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Thoughts on a Docket
Jun. 23rd, 2015 09:11 pmI've been using the Trello board and it's working, so I'm seriously considering retiring my docket here on LJ even though it worked nicely while it lasted.
Wandering through my friendslist, I discovered a rec of this gem of a writing spreadsheet.
On a whim, I plugged in a 500K goal for the year and plugged in completed fic numbers only with word counts from the day of completion/posting.
My January target, as generated by the spreadsheet, was 42,466 words. My January writing output was 24,497 words.
Fascinating. You won't believe how much of that word count was just commentfic. I also did not count double fills on 10-word and 6-word days. I simply multiplied my number of fills by 10 and 6 respectively.
I'll keep better track now, but I'm already loving this way of doing that.
On a whim, I plugged in a 500K goal for the year and plugged in completed fic numbers only with word counts from the day of completion/posting.
My January target, as generated by the spreadsheet, was 42,466 words. My January writing output was 24,497 words.
Fascinating. You won't believe how much of that word count was just commentfic. I also did not count double fills on 10-word and 6-word days. I simply multiplied my number of fills by 10 and 6 respectively.
I'll keep better track now, but I'm already loving this way of doing that.
So I have discovered that I love Scrivener, that I can figure out how to make it work for me, and that it makes life so much easier to write a short story. Now, let’s see if I can finish adapting the method for novelling.
So. Details.
I finished an almost 7000 word Christmas short story in the nick of time for Christmas reading, then finished editing it in 20 minutes. The formatting was a pain, due to one serious frustration: it is literally impossible to merge text items or compile them without separators. I’m a controlling type when it comes to my formatting. I was using a different glyph for every scene separator and had several scenes split up into several text files. Needless to say, manually batting cleanup after Scrivener was. not. fun.
I tried reorganizing The Rothnen Cycle and Vardin project into the same format I had done the Christmas short story (and related stories) and immediately saw an improvement in my workflow. I label the draft “Current” and keep separate folders for Imported Files, Sketches, Working Files, and Compiled Stories. Within “Working Files,” I keep a file folder for each story and treat those as my draft documents. It gets messy. Under “Sketches,” I put the original story sketch that I duplicate and split to get working files. This allows me to keep a record of how my muse works and stories I’m not ready to flesh out yet. When I’m done with a story, I duplicate the working file folder, merge it all into a single text, and drop it under compiled. If I ever want to go back and plunk in more edits (like newly discovered typos), I update the working files and remerge. The current is where I plunk any compiled doc I want to compile to print or pdf. Works beautifully.
How goes your writing process?
Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.
Scrivener, I Recant…
Dec. 16th, 2012 05:52 pmI have never been able to make Scrivener work for me. I stand corrected. I finally figured out how to get it out of my way and make it do what I wanted.
1. Import docs and work from there
2. Right click to split at selection. (Hint: left click to make sure you’ve selected what you want first.)
3. Double-click to edit color. If I’d found this sooner, I would have liked Scrivener better.
4. Use Label Color In… This was the kicker. I can make this work. I can finally make this work. Whoohoo.
Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.
On Pinterest and Behind the Scenes
Jun. 14th, 2012 12:35 pmI’m finally turning my Pinterest into a true writers board. I still keep stuff for me, such as “Rescue Me from My Fangirl,” “LOL,” “Want This,” and “Prettyness,” but my other boards are with purpose.
( Read the rest of this entry » ) Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.
Patience is a Virtue, with Writing Tools
May. 15th, 2012 09:46 amORIGINAL STUFF
Discovered last night that the ebook sales that went nonexistent in the first quarter are back. Note to the scribbler: double up on getting the updates published. That’s a 10+ hour project I haven’t had 10+ hours to do.
Discovered new website yesterday with reviewing style I genuinely adore. I’ve wanted to review a lot of books and stories that really move me, but have taken a hands off approach because the rate at which I inhale fiction leaves very little time for commenting, but… Note to the scribbler: This is worth a try.
Installed a bunch of new plugins to add functionality and better organization to this site. Haven’t had time to really do anything about configuring them yet. Note to the scribbler: You do need to get on that.
