Excitement!

I have to say, I've really enjoyed the writing of the last couple of days. I had two characters in a "situation" (which is really what writing is, right... a series of situations and solutions), and their own little piece of the world was very exciting for me. But the fallout of these actions, and then more characters getting drawn in, and it grows and evolves... really it's been so exciting for me! I hope my readers catch my same sense of anticipation.

When I write, scenes just unfold in my head. I try to get them down as fast as possible, because that's my framework. I want enough that when I go back in a week, or a year, I can see that same scene unfold. But this is where editing comes in. The raw form of a story is never going to be the final form of the story. Maybe a lot of it is, but there are always bits and pieces that you can make better, more understandable, more... pictureable. (Yeah, that's right, sometimes I'm a wordsmith.)

I have to mention, I'm reading a book right now and it's terrible. But, my Kindle told me I'd already finished 76% of it, when I was ready to give up, and it seems like I should just go ahead and finish it if I'm already that far. Now at 84%, I feel even more that I should finish and get it over with, but I can't pick it up long enough to do that, and I don't want to start something else because then I'd have to come back to this story I've determined to finish. I find that very depressing. I've read 800 page books in 2 days because they were spectacular and interesting. Now I'm struggling to get through this one, like some badge of honor. I will tell you truly, every cliched line, every poor description and obvious plot point that makes me cringe, I reinforce my own belief to edit, edit, and edit again, until I can put out something I can truly be proud of.

So, the numbers so far:
Previous:
3Tera: 11,889, Goal: 90,000. Progress: 13.2%

Current:
3Tera: 17,847, Goal: 90,000. Progress: 19.8%

Well, that sounds about right. If I'd updated on Monday, I'd probably be about 2% more ahead. Wow, almost 1/5 of the framework done!

That's even more exciting!!

And We're Up On Ning

Dear Internet Community,

I'm proud to announce that we are now up and running on the Ning Network. The site can be reached at: www.shiftthelayers.ning.com

While this blog is intended mainly for general writing updates, I hope to use the Ning Network as a Lore dump. Bits of Lore to be used in the final themselves, as well as additional Lore to flesh out the world will be posted on Ning. Please check there, and here, occasionally, for your progress and Lore fixes.

And yes, dear readers, I did write today. The raw stands at about 15.5k words, so only 75k more before first round editing!

Thanks,
J. E. Medrick

I Remember to Post!

Hey there again, internet space. I haven't forgotten you, little obscure writer's blog. Though it has been almost a week since my last post, I have actually stuck to my guns and gotten writing.

I'm anxious for the winter break to start on Wednesday (or, if it pleases you, Tuesday night, but I have a bonenkai for work I've promised to attend). It will free me up to run my lackadaisical sleep schedule. I find my writing comes most clearly to me in the wee hours of the morning, when any logical person who has been awake all day would be sleeping. It's a bit of an inconvenience - today I had work and my eyes were burning. Even though I didn't have any classes, I still felt really tired and slow. Today Kaede found I also come from a broken home, and as that is still quite uncommon here, naturally she wanted to talk to me about it. I was more than happy to, the child is a doll, but I wish I'd had more sleep for such an important conversation.

Dealing with more writing-related issues, I proudly have written every day this week, since first posting my intention to keep track of my progress. Knowing that at some point I have to update those numbers has been a helpful little kick in the pants. Though the ideas are still ranging wide, I kept the focus on one story for the week, working on the piece I have dubbed "3Tera". I made some good progress this week, introducing two new characters, and some of the basic principles of the world itself.

I mentioned that I was very tired for work today. I get up (conservatively at 7am, but usually closer to 7.30 - curse those snooze bars!) Then I eat breakfast and am out the door by 8 (though I aim for 7.45...) I'm not a morning person, it's really better for me just to get up and out the door where I can't complain at other people without being rude, before I realize I'm even awake. The longer I have to think to myself about being awake, the grumpier I get, and also the higher my chance of being late becomes, because I convince myself that one extra task that will take 5 minutes, or 7 minutes, or 11 minutes... will be fine because I have time. I just get up and bam bam, out the door!

