Diary of a new writing project. Day 20-21: but it’s fall !

5 more minutes on Pinterest, and then I start writing.
Just 5 more minutes, I pinky swear.

This week word count goal: 15 000 words
Word count so far: 13 106

Yesterday, I didn’t take the time to write. For it was the most beautiful fall day this fall-lover can dream of.
Clear blue sky, crisp fresh air, trees leafs full of colors. The last flowers of the season are blooming, both in the gardens of our little neighborhood and in the nearby fallow field we walk by, on our way to the old Fort watching over the river basin. Gooses were resting on the water. They stop here every year on their way down South or back up North when spring is almost ready to shine, once more.

Because of that, and many parenting things to do, I did not reach my 15 000 words word count goal. But I got pretty close.
All that because… I have no paying contract and all my pitch were rejected.

In short, I need to recollect, analyze what’s wrong and work out a new approach to get those writing gigs going.
Probably gonna way less time next week to work on the new writing project. So, let’s hope for a terrific nap time + night time writing session tomorrow.

Today, day 21

Word count goal for the week: 22 500 words
Word count goal so far: 13 321 words

It is pj day. Heavy clouds and strong winds are keeping me with kiddo inside, while hubby-to-be took its courage out to participate in a manifestation against a incredibly stupid, ridiculous, against inclusion and basic human rights law that was just adopted by the new government of my province.
But I digress.
Kiddo is sleeping in the big bed. That means I am staying close to keep an eye on things. The only time I didn’t, I cam back to find kiddo up on the very corner of the bed, getting ready to jump and probably hit its head against the corner of a nighstand table. Never again, I then swore to myself.
I am now fighting with all my might and some Pinterest action to stay awake.
I barely wrote a 100 words so far, but I feel lazy, lazy, lazy. Even too lazy to try one of the many writing tips I keep in my sleeves to kick my laziness in the bottom.
And the drafting is… blah. I need to do a full-on first revision, because many details are floating everywhere, especially concerning the Best Friend characters.
And, it’s a multiple P.O.V. book, BUT, the Main Character gets more chapters time; so I need to balance it all a bit better.

In short, lots of work and little writing forward, which I could do, but I know it will too much of a mess to clean if I don’t tackle the small problems now.
5 more minutes on Pinterest, and then I start writing.
Just 5 more minutes, I pinky swear.

6 hours later

I am giving up for tonight. Being alone with a kiddo all day is tiring. Fun, but tiring.

I did manage to write a little more words, but I’m gonna have to put in more efforts this week if I want to catch up and meet my word count goal.

Thanks, thanks, thanks for reading along this very old fashioned writing journal. It does motivate me to write more. Without it, tonight, I would have Candy Crush-it instead of even trying to write, without a smidgen of remorse.
So, yeah, thanks.
Until next time!

Diary of a new writing project. Day 19: how to not kill in a convincing​ manner

It really is a struggle, for an author, to kill in a convincing way. I say it is even harder to NOT kill in a convincing manner.

This week word count goal: 15 000 words
Word count so far: 13 063 words

It really is a struggle, for an author, to kill in a convincing way. I say it is even harder to NOT kill in a convincing manner.

I knew that scene was coming up, but I wasn’t really sure about how it would play out. First, I went with just a touch a spook, but it was sooo cliché, I bored myself writing it.
Bloody with a crescendo of spooky, that is what I went for. And it works like a charme. The scene is great.

But the amount of research I had to do to be able to describe with accuracy the wounded victim, impressive.
So many knife wounds to choose from! Plus, they had to be not deadly. And, not in the shoulder. Because, come on, they all get stab/shot in the shoulder!

I thought I would share the results of my research, which was not as thorough as it will be in a couple of months, when revision kicks in, but still, valuable.

The rough draft is a total mess, that being said. I am adding stuff at the beginning, strengthening the plot, getting to know the characters better.
I think a chronological revision and a little bit of structural coherence is required.
It will my 15 000 words reward, haha!

Thanks for reading this post. If you have any resources regarding the facts behind human wounds of any kind, please let me know in the comments.

Find me on twitter or check out my Pinterest writing boards. Until next time!

Écrire pour vivre, par Jean-Benoît Nadeau

J’écris rarement. pour ne pas dire jamais, à propos de livres de conseils pratiques.

Sauf que ce livre m’a tellement aidé. Après avoir dévorer « Le Guide du travailleur autonome 3.1 », je me suis tout de suite procurée « Écrire pour vivre ».

L’auteur va droit au but, il ne fait pas dans le chichi et utilise un excellent amalgame d’expérience, de bons sens et d’humour pour transmettre l’info.
Il ne propose pas de solutions miracles, donne beaucoup d’exemples et partage les ressources que lui-même utilise depuis de nombreuses années.
Et ce livre de conseils pratiques ponctué d’anecdotes est vraiment agréable à lire! J’ai souris à plusieurs reprises.

Le plusss mieux? Le livre m’a donné fourni les conseils et les astuces dont j’avais besoin pour réussir, moi aussi, à écrire pour vivre.

Publié en 2007 aux Éditions Québec-Amérique, « Écrire pour vivre » est toujours aussi pertinent.
Quoique je serais curieuse de lire une version vingt ans plus tard, puisque le marché de l’écriture – si on me permet l’expression complètement vague – a bien changé. Lançons l’idée à l’univers et poursuivons.

En finir avec les idéaux romantiques

C’est en lisant cet ouvrage que j’ai finalement mis dans une jolie petite boite bien douillette mes idées romantiques à propos de l’écriture et que j’ai foncé dans le projet écrire pour vivre.

Je suis à mon propre compte comme rédactrice depuis près deux ans.
Est-ce que je fais des tonnes de fric? Non.
Est-ce que je gagne bien ma vie? Pas encore.

Mais ça s’en vient!

Merci d’avoir lu cette fort brève critique de livre. On se retrouve sur twitter ou une prochaine fois sur ce blog.

À la prochaine!