WIP Wednesday... or Thursday if I'm a slacker

Sorry I didn't get anything posted yesterday, somehow I completely forgot that it was Wednesday.

There's not a whole lot as far as updates go, I've been editing and editing and editing, which doesn't leave much time for writing. To be honest, I'm having a hard time working on Clockwork Charlie this week because my brain is full of things that need to be done before I can publish "The City."

However, I can tell you the new title for, The City:
The River Runes; Book one of the Caithiir trilogy

It took some time to settle on a title, but this is it folks. I'm excited about it.

I will give an end word count soon, once editing is final.

Clockwork Charlie has had a little work done, the new wordcount is :18,804

I will be updating the rest of the pages just as soon as I'm finished here. Which I am :)

thanks for reading,
buh bye then

Never Enough Coffee Friday

Hey, good morning... What? Anymore coffee... No I'm afraid I drank it all. Sorry 'bout that.

Some mornings it just seems like there is not enough coffee to go around. But hey, it's Friday, and that means it's time for some updates.

As I mentioned before, I have been a pretty big slacker recently and not a lot has gotten done. However, I've been working steadily this week and things have been pretty smooth and awesome, so I do have some stuff to update you on.

Sadly, Clockwork Charlie still sits in the mixer, with no new word count or changes. Don't worry, she's patient and it's probably better that she have some extra time before I put her through the things she's about to go through. Oh yes, there will be a lot of rough times for young Charlie... MWAHAHAHAHA!! (that was my evil laugh)

Changes are abounding for "The City" though. First of all, the title is almost definitely changing, though I haven't quite found the right replacement yet. Also, the city that the story is about has been given a name. Yep, I listen when my crit partners speak, and naming the city was mentioned by more than one of them.

Next, the ladies that are featured in the story are going to be more rounded. I set them up for awesomeness, and then being lost in the story of my main character, kind of left them by the wayside. Therefore- more girl butt kicking to follow. :)

Other stuff is changing, but my coffee meter is running low, so I'll just kick you some stats:
1st draft, word count up to and including Chapter 8: 58,089
2nd draft, word count up to and including Chapter 8: 56,841

This isn't a huge number change, but aside from editing, I have also been adding and changing a lot. So, there ya are :)

hope your week was great,
buh bye then

Works In Progress... plus coffee

It's Friday, it's Friday!!! (happy dance, trying not to spill my coffee)

So, it's friday (see above for confirmation) and that means that it is time to share about the work that has gone into the last week. It's all pretty exciting for me :)

As far as "Clockwork Charlie" is concerned, she is resting peacefully as the story forms and shifts and forms again in the ol' noggin. I have dedicated November to revisions and editing of "The City" but I'll be back to work on CC soon!

Revisions on The City: Going very well! New file created, writing commenced. I already have Chapter 5 put back together, and am also editing as I go... back and forth, in craziness, but I'm loving it. The story is coming back together, and I think the changes have already added so much.

First draft word count through Chapter 5: 36,067 words

Second draft word count through Chapter 5:(editing not finished) 35,020 words (lots of dead little darlings there)

I think that's about it as far as my WIPs are concerned, let me leave you with a little Jonathan Coulton:





Thanks for reading,
buh bye then

The leaves, the Revisions and the Schedule (or Fall for Just1Writer)

Hey there, long time no see. How are you today? I'm good, rushed but good. thanks for asking!

Ahh, November. It really is a beautiful month, especially here in northern Idaho (at least compared to Nevada, where you live may be just as gorgeous, who knows?). The leaves are golden and orange, and scattering themselves... well everywhere. There is also lots of wonderful rain, and nice cool days to bask in.

I love to see the seasons change, and this, has inspired me. Of course, you may already know that since it is November, I have started revisions. Today actually, I was a big slacker yesterday and didn't do anything. Today, however, went really well. I'm cruising through Chapter 1, and I believe there is already vast improvement. Yay! (sorry, I get a little enthusiastic) My goal for this revision, is to have it done by the end of the month.

Is this a lofty goal? Yes. Is it attainable? Yes. Will I actually be done before the end of November? Maybe, maybe not, but it makes me feel better to have a goal. There are some parts of this revision that will be long and painful, I will be killing lots of my little darlings, rewriting a secondary character arc, and doing lots of editing. Editing. Editing. Editing.

Still, there will be other bits that I can skim over. Parts and places and people that do not need tinkering. THAT is very exciting for me, and I'll use the juice from that, to keep myself going in the rough patches.

In other changing news, I've decided to set up a real schedule for this blog. It's worked so well with my word count, I can't help but think it will be good for this part of my writing as well. Starting next week, (because I already missed Monday) I'll be posting Monday, Wednesday and Friday. There is a formula.

Monday will be general writing stuff day. I'll talk about parts of the journey, questions, topics of interest, etc...

Wednesday will be about other writers. I want to share some of my favorite books, find out about gems that I may not know about already, and maybe even talk about other bloggers and what I have learned from this community.

Friday. Friday will be about my Works in Progress; word count, schedule, and all of my little darlings.

As for this week, well...

Clockwork Charlie is on a hold while I dive into revisions (you know, unless the muse starts cracking the whip on that one). As of now, CC sits at 7,016 words, and I feel great about all of them right now.

Revision of The City has started, and I'll be updating on that as we go.

that's it for now,
thanks for stopping by,
buh bye then

NaNoWriMo, maybe next year...

So if you can't tell by looking at my blogroll (over to your right) I follow quite a few blogs here. Most of them are writing-centered, but a few are real life friends. We're not talking about those today (sorry guys, you know I love you). No, today I'm going to talk, just a very little bit, about a project that a bunch of the writers I've met here are into.

NaNoWriMo (means National Novel Writing Month) is this great project that gets folks to write a novel. People that have been kicking around story ideas, and always wanted to write... something, are encouraged to join. It runs from November 1st through November 30th, and the participants have that time to, well... write a novel. It sounds pretty fun, and if I'd have known about it earlier, I might have even joined in. However, I am currently already writing a novel (which doesn't count because it's already started, and it's destined to me much more than 50,000 words, which is the project word count), and I will be starting revisions on The City after November 1st.

So why am I writing about it if I'm not involved? Because it's rad. If you've ever had the idea to write a novel, or even just have a story kicking around in your old skull factory, you should do this. Take the month, get something on the paper. It doesn't have to be great, the project is all about quantity, not quality. In my own writing experience, one of my biggest hurtles was learning to write daily, and I think NaNoWriMo would be a great tool to get someone started on the habit.

Want to know more?
CLICK ME

Now onto my own stuff :)
Daily word count is still functioning properly! I think that 500 words a day is the perfect mark for my schedule, and it feels great to have forward motion every day (which is something I struggled with a lot while writing The City).

Clockwork Charlie is up to a whopping, 6,044 words! I know that doesn't seem huge, but it feels great, and it still seems like I just started. I think I'll also have a general outline to post on my WIP page soon... ish :)

I've spent all of October staying away from The City, waiting for the crits to come rolling in, and after November 1st I'll be starting revisions. Very excited to look at this story with some fresh eyes.

I think that's it, for now,
thanks for tuning in,
buh bye then