Category Archives: 750 WOrds

RoW80 Check-In: Sunday, July 8th.

“     The details of last night reformed themselves, building the scene again for him. Each dull pain reawakened as he revisited every blow, every smash, pain imbued into each muscle and bone in his body. It all started with an argument, a slammed door, Awngel’s dagger glare. And then there was Hederrick, the man from the book cart, with the glistening spiked rings on his fingers that dug into Locke’s cheek. The blonde-haired woman with eyes like pools. Knolan had said she was a Battarack, and another word lingered.
    ’Asyentai.’
     He had not intended to speak the word, but it came out as a faint whisper when he struggled to open his eyes….”

I’m quite fond of blaming the heat lately, but I’m afraid I must do it once more, as I’ve spent a good portion of last week since the previous check-in for A Round of Words in 80 Days contemplating my goals. Of course, the heat has cooled a little bit in the last day; we have the windows open this morning instead of the AC on, and it’s absolutely lovely. The 70 degree range is the perfect temperature for me, especially when there’s a breeze. I don’t even care that it threatens to scatter all my papers. The breeze is lovely and I know the cats are content because they love few things as much as being able to sit in an open window and breathe in the fresh air.

It definitely had me recharged this morning, but I’m still wondering about the goals I set for A Round of Words in 80 Days. I knew that working simultaneously on several novels until one stood out was going to be a little challenging, but I never really bothered thinking about what if none of them really stand out and I don’t have to keep up with page-per-day goals I set? So I’ve mostly decided not to stress out about it, to just follow the muse, and so long as I’m writing, that’s all that matters, until a better idea of what I really want to hanker down on and get finished starts to develop. Either way, here’s what I’ve been working on and how I’ve been doing with it:

Serpent in a Cage: I thought I had made a stupid mistake and so I tore out a few pages to rewrite, only to realize that I hadn’t made a mistake at all. So I’ve been rewriting the pages I thought I was going to rewrite as something different as exactly the same. Which is to say that there’s been no progress, but that particular scene (the opening to the second part and where the excerpt above is derived) has got a little extra polish on it.

Western with Dragons: I would love thoughts on the prospective title of Wanted: Dread or Alive. I haven’t worked much on this one because I thought I lost the notebook, but it turns out I had just used a different part of it to scribble down an idea for a short story and then forgot. Lulz.

Soulless: I hit a little bit of a snag, but I think I got past it an now I’m just focusing on pushing the plot along. Usually, when I do that, my snags take care of itself, but, other than that, nothing too exciting about this one.

Battarack Girls: I haven’t had much of a chance to even glance at Battarack Girls lately, but the sample still stands as my Featured Story in celebration of Bowlful of Bunnies selling 25 copies (and it’s recently dipped below the ranking number I wanted to keep it at, so I’d like ot try to push a few more copies if anyone wants to help with that). I’ve had lots of scenes playing out in my head for it lately, though, so it’s almost a shame that I haven’t gotten a chance to peck at it much.

Space Cowboys: I’m really digging this one a lot, too. I think The Unknown Scourge (see below) has a good chance of being my next book, but this one’s got a good chance in the running, too, if I can just get past the part that kind of stopped me up last time I tried to write it. (I need to write with better outlines, lol).

New Novel Project: One thing about the New Novel project that I love is that, since the page count goal is based on the days of the month, it’s really easy to figure out where I should be. I’m a little behind, but this latest version of The Unknown Scourge is coming along nicely, I think. I just finished up with the prologue, and it’s onto the first chapter. It’s usually around chapters three and four that I get stuck on this one, so we shall see how things turn out this time. I’m on page 6 out of 8.

Short Stories: I’ve been working on short stories a bit more again, since I want to start sending them out to magazines and I used up all my short stories for Bowlful of Bunnies. I’m mostly working on one that’s my take on Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Hell is other people” quote and another one for a really interesting magazine called The First Line, where every issue includes stories starting with the same line. The upcoming issue (due August 1st) will feature stories starting with “A light snow was falling as Charlie Reardon left the diner and made his way down Madison Street.” So I’m trying to get that finished by then, and, if not, there’s always the next issue to work on (“Sometimes, when it’s quiet, I can remember what my life was like before moving to Cedar Springs.”) Needless to say, because I’m working on the other short stories, we can say good-bye to

750 Words: 750 Words is a really good resource…when I’m stuck. When I haven’t got any other projects to work on. When I’ve got fifty billion projects to work on, I just think about how I “have” to log on and type up 750 words that are distracting me from my other WIPs, and I say forget it. There’s a time and a place for this challenge and right now (like last Round) is not one of either.

The 100 Books Project: Since my last review, I’ve finished two (that’s right, two!) more books, with another one close behind them, so I’m off to a great start this round. We’ll see if the pace keeps up, since a lot of those books were close to being finished anyway, and now I’ve started in on a bunch of new stuff. Either way, I’m standing at 25/100 with 4/30 for this round.

Exercise: Exercise has kind of fallen off, mostly because of the heat. Weather has cooled down a little and maybe I can still swing in some yoga while visiting my parents. It would be nice to return to this one (especially since I barely got it started), but we shall see. Frankly, when given the choice between writing or working out, I’d much rather be writing!

