Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone out there who celebrates this day, and even to those who don't! Random fact: today is also Ferris Wheel Day! So hooray for that, as well.

I reached a big milestone in the writing today, and I'm very proud of it. I'm over the 30k hump. roughly 100k left to go. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless. I've also completed a section that was irking me. It was complicated, unique, and one of the big ground-laying scenes. Now the story really picks up from here!

Short Post

Short post tonight. Here it is:

Egypt and Progress

It seems fitting that today's post be about progress--most of mine are. But today it's not only about my insignificant progress on my book (yes, I do believe it to be insignificant compared to things happening on a global scale), but about PROGRESS for people. The president of Egypt has stepped down finally. After 30 years or more in power, he's abdicated. This is a huge victory for peaceful protest. This is a huge victory for the world in general. Yes, there are rocky roads ahead for Egypt, because now the military is in control and honestly, who knows how well this is going to go? But it is a step in the right direction, and that can't be scoffed at.

On the insignificant front, tonight is going to be a busy night for me, so I am getting my update done now. The progress I've reached so far might be well surpassed tonight, but you'll just have to wait and find out tomorrow if that's the case. I'm not done working for the day, just not sure how much time I'll have to update later.

Street Fighter IV

I've had a fun, good, and productive day all in one. Those are rare for me. Usually the days that are fun are not so much productive, and vice versa. It's snowing yet again, which is unusual for where I live. However, I'm not going to complain too much because I've managed to get quite a bit of writing done today. I'm in the midst of what promises to be a long section--probably the longest that I've written so far, and possibly the longest in the book. I would have to get further along before I can decide that. This is going to be a tricky scene for just that reason, though. I'm juggling pretty much every POV in this one, with specific action scenes that go along with each one, and I've got to figure out how to weave them together just right. I'm pretty much done for the night with writing, considering its almost 1:00am.

I spent a portion of my day playing Street Fighter IV--yeah, I know, who plays that game anymore, right? Well, I'm actually pretty damn good at it! I won't bore you with the details of my 18 to 8 winning tally. It's good to take time for the fun stuff in life. It reminds me that life needs to be enjoyed even as I'm writing. Below you'll find today's progress bar.

A New Book and Progress

I always get excited when I get a new book to read, and today I finally got the next book in the Green Rider series (it just came out Tuesday, so I'm not too late), Blackveil. Expect a review of the entire series so far when I finish it. Which, with classes, a personal life, and my writing, that might not necessarily be the immediate future; I do like to savor Britain's books, so...we'll see.

And now let's see just how far the progress bar has climbed!

Why I Like The Superbowl

I like the Superbowl simply because that means football is done monopolizing my television time for a few months. Hooray!

Spent some time with the family today, much needed time. It was fun. I should do it a little more often. But before and after this I managed to get some progress done on Shadow Lands, and I'm coming to a close tonight on a pivotal scene between two characters, the content of which is going to be very important for the next little while, so I'm going to call it a night and start fresh on it tomorrow to make sure I can do the scene justice. Here's the word count:

And The Number Is

I'm tired, so I'm not going to make this post long or anything. Here's where I am today:

A Question of Length

Length of a novel is probably the most difficult thing for a writer to consider when they are first starting out. This is a message repeated over and over again by some of my favorite authors. Length matters, and is almost impossible to pin down. Michelle West, my all-time favorite author, once projected the Sun Sword series to be a trilogy (and it ended up with six books). Kate Elliott, a writer I respect, made a similar misjudgment with her Crown of Swords series, projecting it to be a trilogy and ending up with SEVEN. George R. R. Martin envisioned A Song of Ice and Fire as a trilogy, too, at one point, and we're now awaiting the release of Book 5.

If you wanna see where this is going, read below. If not, okay.

That Feels Better!

So I actually got some work done today! I just wrapped up a section that I have a feeling is going to be giving me some trouble in the rewrites. Its the first section that I've finished, looked over and thought "Eh" about. I don't like thinking "Eh". All of the elements are there, and the section is a necessary one, but where it's at it feels awkward and stifled. The scene should be a big showcase of one of the characters, and I didn't quite deliver that in this draft. We'll see. I'm just glad I'm done. Wrestling with that monster before I got sick was a reason things were going so slow. For now I at least have a working skeleton to use later on. Which means on to easier and more character-driven things. The last few sections have kind of skimped on character by necessity, but the next few are going to do the exact opposite, I believe, so I'll see how I like it. I'm not QUITE done tonight, though I am winding down because I have an early morning tomorrow, so here's the current progress bar--God it feels good to see it crawl forward again!

Muddling Through

Okay my bout of illness is just about over now, thankfully. In fact, I felt better yesterday, but today I am finally putting my nose back to the grindstone and getting some serious work done. At least, that's my hope. There's still some tightness and muscle discomfort in my back that's come from nowhere--literally, it started yesterday and I'm not entirely sure why I have it. It does make sitting down to actually write a little bit of a pain--no pun intended. Okay, maybe slightly intended. However, I am a trooper, and I am going to toss back two advil and get on with the day of writing!