I was about to report my success for the day and realised it's October! Hope I'm not stepping any toes by starting this thread.
So how did September go? What are your goals for October? Are you going to get ready for nanwrimo? Can't believe it's that time again. I did it last year and won however this year I'm opting out because I'm working so hard on this one.
Me: September was great, made great strides and hoping to keep the momentum going with my goal of being finished the first draft by Oct 20th still at the forefront.
I sent Chapter One to some first readers today for some feedback. I'll let you know what they say.
Today I wrote 3130 words and I'm at 64,474 and you know I have to be completely tempted to write up to 65,000.
I'm all confused now...the story is done...now what?
I'm going to print it out. I think I'm going to do manual editing with red pen and paper...buying paper today and an ink cartridge, also a flash drive...to put it on. I'm so scared that the computer will crash and I have NO BACKUP!
I cannot wait to have a printed "manuscript"
Making it look Official Now...even though it's just a first draft!
I am psyched...I wrote a BOOK!
Aufilia...how does it feel to have finished a book? I cannot imagine...soon enough though!
Congratulations, allgirls! That has got to be a fantastic feeling.
I'm feeling
about being so terribly sidetracked by the week of flu. But between the kids' illness and my illness, there was no way I could do more than the bare minimum. Dh returns from overseas this weekend. I'll crack back into the story tomorrow, and hopefully have some momentum going before he comes back. I just have to keep the big picture in mind and stay on track.
Bright side is that we should be all done with swine flu. No more anxiety over it, at least.
Originally Posted by allgirls
Making it look Official Now...even though it's just a first draft!
I am psyched...I wrote a BOOK!
WOOHOO! And making it look official is cool.
I didn't schlep my into one file until last week and then I went WOAH! It's huuuuge when it's in proper manuscript format and all put together. I haven't printed it though (I can't find the new toner cartridge for my printer... and refuse to buy another one when I know there's one here somewhere... pathetic, huh?).
Quote:
Aufilia...how does it feel to have finished a book? I cannot imagine...soon enough though!
Amazing but also kinda scary. Now I feel this huge sense of intimidation over being able to repeat the feat. Which, sadly, is not going to happen any time soon no matter what.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1jooj
Bright side is that we should be all done with swine flu. No more anxiety over it, at least.
It's OK. I just feel so bad about the lost time.
You cannot beat yourself up over making no progress while sick. Nope, nope, nope! You need to give yourself permission to have "sick days" just like if your novel were your real "job". No spreading germs to your coworkers... OR your characters...
Originally Posted by 1jooj
Congratulations, allgirls! That has got to be a fantastic feeling.
I'm feeling
about being so terribly sidetracked by the week of flu. But between the kids' illness and my illness, there was no way I could do more than the bare minimum. Dh returns from overseas this weekend. I'll crack back into the story tomorrow, and hopefully have some momentum going before he comes back. I just have to keep the big picture in mind and stay on track.
Bright side is that we should be all done with swine flu. No more anxiety over it, at least.
It's OK. I just feel so bad about the lost time.
Be kind to yourself. The thing is...when you start it's very daunting, so much to do but as you get into it you won't be concerned about not finishing..you will know that you will finish..you will get attached to your characters and their story...keep going!
Glad you got the pesky flu over with and no more worrying about it!
1jooj ~ At least you are writing something! That's awesome - especially when sick. I am still in research mode, but it has turned out to be quite fun and fascinating.
Aufilia ~ Any other bites on your query? Can we read it, or do you want to keep it private? (understandable if so)
allgirls ~ I love the idea of printing the book out and making it look official.
Thanks for the kindness and support. So I jumped back in and got back to work with the sliver of time I have today...and I am now at just over 10,000w. So, it's OK. It will eventually be done. There is just so much that needs to happen--both IRL and in the story. It's moving back along now, though, and as long as I can keep taking even just one hour a day to work on it, it will keep moving.
When dh comes home I can put it on a flash drive and take it upstairs to print it from his laptop with his printer...
computer went black yesterday...had to do a repair thingy..nearly died..I have got to get this on a file safe and sound..can't even find the black discs to make a copy...
Dh will be home on Sunday...hang on computer...
ps this is a relatively good computer and fairly new...my fears are probably unfounded..I just got a good scare!
Do you have an online email account like Google or something? Can you email it to yourself so you have a backup that way? Never hurts to have the 'just in case' waiting in the wings. I do that all the time.
Originally Posted by onetruething
Do you have an online email account like Google or something? Can you email it to yourself so you have a backup that way? Never hurts to have the 'just in case' waiting in the wings. I do that all the time.
I have gmail...I should do that uh? But it's such a large file...
ok..gmail works so much better than yahoo...a while ago I tried this with yahoo..and it wouldn't attach the file saying it was too big..so I did the opposite and gmail was no problem...so far!
Oh, definitely make yourself a backup ASAP! I have one on a USB drive AND I emailed it to myself (Gmail) because I was terribly paranoid about it. My laptop harddrive died when I'd barely had the thing 3 months, taking 3 months of DD's baby photos out with it
and I just don't think you can be too safe with your most precious data.
jooj -- Congrats on 10k words!
You are doing it!
re my query -- I sent 3 e-queries and 2 paper queries, so 5 agents total. Have only heard back from 2 of them. But the last paper was a referral to a friend's agent and I had been told to send a 30-page partial and synopsis right off to that agent. I am crossing my fingers bigtime over the last one as I think my friend's agent would be an awesome agent (not that the others wouldn't be awesome, but I just get a particularly good vibe about her....)
I'm kind of hesitant to post the query online.. if I was an agent I'd totally google my potential clients
and I like MDC being a private little hangout! Right now the only hit that comes up for my novel is the PNWA contest. I'd be happy to PM it to anyone who wants to read it, though.
ITU wanting to keep it private. Can you PM it to me, though? It's so exciting that someone I *know* from here is in the agenting stage, and I'm really interested in hearing more about your book.
eta: That was grammatically terrible. I have a comma problem. lol
Reeeejected by another agent today! She was the one I thought was the longest long-shot on my list, though. And she was faster than I expected. She wasn't one of the ones with partials.
I accomplished nothing this weekend, so I will be hard at work today! I spent the weekend playing nursemaid and making sure my dizzy family stayed in bed. Flu season has hit too early for my liking.
Ugh, me too. We did some farm "housecleaning" (dispatching poultry), and my dh returned from a long business trip in Kuwait, so I now have a messy house to get control over before I can get back to the draft.
In addition, I am gaining weight. Blech. So I need to figure out a new exercise regimen.
Wow--congratulations, Aufilia! Guess you've been busy!
It CAN be done! Today, I managed to get my chores done, get a workout in, do a little knitting, and add another 1300w! If I can just keep this up!
This winter will have to be an exercise is discipline in many ways...from going back to single income, to keeping my weight from creeping back up, to writing this novel. Lots of peace and structure needed.
Me too and I'm looking for a part time job too....
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