This weekend wasn't as productive as I'd liked to have been. Both Saturday and Sunday wound up being fairly lazy days word count wise. However, I'm not too worried about it.
Okay, so I say that with a caveat. On Saturday, I still got over 10k in, however, I was hoping for more. It felt like I was dragging because I was still trying to write at 10:30 at night and I just kept allowing myself to get distracted. Finally, I gave in to the distractions and did that instead. I could've gotten to 12k if I hadn't. Maybe I needed to.
On the other hand, on Saturday, I did get all the way through Part 2 and into Part 3. YEAH! Party dance. The total count right now for Part 2 is 117k, which is about 40k more than Part 1. It's hefty. Today, I'm debating on whether one chapter needs to be pulled back out and stuck back into Part 3. But that decision will have to wait.
Yesterday, I got in about 5k, which is really good considering I should've really just taken the day off. My hubby spent a couple hours with me figuring out a technical situation with me so that something that needs to happen can. That was important and well worth the loss of word count.
I printed out five copies of Part 2 yesterday, four for my alphas and 1 for me. This will be December's project. I love how 2 is shaping up. It's solid. 3 feels thin to me right now. I have to remember that it's only the second draft and that's why I rewrite things so many times.
I'm dreaming about 12k days for the rest of the month. I don't know if that will happen or not. I'm not feeling it today, either. I think it's because 3 feels so thin. When I get deeper into the meat of the story, I should get back into it. Or maybe, I need to take a nap. It is after lunchtime.
Or maybe I need to get out the headphones and the music, and reread my post about how bad I want this! GAH!
See you tomorrow.
Showing posts with label obligations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obligations. Show all posts
Monday, November 21, 2016
Friday, November 18, 2016
November 18, 2016
I got 9.5k written yesterday. It was good. I had been aiming for 10k, of course, but it took me until 11:45 to get where I got, so I wouldn't have gotten the rest. It's okay. I was over the 10k on Wednesday and I'm aiming to be over it again today.
Part of the problem I had yesterday revolved around two chapters. I'd written a particular scene between Daniel and a minor character, Chelsea. When I went through Part 2 two times ago, I had decided I didn't want the scene in the book. When I went through it again the last time, I thought that maybe it needed to be back in there, but I wasn't sure. The events seemed so miniscule to me.
I thought about this scene a lot yesterday. By about seven o'clock, I realized that Daniel was going to HAVE to do this scene and it was going to require him to act in a way that's not him. I didn't want to write it, because I didn't want Daniel to go there.
Finally, at about ten o'clock, I decided that I'd write the chapters and if I didn't like them, I'd get rid of them. So I did. Wow. I was hiding from the emotions that came out. Holy cow. It wound up being really good chapters. They're going to need some adjusting because the emotion in it is so raw for me.
This is why I write. I love that these words can pull such an emotional response. It's awesome.
I'm shooting for 10k again today, but there's also a second goal. I'm almost done getting through Part 2 and it's Friday, the 18th. There's only twelve days left. I need to get moving. And, if I dot get through the rest today, I can give myself another duckie! Part 3 tomorrow! Woot!
See you tomorrow.
Part of the problem I had yesterday revolved around two chapters. I'd written a particular scene between Daniel and a minor character, Chelsea. When I went through Part 2 two times ago, I had decided I didn't want the scene in the book. When I went through it again the last time, I thought that maybe it needed to be back in there, but I wasn't sure. The events seemed so miniscule to me.
I thought about this scene a lot yesterday. By about seven o'clock, I realized that Daniel was going to HAVE to do this scene and it was going to require him to act in a way that's not him. I didn't want to write it, because I didn't want Daniel to go there.
Finally, at about ten o'clock, I decided that I'd write the chapters and if I didn't like them, I'd get rid of them. So I did. Wow. I was hiding from the emotions that came out. Holy cow. It wound up being really good chapters. They're going to need some adjusting because the emotion in it is so raw for me.
This is why I write. I love that these words can pull such an emotional response. It's awesome.
I'm shooting for 10k again today, but there's also a second goal. I'm almost done getting through Part 2 and it's Friday, the 18th. There's only twelve days left. I need to get moving. And, if I dot get through the rest today, I can give myself another duckie! Part 3 tomorrow! Woot!
See you tomorrow.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
November 17, 2016
Even with a late start yesterday, I still clocked in over 10k last night. I have an overall total of 107,278. I'm on track to get to 190k-ish.
A couple days ago, I joined with a group of other overachievers. By being in this group, I get to see their progress as well. It stimulates my competitive streak, on an overall and a daily basis. There's a few people at the top that I'll never reach, but I only set my sights on the three or four right ahead of me anyway. It's an ever-changing chart because their word counts are changing as well. It's actually helping me to stay focused on the word counts for the day as opposed to looking at getting through so many chapters, which can become tedious.
I'm now about 90% of the way through Part 2. I like where the book is going. There's still a rough spot towards the end that needs some more sanding, but I think revising will take care of that. To me, it's interesting and has good movement. I hope that comes across.
I can see the light at the end of the Part 2 tunnel. It's exciting. I think there's three or four new chapters/pull from part 3 (one total) that needs to happen. Whether they stay or not, I'm not sure. I'm just questioning if one event needs to happen at the end of this book or the beginning of the next. Sometimes, the portion has to be written in order to find that out.
I'm aiming for at least 10k today. There's a sports meeting for one of the kids I have to go to. Other than that, my agenda's clear.
Well, I need to get the dog to the dog park and then get to work. I hope you have a good day. See you tomorrow.
