Tag Archives: revision

The Chronicles of the Missing Notebook.

So, an interesting thing happened two nights ago, as I sat down and went to type up my “at least a page” of Serpent in a Cage. I was typing away, frowning a little to myself because things weren’t panning out as I thought they had. At first, I chalked it up to that distance one gets between drafts, when the details need a lot of attention and hemming so that they fit in with the rest of the piece better. As some of you know, this version of SiaC I’m working on is actually the third draft. I had the first draft that I finished sometime in 2007 (I think), and then I was rewriting it in an attempt to revisit it. Then I decided toward the end of that draft that things weren’t working right and I scrapped the entire thing and started putting the pieces of the plot together in a different way, one that worked much better, made more sense, and was generally more enjoyable and better crafted. The evolution of this book has been astounding, and I’m pretty sure there’s more evolving ahead, too.

I’ll be honest, though; I was troubled. Anyone who follows this blog has a good idea of how important SiaC is…it’s the opening act of an opus I’ve been crafting for over a decade. Yes, as I was transcribing the draft, things didn’t seem right. Here I had restructured the whole thing to avoid the wavering plot from collapsing, and yet I was getting those same feelings that made me stop with the second draft. What was happening? Did I need to reconsider and restructure the plot yet again, as the opening was struggling to reach the pitch that I thought I had accomplished in the rewrite?

And then a thought hit me: was this the rewrite?

Cue frantic flipping through the pages, hoping to find a part that I knew for certain was cut or completely changed. I find the evidence and realize that this whole time, more than 20,000 into transcribing it, I was working with the second draft the whole time.

And then another thought hit me: wait. Where’s the third draft???

Cue frantic scavenging through the library, which is currently still covered in strewn-about notebooks as though some literary hurricane swept through. My heart sank to the bottom of my toes as I realized I had located all of the little notebooks I used for that draft to discover that none of them contained the rewrite. It was gone. I couldn’t find it anywhere. Maybe it was elsewhere, but, right then, I had to bolster myself for the hard truth that Serpent in a Cage might have to find itself facing a fourth draft, and this one relatively from scratch as I wanted to follow the new plotline, not the old.

Maybe I knew things would work out well, or that I’d eventually find it, because I didn’t feel too stressed about it. Maybe it just hadn’t registered yet. But when I sat down at my computer and looked over and saw two other notebooks I had previous forgotten about because they weren’t in the library, my heart leaped. I reached for one, flipped it open, and let out a relieved sigh to discover those familiar words of the third draft staring back at me. The clouds broke and sunbeams burst down, despite it being night time by then, and the angels were a-singing. Hallelujah!

I only have to retype 20,000 words to be back where I was…

…Ahhhh, writing.

Considering the third draft is in tact and I don’t have to completely rewrite it, things turned out well, but it was definitely one of those moments that encapsulates, for me, what a weird profession this is. Has anyone else ever had this happen to them? Or other similar stories about missing drafts, working on the wrong thing for a certain amount of time, or just plain stupid things while writing?

I have to say, one happy side-effect of this whole adventure is that I”m even more excited to get to the actual transcribing now, with the scrapped second draft so fresh in my head! Wish me luck!

And don’t forget! There are three more days left for submitting your poems and stories to my autumn anthology! Will I receive enough to publish them? Time will tell! Get those submissions in!

RoW80 Check-In: June 10th/June 11th.

“…’It’s such a pitiful waste, keeping you here,’ Tenenshe’ean sighed. ‘Or killing you, for that matter. My offer still stands, Auferrix. It’s not too late. At a single word, I could break these bonds. All it takes is a promise and, together, we can get rid of the fat pig, and we can rule A’aefar together.’”

I had fully intended to get this posted yesterday, and I was kind of thinking of skipping yet another Round of Words in 80 Days check-in, but I thought I would be good and try to muscle my way through it, even if it means posting this on Monday instead. Some really stupid stuff at work has left me in a little bit of a funk I can’t shake (I hate that), so I’m feeling an overall sense of blahness and wondering what I can do to cheer myself up. It’s like an itch you just can’t scratch, lingering there out of your reach. You try to ignore it, but it just sets everyone else off its usual balance. Today, things are better, especially with the prospect of a day off tomorrow, but I think I’m all Worked Out and I just want to take a nice day for myself and my writing!

