# Mini NaNoWriMo?



## Sunflower (Sep 20, 2011)

Is there, or is it possible to start, some kind of writing commitment thread on this forum?  Like a Mini NaNoWriMo?

Sorry, I'm putting the question very badly.  It's late where I am, and I'm a college student as well as a writer.  Overheated brain.  

What I mean is, I hold myself to writing a minimum of 3 pages daily.  If there are people with similar requirements for themselves, maybe we could have a thread to give each other mutual support?  I did it today, but it'd help to have somebody to answer to regarding "deadlines," so to speak.  

We don't have to post what we've written, just that we met the minimum--or how close we got.  

Anybody interested?


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## moderan (Sep 20, 2011)

I don't see why that would be a problem provided that there is said interest. I'd be interested in such a thing, but I'm more or less doing that anyway, working on my current novel in order to clear the decks for nano. Maybe some others are too.
What kind of writing are you doing? Is it classwork, or creative writing?


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## Sunflower (Sep 20, 2011)

I was talking about doing the commitment thread for creative writing.  I wouldn't bore you guys with my schoolwork   I'm already holding myself to a daily minimum for my novel, too, but I thought having mutual support would help.  Hopefully, there will be sufficient interest...


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## Gamer_2k4 (Sep 20, 2011)

I could use some motivation.  I write about once a week if I'm lucky, and while I don't know for a fact that this would keep me honest, it couldn't hurt to try.


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## moderan (Sep 20, 2011)

Well, we have three. It's a start. I've done @3k today. The middle of an article about psychedelic rock (trust me, it's creative writing), a section of my blognovel, a stab at a new short story that Hawke talked me into talking myself into writing. May still do a blogpost, or maybe tomorrow-my goal is 3k per day, but I don't have a job or school or anything like that to stop me right now.
Anyway, this is as good a place for the thread as anywhere, so congratulations, threadstarter. You now have a thread.


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## Sunflower (Sep 21, 2011)

Three's company!  :champagne:I did four pages+ yesterday, though my goal is only three.  I was so happy.  :champagne:Still am, because I've had a beautiful day today, thanks to some wonderful news and really getting outdoors again for the first time in way too long, so please excuse my liberality with the emoticons.  Today, I've gotten three done, but not all in the same sequence, like yesterday.  

moderan, I applaud you for holding yourself to 3K words!  That's a tall order for me, but well worth the time if you have it.  :champagne:


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## Sunflower (Sep 21, 2011)

P.S.  Forgot to add what I worked on:  yesterday, four consecutive pages in Vol I of my novel; today, three pages in random spots in Volumes I and IV of same novel.  I'm only working on the one project.  It's long, has seen too many setbacks, and I'm very keen on finishing it ASAP.  

:champagneJust because.)


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## moderan (Sep 21, 2011)

Very likely the reason why I never became a professional writer is my inability to do one project at a time. Though I'm organized, I'm incurably overcommitted writing-wise and always will be. I like to start things and sometimes then leave them for years.
That said, I worked some on a novel that I began almost 30 years ago (I've kept the plot and the major characters and setting in my head), as the events in that continuity are finally finding their place in my overall scenario. The sequence I'm working on looks to have the possibility of functioning as a standalone, and it's been a very long time since I did a round of submissions.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Sep 22, 2011)

Only wrote 550 words tonight, but it was more than I'd done at all in the past few weeks.  A crucial gap was filled in one of my chapters, and now there's just one update left before it's finished.


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## moderan (Sep 22, 2011)

Well, call it quality over quantity.


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## Sunflower (Sep 22, 2011)

Gamer, congrats, at least you filled that important gap.  I've had times when I never got anything done, either.  Part of why I wanted this thread, hopefully it will give us all that needed motivation.  

moderan, WOW.  I used to have trouble finishing things, too, but I can't rest until this story's finished.  Partly because it's been derailed so many times, so there's a defiant element in my determination, but also because it means so much to me and I just have such high hopes for it.  

Is the novel you're working on now part of a larger scenario in the same universe?  That's what I gathered from its events finding their place in your overall scenario.  Are you planning to write the companion stories, even though it could function as a standalone?  

