All the Billion Other Moments » Untitled (1st) http://jasonpenney.net Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:30:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 All the Billion Other Moments http://jasonpenney.net/feed-logo.png http://jasonpenney.net 80 80 All the Billion Other Moments - http://jasonpenney.net Writing http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2007/09/07/writing/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2007/09/07/writing/#comments Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:06:29 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2007/09/07/writing/
Writing is a post from All the Billion Other Moments - Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

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Table of Contents for Hello 31

  1. Introduction and Work
  2. Family
  3. Writing

Writing

All of the previously mentioned changes impacted my writing. I used to write from 3pm to 5pm. It was right after the work day. I didn’t have to leave my office, so no one could grab me and distract me and I never lost time in traffic. I had it down. None of that works now.

I fumbled around trying to squeeze writing in for a while. Then in November I participated in NaNoWriMo. I figured the only way I could possibly write a novel in a month was to get up earlier, so I started getting up at 5:30am to write. Mostly this worked, with occasional periods of too-much-other-stuff-to-do.

I did not get everything done I hoped this year. I did finish revisions on my first novel. I stopped work on another novel at the outline stage, but used the world from that and wrote the first draft of Miracles during NaNoWriMo. I produced a handful of short stories, some of which might even be pretty good. I made some progress revising Miracles, but when the new arrival came things stalled out. I don’t think I’d do the work justice if I dove back in now, but I’m not abandoning it. I’ve got my line-for-scene ready when I return.

I did a lot of world building after writing Miracles and before starting the revisions. I worked through Create A Language Clinic and Create A Culture Clinic, twice each. I have another story working to get out (in the same world as Miracles, but not with any of the same characters). I’m planning on turning that into my next novel, and then returning to the Miracles revision.

Now my morning routine is shot again so I can drive my oldest to school. I’m trying to find my rythym once more. I’ve actually found Twitter to be helpful in keeping me honest and pushing me on, and I’m not alone in this.

I did manage to write about 88,000 words this year since last September. It’s less than I hoped for, but it’s not that bad.

Writing is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

Previous in series
]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2007/09/07/writing/feed/ 1 Next Steps http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/26/next-steps/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/26/next-steps/#comments Thu, 26 Oct 2006 04:32:19 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/10/26/next-steps/
Next Steps is a post from All the Billion Other Moments - Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> I wrote the new ending for the novel (ended up being more than one scene). I’ll update the “final” wordcount soon. Now it’s time to get some feedback from readers, and that will determine what the happens next there.

The other novel I stated working on in January will remain on hold for a bit longer. I’m still excited about the idea, but I wasn’t giving it the time it deserved and I need to go back and flesh out my characters and worldbuilding some more.

Unless something stops me, I’m going to participate in National Novel Writing Month. That gives me a few days to solidify my idea before I need to start writing. I’ve always wanted to try NaNoWriMo, and while I don’t exactly have the time, I am between projects, so I might as well give it a go.

There are a few reasons why I want to do this. I need to learn to embrace the bad first draft. I need to write with the intention of rewriting it all later. That might sound backwards, but having just been through a novel revision on a book it’s something I need to try. If you’ve never been there, I’m not sure I can explain it. Besides, I want to have something else done by the end of the year. I have other reasons, but they are more abstract.

Next Steps is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/26/next-steps/feed/ 5 1-Pass Day 35 (88020/88020) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/15/1-pass-day-35-8802088020/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/15/1-pass-day-35-8802088020/#comments Sun, 15 Oct 2006 15:30:05 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/10/15/1-pass-day-35-8802088020/

I have one TBD scene at the end of the book left to write, but the type-in is done.

1-Pass Day 35 (88020/88020) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/15/1-pass-day-35-8802088020/feed/ 5 1-Pass Day 34 (79370/90351) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/14/1-pass-day-34-7937090351/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/14/1-pass-day-34-7937090351/#comments Sat, 14 Oct 2006 23:49:12 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/10/14/1-pass-day-34-7937090351/

Didn’t get a lot of days in editing this week, but I think I made up for it today. The ever shrinking type-in pile is looking pretty short. I’m hoping next week is it.

1-Pass Day 34 (79370/90351) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/14/1-pass-day-34-7937090351/feed/ 0 1-Pass Day 33 (71519/93173) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/12/1-pass-day-33-7151993173/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/12/1-pass-day-33-7151993173/#comments Thu, 12 Oct 2006 12:17:30 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/10/12/1-pass-day-33-7151993173/

Made some more progress last night. I’m feeling pretty ready to be done now. If anyone has some spare time they can lend me, I’d appreciate it.

Totally unrelated, but I found this pretty amusing. Oh, and if anyone wants to buy me one of these, I wouldn’t complain. I have just the spot for it in the yard.

