%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |  This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
|
This will be a blog for my writing, maybe with (too much) personal thrown in. I am hoping it will be a little more interactive, with me answering questions, helping out and whatnot. If it falls this year (2024), then I may stop the whole blogging thing, but that's all a "wait and see" scenario. An index of topics can be found here: "Writing Blog No.2 Index"  Feel free to comment and interact. |
| NaNoWriMo #30 Day 30 Last day of National Novel Writing Month. Up at 6, shower, write. Breakfast at 9. Lunch at 12. Some WdC stuff at 4-ish. 5:45pm… finished!! 7000+ words in about 8 hours. I woke up this morning and could see the ending. I knew what to do! So I wrote it. Joanne decided to fight the entity, whatever it was her family had summoned 21 years earlier, where it came from, as her mother had indicated that was the only way it could be vanquished, and not just put to sleep for a few years, or whatever it was. And this was about more than just saving those she loved, because if she failed, she’d be the vessel the entity would possess. She realised Anne was the fifth victim… and so she used the girl as bait. So, she does, then Anne is gone, and we end a chapter with Joanne thinking she failed. But Anne was okay, and Joanne’s physical strength ended up making her difficult for the being to overcome, and the information she gleaned from her mother’s ramblings and what happened to Luke told her how to save Anne… It worked. And the dead were allowed to rest in a nifty little epilogue. Maybe the ending is a little rushed and then the epilogue is too twee, but I’ll come back to it in a few months and see what was what. My brain does feel like mush, though, so I am going to have pizza for tea and sit in front of some BBC comedy shows on the ABC-Entertains channel. This has been a hell of a month. I’ll do a summary post tomorrow once I’ve relaxed and everything, but, for now, I’ve done it. Apart from those people who insist I write “wrong”, I hope people who read this got some idea of how my writing works, how a story forms within me, how I go about my process. I am not saying this is how to write; I am saying this is how I write. And people expressed an interest in me detailing that. In that regard, if you have any questions about how I write, please, let me know, and I will endeavour to answer them. But that’s it for today. I’ll do a final post tomorrow. Until then… Words today –7231 Total words– 162833 |
| NaNoWriMo #29 Day 29 Had a meeting today, so that killed 3 hours of writing, otherwise I wrote for most of the day. I had to – I needed to get to the death. Yes, I killed off the love interest. And I was in the right mood to write it, so I did it before I thought about it. Okay, side note. I write horror, and so I kill off a lot of characters. But twice this month, I have killed off a character that the reader would not be expecting. In my Australian cryptid story, I didn’t know she was going to die until the scene wrote itself and the girls told me that she was going to cark it. Girls? Yes, the female characters. So, that surprised even me. This story, however, I knew he was going to die. It does not make it any easier to write, so I need to get the death out of me as quickly as humanly possible, and let my own emotion drive the words forward. In the end, he was attacked by the entity, and it seemed Joanne saved him, but he ended up ill… and then he died in hospital, off-screen. But, before then, Joanne and Luke went and looked at the house Joanne had inherited by surprise, and we have a picture painted of the setting for the big showdown later on in the story. Then Luke is attacked, Anne realises she has been dreaming about the dead girl, the same one they saw in the camera footage, Luke buckets the kick, there is some more reading of the dead mother’s ramblings… there are tears and panic has now set in. And Joanne thinks she knows who the fifth victim will be… So, yes, I wrote a bit today, but I haven’t reached the climactic fight, battle, conflict, whatever, and I have one day left. Another 10k day? Don’t know – I am just going to keep on writing until the story is done. I will finish this tomorrow if it kills me. And I got a text message – the woman I have been helping was supposed to be meeting up for a write-in tomorrow (the 30th), but she won’t be there. She finished her book! 61k words, she said, and she said I can read it after she’s done a quick edit. I am so happy for her. Write a novel has now been ticked off her bucket list, and this makes it all worthwhile for me doing this. So, strong day of writing, some good writing news from someone, a meeting that will mean nothing in the long run (except a quick $25), and one day left of NaNoWriMo. Oh, and, as of today, I have achieved a personal best for NaNoWriMo word count. And still one day to go! Words today –6312 Total words– 155602 |