A couple days ago, I joined with a group of other overachievers. By being in this group, I get to see their progress as well. It stimulates my competitive streak, on an overall and a daily basis. There's a few people at the top that I'll never reach, but I only set my sights on the three or four right ahead of me anyway. It's an ever-changing chart because their word counts are changing as well. It's actually helping me to stay focused on the word counts for the day as opposed to looking at getting through so many chapters, which can become tedious.
I'm now about 90% of the way through Part 2. I like where the book is going. There's still a rough spot towards the end that needs some more sanding, but I think revising will take care of that. To me, it's interesting and has good movement. I hope that comes across.
I can see the light at the end of the Part 2 tunnel. It's exciting. I think there's three or four new chapters/pull from part 3 (one total) that needs to happen. Whether they stay or not, I'm not sure. I'm just questioning if one event needs to happen at the end of this book or the beginning of the next. Sometimes, the portion has to be written in order to find that out.
I'm aiming for at least 10k today. There's a sports meeting for one of the kids I have to go to. Other than that, my agenda's clear.
Well, I need to get the dog to the dog park and then get to work. I hope you have a good day. See you tomorrow.
Monday, November 14, 2016
November 14, 2016
Back to
writing a diary about writing.
I'm 2/3
of the way through this draft of Part 2.
I would like to be done by Thursday but I'm not sure I will be. There'll be another duck on the mirror when I get it! That's exciting. Duckies are cool.I rewrote over 10,000 words on Saturday so it wound up being a good weekend. I took yesterday off, except for a couple paragraphs so I could say I did SOMETHING for the day.
With all the church goings-on this weekend, I feel like I had my tank refilled. I'm excited about getting some work done today and stretching myself for those goals. I've been working since 5:45 this morning. My hubby (love that man) got the kids out the door today. I couldn't do this without his support. I'm so lucky to have him here, helping me.
I'd like to get another 10k in today. I'd be ecstatic if I could get 12k. It all depends on how the day rolls out. Hopefully this early start to the day will help. The biggest key is staying off of Facebook. I'm going to reward myself with 30 minutes after I get 5k in. I'll let you know how that works.
I'm off to writing. Have a good day.
Saturday, November 12, 2016
November 12, 2016 Elder Bednar says:
Howdy!
Last night, we had a special guest for a church meeting, Elder David A. Bednar.
Can I just say "WOW!"?
It was an incredible opportunity not only to hear him speak, but also a General 70, Elder Ian S. Adern. Both men were inspirational.
It was a different type of meeting. They didn't do the normal talks about what we needed to do, but instead, they fielded questions. They gave us a special phone number to text questions to and the whole thing was spectacular.
I took several things away from this meeting and I'll share two of them with you that especially impacted me.
We need to stop with the illusion that we are able to have all the plates spinning at the same speed.
The reason why these stuck out to me was because they were what I needed to hear. I thought about what I pray for almost every morning. "Heavenly Father, please give me the strength and endurance to do the things that I need to do today."
Sounds good, right? Right. So, yesterday, for example, I had this long list of things to do. Going to the above meeting was one of them. Walking the dog, getting gas in the car, getting a couple things at the grocery store, etc. etc., those were all on there too. As you can guess, writing was right at the top, given the NaNo and everything. I got up, stayed up and tried to do everything that needed done... in my opinion.
I. Just. Couldn't. Get. To. Writing.
By four o'clock, I had written about 800 words. Well, that's some, but it's not the 5k minimum that I was insisting on, nor was it the 10k that I really wanted to insist on, nor was it the dream 12k. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
At that time, I'm heading out the door to help my daughter and a couple other of the young women from church to pick up flags that we put out for Veteran's Day. Okay, it needs done. Tyson's at work, so we won't be able to go to the church meeting at seven like we had planned and I'll be able to sit and write, right?
Ehhh. (That was a negative buzzer sound)
Tyson texts me. He's on his way home. He'll be able to go to the meeting after all. WHAT!? Instant stress.
Picking up flags took longer than expected. Tyson was hemming about going to the meeting because he thought it was at six and we wouldn't have enough time to get cleaned up and get across town. I had a glimmer of hope that I would be able to write.
But, I couldn't lie to him. The meeting was at seven. So, with much internal grumbling from me, we cleaned up and went.
Yeah, here's the truth: What I thought I needed to do and what Heavenly Father thought I needed to do were two totally different things.
Here's what I really did yesterday: Took care of the dog, supported my children in the services they're doing for the church, prepared my vehicle and my refrigerator for the upcoming week, spoke to one of my sons over Skype that needed loving support, spent much needed time alone with my husband and listened to the words of the Lord.
Yeah, okay. Thank you Heavenly Father, I needed that... like you know I did.
Last night, we had a special guest for a church meeting, Elder David A. Bednar.
Can I just say "WOW!"?
It was an incredible opportunity not only to hear him speak, but also a General 70, Elder Ian S. Adern. Both men were inspirational.
It was a different type of meeting. They didn't do the normal talks about what we needed to do, but instead, they fielded questions. They gave us a special phone number to text questions to and the whole thing was spectacular.
I took several things away from this meeting and I'll share two of them with you that especially impacted me.
