WIP Wednesday: Week 26+27+28

Pahaha . . . it's been a while since we've had one of these posts. Oops.

Days Worked On: I was doing good, then my mother visited and I didn't do anything for a week, and then I was doing good again. *shrug*
Morale: GOOD?!
Total Word Count: 96,213 (that's right, -4,614 from whenever ago) . . . and most of this was actually done in one week of breakthrough awesome

What I Worked On: Chapter 8. But you know what? It wasn't horrible.

Thoughts: I've talked about how I like to marinate on my writing. Or, at least, I think I have . . . I can't actually find a post on it . . . which I probably a sign that I should just write another one. Or a first one?

Anyway, thinking about writing. I like to know exactly what I'm doing before I'm doing it, which has gained me a bit of a reputation of being able to sit down and just spit out 5,000 words. Unfortunately, if I haven't thought out what I'm doing, I end up staring at my computer screen like everyone else and ripping my hair out.

There is also another major issue with this process: over thinking. Which, holy crap, is my kryptonite of editing. Seriously. I talk to one of my lovely CPs for 45 minutes and she fixes everything in 5 minutes.

So yeah. Chapter 8. Still a little like pulling teeth. But at least I'm not re-writing the opening scene again and again and again anymore (seriously, how did you think I got rid of 4,000+ words so quickly).

Random Quote of the Week:

"I'm fine," Eva said, plopping to the ground and folding her good leg beneath her. "All that sitting was getting boring anyway."

She'd washed the last of the grease from her hair, which shone a soft, butter yellow, and new freckles spotted across the bridge of her nose like pale flecks of amber.

WIP Wednesday: Week 25

Holy crap, I've been doing these things for almost half of a year?!

Days Worked On: All but the weekend . . . which is becoming pretty standard
Morale: Mostly cheerful
Total Word Count: 100,827 (+1284 from last week) plus 14,677 words in the story bible

What I Worked On: World building forever. Then, when all of the character profiles wrapped up, I looked at that horrible beast called chapter 8 again. Sigh.

Thoughts: Well, I continued writing out extremely detailed character profiles . . . so now I know everything there is to know about everyone thus far. Doing this was pretty damn boring (14,000 words of it!), but I think it'll be helpful later on . . . especially for characters that didn't have fleshed out backstories yet.

Then, instead of doing location profiles (because holy crap that sounds horrible right now), I went back to chapter 8. You guys remember chapter 8, right? The one that inspired a corkboard timeline, made me want to rip my hair out, and basically sent me into a spiral of misery?

(Melodramatic? Hah! What're you talking about? I'm not being melodramatic)

Wish me luck.

Writing Song of the Week: Deb Talan's Rocks and Water. The vocals are so clear and it makes such a lovely song about survival and learning from experience . . . and then there's the parts with a male vocalist in the background! *happy shudder* Makes me think of Eva.

WIP Wednesday: Week 23+24

Days Worked On: Probably most of them . . . once again, didn't pay attention
Morale: It was low, then it got higher
Total Word Count: 99,543 (-485 from last week) and several thousand words in the story bible

What I Worked On: World building. ALL THE WORLD BUILDING.

Thoughts: In case you're wondering, there was no post last week because there was really no point. I hadn't done anything and there wasn't anything to say on the matter. I figured I wouldn't bore you.

This week, instead of working on the same nightmare section that I've been looking at for the past forever, I worked on something different. It was fun and therapeutic and reminded me that I actually do enjoy writing. What did I do? Worked on the story bible . . . which I have been ignoring for a long, long time.

Thus, I've been writing out super detailed sections on culture, class structure, character histories, locations, etc, etc, etc. It takes forever, but I think recording all of this information can be super helpful for several reasons:

• It's easier to look up small details without searching through the text
• Plot holes show their faces, so you can fix them now
• Editing is better when you already know everything there is to know

So, you know, that's what I've been doing. Yay!

