Catch up

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Been a twee bit busy and/or stressed the last few evenings to do tweaking on the ms, so I didn't even bother to upload from the Quickpad. But I *felt* like I'd had two really good days of writing on my lunch (yesterday and today) so just had to upload and see.

*squee* Nope not monumentally impressive, but considering it represents only 45 mins of writing per day (I write in the lobby of a nearby building--cushy chairs, great view, relatively little traffic, and it's about a 10 min walk each way), it's a pretty decent output.

Part of the reason I think things picked up (besides making writing a habit every day at a certain time for a certain amount of time) is that I've finally introduced Hero #1's pov. It's been the heroine's pov up until this point. Fact is, while I love the bigger plot, worldbuilding, etc, I'm primarily driven by the H/h's character and (/in conjunction to) the development of their romance. There really hasn't been much romance up until now, just bits of attraction/awareness layered in in amongst the bloodshed. *g*

Results:

Monday: 1 1/4 pages
Tuesday: 3 1/4 pages
Wednesday (today): 3 pages

7 1/2 pages in 2 hrs and 15mins! I'll probably hit around 13 pages in total. And it's all raw, so it could add up to more once it's been tweaked edited (but probably less. *sigh*).

I've got two more scenes to write, one of which Hero #2 FINALLY makes his appearance! But that'll do it for chapter 4! ::bouncebounce::

If you've gotten this far, congratulations, the lobotomy was a success! lol.

As your reward (or punishment (*geez how many times do you think I can use brackets in this post?)) I'll post one of my favourite bits (even the boy likes it, and he's totally *not* into anything romancey):

She didn’t see him again for the rest of the day, but with the taste of the beguiler’s lips still on her mouth, Yancy slept uneasily that night. The ship’s constant creaks were like ghostly moans, and the wash of waves like softly sneering laughter. When she did finally fall asleep, Valerian was waiting, with his gaze blacker than the night. Then the laughter became his and the moans became hers, and morning came much too quickly....


(*Brackets used 9 times, including this one. heh.)
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13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ooooo, Jaq!
Verra nice. ;-)
Very...sensual.

vanessa jaye said...

Thanks, Raine. I think that's what I really like about it, the sensuality/lyrical quality. I've been trying to throw in references to Hero #2 (Valerian) with little bits like this. While I've been trying to show the foundations for a certain type of love to develop between Hero #1 and the heroine, her (past) relationship with Hero #2 was a very physical one, and I think that's why the sensual tone.

I just realized that I'll be doing better than my past writing output, if I do 13 pages in 4 hrs (45 mins x 5 days). When I was writing steadily a couple of years ago, I'd average 5-8/day (30-35 pages for the week). But that included writing for several hours each and every day. (I was probably goofying off on the computer as much as I was 'writing' though. *g*)

This 'focused' type stuff really works. I'm very surprised because every single time I've tried a biaw type challenge, I've written myself into a deadend, and prettymuch had to trash most of the stuff written.

If I could put in another focused session of writing per day, I could probably hit 10 pages a day, then make a point of tweaking editing in the evenings, or on the weekends.

vanessa jaye said...

Too lazy to put up a new blog post. Today's results was 2 pages.

Not bad considering I've had a tremendously, extravangantly, shiteous day, that ended with me coming home to find all the phone lines dead. All 3 phones. No dial tone. The telephone repair guy is coming tomorrow. Good thing I have a cell.

Shesawriter said...

Nice excerpt Jaye. Especially the moaning part. LOL!

Anonymous said...

...And not a semicolon anywhere.
;-)

vanessa jaye said...

Moaning is always good, Tanya. lol.

Droll, Raine. Very, very droll. ;-)

vanessa jaye said...

Today's (Fri) results: 1 1/2 schmeasely pages.

But it's mostly narrative, and I only wrote for about 20 mins. I took a walk around first while I tried to sort some plot stuff out in my head.