- We need to pray differently. We need to think about our roles with Heavenly Father differently. More specifically, we need to think of Agency and Receiving the Holy Ghost differently. Agency isn't just the ability to choose right from wrong. By choosing to be members of our church, we are agents of the Lord. We need to use our agency to be directed by the Lord. Instead of praying "Heavenly Father, please help those who aren't here today to be able to come to church next week", we need to pray "Heavenly Father, when I leave this building today, I'm going to seek out those members who weren't here today. Please send the Spirit with me to help me discover what I need to do to help them." This is us using our Agency from the Lord to do things that he wants us to do. This was the example Elder Bednar used. This plays into Receiving the Holy Ghost. When we become members of the church, hands are laid upon our heads and we are told to receive the Holy Ghost. This is where the above Agency comes back into play. The Priesthood Authority that gave us that gift is giving us permission to use the gift. When we're given a gift a Christmas, just taking the box isn't receiving the gift. Receiving the gift is actually opening the box, taking the present out and using it. So, (this is how I interpreted this) we have to go out and seek the Holy Ghost. If we pray in a similar manner to the above, and then go out and do what we said we were going to do, that's using the gift of the Holy Ghost. If we want to have His companionship, we have to seek it out. That totally puts a different spin on how I've been thinking about things lately. More on that in a minute.
- Balance. This is directly quoted from my notes: "Balance is an illusion. If you are seeking balance in your life, stop it. Forget it. There is no such thing." Elder Bednar went on to say that life is full of things that we need to get done, whether it be spiritual or temporal. Both areas need taken care of. It's kinda like the guy who spins plates on top of the little poles. If you watch him, he works hard to get all of the spinning plates up on the sticks and stay there. As he gets more plates going, he has to go back and spin some of the ones he already has up, so they don't stop spinning, fall and break. Never, at any time, does he have every single plate spinning at the same speed. Sometimes, there's too many plates and a couple fall.
We need to stop with the illusion that we are able to have all the plates spinning at the same speed.
The reason why these stuck out to me was because they were what I needed to hear. I thought about what I pray for almost every morning. "Heavenly Father, please give me the strength and endurance to do the things that I need to do today."
Sounds good, right? Right. So, yesterday, for example, I had this long list of things to do. Going to the above meeting was one of them. Walking the dog, getting gas in the car, getting a couple things at the grocery store, etc. etc., those were all on there too. As you can guess, writing was right at the top, given the NaNo and everything. I got up, stayed up and tried to do everything that needed done... in my opinion.
I. Just. Couldn't. Get. To. Writing.
By four o'clock, I had written about 800 words. Well, that's some, but it's not the 5k minimum that I was insisting on, nor was it the 10k that I really wanted to insist on, nor was it the dream 12k. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
At that time, I'm heading out the door to help my daughter and a couple other of the young women from church to pick up flags that we put out for Veteran's Day. Okay, it needs done. Tyson's at work, so we won't be able to go to the church meeting at seven like we had planned and I'll be able to sit and write, right?
Ehhh. (That was a negative buzzer sound)
Tyson texts me. He's on his way home. He'll be able to go to the meeting after all. WHAT!? Instant stress.
Picking up flags took longer than expected. Tyson was hemming about going to the meeting because he thought it was at six and we wouldn't have enough time to get cleaned up and get across town. I had a glimmer of hope that I would be able to write.
But, I couldn't lie to him. The meeting was at seven. So, with much internal grumbling from me, we cleaned up and went.
Yeah, here's the truth: What I thought I needed to do and what Heavenly Father thought I needed to do were two totally different things.
Here's what I really did yesterday: Took care of the dog, supported my children in the services they're doing for the church, prepared my vehicle and my refrigerator for the upcoming week, spoke to one of my sons over Skype that needed loving support, spent much needed time alone with my husband and listened to the words of the Lord.
Yeah, okay. Thank you Heavenly Father, I needed that... like you know I did.
Friday, November 11, 2016
November 11, 2106
Well,
today is going to be a busy day. I'm
only practically calling for about 5k today, and hoping for close to 10k. The 10k would be awesome.
I
wanted 12k yesterday and settled for 10.4k.
By the nine o'clock, I was brain fried.
But then, I felt pretty fired all day.
I unplugged the internet to help me out with my writing goals. It worked until about lunchtime, when I
wanted to update my word count. Then it
was downhill from there. Facebook became
a distraction a few times. Once, it was
over an hour. That needs to stop. It's hard, however, when your brain's on
overload and you need a little dopamine boost.
It's quite convenient for that.So, I figured out what it would take to get through the end of Part 2 by next week. If I average around 10k a day, with less than 1k on Sunday, I can be done by Thursday. I'd rather be done by Tuesday, but I don't know how I'm going to pull that off. I didn't pull the word counts the first week that I needed to in order to pull that off.
So, I have to do it now. Maybe if I buckled down today, I can get that 10k. I'll have to really buckle down tomorrow, it's another jam-packed day.
We'll take it a day at a time, I guess.
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
November 9, 2016
So, staying glued to the election results affected my word count. I got just barely over 7000 in yesterday. Still a good day, but not what I wanted.
And today is Wednesday. It will be busy all day again. And I'm tired. I've hit my middle of the week slump.
We have a football game this afternoon. Before that, I need to do my volunteer work at the Family History Center. The kids have church activities tonight. This weekend is filling up as well. There's a funeral I will be helping with on Saturday afternoon. A church meeting I'll be going to on Friday night. And I'll be helping the Boy Scouts (I have three) put out/pick up Veteran's Day flags on Friday.
I better try to write as much as I can today, tomorrow and Friday during the day. Looks like I'm going to loose half of Saturday and Friday evening.
I better get to work.
And today is Wednesday. It will be busy all day again. And I'm tired. I've hit my middle of the week slump.
