Thursday, August 26, 2010

Woo Hoo!

I broke 10,000 words! 10,398, to be exact.

I'm shooting for 50-60,000 words, so I'm getting there!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

I Haven't Stepped on My Tack Yet

Iconic YA author Robert Newton Peck once said not to worry about titles. He claimed they would come quite suddenly, like stepping on a tack in the dark of night, and they'd be exactly the right thing.

Well, with this book, I haven't stepped on that tack yet. I haven't even got out of bed yet.

I take that back. Tonight, I haven't even GONE to bed yet. I worked on filling out a scene a little, and laid down 222 new good words.

Usually, I try not to edit scene by scene, over and over. I strive to do a complete draft, very spare in the description department, but rich in dialogal story-telling. Then I go back and add narrative, checking motivations, pumping up the emotions, and filling in accompanying actions. If I can complete this book in a draft and two edits, I will count myself extremely blessed.

However, I'm participating in an online critique group, and that usually demands rewrites of the submitted scenes to honor suggestions that work. We'll see if this plan of action turns out to be a good thing for the novel. In the meantime, I'm plugging along! Tomorrow I'll work on a needed transition I left out before.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Having Fun with the Characters

I worked on a bit of editing last night, getting one scene ready for a critique group, and filling out another on a second pass.

Marie got really angry, and it was kind of fun to see the steam building up and how she exhibited it. I knew that scene needed some tinkering on the action/reaction aspects, and I believe I finally got it right!

Whew!

Now I'm off to bed for a while (yes, I'm up late, not arising early to get kiddoes off to school).

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Tracking Word Count

As I drown in slip-sliding paper falling toward me and my fingers on the keyboard (most of which I could shred, once I extract the odd computer disk, wedding announcement, and hardback book from the pile), it occurs to me that I could share how I keep track of my word count as I write.

Now understand, this can be as complex or as simple as I want to make it. I can use the Excel chart my friend J. Scott Savage sent me several years ago that nags me incessantly, or I can add and subtract words as I write and edit, or I can keep a simple running tally at the beginning and the end of my writing day. I kind of like the simple style nowadays, so I'll tell you how that last thing works.

I love the 9.5 inch by 6 inch one-subject notebooks for this task. They're not so big as to be in the way, and not so small as to disappear amidst the rubble on my desk. I open it up and draw three equally-spaced lines down the page. This gives me two sections of columns to fill up.

In the left-most column, at the top, I put the date. I can put anything else in the nature of notes in that column, like the times I start and end, the scene or chapter I'm working on, and how many hours I work. I see I have a notation saying slippery elm bark and chamomile tea. Ha! I know what scene that one was!

The second column is where I put the beginning word count opposite the date. If I'm starting fresh, this is zero. If I want to, I can add the word count when I do a save, when I get up for lunch, or what-not (I usually only put down the last three digits, or hundreds). The last figure I put in that column is the final word count of the day, unless I want to do a total of words written underneath it. I finish the day with a horizontal line drawn under all the notes for the day, in both columns.

The other section of two columns is for when I get to the bottom of the page. You knew that, right?

How do you find your word count at the beginning and end of the writing period?

If you're in Word, look for a menu item called Word Count. It might be in the Tools menu. That's where I'd look first, because that's where it is in my ancient Word 2003. Before you click it, highlight all your text. Then click Word Count, and you'll have a rough estimate of your words. I say "rough," because it will count every asterisk (*) and Chapter Heading, but it's good enough for starters. Do this again when you quit for the day, and you have the second count.

Or, you can use the software program I now use, yWriter5, which tells me at the bottom of the main window how many words I write that day, along with the total of words in the project. I put those numbers in my notebook at start and end of day.

yWriter5 and its antecedents were written by novelist and computer programmer Simon Haynes of Australia. He couldn't find a writing software that suited his needs, so he wrote it. He updates it quite often, sometimes to meet suggestions of users, but it's a lean program written to use few resources of your machine. It even runs off a flash drive, so it's highly portable.

You can find yWriter5 at http://www.spacejock.com (Hal Spacejock is the hero of Simon's futuristic sci-fi series). There are several other useful programs to be found there, as well as a link to the new how-to wiki created by the folks in the next paragraph.

This software is free, not only no-cost, but free of nasty surprises like virii, Trojan horses, and other malware. There's an active community of users in a Google group who support each other. The old hands answer the questions of the newbies, and Simon occasionally pops in, too.

