Hello, everyone — one of the major problems I have been having is getting word count (stop me if you’ve heard this one — ok, got it).  I need to get serious about being consistent.  I need to get at least two thousand words a day.  I’m going to use the same approach I have used in the past when I was working on Nanowrimo.  Break the project down into three manageable chunks of 700-750 words each day: when I get up in the morning, during work and when I get home.  My iPad can log into Windows Online, so there is no hassle of remembering to e-mail myself the work I did at work (y’know, instead of my real job).  I know that consistency is the major hurdle.  The fact that there is almost a year gap in this blog is testament to that issue.  If I can break it down into smaller parts, I can do it.  i did it for Nanowrimo last year and managed to turn it into a 55K novel.  I can do it with this one.  Next January, when I leave my current job and do…something else, I might be able to increase the word count a little and maybe write, then take a thirty minute break.

You could be asking yourself “Why does he keep bringing this up?”  The same reason why you make a shopping list before walking into a grocery store: a reminder.  This is to keep things in the forefront of my mind.  The same reason why I blather on about story ideas — to keep them in my mind and make a record of them in the event that I forget something. Yes, I have forgotten things.  Really good things: The Three Brothers and Three Sisters: (Statescraft, Spycraft and Warcraft are the Three Brothers and the Three Sisters are Evocation, Elementalism and… and… dammit).  Also for all you novice writers and creative types, a bit of advice: write it down.  

With the current project, I am trying to do something different: when I have to make a decision for what’s to happen to a character, I’m going to go the opposite of what I think should happen.  Ehren brings back some vegetables and some lemons for the meal they’re having at the wainwright’s house.  Vimala (The healing spirit attached to him) says that the mother will be grateful for what Ehren has brought in — after all, the boy is starting to suffer from rickets and scurvy). Rather than be grateful, the woman tells Ehren that the lemons don’t belong to them and that they’re going to get an earful from the owner of the tree.  Some of you may recognize as the Constanza method of writing.  I’m hoping that in doing that I can keep the reader guessing.  i did it at one point in the still unfinished Cat, Rabbit and Clover.  it worked in that the main character was able to head off a disaster that would have gotten him fired from the job.

Well, with all of that said, i should go on ahead and get to the 750 I am owed to myself today.  I hope y’all have a good rest of the day.  As always, there are books that my good friends have written — feel free to try a couple of them through the links provided.

Sincerely,

Seething Apathy.