BTW, how far along are you guys on your projects?  Since I'm re-writing, I'm only in the first part of Volume 1 in an 8 volume series.  Part of why I'm in such a hurry.  :icon_bounce:  I mean, I jump around, even to different volumes, but I don't have much of the puzzle put together yet--there are huge gaps between the little finished spots.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Sep 22, 2011)

Sunflower said:


> BTW, how far along are you guys on your projects?  Since I'm re-writing, I'm only in the first part of Volume 1 in an 8 volume series.  Part of why I'm in such a hurry.  :icon_bounce:  I mean, I jump around, even to different volumes, but I don't have much of the puzzle put together yet--there are huge gaps between the little finished spots.



I've fully completed 20 chapters of 32, or about 120,000 words of an estimated 200,000.  I'm on the brink of concluding another three chapters, and all but one of the remaining ones are either up to halfway done or at least outlined.

How long are your volumes going to be? I know there are some fantasy series that have a dozen volumes of 1000 pages each, but I can't even comprehend writing that much, much less reading it.  If they're going to be long, be VERY careful of just writing filler.  Why take 8000 pages to tell a story that only needs 4000, right?


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## moderan (Sep 22, 2011)

Sunflower said:


> moderan, WOW.  I used to have trouble finishing things, too, but I can't rest until this story's finished.  Partly because it's been derailed so many times, so there's a defiant element in my determination, but also because it means so much to me and I just have such high hopes for it.
> 
> Is the novel you're working on now part of a larger scenario in the same universe?  That's what I gathered from its events finding their place in your overall scenario.  Are you planning to write the companion stories, even though it could function as a standalone?
> 
> BTW, how far along are you guys on your projects?  Since I'm re-writing, I'm only in the first part of Volume 1 in an 8 volume series.  Part of why I'm in such a hurry.  :icon_bounce:  I mean, I jump around, even to different volumes, but I don't have much of the puzzle put together yet--there are huge gaps between the little finished spots.



It isn't so much that I have trouble finishing as that I have dozens of projects. I can finish fine given sufficient impetus.
All of my work takes place in the same "universe"-it's a "metaversal" sort of concept. The novel I'm working on now is the first volume of the series-the event that doesn't take place is the initial difference between my worlds and the "real worlds" that we live in. The section I'm working on can function as a standalone short-almost any piece can. It's only when they are put together that you can see the jigsaw marks.
So far the series is @3 million words. 12 1/2 novels, a horde of shorter stories. A decent edit would cut that down to 2 million.


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## Sunflower (Sep 22, 2011)

Gamer_2k4 said:


> How long are your volumes going to be? I know there are some fantasy series that have a dozen volumes of 1000 pages each, but I can't even comprehend writing that much, much less reading it. If they're going to be long, be VERY careful of just writing filler. Why take 8000 pages to tell a story that only needs 4000, right?



Yes, I realize this is an issue. The volumes vary in length, but I'm going to try to keep most in the 300-500 range. However, the first may be longer, because I've got to set the scence properly. Previously, it was over a 100 pages and I'd only just introduced the MC properly (he's a mysterious fellow, so there was quite a build up).  However, I'm still in the rough draft stage, so hopefully I can make it a little leaner with a good edit. Plus, my universe is rather peculiar (in that I don't have anything to compare it to; the science is neither science nor magic...) so I need to do a solid set up to make it real. At least, I feel like I do. 

How long did it take you to write the 20 chapters? Is the story basically how you want it or do you think you'll need several more drafts? 

moderan...WOW. That is a lot of words. But then, if I like the storyline, universe, characters, I can stick with one such scenario a long time (as a reader as well as a writer--probably why I'm writing a saga instead of a few shorts in the same universe). And if they can function all right as standalones, even better. The concept sounds cool. Alternate histories tend to be real page-turners for me, though it's been a while since I read good ones. Have you read Finity? By John Barnes, I think. That takes a more humorous view of things.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Sep 22, 2011)

Sunflower said:


> How long did it take you to write the 20 chapters? Is the story basically how you want it or do you think you'll need several more drafts?



It's been two and half years since I finished the first chapter, but that number is deceiving on two counts.  First, it's misleading because I spent two years designing and planning my story prior to doing any actual writing (in other words, the project has been going on for nearly five years total).  Secondly, THAT number is also misleading because this hasn't been a constant effort for me.  This is my only project, but sometimes I'll go weeks without giving it any attention.  My original quota was one chapter every month, but it's been 33 months and I've only written 20 chapters.

