Here, There be a Writer

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Look at All Those Words

Let just jump into it, eh?


This week:
      *Reading: I got to part 2 of Windhaven by George R. R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle. It's a good story, but there are times when I think the story is bogged down by itself, if that makes any sense. I have not read any of the Game of Thrones series. I am on my second go of Windhaven and hoping that this time I can at least finish it. Also been working my way through Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman. It's an anthology of short stories and a bit of poetry. His stories are so different and not what I expect, but I still like them and find them intriguing. Hoping to finish Trigger Warning by week's end. READ TOTAL: about 60+ pages.
     *Blogging: posted a short blog about some of my favourite poets, the ones that inspire me. Read it here. WORD TOTAL: 369 words.
     *Novel: I revised 10 pages of the manuscript (The Real Road Trip). I ended up doing more than the small fixes. Some spot just needed drastic help. The plan is to revise 10 pages each day that I set to editing. Going to try to refrain from major edits, but sometimes the plot needs major surgery. I end up fixing it then and there. Probably not the best thing to do. EDIT TOTAL: 10 pages.
      *Social Media/Visiting: I have not missed a day this week (since Sunday). Holding steady at 4 visits/comments per day.
      *Theatre Stuffs: have more sound/music for The Mousetrap. Rehearsals are going well, now if the weather will co-operate on Sunday nights/Monday mornings. Have a TV interview lined up to promote the show, and a couple of places to submit press releases to. Poster is done and beginning to make appearances around town. Isn't it sexy?

This Week (to do):
      *Writing: have a flash fiction challenge to write for, due by 2/27 for the Google page #writestuff (see here). And there the Doctor Who fan-fiction I started and see what can be done with it. I forgot to print it up and thus it became buried.
      *Novel: edit 10 pages a day, at least twice before Sunday (if possible). Valentine's Day is Saturday and the Hubs asked what I wanted to do. I told him if we see a movie, it should be Paddington. Because!
      *Bogging: 1 a week. Technically I am done for the week, but that was a small post so I am working on new blog ideas.
      *Submitting: at least 1 before Sunday.
      *Reading: finish Trigger Warning (Gaiman)

I've just had an idea! Lightening! Brilliance!

To help my goals be SMART goals (see below), I am going to link to the journals I submit to, tally word counts, pages read. It might be lofty, but I think that will help my goal become SMART.

Specific–- target a specific area for improvement.
Measurable - quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.
Achievable - specify goals that are reachable.
Realistic - state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
Time-related - specify when the result(s) can be achieved.

A Round of Words in 80 Days, a blog challenge that know you have a life. Stop into the Blog Hop, "I wrote this, here's some cheesecake!" (~Tamara)

Also, WIPpet Wednesday is today and since I fully started my revision process I am sharing a bit of The Real Road Trip. Today's date is 2/11 so let's do 13 lines (2 + 11 = 13). Go and visit the other WIPeteers here. They have muffins! :-)

“I don’t want to,” Selynee said in a hushed and garbled voice.

“Excuse me? What did you say?” Seylnee's mother crouched down and grabbed her daughter by the shoulder. “That is your Father’s Boss’s Daughter out there, young lady! She has no friends in town, just moved here and needs a friend. Your father is looking to get a promotion! You be a gracious host, right now, to His Boss’s daughter.” She pulled Selynee off the couch, looking disgusted. “You will not ruin this, young lady.”

“I don’t wanna, Mom.”

“Don’t start with me,” threatened her mother. Selynee looked at her mother standing by the couch.

Okay, that it for now, Dear Readers. What have you been up to? How are your goals? Are you surviving the winter? Been fighting the Winter Blues bad this week. It's sunny today and above 30 degrees, yet it will not last. Due to be 6 degrees on Friday. Sheesh!! Have an awesome rest of the week, Dear Readers!

Something for any of us in the midst of Winter! I started listening to my Hawaiian CD today. :-)


22 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recommendation on "Trigger Warning." I have one of his other collections, "Smoke and Mirrors," and I enjoyed that one. His stuff is different--and I mean that as a good thing.

    I love SMART goals. I do daily and weekly word-count goals, and they definitely motivate me to write every day. This year I also have a yearly goal (at least 300K), and seeing how a little writing every day can add up also motivates me.

    I'm wondering how things are going to go when Seylnee actually meets her Father's Boss's Daughter!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do like to share books, stories, poetry with fellow writers/readers and get suggestions, as I don't have enough to read as is. heh heh!

      I'm trying. Have to start somewhere, right?

      Oh, seeing as I am actually editing my NaNo Novel this year, I think lots more will be coming out. :-)

      Delete
  2. I've been reading a YA called GAMER GIRL and the mother in that so should meet up with Selynee's. As a mom myself, I do my best not to be this kind of mom. Of course, the instant something goes wrong (not Selynee's fault) the mom will blame her. Such is the hard life of a spawn.

