I just finished outlining section two of Perfection. I had to throw out two of the chapters, so now there are only seven in section two. (And eight in section one.) This means I'm about 2/3 done with the outline. I'm excited and am getting ready to write. I had an inspiration this morning about how I must write this in a way to let the reader believe this woman totally loves and respects the villain at the beginning of the book. They will suspect he's evil, but obviously she's still engulfed in illusions.
Today I added 1148 more words onto the outline of Perfection. I worked on the first two chapters in Part 2 of the novel. I like using QuickPlot more than I expected I would and since this is the first time I've done a complete outline before starting a novel I have a few comments about that as well. It seems like a great idea, so far. I've been able to work on conflicts to keep interest high during the various parts of the novel. When I find myself needing to include a scene at the beginning its easy to add it in before writing the first draft. When I see a section lagging I can spice it up. And I expect when I start writing it will be a breeze rather than a constant worry about where the novel is going. I already know all about where it will go.
I did the marathon at Forward Motion this weekend but only got to 5K... then decided not to push for 10K though theoretically I had time. My son got up in a bad mood - it must be something about puberty because he's acting like a very temperamental teenager. I think this is not the time to spend the whole evening writing.
I love reading classics. This one is the perfect length - too long to be a short story and too short to be a novel. I don't know why publishers are so concerned about new authors fitting into the mandated novel lengths. Hemingway wrote what his heart dictated. It couldn't have been longer, or shorter. And people love this book. Isn't that all that's important?
I want to read the book to my son but it may be more practical to buy the cassette tape instead - then he can re-listen as many times as he likes. He's a fisherman - just like the main character in this book. My son (age 14 this year) came home after a day of fishing at our local park - right after I finished reading the book. I know he will love this story. When I told him about it he wanted to know what the fisherman used for bait!
Aside from reading this - I started listening to my borrowed tapes of The Poisonwood Bible a few days ago. That book strikes me as being excellent and I want to listen to the rest soon.
Today (talking about Saturday July 17) I wrote the first draft of a young adult short story based on my daughter's life. She doesn't know about this yet. The story needs a rewrite before it can be shared. I realized I need to focus on the most exceptional part of the story to gain my reader's interest. What makes my character different? Why should people care enough to take time to read about this person? I'm getting it. I will rewrite.
This also made me re-evaluate a novel I wrote in 2001 - my first mystery, Escape (short temporary title). I realized that one character stands out as being the most interesting person in the novel. When I rewrite I will expand this character's role and put her in the first chapter. She may catch interest whereas my current main character tends to make me want to yawn. She will be a better person intertwined with the other character.
My word count for Saturday was 4328 words:
1204 - article about writing
1252 - short story
1872 - novel outlining and background material - mostly for Perfection
I took the day off on Tuesday - it was my birthday. I went to the library and got a few classics (Hemingway, Steinbeck, McCullers) and some books to review for my children's literature website. That's what I call fun. I also got unabridged tapes of The Poisonwood Bible. This is all intended to inspire me to write better in the future.
I'm supposed to be reading... Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - but that book is frustratingly long. If it were the only book I was reading it would still be months before I finished it. I wonder how many people have read it all the way through. Its about 560,000 words. Can you imagine getting an editor to even consider reading something that long for you? My guess is that she already had good connections in the literary world at the time she presented this novel to an editor.
On Monday I started writing an article that explains the method I used to write my first novel. It is a long way from done - this is one of those first drafts that will take some restructuring. 1032 words so far.
I also worked some on revising Chapter 7 of The Scribe of Irohila.
1. 7000 new words this week
2. 1 new short story
3. 1 new article
4. revise 7 chapters in The Scribe of Irohila
5. outline at least 7 more chapters of Perfection
This weekend I revised the first six chapters of The Scribe of Irohila - three chapters each day. If I could keep it up at that rate I'd be through with this third draft by Friday.
I like this story! I hope I can find an editor to like it too.
I've spent the last two days on revision projects. On Friday I did the first edit on my new short story (just over 2000 words). On Saturday I took part in the Forward Motion edit marathon - and revised 7611 words of The Scribe of Irohila. I revised the first three chapters and part of chapter four.
Tonight I added 1142 words to the outline for Perfection. I now have 5 out of 27 chapters outlined. I'm using QuickPlot 1.1 for the outline. This is the first time I've used it wholeheartedly and it is helpful. I usually don't outline this much but Lazette Gifford suggested it for our 2-year novel projects so I'm giving it a try. If the writing itself goes easier I might do this more often. I've spent about six months now planning and researching for this historical novel.
Yesterday I wrote a middle-grade adventure story. The first draft is 2328 words. Its based on something my son saw while tubing down a local creek with a friend a few weeks ago. My total for the day was 4404 words. This brings my total for the month to 7120 which is right where I want it to be since my goal is an average of 1000 words daily.
I got serious about revising The Scribe of Irohila again - and went to Write4Kids.Com where I bought an e-book... Improving the Odds of Getting Published. I like what I've read so far. My manuscript is way too long - 51,102 words right now. I'd like to condense it to about 45,000 words or less.
There was an impromptu meeting of the local writer's club out in the middle of the Resource Center parking lot yesterday evening. While there I challenged my friend Judy to get her first local history magazine published by the end of the year. I challenged Pete to write five chapters in his autobiography. And I challenged myself to get the revisions done on The Scribe of Irohila and to have it mailed to a publisher before the end of the year. It seems like we've all got plenty of time to get this work done.
I've been working for three days and made progress on the dares. I've done 465 words on the first of three articles (a very rough draft)... and wrote a practice piece on health and aging this morning. I worked on the outline for Perfection yesterday so I feel like I'm getting a lot done though I'm not trying for any more than 1000 words/day at this time.
The 4224 words are the ones I'm counting for the Word Count Dare at Forward Motion.
I spent most of Monday researching and writing background material for Perfection. I wrote about 1300 words on mythos, religion, and cosmology - a complicated subject for Elena, my main character, who is living at a time when cultures are coming together and clashing.
The novel takes place between 1850 and 1860 on the California coast between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Elena is surrounded and/or influenced by a lot of different belief systems - at least five I've counted so far: Catholic, Protestant, fortune telling, a Bible-based cult, and the beliefs of her mother's native Ohlone family. Then there's her own personal philosophy that forms as she gains strength and gets closer to nature.
By the end of the day I realized I'll have to do more background on her mentor's goals and personality. His goals are so much different than hers. I haven't named him yet but he will be of Irish descent - unless I change my mind before now and the time I start writing. I must think of a name for him soon. He's taking on a bigger role in the novel than I expected.
Elena's goals are first to get back to her children, and later she wants to reunite with other family members - her father and her mother's relatives.
Opening one eye the dragon sleepily looks out on the world. She shuts her eye, not sure she wants to wake up. Will she drift back to dreams?
Its too late for that. Her brain is stimulated. Her consciousness roars to life long before she does.
I am that dragon. I lay there still half asleep thinking about my cave, my solitude and what lies ahead for this day. I know sleep is no longer possible, but if I must wake up it will be slowly.
Do I have food to eat? Will my cave be invaded by silly warriors seeking to destroy me? Is my hoard of silver and jewels to be safe on this day?
I must wake up and find out.
So what's this all about? Well, I signed up for three July/August dares at Forward Motion this morning. I feel like that dragon, waking up and getting used to the idea of working on my writing again instead of avoiding it.
I signed up to write three articles and four short stories, and to write at least 1000 words daily. Blog postings don't count, alas!