On another note, the blog might be a little quiet in the next few days. An unexpected string of days off showed up on the schedule, so I’m taking an impromtu trip back home for a few days. I know I’ll have internet access, but whether or not I’m really up to posting will be another matter. It’ll be so nice to see family and friends for a few days, especially since my stepsister and her family happen to be visiting this week, too! I hit up the train station this afternoon, and I can’t wait.

Happy writing, everyone!

RoW80 Check-In: July 4th/5th.

Hooray! It’s here! It’s the new Round of A Round of Words in 80 Days! Oh, yesterday was also Independence Day, but….new Round!! (lol, priorities) I posted my goals a little bit ago, and I got an early start on them because my orderly brain demanded that starting on the 2nd would throw everything off, so I’ve been picking at them a little bit and have already questioned if I’ve made them too lofty. Whoops.

Then again, Tuesday was a truly odd day on several accounts. While I managed to finish another book, I missed a whole slew of my writing goals. Then there was the moment when I thought to myself, “Oh, I’ll organize the pantry” and “Oh, I think I’ll super-clean the cat box.” Five hours later…

I was feeling a pretty good mojo yesterday and got a lot of work done, despite the Day Job interrupting. I didn’t manage to finish my check-in, though, so I’m posting it today so I don’t fall into the habit of skipping it entirely. So let’s have a peek at what I’ve been working on:

Serpent in a Cage: After a brief set of scenes that were taken from the original manuscript, I’m back to welding together the intersecting storylines and writing from the new approach. I’ve also played around with the idea of dividing the story into parts (as I’ve thought of before), where each part basically represents a different day (since the course of events only happens over three days). I need to sit down and figure out the exact page count goals for this one (and my others, as well).

Western with Dragons: I’m thinking of tentatively titling this one Wanted: Dread or Alive. Any thoughts on the title would be helpful, but the “western with dragons” concept is turning out to be the most popular one out of the list of potential next books, so I’m charging forward with it. It’s got a little bit of a Sherlock Holmesy vibe to it, too, Victorian mystery, and I’m definitely feeling like I want to dig up The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. with this one, too. So it’s a little bit of a wild-carriage ride for me at the moment, but it’ll be interesting to see how it turns out. I’m about halfway through a second chapter at the moment, developing the world and the characters and the plot as I go along.

Battarack Girls: I’m writing this one with a different approach than I write my other books. I’m basically writing a page of each girl’s voice, leaving it unfinished like a prompt for later, and then moving on. This way, I think I’m going to get a better perception of tone, voice, and timeline as I scribble things down. It’s sort of working like an elaborate outline this way. Also, since I’ve finally sold 25 copies of Bowlful of Bunnies, I’ll be releasing a little sample of Battarack Girls on the blog tomorrow, as per contest, so be sure to stop on by for that!

Space Cowboys: I know I’ve attempted this one a few times, so I’ve taken up the task of rewriting the beginning I like best, because, reading it, I sort of forgot which direction I was taking it, and so now it can adopt a new organic direction. It’s definitely coming along nicely.

Soulless: I’ve decided to keep going with Soulless, too, even if I think I’ll need to change the title on account of a lot of other books having that title, too. But it, like the others, is coming along nicely, though I thought I was in a little bit of a block with it. It’s coming along great now!

New Novel Project: This month’s novel is The Unknown Scourge, a science fiction, government conspiracy, blah blah blah book that takes place in the future of the same world as Serpent in a Cage. I have tried to write this book so many times, I’ve lost count, but I will always keep trying until I hit the right angle. Maybe this is the one? Who knows? Either way, the odd days (and probably this killer heat!) have me a little bit behind. I’m on page 3 out of 5 for the day, hoping to play some catch-up today.

The 100 Books Project: Just finished both Soul Music and another book due for a review, with a third and fourth book not far behind. So that’s a good swing of getting some of the ones that have been on my reading list out of the way, and onto other ones! I think I might be able to finally get some of that catch up done this Round. Books read: 22/100 (2/30 for this round).

750 Words: I have decided to utilize the 750 Words website, although I’ve already missed two days. That’s okay, though, I’m definitely not allowing myself to stress out about it. Right now, I’m using it just to push me on getting more of my Grimm stories done. “Just Right,” one of the stories in Bowlful of Bunnies, was written using 750words, and I think it would be really neat if the other stories in the series were crafted via the same challenge.

Exercise: I’m glad to say that this one? I have been keeping up on. I haven’t pushed myself too much. I’m not going to deny that I am definitely out of shape right now (round is a shape, though, right? har har), so I don’t want to over-exert myself too soon. I’m easing into it. This means a few minutes of stretching and toning and yoga, increasing the time a little bit longer each day. I’m trying to limber my body and get it ready to take on some workout videos on Netflix recommended by my friend Nikki, who recently lost around 75 pounds. I’m shooting for just about 30 myself, so I’m definitely taking her advice. Girl looks incredible. But I’ve got to get my body ready to push for it as hard as my mind wants to.

Also pretty sweet? I managed to clear out my email a great deal last night. When I woke up this morning, I actually had an inbox that was less than 4000 unread messages! Go me! (And, yes, that’s 4000 messages, so if I’ve been quiet or have missed something or haven’t gotten back to you on something yet…hi, Elizabeth! Hi, Grace!…this is why. But I’m slowly but surely battling down the mountain).

