The numbers:
I wrote for 60 hours in June.
I'm now halfway through Chapter 13.
Mender is now 46,000 words.
I am nearly at the mid-point of the novel.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Thursday, June 23, 2016
First Step Into (and Hopefully Out Of) the Weeds
It's been challenging this week. I'm up to 47.5 hours, but with The Son out of school it's been hard to find the time to write, and having less time has meant it's been harder to sink into the world of Mender and lose myself in the story.
I've been working on the dialogue for a scene and making very slow progress. This is the first time I've felt kind of stuck writing this book. Mary is in church, trying to work up the courage to ask a touchy question in the consilium (my alternate-New England's version of Christianity has a booth for getting spiritual advice rather than for confessing). I knew I wanted her to meet Leopold again (they met once as young adolescents) and have a conversation with him, and then have a second conversation with the Reverend in the consilium. I was really struggling with getting the tone right between Mary and Leopold, and then today I realized most of the dialogue I'd written for Mary and the Reverend actually belonged in her conversation with Leopold. I spent my snatches of writing time today retrofitting those lines to fit. But I feel like the scene's finally unfolding it as it should.
I've been working on the dialogue for a scene and making very slow progress. This is the first time I've felt kind of stuck writing this book. Mary is in church, trying to work up the courage to ask a touchy question in the consilium (my alternate-New England's version of Christianity has a booth for getting spiritual advice rather than for confessing). I knew I wanted her to meet Leopold again (they met once as young adolescents) and have a conversation with him, and then have a second conversation with the Reverend in the consilium. I was really struggling with getting the tone right between Mary and Leopold, and then today I realized most of the dialogue I'd written for Mary and the Reverend actually belonged in her conversation with Leopold. I spent my snatches of writing time today retrofitting those lines to fit. But I feel like the scene's finally unfolding it as it should.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Summer Solstice Check-In
Two-thirds through the month!
The numbers:
I've written 43.5 hours in June thus far.
I just finished chapter eleven.
Mender is now up to 41,250 words.
The Son got out of school last Friday, and we had a full weekend planned... and then a family emergency meant that I had a few extra kiddos for a few days. Between all that, I barely wrote for a few days. Today it was 90 degrees, so I wrote for an hour in the morning, and then we spent allllll day at the pond.
From now until the end of the month it's going to be hard to find the time to write. I'm aiming for an hour a day, though to make 60 hours by July 1 I'll have to find a few extra hours somewhere.
I doubt I'll make it to the mid-point of the novel by then. But I should be close.
Oh, and I got two more rejections from agents over the weekend. Bleah.
The numbers:
I've written 43.5 hours in June thus far.
I just finished chapter eleven.
Mender is now up to 41,250 words.
The Son got out of school last Friday, and we had a full weekend planned... and then a family emergency meant that I had a few extra kiddos for a few days. Between all that, I barely wrote for a few days. Today it was 90 degrees, so I wrote for an hour in the morning, and then we spent allllll day at the pond.
From now until the end of the month it's going to be hard to find the time to write. I'm aiming for an hour a day, though to make 60 hours by July 1 I'll have to find a few extra hours somewhere.
I doubt I'll make it to the mid-point of the novel by then. But I should be close.
Oh, and I got two more rejections from agents over the weekend. Bleah.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Listify Life: Week 13
Last week for Listify Life! It's been fun to have a weekly non-writing topic to blog about. I have a scheme for another weekly blog series reviewing writing craft books, so I'll try to get that underway in the next few weeks.
My Favorite Vacation Spots:
1) Saints' Landing, Cape Cod. As far as I'm concerned, the most perfect spot on the planet.
2) The Santa Fe/Taos region of New Mexico. Some of the most magical landscape anywhere.
3) Lucca, Italy. My favorite city.
4) Edinburgh, Scotland. My second favorite city.
5) Yukon Territory. The whole place looks like it should air-brushed on the side of a van.
My Favorite Vacation Spots:
1) Saints' Landing, Cape Cod. As far as I'm concerned, the most perfect spot on the planet.
2) The Santa Fe/Taos region of New Mexico. Some of the most magical landscape anywhere.
