It took me a while to get back into the story—not the least of which was time spent just getting my head back into a fiction place.
But when I left Aleksa, she was being followed, and she is now preparing to deal with the man who is about to break into her home. It always helps to leave your character in a bad spot if you’re going to be away for a while—makes it much easier to get interested in figuring out what happens next.
I’m glad to be back. I’ve missed being here.
So, for the first time in a long time…
How is your writing coming?
374 words today! Bless you, Holly, for your Character Q&A!
Working each night (or trying to) and trying hard not to beat myself up if I don’t get done what I think I should. Reworking a short story after an editor advised me that he “didn’t get enough of a unique vibe from the narrator, and [he] didn’t feel the urgency in his situation as viscerally as [he] was hoping, perhaps because [he] didn’t know how it might clash with the narrator’s drive or goals”
But he did say to feel free to submit more. (So at least he didn’t tell me that perhaps I might be better suited to be a plumber!)
Glad you’re back Holly! Hope Matt’s doing well, and you find a teaching hospital!
459 words so far. My main character just made a devil’s deal to get what he yearns for above all. Of course, he yearns for it for all the wrong reasons, reasons with no basis in reality. And the antagonist benefits from the deal considerably more than him.
And, fortunately (or unfortunately, because I like my sleep) the rest of the story’s due on Wednesday. So tonight, I’m just getting started.
330 words.
The King’s Physician nervously prepares an injection for The King. Lost in his own world, The King is oblivious to his physician’s behavior.
Glad to have you back, Holly!!!!
I’ve had all the pre-witing I can stand and I can’ts stands no more. So, this is the beginning of the new novel. Not sure what the title will end up being. At this point, it’s “Ladies of Balthazar.” It’s a science fiction story along the lines of Weber’s On Basilisk Station, Lois McMaster Bujold’s early Vorkosigan stuff and some of Drake’s stuff. At least, that’s what I’m shooting for.
380 words for me tonight. Hadn’t written anything in the last few days, as I’ve been concentrating on making Halloween costumes. Still working on the costumes, but I figured I owed myself some words to keep the ball rolling.
Hate that, when life turns into the novel you don’t want to be in.
So I, too, am wishing, hoping, praying this all has a happy ending for you, Holly. Maybe someday there will be something we can do as writers to expose the outrage our health care system has become.
Now that I’m back, and armed with my new Mac Book Pro, I got 1390 words exploring the middle of my story.
They should find a way to bottle this kind of joy, typing in the dark, when your fingers lead you to the answers your mind tells you are just around the corner.
I edited for four hours today because my husband is awesome and watched the toddler!
Welcome back Holly.
I have been stuck for too long on my latest chapter (7). I finally stopped battling on with it (it had slowed to about a hundred words per session) and went back to the previous chapter to fix a scene that had sent me off-track. And at last the words came. 2883 words last night, and chapter 6 is finished again. Now I’m back to tackling chapter 7.
Hopefully this time I have it all figured out. I’ve re-written and re-written it, and I always stall about half a page before the end of the chapter. At least every time I write it I’m discovering something new.
Holly, it’s really good to have you back. I’m sorry about everything that has been going on though. I have no idea how that stuff works but I hope that your brother-in-law can find a teaching hospital. That would be wonderful.
So, my words… my words. I haven’t been doing very well. I’m spending more time surfing than writing. I’m going to try to write my problem scene backwards to see if that jogs something loose. And unfortunately I guess I’m going to need to pause to figure out how some things work in my world.
For count: -132 on Thursday (the partial scene just had to go) and +160 on Friday.
Finished Lesson 4 of Sideways, moving on to Lesson 5. Trying very hard not to get bogged down by perfectionism. Also, I shared my ideas with a loved one and did not really get the reaction I was hoping for, so that’s a little discouraging. I’m going to keep at it, though. I NEED to write it, and that’s what matters.
Wooohooo! 831 today. But I have been goofing off for a few days. I’m back now. I’ve decided I need a more “writer friendly” workspace. So I’m pricing computer desks with a hutch for storage. My room is a mess right now. I can’t combine real life things with writing life things and keep it all straight in one room. So I needed to reorganize.
i’ve finished chapter 17, started on 18, and have passed 76,000 words total in my rough draft. this weekend i took a break from drafting and edited my prologue and first chapter so that i’d have something i’m willing to email to all my friends wanting to read something (along with my father in law, and a few other family members who have expressed interest). needed to get a feel for how commercial my work is anyway, and if i can get my family to all read it (i’m the only fantasy fan in the whole fam damily), i figure i’m on the right track. turned out to be 25 pages at 11pt. Garamond 1.5 spaced, and i’m pleased with the results.
