I’ve been so busy with other things I haven’t had a chance to write much. Graduations, recitals, gardening, scrimshaw, etc.   Have just gotten the fifth post for the survivalist POV side story out though. The story is from the last survivalist near the Meadow. He writes down his adventures in a log book kind of like his diary. Going to the “Survivalist Log” will lead you through the story post at a time, or you can go through the following links that will open in a new page:

• Excerpt 1
• Excerpt 2
• Excerpt 3
• Excerpt 4
• Excerpt 5

There’s an idea that you “puke out the story” first, then go back and fill it in afterward. Personally, if I’m puking something out, I’m either pushing the lever on the porcelain throne or I’m grabbing a mop and am not in the best of moods. I prefer a different metaphor, though I’m not sure if I want to formulate it: giving it a voice or defining it is kind of like boxing it in, making it final, like an equation. Saying “This how I did it:” versus This is how I do it:” is a subtle difference where you’re not beholden to your statement. “This is how I do it:” gives your subconscious (or at least mine) the directive that you must follow the guidelines you stated, versus the freedom of saying “This is how I did it:” which means you can refer back to what you did but still gives you the option of trying something different. It reminds me of when I was writing music: I’d want to write a piece that was hard and driving, and sometimes a catchy country western tune would spring from my fingers. I’d fight to get back to the hard-driving prog-rock genre tossing out what could have been an interesting piece in it’s own right, the intended music would come in time, just not this time.  If your muse wants to sway to a country western beat, go ahead and dance with them: they’ll love you more for it and won’t go off and dance with someone else, leaving you alone in the middle of the floor.

35473 words, ~ 1000 WPH

It’s difficult to stop when you’re on a roll.  The chapter is moving along and there’s a bit right in the middle as Samuel strikes off on his own in the city, the Zorphans panhandling with Lou. While I could continue on I know stopping here will spark me tomorrow to continue on, and letting it gestate can only help.  Delayed Gratification 101.

Holding steady at approximately 1000 WPH. now at 33,321 words, and 79% of goal.

It’s difficult writing animal interaction with humans when they don’t talk. Samuel and Lou converse of course, but neither of them talk with the children, which means they must convey their ideas with their actions.  It’s fun but a little difficult to move the story along, especially when the animals are trying to make a point with the humans.  The humans can ask the animals questions, but the animals can only act or react.

Also need to rewrite the “shelter” – was a long-shot initially, then the idea of a camouflaged camper came to mind…

900 WPH, 75% done, 31,424 words.  Hope to exceed my 42,000 word goal.

Squeezed in a couple of hours with a couple of interruptions for Easter egg hunting and some diversions for the younger one while our eldest slept in some. Dove back into gradeschool for some inspiration for a conflict. Had to name one of the minor characters and the name of one of the main characters finally surfaced, will now have to go through and replace “the boy” with “Dan”, but may wait until the first draft is finished. “The girl” has a tentative name of “Ciss” (sis), but we’ll see what happens.
About two hours of writing, give or take, at 500 WPH.
26692 / 42000 words. 64% done!

My current writing is braided around work, feeding the kids, getting them to do or helping them do their homework, house chores, dog walking and other necessities like sleeping and feeding myself.  Right now writing is a secondary part of my life, a passion instead of what brings food to the table and keeps a roof over my head.  Thoughts of a second income producing “trading time for money” option nudges me, but instead I press on, brown-bagging it and keeping shoes that should be replaced for just a little longer, making small minor trade-offs so I can keep going.

There are days when I think the “story well” has dried up completely; when new ideas don’t arrive at my beckon, other days ideas flood in like our cellar when the sump pump decides to quit.

I’m finding during the mornings I can squeeze out about 500 words, sometimes the evenings allow another 400-500 words between everything else that typically pops up.

My point is: don’t despair if you can’t create a set time to write, write some each day, whenever you can. I picked up the chain again with by getting up one half-hour earlier each day, which allows me approximately 3500 words per week.  To create a novella that puts me at 15 weeks (40,00+ words) or a short novel at 20 weeks (at 70,000 words). Another tactic is to review the next story beat before I go to bed, and once I finish my morning writing to allow my inner-muse/subconscious to mull over what to do.

To summarize:

• write every day, even if it’s only 30 minutes. Set aside some time
• review your story beats or what’s going to happen in the next chapter or paragraph by asking yourself “So then what happens?”
• look at the year in review – “future pacing” as it’s sometimes called. If you write a set amount every day, how many words will you have reached one year from now?

With that, we find Samuel and Lou have gotten closer to Lou’s goal of finding a ham, though Lou has never conversed with his dinner before, and the well laid plans of humans sometimes have unintended consequences.

We’re at 25651 / 42000 words. 61% done on Samuel’s next adventure, though my pomodoro timer is currently fighting off zombies with the help of my daughter and her planting tactics, so I’m not sure what the words per hour are.