactly where the scene was meant to be going, but I got it back on track eventually. MC discovered he’s now in another world, and understandably, he’s freaking out. He doesn’t know the half of it yet. I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a fun writing day. >:D

    Reply
  3. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    Oh, I almost forgot. Anyone here who has the progress meter, can it be put uploaded to a website like face book or would I need my own personal website?

    Reply
  4. Michelle Avatar
    Michelle

    About 500 words so far today. Hopefully more before the end of the day. Finger crossed, but feeling tired now.

    Reply
  5. Roo Avatar
    Roo

    Today’s lesson: You can also *cut* words to complete a piece.
    Who knew.

    3x word count, 2 pieces to go.

    (Long roads this summer. I’m so glad this is up here, Holly and everyone.)

    Reply
  6. ceecee Avatar
    ceecee

    Got to play with my Bad Guy inside an old Roman-Britain temple to the goddess Minerva–had no idea he was going there and would have to make sacrifices.( Eww–entrails.) Then got my Heroine kidnapped by Bad Guy’s assistant–but she fought him well. I also saw two or three nice toys lying on the floor when I quit today at 1,020 words. Have to let the whole thing marinate over next two days.
    Have a great weekend, everyone!

    Reply
  7. Kait Nolan Avatar
    Kait Nolan

    I’m very pleased with the 668 words I got in yesterday. Not so much that they were good words (and they were parsed out over 3 different scenes), but just the fact that I go that many in within a big hurry. It was my hubby’s birthday, so I didn’t have much time to write!

    Reply
  8. Karen van Wyk Avatar
    Karen van Wyk

    I’m having a crisis at work at the moment and had to abandon the novel for a while. Slowly getting back to normal and I managed 394 words today.

    I’ve left one poor character with a terrible dilemma so I’m hoping things will flow nicely tomorrow while he tries to resolve it.

    Reply
  9. Stormlyht Avatar
    Stormlyht

    FINALLY finished chapter 3 of my main story. Boy was that heart wrenching. However! 1845 words later and it’s done! yay me! Very excited because now I am back to my *original* beginning and can move forward from there. Editing and rewriting (changing from 3rd person to 1st person and the story was written entirely in 3rd for 1st draft. ugh) the rest is next!

    Reply
    1. Roo Avatar
      Roo

      Definitely Yay you. Especially switching POV – wow.
      Finishing is good. 😀

      Reply
      1. Stormlyht Avatar
        Stormlyht

        Yeah, this story I’m working on is my very first year NaNoWriMo project (national novel writing month) so it’s over 50k of wrong pov. I realized this when I reread the thing like, 6 months later and was like… I need to really be in my MC’s head…. as soon as I started writing 1st person his hawk familiar started talking like crazy and now she won’t shut up. LOL It’s a lot of work, but I’m really enjoying it. It’s like the story just reforms as I’m switching POV. This is my first project that I’m planning on submitting so I’m spending a lot of time on it. I want it to be irresistible. *thinking positively*

        Reply
  10. Belle Avatar
    Belle

    Happened again. The “awaiting moderation” line. I have had several posts not post due to this line. Kinda weird.

    Here’s my post again … No word count yesterday. Still researching. Books arrived. Old document in Italian half translated. I am almost good to go. My plan is to have notecards done by the end of Sunday, so writing will start again Monday.

    Reply
  11. Belle Avatar
    Belle

    No word count yesterday. Still researching. Books arrived. Old document in Italian half translated – lots of ideas coming from it. I am almost good to go. My plan is to have notecards done by the end of Sunday, so writing will start again Monday.

    Reply
    1. Nancy Avatar
      Nancy

      Heck, just knowing you’re reading an old document in Italian gets my creative juices flowing. How cool is that?? Good luck!

      Reply
  12. Danielle Avatar
    Danielle

    I really need to type my stuff up so I know how many words it is….

    Wrapped up a sequence of scenes with my primary MC, then introduced a secondary one who’s a lovely mix of protagonist and antagonist (I believe the term is “anti-heroine”). I’m afraid it was a bit of a jarring transition, though, as it suddenly jumps from my Greco-Roman Atlantis to a pre-Mayan demigoddess. However, there IS a connection in the works, and that gives me hope. Have to work on smoothing that out….

