Sunday Summary, #ROW80 and Operation G.I.T.

  1. I’m wiping ink off my virtual machete this morning.  I just axed 3,200 words from two scenes that really were not advancing my plot (which is too bad since I’ve spent pretty much most of this week beating my head against both of those scenes), and cut a third scene that would have been more of the same.  So the outline/book/manuscript is officially one chapter shorter.  Not that that’s going to affect my word count much.  It’s still going to come in between 95-98k.  And I am officially at PP2, from which point I actually know for sure what happens!  I’m hoping for another streak like that one I had that netted me 9k in a week.
  2. So I guess in terms of my #ROW80 goal, it counts, as I did WRITE this week (6,200 words), I just wound up cutting slightly more than half of them.  :headdesk:  This kind of thing has happened often enough–the whole getting stuck on a scene and having to do more than one reboot–that I really really need to learn to always trust my gut that that means I’m going in the wrong direction.  It required a friendly boot from Susan to get me to throw my perfectly balanced structure out the window (as the 3 scenes I cut were because I have 3 scenes per chapter in this book and I wanted exactly the same number of chapters after the midpoint as before because I’m kind of OCD like that) enough to freaking move on.  It was either that or make those scenes subtext and I’m sorry, that is the one area of craft that I just DO NOT UNDERSTAND.  I read all the explanations and I’m like “Okay I kinda get it,” but then I can’t remember what it is at all, and I certainly can’t figure out how to DO it on purpose.
  3. On the Operation G.I.T. front, um….yeah.  While I did apparently manage to LOSE half a pound while I was out of town, I also succeeded in inflating my appetite to monstrous proportions, so since I’ve been HOME, I’ve been eating everything in sight and not exercising as much as I’m supposed to be.  I’ve also been having FREAKISH crazy cravings for PROTEIN.  Protein protein protein, all the time.  Specifically chicken.  No I’m no pregnant,  before anybody suggests it.  Possibly I’m anemic or maybe I’ve acquired an alien parasite that will burst out of my chest .  UFC Trainer arrives on Tuesday, so I’m looking forward to that as a means of shaking up my workout and hopefully kicking my butt enough to work off the chub I’ve had such trouble losing since THANKSGIVING.
  4. Yesterday I finished reading Heroes Til CurfewIt was, predictably, AWESOME.  I laughed.  I wept.  I cheered.  Hush Money was awesome in its own right, but she really steps up the game in this one.  It is literally twice the book (107k).  For those of you who’ve been waiting for Jylan or Doss (I think I like Jylan better), you’re gonna LOVE IT.  I have a couple of fight scenes I want to work with Susan on, but I don’t expect those to take too long.
  5. I’ve been reading The Demon’s Surrender this week too, which is also awesome.  I haven’t gotten as far as I’d like because of that whole not exercising like I should thing (since my exercise bike is my primary reading time).  I’m also listening to Graceling in audio and I have to confess, y’all, it is DRAGGING.  I think the concept of the graced is really cool.  But I find Katsa to be this very bizarre mix of deadly and innocent/immature.  The voice itself is that stilted fantasy style that usually annoys me.  I don’t think it’s the fault of the author, I just don’t usually care for that.  And it’s made worse by the narrator who has this sort of gentle “I’m telling a kid a fairy tale” kind of tone, which doesn’t suit the story IMO.   There’s lots of SLOW and laborious description and I just don’t know if I can finish it.   And what the heck kind of name is Po for a hero?  I keep picturing Kung Fu Panda.  I think my biggest problem is that despite Katsa and Po’s involvement it just, so far, has NOT at all lived up to my wants as a romance (because it ISN’T a romance, it’s a fantasy) and I’m just left feeling meh.

 

4 thoughts on “Sunday Summary, #ROW80 and Operation G.I.T.

  1. Ouch! Cutting words is like doing surgery. It hurts!

    I KNEW Heroes Til Curfew would be awesome. Now I have both Red and HTC to look forward to. And I know they will both be worth the wait since both you and Susan are favorite authors of mine. :0)

  2. Cutting is always painful. I just finished my second draft of a book that got to 151000 words. I didn’t slash and burn it all, just decided a big part is the sequel. Now for the next round. ugh editing.
    Why do two of your recipes start with creamy? That is making me hungry.

  3. Subtext {{{shudder}}} I get it in movies — something happening in the background (sort of) as main action happens here (kind of.) I don’t need no stinkin’ subtext! I hate cutting chunks of words, but it sounds necessary, good for you for figuring that out!

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