Productivity = good!

(copywrite to whoever this belongs to)

You know those days where you feel like you've done something? Today is one of those days. I had a lot of fun at work as a few of us had lunch together. It was a welcome break after doing some proofreading (which I really enjoy but it's quite a brain work out with all the technical jargon).

Then I got home, unwound with an hour of sewing and delved into editing. I'm on chapter 10, and the lesson is good fun because I have to rewrite the story scene by scene (sentences only!), not stopping to change them. I confess to changing one scene because I'd written it wrong (bad me. Not that I care!).

It's been very insightful. Muse has found a way to work in the changed storylines in such a way that the incidents which I'd previously put in, which had to be there but didn't quite make sense all now have a purpose and the storyline is behaving itself so far. I'm currently on scene 30, which I will tackle another day (probably Thursday as tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day from all work). I'm definitely making good headway in this editing! It's nice having it come together and start making sense out of the muddled plot ends (some are muddled. Others are merely finely interwoven with others in such a way that you need glasses to look to see where each one starts and ends).

Tonight I'm sewing while watching the British Bake off and some expedition thingy on BBC1. Family is baking butterfly biscuits so I'll have a warm one later (yay!)

Have a great evening!

Rainy, windy, sunny!

No, I haven't quite lost it. It is a bit rainy and windy outside, but it feels sunny inside. I slept better again last night, which is really nice! Still feel rubbish, but sorting out sleep will help me a little bit.

Returned to work today, mini pile of emails, no issues with the photocopier (although not many people are around so that's not a surprise). Had fun at work, came home relaxed to an anime episode, then settled down to tackle lesson 8 of my editing course.

That's when I saw some great news. In searching for lesson 8, I saw all the other lesson folders. Rather than 24 or 26, there are only 22! So I'm nearly half way there! I was very happy after that discovery.

Lesson 8 is about theme, creating a rough synopsis, writing a review of the book as it is (yes as a book reviewer that is easy enough and as it's for my eyes only I can be as blunt as I like). I'm nearly 1/3 through the lesson. I stopped to wrestle with blogger to put up two reviews (I have discovered the reasons why it is a pain), wrote a few emails, and now going to snuggle up with books! Tomorrow is my day off work (rather than Wednesday) so I shall be busy sewing while watching dvds. No reading or writing *whimper*. I do have a few more reviews to schedule as I'm away for a few days at the end of the week, but apart from that I'm ignoring my blog & my wip. It's my day off!

Will try to remember to take photos tomorrow of how far I've got with my current craft projects. I might start tackling a turtle. I hope it looks like a turtle by the end of it!

Much happiness!

I am (at long last) on the mend from mystery illness. After tomorrow, the usual schedule should hopefully recommence (work, writing etc). Yes, I'm excited about all this because..

...I'll get to edit!
I've been getting ideas thick and fast for Termion and want to try them out. Chapter 1 is definitely expanding from the previous versin.

...I'll get to write!
Getting ideas for APWP. Still not entirely sure how it ends, how I'll get to the end, but I'll figure that out a page at a time.

..I'll get to read!
Okay, so I won't be devouring up to 4 books a day as I have this weekend, but I'll be reading shiny books arriving from Penguin. :D Until I actually have more time in my schedule, I'll stick to Penguin for advance copies, and my local library for other publishers. I would love to live the life of a book reviewer, but I have to earn money to pay for life. Currently unpublished, and even then books don't usually ear that much, I'll make do with what I've got. I'm getting good at promoting books I read. Surprisingly I still have friends, some of whom are happy for recommendations. Others just smile at me.


...I'll get to write reviews!
Yes. I have at least 10 reviews to write now that brain has emerged from hibernatory cave.

Working up to a chapter a day

That's been my aim. Due to time constraints and other factors, that didn't happen Saturday or Sunday. But, both days I did get some writing in. Really hope to finish chapter 5 of Price Worth Paying today. I know I'm doing all I can, so I'm not beating myself up. Well, not too much :)

I've written!

:D Yes, I'm aware of how many posts I'm putting up lately. But who says I can only put one up a day?

I'm happy cos with 1507 words, I've finished chapter 7 of Imperial Intrigue! Whoohoo! We ignore the fact that I feel this scene is far too slow. On with the next one! It feels so good to be writing agian, and making progress. Even if I'm tired and only manage a few lines, I want to write every day.

Weekly update 15th March

I've decided once a week to put an update on my writing status.

This past week, writing was virtually non-existent. Varying factors, most amounted to being ill/tired.

The crucial point at these times is for me to remember its okay and normal for me not to write every day. My muse is always thinking about my wips, she just doesn't always get an outlet to scribble the ideas down.

Chasing the dream

The idea of this blog post comes from a paragraph in a friend's wip, where one character is questioned about whether they are chasing their dream. It struck me in the heart. I bluntly replied 'no, I haven't been'.

I haven't been chasing my dream lately. Yes, I've been busy in life. But, I've also been a little lazy to some extent. I've been focusing on others' work. This is important - creating links and forging bonds with fellow writers really helps when the time comes for critiquing of a novel. But, sometimes the focus comes away from the dream.

