Hello again,
This post is going to be relatively short as it's late and I'm tired. I had reached a difficult point earlier when the story had come to a stage where various groups were at the planning stage which would in turn lead them up to the final act of the book. I feel the story (not my writing) is going to kick up a notch shortly but I didn't want to hit that stage just yet as there was some tying together needed before that. As I mentioned in a previous post I know how the story is going to end but I needed a few pieces of plot to fall in to place for the different groups and I hadn't found a way to do it. I was also slightly worried that I wasn't going to hit the massive target I'd set of 30K over the weekend to leave me at a decent milestone as this hasn't been a great week for writing for me. Thankfully this evening I came up with a solution to both. I added something I hadn't considered to the world and it worked out well both in terms of the world and the story (in my opinion but what the hell do I know) which in turn led me to get back to my writing. Once done I realised I was far closer to the 30K mark then I thought I was going to get. So with a day remaining in the weekend I've tomorrow to get a reasonable word count to hit. This pleases me. In any case good night and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Word count: 28095
Later
Adam
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Post one of two
Greetings one and all,
After a day of procrastinating I managed to get another big chunk of the story done. I started by getting a haircut and a shave. Then on to uploading photo's to a social networking site showing the results of said haircut. However despite all this I still managed to accomplish a few things.
1) I managed to work out how the story is going to end. Obviously I had a number of ideas running around my head as the story unfolded but now, bar the details, I know how its going to end.
2) I also managed to get over the half way point. I was worried I was starting to fall to hard behind in the competition. I had planned to finish the story regardless however I was slightly disappointed by the fact that the deadline was closing in on me. However due to how much I got done and how much I hope to do later this evening I should be beyond the expected word count with enough change so I don't have to worry if I miss a day or two in the coming week. It also means I may in fact it the 30k mark which was something I'd hoped to accomplish over the weekend.
In any case as the title of the post suggests this is the first of two posts hopefully today but for now I shall leave you with the details.
Word count: 26554
Later
Adam
After a day of procrastinating I managed to get another big chunk of the story done. I started by getting a haircut and a shave. Then on to uploading photo's to a social networking site showing the results of said haircut. However despite all this I still managed to accomplish a few things.
1) I managed to work out how the story is going to end. Obviously I had a number of ideas running around my head as the story unfolded but now, bar the details, I know how its going to end.
2) I also managed to get over the half way point. I was worried I was starting to fall to hard behind in the competition. I had planned to finish the story regardless however I was slightly disappointed by the fact that the deadline was closing in on me. However due to how much I got done and how much I hope to do later this evening I should be beyond the expected word count with enough change so I don't have to worry if I miss a day or two in the coming week. It also means I may in fact it the 30k mark which was something I'd hoped to accomplish over the weekend.
In any case as the title of the post suggests this is the first of two posts hopefully today but for now I shall leave you with the details.
Word count: 26554
Later
Adam
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Breaking through to the other side
Greetings one and all,
Once again apologies for the delay but it's been that long since I last got the chance to do any writing. This evening I managed to catch up and while still not at the target expected (25k) for this date I'm close enough considering how far I was behind. Since my last post I've worked out what I'm going to call the book once it's done and I've also managed to break the 20k mark. I was quite certain I'd manage to break the 10k mark so I didn't really see the point in bragging but I'm pleased as hell that I've passed 20k.
Having spoken with one of the other writers in this little experiment with me it seems that for one reason or another I'm pretty good at getting big chunks of work done each time I sit down to do a bit, usually between 3 and 4 thousand. It's kept me in the running so far. I'm really glad it's the case as I was starting to worry that I was going to fall to far behind and succumb to justifying quitting.
I've also asked a friend of mine to use their mad graphic design skills to put together some semblance of a book cover for me which will also be a great thing to have if only for my vanity.Once she sends it on I'll post it up here for you all to look at.
I'm optimistically hoping to hit 30k over the course of the next three days. I know it's a big target but I figure aim for the stars and all that. Overall I'm still on track though.
I'd also like to give a big shout to my boy Dave for keeping me going by always being ahead of me with the word count and I'd like to give an honorary shout out to my boy Mick for finally starting.
Word Count:22130
Later
Adam
Once again apologies for the delay but it's been that long since I last got the chance to do any writing. This evening I managed to catch up and while still not at the target expected (25k) for this date I'm close enough considering how far I was behind. Since my last post I've worked out what I'm going to call the book once it's done and I've also managed to break the 20k mark. I was quite certain I'd manage to break the 10k mark so I didn't really see the point in bragging but I'm pleased as hell that I've passed 20k.
Having spoken with one of the other writers in this little experiment with me it seems that for one reason or another I'm pretty good at getting big chunks of work done each time I sit down to do a bit, usually between 3 and 4 thousand. It's kept me in the running so far. I'm really glad it's the case as I was starting to worry that I was going to fall to far behind and succumb to justifying quitting.