1-Pass Day 33 (71519/93173) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/12/1-pass-day-33-7151993173/feed/ 1 1-Pass Day 32 (68501/94126) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/09/1-pass-day-32-6850194126/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/09/1-pass-day-32-6850194126/#comments Tue, 10 Oct 2006 03:17:44 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/10/09/1-pass-day-32-6850194126/

This morning I had a great momentum going, and had life allowed it to continue I may have finished the whole thing today. Still, not a bad day all said.

The next scene is very fast paced and covered with corrections, and my eyes are crossing, so I think that’s it for tonight.

1-Pass Day 32 (68501/94126) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/09/1-pass-day-32-6850194126/feed/ 1 1-Pass Day 31 (60138/96439) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/06/1-pass-day-31-6013896439/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/06/1-pass-day-31-6013896439/#comments Sat, 07 Oct 2006 03:34:36 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/10/06/1-pass-day-31-6013896439/

Not too bad. I hope I make some good progress this weekend.

1-Pass Day 31 (60138/96439) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/06/1-pass-day-31-6013896439/feed/ 0 1-Pass Day 30 (56346/97038) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/05/1-pass-day-30-5634697038/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/05/1-pass-day-30-5634697038/#comments Thu, 05 Oct 2006 12:06:29 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/10/05/1-pass-day-30-5634697038/

Got some more done last night. I didn’t have much time, but last nights pages needed a bit less work than the night before, which was nice. I’ve reached one of my favorite sections, so I’m looking forward to getting back into it soon

1-Pass Day 30 (56346/97038) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/05/1-pass-day-30-5634697038/feed/ 1 1-Pass Day 29 (54467/97296) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/04/1-pass-day-29-5446797296/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/04/1-pass-day-29-5446797296/#comments Wed, 04 Oct 2006 10:51:54 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/10/04/1-pass-day-29-5446797296/

Made some more progress last night. Hopefully I’ll have some more time tonight.

1-Pass Day 29 (54467/97296) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/04/1-pass-day-29-5446797296/feed/ 0 1-Pass Day 28 (52596/97829) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/01/1-pass-day-28-5259697829/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/01/1-pass-day-28-5259697829/#comments Sun, 01 Oct 2006 21:41:31 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/10/01/1-pass-day-28-5259697829/

This is actually from Friday night, when I fell asleep at the keyboard. Haven’t had any time this weekend.

1-Pass Day 28 (52596/97829) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/10/01/1-pass-day-28-5259697829/feed/ 1 One Pass Type-In: The Pages http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/29/one-pass-type-in-the-pages/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/29/one-pass-type-in-the-pages/#comments Fri, 29 Sep 2006 16:56:03 +0000 Jason Penney http://www.jczorkmid.net/~jpenney/blog/archives/2006/09/29/one-pass-type-in-the-pages/
One Pass Type-In: The Pages is a post from All the Billion Other Moments - Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> Type-in Example

I figured some of you may be wondering what the pages I’m working on now look like (or not, but I wanted to break up the word count posts). Here are two random pages from the current stack on my document holder. This are pretty representative. Some pages have only one correction, some are crossed out entirely, and some have little circled numbers, referring me to the new handwritten scenes to insert.

Also, congratulations to Kathleen Bolton who just finished a One Pass Revision, and posted her thoughts on the process.

One Pass Type-In: The Pages is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/29/one-pass-type-in-the-pages/feed/ 2 Type-in Example 1-Pass Day 27 (50657/98258) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/28/1-pass-day-27-5065798258/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/28/1-pass-day-27-5065798258/#comments Fri, 29 Sep 2006 03:45:46 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/09/28/1-pass-day-27-5065798258/

Didn’t have much time today, but I made myself get half a chapter done even thought I’m exhausted.

1-Pass Day 27 (50657/98258) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/28/1-pass-day-27-5065798258/feed/ 1 1-Pass Day 26 (47242/99806) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/27/1-pass-day-26-4724299806/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/27/1-pass-day-26-4724299806/#comments Wed, 27 Sep 2006 11:55:16 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/09/27/1-pass-day-26-4724299806/

I really wanted to finish the new chapter so I got up early to finish it before leaving for work. Next time I’ll be back to more standard type-in stuff. I managed to reuse some material I had cut on my first failed revision attempt. It didn’t work at all before, but it fell right into place at the end of the new chapter.

1-Pass Day 26 (47242/99806) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/27/1-pass-day-26-4724299806/feed/ 3 1-Pass Day 25 (46938/99502) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/26/1-pass-day-25-4693899502/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/26/1-pass-day-25-4693899502/#comments Tue, 26 Sep 2006 04:50:50 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/09/26/1-pass-day-25-4693899502/

Almost done with the new chapter. Just one more scene to add next time. Hopefully that’s the last major TDB section for some time and I’ll start making faster progress again.