    So, in addition to some parts of my story that I’m very happy with, I have two things on my to-do list. It was a productive day.

    Reply
  13. Colleen Avatar
    Colleen

    Nothing for the last few days, but I thought I should pop my head in. It really does help to see everyone else’s progress. I’m rooting for every one of you, and it helps motivate me.

    Well, “no words” is not precisely accurate. I’ve written probably over 10,000 words for The Paying Job this week, leaving precious little left in me for fiction. I did make several plot cards yesterday, though, and I have those sitting at my elbow now for if I need a break.

    Reply
    1. Sarah Collins Avatar
      Sarah Collins

      I hear you on that one! I feel like I’m never caught up on The Paying Jobs! LOL. At least (for me) those are non-fiction. Makes it a little easier to switch gears. =c)

      Reply
  14. Shawn Avatar
    Shawn

    724. That’s pretty darned good for me. The pursuing bad guys have cornered our MCs. The next scene will introduce another main player. He will help the MCs learn something about what is happening to them, if not why. But first they have to get away from the soldiers. I’m pretty sure one of them is going to be critically injured in the fighting.

    Reply
  15. The Pencil Neck Avatar
    The Pencil Neck

    699 words.

    It’s 7:45PM in India right now. I’m wet from walking back to the room in the rain and I’m dead tired from working so long and not really getting enough good sleep.

    I’ve been writing in the mornings when I wake up but this morning, it was just all wrong. The scene just wasn’t talking to me. So i figured I’d just skip tday. Then I came back to the room 10 hours later and figured to try another scene. The scene AFTER the one I planned to write.

    It flew out. My sheriff (who’s no longer a sheriff) puts some pressure on a man he knows is guilty but he accuses the man of something the ex-sheriff knows the man’s not guilty of so that the man will go tell his boss. And lead the ex-sheriff up the food chain of evil.

    I think I’m going to sleep now.

    Reply
    1. The Pencil Neck Avatar
      The Pencil Neck

      Oh, and I know what needs to happen in the scene that wasn’t working now, too.

      Reply
    2. Roo Avatar
      Roo

      “food chain of evil”

      Can I borrow this hilarious phrase? I can see it has many potential business applications. I will of course credit the author. 😀

      Reply
      1. Shawn Avatar
        Shawn

        Now, see, I hadn’t read the original post when I read yours. “Food chain of evil,” struck me as a devious way for the evil organization to operate. Hooking people on their drug-laden burgers. Mind-control milkshakes are my favorite. I got the picture of a sort of BurgerKing gone bad. I always thought that the King was kind of creepy. Now I know why. “Food Chain of EVIL!”

        Reply
      2. The Pencil Neck Avatar
        The Pencil Neck

        Of course! 🙂

        Reply
  16. Lisa R Avatar
    Lisa R

    730 words. I was worried about how the next section of the book was going to go when last night a new character showed up. I really like her. The words flowed smoothly. It was a good night.

    Reply
  17. Dawn K. Avatar
    Dawn K.

    I had this scene and it became pregnant somehow and began giving birth to baby scenes, that are related to it. I don’t know if it’s having twins or triplets or what yet, and I’m not complaining, but boy am I confused. I had no idea this part of the story would be so big! At any rate 3,062 words today and several related things to go. It gets scary when the story runs away like this and I know where it’s going but I’m just not sure how it thinks it’s going to get there.

    Reply
    1. Nancy Avatar
      Nancy

      Wow! Great wordage. Clearly, the Muse is with you. Good luck on finding steady footing through the new terrain.

      Reply
    2. Erin T Avatar
      Erin T

      Wow, this is totally cool. A little unnerving, I imagine, but WAY cool. 🙂

      Reply
  18. Minze Avatar
    Minze

    340-odd words today. Off to decorate a volcano cake for a dinosaur birthday party and pre-plan the next few scenes.

    Reply
    1. Sarah Collins Avatar
      Sarah Collins

      I decorate cakes, too! Writing inspiration always seems to strike when I’m elbow deep in icing (okay, not literally) and can’t type a word. Maybe I need a tape recorder, LOL.

      Reply
  19. Erin T Avatar
    Erin T

    440 words yesterday. Finished what is for now the first scene. MC will soon blink and find herself in the unknown.

