|
|
Joined: 3/12/2011
Posts: 376
|
Okay, I've rewritten and submitted the first part of 'Blank' - I've also written several more chapters (which will be up here soon). Before long I'll have all three of the main characters at one another's throats. As it should be.
I know how you guys feel about Skyrim - a friend bought me ME3, and between that and LoL I've spent around two to four hours a day playing online with friends.
But the stories are still making progress, and I'm getting edits and blog posts done as well, so... that's something.
|
|
Joined: 8/13/2011
Posts: 272
|
It's nice to know ME3 and Lol aren't just wrecking my productivity (Bad news Robert, there's another bit of DLC for ME3 coming out soonish). The good news is that Mass Effect (or more accurately, Mass Effects cutscenes) is the main inspiration for FSO and I'm having way too much fun plotting that.
On the Scales front, I just got a parental edit of it back and well, let's just say that I'm no longer allowed to use 'to' or 'too'. I think I got every use of them the wrong way round? I'm also looking at some final edits before lobbing it at some unlucky agents, focusing mostly on really upping the weird level of the Shadow and enhancing a few duff bits of conversation.
|
|
Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
|
Tom - Thanks for the well wishes. He's been in the cardiac care unit since Sunday, on a ventilator (and heavily sedated) since early Monday morning. They started weaning him off of it today. He has emphysema and COPD and decided to add pneumonia and pulmonary edema to the mix. . . He's not getting any worse, so that's a good sign.
In between the phone calls, the hospital visits, and drama at work (we've been re-org'ed in a way that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever), I've been keeping myself busy with my editing and rewriting. Hope to post the revised chapters for A Kaliphian Matter: Revelations this week. Then will continue with the edits in Transformations.
This has been one of those weeks where I can honestly say writing has saved my sanity.
|
|
Joined: 10/20/2011
Posts: 350
|
I finished Chapter 19 of "The Wedding Game." All I have left is Chapter 20, which I figure is about 3k to 4k words. I may actually make my deadline this time!
|
|
Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
|
I finished chapter 28, finally! Now I have to finish typing it up on my typewriter and scan it in, then it's editing time. I still have to enter the edits that I did for 24 - 27. I've been working and trying to spend quality time with my husband before he goes places for a really long time. Then I'll put my nose to the grind stone.
|
|
Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
|
I had a friend out for the past few days, so I took a break from rewriting (well, I did briefly touch it on Wednesday when she and Hubby went out to play Dungeons & Dragons together with a group, and I had the apartment to myself). Now that she and her adorable 3-month-old have gone back home, I'm planning to get my nose back to the grindstone again soon, but we're also going camping this weekend, so I may have to extend my break until Monday. I might be able to get a little more done on Friday before we leave, though.
My goal is to have the book completely rewritten and ready for revisions by the end of August. Since I already have a full synopsis written out for the new storyline, and the arc itself really isn't changing significantly from the original, I think 7 weeks is a pretty reasonable amount of time to bust it out.
|
|
Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
|
Haven't been all that productive this week with my dad (still in CCU; not weaned from ventilator yet - but improving slowly) and a crap going down at work (re-org surrounded with lots of uncertainty).
I have been rewriting small sections of book one here and there (especially the last few chapters of the book). Someday soon I'll post the revised book (when I feel like dealing with BC's one chapter at a time deletion process followed by its multi-stepped one chapter at a time uploading process. . .).
Afraid I'm also woefully behind in all the reviews I promised people. Hope to get to some of those when I can wrap my brain around them.
|
|
Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
|
Started writing chapter 29 at work. I have one scene done.
|
|
Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
|
Have posted a new complete draft of A Kaliphian Matter: Revelations.
Now back to the second book.
|
|
Joined: 3/12/2011
Posts: 376
|
@Timothy - so, how did you do on Operation: BROADSIDE? Me and my friends managed to pull about 10 full extracts, and we actually managed to finish our first Gold level. Only one survivor, but we all get the bonus pack, yay! Just in case you want to hook up sometime online my handle there is KennyCelican.
@Angela - I feel for you. My dad was rushed to the ER this past Friday (massive pulmonary infection), and he's still in ICU. Totally threw me off most of the weekend. Thankfully, he's responding very well to the antibiotics and fluids they're pumping into him, so they expect him to come home sometime in the middle of this week.
Got another chapter of Blank written. I'm hoping to get the revised chapter one and the rest of the chapters up some time this week. Also, I'll be submitting Blue Bloods later this week as well. Wish me luck!
|
|
Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
|
Robert - Glad to hear your dad is recovering quickly. Mine is still sedated, still intubated, still on IV antibiotics and fluids. They are weaning him from the ventilator and today, he was controlling the ventilator for more than 7 hours. His vitals were very good when I was there earlier today while he was breathing on his own, so I'm encouraged. He still has a long way to go and even after the pneumonia clears up, he will still have the COPD and emphysema to deal with.
