Progress report

[alex_beecroft]

Well, it's been a disastrous week of writing. Only 2,700 words the whole week - not helped by the fact that I had such a headache yesterday and today that I didn't do any at all. On the other hand, Captain Quinn has now sailed into the story, so things should get easier next week, in terms of there being drama enough! If I just write down dialogue it'll be something :)

I also missed the fortnightly meeting of my real life writer's group, which I was looking forward to but couldn't face.

"Witch's Boy" turns out to have a typo three pages in, which I missed last time around, so its release will have to be put back to October while I rigourously check it for others, and put it through the re-submission process.

On the plus side, I've discovered that roleplaying a character really is an excellent way to get to know them (as well as being fantastic fun by itself). I've been test-driving Lieutenant John Cavendish on the slash_on_ships RPG, and have discovered all sorts of things about him which I didn't know before. (I had no idea he was such a nervous virgin!)

So if I can manage to be well next week, I hope the fact that John is now real to me will help with the writing. Not quite 3,000 words in a week is a bit dire!

Comments

[sinningia.livejournal.com]

Oh, I do hope thinks work out better for you next week.

It sounds like a lot of fun "test-driving" your own characters. I haven never really invented one myself (at least not to the point, were I felt I actually "knew" him/her) so I don't know much about it, but it sounds very interesting. Must be like it's a real-life person, like a friend maybe or someone really close to know them so well. Either way, you make me really curious about the experience^^

~sinningia~

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, it's one of the most exciting things about doing original fic, I think - the fact that you start with nothing, and end up with a new person. With fanfic, even with a minor character like Gillette, you always have something to start with, so the characters are easier to get into, but less like your babies :)

I tend to start with looks and work inwards. John began with a picture of a statue of Alexander the Great and nothing but the determination that he should not be like any of my other characters. But even so, I didn't imagine he would be so highly strung! It really is quite a joy when they start taking on a life of their own, and then you start to feel you're *discovering* things about them, rather than just making them up :) You should try it!

[mrs-norrington.livejournal.com]

Isn't weird about that? I had a general idea of Thomas and his background, but once the rp started, he really filled out. I had no idea he'd take such an instant disliking to certain people...or that he can be a bit dense when it comes to interpersonal communication.

I'm glad it's helping flesh out some characters for you, and 2,700 words isn't something to sneeze at! I know it might not be a lot or didn't reach your goal, but we all have times where we just need to rest. Count it as taking a few sick days. ;)

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

It is fantastic! I think the RPG really helps because your character finds themselves presented constantly with situations which you didn't make up, and therefore to which you don't know how they will react until it happens. And then when they have reacted you have to figure out why they reacted that way :)

I only wish I could bring Alfie along now! He'd get on a lot better with Terrier and Lysander, and would probably think Callum was a bit of a cold fish. He's got a tragic past too, so I'm sure he'd fit in :)

I suppose 2,700 words isn't so bad, and the book as a whole is up to 16,500 after writing for a week in July and then most of September. So progress is being made, it's just slower than I would have liked.

Thanks for the reassurance!

[mrs-norrington.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I had to rack my brain why Thomas, whom I'd originally thought out to be a stoic but forceful kind of guy, would want to essentially strangle another shipmate upon meeting. ;)


I'm sure Robert would understand how to deal with Lysander and his emo-ness a lot better than Thomas as well.

That's very good indeed and at the very least you're working on it! A lot of people would have been content to rest on their laurels for awhile after getting a book published you know.

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

LOL! Although, if both Thomas and John want to strangle someone on meeting him, and they both have different reasons, it might also be that that person is genuinely very irritating ;D

Well, I must say that the whole pace of this book business is a lot slower than I was expecting - though I might have to take that back when the editing actually starts. So possibly there isn't the mad rush that I think there is :)

[mirien.livejournal.com]

RP'ing really does help a lot and it is great fun! I really feel for you about the headache, hope it disappears soon.

2,700 words? That really isn't all that bad, not considering you've not been your best. Besides, we all have less productive interludes and you don't seem to have all that many!

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I hadn't tried RPing as a way to sort of bump-start your characterization before :) I like it a lot, but I'm not sure it's going to be widely possible to do in future.