Also started a more public blog (my writing diary is well hidden) for shameless self promotion of the authorial sort. mainly it turned into a great place to post background of the world, a place i could post maps of the world and city that the novel focuses on, and a little background on how i got started writing in the first place. thehorneddevil.blogspot is the blog if anyone is interested.
will be back to drafting tonight, and should get back on track to finish by Thanksgiving.
My thoughts and best wishes for your family Holly!
I love Garamond.
Finished for today. 1249 words. My perfectionist wants to add at least one more word. I also added a bit extra into a previous scene – something that I had an idea for in the middle of the night and time to work out today.
Welcome back, Holly!
I’ve been working on a short story. I have over a 1K on it (might be closer to 1.5 K–I haven’t been checking). It’s slower going than I’d like.
Welcome back Holly. I have missed reading your posts. I have been out due to my grandmother passing away. I may not get anything done with my novel until I get back home. But, I am thinking about it a lot.
It’s good to hear from you again Holly. I’m sorry I can’t be any help regarding your family health issues, being in Italy! I hope everything turns out fine, please keep us up to date.
Regarding writing, I’m back into the WABWM business. On the 10th october I’ve started the first draft for my new novel, a stand-alone fantasy which I’ve dubbed “the Path of Blood” as a working title (“il cammino del sangue” in Italian). I’m training myself to write at least a little bit (as in: anything over 300 words is gravy for me) daily for 5 days a week, and the project seems to be coming along rather nicely. I’ve also started a public writing blog in English as a means to keep in touch with creative pals overseas. Currently I’m around 4400 words, aiming to reach 80-90k by June 2010 as a best-case scenario.
Started a new chapter yesterday with 316 words, moving a little back in time with respect to the previous chapter that was written by my male MC’s point of view. Now I’ve switched to my female MC’s point of view (which should actually be the major point of view throughout the novel) to show exactly the big mess that happened to her and her mother just before she was found by him and his brother in a half-crazed state, and they helped her recover her sanity (shown in the previous chapter).
I can’t remember the word counts but I’m over 45K now. Got stuck on a scene for 2 days until I conceeded defeat and rewrote it. It was dragging and emotionally erratic, so I changed it. FMC makes a solid decision now that changes things and gives her the drive to go forward. I’m extremely happy with the new version. No more sitting around the table drinking tea, it’s get up and go time.
It helped to have a nice weekend with the family, and my sister introduced me to a new series on Immortals that jump started the muse on some of the changes.
That sounds cool.Which series is it?
It’s by Alyson Noel, first book is Evermore, then Blue Moon. The 3rd doesn’t come out until November. The series itself is called “the immortals”.
(I wasn’t sure if I should post about another author on Holly’s site but I’m hoping she doesn’t mind, since you asked.)
🙂
Thank you. I love fantasy stories.
Glad you are back.
I am at the point of my 30 page false start on Bx2-Pedestal. I don’t want to abandon it, but I also don’t know how to continue on the track I am on.
I also have gotten pulled into too many projects and find myself going tharn over my own projects. Yesterday, I started doing 10-30 stints on the different projects, and moved a few forward.
So, I don’t have any new words to report.
I meant … 10-30 minute sprints in different projects.
I’ve mostly been working on my nano project, which has morphed so much from the original idea I can barely recognize it anymore. But I have developed another problem. I split the novel into three parts because my muse demanded it, and now I can see each part comprising of a novel of thier own. I just don’t know if I should try to separate them into novels, or just write it as it is and see how it turns out. Anyone have any suggestions?
On the other front, Dragonfly is another 1k words longer, and I closed out another chapter. My goal is to finish by the end of December, and I’m going to be rushed to actually do so since I am crazy and signed up for Nano, but it’s still doable. I just keep reminding myself that everyday =)
I’d write them as separate novels. For me, “if it stands on its own, then it should stand so”.
But I think that can vary quite a bit.
Yeah, my first book is actually three, which I know is a hard sell. First-time writers shouldn’t do trilogies, right? But it simply doesn’t work as a single book, and it’s the story I’m most passionate about telling.