Good luck with Blue Bloods!
I've said it before, but writing and editing have really saved my sanity on more occasions that I care to remember.
Back to chapter 4 of book 2!
|
|
|
|
@LeeAnna: How many hours have you logged playing Skyrim? I ask, because your rhapsody, " Skyrim, beautiful beautiful Skyrim," got me to buy it. Just spent days mostly playing that game! (See, the words you write change lives  Guilt drove me back to the book this morning & surprise, I could see clearly what needed to be done. The writing flowed. So playtime turned out to be refreshing (mom told me that.)
Anyway Thanks, LeeAnna.
|
|
Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
|
@GD: I haven't looked recently. I try not to because then it makes me feel guilty. I can tell you that I managed to keep myself away from it for a couple months at one point to crank out 7 chapters and get them scanned into my computer with a little editing. Like you said, little spurts of immersive gaming does help the writing because it does feel fresh when I go back to it. Of course, I do share the xbox with my husband. It is his baby. I sit there and pout on his days off.
Your welcome. I love that game with an unhealthy passion. I tried playing Morrowind and Oblivion, but Skyrim is the only one I can stand. Although, dwemer ruins do bring back horrible memories from my Morrowind days. I sit on the couch and whimper while flailing my sword.
Writing Update: Lately a lot has been going on. I should be returning to my writing soon due to the fact that I will have a ton of time on my hands, all to myself. I should finish out my additions and get to the important editing and revisions by the end of August if all goes as planned. Hopefully I can choke back the expected bouts of sadness long enough to get it all out.
If you are concerned, don't worry, no one has died or is sick. It's just one of the downsides of military life.
|
|
Joined: 11/14/2011
Posts: 6
|
I'm rewriting a novella with the intention of ramping it up from romantic suspense to psychological or techno thriller. I'm on a deadline for submission and nervous as hell about the project. I'm out of my comfort zone and while it's a little intimidating, it's also exciting and I'm hoping that it will turn out well.
As of 7.18.12 I have completed 28 pages of the page 1 rewrite. My goal is to be finished with the rough draft by 8.15.
|
|
Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
|
I'm 2/3rds done with revisions/edits of the rewritten chapter 1, and plan to get the rest done tonight as soon as I get off of BC. I really need to be working on writing new material - I'm not that far into the rewrite at all - but the editing has actually been so much fun that I'd rather do that right now. Plus I kind of want to have everything cleaned up before I start new material - I feel like my writing technique is improving through the edits, and I want my storytelling to be as strong as possible when I get to the new stuff so that it just flows right out onto the page (and hopefully doesn't need as much editing as the first few chapters).
Goal is still to have the rewrite done by August 31st, though.
|
|
|
|
@LeeAnna: Ever visited Garry Trudeau's (Doonesbury) "The Sandbox?"
http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/
It's a forum for service members currently deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan (and serving elsewhere in the GWOT), returned vets, spouses and caregivers. Focus is on the unclassified details of deployment -- the everyday, the extraordinary, the wonderful, the messed-up, the absurd.
|
|
Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
|
I've already heard plenty about deployment. They practically throw that stuff at you when it's about to happen followed by 20 phone numbers you can call if you need someone to talk too. The funny thing is, like everything else, you're experience will be nothing like those people because you are not the same person they are. No one is. I also spent 2 semesters wading through war stories hip deep and writing papers on them. Military literature, including blogs, is one of the largest genres in the US. You could say it is our twisted little fascination.
I survived my husby going to boot and and doing his TDY, and then there was the months we were apart while I was finishing school. I'll be fine.
Still going to check out that site though. Thanks GD.
|
|
Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
|
Got chapter 1 edited and re-posted. SO much happier with it - I think that I'm slowly but surely learning how to avoid telling in favor of showing. The only problem is that it's a total energy sap to go sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, and make myself stick to a high standard of rewriting - but it's gotta be done. It helped to turn off my AirPort and not allow myself to turn it back on until chapter 1 was finished. Taking a quick internet reward break, then onward to chapter 2!
|
|
Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
|
All right, progress update: Not much done. I started a rewrite of the first scene in chapter 1 while at work. I only have a couple hundred words, but it's so much better. I'm also enjoying the rewrite. I love writing children.
|
|
Joined: 1/10/2012
Posts: 192
|
I'm finishing a revision of the fourth chapter of my fantasy work, which I'll hopefully post here early next week. Then it's on to chapter five. I've decided just to keep plugging away at the writing, and to stop obsessing over editing my earlier chapters. Hopefully it will help with the whole making PROGRESS thing.
|
|
Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
|
Ha, Laura, that's exactly where I'm at. Making progress would really be a good thing right now, but I'm so caught up in the editing...
|
|
Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
|
Still plugging away with the edits to A Kaliphian Matter: Transformations (book 2). Have about 45 pages left to go over, then will re-post the book here.
