May 2024 Challenge - Build a Writing Habit!
- Thread starter Magnus
- Start date
Today is day 4, Nether, and it's Saturday.
Yes, but my day 4 isn't over. That was my day 3
I still have another 1hr19 minutes to... well, I need a minimum of 933 words atm. (And soon begins the late session.)
Day 4 (Saturday, Saturday, Saturday -- Sabado, Sabado, Sabado) was 2,148 words.
So I hit my smaller target, but time was running out towards the end.
So I hit my smaller target, but time was running out towards the end.
Day 5, I'm at Chapter 24. I gotta buy my MIL the biggest Christmas present for helping me concentrate on writing this week. I did nothing but edit. Writers who can afford only writing- I envy you it's like 1000 times faster.
Anyway, from the Editing process, new chapters were birthed, so I now have 28 chapters. I have a feeling I will add at least 1 more. My internal disappointment is continuing. I literally crammed 30k into 10k and its sooooooooooooo visible (readable???)...
I also tweaked the Query again. Should have left it for longer, but I caved. I'll let it sit until next Sunday, read again, and share.
it's like 1000 times faster.Anyway, from the Editing process, new chapters were birthed, so I now have 28 chapters. I have a feeling I will add at least 1 more. My internal disappointment is continuing. I literally crammed 30k into 10k and its sooooooooooooo visible (readable???)...
I also tweaked the Query again. Should have left it for longer, but I caved. I'll let it sit until next Sunday, read again, and share.
Day 5. Worked through chapter 41 again. Possibly tomorrow will be enough on this one. Also reviewed when the edits started on this draft, and that was October 17 - October 18 of last year. Looks like it's taking seven months plus to get through this revision, but if I can finish by May 30 that leaves seven months of 2024 to revise the 'courtroom version.' Which is the year's goal...
Count: 118,409
Count: 118,409
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2009
- Messages
- 11,116
- Reaction score
- 2,792
571 words. Hopefully they're okay. I couldn't figure out what to do with the scene so I just pantsed it.
Day 5 was 1,929 words.
Pretty bad writing day, I suppose. A nap cut into my early session, the main session wasn't super productive, and then I underperformed during the late session.
Also slept a lot more than usual. There was that early morning nap then my sleep which, given it was a Sunday, ran longer than usual. Yet I still took a nap in the late evening.
As a result, it was a depressing day all around because I didn't really even do anything interesting in lieu of writing.
Pretty bad writing day, I suppose. A nap cut into my early session, the main session wasn't super productive, and then I underperformed during the late session.
Also slept a lot more than usual. There was that early morning nap then my sleep which, given it was a Sunday, ran longer than usual. Yet I still took a nap in the late evening.
As a result, it was a depressing day all around because I didn't really even do anything interesting in lieu of writing.
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2024
- Messages
- 83
- Reaction score
- 135
Couple days in, and I've stuck to the "at least a single word" rule, although actual progress is still going at a snail's pace. Did around 1k today. I'm only halfway done and already anticipating some massive, massive overhauls that I'm waiting until a complete first draft to do. The sagging middle is really, well, sagging, but I'm starting to hit my stride again.
Cheers to everyone else sticking to their May goals!
Cheers to everyone else sticking to their May goals!
Internet failed me for days, and it was quite hard to work with no connection. Especially as an ESL writer, I need a thesaurus and dictionary more often than most. But I did progress. I've been editing a 6k short story (sci-fi + soft horror) for a few days now. It's already been edited half a dozen times, but last week I received a very nice personal rejection for it that completely nailed a huge issue I now need to fix: lack of immediate stakes at the start. I'm also trying to get rid of filter words and achieve a more sentient setting. Yesterday was the text-to-speech stage. I really couldn't focus and started giggling in my corner: the idiotic software cannot pronounce Nal, which is my MC's name. Instead, it comes out as if spelled out: N-A-L. I just couldn't do it, I laughed so much I had to call it a day
So, I'll share the good and save the bad for a future update.
The good: I wanted to insert more racial diversity (it's one of the needed edit things, not a drafting-the-plot thing, so it wasn't in the draft yet) and this morning I went back to chapter 12 or so and added more to one such conversation I had already edited in. Then I marked where that conversation will relate once more (in chapters 41 and 42.)
What was good was this: Chapter 12 read nicely. Not perfect, but pretty good. Definitely readable. Much better than first draft crappiness. That's always a good feeling, to randomly drop in and be pleasantly surprised.
Also good: I pulled up the other version of the story (the courtroom drama) which I have not touched since drafting last year. I couldn't find the name of Granddad's second attorney in my notes, and so I looked in that draft (it was there, yay!), and ... conversely to the above, that first draft is truly crappy.
Which is good, because it means the editing on this version is doing what it's supposed to do. So yay again!
