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Torill

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Did good yesterday. Kept at it for the designated time without any distractions, and found what seems like a good take on that police interaction scene I know I need. Finished it and moved on to the dreaded next scene which has stumped me for weeks. But this time I finally realised what was wrong. I have been forcing my characters into a situation where they do not belong, and everything they say or do will make them come across as OC or stupid. So stopped the endless editing, deleted the whole damn thing and started again from a different angle. Motivation soared as a result - for the first time in many months I feel the urge to write! Yay!

@ Hilldawg:
OK. :evil Here goes: :deadhorse
Can relate to the feeling. My list of procrastination tools is endless...

@ Kitty27:
Your word count scares me! I'm at 140K and not finished yet... We'll see what happens when I'm done...

:hooray::banana::Trophy::partyguy: for query and synopsis done! And good luck with the editing and querying of all your remaining WIPs.
 

Sarah G

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@ Torill~ congrats on getting the urge to write again and thank you for the snoopy:)

@ alessahinlo~ Thank you for the congrats:)
 

KitCat

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Grats Torill :snoopy:


I stayed up wayyyyy too late last night, but I wasn't tired and was thinking about my story so i got up and lo and behold, about 2 hrs later, 1k words done. Nice way to end a long night.
 

LilliCray

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...I started it. Again. Different "it," naturally. >.< But I did writing! 154 words, so far. I know, right? Awesome. >.< Actually, I'm excited. I haven't been able to write for ages and ages (since December 20-ish, actually, but who's keeping track?).

I mean, the words aren't that great--not bad style-wise, but all world-building so probably will be cut sometime, but I'm just glad they're there. Maybe this means the ice is broken? Or maybe it just means I should make myself write 100 words before bed every day. That's doable, right?

Oh, and congrats, Torill and KitCat!
 

MysteryRiter

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Only 17k left in the WIP! It's a race to the finish!
 

soapdish

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Well, I hit 11k today.

Aaaand in a stroke of genius (or possibly a stroke of sleep deprivation :rolleyes:) I'm considering making a very important change to the plot. It would make everything VERY different than it is now and eliminate some problems and holes that were giving me grief before.

Tricky thing is, I have to make sure it's not going to create other problems/holes in the process. *sigh*

I think I'll just make some notes to myself about the possible change, then mull it over tonight and sleep on it. I'll see if it still make sense in the morning.
 

soapdish

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I stayed up wayyyyy too late last night, but I wasn't tired and was thinking about my story so i got up and lo and behold, about 2 hrs later, 1k words done. Nice way to end a long night.
Cool, there must have been some ideas that just HAD to come out. I love it when that happens :D

Maybe this means the ice is broken? Or maybe it just means I should make myself write 100 words before bed every day. That's doable, right?
I think 100 is doable. Keep it up, Lilli!

Only 17k left in the WIP! It's a race to the finish!
Interesting the way you look at it, with the end in mind. Down to the word count left to get there, huh? Good luck reaching it quickly!
 

soapdish

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Well, I implemented operation "change plot". :D After thinking heavily about it, I decided it was the right thing to do. The story was demanding it. :rolleyes:

So, I shaved off 1000 words (which kind of sucks :e2bummed:) and made notes on what I have to fix to make it all make more sense now. Once I do that, though, I'm sure I'll get those 1000 words back.
 

Aggy B.

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Well, I spent an hour hammering out another 2k words of summary/outline. Which is good. It's kind of the dull part of the process, and I'm still nervous the whole thing will fall apart, but the bones seem to connect where they should. For the most part, anyway.

Now, time to go read and unwind. :)
 

sky warrior books

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Well, we had about 2 1/2 feet of snow here where I live, which meant a lot of digging, plowing and general mayhem.:flag:

Writing has been difficult at best. I suppose I shouldn't be here under W1S1, because it's more like W3S0 for novels. I have three I'm working on and I had been working on one novel, only to get stuck and skipped over to another novel.:e2writer::Shrug::e2bummed:
Last night, around midnight, I started writing a scene in Novel #2. I wrote 100 words on it before 2 am. That's really pathetic. :Shrug: I went to sleep about 3 am. :sleepy:

Today, I got 1200 words written, for a total of 1300 words for this writing episode. I think I can continue going. The novel needs to be about 40-50K (I have a publisher anxiously demanding this short novel:e2poke:) and I think if I can just get this book written, I will feel better about my writing.

