FebNoWriMo 2015

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
Also, I've found that if I think something is "harder" to write, it usually turns out to just be "slower" to write, with a few more pauses to get the wording right in my head. No more difficult, really, just takes a bit more time. :)
 

auzerais

I like puppies.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 7, 2014
Messages
402
Reaction score
87
Location
Seattle, WA
Awww, both you guys are being super cute. Thanks.

I do feel a lot better about my goals this month than I did, because as hard as this revelation was to make, I feel that my angst is going to lead to the necessary outcome. I think I was having so much drama over editing because there were all these chapters that were just about being sad...there was no actual conflict. So no matter what I did I couldn't make them interesting, because nothing interesting was happening. So I'm glad I finally realized that!
 

meowzbark

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 22, 2012
Messages
1,188
Reaction score
142
Location
Arizona
I handwrote the skeleton of the last four scenes in my book. Without these four scenes, my word count is at 88k. I introduced a new character and setting, and set up a wizard verses wizard duel to the death. The last three scenes won't be more than 1-2k words each, however the duel could be 5k words at least.

As of right now, this will be my last line:

Person A: I want to know -- do humans taste like chicken?

Person B: Honestly, I can't say. I overcooked him to the point where I tasted more charcoal than meat.

I doubt the line will survive editing but whatever.
 
Last edited:

VP_Benni

likes a colorful font
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 11, 2011
Messages
5,337
Reaction score
242
Location
Probably the library.
:roll: I hope that line makes it through editing. :D

I finished one of my two remaining scholarship essays today, and then the rest of the day was spent on homework. I had more of it than I thought I did this weekend and I ended up doing all of none of it yesterday so today it was... But all I have left now is to get ready to give a short presentation tomorrow morning on my internship and that's pretty much it. I had two Japanese homework assignments, about 2/3 of a REALLY thick comic (600+ pages) that I still need to finish by Wednesday, readings for the class I have the presentation for with this week's accompanying journal entry, and data entry work (which was work-work and not homework and I get paid for it, but it's still a time-consuming activity that I have to do instead of sleeping).

On the bright side, it's not even 11 pm yet...

I caught a cold late last week, which sucks. I'm almost better now -- my nose is just runny and I still cough occasionally. I'm relieved that I'm getting better quickly -- not so much because I don't want to be sick (however true that may be) but because there's pretty much a widespread panic going on across campus right now because we've had four cases of meningococcemia since the start of January and a student died last week... It didn't take long for me to find out that almost no one actually knows what the disease is or how it's spread. So, despite the fact that coughing and a sore throat and a stuffy nose have absolutely nothing to do with the disease (and the fact that I've been sniffly since Friday and if I actually had it I'd likely either be hospitalized or dead by now...) I'm concerned about people freaking out because I'm kind of sick even though I'm almost certain that I just caught the cold one of my preschoolers had. But hey, why read and research what actually causes a disease before freaking out about it, right?

But I digress...

~Amber~
 

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
Hope you feel better soon. :)

On my end, after slacking off for a few days, I just went through the nonfiction book and added about 800 words of new material, while editing a few things.

Fortunately, given that it's only about 10k words, I can do an entire editing pass in a couple of hours. :)
 

CoffeeBeans

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
1,499
Reaction score
433
I think I'm just going to concede it - this month is not for me.

I'm home to visit family. My mom fell on the ice here in the frozen tundra and broke her foot. She was supposed to have knee surgery at the end of next month, and now that's another question mark.

This is just not a month to focus on writing...
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,172
Location
Virginia
Day off rehearsal (although I still have an evening show) and with rehearsal for the next two days staring me in the face, I have GOT to finish this short story TODAY to make the deadline. A feeble attempt at writing during down time at the theatre resulted in lost words due to the theatre's spotty WiFi (but since the words were not very good their loss was probably for the better). Today I have the house to myself and only laundry to deal with until I leave for the show, so I CAN DO THE THING.

Finish first draft of WIP: 113,456 out of ?????
Write short story for Secret Solstice Swap: 4,045 words out of ????
Read two books: 1.5 out of 2
Write one blog post: 0 out of 1
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,172
Location
Virginia
Got a fair amount written on the short story today - enough that I can see where I need to go back and "fix" it. So that's good. I was worried about finding time to do it, but I was informed by my director as I left the show tonight that there's no rehearsal tomorrow. Reprieve! Maybe I can get this bad boy finished...

