Yes, I have added to it, and no, I don’t wanna bother with a count. It wasn’t that significant. Read that to say a piss-poor damned job of it.
My grandmother leaves, supposedly, not this weekend but the next. I might just have to cry uncle and give up until she’s gone. That’s how I feel today, anyway. Might feel differently tomorrow, I dunno. I can’t think to write, but I can think to read. So, that’s what I’ve been doing by the tons.
*dramatic pause with head hanging, head shaking, did-you-just-grow-six-freaking-heads look*
Really? And no, I don’t mean my family woes THIS time, though that does a good job of describing how I spent Monday night musing over the demise of certain family members; sitting here, looking longingly at the bottle of Bacardi and not getting a single word into the file.
Some of the things I’ve read over the last few days I just boggle about. Some were disappointing, even sad to an extent. Some were just so full of wtf-ery it was unreal. I have no tact – none – and I have found myself just…. wtf? Oh, the hypocrisy laden bullshit.
Other things I read and learned about did me a bit of good. On the writing note… the bits that did me some good…
I had a POV issue that was bugging the shit outta me. I have one chapter where Mason is really the only person in the chapter, so it’s told third person with a tint of his personality. One where Lien is the main character, though not the only one, and its narrative is tinged with HIS personality. Yet another with Este and Lien together and it’s third-person omniscient. (ooooo, I spelled that right! Auto-correct didn’t touch it! It’s the small victories, I tell ya!) So, I have no idea why I was having such a bloody freaking hard time writing yet another one third-person omniscient. But I was. And it was grating my nerves about the POV flops. Solved by reading a lecture on writing that says there’s nothing wrong with multiple POV’s. Some of the best do it and do it well. Issue over.
If I described that badly, please know I know what I meant. My brain is fried.
I have a character that I kept thinking did not need to be there, in spite of a great scene customized for him. Slashed the scene. Simplify. If two characters are fulfilling the same role, cut one. This was the case. Cool scene cut. How to make it work with the original dude? *nod* Took five seconds. Issue over. Geez. All that resolved with the decision to hit the delete key.
Lex, my beta, bless her… I had an hour long conversation with her husband today so I’m gonna make it official that Garrett is a beta, too. It was good to hear some things come out of his mouth that I know I have issues with because I have them in my “issue” notes to be fixed at the first draft. He’s really very good at a crit and had me pumped to write tonight…. then I came home and reality set in. Epic. Fail.
BUT! Basically, I’ve figured out that I know more about my craft than I thought I did and I need to quit putting SO much stock into advice I am given. I’m happier about the way the draft is going now. I might be STUCK three chapters from the end because the real world won’t stop hassling me, but I feel better about everything.
Now to just get some time.
