FebNoWriMo!

Caitlin Black

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I just finished the editing pass on TEC! Woo!

Final word count: 60,920. 80 words short of the 61k I was hoping for, but whatever. And it came in at the top of page 93, after all that. It was only 96 pages to begin with, back before December's cutting spree!

Taking the rest of the day off from everything. Going to watch some Charmed and read (not at the same time).

ETA: Updated my signature, and just realised that all 3 of my finished drafts start with the word "The"... Hmm. Technically, I have a novella that I've finished the first draft of, and it doesn't start with "The", but it's trunked for the time being.
 
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SianaBlackwood

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Way to go, Cliff!

--

I'm currently compiling myself a 'research' list of books written in first person. I still have no idea what compelled me to write my current project this way (aside from the fact that it was either that or have half the book as italicised thought) and in preparation for the second draft I'm still having trouble getting my head around how to make the supporting characters anything other than fleeting impressions on the MC's mind.

February progress - 14/32 characters profiled, and a suspicious number of them are of the opinion that they deserve a story of their own.
 

Caitlin Black

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Thanks. :)

I was right though, I won't be getting much done now that the family is back. Just spent 3 hours with them, got tomorrow free, then Sunday with them, then Monday I've been roped into staying at the grandparents' place while they go out on a day trip, because the electricity people need to do something at the house that day that requires entry into their garage (where their box thing is).

*faceplant*

Honestly? I could go an entire year without seeing or talking to any of my family, and I wouldn't care.
 

WendyN

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Congrats, Cliff Face! How exciting to finally be done editing!!

SianaBlackwood - My WIP is first person (well, except for a few select chapters where I switch to 3rd) as well. I had tried 3rd person and it just didn't seem to work as well... so much of my novel has to do with my MC's growth as a character and her reactions as she makes discoveries about time travel and the future and attempts to understand all that's happening to her. I decided that her voice was the best to show this; and it helps develop her as a sympathetic character, which I thought was important because at least initially, sh'es not the most likeable person.

As far as other 1st person narrations, here are a couple that jump to mind immediately:
- The Time Machine by HG Wells
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- The Turn of the Screw by James Henry
- Bruiser by Neal Shusterman (YA, but I especially like this one b/c it's told in four different 1st-person perspectives; I love how he goes out of his way to make each one unique)
- Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson
 

VP_Benni

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Congrats, Cliff. :)

Ooh, first person book list? Sounds like a challenge. :D I wanna try I wanna try! (you know, AFTER I'm done being busy with school work and such...)

~Amber~
 

electroweakstar

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I'm still only up to 4300, but I've done a lot of tweaking and fixing. At one point, I was banging my head against a wall about a scene transition and then, after being mad about it for a while, decided to throw alcohol into the situation. For the characters, I mean (though I might have liked a cocktail). FIXED.

So I'm behind on my should-be-8K but still rolling. I have a lot more downtime later this month anyway.
 

VP_Benni

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Class schedule for Spring term is up! Now instead of studying I am spending time trying to figure out a schedule... :gaah

Think I have one sketched out, so I'm going to close the tab and try to do something productive...

~Amber~
 
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WendyN

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I feel like I'm constantly editing my opening pages. Beginning to doubt that I'll ever get to a point where I'll be able to read over my entire MS without wanting to make changes. (Does that point ever come?)
 

Caitlin Black

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There are always changes to make, whether they're really worth the effort or not. I know plenty of published authors here have said that once their books are published, if they read it again, they get annoyed because there are still things they'd like to change, but it's too late. :)

And thanks for the congrats, people. :)
 

Caitlin Black

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Been reading today.

Finished a book yesterday (by an AWer) which brings me to 9 read over summer break so far. That's about 1 per week. 38 left in my TBR pile... It may well be 5 years before I'm done with all of them, given that I won't have time to read much while I'm at Uni. :tongue

Oh, and I counted - I have 9 books that I've started over the past 4 years or so and not finished. So 1 of the books I've been reading today is one of those 9. It's a rather difficult science book, fascinating, but yeah - taking a long time to get through it.

Probably 5 or 6 of my partway-read books are science ones...

So yeah. That's what I've been doing today.

Oh, and I'm so obsessive, I now want to create a spreadsheet with a list of every book I own and the page count for each book, so I can have a total page count for my book collection, as well as a current page count for however much I've read so far. :tongue

That may take several hours to sort out, and right now I think I'll watch another episode of Charmed.

Rewarding myself for finishing the edits yesterday was a great move. I feel very little stress right now. :)
 

Caitlin Black

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Okay, obsession won out over reason, and I've started that spreadsheet...

So far I've done 2/4 shelves of the big bookcase, which means about 1/3 of the total books approximately.

My stats so far?

61 books.
20,535 pages total.
14,528 pages read.
70.7% read of total.

And I'm so in love with my spreadsheet. I've got so many equation cells it's not funny! Change a number in one cell, and as many as 3 or 4 other cells will automatically update. :D:D:D

*stops getting his geek on*

However, the 2 hours I thought it would take me has gotten me 1/3 done... Erm, this could take a long time. :tongue Not doing any more tonight. Sleep soon.
 

