What a shock to see this note come up. I did not get as much writing done as I thought I would. Knowing this note is coming up, the slackers among us are supposed to have some pressure to open some work so they can announce they accomplished something. The hope is that we will post what is going on in one's life during the week, even if one did not write. That adds a little bit more pressure in getting to write. It has worked for me, and also failed too.
New writing is writing, but so is editing, even if it is the work of others. Critiquing is also writing, along with poetry, blogging, technical writing, writing assignments, world or character creation. Even E-mails can be writing if they are wordy and pertain to story or writing. If you have to ask if it is writing, it counts.
I read about half my story to a friend last week and it showed up some small problems. when I sat down to edit, I saw even more problems. I did a lot of rearranging, but removed nearly 300 words from my piece. I hoped for more but that was not horrible. I did eliminate another page. Each page gone is good. Maybe next week I will feel my target is within reach. One night, I over-did the coffee an woke in the middle of the night wide away. I edited on my story, then decided to blast out a history of a character I had thought of over the years. I don't have a "Story" but do know some interesting situations and incidents. I decided that if I got it on paper it would help as I keep forgetting parts of what I had thought of. I wrote three pages, 1500 words on that during that evening until I felt I could go back to sleep.
On the story idea front, not counting what I am posting tonight, I have 53 story ideas in the compost pile. some are a bit strange. One story idea I wrote this week is about a hero sandwich. You know how hard that is to get a handle on? I thought it was going to sink out of sight in the compost pile before I got a clue on how to use it. I have a few others that are almost as bad. They tend to be either fun to write or they sink quickly.
I have a belief that a good weekend is one where you go to work to recover, especially when you have a physical job, which I don't have. I was making a lot of stuff, but not really finishing any of them. I also carried buckets of sand, helped my brother dig his truck out of a hole when he drove onto the non-compacted shoulder of road construction. I stood and did a lot of wood working, including destroying a bandsaw blade when it caught in some wood. we tested out the new (to us) metal lathe we got, working out how to do things that are done differently with other machines. that is one really nice machine. All you have to do is figure out how to do it and it will do anything. You essentially have a frame, a motor and accessories and you can get it to do anything you want it to do. An idea and some planning is all you really need.
Using the above as a story idea, there is the concept where people go into the wilderness with a tool system where you have one motor that plugs into different devices. something similar to the concept is the battery powered equipment where they all use the same kind of batteries. The idea is that it is all interchangeable. Another thing is that if you have one motor and interchangeable attachments, one can carry a lot of equipment with minimum weight or space. He needed to escape his past life, enemies and the law. He chose a smaller ship than most people would use. Not enough storage for the things they needed. He made up for it by selecting a tool system that was completely interchangeable. He figured he would need a maximum of six motors running at any time but went with four motors only. The system he chose had a couple hundred accessories. He chose two sets to go with his four motors. This made for half the space he would normally need. He chose two sets in case he had breakage. He then went with highly compressed or concentrated foods, two sets of purely practical clothing that can be combined for the need. His entertainment was not the best, but more space conscious. He made up the final space and load available with supplies to work with. He got into his ship and slipped out of the docks almost touching a freighter as it pulled out No one noticed he was there and was well into space before he dropped into the thrust of the big ship and got away from it undetected. He went to a terriformed planet that was rated for colonization but listed as not ready. He lands in an optimal location. His ship is his shelter and he gets to work building his life. He has his machinery to make anything he needs, He just has to figure out what to make, and how to get his machinery in the right arraignments to make it. By the time people realize he is really gone he has made a good life for himself. by the time authorities detect his activities on the planet, he built himself a comfortable life and the rules make it impossible to remove him and he might have claim on the planet as being the sole owner. The story might be about how he deals with equipment failure or cannot figure out how to get stuff done with what he has.
As to the question of the day, I can honestly say,
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Not bad...I finished off the older one I was working on last week (to be buried in my files because it's too derivative), worked briefly on another one, about the same age, (also to be buried 'cause it's too lurid for my current tastes---I just reread it and happened to think of where it was going).
Then, yesterday and today, I started the second draft of the story I worked on back in January---which, when I finish it, I will sent out somewhere.
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I revised my entry for the intro contest, did the crits for the same, and revised my entry again upon contest completion based on crit comments.
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I made excellent progress on my new YA short story series, and on one of my new flash stories. Plus, I posted 2 new blog entries since the last time I checked in here.
Finished a short story--space opera. But now have to revise it.
Worked some on revising a story for WotF and critted a few stories and chapters
Wrote on two novels and worked on revising the other. Part way through chapter five of one WIP and chapter 13 on the other. Started chapter three on the revision.
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Yes I wrote. Not for my book directly, but I did write. I started a blog as a place to write down my brainstorming sessions with myself so I wont forget what I came up with. If you care to read it you will find it at leetahinwriting.blogspot.com
Posts: 108 | Registered: Jan 2011
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A shade over 9k this week, bringing the wip to just shy of 75k and, according to the outline, about half way through.
I had hoped to finish the first draft before the WotF event in May but at the moment it looks like I'll be coming in a week or so short, largely because the draft is looking like it'll be 20k longer than anticipated. Maybe I should tweak my daily wordcount goals to catch up...
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Just over 10k last week, but not a word this week so far. I feel dreadful, full of cold. Just been sent home from work too, fell asleep at the desk.
Posts: 778 | Registered: Aug 2010
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