I only write book reviews in December. Between the end of the semester and the holidays, I don't have the concentration for anything more substantial. But the reviews help me keep my writing nimble.
Snow--lots of it--has arrived in the upper Midwest.
Thanks for the inspiration - those green eyes are very insistent!
BTW if anyone wants a recommendation, I just finished Children of the New World, a beautifully written collection of short stories by Alexander Weinstein (another fellow Geneseo grad - something in the water?)
They're Black Mirror sort of glimpses at the future of information technology, climate change, etc. Very human, very haunting, with not a wasted word. I enjoyed it immensely. Thought I'd share for anyone (like me) who is done with the day's writing.
Distracting these furry buddies. Just shy of 1200 words this morning but lots of day to go. Perfect cold gray day for some fireside writing. Hope everyone is well.
I received Stonewall Jackson, The Man, The Soldier, The Legend by James L. Robertson in the mail yesterday. It's highly recommended and reviewed. Though I'm looking forward to reading it, at 762 pages, I will be waiting a while to start it. On the other hand, I was throwing away junk mail and was going to toss my Victorian catalogue before I was tempted to order something.
I had to glance through it just once before I did. Inside was a beautiful reproduction amethyst glass syrup pitcher and a note that Victorians often kept amethyst glass in their houses because they believed it protected against danger.
Oh, really?
I had to read more about this. They also believed amethysts protect against thievery. Perfect. One of the characters in my current section wears amethyst jewelry.
Who knew reading a catalogue would trigger something so ideal for the upcoming scene?
I wanna kitty. (back to my adult voice) Dark Lord Gothika is gorgeous. I can just imagine the softness of his fur.
Like Theresa, we have snow! I did make it to and from work this morning. I plan to comb through at least 2 chapters today, preferably more, but there's a driveway waiting to be finished and and I've a sidewalk somewhere out there too.
I'm about to follow orders and get my word count in. But first, two quickies.
Lennon, here's an idea to get you unstuck. Skip ahead in your ms to a scene you're looking forward to writing. Get it down on paper or up on screen. Then, go back and pick up where you were. You might find you're closer than you thought to the upcoming scene. Or you might find that knowing where you need to arrive will jump start you toward getting there.
And shout out to Julie W even though she'll think this is pretty simple. A while ago she made reference to flipping the hourglass and getting back to the writing. I liked the idea that I went out and hunted down an hourglass. Closest I could find was a 30-minute version, but I found plenty on the Internet. I love it! Now, I flip the hourglass, think about Julie (despite the fact that I've never seen you, so you're kinda like a fictional character in my mind) and shun all social media and phones and people and do nothing but write for the next hour. Fifty-seven-thousand words later, the hourglass is still doing its trick. Thanks, Julie. You're looking fantastic in my mind!
Beautiful cat and no, I made no progress in that direction. I DID make progress towards holiday baking - which I will actually be doing with Mom tomorrow, but I had some stuff to do in advance to contribute so we don't spend all day doing it. (she must have her Scrabble game). I made the mistake of trying a new recipe. VERY time consuming.
Yesterday I spent about half the day at a book signing. Then I wrapped gifts. I am tired. And I still have "stuff" to do.
On that note, hope everyone's Sunday was restful and filled with word goals.
***Remind me to tell y'all about the dove and either a barred owl, or the very bizarre behavior of hawk. Which I don't think hunt at night. Still. Some sort of very large winged creature flew through (by through, I mean within three feet of me as I went out my front door onto the porch last night, and evidently snagged the poor dove - whose behavior was also strange earlier - and now I know why.
Cute kitty. Rather regal in a way. Also looks ready to swat the photographer.
Been 60 degrees here the past few days, and rainy. BBBRRRRRR Yes I know all y'all non-SoCal folks are laughing at my weather-wimpiness right now.
I'm currently in editing mode. Only got 2 pages done, but that's more than was done last Friday, so I'm making ssssslllllllooooooooooooowwww progress.
We're putting up our Christmas tree today. We know it's Christmas because things break. Our hot water heater yesterday. My daughter's ankle [again] on Friday. Tis the season.
A perfect day for writing in snowy Illinois. Also a perfect day for peppermint schnapps in hot chocolate! The Dark Lord Goth is perched on the back of my chair and has only intervened once, to touch his nose to the marshmallow at the rim of my cup. He disdains it! (And has been washing his face since.) Not a huge word count, but I've finished a difficult chapter and am still going!
Oh, those eyes! And what a gorgeous face on that boy.
John Frain: I love, LOVE the idea of skipping ahead to a scene you're looking forward to writing as a way to get unstuck. Brilliant. Where were you this morning when I was stuck?
