ROW80 Round 2 - 5th Update

Another Sunday update! Once again I've actually got a fair bit done this week so I'm doing an extra post. Also, I may not have time to do a Wednesday post because of assignment work later in the week, so if I don't, at least I'll have this one.

Friday night saw me once more reaching for my trusty bottle of Baileys. I then randomly wrote an entire scene for the third book of Exile, my high fantasy trilogy, which I haven't even touched in more than two years and wasn't supposed to touch until my dark fantasy novella is finished. And it was a dark scene, with lots of torture and dismemberment and death, but when I re-read it later, it was still quite good. To the point where I actually felt sorry and mildly horrified by what I'd put the characters through.

Does this make me a mean drunk?

Yesterday I also decided to set up a blog over at WordPress:

http://rebeccajfleming.wordpress.com/

Part of this was because I just think WordPress looks cleaner and more 'writerly', somehow. It was also because I thought that my Blogger site was kind of disorganised and pretty much cluttered with ROW80 updates and useless gadgets; anyone trying to find something specific would have a pretty hard time doing so. I've decided I'm going to keep using Blogger just for ROW80 updates and for any personal rants, whereas WordPress will be my 'professional' (I use the term loosely because I'm an immature idiot at the best of times) site, which will have more structured updates on my progress and will also be easier to navigate to find my current/planned projects.

Anyway, as far as my ROW80 Round 2 goals go: So far I've sort of met them, sort of haven't. I've got 4,000 of the 6,000 words I need for my literature review (well, probably 3,800 once I take out the reference notes) and I've kept up with all my other assignments so far. And I have added a lot more words to my novella (a good few thousand now), but I haven't been writing 500 words a day - it's been more like "write 1,500 words a day and then don't touch it for a few days" - which was meant to be my goal. So that earns me a nip on the bum from Judgemental Dog. But we have this week off uni, so hopefully the extra time will allow me to get back into the 500 words per day habit.

Once again I didn't have time to look for a good Judgemental Dog photo and caption it, but I did film another Judgemental Dog video (quality's a bit crap because it was filmed on my phone)! Here he is playing with my dad:

This has almost become a nightly ritual in our house; every time Dad gets home from work, he sits in his chair and Rex goes over to him for cuddles and ends up doing what appears to be a failed backflip before plopping onto the floor, all the while yowling like a cat being murdered. It never stops being entertaining :D

Check other ROW80 updates here.

ROW80 Round 2 - 4th Update

I think I may have burnt up most of my creativity/productivity last week, because the last few days have been a bit slow. Monday was spent visiting my nan and for most of Tuesday I was at uni, so I couldn't do much then anyway. I had planned to get back into it on Tuesday night, but then my computer was all like, "haHA! NO productivity for you! I'm going to crash every ten minutes and make everything take half an hour to open!"

But then I was like, "NO ONE MESSES WITH BEC'S PRODUCTIVITY!" and I body slammed that bastard computer before hurling its sorry arse through my window, showing it who was boss.

Yes, that is how it went.

Today has been better, with my computer behaving itself (okay, so I lied about throwing it through my window), so I've managed to get a bit more done on my literature review, bringing my word count to about 2,800. I want to have at least 4,000 words of it written by the end of next week, or earlier if I can manage it. I haven't had time to touch my novella this week, but with the Easter holiday and mid-semester break coming up, I'll have a bit more spare time, so I should be able to squeeze in some Dark and Silent Waters/Astyrion (I still haven't decided which title works better) writing in between slaving away at the assignments I have due first week back... *headdesk*

As usual, Judgemental Dog is giving me the guilt trip:

Check out the other ROW80 updates here.

ROW80 Round 2 - 3rd Update

I know I was only going to post on Wednesdays because I figured I wouldn't have enough to say each week to fill out two blog posts, but I had a bit of a productivity rampage over the last few days - both academically and authorly - so you all get to witness two doses of my writerly ramblings. TWO! Aren't you lucky? :P

First, my writing. Since my last update I've added around another 1,500 words to the story (I wasn't drinking this time so I don't know if it will be as good). Most of this was for chapter 5 (even though chapter 2 still isn't finished) but it's better than just staring blankly at my screen. I've also been refining the outline even more (I'm starting to realise I'll probably still be doing this until the last page of the novella is written) to smoothe out some plot holes, inconsistencies and other dodgy bits, as well as adding more little details that I think will enrich the story in terms of the world, the events and the characters themselves. The timeline and research on horse travel etc I did last week has helped a lot.