However, that long development cycle has paid off from a rewriting perspective.  The plot and characters have changed drastically from their original plans, but those changes have largely only affected unwritten portions of my story.  Now, I'm finally satisfied with what I have, and all that remains is for me to write it out.  I've known for nearly a year and a half how many chapters I would have and what each would contain.  All that's left is converting the outlines to prose.




moderan said:


> So far the series is @3 million words. 12 1/2 novels, a horde of shorter stories. A decent edit would cut that down to 2 million.



I agree with Sunflower; that's just nuts.  With all that work, have you given any thought to publishing? That you still have a million's words worth of editing remaining (I can't believe that statement isn't hyperbole, wow) would suggest that that's for the distant future, if at all, but it seems like a shame to have sunk so much time into something that only a few people will ever know about.


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## moderan (Sep 22, 2011)

A good part of the series has already been published as standalone shorts. One of the novels is @650,000 words, and could be cut down to a tenth of that without sacrificing the main plot elements. Otherwise, there's a themed story-cycle that's going to be self-published, hopefully within the year, two novels making the rounds, and a third that's going to be blogfodder.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Sep 23, 2011)

408 words tonight.  The low number belies its significance; those words finally finished the 18th chapter of my story, which has pretty much been in limbo for the last four months.  Next stop, finishing Chapter 19! (~1000 more words)


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## Sunflower (Sep 23, 2011)

I've met my daily goal and finished just over three pages, though I need to include the work I did on my notes due to overzealous teachers prescribing way too much homework.  :roll:  Happy with what I've got done, but way too tired tonight to do any more.  Besides, I got down some really great ideas in those notes on things I've been stuck on for ages--the ideas just poured forth, which seems like a great sign.  In the past when that happened, it meant a sort of dam had been burst and a sustained period of creativity followed.  

moderan, congrats on being published!  Can we have links to your stuff, or titles?  I'd love to read it.  

Gamer, congrats on finishing the chapter!  I'm having the same problem with a couple of sequences and it's driving me up the wall so I can imagine how stoked you must be.  Good luck on 19.


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## moderan (Sep 23, 2011)

Most of my published stuff is pre-internet, but there are usually six or eight previously-published things on my website. I change the content periodically.


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## Sunflower (Sep 24, 2011)

Ha!  Just finished my three pages, after about an hour and twenty minutes of unbroken (and unedited) tapping away at the keys.  A bit discouraged because I only barely seem able to count today and yesterday.  But they've been a frenetic couple of days.  In SUCH a state tonight.  

But--I made it!


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## moderan (Sep 24, 2011)

Did some 4500 words last night/this morning. Probably won't do much tonight as we have plans for dinner and such. I'll be exhausted by 7.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Sep 26, 2011)

You guys and your ridiculous word counts.  I only managed 800 this weekend, though I did finish yet another chapter.

I think my difficulty right now is that I've already written the "fun" parts for the areas I'm focusing on, so I have less motivation and less inspiration than I would otherwise.  Still, this is forcing me to do a more mundane but equally essential task - linking the crucial parts together so that I have flowing, continuous text.  It's definitely a good thing.


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## moderan (Sep 26, 2011)

By "fun" parts, do you mean the parts that are fun for you, or for the reader? What kind of parts are they (the not-so-fun parts, that is)? The slow, building-a-pace kinda pieces, or infodump? I like to make those into challenges to make them interesting for me...in some of my stories, I have television (or 3V or the local equivalent) work as infodump central (it's become a motif-like a noir PI taking an afternoon drink). Writing ads and news reports, stuff like that, functions as a curve ball for me. You don't necessarily have to go to that extreme, but sometimes one has to do some creative problem-solving. 
I just think that if the writing isn't interesting for _me_, then it probably won't be for the reader, either. Ooops, sorry. I don't mean to appear to be hectoring. But there ya go.
I betcha Stephen King does much greater volume. He _publishes_ like two million words/year. Think about _that_.
After I did my wf interview, I started thinking about one of my answers-I've never really given writing for a living a fair shot. Other things always started paying off and consuming the time.
Since I have the time now, and the inclination now...I think you can see where I'm going. I'm finally _weird enough to turn pro_.