….I think that’s everything. Biiiiig update, because I’m juggling a lot of projects. I’m sure this’ll whittle itself down once I get a clearer picture of what book I want to try to get done for publishing next, but, as it is, I’m going to place a whole bunch of eggs in a whole bunch of baskets.

How’s your Round shaping up so far? Have you had a chance to check-in with any other participants here? RoW80 just keeps getting bigger and better, and I’m so glad to be a part of it, even if I’m not as good at making the rounds as I used to be!

RoW80 Round 3 Goals!

I love A Round of Words in 80 Days. Love it, with a great, fiery passion. RoW80 has led me to so many great things, including the fantastic writing community I’ve connected with and the inspiration to self-publish. I don’t know if I’d have ever imagined releasing Bowlful of Bunnies if it wasn’t for this fantastic and incredible group. It’s completely changed my whole perspective on writing and really propelled me forward to be successful.

Those of you already familiar with RoW80 probably know exactly what I’m talking about. If you’re not familiar with RoW80, then I highly recommend checking it out. It has been such an incredible, life-changing experience for me.

Basically, RoW80 is a writing challenge that knows you have a life, and it’s all about the flexible goals and learning what you can do, how to do it, and knowing where to push yourself. I really dropped the ball during the last Round, but I did manage to get my main goal (publishing Bowlful of Bunnies) accomplished. Now that the big hefty task is out of the way, I’m really looking forward to getting back to specific benchmarks and regular check-ins for this round, which begins July 2nd. Here’s what I have planned for the next 80 days, starting tomorrow (I’m giving it a little head start due to it being Sunday and the start of new month, which just gels well in my OCD brain):

Novels: Now, anyone who knows me in my RoW80 career will not be surprised by this; those of you who don’t will probably think I’m crazy. But I intend to work consistently on four different novels this round. My goal is simply to write a new page of material for each novel every day. I know some people gawk (Brian always did!) about my juggling different products, with the thought that I should just focus on one until it’s finished, but, alas, I cannot work like that. Not in the early stages like this. When BoB was nearly complete, it was all I worked on. Total tunnel vision. But right now, I have the attention span of a gnat until one of these other books is in near-ready-to-publish condition. So I will be slowly plugging at least a page a day on Serpent in a Cage, Battarack Girls, the dragon western, and a space pirate novel. Eventually, I imagine one of these will pull ahead and demand all my attention, but, right now, it’s just slow and steady on each of them.

The New Novel Project: I will also be restarting my ancient New Novel project, which is something I’ve done in the past, and lately I got the chance to appreciate the benefit of it. Basically, the New Novel Project is simple. Every month, I start a new novel, write at least a page a day of it, and, at the end of the month, I stop, put it aside, and start a new one. Since this Round coincides with the beginning of the month, it’s perfect. The idea here is not only to just keep writing and get new ideas started, but to give me the chance to go back next year, revisit the started works, and pick one to focus on finishing. The space pirates novel mentioned above was one of last year’s New Novels, after scanning through what I’ve got already, and I want to bolster the options a little with some new novels. And, who knows, maybe one of them might surprise me and insist on being written further after the month. Wouldn’t that be nice?

The 100 Books Project: I’ve been slacking off on this a lot! I have so many books to catch up on, but I’m not going to worry about it. A Round is 80 Days, so we’ll just call that three months. In three months, I should read 25 books. So, this round, to make up for some of the back-up, I’m going to aim for 30 books by the end of the Round. Let’s get reading! (This will include books I’m about to finish, which total about three. Because I can).

750 Words: I still haven’t decided if I plan on utilizing the 750Words site again, but I was thinking about how one of my favorite stories from BoB came from my attempts to keep up with the 750 Words a Day thing. So I want to challenge myself in that way again in hopes to come up with a companion piece for it, or perhaps just some new short stories since I used up my whole catalog for BoB…

Exercise: Though health goals don’t have anything to do with writing goals (except perhaps in the sense that, when you’re healthier, you work better, you think better, everything is better), many RoWers add exercise and health goals to their ROW80 goals, and I’m going to do that, too. The whole idea is to do a little bit of exercise every day, even if it’s just some low-strain yoga. Because even just a little bit can go a long way. I’m going to start small tomorrow morning, and build up to more difficult things, because I’m really out of shape and I don’t want to blow it right out of the door because I pushed too hard. I was also thinking of starting to track what I eat, but that feels just a little too tedious. I’d rather use that energy toward my writing. So, yes, at least some kind of work-out, small or massive, every day.

I think that basically wraps it up. I’ve been really looking forward to tomorrow so that I can get this next Round going. I’m hoping for a lot of great things, and, of course, I know I’ll have a lot of support and love along the way. Are you a RoWer? Have you decided on your goals yet? I look forward to seeing how everyone does in the upcoming 80 days!

I’m also incredibly pleased to welcome three new followers to the blog! Thanks to Katie, khamneithang, and Jim Norwood for subscribing! Welcome aboard! Good to have you guys along.

RoW80 Update: April 8th!