On another note, I have finally gotten proficient enough with InDesign to do my company's novel layouts! :yessmiley I got two novels completely formatted and off to the printer. One is now published and the other, I'm waiting on final proofs.
 

LilliCray

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Well, we had about 2 1/2 feet of snow here where I live, which meant a lot of digging, plowing and general mayhem.:flag:

Oooh, snow. Fun. (For those of us who aren't forced to shovel and stuff. :D Not that I'm gloating. Much.) But, yeah.

And, geez, words is words is words is words is... I think everyone who writes more than like two words at a time is hands-down amazing. Just sayin'.

On another note, I have finally gotten proficient enough with InDesign to do my company's novel layouts! :yessmiley I got two novels completely formatted and off to the printer. One is now published and the other, I'm waiting on final proofs.

Oh. Oh. InDesign.

....I hate InDesign. InDesign should die a thousand horrible, painful deaths of rage in the span of three seconds and then its rotted ashes should be strewn so far across all the galaxies in all the universes its pieces could never possibly ever be assembled into one ash pile again, much less reassembled into a working program. Ever. And then wiped from all living memory.

...ahem. I have some... issues... with InDesign.

But otherwise, 'grats on the proficiency and stuffs!

And in other news, I am officially on day 3 of writing 100 words every day or no sleep for me. Exciting! To make it even more crazy, I have deemed no episodes of a certain genre of highly enjoyable and addictive shows without writing--100 words nets me one episode, but no carryover to another day. I'm hoping this will help, too. If not, maybe it will at least keep me from watching shows when I should be, like, studying. Or doing homework. Or eating. :rolleyes:
 
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sky warrior books

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Oh. Oh. InDesign.

....I hate InDesign. InDesign should die a thousand horrible, painful deaths of rage in the span of three seconds and then its rotted ashes should be strewn so far across all the galaxies in all the universes its pieces could never possibly ever be assembled into one ash pile again, much less reassembled into a working program. Ever. And then wiped from all living memory.

...ahem. I have some... issues... with InDesign.
:e2point: Oh yes, I can see that. I mean, when I get daunted by software, (being a former software engineer and systems administrator), you know it has to be difficult.


And in other news, I am officially on day 3 of writing 100 words every day or no sleep for me. Exciting! To make it even more crazy, I have deemed no episodes of a certain genre of highly enjoyable and addictive shows without writing--100 words nets me one episode, but no carryover to another day. I'm hoping this will help, too. If not, maybe it will at least keep me from watching shows when I should be, like, studying. Or doing homework. Or eating. :rolleyes:

:snoopy::e2woo:

Motivators are a great thing. I've always recommended to students to start with 100 words a day and then build up if they can. But you've got to do the 100 words first, of course, and be comfortable with it.

Of course, I don't always follow my own advice. :chair
 

Kitty27

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Today is one of my favorite genres day. Epic Fantasy rules because I can be as wild as I want to be with word count!

Oh,how I love thee,Epic Fantasy!

I intend to work on all five books and sort out plot,characters,and create mayhem.
 

Sarah G

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Congrats to everyone:Hug2:

As for me haven't done any writing. I think my latest novel will be on hold for a while. I just got my feedback from one of my beta's, for the first novel, in my sig. She said she enjoyed it and that the twists and stuff kept her interested, which i guess is good, but there's some stuff I need to work on like discription.:cry:I'm rubbish at it. On the plus side, my short story will be ready to be sent of in a couple of days:)
 

Kitty27

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Did good yesterday. Kept at it for the designated time without any distractions, and found what seems like a good take on that police interaction scene I know I need. Finished it and moved on to the dreaded next scene which has stumped me for weeks. But this time I finally realised what was wrong. I have been forcing my characters into a situation where they do not belong, and everything they say or do will make them come across as OC or stupid. So stopped the endless editing, deleted the whole damn thing and started again from a different angle. Motivation soared as a result - for the first time in many months I feel the urge to write! Yay!