Ah, well. All I can do is keep on moving forward, and this, too, shall pass. As far as my goals go, things are coming along nicely. I’ve downloaded Sigil and Calibre and am taking an absolute delight in following Cameron Chapman’s easy and engaging formatting guide for Bowlful of Bunnies. My cover artist got back to me with some sketches, too, and so I’m hoping to see progress on that front, too. My goal is to finish one more edit of the manuscript and then probably spend my rare Saturday off formatting things. This will be done by the end of June!! I am determined. It must happen.

I’ve reached that really dark part of Serpent in a Cage now, too, the part that always makes me wonder if it’s too dark…and then I go and make it even darker than it already was. I like it dark; it’s probably one of my favorite sections of the book, and that worries me a little. I also hope that it doesn’t turn a lot of readers off, but I’ve been using George R.R. Martin as my spirit guide in this part.

Speaking of George R.R. Martin, the reading is going well, too. Finished one book the other day, and a few more won’t be far behind. I always seem to finish books in packs.

The other works are plugging along; I’m really enjoying the way some of them are going, others are probably going to fall off my radar for a little bit. I do have a new Featured Story posted, “Machine,” which is inspired by the Regina Spektor song of the same time. It’s a little more “telling” than I had wanted it to be, but the other story I wanted to produce for this week isn’t panning out, so I brushed this one up a little. I want to develop it into something a little more fleshed out, but, for now, it works okay as is. There’s so much I want to do with this story, but nothing has quite been working with it, so maybe some feedback might help inspire me.

That’s all the news for this week. If you get the chance, try to check out the other RoWers here. Tomorrow is hopefully a bright and positive day off, so, until then, Happy Writing!

RoW80 Update: May 23rd.

“         Taluin gave him a wan, indulgent smile. ‘That is how they are best known, yes. Such an act truly leads on to infamy. But they are also the First Six of Humankind, and they are also the Six Who Shall Return. It’s the latter part that concerns us so; it is a prophesy. And the Codex is the only key we have to crack through the Ancient language and lead us on the right path to finding the reincarnated Asyentai to bring Aryneth to the glory of the Gods once again.’
         ‘Is that something we want to even mess with?’ Jaxson asked, though there seemed to be genuine curiosity underneath the sarcasm. ‘Maybe the Asyentai sealed the Gods for a reason.’”

So, I’ve been taking it a little easy lately, and I think that’s been a fairly good idea. The last few days have been great for reconnecting with my work and my writing and setting me on the right track. I’m not exactly sure what set things off-kilter; it might not have been anything at all, but merely the fact that sometimes, even the straightest courses will curve a little bit. I skipped Sunday’s Round of Words in 80 Days check-in, and so I’m making sure I get today’s up. As usual, it’s probably not the most exciting check-in, as things are just continuing along at a steady, somewhat leisurely pace, but things are still moving along.

Let’s have a look:

Bowlful of Bunnies: I’m sort of sitting on this one for a little bit, and I think that was what set things off for me. Ideally, I wanted to release this sucker on May 31st, but I haven’t heard back from two beta readers yet, though I know they’re working on them. I considered just asking for what they’ve finished so far, but then I thought, no. Let’s not rush this. If I can make improvements and make it just a little bit better by waiting an extra week or so, I want to do that. As much as I want to get this ball rolling, I definitely want it to be the best it can be before I give it that nudge into the actual world, so I’m going to be patient and wait. Then one more revision, chatting with my cover artist, and then the fun world of formatting. A week or so into June, it should definitely be ready. I don’t mind waiting a little longer, especially if some valuable information might come out of it, but, if you are one of my betas, if you can get that to me soon, that would be awesome. I’m going to wait a little bit longer before I start pestering you all by email. Thankfully, I have other projects that are keeping me delightfully distracted.

Serpent in a Cage: Continues to go along nicely into the CHAPTER OF EXPOSITION. I think I’m doing well with it and not making it so much of a big fat INFODUMP. I’ve missed a few days of writing the page before bed like I’m supposed to, but I keep kicking myself back into gear with it, too. I’m not writing as much on it as I used to, as I’m giving other projects precedence for a little bit, but anyone who reads this will know I always love working on SiaC. Page count: 80/141.

Soulless: Most of my writing attention has been channeled into Soulless, which is shaping up really nicely. The plot seems to blossom more and more by day, and I think it’s a really strong contender for the second book to publish this year, so I’m trying to just fly through a rough draft. It’s been really great so far, and I’ve even started thinking a little bit about the second and third books, since I definitely want this to be a trilogy. It just has a trilogy feel, and I could do something like Heartless or Mindless or Whateverless in the titles, though part of me wonders if that’s too contrite. But, like Elliot pointed out last week, I do like my titles….I don’t think I can work on a book for too long without needing to have a title for it. Usually, the titles even come first.