3) Lucca, Italy. My favorite city.
4) Edinburgh, Scotland. My second favorite city.
5) Yukon Territory. The whole place looks like it should air-brushed on the side of a van.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Mid-Month Again
Man, I cannot beLIEVE June is half over already!
The numbers for the month so far:
I have written for 39.5 hours.
I am 3/4 of the way through Chapter 11.
Mender is now 39,500 words.
I might do a little more today, but I just finished the monster scene I blogged about the other day, and I need a breather. I have one more short scene to finish the chapter, and it's time for me to sit down and figure out what one of my antagonists is actually doing. He's not a big player in this book, but he's causing all kinds of trouble in the background that will get worse in subsequent books. He's a fringe religious figure, and I'm realizing my understanding of what he believes and how that differs from what the mainstream religion preaches is way too vague. So I've got a little worldbuilding left to do.
I'm also working my way through the Writing the Other course, and have a few more exercises left to go. It's a good book, but I'm somewhat heartened by the fact that I haven't actually learned much I didn't already know from it. Maybe I'm more prepared to write my non-white characters than I thought.
The numbers for the month so far:
I have written for 39.5 hours.
I am 3/4 of the way through Chapter 11.
Mender is now 39,500 words.
I might do a little more today, but I just finished the monster scene I blogged about the other day, and I need a breather. I have one more short scene to finish the chapter, and it's time for me to sit down and figure out what one of my antagonists is actually doing. He's not a big player in this book, but he's causing all kinds of trouble in the background that will get worse in subsequent books. He's a fringe religious figure, and I'm realizing my understanding of what he believes and how that differs from what the mainstream religion preaches is way too vague. So I've got a little worldbuilding left to do.
I'm also working my way through the Writing the Other course, and have a few more exercises left to go. It's a good book, but I'm somewhat heartened by the fact that I haven't actually learned much I didn't already know from it. Maybe I'm more prepared to write my non-white characters than I thought.
Monday, June 13, 2016
Update
It took me the better part of FOUR HOURS, but I got the dialogue.
MAN, they do not like each other!
MAN, they do not like each other!
Process Post
I've been reporting how much I'm writing in terms of hours, words, and chapters, but not so much what I'm writing or how. Today I find myself with both a comfortable block of time to work in, and some trepidation about this next scene I'm beginning, so I thought now would be a good time for a process post. Maybe it'll help me gather my thoughts for the day.
I've been making scene outlines for most scenes, cobbling together exercises from different books that have helped me in the past. I begin by making a page in my "Scene Tracker"; this is where I make note of: the day, time, and location of the scene; the characters involved; the dramatic action; the POV character's goal; the emotional development of the characters; and how the theme is advanced. This not only helps ensure the scene has a point, it also means I won't have to go back and make this scene-by-scene overview once the draft is done, because I'm making it as I go.
Then I do cut-to's, an exercise in which you zip through the action of the scene like video. If this was a movie, what would you need to show?
Next I make note of all little sense details I want to include.
Then I write out the dialogue with no action or attributives-- just the voices talking back and forth.
Then I cut and paste the whole thing together in the order I want it to go.
Then I write it, deleting the scene outline as I go.
It's basically building the scene layer by layer. There are a few scenes that are so clear in my head I don't need to do this, but for most I find it helps me to make more interesting choices, and does wonders for keeping all the elements that belong in a scene straight.
So now I'm on a scene in which two of my four main characters meet for the first time. Remember that this is the first book in a quartet; there is a primary main character for this book (Mary) who is the POV character in every scene she appears in. But there are also some scenes she isn't in, and the other three main characters each take their turns as POV character there. Each of them will also have a turn being the main character in the later books.
Another challenging thing about this book is that the romance element is a little weird. I've got four MC's, two men and two women. So I have 6 relationships to work out between them, and four of those wind up being sexual/romantic. Two of the male/female pairs have a more obvious connection and easier path, so laying down those threads has been easier. But now I've come to the moment where the most rocky relationship starts.
