Posted in Real Life, writing, tagged fantasy, first drafts, rewrites, work, writing on September 1, 2019| Leave a Comment »
I know I didn’t post at all last week. All I can say is that the first week back at school kicked my . . . . Well, you know.
However, I did still make some progress on the rewrite of MAGE STORM.
I even finished another chapter. So it wasn’t a total waste. And what little energy I had to spare was better used for that, so I don’t lose momentum entirely. I even finished another chapter.
Here’s hoping next week will be a bit easier. At the very least, it’ll be a day shorter.
Posted in Real Life, writing, tagged Dogs, fantasy, first drafts, gardening, rewrites, writing on August 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »
I’m a couple of days late posting this. There are a number of reasons for that, but . . . who needs excuses.
The main thing is that I continue to make progress on MAGE STORM.
Not quite as fast as last week, but that’s to be expected.
In other news:
-In gardening, the Heart of Darkness (otherwise known as the turk’s cap plant at the side of the house) has been tamed (as much as it can be at the moment).
Before:
Half-way through:
It was like that green wall at the back pretty much from end to end.
Finished:
Well, that photo isn’t completely finished. There’s another section beyond that wall with the weird little window. (That window is actually in a closet. Old houses are weird.) It’s mostly ivy, not turk’s cap, beyond that point. And narrower. And I did cut back most of that stuff that was higher up and out of reach without a ladder. (Some of it was still out of reach, at least for me.) Also, I finished up this morning by raking up all the dead leaves, etc. on the ground.
-I’ve also nearly finished the whole house cleaning–as long as you don’t count the back bedroom/storage room. I’ll have to get to that, too. Preferably before I have to get the Christmas stuff (much of which is stored in there) out.
-Summer is almost over. School starts on Monday. Sadie isn’t going to like that. She likes having me home all the time.
-I finished another course through The Great Courses Plus, Heroes and Legends. It was clear fairly early on that the lecturer meant something different by heroes and legends than I do, although some would have fit my definition. Still, there were some interesting insights.
I’ve started another, How to Write Best-Selling Fiction, taught by James Scott Bell. It’s always nice when a writing class is taught by someone who is actually a writer.
Posted in Real Life, writing, tagged fantasy, first drafts, Real Life, rewrites, Writer's Block, writing on August 11, 2019| 2 Comments »
I’ve come to the conclusion that part of my problem with making more progress on MAGE STORM is balance.
See, in addition to getting back into the habit of writing every day, I’ve also set myself a couple of other goals for this summer–which, for this purpose, ends in two weeks when school starts again.
I also wanted to get a fair amount of work done in the yard. It had gotten out of control and I’m gradually trying to bring it back–in a hopefully low-maintenance kind of way. Naturally, I try to accomplish whatever task I’ve set myself done in the morning, before it has a chance to get too hot. Usually, I get hot anyway. Gradually–one moderate goal at a time–I’m making progress with that.
Then, too, I want to get a whole-house cleaning done. And naturally, since I’m already wearing my grubby work clothes, I tend to do that shortly after I come in from working in the yard, allowing a little time to rest in between. That also is coming along, although I don’t expect to be completely done before school starts.
And then, I sit down at the computer. I’ve been sitting here–and then getting up only to wander somewhat aimlessly around the house and come back again since lunch. Trying to work up the concentration to finish this chapter.
And all I really want to do is take a nap. Especially today, between mowing, laundry, and starting in on cleaning the dining room, I’m tired. Might be that I just can’t do as much in a day anymore as I could ten or twenty years ago–though I don’t like to admit it.
Balance won’t be any less of an issue once school starts, especially the first couple of weeks. The challenges will just change. Though, at least, I’ll likely only be working on they yard on the weekends. House cleaning never ends, though once the hard cleaning is done it will hopefully be the lighter kind of maintenance cleaning–at least for a while.
Posted in Real Life, writing, tagged fantasy, first drafts, momentum, rewrites, writing on July 28, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Well, the plumbing fiasco–and my feelings about it–have derailed the small amount of momentum I’d started to build.
But I am not going to let that defeat me. No way. So the thing to do is to get back to that rewrite of MAGE STORM–painful as it is at the moment.
Because that won’t last. Once I get some real momentum–or, at the latest, when I get past these first few chapters into the part that will diverge from the original–it’ll start really flowing. It will. All my other stories have. And just about every one of them has been hard to get really rolling. Why should this one be any different?
Posted in Real Life, writing, tagged fantasy, first drafts, real life interruptions, rewrites, Writer's Block, writing on July 25, 2019| Leave a Comment »
All I can say is this week so far has been abysmal. Horrible. I want this week to be over. The last two days have been mostly interrupted by plumbers.
I’ve gotten the chance to work on maybe three or four sentences of MAGE STORM.
This too shall pass–eventually.
Posted in Real Life, writing, tagged fantasy, first drafts, rewrites, Writer's Block, writing on July 14, 2019| 2 Comments »
I’ve finished the read-through of the old version of MAGE STORM.
It reinforced my belief that I just need to do it over, not try to fix it. Well, mostly. There were a couple of new chapters that I’d written for the previous attempt that can probably stay. It’s a good story, but I can just do a much better job of executing it now. It’ll be like a whole new first draft.
I copied over the (new) Prologue and then revised it some more.
I haven’t yet started on the first chapter, which will be a rewrite. Yesterday, I had to have the refrigerator fixed and that sort of shot my motivation to deal with anything else. Poor Sadie didn’t even get a walk–although she did get to play in the hose until her tongue was hanging out so far I thought she’d trip on it.
I’m just about to get down to writing today–after some more yard clean up and some heavy cleaning in the laundry room–well, one corner of the laundry room. So far, anyway. Oh, and a load of laundry, of course.
