WIP Wednesday: Week 20?!

Days Left to Deadline: -64

Days Worked On: Two-ish. Though there's been a lot of angst spread out over other days.
Morale: Miserable . . . then I realized it was week 20 . . . and it got worse. >_> Maybe I should stop numbering these things.
Total Word Count: 98,597 (+222 from last week)

What I Worked On: So . . . ugh, here's the deal: I deleted a scene from the original draft because it made for a better chapter break, but in doing so, I lost some important information (ie: setting and character introductions). So I've been struggling to get all of those vital bits back into place without info-dumping. This was what last week's cork board timeline was all about.

Thoughts: I've written this post three different times about three different things . . . and most of them were whiny. So this is me not whining. This week sucked writing-wise, but I've finally turned to my wonderful CP for some help, and I'm sure she'll be able to lend an unbiased eye.

WIP Wednesday: Week 9

Hahaha, back to the cesspit I go . . .

Days Left to Deadline: 13
Days Worked On: None
Morale: Surprisingly good considering that I am so NOT going to make my deadline with, you know, 82,343 words left to edit in less than two weeks
Total Word Count: 99,904

Thoughts: Oh goodness, I join a writing campaign thing . . . and then I never write. Super classy, I know. I'm in the middle of moving right now . . .  but that doesn't seem like a very good excuse. *pens writing in on the calendar*

On a more productive note, how is your writing going? Good? Bad? What kind of things prevent you from getting any work done, and how do you plan around those? Feel free to give me a heads up in the comments.

WIP Wednesday: Week 8

For all of you who don't know the story behind my WIP Wednesday posts (you know, besides the obvious), check out this post and this post for some details.

Days Left to Deadline: 20?!
Days Worked On: Err . . . 1
Morale: Honestly, haven't thought about it . . . so, uhh, not despairing? I guess?
Total Word Count: 99,904 (+27 from last week)

Thoughts: Yeah, I spent most of this last week stressed out about certain life-related things. So the one day that I did work on my writing resulted in a big fat nothing. What can I say? External stress ≠ a happy writing time. *shrug*

However, things are looking up and I have been brain-storming, so I'm thinking next week will be a bit better.

WIP Wednesday: Week 7

This week was not particularly thrilling OR particularly horrible. Ugh normalcy.

Days Left to Deadline: 27
Days Worked On: Only 3 this week
Morale: Good . . . and then not-so-good
Total Word Count: 99,877 (+220 *le sigh*)

Thoughts: My writing was going well. I finished chapter 6-2 (like I said last week, it was going freakishly quickly) and it was awesome. Not really much else to mention on that front.

Then I tackled chapter 6-3. Which is just miserable. Actually, scratch that. I don't really think I was in a good mental place for editing when I was working on it . . . so it might not be all that horrible. Either way, that last night of editing this week was a tough one. :( Here's to next time!

WIP "Wednesday": Week 6

This time January's Book Roundup booted WIP Wednesday out of its rightful spot, so once again, a post on Thursday. How scandalous!

Days Left to Deadline: 33
Days Worked On: Pretty sure it was 3
Morale: Freakishly optimistic
Total Word Count: 99,657 (-318 . . . oh yeah)

Thoughts: Some exciting things happened this week. Let me tell you about them:

• Rewrote the ending of chapter 4-3, which was a) kind of mediocre, b) bothering me, and c) making it difficult to keep continuity between chapters 4-3 and 4-4.
• Finished chapter 4-4! That's right--it's done! There might still be some OOC-ness in the middle bits, but at this point I need some time away from it.
• Added 400 words, went back over the 100,000 word total, was saddened, then deleted 600 and got back down again. Wooo.
• Renamed one of my characters. It's been something I've been thinking about for a while, and I think I've finally decided on a suitable name for him.
• Edited at least half of chapter 6-2 in one night. Not sure if this is a good or bad thing, considering how nightmarish all of my other editing has been. Has my judgement gone astray, or was this chapter just easier? Crossing my fingers for more nights like this.