    Reply
    1. Nancy Avatar
      Nancy

      Sounds like fun. I love crossing worlds like that! Keep going!

      Reply
  20. Khena Avatar
    Khena

    About 370 words. Still moving forward, but I’m having a lot of trouble staying focused this past week. Hopefully things will starting working out for me again soon.

    Reply
  21. Debora Avatar
    Debora

    A lot of distractions this week. A plumber is coming over a third time to fix our dryer, and just the knowledge he’s going to show up seems to stop me from getting into the right writing mode. It’s hard to switch gears. Our car was also in the shop. Too many dollars later, it’s working fine. Add in a visit to the vet, with my elderly cat in tow. Plus various changes in schedule. It’s been that kind of week.

    I did get 475 words on Wednesday, and 484 yesterday, but it was not my best writing. I need to take a step back and figure out what I really want out of this scene. Plan to do some brainstorming this morning on the subject, so I can have a more productive day tomorrow.

    Reply
    1. Stormlyht Avatar
      Stormlyht

      Good luck! I know when there are a ton of distractions it makes it soooooo much harder to focus on what you want to write. I set a timer when I write and I have to turn it away from me because if I can see it, I start watching it and paying more attention to it than to my writing. Then I pressure myself, “I only have *blank* number of minutes left, have to get to this writing.” and it all goes bad from there. But when there’s people coming in the house it’s worse, ’cause then you’re thinking “they’ll be here by three… it’s two… they could come early…”.

      May you have much more luck tomorrow, and hopefully less hecticness!

      Reply
      1. Debora Avatar
        Debora

        I actually do better on days when I know I have a limited time to write, because I have to push myself into writing mode more quickly.

        But can’t seem to get there when I know some strange man is going to show up between 9 and 12. What, go to the door, restrain the wildly barking dog, watch cat fly out the open door, and attempt to look, well — normal! — when I’m feeling anything but . . . .

        Thanks for the good wishes:-)

        Reply
        1. Roo Avatar
          Roo

          “But can’t seem to get there when I know some strange man is going to show up between 9 and 12. “

          Argh. The concentration killer. I had that twice this week.
          Best of luck with everything.

          Reply
  22. Jim Mitchel Avatar
    Jim Mitchel

    I completed the second scene for chapter seven. Still have several more scenes to go…this should be my longest chapter (at least so far).

    Word count for today: 271

    Reply
  23. Jessica Avatar
    Jessica

    0 for the first time in weeks. There was just too much stress in my personal life thanks to a messup by the bank and some other unforseen and unavoidable issues with my husband.

    I did write a crit for a friend’s work though. Tried to keep it positive criticism but there were a lot of errors and pointless scenes that had no relation to the story at all. I hope she doesn’t take it personally but I had to be honest about it.

    Got a good night’s sleep and I’m ready to go again. Getting closer to the 20K mark and I think I can make it there by Monday, so that’s my goal.

    Reply
    1. Sarah Collins Avatar
      Sarah Collins

      I have a wonderful crit partner and, although I’m usually a ball of nerves when I go to open my file after she’s gotten her claws on it, I’ve been through enough with her to know I’ll have a much stronger chapter in the end. She’s often apologetic and begging me not to be mad in the e-mail, but in the attachment – yikes! (Total Jekyll and Hyde, LOL). But I can count on her honesty and I TREASURE that, even when it stings. (Even when I have to delete 7k words – yes, I’m still lamenting that, LOL) I know friendship muddies it up but if a writer can’t take the truth from his or her friends then s/he can forget taking it on the open water with the sharks. I hope your friend thanks you for your honesty and appreciates it! You’re doing a wonderful thing by her.

      Reply
  24. Charlene Teglia Avatar
    Charlene Teglia

    The only words I got were on the blurb I wrote for an upcoming book. (200 I think?) Spent the morning on pub business/email and the afternoon carting furniture out, but more words ahead today.

    Reply
  25. Larkk Avatar
    Larkk

    752 words, after going through notes, freewriting, whatever, just to keep things going. I’m starting to get some vague ideas, and I think the sapphire ring might be more significant than anyone suspected. Keeping my notebook at my side, hoping for something to pop into my head.

