End of January Post

[scribblemyname]

This entry is part 56 of 56 in the series Daily Scribble Reports

So I wrote a lot and did a lot, even though I definitely didn't write enough. Ah, well.

Lessons Learned

1. Apparently, it takes me a while to really fully recover from heavy emotional blows.

 

2. Publishing slows me down if I mix it in with writing. I knew that but forgot it. I didn't even finish getting Dowse and Bleed published and will have to rethink how I fit publishing in the schedule.

 

3. Layering in on top of stuff I've already written pretty much requires me to go into a bubble. Writing a quick, rough novel draft goes much faster if I can bounce it off of someone else whenever I hit a wall. Writing a quick, rough short draft pretty much requires knowing too little or too much; it's that semi-ignorance that stops me cold.

 

4. Reading to 2 o'clock in the morning is a very bad idea. Stop picking up novels at 11 p.m.

 

5. Reading can radically alter which story I can write. Be very careful of what you read when.

 

6. I had forgotten my old style of story creation when I was just a wee thing. It went like this: I had certain kinds of stories I liked, which usually involved special powers and often romance. I would create a premise and plunk in my favored pairing of the moment and all their family dynamics with others, then play it all out in my head for weeks on end. Eventually, I got too good at this. I could play through an entire story in a couple of hours because my brain had dissected the inevitable path. If you'll recall my rule of story process:
   

   Know your characters, the rules of your world, and a handful of outside factors to fling at them. The rest will be unpredictable—even to you, but inevitable.

   The instant of predictability killed the story for me because it would wrap too quickly. So I got very, very good at adding more twists, more obstacles, more cultural or biological issues to get in the way, more trauma, more angst, until I could still play out my stories for weeks because I had backed my characters into some awful corners and inescapable difficulties.

   Which means that outlining kills a story for me because the instant of predictability, I lose all interest in a story unless I've already hit the home stretch of writing, from the end of the middle through the climax and denouement. Which is also why I tend to sketch instead of fill out a story the way I ought to. :headdesk: Lesson learned.

 

7. I write waaay better and more if I do not browse the industry blogs first. I write waaaay better if I do not read someone else's fiction first. New rule of thumb ought to be, Write first.

 

8. Self-discipline is a virtue. Learn it!

Word Counts

January 31, 2014

• Fiction: 0 words
• Poetry: 85 words | 21 lines
• Blog: 33 words

January Totals

• Fiction: 17,392 words
• Poetry: 498 words | 102 lines
• Blog: 8030 words

Completed Pieces

1. Poem: "Before My Eyes," 220 words | 47 lines.
2. Fanfic: "Mistakes," 1397 words.
3. Poem: "Writer's Social Therapy," 32 words | 4 lines.
4. Poem: "Blanket Statements," 8 lines| 48 words.
5. Poem: "Friends Like These," 24 lines | 121 words.
6. Poem: “Empty Spaces,” 7 lines | 20 words.
7. Poem: “The Soundless Scream,” 5 lines | 22 words.
8. Poem: “Like a Light,” 9 lines | 43 words.

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Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Hemingway wrote a certain amount every day and rewarded himself for his effort by reading other peoples' stuff. There's some merit to that!

[scribblemyname]

I'm trying to get my brain rewired. I've always read for fuel, then launched, but the trick is to read what you're getting ready to write.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Mmm, I have to get my own work done first. If I get distracted by other peoples' stuff, either fiction or nonfiction, I know the day is a lost cause.

Speaking of which...

[scribblemyname]

I find I can read other people's fanfic to get in the right mood, but I was also referring to reading my own work to get in the right mode. The problem is that I formed a bad habit of reading first. so now I must break it. :le sigh:

Speaking of which...

LOL

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

So maybe you need publishing to be' your focus first, and then writing? Or is jumping right into writing better?

[scribblemyname]

Writing. Publishing screws with the writing.

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

But the goal is to publish, isn't it?

So you would want that done...

Or is it just more important to write?

[scribblemyname]

No, the goal is to do both. And mixing the publishing in on my writing days slows me down. I need to separate the two completely for writing to remain productive. Without writing, there won't be anything to publish.

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

Yes, but you do have the one, so maybe once you have something you need to focus on getting it done?

Of course, looking at my backlog... l am a huge hypocrite.

Are you thinking one or two days a week for publishing focus? Because I can help by not sending collab stuff that day. Or days.

[scribblemyname]

It's more a case of discipline. I tend to be all over the map and I need to once I pick one for the day, stick with it. I'm good at ignoring what I need to.

And in this case, it's ALSO a case of tech issues. I got the covers updated, but I couldn't upload the files yesterday until I did a system restore, so maybe this evening I'll get the covers up?

[thecatisacritic.livejournal.com]

Okay. Just let me know if it's a publishing workday so that I don't take you away from it.

I hope you can get them up. :)