Haven't done much of anything else Book Country-wise; a bit distracted by life.
|
|
Joined: 3/12/2011
Posts: 376
|
Right there with you, Angela. I considered it an accomplishment when I got a few paragraphs written yesterday. Two more weeks of summer planning at school, then I've got a few weeks free. I'll even have a few days with only me at home, when my mother-in-law steals the wife and kids for a vacation.
For now, though, all I've got to report are those few paragraphs on Blank.
Maybe I need to do some editing or something.
|
|
Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
|
Okay. I've set aside KEY CHANGE for the time being, because I just can't look at it anymore. For the last few days I've been trying to work on it, but...it really needs a rest.
Instead, I've started fiddling around with Scrivener (it's got so many features and I'm a little overwhelmed...but I'm so buying the full version when I'm not dirt broke), and then randomly on Saturday night an entire scene came into my head that I've since incorporated as the (tentative) beginning of my next WIP, FIRST COMES LOVE. I have to thank my baby brother for it, because without a (hilarious) injection this weekend of stories about his own love life, I don't think I would have gotten that scene. And it's not even a funny scene, and it really doesn't relate to my brother's stories in any way, but there you go. Just a reminder that it's a really good idea to interact with other humans besides the hubby once in awhile. 
|
|
Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
|
Wow, it's so dead on here it's like someone shot Book Country.
Anyway, I scanned in chapter 28 and fixed the flubs in the OCR Word doc. Now I have a printed out hard copy to begin doing my three rounds of editing. I should get a lot done in my down time due to my drive to keep my sanity. Being alone, in a 4 bedroom house with only a dog will do that to you.
I think I might go terrorize the patrons at the Starbucks/B&N with my typewriter Typo as I work on chapter 29. I wonder if they would let me stay, or kick me out right away. I think I might blog about it.
|
|
Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
|
That sounds like an interesting endeavor, LeeAnna. Good luck!
|
|
Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
|
Editing the last chapter of book 2. Hope to post whole book this weekend.
Then onto book 3.
|
|
Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
|
First draft of chapter 6 is up for Key Change. I have no idea whether it's good or sucky at this point - I stayed up all night writing, so a good portion of it was created while half-asleep.
Sometimes my idiosyncrasies are a little annoying.
|
|
Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
|
Finished editing (well at least this round) and reposting all of book 2 (A Kaliphian Matter: Transformations). Diving into book 3.
|
|
|
|
Finished basic editing of chapter 12 & since editing is not my area of expertise, this is what I'll be submitting. Next edit job is a short, easy chapter, written to keep readers abreast of what other people in the story are doing at the moment. Working title is, "Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch."
|
|
Joined: 11/17/2011
Posts: 1016
|
I am finally making some progress on revising my first four chapters of Sly!
I've taken out quite a lot of stuff that I've come to realize I don't need at all.
I've been slow to see it, and I've been distracted by health problems which have keep me from going at it full tilt.
It appears that those health problems may have been solved, after fifteen years of off-and-on misery. I sure hope so.
Here's a lesson for everyone: I you have a gut feeling about the source of a problem, don't let half a dozen dentists and doctors of every stripe talk you out of it, saying, "that can't be. I see no evidence to support it."
The thing that I've been telling those guys for fifteen years finally turns out (it appears) to be the problem. Now, let's see if the vision in my right eye recovers. With every attack it seemed to me that my right eyesight deteriorated, making it harder and harder for me to read.
This is another thing that all the brains have told me is absolutely impossible. And yet I believe it heart and soul.
Specialist after specialist, I've been to them all.
I'm so angry!
|
|
Joined: 10/20/2011
Posts: 350
|
Oh, Mimi, I understand the frustration. I had a mystery allergy for about six or seven years that went undiagnosed. Test after test only revealed another (possible) problem. Then after suffering another episode, I went to my allergist who finally told me it was aspirin. At least I wasn't being ignored like you were. So sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better now!
Almost, almost, almost finished with my first draft for "The Wedding Game."
|
|
Joined: 3/12/2011
Posts: 376
|
Mimi - here's hoping whatever fix you've found is a systemic one and not a patch on a symptom. Fingers crossed.
One thing I've learned about doctors is that if you tell them the problem, they balk. Even the good ones. If you just list your symptoms, a good one will generally try to find the cause. It is what they're trained for, after all. I think the trouble is that they've had too many patients say 'I've got X', knowing that X problem gets them Y drug. If you don't have a relationship with your GP, a lot of them assume that. Not saying it's right, just pointing out where they're coming from.
As for progress, I'm at 50% on the pre-submission edits to Drag.Race. Considered changing the name to Dragon Race, but my beta readers didn't like that idea. Still waiting to hear back on two submissions...
