Sunday Summary and #ROW80 Update

  1. It was raining this morning.  I was pathetically glad of this fact as I just DID NOT feel like running.  I didn’t run Thursday either for the same reason so if it’s clear on Tuesday, I fully expect it to SUCK.  But I’ve been subbing HIIT on the recumbent bike, so it’s not like I’ve been lazy.
  2. Last night was the opening season bout for the local roller derby.  It was my first experience shooting wholly on manual with a flash and the excitement of the night was that I nearly got creamed 6 times in the corner I was shooting from.  Hubs almost never had anything happen last season when he shot from that corner.  Made for a few great shots though.  Today we’re shooting a baby shower.
  3. The writing has been going well this week.  My word counts are up.  Wednesday: 856, Thursday: 1064, Friday: 947, Saturday: 814, and this morning 982.  Three of those days were scenes in one of the contemporary romances I started a series bible for earlier in the week.  It wasn’t the plan, but it was such a stressful week, and I’m up to some really important stuff in DOTH, so I didn’t mind working on something else.  It’s words.  I’m good with that.  It’s part of my goal for this year–to keep writing on SOMETHING on the days that I’m not working on my primary WIP.  That means more writing days total for the year, which is absolutely my end game.  The hope is, of course, that I’ll have more stuff finished this year than in the past.  There are 10 days left to go this month and I’ve already outstripped last month’s word count by about 3k, so that’s a big yay.
  4. DOTH is going to require more editing than my last projects.  Some of these early scenes are fine.  Nailed it in one.  But there’s a lot of fumbling and floundering trying to find my voice for the heroine in Act 1, so I suspect there will be a lot of revision to clean that up.  And that’s fine.  Not every book will come out clean at the end of the first draft.  Most don’t.  Red was a fluke.
  5. I want to get back to some plotting and detail work on Longest Night, the Mirus novella I started a few weeks ago.  It’s plotted out in broad strokes, with story structure and a full scene list, but there are some world building details I need to sort out and figure out what I want to show before I can move forward and write more on it.  Which requires, you know, actual THINKING TIME.  I haven’t had a lot of that the last week or two, and I don’t expect to have much this week either.  Hopefully this is the last of my hell weeks at the EDJ for a while.
  6. I had some seriously whacked out dreams Friday night, of a variety that made me think Claire Legrand had invaded my brain.  And I totally started a blueprint based off them.  It was a YA dystopian retelling of a story that nobody would ever dream up being dystopian.  Well, except for Claire, which is why I think I was channeling her somehow.  Dystopian is so not my normal bag, and I may never write it, but it was worth throwing in the idea file in case I want to clear the palette.
  7. At the end of this week, I am meeting up with Susan Bischoff and Lauralynn Elliott over in Birmingham for a writer’s weekend.  I can’t freaking wait!  It’s a rare thing I really get to hang out much with other writers, so this is the highlight of the next few months.  It’s my Holy Grail at the end of this stressful work week.  And I’m stopping in Tuscaloosa on my way home to grab some coffee with Bobby Matthews and talk shop, as I just introduced him to Story Engineering.  Fair warning, I will probably be REALLY FREAKING HYPER NEXT WEEK.

10 thoughts on “Sunday Summary and #ROW80 Update

  1. Wow you have a lot of projects going. You must be a super organized lady. impressive. I hope that I can work on writing more than one project at a time. I’m currently focusing on my WIP, but one day I’d like to work on some short stories perhaps while writing a novel.

  2. 3000 more words than last month – a big “YAY” for sure. I agree with Nicole, you sound like you’re successfully juggling quite a bit. I appreciated reading about writing down notes for a story you’re not sure you’ll write. Never know what a stray idea might lead…

  3. I too am envious of your writers weekend. Hoping to organize a writers weekend in the North Georgia/Tennessee mountains in the near future. Can’t wait. Happy Writing.

  4. Words are words and any words is definitely a good thing! Am so impressed with how you juggle projects, it is nice to be able to choose what to work on depending on your mood etc. Writer’s weekend sounds like great fun and I look forward to reading all about it!

  5. Your weekend with writers sounds great! I’ve noticed that you are a runner, and I’ve seen in the past that you work out. Maybe you can help me. I’ve been working out for awhile now, but continue to be plagued with shin-splints! I bought compression sleeves for my shins, which make running and jumping rope bearable, but I continue to suffer. It’s been about eight weeks – and OUCH! I hate shin splints!!! Any tips?

    1. Hi Nadja! Shin splints are very often caused by tight ankles. Stretching your ankles (there’s like 3 good stretches for them) and doing ankle rolls everyday should help. Waaay back when I trained for races, I was prone to shin splits and incorporating more ankle stretches helped me not be perpetually sore. 😀

  6. Wonderful word count, Kait! You’re rocking right along.

    That cracked me up about Claire Legrand invading your brain. I never have dreams that lead to story ideas. Unless I decide to start writing some REALLY weird stuff.

    I’m so excited about this weekend, too. The only time I get to hang out with other writers besides our little get togethers is when Jon Eli comes down. And he lives 500 miles away. So much fun will be had!

  7. Your posts are always an inspiration. Until ROW80, I was a faithful lurker but you’ve changed all that. I even blog because ROW80 requires it. Just know you made a permanent impression on an aging writer who is back to her keyboard. Thanks so much!
    Karen
    P.S. Enjoy that writing weekend!

  8. Great job on your word counts this week! Shooting roller derby must have been awesome. I’ve always wanted to do that – so many characters in action. I hope you do try your dystopian ya someday; written by you and inspired by Claire could be a heck of a good time. Have a wonderful time at your writer’s weekend!

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