| NaNoWriMo #28 Day 28 So, the story wouldn’t leave me alone. I spent an hour this morning merrily typing away (after doing other work), so much so I was a little late to my first meeting. This afternoon, I sat in front of the computer for 5 or so hours, and managed another day of more than 4k words. I made a decision about a character today, and I think tomorrow I will pull the trigger… literally? Metaphorically? Wait and see. Joanne discovers she has not only inherited her grandmother’s house and belongings and all of Jackson’s belongings, but also the house where she had grown up in the Adelaide Hills, where her sister and cousin were killed and the other family members died. She didn’t even know her mother still owned it. She doesn’t want it, but she can’t get rid of it for a few months. (In Australia, you cannot sell a house for 4 months to 6 months after the death, which is why it took the family 7 months to kick me out of the house, rendering me homeless, after my landlord died.) Anne moves in with Joanne, though it is deemed temporary because of circumstances beyond everyone’s control, and because of this the relationship between Luke and Joanne is made public. They were trying to ensure it would not create work-related issues, but their hand was sort of forced. As such, Luke meets Anne for the first time not as a cop. Joanne and Luke are getting closer. I hope it’s close enough for the audience to be invested in them as a couple. I want the next chapter or so to hit hard. So, I had dinner after that… and wrote a Christmas based parody of ‘My Country’, the Dorothea Mackellar classic poem. Typed it up quickly. 234 more words. Why? Because ideas attack me and my muse is certifiably insane. Now, quick answer to a question: I am not a touch-typist. I type with two fingers and a thumb. But, according to the sprint on Discord, I am averaging between 30 and 45 wpm, with around a 95% accuracy rate, so my typing is a moderate speed. This is 300-450 words in ten minutes, or around 1800-2700 words an hour if I go non-stop. It’s probably realistically closer to 800-1000 words in an hour, with the fact I edit as I go and have breaks, so with 6 hours of typing today, 4000-odd words is about right (670 words an hour). Words today –4375 (demon story) + 234 (poem) = 4609 Total words– 149290 |
| NaNoWriMo #27 Day 27 Today was “one of those days”, and me finishing this last story is now going to be a big push on the last few days. I got some writing done this morning, but then had appointments all afternoon, an hour’s drive away, got back in time for dinner, was exhausted, typed up my hand-written stuff, and am now writing this before I crash. So, this morning I wrote the next chunk of the story. Anne has moved in with Joanne, they discuss things, Anne goes to sleep, Joanne reads her mother’s letter delivered by the lawyer, and I dump a truck-load of hints as to what is going to happen, but couch it in religious ranty gibberish, as a cult-afflicted woman who has spent 21 years in prison would do. More set-up, more tension building, more planting seeds. Probably too much, if I’m being honest. So, this afternoon. There was an hour gap between appointments, and I sat at a bakery (yes, I know – money and weight…) and hand-wrote a drabble for my Christmas appearance on the radio. This was one where I finished the first draft and was still thirty words short, so I turned it into a dialogue, and got it to 100 words. That is what I typed when I got back to my room before doing this. Tomorrow, I have meetings all morning, finishing at 12:30, so I should be able to knock off a few thousand words in the afternoon/ evening. I am tired and if I fall asleep quickly, I hopefully will wake up early enough to get a couple of hours’ writing done before my one-on-one meeting (with a client; I hope she likes the work I did for her…), and then a meeting of the “middle aged unemployed” group I am a part of. Of course, I will detail my adventures in typing tomorrow, but for now, I am exhausted. Words today –100 (drabble) and 2552 (demon story) = 2652 total Total words– 144681 |
| NaNoWriMo #26 Day 26 Tuesday, my day at the library, and I knew I wasn’t going to get much story written, so I threw together a quick 970-odd word short story for the radio programme next month, a Christmas story about the meaning of Christmas in a secular society (no, I am not a believer, don’t @ me). So, had lunch with a potential client (still potential, but she paid), then hit my room and the writing bug hit. So, Joanne went through her grandma’s paperwork in the house she has now inherited and she discovers photos sent to her grandma from when Joanne was in the cult. The pictures are of the children, an she sees the girl from the hospital security camera – it’s her murdered cousin. She shows Luke and he recognises it as well. Ooh! Ghosts! Well… not quite. However, then things get rushed, as she is given just a week to decide if she is going to take Anne in or not, and so she goes to talk to Anne as not a counsellor