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JaneShuff posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 4 months agoI’ve had a few days off as we went to London to see children and grandchildren as far as Mr Janeshuff was concerned although I’d organised two surprise birthday celebrations for him as well. We’re back now after a wonderful but exhausting time and I’m hoping to restart tomorrow. I’ve spent the best part of a month planning this WIP and after only…[Read more]
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Daedalus replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 4 months ago
Well done Stevie, that’s a great accolade. And nice to have the story in your back pocket too.
Be amazed at yourself – the link works!
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Daedalus posted an update 7 years, 4 months ago
A poem, for our new bot friends…
This is just goto PRINT
I have input the plums
That were in the
Folder
And which IF
You were probably THEN
Saving for breakfastForgive me
They were SQR
So EXP and so RND -
Daedalus posted an update 7 years, 4 months ago
“Writing a book is like filling a teapot with an eye dropper. Only every now and then the teapot springs leaks and there’s always a risk your elbow will knock it off the counter and it will shatter on the floor.” ~V.E. Schwab
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Daedalus posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 4 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, 4 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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Daedalus replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 4 months ago
Exciting about the antho launch Hil, have fun!
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JaneShuff posted an update 7 years, 4 months ago
Am bored. Am very bored. Hairdresser is running an hour late.
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JaneShuff posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 4 months agoGot my 500 words done. The first 500 words of a new WIP. Had to remind myself several time – Don’t get it right, get it written! Suspect it might show that I loved doing my research a bit much! Tomorrow’s target is the same – 500 words. Then I’m off to London for a big weekend so won’t get anything written until I get back. Hope you’re all doing…[Read more]
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Daedalus posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 4 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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JaneShuff posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 4 months agoI didn’t have a lot of time today but I think I have got the planning to the stage where I need to start writing. So that’s the plan for tomorrow. Although I won’t have a lot of time, so I’m going to do the background research for it tonight and set myself a gentle target of 500 words.
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Squidge posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 4 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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JaneShuff posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 4 months agoI am loving redaing what you’re all planning to do in December.
Having spent yesterday and today running and manning the local twinning committee’s ‘sell English products to the French’ Christmas stall in between dodging the Gilets Jaunes to take my OH to the airport, my aim tonight is to do enough RL work to free up tomorrow morning for a bit…[Read more]
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*reading
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That would be a very good end of year @janeshuff. I hope you are all ok over there. Awful to read about all the anger and destruction x
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Thanks @kazg. Luckily we are far from the mayhem of Paris and the gilets jaunes here were peacable enough. However they’ve started blockading the Port du Commerce which means no petrol deliveries and there was a spate of panic buying over the weekend which means the pumps have run dry!
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Oh yikes! Hope the blockade lifts soon, although I have to admire their protest power! Good luck for the writing today – and without the OH to interrupt!
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Oh no, hope you don’t get stuck! yes, the French know how to get protesting, don’t they? Phlegmatic they are not. Good luck with the writing @janeshuff
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Daedalus posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 4 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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Daedalus replied to the topic Monthly competition – Nov 2018 in the forum Monthly Competition 7 years, 4 months ago
Well done Raine, fantastic competition Jonathan, many thanks for the feedback
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Jules replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 4 months ago
Well done, Ath 🙂
And well done other fellow NaNoers
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Great work on making a start, even if it went in a different direction! I think there must be something about trusting your instincts on this though? Sounds like a good plan to take a step back and relax and switch to something else for a while to allow your brain a chance to catch up with your muse!
I agree with Philippa, @janeshuff.
Sounds like you’ve achieved a lot with the writing, what with family celebrations as well.
It’s exciting when things veer off plan, especially when there’s energy in the veering, rather than just a ‘I’ve lost momentum and don’t know where to go now’ type of thing. I would listen to it if I were you @janeshuff. Might, just might be something great bubbling up from your subconscious? An early Xmas gift perhaps??
How right you all are. It is exciting. The new ideas are much better. It’s all part of the process. I have been trying to keep a diary this time so I can remind myself next time how tortuous the process of coming up with and writing a new WIP is. I have let the diary slip because of everything else, but must get back to it.