<–The State of the Writer: 1/29/17 The State of the Writer: 2/12/17–>
A weekly post updated every Sunday discussing my current writing projects and where I stand with them. This will include any and all work(s) in progress (WIP) be they creative writing, essays/analyses, or reviews of any type.
Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction (FFVII) Novel
Current Word Count: 276,905
Prior Word Count: 276,905
Word Difference: 0
Status: Editing
Progress: 1st edit of Chapter 8
I usually try to integrate my notes for a chapter before I start editing the chapter itself, but in the case of Chapter 8 I’ve decided to go in the opposite direction. The notes have all been organized by content, and I want to start reading/editing the chapter in order to figure out the best place to add them in. I may alter my methods for this going forward, since it could be far easier than the search one I was using. Either way, I’ll give something else a try and can decide which way works best for me.
Chapter 8 starts out with a lot of telling/exposition. There’s over a page of it. I think I was having trouble starting it, and when that happens, I’ll fall back on “telling” the story instead of “showing” it. My first goal is to weed through that chaff and see if there’s anything of value therein before I send it to word heaven.
Project: Essay
Title: Half a Tragedy Is Worse Than Whole
Subject: FFVII Comparative and Meta
Current Word Count: 1436
Prior Word Count: 1436
Word Difference: 0
Status: Drafting
Progress: N/A
No progress on this again this week. My exhaustion has hit peak levels, and I’ve damn near been sleeping my weekends away. Just today I took a four hour nap after breakfast. No amount of coffee can stave off my fatigue. Yesterday a friend came over so I could show her how to make slideshows on Windows Media Maker, and Saturdays are when I work on this essay, so I knew no writing on it would be done then (I can only do so much in one day). I don’t think I have anything planned for next weekend, so I’m going to try to get back into the tragedy game then. Those masks are totally judging me.
Project: Book Review
Title: The Raven Boys
Status: In Progress
I did the preliminary set up for this and started writing a bit of it, but I’ve barely cut into the meat. I think I have it on the schedule to work on tomorrow (Monday). I’m hoping my words can do it justice.
What are you currently working on? Is it a creative writing project, essay, review, or something else? Have you just started something new or are you wrapping up a long term project?
<–The State of the Writer: 1/29/17 The State of the Writer: 2/12/17–>
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
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Somehow these masks seem really scary O_O you work a lot with masks lately?
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Since I’ve been such a bum about working on my essay I just keep using the Greek tragedy masks as pictures lol. I’m hoping they’ll eventually be the kick in the pants I need to continue my work.
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You know you’ve taken a step forward when you recognize your own “telling” and set about “showing” it instead. I’m certain you’ll find the way.
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Oh my goodness, it was so blatant! I deleted about a page of it, and there’s still a bunch scattered around the chapter. I’ve read enough books that do it that I’m very keen on finding and weeding it out of any of my writing. Having other eyes still helps, but when I’m reading something thinking “Why am I recapping,” I know it needs to be cut.
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I also watch out for naming emotions. To say, “She despaired,” isn’t nearly as effective, I think, as, “An abyss swallowed her heart, her will, her words.”
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You seem like such an organized writer. I really have to tip my hat with respect to you! 🙂
It’s rough when you have things you want to be working on but are too fatigued to do so. Especially when you have other things going on on top of that. I felt like that yesterday too. Hopefully you feel more rested soon! ❤
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I SEEM organized on paper lol. I have so many lofty plans, and I don’t want to forget them when/if I get the time to work on it.
I’m taking this medicine I have to take twice a day, but it can be any time during the day. I decided to switch it up and take the two doses in the evening. SO MUCH BETTER. I didn’t come home and pass out like I’d been doing, and I was able to get some things done. I’m still behind in my blog subs, but that’s a never ending battle 🙂
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Oh, good! 🙂 Glad to hear that you’re feeling so much better!
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“Telling” instead of “showing”… You’ve mentioned that as a writing fault in the past, but I’m not sure if I understand that enough to know if I’m doing it my my novel thingy. *shrugs* Anyway, I’m totally pumped for Chapter 8 and good luck with your tweaked editing strategy. There’s sadly just not enough time to do everything we want. It does annoy me a tiny bit when friends “ruin” my scheduled plans though, haha. I’m a terrible person…
Oh and I hope you’re feeling better! 🙂
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It can be a tough one to differentiate! I guess the best way to describe it is instead of saying, “She was sad.” You say “Her smile froze then fell to a frown, and her shoulders slumped as though heavy.” You describe the action of the emotion instead of the emotion itself. It’s obviously okay to “show” some things, but it shouldn’t be the entire narrative. Even well known authors do it. Brandon Sanderson is notorious for it at least in the books of his I read. The good thing about writing is that you can always go back and edit. It was egregious in Chapter 8. I was pretty much recapping what I’d already talked about in prior chapters. I was like “What the hell am I doing?” I really think I just didn’t know how to start the chapter, so I just did that until I could find my footing.
There is nothing better than when someone cancels plans for something you didn’t want to do in the first place.
I’m feeling a little better. If my breathing doesn’t improve, off to the doctor I go!
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Oh! I see. That makes sense. I think I’ll be spending a lot of time editing if I ever finish my novel, lol.
I so agree! It’s like the gift of sweet freedom. 🙂 I usually try to act disappointed though since I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, haha.
Yikes! Breathing is VERY important. I really hope you get completely better soon.
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There is no writing without editing! Usually it takes less time to edit than to write, but it really depends on how much you fix, change, and embellish. And everyone does things differently. I don’t let anyone near my writing until I’ve edited and polished things up, but I have other friends who will hand their work over to beta readers as soon as they’re done. There’s no wrong way to do it!
I may make a trip to my doctor next week if it’s not better just to make sure I don’t have the flu or pneumonia or something icky D:
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I have a feeling it will take quite a bit of editing to sort through my chaotic writing when I’m finally done. I refuse to admit I’m even writing a novel IRL so no one is getting near it until I’ve made it perfect in my eyes.
That doesn’t sound good at all 😦 I’m hoping it’s nothing too serious!
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Any work of art takes time to perfect 🙂
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