I went to the writing cabin this morning. The storm broke, but there was mud on the tires of the gyrocopter. When I went through the basement, I made sure to leave my boots in the box Bento left for that purpose.
Lisa* met me at the top of the stairs. She was dressed in a canvas duster, and a white wife-beater tee shirt. “Ready to get some work done today?”
“Absolutely. Looks like you're ready for some Clovis dialog.”
We worked on smart assed remarks, threats, and compromises. Whenever something sounded right, I added it to my Playground manuscript.
Lisa ran to the paranormal office and pulled on a lab coat.
“Gina isn't wearing a lab coat in this scene.”
“I know, but it makes me feel more doctorly. Send me your dialog and let's give it a try.”
I sent her what I had, and we tested it out. I adjusted back and forth. “That looks about right. Try it with that voice thing you do.”
Lisa spoke the words using a female voice, and a male voice. When she finished she looked up. “Well? Is it what you hoped for?”
I leaned back at my desk. “Yeah. It sounds like them, and it fits well. Now all I need is some closure, and they're finished.”
“I'll bring some coffee. Do you want me to change into my Chloe outfit now?”
“No. I can't write Chloe today. It takes a different mindset. I'll finish with Clovis and Gina, and give them some closure.
I typed away, delivered some rewards, (such as they are) and closed out two of my main characters. Their part of this story is finished. Chloe will represent the end of the threat to the victims everywhere, but her story will finish another day. At that point The Playground will be a complete first draft.
It looks like I'm going to come in at about 70K words. I would have preferred 80K, but in today's market that isn't bad at all.
This is a different kind of book. There are three seperate stories that alternate to tell the reader a complete story. Only two of the characters ever meet, but it provides some cool moments.
I'm feeling like I need a treat. It's too early for beer. Maybe a trip to the Boise Co-Op for some shortbread, devon cream, apricot jam, and tea. My characters got some rewards, maybe I deserve one too.
I may tackle Chloe's swan song tomorrow, but it depends on what the family has going on.
Tell me about your endeavors. Do you treat yourself for accomplishments? Do you create false accomplishments so you can have a treat? Is anyone else finishing a manuscript?
* Lisa Burton is the main charater in Wild Concept. She is a robot, and since her story ended she helps me around the writing cabin these days.
I like the 3-in-1 story concept and it’s interesting that you need to be in a certain mindset for each one. I can see how that would work and it must add some extra challenge to it.
I do a pizza reward after finishing a first draft of a novel. That’s usually just the big one. I might get some candy or have a beer after defeating an unusually difficult hurdle. Haven’t had one of those in a while. I think a reward system works very well for authors and helps with focus. As long as one doesn’t write about the reward in the story because that might be odd.
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The characters are all really different people in this one. My last one is in a very dark place, and it’s about to get worse before it gets better. This style was my challenge for this story. I’ll make a whole blog about that later on. Sounds like we’re heading for a waterhole, so that will have to be my treat today.
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Not a bad reward considering the size of the challenge.
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One down two to go! Great feeling… the end is in sight! But I’m curious about one thing; what is a wife-beater tee shirt? I’m not sure I’m liking the sound of that…
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It’s one of those skin tight tank top style white tee shirts. Over here they call them wife beaters. It’s okay if you don’t love the guy. Some will, some won’t. It’s pretty subjective.
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Ah… I see. 😀
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Well, I just finished a short novella, but it still has some tweaking to do. I’m actually getting ready to start a new full-blown novel and that always has me excited, anxious and antsy. Hopefully, tomorrow will be the day.
Congrats on getting so much done. Sounds like whatever treat you decided on is well deserved!
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Mine will have plenty of tweaking to do, but I’m nearly finished. A little too much reward. I need to lie down.
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I am a humble nurse ( by day) working on a revision about an arrogant nurse fighting to keep her license after a V.I.P patient un-expectantly dies .
I sometimes go to work with my chest puffed out and an excess of hubris in order to get in better touch with the character.
I reward with my favorite snacks and soda while writing in order to make it feel more like a party!
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That sounds cool. We have to get in touch with our characters. The rewards are earned.
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I try to reward myself in some small way. I think it’s important to celebrate the small victories. This business, as you know, can be so cruel sometimes. Without celebrating our wins I think we’d all go insane. LOL BTW, do you rent Lisa out? She’s wonderful!
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I have loaned Lisa out before. She appeared in someone else’s story last year. I wrote her a short story this spring. I’m also going to ask a friend if he wants to borrow her. Let me know if you’re interested. I’ll send you a bio. I celebrated a lot. Think I need a nap.
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I was thinking more along the lines of her making me tea, reading my manuscript, things she does for you at the cabin. But– I might take you up on that. First I need to finish my manuscript. Hopefully I’ll have some hair left when I do. 🙂
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I even loaned the Raven of doubt out one time, for some editing project. I’m very close to finishing mine, and I’m not going to start another one right away. Doubt and I will have to spend some quality time with The Playground too.
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Sounds like you got lits done there! I’ve had a manuscript finished, for the next Blake Hetherington, since before Bean was born. Desperately trying to edit it by putting an hour aside in the evenings in the week but always feel guilty I’m not spending time with the husband and then guilty if I don’t do it because I’m too shattered from looking after Bean – the eternal, internal struggle of the mind *sigh* 😉
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I think we all go through some of that. There is always something, or someone, who needs our attention. Sometimes we get a turn too.
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It sounds like you’ve done a lot of work! Congratulations! I give myself little rewards all the time after I’ve accomplished a task. It’s strange, but I think I do that more often than a big reward after completing a manuscript. I think I’m usually too exhausted at that point. 🙂
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I’m amazed at how many of us do that. It doesn’t take much, but we earned a reward for our work.
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This is good news for The Playground.
With all the family stuff happening right now, I should get a treat for keeping writing in mind. 🙂
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Yes, you absolutely deserve a treat.
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I’m heading to the freezer for a coconut truffle then 😀 lol
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Very nice!
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They were my gift for Mother’s Day.
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Somebody loves you.
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Everybody loves me, the whole group of 5. LOL
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I think your reward system is awesome! I can’t wait to read how it ends!
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It will be a couple of months. Editing and all that jazz.
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You’re good if you can do it in 2 months… Ever since I started the new paycheck job, I can’t seem to find any time for anything! 😦
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I’m forcing myself away for a time. Hopefully one of my outlines will stand out when I’m ready again.
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Yeah, well, I can say that about my business… It makes me see where some stuff needs work and where other stuff was already good that I was tired of revisiting. I am at least making a bit of headway with my editing (using your previous notes as a guide on the stuff you haven’t seen yet…. Thank you very much!)
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