When Writing Becomes Work

I’ve always enjoyed creating. I’ve always enjoyed writing. When I was younger, I would write for fun. That’s why I’ve never really revised anything before.

But this revision is not fun. It’s starting to become work. Sometimes, I have to sit down and force myself to work on the revision.

Lately though, I’ve been working on a short story. It’s a little different from my usual work; my WIP, and what I usually read, are thrillers, while this short story is a murder mystery – a genre I haven’t written in (or read) for a while.

I’m having lots of fun writing this. I’ve had the idea for a while, but never really did anything about it until now. The details came as I wrote it. Originally I was going to have a team of detectives, but when I started writing, I decided on just one detective, plus her sidekick.

Tell me, in the comments: what do you do when writing becomes work?

New Year, New Font, New Passion

I’ve always used to Times New Roman to type. Always. I’ve never even considered using anything else to type.

But, this year, I spontaneously decided to change the font of my WIP to Georgia… and I love it! Ever since changing, I’ve had a renewed passion for writing, and the words are just flowing out onto the page. I’m easily going over my daily 250 words which I try to write each day, in record time! (It can usually take half an hour to get my 250 words. I haven’t timed myself in Georgia font, but it doesn’t feel like 30 minutes).

What font do you use to write?

Writing Update

I’ve been pretty much absent for about a month, so I thought I’d give you an update on my writing.

I’m making slow progress with the revisions on my WIP, but I’ve finished the read through an decided my chapters are too big. I’ve decided to cut them all and half, and right now, I’m writing a new beginning, but then I’ll be going through each chapter and making alterations as per the notes I took in the read through.

I’m writing an action scene in chapter Three, which I’m struggling with. Writing this chapter has really become work.

I’ve also been reading lots more since school ended. I’ve got four more novels reserved at my local library and with Christmas around the corner, I’ll have stacks more. The latest novel I’ve read, Crusader Gold, has been a bit of a dud. I felt it was 300 pages of dialogue and info dumping, and no sense of an antag until 100 pages in. Even then, the protagonists didn’t meet him until the last quarter. I was really disappointed because the first book was good, and there aren’t too many archaeological thrillers out there, so I have to take what I can get.

How has your month been, reading and writing wise?

Character Meme

Schools out, and I should be doing something purposeful. Instead, I’m completing this character meme which I got from Mary Jensen.

I have to choose 10 characters, and answer a series of questions. The characters I’m choosing are from my WIP.

1. Lily Ashwood: billionaire, archaeologist.

2. Joseph Craig: Linguist, ex mercenary.

3. Stanley Garor: Searching for the Trident, CEO of GarorOil.

4. Nick Roble: Geek, computer technician.

5. Charles Miller: Archaeologist, geek, know-all on all things ancient. A minor character.

6. Jean-Pierre Roux: Mercenary leader

7. Fleischer: Mercenary second in command. Now that I think about, I don’t think he has a first name…

8. Lawrence Hudsburry: Lily’s butler.

9. Jason Andrews: Ex army, now mercenary. Only mentioned a few times in the WIP, so let’s see if I can flesh him out from this exercise.

10. Samantha Richardson: Another character only named, Lily’s friend.

 

 

4 invites 3 and 8 to dinner at their house. What happens?

Roble invites Garor and Hudsburry. Hudsburry would be happy to accept, as he and Roble get along, and Garor would initially be confused as to why Roble would invite him. He would perhaps think it’s a trap, or try to kidnap someone.

 

9 tries to get 5 to go to a strip club. What happens?

Andrews tries to get Miller to a strip club. I can see why Andrews would want to go, but Miller would decline. He’d be embarrassed in that situation, and if forced along, would probably leave early.

 

You need to stay at a friend’s house for a night. Who do you choose: 1 or 6?

Stay at Lily’s house, or Roux’s? I would choose Lily’s house because I know she wouldn’t torture me to change the ending of the story. It could be fun to stay with Roux for a night. I’ve never really thought about his house, but I suppose it would be quite large and well furnished. Not that Roux is ever there to live in it.

 

2 and 7 are making out. 10 walks in. What is their reaction?

Craig and Fleischer making out when Samantha walks in. Her jaw would drop, and she’d leave quickly. She would find it really ackward to be around them (not that I blame her. I mean, really? Eww.) Samantha would tell Roble and Lily, who would tease Craig and Fleischer.

 

3 falls in love with 6. 8 is jealous. What happens?

Garor falls in love with Roux, Hudsburry is jealous. I guess I can understand why Garor would fall in love with Roux, seeing as they work so closely together. Roux would keep the releationship professional, though. Never would have though Hudsburry would be homosexual, but it seems to fit him. He probably keeps it quiet, and wouldn’t do or say anything.

