October 31, 2005
chapter 10
The snail's pace continues! Notes for tomorrow night's work is in place and 10 is done. Almost into the territory of no rewrites until 20-ish. Then I get to remember where I was going with the story! Ah ha ha ha ha ha.
I'll be back tomorrow night.
- they will see us waving
from such great heights
"come down now," they'll say
Posted by sdshaver at 12:45 AM | Comments (0)
October 29, 2005
chapter 10 - gutting
Bryan take note: I actually edited out a scene with food in it because I was hungry and it was too hard to read my own descriptions of yummy, yummy food.
That, and it was way too much BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH. Ah, Discordia!
How does a mouse turn into a lion? I guess that part of this book's theme is that, after all.
Posted by sdshaver at 01:45 AM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2005
chapter 10
Got back to revisions, at last. Wrote three new pages. I expect to have this section done this week.
Learning still. Will be making better notes next time this comes around. These gaps of no-work make it hard to remember where I've left off.
Sleep now. I've earned it.
Posted by sdshaver at 02:29 AM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2005
on going nowhere, and what to do on the way
Since I don't have time for revisions, I'm working on a short story. I've no idea if it has a future, but eh -- it's doing the job of keeping my sanity in check.
Here's the first paragraph:
- The jar is made of Schoel Mountain quartz, dyed cobalt by the mixed tears and blood of a chained god. Its mouth is slightly larger than my fist. When I put my heart inside, you might expect a squishing sound, but there's none of that. I took the time and money and lined it with velvet when I made it.
Posted by sdshaver at 07:17 PM | Comments (0)
October 22, 2005
no rest. no writing.
Back into the land of semi-overtime. Just typing that makes my shoulders bunch up.
Canceled the Chicago trip, which will make my Chicago friends sad. Hell, it makes me sad, but I'm already running myself into the ground.
So, no work on Firebird. No work on anything. Just sleep, job, scraps of moments thrown at the garden, sleep, job, repeat.
Tell me this will all be worth it someday. I believe it is most of the time, but at 2 AM with a creeping case of insomnia, it's hard to see it.
Posted by sdshaver at 02:08 AM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2005
chapter nine
Tidy end to a minor character's arc, sorta. I don't think I'm a fan of tidy. Which is not to say I'm a fan of ass-hanging-in-the-breeze, either. I'm a fan of the story-without-end (it just goes on and on, my friends). The readers just happened to stop watching at this point.
Well, the clock says it's time for bed, and I and the cats agree. Photos of the garden I have been busting my ass over will appear...eventually. Roses...definitely.
Night.
Posted by sdshaver at 01:06 AM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2005
chapter nine / longhand
(Mostly) edited! I wrote six new pages in Firebird, which is most of the chapter. Blacksmith scene's getting the axe. (Aw.) Thought I was done, but midway through writing this lame entry I realized what I could do to wrap the chapter. That's one, two pages of work, but it's gotta be tomorrow night.
Um, yeah, I like to write chapters that have definitive beginnings and ends. Remaining true to that whole idea of the serialized novel, I guess, but not really. These are the sort of lame questions I ask myself on the drive into work: why do I do chapters? Fuck if I know. Why do I wear pajamas in the dojo? It's tradition!
In other news, wrote some more longhand for Poison. Aaagh. It won't. let. me. go.
- well it seems like so long ago
but it really ain't
y'know
i started off a crazy kid
miracle i made it through
the things i did
things I did
Posted by sdshaver at 01:29 AM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2005
chapter eight
Edited. Nine tomorrow.
Meetings from hell this week. Today's went to 9 PM. Bad for blood sugar. Must remember to eat something. Gar. Yawn. Sleep!
Addendum: I should note that that previously mentioned high-octane opening to Poison is knocking pretty hard on my head. Being the tease I am, though, I'm letting it knock for a while. Ria's book needs to be finished first, and right now the temptation to work on Poison is a great goad for working on Firebird's Wish.
I also seem to be in the midst of a quiet time in my life. November will not be good for writing -- I have three weekends where I will be out of the house -- such is my glamorous life -- so I'm luxuriating in October's productivity.
Posted by sdshaver at 11:43 PM | Comments (0)
chapter eight and dramacon
Woke up early (for me), fulfilled exercise requirement, made breakfast (!), and wrote into eight.
Also read Dramacon. Some of you may say "Oh, it's just a manga." -- Svetlana Chmakova has such a deft grasp on what makes people tick that it's scary sometimes. Her sense of humor is fantastic, and her plot and pacing are damn fine.
It's rare to find an artist who is also a good writer (or a good writer who draws well); Svet is both, and I'm quite jealous. I highly recommend this book, even if you aren't a regular manga reader. It's sweet, romantic, funny, and beautiful. I am quite taken by it.
You can check out sample chapters here. Yum.
Posted by sdshaver at 02:38 PM | Comments (0)
October 10, 2005
minor update
More bedside mutterings. Scrupulous notes. Pondered a very high-octane opening to Poison -- the question is, could I pull it off? I might.
Wasted time trying to figure out why Word loads so damn slow. Came up empty handed.
Otherwise: spent day in the garden excavating, and at the keyboard working on other people's websites. Hopefully will get up early tomorrow and complete the exercise requirement, then get home and do writing tomorrow night.
Posted by sdshaver at 12:27 AM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2005
chapter 7
Despite fever, I have finished 7.
Now, I collapse.
Posted by sdshaver at 02:48 AM | Comments (0)
October 06, 2005
about that healing....
More nausea and vomiting. This is unusual. I may have to see a doctor. I suspect either food poisoning or allergies.
Needless to say, not conducive to writing. Luckily I don't make a living at this (yet).
Time to get some more tea and toast.
Posted by sdshaver at 07:41 PM | Comments (0)
stil healing
Hands are still hurt. Typing isn't impossible, but I'm letting them rest.
In the meantime, I'm writing some things longhand and letting other things percolate. Surprisingly, it's mostly stuff to do with Myr and Co., rather than Ria, whose tale is fairly firmly set at this point.
Posted by sdshaver at 12:44 AM | Comments (0)
October 04, 2005
chapter 7 (still revising)
Writing called on account of OMGWTFDIDIDOTOMYHANDS? Gardening is very painful, I have discovered, especially when one is pulling up stumps that refuse to be pulled. But I still hacked at 7, and I like what I'm seeing.
But everything hurts. Everything REALLY hurt yesterday, and all I did was garden and sleep.
I'm still making my slow way toward the Dark Tower. Pondering the difference between writer as god, and writer as gateway. I'll go with the latter. My fictional living things (oxymoron alert) never ever behave exactly the way I expect.
And isn't it then more applicable to call yourself their parent? My mom sure as heck had a hand in making and raising me, but I don't think she ever expected her youngest to be a writer, artist, game designer, and aikidoist. I mean, how could she? When I was a toddler all she saw was a baby girl who had a freakish tendency to get into trouble and climb up trees and ladders. Who knew that could manifest the way it has?
I'm contemplating before bedtime. Bad sign. Must sleep. Who knows what terrible typos I have introduced here?
AAAGH HANDS. AAAGH BUGBITES. OOOOH GARDENBED.
Posted by sdshaver at 03:20 AM | Comments (0)
October 01, 2005
serenity
Oh my sweet jeebus. What an amazing movie. (Yes, SERENITY is a movie. Not an extended episode. A movie.)
Goodness.
Impossible for me to write after that. Go see it! I'll be heading back at some point for a second (or third) helping.
Posted by sdshaver at 06:34 AM | Comments (0)