VP_Benni

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Book spreadsheets are addictive timesucks. :tongue I need to update mine... Got another half dozen or so books since the last time I updated it. Not that I needed them... :roll:

I... don't really have homework this weekend! :partyguy: Think I'm going to try that "reading for fun" thing I used to have time for... How do I do that again?

~Amber~
 

WendyN

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For awhile I used LibraryThing to keep track of my books, but then I went through a giant purging and then, of course, replaced the books I bought with almost as many new ones, so my list is very out-of-date. I do keep track of what I read on Goodreads, though.
 

Almondjoy

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Book spreadsheets are addictive timesucks. :tongue I need to update mine... Got another half dozen or so books since the last time I updated it. Not that I needed them... :roll:

I... don't really have homework this weekend! :partyguy: Think I'm going to try that "reading for fun" thing I used to have time for... How do I do that again?

~Amber~

I'm so jealous that you have no homework this weekend!! I have so much that I'm even scared to start it. I'll be spending the entire weekend doing it, unfortunately.

For awhile I used LibraryThing to keep track of my books, but then I went through a giant purging and then, of course, replaced the books I bought with almost as many new ones, so my list is very out-of-date. I do keep track of what I read on Goodreads, though.

I use Goodreads as well, and I love it. It helps me keep track of what I own and what I read and when.

So I'm sitting down to write for a bit before I get up and start my crap-load of homework. I'm not very excited for the homework, honestly.
 

VP_Benni

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I'm very relieved that I don't have homework. I've had maybe 1 to 3 hours a WEEK to myself for the last few weeks, and it's nice that I have time to do something else for once. :) I'd suggest jumping straight into the work and not spend so much time freaking out about having to do it (like I do a lot :tongue). You might end up with more free time than you thought you'd have. :)

Just remembered I have scholarship applications due this week! Better work on those essays... At least they're not too strenuous. :)

~Amber~
 

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So far I have written 2,265 words this month. This is far from the 4,500 I am supposed to have by the end of the day. Hopefully the next few days will help me close the gap.
 

Caitlin Black

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Well, I've catalogued another big shelf of books this morning. Or rather, it was a shelf full of big books... 15 books averaging about 450 pages per book. Went quite quick.

Then just now, I started doing the bottom shelf of the big bookcase, and got about halfway through it when I heard mum go into the shower and my legs were getting sore. Why does this matter?

Well, my bookcases are in the garage (nowhere else to put them) with nowhere to sit while writing on the paper, hence the sore legs, but I stopped when mum got up because if she were in the kitchen when I left the garage, she'd definitely ask why I was in there. And I don't feel like explaining how obsessive I'm being. :tongue I'm weird, but I don't need the people I see on a day-to-day basis knowing just how weird. :D

So yeah... I'll have to complete the bottom shelf later, along with the small bookcase.

I'm enjoying this far too much to be healthy.
 

WendyN

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Just got some great feedback from a critiquer, which has helped me rework my prologue (yet again). I want to keep pushing forward on editing Part III, but I know the first few chapters are what really are going to hook an agent (and later a publisher and reader), so I think it's probably worthwhile to put the later chapters on hold for now while I really polish up the first ones.
 

SianaBlackwood

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I now have a 'to read' list that if I could actually get hold of copies of all the books on it, would probably cover me for the rest of the year. I may have to make myself a spreadsheet to keep track of which ones I've read.

I'm also over halfway through the character profiles for my March-May project and I've finally finished setting up my wiki for holding all the planning information. Progress on the outline... 0. I'm not looking forward to that part.
 

Almondjoy

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So I cranked out a respectable 1,700 words today. I realized today that a lot of what I write is dialogue, which is a major problem. But since this is a first draft, I'm going to *try* to not really worry about my prose and too much dialogue. I just want to get the story out right now.

ETA: Have any of you all heard of WriYe? I've seen it around a bit and finally went to the website today. It doesn't look nearly as active as this forum or the NaNo site, but I'm thinking that I may or may not join. I'm on the fence right now. Are any of guys a part of it, and do you think it's a good idea for me to join?
 
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shayla.mist

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didn't have time to write these past two days T_T Hope today I can manage 3000 words. Slim chances, but I'll try. Congrats to everyone for the hard work.

@Almondjoy Hadn't heard of Wriye, but as far as I can see, they're still in 2012. maybe they have a new site I can't find on google? The forum doesn't look much active, but, hey, there's no harm in joining, right?
 

Caitlin Black

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I think I signed up for WriYe one year, then promptly forgot all about it. Whoops.

I came nowhere near my goal anyway. This was before I realised what pace I can actually keep up with without getting burn-out. 50k a month for 12 months? No friggin' way. 20k a month is more my speed, except during NaNo (if I have time) when I push the limits.
 

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Well, I still do have some homework left to work on. But I think I got really far on it.

Also I ordered some books yesterday from Amazon that I've been wanting to read for a while. So, hopefully, they'll all get here soon. :D