1-Pass Day 25 (46938/99502) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/26/1-pass-day-25-4693899502/feed/ 3 1-Pass Day 24 (45959/98523) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/24/1-pass-day-24-4595998523/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/24/1-pass-day-24-4595998523/#comments Sun, 24 Sep 2006 23:41:47 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/09/24/1-pass-day-24-4595998523/

I’ve been feeling pretty crummy, health wise, which put a temporary stop to me writing at night. Finally got back to it today. Not great at all, but I do have the remaining two new scene outlined. Then it’s back to standard type-in work for a while. I’ve only recently managed to switch off the writer when editing and switch off the editor when writing. Now I’m finding transitioning between the two to be a bit of a pain!

1-Pass Day 24 (45959/98523) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/24/1-pass-day-24-4595998523/feed/ 0 1-Pass Day 23 (45595/98151) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/20/1-pass-day-23-559598151/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/20/1-pass-day-23-559598151/#comments Wed, 20 Sep 2006 04:58:13 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/09/20/1-pass-day-23-559598151/

Hit a blank page that said only “Insert new chapter” and a few quick notes. I’d forgotten all about it. It’s going well, but not real fast.

1-Pass Day 23 (45595/98151) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/20/1-pass-day-23-559598151/feed/ 2 1-Pass Day 22: (41004/97729) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/18/1-pass-day-22-4100497729/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/18/1-pass-day-22-4100497729/#comments Mon, 18 Sep 2006 15:57:17 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/09/18/1-pass-day-22-4100497729/

Took the kids to The Big E yesterday with my mom and Howie. We had a great time. Rachel really enjoyed the rides and both kids loved seeing all the animals. It was pretty late by the time we got back home. I managed to carry both kids to bed from the car without issue. Good thing, because I was ready to get some sleep.

After getting the kids off to bed tonight Denise and I watched the season finale of Life on Mars. It’s a great show and I really recommend it. The main character is a modern day police officer who is hit by a car and wakes up in 1973. He believes he’s in a coma and everyone else thinks he’s crazy when he tries to explain. Not your average cop drama. Very well done.

After that I headed up to the office to continue on with the revisions. I think I made pretty good progress.

1-Pass Day 22: (41004/97729) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/18/1-pass-day-22-4100497729/feed/ 1 1-Pass Day 21: (33944/98499) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/16/1-pass-day-21-3394498499/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/16/1-pass-day-21-3394498499/#comments Sun, 17 Sep 2006 02:12:25 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/09/16/1-pass-day-21-3394498499/

I had some time while the kids napped, and after putting them to bed to get some more work done. It was nice to hit some scenes with new material I wrote during the read through. I also noticed something I missed before where a scene started with two men on horseback and at some point they ended up in a tent with no mention of them even moving. Whoops!

Today was my most productive day since starting the new job. I’m just over a third of the way through. If I can just find a way to squeeze in some more time I’ll actually get through this. I’m feeling pretty good about it, if a bit frustrated that I have to stop for the night.

That leaves me at the start of what was Chapter 10 in the first draft, and is now Chapter 16.

1-Pass Day 21: (33944/98499) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/16/1-pass-day-21-3394498499/feed/ 1 1-Pass Day 20: (28797/99001) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/15/1-pass-day-20-2879799001/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/15/1-pass-day-20-2879799001/#comments Sat, 16 Sep 2006 00:20:22 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/09/15/1-pass-day-20-2879799001/

Managed to get about 45 minutes in today. It’s the first chunk of usable time I’ve had all week. I’m settling into the new job, although still not settling into the schedule that comes with it. I really wish I could have taken a week off in between jobs.

I plan to get in a few hours of writing tomorrow if possible. Wish me luck!

1-Pass Day 20: (28797/99001) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/15/1-pass-day-20-2879799001/feed/ 0 1-Pass Day 19: (25233/99124) http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/08/1-pass-day-19-2523399124/ http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/08/1-pass-day-19-2523399124/#comments Fri, 08 Sep 2006 04:59:52 +0000 Jason Penney http://jasonpenney.net/archives/2006/09/08/1-pass-day-19-2523399124/

Not great, but it’s something. Now to bed.

1-Pass Day 19: (25233/99124) is a post from All the Billion Other Moments – Jason Penney's thoughts on writing, life, and other stuff. Copyright 2009, Jason Penney.

]]> http://jasonpenney.net/blog/2006/09/08/1-pass-day-19-2523399124/feed/ 5