The 100 Books Project: I’m nearing the end of at least two books and making progress on others, though at the moment I don’t have anything finished. I definitely feel like I’m dragging my butt on reading this year, but hopefully, that just means I’ve been doing much more writing instead. Books read: 16/100. (5/38 for this round)

Other Books: When I say my writing has really picked up, I definitely mean it. I’ve been also picking at To Cross a River of Blood and I’ve dug up my circus book, too, so things are continuing with those pieces. I’m working on typing up my modern Orpheus myth, too, so that’ll be ready to be posted by SUnday and then after that, I’m brushing it up for submission, and onto another short story. I want to try to do a new short story a week. I’ve tried in the past and failed, so let’s see how this more recent attempt goes.

There you have it! Like I said, a lot of writing being done, I’m out of my funk and back into the groove and it’s lovely. I think it was just the distress I had over Bowlful of Bunnies, and that’s been alleviated once I let myself be okay if it takes just a week or two longer. Flexibility is the key to these sorts of things, I think. Most people might tout the importance of a hard and fast deadline, but it if means something will be better in the long run, is it really so bad giving it a little bit of an extension? I think not.

And, on a completely unrelated note, Ben and Jerry’s Volun-tiramisu ice cream? Amazing. I got it because it was on sale at Target and I am in looooooove.

RoW80 Update: Sunday, May 13th.

“Locke jumped in his skin a little with surprise when Taluin stepped forward, close to him with her hands raised to take his face between her surprisingly rough hands. These were definitely not the hands of the noblewoman he expected her to be, and he was too surprised to pull away. ‘I though I’d seen those eyes somewhere before,’ she gushed quietly, staring up into his face. ‘And you look so much like your father.’”

Happy Mother’s Day out there to all the mothers, including my own, theoneonlyjeanne. I’m not a mother myself, and I’m never quite sure if I ever will be, but a mother always has a place of inspiration and love in her children’s hearts, and I’m always astounded by the weight of a title like that. I hope the day is a special one and that the mothers of the world feel the love that they deserve.

It’s kind of an emotional time for me, and I’ve never been one to want to dwell on my more powerful emotions in this particular platform, so I’ll just leave it at that. I’ve spent the morning with a lot of tears and writing a lot of letters. It’s Sunday, after all, and there’s a Round of Words in 80 Days check-in to be had, so I will shift gears on over to that for now. Let’s have a look at what I’ve been up to:

Bowlful of Bunnies: Bowlful of Bunnies has now been moved up to the top priority spot, as I’m starting to get some of my edits back from my beta readers, so I want to spend this week brushing it up, and next week getting it formatted so that by the end of next week or so and finishing up with my cover artist, and it should be ready to publish. Whoo ! I want to shoot for May 31st as a release date.

Serpent in a Cage: Things are picking up now that the fight is over and I’ve dedicated myself to making sure a page-a-day (at least) is written before I crash for the night. Part of me is wondering if this new approach is too well put-together, if the coincidences are too convenient, and therefor unlikely or realistic, but I figure I can worry about that later. I personally like how all the pieces fit together and build up to this giant wallop of destiny and fate. So we forge ahead and I think it keeps getting better. Page count: 74/131.

Book No. 0002: In typing up the current prospect for my second book, I’ve realized that I write so much better in long-hand than I do by simply typing something up, and, for this reason, I will probably never be a very fast writer. I’ll have to write it first, then type it, but that’s kind of good because it allows for me to edit and improve as I type up the first draft. I like where this is going, though, so I’m really eager to continue on in pen once I reach the end of what’s already written and go from there.

The 100 Books Project: I cleared out a few books, moving onto some others, though I think there will be a decent hiccup before I get another batch cleared. That’s okay, though, because I’m thoroughly enjoying most of the books I’ve got on my roster right now. That always helps. I’m still behind, but I’m trying to publish a book here. I’m so not stressing out it. Books read: 16/100 (5/38 for this Round).

Featured Story: This week’s Featured Story is another that will appear in Bowlful of Bunnies, written up thanks to a contest run by Morgan Dragonwillow a little while back. In a few weeks here, I’m going to start putting up new material…hopefully! Running out of BoB stories is hopefully going to give me the push to finish more new stories, start sending those out, and/or stockpiling them for the next collection.