A useless hunk of stone, maybe, but Gilferen picked it up and slipped it into his own pouch after Jaxson had left with a flourish of his long black coat. He gave Locke a weak smile from across the table. ‘Just in case,’ he said. ‘Come on. Let’s see about getting these mugs refilled again. Might as well enjoy it while we can.’”

Happy Easter and/or Passover and/or Just Another Sunday, dear readers of this here little blog! In a few hours, I will be heading over to the home of my roommate’s very gracious parents for a lamb dinner and, despite the fact that their youngest child is twenty-seven and their only grandchildren are furry quadrupeds, an Easter egg hunt. My own family is all mostly back in Michigan, so I will be trying to make phone calls if my phone decides to cooperate, which it rarely does. I hope that it’s a glorious day over there for all the bipedal grandchildren in my family to search for eggs in at my grandmother’s house. Are there any big plans for you and yours? I’m planning to still get some work done today, so it’s a pretty casual holiday on my side of things…at least it is while I’m in a different state.

In the meantime, let’s have a look at how my goals for RoW80 have been going. I’ll admit, since Wednesday, the going has been rough, but it hasn’t been completely off kilter. It’s been an odd week, and I’m sure next week will be just as odd, my work schedule all shifted around to make way for my mini-vacation at ComicCon this next weekend. Should be a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to it! But that’s next week. Let’s see what we’ve got this week.

Serpent in a Cage: Poor SiaC. Since I’ve been focusing on finishing my Closing Lines story from the Tuesday before last (oy), I haven’t been spending a whole lot of time on it. Or, like, any. That changes today (hopefully!) and there will likely be more exciting news regarding this book on Wednesday’s check-in. Page count: 62/97.

Bowlful of Bunnies: I’m proud to say that all the stories I know for a fact (unless betas suggest otherwise!) are going into the collection are completely edited and ready to go! Now it’s just a matter of getting a few new stories in and added. I’m hoping to finish one by the end of the day today, and hopefully a good handful of others by the end of the week. It’s so reassuring and exciting knowing that I have at least ten stories to publish. I would love more, but we’ll see how the wind blows these next few days. If anything, I could probably prime BoB for publication right now and still be satisfied, but I think I still want to to do a little bit more. I’m also going to try to finish the “Black Stones” story (aaaaaallllllll for you, Caustic Madrigal), the ending of which was giving me some trouble. Stories so far: 10/20.

The 100 Books Project: I was sitting on that Electric Michelangelo review for a long time, and I’ve made some headway on some of the gazillion books I’m reading right now, but nothing’s going to be finished within the next few days, more than likely. And then there will be a flood, as these things tend to go. I’m enjoying (almost) everything so much right now, though, so my reading journey has been awesome so far. Books read: 12/100. (1/38 for this round).

Book No. 002: Will not be Star Wars. Sorry, CM, but I’m pretty sure I need a deal with them first, though I bet I could write a pretty kick ass Star Wars book. I considered going sci-fi as a decent compromise to that….I was going to say that was out of the question because all my sci-fi are definitely series OR a project that requires a bit more time and attention, but another thought just filtered into my head to prove me wrong. So…maybe. I do have some space pirates hanging out in the wings. But, really, I have no idea yet what Book No. 002 this year will be. Time shall tell.

Other Novels: While I’m almost finished with a prologue on To Cross a River of Blood, the circus novel and the chick lit ones have barely been touched, and that’s okay. None of them are feeling like candidates for Book No. 002, so they will continue to be picked at and plucked at here and there until the next thing I know, I’ve got a rough but completed manuscript in front of me.

Featured Story: Since it’s Sunday, a new Featured Story has gone up! Finally, I’ve gotten around to editing “Just Right,” a twisted fairy tale I whipped up when I first started using 750 Words. I was planning to do a whole series of short stories from this world but, editing this story, I think I might want to build a novel out of it. Where and how Goh D. Lox’s tale fits into the broader scope, I’m not too sure, but it’ll definitely be interesting to find out!

There you have it! Decent progress, not groundbreaking, but exciting nonetheless. How are your goals going for you? Did you get a chance to support any of the other RoWers? You should! I know I’m going to try to hit up a few more myself. Until then, however, as always, Happy Writing!

And allow me to also not forget to welcome Rachel as my latest subscriber! Thanks for following the blog, Rachel! Glad to have you with us!

RoW 80 Check-In: February 15th!

“When the woman looked up at Locke’s apology, her eyes seemed to stare straight into him, and she blinked owlishly. They seemed so large, those yes, and lost until a frown folded her brow in. ‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘Do I know you?’”

It’s hard to believe, yet again, that Wednesday is already here. I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day; mine was uneventful, as I mostly worked and cleaned the house a little, mostly just an ordinary day. I feel, as usual, I didn’t get much done are far as my goals are concerned, for this check-in, because Wednesday always seems to get here so quickly. I’m okay with that, though, since the sooner it’s Wednesday, the sooner it’s Friday, which is payday… It’s been a light couple of days, and I plan to spend this afternoon and the next catching up a little, but let’s see what progress I have made:

Serpent in a Cage: I haven’t touched SiaC very much these last few days, definitely not the page-a-day I’ve been aiming for, so one of these days, maybe Friday, I’m really going to have to push through with all that catch-up I need to do. I think part of the stall might be this next part of the scene, which will be a challenge to write, but I love how this new version is going to wind up tying things all together so much nicer. Page count: 18/44.

