Happy Monday, everyone. It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and MLK is someone I admire very much. I'm spending the first half of my day writing (and playing with my dog), and then I'm spending the second half of my day working (and playing with my dog). I'll check in here throughout the day to say hello, so what's everyone working on?
As for me, I'm hoping to finish the first draft of Cyberlama, possibly today! I've also been thinking about the importance of pacing. Basically, I currently don't have many pace changes in my book right now, so I'm trying to figure out where to change the pace and how to do it. Going from calm to exciting in one way, but I'm also toying around with zooming in and out, slowing the pace by looking at things more microscopically.
This weekend has been about creating music, (Completed two new songs just today). Last night, I started a book about Shakespeare! It took me an hour to get through the "to the reader" section. Some sentences I needed to read three times. It's makin' me feel kinda stoopid.
ReplyDeleteCharlie,
ReplyDeleteStoopid is spelled wrong. It's Stoodip. I wonder who the author of your book is. I read Harold Bloom, and it takes me about as long, and I usually still don't understand him completely.
Congratulations on the new songs. That's really great!
Charlie,
ReplyDeleteI remember trying to listen to your music before and not being able to. I was able to play them just now. They're really nice songs! They actually fit with the personality I assumed you had.
That's the one; The Invention of the Human. Evidently, Hamlet is the big to-do. I'll let you know what I got out of it when I'm finished, say, in 2014.
ReplyDeleteThanks on the song comment. Today, I'm mixing a waltz I had recently recorded. I'll upload it.
Well, for what it's worth, I tend to learn from Bloom, even if I only get through a few pages. Good luck! And I look forward to the waltz.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on the scene that really breaks past the opening and into the thrust of the story. If I can just him to get that gutted fish back to camp I think I'll be able to do it...
ReplyDeleteHappy MLK's day! I am also thinking about pacing. Sometimes I feel some of my stories end too fast. I need to work on that.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Lynette. Hope you find a great way to get that story moving. Get to camp!
ReplyDeleteJulia, here is my dumb trick on not rushing the ending: I tell myself that I'm not at the ending yet. I just keep writing as if there were going to be another hundred pages, and then I suddenly stop.
I'm working on my query letter, editing a few short stories and trying to get up the courage to go back to novel #1 to see if I can't pare 20,000 words. I sure like to write! Happy MLK day to you too. In between the aforementioned activities, I drank a pot of coffee, helped my mum with physical therapy, and planted some arugula, mache and lettuce in my greenhouse. Is it happy hour yet?
ReplyDeleteYvonne, That's a lot of writing. Bravo, and good luck! I'm jealous of your greenhouse. I've always wanted one of those. A dog and a greenhouse. Dare I dream?
ReplyDeleteI'm finishing up the Hunger Games trilogy, and realizing how much a really dislike 1st person voice...the isolation of it, the distance it creates, and how limits the reader's deeper connection to the motivations of characters beyond the one voice. Despite liking The Hunger Games (not loving, but liking), I have resistance to writing in that voice for these reasons, unless the story necessitates it. Reading this trilogy has given me a greater appreciation for that choice in story-telling, as it feels less obtrusive and limiting than usual.
ReplyDeletePuppy time sounds awesome, Davin.
ReplyDeleteThe kids were home today, so no writing. (We did watch the "I Have a Dream" speech, which devolved into a discussion about why MLK would use the word man instead of people--right in the middle of the speech, which led to an impatient mother and a miffed 11 year old daughter. So you know, really in the spirit of the day!)
Otherwise, I am trying to work on novel #2 while pretending I am not on submission, because to acknowledge that I am is to give into some slightly attention-deficit state where I can't focus. This novel is also multi-pov and I don't feel like I've got my hands around it as well as the first one. It's slippery, somehow, so being able to focus better might be nice.
Hope you guys are all well. I've been awful about being around blogs lately.
I hit 150 pages today which makes me excited. And the pacing of the story has started speeding up so that's been on my mind a lot too. I'm trying to work on slowing down the pacing of the writing even when there is exciting stuff going on in the story. I seem to have a problem with getting caught up in wanting to get my characters from A to B a little too quickly
ReplyDeleteHi Shephard! I just read The Hunger Games about three weeks ago. I felt the same way. I liked it, but didn't love it. Although, I finished it, which says something! As I love epic stories, I usually don't use 1st person as much, even though it comes more naturally to me.
ReplyDeletej a zobair, yes, people, people! Good luck with novel #2 and the thing that we will not speak of because it's not actually happening.
Taryn, congrats on 150! My pacing has suddenly picked up (not in a good way) too.
I am so lame not to have commented here yesterday. Or on Scott's post the day before. Oh well. Did you notice we now have REPLIES in the comments? Pretty darn cool! So you can reply to individuals instead of how we've done it in the past. I'm happy you got to play with your puppy all day. One day I will get to meet him. And you. :)
ReplyDeleteI couldn't access blogger all weekend, so I had no way of replying (except via my cell phone, which is a pain in the ass so I didn't do it).
DeleteMichelle, how is SCALES? Have you finished it? A little bird told me your were close.
Davin, did you finish CYBERLAMA? Did you write all day yesterday?
I did no writing. I am about 1/3 of the way through my WIP, so I've begun the slog through the middle, which I always find depressing. I spent yesterday fussing around the house, playing guitar and reading Dickens. Later I read Chekhov's letters. His brother Nikolai just died of consumption. I was very sad about that until Mighty Reader pointed out that Nikolai Chekhov died in July of 1889 and so has been dead for quite some time.
SCALES is coming along! I hope to finish it very, very soon, at which time you will receive a lovely unedited draft to read. Or I might do a few revisions first. :)
DeleteWhat was consumption, anyway? Was that TB?
Yeah, it was TB. Consumption figures prominently in my "Variations" story.
DeleteHurray for a draft of SCALES! I cannot wait. No, I can't. Though I suppose I'll have to. You will have to wait quite some time to see my new WIP. I really hate first drafts, I've decided. I love revisions, though. It feels more creative and less like work.
Oh my goodness, YES. I agree on that revision thing. I can't wait to get to that point with all of BONDED. I'm dying. SCALES has felt like squeezing blood out of a stone.
DeleteIt sounds like you made a commitment to the scheduled routine for your book-that is not easy!
ReplyDelete