Sort of back

I'm back from traveling. Its always so nice to sleep in my own bed, but I miss having something really new to do each day.

My August goal was to "finish something" and I'm plugging away at a first draft. It won't be finished this month (or even close), but I've committed to sticking it out.

I've only finished one novel length piece and its out in the beta reader world, hopefully being ripped to shreds. I'm worried that I only have the one book in me.

I've been trying to write some short stories to work on the mechanics of writing and editing, but couldn't find anything that worked. So I'm 10,000 or so words into the next book. I haven't really plotted it all out yet, because I find if I do that I don't want to write the book, after all I already know what's going to happen. Yet another thing I'm hoping to overcome.

Anyway, here's a picture of a humpback whale fluke. I recommend whale watching or even better, visit these people.

Beginnings and Endings

My day job is winding down, I'm done, save the state exam and end of the school year cleanup.
In theory this means I'll have more time to write, but it also means less structure.

I'm also traveling most of July, so I'm guessing not a lot of writing will be taking place.

Part of me thinks this is a good thing. I have way too many stories started. Pounding through a first draft is the thing I have the most trouble with. So the goal for August is to finish a first draft of one WIP.

In the meantime I'm dating CPs. Devon Monk had a CP/Beta match up, which I think is brilliant.

I've always had trouble finding and maintaining good CP relationships. Does this say something about me? Probably, but just as in any other relationship there are a lot of variables.

My biggest two issues are that I tend to write dark stuff. This turns off some people. The second is finding someone who actually calls me on all my crap.
I may be wrong here, but the people who do this most effectively are people who write better than I do.

There's no greater learning experience than getting a WIP back with its margins full of track changes and comments.

I'm always hopeful that one (or more) of my CP dates will become a relationship.

Been Busy

It's the end of the school year, which means the only thing I've been doing is making sure students are ready for their exams.

I haven't been writing much because of it and I'm feeling frustrated because of it. Next week should be better.

I am working on another storyline, but its still to nebulous to tell if its going to work.

Writer as idenity

Nathan Bransford talked about Writing as an Identity last Tuesday (and yes, I'm just getting around to thinking about it).

The only reason I did was due to a precipitating event. I'm a science teacher by day and I usually don't talk much about my "out of school life". Part of the reason is everyone knows teachers just pull out a cot from under our desks and shut down for the night. The other side is that I have just recently started writing novel length stories. I hate when people (or students) ask when they will be able to read it.

It's not that I don't like their enthusiasm, but the primary reason I write is to get it out of my head. I'd love to be published and its something I'm working toward, but as far as I'm concerned it's the writing that's important.

Unstuck

This weekend I managed to "get unstuck". The dam broke and two chapters came flowing out faster than I could type. I love when that happens!

So what unstuck me?
My outline. This is the first writing project I created an outline for and it's really helpful. That said, I now have to write the next section. The outline says something to the effect of "They destroy the ship".

Yup now all I have to do is wait for the how to pop into my mind. While as a former "pantser" I'm a fan of seeing what connections I can make as I write, there is always the issue of writing things I haven't researched...which leads to me getting stuck.

Here's to positive thinking!

Writing the Tough Chick

Great blog about making tough female characters sympathetic over at Paperback Writer.
http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/2009/04/writing-tc.html

World Building

What are elements of a well built world?
I'm not even going to talk about them all here, but rather try to 'think out loud' through several posts and unstick my current issue with my WIP.

There are a ton of articles and how to's online. They all start in different places, which is interesting. Where do you start?

Every time I do world building I start from a different place, but always with a question.
Why is [this character] the way they are? This is useful because we are all products of our genetics and environment. Is the character human? If not there is a lot more work to do.

Why is [this environment] the way it is? This is an area where I really struggle. I'm a science teacher by day and find it hard to accept bad science in science fiction. Still I can't write a story were it take my MC 200 years to get where they are going. So enter the wormhole (or tubes as I've been calling them in my WIP).
And while doing this, how much jargon is appropriate?