Now, I've been meaning to ask, how is your guys' writing going? Have you been getting anything done? Obviously you all should start doing WIP Wednesday with me . . . or tell me about your writing week in the comments. Let's write together!

WIP Wednesday: Week 5

Yes, despite my packing and despite my endless driving, I have been writing!

Days Left to Deadline: 41
Days Worked On: 3 or 4-ish?
Morale: Still doing okay
Total Word Count: 99,975 (300 less than last week)

Thoughts: Was almost done with chapter 4-4 and it was awesome . . . but then everything got irritating. Realized that the beginning of chapter 4-4 should really be back in 4-3 . . . which is written from a different POV . . . which is the POV that the beginning of chapter 4-4 was originally in. Sigh. Also realized that characters are out-of-character in the middle of chapter 4-4.

So everything is out-of-whack.

Also, total word count went back below 100,000! Woo! If you weren't sure, this is a Big Deal. Trying to get the end total to be somewhere around 90,000-ish though . . . so I still have a bit to go.

WIP "Wednesday": Week 4

Well, since yesterday was all about making statements regarding SOPA and PIPA, here's my standard WIP Wednesday post a day late:

Days Left to Deadline: 47
Days Worked On: Uhh . . . two
Morale: Still doing pretty good
Total Word Count: 100,275 (that's down 170 words from last week)

Thoughts: Didn't increase my work hours any, but I have a decent excuse that I'm going to talk about tomorrow. Despite this, I took a significant bite out of chapter 4-4. Instead of endless pages of stuff that need to be changed, it's now a bunch of pieces that need to be connected. And I got to talk about a "hank of rope," which made me happy.

Then I looked at chapter 6-2 (which, despite the numbering, comes after 4-4) after I got sick of working on 4-4. Then I remembered that 6-2 is the chapter with three separate walking montages. Seriously. They talk, life sucks, they walk, and then they do the same thing TWO MORE TIMES. It's 6000 words of horrific.

I also attended a local writing meeting, which made me want to get back on track again. It's shocking how much of a morale boost those things are. :)

And finally, I discovered that The Civil Wars' "Barton Hollow" reminds me of Kai and Eva (two of the protagonists) for some reason. The song's about criminals and my story isn't . . . but I think it's something to do with the duet and the idea of being a wanted person on the run. *shrug*

WIP Wednesday: Week 3

Oh look, there was actual progress this week!

Days Left to Deadline: 55
Hours Worked On: Oh crap . .  I forgot I was supposed to be paying attention to this. I have no idea. I worked on three of this week's seven days.
Morale: Sort of better or something. *thumbs up*

Chapters Edited: Like . . . a half of one (5/27 total)
Words Cut: Umm, I added 126 words (3,366 total)
Total Word Count: 100,445

Thoughts: I suspect that these stats I'm "collecting" are actually somewhat deceptive and useless. I may revamp them for next week. Any suggestions?

Anyway, actually edited some this week. Re-read old chapters to get back on track, fixed some sucky sentences in said chapters and highlighted things that needed a more in-depth fix. Shockingly enough, I like chapter 3 now. This is pretty much equivalent to hell freezing over.

After that, I worked on chapter 4-4 (all of my chapter numbers are screwed up right now, fyi), which is mostly a lot of re-writing from a different POV . . . which is strangely more obnoxious than it should be. Though, I guess it's a good thing that my characters don't think alike?

WIP Wednesday: Week 2

*sigh*

Hours Worked On: Nada
Days Left to Deadline: 62

Chapters Edited: 0 (5/27 total)
Words Cut: 0 (3,240 total)
Total Word Count: 100,319

Morale: Still hiding in a corner
Thoughts: In my defense, I have ambitions to actually work on my manuscript today. The program is even open now! Also, found a song that seems particularly inspirational, so that should probably help. Feel free to throw more imaginary fruit at me in the comments though.

