Diary of a new writing project. Day 10: dig

Today, on my way to daycare, I spotted a archaeological dig. Sort of.

Word count goal for the week: 7 500 words
Word count so far: 4 309

A writing diary is about a writer’s progress with a novel. What is there to improve, change; maybe write about characters arc, story beats.

And write about the inspiring things real life provides sometimes. Today, on my way to daycare, I spotted a archaeological dig. Sort of.

See, in my very small town, there was an old house at the corner of a round-about. Apparently, it once belong to a important figure of the Patriotes movement, a group dedicated to kick the British out of the country. The conflict happened in 1837-1838. The Patriotes lost, some of them were hanged, it was a big deal for the time.
Anyway, this centenary house (can you say that in English?) was destroyed without so much as a warning, out of the blue, order of the Mayor at the time, who always swore the small town would save it from its horrible state – we was forced to quit soon after that.
Scandal! Destroying history like that, without saying a word, after promising to save it! It made the news all over the province.


A big hole surrounded by a cheap gate and angry citizens were all that was left.
Politicians said they would ask archaeologists to analyse the site, which will become… a park maybe (I’ll keep you posted ;) ).
So today, when I saw actual archaeologists digging on the side of the very big hole, I thought it would be fun if they find something… improbable.

Better yet, what if archaeologist students were to find a improbable something? What that improbable something could raise all the poor souls who drown in the small river basin near by?

Right now, I don’t think I can use those « if’s » in the current YA-WIP.
But a crazy writer on a quest never knows…!

Tested Writing Tip: Off with distractions!

I adapted this tip from a prolific indie author to my reality.
My adapted tip certainly seems a little, well, easy and not really worth to talk about. But again, it’s very useful, simple and attainable, the three things I’m looking for in a writing tip.
I’ve been using this one for several weeks now, and it’s a keeper. It was so easy to implement in my existing writing routine.

Off with distractions!

Here it is, so simple I actually never tough of it as an actual writing tip.

Get rid of distractions before writing.

No phone, no emails, no social media. And for the mama writers: no shopping for kids clothes between sentences. (Staying away from the cuteness is hard)
Clear whatever you can off that never ending to-do list of yours (another « ps » for the writer mama’s: it never hurt anybody to leave dishes sit in the dishwasher for a night, or pick up the toys in the morning; I pinky swear).
Once all the distractions are dealt with, it is so much easier to focus on the writing, and the writing only.

I say « tip adapted to my reality » because, in the first place, this writing tips goes way further. The indie author I got the tip from actually bans his loves one from coming in his office (a smart idea), which is not a possibility for this lower middle-class mother of a young kid.

Et voilà, my tested writing tip for today: getting rid of distractions to be able to focus more on writing.

Thanks for reading this post. Until next time!

Diary of a new writing project. Day 9: writing in a office

I am also trying something new, for my own sanity, and for the sake of getting through the first draft (or draft zero, if you’re more familiar with that term).

Word count goal for the week: 7 500 words
Word count so far: 3 336 words

I spent the entire day on a office chair. Most of it anyway.
What I really mean to say my butt hurt, my eyes are burning, twinkle twinkle little star is stuck in my head and I just want to go to bed, watch Ghostbusters again (it is the season after all) and call it a night.
But here I am, keeping up with that writing diary project, simply hoping it will be useful to someone.

Changing up the writing routine was not has dreadful as I feared it would be. I couldn’t work on the YA-WIP as much I would have like to, but still, I wrote more than I thought. All thanks to the tips I picked up in one of Chris Fox craft books.
I clear the distractions, Internet included this time, put in some white noise – a show I know by heart – and sprint-write my way through chapter 2.

I am also trying something new, for my own sanity, and for the sake of getting through the first draft (or draft zero, if you’re more familiar with that term).
I will neither revise nor edit until I reach 25 000 words.

Why revise or edit something I might trash anyway? Because it helps me with the story structure, the characters arcs; in one word, it helps with the general flow of it all. Plus, I love working on the writing, on how I can make this description shorter, or more to the point. I keep an eye on repetitive words or turn of phrase, hoping I won’t have to write too many drafts before the novel is ready to send to the publishers (where I live, no literary agent; query is addressed directly to the publishers).

Time for a chocolate pudding. Nope, I didn’t quiet reach the word count goal for today. But close enough for a chocolate pudding.