Whipchick: 4000 words! Yowza. I've had a few 3000 word days. That always feels good.
Today has been a 0 word count. Which doesn't feel good, and that's not how it was supposed to go. I have the house to myself (hubby at work till 7pm), I raced through morning chores in anticipation of a day of writing, got back in the house, made a huge mug of ginger tea and then just sorta sat here staring out the window. The two new kitties were even cooperative...calm and sleepy...rather than putting on their own little rodeo all across my desk. I feel like I wasted the day.
Then I went for a very, very long walk in the woods. I came upon a small meadow on our property that I don't believe I'd ever seen before (we have 175 acres). It was rimmed by the dense woods, from which I'd just emerged, and there was a stand of 20 or 30 slash pines in the center. Dotting the ground all around their trunks were huge white and pink quartz rocks poking up out of the blanket of needles. It looked like a little fairy village. It was truly magical and saved the day. I mean, seriously, how can your day be wasted when you find enchantment in the woods?
Hard to settle down to write when I'm dreaming of enchanting green-eyed cats, fairy villages in the woods, and magic amethysts. I have a leaky pipe that needs attention, dozens of cookies to bake, and I can’t stop wondering about the rest of the story of the dove and the hawk. Now I’m considering asking for an hourglass for Christmas. Maybe I’ll just check Amazon …
Pretty good writing day for me. Found our 2 Christmas wreaths and hung them. Took the pups for a lakeside romp in the misty rain. It had been threatening all day so we stayed in. Didn't actually rain until we got pretty far away from the car. Had a good time anyway.
When I get stuck I do Speedy Lists - write down 20 possibilities as fast as you can, no matter how silly they seem. Amazing how well it works.
Oh my, a sci-fi cat. Is it an omen, maybe a portent, perchance even a haint leading the New leaf in that direction?
It would be an interesting thing to know. Since my Queen said thrillers are tough market I have gone back to where I started, the future.
Yes, though I have three nice thrillers floating around I am going to shoot at the stars. It is the beginning of the future. The first Earthlings off the planet. The reason they left is because they invented some tech that would put a new face on war and they didn't wish to give it any existing government.
The story starts when when the earth finds them using the Magnetic Vortex Wormholes that let them escape. A sixteen year old girl has been pulled through to Earth. The story is kind of about getting her back.
I have absolutely been lollygagging all day long (spell czech doesn't think that's even a word) and as it was intentional, I make no apology for it. Today is the one day a year I can do whatever I want and also have people bring me dinner and drink wine and celebrate the occasion of my birth. Which seems slightly unfair, since I had nothing to do with it. Thanks, Mom.
Lucy, The Dark Lord Gothika does indeed look quite regal. Thanks for sharing him with us!
Melanie, I agree. Your day was not wasted, and wouldn't have been even if you hadn't gone for that walk in the woods. A significant part of writing, for me anyway, is sitting and thinking. And being open to moments of magic and enchantment, wherever they find you. How wonderful.
I'll be back to cracking the whip over my own head tomorrow. Metaphorically.
Must have been the cat's influence… I finished my book five minutes ago.
That's a lot of writing, a lot of revisions and more procrastination than you can shake a stick at. But I said I'd send it to my agent before Christmas, and by golly, I will!
What a gorgeous cat. And yes, I did get my word count in, after I gave up on trying to revise/rewrite draft no.5 chronologically and (re)wrote the climax scene. But November and December are probably the busiest months of the year for me, regarding my other job, so I'm not feeling guilty.
Ha, that's funny.. Freudian slip with "my other job"... I mean my job. Unless I regard writing as a job that is as yet an unpaid one. Let's go with that.
29 comments:
I can joyfully report 4100 words today (I'm quite a few time zones ahead of the US). Let the petting begin!
Colin - thanks for adding me to the resource list and for your kind comment two days ago!
Ummm…. Yes, ma'am!
What a beauty! (I'm partial to black and black-and-white cats.)
Thanks for the kick in the pants, Dark Lord Gothka. I'll get back to work.
I only write book reviews in December. Between the end of the semester and the holidays, I don't have the concentration for anything more substantial. But the reviews help me keep my writing nimble.
Snow--lots of it--has arrived in the upper Midwest.
Thanks for the inspiration - those green eyes are very insistent!
BTW if anyone wants a recommendation, I just finished Children of the New World, a beautifully written collection of short stories by Alexander Weinstein (another fellow Geneseo grad - something in the water?)
