"Don't be a writer. Be writing."
--William Faulkner
So my hard drive crashed again. Need I say more? Which means I haven't been able to write since I arrived here at the SCBWI Conference in LA. I have arthritis in my hands and fingers which makes writing longhand way too painful.
Enough whining. I'd love to share all the amazing moments of this past weekend with you, but I'm posting this from my iPod which, as you know, is a hunt-and-peck venture. What I really need right now is to hear all of your good writerly news. Next week I will share my conference highlights. I promise. So how was your week? What were your obstacles and how did you overcome them?
I wrote a little bit about some of the struggles that I dealt with this week in a blog entry if anyone's interested.
ReplyDeleteBasically, I wrote about 2000 words, realized that the story needed some serious changes, scrapped it all, and started over. I'm back around 2500 now, but I've lost some ground that I'll have to make up as I go.
Still optimistic about meeting my goal for this month, though!
I am so sorry about your hard drive. I guess even the best of companies can produce a lemon every now and then.
ReplyDeleteAnd never mind the green hue of my cheeks...that just the envy bug fanning his noxious fumes my way and pumping up my wish to be at SCBWI LA. ((sigh))
My week was filled with meetings and all manner of craziness, so the WIP has been a little neglected. Not for lack of trying...just fewer hours and some serious MC soul-searching (see Saturday's blog).
While the word count has stumbled, the process of discovery continues, so here's to a week of record-breaking progress!
Good luck everyone!
P.S. — Jaime, there must be something in the water! I was debating and blogging about some of the same questions you encountered last week. (hugs)
ReplyDeleteI'm making slow progress, too (only at about 1,000 words so far). I sat down to write last night and spent a long time just staring at the page. That's usually how I start, though, me and my pantster ways. I've tried to outline before and it just doesn't work. Here's hoping I hit a good stride soon. Have a great week, everybody!
ReplyDeleteLousy timing on the hardrive front...I hope you're back up and running soon!
ReplyDeleteI indeed met my goals with edits and writing. I also made exercise a priority and that really isn't something I like on my top 100 list as it is, lol.
Today I'm challenging myself to write 4k. Good intentions.
Safe travels, I hope you had a wonderful time at the conference!
Marie
I've written about 5K this week, which was surprising since last week I'd been at 0, as well as the week before, etc.
ReplyDeleteYou all helped motivate me. Angelina, the sentence deal was SOO helpful, thank you. And so sorry about your hard drive crash. That's so stressful.
I also did a little writing by hand, which turned out to be very freeing.
Unfortunately I'm afraid most of what I wrote will get cut, draft 2, but for now, I'm just going to keep pressing forward, pantsing it.
Wishing us all a productive week to come, and here's to hoping your meetings, computer failures, kiddo illnesses and pet emergencies (mine), don't hold us up too much!
<3 Lora
Another hard drive failure?!! Noooooo... I'm so sorry! But I can't wait to hear all about your writing conference. *sitting at attention*
ReplyDeleteAfter a mosquito-infested camping trip a week ago, I still can't wear shoes. So that accounts for 1,000 K over the weekend. =) pathetic but good.
Sorry about the super-stinky computer messes. That is so frustrating. But so happy for you that you got to go to SCBWI LA! (and a little jealous)
ReplyDeleteI finished my latest revision and sent it off to a reader for one last go-through, and then I'll need to revise one more time.
In the meantime, I've taken a long weekend off, but I am so excited about digging back into my other WIP starting tomorrow morning! I've got 20K on it, but most of that will probably have to go. I want to use it to start working on a detailed outline and beat sheet and figure out how I want everything to go before digging back into drafting. This part is so fun!
Hope your computer woes give you a break, and best of luck for everyone else in #wipmadness this week!
Kip
Hello again!
ReplyDeleteKind of random, but Lori (Girl Parker) has just brought to my attention that I lived in Tucson for 3 years and never had a Sonoran hot dog.
This is a great sadness and must be remedied. So I'm adding it to my WIPmadness goal. Another 5K and a Sonoran hot dog!
I'm Jealous and living vicariously through you, Lora. They cannot be copied anywhere else. Get two. You'll be glad you did. And work one into your story! =)
ReplyDeleteThis is AWFUL! You poor thing!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo encouraged by all of you. I'm home now. Sick with a brutal cold, but not as sick as my Mac. She's at the doctor until Friday. DH is allowing me to borrow his healthy Mac, as long as I promise not to pass my germs. Yay for the madness! Sorry I haven't been able to cheer each of your accomplishments individually today, but as Dory would say, "Keep on swimming!"
ReplyDeleteTechnology sucks *gives cookies* I've been highly motivated, but baby and the eleven year old, keep having other plans for me. :) So I've been depending a lot on #writeoffs LOL I've managed to get back on track but I'm still a long way away.
ReplyDeleteAw, man, Angelina, that bites! Hope the conference kinda made up for the stinky computer situation.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing the revision, Kiperoo!
Okay, what's a Sonoran hot dog? I love hot dogs, especially ones sold from street carts, which we don't have too many of in Seattle.
I've just about finished my detailed edits and plan to give the ms one more polish before hitting the 'send' button. In the meantime, I've neglected my blog as usual.
See y'all on Twitter!
So bummed about your computer and religiously backing up my own Mac because of you!
ReplyDeleteSlow writing week with school starting back. Tomorrow I have students, but I'm kind of excited to see their snarky, shiny faces. I probably got close to 2k for the week, so something at least.
My big news is I signed my agency contract and used Save the Cat to hammer out some revision ideas for my YA. Realize I have one scene completely in the wrong place. Sent my agent (how many times can I say that?????) my revision ideas so we'll see what he says. I hope to start them in September, so really want to be finished with this first draft. I think I can do it.
Jealous of your SCBWI trip - my goal is NY in the winter.
Thanks for all the love. The conference made up for many things ^_^ Jeanne, I didn't know you live in Seattle, did I? Glad my misery has helped you do the wise thing, JRo. On track is good, Marilyn. Hoping to get there myself soon.
ReplyDeleteAfter some struggle getting started with the edits, I was making fantastic progress, and I managed 13 chapters ... until I reached the last third of the novel, which I've been struggling over. Technically it's fine, but it's still missing something. And I don't know what. So that obstacle has just shown up.
ReplyDeleteI could let it be as is, but that would be phoning it in. My story deserves better than that.
Have so much fun. Sorry to hear about the hard drive. :(
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to write 2,000 words a day, but it's a crazy goal! I made it to 2,000 on Saturday, around 1900 on Sunday, and zero yesterday. I can't let that stop me (like with a diet where I feel like I've failed as soon as there's a setback and give up completely).
ReplyDelete