Category: zombie story

January

I didn’t come anywhere near hitting my goals for January. At all. Guess that’s what I get for setting such high goals, huh? I’m really not stressing about it, though. I started on the werewolf story, made it to the second chapter, and stalled out, probably because I was writing without any sort of plan. Then I discovered the HTTS class, which I’m going to use on this story. So really, although I’m not actively writing this story, I’m still working on it. (At least, that’s how I’m wording it to myself.)

The zombie story fell by the wayside this month, too. But, my co-writer had a computer meltdown, so we couldn’t really email about things like we normally do. (That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.) I am currently working on a chapter, though. And it should be finished up today.

I also did a novel swap in January that wasn’t anywhere in my plans for the year. Unplanned, maybe, but greatly appreciated and enjoyed. (Thanks, Dale!) I got some good things out of the crit I received, and as always, learned a lot from the crit I did.

Now, I’m off to work on Lesson Two of the HTTS class: Making a Sweet Spot Map.

Editing and Planning

I’ve been getting a good amount of work done lately. Editing on the Atlantis story is going well. The writing is still much stronger than I remembered, which pleases me. I haven’t made any major changes yet, but I know the latter part of the story will probably need some additional work. Nerina is a much more well-defined character than I remember her being, but being in her head comes back easily to me, and so does being in that world. I think that’s a good sign.

I’ve got two chapters to write in the zombie story. One of them is pretty straightforward. The other will probably end up being dark and tense, with the characters expecting the boogeyman to jump out at any second. (Hey, it’s a story about zombies. What did you expect?) Also on the zombie front, I ordered Mark Henry’s Happy Hour of the Damned. It sounds pretty funny, and I’m looking forward to reading it.

Last, but far from least, I’m still doing pre-work on the YA werewolf story. I was at the mall a few days ago, and saw a pair of shoes that the female MC would definitely wear. They were black Mary Janes with little skulls and crossbones on them.

Me: “Oh, those shoes are perfect for Chance. She would love them!”
My younger brother (looking confused): “Who is Chance?”

And then I went home and happily spent an hour Googling Goth clothes and picking out outfits for Chance to wear. It’s sad, really. And I’m afraid she likes pink. That, to me, doesn’t go so well with the whole Goth idea, but she’s determined she will also have a pair of hot pink Doc Marten boots. Go figure. I don’t even like pink! She’s coming through loud and clear. Now if only her brother, Cade, would start speaking up for himself…

Progress Update

Long time, no update. Oops. Procrastination is my downfall. I’ve been working on my goals, I just haven’t been posting about them. I’ll do better. I promise. Well, I’ll try to do better.

Out of my ten writing-related goals for the year, I’ve completed two of them: finishing the first draft of my NaNo 2007 story, and starting to submit Through Shadowed Stone. I’m up to four rejections out of my first batch of five on TSS, and I’ll be sending out the next batch of queries tomorrow.

I still haven’t worked on the zombie story. Not for months. It’s horrible. We’re (my writing partner and I) really going to have to get on the ball with this story so it doesn’t completely lose all its momentum. Re-reading the last few chapters of the story is on my to-do list for today, and I’m planning on working on the next chapter on Monday.

I am working on editing Witches. I’ve been going back through the chapters and highlighting the important things: information, dialogue, description, etc. I’m planning on basically rewriting most of the story, cutting the extra things out, and just tightening it in general. I’m mostly happy with the chapters I’ve edited so far, but I want to be able to continue to juggle all of those balls in the later chapters as well.

I’m still working on the 2YN class. I haven’t started editing it yet. I have re-read the manuscript and made notes in the margins, just little comments to myself. I’ve done Zette’s assignments, including making a timeline in Excel. I’ve never worked much in Excel, so that was an interesting assignment. I’ve found several places where I could add scenes and tension in, so it was definitely a worthwhile assignment.

I have a couple of new story ideas percolating in my mind that I’m getting pretty excited about writing. Both of them are urban fantasy, which I’ve never written before, and I’m eager to start. But I have too much else going on right now to start a new story (much less two). I’m saving one of them for NaNo, although I’m not quite sure which one. The other one, well, if it’s ready in a couple of months, I may start dabbling with it.

Still Mad In March

Okay, so I haven’t blogged in a while. I’m not actively writing much, so I guess I just don’t feel like I’m accomplishing anything. But I am. Really. I swear.

I just finished doing a novel critique for a partner. That was a learning experience for me, and one that I enjoyed. Much different from doing chapter critiques for my crit group.

I have nine writing-related goals left to complete this year. I’m still doing the submission package workshop for TSS. Another learning experience. To say the least. I have a rough draft of a long synopsis, a second draft of a shorter synopsis, and a second draft of a query letter. Can anyone please tell me why it’s harder to write the two-paragraph blurb for a query letter than it is to write the entire 100,000-word story?