 

4 jumps you in a dark alleyway. Who comes to your rescue: 10, 2, or 7?

Roble jumps me. Who rescues me? Samantha, Craig, or Fleischer? Samantha wouldn’t do anything, she’s too timid. She would pretend she didn’t see anything. Fleischer is a bit sadistic, and would probably watch, before killing me and Roble. Craig would rescue me with a swift punch to Roble’s face. Craig doesn’t not like Roble, but I don’t think he’d be in a hurry to defend Roble’s actions. Craig would enjoy breaking Roble’s nose.

 

1 decides to start a cooking show. Fifteen minuets later, what is happening?

Lily starts a cooking show. I can’t see that being a success. Lily isn’t a whiz in the kitchen, and would probably burn her food. But then again, maybe she’d surprise everyone.

 

3 has to marry either 8, 4, or 9. Whom do they choose?

Garor has to marry Hudsburry, Roble, or Andrews. Hudsburry is apparently closet gay, and would probably push Garor into it with a few select words. Roble would think it’s a weird joke and would be confused. Andrews would kick Garor’s butt. I think if Garor had to choose, his first thoughts would be Andrews, but would choose Hudsburry out of fear of being hit.

 

7 kidnaps 2 and demands something from 5 for 2’s release. What is it?

Fleischer kidnaps Craig and demands something from Miller. He’d be looking for the Trident for himself, and would demand it from Miller. Miller would inform Lily, who would be torn as to give in or not. Eventually, she would hand over the Trident… in return for Craig’s corpse. She’d go out for revenge.

 

Everyone gangs up on 3. Does 3 have a chance in hell?

Everybody gangs up on Garor. He has no chance. Even if there were no guns or knives, he’d be dead in minutes. Garor couldn’t defend himself. He’d beg for Roux to help, but Roux, who would be watching, would probably deliver to death blow. Perhaps if Garor had one of his anger explosions, he could take out a few of the feebler characters.

 

Everyone is invited to 2 and 10’s wedding except for 8. How do they react?

Everyone’s invited to Craig and Samantha’s wedding except Hudsburry. He’d be devastated, but would pretend he doesn’t mind. After all, he’s only hired help, he’d justify.

 

Why is 6 afraid of 7?

Why is Roux afraid of Fleischer? Roux is the boss, and he’s quite intelligent, so he would know that Fleischer is very ambitious and conniving. He’d know long in advance that Fleischer is trying to take control. He’d take Fleischer out early on.

 

1 arrives late for 2 and 10’s wedding. What happens, and why were they late?

Lily is late for Craig and Samantha’s wedding. She’d be having an internal struggle on whether or not to go – after all, Craig was her boyfriend, but Samantha is her best friend. She’d be late because she didn’t want to go, but Hudsburry would persuade her to go. She’d slip in quietly, maybe punch Craig at the reception. Actually, she’d kick him in the groin. No visible marks.

 

5 and 9 get roaring drunk and end up at your house. What happens?

Miller and Andrews drunk at my place. Eeek. Perhaps Miller did enjoy himself at the strip club. He’d be throwing up EVERYWHERE. Andrews would be playing with his automatic rifle, destroy everything in my house, and probably end up wounding himself. Ambulance and police would quickly rock up and take them both away, which would leave me explaining what happened. My parents would not be happy.

 

9 murders 2’s best friend. What does 2 do to get back at them?

Andrews murders Craig’s best friend. They were once workmates and friends, so Andrews would know exactly who to kill. Craig would be pissed as hell and stalk him, before filling him with lead.

 

6 and 1 are in mortal peril and only one of them can survive. Does 6 save themselves or 1?

Roux and Lily in danger. Roux would save himself. He doesn’t give a damn about Lily.

 

8 and 3 go camping. For some reason they forgot to bring along any food. What do they do?

Garor and Hudsburry camping. I can’t see why Garor would be camping, he hates the outdoors. He’d look for any excuse to make his way back to the city.

 

5 is in a car crash and is critically injured. What does 9 do?

Miller in a car crash. Andrew wouldn’t do anything. He’s pretty cold hearted, and would leave Miller there to die.

This was an interesting exercise, and I learnt quite a bit about my characters. I particularly learnt a great deal about Jason Andrews, who as I said above, is really only mentioned a few times. Perhaps now I’ll give him a bigger role. I found it hard to come up with

Nearly There

Things are really coming along with the read through of my WIP. Just in the last few days, I’ve gone over five chapters, more than I’ve done in the last month! I’m over half way through the read over now.

I’ve effectively finished school now. For. Ever. (Really scary), as I’ve finished all my assessment. Next week, I have a few days of what Education Queensland calls ‘alternate program’, then graduation.

I’ve made it my goal to finish the read over before I finish school. With all this free time I know have, I’m spending a lot more time with my novel and should complete the goal before the end of next week.