We have a football game this afternoon. Before that, I need to do my volunteer work at the Family History Center. The kids have church activities tonight. This weekend is filling up as well. There's a funeral I will be helping with on Saturday afternoon. A church meeting I'll be going to on Friday night. And I'll be helping the Boy Scouts (I have three) put out/pick up Veteran's Day flags on Friday.
I better try to write as much as I can today, tomorrow and Friday during the day. Looks like I'm going to loose half of Saturday and Friday evening.
I better get to work.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
October 26, 2016
So, I did get two chapters (re)written yesterday for a total of around 5300 words. Some of that word count is warm-up and me 'interviewing' my characters. That's a technique I use when I'm staring at a blank page and don't know where to go. It works really well.
I spent most of the day avoiding these two chapters. I have a suspicion that I know too much in my head and I know (at least I think I do... it's possible it could change) what's going to happen to these two and I don't like it. I had a long discussion with myself (yes... sometimes it has to happen), telling myself that I needed to be true to my story and write these chapters. It took all day, but I finally got it done. I feel better now that it is and the whole process produced another chapter that now needs to happen. It's all good.
It's busy Wednesday today so I don't know how much I'm going to get done. I'd like to get two more chapters done today, but with my performance yesterday, I don't if that's going to happen.
I got the rest of my shipment of my book order in the mail today. Next week, I'm going to go talk to the local Barnes and Noble to see if they'll put them out. Maybe there'll be a book-signing too. We'll see.
I spent most of the day avoiding these two chapters. I have a suspicion that I know too much in my head and I know (at least I think I do... it's possible it could change) what's going to happen to these two and I don't like it. I had a long discussion with myself (yes... sometimes it has to happen), telling myself that I needed to be true to my story and write these chapters. It took all day, but I finally got it done. I feel better now that it is and the whole process produced another chapter that now needs to happen. It's all good.
It's busy Wednesday today so I don't know how much I'm going to get done. I'd like to get two more chapters done today, but with my performance yesterday, I don't if that's going to happen.
I got the rest of my shipment of my book order in the mail today. Next week, I'm going to go talk to the local Barnes and Noble to see if they'll put them out. Maybe there'll be a book-signing too. We'll see.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
October 25, 2016
Good morning. I'm starting early today.
I realized last night that I've been avoiding this chapter that I'm stuck on in the rewrite of part 2. During the afternoon, I discovered I haven't written anything in two weeks. I know I've been busy with other stuff, but the writing/rewriting is what gets me excited. I've written beyond this chapter by about four, but I feel like I can't go too much further without filling the holes. So, that means I need to go back and do it.
I've known that for two weeks and yet here I am, not writing the chapter. While, I've been finding good things to be doing (most of the time, FB prowling has increased significantly), reading, taking care of the technical parts of publishing part 1, spending time here, I'm still not writing. That means something about it isn't right about this chapter, but I'm not sure what that is.
As I began reading part 2 to make corrections a couple weeks ago, I came across a related chapter early in part 2. It's an information dump, necessary, but I think I've allowed it to become burdensome. I decided during the reading that I needed to completely rewrite the chapter. Therefore, I need to get this early chapter done before I can get the later one taken care of.
Or is that me just prolonging working on the chapter?
Could be.
Here's the deal, though. I promised myself this morning, I would get that chapter written before I allow myself to do anything else. The dog needs walked before it gets too late, and I'll need to take a shower afterwards because I have more parent-teacher conferences this afternoon. So, I have to have the dog walked before lunch.
That means I need to get going.
I'll check in with you tomorrow! Have a good day.
I realized last night that I've been avoiding this chapter that I'm stuck on in the rewrite of part 2. During the afternoon, I discovered I haven't written anything in two weeks. I know I've been busy with other stuff, but the writing/rewriting is what gets me excited. I've written beyond this chapter by about four, but I feel like I can't go too much further without filling the holes. So, that means I need to go back and do it.
I've known that for two weeks and yet here I am, not writing the chapter. While, I've been finding good things to be doing (most of the time, FB prowling has increased significantly), reading, taking care of the technical parts of publishing part 1, spending time here, I'm still not writing. That means something about it isn't right about this chapter, but I'm not sure what that is.
As I began reading part 2 to make corrections a couple weeks ago, I came across a related chapter early in part 2. It's an information dump, necessary, but I think I've allowed it to become burdensome. I decided during the reading that I needed to completely rewrite the chapter. Therefore, I need to get this early chapter done before I can get the later one taken care of.
Or is that me just prolonging working on the chapter?
Could be.
Here's the deal, though. I promised myself this morning, I would get that chapter written before I allow myself to do anything else. The dog needs walked before it gets too late, and I'll need to take a shower afterwards because I have more parent-teacher conferences this afternoon. So, I have to have the dog walked before lunch.
That means I need to get going.
I'll check in with you tomorrow! Have a good day.
Monday, October 17, 2016
October 17, 2016
I fell into a pool of gelatinous goo on Saturday evening. Once I had the whole book read again and all the corrections highlighted, I relaxed. I relaxed so much, I wound up having a tension headache that night and into most of the day Sunday. I didn't get anything fixed nor did I upload the cleaned up manuscript.
Therefore, that is the plan today: corrections and uploading. Tomorrow, I'll check the rough spots. As I looked over the corrections last night, there weren't as many in my head as I thought there were. I think we're almost ready. I hope to publish by the end of the week. EEEE!!
In the meantime, I've posted chapter 3. Please enjoy!
See you tomorrow.