or psychologist. Finally, she receives a letter from her mother’s lawyer. Building up the back-stiory and adding lots of hints as to what’s to come… While going through grandma’s paperwork in her house, which Joanne has inherited, she finds a photo of her dead cousin, which is the same face that appeared on the camera. She shows Luke. Then she is given very little time to decide if she wants to take Anne in, so she goes to meet Anne. She is also contacted by her mother’s lawyer, and is given a letter So, what else is going on while I write? Today, I watched AEW’s Full Gear PPV this afternoon, and it helped get me into a nice relaxed mood in order to churn out 5300 words. Yesterday, it was a lot of music (Roxette – The Remixes for those playing at home). I cannot write in silence because my mind wanders, but if there is something going on, then that wandering part of my brain can focus on something and the writering part is not drawn away by anything. Again, before people jump down my throat again – this works for me! And, again, it does work. People like my writing… including publishers. I am tired now, and am going to bed. I only have tomorrow morning and night to write, as I have meetings all afternoon, so let’s see how I go… Words today –974 (short story) and 5312 (demon story) Total words– 142029 |
| NaNoWriMo #25 Day 25 Not feeling it today. Spent too much time not writing. I mean, I still did a few words, and the story is still there, but I’m just in a mental lull. Probably pushed too hard up until now. This happens. I mean, it’s not that I need to go any further and push it any harder, but I really o want to complete this story by the end of November for my own personal peace of mind. No – I’ve set myself to do this. It’s a goal. And I hate letting goals go undone. So, I did write. Joanne got her mum’s belongings from the prison, and that includes notebooks where her beliefs and are revealed. Then she discovers that Anne wants to stay with her instead of her own mother. Anne is 16, and is allowed to make that choice, but Joanne has to decide. Then, to top it all off, Luke gets her to come into the police station where he shows her the security camera footage from the hospital. For just a few moments, the face of a young girl appears on the frame before Joanne’s mother dies, and there is a grey-ish cloud on the image around her mouth. Then, to lighten the tone, as Joanne leaves the police station she tells him she has a decision to make about being a mother. Luke, of course, is stunned, but then confused when she reveals the child is actually already 16. So, yes, the story is going well; today was just a me having a mental blergh sort of a day. Now, following on from yesterday’s rant, I received no comments or feedback from what I said, so I am guessing the person who commented has pulled their head in, and everyone else just didn’t know what to say. That’s cool. I do still hope people now see how my writing goes. As someone who has had a few publications, it seems people are interested in my process, and so I shared. I just dislike being told I am wrong when it works. No, on publishing news, Wicked Shadow Press, who have published two of my stories, and who are publishing a third later on this year or early next year are about to go out of business. They are going to put out the anthologies they have promised and one single author book, but then that’s it. They did not give a reason, but did hint that it has something to do with a change in the publishing climate. Being so far away, I am out of the loop of this sort of thing. So, another short story, but a nifty little publisher is closing its doors. Too many are closing their doors. Since COVID ended, it has been too frequent. Anyway, that’s today’s blog. Hopefully I’ll be in a better frame of mind tomorrow. Words today – 4735 Total words– 135743 |
| NaNoWriMo #24 Day 24 So, I spent this morning on my regular Sunday morning video call to the USA. This left me the afternoon to write. I went whole hog again, but didn’t quite crack the 4k mark. I think after yesterday, my brain was a bit mushy, to be honest. It was a biggun, yestadee! So, what happened? Joanne meets her mum, Luke and she finally rub uglies, then mum dies… and she is found in the same state as her grandmother. But she was in hospital because she was having her regular cancer treatment, there was a problem, so she was being kept overnight… and that was when she died, so apart from being seated up, with a bruise by her mouth and her eyes open, her death was hardly unexpected. I know just where this is going to go next, and so tomorrow I should be able to get through to the revelation of the entity… as well as putting some of her mother’s writings into her hands to (sort of) explain just what is going on. The meaning will be couched in gibberish, because I really don’t want to give too much away. Now, yesterday I outlined how I write as a pantser. And I received this comment : “That’s wrong! You don’t edit as you