Finish first draft of WIP: 113,456 out of ?????
Write short story for Secret Solstice Swap: 5,022 words out of ????
Read two books: 1.5 out of 2
Write one blog post: 0 out of 1
 

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
I probably should've put a reading goal on my list for the month... I've read 1 book in its entirety, about 80% of a Kindle book (finishing it), a small amount of an old sociology textbook (finishing that), a chapter in an old creative writing textbook (which is defeating me), and now about 19% of another Kindle book!

So yeah. Been doing a fair bit of reading, but I haven't mentioned it in here because I didn't set a reading goal. But I thought I'd mention it now, just because. And also because I should set a reading goal in March...
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,172
Location
Virginia
Finished the draft of my short story and fired it off to my sister, who is my go-to Alpha reader. I'm not entirely happy with it, but finding time to work on it through the last few batshit weeks has been nearly impossible. Even when I wangled the time, my brain was only partially engaged. I hope my swap recipient won't be too disappointed. I'm almost done with the book of Gaiman short stories, so I figure by tomorrow I'll have completed two of my four goal. Sad that I've done so little on my WIP.

Finish first draft of WIP: 113,456 out of ?????
Write short story for Secret Solstice Swap: 5,627 words (COMPLETED)
Read two books: 1.5 out of 2
Write one blog post: 0 out of 1
 

auzerais

I like puppies.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 7, 2014
Messages
402
Reaction score
87
Location
Seattle, WA
I know February isn't quite over, but I'm ready to do my round up...

Finish Games of Thrones, Done

then read 5 more books. Ha. I was not fond of GoT, and the book I followed it with was not much better, and now I am slogging through a book of essays that is occasionally wonderful and occasionally awful, and I probably should have thrown the towel in on all three of these, but I did not and that has meant I have not read nearly as much as I might have.

Ten journal entries. Done.

Do Part one of the editing process from Holly Lisle Done

Then follow part two of the editing process for Part One of the book. I don't know if it is reasonable to expect that I will finish this in February, but I would like to see some effort.
Then write a list of scenes that are missing from Part One.


So this is really where I went off the rails.

Holly Lisle's process really did not work for me, and I understood that almost immediately but didn't trust myself. I did end up doing some editing, and I did stall out about halfway through the month. Fortunately, I do not feel like it was a total loss. I realized a few things about my book's structure, and I realized that I need to spend more time fleshing out the real conflicts in the book. I did end up writing that list of missing scenes, and while I feel that it's not complete, I have a good eight chapters that I know I need to write, so it's a good start. Can't wait to make my March goals.

I am disappointed in my progress this month. Making goals is a useful practice for me, but this month I made the means more important than the end. I think I need to make a rule that if the goals are not working, I can change my goals. Funny how I wouldn't give myself the permission to do that!
 

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
Finishing out the month with another 2100 words on my comedic fantasy WIP. Hooray!

It's got probably 13k left to go, approximately. It'll have to be finished in March I suppose.
 

Sarah G

Let me live that fantasy.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 8, 2011
Messages
1,152
Reaction score
47
Age
34
Location
Doncaster
So, I didn’t post in the thread as much as I would have liked to {Still so much a lurker} but I am so close to completing my goal.

. Finish edits on WIP

I have about 50 pages of this WIP left to read and I have been surprised that there is more that I could keep for the re write than what I thought originally. I will finish reading it before March.

After that, it’s me deciding if I want to re write it in March or wait till Camp April. I kind of want to start something new in April though so; I can see myself aiming to re write in March.
 

Sam Argent

Rygel XVI
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 17, 2012
Messages
828
Reaction score
70
Submitting didn't happen because one of the stories I thought was finished hit me with a lot more better ideas at the end of the month that will give it higher odds of selling. I did do a first edit run on an 84k story in less than a week, so that's why this month is a loss but not a bad one.
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,172
Location
Virginia
Finished the Gaiman short story collection last night, so I made my reading goal for the month as well as the short story writing goal. This was one of those months where Life Happened in a big way and I had to resign myself to the idea that things were not going to go as I'd hoped. March will probably be just as busy - although I'm hoping it'll lack the edge of hysteria that February had - and I will make my goals accordingly.

