Weekly Writing Progress Report - M4 Week 3

Hi All--

Whoo! Getting a tad bit better at posting my reports earlier in the week. Maybe next week I'll actually post it on a Monday for once! Nonetheless, hoorah for week three being over, because it was a tough one. Now, onto the stats!

Week 3
Project: M4 Fantasy
First Draft

Word count this week: 11,794
Total word count to date: 30,028

 

This week in writing:

 

During my first two weeks, I was unable to get to that 10,000 word average per week so this week I knew was going to be heavy catch-up time. To get to the 30,000 mark I really had to up my daily word count to 2,000 words at times. As you can tell I got pretty burnt out by the end of the week and only wrote 374 words to get to 30,000. In order to put in more writing time I sacrificed gym time all week to fit in those words after work. As a result, I was totally winded yesterday when I resumed my workout :P

 

To give you an idea of what I looked like this week, Blaire has graciously volunteered to demonstrate (because face it, I'm sure you're all sick of my selfies ;)).

Droopy eyes, wanting to face plant into my keyboard, and sleep. Yeah, that sums it up. Thanks Blaire.

What I learned this week:

•  Pounding out words is affected by your state of mind - I found that if I wasn't mentally prepared and immersed in the story then there was no way I was getting any work done. Before sitting down for a writing session, outline your goals and know what direction you are heading with the story. Then turn off distractions, visualize, and paint it with words. For example my awful 374 and 448 word day, I did not want to write at all. And I forced myself to just sit and get whatever words out yet that low word count took almost two hours. In contrast, my 2,687 word day only took 2.5 hours because I was focused and sat down to do two power hours of writing (with a 10 minute break in between) and then went back later at night for another half hour.
• Middles are where it starts to get sloppy - I have an outline, but man is it kind of difficult to build that bridge to get to the other side. As I closed out on finishing the beginning (1st act) I really had to think about how I wanted to set up my middle. I had to make a big giant leap with one scene, but I'm hoping it'll work to amp up the tension for the middle.
• When you think and write about it everyday it seeps into your dreams - Holding myself accountable for this first draft is really good for my progress. Down side, it's like all I think about that I even dream about it. But the dreams are too absurd to really put into the story. So in order to give a little distance to see the story clearly, I recommend distracting yourself too when it isn't writing time. For me that was TV time and reading. Any 'Revenge fans' out there? What a great way to end the Finale! So looking forward to the season finale of 'Reign'!
• Surround yourself with encouragement - When I was starting to get tired and burnt out, I listened to writing podcasts and then went out to meet up with a writing friend this past Friday. When other people are doing the same thing and reaching for their dreams, it inspires you to keep going.

How has writing been for you this past week? Comment below! Happy writing :)

Death is a very difficult thing.

Today I got a call from my sister. Her friend passed away today.

Our family has been very fortunate that we have not dealt with death of an immediate family member. My dog whom I had since childhood passed away a year and a half ago. That had been extremely difficult. I still feel the twinge in my chest just thinking about it.

When I started working for my current company, there were three deaths in the first five months. One who had been a coworker before I arrived, and two who had been spouses of my colleagues. Though it did not directly relate to me, I caught a glimpse of the anguish and suffering one goes through when dealing with a loss.

As I get older, I know that it's only a matter of time until death starts to hit closer to home. Already I worry about my grandparents getting older, which makes it extremely difficult considering their on a different continent. Sometimes I wonder if I've seen them for the last time, but at the same time I am hopeful I'll get another chance.

You never know what's going to happen. I've heard the saying that life is short, and it's only starting to sink in now. It's funny how one's death can bring on a wave of gratitude for the life we still have. It's all so bittersweet.

I write this post because I feel the need to remember this kind man who was my sister's friend.

He was tall and slender, with a jolly laugh that could be felt. Just being around him you caught his infectious positivity. I met him when I was twenty-two. He visited Seattle with my sister during my first trip to the city. Instantly he made you feel welcome. He made sure you were included, even if he had just met you. He didn't particularly like dancing, but he loved to talk, and always had a smile.