Anyway, this all brings me to a point I've been wanting to bring up for a while. But first, go look at the WIP Wednesday posts by Jessie at Little Bonobo's Book Café. Note the awesome cultural tidbits that she throws in at the end of each post. Is that not awesome? Yes. Yes it is.

Why is this relevant? Well, I've been wanting to throw in similar, interesting tidbits about my WIP in these posts, but I never do because I can't figure out what to share. What's too spoilerish? What's interesting to read about? Do you even care? I've spent the last week fleshing out more of these details, so I want to tell you guys things. SO MANY THINGS.

So please, help me! How do you know what to share and not share when it comes to your WIP? I feel like I'm over thinking this, so I need your voices of reason. Give me a heads up in the comments.

But first! After a lot of brainstorming, let me share something! Presenting a kinda old, mostly but not completely accurate because of the distances, map I drew of the world in my WIP:

Lovely, yes? Click to make it huge!

WIP Wednesday: Week 22

Days Worked On: I've . . . stopped keeping track of this.
Morale: *shrug* Decent?
Total Word Count: 99,058 (-409 from last week)

What I Worked On: Chapter 8. And everything else.

Thoughts: Well, last's week revelation was a false alarm. So I spent most of this week re-reading all the other parts of my book and figuring out ways to fix their problems.

It's actually kind of nice to still be working on my WIP without looking at all of the stuff that's been frustrating me. It was also pretty helpful to refresh on later stuff and see what I need to fix in this section to keep everything cohesive, since this is the part of my story where the characters starting jumping to bizarre conclusions.

It doesn't seem like I was very productive, but I think one of the hardest things to explains to non-writers is how much non-writing we actually do while writing. There's so much thinking and gathering of ideas, and even though we don't have any progress to show for it, things in our stories have been clarified and perfected. Without all of that non-writing, our writing would never get anywhere.

Writing Song of the Week: Still Breath of Life. What can I say, I'm boring. But to be less boring, let me tell you about my writing song from a couple weeks ago: "Apotheosis" from the Journey original soundtrack, which was composed by Austin Wintory. The entire Journey soundtrack is beautiful, but "Apotheosis" is not only seven minutes long, but it's dramatic and orchestral and gives me feeeeelings.

WIP Wednesday: Week 21

Days Worked On: ALL THE DAYS.
Morale: Mostly irritated . . . which occasional bouts of optimism that were quickly crushed beneath the irritation again.
Total Word Count: 99,467 (+870 from last week)

What I Worked On: Chapter 8. I talked with CPs, I worked on the corkboard timeline thing, and I wrote about ten different openings for the chapter. The conclusion I've come to? It's time to re-work chapter 6-3 (which comes before 8 chronologically).

Thoughts: I have a public service announcement: when having problems with a certain section of your story, it may help to re-read the chapter that comes before the one you're working on. Seriously. Don't skim it. READ IT. Because then you might notice something that you'd forgotten about that may possibly fix all of the problems you've been agonizing over for the last two weeks. *head desk*

Writing Song of the Week: Because I talk about music enough that it deserves its own section. This week featuring Florence + the Machine's new single, "Breath of Life." It's the theme for Snow White and the Huntsman and not only is the song gorgeous, but it's gotten me super psyched for the movie. Just watch this music video:

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 19

Days Left to Deadline: -59

Days Worked On: Good question. Three or four? Or two? Or something?
Morale: A little frustrated, but not horrible.
Total Word Count: 98,375 (+191 from last week)

What I Worked On: Research. All I did this week was research. FOREVER.

I also made a shiny cork board timeline thing:

I know. It's sexy.

Don't mind the blank notecards. Stuff does happen on those days. Really.

Thoughts: So I've been researching a bunch of random crap that may or may not even appear in this book. It's important--don't get me wrong--but it's a hidden kind of importance. Which is frustrating.