Therefore, that is the plan today: corrections and uploading. Tomorrow, I'll check the rough spots. As I looked over the corrections last night, there weren't as many in my head as I thought there were. I think we're almost ready. I hope to publish by the end of the week. EEEE!!
In the meantime, I've posted chapter 3. Please enjoy!
See you tomorrow.
Saturday, October 15, 2016
October 15, 2016
Today was a good day of work.
All I did was read. I got the correction reading I've been doing completed. Now to get the corrections done and upload a cleaned up version. Like I've been saying, I feel like all I need to do now is double-check the rough spots and call the rest good. I have made a couple non-necessary changes and I'll double-check those too. However, the unnecessary changes outweigh the necessary ones this time. I don't think those will ever go away. I could read this book every month for the next ten years and still find something to tweak.
It'll never be perfect and it's time to make the fixes and step away. :/
I also did some editing work on the early chapters of part 2. I still have 6-10 chapters to rewrite, toward the end. Maybe now that I'm done with part 1, I can focus on that again. I want to have the rewrite of part 2 done before November so I can just jump into the rewrite of part 3. I have sixteen more days. I can do this.
I'm off tomorrow. I'll be posting chapter 3 on Monday. I hoping to publish part one (the whole week) by the end of the week!
See you Monday!
All I did was read. I got the correction reading I've been doing completed. Now to get the corrections done and upload a cleaned up version. Like I've been saying, I feel like all I need to do now is double-check the rough spots and call the rest good. I have made a couple non-necessary changes and I'll double-check those too. However, the unnecessary changes outweigh the necessary ones this time. I don't think those will ever go away. I could read this book every month for the next ten years and still find something to tweak.
It'll never be perfect and it's time to make the fixes and step away. :/
I also did some editing work on the early chapters of part 2. I still have 6-10 chapters to rewrite, toward the end. Maybe now that I'm done with part 1, I can focus on that again. I want to have the rewrite of part 2 done before November so I can just jump into the rewrite of part 3. I have sixteen more days. I can do this.
I'm off tomorrow. I'll be posting chapter 3 on Monday. I hoping to publish part one (the whole week) by the end of the week!
See you Monday!
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
October 11, 2016
So, I was productive yesterday, even though I didn't get everything done that I needed to.
I need to slow it down a little, I've got way too much on my plate writing-wise. So, I'm concentrating on getting the rest of Part 1 read so I can get it published!! I can't read all day, however, so I'm also going to do a little rewriting in there, but not at the pace I had set for myself earlier.
Today, however, will be spent doing some NaNo prep. I'm going to the store and purchasing supplies to make 31 frozen crock-pot meals. Then, I'll be spending the rest of the day putting them together. No, it's not writing, but it is necessary if I want to have as much time in November for pure writing.
And I really want that.
I posted Chapter 1 in the pages of the blog. Please go check it out. Feel free to leave a comment, if you wish. If you've read the preview on CreateSpace, it's the same material. I'll be posting Chapter 2 on Friday.
Thanks for everything!
See you tomorrow.
I need to slow it down a little, I've got way too much on my plate writing-wise. So, I'm concentrating on getting the rest of Part 1 read so I can get it published!! I can't read all day, however, so I'm also going to do a little rewriting in there, but not at the pace I had set for myself earlier.
Today, however, will be spent doing some NaNo prep. I'm going to the store and purchasing supplies to make 31 frozen crock-pot meals. Then, I'll be spending the rest of the day putting them together. No, it's not writing, but it is necessary if I want to have as much time in November for pure writing.
And I really want that.
I posted Chapter 1 in the pages of the blog. Please go check it out. Feel free to leave a comment, if you wish. If you've read the preview on CreateSpace, it's the same material. I'll be posting Chapter 2 on Friday.
Thanks for everything!
See you tomorrow.
Friday, October 7, 2016
October 7, 2016
I'm late with my post today for one main reason: I wanted to get the corrections done!
Hallelujah! I have achieved Nirvana... I think.
Because I like numbers, here's the breakdown:
50 Chapters, 274 pages
Ironically, 274 total corrections therefore one per page or an average of 5.5 per chapter.
That's too high.
Phhhh. I'm going to have to reread it.
Necessary Changes:
Doubled verbs - two
Formatting -
Dashes that I doubled but Word didn't convert - three
Too much space inside a chapter break - two
Soft return creating a double tab on the next line - nineteen
Punctuation (mostly dashes, ellipses issues and adding/removing commas) -
twenty-nine
Capitalization (these are words that need to be capitalized in the setting of my book
and not real life) - eleven
General typos - sixteen
Spelling - seventeen
Lay vs. lie - seven
Cot vs. bed - thirteen
Changing words/sentences because they NEEDED changed (counting the missing five
ending sentences of chapter 48) - thirty-nine
Misc. - fifteen
Unnecessary Changes (words or sentences that didn't need fixed but sound better now):
Changed - seventy-four
Eliminated - seventeen
Punctuation - ten
I had six chapters that didn't need any changes at all! I was so happy to have those. There were more fixes in the front half of the book than the second half. When I didn't find the last portion of chapter 48, I was mortified.
Hallelujah! I have achieved Nirvana... I think.
Because I like numbers, here's the breakdown:
50 Chapters, 274 pages
Ironically, 274 total corrections therefore one per page or an average of 5.5 per chapter.
That's too high.
Phhhh. I'm going to have to reread it.