The last time I saw him was a month after that visit at my older sister's wedding. He was jubilant as ever, full of life as he went from one table to the next greeting all those he knew. He jested with me and my unmarried sisters that he would be at our own weddings too one day. Though he never meant it seriously, I now know that we would not.

I cannot imagine how my sister feels at the loss. Even more so, I cannot even fathom what his own family is going through. My heart goes out to them and all who knew him.

Though I didn't know him well, I am glad I got the chance to meet him. If there is a heaven, then I am comforted in the thought that he is there and no longer suffering.

Weekly Writing Progress Report - M4 Week 2

Hi All--

I'm a tad late posting my progress report. But alas, here it is!

Week 2
Project: M4 Fantasy
First Draft

Word count this week: 8,590
Total word count to date: 18,234

Not my best week as I didn't hit my weekly 10,000 word objective again, but I do have a good excuse! Some of my family came to visit this weekend so I just had to take a non writing day. I haven't posted about the weekend due to a secret I've been keeping, but hopefully I can reveal it soon! And as usual, when I'm with my family, somehow I always forget to take photos for my blog. Whenever I'm with them I am always in the moment--a good thing in a sense, but bad in terms of documentation!

Here was one photo I got from our dinner Saturday night though!

Since I am behind in my writing goals, you bet I've been sitting my hinny down and getting those word counts up. I'm fairly confident that by the end of week 3 I'll be at 30,000 words and I'll just give myself a clean slate after slacking these first two weeks.

Some things that I've learned

• Keep notebook with me always! Normally I'm good at this, but I've caught myself coming into work without my writing notebook. As I was covering for the receptionist, the whole series arc just came to me and I didn't have it with me! I ended up scribbling it on scratch paper then stapling it into my writing book.
• Keep the mentality that a first draft is just a first draft. At times when I'm pounding things out, in my head I'm thinking You go girl. You're so awesome! Look at you go! And then reading over what I wrote. What the f*** is this s***?! You're better than this! Takeaway is, I know my abilities well enough that the clay will be molded into the figurine that I want, but I have to wrestle with the clay first.
• Talking about your story is motivating. This one we all should know, but I felt like I hyped myself up a bit too much with the completion of M2, and now I feel like I could make it better. So lesson learned. Don't toot your own horn too early. But when discussing the story with my sister the past weekend just in passing, she actually found it really interesting since I'm inserting folklore we grew up listening to but with a twist. I really, really, really, hope this one is hooky enough to draw some interest!
• Make a list, but don't check it twice. Usually when I'm writing a scene another image pops into my head. Or sometimes my head is so chaotic that I need to organize my thoughts into what the reader knows up to a certain point, and what I still need to reveal. So to remedy the chaos in my brain, I put these items into lists and keep adding to them throughout the writing process. I try not to read over the list until I'm read to attack it. But for now it's jot them down, put it away, so as to not lose my current thought.
• Sometimes when I write, I really think through all my scenes. What's the purpose of this one, how does it lead to the next and so on. It's been a really good way to plan out my past manuscripts, but M4 has a natural rhythm to it and cinematic appeal in my mind that the scenes are slowly forming without my help. I better not lose that during the middle manuscript blues though, because it's going to be difficult to trudge through without it.

In other news, Blaire has been sick this week :( He's been sneezing up a storm, which is odd because Blaire doesn't sneeze that much. But when he does, it's usually awww that was so cute. But this week it was one after the other. Sneeze attacks all day! Luckily he got over it in about two days so no need for a vet office visit. Turns out he just had a kitty cold (which is a surprise to me since I didn't know they could catch such a thing!).

How has your week in writing been? Comment below!

IWSG: High Anxiety

When I'm stressed or I feel unbalanced, I suffer from high anxiety. So much that it can be crippling. My behavior becomes erratic and a sense of hopelessness consumes me. Cue sleeping problems.

 

I know myself enough that if I go without good sleep for a few days it'll start to become a problem. I'll want to sleep so bad, but the stress of trying to fall asleep will keep me up. In college when I dealt with a bout of depression, I used OTC sleeping pills to help me and along the way became addicted to them. After that I haven't touched them since.