Anyway, I've been trying to figure out how long certain events should take, which equals lots of research about airships, freighter ships, and tanks . . . specifically their speeds. Yes, I now know the fastest tank in WWII (the M3 Stuart at 36mph, since technically the M18 Hellcat isn't a tank), have discovered that tanks and freighter ships move about about the same mileage, and can tell you how air currents effect airships. Thrilling, I know.

Oh, and if you know anything about driving tanks off-road (specifically in sand and how that effects speed), I'd love if you gave me a heads up. Because that information is scarce.

Things I write with

I talk about the software and computer-based goodies I use to write quite often. *cough*ALL THE TIME*cough* So I figured it was time to address some of the physical things.

1. The steampunk headphones
   Music plays a HUGE part in making my brain happy while writing. I struggle without it. And as a person who used to be a big fan of earbuds (so small, so portable!), let me tell you, these monster headphones changed my life. Let me tell you why:
• Earbuds hurt after a while--big happy headphones do not
• The sound quality is like singing angels
• People are theoretically less likely to talk to you if you look irritated about having to take the large headphones off to hear them speak
• On a similar note, putting them on is a little like blocking out the world and all of its delightful distractions
• Holy crap are these things are so comfortable they deserve two bullet points 
• If you're like me, the headphones become something of a tradition--wearing them means it's time to get writing
• Did I mention the steampunk aesthetic?


2. Smiley face computer
   I don't know about you guys, but I find it incredibly difficult to write with paper. Seriously. I think faster than I write, so writing by hand always turns into an exercise of frustration. On the other hand, I'm a super fast typer (we're talking like 70+ WPM people). Also, Scrivener can have my babies.


3. Notebook
   I know, I know. I just said that I don't like to write by hand, which is totally true. Then why do I need a notebook? When I get particularly stuck (and I'm talking REALLY, REALLY stuck), I like to brainstorm/free write by hand. There's just something about getting all of my messy ideas down by hand that actualizes them.


4. Crappy pen
   This is an important one. I love crappy BIC pens. They don't bleed through the pages, they's about the cheapest writing implement you can find, and despite everyone's whining, the ink flow is actually pretty decent. Also, if I lose my pen, there's no writerly drama about my perfect pen.

Okay, so most of that was pretty clean cut. I'm lacking the highlighters and the colored pens and the post-it notes and all of that good stuff . . . but in my defense, I'm a pretty green writer. I do most of my editing on the computer screen. HOWEVER, I will be whipping all of that crap out when I get to the line-edits stage. Maybe I'll do another post then, eh?

So what items do you guys need in order to write? Do you function on a level that's even more barebones than my own? Or are you a nightmare color-coding and wite-out? Tell me in the comments

WIP Wednesday: Weeks 16+17+18

Okay, so I fell off the blogging bandwagon for a little bit. I haven't read any blogs, I haven't posted on this blog . . . I really haven't done anything with anything. >_>

Days Left to Deadline: -50

Days Worked On: UHH.
Morale: It was a mess. Now it's better.
Total Word Count: 98,184 (-1,109 from forever ago)

What I Worked On: CHAPTER 5. Which was promptly split in two and completely re-written. It was a nightmare. Mostly because I spent forever on the re-writing bit before discovering that I was making it worse. Seriously. It went from okay to boring. >_> Of course, once I realized this, everything went pretty smoothly. *thumbs up*

Oh, and now I've officially edited the first story arc. Woo!

Thoughts: Yeah, lemme just come out and say it: weeks 16 and 17 were full of so much horrible and not doing anything. And then week 18 was awesome and full of productivity. Also, I listened to Apotheosis from the Journey original soundtrack on repeat about a million times.

