Hatrack River Writers Workshop: May Third, Twenty Ten, Did you write?

This is topic May Third, Twenty Ten, Did you write? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/writers/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=006218

Posted by rstegman (Member # 3233) on :

May Third, Twenty Ten, Did you write?

That is the question of the day. DID YOU WRITE any time this week? For many among us, writing every day is not a problem. This note is not needed unless one wants to brag.
For others among us, just writing this month is a challenge. Having a prompt to get us to even think of writing at some time during the week, is a big thing. If one is honest, one will post a reply to this note, even if one did not write. That is where this note works best. One does not want to answer the question no, so writing is the only other option. It has worked many weeks the past year, for me.

As to what is writing, we all accept that anything new is writing. How much one writes is not important as opening the text up and having it even the slightest different when you close it.
Since few of us write perfectly the first time, Editing is also writing. This goes for editing someone else's work, or even critiquing the work of others. Measured word counts don't matter when editing, since many of us will zap entire sections of text in order to replace it with better writing or better story. One can go backwards in the word count and do a whole lot of writing to replace what was removed.
Poetry, blogging, technical writing, article writing are also writing. E-mails can also be writing, as long as they are wordy and pertain to story or writing.
what is actually writing, is a matter of opinion. there are things in my list that you might say "that is not writing" or "that is not enough writing." for others, you might come up with something else that might pass as writing. the key is that YOU think you wrote.

As for me, I did write. I had started a story-idea like writing of my work in progress to work out the plot, to get around details that was bogging me down. I finished the piece and fired it off to my writing partner. She sent me back a list of things hat needed correcting. I quickly realized that they were details, not plot problems, so I dug into the actual work. We have since worked out some extra details for the entire series. Since last week, I added two pages and 1772 words to the "outline" and then added two pages and 1300 words to the actual work in progress. Right now, I am correcting what I already have written. I will get through that soon, and then get into fresh, new writing. I feel like I can make real headway now.

On the story idea front, Ideas have been coming good and strong. I have, including what I am posting tonight, 56 story ideas in my compost pile. Not a lot of my recent ideas are good, but I will try to dig into them before they sink too deeply.
For this month, I am already a story idea behind, and it is only three days old. I have a good month to catch up so I am not worried at all.
I had finished last month and got my data out of the file. I had 31 story ideas for the month of 30 days. I had a point last week where I made a mistake on the numbers of a couple story ideas. I thought I was way behind so I wrote an extra story idea two nights in a row. I was posting the story ideas and just happened to scroll up. I saw 22 twice. I searched the numbers and found I repeated 22 and 23 twice. that was how I ended up an idea ahead for the month, and also for the year. As it was, I had 53 pages and 31,892 words of pure drivel.
I sent the file to a friend of mine who had never seen such things. when I saw her the next weekend. she had no words for how far out, strange, my imagination was. she rolled her eyes when I truthfully said I wished my work was more far out and wild.

I had a woodworking weekend where I did not have any pressing projects. I saw something in a magazine, instantly figured out how it was done, and tried to replicate what the article mentioned. the guy made some wooden mice. I made one and it looked pretty good. Later, I got a sheet of craft foam and beads and finished some of the mice I made. the craft foam became the ears and tail, the beads became eyes. I will say that some of these mice are really cute, but some are a bit "wrong" It is known as planning. I made eight of the mice, and my sister In Law wanted a mouse, she thought they were so cute, so I gave her the first one I made. I now have seven mice running around my desk, trying to look cute. I decided these are going to be one of the many Christmas ornaments I make this year. I like that they are quick to make an uses some wood I have a lot of.

For a story idea using the above, he is a genetic chemist. he has the facilities to make any kind of life from the test tube. He has done a number of microbes in learning his craft and a couple multicellular macroscopic creatures. What he really wanted to do was to make a real creature, one he could hold in his hand, to interact with.
He is glancing through magazines, looking for ideas. elephants are too big, lions are too big and dangerous, even a cat is bigger than he cares to bother with. They also fall under "too complicated" to make.
He is flipping through a magazine, and sees a picture of a cartoon mouse. He smiles. that is perfect. He is going to make some mice. they don't have to be perfect. their life spans will be short and he can eliminate a number of things the natural mice might have. In essence, his will be cartoons of the real thing. It will be a good challenge and test of his abilities.
He decides they won't need claws. A lot of their survival genetics such as anything more than a simple immune system won't be needed. A lot of the genetic based survival traits are eliminated. Based on charts he has, he designs them for cute. He also eliminates any mating systems. If they are good, he can clone them to replicate them, or he can modify the clones for improvements.
He starts his process with a couple thousand copies. As the develop in the test tube, different errors in replication kill the samples. In the end, he ends up with eight mice.
comparing the genetics with recorded real mice, his are mice in form only. they are cute, love to be held and petted, and last for several months. he uses the genetics from the longest lasting one for his clones, which he modifies.
two possible endings. One is that he makes a mistake and one, the one that escapes, has mating system and mates with native mice, creating a new form that is not easy to remove.
the other is for him to start mass producing his mice as the ultimate pet. they are safe to have around children and easy to care for. they also have a limited life span that requires continuous production, which makes him wealthy beyond his dreams.