Second, my uni work. Since I hadn't touched my Literature Review for a while, I was feeling a bit guilty about it, so yesterday I forced myself to open the document, and - after a generous helping of energy drinks - managed to knock out another 1,000 words on that too. I've written another 100 or so today already, bringing my total to about 2,000. I'm a third of the way finished :D But I have some stupid statistical analysis assignment due for my IT Research Methods subject just after the semester break, so I'll have to start working on that soon, even though it will be about as much fun as having my boob slammed in a car door.

Also, due to popular demand, Judgemental Dog is expanding his horizons! You can Like Judgemental Dog on Facebook here. Go on. You know you want to. He can take it. Or, if you're more of a Twitter-er, you can follow him here.

Since this post was a last minute decision, I haven't had a chance to caption a new Judgemental Dog photo, so I will leave you instead with this footage of him watching Inspector Rex on TV...

See how other ROW80ers are going here.

Fear not, I'm sure I'll be back to my usual procrastinate-y ways next week :D

ROW80 Round 2 - 2nd Update

After handing in my survey assignment and research proposal last week, my brain decided to shy away from academic tasks for a few days. I began tinkering around with an actual timeline for my novella, as well as researching things like how far a horse can travel in a day with a single rider or a cart etc (something I've been needing to do for ages) and was pleasantly surprised to find that, as the logistics of the story started to fall into place, so did the story itself (bits of it, anyway). On Saturday night I decided I'd indulge in a glass of Baileys. While on my alcohol-fueled writing rampage, I churned out another thousand words or so for chapters 2, 3 and 4, and, upon reading them over the next morning, discovered that they were actually pretty good words.

Apparently I work best when I'm being a boozehound. This does not bode well for my future.

And then yesterday, while trying to get to and from uni, I had three train cancellations. Though this pissed me off no end, I was able to use the time I spent waiting to write almost six pages of my novella (this translated to maybe two pages of typed text; it was a small notepad but my handwriting is small). Most of these new words were for my epilogue, which is now almost complete.

Overall, I think I've added around 2,500 new words to my novella this week (EDIT: today alone, I've added another 1250 words. WHOOO! [end bragging]), which is more progress than I've made in a long time. I did finish chapter 1 the other week (at least to the point where I can leave it alone for the time being and get on with the rest of the story), but I'm still working on chapter 2; the last few paragraphs of that just won't seem to fall into place yet. Ah well... There's still an almost-full bottle of Baileys in my cupboard :D

Why you always gotta bring me down, Judgemental Dog?

Click here for other ROW80 updates.

P.S. I've received a few suggestions that Judgemental Dog should have a Facebook page. What do people think?

The Judgemental Dog Chronicles - Volume 2

As I promised, my faithful canine companion, Judgemental Dog (known as Rex to those who feed and walk him) is back for ROW80 Round 2! Rather than putting all his photos in one post, I decided to break them up by rounds (otherwise I'd end up with one post that was a complete monster). May good ol' J.D. continue to inspire/intimidate writers with his big brown eyes and sharp white teeth. And you don't even have to be a writer to be welcome in J.D.'s cult; his Furry Highness is happy to give anyone a motivational nip to boost their work, no matter their line of creativity. Writers and artists, musicians and designers... They're all just as juicy... Er, I mean, welcome :D

If you missed out on Judgemental Dog's debut in Round 1, you can get yourself up to speed here.

ROW80 Round 2 - 1st Update

So far this round I've had two good writing days and one bad writing day: On Monday and today I got just over 500 words, but on Tuesday, after being at uni all day, I came home and had one of those migraine/dizzy spell turns, so instead of writing or doing homework I just sat cuddled up with Judgemental Dog, feeling sorry for myself. With an assignment due tomorrow and another due Friday, I'll be fighting for my word counts this week, but since my goals are relatively small, I think it will still be doable. If I can keep my word count climbing (even if it's only in tiny increments), it'll still be better than not doing anything at all.