Anyway, wrote about the infamous Trujillo again. Considering that the first version of this chapter was a glorified info-dump, I re-wrote everything except the plotty bits. For a while, Trujillo spent a lot of time wandering around the enormous market district in Jasmine. Then I DELETED IT ALL and started over. Now there's less wandering and more interaction with the bad guys. Oh, and sheep. There are sheep. *thumbs up*

WIP Wednesday: Week 15

Days Left to Deadline: -29
Days Worked On: 2
Morale: *cries in corner*
Total Word Count: 99,293 (+757 from last week)

What I Worked On: Now that I've finally finished working on the first story arc, I decided to go back and work on the few chapters I skipped (since they're from a different character in a different place). For future reference, these are chapters 5 and 5-1.

Unfortunately I have to rewrite most of chapter 5 because it involves exposition that, while interesting, isn't really relevant right now. Also, it's been a while since I've done any straight out drafting, so I'm finding that rather difficult.

Thoughts: Ugh, these chapters were some of the easiest to write in the first draft, but right now I'm having problems turning off the part of my brain that wants to write in Kai or Eva's POV. Speaking of which, these new chapters are in a new POV that I haven't mentioned online really. So, uhh, enter Trujillo, the sand pirate and some of the more prevalent steampunk elements in my WIP.

WIP Wednesday: Week 14

Days Left to Deadline: -22
Days Worked On: Uhh . . . 2 or 3?
Morale: Spent a lot of time whining, but I'm feeling better now
Total Word Count: 98,536 (-317 from last week)

What I Worked On: Well, first I finished chapter 6-2 and then I finished chapter 7-2. And then I spent a lot of time deliberating whether they should be one chapter or two and whether the last 1500 words of chapter 7-2 should still exist. As of now I haven't decided on the one or two chapter thing and the 1500 words have become a tentative chapter 7-3 that might get axed in a day.

Thoughts: This week was strangely successful despite the only working on it for 2-3 days. Though, I finally got to play around with a character I've been looking forward to. So it's been very entertaining. In case you're wondering, his name is Markal and he's a charming douchebag. *thumbs up*

But let's see. What did I do? Cleaned up a giant conversation, added in some new stuff regarding a horrific branding practice, and spent an inappropriate amount of time rewording a paragraph about climbing into a cave. I'm telling you people, little timeskip "we walked here" paragraphs are my kryptonite. Gah.

Also, The Civil Wars' "Barton Hollow" has officially become my #1 most listened to song in the last year.

WIP Wednesday: Week 13

Days Left to Deadline: -15
Days Worked On: 2
Morale: Melodramatic with a hint of good cheer
Total Word Count: 98,853 (-1072 from last week)

What I Worked On: CHAPTER 6. ALWAYS CHAPTER 6. Or, in the case of this week, chapter 6-3 and a teeny, tiny bit of 7-2. And because no one but be actually knows what that means, chronologically these are chapters 10 and 11.

Thoughts: This was my fake editing process*. I suspect my real editing process goes something like this:

1. Read drafted chapter and cringe.
2. Try to fix the hard parts.
3. Give up.
4. Go fix the easy parts.
5. Feel accomplished.
6. Realize that things would make more sense if I combined a few paragraphs or moved them around or some random little crap like that.
7. Implement #6, which takes far longer than it actually should.
8. Repeat #6 and #7 one more time.
9. Go back to #2.
10. Whine a bit.
11. Succeed this time around.
12. Revisit #8 for kicks and giggles.
13. The end.

The most important step is #8. Seriously, I feel like all I do is re-write things and then move them around six times. *rolls eyes*

Anyway, despite a bunch of whining and procrastinating, I got a decent amount of work done. Deleted a crappy info-dump flashback that's been pending for a whole. Re-wrote the entire dramatic rain sequence since it was lacking the appropriate drama. Also, finally got to the introduction of a character I've been looking forward to for a while now. *rubs hands together*

How about you guys? Get any work done this week, or did you procrastinate the crap out of that WIP? Tell me in the comments.

*Discovered as being fake as of 08/03/11.

The book your book could be

I don't know about you guys, but lately I've been reading a lot of different books that seem to rely on elements that are heavily important in my own WIP.