I'm hoping the dream here is obvious! To get to the stage where I feel my work is acceptable for submitting to agents.

By acceptable, I mean as polished as I can possibly get it with the help of critiques. To the best writing I can achieve without help from an agent and editor.

I'm hoping that this can be November/December this year for Termion. Which means I've got a lot of work ahead. I plan on finishing Imperial Intrigue (draft 1), then revising Termion. I'm on chapter 5 now. I average around 30-35 chapters per novel at the moment, so just another 30 odd to go! I can do this, and I must write every day. I can write 1 chapter a day....its very doable in first draft stage, so that's what I'm aiming for. At the least, I'll be writing 500 words a day (see earlier post).

So, are you chasing the dream?

New writing goal of the month/week/day

My aim = 500 words minimum, no matter what's happening. That is the plan!

Hopefully I can succeed and write a lot more. It all depends on many factors which aren't listed here. Real Life being the main one.

News - I'm on chapter 5 of Imperial Intrigue. Plot twists are working their way in without warning. Quite entertaining, only at some point I'll have to wind them all up.

Sorry for such a short post - life's been manic lately, and I'm off for a few hours R&R.

Why time off from writing is important

I actually think Lisa Shearin covered this on her blog a few posts ago....but I'm saying what I feel.

I usually have Saturday as my day of writing. Even if, like this week, I haven't written for 4 days or so. Why? Because I need the break.

My muse still works away. She devours the books I read/games I play, and dictates what she wants to happen next in my wips.

Why take time out? Why not work all hours of the day to get my work finished? Because, I write about life experiences. I need to experience that in order to write about it. Plus, this is me. If i'm not careful about how much R&R (the original meaning needs to be used here) I receive, I can get sick (simple version), which means 0 writing for longer. However much fun I see it, anything active (writing, working on languages...plus anything which involves moving) uses energy which I use up far quicker than my enthusiasm.

So, since Saturday I have an appointment every morning, after which my brain is a little fried, I relax for the rest of the day.

Do you have a day off from writing?

Book! Book! Book!

Grr to blogger for deleting my first attempt at this.

I'm getting a book in the post! Call for excitement cos the 3rd in the trilogy by Maria Snyder
(Poison Study, Magic Study, Fire Study) wasn't due to be released over her til 16th Jan. But, I got an email from amazon saying that my order had been dispatched. Considering I haven't ordered anything recently, I was thinking 'what order?' I checked, squealed and much goodness follows!

So...I'm now going to read the previous two again so I'm all caught up. Even though I remember most of it, its funny and a good read.

Yayness!

I love editing too, which I think I've already blogged about. But that's what I'm doing tomorrow afternoon until the 1st (and writing...cos....

I FOUND MY USB STICK!

My week is off to a good start. How's yours?

Weekend plans = writing! writng! writing!

...and perhaps improving my spelling :) (spot the error in the title. There is no prize). I am not a bad speller. But when I'm tired/ill (which is most of the time now), my brain likes to skip around and miss letters and even words out.

Yes. I am writing.

From tomorrow (er....pm on Friday) until I think Monday night, I am catsitting. Which means, not staying with my parents. Which means none of my games consoles (sob!) Well to be fair there are 2 consoles, but cos they are next gen (like mine) I don't have all my games saved on them. I have one.

Which means I have complete and utter peace. Just me, and a cat who needs love. *snort*. He gets a lot. The tortoises are asleep for the winter. Hector likes to wake me up at around 5-5.30am. Thanks to different medication, I usually sleep through that little wake up call. He likes to lie on my lap when I'm on the sofa. A little tricky when I'm typing.

So anyway, the plan is writing time! I have season 1 of the West Wing to finish, and I'm taking seasons 2 & 3 (yes I probably don't have enough waking hours to watch them all, but can't blame a girl for being prepared). I plan to make a large dent in Termion. I can do this. I want to do this. When I have my 'I want to succeed' mood switched on, I can do anything. Apart from speed up cooking times on my dinner, which is what I'm waiting for right now.

What has everyone got planned for this weekend?

Sunday afternoon = slobby time!

Well, I did just get back from a yummy chinese lunch with my friend.

And, as it usually is at the moment, its gloomy outside. Which makes me feel gloomy inside and outside.

However, I have a dreaded PLAN.

I'm going to go shove an episode of Angel on, and copy my current wips, into open office docs, so i can shove them on my little laptop which takes 10 seconds to start up (really, i've timed it!) compared to 5-10, depending on how my lovely (but full) laptop is feeling. That why if i get inspiration, i can write quickly. Plus, first drafts it doesn't matter what I write on. I personally now prefer to work on revisions in word where i can track changes (can be depressing when I cut a whole load of words, but fun when I add more :D). I like it when the new word count is higher than the previous one!

Need to bake a cake after that - promised I would for work.

Still got my small cold. How does one small throat make you feel so miserable?

Plans for this week's blog

* progress on actual writing
* how I plan my wips (heehee, no detailed plan for me!)
* anything else is a bonus (truly!)