writing update
15 Feb 2013 01:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennickelsI broke 100,000 words for the year last night. I know, right.
In comparison: I wrote a grand total of just over 153,000 words in all of 2012. 2011 was my best year with 179,000. That was for the entire year. It's only FEBRUARY! and I'm already over 100k.
My novel is now at 45,000 words (after just 14 days of writing).
I finally broke down and told Patrick that the little story I had been working on this month is actually a novel. He's been giving me a hard time since we were married about me writing a novel and getting rich. I'm not so sure about the rich part but I'm finally doing the novel part. I had to say something because he kept coming in at night when he knew I was writing and start talking to me which is really, really distracting and gets me out of my groove and complaining I'm always writing now. I snapped the other day and was like, "all these years you've been bitching at me for years to write a novel, well now that I am all you do is bitch that I spend all my time writing!"
He thought I was joking the first few times I said but I think it finally sunk in that I need to do my writing and they all need to leave me the fuck alone while I do it. Doesn't stop him from using the bathroom in here a million times a night and he always wants to tell me what's happening on whatever TV show he's watching. I don't even watch TV any more. I haven't really since November. I just read and write all the time. Pisses me off. I screamed at him last night to shut up. Which, amazingly, he did. Without comment. Then he apologized and left. Geesh. I should have to scream to be understood. They wonder why I stay up all night writing.
Meagan came into my room last night (luckily not while I was writing) to tell me about this story she's writing. I have no idea where she came up with this idea but it's a really weird sci-fi story about aliens on other planets. I guess she's developing religions and culture and everything for them (world building for the win!). She was all embarrassed and wanted to read the first paragraph to see if I liked it and if I'd read it based on that. It was actually pretty good. It was all about the smell of a million dead bodies or something. Corny with the metaphors but she's 12 so forgivable (I shouldn't talk because my main character is way overboard with crazy metaphors). It definitely made me interested to find out what happens next.
She was telling me a little about her main character so I told her a little about mine. She said she'd heard me and Patrick talking about the book. She thought it was one I was reading and was thrilled to find out I was actually writing it. She went on and on about how cool it would be to have a famous author as a mom (as if). Then she got all serious and told me I should publish and then I'd be a real writing. I laughed and told her I WAS a real writer and so was she. She writes therefore she IS a writer. It's taken me a long time to realize that.
Anyway, about MY novel... for some reason the last few nights I've had trouble finding the voices of my characters. And now they seem like real downers. I think I exhausted my muse when I wrote all night long. I keep hoping she'll come back in full force soon. I'm also starting to get nervous that I won't be able to figure out the ending. I've got the beginnings of a love triangle set up (completely wasn't planning on having one but then Oliver came along and BOOM Zoe is stuck between him and Colby now) and I think I know how I want it to end but I have to build everything up between then and now. I'm worried I'll forget some plot line or the pace. I guess that's what editing is for but I do better with editing if I don't completely screw up the rough draft, lol.
Actually I think the problem is the scene I lost that morning when it stopped saving. 1600 words that were kind of a big part of the novel where you get to see Zoe and Colby don't have as much hate for each other as Zoe thinks. Colby is even super sweet to her and they have a little talk. There's also some internal stuff that Zoe thinks about that was pivotal to the plot and I can't fucking remember the details. Ugh. It's thrown me off my game. Up until then I had no interest in going back and editing the previous chapters which is a big thing for me. Now I keep wanting to fix that one scene. It's always on my mind and is screwing with my head. I think tonight I'm going to reread everything because I'm starting to forget details from the beginning (which is frustrating). I actually told Patrick the entire plot that I've written so far. He actually pretended to be listening (OK, he was listening some) but I realized I couldn't remember the exact order of events or the details. It's my freaking novel, I should know this stuff, lol. Time to refresh my memory. Maybe if I read the banter between Zoe and Oliver that I've already written it will bring my muse back and they won't sound so off anymore.
yeah, so that's the plan. In another couple of days I'll break 50k for the second month in a row. I had 56k words last month. I've never written that much in a month, not even during NaNo. I'm going to break that record this month. I plan to keep doing this next month, too. Although eventually I might have to stop writing every day so I can focus on editing. I'm hoping I can figure out how to work it all together but writing one story while editing a completely different one might throw me off. I've been unable to even think about writing anything else (even short little fanfics) since starting the novel. I'll have to wait and see.
I never realized how much I actually love writing until this year. I've always liked it, enjoyed it some of the time, but it always frustrated me and eventually I'd get bored. A lot of times in the last couple years it seemed more like a chore. So far this year it's like... breathing. I HAVE to do it.
In comparison: I wrote a grand total of just over 153,000 words in all of 2012. 2011 was my best year with 179,000. That was for the entire year. It's only FEBRUARY! and I'm already over 100k.
