I’ve been having trouble writing lately–oh, sure, I’ll do 300-500 words here and there and to be completely honest, that’s fine. Really, what’s wrong with that? Nothing. But I miss being able to sit down and hammer out 2000 words in a sitting. Maybe it’s how busy everything is lately–I’m dealing with my weird, weird health (I went to the hospital a few weeks ago and though I haven’t had to go back I am definitely not back to “normal”), my foot (I can walk! But it hurts and I’m going to need physical therapy that I don’t have insurance for), my job (more exhausting than it ought to be due to the aforementioned two issues). I’m really hoping that if I just keep pecking away at it the magic will come back to me.

Or I could fill out a survey on my blog, right?

1. Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter?” 
Okay, I actually had to look that up. I like to call myself a “road-tripper.” I know where I’m going. I know where I want to end up eventually. Do I care when I get there? It might be nice to arrive before I’m falling over asleep, so I can settle comfortably in a motel room and rest for the night, but can I take a few detours, stop at a few tourist traps? Sure. In other words, I plot only the biggest points and let the characters take me there at their own pace.

(more…)

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I love memes that have to do with writing–anything for an excuse to babble about what you’re working on, right? I stole this one from reoune on LJ.

What’s the last thing you wrote?
The beginning of chapter… (I have to check) 13 of Circle of Many Faces.
Was it any good?
Maybe? It’s all right. Tried to work in some nice imagery. Charlotte and Lia actually had a somewhat normal conversation.
(more…)

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The month of April was a crazy month for me–I began a new job that required from me an intensive training schedule, and I opened a website that’s been keeping me very busy. Even so, I carried my laptop around in order to do some writing on my lunches. I didn’t hit my goal of 20,000 words, but I did just crack 10,000. Not bad, I say, and those 10,000 got me through a difficult chapter in Circle.

I’m going for 20k word again now in May. Circle of Many Faces is now finally in its “second stage;” the true “beginning” of the book is finished. It’s exciting and nerve-wracking, because this is where I deviate from the original version (written in 2004 during Nanowrimo and not for human consumption, ever).

I’m happy my training’s over, though. My critique group is meeting is person again and I have missed them. The Tucson Writers group is amazing. I’m kind of an airhead, I make stupid continuity mistakes in my writing, and I look to them to find them for me. Also, I admit I get really excited to hear what people think of the story. What can I say? I love feedback and critique.

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I have trouble with names–especially for minor characters that only show up for a few scenes, but who still need to be named. I’ve used many resources to come up with these generic names, but today I found one that I’ve long ignored:

My spam folder.

Here are some of the gems in the “sender” column:

• Herschel Duarte
• Wentzlaff Daughtry
• Jorg Knickerbacker (my personal favorite)
• Althea Cameron
• Brabazon Matar
• Efren Welch
• Gregorio Ferris
• Golabek Shimsky
• Parag Juchinsky
• Zsolt Haseltine
• Terheggen Ruzbasan
• Fabiano Uziel

Obviously, I need to look in there more. And those are just names culled from the first three pages (I usually let the spam folder auto-clean itself. Now I have a use for those messages!).

Filed under: Technique by Eliza | 1 Comment »

Time to check in.

Well, my (personally) bad news is that I didn’t hit 20k words for February. I’m using my “I blame the injury” card. Not that that wins me a free pass, but I’m using the excuse now. Which means no using it for March.

My good news is that I am now the owner of a shiny new pink laptop, with which I can write while NOT sitting at my desk, which I am tired of sitting at due to the whole pretty much having to sit there for two months (to the day!) and counting. I’ve already been very productive.

I realized the other day when I put the finishing touches on a chapter of Circle of Many Faces that I think I’m officially done with the “beginning” of the book. When I think about it, that’s the place where I struggle the most–having to set up all the characters, events, and making sure foreshadowing is in place. That, and I want the reader (and me, the writer) to spend a little bit of time with all the characters before all the secrets come out, because what fun is a secret if you don’t let it stew a little?

Even though page count is relative, I’m also really happy because I think I’m going to hit page 100 today or tomorrow.