I'm calling 'done for now' on chapter 41 and planning to move onto chapter 42 tomorrow.
Chapter 42 is a doozy. It's fall of 1929. The stock market crashes. Criminal trials start in the bank thing. Rothstein's murder, now a year past, is getting some court time too--George McManus goes on trial (no one will ever be convicted in t hat murder.). Granddad keeps getting arrested and thrown in jail. Two or three times, I think it happens each time the grand jury brings a new indictment but I'm not really clear on why people get thrown in jail. I think he got thrown in jail so Grandma would bail him out and then that's the way they keep him in town so he'll face trial. He needs a new attorney, as alluded. A family friend who abandoned him as a traitor is reconciling (that's a good note) and the bank's depositors are made whole at last (another good note.) There's also a minor scandal in December involving a magistrate named Vitale, not really related except it's of the same stripe and the same underworld people (Rothstein, a guy named Terranocca, some others) are involved.
Chapter 42 has a lot of needles to thread.
But I'm done with 41 for now and off for a jog. I might break up the chapters better this afternoon... we'll see.
current count 118,580
The good: I wanted to insert more racial diversity (it's one of the needed edit things, not a drafting-the-plot thing, so it wasn't in the draft yet) and this morning I went back to chapter 12 or so and added more to one such conversation I had already edited in. Then I marked where that conversation will relate once more (in chapters 41 and 42.)
What was good was this: Chapter 12 read nicely. Not perfect, but pretty good. Definitely readable. Much better than first draft crappiness. That's always a good feeling, to randomly drop in and be pleasantly surprised.
Also good: I pulled up the other version of the story (the courtroom drama) which I have not touched since drafting last year. I couldn't find the name of Granddad's second attorney in my notes, and so I looked in that draft (it was there, yay!), and ... conversely to the above, that first draft is truly crappy.
Which is good, because it means the editing on this version is doing what it's supposed to do. So yay again!
I'm calling 'done for now' on chapter 41 and planning to move onto chapter 42 tomorrow.
Chapter 42 is a doozy. It's fall of 1929. The stock market crashes. Criminal trials start in the bank thing. Rothstein's murder, now a year past, is getting some court time too--George McManus goes on trial (no one will ever be convicted in t hat murder.). Granddad keeps getting arrested and thrown in jail. Two or three times, I think it happens each time the grand jury brings a new indictment but I'm not really clear on why people get thrown in jail. I think he got thrown in jail so Grandma would bail him out and then that's the way they keep him in town so he'll face trial. He needs a new attorney, as alluded. A family friend who abandoned him as a traitor is reconciling (that's a good note) and the bank's depositors are made whole at last (another good note.) There's also a minor scandal in December involving a magistrate named Vitale, not really related except it's of the same stripe and the same underworld people (Rothstein, a guy named Terranocca, some others) are involved.
Chapter 42 has a lot of needles to thread.
But I'm done with 41 for now and off for a jog. I might break up the chapters better this afternoon... we'll see.
current count 118,580
Day 6 was 1,998 words.
Missed it by that much. Basically, the day rolled over before I could finish a sentence.
Overall, the early session kinda sucked (started late, ran a bit long, and wasn't terribly productive overall). Then I got off to a late start on the late session, but things picked up.
Missed it by that much. Basically, the day rolled over before I could finish a sentence.
Overall, the early session kinda sucked (started late, ran a bit long, and wasn't terribly productive overall). Then I got off to a late start on the late session, but things picked up.
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2009
- Messages
- 11,116
- Reaction score
- 2,792
About 2,500 today! Fully in the final "all things go to hell" scenes. I have (theoretically) about four scenes left to write (though it's possible a couple of those might get divided up into smaller scenes). I hit 85k today, so I'm really good on length. I was thinking that I might land at about 88k, but now I'm thinking I should hit 90k with no problem, which is really where I'd like to be.
I think, realistically, that I could finish this in the next 2-3 days. Then I'll give it a read-through and add a scene or two that needs adding somewhere and try to fix any obvious overwriting and then add in some setting details that I feel are missing right now, and I'll be able to share it with some people.
I think, realistically, that I could finish this in the next 2-3 days. Then I'll give it a read-through and add a scene or two that needs adding somewhere and try to fix any obvious overwriting and then add in some setting details that I feel are missing right now, and I'll be able to share it with some people.
Day 7: Chapter 42 is a mess. Complete rewrite is needed. I've been plopping ideas in to see what might fix it.