I’m still working on the zombie story, although not a lot. I need to get back on track with that, and start meeting with my co-writer again. I’ve got the next chapter outlined, it just isn’t done. Must do that before next week…

I’m editing Witches. Right now, I’m still working on a brief pass of the chapters I already did a heavier edit on, so it’s going pretty fast. But pretty soon (like in about two weeks), I’ll be into the untouched stuff. And then it’ll really get fun.

I finished the first draft of the 2YN story, and I’m still working on the assignments for the class. I’m looking forward to what comes next.

The only new words I’ve written have been on the synopsis, but my total word count is up to 51,015 for the year, out of a goal of 250,000.

Finished First Draft!

I’ve made some progress since the last time I blogged. I finished the first draft of my 2YN story, Samantha’s story. Yay! I had planned to have it finished in February, but I didn’t quite make it. Instead, I finished it on March 3rd. Close enough, I guess. I’m not entirely happy with the ending, but I know I can fix it in the revisions.

I also got a chapter written in the zombie story. I’ve been sadly neglecting that one for a month or so, and it was a little difficult to get back into the character and world like I needed to. We’re making good progress on the story. Probably about halfway done.

One of my goals for the month of March was to get a query letter and synopsis written for Through Shadowed Stone. Strangely enough, I was procrastinating on Forward Motion last night, and happened to stumble across a post that said the workshop for this month was putting together a submission package. How’s that for coincidence? So, of course I checked out the board. The first assignment was to write a long synopsis, 1250-1750 words. My first draft came in at 2729 words. Oops. Had to cut that down a little bit. I’m not happy with the result, but I realize it’s the beginning stages, so I’m trying not to stress about it too much. I’m thrilled to have found the workshop though, especially at such an opportune time.

My word count for the year is up to 50,020 words. I’m a fifth of the way to my goal.

The Results of the Mini-Vacation!

I’ve actually had quite a productive week. I accomplished everything that was on my to-do list last weekend, and of course, I have another list for this weekend, since I have four more days off. I enjoy being off, I just won’t enjoy the paycheck. But, I’m determined to get work done while I have the time.

I still have the two partially finished zombie chapters. Although now, thanks to the brainstorming session with my co-writer, I know what’s supposed to happen in the latter part of both chapters. I just have to write them. Much mayhem must ensue. Zombie attacks! In both chapters! Fun! In slightly related news, my co-writer is showing some interest in finishing a story she began over five years ago (before her beautiful daughter Reyna came along). It’s about shapeshifters, and the three chapters she has done are wonderful, so I really hope she does finish it.

The 2YN story…is going great. I sat down to write last weekend, and the chapter just flowed off my fingertips! Three new characters I was unaware of just jumped on the page. I’ve also finished about half of another chapter, and that’s going well also.

The NaNo Atlantis story is going okay. I’m about two thirds of the way through it, so the end is in sight. Which means all the really fun stuff is coming up soon. I get to destroy Atlantis, so that should be entertaining, and hopefully, believable.

I’m planning to get those two zombie chapters finished up this weekend, finish at least the half-done chapter of the 2YN story, and do another chapter of the NaNo story. So, wish me luck!

Another Wasted Week

I know it’s the holiday season and all, but where does the time go? It seems like I never have time to do much of anything, starting with cleaning and chores, much less things that I want to do, like reading and writing. It’s frustrating me a little bit. My procrastination tendency is coming to the forefront, and I don’t like it. I must stomp it to death!

In the last week, I really haven’t done much writing. I wrote a new chapter in the zombie story. I think that one’s coming along nicely, although I’m still trying to develop a feel for the characters. The next scene should be fun, though. A thwarted attack, retaliation, and accusations of attempted murder. What’s not to like? I also did a tiny bit on the 2YN story, about 1k or so. Trying to get back in the swing of things with Samantha. Hopefully I’ll get another chapter or so this week in all three stories.

I’ve had a little bit of time for reading. I read the second book in the Wizard of Earthsea trilogy, The Tombs of Atuan. Pretty good. Again, short and the language is formal, but it wasn’t bad at all. Interesting culture, and I like the sense of history behind everything.

Next up is Your Coffin or Mine? by Kimberly Ray. As always, a fun and entertaining read. Made me laugh several times. Especially the cat named Killer. I have five cats myself, so I could really relate to those parts. And the image of a prissy vampire turning into a giant pink bat never fails to make me laugh. I have a couple of friends who love the Shopaholic books, and I’m thinking I need to turn them on to this series. There’s a fun mix of paranormal creatures, along with the whodunit aspect to this story that I really liked.

