“There were no signs of scheming on that bold, frank face, though. Just the same hard determination that had always been there, with the faint mist of something else clouding his eyes. On closer inspection, Gilferen could find those eyes steadily on the back of Taluin Sera Cohl, on the long pale braid swaying slightly as she walked.”
Well, everyone, it’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for another Round of Words in 80 Days check-in! I wish I had exciting news to report, but just like a great deal of the previous check-ins, everything is mostly just moving along steadily as before. This is good, of course, but probably not very thrilling for my readers. I’m still playing a lot of catch-up from my weekend, and I’m dreading falling behind again over the weekend, but there’s no point in worry about it too much. You just take things one day at a time and do the best with what you have. I’m feeling much better after being sick over the weekend, so I hope to have a productive morning and a good next few days.
Let’s have a look at the round-up, shall we?
Serpent in a Cage: Part II is moving along nicely; I’ve been elaborating on some of the descriptions given in the original draft to give a better sense of place, although I really should have more of that in the first part. Following along with the original draft is definitely allowing writing to go more swiftly. Chapter: Ten. Page Count: 124.
750 Words: I almost forgot to do my 750 words yesterday, but I remembered right before crashing for bed, managed to puke out over 1000, and then crashed. That was a close one! I had to be at work earlier than usual and, since I usually write my 750 words in the morning, I had to skip it to get to work. But the rest of the week definitely gives me the time to make sure I get it done and over with before all that so I don’t miss again and miss out on the November challenge!
Novel in 6 Months: Since I’m behind on my NaNo, but I’m over on my Ni6M, I haven’t been doing much with this project except jotting a few ideas for scenes that pop into my head down for future development. Granted, in just a few days, my buffer will wear out and I’ll be right where the 500-words-a-day count would expect me to be, so hopefully I can get a handle on that damn NaNo soon so my other projects stop being neglected. Page count: 43. Word count: 28,583.
NaNoWriMo: Though I’ve been keeping up with my daily counts since then, I still haven’t made up for the two days I’ve missed so far. Not entirely. Last night was filled with a lot of good writing; I figured, at starting a chapter a day, thirty chapters all together, Chapter Fifteen should be the midpoint, and so it was filled with Big Dramatic Speech by the main character that sets things into motion for the epic battles to ensue. I’m not sure if they’ll hold up to the glare of editing, but they were pretty powerful words when I was writing them! I also played around a little with throwing more perspectives in, at least just for the rough draft, because I was feeling stilted and at a loss. Serpent in a Cage was written from a little bit of everyone’s perspective in the first draft, and now I’m whittling it down to just three to keep it more streamlined, and I think that’s an effective way for me to write. Allowing myself to explore everyone’s perspectives helps me pick out in a more natural way which perspectives are the most important, and so I’m going to start doing the same with this project, and we’ll see what gets cut after I’ve got the 50,000 words! Page count: 35. Word Count: 23,041.
Short Stories: Just as you can imagine, just as my Ni6M has been neglected, so have my short stories. Still, I started a new story for the fairy tale project I’ve been working on, this one inspired by “The Goose Girl” and a recent post by Kain Nolan postulating on the series Grimm. It’s nice to be inspired by Grimm now rather than my first experience which was mostly, “Oh, man, my fairy tale stuff sucks compared to this; I gotta redo the whole thing.”
The 100 Books Project: I’ve got another one down! The review was supposed to be up yesterday, but the whole odd working shift sort of threw that off and I didn’t have the mindset to write it up when I got home (I’m crap for blog posts if it’s not early in the morning). I have a bit before I get to the end of another one, which has me worried about making the soft 78 goal by the end of the year, but there’s still time! Books read: 51/100.
I’m also trying to be much better about not only visiting and commenting on other blogs again, but also responding to my own comments. A lot of times, I just feel that I don’t have anything interesting to add and I’m mostly just glad people visit and take the time to comment, but that’s no reason not to let them know it’s appreciated!