They're Black Mirror sort of glimpses at the future of information technology, climate change, etc. Very human, very haunting, with not a wasted word. I enjoyed it immensely. Thought I'd share for anyone (like me) who is done with the day's writing.
Why yes, I can be guilted by a cat, why do you ask?
oh.
Distracting these furry buddies. Just shy of 1200 words this morning but lots of day to go. Perfect cold gray day for some fireside writing. Hope everyone is well.
Sam the Cat says, "OK!"--and he can't even write!!
Allison ("whipchick"): You are very welcome. I hope that little mention generates lots of clicks and sales for you. :)
I'm nearing the end of my latest WIP, but I just culled about 10k instead of writing more. Hoping to send it out with the new year. Fingers crossed.
whipchick you are on fire! And EM and Megan V! (sometimes I think culling's maybe even more satisfying, it reminds me of losing weight).
I've hit a stumper on my writing. No idea if that's a real word. Hopefully Dark Lord Gothika can stare me back into line!
Lennon If Dark Lord Gothika can't, perhaps the Duchess of Yowl will deign to assist. OR you know...they'll just stare at you.
I received Stonewall Jackson, The Man, The Soldier, The Legend by James L. Robertson in the mail yesterday. It's highly recommended and reviewed. Though I'm looking forward to reading it, at 762 pages, I will be waiting a while to start it. On the other hand, I was throwing away junk mail and was going to toss my Victorian catalogue before I was tempted to order something.
I had to glance through it just once before I did. Inside was a beautiful reproduction amethyst glass syrup pitcher and a note that Victorians often kept amethyst glass in their houses because they believed it protected against danger.
Oh, really?
I had to read more about this. They also believed amethysts protect against thievery. Perfect. One of the characters in my current section wears amethyst jewelry.
Who knew reading a catalogue would trigger something so ideal for the upcoming scene?
I wanna kitty. (back to my adult voice) Dark Lord Gothika is gorgeous. I can just imagine the softness of his fur.
Like Theresa, we have snow! I did make it to and from work this morning. I plan to comb through at least 2 chapters today, preferably more, but there's a driveway waiting to be finished and and I've a sidewalk somewhere out there too.
I'm about to follow orders and get my word count in. But first, two quickies.
Lennon, here's an idea to get you unstuck. Skip ahead in your ms to a scene you're looking forward to writing. Get it down on paper or up on screen. Then, go back and pick up where you were. You might find you're closer than you thought to the upcoming scene. Or you might find that knowing where you need to arrive will jump start you toward getting there.
And shout out to Julie W even though she'll think this is pretty simple. A while ago she made reference to flipping the hourglass and getting back to the writing. I liked the idea that I went out and hunted down an hourglass. Closest I could find was a 30-minute version, but I found plenty on the Internet. I love it! Now, I flip the hourglass, think about Julie (despite the fact that I've never seen you, so you're kinda like a fictional character in my mind) and shun all social media and phones and people and do nothing but write for the next hour. Fifty-seven-thousand words later, the hourglass is still doing its trick. Thanks, Julie. You're looking fantastic in my mind!
About to flip the hourglass, so I'm outta here...
Beautiful cat and no, I made no progress in that direction. I DID make progress towards holiday baking - which I will actually be doing with Mom tomorrow, but I had some stuff to do in advance to contribute so we don't spend all day doing it. (she must have her Scrabble game). I made the mistake of trying a new recipe. VERY time consuming.
Yesterday I spent about half the day at a book signing. Then I wrapped gifts. I am tired. And I still have "stuff" to do.
On that note, hope everyone's Sunday was restful and filled with word goals.
***Remind me to tell y'all about the dove and either a barred owl, or the very bizarre behavior of hawk. Which I don't think hunt at night. Still. Some sort of very large winged creature flew through (by through, I mean within three feet of me as I went out my front door onto the porch last night, and evidently snagged the poor dove - whose behavior was also strange earlier - and now I know why.
Cute kitty. Rather regal in a way. Also looks ready to swat the photographer.
Been 60 degrees here the past few days, and rainy. BBBRRRRRR Yes I know all y'all non-SoCal folks are laughing at my weather-wimpiness right now.
I'm currently in editing mode. Only got 2 pages done, but that's more than was done last Friday, so I'm making ssssslllllllooooooooooooowwww progress.
We're putting up our Christmas tree today. We know it's Christmas because things break. Our hot water heater yesterday. My daughter's ankle [again] on Friday. Tis the season.
Because paint contracting is seasonal, and the time around Christmas is slow, I'm killing it. July, not so much, but I always have a great summer tan.
Word count, what word count?
Holidays, family, job, a lousy night's sleep and I'm donating the idea of words backwards.