Necessary Changes:
Doubled verbs - two
Formatting -
Dashes that I doubled but Word didn't convert - three
Too much space inside a chapter break - two
Soft return creating a double tab on the next line - nineteen
Punctuation (mostly dashes, ellipses issues and adding/removing commas) -
twenty-nine
Capitalization (these are words that need to be capitalized in the setting of my book
and not real life) - eleven
General typos - sixteen
Spelling - seventeen
Lay vs. lie - seven
Cot vs. bed - thirteen
Changing words/sentences because they NEEDED changed (counting the missing five
ending sentences of chapter 48) - thirty-nine
Misc. - fifteen
Unnecessary Changes (words or sentences that didn't need fixed but sound better now):
Changed - seventy-four
Eliminated - seventeen
Punctuation - ten
I had six chapters that didn't need any changes at all! I was so happy to have those. There were more fixes in the front half of the book than the second half. When I didn't find the last portion of chapter 48, I was mortified.
I am SOOO glad I bought the book proof
There's too many errors to ignore the fact that I need to read it again. Sad, but true. But that's okay, I think. Like I said a few posts back, this book will last longer than me. I'm SO grateful I didn't just say "Oh, it's good. Let's hit 'accept'." This is embarrassing. It would have been more so with a published book.
I am not ordering another book proof, however. Because of the issues with the text being wrong on the front cover, I've already made those changes and uploaded a new cover. I ordered new proof book last week to be certain the book looked right with the fixed text and it does. It is WAAAYYY better. As far as the interior, I'm going to upload the cleaned up manuscript today and when they come back with the approval, I'll download a digital copy and print it off at home. I'm going to make sure all the indents are correct, the odd page numbers are on the right hand pages, that I don't have any orphans or widows and then reread it.
It'll be fine.
Yesterday, I had an awesome day writing. I got three chapters done, half of which was new material. The chapter I wrote from scratch yesterday took off in an unexpected direction so now I'm all fired up to write again! Yahoo! Note: that will mean more changes in the future and the farther I get away from this point, the farther I'll be from the draft that's already written. Isn't writing exciting! Wahoo!
I still need to upload stuff to CreateSpace and Smashwords so I better get to work. Check in with you tomorrow.
Thursday, October 6, 2016
October 6, 2016
So yesterday was productive, but not as much as the previous two days. A couple phone calls and me digging through my hard drive to find four missing chapters ate up a lot of time. No fears, it's all good.
I got the three chapters read looking for corrections. I have five left, three today and two tomorrow, which will put me finishing right on time.
10 chapters got corrected yesterday and I should be able to catch up today, leaving the last five for tomorrow. That task will also be completed.
I only got two chapters written/rewritten (one of each) yesterday for a total of just over 2000 words. That's not bad. I estimate I have fourteen chapters left to finish this rewrite of part 2, which is two per day. I accomplished that yesterday. But since I wanted to get into part three, I had been wanting to do three a day as a minimum. If I look at it that way, I'm thirteen behind. :/ That's an average of four a day from here on out. :/ We'll have to see.
So today, ten more chapters of corrections, three more for reading and at least three chapters of rewrite. There is a flag football game today, but that's a good break. I also still need to walk the dog, which isn't too painful. I think it can happen.
The thing is, I think I have to let go of this idea of a 'work schedule'. Or at least the idea of a normal one. Today and yesterday, I went back to bed after getting the kids going and slept until nine-ish. I felt good all day yesterday, never once stopping to take a catnap (I do that usually twice a day). My goal has been to have all of these 'beginning of the day' chores done (walk the dog, shower, make-up, etc.) done by eight-thirty so I can start 'work'. If I do an 'eight hour workday' with a lunch, I should be done at five, right? Well, my goals don't always fit into that schedule and Facebook sucks quite a few hours. I'm ALWAYS working right up until bedtime. If I'm looser with that timeline, I guess I don't feel as guilty? I don't know. It's been a bugger trying to get all this worked out.
Well, I'll touch base again tomorrow.
I got the three chapters read looking for corrections. I have five left, three today and two tomorrow, which will put me finishing right on time.
10 chapters got corrected yesterday and I should be able to catch up today, leaving the last five for tomorrow. That task will also be completed.
I only got two chapters written/rewritten (one of each) yesterday for a total of just over 2000 words. That's not bad. I estimate I have fourteen chapters left to finish this rewrite of part 2, which is two per day. I accomplished that yesterday. But since I wanted to get into part three, I had been wanting to do three a day as a minimum. If I look at it that way, I'm thirteen behind. :/ That's an average of four a day from here on out. :/ We'll have to see.
So today, ten more chapters of corrections, three more for reading and at least three chapters of rewrite. There is a flag football game today, but that's a good break. I also still need to walk the dog, which isn't too painful. I think it can happen.
The thing is, I think I have to let go of this idea of a 'work schedule'. Or at least the idea of a normal one. Today and yesterday, I went back to bed after getting the kids going and slept until nine-ish. I felt good all day yesterday, never once stopping to take a catnap (I do that usually twice a day). My goal has been to have all of these 'beginning of the day' chores done (walk the dog, shower, make-up, etc.) done by eight-thirty so I can start 'work'. If I do an 'eight hour workday' with a lunch, I should be done at five, right? Well, my goals don't always fit into that schedule and Facebook sucks quite a few hours. I'm ALWAYS working right up until bedtime. If I'm looser with that timeline, I guess I don't feel as guilty? I don't know. It's been a bugger trying to get all this worked out.
Well, I'll touch base again tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
October 5, 2016
Yesterday was another productive day. I accomplished a lot on my to-do list.
I got ten more chapters corrected (5 of the behind ones, 5 for the day), leaving me ten behind. I plan on getting another ten done today (like above) leaving me five behind for tomorrow. That should catch me up.
