Welcome to my Writing Adventure

Category: Writing (Page 3 of 4)

Write-A-Thon Week 1, Day 4

My introductory scene for this week’s story is written, but as usual for me, I’ve written nearly 1000 words for a target of 500. There’s probably a little fat to be trimmed, but I’m not going to spend any time on it today. That’s something for the edit phase at some point in the future. Next up is the finale of the piece, where I try to wrap things up and emphasize the crux of the story. The parts in between are for the rest of the week.

Write-A-Thon Week 1, Day 3

person starting on running block
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I was out of town for the weekend, driving home on Monday afternoon. While I had great intentions to find time to write during my vacation, the dream did not match reality, and I got very little done beyond brainstorming. Not that brainstorming was bad, I did add quite a bit of ideas to my idea pool. But I had wanted to have an outline of my story this week completed by Sunday evening, and fleshed out by the end of Monday, and none of that happened.

Today, though, I dug through my idea pool, mixed my metaphors, and started picking ideas that might make for good stories for the Write-A-Thon. I had accumulated a half-dozen or so when I came across one that jumped out at me and said “this is the one.” It’s a delight when an idea does that.

An hour later I had the rough outline put together, and spent another hour or so adding meat to the bones. I’m not yet where I wanted to be by Monday evening (much less Tuesday evening), but I’m happy with progress so far. I also spent some time doing research to better ground my urban fantasy story in real life.

I’m busy this weekend as well, so three more days to get the story done. I think I’m in a good place to hit that goal.

Write-A-Thon Begins!

So, apparently, the Clarion West Write-A-Thon begins today. Hm, maybe I should start thinking about what I’m going to write over the next six weeks…

Flipping the Script

So one of the things I’m working on in my head as I open this new chapter in my life, especially when it comes to my writing, is flipping the script from “I have to do this” to “I want to do this.” I’ve spent most of my life laboring under one massive obligation or another. Whether it was school or a job, I’m doing things because I have to. Only on rare occasions have I found myself laboring because I wanted to do something. Working at conventions is such a time. So is gamemastering sometimes (though often I do feel the weight of obligation to my players). There is no obligation now, at least not to other people. I still generally feel like I “have to.”

But a couple times in the last few days I’ve been able to hear myself say it’s what I want to do, that I could walk away from it with no penalty, and what’s keeping me at that desk is self fulfillment. It’s a very unaccustomed feeling.

Writing Progress

man ripping finish line strap
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Well, I’ve completed the short story I started last week. I would up with 5500+ words, a little over my target of 4000, but that’s okay. I’ve a bit verbose at the moment. I should be able to tighten it up eventually and bring it under 5K. But for now it’s in my “marinating” file for a few months. I’ll get back to it when I have more distance from it.

I’m behind where I want to be, but I’m not hugely concerned. I do have the write-a-thon kicking off next Monday, so I will be spending some time in the next few days laying as much groundwork as I can–story ideas, titles, interesting characters, maybe a few plot notes. I won’t have my usual amount of time to work this week as I’m attending PolyCon in San Luis Obispo this weekend.

Writing Progress

Just a brief update today to celebrate the progress made on this week’s short story.

While my writing productivity wasn’t exceptional today, I did manage to add a solid 1500 words to the project, bringing the total to 3480. Although my initial goal was 4000 words, I anticipate reaching nearly twice that amount. However, when the time comes for editing, I’ll need to sacrifice some beloved darlings to adhere to my maximum target of 5000 words. Such is the life of a writer.

Fortunately, I will have some uninterrupted time over the weekend, allowing me to hopefully complete the first draft by Sunday evening.

One of the reasons for the slow pace of the writing lies in its subject matter. Unexpectedly, it has evolved into a neoNoir-ish procedural, which was not my original intention, but sometimes following the muse proves most fruitful. I find myself grappling with the challenge of getting the details right, particularly since the story my protagonist believes to be unfolding is revealed to be its complete opposite in the end. Striving to make both narratives plausible based on the provided clues, with a bias towards the ones misleading the hero, has proven to be quite demanding. I’m embracing a partially “seat of the pants” approach in my writing for this story, relying on the muse to guide the specifics while having an overarching plot already outlined.

Once this piece is completed, I plan to set it aside for a few months while I work on other short stories, particularly during the upcoming write-a-thon. I always relish returning to my stories once the details have faded from memory. Approaching them with a relatively fresh perspective allows me to identify areas in need of revision.

