I'm continuing to get better. So much so that I'm feeling guilty about not hitting the gym quite yet. My day will come.
Something really crappy happened on Wednesday (which is probably why I forgot my semi-weekly post!). I wrote a relatively long bit of material on werewolf genetics. I went through about 5 or 6 pages, deciding recessives, dominants, reproductive cycles, hormones, pheremones - the whole thing. I loved it. Then I lost it.
I checked my computer. I checked my house. I even checked with my writer friend Olivia, because we'd gotten together earlier in the week. Nothing. It vanished. Poof. Into thin air. I came to the painful but necessary decision to rewrite it. And, boy, am I glad I did!
In the process of pulling it all back together, I discovered an incongruity. If werewolves and shifters reproductive systems only kick into gear when they meet their perfect genetic match, they would only reproduce with other weres or shifters. Anything else would be less than ideal, and would not be in keeping with species survival. So...it turns out there's a combination of genes that need to be inherited for the shifting or the were ability to be actually expressed. And that's better, because...
Our twin werewolves each "recognize" a person who is not a shifter, or not pack. However, both of these mundanes are of Italian descent. It turns out they each carry a few genes from that original Etruscan werewolf pack. Potential problem solved. Whew!
Now, how to solve the problem of writing what appears right now to be pure dreck...? Today it all seems like it's blowing chunks. I mean, do my readers really need to know what Dawar's compound looks like? I'm bored writing it, so I can only imagine people would be bored reading it.
But, I will take La Nora's advice. In a nutshell, it's this, paraphrased: vomit it out and get it on paper. You can always fix it later. But you can't edit a blank page. I'm going to try and make that my mantra. And, while I'm sitting here in the bookstore waiting for one of my students, I'm going to yank out a blank page and keep going.
(No, I'm still not caught up....)
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
I Can See Daylight!
It's been established that I'm not dying. Yet. Yay, me!
I had a major breakthrough yesterday - in fact, more than one. I was able to tighten up the plot of my WIP called "Primal Hungers," the second book in my Witches and Weres series. That probably contributed to my other breakthrough - the physical one. I'm really feeling much better.
If any of you out there are foodie's, I urge you to go to YouTube and search for something called "The Big Waste." It was a Food Network special on food waste in the United States. It was really eye-opening, and it gave me bits to write about. Life is good.
I didn't catch up on my pages yet, but I'm working on it. According to my posted goals, I should have 44 pages by the end of the day today. I'm not close to that, but I'm not ready to revamp my goals just yet.
I'm just gonna keep on plugging...
I had a major breakthrough yesterday - in fact, more than one. I was able to tighten up the plot of my WIP called "Primal Hungers," the second book in my Witches and Weres series. That probably contributed to my other breakthrough - the physical one. I'm really feeling much better.
If any of you out there are foodie's, I urge you to go to YouTube and search for something called "The Big Waste." It was a Food Network special on food waste in the United States. It was really eye-opening, and it gave me bits to write about. Life is good.
I didn't catch up on my pages yet, but I'm working on it. According to my posted goals, I should have 44 pages by the end of the day today. I'm not close to that, but I'm not ready to revamp my goals just yet.
I'm just gonna keep on plugging...
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Scrabbling Up From the Abyss...
I'm pretty sure I won this latest argument with Death. I'm breathing a little bit better, and I'm not using quite as much Kleenex. Actually, it's Puff Plus with Lotion and Vicks. A product sent down from the gods, for sure. All in all, things could be on the upswing.
Pages, you ask? Well, I'm making a start. I should have written six pages since my last check-in. I've managed three. It's an improvement, and right now, I'll take anything I can get. I have written other pages, but they have to do with background of the werewolf clans and things relating to them. For instance, I discovered the burning of the Alexandrian Library was deliberate act intended to destroy proof of the werewolves existence. The Egyptian clan was going to "come out," trusting to the protection of Anubis. The Etruscan/Roman clan wanted their secrets kept, even at the cost of important knowledge that would be lost forever. The Romans, as usual, won.
I figure that if I count background pages, it will be like vomiting exposition for the sake of page count. Cheating doesn't help, and besides, it's not cool. I just have to push on. Catching up is still my goal, so I'm still going to try to go above and beyond. My all-time best effort so far has given me 17 pages in three hours. However, that was typing, and a LOT of that was dialogue. I don't think that's standard production for me.
Maybe by the time this challenge is over, I'll have a better idea what my standard production is.
In the meantime, here's to killing, maiming, seduction, vengeance, twisted love, and inopportune furriness.
Have fun till Sunday, everyone!
