Day 1

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Here's today's prompt for you to post your updates and any excerpts and thoughts etc in comments.

I also thought I'd provide a link to a simple word counter, the Picometer at Writertopia.com. To make it easy, just copy the following HTML, changing 1340 to the number of words you've written, and 5000 to whatever your target is:

<img src="http://picometer.writertopia.com/words=1340&target=5000" />

The result for this example is:

Comments

[just-ann-now.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I'm posting in the future! *g*

This evening I did about 300 words of brainstorming for a drabble for the tolkien_weekly prompt "Harvest Moon". I'll get it down to 100 tomorrow, and post it for the last day of last week's challenge. Then on Monday, I'll post the new challenge series and this week's prompt, and have a week to come up with ... 100 words. *sigh*

[akane42me.livejournal.com]

Drabbles are deceptive. So hard to get it down to 100 perfect words.

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

I agree with another commenter above -- honing a drabble to perfection is far harder than one might think!

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

Paring a drabble to just the right 100 words is hard -- there's something sculptural about it, isn't there?

Please post a link when it's up!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Ah, this is what this comm is good for. I was forced to start my story, and I've done the first scene.



Here's an excerpt.

"Could you leave a brother or sister like that, Avon?"
Avon winced very slightly. "Yes. It would be kinder."
"To you, you mean?"
"Of course. He--the mutoid--wouldn't care."
"Yes, but what if you could reverse the process?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Vila."
"I'm not. Look, it seems to me that the Federation might want some sort of out. I mean, what if they wanted to get the person back, or get their memories back? Some mutoids are people being punished, but you know a lot aren't. You know, "Join the Mutoid Corps and Forget". Very romantic, that is."
"Vila!"
"Well, it is to some, Soolin. Like that Keera Landradi, you know, the actor. Career going downhill, a few lines starting to appear, her lover leaving her, so she makes the grand gesture. People like that, they'd like to know there was a chance of getting it all back."
Avon looked thoughtful. "Hard as I find to admit it, you could have a point. I shall see what Orac can find out."

[azdak.livejournal.com]

Career going downhill, a few lines starting to appear, her lover leaving her, so she makes the grand gesture

God, that's horrendously creepy! What a brilliant idea!

[avon7.livejournal.com]

Oh yay! B7 to read! I grinned at:
You know, "Join the Mutoid Corps and Forget". Very romantic, that is."

It sounded very Vila.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's a good hook :)

[akane42me.livejournal.com]

You're off to a great start!

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

I'm mostly impressed by your word count -- almost ten per cent on the first night!

[muninnhuginn]

Excellent, B7! And mutoids!

[azdak.livejournal.com]

Pico is once again working its magic! I've started a new scene in Music II and it's flwoing along quite nicely. Our hero, Mr Rosen, disguised as an American millionaire, is pretending to the Director of the Belvedere that he's the heir to a Klimt painting forcibly confiscated by the Nazis:

Mr Rosen nodded amicably. "Well, sure," he said. "My lawyers'll be in touch in the next few days about that. But I wanted to talk to you first, Mr Director, because I wanted to know what kind of a man I'd be dealing with. There's a whole lot of immoral folks in this world, and when it comes down to doing what's right by a dead Jew, or hanging on to a valuable art collection, well, let's just say the Jew hasn't got a whole lot going for him. But I saw you were touched by my uncle's story, Mr Director, I saw that with my own eyes, and that gives me hope that we can sort out this situation like gentlemen."
It gave the Director hope, too. I could tell by the gleam in his eyes, and by the friendliness of the smile that appeared on his face.

-

I managed 200 words on The Blue Peter Elephant as well, although that's definitely not flowing yet. Jim Todd is the PA to Tommy Masters, the host of Tell It Like It Is. Dildo LaRouche is a transsexual they are trying to persuade to appear on the show.

JIM: Like I said, we got off to a bad start. The Jim Todd you've seen so far isn't the real me, you know. I'd like to show you that I'm not just an insensitive, foul-mouthed, career-driven, sexist exploiter of the underprivileged.

DILDO: You forgot moron.

JIM: That, too. There's more to me than you think Dildo. And I'm sure there's more to you than I think.

DILDO: That's possibly the first intelligent thing you've said all day.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Interesting; they both intrigue me in different ways. Who is the narrator in the first one, and do you plan to direct the second? :-)

[avon7.livejournal.com]

I'll admit that I haven't really even seen a computer today - but tomorrow is looking more promising. I've written basically nothing but I have dragged 'Tarn' out of it's dusty Word folder and reread most of it. I've discovered that (1) I actually started it in 2007 so I'm even slower than I thought (2) I've written whole chunks I hadn't even remembered and (3) I like it more than I thought. I do still think I've painted myself into a corner with phi-horses, unfortunately. They're going to be impossible to travel with, particularly inconspicuously, they have too many powers for someone to steal them and they're the pivot point of the whole darned novel so I can't just dump them. *Curses all semi-opaque horses with amazing powers*

On rereading I'm also less convinced about changing it to third person - though I've heard publishers prefer it - and this is my wafty attempt at writing something I could sell. Opinions very welcome.

