Saturday, June 30, 2012

Word Count: Day 8

1788 words today. I'm particularly proud of this one, seeing as how I spent all day throwing a shower for a close friend, and got home well after midnight. I wrote in the car on the way back, and for another half hour or so at home, to make my word count for the day. I know it's technically tomorrow, but since I haven't slept yet, we can let that technicality slide, right?

1 day left! Tomorrow I write the ending. Or at least 1640 words of it.

TJ

Friday, June 29, 2012

Word Count: Day 7

1841 words today. 'Twas a busy day, very proud of myself for making it work. Finished just in time. :) 2 more days to go!

TJ

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Word Count: Day 6

1650 today. This has been the roughest one yet. Straight to bed for me.

TJ

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Word Count: Day 5

1656 words today. And I am sooooo unbelievably tired.

But it's encouraging! Meeting my goal so far for 5 days in a row, despite work and headaches and other random things, shows me that I don't have to wait for the muse to hit. All I have to do is sit down with my MacBook and force the words to materialize. Which gives me hope that over the next 4 days--my final 4--I'll be able to stay on track, even though I have a lot going on in those days. The race always gets harder towards the end, right? Keep your fingers crossed that I'll still be able to cross the finish line!

TJ

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Word Count: Day 4

1686 words! I'm on a roll! I'm exhausted, but all is going as planned, and that's all that matters.

TJ

Monday, June 25, 2012

Word Count: Day 3

1687 words today! Just barely came in at par. Really wanted to stop altogether after about 750 words, but forced myself to go on.

I had a tough day. Headache, bad day at work, let the tiny violins play...still, I made my goal. The day's looking up and it's only 10:30!

TJ

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Word Count: Day 2

1888 words today. Nice even number, repetitive in form and beautiful in nature, because it means that I made my goal again.

I'll take it.

TJ

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Word Count: Day 1

Drumroll please...1680 words added today! Easily met my goal. All it took was putting the kid to bed and turning off the TV, working in peace and near-silence, save for my instrumental background. On to bed to prepare for tomorrow's 1640+!

TJ

Time to Crack Down

1640 words per day. That's what I have to face up to at this point. I've already extended my novel rewrite deadline twice now, by months at a time. Now, it's time to crack down.

I'm aiming to finish this draft by the end of next weekend, which means that by midnight on Sunday, July 1, I should be typing the words THE END.

I did some simple calculations to determine that, including today, this goal gives me 9 more days to write. I'm aiming for 70k words total, and so far have just over 55k.

Which leaves me at 1640 words per day. That's what I'm going to do every day, rain or shine, in sickness and in health, until THE END is the next logical step. Then I'll take a break, let it simmer, and start edits later in the summer.

There will be challenges. I have a 2-year-old with a birthday party to plan. I have a full-time job and do freelance writeography. I have family about to come to town and stay with us. I'm helping to host a baby shower and doing a photo shoot in this time.

But there will always be excuses not to finish the book. For the next 9 days, those excuses just won't fly.

I'll check in daily to let everyone know how it's going. Hold me to this!

TJ

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Fictitious Food in "Fictitious Dishes"

Ever wondered what dinner with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo would look like? Or how Alice's Wonderland tabletop really looks? Photographer and former editor Dinah Fried set out to answer these questions with her series of photographs depicting the fictional meals of some of literature's most beloved characters. Take a peek at her work at Fictitious Dishes.

The images struck me because some writers simply leave out food altogether, as if it's completely irrelevant to the story, instead of one of the most important aspects of human living. Sure, food's not all that fascinating in writing, but a touch of it here and there makes our characters more real. More human.

Take The Twilight Saga's Bella Swan for example. Despite all the talk of her being a vegetarian, she doesn't seem to eat much throughout the series. I bet a lot of Twihards would like to see her step out of her book character shoes and into her human ones at some point by chowing down on a pint of Ben n' Jerry's (like the rest of us) while she's pining over her lost loves.

Just a little food for thought.

What other meals would you like to see depicted?

TJ