WIP Wednesday: Week 1

Last Friday I made an announcement. In a meek and tiny font. It might have had something to do with a writing deadline. *shifty eyes* Either way, I figured I'd keep you guys updated on my progress. Or, you know, terrify myself into a comatose state. Or something.

Anyway. Let's get this over with.

Hours Worked On: Umm, none
Days Left to Deadline: 69

Chapters Edited: 0 (5/27 total)
Words Cut: 0 (3,240 total)
Total Word Count: 100,319

Morale: Hiding in a corner
Thoughts: Uhh, yeah. The most progress I made on anything in this last week would be, uhh, closing my Scrivener document? *ducks rotten fruit* I'd start listing excuses in my defense, but I already know what you guys are thinking: You have to make time to write, Sarah. Yeah, yeah. Shaddup. I'm working on it.

Another writing goal?

Writing goals are probably one of the most useful writerly things ever. Just look at what NaNoWriMo has done for those thousands of people who'd never written 1,000 words of fiction, let alone 50,000. If nothing else, writing goals help kick your butt into gear.

And I don't know about you, but right now I need that mentality.

Unlike last time, I'm not going to flaunt my goal in bolded, menacing typeface. Why? Frankly, I'm afraid of my goal, and right now I'm not confident that I can make it and retain my sanity at the same time. Also, despite my claims of knowing what I'm doing, most of my editing process has been discovering what methods don't work for me. Which is rather time consuming.

So here, in a meek, but hopeful voice:

I'm going to finish the revised draft of my manuscript by March 6th at 11:59 PM.

Eeep. Well. There we go. I'm gonna go cry in a corner now . . . but cheer me on, won't you?

Anyway, what about you? Do you have any writing or editing goals right now? Do you try to set goals that you know are achievable, or do you push yourself to the limit? Tell me in the comments.

Freaky Friday Blogfest

Today is Friday the 13th. Horrible, wonderful, hilarious things are known to happen on this day. Because it is magical. Or something. And this Friday the 13th is no slouch, as Kat Brauer over at The Flighty Temptress is hosting the Freaky Friday Blogfest! Because I find it terribly amusing, I am participating.

All we're doing is posting 500 words worth of old, unpublished work for critique. That's right, you're allowed to shamelessly mock critique the excerpt posted below. But it's really okay, because, it's hilariously bad. Really. My excerpt comes from the story that spawned the "Yikes-o-wowie!" line. Anyway, the blogfest runs until the end of May 15th, so hopefully a bunch of other people will participate and we can all giggle at our old, decrepit writing together!

So, onto my excerpt. It's from the first original story I wrote back in 2000. Entitled Rowin Warriors: The War, it took place in the future and was about kids in the military and they saved the universe . . . or something like that? Totally middle grade. There were also aliens and magical fighting powers and people who flirted through arguments. Yeah. I was 12. It didn't have to make sense.

---

Chapter One: Potatoes
POV: Kat
I opened my eyes as I yawned. A big yawn to be precise. I was tired. Now who wouldn't be tired after a meeting at twelve o'clock, midnight, extending to two o'clock, in the morning? A stupid meeting . . . oh dear, I snapped awake. I looked at the clock; it said 7:32. TGINL: Thank Goodness I'm Not Late. Then I saw the paper next to my clock. It said:

KAT

Read this paper

Change clock tonight

DO NOT FORGET

THE COMMANDER WILL SHOOT YOU AND THEN EAT YOU FOR HIS DINNER WITH A PETITE FORK IF YOU FORGET TO LOOK AT THIS LITTLE PAPER