Bowlful of Bunnies: I’m having the hardest time in the world finishing “Black Stones;” it’s definitely a piece I’m going to need to revisit and brush up, but it’s definitely going in the collection. I’m also excited because I also came across another short story I’d almost forgotten about, which will also be added. There’s zombies, so you know it’ll be a good addition. Still struggling with the idea that there’s not enough material and I don’t have enough ideas to make this thing happen, but I’m going to just keep plugging along and see where I’m at with the end of February. At least we get one extra day this year, right? Nice timing!

The 100 Books Project: Finally finished that fifth book this week, and I’m about a quarter of the way from finishing another, halfway through another after that, and then it’ll be a while before I finish the third main book I’m reading right now. So long as I finish that one by the end of the month, I should be good. My roommate decided to get an audio book of the same book, and so now I’m racing to keep up with her, because she just reached the same spot that I’m at and I can’t let her get ahead of me! She’s got the audiobook, which one could argue is cheating, but I’m going to just have to read my butt off to keep ahead. Books read: 5/100.

750 Words: I managed to do one little blurb the other day, with one of my main characters for SiaC talking a little bit about his childhood, and I do really like this as an exercise to help you get into your character a little bit more. A lot of the things you pour into something like that, you already know about the character, but you discover new nuances and sometimes new details that you never really gave much thought to before. I haven’t had time to continue doing them consistently, but I do love when I get the chance.

So, pretty uneventful. I’m starting to sweat a little bit about the end-of-February deadline I gave BoB, but there’s still a few days and a lot can happen in that time. I’m just going to have to really try to focus and push. I usually work better near the end of a deadline, too, so that’s keeping me encouraged.

How is everyone else doing? If you get a chance, you can check out my fellow RoWers here, and I’d also like to welcome Voni as my latest subscriber. Thanks so much for following, Voni!

RoW80 Check-in: February 12th!

“Those arms were thick as trunks, corded with veins and muscles, and Locke could only assume he was the woman’s body guard. That complicated matters if he got caught, so Locke would just have to make sure he did not get caught.”

It’s a beautiful, bright (and hopefully warmer) Sunday, which means it’s time for another RoW80 check-in! It’s been an interesting week, with a lot of great progress up until the weekend, where the irritation of the cold weather paired up with my job has put a little stunt in my progress. Also, this weekend celebrates one of my favorite special events in Fandom High, so that’s been a guilt-ridden distraction. Here’s the break-down, and then I have to flee regrettably to work, where I will long for getting a chance to return home to my computer to continue being awesome.

Serpent in a Cage: I haven’t been exactly getting a page-a-day, but I have been steadily scribbling away on this one, especially now that things are starting to spark into action. That first chapter is going to need a lot of work, but, right now, I’m resolving to not even worry about it. Just keep writing; it’ll always be there to adjust later. I’ve got a great feeling about this week, so I think things are really going to pick up. Page count: 17/42.

Featured Story: Every Sunday, I intend to change the Featured Story on the blog. This week, it’s a science-fiction-esque short story involving some of the characters from The Unknown Scourge entitled “Swing.” I’d like to thank C. Michael Hubbard again for his grammatical and technical catches on the last story, and, everyone, please feel free to critique or comment as you see fit to help me make it better for the collection, and, of course, enjoy!

Bowlful of Bunnies: I’m struggling a little bit with finishing “Black Stones” for the collection; I just feel that it’s going to disappoint since the prompt that started “Black Stones” was so well received. I’m been thinking of including the flash from this week in with a bunch of other flashes, including versions of the two I had published in Temenos, since I can’t retrieve the originals until they fix their website (which they have not done in over two years. Lame, Temenos, lame!). I’m still struggling to think of what else to write to add to the story, but I still have a few weeks to get some stuff done, and then we’ll access where we’re at.

Conversation at work have also lead to a discussion about titles, and I’m not playing around with changing it from Bowlful of Bunnies to Root Beer and Cocaine Parties. Yes, I’m quite fond of non-sequiters as titles, why do you ask?

The 100 Books Project: I’m almost finished with one more book and it’s doing that thing that books do where you seem to only have 20 pages to go, and 20 pages before took, like, ten minutes, but now 20 pages seem to be taking ten days. But I suspect I’ll have a review to put up before the next ROW80 check-in and I can focus on blowing through the next one if I want to keep up with my numbers. Books read: 4/100.

750 Words: I haven’t been keeping up with 750 words since the day I decided to go back to it. Wah-waaaaah. But I’m including it here as a way to point out that I’ve been setting lots of goals, as usual, but I’ve been prioritizing a lot more lately, and some of them, like this one, have just fallen to the wayside as I focus on more important things. I like that I have this focus now, and I’m even feeling slightly less guilty about my inability to do everything in one day. I’ve been making a check-list again, and have determined that, though I usually have about 10 items on the list, I’m considering the day a success so long as three items are done, and big whoop on the other ones. Tomorrow is another day. I’m feeling much less stressed and more relaxed with this new system in place, so I’m excited to see how it works for me tomorrow when I have the day off (although there is a voyage to Ikea planned, too! WHoo!)