I like reading series myself… as long as they go somewhere and have a great ending.
Of course, you could always write it and see how long it ends up being. At least that’s how I’m handling mine. I’m going to write the whole thing and then see whether it actually merits multiple books or just one book with lots happening. 🙂
Holly, it’s good to see you back. All my best wishes to you and your family.
I have not had a day off since October 13th, and my writing has suffered. Don’t expect to have a day off until the end of this week, so I am not going to blame myself overmuch for my lack of progress. I’ve also been distracted by a sad situation at Gettysburg National Military Park, whose controversial superintendent has been reassigned to a desk job at another park after it was leaked to the press that he’d admitted to searching for “inappropriate images” while on the job.
My MC/narrator’s younger brother has enlisted, or is just about to enlist, in the 26th Pennsylvania Emergency Militia, along with a number of other Pennsylvania College students. I don’t really know her brother well, yet. I know the part I plan for him to play in the story better than I know what he’s like as a person. Think the best way to figure this out is to ask my narrator questions about her brother. Lots of questions.
One think I do know is how much my MC/narrator hates the limited role she has played so far in the war effort, and how much she wishes she, too, could enlist!
Hi Holly,
I am fairly new to your blog, so I am just curious. You usually post about few hundred words at a time. So do you outline in detail, and work on a scene at a time? Or do you just figure out what you are going to write as you go?
Dolly,
Holly invited people to write a book with her. It started here https://hollylisle.com/writingdiary2/index.php/2009/06/28/want-to-write-a-book-with-me/
As for myself. In the past week I started a new project from scratch. I have done more than 5000 words in total but I’m not yet done for today so that might creep up.
It’s good to see you back.
I’ve been working on my outline for NaNoWriMo, and it’s about half complete. It’s a very long and detailed outline, but I’m still hoping to get it finished by the end of this week. I do have enough to cover the first 50k of the story though, so if all else fails I should be all right for Nanoing.
Hello there! I’m happy to have you back, and I bet I’m not the only one.
About me, hmmm.
I finished Vega (in fairly satisfying way, ie I still miss her badly but there is nothing in the ending I can tweak or add right now…let’s wait to the edits).
I wrote a short story (2000 words or so). I’m not happy with it but it’s one of those stories that want to rest a while before edits.
I also did a tricky rewrite to a short story per editor’s request (it took me bloody long, mostly in bracing myself. VERY unprofessional, I must say, but then again this was the first time I did such thing).
And I begun a non-fiction article too, testing the waters, seeing how it goes.
(Hmmm, judging from the list I haven’t been slacking much–this weekend when I did nothing seems to be well deserved.)
I don’t have anything big planned until NaNoWriMo though, some non-fiction, some editing maybe.
Congrats on finishing Vega and getting an editor request on a story. That’s great!
Thanks! 🙂
Congratulations! It sounds like you’ve been very productive (finishing Vega and a rewrite request).
Way to go!
My writing … actually, I’ve finished my first draft! Granted, there’s still A LOT of work ahead of me, but just getting the story out is a great feeling. Now for the harder part!
Congratulations on finishing!
Enjoy the feeling, before getting back to the editing.
Congrats on finishing!!!
Congratulations!
Hey congrats! Please keep us up to date on the revision process! 🙂
Thanks guys!
I hear you, Teri – I hope this feeling can carry me through the editing process. Even though I know there’s A LOT of work ahead of me, I’m still excited about the story, which hopefully means something good. *Crosses fingers*
😀
A completed first draft. There ought to be a certificate or a bouquet! Good work!
Good Job hopefully I’ll be jpining you about Turkey time, or there abouts.
Congratulations!
About 600 words today. I’ve been working on another story idea, as this one is nearly complete, but it’s my weekend project. I typed about 5K yesterday on ideas.
Welcome back! Interesting comment. Maybe that’s why I missed two days during this stretch–I finished the really exciting scene and went into a slower bit…
I got 808 words today, though. Some fun character development is happening. Cricket is about to realize that the goal she thought was hers wasn’t really hers at all.
0 Words in several days. Theres been a good bit of run here, do this, kids clinging, and weekends have become a mass cooking so that I have more free time during the week. Tomorrow I’ll get back on track and deal with my main protag’s emotions after the death of his only living parent.