As to the question of the week,
I can honestly say,

YES, I DID WRITE

DID YOU WRITE?

Posted by TrishaH24 (Member # 8673) on :

I slogged through my first few chapters of Reaver (title pending) and managed to re-write the beginning. It's new material, but based on old drafts. Still, I eked out 9k new words this week. As opposed to last week when I wrote nothing. So I'll take it.

I hate that "mentally and emotionally exhausted" feeling I get when forcing myself to move forward. The one you get at two in the morning when you're staring at the cursor on your screen, waiting for something to magically happen on its own. I've had a lot of that in the last week, too.

Posted by genevive42 (Member # 8714) on :

I did! I finished my WIP that's been kicking my butt for awhile now. Oh, it feels so good for this one to be done.

I also started to rewrite the opening scene of my novel in my new and improved voice. It's fun hanging out with those characters again.

And a few WotF crits to boot.

Posted by Denem (Member # 8434) on :

I'm trying to get through the first draft of Criminal Impulses. It's going slower than I thought. I wrote a little bit on my novel, but not much.
I've done a fair bit of technical writing related to my day job. Don't know if that counts or not.

Posted by TrishaH24 (Member # 8673) on :

Denem,
I'd count it! Why not?

Posted by Kitti (Member # 7277) on :

Yup!

Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :

Well I did some crits. I also worked on a little mental worldbuilding background exercise for my "Colored magic Roads" world...I'm organizing the spells from my D&D resources into the roads/colors I feel they'd belong to, as a way to help me more fully define and understand each Road.

Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :

Yes! It's moving again! I finished the two and a half chapters needed to complete the new material at the beginning of DREAMER'S ROSE. AND wrote another new chapter further along as part of the revisions. Plus updating my blog, although both of those posts were unusually short.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

I wrote at my usual five-hundred-words-a-day pace on Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, unusually prolific for me.

But it wasn't on either of the two stories I've been bitching about these past several months...it's something completely new. I had a really great dream Wednesday night, one of the best I've had in years. I wrote up five hundred words describing the dream that morning, had the ending drop into place on Friday (dreams seldom have good endings, they just stop when you wake up), and started writing it out long-form Saturday-Sunday-Monday.

It is pretty close to an impending vacation, where I expect to do no writing, but I think I can get most of it down before then. And I have a really good idea of how to put it together, so all I have to do is survive the vacation and return to where I left off when I get back.

The only problem is---it's not science fiction, fantasy, or anything I could possibly twist into those genres. I suppose it'd be romance, if it's anything at all. What do I do with something like that when I finish it?

I suppose I'll have to research the markets and see who might take it...I'll see to that later...

Posted by Crank (Member # 7354) on :

Never as much writing as I'd like, but I did manage to stay active. My mainstream novel is approximately 1/4th the way complete, and that's psyching me out to sit down and work on more new words for it.

S!
S!

Posted by axeminister (Member # 8991) on :

rewrote my entire WotF entry this past week+.
Not sure if that makes it a second draft or a new first draft...
Sliced a bunch of pages off it however. I'm currently editing my edit.

Axe

Posted by Crystal Stevens (Member # 8006) on :

I'm rather proud of myself, not to be tooting my own horn or anything, but I have officially finished one of my stories. This is a first for me. The final draft is done! Rah, rah, rah! And once I figure out how to use my new laptop compatible printer/scanner/copier I'll be mailing it out Saturday for the WotF contest.

I'm so excited! I just can't hide it! Come on, and sing along with me. LOL

Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :

Still edting. Life is throwing so many obstacles out there, I'm living my own story.

Posted by Owasm (Member # 8501) on :

Finished a rewrite for a novel.
Did eight crits last night for others.
Worked on two stories.

Posted by Tiergan (Member # 7852) on :

Yep. I wrote nearly 10 pages in my spiral just last night, still having hard time writing in the Word Processor, always wanting to edit. But struggled for most part of the week with only 10 pages in the spiral the beginning of the week, so I had to write the ending, never really did that before, the beginning, then the ending, but it made the bridge scenes clear, and motive and internal conflict that much clearer as well. I hope to finish the spiral part this week, and enter in the computer soon.

Posted by marta (Member # 9058) on :

I've been editing the past month or so (thankfully it's getting easier as the book goes on - I guess my writing has improved towards the end).
BUT, a sudden idea let me start a new book this week. I was so excited I couldn't stop and the first chapter was born. This gives me a push to finish editing Two Halves and continue with this new one.

Marta

Posted by shimiqua (Member # 7760) on :

Nope.

Posted by Tricia V (Member # 6324) on :

Yes, I wrote, with an intended audience under a self imposed deadline. It was hard but satisfying.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

I would've waited for the next one, but I'm going away in, oh, [glances at clock on computer], a short time now. That story I mentioned above, the one that's not SF...I finished the rough draft of it yesterday evening. Came in at sixty-five-hundred words (including five hundred words of outlining)...I like it, and I'll figure out what to do with it, if anything, when I get back.

Certainly writing it was the happiest writing experience I've had in the last two years or so...