Tag Archives: update

Writing Update: Quarter 1

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I think I’ve decided that having a quarterly check-in about my writing goals would be a good idea. Perhaps I’ll change my mind before too long, but for now that is what I’ll do.

March is very quickly ending, thus the first quarter is as well. I don’t have good news, unfortunately. If you have read my previous posts this year, you may know that I did okay in January, although not meeting the daily goal for the whole month, but hardly wrote anything in February. This trend continued in March. I could detail the reasons that I didn’t have the time, talk all about the circumstances I’ve been dealing with lately, but it is really just excuses. If I’m being completely honest, I think I haven’t been writing because it takes a lot of discipline, a conscious effort to MAKE time for it. Apparently, I haven’t been doing that.

The minimal word count I did complete (only a few days of writing out the entire month) consisted of blog posts and work on the same Sleeping Beauty retelling I have already talked about. For a while I was quite stalled on that story, but I decided to go back to it and move on to the more interesting parts, and figure out that whole post-exposition, pre-action section in the next draft. Or perhaps all of that is exposition.

I’m a little worried that I’ll finish it and determine that while it has points of interest, as a novel it will not be of great interest to readers. I mean that the people who read it will enjoy it a lot, not that a lot of people will read it… I think that I have a bit of a tendency to stick to my original story ideas as far as plot goes, where I should be learning to make better adjustments so that it’s just a better story. This can sometimes result in a story saying something very different than what you originally intended. Sometimes that’s a problem, and sometimes it’s okay.

I have a few days left in March and I do plan to get some writing in, but the most urgent thing right now is some spring cleaning. I’ve got much to organize, throw away, and clear out. I’m very, very behind in the 365k challenge, in terms of what my total word count should be. In February I didn’t mind this, but now it’s been going on much too long.

Would it be  so terrible if I don’t make the 365,000 word goal at the end of the year? No, not really. Not finishing would not affect my life much, really. But it would most certainly be fantastic to meet that goal, or even exceed it. Finishing would affect my life, even if only in the sense of developing better writing habits. I think that’s worth the effort.

The Reader Speaks (and updates a page)

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Once in a while I actually remember to update my “What I’m Reading” page, and today was one of those days! I’m in the middle of numerous books right now and I have a huge TBR list right now that’s likely to only get larger. I have a Goodreads link on the sidebar that you can check out if you want to see more of the books I’ve read and want to read.

I can definitely say The Crane Wife is my favorite book that I’ve read in the past few years at least. I really loved it and I plan to read it again several times in the future, after I get my own copy of it. For some reason I can’t seem to find it in any bookstores… I don’t think it would necessarily be everyone’s taste, but it is absolutely perfect for me. I almost wish I’d written it.

If I find another favorite book, then that section of the page will be updated, but The Crane Wife will also stay.

Short Story, plus updates

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Hi.

I know it’s kind of been a while. I have reasons, but what good will explaining do? And I don’t know how long it will be before I get back to regularly posting. For this I feel bad, but I’m just trying to figure out how to get my life in order. I think I might have SAD, and it mostly manifests in a complete lack of desire to do anything at all in the winter months.

I did update my What I’m Reading page a few weeks ago, finally, after forgetting about it completely since September or October. New stuff in current reads and last read. I must try to remember to keep up with it. Check it out now if you are curious about the book Just Kids, one of the best things I’ve read in a long, long time.

And finally, I’ve put up a new piece on my Featured Short Story page. It’s long overdue. I was originally intending to do a new one every month or two. Then I didn’t write anything for a while.

For the near future, I’ve been thinking about going through pieces I wrote for various classes in college, and posting anything that doesn’t seem embarrassing to share. I wrote some good stuff back then. Some of them, notably the two pieces I based on The Tempest, I’ve already shared on some blog or other, but I doubt if I could find those pages again. It’s also very doubtful that I’ll do further work on these, or get them published. I submitted one or two to contests or journals, none were ever taken, so they probably won’t ever be. However, they’re still good and I do want them seen, so they’ll go here. For the most part they’ll be normal posts. A few might be deemed worthy of the featured short story page. We will see.

And that’s all I’ve got. So here I go, off to try harder and maybe actually fucking accomplish something.

NaNoNo Update

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Twelve days into the month, I have decided it’s time for an update. There isn’t much to tell. Here’s the main points:

 

-I did pretty well with staying on track the first few days.

-After that, I didn’t write for a few days.

-Lost momentum, and I’ve barely written anything since the very beginning of the month.

I probably should have just kept on with a story I was already into, rather than starting on short stories that had barely managed to form in my mind. I don’t have a clear picture yet, of any aspect of the stories–just bits and pieces. How was I expecting to make that into something so quickly? I feel like I’m getting nowhere.

Here’s the bright side: I’m learning from NaNoWriMo experiences. First, it seems that at least to some degree, I am more productive when I have specific goals, rather than just “Yeah, go do some writing.” Second, NaNoWriMo, being intended for churning out stories as quickly as you can, is a good way to get a story down that has already gestated for a good while in your mind (that is, for me). … Damn it. I don’t think I’m saying this right. The thought was clear in my head, but when I tried to type it out, I lost the words, and now I can’t figure out how to articulate this thought that really seems significant at the moment. I ask you, if this is still going to happen, what the hell is the point of being a writer?

Well, I’ve bashed my hopes enough for one evening, I think. Time to go curl up into fetal position until tomorrow.

It’s a Page!

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At long last I have an Actual Writing Update!!

 

…Barely, but still. It’s there.

Ok, so here’s the minuscule detail: I started a new story, which I am imagining to be a short story but could possibly turn into a novel, depending on the plot I actually come up with (which I haven’t figured out yet). I wrote barely more than a page (about 600 words, I think). It was good to write and it reminded me that I am actually good at words! Who knew!

I did, I guess, but I often forget that.

The story is based on the glass globe I talked about in that video on my youtube channel. If that makes you curious, there’s a link in the sidebar there.

 

All right. I know it’s not much. But it’s pretty much the only fiction writing I’ve managed to do for months, so I’m still happy with it. …not happy enough to post it, however. It’s much too rough for that. If I EVER manage to figure out my schedule, I’ll be trying to write more often.