I know it’s been a while since I posted something about my writing. It’s not that I haven’t been writing, editing, outlining, planning, submitting, etc. It’s that those activities are standard fare and so provoke little comment.

However, I am currently outlining a new story, and I’m watching it change as the story unfolds. I thought this might prove of interest to some of you.

Those who took my workshop Idea to Outline should find some of this familiar, but for the rest of you, my process goes in stages from idea, to initial synopsis, to breaking down that synopsis into scenes, to filling in the holes, at which point I’m ready to write.

Dry Boiled came to me as a voice, one I don’t normally do, but one perfect for the genre it seemed to be. (more…)

You hear a lot about writer’s block, but I’ve never heard anyone mention what I’m suffering from.

This is not the first time I’ve had this problem, but it still took a bit to realize what is happening, and I’m determined to come up with a better solution this time.

So what it writer’s flood you ask?
(more…)

This is not as ominous as it sounds.  In fact, it’s a matter of celebration.

I have written the most important words in a first draft.  Those two little ones that can only be placed after the last bit of text has hit the page.

That’s right.  Molly’s first draft is complete.

It’s been a struggle for many reasons, and I think there’s still a lot of work to do in cleaning up the scenes back when I didn’t quite get into the story (though I’m happy to be proven wrong about that ), but overall, it’s a solid book.

Themes?  Well, the first contact is obvious, but there’s a couple more that are showing up.  That of accepting people for what they do, not what they appear to be, in this case age.   Overall, the themes circulate around the word “assumption” and the dangers held within that word.  Mr. Pell, the diplomat, has a nice little cameo on that topic in the epilogue .

As far as the Thinking Sideways process, I realize I’ve fallen off the wagon again.  I was so desperate to prove to myself that I could finish this novel after my recent health issues that I haven’t read any more lessons and quite likely missed some relevant stuff.  Time to buckle down and get them done.  I’ve decided my next novel will be for NaNo, which gives me a couple months to catch up in TS.

Anyway, final stat are:
New Words: 575 words
54 scenes
54 complete – 100% of the novel
0 Scenes remain
0 Remaining word count
54355 Estimated length – with an average of 1007 words per scene.
54355 Final Total

I know I owe you a real process post, and though I’ve forgotten what I’d planned for the previous one, I’ve made some notes for the next. It’s just too late to write them up. However, I posted an update on the writing on my writing blog (of all places ), so you can skip on over there for a preview of what I’ll comment on here in detail.

http://marfisk.livejournal.com/40506.html

March Madness is drawing near (only one sleep away) and the novel for this challenge is Molly, the Asteroid Miner’s Daughter.  This is one of my ideas generated during Holly Lisle’s How to Think Sideways class (http://howtothinksideways.com/members/?rid=190).  I’m tracking its progress in detail through the Thinking Sideways forums and my related blog, but I thought I’d drop a mention here as well.

It’s difficult when you have established, successful processes to tackle learning a new one, but I’ve found that resting on any particular process is dangerous as you may run into a particular novel or circumstance that bucks your previous patterns and demands skill sets you have to discover if you haven’t broadened your base.  That doesn’t mean learning something new is easy, but it’s definitely worth the trip if only to know what doesn’t work for you.

Honestly, it’s the other parts of Holly’s class that appeal more, the insider tips for managing publishing contracts and making things happen in an organized fashion rather than a mad scramble.  I’m on the cusp of entering that lifestyle, and I need all the help I can get so I don’t dissolve into the chaos that draws me .

So, we’ll see how it goes.  I have created (and finally sorted) a 41 scene outline for which most scenes have been verified using Holly’s techniques.  I’d hoped for all of them, but a huge project for the boys’ school sucked up all my time.  I’ll have to verify as I go, but I have some 19+ verified so I’ve got a bit of room.

Oh, my goal for this March Madness (a mad dash for words from 7k to 40k and a finished book in a week through Forward Motion) is to achieve at least 14k.  I had enough problems with last year that I managed a mere 9k, and I plan to do better, darn it.

And stats:
New Words: 0 words
41 scenes
0 complete – 0% of the novel
41 Scenes remain
61500 Estimated length – with an average of 1500 words per scene.
0 Current Total
 

I never had the chance to blog about my scene sentence struggles, so that may come later. This is cross posted from my LJ.

March Madness is drawing near (only one sleep away) and the novel for this challenge is Molly, the Asteroid Miner’s Daughter. This is one of my ideas generated during Holly Lisle’s How to Think Sideways class (http://howtothinksideways.com/members/?rid=190). I’m tracking its progress in detail through the Thinking Sideways forums and my related blog, but I thought I’d drop a mention here as well.

It’s difficult when you have established, successful processes to tackle learning a new one, but I’ve found that resting on any particular process is dangerous as you may run into a particular novel or circumstance that bucks your previous patterns and demands skill sets you have to discover if you haven’t broadened your base. That doesn’t mean learning something new is easy, but it’s definitely worth the trip if only to know what doesn’t work for you.

Honestly, it’s the other parts of Holly’s class that appeal more, the insider tips for managing publishing contracts and making things happen in an organized fashion rather than a mad scramble. I’m on the cusp of entering that lifestyle, and I need all the help I can get so I don’t dissolve into the chaos that draws me .

So, we’ll see how it goes. I have created (and finally sorted) a 41 scene outline for which most scenes have been verified using Holly’s techniques. I’d hoped for all of them, but a huge project for the boys’ school sucked up all my time. I’ll have to verify as I go, but I have some 19+ verified so I’ve got a bit of room.

Oh, my goal for this March Madness (a mad dash for words from 7k to 40k and a finished book in a week through Forward Motion) is to achieve at least 14k. I had enough problems with last year that I managed a mere 9k, and I plan to do better, darn it.

And stats:
New Words: 0 words
41 scenes
0 complete – 0% of the novel
41 Scenes remain
61500 Estimated length – with an average of 1500 words per scene.
0 Current Total