This is an excerpt that I haven't written this year but have just played with and tidied a little.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
She went to collect our mounts who were looking, for a wonder, positively solid. Did they have an unwarrantedly high opinion of my ability to save us all – or were they, as my sceptical soul suggested, too stupid to realise their danger? It all only confirmed my already low opinion of their sense; a fluttering dress or a cracking stick was enough to send them into a trembling decline, but a frantic flight from capture across dangerous lands they seemed to find quite salutary. Of course, I further mused, reaching up a hand for Tilar, perhaps they were as intelligent as Lilleneth claimed and as unlovable as I believed and were in such good spirits because they realised they were the only members of the party not in any danger were we to be captured by the authorities. They could expect a hot bran mash while we were facing the noose. I grimaced. ‘Born to be hanged’ – how often had Margolet said that? I was determined I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

“For today we will ride during the daylight hours for as long as we can. The forest gives us cover and we are unlikely to be seen by passers-by. On the other hand, at best, we will be missed in an hour or so at breakfast and they will begin searching very soon. If we’re lucky they won’t look where we are because they will be expecting us to be heading somewhere more…”

“Sensible?” offered Raynal.

I scowled at him.

“Predictable,” I said firmly. “But we can’t rely on that. We need to be as far away as possible. By this afternoon, we should have crossed the Yallen River and we’ll stop then for a couple of hours sleep. We’ll start travelling again once it is dark, and we should be at the edge of the marshes by the next dawn.”

My little party seemed to accept my plans with what I saw as worrying amount of faith. I never thought I’d say this but for once I would have positively welcomed High Tutor Branin standing there with one eyebrow raised, saying with deadly gentleness, “That’s an interesting theory, Tarn – and on what evidence might it be based?”

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Third person is certainly more common, but first gives a more personal feel to a narrative, like Tarn's little aside to the reader: I never thought I’d say this but...

I'd say stick with the style you started with as it seems to be working well. :-)

[tawek.livejournal.com]

Well done guys on getting started already.
I've been away and am busy this evening, so Pico, for me, should start in earnest tomorrow...

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I forgot that 1st November meant picowrimo started, so it rather took me by surprise this morning.

My goals are basic, but I'm going to try:

- to finish two bits of fanfiction, one that I've already started, and a second for good meaure.

- to make substantial progress (5000 words?) on a bit of original fic, which is the expansion of a fairy tale I first wrote about 12+ years ago into a children's fantasy novel. I have the plot and characters, it's just (hah!) a matter of getting it down and tying things together... I want the damn thing out of my head.

I have made major progress towards these goals today by ... tidying the sitting room. This means that I now have a clear tabletop on which I can work, and am relieved of a feeling of guilt at the state of the place. A much more conducive space for writing!

[azdak.livejournal.com]

Oh, hooray, I was afraid you'd changed your mind!

Dare I hope one of the bits of fanfic is the one you posted the teaser from the other day? Whatever it is, I know it will brighten my life and gladden my heart.

And origific! Yay! I'm so pleased you're tackling that.

[kalinda001.livejournal.com]

I haven't worked on, The Name is Avon story in almost a year. It's about time I continued/finished it.

For those unfamiliar with this tale, it is an AR taking the characters of Avon and Cally (and perhaps others - at the total whim of the writer) of Blakes 7 and dumping them in a Sam Spade-type adventure but set in the dystopian future of the Federation. It's a painfully-tongue-in-cheek story that uses and creates cliches that should make absolutely no sense. Any familiarity with the plots of various film noir detective stories, esp. The Maltese Falcon, is entirely intentional ;)

Here's a hiccup start to it...

--------------------------------------------------------------

Avon woke up to a chorus of rhythmically challenged tap dancers blowing their noses in his head. The pain was excruciating. The last thing he wanted to do was open his eyes and encourage them further, but he didn't have a choice. His last memory was of being in the morgue with his detective friend, Tom. And…Zelda's body lying as still as a beached coconut wearing platform shoes.

He had to sort out the confusing memories and find the truth. His eyes opened a sliver, just enough to see where he was without warning anyone he was awake.

Dirt. He was faced-down in dirt. The light was strange. Unfamiliar smells. Fresh. Plants growing haphazardly, without the benefit of human intervention.

His pulse raced faster, like a one-eyed cat with a bad hangover. He was outside the domes.

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

It's about time I continued/finished it.

And now is the perfect opportunity to do so. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[kerravonsen]

I did not get any words written. 8-(
But I did get some research done. 8-)

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Research is always good (mind you, I tend to have so much fun reseraching that I don't actually get onto the writing - I have some spectacular world-building on my hard drive...)