And, finally, as we reach the end of my recapping, how’s everyone else doing so far? I feel I’m doing well, steady, but I feel like I could use a little spark of inspiration these past few days. Things are feeling a little dull, like the charge has gone out a little bit. What do you do to help get the spark back? I’m interested to know how my fellow authors and writers shake themselves off and get things all supercharged and exciting again. Or maybe I just need to borrow some of Yolanda Early’s puple nail polish….
Have a wonderful writing week ahead of you, dear RoWers!
L.S. Engler 
I’m behind on all of my projects, but that’s okay. I consider it a success if I (1) have time to write each day, (2) what I write is worth reading and (3) my family hasn’t left the house with no intention of coming back…
How do I get motivated again? I take a few hours off from the day job and the writing (night) job and go do something. Usually this involves people watching, since the interactions we often see in real life could never be made up.
Yeah, I’m usually just pleased as long as some work is being done and I’m not being driven crazy with it. That way, anything I do is pretty much just an improvement on what was there before.
Taking a break and doing something else usually helps for me. I find I’ll just get to a point where all I can think about is getting back home and back to work again, recharged and energized and inspired. And some of my favorite quirky tales come from people watching, too, since you’re right. Very rarely can our heads conceive of things as great as the things happening around us every day.
Thanks for swinging by, as always, D.J.!
I go through periods where I have that spark and periods when I don’t. Sometimes, I just give myself a few days off, then i start really wanting to write again. I know that’s hard when you’re doing NaNo…but that’s one of the reasons I don’t do it. LOL
Steady as she goes! That sounds like you. 🙂
You mentioned responding to your blog comments. That’s a big thing with me. I ALWAYS respond to my comments (I hope I haven’t missed any). Many authors are backing off from this, and that’s okay, it’s their blog. But I just can’t ignore my comments. I look at it as interaction, a conversation, not just me saying something and getting responses. It just seems polite to me to respond. Not everyone feels the same way about blogs. Sometimes authors just use their blogs to get things off their minds; that’s perfectly fine. But it’s always been about the interaction for me. I’ve met so many nice people on blogs!
See, when it comes to comments, sometimes all I really have to say is “Thanks!” or “I totally agree!” but usually it’s agreeing to something that was mentioned in the post, so it feels a little….I don’t know, repetitive or inane, so I usually will just skip it.
But I was thinking how nice it is when a blog author responds to my comment, even if it is just a “thanks!” or an “I totally agree!”, so there you have it.
Thanks, Lauralynn, and I totally agree. ; )
You’ve got a lot going on and have been very productive! Good for you. And I think responding to blog comments is really important. How else are we supposed to build relationships?
The 750 word a day challenge is something I need to try. My Row80 goals need to be revised because I’ve spent a lot more time getting ready to query my current MS than I expected, so the new one has taken a backseat.
Good luck on the rest of the week:)
That’s another part of it, too, Stacy! I’ve been feeling like I haven’t been building RoW relationships this round the way I did the last round, mostly because my brain has just been plugging away at NaNo so much, and I really miss those connections and building those new friendships. So it’s back to really doing what I can to comment and connect, hopefully.
I like 750 words some days, and other days, it just feels like a burden, but I think that’s good because then I know there’s at least 750 words I have to write, even if they’re useless and rambling, but it’s still more than I would have without the threat of losing out on the challenge.
Thanks so much for swinging by, Stacy!
People keep telling me my goals are ambitious, and I keep coming across people on ROW80 whose goals make me want to hide under a desk.
Set backs, schmet backs. Good going on your progress on all fronts.
Ohmygosh, when I first started RoW80, I thought the same thing! I guess this means I’ve finally been indoctrinated now that my own goals are scaring people, too?
And thanks! I definitely do try. : )
I agree with Camille — well, not the people telling me my goals are ambitious part (cuz, they are not) but wanting to hide under a desk, definately.
When I read what you’ve accomplished, my eyeballs want to pop out of my head…I need some of Yolanda’s purplr nail polish too.
I think we could all use a little nailpolish, Amy. Yes, even our RoWbros! : )
But thank you for your encouraging words! This week, I haven’t accomplished nearly as much, so it’s good to hear that even though I feel like I’m dwindling a little, it still looks like I’m getting some work done. That’s always a good feeling!