go!” First – f*ck off! How dare you tell me that the way I write is wrong! I am sharing this because some people are interested in my process, seeing something from a possibly different perspective. And it works for me. I have a few sales; so it definitely works. So, I say it again - f*ck off! Second, there are no RULES for writing. There are things that are strongly advised. In my opinion these are threefold: 1) read, and read a lot, and across all genres and styles of writing; 2) write, and write a lot; & 3) get your writing tools (spelling, grammar, punctuation) down as good as you are going to get. That’s it. Nothing else matters to me . And I have had people here on WdC tell me that reading is useless, that you should only write if you’re going to sell it, and (lately) we don’t need to know the fundamentals because AI does it for us, and that’s what editors are for. Fine. Your call. But don’t expect me to take you seriously as a writer. I take this further and say there is no such thing as a book everyone should read. No such thing; no such book. Read what you want, take what you want from each. And people who disagree are just being gatekeepers, inflicting their tastes and views on others. There are books I would recommend, but I know of no book that everyone should read. Not one. Third, write your way! I am not telling anyone how to write. But there are people who have asked how I do it, and so I have decided to explain how I do it. For those who have been interested and have read it and looked at it, and maybe taken some inspiration from my process, thank you… but write your way. I cannot for the life of me understand the snowflake method of writing, it makes no sense to me, but some authors use it quite successfully. Great. You do you. And I will do me. Sorry. This makes me angry. I am rather pissed off. Stop dictating and gate-keeping. We are writers and no two writers are the same (except if by deliberate pastiche choice). I was explaining myself. I was not telling you how to write. Sorry again. Words today – 3775 Total words– 131008 |
| NaNoWriMo #23 Day 23 I spent part of this morning doing jobs. Had a phone call this afternoon for an hour or so. Went out for dinner tonight, did some emails, a review on WdC… and spent the rest of the day writing. First, though, 2 hours of this morning were spent with me and my friend doing NaNo doing a write-in together at the library. In that time, she cracked her own 50k words! After all she has been through, I’ve been really happy to be there as a support for her as she crosses this ff her bucket list. The story’s not done, though it’s close, and I know she’ll finish it by the end of the month, maybe 60-odd thousand words for her. I am stoked for her. “Write a novel” can be crossed off that bucket list. She’s in her upper 70s – not that age means much, not really – but this is one more thing off her list. Next, she is going on a cruise with her daughter. She is a wonderful inspiration. Now, it feels almost ridiculous to be talking about me, but here we go: My second 10k day this naNoWriMo! The story just came out. I knew where it was going, though I did push at the end to break 10k words. Probably silly at the ending there, and I’ll rewrite that last bit tomorrow, but here is the story. Joanne meets her mum for the first time in 21 years, an discovers she is dying of lung cancer, plus she has some other issues. She has a few months left of life. Joanne discovers some things about the beliefs of her parents. We then discover some more things about the lives of the girls in the cult Joanne is helping, and it is going to help have the father put in prison for a while. Joanne and Luke finally hook up. Love interest! Characters! Woo-hoo! And I stopped when Joanne goes to visit her mother for a second time. So, I guess this brings up how do I write this? Do I just write a thin outline and go back later once it’s all over and flesh it out? Well, to be honest, no. I write it with way too much detail, adding everything I think I might need. No sketches, but a full-on piece of work. Then at the end of each section (either split by a section break or a sub-chapter numeral), I go back and edit. I check for spelling, for grammar, for punctuation and delete a lot of extraneous stuff. The amount of crap I repeat is insane, but it is me getting every single idea down as I write, then going back while it is still fresh and making the most obvious changes. For this reason, I am constantly stop-starting. Sometimes I really want to just get on with the next section, but the mini-editing I do at the end of the sections means the story sits better in my memory. I’m also not struggling to remember the details because I have done that first mini-edit. Now, I also make a list of the characters and the events as I go along. This does two things – makes sure I keep everything in order and keep everyone in order as well. No repeated names, no name changes mid-story (boy, was I bad for that!), and in this story, I