I’ll keep this short, but I wanted to address my lack of writing updates. I managed to make monthly writing updates here for about half the year before they pretty much stopped. At first they stopped because I was to busy actually writing (which was good), then that slowed down (not so good), and I didn’t feel like whining about my reasons here.Miracles, which has been slow going.2
All right. Enough of that. I have scenes to edit.
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Yikes! It’s September and I never posted my “Writing Update” for July. I’ve been busy, and one of the things I’ve been busy doing is taking Holly Lisle’s new online course: How to Think Sideways. I’m really enjoying the course, and I’m amazed at how well some of the techniques are working for me.
The first section of the course is all about ideas. If you write anything like me, sometimes you get ideas that seem to almost write themselves. In my case a lot of these had themes of objects that seemed to pop up in multiple otherwise unrelated stories. One of the first things I got out of this course was a much fuller understanding of what this means, how to map out the things that set off my imagination, and how to use this understanding to tap into story ideas in a more “on demand” fashion. It’s like finally having the address for that P.O. Box in Schenectady.
One of my biggest problem with ideas is that I do get a lot of themTalyn, three as examples of what not to do, and the version that sold to Tor (that’s about 150 pages of examples for one lesson).
The second section (which I’m getting into now) is about planning. What to plan. What not to plan. How to avoid over-planning. How to plan and still allow things to grow organically. This is something I’ve struggled with over numerous short stories and three novels, and I welcome any help in making sense of my experiences.
The first run of this course (300 seats) sold out fast. Holly has opened up sign ups between now and September 8th, at 9am EDT on an invitation only basis. If it’s sounds at all interesting, consider yourself invited.
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I have one TBD scene at the end of the book left to write, but the type-in is done.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Not too bad. I hope I make some good progress this weekend.
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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
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Made some more progress last night. Hopefully I’ll have some more time tonight.
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Today was not a good day. I will drown it in the cheescake of defeat.