Well, I was tired for work today because while I dutifully was attending to my writing last night, I became incredibly interested in my own story. Doesn't that sound funny? I got that burn in my brain that I'm sure every author reaches at some point, and I just didn't want to stop connecting the words. It was so easy, the path was so open, and it gobbled me up... so that suddenly it was 1.30 in the morning and I hadn't yet showered. The pre-sleep shower is the main contributor to my easy-out-the-door-scheme in the morning, so I didn't even get under the covers until 2.30. Nevermind getting to sleep!

My brain still a-whir, I'd estimate I fell asleep around 3-4am. It's not so useful when your first alarm goes off at 6.30...

I have an interesting process when it comes to catching "the fever" as I unoriginally call it. I find that if I just go with it until I'm done, I often am unable and sometimes unwilling to pick up the thread of that story again for a long time. I think it has something to do with the fear that I will tack something less worthwhile onto the end of my creative period, bringing the whole thing down. It's easy for a writer to become disgusted with their words. (And if they don't, at some point, then I also believe they're writing crap and can't tell the difference.)

So, when I catch "the FEVAH!" I force myself to quit at a certain point. For example, 1,000 words, or, in the next 10 minutes. This has a dual effect of stretching my writing into days, giving me more time to think about the story and not just put it down because it's there. Often I catch overlooked details and enhance, embellish and entertain with background. (Like what I did there?) But seriously, it makes my writing more connective and continuous because I'm not abandoning it for a month or a year (!!) and then coming back, trying to remember where I left off, and who my characters are.

So, enough of my chatter, here's the updated totals since the last time we met:

Previous:
3Tera: 6,761 words, Goal: 90,000. Progress: 7.5%

Current:
3Tera: 11,889, Goal: 90,000. Progress: 13.2%

WOW! I can't believe I almost doubled my progess in about a week! That feels good just to look at. I know I got down some stuff I'm proud of this week, too, fleshing out the world and it's peculiarities. That's not to say proud and will never edit, just proud that I'm giving myself a good framework to make it the best I can. I conservatively chose this to be a short novel at 90,000 words, but I am concerned I will need to adjust my final word count. My initial thoughts publishing-wise were that I'd like to make it a less wordy, more rich world that I could return to if I so chose. I'd like to put initial pricing around $5.00 (that would be, up to and including a word count increase).

Seem like I'm thinking about this too early? Well, for me it's a process. If I know where it's going, then I'll know when it's done. I'm not particularly good at finishing stories, as I mentioned in my very first post. You'd think I'd know by just writing it when it's done, but something inside always goes, "but then, what if..." and so I'm giving myself a word limit, ect.

This post has become incredibly long and meandering, for a blog supposedly only here to update my writing process. But then, writers put a little bit of themselves into everything they write, so I don't think you should be surprised.

Until next time, dear progress blog.
Shiy

Progression

My intent here, is to keep a record of my progress. Too often, I drift away from my stories, stranding my characters in the mundane motions of the everyday life. Sometime later they come knocking (kon kon kon) on the inside of my skull saying, "Hey, remember me? How does my story end? Do I live? Die? Get the girl? Learn a valuable lesson?" I feel a little sorry for these characters, and I'd really like to take them by the hand, and put them where they belong.

I don't expect to update this blog so often, but I'd like to aim for at least once a week (I'm being very optimistic by that). And, in-between those updates, I want to do the actual writing that claws away my peace of mind until I sit down and let those characters run free - even if only for 300 words.

So, here is the progress, as I see it now:
The UB's: 701 words, Goal: 100,000. Progress: <1%
Fire: 805 words, Goal: 125,000. Progress: <1%
3Tera: 6,761 words, Goal: 90,000. Progress: 7.5%
Indian: 8 pages handwritten, Goal: 95,000. Progress: --
The Savior: Synopsis only
The History: Timeline only

And finally, 2 collaborations that I'm mulling over. I hope to hear back about one this month, and maybe start the other late next year.

This progress is anything I could possibly turn back to by December 2010. As you can see, 3Tera has the most progress... but the last time I worked on it was easily more than a month ago. Whereas, I worked on Indian at least last month, but it only exists in an obscure notebook I carry in my bag. The time between the entries for that story sometimes stretches more than a month (I date my entries).

Here's hoping I get my butt in gear.

Cheers,
JEM