Pages, you ask? Well, I'm making a start. I should have written six pages since my last check-in. I've managed three. It's an improvement, and right now, I'll take anything I can get. I have written other pages, but they have to do with background of the werewolf clans and things relating to them. For instance, I discovered the burning of the Alexandrian Library was deliberate act intended to destroy proof of the werewolves existence. The Egyptian clan was going to "come out," trusting to the protection of Anubis. The Etruscan/Roman clan wanted their secrets kept, even at the cost of important knowledge that would be lost forever. The Romans, as usual, won.
I figure that if I count background pages, it will be like vomiting exposition for the sake of page count. Cheating doesn't help, and besides, it's not cool. I just have to push on. Catching up is still my goal, so I'm still going to try to go above and beyond. My all-time best effort so far has given me 17 pages in three hours. However, that was typing, and a LOT of that was dialogue. I don't think that's standard production for me.
Maybe by the time this challenge is over, I'll have a better idea what my standard production is.
In the meantime, here's to killing, maiming, seduction, vengeance, twisted love, and inopportune furriness.
Have fun till Sunday, everyone!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Let's Try This Again, Shall We?
Just when I thought I was beginning to get better - SLAM - here comes the second round of the bionic crud my body seems to be having a masochistic affair with. Figuring I could Google something about it, I did just that. Now, the CDC, in its infinite wisdom, publishes weekly numbers on disease outbreaks in the United States. According to a local news article, Central Florida is in the throes of a major flu outbreak. Yay. Lucky us. According to a local doctor, before this started, his walk-in care center saw about 20 flu patients per week. Now it's up to about 340. Helluva jump, that.
The upside to my own personal misery is that my brain's been running like a hamster on steroids and speed. Heck, my hamster can probably power an entire mid-sized city. Like Orlando.
And that's a good thing, because story stuff is what he's been chasing. Surprisingly, he's hunted down some interesting stuff. Like how the burning of the Alexandrian Library was collateral damage in a fight between werewolf clans. Of course, if I try to write it down, or pound it out on my keyboard, it comes out like a stream-of-consciousness fever dream.
So, I've contented myself with snippets of notes on different scenes. Hopefully, once I become coherent (even this blog entry sounds a bit ramblish - yeah, I know it's not a word, but I like it so I'm not going to edit it out) I'll be able to catch up on my pages.
On the downside, my computer's been doing a very odd heat thing. So I think I'm going to refine my goal. Currently, it stands at two pages per day. Now I'm going to specify that they are handwritten pages. I don't want to overtax my laptop.
Right now my hand doesn't seem to want to put down my pencil. (Yes, I write with pencil, mechanical, 0.5 lead, and all in caps. That's how I distinguish writing pages from other pages. Besides, I can write like the wind that way.) I'm going to take advantage of my inner hamster and see if I can produce anything.
I've got no new pages this time around. I've been so out of it, I even forgot to report on the 11th! Hopefully, everything will change today.
See you for the next round!
(By the way, what do you do with a gay, diva-ish werewolf from a different story who insists he's part of this one, too? Simon sure as heck seems to get around....)
I'll surface on Wednesday the 18th, I promise!
UPDATE: I've got my two pages done for today, and I show no sign of slacking. Yippee!!!
The upside to my own personal misery is that my brain's been running like a hamster on steroids and speed. Heck, my hamster can probably power an entire mid-sized city. Like Orlando.
And that's a good thing, because story stuff is what he's been chasing. Surprisingly, he's hunted down some interesting stuff. Like how the burning of the Alexandrian Library was collateral damage in a fight between werewolf clans. Of course, if I try to write it down, or pound it out on my keyboard, it comes out like a stream-of-consciousness fever dream.
So, I've contented myself with snippets of notes on different scenes. Hopefully, once I become coherent (even this blog entry sounds a bit ramblish - yeah, I know it's not a word, but I like it so I'm not going to edit it out) I'll be able to catch up on my pages.
On the downside, my computer's been doing a very odd heat thing. So I think I'm going to refine my goal. Currently, it stands at two pages per day. Now I'm going to specify that they are handwritten pages. I don't want to overtax my laptop.
Right now my hand doesn't seem to want to put down my pencil. (Yes, I write with pencil, mechanical, 0.5 lead, and all in caps. That's how I distinguish writing pages from other pages. Besides, I can write like the wind that way.) I'm going to take advantage of my inner hamster and see if I can produce anything.
I've got no new pages this time around. I've been so out of it, I even forgot to report on the 11th! Hopefully, everything will change today.
See you for the next round!
(By the way, what do you do with a gay, diva-ish werewolf from a different story who insists he's part of this one, too? Simon sure as heck seems to get around....)
I'll surface on Wednesday the 18th, I promise!
UPDATE: I've got my two pages done for today, and I show no sign of slacking. Yippee!!!
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Early, Early, Early Sunday Morning...