The scene is from Noelia's POV. She is meeting Leopold for the first time, and she just totally hates him. They're at a ball, and since Noelia's an unconventional young noblewoman making her debut in Society, she's being watched closely by her aunt to make sure she behaves herself. Leopold is not noble, but he's an Officer and a Gentleman from an obscenely wealthy family, and Noelia's aunt wants her to play nice with him.
There's a lot going on between them in a brief interaction. Neither Noelia nor Leopold are any good at being charming. Despite her position, Noelia is very clearly an Outsider, and is also a genius who doesn't suffer fools gladly. In my mind, Leopold is played by Jesse Eisenberg, and does that twitchy, arrogance-covering-insecurity thing when he feels uncomfortable. On top of that, there is some serious bad blood between his family and hers.
I want the first part of the conversation, while they're being watched by her aunt, to have that politely-despising-each-other ring to it. Then the aunt steps away to talk to someone else for a few minutes, and all pretense at politeness is dropped. I want her to come away thinking he's a complete putz, but also have him say something insightful that really gets under her skin-- something that later she'll decide is true, even if she doesn't attribute it to him by then.
I have the rest of the scene all worked out, and I'm psyched about all the cool details of the ball. Now I just need to get that dialogue written! I think I need to just be okay with it taking longer than usual.
I've been making scene outlines for most scenes, cobbling together exercises from different books that have helped me in the past. I begin by making a page in my "Scene Tracker"; this is where I make note of: the day, time, and location of the scene; the characters involved; the dramatic action; the POV character's goal; the emotional development of the characters; and how the theme is advanced. This not only helps ensure the scene has a point, it also means I won't have to go back and make this scene-by-scene overview once the draft is done, because I'm making it as I go.
Then I do cut-to's, an exercise in which you zip through the action of the scene like video. If this was a movie, what would you need to show?
Next I make note of all little sense details I want to include.
Then I write out the dialogue with no action or attributives-- just the voices talking back and forth.
Then I cut and paste the whole thing together in the order I want it to go.
Then I write it, deleting the scene outline as I go.
It's basically building the scene layer by layer. There are a few scenes that are so clear in my head I don't need to do this, but for most I find it helps me to make more interesting choices, and does wonders for keeping all the elements that belong in a scene straight.
So now I'm on a scene in which two of my four main characters meet for the first time. Remember that this is the first book in a quartet; there is a primary main character for this book (Mary) who is the POV character in every scene she appears in. But there are also some scenes she isn't in, and the other three main characters each take their turns as POV character there. Each of them will also have a turn being the main character in the later books.
Another challenging thing about this book is that the romance element is a little weird. I've got four MC's, two men and two women. So I have 6 relationships to work out between them, and four of those wind up being sexual/romantic. Two of the male/female pairs have a more obvious connection and easier path, so laying down those threads has been easier. But now I've come to the moment where the most rocky relationship starts.
The scene is from Noelia's POV. She is meeting Leopold for the first time, and she just totally hates him. They're at a ball, and since Noelia's an unconventional young noblewoman making her debut in Society, she's being watched closely by her aunt to make sure she behaves herself. Leopold is not noble, but he's an Officer and a Gentleman from an obscenely wealthy family, and Noelia's aunt wants her to play nice with him.
There's a lot going on between them in a brief interaction. Neither Noelia nor Leopold are any good at being charming. Despite her position, Noelia is very clearly an Outsider, and is also a genius who doesn't suffer fools gladly. In my mind, Leopold is played by Jesse Eisenberg, and does that twitchy, arrogance-covering-insecurity thing when he feels uncomfortable. On top of that, there is some serious bad blood between his family and hers.
I want the first part of the conversation, while they're being watched by her aunt, to have that politely-despising-each-other ring to it. Then the aunt steps away to talk to someone else for a few minutes, and all pretense at politeness is dropped. I want her to come away thinking he's a complete putz, but also have him say something insightful that really gets under her skin-- something that later she'll decide is true, even if she doesn't attribute it to him by then.
I have the rest of the scene all worked out, and I'm psyched about all the cool details of the ball. Now I just need to get that dialogue written! I think I need to just be okay with it taking longer than usual.
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