Last but not least, is The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. This is not my normal reading material, but a friend of mine said it’s her favorite book and wanted me to read it. I’m glad I did. This book was disturbing to me on several levels, but it was an excellent read. It’s about Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah (from the Bible). I know it’s fiction, but the description of the way of life in this time frame was very detailed and interesting to me. Sometimes the everyday details fascinate me more than anything. I can’t imagine the interaction between the four wives of one man, especially with two of them being sisters. The portrayal of some of the men in the book bothered me. I guess I never really pictured biblical characters quite like that, but they were vividly drawn. And the story itself was sad. But it was a very good book, and one I intend to buy.

In other news, well, not news. I’m wondering if anyone has read The Golden Compass, and the rest of its trilogy. I’ve heard some disturbing things about what the books are about, and I would really like to know.

And the Week Goes On…

What have I been doing this week, you ask? Okay, maybe you didn’t ask, but I’m sure you were wondering. You were wondering, right? Right. Okay. Well, so what I did this week…

I only wrote about 1500 words in the 2YN story. Not what I wanted, but more than the week before. I’ve decided not to worry so much about not writing in this story right now. I’ve got a lot going on in my personal life that’s making it rather difficult to write (Have you ever tried to work on the computer with insanely excruciating sharp, shooting pains in your neck? Not an easy task, let me tell you. Not to mention the potential for an out-of-state move.). So, I’m just not worrying about it. I will be attempting to get my word count this weekend, though, since it’s the last week before NaNo madness ensues.

And speaking of NaNo madness, I have all but two phases of my outline done! Yay! Of course, I have to go back and flesh out a couple of the phases (more like 5 or 6), to make sure I have all the necessary details included. At first, I was a little sketchy on some of the important things, but I think I have it figured out now. I’ve decided that it’s Hades who is trying to overthrow Poseidon. And I’ve always like Hades as a character (Admittedly, most of that liking is based on the cartoon Hercules. But still.) So, now that I’ve figured that out, I get to go back and add the really cool details in (like the Underworld scenes). I’m planning on finishing all that up tonight. Oh, and I stocked up on caffeine and chocolate: three kinds of chocolate, two flavors of coffee, two different flavors of energy drinks, and two more flavors of tea (in addition to the five or so I already have). I am ready!

Also on the slate for this weekend: New chapter in the zombie story (needs to be done tonight or early tomorrow morning), do a crit for one of my writing group, do the next assignment for the 2YN story, word count for 2YN story, print out the “new” chapters for Witches, make an outline for the new version of Witches, make an editing plan for Witches, and get the little things ready for NaNo (spreadsheet, disk). And that’s all!

Also posted in: A Figment of My Imagination.

Non-Progress

Confession time: I haven’t been very productive this week. Not at all. I haven’t done any work on the 2YN story. None. Shadows is in limbo right now. Witches, well, I hope to do a little something with it this weekend.

The Atlantis story is the only thing I’ve worked on at all this week. I’ve done a little bit of outlining. Then I hit a wall, with no motivation or reason for my character to be doing what she was doing. But then I had an idea that would solve the whole issue. So now I just have to do some more research. Anyone know which god would be jealous of Poseidon?

Oh, I did do a tiny bit of work on the zombie story. I fixed a couple of things in my chapter. We decided that I needed another chapter to show how nasty one of the males in my original chapter is, so I’ll be working on that tonight.

And that’s all I’ve done this week. Sad, really. I think I needed a mental break.

Also posted to: A Figment of My Imagination.

TGIF!

Ah! Thank God it’s Friday! How do five days feel so looooonnnggg? I don’t know, but I swear this week lasted an eternity. It’s been a good week, though. Let’s see, what have I accomplished?

Got the word count on the 2YN story. I met an unexpected character as well, who has a beautiful house. I really had no idea she was going to show up, and she just sort of popped up, waving at me and saying “Hello, there! I’m over here!” I love it when characters do that. They just spring to life on the page, fully formed and ready for action. She’s great, too.

I finished this round of edits on Through Shadowed Stone. I got all the edits keyed in (Yay!). And I’m about to email it to one of my crit group partners who agreed to read it (Thank you, Myriddin!) It will be good to get an unbiased opinion of it. Even if it’s a negative opinion. I’m really okay with that.

I haven’t started writing the zombie story yet. Maybe tonight. If not, definitely tomorrow, since I have to have the first chapter done for our Sunday meeting. I did do a little brainstorming last night, on paper, so I think I’ve got a good grip on what needs to happen. I just haven’t quite had the time.

I also started outlining my NaNo story. I actually have three phases fully outlined, and a basic idea of the next two. After that, your guess is as good as mine. Hopefully, it will all come to me. At least, that’s the plan. I’ve found that thinking about the story right before I fall asleep helps a lot. I usually wake up with whatever problem I’m wrestling with resolved to some extent.

And that’s about it.