Plans worked out better today. I have 713 words for the day so far, and I plan to write at least another 200 before bed.
Last night, just as I was drifting off to sleep, I figured out how my hero and heroine's first kiss is going to play out. I've had their big sex scene all mapped out for ages (um... but not in a pervy way), but the kiss was always a question mark. They both have so many reasons not to take that risk, and either one taking the "dominant" role just rang false for their relationship. I tried out a variety of scenarios, but they were either too prosaic or too romance-cliché cheesy.
And then last night, in that magical half-asleep headspace, the whole thing played before my eyes like a scene from a movie. It's still a bit on the romance-cliché cheesy side, but it feels authentic to the characters, so I'm happy. Now I've just got another few thousand words to write to get to the kiss!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
A Long Post That Is Mostly Not About Writing
I had grand plans for today. I'd drop The Son at preschool, and then do a quick co-op run for the ingredients I need to make both a batch of cookies for the preschool's Valentine's Day party and a batch for the fundraising bake sale the next day. Then home for a solid 2 hours of writing before work. I'm about to plunge into a scene where both the antagonists are on stage at the same time, and I was looking forward to finding my way through it. I had hopes of putting up some big word count numbers.
But everything went awry before we even got out of the carport. I strapped The Son into his car seat, threw it in reverse, and got stuck in a snow bank. (Yes, in my own driveway. Don't judge until you've seen the driveway.) Spent 20 minutes trying to dig myself out, in 3 degree F weather. Still stuck. The Son suggested walking to school, and I was too proud of him for being such a New Englander to wimp out. So we walked to school. In 3 degree weather.
Walked back, and spent another 30 minutes or so on the car, helped toward the end by The Father-in-Law (thanks, man! you rock!), who finally got it out. Went to the co-op and discovered they do indeed have heart-shaped sprinkles. Came home and was so frazzled and cold and hungry I decided to spend my remaining hour of kid-in-school time on a hot bath and Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code. Picked up The Son from school, took him to L's house for childcare, did the tutoring gig all afternoon, picked up The Son from L's, went home, made supper, had The Son help me make cookies for his class, dealt with bedtime-related freakout by The Son, and did laundry.
I haven't written today, is what I'm saying. And I'm not gonna. I'm doing the bath and Artemis Fowl thing again and then going to bed early.
But I have grand plans for tomorrow.
But everything went awry before we even got out of the carport. I strapped The Son into his car seat, threw it in reverse, and got stuck in a snow bank. (Yes, in my own driveway. Don't judge until you've seen the driveway.) Spent 20 minutes trying to dig myself out, in 3 degree F weather. Still stuck. The Son suggested walking to school, and I was too proud of him for being such a New Englander to wimp out. So we walked to school. In 3 degree weather.
Walked back, and spent another 30 minutes or so on the car, helped toward the end by The Father-in-Law (thanks, man! you rock!), who finally got it out. Went to the co-op and discovered they do indeed have heart-shaped sprinkles. Came home and was so frazzled and cold and hungry I decided to spend my remaining hour of kid-in-school time on a hot bath and Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code. Picked up The Son from school, took him to L's house for childcare, did the tutoring gig all afternoon, picked up The Son from L's, went home, made supper, had The Son help me make cookies for his class, dealt with bedtime-related freakout by The Son, and did laundry.
I haven't written today, is what I'm saying. And I'm not gonna. I'm doing the bath and Artemis Fowl thing again and then going to bed early.
But I have grand plans for tomorrow.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Back in the Swing
The weekend was not kind to the novel. Too much snow, too little time to myself. I wrote a few hundred words here and there, but I just couldn't get my head in the story, and I was super cranky in that book's-not-going-well way.
This morning I had an emergency dental appointment (I broke a molar and need a crown for it) that was over much earlier that I'd predicted, leaving me with two kid-free hours to write before tutoring gig #1. And just having the house to myself for a while got me back into the right headspace to write. I've gotten nearly a thousand words today, and the crankiness has abated.
Mostly.