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## moderan (Sep 26, 2011)

And yeah, I met my goal of 3k. I did some of the interstitial material for the themed story collection and a good deal of the "book" for a podcast project.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Sep 26, 2011)

moderan said:


> By "fun" parts, do you mean the parts that are fun for you, or for the reader? What kind of parts are they (the not-so-fun parts, that is)? The slow, building-a-pace kinda pieces, or infodump?



Well, I design and plan my story well before doing any writing.  I have key scenes that I want to see, key events that I want to happen, key connections that I want characters to make, and so on.  Those are the things that make my story tick.  Those are the fun parts.  They're fun for me to write, and, as major plot points, I expect they'll be fun for people to read.

The not-so-fun parts simply link the fun parts.  There's only one true infodump in my story, with one person explaining things for an entire chapter.  The others, if they exist, are so well-hidden that even I'm not aware of them.  I'm an impatient writer, so there are no "slow, pace-building" parts in my story, either.  Everything is important to the plot and character development.  Besides, if I don't want to wait for the exciting parts, why should I make my readers wait?

The difficulty in these "not fun" parts is that I try to make an effective transition from one scene to the next without any superfluous material.  If it doesn't advance the story in some way, I don't want it in my novel.  Pre-writing editing, if you will.  Also, part of being an impatient writer is being a concise writer.  I could spend 500 words detailing the exact contours of a cape each time the wind catches it, or I could say, "His cape whipped in the wind."  It's just simpler.



moderan said:


> I just think that if the writing isn't interesting for _me_, then it probably won't be for the reader, either. Ooops, sorry. I don't mean to appear to be hectoring. But there ya go.



To some extent, I agree.  However, I also think that sometimes you have to do things that aren't interesting to an author to MAKE a story interesting to a reader.  Consider, as a (somewhat related) example, the task of editing.  Is it enjoyable? Not really.  But it makes the story better for the reader.  In the same way, I'm taking extra pains to ensure that the transitions will be seamless and flowing for the reader, and if it sucks a little more for me as a writer to do that, so be it.


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## Sunflower (Sep 26, 2011)

moderan said:


> I'm finally _weird enough to turn pro_.



:thumbr:

Still working on it myself.  Unfortunately, the last two days have held me back with mundane obligations like homework and emissions testing, so I didn't meet my minimum for Saturday _or _Sunday.  But!  My story was never far from my mind, and I came up with several great ideas, including a solution to a problem that had stumped me for ages.  It allows me to tie up a bunch of different things that I previously did not know how to fit together for the life of me. 

Now I've got a couple of free days to incorporate and flesh out my new ideas.  And make up for lost time!


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## Sunflower (Sep 27, 2011)

Caught up!  

I wrote more than four pages yesterday, and 10 and a half today--and I'm not finished!  The words haven't flowed so easily in months!  I'm in the zone!


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## moderan (Sep 28, 2011)

Good for you. I was lazy today and didn't do much. Instead I set up a bunch of stuff for my facebook pages and chatted with the artist for a webcomic/graphic novel project.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Sep 28, 2011)

Sadly, I've done very little actual writing today and yesterday.  I did some more outlining for two of my chapters, but aside from that, no progress.

But tomorrow I'm free all evening! Time to write like crazy!


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## moderan (Sep 28, 2011)

Beat ya to it. Couldn't sleep much last night so I diddled around with this and that and came up with a whole lot more than my stated goal. Five hours' solid work, and most of it seems usable. A little over 7000 words, plus assorted drawings, as I'm now the artist for the webcomic.


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## Sunflower (Sep 28, 2011)

moderan, way to go!  I love it when that happens.  

Gamer, a free evening seems like just the remedy.

I've been setting aside as much time as possible since Monday, and the lack of distractions was all it took to open the floodgates.  The words are still just pouring forth, and I've already met my minimum for the day.  I wish I could switch it on and off, though, because now I have to turn my attention to the distractions I shoved aside. *sigh*  The creative flow isn't disrupted so much by things that don't require the same mental efforts, but schoolwork is another matter.  This is the biggest *obstacle* for me right now.  At least next sememster, I'll be taking more writing-related classes.


