@daisydown
Active 6 years, 10 months ago-
Philippa East posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 8 months agoWell, I’m sure glad for this SloMo month… until the start of this week, I had too many distractions to focus on writing and the lack of progress was just making me increasingly panicked. But for the last three days, I’ve managed my plan of a few hours a day. I feel less panicked now, because I feel sort of ‘back in the familiar groove’ and I can…[Read more]
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Philippa East replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 8 months ago
Oh wow @hilary, what an honour!! Congratulations again on your placing. I hope you had a wonderful time at the launch x
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Daedalus posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 8 months agoMy SloMo has virtually been NoMo so far. Interrupted sleep patterns and disruption from house repairs, not to mention preparations for puppy, have just left me with little mental energy in the evenings. Nice to hear about and vicariously enjoy other people’s progress though!
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Gah, @daedalus, that’s rough. But maybe trust that your writing brain will be whirring away in the background and when you have the time and energy again, the ideas will be there.
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Thanks @philippaeast, I hope so. The other day I really wanted to just drop everything and start reading through my WIsortofP so that’s probably a good sign. I feel I should just read it through without making any notes, let alone editing, to try and read it as much like a reader might, and get a feel for what I might cut without overthinking it.…[Read more]
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Do it Daeds.
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@daedalus I’m pleased the impetus is there. That IS a good sign. And I think an “open-minded reader’s” read would be a great place to start. (Tip: If you’re like me, lock up the pencils / pens before you start. I find it so hard to resist marking stuff up and it always gets in the way of absorbing the story as a whole)
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Squidge posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 8 months agoMy slomo so far has been to draft a Christmas newsletter (rather a Marmite thing, I’ve found, for the recipients), planned a few writing exercises for a group I’m talking to tonight (which I will also be using for NIBS next week), and about 150 words of something I like for Room with a View (although I have no idea where it’s heading or why I’ve…[Read more]
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Well, that’s progress then! Nice work on the Room With a. It’s story. Hope it collaguates soon.
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*Room With A View
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I love it when something insists on being written even if you don’t have a clue where it’s going.
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How did the writing group go @squidge?
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Sorry – been out of sight for a few days. Writing went well – the group of mainly older ladies (70+yrs) seemed to enjoy the exercises I set, and convinced quite a few that they could write after all. Yet to try it on the NIBsers…
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John S Alty posted an update 7 years, 8 months ago
I see we have four new members who could use a vowel or two in their name. What’s that all about?
Anyway, Wlcme!-
Suspected bot. Jules has squished them
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Daedalus replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 8 months ago
Exciting about the antho launch Hil, have fun!
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Daedalus posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 8 months agoAll I did today was trim 500 words from a short story so I could submit it to Barren magazine, which has an upper limit of 4000 words. It was worth doing as it tightened the prose a bit, and I spotted a few mistakes as well, which was unsettling as I’d submitted that version a couple of times. I’m pleased I did that much tbh, as it’s been a diffi…[Read more]
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Well done Daeds and I hope you have a less disturbed day today.
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Thanks Jane. The main problem is that they get here early so I have to be up early, so my usual sleep patterns are ruined and I’m permanently exhausted
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I hate the getting up early and having to talk to strangers in my house!
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Me too.
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Me three
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Me a billion. I feel your pain. Great work on the short story though, and good luck for the submission
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Squidge posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 8 months agoVery late to this – two days gone already! – but I blame it on an overnight visit to Germany to see friends and celebrate Advent.
SloMo… I jotted a few ideas down for Room with a View, then decided I didn’t like them and another idea popped into my head this morning. Not sure it’ll work, but might play around with it this afternoon. I shan’t…[Read more]
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Good work on the popping. Good luck for the playing too 🙂
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Philippa East posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 8 months agoOkay, well today has gone well, I think. I managed about two hours, working on balancing the various twists, climaxes and (false) resolutions in the book. I think I’ve managed to pin down the problem more clearly and sketch out a general solution.
I still have to work out the specific details I’ll need to add into the story MS itself to pull…[Read more]-
The turning up at the desk strategy works for me, Philippa.
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Sounds like excellent progress, good work
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RichardB posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 9 months agoA good last few days. This weekend I have sorted two probs with my revived MS, the ghost story A Record of Sin.