Overall, progress may be steady yet slow, but I’m thoroughly enjoying the process and honing my skills by making subtle adjustments to my process along the way to bolster my creative endeavors.

Write-a-thon 2023

Hi, friends!

This year, from June 25 to August 5, 2023, I’m doing something positively ill-advised, namely participating in Clarion West’s Write-A-Thon. This event is Clarion West’s primary fundraiser for programs throughout the year, including their yearly writers workshop. My plan for the write-a-thon is to complete the first draft of a short story every week of the event. I don’t promise it will be a good story, nor a publishable one, but much like NaNoWriMo, it’s the discipline that counts. If you would like to sponsor me, and to sponsor an awesome program, I ask that you visit my fundraising page, which links to more details about the event and the programs it funds:

https://clarionwest.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/clarionwest/campaign.jsp?campaign=264&fundraiser=13885&

Playing with ChatGPT

AI matrix head clipart, collage

I belong to the group of people who prefer referring to the various Large Language Model systems as “plagiarism machines” (you can read my previous rant on this topic here). However, I must admit that they do serve their purpose.

Lately, I have been experimenting with these models to enhance my character descriptions. Although these descriptions won’t directly appear in my writing, they help me generate genre-appropriate details. I start by roughly outlining my characters, providing names and brief descriptions of their appearance and clothing choices. I also try to include a personal trait that reveals an inner aspect of the character, and sometimes establish connections to other characters. Afterwards, I turn to ChatGPT and ask it to expand on the description.

ChatGPT does an impressive job of returning several paragraphs that elaborate on the information I provided. It adds supplementary details to the description and offers insights into what the character’s choices, particularly in clothing, might convey to others or even themselves.

The best part is that since this is a highly connected language model, once I establish the mood and style of the setting, the LLM suggests stylistic details that harmonize with that particular context (assuming the setting is similar to other known settings, of course). For instance, if I mention that the character wears a ballistic leather jacket and magnetic boots, ChatGPT might propose something like the following:

Dressed in dark clothing, Gerald exudes an air of professional readiness. His ballistic-proof leather jacket serves as both a stylish accessory and a practical safeguard, providing protection without compromising his mobility. Magnetic boots, designed to secure him to any surface in zero-gravity environments, demonstrate his preparedness for any situation that may arise.

It is truly enjoyable to witness the additional depth brought forth by this LLM. I am always somewhat amused by how well it aligns with the desired mood for my characters. As I mentioned earlier, none of this text will directly appear in the piece I am currently working on. However, as a means to fully visualize my characters, I find this tool to be quite valuable.

Current Daily Schedule

photo of planner and writing materials
Photo by Bich Tran on Pexels.com

As I continue to seek out what works best for my writing process, I expect my daily schedule, the routine that works for my ADHD brain, will evolve. This is the current iteration, just so I have a reference point for the future.

  • 0700 – 0730: Wake, catch up on major headlines, do my daily Sudoku, etc.
  • 0730 – 0800: Quick writing prompt practice
  • 0800 – 0830: Brainstorming for story seeds
  • 0830 – 0930: Morning ablutions and breakfast (free reading)
  • 0930 – 1230: Principle writing time
  • 1230 – 1300: Walking time (with podcast accompaniment)
  • 1300 – 1330: Lunch

After lunch I’m allowing things to be more free form. Sometimes I’ll feel like continuing the morning writing, other times I want to relax and enjoy some leisure activities. If I don’t write in the afternoon, I often start feeling like doing more writing in the evening, if I don’t have other plans. I usually spend at least two additional hours a day with my writing for a total of six hours a day.

At some point during the week I need to spend an hour or two doing prep for my weekly D&D game, but I don’t have a set schedule for that yet. It would probably help me if I did.

Anyway, that’s the current schedule plan. I’ll revisit in a few weeks to see if it needs additional work.

I’ve had some friends who strongly advocate that I shouldn’t be as structured in why approach to writing, that I should write when inspiration strikes as many famous authors are known to do. While that is certainly a popular image of how an author gets their best work done, it’s not a true image. Sure, some authors were known for that approach to their writing, many more are significantly more structured, especially those who are commercially successful, which is one of my goals. I also know myself well enough to know that if I don’t work within a structure such as this, I’ll nearly always put off work until a mythical “some day” when I’ll be inspired. Rather than wait for that mythical muse to whack me upside the head, I give space in each day for inspiration and the muse to join me at the desk. Throughout my writing life, I’ve found keeping to a schedule was the best way to ensure satisfactory progress. I’m going with what I know to work for me.

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