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Agony Aunt
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Today I mostly wrote ... the word count thread.
message 3901:
by
M.T.
(new)
Jan 10, 2022 02:28AM
It's a pleasure, and yay! Great going! I hope the next four run smoothly!
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Alicia wrote: "I am ecstatic. It took digging into the roots of procrastination (as when I wrote my thesis back in 1977), and answering all the questions in writing, and then I just finished the scene and ran it ..."panning for gold is easier than writing :-)
Jim wrote: "Alicia wrote: "I am ecstatic. It took digging into the roots of procrastination (as when I wrote my thesis back in 1977), and answering all the questions in writing, and then I just finished the sc..."That’s true, although I suspect you get a much stiffer back panning for gold! :-)
Anna wrote: "Well done, Alicia. I managed about the same in the two slots I allocated to writing this week. As I hadn't done any since about the beginning of December, I had to reread the previous chapters. Sti..."Every word means
1) closer to the end, and
2) you can still produce the magic, albeit slowly.
Thanks, Anna.
M.T. wrote: "Good going Alicia and Anna, I managed a blog post but it was 3k!Cheers
MTM"
Another one of your thoughtful posts which reflect life as it is actually lived - parents and all. You're handling a tough job with grace and humour. Even if it doesn't feel like success sometimes.
631 words into the next one; and I seem to be getting better at not going off on tangents as much, so most will stay in some synonym form.Every little bit gets me closer to writing the big ones at the end.
'To be concluded' is going to be an interesting spot in the story, I hope.
Scene finished - 2045 words, all edited and polished.Last bit came out in a rush once I decided how it would happen - and then took forever to edit because my brain supplied so many duplicate words that I couldn't let them stand.
Lifetime membership in Autocrit definitely worth the cost - I've put about five million words through it.
Well done Alicia. I used to use Autocrit - enlightening and fun.
It flags MY bad habits, and lets me correct those at the end. I want it to do that, so we get along. I don't need business English grammar suggestions from a bot, but don't feel like writing my own program to count adverbs.
Alicia wrote: "M.T. wrote: "Good going Alicia and Anna, I managed a blog post but it was 3k!Cheers
MTM"
Another one of your thoughtful posts which reflect life as it is actually lived - parents and all. You'r..."
Bless you, thanks. Fabulous progress on your wip! So good. I have done zilch. In my defence I broke my phone! Eeek. Hope to write a blog post tomorrow. I've also been playing with tiktok posting silly vids.
Alicia wrote: "Scene finished - 2045 words, all edited and polished.Last bit came out in a rush once I decided how it would happen - and then took forever to edit because my brain supplied so many duplicate wor..."
Well done!
I finished crits for my group and did a ton of work on the next submission for new round, based on the input I'd had from the previous circulation of this book. Then returned to the read through of the next one I want to self publish.
Pam wrote: "Then returned to the read through of the next one I want to self publish. ..."The steps accumulate, and then the next one is ready to go. Good progress.
I've still failed to do much on the w.i.p. but I have managed a blog post again this week.
And it's a good one.
Glad you enjoyed it! :-) I feel, with the blog, that at least I'm writing something. Also finally started marking up the edits I've done last night so I wrote a little (woot) but ideally I want to push on through to some semblance of an end and then bash it into shape when I'm done. Was rather shocked to discover there is over 70,000 words of it. Although I'll probably do my usual and end up throwing a quarter of them away!
Funny how that works. You shouldn't be surprised any more - it's your writing style.I know I'm rarely surprised by mine. Happy it's done. Glad it came out okay. On to the next one. But not surprised.
I keep trying to hone my process and make it more efficient. Maybe disappointed is a more apt descriptor than surprised. Mwahwharhgh!
After fighting brain fog for days, I finally corralled the little grey cells and finished another one today, including editing - 1160 words.They don't all have to be War and Peace!
Today I mostly wrote … a blog post two and a half thousand words of wittering. I must get back to the WIP soon, I really want to know what happens next. https://mtmcguire.co.uk/2022/01/22/wi...
Thanks, MT. And I immediately started on the gathering phase for the next one. I've set myself the task of four scenes finished by Jan. 31 - we'll see how that goes. This one took from Jan. 12 to Jan. 21 - brain fog was bad.
Alicia wrote: "Thanks, MT. And I immediately started on the gathering phase for the next one. I've set myself the task of four scenes finished by Jan. 31 - we'll see how that goes. This one took from Jan. 12 to J..."But you still did it, which is amazing! Hope the next one is easier. :-)
Thanks - you have an appreciation of the ravages of brain fog - sorry it's from experience.
Alicia wrote: "Thanks - you have an appreciation of the ravages of brain fog - sorry it's from experience."Yeh, I'm really keen to write at the moment but despite the fact my heart says go, my brain is very firmly saying no. I am managing to do some editing though and I've ticked off a fair bit of admin.
Well … it was like pulling teeth but I managed 933 words today. I think I might be going wrong so I might have to start editing, but at the same time, I’m desperate to find out what happens.
Good work!I have just begun the rewrite of The Truth About Trees, having to work from the 4th draft, having somehow lost the final and completed 6th draft!
Managed some tidying up and a few words before breakfast, but then had to stop, which was a pity as I have the rest of the chapter in my head and need to get it down. However, today the weather was great and so I headed for the Cheviot Hills and had a superb day out. Life is not all about writing and one needs to recharge the batteries. So I am hoping I'll be firing on at least 3.5 cylinders tomorrow!