Nothing too extravagant; I’m been a little off, but I’m picking up some momentum and keeping it going strong. This week will be all about the fine-tuning. And I also want to take a second to thank Abra Alani for following the blog! She always posts lovely photographs, so I like following her, too!

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone! And, as always, happy writing!

RoW80 Update: April 29th!

“‘Where is it?’ the man growled, hissing through clenched teeth. He brought Locke’s face roughly up to his own. ‘What have you done with it?’”

Man, it’s hard to believe it’s Sunday already, time for another Round of Words in 80 Days check-in. My schedule for this week was altered from its usual course, which has me feeling out of alignment with how I usually do things. Thankfully, this hasn’t lead to a cease in productivity, but rather a shifting around of it. I’m still getting the usual stuff done, but it’s passing by in a little bit of a mechanical, almost mindless blur as I juggle work and writing. This coming week will be about the same, schedule wise, so maybe it’ll smooth out and clarify a little, but, I’ll bet that, as soon as it starts to get in a rhythm, it’ll change again.

Ah, well. Such is life. We change, we adapt, we grow. Lather, rinse, repeat. Still, it’s been a pretty productive week on both accounts. I’ve had probably my best week at work in a while, and it’s been a milestone writing week for me, too. Perhaps the little shake-up in the system was just what I needed to nudge me closer to the edge. Let’s have a look and break down the specifics:

Serpent in a Cage: Trudging through the tricksy part of the current scene, I’ve finally managed to break through and get a better flow going. Also, my attention on what I’m writing in my notebooks was on a short story I was trying to get done for Bowlful of Bunnies, but I decided not to include it, and so I’m able to spend that energy on SiaC once again. It’s slow getting back into it again, but I’m sure with all the BoB stuff trudging along, things will pick up again this next week. Page Count: 66/118.

Bowlful of Bunnies: I’ve moved BoB down to the second priority spot right now because this is, mostly, a waiting game. I’ve got my cover artist working on the cover, I’ve got a few betas working on looking it over (and a few more betas I’ll be sending stuff to soon). I suppose I could go through it again, edit some more, edit, edit, edit, but I’m going to give myself a breather from it before bothering to look at it again. Freshen up the eyes, get a few other projects started. Once I hear back from the artist and the betas, then it’s going to be onto formatting, and, lastly, getting it out there. So this week…we wait.

The 100 Books Project: I’ve just finished a book yesterday and I have about ten pages to go in another, so that one should be finished by the end of the day, if not tomorrow. Which is good, because I haven’t finished any in a while, and my numbers are looking pretty sad. But I continue reading, and I’ll continue knocking them out. Books read: 14/100. (3/38 for this round).

Novel No. 0002: With BoB sort of waiting in the wings at the moment, I’ve gone ahead and started up on a potential for the second book I’d like to publish this year. I’m going to start with The Reaping and see where that gets me, and I’ve decided that I’m going to treat these rough drafts much like I was participating in NaNoWriMo: I’m going to try to spew out 1,667 words a day, going back and working on the previous day’s words if I have the time, and see where that gets me. Knowing me, I can see myself potentially trying to juggle more than one rough draft for this, until I know for sure which one I want to stick with. I’m slowly working on outlining The Reaping right now, so I’ll stick with that until I have some other outlines started. I am not going to let myself get too eager about writing that I forget rough outlines. That is always my failing, because I get to a certain point without a plan and it just fades away. Even just this morning, though, I’ve got 647 words on The Reaping, and plan to do the other 1000 when I get home from work. Off to a good start!

Other Novels: The first chapter of To Cross a River of Blood is opening beautifully; it makes me want to go back and revisit the book that falls in between TCaRoB and SiaC so that I can pick at the trilogy all together! It’s a slow picking, but I’ve been having fun with it, too, and I think it helps me to keep the inspiration for SiaC as well.

Featured Story: Last, but not least, a new Featured Story is up! “Dragon Rising” was the first of a handful of stories I submitted to a contest run by Morgan Dragonwillow a little bit ago and, as I sorted through those stories to see which ones I wanted to include in Bowlful of Bunnies, I realized that it’s probably my favorite. Thoughts on it would be greatly appreciated! I wouldn’t be surprised if this develops into a book at some point, too.

There you have it! Things are going well, I’m excited about one project being nearly finished and getting to expend some energy on other projects as well. I have to flee off to work now, but why don’t you check out some of my fellow RoWers here while you’re at it? And, of course, as always, happy writing!

Calling All Beta Readers!

The time has come (the walrus said…) to send up the call for beta readers! By the end of the day today, I should have the complete rough draft of Bowlful of Bunnies, my short story collection, ready for review. It should be just under 100 single-spaced typed pages on Microsoft Word, and I’ve lost track of how many stories will be in there, but I believe it’s about fifteen. If you’re interested in beta reading it, please let me know! The more the merrier, and here’s what I had beta readers in mind to help with:

1. Proofreading from grammatical and typographical errors
2. Suggestions on tightening prose and/or picking out wonky language
3. Perspective on the choice of stories in the collection
4. Thoughts on the order of the stories
5. Recommendations on what’s working, what’s not, and what there could be more or less of

If you’re already a frequent follower of the blog (and, to be honest, those are the people I’d feel most comfortable beta-reading), you’re probably already familiar with a lot of the stories, as they’ve appeared as featured stories, but I’m also curious as to how the stories flow into each other, if the variety is good, if I should lump similarly themed stories together or switch out between types of stories regularly, all those technical little things that take a collection of stories to being a complete, cohesive work rather than just a hodge-podge of this or that.

Interested? Leave me a message here or hit me up on email (ellis.engler@gmail.com), and we’ll get things started. I want to give ALL the thank yous (the first of many, to be sure) in advance, as well as just thank everyone for their general support and encouragement. I’m thisclose to getting this thing published, and I have everyone here to thank for it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you times a gazillion.

RoW80 Check-In: December 7th!

“Looking at Estialog and his tired eyes, his hunching shoulders, the intricate lines across his sallow, grey skin, Gilferen realized that Knolan was not nearly as old as he and Locke made him out to seem. It was merely that they were so young.“

Fellow readers, RoWers, and enthusiasts, brace yourself. I’m about to deliver news that may not necessarily be shocking, but it will definitely confirm that suspicion you’ve had growing in your minds that I’m a little bit crazy. I think I might just be addicted to goals. Every time I add a new project or start on a new approach, it’s like a rush of adrenaline, probably not too dissimilar to what addicts feel when they get that first hit of whatever they crave. I have added….even more goals. It’s almost a little ridiculous, but bear with me! I’m completely restructuring my approach, as well, so the word count goals are light enough that I can easy add a little bit here and there to a variety of different projects, and then, if I have time, I will choose one (only one!) to brush up and tighten for that day.

There will be days, like yesterday, where I don’t get to every project, and that’s okay. The project are going to be listed in my little memo notepad in order of importance, and that’s what I get to first. If I don’t get to the others, ah well, tomorrow is another day, but something was still done. If I manage to hit all the notes, even better! It’s the kind of structuring I need to be productive, I think, even if some people might think so many projects is counterproductive. I just don’t have the focus to stick to one project, and I feel if I’m exploring many different ideas, my work improves, eagerly feeding off of so many exciting things happening. My brain is a multitasker, a micro-manager, and it loves breaking things down into little pieces based on arbitrary rules like “Revise a line for every chapter you read” and “At least 100 words each time at the keyboard, then do something else.” It’s scattered and probably a little OCD, but it’s just what my creative process demands.

A good deal of these extra additional goals came from the mere fact that I’ve started recording my word counts in a checklist on a small memo pad. The previous lists ended with my current goals, but there was a great deal of lines left on the memo pad. So I decided I needed to just fill it up with a list; it seemed too incomplete and scant otherwise! How’s that for OCD? And they’re not all writing goals, either. There’s a handful of goals about making sure to post my blog and comment on at least one other person’s blog. There’s a goal for doing a little bit of sketching, now that the library is organized and I have piles of drawings going untouched. There’s a section on character and plot developing, with outlining and character interviews. And, of course, there’s reading goals, too! Each of the writing goals is a minimum of 500 words, which at list point is pretty swift for me.


As you can see, the list on the left seems a little short and incomplete. Meanwhile, on the right, we have today’s list, which looks more full. Much better! And potentially crazy….

