Friday, September 21, 2012

Round 4 Goals

Ok, here goes. I've been thinking about this for the last couple of days. I'm always so impressed by those members who have 7 or 8 goals covering so many different facets of their lives.

I'm going to try to do at least a few this time.

1.  Write at least one manuscript page per day. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm taking small steps on purpose.

2. Continue to organize and plan according to Story Engineering.

3. Walk for 30 minutes per day. I'm using YouTube videos of a British television show for inspiration. It's called Supersize v. Superskinny. If anyone needs motivation, that's the way to go. One contributor called ErmmTV has season playlists already set up. It makes it convenient. I don't seem to have much energy, and I've heard that if you exercise, your energy levels increase. Here's hoping. Oh, yeah, and the weight loss. That's part of the motivation as well.

Anyone else out here planning yet?


Wednesday, September 19, 2012

And So Ends Another Round...

Where in the world did the time go? And when are we going to start up again - I'm already planning my goals for the next round. (Oops! I just saw the start date in Kait's post. My bad.)

I started out slowly, but once I latched onto Story Engineering, I felt things begin to fall into place. Now that I have a procedure, it's going to be much easier for me to make visible progress. There are times when being a Capricorn and a Type-A personality is not a good thing...I'm such a perfectionist sometimes it's hard to get where I need to be.

I'm so glad I discovered Row80. I know people have said this before, but it's true - no one knows the ups, downs, frustrations, and joys of writing like other writers. Let's face it - if we tried to talk about some of this to Muggles, we'd probably be locked up (for our own protection, of course) and forcibly medicated.

I used the word "Muggles" above because in a very real sense what we do is magic. We create. We produce things of out thin air. Houdini himself couldn't do this.

Doesn't it make you want to dash to the keyboard right now? It does me.

See you there!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Finding the Writing Magic

Something struck me this morning. Sipping on coffee and thinking about gearing up to write, I suddenly asked myself why it was so easy to write backstory and have everything fall into place. I mean, the first draft can be an agonizing process, slow, torturous, feeling like you're walking through quicksand that's halfway up your thighs. And that's on a halfway decent day. Why doesn't it work that way with backstory?

Why is freeing yourself from self-imposed shackles so hard? And how do you cut them off?

Nora Roberts said once (in some interview I read somewhere) that you just have to vomit out the first draft, and then fix it up later. When I think about that, I find it much easier to work. When I lose sight of that direction, everything becomes murky and confused. Nora's advice gets me through Nano every year. But I sure have problems remembering it from day to day.

What do you use to motivate yourself on days when the vision eludes you?

BTW, I still plan on blogging during our down time between sessions, so feel free to pop on by.

Happy creating!

Lara

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Creativity is Bipolar

It's true - creativity really is bipolar. At least, it sure seems to be. No sooner had I written my last blog post about how difficult it was to write, blah, blah, blah, then wham! I get hit with a case of diarhhea of the fingers. I haven't been able to stop. It just gets aggravating when I have to do something else. Like work.

On with the Story Engineering quest. I've left the "what if" questions, and I've moved on to the characterization of my protagonist, Dr. Hayleigh Cameron, Egyptologist, epileptic, caffeine-addict and witch. I'm finding out lots of interesting things about her and her background. It makes me never want to put down the pencil.

Literally, I can't type any more on this. I have to get back to the story.

I hope everyone is doing well, and I'll see you on Sunday. Maybe I'll be on to my antagonist by then. Let me tell you - he's a beaut!

Talk to you soon...

Lara

Monday, September 10, 2012

It's Late and I've Got the Blahs

Let me clarify the heading: It's late for posting, but it's morning. Monday morning. I'm about 24 hours behind where I should be. It's my own fault - I took a day yesterday to mentally drift. Sort of like a jellyfish.

But I don't have much to report, unfortunately. Not much writing's been done.

Our new semester started, and I've got 8 classes - more than I've ever had, and I'm still settling into my rhythm. Hopefully, I'll make it up this week.

My plans are to really get into some in-depth characterization using Story Engineering as my guide still. I also have a plan for a specific scene that I might actually have a chance to write this afternoon. I'm going to give it a shot. I'll have the opportunity, because I don't have to actually teach today; I'm watching over a lab of students who are independent learners.

I've got the opportunity for fingers on the keyboard practically all day! Go me!

See everyone Wednesday, when I'll try to be on time with some good news for progress.