Everything from:enduro

Novel Enduro: The Finish Line

Done.  Wait, let me say that again: DONE. 80,000 words of PURE GENIUS.  Yeah: 80,000… despite word counts of more than 2k new stuff per day yesterday and today.  I took out a lot of faffing about, especially from the beginning.  And here we see the problem with the Pantsing Method: when I started writing this book I had no clue at all where it was going.  I wrote a lot of scenes that ended up being character background–worthwhile work for me, but not stuff that really needs to be in the final version, as it has the effect of slowing down the action. So I actually have a 20-item list of things to fix in the next draft, but they feel like next-draft things: strengthening certain thematic threads, punching up some of the action scenes, reading through the dialogue to improve the voices (something I seem to have a problem getting right out of the gate).  It’s possible there are continuity issues, because I haven’t done a proper date-map yet.  And it’s even possible there will be a character streamlining–I have a few secondary people who all seem to be doing the same job. But the important thing is […]

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Novel Enduro: Day VIII

79,000 words.  Two new scenes left to write, maybe three.  Not with a bang, but a whimper (from the author, who’s continually surprised at how fucking emotionally draining it is to end a book!) Horrible things: how hard it is to write romantic scenes without slipping into Hollywood tropes.  I haven’t had much practice, I guess… in my previous novel, there wasn’t a central love relationship, just a bit of dating. Beautiful things: getting one of those scenes right, I think!  Also, some more bits with magic, always fun. Tonight’s homework: going through a year’s worth of notes from my writing group because I’m almost positive there’s a great suggestion in there about a specific missing scene I should write, and I can’t remember what it is.  And being a very orderly person, I’d like to write that missing scene before I write the two final scenes, because once those are done I’d like to go celebrate, instead of messing around some more. Also, today’s win: Beyond Binary is nominated for a Lambda Literary Award! […]

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Novel Enduro, Days VI & VII

I didn’t have time to post Monday because I had an urgent need for a pint with my husband at Bar Volo at day’s end.  I did, however, hammer in another 2000 words, bringing that day’s total to just over 77,000. Sadly, it’s still there as of today.  I put in hours of work to keep it there, too.  I deleted several vestigial, useless or outdated scenes, and the new words I added were just barely enough to keep the total count on track. I don’t think this novel is going to be quite 90k, but it is still going to be done by the end of the week: I have about five scenes left to write, and none of them contain land mines as far as I can tell. I’ve also had a flurry of other writing-related activity, including both success and failure, which I can’t share at this time, and only mention in order to provide context for why today was another low-count day.  I can see this being quite a time-sink for a full-time writer.  As my own publishing history grows, and my involvement with the SF community with it, I find myself with a lot of […]

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Novel Enduro: Day V

In the spirit of public accountability, I’m posting even though this day has NOT gone as well as the others. Today’s word count: 1263.Total word count: 75,250 of 90,000.Percent completion: 83.6%. Beautiful things: bike couriers, hand-pulled noodles at Pacific Mall. Horrible things: everyone wants you to talk about things and you just want to whack-a-mole every single thought that surfaces in your brain. Favourite sentence:  “It was the voice he used on both Gavin and Asta, when they were sleepy or sick and had to be coaxed.” What went wrong with this day: Late start due to unavoidable obligation; rewrote the same scene four or five times before getting it even close; deleted another scene entirely, cancelling out a bunch of word count. Interesting note: judging by where I am right now, this novel isn’t actually going to hit 90k.  I think I’m closer to the end of the action than that.  Which is fine.  I’ll just throw in some more sex 😉 […]

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Novel Enduro: Day IV

Today’s word count: 3832.  Can I just say how awesome I feel about this?Total word count: 73,987 of 90,000.Percent completion: 82%. Beautiful things: Martin, who is still hot; um, that’s all, the rest was pretty ugly Horrible things: zombie raccoon!  Which explodes!  I was so pleased with this I immediately put it on Twitter.  So if there’s a rash of exploding zombie raccoons in your slush, you’ll know who to blame. Favourite sentence:  “Gavin’s spirit mantled like a hawk, ready to rend.” Reason for stopping: eggplant. Fetishes: wooden ring on index finger: Bellwoods bottlecap necklace. Sustenance: soy maple lattes, a god-awesome sandwich with tempeh, kimchee and Baconnaise, a pint of Bellwoods’ Roman Candle IPA. Playlist highlights: Matt Mays, “Take It On Faith”; Cat Power, “Ruin”; Esthero, “Walking On Eggshells”. Warnings That Must Go On the Tin: Mum, you can’t read this book.  Even if I forget and try to give it to you.  It has too many zombie things which you would not like, plus bad driving, and ‘fuck’ at least once in every chapter. […]