I'm not saying that these books are anything actually like my WIP. Because they're not. Really. But there are similarities that are easy enough for me to notice. Maybe they take place in a desert or maybe the main character gets debilitating headaches. Either way, reading a book like that is kind of a glimpse into the book my book could be.

And it freaks me out.

Every published book has something good to it--something that makes people like it and makes them want to buy it. So a lot of the time, when I'm reading these kinds of books, I lose all perspective. It goes something like this:

Hey, this is kinda similar to my book. Cool.
He/she/it wrote my book! D:<
And he/she/it wrote it better than me~!
And he/she/it is published!
Why am I not published?!
*cries in a corner*

See? Completely irrational. I mean, it's not like I've even queried or anything. Of course I'm not published yet.

Unfortunately, my sense of melodrama tends to stick around until I finish reading the book. It's difficult to be rational and remember why I love my book when I'm in the middle of being seduced by another.

So I guess I just wanted to remind everyone: don't be irrational about your WIP, especially when it comes to published books. Your WIP might be like something, but it's not that thing. It will never be that thing--your story will be brilliant and sparkling all by itself. So don't go changing your writing in response to similar books, okay? That would be stupid, because you should always be writing what you want to write.

Now that the PSA is out of the way, tell me, how do you feel when you read published books that share an element with your own WIP? Do you take as a challenge to write something similar, but better? Or do you have a mini-meltdown like me? Tell me in the comments!

WIP Wednesday: Week 12

Days Left to Deadline: -8
Days Worked On: 1
Morale: Neither good or bad, just . . . meh
Total Word Count: 99,925 (+23 from last week)

Thoughts: MY COMPUTER DIED.

But thanks to Hazel and Dropbox, I didn't loose any of my writing. Just, you know, a bunch of other random stuff since I apparently wasn't doing as good of a job with my backups as I had previously imagined.

Other than that, I spent a ridiculous amount of time working on a section that shouldn't have taken as long as it did. However, Kai has now looked at a canyon. *goes and dies in a corner*

WIP Wednesday: Weeks 10+11

Days Left to Deadline: -1
Days Worked On: A grand total of 1
Morale: Err, good or something?!
Total Word Count: 99,902

Thoughts: Well . . . despite not really writing at all for the last forever, there are some good things to report:

1. I am finally done moving. No more 12-hour car rides from hell. No more lugging boxes up and down stairs and into 60 mph winds. No more sleeping on a sofa bed.
2. I finally have internet again. Yes. Full-fledged internet access where pages load quickly and where I can actually access Blogger to reply to your comments and where I can abuse Spotify to my heart's content.
3. There is no three, but the list seemed incomplete with only two items. Let's just say that with the advent one one and two, life is better.

Okay, so none of those things are really writing related . . . but they give me hope for upcoming productivity in the coming weeks! *shakes fist*

Anyway, you also may have noticed how I am, uhh, one day past my self-imposed goal of doom. This is because I failed. Not only did I fail, I failed pretty miserably. The original goal was to edit my entire WIP by March 6th at 11:59 PM so I could have taken less than a year to edit it. Because, umm, it's super depressing to consider how slow I am. Unfortunately . . . I edited about a third of it. Less than a third.

HOWEVER. Something good did come of this failed experiment:

I have edited 18,209-ish words of my WIP!

And I did cut 3,657 words out of that stuff I edited!

And there are only 79,735-ish words left to edit!

*tosses confetti*

Yay for the bright side! I think I might keep up these WIP Wednesday posts until I actually make the freaking goal. It seems fitting. And I like to pretend that you guys are holding me accountable or something. I doubt anyone really is . . . but I feel bad whenever I have to write the "I suck and didn't write this week" posts. SO BRING ON THE GUILT.

Now tell me, have any of you failed a writing goal before? Was it because the goal in itself was outlandish, or was it because life reared its ugly head? Tell me what happened in the comments!

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.