needed everything to take place in a span of only 55 days. What this means is I have a calendar printed off (using MS Publisher!) and I hand write everything in, with the ending date marked already in red. I make notes of what I’ve called things (like the Unit Joanne works for), where things are, all that. Hand-written notes are the best. No scrolling back for them – a calendar with 3 months on one page, and 1 page (so far) of hand-written notes. So much easier to navigate! Computers are not the be-all and end-all, and anyone who tells you they are is plain wrong. That is how this pantser writes his works. Like I said, this story is really writing itself. I am looking at a good 50k words here, so a proper novel after a bunch of other writings this month. Yest again, sorry to those who sponsored me… Words today – 10043 Total words– 127233 |
| NaNoWriMo #22 Day 22 A day of constant interruptions. Could not sit down for more than an hour before the phone rang or I was asked to do something with people at the library. I shouldn’t complain; at least I am interacting with people in real life. That makes such a change for me, I suppose. So, the story. I knew where I was going yesterday, and I went there today. I killed the cousin. And I had Joanne find him, find the body, deal with the arrogant inspector, and have Luke come in to make them stop giving her a hard time. The death occurs off-scene – but sort of on phone – but Joanne is the one who finds the body on the beach. Two deaths in such a short period. But then I ended with Joanne discovering that her mother, who she has spent 21 years thinking died on the property where her father, uncle and aunt all died, along with her sister and female cousin, is in fact alive! However, she has spent the intervening time in prison. And, more to the point, her grandmother knew all along and never told Joanne about it. But things are being rushed through so they can see one another and meet up for the first time since Joanne saw her mother help kill her sister and cousin. It’s about to get tense… and depressing. This story is almost writing itself. So, only a four thousand words today, but tomorrow I have the day (hopefully) all to myself and we’ll see how we can go writing there. Words today – 4733 Total words– 117190 |
| NaNoWriMo #21 Day 21. One of those days where everything was just on a roll. I finished yesterday with Joanne being taken through the house where the girls had been kept as prisoners by their hyper-religious father. I stopped when I wasn’t sure what I was doing there. Then I worked it out this morning, and I made it that Joanne told the police where the “punishment closet” was. This has introduced us to Luke, who will become more important as the story goes on. He’s the cop in charge of the investigation. I spent about forty minutes with a local detective who I know, and asked him all sorts of questions. He was happy to do it because (a) it gave him a break and, (b) (which is what he said to me) he liked the idea of things being accurate in stories. There is also the fact keeping good with the police in Australia is vital, as it is a nasty police state, and they will hammer you whenever they can. So, he told me that detectives here rarely work one case; they often have three or more on the go. This is perfect for my story. Luke is about to become a busy cop. So… Joanne has now got herself in good with the cops, and her knowledge (which the reader knows comes from her childhood, but virtually no-one in the story does) is making her invaluable. It will also make her being more empathic than other counsellors more logical, and push where I want the ending to go. Anyway, then we have the first death. Joanne’s grandmother, who brought her up after her parents and the other adults at the farm died. And her sister and cousin were murdered. Joanne and her cousin Jackson were taken in by the grandmother… and now she’s dead. And then I had to have Jackson accused of killing her, the implication being it was for her money. The police came to search Joanne’s house, but Luke came and helped, along with a lawyer. And I finished today with Jackson missing. A death, one that cuts deeply, and a missing cousin, who might as well be a brother to Joanne. The ante is being upped… finally. This story is flying. And a day like today when I just had the day to myself in front of the fans (no air con in the pub room), writing was all I did. This was a good writering day. Now, looking at how these things work, I know how the story is going to end, I know the next major character to be introduced, I am using the number five to its fullest. I know where this is going, and I just want to write before I lose it all. This is the best mentally sorted story of all those I’ve done this month, and it’s also the one that has been percolating the least. Maybe there is something in that for me to take note of… Words today – 7132 Total words– 112457 |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
thinking. 