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Late late late (due to the twin messes sometimes called Real Life and My Brain) I just want to write something - at least100 words, hopefully more like 500 - every day, on whatever strikes me. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll have some completed stories (drabbles, whatever) to show for it...

My first post (from last night, so the 1st here) is here (http://sallymn.livejournal.com/428756.html).

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

Oh, I love ghost stories. I don't know the fandom, but the setting is great and I'm looking forward to more of this!

[akane42me.livejournal.com]

My goal is 200 words each day, so I'm happy to have gotten 500!

Here's an extract:

His eyes were steel grey in the shadow. If he moved from the shadow into the light, she thought his eyes might change to blue. She sipped her coffee and reached for a grey-blue pastel. Returning to her sketch, she applied some light strokes to the shadowed part of the man’s body. That was it. The touch of blue added a sense of mystery, of pent-up energy to the grey form in the drawing.

A shadow blocked her light, and she looked up. He stood over her, tall, reed thin, smiling.

“You’re drawing me.”

“I hope you don’t mind.”

“Actually, I was hoping you’d give it to me.”

Now, two years later, she cursed her missing husband, and what he’d hidden behind those steel grey eyes. She wondered what he’d really been waiting for that day.

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

An excellent word count already!

[fallingtowers.livejournal.com]

My target for this month is 10,000 words (quite insane for my speed of writing), but I'll settle for a decent 5,000 if I manage to get a substantial chunk of my story done.

Today, I edited a smut/shippy fic I had dashed off for an LJ porn battle earlier this week, but wasn't really satisfied with. It could do with another few rounds of editing, I guess, but I'll now focus on my original project of the crazy Buffy / Sharpe crossover of doom.

The opening scene has been already written, and I've dumped it in my writing journal entry (http://having-written.livejournal.com/23197.html) for all finished snippets from the story.

Excerpt follows:

"Can we be of any assistance, monsieur?" she asked. "I am sure you would prefer to be with your family on Christmas Eve, instead of keeping two strangers company in the rain."

"That’s very kind of you, demoiselle," he said, and in the flickering light of his lantern, she saw his lips curve upwards in a patronizing smile. "But your guardian doesn’t look like a working man, if I may say so, and this is no job for a young miss, either."´

"But --," she started to protest, thinking of the secret strength in all her limbs, tested and tried and true.

"But--," she repeated and hastily closed her mouth again. "But I could hold your lantern, couldn’t I?"

"Thank you kindly," the coachman said, now tugging at the reins with both hands, "let’s hope we’ll be off to the village soon. As you say, it’s not much of a pleasure to be so far away from home tonight."

"No," she said, straining her ears to detect any unexpected noises in the night. The only sound was the faint echo of church bells, higher and tinnier than the low booming strokes of the cathedral in whose shadow she had grown up. "No, it really isn’t."

[kerravonsen]

Oooh, I like how you hint at her slayerness thinking of the secret strength in all her limbs, tested and tried and true and then have her be sneaky about holding the lantern.

[muninnhuginn]

Started. Yup, late, but there was a Grand Prix to watch.

Four pages done, which is a bit of a cheat what with set description and character list. By page 2 I was wondering whether I was describing a mime show rather than writing a script, but my two protagonists piped up at last and their chorus added its two-penn'orth.

It's all hand-written. Maybe I should put up pictures, except (possibly blessedly) they'd be illegible.

So progress: 4 pages/120 pages

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

So progress: 4 pages/120 pages

Which is exactly right for a month! Well done! Maybe you could change your goal to something like 40000. Wow, that's almost Nano territory! :-P

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

Since Yuletide assignments aren't out yet, I thought that today I'd tinker with revising some old fanfic prompts, or maybe write a drabble just to warm up the writing brainz.

Instead the germ of an original short story sprouted in my head and I wrote 850 words of it!

I'm very pleased and intend to take this as a good omen for the month. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Good going. :-)

[elmey.livejournal.com]

I managed to do around 250 words today which is good, but it will take me a couple of days to have the nerve to show it to anyone. The recipient for this piece specifically asked for no angst. I don't think I've ever written anything without angst in my life :) So I'm working on tone and it isn't quite right yet.

I also managed to do some research on the requested location but since the story is set in the 60's that's not so easy. NS and IK may be spending a lot of time indoors.

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

250 words is excellent, and I'm sure you can squeeze the angst out. :)

For your location research -- is it a tourist destination of any kind? Old guidebooks or National Geographic-type features might be useful...

[tawek.livejournal.com]

Hi Vikakins,

So far, I've been unable to do much on Pico apart from post prompts. And I won;t be able to do much for the next couple of days either.
Would you be willing to post the next two prompts?
I wonder, anyway, if the slightly later prompt you'd post might better suit our USA friends ... when I post at midnight to 1am UK time, it's still early evening in California for the previous day.

- George

PS Hopefully, from early next week I'll be able to start writing in earnest (I hope)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

You mean days 8 and 9? I can post in my evenings which would suit me fairly well anyway.