ROW80 Round 1 - 8th Update

While I haven't got as much done in the way of adding word count done as I would have liked, I have nevertheless made some important headway on my novella. This has mainly taken the form of revisions to my outline and to what I had of chapter 1. I had already made some minor adjustments in response to feedback received from my writing workshop, but there was still a lot to be done (and there still is). I have started doing a more serious rewrite of this first chapter - including reducing the amount of characters introduced in this section and making them more believable - as well as adding in other bits that had previously been left out. It is now a complete chapter, though it still needs to be reworked. Chapter 2 didn't get much attention this week because I was labouring over chapter 1, so in a way I've failed one of my minor goals (I was hoping to have chapter 2 finished by this weekend).

Yesterday afternoon I discovered a major plot hole in my outline. I don't mean just a little inconsistency, I mean a gaping abyss of logic and reason so big I could probably drop all of Australia in there and no one would ever find it. Well, I guess it wasn't exactly a plot hole, but it was a clear case of a character only being somewhere at a certain time Because The Author Needs Them To Be. After throwing a bit of a tanty and indulging in some chocolate and energy drinks, I sat down and pulled my outline to bits, trying to work out how I could get around it. What I've come up with isn't perfect, but it's better than what was there before, and while trying to fix this plot hole, I managed to stumble across ideas/solutions for other, smaller plot holes (as well as discovering/introducing new ones :| *sigh*).

In light of the work I have undergone revising my outline and beginning to rewrite my first chapter, I have definitely decided to aim to get three chapters finished, and only to attempt the fourth if I have extra time at the end. I suppose I could possibly get four chapters done, but they would be rushed, and the quality would no doubt suffer; I'd rather get a bit less of it done but have it to a higher standard.

As usual, here is Judgemental Dog guilt-tripping me into writing:


To see how the other ROW80 participants are going, click here.

P.S. My Doctor Who sonic screwdriver keyring torch arrived on Friday. If I said I hadn't been pretending to unlock my car with it, I'd be lying ^_^

A Note on Writing Journals

Something else I found during my late night cupboard-ransacking a short time ago was the corpses of several writing journals from TAFE.

In a few of our classes, we were asked to keep a journal. In it, we were to write down or thoughts and ideas, goals for writing, notes for our stories or poetry and anything else we could think of. If I remember rightly, the class was evenly split; half were in favour of keeping a writing journal, while the other half felt that their energy could be better spent elsewhere.

I belonged to the latter half. As much as I wanted to be organised enough to keep a journal, every attempt I made to do so lasted no more than a few days. I think the closest I ever got to keeping a journal was having a large Cadbury chocolate tin stuffed with wads and wads of random papers - including notepad pages, shopping receipts and restaurant serviettes - upon which I had scrawled various scenes and ideas for my multitude of novels. Usually when I had an idea for something, I would write it down straight away. If I saw a scene in my mind, I had to get it down there and then, not just write a few notes about it and then do the rest later (and yes, this frequently interfered with such activities as eating, sleeping and doing homework). I also tend to get a bit fussy with keeping things in order, so the idea of writing something down, only to realise that I should have written something else before it, grated at me (yes, I have been described - somewhat accurately - as being anally retentive about these things haha). Having loose sheets jammed into a tin allowed me to organise things in whatever order I liked.

I don't know... Maybe I was going about keeping a writing journal the wrong way. Perhaps other writers have other methods that make them more successful with it. I can see the value in them, but I just was never able to make them work.

How about the other writers out there? Writing journals, yay or nay? How do you think they help or hinder you in your own writing?

P.S. I have just begun an exercise book, in which I make a summary of all notes from workshopping feedback on each chapter as I workshop it, as well as ideas for changes. I'm hoping that having all the notes in one place will make it easier to work from. But we'll see how long I keep it going for...

The Judgemental Dog Chronicles - Volume 1

Because I like taking photos of my dog (much to his dismay), and because I like wasting time in Photoshop captioning things, I thought I would give Judgemental Dog (a.k.a. Rex) his own post, in which all of his LolDog-esque appearances from my blog posts could be brought together in harmony (or some sentimental rubbish like that). Many a time he has provided helpful comments/threats to writers around the world. Perhaps he will inspire/intimidate other writers into getting more work done :)

And for those who want some Judgemental Dog love in the social media world, your favourite condescending canine is on Facebook and Twitter! You can Follow him here, or Like him here.
























The adventures of Judgemental Dog continue in Round 2.

ROW80 Round 1 - 7th Update

As predicted in my last update, not much progress was made on the writing front this week. However, I did have some fun catching up with some friends for barbecues and DVD-watching sessions (yes, I occasionally DO leave my lair and brave the sunlight to socialise), so the time wasn't entirely wasted. I've also continued working my way through the Sherlock Holmes books, and though they are an entirely different genre and style to my own works (and to the books I normally read), I am finding them quite engaging, and they seem to be helping to kick my creativity back into gear.

I also ordered myself a Doctor Who sonic screwdriver keyring torch from eBay. Because it was just too awesome not to have.

Plus, I cleaned my desk. And trust me, this needed doing desperately, as I was starting to forget what the top of my desk actually looked like. I managed to empty out two drawers worth of junk, as well as clearing all the crap from the surface, so now it's all nice and ready for me to mess up again.