I sat there blinking for a couple seconds, trying to comprehend what I had just read. Now you got to understand this, it’s not easy to assimilate things when you had, oh, two hours of sleep. Snap. Crackle. Pop.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" I yelled as I jumped out of the hammock. But failed. Instead of getting out of the hammock, I flipped it over and landed on my head, on the ground, in the dirt. So then I attempted to get up, but my foot got caught in the hammock, so as I held onto my bruised head, screaming, I fell again. So by the third time I had actually gotten out of the stupid hammock, but as I held my head in agony, something crawled over my hands. To be more precise, something with eight legs that eats bugs.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” I yelled again, and swatted at my head, and a big black spider dropped out of my brown and highlighted green hair. Now let me describe what make this arachnid scary. It was a giant black spider. A really, really big black spider. I am talking huge, gigantic, large black spider that was on my head. The freaking thing was as big as my hand! So, in a somewhat calm mood, I grabbed a comic book belonging to who knows, and smashed the monster spider screaming something similar to the words die, death, and get away.

So that matter was taken care of, now to the big problem.

“Bad morning. Really bad morning. Why can’t it be Friday?” I moaned. I was late for the Commander’s stupid talk that was supposed to take place at 8:00, in the morning, and a monster spider just tried to kill me. In other words, I’m seriously flirting with death.

To tell the truth, I could have gotten up on time, but I didn't look at the paper and I didn't change my clock. When I looked at my clock earlier it had said it was 7:00, so I believed it. It had been Daylight Savings yesterday and I didn’t bother to change my clock, so the alarm was wrong too. That was a little over half an hour ago and clock now said 7:43. But it's really 8:43, correction; it's now 8:44, or if you prefer, 7:44.

---

Please don't judge me. *cringe*

But yeah. It took 2500 more words for Kat to get to her meeting. 2500 WORDS. But that's why this is a Friday the 13th Blogfest, right? It's all about horrible, wonderful, hilarious things. Oh, and if you're wondering about the chapter title, Kat totally gets KP duty.

Anyway, feel free to give my 12-year-old self a critique. I remember being particularly proud of this opening at the time, even though now it makes my eyes bleed. Tell me your thoughts in the comments (and then go participate with your own post because I want to laugh at your stuff too)!

I want YOU! Also, a writing goal

ETA (03/04/11): And the third lovely guest blogger has made an appearance. Yay!
ETA (03/03/11): I have two lovely guest bloggers and would love to see a third! Any volunteers?

I've decided to tell you guys my secret goal in the hopes that if/when I fail, you will rain the hate down so hard that I will cower and cry beneath your missiles of disappointment. Umm, yes. A few other people already know, but I figured it was time to lay on some more accountability. Here it is:

I'm going to finish the rough draft my WIP by March 7th.

Oh, the shudders of horror and dismay are racing down my spine. I may only have two/three chapters and 15,000 words left, but they are a nightmare in the making. Let's just leave it at that.

Why am I setting this goal then? Two reasons: 1) so I get my butt into gear and actually finish, and 2) I will be taking a writing vacation starting March 8th whether I want to or not. I also figured that finishing the WIP, instead of leaving a hanging chapter, was a better choice.

For those who are curious, on March 8th I'm off to the illustrious Butte, MT for a viewing of Avenue Q. Early the next morning I will be driving to Portland, OR with Boyfriend for a several days of exciting, exciting apartment hunting. Woo hoo.

Which brings me to my next point. Would anyone like to be a guest blogger for Squidink? I'm looking for 2-3 guest posts that are amusing, witty, and about writing. The perks? Free promo! You will get a cute bio featuring your picture (if you so desire) and a link to your own blog.

And Uncle Sam wants you to do it. Really.

If you're interested, send me a quick email at squidinksarah (ât) gmail (døt) com. But just a heads up, the deadline for any guest posts would be March 6th. I'll update this post with further news if/when the slots are filled.

Anyway, do you guys have any ridiculous goals? Do they make you want to curl up in a ball and cry until your manuscript starts writing itself? Or do you thrive under the threat of deadline? Tell me your thoughts in the comments.