Granted, it's now halfway through the
month and this is only the second time I've updated you all... but
those first couple weeks, man--that was rough!!
The Situation
First of all, my current work situation
has me frazzled and tired out most days, since I'm either sitting and
talking, or pacing on high alert in a recess (noisy and chaotic) or
crossing guard (vehicles and their drivers who do not go 20 MPH IN
A SCHOOL ZONE YOU MONSTER) situation,
so when I get home, there is a lot of
"de-compressing" in order, and by the time I've got my
energy level back, it's after dinner and there are only a couple
hours before I start nodding off in front of the screen... So yeah, I
spent most of the first two weeks lagging hopelessly behind.
Second,
I started plugging away at my two projects, only to realize that, to
my chagrin, thinking that I already had all my planning
done and not doing any planning during October to get my mind into
gear for November was a mistake. I
had been avoiding these projects for so long, that when I finally sat
down to write them in earnest... the words just were not
there. I had "fallen out of
my characters' heads" as the literary expression goes, and it
was going to take a few days to get back into the swing of
things--and with every day that ticked by when I was scrambling for
even a thousand words, I fell a thousand more words
behind.
It's
been about three days of good, solid writing, though--so I think it's
safe to say that I'm back! Things are humming, I am on track and
slowly working my way ahead of the curve... and a holiday weekend is
coming up, giving me even more of a chance to get all squared away
before the month is through! I can still win this thing, I know it!
Now
for the story updates!
The
Last Inkweaver
I'm
nearing the end of Chapter 22, and we are finally out
of the clutches of Ronni the Bounty Hunter Queen! Dearie me, that
first "transitional" scene, going from "this is
horrible" to "now what" was really hard... I mean, at
first I had thought that I felt like tweaking the plan... but I only
got a couple hundred words in before I stalled and ended up having to
go back to the "point of deviation" and write it all back
through again, more or less like I planned it. I am very much amazed
at how much more involved it
all got--actual descriptions of the house in the woods, the Pit where
she keeps her prisoners, and the whole community they've formed down
there, as well as getting amazingly prepared for their eventual
escape, should it happen in their lifetimes.
This
particular scenario also marks a big turning point for Callista and I
think things really came together in such a way that it's going to be
simple enough to bring that out for the reader. Being able to bring
in a new character and open up the Wordspinner concept into a more
widespread area, I think, also adds a bit of cohesiveness, so that
I'm not restricting the action in the book to only my
main characters, like I did the first time around. Plus
who doesn't love a good recurring character? Knowing where my story
is going to end up lets me put in a lot more foreshadowing, that the
reader won't see coming... this is going to be so much fun!
The
Sheriff's Showdown
Two
chapters down, eight more to go! I know I should really be focused on
Inkweaver, as that's
the project I really want to FINISH this
year, in spite of the fact that the more I add to it, the more it
feels like the story just gets longer and longer, and I'm still not
getting any closer to the end! But all in all, I'm really happy about
the way that this one has been turning out, too.
Just
like Inkweaver, I am
finding myself adding more secondary characters, and giving the
setting and the world itself a little more color and variation,
instead of narrowing my focus onto one or two people around which the
entire story revolves. Among those are "Tru and Pru", a
couple of good, church-going, spinster sisters who run a
bed-and-breakfast in town and are always making other people's
business their own. Actually taking the time to describe what's going
on around Laura, and not just what has direct bearing on her, I
think, is helping me form a clearer picture of what's going on, and a
broader scope--and it is my hope that this will also be the case for
my readers. As matters stand, I think I'm going to set that aside for
now and "ride the wave" that is Inkweaver for
as long as I can before returning to "the adventures of Laura."
All in all, it's coming off pretty successfully and I'm happy with
it!
>>>>>>>>
So
there you have it! Two weeks down, two more to go... "The End of
Inkweaver Or Bust"
is the name of the game! Wish me luck!
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