I suppose 2,700 isn't so bad. I used to do half of that when I was writing Tolkien fic, and it still mounted up. But on a good week I know I can do 5,000. Still, on a good week I don't spend the bigger part of the day in bed :)

How are you these days?

[mirien.livejournal.com]

Spending most of my days in bed! M.E is really giving me problems at the moment, I'm doing the whole reclusive thing, perforce. Getting a wheelchair in the next few weeks (I hope) so that'll make trips out less exhausting.

Doing ok though, I'll phone at some point, if that's alright?

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

That sounds dreadful! Is there really nothing anyone can do? Did you ever hear more from that specialist, or am I dreaming that you went to an ME specialist?

I'm glad to hear that you're feeling relatively cheerful though! And yes, please do phone, that will be great :)

[hms-dauntless.livejournal.com]

Not a good writing week for me, either. Today has been the first day, since last Monday, that I've been able to work on my story, but after revising two pages I was so tired I had to stop. Fully sharing your frustration. So many words in the dictionaries and vocabularies on my desk and none in my head...

Sorry for your headache. Are you sure you do not spend too much time in front of your PC ?

Huzzah for Admiral Augustus Quinn ! I'm really glad he's finally made his appearance and that you're finally firmly settled in Mr Cavendish's head. :)

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

It is so frustrating, isn't it? I'm sorry to hear that you've had an unproductive week too, writing wise! But I bet you at least have done other useful things. In my case I don't even have the excuse of external factors. I'm sure if I tried I could still manage to write with a headache, or feeling exhausted, but I didn't - I just went to bed instead.

I probably do spend too much time on the PC! Just not enough of it is spent writing.

I was thinking of downgrading Quinn to a Post Captain, in order to make his relationship with Alfie not quite the same as Edward's with Admiral Stockbridge. I'll make him a nobleman instead, so that he gets the privileges of rank without the rank :)

[hms-dauntless.livejournal.com]

LOL, I'd like to be able to say I've been productive in my work, but the truth is it has been a beastly, depressing week: one of my patients died (not my fault - nothing more could be done except giving him morphine) and my last paper seems worse and weaker at every polishing. There is a paragraph I've already rewritten ten times, and I'm yet unsatisfied with it.

You're too severe with yourself. External factors are literally an "excuse" for lack of inspiration, and a very paltry excuse, because I know by experience that when I'm free to write ad libitum, I usually step on a writer block and do not write anything at all untill the eleventh hour.

When was the last time you checked your eyesight ?

Huzzah for Captain the Honourable Augustus Quinn, then. I like very much the sound of it. :)

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

It seems to have been one of those weeks for us all. I can only hope that that means that next week will be a great week for everyone, just to be fair :) Do you have time to set your paper aside for a few days in order to be able to come back to it fresh? That always seems to help me with my stuff.

Yes, there's nothing like having a deadline to beat the dreaded writer's block :) I know that the professional thing to do is to sit down at a set time and just write, but without the pressure of producing something every week (which I used to have in fanfic, where I tried to finish a story or chapter each week) I seem to be finding it harder and harder to just get to it. Possibly I should try that again - to aim not for 750 words a day, but for one finished and polished chapter a week. I think I might get more satisfaction out of that.

Hm, I think the last time I had my eyes checked was about 5 years ago, when I got new contact lenses, but I've stopped wearing the lenses, and my glasses are older than that. I guess it is time I checked them again!

'Captain the Honourable Augustus Quinn'? Oh yes! It's enough to make your heart flutter just at the sound of it :)

[cassiopaya.livejournal.com]

Don't be so hard on yourself. I haven't written a damn thing in a week. Not even homework. I'll worry about it next week. What with all the doctor visits and poking and prodding I haven't been creatively inclined. Meh, after this weekend I'll post something. But I suppose you being professional now requires you to have stricter deadlines?

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I guess I am being too impatient and forgetting that I'm allowed time off for living and being ill :) I'll just try to do a bit more next week.

And I don't have deadlines at all yet. I just feel as though I *ought* to have something ready to submit as soon as 'Captain's Surrender' finally comes out. At this rate I won't, though!