    I like your SMART goals. You seem to have them well under control too. Keep up the good work and break a leg with the show! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really tried with Selynee's mom. She an interesting character. More on her in subsequent WIPpet posts ~maniacal laugh~ :-)

      Thanks!

      Delete
  3. Aww. I manage to feel bad for both of them. I can totally see the mom feeling like the pressure is on and everything needs to be perfect. And then there's Selynee, who's either shy or ill. :-( Nice contrast. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. It seems like nearly all the mothers I write are overbearing! Nice job showing a picture of this relationship.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, gosh. I remember those days as a kid,having to talk to some really distant cousin or kid of my parents' friends or whatever. Forced interactions rarely produce anything good.

    I've read two other of Neil Gaiman's short story collections. He does write some really weird stuff. I own Smoke and Mirrors, and I read another one (can't recall the title) at my cousin's house. That one contained a very strange and sexually explicit "sequel" to the Narnia books that left me going, "Huh?"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As a fantasy reader in much of my youth, it is a genre that i always go back to. Although now I read pretty much everything.

      If you want a less weird Neil book or story, try The Graveyard Book, Amy, or Coraline. I find his stories engaging and character driven, and sometime about the darker side intrigues me,

      Delete
  6. I am wondering what link to the journals to which you submit means? Just work them into a post and hot link them? Sounds very productive to me .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was what I was thinking. Trying to be as clear as possible about it.

      Delete
  7. Nice progress on your goals!

    How do you pronounce the name "Selynee"? Sell-EE-knee? (You have it as Seylnee there once ;) )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IOops! :-) t's Selynee and yup Sel-Len-Ee is the pronunciation.

      Delete
  8. Coerced social interactions seem a lot more ripe for trouble than a simple, "My daughter needs a little time to warm up to new people."

    I mean, it's her home, and it's been invaded, and her mother grabbed her. How many adults would do well, under those circumstances?

    Too many grown-ups hold kids to standards they can't meet themselves...if Mom tried for a situation where everyone could win, the girls might find they could get along, maybe even be friends...

    But Father's Boss's Daughter makes the other girl a commodity, and adds way too much pressure...yikes!

    Great job on the goals. I haven't read Neil Gaiman, yet, but he's on my short list of new authors to explore...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh the story is delightfully (if I can use that) complicated. I have only grazed the surface. More coming in the next couple of WIPpet posts..... :-)

      Delete
  9. I can fully relate to Selynee. I would not want to go talk to the new girl. And poor mom, having to force the issue for dad's sake. Hopefully it works out for everyone and Selynee winds up with a new friend.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congratulations on meeting your goals! The poster for The Mousetrap looks so nice. Are Neil Gaiman's short stories any good? I like some of his books (though couldn't get on with some of them) but I've not read any of his short works.

    I could sympathise with Selynee's mother right up until "your father's looking to get a promotion". Not the best reason to browbeat your daughter into talking to another child... poor Selynee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thsnk you!!

      Oh, Neil is my new favourite author, well I still have James Owen and Anne/Todd McCaffrey. But anyway, I have loved everything I have thus far. The favourite having been The Graveyard Book, Neverwhere, and Oceasn at the End of the Lane.

      Delete
    2. I loved Neverwhere when I was younger (it also had a great British TV adaptation in the ...90s, I think?) and The Graveyard Book is brilliant, though I've not read Ocean At The End Of The Lane yet. Have you read American Gods? Somehow I couldn't get into it at all, but I know people who say it's one of his best books.

      Also, have you read Good Omens, by him and Terry Pratchett? That's one of my absolute favourite books because unlike a lot of co-authored novels, you can't tell where one author ends and another begins. They made a good team. :)

      (I think I'm just pestering you with Gaiman-related questions now!)

      Delete
    3. I have read American Gods, and it was different than his other stuff, I still found it engaging. I think Neverwhere and Graveyard Book are still my favourite.

      Good Omens, not yet. I did buy it though and it's in my current TBR pile. Making my way through Stardust.

      And I don't mind, i love geeking out to good books! :-)

      Delete
  11. Congratulations on meeting your goals! The poster for The Mousetrap looks so nice. Are Neil Gaiman's short stories any good? I like some of his books (though couldn't get on with some of them) but I've not read any of his short works.

    I could sympathise with Selynee's mother right up until "your father's looking to get a promotion". Not the best reason to browbeat your daughter into talking to another child... poor Selynee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Also, since i am revising my rough draft, will be posting much more in the WIPpet posts, so stay tuned. :-)

      Delete

Leave me a note: