“As Gilferen contemplated the city disappearing behind them and the sand and sky stretching ahead, Locke gripped his sleeve for support. Faintly, Gilferen sent a grin his way. ‘This is absolutely insane, isn’t it?’ he asked. We’re actually going out there. We’ve all got to be stark raving mad.'”
It looks like it’s my week for a Round of Words in 80 Days update without much to report. I’ve been taking it a little easy last week, especially since Wednesday, because work is insane and I actually didn’t have a day off last week. This week, though, I have two, starting tomorrow, and I’m terribly excited to spend tomorrow morning and Tuesday catching up on all sorts of stuff that have fallen behind. Uneventful as the progress on my goals may have been, let’s have a look, shall we?
Serpent in a Cage: The second part of the book is starting out with a lot of description that is lacking the first part, and we’re being introduced to the first hint of some strange creatures in this chapter. It’s nice, but it’s nothing too exciting; I haven’t even had to change much at all with the fact that I’ve cut an entire character out of the book. But the rewrite is going along steadily, mostly uneventfully at the moment. Chapter: Ten. Page Count: 125.
750 Words: Still going strong on the November challenge, even if it’s taken me a few nights of spitting out something right before bed to do it. The writing, unfortunately, has been mostly lack-luster and uninspired. All of my attention has been going into NaNoWriMo or the rewrite of SiaC. Only 10 more days to go! I think I’ll have earned back my 30-day streak by then, too!
Novel in 6 Months: Being ahead of my wordcount for this WIP and way behind for my NaNo, I’ve put this project aside and have not really touched it all week. I’m sure this will change tonight when I do my weekly catch-up on American Horror Story, but for at least another week, I’m still ahead of the game, and so I’m putting it as a low priority at the moment. Page count: 43. Word count: 28,583.
NaNoWriMo: I fell behind on my NaNo and, being busy, I have not exactly been able to catch up, but I am happy to say that I’ve still managed to pump out some words when I can and haven’t fallen too much further behind. A few bouts of really hitting the keyboards these next few days should really catch me up to speed, and we’re building to the big battle at the end of the book right now, so I’ve got a great momentum on what’s happening in these building chapters. So I’m not exactly blowing anything out of the water or anything here, but I am making good headway and I think the next few days will be very productive. Page count: 39. Word count: 25,581.
Short Stories: Just as the Novel in 6 Months hasn’t garnered much attention with the catch-up needed in NaNo, my short stories have been just sort of patiently waiting for attention whenever that gets taken care of. I haven’t seen many potential new ones coming out of my 750 Words lately, so right now it’s mostly just “Just Right,” unless I feel tempted to pull the start of a fairy tale based on the Goose Girl out again.
The 100 Books Project: Out of all of my projects right now, this one seems to be going the best. I suppose I’m just more in a reading mood lately than a writing one, and I’m just blowing right through some of my recent selections! I have confidence that if I keep the pace, I’ll meet my goal for the year. I suspect I’ll have another one finished tomorrow, if not tonight! So it’s good to have at least one goal that’s going considerably better than the others. Books read: 52/100.
How’s everyone else doing? You can always check up on other RoWers here, and please do! My apologies to everyone for a relatively boring update post, but I suspect Wednesday’s will be full of excitement and make up for it. See you then! Happy writing!
L.S. Engler 
Doesn’t sound like a boring update to me! still plenty going on by the sound of things, with NaNo its not surprising the other writing tasks are taking a bit of a backseat – NaNo demands a lot! lol nearly done now though, good luck with that final sprint 🙂
Haha, thanks, Sharon! It feels a little boring because it’s just the same-old, same-old updates, that’s all! Ten more days! Whoo!
But now I’m worried I’ll be almost bored once I won’t have NaNo on my hands. 😉
lol, I’m sure you will find something else to keep you busy! After all it is ‘that’ time of year
lol (bah, humbug!)