I had once seen this as the chapter where the mafia shakes down grandpa, which I feel mixed about, because people already want to call any sicilian mafia, which would be like calling any german alive today a nazi because they are german. So it's stupid, and I'd rather not bring up the sicilian mafia at all, on the other hand they terrorized our extended family in nyc twice, and so maybe that should be there. As in they terrorized sicilians, not sicilians were all mafia.
anyway, since rothstein is definitely in the story, lucky luciano is also in the story. he's mafia, and in late 1929 he was starting to think about the castellamarese war or plotting perhaps and so this is one of the knots I have to untangle or tie. how closely does grandma interact with lucky luciano? one family story is very simple but foreboding. zia shared it. Four black cars pulled up to the house. nonno stood his ground.
That's it. That's the story. easy to imagine a shakedown, easy to imagine the people in those cars, great pride that nonno would have nothing to do with them. so how to shape that into nonnas story? Draft one, I made that happen in 1931 and it (the mafia in the four cars) was so threatening nonno sent nonna and the kids to italy, which actuall-- yeah-- that part happened. but this draft, it's only 1929 - 1930 and I need nonna to be more agentive so I'm toying with ideas about this being an opportunity for her. we'll see. my brain is tired.
Chapter 42 is a mess.
Current count: 119186
I had once seen this as the chapter where the mafia shakes down grandpa, which I feel mixed about, because people already want to call any sicilian mafia, which would be like calling any german alive today a nazi because they are german. So it's stupid, and I'd rather not bring up the sicilian mafia at all, on the other hand they terrorized our extended family in nyc twice, and so maybe that should be there. As in they terrorized sicilians, not sicilians were all mafia.
anyway, since rothstein is definitely in the story, lucky luciano is also in the story. he's mafia, and in late 1929 he was starting to think about the castellamarese war or plotting perhaps and so this is one of the knots I have to untangle or tie. how closely does grandma interact with lucky luciano? one family story is very simple but foreboding. zia shared it. Four black cars pulled up to the house. nonno stood his ground.
That's it. That's the story. easy to imagine a shakedown, easy to imagine the people in those cars, great pride that nonno would have nothing to do with them. so how to shape that into nonnas story? Draft one, I made that happen in 1931 and it (the mafia in the four cars) was so threatening nonno sent nonna and the kids to italy, which actuall-- yeah-- that part happened. but this draft, it's only 1929 - 1930 and I need nonna to be more agentive so I'm toying with ideas about this being an opportunity for her. we'll see. my brain is tired.
Chapter 42 is a mess.
Current count: 119186
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2009
- Messages
- 11,116
- Reaction score
- 2,792
2000 for today. This is going to be a LONG chapter. This one scene is already at 2k and I'm only about halfway through it (I think). Scene in front of it is about 500 words.
Day 7 was 2,677 words.
Kinda had a good early session, and was hoping to hit 3k for the day, but was starting to fall asleep during the late session.
tbh, I just wound up splitting a chapter that was running long. This way one ends with them being surprised and the next ends with somebody being in peril, instead of just the peril.... which was what I was thinking about doing at first, and planned to have the menacing not take as much time.
Kinda had a good early session, and was hoping to hit 3k for the day, but was starting to fall asleep during the late session.
tbh, I just wound up splitting a chapter that was running long. This way one ends with them being surprised and the next ends with somebody being in peril, instead of just the peril.... which was what I was thinking about doing at first, and planned to have the menacing not take as much time.
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2024
- Messages
- 83
- Reaction score
- 135
Another day, another chapter. I finally posted on SYW and was immediately reminded of how lovely and encouraging this community is. So motivated! Only got out like 600 actual words though since I had a three hour chemistry lab. Can't wait to get back to work.
It's so fun to haunt this thread and see everyone else working toward their goals. Here's to keeping each other accountable!
It's so fun to haunt this thread and see everyone else working toward their goals. Here's to keeping each other accountable!
Yesterday was feedback from my betas. Still the same short story. Short, but gosh, how long have I been working on it? Feedback was encouraging: it flows better, and the betas didn't flag many issues as to line-level writing. BUT... it still doesn't hit. It lacks impact, despite adding more immediate stakes and cutting 3k out of it. Pleasantly boring, so to say. I felt like throwing that story in the trunk of oblivion, but I didn't. I've already invested too much time and work in it, and, somehow, I so believe in it. So I had a bit of brainstorming with my writing group, and we've come up with some interesting ideas to spice things up. Which means I need to rewrite the whole stuff. Then edit. Then get feedback. And so on.
Writing is hard.
But if one day I manage to pull this off, I'll be quite proud of myself. Even if it's never published anywhere.
Writing is hard.
But if one day I manage to pull this off, I'll be quite proud of myself. Even if it's never published anywhere.
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2009
- Messages
- 11,116
- Reaction score
- 2,792
The opening scene is necessary and not really good for a 500 word chapter, and the second scene is actually already going to be broken in the middle of the scene for stakes reason. It's just a major moment (one of the biggest in the book, IMO) and basically an interrogation that is super important to the plot. I don't know that there's anything I can cut from it to make it shorter and still work effectively, and the natural shift in the scene is already divided. I think it's just going to be a random 4000 word chapter. I'm not particularly worried about it. It's basically the climax of the book, so a long chapter here is fine, IMO. It's just running longer than I had expected. I realized my MC was going to put up more of a fight than I had first thought.
