Wasted Words

Few things are as disheartening to a writer as spending hours slaving away on pages that you later discover don’t drive the story forward, and need to be cut.

That’s been my week.

(But don’t worry…the “River Crossing” chapter is still bringing it!)

Time for Some Changes

Note to Self: When the manuscript’s own author can’t figure out the progress of the scene during a rewrite, it’s time to make some changes.

On a completly related note…WOW is my “Typical river crossing along the Oregon Trail turns high action and fraught with dangerous, unexpected obstacles” chapter turning out to be a good one!

To all you NaNo’s out there…you’ve got one more day. Totally enough time to get in a couple tens of thousands of words

PS. Castle is on tonight. For those of you who haven’t discovered this show with good writing, that happens to be ABOUT writing…check ABC at 10:00pm tonight.

Quote Friday

Today’s quote comes from Mark Twain.

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

Gonna Need a Little More Detail

I just figured out how to add a menu on the sidebar for the categories of my posts. After making the upgrade I couldn’t help but notice “Writing” is the dominant one.

Well, of course it is, this being a writing site at all.

But, I suppose I’m going to have to actually start figuring out better ways to classify stuff for the ease of my readers. All ten of you

 

Movin on Up

Step back people!

I’ve reached over 20,000 words for my rewrite.

It’s a monumental day.

Only 90,000 more to go. (Wow, those historicals sure are long huh?)

If you need me I’ll be writing.

For those of you doing NaNoWriMo…get busy! November’s almost over!

And for everyone else, Happy Monday.

(Of course it’s a Happy Monday–Castle is on tonight!)

Quote Friday

Today’s quote comes from Stephen King, who is so talented I had to post two.

No it’s not a very good story–its author was too busy listening to other voices to listen as closely as he should have to the one coming from inside.

Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.

Hoarding

I have a confession to make.

Though I try, I simply cannot throw words away.

Nope. Can’t do it.

I have draft after draft all saved on Bessie (my incredibly old but still limping along computer). I have “Alternates to X Draft” filled with beautiful prose, but not so good it made the final cut.

When I’m troubled by a particular passage/sentence/paragraph I save every version, then torture myself by revisiting it later, polishing it up, then changing my final draft to whatever I’ve just whipped up.

No wonder my rewrites are taking forever!

Life Gets in the Way

I’ve recently found that life has a way of sidelining a writing schedule.

And by life I mean anything from sick kids to a really great show on tv (speaking of which, you’ll find me watching Castle tonight at 10pm), to a sudden unexpected interest in football and you “just have to see one more play”.

I’ve found the way to power through these distractions is to acknowledge sometimes your schedule will fly out the window, and sometimes you can manage to find a ten minute block of time to get a few paragraphs reviewed.

As long as a writer is moving forward, and not languishing doing nothing, you’ll reach your goal. Maybe not when you’d hoped, but you’ll get there!

Cool Quote Friday

Today’s quote comes from Helen Keller.

No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.

Why I’ve Missed a Few Posts…

Roses are red,

My posts have been lacking.

I’ve found it hard to be creative,

While two four-year olds are hacking.

 

Roses are Red,

I’m definitely not blue.

Just got the word,

IT’S NOT SWINE FLU!!!

 

Roses are Red,

The eagle is landing

Whoever thought sick kids,

Could be so demanding?

 

Roses are Red,

Mommy knows best

Sometimes the best medicine,

Is a nice long rest.

 

Today is Veteran’s Day…thank a soldier and their family for all they do for our country.