Aside from keeping up with academic assignments in general, my goal for this round is simply to write between 100 and 500 new words per day on Dark and Silent Waters. Ideally, these words will be written for the earlier chapters, but since I know my own writing habits (I lack the ability to write in chronological order, instead bouncing around through the story like a drug-crazed yo-yo), I'll most likely just end up writing the words for whatever scene happens to be in my head at the time.

I've also decided to add three rules to my goals. The first is that I may not go through editing bits of my novella until I have reached the new word quota for that day (I'll never get anything done, otherwise). The second is that once I start writing, I will only have an hour to complete my word quota (otherwise I'll just stare at the screen all day, agonising over sentences, and not only will my novella not get done, neither will my assignments). The third rule is that if I have ideas for other stories, I may spend no more than five minutes scribbling down notes for it (this is to keep my main story from being hijacked by other stories).

Looks like Judgemental Dog is putting his paw down:

See how the other ROW80ers are going here.

P.S. If anyone's interested in reading author interviews, my writerly friend Lisa has a few over at her blog. Check it out here.

I'm a Writer... So Why Aren't I Writing?

With the beginning of ROW80 Round 2 only a few days away, I thought I'd better get into gear and write my sign-in post :) Also, some of you following my Round 1 ROW80 rants may remember that I was working on a Multimedia Narrative assignment, in which I had to draw five characters for a fictional game of a recognisable genre. I've since finished the assignment, so here are my steampunk characters, in all their finished glory:

The other day I came to a sad realisation. I've been writing seriously for around ten years now (well, maybe seven; not sure if the garbage I wrote in high school counts as 'serious'), and yet I have never finished a story. Not even a first draft. Once this thought entered my head, I freaked out a bit, wondering if I was deluding myself by thinking I'd ever manage to become a published writer. Sure, I do a fair bit of writing in the holidays, but once I start back at uni, I tend to just give up and go, "Well, I have too much homework, I don't have time to write at the moment." But then I think about other writers pumping out a book or two each year, with a full time job and/or kids, and I think to myself, "If they can do it, why can't I?" I don't know what the writer's equivalent of a mid-life crisis is, but I think I just had it. Then I read this post from serial funny bastard, Chuck Wendig, paying close attention to the section on 'Cheating on Your Manuscript' (I know many of my friends will be nodding and smirking as they read this) and thought it could have been aimed at me specifically. I'm a story-whore. I can't help it. When it comes to novel ideas, I'm like that little kid running around the supermarket because she can't decide what lolly she wants, and then throwing a tantrum because she can't have all of them.

The first decent story I worked on was my high fantasy trilogy, Exile, which I wrote and workshopped throughout my years in the TAFE Writing and Editing course. About 25,000 words into that I lost momentum on the story - mainly because I really had no idea what happened next - and didn't write for almost a year. Then I had the idea for my dark fantasy novella, Dark and Silent Waters and, since Exile was still too intimidating to go back to, I more or less abandoned it, focussing instead on my novella. And now, though my main project is still DASW, I keep getting distracted by ideas for more stories. At this rate, I will never finish a book.

Something needs to change. If I want to be taken seriously as a writer, I have to make the time to write. And I have to learn to focus my creative energy on one damn project at a time. Which brings me to... ROW80 Round 2 Goals! *cue trumpet fanfare*

Since I'm working on my thesis as well as completing two other subjects, most of my time is going to be taken up by research, assignments and classes (as well as my part-time job). The most pressing of these are two things I have due Friday next week; my research proposal, and a survey questionnaire. However, I do want to add a small writing-only goal to my academic requirements, and that is to write between 100 and 500 words each day on my work in progress (DASW). This is a much smaller goal than anything I had in Round 1, but I think it's a lot more achievable in light of my workload. Ideally, I will get into the habit of doing this every day during ROW80 and therefore find it easier to continue once the challenge has ended.

I'll also only be doing one weekly ROW80 post, most likely on Wednesdays; writing two posts a week was a bit time consuming, and I can probably communicate my progress just as well with one post as with two.

To finish on a positive note after my emo writerly ramblings, here's an alien I drew during a Data and Networks lecture one day (in my defence, I was high on the sugar of pancakes with syrup, a hot chocolate and two cans of V):

And fear not, ROW80ers, Judgemental Dog will be at my side the whole way, nipping at the heels of all the writers out there to make them write faster :)