    Reply
    1. Jessica Avatar
      Jessica

      I like to do random google and wiki searches to get inspired when I feel stuck on something. I also recently found everythin2.com which has a lot of interesting ideas on, well everything. It warms up my muse until I get going on my own again.
      Only problem is you can get a little too interested in web browsing and then it becomes a distraction rather than a tool. So I limit my browsing time.

      Reply
      1. Larkk Avatar
        Larkk

        Thanks for the tip! Internet searches are a huge help, as long as I get back to the writing without getting hung up in them.

        Reply
  26. Mikaela Avatar
    Mikaela

    Zilch. Zip. Zero. Cause I hurt my arm 🙁 I plan to take the weekend off from writing, hoping it will be better on monday.

    Reply
    1. Nancy Avatar
      Nancy

      Feel better soon!

      Reply
  27. Greg Avatar
    Greg

    Morning! Another 517 from me.

    Reply
  28. KQ Avatar
    KQ

    601. Dragging. I have a short vacation coming up, so I probably won’t post until the middle of next week. I will post all of my progress then. Happy writing to all!

    Reply
  29. Cat (from HtTS) Avatar
    Cat (from HtTS)

    688 words and my MC is trying to bust her mentor out of a prison that’s supposed to be absolutely safe. Lucky for her, chance is on her side.

    Reply
  30. Brent B. Avatar
    Brent B.

    81,
    Approached the scene too early, when nothing important is happening, because I wanted to foreshadow something coming later. Hopefully, I can find a better way to fit it together tomorrow. Not a total waste though. I got some needed details about the location out of the way.

    smiley faces to all

    Reply
  31. Ieva Avatar
    Ieva

    600+ words.
    I’ll take a break though, as I have to figure out wth goes on after this point (where I’ve heaped all the bad things imaginable on my protag’s head and can’t really imagine what else to add; so time for her to get moving).

    Reply
  32. Sarah Collins Avatar
    Sarah Collins

    I edited chapter 16 and continued chapter 17, adding 170 words to my total. Only about six chapters to go before I finish the first draft!

    Reply
    1. Jessica Avatar
      Jessica

      Congrats! Keep going!

      Reply
    2. Nancy Avatar
      Nancy

      Way to go, Sarah!

      Reply
      1. Sarah Collins Avatar
        Sarah Collins

        Wow, thanks guys! *muah!*

        Reply
  33. Elise Avatar
    Elise

    1056 words today. My hero is working on his Earthship in the desert and wondering if his feelings toward my heroine will lead him into trouble. I have a feeling they will.

    Reply
    1. Nancy Avatar
      Nancy

      *Cheshire cat grin* Of course they will!

      Reply
      1. The Pencil Neck Avatar
        The Pencil Neck

        Bwahahahahah!

        They better! 🙂

        Reply
  34. Patricia Avatar
    Patricia

    450 words on Blood Covenant, and Ryan (my MC) finally meets his guide. Some warnings and threats are said, some words exchanged, and pretty soon my two explorers will be ready to brave the unknown…finally! Good luck to everyone on their writing, and thank you Holly for having faith in us.

    Reply
  35. megan Avatar
    megan

    45 words written in the dark last night that lead to another 40 or so on the train to school today that gave me a good reason why my antagonist hasnt just killed my MC straight away. Well I hope it’s a good reason, seems to be so far, and it is better than no reason.

    Reply
  36. Clare K. R. Miller Avatar
    Clare K. R. Miller

    587 words today. My female MC is sitting at home bored, while my male MC and the former’s cousin are off to town to talk to the council. Don’t worry, soon she will be having her own adventures…

    Reply
  37. Nancy Avatar
    Nancy

    “Mphmm un shmfy mrvs”

    Swallow.

    Or rather, 660 words — and several large motivating spoonfuls of pistachio almond ice cream later — I discover my mousey little acolyte has a sneaky, devious side. Which will turn out to be a very good thing for my MC, as the father-figure she’s been trusting with her life turns out to be sneaky and devious too. And not in a good way.

    Happy wordage, all!

    Reply
    1. Roo Avatar
      Roo

      ‘“Mphmm un shmfy mrvs”

      Swallow.”

      *lolol*

      A reward well-earned should indeed be well-enjoyed.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

62
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x