@whisks
Active 6 years, 10 months ago-
JaneShuff replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 8 months ago
Absolutely @raine. Where does the guilt come from? Because come it does. Every time someone asks me what I’m up to and I have to admit to spending most of my spare time writing but, no, it’s not published. And, yes, I have spent the last seven years doing this. I try to rationalise it by thinking of lots of perfectly acceptable but equally…[Read more]
-
Raine replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 8 months ago
Aw fanks @jillybean! But then I couldn’t write horror if you held a gun to my head. Although actually, that might be somewhat inspiring! :-O Histfic either – I don’t think I have the memory capacity anymore *sighs*
Yeah @richardb I guess that’s it! It’s not a part of actual life-that-involves-real-people! That’s aside from the fact that it’s…[Read more]
-
JaneShuff posted an update 7 years, 8 months ago
Has anyone here managed to work out how to type with a cat on their lap?
-
Fraid not. Our cat, though she’s a shameless attention seeker, doesn’t do lap-sitting.
-
It’s ok if said cat doesn’t mind being an arm rest, which one of mine doesn’t. He’s a daft bugger. But I have resorted to the cozy cardboard box next to keyboard option at the moment.
-
The current lap sitter has allowed me to move the keyboard from under her head and use it – although it’s rather uncomfortable (for me, not her). The other thinks moving fingers are an invitation to play…
-
Not without growing your arms a bit longer…
-
Speaking of armrests. When I’m in the armchair reading, and puss wants to be stroked/scratched/ generally mauled about, she’ll come and sit on the armrest. If i try to ignore her she’ll stretch out her front leg and put her paw on my face. if that doesn’t work, she’ll do it with her claws out. I told you she was shameless.
-
Our Timmy does that sometimes, too, Richard. He’s got a stare you can FEEL…and if you ignore it, he’ll give a little ‘mew’ and stretch out his paw towards my face. Glad to say when his claws come out, he usually saves that for my arm…
The teeth he saves for when he’s hungry, and he always goes for the soft bit of my upper arm.
-
-
-
-
-
-
RichardB replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 8 months ago
Or to put it another, slightly less discouraging way, if you’re writing fiction that’s coming from inside your head, right? So anything outside that is Real Life.
-
Raine replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 8 months ago
@alanr that seems a doable timeline. I usually take about 6 months from starting to plan to end of first draft, although this one might be quicker thanks to NaNo. The six zillion edits are kind of scattered about in between other projects, beta readers etc, so I don’t really know how much actual time I spend on that. Plus it’s bloody endless anyway init?
-
Raine replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 8 months ago
That’s the one, John. ๐ I exclude writing from that because, well, I’m not sure really. Because it doesn’t involve anyone’s needs but my own, and doesn’t involve money!?
-
Philippa East replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 8 months ago
Oh my gosh, well done guys! Hats off to you. Power to your elbows!!
-
Athelstone replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 8 months ago
I’m way behind – my family invasion came early and is continuing. On a more positive note, it has made me get going on a completely new novel that I’m reasonably happy with so far. I’m trying something I’ve seen recommended elsewhere and not bothering with chapters (yet). Seems OK for now.
I’m doing a weekend away in mid-January (Dunford…[Read more]
-
Raine replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 8 months ago
Yay for plots resolving themselves @alanr! Always a good feeling. ๐
HOw’re other NaNoers doing? I’m on 36k, struggling a bit with days being taken up with RL, but am hoping to make it early next week – before a family invasion!
-
Raine replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 8 months ago
Fever Dream by Samanta Scweblin is a novella too – although I don’t know the wordcount – and it got shortlisted for the Booker!! I wasn’t her debut in Spain, but I think it was her first translated book.
I think there is more scope for novellas with the smaller presses, but yeah, I think a new writer would find it nigh on impossible to get…[Read more]
-
RichardB posted an update 7 years, 8 months ago
Editing: they say cut cut cut, don’t they? Hmm. I don’t work like that. When I finished the first draft of my ghost story six (My God!) years ago it was only 47,000 words long. When I submitted it two years later it was 74,000 words. Now its creeping up to 80,000. Mind you, there’s some rather drastic cutting needed near the end.
-
I think it works like that for some, doesn’t it? Writing the bare bones first and then fleshing out. (I’ve always hated the term ‘fleshing out’ – too many dissection classes and JEkyll and Hyde stories!)
I seem to always end up at roughly the same word count – cutting a lot and feeling all pleased with myself, then realising I need whole new scenes…
-
Yes, I know that Debi (for one) works like this. so there’s a published author as an example.
-
-
-
Philippa East replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 8 months ago
Time to make yourself an outline?
Nice work though on the 16k!!! -
JaneShuff replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 8 months ago
Yes. Great title. Hope the creative/productive jag lasts.
-
Raine replied to the topic NaNoWriMo in the forum Coffee Shop 7 years, 8 months ago
That’s great, @alanr! Hope the flow keeps going. I am in the process of hauling myself over my 25k wall. Getting there, but oof.
-
Kate replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 8 months ago
Well done, Elle. ๐
-
Raine replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 8 months ago
Well done @elle. Such a sad little piece, and the bird image is perfect.
-
Daedalus posted an update 7 years, 8 months ago
This is just to say
I have finished
The Draft
I was working on since 2014And which you
Probably thought
Iโd never finishForgive me. It was indulgent
All 178 thousand
Words of it-
I like it! How were the plums?
Oh, and your news. I like that too.-
Delicious. So sweet, and so cold. Unlike the novel which is bitter and very, very long
-
that is bloody amazing @daedalus! Congratulations ๐ What a lot of plums…
-
Yippee Daeds! Hope you are going to take the day off to celebrate.🍒🍾
-
Haha I wish
-
This is awesomes Daeds. Both the achievement and the plums. I want that meme back, it was the best.
-
-
-
-
-
Congratulations!
-
-
RichardB posted an update 7 years, 8 months ago
Call me weird if you will, but I do love picking a passage apart and putting it back together again, better than before. So satisfying.
-
Thatโs not weird, Richard. I didnโt think I could be the only one who preferred working with an existing draft to creating a new one
-
Two different types of adventure, I think. I enjoy both but creating a new draft can be like swimming in very rough seas.
-
Definitely. Editing is a craft. Writinf a first draft is an extreme sport
-
I like that analogy. If it’s skiing, then I am currently uphill xcountry skiing, stuck in those parallel ruts and not sure whether they are heading in the right direction…
-
-
-
-
-
Philippa East replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 8 months ago
Yay! Such a beautiful and chilling story…. well done!!
-
Daedalus replied to the topic TV appearance – Quest, 'Wings of War' in the forum Podium 7 years, 8 months ago
Good to know! Coffman starters are great. Basically using a shotgun cartridge to start an engine, minus the lead shot of course. I don’t just do naval aviation btw, my last nonfic was a biography of a RAF bomber pilot, flying instructor and test pilot before and during WW2. Any technical queries, feel free to ask
- Load More