This morning (before going to a friend's house to gorge myself on grilled chicken and entertain a baby by making idiotic noises/facial expressions while eating said chicken), I sat down and wrote a bit more of chapter 2, as well as jotting down a few brief scenes for chapter 3. I also attempted to rewrite some unsatisfactory sections of my outline, but since I couldn't think of anything that was even slightly less unsatisfactory, I ended up leaving it for another day.

I have the next three days off, and most of the time I should have the house to myself, which will help me get a lot more done (I work best when no one else is home to annoy/interrupt me all the time). I am starting to wonder if it will be possible to get all four chapters for part 1 finished during this ROW80. Especially since I will be back at uni in just over a month, and working on my thesis - along with my normal subjects - will consume a lot of my time and energy.

I'm going to see how I go over the next week, but I may end up revising my goals for this ROW80. In my original goal statement, I said that I wanted to have the first four chapters of part 1 completed. If I do decide to adjust my goals, I will instead aim to just have the first three chapters completed. Not only will it leave me with a decent amount of chronologically ordered prose, it will also give me enough to use as a sample for the technical part of my IT/Multimedia thesis (which - without going into too much detail - is going to focus on eBooks).

On a side note; if anyone has links to interesting sites/articles etc regarding eBooks, feel free to leave them in my comments :) Though I have a rough idea of what I'm going to do, I'm still trying to define a more precise direction for my thesis, so anything that might spark a brilliant idea will be more than welcome.

Here is Judgemental Dog being lazy. The furry little hypocrite.

A link to other ROW80 check-ins is here.

ROW80 Round 1 - 6th Update

Went to the dentist on Saturday for a check-up and to get an abscess looked at. The dentist prescribed penicillin, which I have taken before with no problems. Upon arriving home, I took my first dose and sat down to write.

But the penicillin was all like "ha HA! Screw YOU, immune system, Imma be a cowboy and make as much of a mess as I can!" And then my immune system lay down like a little bitch as the penicillin kicked its arse. Thus I spent most of the weekend scratching and sneezing and looking like the victim of some horrid plague, and generally feeling sorry for myself.

Yes. That is how it happened.

So: This week's progress. As far as adding new words to my tally goes, I failed spectacularly. Yes, I did potter around with chapter 2, hoping to get it to almost-complete status, and I did manage to write a few more important scenes for it. But there are just as many important (and less important) scenes still to be written. I didn't spend as much time writing this week as I would have liked. I ended up going back and playing with my prologue and chapter 1 again (even though I said I wouldn't), so they're in a bit better shape than they were before. Still, I would have preferred to get more new material written (unfortunately after having something workshopped, I can tend to get a bit OCD about the piece, and I find it hard to leave it alone for a little while). I also got distracted by books (I found my old man's collection of Sherlock Holmes novels while raiding his shelf for something else, which I promptly forgot about anyway) so a lot of my spare time was spent reading instead of writing.

As for this week, I can more or less predict with 100% certainty that I'll get next to nothing done before the next check-in. With work, catch-ups with friends (some of whom I haven't seen for a while) and being forced into acting as the family's errand-bitch, I'm not going to have a lot of time to myself until Thursday. I still want to have chapter 2 finished by the weekend, but I will have to see how I go.

Possessed - A Lost Tuples Production

This is a short film made by myself and two uni friends (known collectively as The Lost Tuples) for our film subject last year, Digital Video Post Production. Starring The Lost Tuples, it was directed, filmed, edited and given special effects by the Lost Tuples.

The story has elements of some of those 90s occult/witchcraft shows, eg. The Craft, Charmed. We also wanted to incorporate elements of Eastern style martial arts fight scenes. Overall, we were aiming for a mix of 'dark' and 'cheesy', which I think we achieved fairly well :)



The Lost Tuples are: Rebecca J Fleming
Zak Ford
Jason Lochtenberg

Co-Starring: Ricky Shepherd

Software Used: Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Adobe After Effects

ROW80 Round 1 - 5th Update

I have been a naughty girl this week :)

I don't mean running around with a whip and a corset, or drawing all over the walls in permanent marker. Though I did do that a lot when I was little (drawing on the walls. Not the whip and corset thing. That would have been weird).

No, instead of writing, I have been watching DVDs.

I intended to write. I really did. I would wake up, go and sit at my computer, stare at my screen, then flick through my notes, and then stare at my screen a bit more. After an hour or so of that, I would come to the conclusion that I was just not going to be productive that day. So instead I got out some of my TV show DVDs (Firefly, Sherlock and Doctor Who), sat on my bum with a block of Cadbury and watched as Reavers were fought, crimes were solved and the Tardis was flown through various corners of the universe.

This morning, though, I started to behave myself again; I rewrote my prologue and some of chapter 1 in response to feedback I received from workshopping on the weekend. I also wrote more of chapter 2, which I think is now around 50% complete. Based on my goals, I have until Saturday of next week to finish it, though I would like to get it done earlier if possible. Unfortunately I didn't get chapter 1 completely written as I had hoped (as I said in my last post, bits of it were just filler for the sake of completing the chapter). I have decided that I will more or less leave it for now and work on later chapters, only returning to chapter 1 if I get some decent motivation/inspiration to write it.

Anyway, by the next check-in on Sunday, I'm hoping to have at least the main scenes of chapter 2 completed, leaving only the 'bridging' sections to be written the following week.

Here is Rex, putting the 'mental' in 'Judgemental'. And he expects me to take him seriously...

Click here to see other ROW80 updates.