Writing Diary - 1
The challenge, revised: To write a minimum of 15 minutes per day. Previous challenge not completed due to day job sucking up my life.
The challenger: Ron Collins
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Writing Diary - 1 |
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The challenge, revised: To write a minimum of 15 minutes per day. Previous challenge not completed due to day job sucking up my life. The challenger: Ron Collins |
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| Date | Accomplishments |
| 15-Sep-1999 | Accepted challenge to write 15 new stories as described above. I accepted the challenge, because work has managed to get in the road of writing for the last year. Most of my "writing" energies, in fact, have been applied to my employer's web site. |
| 16-Sep-1999 | Developed initial plan on
how I'm going to meet this challenge. Reviewed list of stories in
progress--both unfinished and ones needing major overhaul. Divided the
list of stories into the following categories: Trunk, Need Rewrite
(1 submission minimum), Need to Submit, Need to Finish (includes stories
never submitted which need major rewrite), and Need to Start.
Quantities in each case are: 7, 5, 3, 5, and too darned many.
The last two categories will be the source of the new stories that
meet the initial challenge. Put everything into this edit of the web
site, including the new pages relating to the challenge--this one, and the
story record.
Of the story ideas or stories in progress that I have documented, I've selected 9 for the new story challenge. One of them, which I'm currently calling "COGSwells", is threatening to turn into a novel, so it may get set aside. Also, any story listed may get bumped from the list if another idea rears its ugly head and demands to be told first. The list if fluid--very fluid. As it should be. |
| 17-Sep-1999 | Okay. I
admit it. Staying up half the night redoing this web site is sort of
writing avoidance. On the other hand, while preparing this site, I
came up with a game plan and committed it to writing in front of the
world. More later; I'm going to bed.
Before work, I printed out 3 stories already written and checked out the various places I wanted to send them. Then I set them on the table to take to work with me so I could mail them. Unfortunately, I left them home <sigh>. Two get mailed tomorrow, and one I'm still checking out possible victims. Next step; look at what I've done on the stories IP and pick one to get to work on. More later. I had only 3 hours sleep, and I'm feeling it. |
| 19-Sep-1999 | Selected the story; looked over What Has Gone Before. I had 3 pages of climax/ending done, and 3 pages of opening. I decided it was opening too slow. I wrote what I wanted for the first paragraph after the first opening, trashed the original 3 pages of opening, and worked through the story/outline as set up. Deleted historical notes/research as I went through, tied it all together, modified the final scene, and saved. Printed it out; 1 story, 3100 words, first draft. Now to set it aside to compost for revisions. |
| 27-Sep-1999 | Okay, I haven't done much in the meantime. Story #1 is still composting; I've decided which one I'm going to work on next. I let stories "compost" right now because I have no second, or even third, set of eyes to review it for me. Ron has Lisa. All I have is Furball the Cat, and he's more than likely to drop a hairball on the manuscript as anything. I'm going to update the table tonight, too. |
| 25-Dec-1999 | Three months, and I've managed to finish nothing! My job has overtaken my life. More later, if I get time. |
| 20-Feb-1000 | It's the last year of the century, and technical support overwhelms me (see 25-Dec-1999). |
| 04-May-2000 | Got hit with a new-old story idea today. Actually it was an old IMPs exercise (see IMPlinks) that I never got around to writing because it was too conventionally Jaws TM . However, I came up with a way to salvage the concept, by taking it off earth, and turning it into a skiffy mystery. We shall see. |
| 30-Aug-2000 | Left for ChiCon, nothing new completed. Received new challenge from Ron Collins. |
| 06-Sep-2000 | Back home from Chicago. Furball the Cat won't let me out of his sight. I boarded him for a week. |
| 08-Sep-2000 | Checked out two stories I had waiting gathering dust, polished one enough to remove about 200 excess words. Printed them and got ready to send to market (see story status). |
| 09-Sep-2000 | Checked out files of stories needing work or revamp. Moved two tales to rewrite group, moved two to long-term virtual trunk. Decided story needing writing at this time is "Spellsmith", set in a world where the magic system is based on 'only those who can spell can spell'. (I have been called a Sadist because of this concept). |
| 10-Sep-2000 | Rewrote opening two pages of "Spellsmith", tightening, adding conflict, about 20-30 min. |
| 12-Sep-2000 | Modified web site with new challenge information. Uploaded WorldCon photos, made pages of thumbnails. |
| 13-Sep-2000 | Not a good day. Found out late this afternoon that my older sister died this morning. Tightened opening in "Spellsmith", added new scene (confrontation with primary antagonist), approx 200 words, 20 minutes. |