I've also asked a friend of mine to use their mad graphic design skills to put together some semblance of a book cover for me which will also be a great thing to have if only for my vanity.Once she sends it on I'll post it up here for you all to look at.
I'm optimistically hoping to hit 30k over the course of the next three days. I know it's a big target but I figure aim for the stars and all that. Overall I'm still on track though.
I'd also like to give a big shout to my boy Dave for keeping me going by always being ahead of me with the word count and I'd like to give an honorary shout out to my boy Mick for finally starting.
Word Count:22130
Later
Adam
Monday, 12 November 2012
Chapter 8
Greetings,
So I spent today mostly playing catch up. Based on the rules of the day I should be on roughly 20k today but that isn't happening. Thankfully however I managed to complete a massive chunk and if tomorrow goes as well as today did I should surpass the target by tomorrow evening. He says optimistically.
Anyway, on to writing observations. Today I had an epiphany as to what the theme of my book is. At least I think it's a theme. I feel what I've written so far is about escape and redemption at least I think it is. It's possible there is a better word to describe it but as to what that word is I have no idea. It was nice to finally come across the theme as I hadn't tried to do it consciously. The characters motivations and back story along with how the story is progressing just naturally led to it.
My boy Dave has always advised that a story, be it in script format, comic, video game should have a theme so hopefully he can clarify this.
In any case I continue to kick up the word count and stumble towards the deadline.
Chapters 8
Word Count:16,777
Later
Adam
So I spent today mostly playing catch up. Based on the rules of the day I should be on roughly 20k today but that isn't happening. Thankfully however I managed to complete a massive chunk and if tomorrow goes as well as today did I should surpass the target by tomorrow evening. He says optimistically.
Anyway, on to writing observations. Today I had an epiphany as to what the theme of my book is. At least I think it's a theme. I feel what I've written so far is about escape and redemption at least I think it is. It's possible there is a better word to describe it but as to what that word is I have no idea. It was nice to finally come across the theme as I hadn't tried to do it consciously. The characters motivations and back story along with how the story is progressing just naturally led to it.
My boy Dave has always advised that a story, be it in script format, comic, video game should have a theme so hopefully he can clarify this.
In any case I continue to kick up the word count and stumble towards the deadline.
Chapters 8
Word Count:16,777
Later
Adam
Sunday, 11 November 2012
Our story so far
Greetings one and all,
I had intended to be well ahead of target as of this evening however this has not happened. Due to a bout of procrastination as well as spending a few great days with the better half I finally back around to sitting down and playing the wonderful game of catch up. I made a fair bit of progress this evening so I'm quite happy with where I'm at and all though far behind where I should be I'm confident I should be back up where everyone else is in a night or two.
I did hit one of what seems to be a common enough hurdle for most people in the same situation which is that at a 10k words you feel that the story could reach it's logical conclusion quite quickly. However, in my case at least, this was as a result of me ignoring the fact that I hadn't put in much of what still needs to go in. I've introduced my villain and he's pretty good in my opinion. Coming up with who the "big bad" was fun because I had no idea what judgement calls I would make on him until I was writing. Now after writing his back story and his motivations up as part of the narrative I quite like him. Hopefully he fits. I also got to look up some information on criminal organisations as part of the research which was cool.
I'm now past the 10k mark and myself and my intrepid sidekick Dave continue on in to the unknown.
Chapters: 6
Word Count: 12,124
Later
Adam
I had intended to be well ahead of target as of this evening however this has not happened. Due to a bout of procrastination as well as spending a few great days with the better half I finally back around to sitting down and playing the wonderful game of catch up. I made a fair bit of progress this evening so I'm quite happy with where I'm at and all though far behind where I should be I'm confident I should be back up where everyone else is in a night or two.
I did hit one of what seems to be a common enough hurdle for most people in the same situation which is that at a 10k words you feel that the story could reach it's logical conclusion quite quickly. However, in my case at least, this was as a result of me ignoring the fact that I hadn't put in much of what still needs to go in. I've introduced my villain and he's pretty good in my opinion. Coming up with who the "big bad" was fun because I had no idea what judgement calls I would make on him until I was writing. Now after writing his back story and his motivations up as part of the narrative I quite like him. Hopefully he fits. I also got to look up some information on criminal organisations as part of the research which was cool.
I'm now past the 10k mark and myself and my intrepid sidekick Dave continue on in to the unknown.
Chapters: 6
Word Count: 12,124
Later
Adam
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
4 chapters deep
Hey,
Its turned out that starting a contest that requires writing a fair bit while still getting your sleep pattern back in its regulation 9-5 workday pattern is a bit of a challenge. Who knew right? Since Monday getting any writing done due to how tired I've been on top of real life demands has been challenging. Yeah let's go with that. However while I'd usually come in from work and just watch TV shows, Movies or video games I have instead sat down and wrote. It hasn't been an easy transition but overall the experience has been fun.