My novel is now at 45,000 words (after just 14 days of writing).
I finally broke down and told Patrick that the little story I had been working on this month is actually a novel. He's been giving me a hard time since we were married about me writing a novel and getting rich. I'm not so sure about the rich part but I'm finally doing the novel part. I had to say something because he kept coming in at night when he knew I was writing and start talking to me which is really, really distracting and gets me out of my groove and complaining I'm always writing now. I snapped the other day and was like, "all these years you've been bitching at me for years to write a novel, well now that I am all you do is bitch that I spend all my time writing!"
He thought I was joking the first few times I said but I think it finally sunk in that I need to do my writing and they all need to leave me the fuck alone while I do it. Doesn't stop him from using the bathroom in here a million times a night and he always wants to tell me what's happening on whatever TV show he's watching. I don't even watch TV any more. I haven't really since November. I just read and write all the time. Pisses me off. I screamed at him last night to shut up. Which, amazingly, he did. Without comment. Then he apologized and left. Geesh. I should have to scream to be understood. They wonder why I stay up all night writing.
Meagan came into my room last night (luckily not while I was writing) to tell me about this story she's writing. I have no idea where she came up with this idea but it's a really weird sci-fi story about aliens on other planets. I guess she's developing religions and culture and everything for them (world building for the win!). She was all embarrassed and wanted to read the first paragraph to see if I liked it and if I'd read it based on that. It was actually pretty good. It was all about the smell of a million dead bodies or something. Corny with the metaphors but she's 12 so forgivable (I shouldn't talk because my main character is way overboard with crazy metaphors). It definitely made me interested to find out what happens next.
She was telling me a little about her main character so I told her a little about mine. She said she'd heard me and Patrick talking about the book. She thought it was one I was reading and was thrilled to find out I was actually writing it. She went on and on about how cool it would be to have a famous author as a mom (as if). Then she got all serious and told me I should publish and then I'd be a real writing. I laughed and told her I WAS a real writer and so was she. She writes therefore she IS a writer. It's taken me a long time to realize that.
Anyway, about MY novel... for some reason the last few nights I've had trouble finding the voices of my characters. And now they seem like real downers. I think I exhausted my muse when I wrote all night long. I keep hoping she'll come back in full force soon. I'm also starting to get nervous that I won't be able to figure out the ending. I've got the beginnings of a love triangle set up (completely wasn't planning on having one but then Oliver came along and BOOM Zoe is stuck between him and Colby now) and I think I know how I want it to end but I have to build everything up between then and now. I'm worried I'll forget some plot line or the pace. I guess that's what editing is for but I do better with editing if I don't completely screw up the rough draft, lol.
Actually I think the problem is the scene I lost that morning when it stopped saving. 1600 words that were kind of a big part of the novel where you get to see Zoe and Colby don't have as much hate for each other as Zoe thinks. Colby is even super sweet to her and they have a little talk. There's also some internal stuff that Zoe thinks about that was pivotal to the plot and I can't fucking remember the details. Ugh. It's thrown me off my game. Up until then I had no interest in going back and editing the previous chapters which is a big thing for me. Now I keep wanting to fix that one scene. It's always on my mind and is screwing with my head. I think tonight I'm going to reread everything because I'm starting to forget details from the beginning (which is frustrating). I actually told Patrick the entire plot that I've written so far. He actually pretended to be listening (OK, he was listening some) but I realized I couldn't remember the exact order of events or the details. It's my freaking novel, I should know this stuff, lol. Time to refresh my memory. Maybe if I read the banter between Zoe and Oliver that I've already written it will bring my muse back and they won't sound so off anymore.
yeah, so that's the plan. In another couple of days I'll break 50k for the second month in a row. I had 56k words last month. I've never written that much in a month, not even during NaNo. I'm going to break that record this month. I plan to keep doing this next month, too. Although eventually I might have to stop writing every day so I can focus on editing. I'm hoping I can figure out how to work it all together but writing one story while editing a completely different one might throw me off. I've been unable to even think about writing anything else (even short little fanfics) since starting the novel. I'll have to wait and see.
I never realized how much I actually love writing until this year. I've always liked it, enjoyed it some of the time, but it always frustrated me and eventually I'd get bored. A lot of times in the last couple years it seemed more like a chore. So far this year it's like... breathing. I HAVE to do it.
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no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2013 05:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 20 Feb 2013 08:08 am (UTC)I've been working with Meagan over the years to get her to actually write. She was like me at that age--coming up with ideas but never putting any effort into writing them.
Hell that described me just a few years ago in my 30s, lol. I told her to not be like me. Then I introduced her to fanfic which really got her attention. Now she's writing original stuff. I don't think she's finished a single story yet but at least she's writing.
When she's supposed to be doing her homework, cleaning her room or sleeping half the time I find her sitting on her floor with a notebook in front of her writing.