Wish me luck!

Revision Blues

• My chapters are too long. They need to be cut in half. This would also probably make me move quicker in my revision, as I think I’m much more likely to work if I can do it one chapter at a time.

• Smaller chapters = less time needed to revise = able to find more time = done quicker

• When I wrote the chapter I had NO idea on correct apostrophe use. GAH!

• Oh-my-god-how-can-I-only-be-reading-chapter-nine-when-I-started-reading-over-in-july?

• Exam Block begins today. There goes any chance of editing for the next week.

How are you going with your novel?

This Blog is Alive

I could blog about how I’ve been away from the internet world for so long, but I’ve done it so many times these past few months, so I won’t.

With all my time not spent in internet world, I should have advanced a lot in my revision, right?

Wrong.

Here’s my thoughts on revision:

1. I’ve been finding that my chapters are too long to read through properly in one sitting, and I don’t like to only read half a chapter. So I’ve decided to chop my chapters in half to make it more manageable.
2. Can you believe that its taken me 17 years to work out that, because there is a word ‘cant’, when you write ‘cant’, Microsoft Word doesn’t automatically change the spelling to ‘can’t’? Crap. The same goes for ‘wont’ and ‘won’t’.

That’s all I’ve got for today. Thoughts for a post on Wednesday?

Writing Theme Song

Recently, I was thinking about theme songs for our writing. If my WIP had a theme song, it would be Puretone’s Addicted to Bass.

It’s a really old song, released in 1998, and I  first heard it on the radio in the early 2000’s. I doubt it was very popular, but Wikipedia states it reached the Top 20 charts in Australia during the year of release. When I heard Addicted to Bass, I was instantly reminded of my WIP, which was in a very different form to what it is now. Sadly at the time, I didn’t know what the song was called.

Over the next  few years, I heard it every now and again, maybe once every two years. Just enough for me to remember a few lines. Whenever I heard it, I would always try to listen to the ending, in case the radio host would name the mysterious song. They never did.

Then, a few years ago, I heard it on the radio once more. I was older, and knew how to use the internet to find what I wanted, so I listened to the chorus, and managed to pick up a few key phrases.

“Your bass line, shooting up my spine…”

“I’m totally addicted to bass…”

And so, I began searching furiously for the song. I Googled every line I could remember from the song, and combinations of them all. No luck.

I didn’t stop trying, and every now and again I would be reminded of the song (although I didn’t hear it again), and try Googling all the lines. A few months ago, I typed in the right keywords, and… I found it!

I listened to the song on the internet, hoping I had found it… Then, I heard a few key phrases from the chorus.

“Your bass line, shooting up my spine…”

“I’m totally addicted to bass…”

I admit, the song isn’t that good. My memory seems to have altered it to make it sound better than what it actually was. But, I still listen to it every now and again, primarily for the beat, and it still makes my think of my WIP.

Tell me, in the comments: do you have a theme song for your WIP?

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I’m going on holidays from Saturday, but I’ll be back on Sunday 3 October with an interview from Cassandra Jade, as she stops on my blog as part of her blog tour.

A Quick Update

I’ve been busy these last few weeks, and I’ve had to prioritise everything. And I mean, EVERYTHING. School has to take top priority (a cruel world, I know).

I’m entering a short story comp at school, so I’ve been writing a 500 word short for it. Because there’s a time constraint, ie the due date, its taken a priority over my WIP.

While I discussing my WIP, its taken a backseat recently. I’m still reading over it, but I’m nearly there. (Alright, that’s a lie. I’m nowhere near finishing the read over) I also have a few other short stories I’d like to write, but who knows when I’ll get to them. I still have some half-written shorts to complete.

Blogging comes in down here as a priority. Even as I write this, there’s a test I could be studying for (but I’m taking a “break”. You know, those ones that are longer than the actual studying? Yeah. That break).

In last position is my social life. I forgot to feed it. It died.

How are you going with your writing?

July Noticeboard

So. August is here… already. 2010 has gone super fast. Because, I mean AUGUST already. AUGUST!

Anyway…

I began editing in July, but I’m making slow progress. I’m currently in Stage One: Initial Read Over. I’m reading through each chapter and taking notes. So far, I’m up to chapter four. Like I said, slow progress.

My July goal were to write some short stories, which I did not get done. I tried starting some one, but it fell flat. It didn’t capture my attention. I think it has potential, but right now, I just don’t feel like writing it. I also had more ideas, but nothing exciting enough to find time to put my ideas to paper.

I don’t have any goals for August. I don’t want to feel like I’m pressuring myself by telling myself I have to progress to a certain point in edits. I don’t think it should work like that – editing will take as long as it needs to be complete.

How was your month?