Maybe we should have some kind of midway point competition or something just to give us all a little boost! hehe (oooh that reminds me I have a ROWer of the Month award badge to design for a discussion on the Facebook group about us starting to vote for our favourite ROWer each month – that might help!?) 🙂
The forums are fun, and depiste being populated by some people who aren’t really all that serious about eventual publication there are a few who take it Very Seriously. I’m not particularly fond of the boards themselves, being much more slow than other forums, but it has its’ own charm. Some of the posts are hilarious fun to read, and I as the obsessive freak I am simply have to respond.I’m trying to stay off the controversial topics, because I don’t want to get myself banned before I can win.
Good grief, L.S. I come away either feeling tired or inadequate after reading your updates. You are proof that busy people get more done. I can feel your excitement at having some time off to dedicate to your writing, and I know you will make the best of it.
And, um, a request. Could you indulge my poor sieve of a brain with a brief synopsis of the work you’ve excerpted (which is SiaC, right?) I’ve been reading along, but am having a brain freeze
Enjoy the next few days, and by the way–boring? Never!
Aww, shucks, Elizabeth. Everyone always telling me I make them feel tired makes me feel tired, so I guess we’re even. : )
And, let’s see, a synopsis of Serpent in a Cage….I was thinking about this at work when I read your comment as it came in to my email, and this is what I came up with for a typical book blurb, influenced maybe by too many movie trailers:
Locke Mandrake Battarack and Gilferen Allok are two young men on the edge of their wits. Stranded in a scorching land of fire and desert, they’re desperate to get home, though all efforts to do so seem hopeless, until they come across a rumor of a young woman held prisoner in a dungeon nearby. This captive may finally be their ticket out, but, as their quest to find her opens up a world filled with century-old wars, ancient prophecies, and the promise of a new age, they may discover much more than they ever anticipated.
That’s a pretty good way to put it without revealing too much, I think! Thanks for reading along! I’m sure the story’s pretty disjointed with all the snippets, but I’m glad they’re being enjoyed. It’s the first manuscript I’ve ever finished (except for one I wrote when I was in sixth grade, lol), and it’s the start of a whole Epic Series, so it’s pretty dear to my heart.
I suspect you won’t be bored for long short stories maybe waiting patiently now but they will soon be jostling for position insisting on your attention:)
all the best for coming week
Thanks, Alberta! Yeah, there’s never any shortage of stories lurking in my brain for too long, that’s for sure!
L.S., you always have so much going on that you leave me gasping for breath by the end of your check-ins! You’ve been taking it easy, but it seems like you’ve still got lots of stuff happening. 😉
Good luck catching up with NaNo! I fell behind a couple of times, but you’re right — a few dedicated hours will get back up to speed.
Have a great week!
Aw, you guys always make me feel a little better about how much I’m doing! I always feel that it’s not enough, and is it absolutely crazy that I read these comments and think, “Hmm, what more can I add NEXT time?”
Yeah. Totally crazy. XD
Thanks for stopping by, as always, Lena! You have a great week, too!
Still busy as always, I see. 🙂 You’ve really kept up with a lot of your goals. And you have so many! I’m sure you’ll be relieved when NaNo is over so that pressure will be off of you. You’re doing a great job; most of us would be crazy by now if we had as many projects as you do. LOL
Who’s saying I’m not crazy with as many projects as I have, huh? 😉
You’re right that I’ll be relieved when NaNo’s over, especially if I manage to pull it off, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something else as crazy to keep me going. I definitely think I thrive on having lots of stuff to do…
Okay, so I won’t say you make me tired…you inspire me! I’m busy, therefor I should be able to be busier, just like you. The synopsis sounds intriguing — always love the little snippets at the beginnings of your ROW check-ins. Don’t know if I would do that or not — my 1st draft writing is pretty terrible — but I love it that you do it!
Oh, the snippets are totally edited from the original draft, because I’ll pick out my favorite part of the most recently written stuff, look at it, and think, “Yeah, that so can’t be put up like that!”
It’s always good to hear that people like the snippets! I know I’d definitely like to see little bits and pieces of other people’s WIPs, too; I mostly just started it because there was a line I was so proud of that I HAD to share it, then I decided to stick with it! I find it also helps me strive to make sure that I’ve got at least another good line ready for the next check-in!
Thanks for stopping by, Amy!