And that’s all for today’s check-in. I really, really don’t want to go to work today, but, alas. So hope that it goes smoothly and swiftly for me, that nothing too terrible goes wrong, and that it doesn’t get too cold. Be sure to check out the other RoWers here and have a good Sunday.

Happy Writing!

RoW80 Check-In: February 8th!

“He had to be out of this place, no only to make up for bringing them there in the first place, but also out of pure selfish desire to finally be free of it.”

It’s hard to believe it’s Wednesday already, but here it is, and it’s time for another Round of Words in 80 Days check-in! With two days off, I’ve had a lot of time to work, and, while the time has been productive, it’s probably not as productive as it could have been. Still, a lot of good work was done (especially a lot of reading!), but let’s have a look at the specifics:

Serpent in a Cage: Things are going right on track with SiaC, especially since I sort of forced myself last night to make sure I was on the page I needed to be on for the check-in. I’m not sure I’m digging this first chapter, but a first chapter is always a pain in the butt and I’m going to fight through it, because I can always go back later and change it as need be. I like the approach; I think it’s giving us a much better chance of getting to know Locke. I just think it could be much better written. Ah, well, we shall see. Progress should continue steadily and happily on this one. I am going to start comparing the page I’m at to the page I should be at if I’m doing a page-a-day so I can try to effectively play some catch-up. Page count: 14/38. Yeah, a little behind. That’s not taking into account the reboot, of course, but if I’d have written a page-a-day since the start of this Round, that’s where I should be and that’s where I’m going to strive to get.

Bowlful of Bunnies: Now, this project has some exciting news. I’ve mostly gotten my old stories typed up for the collection, so I’m embarking on new material and I’m currently following C. Michael Hubbard‘s excellent advice and working my black stones flash fiction into a larger piece, and I’m kind of in love with it. Not so hot on the middle part that I’m working on right now, but I thought up the ending yesterday while walking to the grocery store to get soup for my sick roommate, and I think it’s really going to be a good one, so big giant thanks to him for suggesting that I should build that flash into something more.

I have the confidence again that I might have a good rough draft together by the end of February for some beta readers, which I wasn’t so sure of at the start of the month. To give myself something more quantitative for this project (since goals just work better when you have specifics rather than vagueness), I want to have twenty six possible stories by the end of February. Stories: 9/26. That’s a lot of work to do, but it’s less than a new story a day, and I really want to start hitting this one and hitting it hard. I think I was too lazy and unfocused in February, so if I want something ready by the end of March, I’ve got to work this thing out.

The 100 Books Project: No new books finished, but a lot of headway made on the books I’m reading right now! I’ve still got one review waiting in the wings, which will probably make an appearance tomorrow, but I’m pretty close to finishing another book and about half-way through two more others. I’m absolutely devouring my next Tea & Books Challenge novel, but, since it’s pretty dense, I’ve only gotten about a quarter of the way through it, but that’s not bad considering I started it last week (and it is being so inspiring for SiaC, too, which is the most exciting part of all). Books read: 4/100.

750 Words: Yes, 750 Words is making a reappearance as a RoW goal. Back when I stopped 750 Words, it was November, I think, right in the thick of NaNoWriMo, and I was working on three major WIPs and writing about 2000 words a day, so it seemed a little superfluous. Now that I’ve cut back on the additional WIPs to focus on just two of them, I’ve been feeling like I’m getting a little rusty with the general writing, so I’m picking this back up just to hone some of the skills. So that even if I don’t get to BoB or SiaC for whatever reason, there’s still 750 words that I’ve got, even if they don’t specifically pertain to any particularly WIP. Besides, who knows if one of the random pieces I throw together in there might not be worthy to be a piece for BoB? Yesterday was a flash fiction; today will probably be a character profile because I heard Light Up My Room by the Barenaked Ladies this morning, and it’s impossible for me to hear that song and not want to write about Adah MacKlout. I was thinking of cutting her from her set of books, so I really want to fall back in love with her when I hear that song!

Anyway, that’s all I have for my update today! I’m going to go drink some more coffee (yes, with sugar and cream and a lot of it, neener neener!), get back to work, and hopefully get a chance to visit all my fellow RoWers, too! I’m really excited about this push I’m giving myself and this focus I’m determined to have, because I really want to end this round well! Maybe, since the Round ends in March, it’ll be much like what they say about the weather: in like a lamb, out like a lion! RAWR!!

Last, but certainly not least, I’d like to send out another thank you to Fallon for subscribing to the blog! Whoo-hoo! Welcome aboard, Fallon! I always catch your links on the ROW80 Facebook page, so I didn’t even realize I wasn’t officially following you yet, either! So now we’ve got that going for us, too.

Happy writing, everyone!

Author Quotes: Priestley.

“Write as often as possible, not with the idea at once of getting into print, but as if you were learning an instrument.” -J.B. Priestley

Naturally, it’s nearly every author’s dream to be published. While I’m sure there are a few authors out there who really mean it when they say that they write just to write, the majority of us dream of that day when we see our name in print, in the book stores, and consider ourselves a “real writer” because we’ve got the published evidence to prove it. There are a multitude of quotes from writers far more known and prolific than I, extolling the virtues of writing for the sake of the words, not the success, and this one is among my favorites.