I got my three chapters read for corrections. I only have eight more to go so I'm almost done with that project. However, with as many corrections as I'm making, I can't help but feel like I should read it one more time, just maybe not as slowly. I think I'm going to, I'll just do it as a digital copy of the proof instead of ordering yet another one.
I got three chapters rewritten/written yesterday. Half of it was new material. They're smaller chapters than the ones on Monday, I only got 4000 words in. That's still good, though.
I'm not going to get as much done today. I took a Benadryl last night and it hadn't worn off when the alarm went off. So, I slept in until about nine. I started on my day by looking in the first draft of part three for a chapter I need to pull out of it. In order to do that, I broke the draft up into workable portions that will become chapters. Currently, there's about 52 chapters for part 3. However, I know there is more storyline that I haven't explored yet (that's slated for November) and I'm missing four chapters that I KNOW I wrote. I know the general gist of those chapters so I can rewrite them, I would just like to have them for reference. I spent most of the morning and early afternoon scouring my hard drive looking for them. Grr. I can't find them.
So, today, I hope to get another ten chapters corrected, three more read and an additional four chapters rewritten. But, seeing as how half the afternoon is gone, I doubt I'll make it. Here's to hoping!
See you tomorrow.
I got ten more chapters corrected (5 of the behind ones, 5 for the day), leaving me ten behind. I plan on getting another ten done today (like above) leaving me five behind for tomorrow. That should catch me up.
I got my three chapters read for corrections. I only have eight more to go so I'm almost done with that project. However, with as many corrections as I'm making, I can't help but feel like I should read it one more time, just maybe not as slowly. I think I'm going to, I'll just do it as a digital copy of the proof instead of ordering yet another one.
I got three chapters rewritten/written yesterday. Half of it was new material. They're smaller chapters than the ones on Monday, I only got 4000 words in. That's still good, though.
I'm not going to get as much done today. I took a Benadryl last night and it hadn't worn off when the alarm went off. So, I slept in until about nine. I started on my day by looking in the first draft of part three for a chapter I need to pull out of it. In order to do that, I broke the draft up into workable portions that will become chapters. Currently, there's about 52 chapters for part 3. However, I know there is more storyline that I haven't explored yet (that's slated for November) and I'm missing four chapters that I KNOW I wrote. I know the general gist of those chapters so I can rewrite them, I would just like to have them for reference. I spent most of the morning and early afternoon scouring my hard drive looking for them. Grr. I can't find them.
So, today, I hope to get another ten chapters corrected, three more read and an additional four chapters rewritten. But, seeing as how half the afternoon is gone, I doubt I'll make it. Here's to hoping!
See you tomorrow.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
October 4, 2016
Yesterday was a very productive day. I didn't get everything done that I set out to do, but I accomplished a lot!
I got 10 of the 20 chapters corrected that needed it. Three chapters were read for corrections, which was the goal. I wanted to get four chapters rewritten and only got three. However, that was over 6100 words, which is a really good day. Of those three 'rewritten' chapters, two were actually new.
There wasn't anything on the list to do beyond my normal daily activities. The calendar today looks similar. I'm hoping to accomplish a similar amount. I'm all fired up about it, too!
My goals are the pretty much the same as they were yesterday. I have 15 chapters to correct to get caught up, three more chapters to read (I'm almost through the whole book). I'd like to get four chapters rewritten, but more would be spectacular. We'll see.
I'm off to work. See you tomorrow!
I got 10 of the 20 chapters corrected that needed it. Three chapters were read for corrections, which was the goal. I wanted to get four chapters rewritten and only got three. However, that was over 6100 words, which is a really good day. Of those three 'rewritten' chapters, two were actually new.
There wasn't anything on the list to do beyond my normal daily activities. The calendar today looks similar. I'm hoping to accomplish a similar amount. I'm all fired up about it, too!
My goals are the pretty much the same as they were yesterday. I have 15 chapters to correct to get caught up, three more chapters to read (I'm almost through the whole book). I'd like to get four chapters rewritten, but more would be spectacular. We'll see.
I'm off to work. See you tomorrow!
Monday, October 3, 2016
October 3, 2016
Hello. I hope you had a wonderful weekend.
I did. I spent most of the weekend with my family, eating food and watching inspirational talks from our church leaders. It was nice and relaxing. We had some enjoyable conversations with my hubby's mom and some really good friends. Couldn't have had a better weekend.
That being said, I'm now behind on the schedule we talked about last Friday. LOL. Now, we kick it into gear and get things done! I don't have any other plans for today and I've already started supper. Just going to sit in the loft and check things off of my super long to-do list.
Here's what's on it for today: I have to catch up in my corrections--20 chapters, I have to read three more chapters, looking for corrections (not a catch-up, that's the work I did do this weekend), and rewriting/writing 12 chapters (three for four days). Hahahahahahaha. We'll see how this plays out this week. Tomorrow is fairly clear of other obligations as well. Maybe I'll get something done.
I'm holding off on making a new "about" page this week. Once the proofing is done, then we'll put that back under the focus.
I signed up for NaNoWriMo this morning. I'm planning on working on Part 3 drafts. I'm giddy.
Time to get to work. I'll let you know how I did tomorrow!
I did. I spent most of the weekend with my family, eating food and watching inspirational talks from our church leaders. It was nice and relaxing. We had some enjoyable conversations with my hubby's mom and some really good friends. Couldn't have had a better weekend.
