Bad News, Good News...

The bad news: ... word count. Ugh.

For this past week -- a BIG FAT ZERO.

Between DD being sick, me being under the weather and just being utterly swamped with other stuff, I didn't make the time to write. Please note: I did NOT say that I didn't "HAVE" the time to write, because there is always time. Always, always, always. A pet peeve of mine is folks who say they don't have time. So, I had the time, I just opted to use it on other things.

Shame on me. This coming week will be different.

The good news: ... I figured out how to fix "A Jewel For Geoff". Out of the blue, in the middle of a shower no less, the idea came to me! Woot! See... I didn't like the occupation I'd given the heroine and her family. It wasn't working, but I couldn't see a way out of it because I needed her to be somewhere doing something at one point. And then **POOF**, it came to me. And I'm thrilled.

The subconscious mind is a wonderful thing.

So, this week, I'm going to make those changes and see if the words flow on Geoff's story. If not, it's back to my fantasy (have I mentioned, lately, how much I love that story?).

BUT -- I WILL MAKE THE TIME TO WRITE.

How about you?

Learning Quirks

I had an epiphany yesterday. I've really been struggling with "A Jewel for Geoff" and I couldn't figure out why. I have the basic story in my head. I know the ending. I have a couple dozen scene ideas. I did all the pre-work. So why is getting the words down so difficult?

Two days ago, I cranked out more than 1,000 words on the novel I just submitted. Just a quick scene addition that slid fluidly into place with no real need to edit elsewhere (thankfully), but that added the reason for another--very necessary--scene to have happened. It was easy. I did it in a matter of minutes. It has drama and emotion and a little goofiness, and it rolled off my fingers.

So, why was that so easy, and writing AJFG worse than pulling teeth?

Because I knew those characters inside and out. Knew them, their motivation, their thoughts.

Because, despite having written about Geoff in "One Love for Liv", I didn't really get to know him. I knew he was a stuffed shirt with a good heart, but not much more than that.

Today, I'm writing miscellaneous scenes with Geoff, something I should have done before I started. I like to write scenes with my characters doing a day-to-day task (for instance, in the novel I submitted, I wrote a scene with my heroine vacuuming the floor of her new apartment, and in another WIP, I wrote a scene with my heroine taking a shower and getting dressed for work) Sometimes they get used in the actual work (the shower scene did) and sometimes they don't (the vacuuming scene didn't). But they all have the power to show me small things about my characters. No one showers the same, or even vacuums the same. No one grocery shops the same, washes the car, folds the laundry, or grooms the dog the same. We all have quirks.

So, now I'm off to write about Geoff doing... something. I think I'll put him in his condo, but I'm not sure what I'll have him do. He's quite fastidious, but I don't imagine he does his own cleaning. OTOH, I picture him as being embarrassed at having the place a mess for the maid, and may clean up before she arrives.

Hmmm.... See -- already learned something new.

Best Day So Far

Woke up this morning at 3:41 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. Stoked the fire, loaded the pages for LASR, fed the cat, fixed coffee and wrote.

This morning I worked on "AJFG" -- I really wanted to get the super-soaker scene down, and I did. I also decided that my sisters (that's them lining the bottom of the collage I made) prefer to listen to 80s rocker chicks, so spent my morning watching YouTube videos of Melissa Etheridge (from the 80s -- I loved her first album) and Joan Jett (did you know she covered the AC/DC song, "Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)"?).

So, when Geoff -- dear classical music and opera Geoff -- walked into the girls house, he was accosted by much screaming of lyrics. It was lovely.

A Few Good Words

Still behind (I'm beginning to think that's my mantra). I had assumed that life would be back to normal in January, but I neglected to realize that rebuilding the entire LASR site and archiving the past years-worth of everything would still be going on.

I'm writing, but not as much as I like. And, I shift back and forth between works because Queen and Assassin is a highly emotional, fairly dark (for me), serious work. And it exhausts me. So I move to A Jewel for Geoff for a bit of fun.

My word count right now for the month is:



I plan on shooting for more today. I can't do a marathon website building day like I did yesterday (until I thought my eyeballs were going to fall out of my head), so I will write some.

I ended a scene in AJFG this morning, and started on Q&A. Fave line today?

A breath of time later, agony stabbed through Starrlyn—pain, but not her own. Death—but no one she knew. And the world wept as she lost consciousness.

And so the fun continues... ha.

Still Behind, but I'm Pedaling!!

Yesterday, everyone except the dog and I woke up cranky and needy... I didn't get much writing done in the a.m. because Sunday is the one day I can sleep in if I choose (no pages to load up for LASR). I slept in until 5:30!!

In any case, DH and DD took off to go ice skating for a bit, so I did do a little writing -- not as much as I like, but I kept having to refer back to "One Love for Liv" for details (the drawback to writing a sequel, I've discovered). I couldn't even remember what season Liv was set in (Sept / Oct in case you wondered).

This is what I have as of this moment (and not having written today...bad me):



Fave line from yesterday (and I wrote this on my personal blog to, apologies to those of you for whom this is a repeat):

Liv has just run into Geoff (much to his dismay). And she says:

“Geoff, I need advice.” She grabbed his sleeve and tugged him to the chairs that lined the wall, shoving him into one. “Okay, now pretend you’re a man.”

Ouch. That sound you hear is his ego deflating...

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Word Count, Day 3 + Collage part deux

I've decided to lump together the words from both stories into one nifty widget. I worked on both this morning, so my total word count for JaNo is:



To be on track, I should really have 4838 words today... but I can still catch up. I have high hopes that once DH is back at work on Monday, and DD is back doing school, and things are just basically back to normal, I will have more uninterrupted time to write.

And, I did a collage for A Jewel for Geoff:



I love collages, but they are a serious time suck. Still... it's done. And it helps organize my thoughts. Yay.