Can you tell I like yWriter5? Let's see how many converts I can make. Let's see, |||...

Monday, August 09, 2010

I'm in a Thanksgiving Mood

I know, it's not even close to November yet. However, I'm in the mood to celebrate.

My last couple of weeks have not been happy experiences. I suffered a malware attack on my desktop computer that messed it up and broke my Internet connection, my brother-in-law died, my cardiologist gave me uncomfortable news, and a couple of other things occurred that made me not-so-happy.

That was then. This is NOW!

My Internet is Back! I'm attributing it to Divine Intervention, since doing the same thing again had a different result this time.

Thank You!

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

At last! Chocolate Roses Review

Back on July 23rd, I mentioned that I would be part of Joan Sowards' blog tour for her latest novel, Chocolate Roses, on August 2nd. I also gave the list of bloggers, and the prizes and rules linked to the blog tour contest.

Since then, I left home for a writers retreat, during which my brother-in-law died. Due to those unfortunate circumstances, needing to leave home to attend the funeral, and a misreading of the calendar, I missed my blogging date. Be that what it may, I'm here, and so is my review.

I'm sure you've all read the back cover blurb of Chocolate Roses, are familiar with the story of Jane Eyre, have been following the other bloggers' revews, and making comments to enter the contest for the two copies of the novel and the apron the author made. If not, when I'm through, you may go do those things. Be sure to leave your comments on this blog post.

Although the subtitle of Chocolate Roses is A Jane Eyre Parody, I didn't find the satiric aspects in the work that the word parody brings to my mind. I found Joan's novel to be much lighter than the original, but I would have called it a contemporary re-setting, or, given Joan's credentials as a consummate musician, an arrangement of Jane Eyre.

Extracting a simpler plot from Jane Eyre for her novel was a good trick, and Joan pulled it off. She peopled the work with interesting minor characters and sub-plots that made the whole an enjoyable read.

I liked Janie Whitaker; she was spunkier than Jane Eyre, and I found her to be in much the same circumstances as me long years ago: single and older than I thought I'd be before I found love and marriage. I'd macheted my way through many of the same emotions, and made similar bargains with God as Janie did. I'm glad she held onto her values despite the internal pressures, the gossips, and the jealousy swirling around her.

Mr. Roger Wentworth (a tip of the hat to Jane Austen?) was a genuinely good man in a tragic situation, not the brooding, older man who tried to pull the wool over the eyes of a naive young woman and the community like Mr. Rochester did. I write conflicted characters who try to do the right thing, so I liked him, too.

I like satisfying endings.

I like chocolate.

What's not to like in this novel? Go buy it.

Walnut Springs, the publisher of this novel, provided a copy to me. It in no way influenced my review, because I had already bought the novel for myself, with all intentions to read it anyway.

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Apology

Due to a family funeral, my review of Chocolate Roses will appear tomorrow.

~Marsha

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Back to Work--again

Yesterday I returned from a week away at a Writer's Retreat sponsored by American Night Writers Association, also known as ANWA. It was quite invigorating, and I found that, despite my fears that I wouldn't be able to get in any writing time, I did. Here's a fragment:

The night before Rod Owen trailed his beef cows to the Cuchara, Marie tossed and turned. Julianna elbowed her once, then went back into slumberland, but Marie's mind seemed to bubble with imaginings like a pot boiling over a too-hot stove. It wouldn't allow her the relief of sleep.

She wondered whether she dreaded or anticipated the next few days. If Pa liked Tom's prospects and proposed to add him to the family, the young man's reaction would play a big part in Marie's future. He might accept Pa's suggestion with enthusiasm, and jump into making and carrying out plans for a wedding and a life together with Marie. If, on the other hand, Ed Morgan's son had no notion of marrying her, his disinclination could spell spinsterhood for her.

Who else was there for her to marry? She lay very still, searching every nook and cranny of her brain for prospects. She'd seen the Dominguez brothers once or twice when they had stopped in to water their horses as they traveled on their way to Pueblo town. Enrique and Patricio Dominguez cut blazingly romantic figures, with their wide-brimmed hats and differently-styled clothes, their teeth-flashing smiles and flirtatious comments. She thought the pair of them was tremendously exciting. Given the chance, which one would she choose to wed?

The characters are back in my head!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...