Day Twenty-Nine

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Please post today's updates/excerpts/thoughts/etc. in comments.

Here's today's daily prompt for your updates, excerpts, any thoughts, etc.

Yesterday's post: Day Twenty-Eight

Comments

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Done it. Technically, it's not quite my Pico target on Cold Heaven, which I'd set as completing four scenes, but I've completed two and made a start on the third, and I don't think I'm going to get anything more done the rest of this week. So I'll be happy with that.

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

Congratulations. :-)

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[catskin.livejournal.com]

Go you!

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

Altariel the magnicent writing machine...

[six-old-cars.livejournal.com]

It may not be four scenes, but it's still over 5000 words, and on top of everything else you've written this month it's fantastic. Well done!

[quietann.livejournal.com]

I actually got over my wordcount about a week ago... Still working on TNTAML; I got really good feedback from firefly_124 last night.

There are two relatively non-smutty, physically tame but emotionally wrenching bondage scenes in the thing. Views on one are generally good but mixed; views on the second (which is a "stand all your assumptions about these characters on their heads" scene) is getting rave reviews... I am proud of myself, first because I've never written anything like this before, and second because I have "issues" around BDSM.

[octavialuna.livejournal.com]

Congrats!

[octavialuna.livejournal.com]

i have a problem.

Well let me backtrack a little. i haven't written so much as a word on my "project" in over a week. But i'm only about 400 words away from goal. i can probably do that in one or two sittings.

So i pulled up the doc and tried to work on it. And my problem? Is that i realize this is going NOWHERE and is utter crap. i contemplate starting over, trying something completely different... i'm nauseated and i feel like i'm going to cry.

i'm sorry for being all emo. :-(

[catskin.livejournal.com]

Keep going, I say. Maybe you'll find it's not as bad as you think once you've written a bit more?

[catskin.livejournal.com]

One scene to go!

I padded through the house, absently admiring the tasteful décor. Part of me itched to take my time and explore thoroughly. I wanted to see if the lounge had as many elegant antiques as the hall. I wanted to double check the Van Gogh by the stairs and see if it was real.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

It's a common part of the writing process, I think. Happens to me all the time -- and often when I look at the stuff again, later, I realise that actually there was some merit in the original material, it just needed some minor tweaking.

I'd suggest starting a new page and writing a new scene to get your 400 words, without looking back at the old work. Then putting it away for at least a few days to get a bit more perspective on it.

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

You're so close!

[catskin.livejournal.com]

I know - I wanted to finish tonight but my arm needs a rest, lol.

[paranoidangel]

Well done. So it's not as many scenes as you expected, but it's still 5000 words, and 5000 more than you had on it this time last month.

[paranoidangel]

Well done, nearly there!

[paranoidangel]

I had a similar thing back on mine too but I just forced myself to keep going. The thing that seemed to work for me was that I just told myself I had to write something and not to look back at any of it, that way I had no way of knowing how good or bad any of it is.

[paranoidangel]

I was determined to finish mine today, so I worked out the ending while at the hairdressers (I was a bit oblivious to her questions while I was thinking hard!). So I wrote one scene and realised that although I had 5000 words, my goal was to finish the script and it wasn't quite done. And I did start with 673 words before the month begun, so I made 5673 words my new target. I ended up writing an impressive 1026 words, to finish up with 5710! I did enjoy pressing the button to put the words 'The End' at the end.

[tawek.livejournal.com]

Let's see.

NaNoWriMo total=50122
+ 5,524
Total = 55646

... Wow!!!

The procrastination demons really slipped up in your case.

Congrats :)

[tawek.livejournal.com]

I've had the same experience several times this month.

I think it happens when I am emotionally overwrought (which tends to happen when I am tired): in which case things do *seem* rubbish and to be going nowhere.

I think the best initial cure is to keep writing, and suddenly, the good things in my imagination start sparking off each other, and I remember what moved me in my writing in the first place.

The final cure, of course, will be in my editing process: to cut, polish, and embroider until the writing actually reflects the good things sparking around in my imagination ... But should wait till after the first draft is done.

Sadly, the cure is hard to apply. I find this forcefield in front of my keyboard whenever I open the word processor, and these nasty little demons keep saying - "it's a week since you last cleaned your fridge!" ;)

[tawek.livejournal.com]

Yay! The final stretch beckons. You can see the winning post, imagine the garland of victory on your head. All that is needed is that last push ...

[tawek.livejournal.com]

Fantastic!
I hope you have a treat planned for yourself :)

[tawek.livejournal.com]

Well, the migraine is gone (with thanks to NHS Direct for some good advice on bringing that about). But did it depart in time? Did he spend too much energy on posts in PicoWriMo to reach his own finishing post?

Return tommorrow for the final exciting installment ...

2640 words to go. Can I do it? I don't know. But I'm going to have a crack at it.



Her face suddenly became devoid of expression. She stared hard at Aleon.
“Don’t worry. We won’t denounce you as an imposter, if you agree to one simple thing.”
Her face now had none of the gentle femininity she had been showering on Leon the past hour. This was the face of one who had known extreme hardship, with a determination never to again.

[six-old-cars.livejournal.com]

Sound advice there!

One of the reasons I keep a stock-pile of scenes (apart from the ghastly tendency to have inspiration for bits that belong the other end of the book already!) is that what flows onto paper/screen/dictaphone seems brilliant as it flows, looks utterly dire the next time I read it, and quite often proves to have some merit in the long term.

[six-old-cars.livejournal.com]

That sounds like the best use of hairdresser time I've heard recently :)

Well done on passing your target, and especially on writing "The End"