That being said, I'm now behind on the schedule we talked about last Friday. LOL. Now, we kick it into gear and get things done! I don't have any other plans for today and I've already started supper. Just going to sit in the loft and check things off of my super long to-do list.
Here's what's on it for today: I have to catch up in my corrections--20 chapters, I have to read three more chapters, looking for corrections (not a catch-up, that's the work I did do this weekend), and rewriting/writing 12 chapters (three for four days). Hahahahahahaha. We'll see how this plays out this week. Tomorrow is fairly clear of other obligations as well. Maybe I'll get something done.
I'm holding off on making a new "about" page this week. Once the proofing is done, then we'll put that back under the focus.
I signed up for NaNoWriMo this morning. I'm planning on working on Part 3 drafts. I'm giddy.
Time to get to work. I'll let you know how I did tomorrow!
Saturday, October 1, 2016
October 1, 2016
Happy October, everybody.
Today has been a day spent watching inspiring talks by the leaders of my church. I haven't gotten much done today and that's okay. It's been a nice, relaxing day and I wouldn't trade it for all the work I could've gotten done.
Yesterday, I got two chapters rewritten (well, one written and one rewritten). I logged over 5000 words. Pretty good.
Then, my hubby and I took the kids to rodeo and later, the carnival at the fair. We got home about 12:30. It was a really good day.
I didn't get the chapters read that I had scheduled. I didn't get the chapters corrected that I had scheduled. Goals in the trash bin yesterday and today. Sigh.
There's always next week. Here's to meeting those goals this next week! Have a wonderful Sunday!
Today has been a day spent watching inspiring talks by the leaders of my church. I haven't gotten much done today and that's okay. It's been a nice, relaxing day and I wouldn't trade it for all the work I could've gotten done.
Yesterday, I got two chapters rewritten (well, one written and one rewritten). I logged over 5000 words. Pretty good.
Then, my hubby and I took the kids to rodeo and later, the carnival at the fair. We got home about 12:30. It was a really good day.
I didn't get the chapters read that I had scheduled. I didn't get the chapters corrected that I had scheduled. Goals in the trash bin yesterday and today. Sigh.
There's always next week. Here's to meeting those goals this next week! Have a wonderful Sunday!
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
September 21, 2016
You guys are awesome! Thank you for reading, liking and sharing! I love that there's so many of you who've come to see what I'm doing here. It's exciting.
The new sketch of the layout of the floors is coming along but there's still some more work to do. I'm looking forward to sharing that with you.
Yesterday, I got just over 2,000 words rewritten. I struggled yesterday. Facebook was a big temptation. The little bit of the drawing that I worked on was wonderful. I wonder if my creative tank is running low again. Probably better find a way to fill it up.
I got more timeline work done and I think I've filled in the gap the scene move created. By taking that major scene and moving it up in the timeline, things behind it were lagging a little. Yesterday, I discovered what I needed to build up to fill that space. Right now, it's only in rough draft form, but once it's cleaned up, I think it'll be really good. But, that's just my opinion! Hahahaha.
Shooting for 6,000 today, but only expecting 3,000. While I'd like the bigger number, I'd be satisfied with the smaller one. There's laundry to do, a grocery list to make for tomorrow, volunteering to do this afternoon and then just plain o' life. It is Wednesday....
Lol. I'll see you tomorrow.
The new sketch of the layout of the floors is coming along but there's still some more work to do. I'm looking forward to sharing that with you.
Yesterday, I got just over 2,000 words rewritten. I struggled yesterday. Facebook was a big temptation. The little bit of the drawing that I worked on was wonderful. I wonder if my creative tank is running low again. Probably better find a way to fill it up.
I got more timeline work done and I think I've filled in the gap the scene move created. By taking that major scene and moving it up in the timeline, things behind it were lagging a little. Yesterday, I discovered what I needed to build up to fill that space. Right now, it's only in rough draft form, but once it's cleaned up, I think it'll be really good. But, that's just my opinion! Hahahaha.
Shooting for 6,000 today, but only expecting 3,000. While I'd like the bigger number, I'd be satisfied with the smaller one. There's laundry to do, a grocery list to make for tomorrow, volunteering to do this afternoon and then just plain o' life. It is Wednesday....
Lol. I'll see you tomorrow.
Friday, September 16, 2016
September 16, 2016
It's Friday.
It was another busy day today with a trip to the veterinarian and the store. I didn't get started on today's work until 12:30.
I do hope to get eight hours in though. My daughter is out of town tonight and my husband has to work so it'll only be me and the three boys. I was already planning on leftovers for dinner. They'll want to play video games or on the computer, so I think I'll be free to get my hours in.
I got my book proof ordered today. The cover is finally where I want it to be, yeah!
I got about 2000 words re-written yesterday. I tried to stay up and get a couple hours in but my body said 'no.'
We'll find out what the rest of today brings. One more small task and then I can focus on writing.
See you tomorrow.
Construct 11 copyright registration pending
It was another busy day today with a trip to the veterinarian and the store. I didn't get started on today's work until 12:30.
I do hope to get eight hours in though. My daughter is out of town tonight and my husband has to work so it'll only be me and the three boys. I was already planning on leftovers for dinner. They'll want to play video games or on the computer, so I think I'll be free to get my hours in.
I got my book proof ordered today. The cover is finally where I want it to be, yeah!
I got about 2000 words re-written yesterday. I tried to stay up and get a couple hours in but my body said 'no.'
We'll find out what the rest of today brings. One more small task and then I can focus on writing.
See you tomorrow.
Construct 11 copyright registration pending
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