Latest “opinion poll” below the fold. (more…)

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I was supposed to keep this blog up much better than I have. I kept telling myself I would update this site early into February, and now February’s almost over. Though, I don’t think I have too many readers not on the LiveJournal feed anyhow.

Partially, I blame my Sprained Ankle of Death. I sprained my ankle very badly on January 6, and that combined with my stolen car in December (which has yet to be replaced), I’m stuck at home all the time, and it’s been depressing. It’s getting harder and harder to motivate myself. As the sidebar on the rest of my site will show, I’m 44% to my goal of 20,000 words this month. I think I can do it anyway, but we’ll see.

I’m enjoying my progress on Circle of Many Faces, which I feel is finally going somewhere. It amazes me, when I look back at the NaNo version, how poorly put-together it was. When I hit 30,000 words back then, I was steering the book towards the final showdown. Of course, I was also writing without either a care nor an outline, but in my current version, I’ve still yet to reach the first climactic moment. I’m only a few chapters away, however.

Someone needs to tell my respective younger twins to behave themselves, though. Their characters are taking on traits I never expected them to. Reeve has a mouth that proves whose brother he is, and Aislinn’s table manners are horrifying. As in “Sam, did a cat take a piss in the soup or what?” horrifying. In front of company. Of course, she was just teasing. In the end, she just wants her brother to be happy.

From now on, I’ll try to make myself record some serious writing progress in this blog at least once a week.

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Having just received some more great crit from a crit buddy *waves* there’s a word on my mind. I do tend to say people “jump” in surprise a lot. I think it’s a valid word, but I probably do need to vary it.

The problem is I’m not exactly sure what other words I can use. I don’t like “flinched” in situations of surprise, that’s more of a sick shock/pain word to me. Does anyone have any good suggestions? This is definitely a weakness of mine.

On the flipside, I’ve had critiques before from others that question that usage of the word “jump” altogether. I thought it was fairly well-known. Any comments on that?

My monthly goals are coming along nicely; I only need to actually update my word bars. I need to think of a better system of tracking my total words. Or at least remember to write it down every time after I work.

Filed under: Technique by Eliza | 2 Comments »

I’m feeling pretty productive lately, though when I look, I see I’m really only a little bit ahead of par for the goal of 20,000 words, so I need to step things up a little bit. I accidentally forgot to save my draft of Circle of Many Faces back onto the floppy disk that I use to transfer files to and from my temporary laptop, the “brick.” Thus, I can only work on it on that machine… and so, I think I’ll take a break and work on Rainbow Covey or the project that still needs a title.

One might think that my sprained ankle would be a motivator to sit down and write, but now that it’s there, I just want to get up and run around.

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A few nights ago, during a discussion about the 20,000-words-per-month goal, we brought up the subject of the need to edit, instead of write.

At my normal pace–and by that I mean not rushed, not blocked, but constant, reasonably inspired writing–I do about 1000 words an hour, at which page 20 hours of editing would be the equivalent amount to do for the goal. It was commented, however, that that is a lot of time to spend editing, crossing words out, etc, especially since in most cases it takes only a fraction of the time it takes to write a chapter to edit one.

So, what would a reasonable goal be? To edit 10,000 words of material, regardless of time input? 20,000? Or perhaps simply 10 hours of editing? What do you think?

Filed under: Miscellaneous by Eliza | No Comments »

I’ve been slaving away at the site for the past week to redo the layout (I am never quite satisfied with a layout, but I think this one is pretty clean; hopefully I’ll stick with it for awhile).

I’m behind on new writing goals, but this happens every year–after Nanowrimo, I say I’ll do better, and then the holiday season gets in the way. I’m going to do my best to do that this January, and hope I don’t end up severely ill this January as well.

I’ve been working a little on Circle of Many Faces, and I have another new work in progress, as well–an idea that won’t stop tugging at my brain; I had to start writing it down. I still have to think of a title, or at least a working title.

Crossing my fingers for a good 2008… here’s to the new year!

Filed under: WIPs, Miscellaneous by Eliza | 1 Comment »