Needless to say, breaking down each and every one of my goals would get a little tedious and boring for my readers, so I think in the future I’m just going to break down the highlight. Like the fact that I’ve rewritten five pages of serpent in a Cage since Sunday’s check-in! Whoooo! And I’ve been having some fantastic ideas for the Novel in 6 Months Horror story, too; some really great snippets are forming and hopefully I’ll be able to meld them all together into a cohesive piece. I’m excited that this new approach is going to give me a chance to work on some short story collections, because I want to get some of those up a ebooks, especially since I think there just may be a Kindle in my future as a Christmas/very belated birthday present. It’s perfect for days like this when I have the time to sit and work on several projects, and on the days when I do work the regular job, it gives me a way to focus on what needs to be done first (top ‘o the list), while forgiving myself for not getting to the less important things (the bottom). I’m excited to get to some world-building stuff like character interviews and outlines, the former of which I’ll probably be posting, too, if anyone’s interested! I also can’t wait to get my desktop back in line after the holidays so I can share some of the artwork I’ve been picking at, too.

How’s everyone else doing? I always say I’m going to swing by a lot, but I rarely manage to pull it off (gee, I wonder why…) And, since today’s post was a little less of a check-in and more of a rambling discourse on my new goals, how do you organize yourself for you goals? Do you tend to have just one main goal to focus on and get it done, or do you like a scattering of things to work on? Or, like me, a big old long wishlist?

Anyway, I’m off to start getting some checks on that list! Don’t forget to encourage my fellow RoWers here! Happy writing!

Oh, and I can’t believe I almost forgot for a second day in a row to welcome my new subscribers! Photographer Rob Slaven and fellow Sencha Connoisseur Fiona have joined on up, so welcome guys, and thank you so much! I’m looking forward to following you guys, too!

RoW80 Check-In: December 4th!

“‘Temperamental?’ asked Jaxson, who didn’t know any better, his voice dripping with his sarcasm. ‘I know our young Gilferen here has a penchant for putting fire in women’s hearts, but this easily exceeds any prior scorned lovers thus far. What’d he do, love? Nasty disease, was it?’”

Though this Sunday seems distinctly lacking in sun for us thus far in Chicagoland, it is still time of my weekend ROW80 update! As typical for a Sunday, after the blur that is usually my weekends (and this weekend was exceptionally blurry as a social life seemed to blossom like a wildflower in springtime), I don’t have a great deal to report, though I have steadily been adding to the revision piece, I’ve done some brainstorming for BDS, and this morning’s shower inspired a whole new project. My cat has knocked over my coffee in an effort to get me to cuddle with him, and all I can do is wistfully sigh, wish I didn’t have to go into work in a little bit, and desire to just sit and write.

Tomorrow’s Monday, though, usually my day off, so unless that’s changed, I will always have tomorrow. Time to break it down now!

Serpent in a Cage: Despite my busy weekend, I made some pretty steady stabs at SiaC these past few days; I’m nearly finished with the current chapter, and then they’re finally out into the desert, we learn more about Locke’s parents, and we’ll get to the cave where Jaxson takes over what was previously Awngel’s part and Megg will join our ranks. I’m excited about that, because I always love Megg, even if she makes me nervous about introducing a character half-way through the story. It sometimes feels just tacked on, but I love her too much, and she’s actually incredibly important to the plot. So half-way it is, and so it shall be. Page count: 135.

Novel in 6 Months: Busy as I’ve been, I still had Friday mostly off except for in the evening, and most of that time was gloriously spent reconnecting with my horror story. I’m still behind on my word count thus far (yeah, thanks a lot, NaNo!), but I managed to get out two really amazing scenes that I’m very excited about and are helping to make this story much, much better. I’m exciting to get the chance to start working on it again, buff up that word count, and polish up the scenes so that the book seems less like a hodge-podge of ideas and more like a phenomenal story. Word count: 30,520.

NaNoWriMo: …which will be continued to be called such until I can think of a title for the thing. It’s a big fat mess right now, but now that the actual event is over, I plan on writing more on it in the upcoming month, as well as going back every now and then and cleaning up, a sort of pre-edit editing to just make the thing more solid before it’s completely finished. All inspired by an incredible guest post by Gary Gauthier over on Hawleyville about pacing and productivity. It inspired a new approach to this piece that really charged me and inspired me and regained my hope that it could be good and that I didn’t just waste my November. I haven’t touched it in a few days, though, trying to focus more on the Ni6M (also in need of a title, yeesh). Word count: 44,313.