Finished editing a story in the world of Breath: “The Great Cat and His Soul.” I’m holding onto it though until I can collect it. Note to the scribbler: Consider permitting more than just ‘myths’ in the collection, ‘kay?
FANDOM STUFF
Watched last week’s Awake. Bawled my eyes out. It’s amazing. I know they cancelled the show, but oh, Lordy, I sense huge amounts of fan response brewing on my horizons. Note to the scribbler: Do wait until time opens up, please. Patience is a virtue.
Still am not reading Insurgent. It doesn’t come close to the right mood/tone for the writing I need to do today. Note to the scribbler: Patience really is a virtue.
Am writing a Kyro ficlet for arliddian. Dislike my first go and still love the summary: “Kitty always did like complex mathematical equations—like solving for the ‘saint’ in John.” I’m trying too hard to make it match the title: “The Improbability of Forever.” Note to the scribbler from your muse: Two fics?
Safe has not beeen coming along, but that is primarily my fault. I’ve been rereading my own work exactly like we just mentioned we should not. Note to the scribbler: Stop it.
But… in the process I found a snippet I’d been looking for everywhere and thought was gone for good. Yay! Note to the scribbler: You need to work on your organization methods. Badly.
AWESOME TOOLS I USE TO WRITE
Wordle is a handy dandy for revealing all sorts of overused words and phrases. I haven’t used it recently because I’ve been experimenting in just getting. words. down. http://www.wordle.net/
Written? Kitten! is my handy dandy for short fiction. Highly recommend. http://writtenkitten.net/
Mary Sue Tester is new to me, but it came in rather handy making sure I hadn’t gone overboard when designing the katchen. (Considering altering spelling to kahtchen—unwieldy but easier to pronounce correctly.) http://www.springhole.net/writing/marysuetests.htm
Pinterest is proving to be a useful place to store writing prompts. I use this tool to add quotes. http://pinterest.com/lianamir/idea-box/
AND BACK TO YOU…
Anything exciting? New tools? New progress? Causes of lack of progress identified? Tips for acquiring patience?
Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.
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Trying Something New
Dec. 7th, 2011 01:54 pmI’ve been feeling lousy lately (sick and sciatic nerve problem) and down on time and have decided to try something different.
First, I started trying Written? Kitten! I’ll be the first to admit it’s too simple to work well for me. I write better when italicizing, bolding, and centering are easy as CTRL + shortcut. But it’s a handy tool when I want to just start pushing. Better than Notepad at least.
Second, today I read this article by Rachel Aaron. It’s genius and I recognize my own best processes in there. By analyzing and studying her own work, she boosted her average daily word count from 2000 words per day to 10,000 words, using knowledge, time, and enthusiasm. (I could use that kind of boost.)
I went through one six-month period in my life where I wrote almost 50,000 words of fanfiction in about 2-3 hours a day, 2-3 days a week. Needless to say, I haven’t been there in a long time. But what was I doing differently?
- I was passionate about what I was writing. I loved the stories and the characters and always wanted to find out what happened next. I could wring out 1200 – 2300 words in an hour on my lunch break just off of the inspiration of reading my previous chapters. (This got harder once it took too long to read the previous chapters.)
- I knew enough but not too much. If I pre-write the whole story, I will stop writing the story. I don’t know why, but that’s the way it is. If I prewrite the chapter, we’re good to go.
- I constantly wrote down snippets of what I wanted to include in the next chapter or even later.
- I read works that inspired me for my own fic.
- I never felt limited. I just wrote whatever inspired me at the moment and knew I’d eventually get back to that other fic on the burner. (This gets harder once the burners exceed 20, but it’s hard to keep wanting to write if I shut down too many of my ideas either.)
- I had to work hard to earn praise (I didn’t have fans yet who liked even the work I didn’t), so when I did earn it, it mattered.
- I almost always wrote in Microsoft Word or occasionally directly on the Document Manager. I have since analyzed my own writing enough to discover I write best and fastest and most in Word—for whatever reason.
Is there anything that helps you write and stay motivated? Please share any tips, links, ideas, or experiences. And happy writing!
Originally published at Liana Mir. You can comment here or there.