Because our writing is an instrument. Our words are swords. We cannot expect to play beautiful music or succeed in a spar if we do not have the training and the practice to keep our instruments tuned and our weapons sharp. There is always sheer dumb luck, but I wouldn’t bet a whole lot on that. I know I, for one, write every single day, and the bulk of my writing is on stuff that may never be published. They’re stabs at short stories, they’re threads of consciousness, they’re sparks of inspiration that need to be written but might not have anywhere to go. Sometimes, there’s a great deal of guilt in this. “Why are you writing this? You can’t do anything with it; it’s a waste of time. You should work on more of the things you actually want to publish.” But the fact of the matter is that even though these pieces may never see the light of day, they are still incredibly beneficial to the art of my craft.

An artist may never show off his preliminary sketches. A violinist will play to no one but her sheet music so that she may improve. A dancer keeps practicing those perfect pirouettes in the mirror in an empty studio sometimes, too. So a writer fills up endless notebooks, scribbles down on every piece of free paper he can find, just for the sake of the words, for the sake of getting it right when it actually comes time to perform.

I’ve been thinking of picking up 750 Words again, for this exact reason. I think coming across this quote was a good sign that it might be helpful. What do you think?

RoW80 Check-in: November 27th!

“And so they continued up the gradual slope toward the stables, while Gilferen contended with the knot of dread in his stomach. It wasn’t exactly the gobbits that caused it, or even the dangers and discomfort of the desert ahead of them. It was just a good, old-fashioned bad feeling and he glanced toward the others to see any signs of it in them as well.”

I hope all of my fellow Americans had a good Thanksgiving! I know I did, but the holiday craziness (especially working in retail) has caused me to take a little bit of a breather from my goals and take a moment to do the RoW80 thing and reassess some things. So there hasn’t been a great deal of work being done, but a lot of rearranging and rethinking for this check-in of A Round of Words in 80 Days. Here’s the break-down:

Serpent in a Cage: Though I haven’t had much time to work on SiaC since the last update, I went to see Immortals last night, and, holy crap. The movie itself was really not very good at all, but visually and creatively, it was absolutely delicious! A lot of the theme in the movie are reflected in both SiaC and the sequel that’s being written for NaNo, so I have a lot of food for thought on how to revamp and rework it to take all the things I liked about Immortals and apply it, and hopefully avoid the great big fat list of things I didn’t like about it. Also, I realized that, if only Frida Pinto’s skin tone was a little darker and if I found out she could be kick-ass, she’d make a pretty good Auferrix…. Anyway, page count: 130.

Novel in 6 Months: I have finally reached the point where my padding is all used up and it’s time to get started on my Novel in 6 Months again. I plan to churn out probably 1000 words of it tonight, barring any distraction by my roommate, who has discovered another season of RuPaul’s Drag Race on Netflix. So help us, we have a problem with reality competition shows, but those doll are feeeeeiiiiirrce. ANyway, I still continue to drool over American Horror Story and so I’m going ot try to revamp the story to sort of fit in with all the things I love about it, but while still keeping it unique to my own vision and story. Should be interesting. We’re going to be getting a lot more of this one soon, though! Word count: 58,591.

750 Words: Although I’ve signed up for the December challenge, after some careful consideration and several days of just skipping it and being happier over all, I think I’m going to take a break from 750 words. It’s starting to feel more like an annoying chore than anything else, and the writing that I’ve been producing in the last few times have been fairly useless. I have other projects demanding my attention, and, really, it seems silly to worry about 750 random words when you’re netting over 2000 words on other projects that are actually amounting to something.

NaNoWriMo: So I’m definitely over 10k behind on NaNo…Work scheduling has been crazy, so I don’t know if I have my usual Monday/Tuesday days off, but, if I do, I know what I’ll be spending them on. I’m still so much closer to winning than I have ever been in any of my previous attempts, so if it means staying up until Midnight on Wednesday, then so be it! I will get there! I might even drag my roommate to the theater and suffer through Immortals again, because I know that film, bad as it was, was incredibly inspiring for this piece and with that fire under my feet, I think I can really do it! Just goes to show you how something doesn’t need to be brilliant to inspire you (although, really, the visuals in that film were brilliant; the script and the pacing was just terrible, though). I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’ve taken my break, I’ve had my recharge, and I’m ready to do it! Word count: 35,005.

Short Stories: All quiet on the short story front. Hoping this changes a little once NaNo is not so much of a concern and that WIP is relegated to an easier pace.

100 Books Project: I’ve got another finished book waiting to be reviewed in the wings, making good progress on some others, so things are going well there. It seems I always find time to read, and I’m excited to see how close to 100 I can get this year. Books read: 54/100.

Black Dome Society: I haven’t had much time for brainstorming or writing up a few mock first chapters like I should be, but I’m hoping some outlining happens in the next few days and I can get going on that soon. Right now, though, it’s just sitting there waiting patiently for this weekend to end, because this weekend was terrible.

But it’s Sunday, which means the weekend is almost over and I’ve excited to have a much more thrilling update on Wednesday. How’s your progress going? Have you had to do much readjusting in your goals? How about your NaNo progress? Are you looking forward to a week of trying to get things back on track like I am, too? As always, thanks for checking in on me, and don’t forget to check up on my fellow RoWers here!