 

I feel like this whole year so far has been a complete whirl wind. I can't seem to catch my breath. There's always something next to do. So these past two weeks (going on three), I've found myself in a rut of being unable to sleep. I'm not sure if it's the early rising sun in combination of not having blinds (manufacturer issues), but I was desperate. So I've been using melatonin this week and I think it's helping.

 

I cant wait until I am well rested again. I feel like focus and clarity is missing in my writing, so hopefully I can return back to normal.

 

How do you deal with stress?

 

This post is in participation of IWSG, created by Alex J. Cavanaugh. And special thanks goes to this months amazing co-hosts,  Eva Solar Melanie Schulz, Lisa-Buie Collard, and Stephen Tremp! 

When love turns ugly.

Don't waste your breath explaining,
when it only falls on dead ears.
Don't waste any emotions feeling,
for no one will even care

the lament coming from your chest
the tears pooling around your eyes,
each an every stabbing wound
bringing truth to all the lies.

Love is a romanticized idea,
never a universal truth.
Just love, sex, and conquest-
activities for the uncouth.

And as another day passes
more stoic will you become;
because those that do not feel,
will never come undone.

'Guess you can say I'm bitter.
'Guess you can say I'm cruel.
One thing that I am not?
A love sick romantic fool.

Book Review: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

I rated it 4 out of 5 stars.

Overview: Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops. Now her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't even know hate her from a distance. The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth. This extraordinary first novel has captured the imaginations of teenagers and adults across the country.

Review: I read this about a month ago, but I completely forgot to write up this review. One thing that surprised me? Why hadn't I ever picked this up before? I really wish I had read this as a teen and not an adult because it really would have illuminated a lot of issues going around at the time. Reading it as an adult, it was easy to connect the dots and what happened to Melinda. So this wasn't a plot-driven book, mainly an issues book with such a rich and distinct voice that keeps you reading.

Melinda's perspective despite the ordeal she's been through is authentic and at times, pretty funny. I loved her view of high school and found that many teens would identify with her. This really lightened the issue enough that it wasn't a 'depressing' book. Rather I found it pretty hopeful.

My favorite part was the last scene of the book. When you hit the last word, you instantly know this book is going to be a reread. That's how profound it was. Teenage me would batter this book to wrinkles rereading and picking out favorite lines.

This is probably why I struggle so much writing contemporary, because my own stuff doesn't have that 'profoundness' or takeaway 'feeling' that my teenage self has associated contemporary with. At least not yet, anyway. For me, this subgenre is like diving into water, coming back for air, and realizing the world is different even though it's been less than thirty seconds and every thing is still ordinary. The only difference is the way in which you're seeing it.

Weekly Writing Progress Report - M4 Week 1

Hi All--

In a mission to be more consistent with my writing schedule, I will be posting weekly reports to track my writing progress and to hold myself accountable. Big thanks to my blogger friends for setting an example for me (I'm looking at you Krystal :)) Feel free to join me on your blog and share your progress!

Week 1
Project: M4 - YA Fantasy
First Draft

Word count this week: 9,644
Total word count to date: 9,644

So as you can see from the image above, I normally track my progress in my writing notebook, but now I'll incorporate it into my blog post. The headers are date, start, end, and ww-words written. I usually draw a line per week.

After my writing slump with M3, I decided to shelve it and get started on M4. During my time with M3 it was really hard to focus. I ended up taking too many breaks from the story due to work and travel which I think resulted in my lack of progress. Nonetheless, it was a learning experience to set up my goals for M4.

M4 Goals:

• 70,000 word first draft in seven weeks (pretty short wc for fantasy, but normally after revisions it gets up to 80-90 thousand)
• Aim for about 10,000 words weekly
• Do not go back and revise chapters--write it completely, tack 'The End' when I get there, then leave it to stew a bit before revising.

Writing Style:

If you had to put me in a category, I'm normally a 'pantser' until it's time to revise then I make a to-do list, a broad outline, and then my analytical side breaks out, organizing and detailing everything. This time around, I decided to do a skeleton outline - detailed enough to give me direction and an end goal, but sparse enough not to strip away the creativity process.

Are you a pantser? Or a plotter? Comment below :)

Btw, am I the only one that does writing selfies? Haha, I really hope not!

I make matcha green tea lattes on weekend mornings when I write :)

 

Current writing desk.