Holly Lisle: Writer

WARPAINT type-in: Remembering “slow” is relative #WABWM

9:05 AM

Have been working since 7:30 AM. Had to do student support first.

Yesterday I cleared over 10,000 words of the type-in (two chapters) including adding 3693 new words to the story.

Most of those new words were NOT in the type-in. The story is getting better and tighter as I do this—but again, this is ALWAYS the process. Mark up the manuscript, go in, fix things even more while ignoring a fair amount of the markup in favor of new stuff.

I’m a bit less that halfway through the manuscript: I’m on 163 now, and not including the thumb-thick stack of handwritten pages I added, the manuscript has 394 pages.

Today, my objective is simple—get through as many of them as I can while doing it well.

I get frustrated by how long this is taking…but then I remember, when I finish, there will be no more revisions. Some people spend ten years on this process.

If type-in takes me two weeks, I will not lose my temper with myself.

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12 responses to “WARPAINT type-in: Remembering “slow” is relative #WABWM”

  1. Kirsten Avatar
    Kirsten

    Hi Jen of Hens,
    I took HTRYN and only signed up for HTTS later. I can assure you that HTYRN covers everything you need to know to revise a story, although most students there have taken HTTS as well. (There are some fantastic discounts that make it very attractive to take both. 🙂 )

    I started HTRYN with an utterly broken novel, but it had an ending, some characters that wouldn’t let me rest, and I loved the story. Somewhere on this site Holly has a quiz called ‘Is this story worth saving?’ so you might want to check that out before you commit. I think you’ll know though, whether or not this story is one you want to spend a lot of time with. The course was a long journey for me, but what got me through was the love I have for my story. Now, after revision, I love my story even more!

    HTTS is wonderful for creating more stories that you love. Once I’d written ‘The One’ I wanted to do it again and again, and HTTS gave me the tools to do that.

    Reply
  2. Jean Avatar
    Jean

    Jen, As with Stephanie, I am also a student of HTTS and HTRYN. I concur with her recommendation. If you have something you want to revise, start with HTRYN — and don’t worry if it takes you longer than the course is written for. I’m a charter class member and am still working on my revision (hopefully things will progress more quickly for you). I’m making steady, if slow, progress in the course and believe it’s extremely helpful.

    I’ll second that HTTS is best to begin with no ideas, so you can fully explore the lessons in the course.

    Reply
    1. Jen of Hens Avatar
      Jen of Hens

      Thanks Jean – appreciate the input. Congrats on your progress in HTRYN!

      Reply
  3. Holly Avatar
    Holly

    2628 words, 100% of them new, and none of them even replace existing pages. They built the book (and I think the scene today is the single best scene I’ve ever written), but relative to the end of the book, I have moved forward 0%.

    The next scene is 100% typing in brand-new hand-written pages. So THAT will also not move the type-in forward a single page.

    But the book? Is getting SO much better.

    Reply
    1. Jen of Hens Avatar
      Jen of Hens

      Hot diggity on the “best scene ever written”!!

      Reply
    2. KenB Avatar
      KenB

      Good stuff! 2628 words… WOW.
      I got my turtle crawl of two pages yesterday finishing up my current scene. My WIP broke the 8K word count barrier.

      Reply
      1. Jen of Hens Avatar
        Jen of Hens

        Ken – Congrats on breaking 8K no matter what your pace. I’m pretty sure the idea is to write and write consistantly. =)

        Onwards!
        Jen

        Reply
  4. Jen of Hens Avatar
    Jen of Hens

    Holly – I’m excited to try your HTRYN course. Reading these posts really has me intruigued (and I’ve read the course blurbage too). However, this yrs Nano is my first foray into writing something “big” (over 20 pages). My manuscript at this point is a series of scenes/conflicts/filler. Is HTRYN the next step for me or should I pursue HTTS?

    Regardless, I have completed my 2000 words today and am now over 28K towards my 50K. Yes, I’ve been dillydallying around, dithering with prose, yada yada. But I have sat my butt in a chair now for 13 straight days and pushed out an average of 2000 words. And overall, I’m having a helluva good time.

    Sending inspiration to everyone doing the work of writing.

    Holly – sending soothing vibes for those menacing migraines. Be well.

    Reply
    1. Holly Avatar
      Holly

      Here’s my take. If you get all the way through the story, and like your beginning, middle, and ending after you’ve let the manuscript sit for about a week, you should be fine doing HTRYN first.

      If you crash anywhere in the writing process, you’ll benefit more from taking HTTS first.

      Writers who have taken both courses may have differing opinions on that, so I’ll hope a few who are here will offer you their experiences.

      Reply
      1. Jen of Hens Avatar
        Jen of Hens

        Thanks Holly – I will heed your advice. As I glance over my shoulder, there are more than a few blast sites, dead or dying characters and scattered wreckage from this story. Yes – I’m taking the “literary abandon” part of Nano seriously! And while I haven’t actually crashed yet, I’ve definitely taken the sceanic route on more than one occasion.

        Time will tell.

        Gotta go – more words are screaming to be let out!

        Reply
        1. Stephanie Avatar
          Stephanie

          I’m a student of both HTTS and HTRYN. Both courses are great and I highly recommend both! That said, if your current WIP is something you want to see through revision, sign up for HTRYN first. HTTS is a great course, but is best for fresh ideas. In fact, I’d recommend not having an idea when you start HTTS so you can try out Hollys cool “calling down thunder” technique. 😉

          Reply
          1. Jen of Hens Avatar
            Jen of Hens

            Stephanie – thanks for your insightful reply – I really appreciate it.

            I’ll keep going through this NaNo cycle and see what happens. If the story keeps evolving – then probably HTRYN is in my future. If it turns into a dud – then I will definitely do HTTS.

            Hoping others chime in as well!

            Peace and words.
            Jen

            Reply

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