One more day of work and the weekend is over! I can’t hardly wait for 5:00 to roll around!

RoW80 Check-In: November 23rd!

“Naturally, it was with those final words that the gobbit released a massive sneeze, narrowly missing Taluin’s outstretched hand with a trajectory of thick, milky mucus. Placidly, it licked what remained dripping from his nose.
‘Oh, yes,’ Gilferen murmured, almost losing his straight face thanks to Locke’s snickering. ‘They’re just lovely.’”

Hello, everyone! Today is Wednesday, so that means it’s time for another great Round of Words in 80 Days check-in post! I’ve had two days off that I was babbling about all last week…did I manage to milk the most out of them and come back with a spectacular surge in productivity? ….Not really. I spent most of yesterday feeling a little ill, and my evenings were filled with dates (DATES! Whoooo!), but I did get some work done and covered a lot of the gap in NaNoWriMo that I’m planning to completely massacre once the insanity of Black Friday is over. Let’s have a closer look, shall we?

Serpent in a Cage: The big number one WIP is going along nicely; that tends to happen when you’re back to following along with original draft, though it’s been interesting since I’ve decided to cut a character completely out and I have to work the previously written stuff around her absence. I have a few people expressing interest in reading what I’ve got so far, especially since I’ve filled up one notebook and moved onto another, so it isn’t as if them reading it deprives me of my work. Still, I’m in that place where I don’t want it looked at until I have this version typed up. It’s so incomplete and even just the fact that the character I cut is still in earlier chapters of this new work. Yeah….definitely needs more work before I let any eyes other than my own see it. When do you usually let people read your WIPs? I’m curious if others are a little wary of letting anything unfinished being seen, too. Chapter: Ten. Page count: 128.

Novel in 6 Months: Due to slipping behind in NaNo, I haven’t been working on this story lately and, unfortunately, the last episode of American Horror Story, rather than inspired me, made me grit my teeth and think, “I WILL NEVER CREATE SOMETHING THIS AWESOME. HOW CAN I EVEN TRY?” Yeah, I’m a little obsessed, which is bad, because it makes my own American horror story seem pale and uninspired by comparison. Also, not working on it consistantly has disconnected me from it pretty badly, too. I’m glad I wrote extra, though, and gave myself a buffer of words. This way, when NaNo is finished, I’ll be about where I need to be on the 500 words per day, and can pick it up once the NaNo pressure is off. Word count: 28,591. I’ve stopped keeping track of chapters, because a lot of it is just random snippets at this point.

750 Words: I’m out of the November challenge; wah-waaaah. I was focused on NaNo for most of the day yesterday, figuring I would finish up my 750 words in a before-bed sprint as I have for many of the dys lately. But then my friend showed up and we went wine-tasting, and I was pretty much out for the count. Considering that my biggest failing when it comes to 750 words is that I’ll go out without having done my word count, I’m okay with this. I think it’s much more important to go out, live life, and have fun that chain yourself to some arbitrary goal. There’s always December, after all! I might take a break on it today, and try to get my focus back into it after Turkey Day.

NaNoWriMo: Oh, NaNo. How you have ruled my life for the last few days and I’m still behind! I think I made good lee-way, though. If you include the words I’ll need to write today, I’m only about 7000 behind, which is definitely doable for that last homestretch. I really want to finally be able to say I won NaNo, so even though the story is a complete wreck, I’ll still have those 50,000 words and then it’s just a matter of figuring out a good method to clean it up, rewrite a good portion of it, and develop it into something stronger. I will get there, though! Even if it means chaining myself to my computer on November 30th! Page count: 47. Word count: 31,211.

Short Stories: Short stories? What short stories? LOL.

100 Books Project: I’ve been blowing through books lately, which is really exciting. I keep telling myself to pay more attention to NaNo, since that’s got the sooner deadline, but I’ve just been enjoying reading a lot lately, and I’m hoping to have another book ready to add to the count either tomorrow or Friday. Books read: 53/100.

Black Dome Society: …wait, what’s this? Did L.S. Engler just add another goal to her list? Yes. Yes, she did. The Black Dome Society was something I was kind of working on in conjunction with my friend Ryan; it was his idea, but I’m the one with the writing prowess. Things have been a little rough between the two of us, but we’re getting back in stride and the wine-tasting last night definitely fueled a great brain-storming session where a lot of different ideas were tossed back and forth and I made a perhaps crazy commitment to seeing what I can do in finally getting this project on the ground and running in a direction where we want to take it. I haven’t started on it yet, but in the next few days after the holiday, I’ll be taking up the endevor of trying to get it started, so why not make it a RoW goal to keep myself focused on it? Should be interesting, either way!

How’s everyone else doing? Any Thanksgiving plans to interfere with your writing? I know I still plan to get a lot of writing done in the morning before all the festivities, and I know my roommate is planning to use my having to work on Black Friday as an excuse to get us home earlier. We’re terrible. =D

Be sure to check out other RoWers here and check out all the other great things they’re working on! Have a happy and safe turkey day, fellow Americans, and for those of you who aren’t, have a fantastic day, as well!