What my initial idea had been is slowly warping into an actual story now and most of the main antagonists and protagonists have been set up. I do worry that I may not have fleshed out certain aspects of the back story but I feel that if I need to I can go back and write them up. At the same time it's still early enough for me to say that I can still pump more back story in before the full on adventure gets started. It's still in the early stages of the narrative and the adventure has not yet kicked off and probably won't for another few Chapters (or 10000 words) I'm OK with this I have to say as I think this will mean that the pacing isn't all over the place yet. I must stress the yet bit.
I just had a very brief conversation with one of the other writers that are taking part in this with me in relation to the topic of getting feedback at the earlier stages. I was of the opinion that my story had enough in it that I could send it around and see what people thought so far. Dave was of the opinion that this would result in one of two outcomes. Either A) The feedback is positive and I continue on writing as I have been doing or B) People tell me it's shit and I use it as an excuse to bail. As I've stated in earlier posts I really need to do anything I can to stack the deck in Positive Adam's favour otherwise I will duck out of this. As it stands from the initial group of 7 writers, 3 are definitely out, 2 are almost certainly out which just leaves myself and Dave. It maybe the benefit of living together that has meant we've been able to keep in other in check or the fact that it's fun to write together but as we're down to the last two I want to see this to completion.
I am really still enjoying it though.
Anyway the details
Chapters: 4
Word Count: 9255 (I'm slightly behind the proposed word count but I'm not really sticking to the daily limit anyway)
later
Adam
Its turned out that starting a contest that requires writing a fair bit while still getting your sleep pattern back in its regulation 9-5 workday pattern is a bit of a challenge. Who knew right? Since Monday getting any writing done due to how tired I've been on top of real life demands has been challenging. Yeah let's go with that. However while I'd usually come in from work and just watch TV shows, Movies or video games I have instead sat down and wrote. It hasn't been an easy transition but overall the experience has been fun.
What my initial idea had been is slowly warping into an actual story now and most of the main antagonists and protagonists have been set up. I do worry that I may not have fleshed out certain aspects of the back story but I feel that if I need to I can go back and write them up. At the same time it's still early enough for me to say that I can still pump more back story in before the full on adventure gets started. It's still in the early stages of the narrative and the adventure has not yet kicked off and probably won't for another few Chapters (or 10000 words) I'm OK with this I have to say as I think this will mean that the pacing isn't all over the place yet. I must stress the yet bit.
I just had a very brief conversation with one of the other writers that are taking part in this with me in relation to the topic of getting feedback at the earlier stages. I was of the opinion that my story had enough in it that I could send it around and see what people thought so far. Dave was of the opinion that this would result in one of two outcomes. Either A) The feedback is positive and I continue on writing as I have been doing or B) People tell me it's shit and I use it as an excuse to bail. As I've stated in earlier posts I really need to do anything I can to stack the deck in Positive Adam's favour otherwise I will duck out of this. As it stands from the initial group of 7 writers, 3 are definitely out, 2 are almost certainly out which just leaves myself and Dave. It maybe the benefit of living together that has meant we've been able to keep in other in check or the fact that it's fun to write together but as we're down to the last two I want to see this to completion.
I am really still enjoying it though.
Anyway the details
Chapters: 4
Word Count: 9255 (I'm slightly behind the proposed word count but I'm not really sticking to the daily limit anyway)
later
Adam
Monday, 5 November 2012
Onwards
First,apologies for not getting a post up yesterday. This was entirely down to tiredness and no good could come of anything I typed. I managed to sit down for about an hour and in total I managed to put together 500 words. They were terrible terrible words. Mostly gibberish but thankfully there were a few little nuggets of plot that were good.
It's been interesting that the story has changed so much from my initial idea but I'm still really enjoying writing it. Hopefully I can keep it up as I'd like to actually finish it and I feel that's dependent on how much I like what I'm writing.
I'm having difficulty keeping it light hearted but I keep reminding myself that comedy isn't the theme I'm going for here so it doesn't matter if it's funny all the time. Its more a concern that people find it humorous or tense and the parts I want them to feel that. But over all so far so good. I've decided at the 10k mark I'm going to send it around for feedback from a few people. Hopefully it's good but more importantly I hope it's honest. I may also put a few excerpts up here if people fancy a read.
Anyway it's late and I'm quite tired but just wanted to keep you all updated
Word Count: 7002
Later
Adam
It's been interesting that the story has changed so much from my initial idea but I'm still really enjoying writing it. Hopefully I can keep it up as I'd like to actually finish it and I feel that's dependent on how much I like what I'm writing.
I'm having difficulty keeping it light hearted but I keep reminding myself that comedy isn't the theme I'm going for here so it doesn't matter if it's funny all the time. Its more a concern that people find it humorous or tense and the parts I want them to feel that. But over all so far so good. I've decided at the 10k mark I'm going to send it around for feedback from a few people. Hopefully it's good but more importantly I hope it's honest. I may also put a few excerpts up here if people fancy a read.
Anyway it's late and I'm quite tired but just wanted to keep you all updated
Word Count: 7002
Later
Adam
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