Black Dome Society: I managed to get a start with Black Dome Society, albeit a small one, and I’m really excited of the way it’s starting out. Even better, I had dinner with my co-creator in this project last night, and when I nervously, tentatively, terrified, told him what I had written and planned for it so far, he got charged up for it and we had a great brainstorming session, so it’s finally off to a great start. I think it’s going to be a really interesting journey, and I’ve never really written something with someone before, so that’s kind of new and exciting, too. Like I said, there’s not much yet, but I have a feeling I’ll have a lot more on this WIP soon. Word count: 485.

L.S. Engler’s Essential Guidebook of Courtship Etiquette for Young Gentlemen: To be known as simply Etiquette for Young Gentleman from here on in to save my fingers a little, this is a new book I thought of in the shower this morning, I jotted down a little bit of it and a few notes, and I’m really excited to see if it’s something that sticks. Partially fictional and partially autobiographical, I thought it would be kind in interesting to write a book in the style of Victorian guidebooks to etiquette, but for modern dating. I’ll admit, this was specifically inspired by dinner with the above BDS creator when he asked to try a piece of my tuna….after he had completely devoured his chicken, so I didn’t exactly get to try any of his at that point. It could be quirky and fun, and very interesting as I’m trying to explore the idea of dating again and, heck, it might even inspire me to take some chances and go on more dates! So there’s another project on the roster to keep an eye out for, and, of course, I’d love feedback on what you all might think of the concept!

Short Stories: Still nothing new to report on my short stories, but I’m hoping to get a chance to pull “Just Right” out of the coffers soon and return to brushing that up again.

100 Books Project: Not a whole lot of time to read lately, much less put up a review for the book that’s been sitting there waiting to be reviewed. It will get there, though, and until then, I just try to read, read, read some more. 23 books in one month is a pretty tall order if I want to make it to 78, so reading will probably be taking a precedent over writing for December. Which could be a nice departure after NaNoWriMo! Books read: 55/100.

I believe that’s all (har har) for this check-in! Tune in Wednesday where I hope to have lots, lots more to say from at least one day off (finally!). Until then, be sure to check out other RoWers and share your support! And I’ve also got a wee little flash fiction prompt up! The winner gets nothing more than bragging rights, but it could be fun, so check it out.

Happy writing!

RoW80 Check-In: November 16th!

“There were no signs of scheming on that bold, frank face, though. Just the same hard determination that had always been there, with the faint mist of something else clouding his eyes. On closer inspection, Gilferen could find those eyes steadily on the back of Taluin Sera Cohl, on the long pale braid swaying slightly as she walked.“

Well, everyone, it’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another Round of Words in 80 Days check-in! I wish I had exciting news to report, but just like a great deal of the previous check-ins, everything is mostly just moving along steadily as before. This is good, of course, but probably not very thrilling for my readers. I’m still playing a lot of catch-up from my weekend, and I’m dreading falling behind again over the weekend, but there’s no point in worry about it too much. You just take things one day at a time and do the best with what you have. I’m feeling much better after being sick over the weekend, so I hope to have a productive morning and a good next few days.

Let’s have a look at the round-up, shall we?

Serpent in a Cage: Part II is moving along nicely; I’ve been elaborating on some of the descriptions given in the original draft to give a better sense of place, although I really should have more of that in the first part. Following along with the original draft is definitely allowing writing to go more swiftly. Chapter: Ten. Page Count: 124.

750 Words: I almost forgot to do my 750 words yesterday, but I remembered right before crashing for bed, managed to puke out over 1000, and then crashed. That was a close one! I had to be at work earlier than usual and, since I usually write my 750 words in the morning, I had to skip it to get to work. But the rest of the week definitely gives me the time to make sure I get it done and over with before all that so I don’t miss again and miss out on the November challenge!

Novel in 6 Months: Since I’m behind on my NaNo, but I’m over on my Ni6M, I haven’t been doing much with this project except jotting a few ideas for scenes that pop into my head down for future development. Granted, in just a few days, my buffer will wear out and I’ll be right where the 500-words-a-day count would expect me to be, so hopefully I can get a handle on that damn NaNo soon so my other projects stop being neglected. Page count: 43. Word count: 28,583.