[pearly-dreams.livejournal.com]

So John's actually going to appear in some original fiction of yours? Fascinating idea.

I scrolled through the below comments, and thought I might point out that if you do have a headache and think you've been on the computer a lot, that could be it. Eye strain or something from screen brightness. Having lots of other light in the room helps. ^.^ *impromptu medical mode*

Three pages in? A typo? Good thing you're going through it then!!

*Candy kisses as encouragement*

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Yes, you know the drabble fic I did, with 100 drabbles? I decided to take the plot from that, but recast the leads with original characters. But I couldn't seem to get a handle on John, and I was at a loss as to how to make him different from Peter Kenyon (from 'Captain's Surrender', who has a sense of entitlement coming out of his ears) or my James Norrington (who is totally self confident and likes to be in charge). So John's maidenly nervousness and empathy are wonderful things, just because they aren't the same as what I've done before.

Yes, I probably should have my eyes tested. It's been I don't know how many years since I did, and my glasses now make my head hurt. I probably need new ones!

And you're right, it's better to have found the typo now than to have it go out there like that. It's still a bit frustrating though!

What *are* candy kisses? Are they like cherry lips? http://www.aquarterof.co.uk/cherry-lips-p-165.html
if so... yum! :) Thank you!

[pearly-dreams.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do recall that. Enjoyed it greatly, too. ^^

Oh that's always fun. My eyes get checked basically each year- they deteriorate that fast. *grimace* Thank God for contacts, anyway.

Ooh, those do look good. But no, candy kisses (hershey's kisses if you use the brand name) are chocolate. look like that, while wrapped (http://onekit.enr-corp.com/1002116/images.html)

They is gooood. Very good. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, striped (milk/white)...

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow! They look very posh - I've never seen one of those before, but they certainly look as though they would be lovely :) I will treasure my virtual ones, particularly as I've recently gone on a sugar free diet, so these are the only ones I'll be allowed :)

[pearly-dreams.livejournal.com]

I can't as they are that 'posh'. You can by bags of them for a buck or two at almost any store. But they are magnificent.

Oooh. Tough. I'm glad I don't need diets... I need my sugar and chocolate.

[wulfila.livejournal.com]

I would be glad if I ever managed to write 2,700 words a week - I am much slower (and, no, Aquae is not going well right now)... But I hope next week will be better for you writing-wise, and I also hope your headache has left by now (have you tried using mint oil against it?). Good luck with checking "Witch's Boy" for typos; they can be a real pain!

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that you're having writing problems too. I wonder if it's the weather or something? The change of year from summer to winter making us all go into semi-hibernation?

I hope next week is better for you too! And yes, the headache is much better, thanks, though all I want to do now is sleep. I'll tackle the typos tomorrow when I'm feeling a bit more alert :) Thank you!

[joyful-molly.livejournal.com]

2'700 words a week sounds like a lot to me - what have you set as your personal target (if I may be so curious to ask)?

It's interesting what you write about the RPG and how it helps you to get to know the character. I know of a writer who writes interviews with her characters first, she found it very helpful to find out more about them. At one point, they just take up a life on their own, I guess, and that's the best moment to start writing.

In the meantime, I shall wait patiently for "Witch's Boy". Very much looking forward to that one!

[alex-beecroft.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to do 750 words a day, every day - which adds up to 5,250 words a week, so that I've only done half as much as I wanted. OTOH, I decided I would be satisfied if I only did 750 words every weekday, and that's only 3,750. It's still a shortfall, but not quite so bad :)

I had a good day yesterday with 1,215 words in a day, and 900 on Monday, so I'm hoping it was just that I was ill last week, and not that I can't force myself to do it any more :)

The nice thing about the RPG is that it makes your new character face situations that you haven't made up yourself - which is sometimes a revelation :) But yes, I'm going to have to find a different way of doing it in future. I can't RPG all my characters :)

Witch's Boy is delayed due to typos, I'm afraid, but I'm still hoping for it to be out this month - it might just be late this month!

Captain's Surrender, however, has just gone into edits today! *Celebrates* :)