A.M. Jenkins's Blog, page 17

Am second-guessing myself re. chapters 3, 4, and 5. I've ...

Am second-guessing myself re. chapters 3, 4, and 5. I've looked at it too long and can't tell whether I'm shoehorning stuff in. Normally this would mean I need to lay off--but I can't, because people are waiting to see it. So I've been going over and over it, and when I see a spot that doesn't seem smooth, I zero in and think about whether it's going the way it would naturally go if left to its own devices. The unsmooth spots are getting smaller and smaller, but like I said I've lost all pers...

I was correct; the first five chapters are almost nailed....

I was correct; the first five chapters are almost nailed. I thought I could get them finished and sent by the end of the day, but there's still some places where the pacing stutters just for a split second, and I'm too tired to fix them right now. So, d*mn. I need to get this done so I can move on. Oh well, will bear down tomorrow and try to get it right.

On Deadliest Warrior, it's usually the case (not always, ...

On Deadliest Warrior, it's usually the case (not always, but usually) that the guy with the later technology wins, so of course you'd expect Vlad the Impaler to beat Sun Tzu. But it just seems wrong, somehow, to see the prototype for Dracula cut both hands off the general who wrote The Art of War, and impale him, twitching, on a stake. It just seems wrong.

OTOH, maybe there's something to think about here re. planning/theory vs. no-holds-barred brute force.

Worked on first five chapters instead of chapter six, and...

Worked on first five chapters instead of chapter six, and I think I've almost got them nailed. If I'm right, I should have 60 pages (double-spaced) ready to go by the end of the week, which will be plenty to fulfill the agreed-upon partial. And it ends on a nice hook, so tra la! Fingers crossed that this reads as smoothly tomorrow.

Working, working, working. I've got everything loosely sk...

Working, working, working. I've got everything loosely sketched out through chapter 5, but I guess it's about time to read it over and see if it's very far off the mark. Not looking forward to that. I've looked at the first two chapters so much that I can't even get a fresh read on them by plying my usual tricks to squeeze just one more read out of a tired ms. But I need that fresh read in order check the flow and buildup on everything that follows.

Hmm, maybe I won't read it tomorrow, but wil...

Very busy. Zero time for my own writing. However, today I...

Very busy. Zero time for my own writing. However, today I woke up having decided that when I go back to the former GN, I'm going to reslant it toward the idea of wanting something.

"Some say that the most beautiful thing on this dark earth is a host of horsemen; some say an army of infantry; others say a fleet of ships. But I say it is that which you desire."

I think I'm going to pull the whole thing around from not knowing what you want to not even being allowed to know what you want, to knowi...

Deadliest Warrior is having Attila the Hun vs. Alexander ...

Deadliest Warrior is having Attila the Hun vs. Alexander the Great. Oh, happy day!

Circumstances forced me to finish and send the dystopian synopsis late last week, so I did that. Otherwise, I'm just thinking about the ms at odd hours, and today a nice meaningful chunk of backstory came to me. I'm supposed to be working on getting the first few chapters, maybe 30-50 pages, together for agent (I've got about 80 pages, but they're not in order). However, I can't figure out what needs to be in th...

Yesterday I spent most of the time thinking about other p...

Yesterday I spent most of the time thinking about other people's mss, and then I worked some on the dystopian WIP. In my WIP I jumped around doing I don't know what all, because I'd start one scene, and then whatever I was working on would make me realize I'd better remember to do something else in a another scene. Being worried I'd forget exactly what needed to be done, I'd jump to the other scene and do a bit, then realize another piece I'd better remember and jump again. And while jumping...

Worked on chapter two today. It's funny how when you slow...

Worked on chapter two today. It's funny how when you slow down to consider where everyone is and what's really going on in the scene--if you stop to set it, thinking about what's around the characters, how they're moving, what they're wearing, etc.--little bits develop in and of themselves to flesh the whole thing out.

Ah. E-mail just in--more w-f-h up for grabs. Must take it. So, back to juggling like mad. Oh well, at least I got some good solid work done on my own stuff.

The way it's going to work for now is: first violent scen...

The way it's going to work for now is: first violent scene, MC beats the bejeebers out of a guy with his bare fists. He's cool, almost regretful about it, just trying to make a point so he can head off future trouble. He isn't aware of how torn up he is about it inside. Second violent scene, MC is in a rage, vengeful, full of hate, enjoying the guy's distress and trying to prolong it. This time it's physically removed, with a gun so there's no sensation or contact involved. This time he steps...