Archive for the ‘Novel in Progress’ Category

It’s 6:30 Already? Say It Isn’t So!

Sunday, March 11th, 2012
By , @Writing2Day

Ah yes, Daylight Savings Time has begun. I am a morning person. I can’t remember the last time I set an alarm to get up in the morning. I just naturally wake up in the wee hours and relish the quiet time to myself before the demands of the rest of the household kick into high gear. I feel cheated if I accidentally sleep in until 6:00 and only have two hours to myself before I have to get ready for work. So this morning when I awoke and the clock read 3:43, I thought to myself, “I better get up. It’s already 4:43.”
It seems a couple of hours have gone by already. I’ve browsed through Facebook, made my moves in Words With Friends and Scrabble, read the latest news headlines on MSN, and now I’m pondering why it is that I haven’t written anything for the past six months. For those of you who are unfamiliar with my story, I started a novel twenty-six years ago. I spent the time leading up to my six month hiatus retyping my work in progress (all 99,911 words) because it was originally created on a word processing typewriter. Now it seems I’ve lost my gumption about this particular work in progress.
I feel strongly that I should finish it. Only a few more chapters to go and the first draft will be complete. After going through the retype, I feel there are definitely areas that shine and many more areas that need some major restructuring. Also, it has occurred to me that the story I was writing when I was twenty does not hold the same enthusiasm for me at forty-six.
So here in lies my conundrum. Do I finish it just for the sake of finishing it? Or, do I scrap it and start on one of the fresh ideas that are floating around in my head? I also have to ask myself if nearing the end of the project is bringing about the fear of rejection, it’s not good enough thoughts, etc. It is quite possible this is playing into my hiatus, as well. I would be curious to know if any fellow writers have found themselves in the same predicament with a work in progress spanning twenty-six years? One other question, “Do any of you work on multiple projects at the same time?”
I love to write, always have. However, it seems I have a major problem committing myself to getting the final project complete. I tend to let everything else in life take over and put my writing on the back burner. Writing for me can be very therapeutic. I was hoping that putting these thoughts to the blogosphere would somehow help me realize which path to take. Alas, I am no closer to figuring it out but at least I have posted a blog entry worth about 500 words. For now that will have to be a step in the “write” direction.

Oh My Aching Fingers and Back!

Sunday, July 31st, 2011
By , @Writing2Day

My goal for the day was to do an entire chapter. 9,857 words later the first draft of Chapter 7 is done. A huge pat on the back for myself although now I think I need a masseuse! Does anyone else get really tense between the shoulder blades when doing an extended session of typing? Really wish I could figure that one out.  Love, love, love to write but maybe I will have to take more frequent breaks. I’m thinking maybe once I get the rest of the WIP typed in, the typing pace will slow down and solve the aching back and fingers problem.

I had to take a look at my daily progess log and I’m now up to 62,487 words. With my projection of roughly 120,000 words total that means I’m over the hump.  If I could just write a little over 1,200 words per day, my rough draft will be finished by mid-September.  Seems it would be much easier on the back/finger issue if I would write everyday instead of playing catch up on the weekends.  I’ve got three days off in the middle of this week, so we’ll see what sort of progress is made.

I am all about goal setting and the Word Count Target and Daily Progress Log is one feature of yWriter5 that I really like. When you’re looking at writing an entire novel the prospect can be overwhelming. But, when it’s broken down into 1,200 words per day it doesn’t seem nearly as unattainable.

I’m thinking about posting Chapter 1 on my blog for comments and feedback. Has anyone out there done this? Did you find it helpful? Would also love any tips for the aching back, lol!

Best of writing success to you all,
Kendra

WIP Just Went Over 50,000 Words

Friday, July 22nd, 2011
By , @Writing2Day

Wow, this feels like quite the milestone.  This means I am just over half way through retyping my manuscript which is at 95,000 words.  The reason for the retype?  I started writing this novel in my early twenties.  I finished writing Chapter 9 the night before my first child was born in 1990.  Age then 25, age now 45 – yikes!

That’s twenty years that my book has sat dormant.  I actually started writing on an old electric typewriter in the mid-80’s.  From there, I was so thrilled to get a word processing typewriter.  I thought I was in heaven when I could see my words going across that 3″ strip and actually save them to a disk.  Looking back, I’m not really sure how I managed it but I did manage to get my manuscript from the word processor to my first computer and kept saving it and putting it on to each new computer I have owned.  I think that’s quite an accomplishment in itself and speaks to the fact that I always knew I would return to writing.

