Clarion Write-A-Thon Day 9

30 Jun 2014 Leave a comment

Target goal: 25,000 words

Target daily goal: 775 words

Today’s word count: 994

Total words written: 6,521 words

Well, according to the Clarion Write-A-Thon word counter, I am now officially 1/4 of the way through my goal of 25,000 words. *Tiger Woods fist pump*

It was a struggle to write today. I had gotten some crucial information from a research source for my upcoming novel, The Camille Chronicles. This required rewriting certain parts of the book to incorporate these changes, which would lend a more authentic flavor. I’m all about accuracy and authenticity, so I didn’t mind, but I also lost track of time. I got to 681 word and wanted to quit for the day, because I had been working on the final draft of The Camille Chronicles for most of the day. But I pushed through, wrote another 310 words, and managed to squeak in today’s 994 words under the wire. *whew*

My main character in the Write-A-Thon project has now been thrust into a journey where she will undergo trials that will reveal her true self. I now have to figure out what those trials will be. There can be the basic issues of trust: of herself, of others. There may also be the issue of finding out where she truly fits in the grand scheme of things, if anywhere. This will result in a profound alteration of the character’s character; all that I need to figure out is how dark do I want her to go. Will I have her retain a core of her usual ebullience, or will I have her become totally hardened (like Arya Stark in The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin)? It’s kind of exciting, actually; we as writers tend to infuse our characters with aspects of ourselves. It will be interesting to see how much darkness resides in me, that I can give to the character.

I really need to figure out where I put my copy of  The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogel. It is an extremely helpful book and will come in handy as I figure out the rest of this book’s trajectory. I’ve had it since 2003 and it never gets old. I should probably get the latest edition but until then, Old Faithful will have to do.

I’m about to crash. .Thanks for stopping by.

 

Aside by Tiffany M. Davis

Clarion Write-A-Thon: Day 4

25 Jun 2014 Leave a comment

Target goal: 25,000 words

Target daily goal: 775 words

Today’s word count: 1,036

Total words written: 3,007

Today was a slow writing day, even though I wrote more than my daily quota. Mainly because I was gone most of the day, but also because the story is taking me in a different direction, and I don’t quite know what that direction is yet.

It’s exciting, yet scary, when a story tells you where it wants to go–which is sometimes a direction other than which you planned. I have to keep reminding myself that this is a first draft, and just to get everything down and sort it out later in the second and subsequent drafts. This contest is less about finishing a saleable product, than proving to myself that I can write a viable sci fi/speculative fiction story.

In charting this new direction, I had to throw out a lot of what I’d done in the original version of the story, written seven years ago. I will say this: it was crap. There were some nuggets of good stuff there, and that is the stuff upon which I’m building for the Clarion workshop. But 95% of the story needs to be chucked in the garbage because I was trying too hard to be someone else. This is a rookie writing mistake in general, but it hits closer to home for me because I have never written sci fi/spec fict before. I wanted to be like those authors whom I admire and read:  Octavia Butler, Anne McCaffrey, Samuel Delaney, Charles Saunders, etc. However, I am not them, and I need to find my own way.

One of those paths of self-discovery revolves around my characters. In the original version of the story, my character was 25 years old. It is very difficult for me to write than young; even when I started this story seven years ago, I wasn’t 25.  Perhaps that’s part of why I am having some difficulty getting in the Zone today: I can’t get inside my character’s head. I can’t think like a 25-year-old anymore, and I’m glad I can’t. You couldn’t pay me to go back to my twenties.  My solution is to write an older character, in my age bracket. That makes it a bit easier, and can better navigate the story.

Anyway, I’m glad that I pushed through and managed to write 1,036 words today. I’m getting a bit clearer on where the story is going. Plus, I got some exciting news about my upcoming book release, so I admit to having a somewhat scattered focus today. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me. Exciting, scary, fun.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Aside by Tiffany M. Davis

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