Also, would anyone be interested in seeing the first few chapters of a Steam Punk story I've been working on? They're coming together well...
|
|
Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
|
I'm still working on preliminary edits for chapters 24-28, and I'm still writing 29. I'm hoping to get something finished today.
|
|
Joined: 6/7/2011
Posts: 467
|
In response to Roman's comment on doctors, you are spot on (my wife is a doctor). Even apart from the very real problem with drug-seekers, there is so much bad medical information out there, and patients are often half-informed.
That said, a good physician is a good listener, and I can understand your frustration, Mimi. I had a medical problem many years ago that no one seemed able to figure out. Doctors told me it was probably viral, or my blood sugar was low, or maybe some kind of adrenal problem (fortunately that came back negative, 'cause that would've been bad.) But after all that, there was still nothing.
It took a friend of mine who was a physician to finally catch a heart arrhythmia that leading to other problems. Why did he catch it? Because he took his time. He listened to my heart for a whole minute.
What a difference, huh? And that's another problem: all too often, doctors aren't given the time they need to do their job. They're under pressure to move patients along. The best ones will still take the time required, but they do so at their own cost.
Anyway, none of this is meant to excuse any number of poor doctors who didn't do an adequate job. I hope, Mimi, that your results will yield a lasting improvement.
|
|
Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
|
Roman - I always enjoy a good steampunk story, so I'd be willing to take a read. Have you posted it here?
Progress is exceedingly slow at the moment. A combination of procrastination and lots of stuff going on this week. However, I've got two new plot lines running around in my head on top of the two that I've already begun to commit to pixels, so I won't say that nothing's been happening - just nothing tangible.
|
|
Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
|
I've got Ch 24 up now on BC. Still working on edits.
I have to keep myself from going back and refining the front of my book until I finish. I know that is what needs it because that's the part that gets the most, how shall I put it, dings. You know, things that are wrong. I keep telling my self to finish first. It's so hard.
|
|
Joined: 10/20/2011
Posts: 350
|
I understand, Lee Anna. That's how I feel with "The Wedding Game." I have all these ideas for the beginning chapters but I first want to finish it.
|
|
Joined: 10/20/2011
Posts: 350
|
I...did it. As of midnight, "The Wedding Game" has a completed first draft. Chapter 19 is up now on Book Country. I am typing up Chapter 20 as we speak and I hope to have it posted by this coming Friday.
Earlier, I went to pick up my pen to continue writing...only to remember the story is now over. It's an odd feeling.
|
|
Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
|
I put up chapter 25 on here today, and worked on 29, only to decide that I really didn't feel like writing. Tis a shame, I'm working on a fun scene. Maybe I'll procrastinate and clean tomorrow.
|
|
Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
|
Congrats, Alexandria! It is kind of a weird feeling to finish with the first full draft of a project. I know I expected to feel more elated than I did. Still, wonderful to be finished and on to the next step!
|
|
|
|
Hoozah! Alexandria! Congratulations to you Now what?
|
|
Joined: 10/20/2011
Posts: 350
|
Now it's onto editting and rewrites. Especially the beginning, like I told Lee Anna. I have notes jotted down.
|
|
Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
|
I posted up chapters 26 and 27. Maybe I'll get 28 up tomorrow. It's a longer chapter, so that may not happen. Still working on 29.
Congrats, Alexandria! I can't wait till I get to that point.
|
|
Joined: 8/13/2011
Posts: 272
|
I've just finished and uploaded chapter 3 of FSO. I've got to admit I was pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. What started out as a chapter that was just supposed to move things along ended up letting me really understand two of my characters and showed me a lot about one of my religions. Best of all, it's only half of what I'd planned for the chapter, so I've got next chapter already planned out.
On the Scales side of things, I'm still trying to build up the courage to start getting it out to publishers before the end of the month. First step on that, finding the publishers that are actually going to accept it.
|
|
Joined: 4/22/2012
Posts: 175
|
I love when stuff like that happens, Timothy! I don't always necessarily know what's going to go down in each chapter I write, and sometimes I find myself discovering new things or revising my original plot structure somewhat because of what I'm writing.
Good luck with Scales! All you can do is the best you can, send it out, and keep your fingers crossed.
|
|
Joined: 8/21/2011
Posts: 394
|
Been out of commission for some time. My dad passed away last week and I've been spending my evenings watching Doctor Who DVDs so I don't sit around thinking. . . Have made some half-hearted attempts at editing book 3. . .
|
|
Joined: 8/13/2011
Posts: 272
|
I'm sorry to hear about your father Angela. I hope things get better for you soon.
|
|
Joined: 4/30/2011
Posts: 662
|
I too am sorry to hear about your father. Take your time. Your book will wait.
|
|
Joined: 10/20/2011
Posts: 350
|
My condolences, Angela.
|
|
|
|