It's right around midnight as the dog and I sit here channel surfing. Trying to breathe is taking up a lot of my energy. I haven't been able to do any writing the past few days. This cold's about wiped me out. I'm on my fourth box of Kleenex since Wednesday. Blech. I had no idea the human body could snuffle in so many different ways. I feel like a Heffalump.
On the upside, I've been able to make a few notes for a couple of different scenes. I should be able to work on them in a day or so. Apparently werewolves are horrified by dogs being kept as pets. Especially when they've been neutered. We'll see what they do about it.
Off to find more Kleenex. (sneeze)
On the upside, I've been able to make a few notes for a couple of different scenes. I should be able to work on them in a day or so. Apparently werewolves are horrified by dogs being kept as pets. Especially when they've been neutered. We'll see what they do about it.
Off to find more Kleenex. (sneeze)
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Check-In January 4th
I'm sick. I had a Starbuck's meeting with a friend who also writes. I'm supposed to be there in seven minutes. Guess what's not happening. I'm going back to bed with some hot tea and my laptop. Yeah, I know they don't sound like a good mix, but I've got a lovely insulated steel Starbuck's mug. It keeps things hot if you want and cold if you want - and doesn't spill. Mandatory for me in situations like this.
Ok, here goes. Got my page count on opening day. Yesterday? Bubkis. Today, I'm hoping to make it up.
On the bright side, because I'm feeling so crappy, I can probably write that scene where my werewolf is going through a good deal of angst before she becomes a serial killer.
See? There's a bright spot to everything.
Ok, here goes. Got my page count on opening day. Yesterday? Bubkis. Today, I'm hoping to make it up.
On the bright side, because I'm feeling so crappy, I can probably write that scene where my werewolf is going through a good deal of angst before she becomes a serial killer.
See? There's a bright spot to everything.
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Grrrr.....
Yesterday's writing adventure blew chunks. Big ones. I couldn't think of a bloody thing, and so I ended up in a scene which probably won't be needed later. I feel like I wasted my time. For all I know, I made as much sense as a chimpanzee trying to do calculus.
I'm heading to Starbuck's shortly to work on today's round of words. I'll report back later.
It's now later. In fact, it's really later. It's the next day. Here's what happened: Not much.
You see, I'm also a math instructor at a local college. Since I can't get full-time hours, I supplement my income with math tutoring. Well, guess whose student was waiting for her at Starbucks. Yup. Mine. Sigh.
The only words I worked on were word problems.
Oh, well, tomorrow is another day...
Lara
I'm heading to Starbuck's shortly to work on today's round of words. I'll report back later.
It's now later. In fact, it's really later. It's the next day. Here's what happened: Not much.
You see, I'm also a math instructor at a local college. Since I can't get full-time hours, I supplement my income with math tutoring. Well, guess whose student was waiting for her at Starbucks. Yup. Mine. Sigh.
The only words I worked on were word problems.
Oh, well, tomorrow is another day...
Lara
Sunday, January 01, 2012
ROW80 Goals
Let's face it. I'm torn. And I can't even blame my dithering on being hung over (last night being New Year's Eve and my birthday). I'm talking about my writing goals.
Do I go for word count? Pages? If I go with two pages per day, I should have well over 600 pages by this time next year, assuming everything stays on schedule. If I go for word count, it seems a little less concrete to me. After all, you can always make up word count tomorrow, right?
Then, there's the option of scenes. Do I go with two scenes per week? That would give me a bit over 100 scenes by this time next year. I have a confession here - I developed a habit that I picked up from Mary Janice Davidson. I tend to do one scene per chapter. Will that make my weekly job easier or harder? Will it have any effect at all? At the end, though, I think it will make it easier to shift things around when I need to finalize my story progression.
Okay. Decision time...(insert drum roll here)...I'm choosing to do two pages per day for the duration of the challenge. If I can squeeze more out of my rather twisted brain, that'll be all to the good.
Get ready, get set...
Lara
Do I go for word count? Pages? If I go with two pages per day, I should have well over 600 pages by this time next year, assuming everything stays on schedule. If I go for word count, it seems a little less concrete to me. After all, you can always make up word count tomorrow, right?
Then, there's the option of scenes. Do I go with two scenes per week? That would give me a bit over 100 scenes by this time next year. I have a confession here - I developed a habit that I picked up from Mary Janice Davidson. I tend to do one scene per chapter. Will that make my weekly job easier or harder? Will it have any effect at all? At the end, though, I think it will make it easier to shift things around when I need to finalize my story progression.
Okay. Decision time...(insert drum roll here)...I'm choosing to do two pages per day for the duration of the challenge. If I can squeeze more out of my rather twisted brain, that'll be all to the good.
Get ready, get set...
Lara
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