NaNoWriMo: Though I’ve been keeping up with my daily counts since then, I still haven’t made up for the two days I’ve missed so far. Not entirely. Last night was filled with a lot of good writing; I figured, at starting a chapter a day, thirty chapters all together, Chapter Fifteen should be the midpoint, and so it was filled with Big Dramatic Speech by the main character that sets things into motion for the epic battles to ensue. I’m not sure if they’ll hold up to the glare of editing, but they were pretty powerful words when I was writing them! I also played around a little with throwing more perspectives in, at least just for the rough draft, because I was feeling stilted and at a loss. Serpent in a Cage was written from a little bit of everyone’s perspective in the first draft, and now I’m whittling it down to just three to keep it more streamlined, and I think that’s an effective way for me to write. Allowing myself to explore everyone’s perspectives helps me pick out in a more natural way which perspectives are the most important, and so I’m going to start doing the same with this project, and we’ll see what gets cut after I’ve got the 50,000 words! Page count: 35. Word Count: 23,041.

Short Stories: Just as you can imagine, just as my Ni6M has been neglected, so have my short stories. Still, I started a new story for the fairy tale project I’ve been working on, this one inspired by “The Goose Girl” and a recent post by Kain Nolan postulating on the series Grimm. It’s nice to be inspired by Grimm now rather than my first experience which was mostly, “Oh, man, my fairy tale stuff sucks compared to this; I gotta redo the whole thing.”

The 100 Books Project: I’ve got another one down! The review was supposed to be up yesterday, but the whole odd working shift sort of threw that off and I didn’t have the mindset to write it up when I got home (I’m crap for blog posts if it’s not early in the morning). I have a bit before I get to the end of another one, which has me worried about making the soft 78 goal by the end of the year, but there’s still time! Books read: 51/100.

I’m also trying to be much better about not only visiting and commenting on other blogs again, but also responding to my own comments. A lot of times, I just feel that I don’t have anything interesting to add and I’m mostly just glad people visit and take the time to comment, but that’s no reason not to let them know it’s appreciated!

And, finally, as we reach the end of my recapping, how’s everyone else doing so far? I feel I’m doing well, steady, but I feel like I could use a little spark of inspiration these past few days. Things are feeling a little dull, like the charge has gone out a little bit. What do you do to help get the spark back? I’m interested to know how my fellow authors and writers shake themselves off and get things all supercharged and exciting again. Or maybe I just need to borrow some of Yolanda Early’s puple nail polish….

Have a wonderful writing week ahead of you, dear RoWers!

RoW80 Check-In: October 19th.

“Locke felt as though they were like wild dogs, circling each other with bared teeth, trying to pick up the scent of who would attack first.“

Today’s check-in will be a pretty brief one. I’m a little bummed because my plans to spend most of the day working on my writing and getting this new apartment straightened up were dashed when I got a call from my boss asking me to come in today, so a measly three hour shift at my other job has now turned into a twelve-hour day. Yuck. But tomorrow morning I’ll have a chance to write and all day Friday, so I just have to hold out until then. I’m used to that, anyway, what with Friday being payday. The bleak weather we’ve been having hasn’t been helping, either. I miss the sunshine and warmth!

So I feel there hasn’t been much going on since the last check-in, but let’s have a look:

Serpent in a Cage: Finally broke page 100! This chapter seems never ending, but I think I’m finally getting to the its conclusion and will be able to move on to the next part…if I don’t have it done by Thursday, I will be very disappointed.

750 Words: I’ve been keeping up on my 750 words and started a draft for the Cake song I Bombed Korea and some brainstorming on the others. Not a whole lot, but I’ve been keeping up my word count, and that’s what matters. Today will probably be another brainstorming page. I don’t think I’ll get to writing today and I’ll be too tired for coherency when I get home.

Novel in 6 Months: Still plodding along; I haven’t been doing the 45 minutes, but I have been doing the 500 words a day, and shit is starting to get categorically creepy, which is good. Page count: 27. Word count: 17,619/80,000.

NaNoWriMo: Thought a little on NaNo in the shower this morning, lol. I will probably go with SiaC‘s sequel, though I did tinker around with a vampire idea the other day.

0 to 70: “Just Right” is all copy-pasta’d and ready to be edited once I get the time. In its rough form, it’s about 10,191 words. Not too shabby! Now if only I had time to edit it…

The 100 Books Project: I’ve decided to include my reading goals in my check-ups. I highly doubt I’ll get to 100 books by the end of the year at this point, so my goal is 78, which is one more than the last time I did this project. I’m almost certain I’ll finish the next book either tomorrow or Friday, so that will be good.

How’s everyone else doing? I won’t have time to bop around today as I like to do, but maybe I can catch up tomorrow! Happy writing, everyone!