Best news? Chapter 4 stands at 14 pages. I just want to get a little further into the scene that I left off at, so I have a stronger chapter ending hook, then I'll slash/burn, add/flesh out. But chapter 4 is essentially done!

This week-end will be mostly editing/revising, a little map drawing and time to start putting together an outline. There's too much little details jumbling round in the ole noggin.

Plus I'm sure if I lay out several of the major plot twists, and individual character arcs things will come together a bit better. But I'll keep it vague, just about every time I've planned to write something, something else (better and unexpected) happens.

I just want to know for sure I'll make the almost 400 pages required for single title.

I love seeing the progress meter increasing steadily-->
That hasn't happened for a long while. ::grin::

vanessa jaye said...

All These long-ass rambling posts are purely for my own indulgence. Just thinking (blogging) out loud. No one else has to suffer through any of it. *gg* Go read something more amusing. :-P Lot's of foolishness to choose from on Procrastination Station.

Today (Saturday). No new writing per se. Actually didn't get to bed till almost 3 am, because of company, slept in then had a friend drop by 1/2 hr after I woke up (good thing we've been friends since middle school) She stayed for several hours, then there was housework, cooking, etc to do. I *finally* got around to working on that new bit that I wrote for chapter 3, that introduces Hero #2's pov. I *think* I like the final result. It reveals his 'conflicted' emotions, his attraction to her and adds a little bit backstory. So I like it for those reasons. But it's all introspection, with only 3 references physical movement/action. I've fiddled with the section so much to make sure it fit where I inserted it, and the transition from pov to pov worked, etc, I can't read it right now to clearly judge if the pacing is still okay, etc. Tomorrow I'll re-read, then move on to completing tweaks to chapter 4.

Anonymous said...

You're doing great on the writing! Keep it up. :)

vanessa jaye said...

Thanks, Mich. I'm trying. I see that you've been making steady progress with your revisions, too!

vanessa jaye said...

Sunday - nada. Fiddle some more with chapter 3, and spent hours on line trying to find a plan/layout of a palace, since it suddenly occurred to me they probably specific layouts (ie, castles have outter bailey, inner bailey, etc). Nada. I'll have to go to the library for this. But I did find some cool pictures of palace facades.

Monday - 2 pages. I upload from the Quickpad into a new document specifically so I can see exactly how much I wrote, before copying a pasting into my chapter. For some reason the computer word count only went up by 100 words on the chapter, even though the document with just the uploaded showed 576 words. :-( Very odd. :-( *sigh*

Today I had errands to run, so I only wrote for 20 minutes, but 300 words! What's more, this story is freaking me out, all these cool little twists that I didn't plan are just falling into place as I write. :-).

vanessa jaye said...

I wrote 3 1/4 pages on Wednesday, but I know a page of that is garbage. I got a bit of track and the dialogue starting to read like blahblahblah. Essentially I had one character bring another up to speed on what has happened to them in the past month. Problem is, it's stuff that has been shown to the reader as it happened. Boring to being reading about it again. Decided to focus on the 2 pertinent points that the other character needs to know so tha it will affect his choices/actions.

I think this story might just rock! lol. maybe. Got to get Hero #2 back on the page. The guy shows up for one page and he does nothing I planned, instead the first thing he thinks when he sees the heroine? "The bitch was back." lol. *sigh*

vanessa jaye said...

erm... I haven't been writing. It's been one week. :-/ I've been working through lunch again and working late. And my shoulder started bugging me, so I didn't even bother bringing the Quickpad to work with me anyway. And the new neighbours are being assh*les with their stereo. And the weekend was chock full of activities. And for some reason ds has had a pile of essays/projects lately, and guess whose help he's needed?

I know, I know. Writer's write, no excuses. :-P

But I have been *thinking* about hero #2's motivation. I didn't want it just to be about revenge against the heroine. So I have made progress there because i think I have a better handle on him. I just really want to clean up chapter 4 and move one. If my shoulder isn't bothering me too much tomorrow, I'll drag the Quickpad to work. It really has made a HUGE difference in my productivity.

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