A.M. Jenkins's Blog, page 18

Am getting opinions on first chapter (of dystopia ms) and...

Am getting opinions on first chapter (of dystopia ms) and a cr*ppy draft of the synopsis. I hate writing synopses. Bleh.

Started a new scene, a violent one, but I will have two scenes that are similarly constructed, one earlier in the ms and one later, and I need to think which one shows what. What does each one do in the story, what is its job? They're both about the MC hurting someone. I can't get a bead on whether he's mad or cold about it in this first scene, whether it's deliberate or in ...

Late last night I ended up going over the first chapter o...

Late last night I ended up going over the first chapter of the dystopia ms, trying to get it into shape. Feels great. To be working on it, that is. Right now it looks like the first chapter may be several scenes, which is not my usual way of doing things. Usually I do one scene, and the chapter ends. I'm not sure--will look at it at some point today, I hope. I've got other people's novels on my mind and need to organize my thoughts on those, too.

So far it really does look like having to think...

Worked on other writing-related stuff this morning, then ...

Worked on other writing-related stuff this morning, then pulled up dystopian work and tried to put a synopsis together. Didn't get very far. It takes me forever to try to write something like that. I am putting it aside and asking fellow writers for advice to keep me focused next time I pick it up.

It has taken me years to be able to even answer the question "So, what's your book about?" for any of my novels. Now I can usually answer with a one-liner--but only because I figure nobody really ca...

W-f-h: done. For now. Probably.Yesterday I took 45 minute...

W-f-h: done. For now. Probably.

Yesterday I took 45 minutes that should have been spent on something else, and worked on the background info/synopsis/whatever-it-is for the dystopian ms. I really have no idea what this side info needs to look like or how far I need to dig into it. I don't think I'll go all that far.

I was trying to think where the story takes place. This won't make any difference to the reader, but I need to have pieces of it fixed in my head if I want to move on. At the moment...

I couldn't get the Story From Hell finished Sunday (lord ...

I couldn't get the Story From Hell finished Sunday (lord knows I tried), so yesterday I got up early to try and finish it before 9 a.m. New York time. I set the alarm for five, but decided I'd get up as early as four. In the morning. To write. Egad.

So I woke at four, got up and dressed, ate breakfast--and then realized I'd accidentally reset the time on my clock as I was setting the alarm. So I'd gotten up at 3:00 a.m, not 4.

No point in going back to bed, so I went to work. Still didn't finis...

Horrible last couple of days, writing-wise. This last w-f...

Horrible last couple of days, writing-wise. This last w-f-h story is the story from h*ll. I should have turned it in Wed. but it took longer than I expected, so I stayed up late and got up early to get it done (son #2: "Have you been working all night?") but that took longer than I expected, too, and then when it was finally almost done, I realized it sucked and I couldn't turn it in like that. I have no confidence that I can fix it before Monday morning, and it's therefore likely to be late ...

No work of my own; all w-f-h.Was thinking about former GN...

No work of my own; all w-f-h.

Was thinking about former GN. There's nothing driving the story, I'm just telling it. It's an interesting story, but not interesting enough. Missing: What does the MC want?

Well, she doesn't want anything. That's the point. By the end, she decides not only to want something, but to take it. So how does that make a book? Why should the reader care?

I suppose the thing to do--the thing that makes sense--is to show her wanting stuff but not getting it, to shut her down...

Have been working on dys. ms--just writing stuff from all...

Have been working on dys. ms--just writing stuff from all over, wherever I feel like it, which at this point seems to be mostly from the first third or fourth of the book. No, wait, there's one piece that goes later, although I don't know where yet.

I need to get the place where the characters live set in my head. The actual building. I'm not sure what it looks like or what it's made of, and I can't get some of these scenes written until I understand where they're taking place. So...maybe toda...

Okay, I'm finally down to one w-f-h story left to write a...

Okay, I'm finally down to one w-f-h story left to write and one to revise (deadline in maybe five days or so?), so I worked on my dystopia WIP today, and will continue working on it this weekend, I hope. I'll write better on the w-f-h after my brain has been cleared of it for a while. In other words, I need to wash all that stuff out of my mind for a day or two with other kinds of writing (my own!), so I can start fresh when I pick it up again.

I want to get a good first chapter (of dys.) to s...

I am p.o.'d.First of all, I saw late yesterday afternoon ...

I am p.o.'d.

First of all, I saw late yesterday afternoon that TCM was having an Akira Kurosawa marathon. Who the h*ll has a full day to sit around and watch AK movies? Not me! I saw the very end of Stray Dogs, which I've never seen, and about ten minutes in the middle of 7 Samurai where they go set the bandit's hideout on fire, and I went to bed then got up at midnight just to see the opening credits of Yojimbo. But I've got other stuff to do, so I missed everything else.

And then it hit me: t...