Hello, writers. Many thanks to strawbale for hosting Write On! last week, and for reporting on everyone's progress toward their individual DaKoWriMo goals.
I'll be updating progress reports from the comments until 10 pm eastern; comments posted after that will go in next week's diary.
DaKoWriMo Goals:
annieli get outline done
bonetti 30 targeted revision passes
one completed
Clio2 80 hours of planning and revising
40 hours completed as of 1/17/19
dconrad make a unified outline and write 20k words
about 1/8 done on outlines
goteed1 begin revisions, & write 10k words on a new novel
hairylarry 10 SFF super shorts
Leo Orionis do the items on 2019 list
7 of 12 completed, others progressing as of 1/17/19
Mercy Ormont revise Elenora & Harrol
. Revised four chapters, added one new
mettle fatigue 38 short stories
16 completed as of 1/17/19
Mnemosyne 25k words
. 6387 words as of 1/10/19
NeverEverAgain revise non-fiction book
two revision passes done as of 1/17/19
NoblePorpentine outine and 15k words
. Ten chapters outlined
RiversoftheWest revise novel draft & start illustrations
about half plus 3 chapters is revised
sagesource go north in 25k words or less
16k, plus 2k of outline as of 1/17/19
SensibleShoes finish planning novel and write 35k words
planning is finished; 12,622 words written
Strawbale write scifi story
1700 words written as of 1/17/19
Tara the Antisocial Social Worker 31 pages
12 pages done
Toro Blanco collate and edit notes for novel
I’ve gotten 10k words done in the last week, I see, but probably none of it’s publishable. It’s pretty loose writing. I’m putting a header at the top of each scene saying what the scene’s about. Then I write down who the main participants are, and what I want to be accomplished or happen in the scene. And, because it’s a historical novel, I add a few historical notes about objects, clothing, furniture, and real events that affect this particular scene, including references to which book I read it in, in case I need to double-check something.
I call it loose drafting, a term I got from a wonderful editor I had several books ago. I just want to put out there that loose drafting is always an option. You don’t always have to be moving your first draft forward with scinitillating dialogue and brilliant action. Sometimes it’s okay to just write about the scene, and what you hope it will become at a later date.
In this loose draft, I’m also giving myself permission not to build. Building mostly happens in revision anyway.
Building is the progression of earlier scenes in which you mention or in some other way prepare the reader for something that’s going to happen later in the book.
For example, if a character suddenly ups and kills another character, or ups and runs off to join the circus, or even ups and says something shocking, there has to have been some build to that earlier in the story. There have to have been some incidents, or comments, or circumstances that made the shocking event not just possible but likely and believable.
One reason building is best saved for revision is that if you end up taking the murder, or the circus-joining, or the shocking statement out of the book in a later draft, it’s a hassle to go back and take out all the building you did, too.
Tonight’s challenge:
Later on in this (hypothetical) novel, Goodman Brewster will accuse Goodwife Alworth of being a witch. Right now, though, he’s just buying eggs from her.
Write the egg-buying scene, but slip in one little thing that builds toward the shocking accusation he will make later in the story. It’s not the only opportunity to build, and you’ll be (hypothetically) building three or four other times, so don’t overdo this one.
Try to limit yourself to 150 words.
Write On! will be a regular Thursday feature (8 pm ET 5 pm PT) until it isn’t. Before signing a contract with any agent or publisher, please be sure to check them out on Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write and/or Writer Beware.