This morning I had an emergency dental appointment (I broke a molar and need a crown for it) that was over much earlier that I'd predicted, leaving me with two kid-free hours to write before tutoring gig #1. And just having the house to myself for a while got me back into the right headspace to write. I've gotten nearly a thousand words today, and the crankiness has abated.
Mostly.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Lack-of-Progress Report
Well, the inspiration fairy has left this house. The last two days I've had almost no time to write. Yesterday I had to do some subsistence-level housekeeping (dishes and laundry) during The Son's school time, and then when I sat down to work my mind kept racing ahead to all the time-sucking errands of the afternoon, and I couldn't get into the flow of the story at all. I finally gave up trying to be creative and ticked a few items off my list of "little changes to go back and make to the first half of the book".
Picked up The Son from school and went over the river to the gymnastics studio, where I signed him up for another round of classes, and also for a two-day "camp" held over February school break (yay for more writing hours). Then we drove 30 miles to the rural ghetto so I could be fingerprinted for tutoring gig #2. (Don't get me started on how insane it is to have to get fingerprinted every time I get a student from a new town. It's crazy and there has to be better way. Let's just leave it at that.) Then we drove 30 miles back and got to the hospital just in time for The Son's 4-year-old pediatrician visit. Then home, where I managed to write 333 words during quiet play time. Then in the evening I had book club, which stereotypically included much wine and more discussion of our kids than the book. Had a great time and didn't get home until 10:40, which is roughly equivalent to what getting home at 4:00am would have been to me at 21.
Today The Son doesn't have school, so the whole day is pretty much shot. I tried to write during quiet play time, but he kept coming out of his room and interrupting me and I couldn't get in the zone. I'm going to write for at least an hour tonight and try to get some words, but I also want to hang out with The Husband.
If these first few days of February are any indication, 15,000 is a more realistic goal for the month.
Picked up The Son from school and went over the river to the gymnastics studio, where I signed him up for another round of classes, and also for a two-day "camp" held over February school break (yay for more writing hours). Then we drove 30 miles to the rural ghetto so I could be fingerprinted for tutoring gig #2. (Don't get me started on how insane it is to have to get fingerprinted every time I get a student from a new town. It's crazy and there has to be better way. Let's just leave it at that.) Then we drove 30 miles back and got to the hospital just in time for The Son's 4-year-old pediatrician visit. Then home, where I managed to write 333 words during quiet play time. Then in the evening I had book club, which stereotypically included much wine and more discussion of our kids than the book. Had a great time and didn't get home until 10:40, which is roughly equivalent to what getting home at 4:00am would have been to me at 21.
Today The Son doesn't have school, so the whole day is pretty much shot. I tried to write during quiet play time, but he kept coming out of his room and interrupting me and I couldn't get in the zone. I'm going to write for at least an hour tonight and try to get some words, but I also want to hang out with The Husband.
If these first few days of February are any indication, 15,000 is a more realistic goal for the month.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Inspiration and Goals
Another snow day today, and with a socially approved reason to hide out at home in my PJ's all day, I've been doing a lot of "thinking work" on the book. I'm having one of those days where it's like you've struck a vein of ideas and can't stop them from gushing out. Even with The Son around, I figured out a lot of scenes for Bresher's POV chapters, which have always been the sections that give me the most trouble. And I made some notes for the Sexy Next Book (TM). And I sketched out a few of Somi's upcoming scenes. I wrote ~500 words on Eleven Names. I even thought of a great hook for EN's eventual query letter. If I believed in muses, I'd guess mine had an extra latte this morning.
But I've also been having some goal angst today. It's the second day of February and I'm still dithering over my word count goal for this month. My idealized 2011 schedule has me doing another 20,000 this month... BUT this month has three less days than last month... AND it includes a preschool-free week, during which I will not have the luxury of 4 mornings to write... AND I'm about to start tutoring gig #2, which will mean two evenings a week at a nearby boarding school-- two-hour sessions with a half-hour commute on either side. We could use the money right now, but it's also wiping out two evenings of writing time.
So with all that, I'm thinking 15,000 is more realistic. But then that seems like copping out. I dunno. I'll brood over it some more.