As you can probably imagine with the way technology changes and programs get updated, this work in progress did not continue to load in each new device in its original form.  For the most part it translated quite well, but it is intermixed with lots of fun characters here and there – anything from squares to fun symbols that I can’t even describe, lol.  Rather than proof and fix through 95,000 words, I decided I would much rather retype the manuscript.

This actually is killing two birds with one stone as not only did the manuscript need to be fixed but after twenty years I definitely needed a refresher on where the book was going.  I lost my outline years ago, but it is still in my mind that I had three more chapters to write in order to wrap up the story.  It is really quite amazing that I can be typing away and anticipating the words I wrote that long ago just like I had sat down at the typewriter yesterday.  I figure by the time I’m done typing those last three chapters will come to me.  And, focusing on typing has helped me to focus on truly reading what I wrote.  I have a tendency to gloss over things that I have written since I basically know what’s coming.  I’ve definitely found some glaring spots that are calling out to me for a rewrite but for now I am just making a note and moving on.

I am looking forward to completing this phase of the project and really getting back in to writing.  Is there anybody else out there who started out following their writing dream and set it aside for such a long period of time?  I would love to hear from you.

First Scene of Chapter 5

Thursday, June 30th, 2011
By , @Writing2Day

Managed to get the first scene of Chapter 5 typed in this morning.  Seems I’m always pushing myself a little farther than I should when it comes to getting ready for work.  Time to quit typing and rush through the morning routine.  Work here I come!

2,000 Words this Morning

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
By , @Writing2Day

For the moment, I’ve cleared my plate of work obligations that need to be done from home and finished up the in-laws website.  Now, back to my writing!  Just got done typing in 2,000 words from Chapter 2.  I think this has been a good choice to retype, as I am really reading what I have written (twenty years ago).

I’m using yWriter5 this time around.  It’s so funny when I think about it.  I originally typed this into a typwriter style word processor and thought it was the best thing ever!  Ooy, now I couldn’t even imagine looking at that little itty bitty window.  Somehow I managed to save everything to floppy A’s and get it loaded in Word.  However, there are occasional strange symbols lurking in place of some of the words, so the retype is catching all of those.  So far, I am likeing yWriter5 and the scene breakdowns.

I would be curious to know what writing software others are using.  Please feel free to share which one you prefer.

Opening Scene – I Would Love Your Opinion

Sunday, June 12th, 2011
By , @Writing2Day

Below is the opening scene of my novel.  I would love to hear any comments or suggestions.  Mostly I am wondering if it leaves you wanting to read more.

1898

The wrought iron gate creaked in the morning fog. April hesitated, then continued up the path to the main house. Her footsteps echoed on the cobblestones, lending an eeriness to the still morning air. As she entered the courtyard, the house loomed above her. The grave stone walls were faded from years spent in the harsh sea air, their only color a coat of ivy weaving an emerald pattern in the morning dew. A slight breeze lifted the leaves, seeming to give the house a life of its own. April shivered and pulled her cloak tightly around her body, as if the action could take away her mounting anxiety which by now had almost turned into fear. The old mahogany door gave her a sense of reassurance and, lifting the knocker, she put all her reservations behind her. The door swung open abruptly. “May I help you?”
“Yes, I’m Marie’s sister, April. Lady Simpson told Marie if I came by early this morning I could start work today.”
April could feel the doorman scrutinizing her down the bridge of his nose. “Your sister should have informed you that the servants never enter through the front door. Go around back and knock on the kitchen door. Mimi’ll know what to do with you.” Sniffing his dismissal, the doorman turned and shut the door.
Flustered by her mistake and the obvious disapproval of the doorman, April practically ran down the stairs into the courtyard. As she rounded the corner of the house, a man appeared out of nowhere and before she could stop herself, she ran full force into his chest.
“I’m so sorry!” April exclaimed in a rush of air.
“And who might you be? I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before.” The man regarded April through cold black eyes that sent shivers down her back.
“I’m the new maid, sir. Please excuse my clumsiness, it won’t happen again.”
“And does the new maid have a name?”
“April, sir.”
“Well, April, you’d better get moving before you’re late on your first day of work here.”
“Yes, sir.”
April curtsied and continued down the path to the back of the house, wondering what else could possibly go wrong. So far she had made the impression of a lost little girl, thank goodness she hadn’t met Lady Simpson yet. By the time she arrived at the kitchen, she had regained her composure and, taking a deep breath, she tapped lightly on the door.