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Novel Enduro: Day III

Today’s word count: 3001. I really know how to nail that, apparently.Total word count: 70,126 of 90,000.Percent completion: 78%. Beautiful things: heartbeats; the Bentley Continental GT Horrible things: zombie sedan! Favourite sentence:  “Painkillers didn’t kill the pain so much as put it on a nearby shelf, where it sat glowering over him until it could come close again.” Reason for stopping: Lapdogs pub night. Fetishes: South African bead bracelets, and pink shirt, because it’s Pink Shirt Day. Sustenance: white peach tea, olive bread, olive oil. Playlist highlights: Airmech.  Again. […]

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Novel Enduro: Day II

Today’s word count: 4295!Total word count: 67,175 of 90,000.Percent completion: 74.6%. Beautiful things: stair-spindles, winter grass, bright scraps, wallpaper flowers. Horrible things: Terrence’s people in hospitals, Terrence’s poor lungs. Favourite sentence:  “His spirit saw it too: Chicago in all of itself, under the sun.” Reason for stopping: to write this blog post, because that’s what I felt like doing. Fetishes: South African bead bracelets. Sustenance: the rest of the corn chips, more grilled cheese, more Picholine olives, little tomatoes, soy maple latte. Playlist highlights: Airmech by Front Line Assembly.  (Why does my novel about urban magicians require its soundtrack to be a concept album about mecha?  I don’t know!  The mysteries of creativity!) Bonus: although Tybalt mostly prefers the cat tree, he also napped on my copy of The Waste Land.  Cute and literary! […]

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Novel Enduro: Day I

Today’s word count: 3065! Right on target.Total word count: 62,880 of 90,000.Percent completion: 70%. Beautiful things: A crisp checked shirt. Corn pudding (maybe it is not beautiful, but I am hungry). Horrible things: Home truths. Coughing.  Someone is watching “Cheers”. Reason for stopping: I need to wash the dishes. Fetishes: new yoga pants, Badger lip balm. Sustenance: corn chips, grilled cheese, Picholine olives, hibiscus-jasmine tea. Playlist highlights: Richard Thompson, “Pharaoh”; Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Pretty Little Ditty”; Wilco, “Reservations”. Bonus: the cats really like the new cat tree, and they stayed on it all day instead of messing with my desk!  The laptop was only bitten once. […]

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Public Accountability: The Novel Enduro Begins

Today begins a two-week writing marathon.  My (rather ambitious) goal is to finish my novel-in-progress.  Here’s a screen shot of my current stats (from Scrivener): 30,000 words to go; 10 business days to do it in.  That means 3000 words a day.  Folks, I’ve never written that much, that fast.  But I have another novel lined up behind this one, which I really want to get started on; I’m thirty-seven and not famous yet; I’ve carved out this space from a demanding day job; and the only way out is through. Materials: Scrivener; my trusty Lenovo which I got at the end of last year’s novel enduro; a new pair of yoga pants; typing fingers; playlists.  Plus a new cat tree, meant to keep the cats off my desk (wish me luck). Cuing up my playlists… pouring the coffee… wrapping a scarf around my neck… and GO. […]

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In which I set’em up and knock’em down

Took a break from writing today because it is the weekend! Having only one job for this period is awesome. Now I know the answer to the “how the hell do other people do it” question. Because today, my Saturday, I actually *felt like* doing some of the random crap that piled up through the week. Normally, this stuff is WAY at the bottom of my priority list, under a pile of hate and scorn and you-can’t-make-me. Today, I just did it. You may be totally bored by this, but I am–kid you not–almost as proud of this day as I was of yesterday! […]

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