But things look like beginning to move again, anyway. Fingers crossed.
Posted in Real Life, tagged gardening on July 2, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Yes, I know it’s Tuesday, not Wednesday, when I usually post. I got a month behind, so I figure I owe a few extra posts.
Okay, it’s not progress on MAGE STORM. Not yet.
However, the lower patio has been found! (Well, technically, it was never lost. Just so overgrown it was barely possible to get to it.)
Here’s today’s picture.
Yeah, it needs to be swept again–or maybe hosed down. Sadie’ll love that. She adores playing in the hose.
I’m still going to have to do a bit of pruning. This is the entrance to the patio right now.
Just a little tight.
No table right now. I don’t think the old table is very functional right now. (And yes, that’s another area I’m going to have to clean up–just in a different way.)
I have to figure out how to repair the table or do something else. I have an old wrought iron table base that would have to be cleaned up–and a new top found. But that could work and might be easier to do, especially since I know a company that would pick it up, sand blast it, paint it, and deliver it back.
There’s a story behind this patio. And since what I’m trying to get to ultimately is get back to telling stories, maybe telling this one will help with that.
Years ago–never mind how many–I bought the original bench as a Father’s Day gift. Dad was retired by then and spending much of his time outside, so I thought an extra place to sit was a great idea. So did Dad. He immediately went out and bought the chairs and table–at a different store. They don’t match–never did–but only Mom and I ever seemed to care about that.
But few things were ever quite that uncomplicated with Dad, whose motto was, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.” He decided that, since the chairs and bench were heavy, they might sink into the mud if we got too much rain. (Not entirely impossible. It’s adobe clay soil, which does get muddy, and might as well be concrete once it dries out.) Therefore, we had to build a patio–I helped him with that–before we put the new furniture out.
And no, that’s not the original bench I bought for Dad. A couple of years after he died, I found the old bench knocked over against the bricks that form the edge of the perennial bed behind it. Neighborhood kids, probably, but I’ll never know. Cast iron will break and it had–irreparably. So I bought a new bench because this really is a very nice, shady place to sit on a warm day.
It had only gotten overgrown during the last couple of years I was taking care of Mom when I just didn’t have the time or energy to keep up . . . well, most of the yard. Yeah, Mom’s been gone five years, now. So it’s about time I resurrected this patio.
Oh, and why do I call it the lower patio? Because beyond those bushes and the crepe myrtle tree and up a few steps is the upper patio (which clearly needs to be swept again).
Posted in Real Life, writing, tagged fantasy, first drafts, gardening, rewrites, Writer's Block, writing on June 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »
The thing about having a couple of months off in the summer is that it’s really easy to forget what day it is. Almost forgot to post.
Progress: So far, slow, but steady. I’m reading through the original version of MAGE STORM, making copious notes as I go.
Given other projects in the works–gardening and house cleaning, mostly–I’ve set a very modest goal of a chapter a week. Even at that rate, I should finish the read-through in a couple of weeks. And then we’ll see.
Otherwise, gardening is going pretty well. I’ve almost recovered the lower patio that had gotten so overgrown that only the neighborhood cats used it. Another day or two should see that completed.
This is what it used to look like–and will again–more or less. (For one thing, that bush in the lower right is a lot bigger now.) The table is going to need some repairs, unfortunately.
House cleaning–well, it’s never been my favorite thing to do and, as I started with the most difficult (the kitchen), I’ve still got a ways to go before I can start to feel that motivating sense of accomplishment.
Posted in Real Life, writing, tagged fantasy, sequels, series, Writer's Block, writing on March 10, 2019| Leave a Comment »
I’ve been doing some thinking about that Cinderella story potentially set in the same world as DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING. I think it might be titled DAUGHTER OF THE SECRET MAGE or something similar, if it works.
If it works, this will become a series centered around saving the world–or this corner of it–but not around the same cast of characters. The main characters of DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING would be only side characters, perhaps mentors, in this book. And so on for, perhaps, three or four books.
Also, I think I may need to reread DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING before I actually start anything.
But thinking is all I’m doing right now. I have several things to figure out if I hope to make this work. Also, there is just too much real life stuff going on. I thought March would have to be better than February that way. Sometimes, when you hope for something like that, the universe laughs evilly and sets out to prove you wrong.
Posted in Real Life, writing, tagged fantasy, strategies, subgenres, Writer's Block, writing on March 7, 2019| Leave a Comment »
I’m a day late posting again. This week has been . . . one of those weeks so far. But in part, you know, it’s really just more of the same.
I haven’t pinned down yet what’s really holding me back on MAGE STORM.
I just know that for this one, powering through, as I’ve sometimes done before, isn’t going to be the answer.
I don’t know if it’s something about the story. That sometimes happens. Something could be wrong and I just haven’t identified it yet.
Or it could be that life in general has been kicking my . . . well, you know for the last month. Except that this block started before that. Still, recent real-life stuff would not have been helping.
Or it just might be that the creative well has not been replenished sufficiently lately and I need to do something about that. Read more widely. Watch a movie I haven’t seen before. Take a day trip or two.
Or maybe I just need to switch to another story. Maybe another sub-genre, not sword and sorcery or epic fantasy. Not Meadowsweet. That one just isn’t calling to me right now.
I’ve had an idea on the back burner for a different take on a Cinderella story in which the step-mother is not actually the villain–though Cinderella would think she was. That story might fit into the same world as DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING.
Maybe I’ll even try getting on a writer’s chat room and brainstorming that one. The interchange of ideas itself might help break the log jam. Who knows?
Meredith Mansfield, Author 