PicoWriMo

Finally I have settled on a Pico project. Projects, really. I have a vignette I want to write. I have a chapter of an ongoing story to complete (four scenes in total). And I have a long story I want to revise. That's what I've been working on since last night. Here's an excerpt.

"Take this one away." Reilly tapped the arm of the man on the floor with the toe of her boot. "Give me ten minutes, then bring the next one in."

Reilly had waited nearly fifteen years for this meeting. She thought she could take a little time to compose herself.

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spiralsheep.livejournal.com

Good luck with your projects.

I like vignettes because they often tempt me into reading a style or genre which I'd usually ignore.

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Thanks! This is going to be a little Tolkien vignette.

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edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com

But ... you're already doing Nano! Not that I'm complaining ;-)

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I go hyper in November. It makes up for the rest of the year being a washout.

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Hyper, indeed!
Will you be combining the Pico with the Nano total number of words for the wordcount war?

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At the NaNo site? I don't think that would be in the Rulez. Anyway, I'm aiming less for wordcount in pico than for ticks against specific tasks.

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Intriguing excerpt. Shades of filed off serial nos?

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Strong shades.

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Oh, I like this snippet.

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six-old-cars.livejournal.com

I'm really enjoying the results of this challenge, even if I do suffer from

tawek's house chores thing. It's the prospect of having to get started that does that - once I'm writing it's great.

Current total word count is 4144 - but in truth that isn't the 800 new words it sounds like. My plan called for scene 5 to open with a "vision" - a bit like a dream scene vignette - and it happened I had several lying around from ages ago. They all need to go in somewhere, but since they aren't part of either of the main plot lines as such the order isn't too clearly defined. As it happened, one of the pile suited this point in the narrative.

However, each of these vision scenes is followed by the protagonist's reaction, which I did not have prepared! So I've just written 426 words of that.

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it happened I had several lying around from ages ago

Sustainable prose, I call this - recycling!

And I sympathize with the getting writing thing; I can happily fritter away an entire weekend and end up with nothing to show for it.

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I love the feeling when the tide of words engulfs the rock pool! (Reposting after LJ had overdose of metaphor error!)

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It's satisfying when you can use scenes you pre-wrote. Too often I find I have to re-write the whole thing. Looks like it's helping you make good progress. Is this new chapter going to be available for public viewing soon?

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six-old-cars.livejournal.com

I would normally have to re-write pre-existing scenes, but the "vision" scenes have the benefit of being chronologically earlier and almost entirely distinct from the main plot. So whatever the story decides to suddenly change on me, it won't be them. Of course, it may well render some of them obsolete, and those which were written earliest have sometimes proved incorrect for the world I discovered I was really writing about...

I'm hoping the narrative won't drift irretrievably away from allowing the rather nice pair of scenes I have for the end of chapter 6 / beginning of 7 (assuming that's where they end up - at one point I thought they'd squeeze into chapter 4/5!)

The completed chapter 4 will be made available to CWIL members in December, I expect. At the current rate, chapter 5 may follow in the new year.

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You said: "The completed chapter 4 will be made available to CWIL members in December, I expect."

Good work. Looks like the stimulus of Pico is really delivering the goods for you.

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My pico is a continuation of a current project, chapter 4 onwards. But I've just added an extra 300 word scene in chapter 1. Still, as there's no rules to pico, that takes me to over 36%.

But... day 11, so should be 36.7% through, so looks like I should do a few more hundred words.

The extra scene is in response to critical feedback in QWIL last Thursday ... had to get it out of my mind before I could continue with chapter 4.

There was now a tightness in her chest. Come on girl! He only grabbed your arm. She shook her arm in disgust; she needed to wash off the memory.
I was always the tough one. She laughed bitterly. His grip had been so strong. Her shoulder still hurt. But why had he released her?
She felt a hand on her shoulder and flinched, but it was only Joile again. “We should get to the pavilion.” Good old Joile. Steadfast and patient.

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I know that feeling about feedback; I'm glad you've managed to get it successfully out of your system so that you can keep on moving ahead.

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Well... to be honest, today, I've just spent a number of hours collating other critiques, and tidying up that chapter 1. I suppose I shouldn't really be doing that when I'm not ahead of the game with Pico ... but I wanted to make changes while all the feedback was in my head... You know how it is ;)

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I'm sorry I had to duck out and miss all the discussion on this.

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I understand. The creative muse is not confined to writing ... the nightingale of music is not to be denied.

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A late rush on the blocked chapter 8, plus some editing on the opening salvo of the finale, came to 603 today. Just a teensy hint of crossover for the eagle-eyed...

Ferdy’s nicety of taste not allowing for any reduction in his sartorial standards even in the provinces, the planned assault set out later than Sherry might have wished, and the expedition was further delayed by the unfortunate circumstance of a capital shotgun happening to be displayed in a gunsmith’s window on Milsom-street, which just had to be examined, being exactly what Sherry needed to replace his old second-size double barrel.

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Hah! Bumping into Charles there, no doubt.

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Just couldn't resist :) Besides it stopped me from the obligation to research 1816 guns...

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Ah, the top-of-the-range shotgun. The 19th century equivalent of a sports car :)

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I've been thinking that role might fall to the curricle ;)

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252 words today. Getting started was a struggle, but I employed the Hammett method of "whenever you run out of ideas, have a man walk into the room with a gun." Figuratively speaking of course.

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Intriguing!

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I need a Tolkien equivalent of that. A hobbit walks into a room with a Ring, perhaps.

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How about a cloud passes over the sun, leaving everyone in shadow for a moment?

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Heh. I was going to suggest "Denethor walks into the room holding a palantir."

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quietann.livejournal.com

I am still on a break from Donna/Ivan, because the massive block I had WRT the Novella That Ate My Life has lifted, and I'm really focusing on that. I woke up with my head full of stories and the whole day has been like that -- one idea after another, and more than a bit of relief that I'm finally on track with it again!

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You could always count those words towards your 5000 total. :-)

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Indeed! I'm certainly planning just to count words on projects. And bravo for crashing through the block!

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No reason the words shouldn't count towards your target, and how brilliant you woke up with a head full of stories :-)

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Of course, this doesn't mean that the story is 66% finished.

Excerpt:

Then we got our new and super-fast stardrive which ought to have thrilled me because I've always liked being able to outrun all those people who'd like to get their hands on me (and in the wrong way too, I might add) but all I could think about was how Avon had sent me and Dayna down as live Space Rat bait and fried poor Dr Plaxton. All right, it was her or us, but he didn't care, that's the thing. When Dayna mentioned her, he just said "Who?"

I could imagine him doing the same with any of us, and the old Avon wouldn't've. So, soon as we landed, I said to him, "I've had enough. I'm leaving. I'm going to sit beside that bloody wall till it opens," and I walked off.

And I did too. I sat down on a crate and stared at it, willing it to become Narnia. I think I was there for about three hours, and just as the wall started to shimmer and dematerialise, I heard someone come into the storeroom behind me.

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Ooh, suspense! I do wonder how much of their time the various Narnia visitors spent hoping to find a new portal.

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Me too, and how dull and grey their lives must have felt afterwards.

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If he's like that post-Star Drive, I dread to think what he'll be like post-Orbit...

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