Despite an onslaught of insects (ants and spiders), and some slight noise of a new person moving in upstairs, the mini-Clarion was largely successful. I managed to crank out a small but respectable amount, and the wordcount now stands at:



It's not as much as I wanted, but I tend to not beat myself over the head if I miss my own targets. I don't believe in "muses" or the like, but I do believe that you can work your imagination at full throttle for only so long, then you have to give it a rest. No need to force it, if you don't have to. The goals I set are to keep me on my toes, not to discourage me. I was on my toes, I wrote a lot, I dealt with life, and that's the way it goes.

From now through the end of the month, if I write 500 words a day minimum, I'll have it finished in full by the end of the month. Problem is, I don't have the exact due date of the story, which makes me nervous. If I find out it's due June 1, I can do it - but it gives me no time for editing or polishing. I don't want to bother the editor, but I'm going to have to bug him for an exact date. I hate being so anal, but having a date to work toward helps. Because I'm, you know, anal. :)

Labels: horses, mini-clarion

Wednesday was lost due to my going to KGB to see Sarah Langan and John Crowley read from their new novels - I think that's a pretty good excuse for not writing. The best part of the evening was watching Nick Kaufmann's eyes bug out when Peter Straub revealed that he reads Nick's blog. I myself was sort of googly-eyed-fan-girlish, and didn't contribute much to the conversation, but if Mr. Straub noticed my idiocy, he was kind enough to ignore it.

Tomorrow will be nothing but writing, writing, writing. Lots of coffee (my bathroom trips will be about the only exercise I get) and lots of iTunes for background. Don't worry, I'm not going to post a word count update every hour. I will, however, post something at the end of the day. It's been a long time since I've devoted an entire day to writing, and even though parts of it will be torturous, I'm looking forward to it.

Labels: horses, mini-clarion

I have a massive, massive spreadsheet that I take everywhere with me on a little memory stick. It has, among many other numerous things, a page devoted entirely to the word output of each and every one of my projects in progress. Right now, the little group of cells that make up the chart for Secrit Project 07 show a measly output for last night:



I imagine this number will rise by very small increments throughout the week - that's how it always seemed to go at Clarion, and that's how it goes when you have a full-time job as well. So, each row in the chart will have a date, the daily word count, and the cumulative word count. Slow but steady progress.

Then I'll hit Saturday.

On Saturday morning, the daily word count will be switched over to HOURLY word count. Each row will no longer show a date (5/14, 5/15, 5/16), but this: 7-8am, 8-9am, 9-10am. At the top of every hour, I'll stop to check my word count, input it into the spreadsheet, and tally up my total. I'll spend all of Saturday doing this, from about 7am to 9pm. My word count for the day will probably be around 5-6,000 (not including what I racked up during the week). Sunday will be a slower day, with maybe about 2,000 words added (assuming I haven't finished the story on Saturday - 10k is the maximum allowed word count, not what I have to hit). And that's how I'll get this thing finished. It's like ripping off a bandaid - for fourteen freakin' hours. Heh.

But I've found that with the spreadsheet open, it holds me accountable for every hour I work on my writing - I have to write something, I have to keep up with the pace I set, and I can't stop and ego-ponder over the beauty of my words or whether anything even makes sense. I pound it out in a weekend frenzy of writing, then give it a rest before editing. That's how I wrote at Clarion, and I think it's the best way for me to approach this story. Because, if I stop and think about what I'm writing, I'm going to be physically ill. I won't be able to do it. And I can't let that happen. And no, I can't elucidate any further. Hopefully the story will be accepted and published, and then you all can read it, and see for yourselves what I mean.

Labels: horses, mini-clarion

So, let's try this one more time: after scrapping everything I previously wrote on the "secret project", I spent a week (while on a business trip in Sarasota) researching and just generally stewing over a new direction. And now I have to begin again. However, I'm horribly, horribly behind - so I've decided to do a "mini-Clarion" to the project. That is, I'm going to write as fast as I can, as much as I can, for the next week. I'm going to attempt to finish the entire thing by next Sunday.

I want to do this not just because I'm behind in my schedule, but because I think that this is going to force me to write without having the time to worry about perfection or editing as I go. That tends to slow me down and trip me up over things like single word choices, rather than pushing through to the end. I also think this is going to be a very difficult story for me to write, along the lines of what I went through while writing "The Unattainable". While IMO the writing of "The Unattainable" is some of the best I've ever done, it was one of the most stressful and emotionally disruptive things I've ever inflicted on myself. While I think it's good for writers to have a deep emotional connection to what they're creating, I also think that they need to have a good handle on their personal shit, and put the craft first. Trying to get through this in seven days will give me less time to wallow in my own crap, and force me to focus on the character's emotional journey. I can cry and wail when I write the end - just not before. ;D

So, starting tomorrow, I'll write like a madman possessed - just like I did at Clarion. I'll post word counts starting on Tuesday. Right now the word count is this:



Bleh. I've got a long ways to go....

Labels: horses, mini-clarion