The first was the paragraph formatting. which was in a mess inherited from the days when I didn’t know how to do it properly. I’ve been through the whole MS and put it right.
The second was a last, rather tricky POV change. Tricky…[Read more]
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Well deserved G&T, I reckon!
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Philippa East posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 9 months agoI’ve been inspired by the goals your guys are setting yourselves. I think I’m going to set myself the SloMo goal of doing (up to) three hours’ editorial work a day (on the days I’m not at work). That, for me, is enough time to get some solid work done, but hopefully not so long that I panic myself with how much I should be achieving. And I plan to…[Read more]
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I think I often try to do too much of that really close editing in a sitting, so start out being really thoughtful and ending up just drifting. So yes, time limits are probably something I need to be better at. Feels funny to limit your own writing time, rather than RL limiting it for you!!
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Yes, good point! But I agree, I think there’s a danger that we over-tax the creative subconscious by hammering away at idea-generation for too long.
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Daedalus posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 9 months agoTrue to form I am late to the party with this. I had a very good start to NaNo and a terrible end – but the good start enabled me to finish the first draft of a novel I’d been working on since 2013. It’s currently a 178,000 word monster, but I will use SloMo to start the long editing process, and also to write a couple of shorts.
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Oh wow, @daedalus, that’s a HUGE achievement. Congratulations on getting that whole draft done. SlowMo editing. I like it. And the shorts too.
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Thanks @philippaeast – I don’t think I will set a target for the amount to edit, as I’ve no idea what’s realistic. I’ll just try to do some every day. Like yours, my editing will be pretty structural, looking at character arcs, in their own right and in relation to others. As well as seeing if it’s possible to lose about 50,000 words.
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John S Alty replied to the topic Monthly competition – Nov 2018 in the forum Monthly Competition 7 years, 9 months ago
Well done, Raine.
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RichardB posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 9 months agoThis has got to be my spiritual home. I do everything in slow motion. Ask MrsB.
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Tony Lyttle replied to the topic Monthly competition – Nov 2018 in the forum Monthly Competition 7 years, 9 months ago
Well done Raine, and thank you Daed for giving such good feedback on all the entries. Good comp.
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Philippa East posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 9 months agoHello Everyone, and thanks so much @raine for setting this group up.
Like Seagreen, I have editing work to do over the next month or so, so I am hoping I can make slow and gentle progress on that. I’m currently grappling The Fear / Resistance, so joining you all in this supportive place will be helpful, I hope.
My main panic is that these…[Read more]
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I know exactly what you mean about The Fear, both in general and in the specific form you mention. Encouragement: a few days ago I fixed a problem in my old revived MS that I’d been shrinking from for, literally, years, si if I can do it you certainly can.
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Thanks @richardB. “Shrinking from” – that’s exactly it!! I know I just need to take a deep breath, and step in. Quit worrying about the outcome and just engage with the process.
I have four clear hours tomorrow morning to work, so hopefully I will make some progress. Out of interest, Richard, what was the problem and what was your fix? (if you…[Read more]-
The problem was the one I mentioned a couple of days ago: the bloated chapter full of stuff the reader already knew. I was shrinking from it because there were several threads/issues involved and it was going to be hard work keeping track of them and figuring out what I could get away with losing. I solved it by being bloody ruthless – something…[Read more]
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Oh well done on the ruthlessness! And that sounds like such an important thing to have fixed. I wonder if part of our Fear can come from the sense that if we try to change tricky elements in the MS, the whole thing will fall apart….
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Sounds good, Philippa. And I think you are right to acknowledge that some days are just not meant to be writing days. I can never write when we are away, even if I have the time. It used to annoy me but now I accept it.
Yes… I’ve found if I try to write in the evenings (i.e. after work), my brain gets too wired and I can’t switch off to sleep. Also, because I’m like a dog with a bone with stuff, and enforced break from writing is probably good for me, to prevent me getting obsessed and overwhelmed. It also means I make better use of the other days, knowing I…[Read more]
Not surprised you can’t focus after work! But well done for moving through the panic and getting into things again. Hope the weekend lets you keep the momentum up…