Finished chapter 25 and started writing a new chapter, so instead of 3 more, I've got 4 more. I'm afraid of those last 3 chapters. They will be a total mess. It's the 'Final Boss' showdown+ epilogue, all crammed into 3k words. 
I'm a talent alight.
I'm a talent alight.
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2009
- Messages
- 11,116
- Reaction score
- 2,792
Only about 500 today. Tired and also getting stuck on a bit so I need to sort out this conversation in my head a bit more. There is a bit I know happens, but I think it happens in the next scene, but I don't remember what led to it, and I could work it in where I'm at now, so I'm debating.
Day 8 was 2,840 words.
Had a massive lead coming out of the early session, which SHOULD have made hitting 3k for the day easy. But I started a bit late, was kind of at a loss for how to proceed, and let myself get distracted for a bit. So instead of having a great writing day, I had... well, still a pretty good writing day, quality of the writing notwithstanding because some of it wasn't so great.
Sitting just under 62k words for the manuscript. Means I have at least 18-23k words to play around with. That's PROBABLY enough, although it trims down what I wanted to do for the final arc. Granted, there's a bunch of stuff that didn't make it in already, other stuff that won't make it in, and some of the things I kinda set up wanting to do something cool with won't fit in.
Had a massive lead coming out of the early session, which SHOULD have made hitting 3k for the day easy. But I started a bit late, was kind of at a loss for how to proceed, and let myself get distracted for a bit. So instead of having a great writing day, I had... well, still a pretty good writing day, quality of the writing notwithstanding because some of it wasn't so great.
Sitting just under 62k words for the manuscript. Means I have at least 18-23k words to play around with. That's PROBABLY enough, although it trims down what I wanted to do for the final arc. Granted, there's a bunch of stuff that didn't make it in already, other stuff that won't make it in, and some of the things I kinda set up wanting to do something cool with won't fit in.
I'm a little lost with writing at the moment.
I lost momentum and life bits took over for a bit.
I do have a nice scene lined up that came to me in the shower... sadly, it's not for the WIP but for book three in the series. Ah well. It's written and sat waiting in the pot for my future self to raise an eyebrow at and work with in a year or two.
I lost momentum and life bits took over for a bit.
I do have a nice scene lined up that came to me in the shower... sadly, it's not for the WIP but for book three in the series. Ah well. It's written and sat waiting in the pot for my future self to raise an eyebrow at and work with in a year or two.
Day 9:
Wine day.
In 2017, alcohol seemed to help me write. I was new to fiction (close to retiring from tech) and needed a lack of inhibition. My technical brain needed silencing.
These days, most days, there's no drinking. I sleep better. My head is clearer. I write better drafts? Because I understand the mechanics of fiction better than in 2017? But one or twice each week, and it's often on the difficult sections, I still pour myself a glass and it helps me read through the rough sections ... which this chapter is.
The 'wine goggles' have helped me read through chapter 42 in its entirety today, including the new words from yesterday 'in which Grandma confronts a mafia boss and offers him a tin of heroin if he'll off the judge' (the judge who had been slated to hear her husband's case is hopeless and she wants a different one.) It's such nonsense, and yet so much of fiction, when it's distilled down to the bare bones, is nonsense.
So, today is day three of working on chapter 42. I hope to have a finished second draft of it sometime over the weekend. It's a win to make it through the whole chapter today, start to end, and to feel like it's really a 'chapter.' Maybe tomorrow I can work in the same way, but in sobriety.
Count: 120,082
Wine day.
In 2017, alcohol seemed to help me write. I was new to fiction (close to retiring from tech) and needed a lack of inhibition. My technical brain needed silencing.
These days, most days, there's no drinking. I sleep better. My head is clearer. I write better drafts? Because I understand the mechanics of fiction better than in 2017? But one or twice each week, and it's often on the difficult sections, I still pour myself a glass and it helps me read through the rough sections ... which this chapter is.
The 'wine goggles' have helped me read through chapter 42 in its entirety today, including the new words from yesterday 'in which Grandma confronts a mafia boss and offers him a tin of heroin if he'll off the judge' (the judge who had been slated to hear her husband's case is hopeless and she wants a different one.) It's such nonsense, and yet so much of fiction, when it's distilled down to the bare bones, is nonsense.
So, today is day three of working on chapter 42. I hope to have a finished second draft of it sometime over the weekend. It's a win to make it through the whole chapter today, start to end, and to feel like it's really a 'chapter.' Maybe tomorrow I can work in the same way, but in sobriety.
Count: 120,082