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## moderan (Sep 29, 2011)

You love when what happens? Insomnia? *laughs*
I'm on disability for a couple of years. I have time to do the work. I just need to develop good habits and keep my shoulder to the grindstone and my nose to the wheel.
Did maybe another 4k since then. An edit of an article about psychedelic rock, the outline and some scenes for a new short piece, and a piece of flash fiction that might or might not be for the LM.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Sep 29, 2011)

Well...tonight was more productive than the last two nights, anyway.  Got 1200 words written, and made significant progress in Chapter 21.  Hopefully I can finish things off tomorrow.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Sep 30, 2011)

A low estimate puts tonight's work at a mere 300 words, though the previous word count included outlining and summary text that are gone now.  We'll say I managed 500 words.

This chapter will be done with another 500 words, and since Chapter 22 is already finished, that means I can move right along to Chapter 23.  I'm actually pretty excited about that, as it's where the rollercoaster ride of my story begins.  Chapter 23 is aptly titled "Precipice" to indicate that it's all downhill from there, so I'm really looking forward to working on it and future chapters.


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## Sunflower (Sep 30, 2011)

Congrats, Gamer!  Good luck on #23.  I like your title.  As a reader, I'd be excited, assuming I was properly built up for the drop by the first 22 chapters.  

I've been exceeding my minimum consistently for the past couple days, including today.  The words just seem to pour forth now that I'm not trying to force it down particular channels, i.e., in a particular order.  I've had a hang up about writing out of order that seems to come back occasionally when I fear I'm not making enough "progress."  Now my biggest obstacle seems to be smoothing out a few kinks regarding the science of my universe.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Oct 1, 2011)

400 words written tonight, which means I'm done with the first 22 chapters of my story.  For me, it's the consistency that matters, not the word count.  I may have only written a few hundred words each day this week, but that's a daily few hundred more than I've written for MONTHS.  Good call on making this thread, Sunflower.

Also, congratulations to both of you for the sheer volume of writing you're doing.  I can't imagine writing thousands of words daily, but if I had that sort of ability, man, my story would be done in under two months.  Way to stay motivated.


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## moderan (Oct 1, 2011)

You just have to sit down and do. Remember that 90% (or so it is said) of people that start novels don't finish them. I spend 5-6 hours a day writing/editing in the hope of clearing the queue for new work. I've felt weighed down by the sheer number of projects and had to prioritize.
And the rest is just mechanics. I type somewhere @75/words/minute and that adds up quickly.
Second the "good call". Glad that you're finding a pace that works for you.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Oct 1, 2011)

moderan said:


> You just have to sit down and do. Remember that 90% (or so it is said) of people that start novels don't finish them. I spend 5-6 hours a day writing/editing in the hope of clearing the queue for new work. I've felt weighed down by the sheer number of projects and had to prioritize.



Well, like Sunflower, I jump around a lot, so the "just finished Chapter 22 after 3 years" aspect of my progress is misleading.  Though I only have 134,000 words of contiguous text (out of a planned 200,000), conservative estimates put me at only 30,000 more to go because of how far ahead I've worked.  But you're right; it's this "sitting down and doing" that will fill those gaps.



moderan said:


> And the rest is just mechanics. I type somewhere @75/words/minute and that adds up quickly.



And I type at near 100 WPM.  I don't have 5 hours to spare each day, so I have to make the most of what time I do have.


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## Sunflower (Oct 3, 2011)

So glad to hear the thread is helping everyone!  Congrats on getting so much done.  It doesn't matter _how _we do it, only that the final result is good.  Sorry I haven't posted the last couple days--swamped with schoolwork, but I've still been meeting my minimums. In fact, I've gotten a lot of new ideas down in my notes, and am going to start fleshing out a few technical aspects that have been fuzzy to me for a while.  

...I also wrote about 2 1/2 pages of a new short story the other night on a whim (in my notebook, after I'd turned out the lights to go to bed, the proverbial flashbulb went off, and I just wrote nonstop until the first transition.  In a way, it's a great sign--I've gotten the creative juices flowing again.  On the other hand, I don't want anything getting in the way of my novel.  But this story should be much easier to write, requiring little or no research.  Plus, being so short and simple, it's more "from the heart" so I think I should go ahead with it.  Good to finish something relatively easily, anyway, it'll inspire me for the rest.