M.T. wrote: "Well … it was like pulling teeth but I managed 933 words today. I think I might be going wrong so I might have to start editing, but at the same time, I’m desperate to find out what happens."Ditto - 711 words into the next scene, and don't know how much of it is going to eventually stick.
This is our life.
Along with the administrative mountains of trivia.
Glad you managed another chunk.
Good work, Alicia! My latest novel came out last week, so I have more impetus now to crack on with this one.
Stuart wrote: "Good work, Alicia! My latest novel came out last week, so I have more impetus now to crack on with this one."I wish I had the speed - I plod on forward, but don't have the ability to pivot and change gears to take advantage of an opportunity. Hope it keeps you focused and productive.
Thanks Alicia. My approach does have its downsides, though. I tend to write in bursts due to an inherent lack of focus which, I think, is something I need to try and control. Still, eleven novels written and published in the last eleven years, whilst having a full time job (for most of those years) as a mental health nurse, is not too bad.
Fabulous work Alicia and Stuart. I do about 2k this week but I have to write a blog post now. Only just starting! Oops!
Keep at it, everyone.Next one finished: 37.4, 1929 words.
Took HOURS to edit - brain fog keeps making me reuse words - but it always ends up tighter and closer to what I want.
Had an interesting day yesterday: I spent an hour talking with a PR person I connected with on Writer Unboxed, one of the blogs I look at daily.I realized how starved I am for someone to talk writing with, real time, in real life - even though she was in New York, I'm in California, and the 'real life' was three time zones' different. And the in-person part was Facetime.
Ah, the marvels of technology!
She was fascinating, seemed interested, and is very busy, but I seem to have intrigued her with my comments on her post, so we'll see if anything develops.
Since she immediately started talking changes, cover, editing - but hadn't read ANYTHING publicly available because she said she like to go in blank, it was also utterly exhausting for me, and I didn't expect - and didn't get - to do anything else useful yesterday. She'll get back to me in a couple of months.
If we hadn't seemed to have made a personal connection (does she do that with all potential clients? Dunno. Alicia is always skeptical), I wouldn't think further about it, but I've always wondered if the right marketing campaign would be helpful, and more importantly, have a positive return on what might be a considerable expenditure regardless of whether anything is improved for me.
Meanwhile, I have a book to finish, covers to do, etc., because I can't start thinking about pie-in-the-sky.
I did tell her it's all about the books. And I will judge that when I hear back.
Oh, and a one-hour 'chat' left me completely exhausted. Which is why I don't try these things often, even by email.
The long time lines of the pros...I need a virtual assistant to do a long list of known tasks - write a press release, change something small on the cover, add the IT award to my descriptions, etc., etc., etc. - but they all take time to explain, and I, personally, feel as if I heed to have done them myself before I let someone else do them for me.
And, of course, when you hire someone else, they get paid regardless - which can be a constant drain for the kinds of things you normally do yourself when they become critical.
All entrepreneurs, including authors, eventually reach this state: can't do everything, at least not efficiently, oneself.
It is an issue but then, as you say, it's an issue with every business as it grows
Me too - I could do with a marketing expert and several other experts. I like doing the writing, the editing (though I have a couple of excellent beta readers), the formatting (unless there's a hiccup) and of course I like pressing the 'publish' button. But marketing is very time consuming and definitely not my forte. However, Alicia, there are some pros but also the cons.At last I am about to start the first read through of the first draft. Progress. I've been super busy with 'life' since the run-up to Christmas but any minute now, I'll be opening that draft.
Keep going guys and gals (am I allowed to say that?)
Stuart wrote: "Good work!I have just begun the rewrite of The Truth About Trees, having to work from the 4th draft, having somehow lost the final and completed 6th draft!"
Lost the 6th! Ouch!
Yep! Laptop crashed. Didn't save it on the cloud and IT lads couldn't retrieve the files. It's already better than it was last time, so it will all work out it in the end, I'm sure.
Yep! The universe must have had a reason... ahem!
Anna wrote: "But marketing is very time consuming and definitely not my forte...."Nor mine! I thought I'd get a little more of the word of mouth kind by now, but while people will say good things when asked, they seem reluctant to button-hole their friends and demand, "You must read this." Perils of being an introvert!
Stuart wrote: "Yep! Laptop crashed. Didn't save it on the cloud and IT lads couldn't retrieve the files. It's already better than it was last time, so it will all work out it in the end, I'm sure."Ouch. I hope you have made backup plans going forward.
I agonize over every word. Don't think I could do it twice! But I operate a scene at a time, and that scene goes from nothing to finished before I move on. I have no usable 'drafts' to go back to.
But it sounds as if you're pleased with the accidental results.
Using the cloud thing now as backup, so I guess that's progress! I usually write in huge bursts, but in this rewrite, I've taken an approach similar to your own, Alicia. Taking a while to get used to, but I am pleased with how it's going so far. I think not drinking huge amounts of cheap red wine whilst writing has certainly made me more focused!
Not as much as you'd think. It was always VERY cheap wine!
Stuart wrote: "Using the cloud thing now as backup, so I guess that's progress! I usually write in huge bursts, but in this rewrite, I've taken an approach similar to your own, Alicia. Taking a while to get used ..."Definitely progress, then. Usually, losing stuff makes people think more about backups, except for the folks who think lightning doesn't strike twice, which is silly, because it does: it hits the thing closest to a point, electrically.
Yep. I actually lost the first 30k of the novel I just had published. Had to start that one completely from scratch again. But, it was definitely an improvement. I may have hit upon a new writing process! Not sure it will catch on though!
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