A perfect day for writing in snowy Illinois. Also a perfect day for peppermint schnapps in hot chocolate! The Dark Lord Goth is perched on the back of my chair and has only intervened once, to touch his nose to the marshmallow at the rim of my cup. He disdains it! (And has been washing his face since.) Not a huge word count, but I've finished a difficult chapter and am still going!
Oh, those eyes! And what a gorgeous face on that boy.
John Frain: I love, LOVE the idea of skipping ahead to a scene you're looking forward to writing as a way to get unstuck. Brilliant. Where were you this morning when I was stuck?
Whipchick: 4000 words! Yowza. I've had a few 3000 word days. That always feels good.
Today has been a 0 word count. Which doesn't feel good, and that's not how it was supposed to go. I have the house to myself (hubby at work till 7pm), I raced through morning chores in anticipation of a day of writing, got back in the house, made a huge mug of ginger tea and then just sorta sat here staring out the window. The two new kitties were even cooperative...calm and sleepy...rather than putting on their own little rodeo all across my desk. I feel like I wasted the day.
Then I went for a very, very long walk in the woods. I came upon a small meadow on our property that I don't believe I'd ever seen before (we have 175 acres). It was rimmed by the dense woods, from which I'd just emerged, and there was a stand of 20 or 30 slash pines in the center. Dotting the ground all around their trunks were huge white and pink quartz rocks poking up out of the blanket of needles. It looked like a little fairy village. It was truly magical and saved the day. I mean, seriously, how can your day be wasted when you find enchantment in the woods?
Now... Off to evening chores.
Hard to settle down to write when I'm dreaming of enchanting green-eyed cats, fairy villages in the woods, and magic amethysts. I have a leaky pipe that needs attention, dozens of cookies to bake, and I can’t stop wondering about the rest of the story of the dove and the hawk. Now I’m considering asking for an hourglass for Christmas. Maybe I’ll just check Amazon …
Gorgeous cat!
Pretty good writing day for me. Found our 2 Christmas wreaths and hung them. Took the pups for a lakeside romp in the misty rain. It had been threatening all day so we stayed in. Didn't actually rain until we got pretty far away from the car. Had a good time anyway.
When I get stuck I do Speedy Lists - write down 20 possibilities as fast as you can, no matter how silly they seem. Amazing how well it works.
Happy writing, everyone!
Megan I tremble in fear at the thought of DoY glaring at me!
John (and Julie)great idea. I might also have to ask for that hourglass for Christmas.
Oh my, a sci-fi cat. Is it an omen, maybe a portent, perchance even a haint leading the New leaf in that direction?
It would be an interesting thing to know. Since my Queen said thrillers are tough market I have gone back to where I started, the future.
Yes, though I have three nice thrillers floating around I am going to shoot at the stars. It is the beginning of the future. The first Earthlings off the planet. The reason they left is because they invented some tech that would put a new face on war and they didn't wish to give it any existing government.
The story starts when when the earth finds them using the Magnetic Vortex Wormholes that let them escape. A sixteen year old girl has been pulled through to Earth. The story is kind of about getting her back.
Hope you had a nice weekend my friends.
I have absolutely been lollygagging all day long (spell czech doesn't think that's even a word) and as it was intentional, I make no apology for it. Today is the one day a year I can do whatever I want and also have people bring me dinner and drink wine and celebrate the occasion of my birth. Which seems slightly unfair, since I had nothing to do with it. Thanks, Mom.
Lucy, The Dark Lord Gothika does indeed look quite regal. Thanks for sharing him with us!
Melanie, I agree. Your day was not wasted, and wouldn't have been even if you hadn't gone for that walk in the woods. A significant part of writing, for me anyway, is sitting and thinking. And being open to moments of magic and enchantment, wherever they find you. How wonderful.
I'll be back to cracking the whip over my own head tomorrow. Metaphorically.
Must have been the cat's influence… I finished my book five minutes ago.
That's a lot of writing, a lot of revisions and more procrastination than you can shake a stick at. But I said I'd send it to my agent before Christmas, and by golly, I will!
I just need to read it through one more time….
What a gorgeous cat. And yes, I did get my word count in, after I gave up on trying to revise/rewrite draft no.5 chronologically and (re)wrote the climax scene. But November and December are probably the busiest months of the year for me, regarding my other job, so I'm not feeling guilty.
Ha, that's funny.. Freudian slip with "my other job"... I mean my job. Unless I regard writing as a job that is as yet an unpaid one. Let's go with that.
3k today. Best i write in the mornings, as I'm in need of afternoon naps of late.
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