Final February Score:

Finish first draft of WIP: 113,456 out of ?????
Write short story for Secret Solstice Swap: 5,627 words (COMPLETED)
Read two books: 2.5 out of 2 (COMPLETED)
Write one blog post: 0 out of 1
 

Sage

Currently titleless
Staff member
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 15, 2005
Messages
64,562
Reaction score
22,367
Age
43
Location
Cheering you all on!
1. Finish my Secret Solstice story (this has to happen, no matter what by the 1428th) - Done
2. Finish my beta read that I am delinquent on - DONE!
3. Edit short and send it back out - did not do
4. Work on either H/V1 tweaking, aPB revising, or H/V3 writing. - tweaked H/V1, did 2 passes on H/V2, and am writing H/V3, BAM!
5. Read 12 more books - 7 read
 

chompers

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 19, 2013
Messages
2,506
Reaction score
384
I also didn't get done with my goals. But what else is new? I'd like to say I was really busy, but truth is I was just not interested. It wasn't I lacked motivation, but that I just didn't want to write. And I was okay with it.

But now that the month is almost over, I'm kicking myself because I still have to get these done and now I've wasted a lot of time.
 

Caitlin Black

Wild one
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
44,834
Reaction score
2,928
Age
39
Location
The exact centre of all of existence
Okay, so I made 2 posts this month with sets of goals. Here they are:

1. Record some guitar music that doesn't suck.
2. Finish writing this non-fiction WIP (it's only a short book as planned).

Considering I finished writing that draft early in the month, I'm adding 2 new goals for February.

1. Finish re-reading The Black Book (an old half-written WIP) so that I can finish writing it soon.
2. Edit the nonfiction book.

So, how did I do?

Record guitar music: I did not do this. I did play guitar a few times, and managed to improve at it somewhat, but I'm still falling short of recordable quality.

Finish writing the nonfiction draft: Done!

Finish re-reading Black Book: Done!

Edit nonfiction book: Erm, well, I did one editing pass, adding about 2k words... But I don't think I'll count this as quite finished.

...

I also read about 3 books' worth of stuff for personal reading, and added about 4k to The Black Book. Huzzah!
 

Tamlyn

fish skeleton
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2014
Messages
1,467
Reaction score
812
Location
Australia
1. Edit Secret Solstice Story Done! Well. Technically I did finished it in March. But it was before 10.00am so I'm counting it.
2. Edit four chapters of WIP 2/4
3. Edit two other stories Done. Kind of.
4. Read four books. 3/4
5. Either minimum 500 words OR two edited pages per day. Done.

So I did edit two other stories, but one was a flash piece and not the story I intended to edit. I got halfway through that one though. My computer troubles only took away one of the chapters; I still would have failed that too.

I also (went to do something else mid sentence and have no idea what I was saying).

Edit: That's right. I did get a few first drafts of other stories written as well.
 
Last edited:

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
724
Reaction score
105
Location
Alberta, Canada
Website
www.bdwilson.ca
Hrm. I think I need to stop carrying over ones I'm clearly not interested in doing right now :tongue

  • Plot L2 with the Snowflake Method
  • Get all critique group responses done within the first week
  • Edit novella first & second parts from feedback
  • Clean up novella third part and send to critique group
  • Finishing reviewing short story and send back to editor
  • Get my other waiting short stories submitted

Fail :e2thud:
 

CoffeeBeans

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
1,499
Reaction score
433
As predicted, my month was all about robots. My goals meanwhile...

  • Finish going through beta notes done
  • Apply beta notes half done
  • Send out second beta round nope
  • Plot SNI done
  • Sign up for next set of classes didn't...
  • Keep up with homework ...

With all the everything, February really didn't go as planned. Lots of life-stuff got in the way. Mom's doing pretty well with her broken foot, my work trip turned out, and I ended up not signing up for the class this semester after all.

Bit surprise was that the SNI that was plotted was not the one that was in progress. I'm trying to stick to not writing anything until my edit is done, but it's getting harder and harder. Oh well, not the best month, not the worst. Hopefully March will be more productive.