But I've also been having some goal angst today. It's the second day of February and I'm still dithering over my word count goal for this month. My idealized 2011 schedule has me doing another 20,000 this month... BUT this month has three less days than last month... AND it includes a preschool-free week, during which I will not have the luxury of 4 mornings to write... AND I'm about to start tutoring gig #2, which will mean two evenings a week at a nearby boarding school-- two-hour sessions with a half-hour commute on either side. We could use the money right now, but it's also wiping out two evenings of writing time.
So with all that, I'm thinking 15,000 is more realistic. But then that seems like copping out. I dunno. I'll brood over it some more.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Last Lines and First Lines
Writing this draft, it has become clear to me that the first lines and last lines of chapters are a big thing for me. Often I'll think of the perfect parting shot for a chapter when I'm about 3/4 through it, and I find that writing toward that last line makes that last 1/4 gallop home. If I haven't thought of one to write toward, that same 1/4 feels like a slog on a half-lame mule.
And first lines can trip me up. Usually I find them easier than last lines, but today I spent a total of three solitary, concentrated hours trying to write the opening of this chapter and getting nowhere. I hated everything I wrote, and it was driving me crazy that I couldn't come up with the right first line. I tried to skip ahead, but without the first line I didn't have a tone, and tone was going to be key in this chapter: the last chapter ended at the mid-point, and left Somi in an emotionally low place. But Somi (who is a first-person narrator) is the kind of person who would try to change the subject when things get too heavy, so I wanted it to sound lighter. But not too light.
Then, finally, with 10 minutes left on The Son's quiet play time, I got it.
As Kimor had threatened, I had to learn to ride a horse.
Doesn't seem like much for three hours worth of work, does it? But it set the tone, and I managed to get up to 413 words by the time The Son went to sleep, in little 5-minute spurts stolen while preparing dinner or running the bath. And I know where I'm going next, which means I'm not dreading opening the file. The right first line can take me pretty deep into the chapter before I have to stop to puzzle over my next turn.
And first lines can trip me up. Usually I find them easier than last lines, but today I spent a total of three solitary, concentrated hours trying to write the opening of this chapter and getting nowhere. I hated everything I wrote, and it was driving me crazy that I couldn't come up with the right first line. I tried to skip ahead, but without the first line I didn't have a tone, and tone was going to be key in this chapter: the last chapter ended at the mid-point, and left Somi in an emotionally low place. But Somi (who is a first-person narrator) is the kind of person who would try to change the subject when things get too heavy, so I wanted it to sound lighter. But not too light.
Then, finally, with 10 minutes left on The Son's quiet play time, I got it.
As Kimor had threatened, I had to learn to ride a horse.
Doesn't seem like much for three hours worth of work, does it? But it set the tone, and I managed to get up to 413 words by the time The Son went to sleep, in little 5-minute spurts stolen while preparing dinner or running the bath. And I know where I'm going next, which means I'm not dreading opening the file. The right first line can take me pretty deep into the chapter before I have to stop to puzzle over my next turn.
New Day, New Month, Blank Page
Funny thing about writing: no matter how many milestones you cross in a day, the next day you still have to get up and fill another empty page with words.
Yeah. It's going slow. I'm at the beginning of a new chapter, that is itself the beginning of the second half of Act II. I know where the chapter has to end, but to get there, I need to fast-forward through ten years of Somi's life. And I'm just not sure where to start. I've been diddling around with it all morning with nothing to show for it.
I have a few errands to run in preparation for being housebound in the blizzard we're getting today/tonight/tomorrow, so I think I'm going to go do that now and hope I can return to the blank page later with a fresh perspective.
Yeah. It's going slow. I'm at the beginning of a new chapter, that is itself the beginning of the second half of Act II. I know where the chapter has to end, but to get there, I need to fast-forward through ten years of Somi's life. And I'm just not sure where to start. I've been diddling around with it all morning with nothing to show for it.
I have a few errands to run in preparation for being housebound in the blizzard we're getting today/tonight/tomorrow, so I think I'm going to go do that now and hope I can return to the blank page later with a fresh perspective.
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