Home
entries friends calendar user info Previous Previous
conb1977

Advertisement

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
I am so soo tired and tomorrow I gotta get up at 4:30 to go running--I was using those excuses as to why I shouldn't write tonight. But I made it. I'm sitting in bed with mhy laptop and my chai tea. I'll just do three hundred words--the same as yesterday.

Tags:

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Yeah!!! iwrote my 300 words. They suck. but i wrote. Good night

Current Mood: sleepy

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Crazy day filled with responsibilies and mother stuff, but it's 11 pm, I have my spiced chai and I'm in front of the computer. Will i reach my 300 word count? I'll let ya know.

BTW, Muse and Kaj.. you guys were right. The check engine light was no big deal. It was an emissions problem with the cat. conv. the mechanic said he doubts that anything is wrong with it and besides cat. conv. does not affect the car just the emissions. He said if the light pops back on he'll check it for free. That was $45 dollars well spent I think.

Time to work!

Tags:
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: None

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Today was a busy day. I drove to Missouri with my little sister to pick up a dog. On the way there, my check engine light came. GASP!! There is nothing visibly or aubibly wrong with the car as far as I can tell, so I'm hoping when I take it to the mechanic they'll say "oh it's just some minor thing" and then send me on my way.

Back to writing. Alexandra Sockoloff suggests we read over and over again the books that are most like the book that we are trying to write. My list of books are as follows

The Dark Elf trilogy by R.A. Salvatore
The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Leguin
Tithe By Holly Black

I'm sure it needs to be longer than this, but I think this is a good beginning. On the road trip, I began rereading the first book in the drow series, "Homeland" very great writing. Once again, as i read this book i kept thinking how i'll never be able to write with such perfect description. but then I had to remind myself that I especially won't if I don't try.

I still haven't started my third draft. Yesterday I only came up with some descriptive buzz words. I think i'll do some more of that and do dome writing tomorrow. Tomorrow's Goal: three hundred words.

The few page of Homeland definitely set the mood. Dinin looked down over the Menzasp???? yes, half of if was boring. But it wasn't enough to make a reader put donw the book, beccause the importajt p[arts were there and it set the mood perfectly.

I also listened to a well told tales podcast. "Death's a Bitch" the description in that story is so dark, brillant, and jarriing.
herself.

Anyway. That's enough of writing about writng, lets do some actual writing.

Tags:
Current Location: home
Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: none

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
I'm trying to write my first page scene. I have no idea how to do this, so lets start with one of my favorite author bloggers Alexandrea Sokoloff's Visual Storytelling - Part 1. Some of the most interesting excerpts are below:

One thing I’ve noticed about beginning writers’ writing is that they almost always fail to set up a chapter visually. Actually a lot of published authors have this problem, too. I find this extremely annoying and frustrating. After all, human beings process the world visually before any other sense, so why wouldn’t we as authors want to instantly establish where we are and what we’re looking at and how that makes us feel right up front, in every chapter?

This is so true, I'm a new writer and I suck at the visual.

Alexandra splits up each scene into a master scene and establishing scene.

A master shot is an angle on a scene that shows all of the players of the scene in the specific location – like looking at a stage and seeing the entire set and all the actors on it. You get all the information about the scene in one shot....But an establishing shot is more than just information about WHERE the action takes place. It can, and should, convey emotion, suspense, theme – any number of things about the action about to transpire or the character walking into the scene.

Every time I start a chapter or a scene, I think first about the establishing shot and the master shot. I look at the upcoming action from a long enough angle to see everything there is to see about the scene. Where am I and what am I looking at? I might not describe it outright for a paragraph or two but if I don’t, there’s a damn good reason that I didn’t start with it, and I don’t keep the reader waiting long to give them the visual. And when I do give the visual, I think about what it says thematically and emotionally about the scene. Is it a confined space because my heroine feels trapped? Then I make sure to convey that claustrophobic sense. Are the colors of everything muted and leached because of my hero’s depression? Is every tree on the street bursting with bloom and fragrance because my lovers have finally reunited? (Yeah, I’m being on the nose, but my feeling is – be over the top at first to make sure the emotion is there… you can always tone it down later.)

The biggest lesson learned: be over the top

Tags:
Current Location: Starbucks
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Christmas Music

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
My thesis excerpt was due on November 15 and I am just now starting. big deal. better late than never, right. Well we'll see. A big part of me just doesn't want to do it. I just want to be a regular person who works, goes home to her family, and is completely happy. But you know what? That little thing that I was missing, which made me want to fill it with writing and my imagination has been filled. Mr. Mushy is filling it. Or is that all an illusion? Do i throw away all that i've worked and paid for because I've finally found someone to couple with and thus I'm fulfilled? That is so anti-feminist. That is a depressing thought, but my actions are telling. I don't want this to be true, so i'm going to get on it. It's good to be happy, but unhappiness shouldn't be the only driving force to finish my thesis.

Tags: ,
Current Location: starbucks
Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: crappy christmas music

Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
So I've been losing the war. Big surprise huh? Well, I won a major
battle yesterday because I turned in the first 60 pages of Coal to my
thesis director. Yes.. Yes... I did and I rock. And by Friday I should
even be enrolled in thesis hours. Yeah it's a month late. But
still.... I'll be enrolled and Resistance was trying real hard to win
that battle:

Resistance: You're late once again and you should just give up.

Me: I've already put in so much work.

Resistance: Sunken costs <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sunk_costs> .
Sunken costs. Just because you paid five dollars for a disgusting
burger doesn't mean you should sit there and eat it if it's making you
sick. Cut your losses and get on with your life.

Me: Well you make a good point. Hmmm, sunken costs.

Personally, I think I may have lost a bunch of battles over the past
week, but I do believe I'm a lot closer to winning this battle. Yeah!
Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
Ok, it 11:54. I'm finito. it took thirty minutes longer than yesterday because i was messing with utube and chatting with guy. tsk,, tsk... I missed the ten page mark, so the battle was mostly won by resistance. But i'll for sure win tomorrow's battle. MARk my words Resistance. I will not let you get away with such tyranny again.

goodnights
Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
so... I had a really good lunch date which extended to a really good date day, so got almost no work done today. I have a good feeling about this guy. I'll try not to think to negative.

It is now 10:33. I have atleast five pages to edit.
Add to Memories
Tell a Friend
The battle is over and I have won it. It may have taken me an hour and a half to get fighting, but I won the battle. And it took less than an hour. I guess it helps that I've gone over this part before. I'm actually going over it once more before I give to Richard for a critique since the last section I sent him got so much red. --jeez--

since this was so easy. Plan for tomorrow is edit ten pages!!! 5 in the morn. 5 in the afternoon. And then ten pages of Sunday and we're set!!!

I have beat Resistance today. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Tags:
Current Mood: accomplished

profile
conb1977
User: [info]conb1977
Name: conb1977
calendar
Back December 2009
12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031
page summary
tags

Advertisement

Customize