@ Hilldawg:
OK. :evil Here goes: :deadhorse
Can relate to the feeling. My list of procrastination tools is endless...

@ Kitty27:
Your word count scares me! I'm at 140K and not finished yet... We'll see what happens when I'm done...

:hooray::banana::Trophy::partyguy: for query and synopsis done! And good luck with the editing and querying of all your remaining WIPs.

I am not alone! :Hug2: I have a serious problem with word count. I read that it's best for a newbie writer to keep it under control. I've set 105,000 as my limit

*bites fist*
 

Aggy B.

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Finished up the sluggish chapter from hell. (Hopefully it doesn't read that way, it just took way longer to write than I anticipated. And it's not even that long! Gah.)

Now into better turf with heavy revisions to chapters from previous drafts before I hit more fill-in-the-blank chapters where there used to be plot-holes. >_<

Aggy, pouring a fresh cup of coffee and putting BIC
 

KitCat

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*joining the BIC crowd* trying to get some words in tonight, still below 10k, but i'm gonna call that my week's goal, hopefully pass it up.
 

soapdish

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Blarg. I had to cut more words. :( Then I added some new ones. :)
Then I cut some more. :( Then I added some more. :) Just breaking 11k again.

I really don't want to go through that again at this stage.
 

Torill

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I need some hugs. Or words of encouragement. Or a miracle.

I was so happy with my new-found enthusiasm and urge to write. But the last couple of days, all I've done is add fresh words to the document only to delete them again. Nothing seems to work, and now I'm about to lose faith in myself. Again.

:Hammer: :Headbang::e2beat:

(So far, the dynamics between my two main characters (father and little son) have been the central focus of my story. But now they have been separated by the evil antagonists. Maybe that's why I keep getting stuck?)

@ KitCat:
Congrats with a good night's work. 1k in two late hours, that's good! Go you!:hooray:

@ LilliCray
Good on you for starting again - I know how hard that can be. And keeping to your schedule, too! :Clap:.. whether it's by carrots or sticks - that's great!

@ MysteryRiter:
Congrats with only 17k left. (How do you know that, by the way - that it will be only 17k? I can never tell until I've done how long something is going to be... Things will need to be shaven off to reach a certain word count around here!)

@ soapdish
Good luck with operation "change plot"!!!:e2cheer: Hang in there, don't let it get you down! I'm in the endless putting in/taking out words phase, too - let's not give up hope. We'll pull through! :Hug2:

@ sky warrior books
Lots of snow here, too - luckily, I'm not the one who needs to get out the shovel!

Congrats with your 1200 words!:hooray: That's not bad for a day when writing feels difficult! Sounds to me you will soon have that project done, and feel better about your writing again. You've been there before, right? You know you can do it.

(I admire your ability to work on several projects at once - don't know if I could ever do that. Maybe one day - after I've got several published books under my belt...)

@ Sarah G
May be a good idea to let your novel rest a little, before you start to work on your beta's suggestions. But if what you're really doing is procrastination, because you don't like to write descriptions - then perhaps not...

You don't need page and page of description, do you - sparse style can be great, too! Just a few key details here and there to ground the reader... Keep at it, you'll get there!!!

And yay! for the soon to be sent off short story! :snoopy:

@ Kitty27
Thanks for the hug - you're definitely not the only one struggling with word count! I plan to offer my work to the British market, though. I've heard that publishers in the UK aren't that picky about word count, and that the 80-100K limit for a debut novel is more an American thing. Let's hope this is true...

@ Aggy B
Congrats with the sluggish chapter from hell!! :Clap:.
 

CallyW

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Just found this thread. I'm editing my sci fi novel Separated. I went through it and took out everything I hated and it's gone from 75K to just over 30K but the story is much better, or it will be once I write it.

I'm now going through it again and writing down what needs changing and where new scenes need to be added. I'm working on 10 pages a day. I did 9 pages on Sunday and 11 pages yesterday.

I do most of my writing and editing in the evenings and sometimes it's hard to get my arse into gear when I've got in from work.
 

Torill

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:welcome: to the Novel challenge, CallyW! Have you set a deadline for when you want to be ready to query yet? Sounds like you're on a good track already - ten pages a day, not bad at all!