Almost May

I'm looking at how I've done vis-a-vis my goals. I may have 15 pages of D&D when I get it typed up if I'm lucky. Not even close to meeting that one. Research, however, has been great.

I guess I need to use Ali's method of looking at what I've accomplished and not just what I haven't. Look for a new section in May with a list of tasks completed. And, I hope, part of it will be more pages.

A Little Help From My Friends

Mary's hosting a beading party in a week or so. She'll be teaching a basic bead weaving technique. Should be a lot of fun. Not only will I get a new set of jewelry, but I'll be learning something I can use in the Bennie books. And spending time with friends. Triple threat.

Ali's also offered to do a polymer bead class. That should be lots of fun, too. I love the stuff she does with polymer.

Now if we can just convince Nicole to share what she's learning in metalworking.

Out Of Order

I wrote a scene out of order. The world didn't explode. Yet.

Yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up some research books for the D&D series. It's amazing to me how many different topics I need to read about for one setting. Deb says it's a "groovy" setting. I like it, but might have chosen differently had I known. No, that's not true. I do really like the setting.

The characters are becoming a lot more real to me as I go. I guess that's the nature of the game since the same thing happened with HM. It's one of the things that's so much fun about writing for me. Like making new friends.

One Scene at a Time

Yesterday I picked up a magazine on yoga and another on herbal and holistic medicine. I haven't been able to find one on aromatherapy that is published in the US. There are some from Australian and UK, but they are expensive. Maybe I'll see if an inexpensive book on the subject. Must be one.

D&D is moving slowly, but moving. I don't seem to be able to write more than one scene at a time. What's strange is that I find myself wanting to write them out of order. I haven't so far, but I might get a little crazy and try it. I think it would make for a choppy book that needs much more revision. But it's going to need revision anyway.

Have any of you tried writing out of order? Does it help or hinder?

April Fool?

Deb's enthusiasm for April seems to be catching. Now that I have a working outline for D&D, I think I will be able to write fifty pages easily. I have been prewriting for a few days. That means I can utilize shorter periods of free time to jot a paragraph or two. It's not ideal, but it's what I have right now.

Having completed The Artist's Way, I have become aware of certain "nasty" words. One of which is "should". I used it three times in the original version of the first paragraph. See if you can figure out where.

I subscribed to a couple spa magazines last week. They are really interesting. One of the most beautiful spas I've come across is here in Colorado. Tax deductible, right? I would have to have the money first, but it just might be worth it.

The jewelry book has been eluding me. It seems that once I found Bennie, the rest of it went away. I tried to sign up for a metalworking class, but it was full. Maybe that's part of it. It's not a totally bad thing. One at a time is good. And maybe if I do run into trouble with D&D, that's when Bennie will start telling me her story.

Preparation

Yesterday I figured out why I was having trouble getting beyond the first few pages of D&D. Lack of preparation. I did my spa research. (And in a future post I'll talk about just how much I'd like to visit a few.) I did my character sketches for the main characters. I know who gets murdered and whodunnit. So what was missing?

My scene outline. I know a lot of writers just wing it. Or they can plot out mentally and be okay working from that. I have to have an outline in writing. It's not detailed to begin with, but I have to know where my "turns" are, as Jenny calls them. And it's nice to have a list of scenes I know I'll need. So yesterday I wrote the outline and made a list of scenes. I know I'll be adding as I go, but just having the basics down let me relax enough to prewrite two scenes.

Are there certain things you need to do before you can begin? Or can you freestyle all the way through?

Letting Go

I'm a bit surprised at how hard it was to let go of HM. The Pirates were great and seemed happy to have it. I still had a nagging feeling as I handed over the copies. I knew more description is needed. I knew I needed another subplot. But it was time to let other eyes see it.

Part of it may be how invested I got in the characters. A good thing. But I also want others to like "the guys" as much as I do. I guess we'll see.

One more week to go on The Artist's Way. I don't have much to add about the experience. I'm glad I did it. Even though I went in pretty much kicking and screaming. That tends to be the way with things that are good for us.

Which brings me full circle on this post. I didn't want to let go of HM. But it's probably a very good thing for me to step away for a while.