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## moderan (Oct 4, 2011)

Well, I didn't reach my goal yesterday but it was impossible to do so as I wasn't home most of the day. So I'll be one day short-I don't think I'm going to add a few words to each day to make it up or anything like that.
There's no reason why you can't do a short story and a novel.
And I'm more or less a linear writer. Flow is extremely important to me and things just don't read right when I jump around. Doing things in order saves me editorial headaches later.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Oct 4, 2011)

I had a slow weekend without much progress, but hopefully that will improve from here on out.  If I work on my novel tonight, I'll post those numbers; in the meantime, I wrote a 900 word story for this month's Literary Maneuvers competition while at work.  Gotta edit it down to 650 still, but I've got two weeks!


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## Sunflower (Oct 5, 2011)

You wrote a whole story at work!?  I want YOUR job!  LOL  Congrats and good luck with the competition--and the editing  

I haven't found that jumping around makes any difference to my flow.  If I get stuck, I get stuck anywhere.  But if linear works for you, it's what you should do.  At least you know that.  I didn't know for a long time that nonlinear is the only way for me.  It didn't seem "acceptable."  

Yesterday I got 3+ pages, today was exceptionally busy--less than 2 but I'm not done yet, so I think I'll make it.  Have to do it in my notebook in bed, though...only way I can sleep, oddly.  My brain just will not settle down otherwise.  Go figure.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Oct 5, 2011)

Sunflower said:


> You wrote a whole story at work!?  I want YOUR job!



Heh.  I'm a software tester, so I write automated tests for my company.  When they're running, I can either stare at the screen or do something productive.  I chose the latter and ended up writing today. 

EDIT: Also wrote out another 500 words of my novel.


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## Sunflower (Oct 5, 2011)

Sounds like a cool job.  Can't guarantee I wouldn't veg out every now and then, but most days--what I wouldn't give for some extra free time like that!  Hope you enjoy it  

900 pages is a really short short story.  Got me thinking maybe I should try that.  I've always had trouble with the standared 10-30 page story; it's either 1,000 words or 1,000 pages with me.  LOL  Which explains the saga I'm on and the myriad off-shoots that I keep spawning from the central story.  (The off-shoots are backstories, minor characters' POVs, sometimes following them after they branch off from the main story...etc.)  I'm in love with this universe, but it needs a lot of developing and yet my mind is more eager to go off on tangents.  The drama part of the story should be really rich in the end, but I'm worried about keeping the future science and society structures and plot details interesting and consistent.  

Finished my three pages in my notebook in bed last night, and got another 3 down today.  Also finally decided on names for a couple things I'd waffled on for ages.  One for an important planet, the other for a mysterious phenomenon no one can explain.


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## moderan (Oct 6, 2011)

Flash fiction is the bomb. I've done three+ possible entries for the LM this week, two of them yesterday. Also busied myself composing promotional materials for my upcoming webcomic and several cds. So not much fiction, but easily made the wordcount goal.


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## Sunflower (Oct 8, 2011)

Flash fiction does seem promising, not only as a way to hone your skills as I'm trying to do, but in general.  I somehow like the freedom of it.  I mean, with so little investment, I can't really go wrong, can I?  

I finished my minimums yesterday and today.  Had another couple of "breakthroughs" with things I've been trying to solve for ages suddenly becoming crystal-clear.  Should have most of tomorrow free to flesh out new ideas some more.


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## moderan (Oct 8, 2011)

Nope, you can't. And you can cram a lot into a flash piece.
One of the stories I did (maybe) for the LM (depending on which direction I want to go in), has 24 different points-of-view, a subplot, and a metafictional frame, plus the bulk of the piece is told in second person, and all of the action takes place in ten seconds. That was an exercise!
I've been revising that one this evening in between working on some music and general housekeeping. So not much writing again, but my kitchen is gleaming.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Oct 8, 2011)

moderan said:


> One of the stories I did (maybe) for the LM (depending on which direction I want to go in), has 24 different points-of-view, a subplot, and a metafictional frame, plus the bulk of the piece is told in second person, and all of the action takes place in ten seconds. That was an exercise!



Twenty-seven words per perspective? Yeesh.

Mine is third person with two characters, and the first draft still was 917 words.  This past week, I've whittled it down to 710, but it's grueling.  Still, it's rather amazing to me how tight a story can be made through editing.  That sort of thing really forces you to focus on the truly important parts of your story, and it's pretty surprising to see all of the things that you thought were important but were ultimately superfluous.


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## moderan (Oct 8, 2011)

I liked it better when the limit was 500 words. But yeah, it's great exercise-you definitely learn what parts are keepers.


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