Update 11 Aug 10-16
Back on track:
Ok… so last week in the update I mentioned that I was setting myself a deadline. I want to hit my end goal of 150,000 words by December 1st. That gives me 16 weeks to get it done. At 5500 words per week I should be able to blow past that goal with no problem.
This is week 1 of 16 and my goal of 5500 was met, and exceeded. I wrote 6656 words this week. I finished the rough draft of chapter 17 and started chapter 18. I’m really bouncing along on some of the parts of the story I was really looking forward to.
This brings the WIP total to 71,023.
What I’m doing right now…
I’ve still been debating going back doing the rewrites for the new chapter 6 and 7. In a pervious update I mentioned that I took the original chapter 6 and cut it into two. I have notes for ta complete rewrite of 6, but I’ve been trying to keep going forward and only right the revision in my next draft. Of course, the problem is I have all the ideas for 6 NOW… actually I had them 5 weeks ago, and I might be starting to lose them.
So, besides debating the rewrite of chap 6, I wrote another chapter of Caitlyn (17) that was pretty good. I laid the ground work for her final story, I gave a bunch of clues and information about what is happening in the third act, and I also teased details of the past. I’ve also seduced the character with her greatest wants.
Chapter 18 is a return to Keegan’s POV, and has our Duo imprisoned by the Mantis. A race of psionic, cannibalistic insects that have told the duo that they “will be useful.” A statement that is an ominous promise that if they don’t labor, then they’ll be used as meat for the clan.
Final’s Week
This week was also the final in my other class this term. I had to crank out 15 pages of essay, so that did bite into my word count for the week. But when you think about it my word for the week was well over 20k words written, especially as I also need to count the words in this blog as well.
The rest of the week was pretty good as well. Picked up a handful of more hours at my day job and I think I finally broke free of the bulk of the funk of the last three weeks. I’m proceeding on a more positive direction. I imagine the fact that I only have one more week of classes, and then I have a 2 week break from school, is making me feel a lot more relaxed.
The rest of the year will then be focused solely on hammering out the novel. I only have thesis classes going forward until next year.
Reviews and Such
Last week I mentioned that I would start to talk about either books, comics, or movies…
I have not gotten any reading this week. But I did watch a bunch of movies, or at the least I listened to them while doing other work. I recently rewatched the live action version of Bleach. I like the movie, I have never watched the anime or read the manga so I really enjoyed it. The thing is the main character is played by the same actor who played Gentaro in Kamen Rider Fourze.
I am a huge Kamen Rider fan, and am almost through my entire watch through of the series. I have about 4 series from the 70s to watch and I have the last 6 series to get through. Because I liked the movie so much, I decided to try out the anime.
Me and Anime
So, I used to watch a lot of anime back in my teens and early 20s… I liked a lot of it, but also found a lot of it to be formulaic and also to have a lot of tropes I grew to hate. So, I have not watched any in a long time, and I also haven’t watched anything that is considered “current.”
But I digress.
I started to watch Bleach… and I liked it… so now I’m 70 episodes into Bleach and have a lot more to go. I will admit that there is a lot of filler episodes, and they love to interrupt the really interesting fights/scenes with side story.
For example, you watch a really awesome fight and the main character is gravely injured and they whisk him away and you want to know what happens next… but then the next episode (and four more after it) is the origin and background of a secondary character and then you see that secondary character getting his butt kicked. Right when you’re asking if that character just died, they switch back to the main story again.
Pot calling the Kettle
While I love using cliffhangers switching between my povs in my novel… my whole story is structured to constantly shift to each character. In Bleach, they just randomly switch the story to a brand new pov, or a little used secondary pov, for short interludes, and then they come back. More often than not it feels like padding. Also, because of the way they do it they need to go and replay scenes you’ve already seen to make sure they get you back on track, so sometimes and episode will use a third of its running time replaying something you saw like 3 episodes ago. Sometimes this makes me think I’m watching the same episode again and I fast forward or skip and then miss out on the five minutes of new material they tacked onto a scene.
But anyway… that’s enough for now. I have a lot to do still.
Next week I have to write some reflection essays, do a new pitch for my novel, and a few other little things, and then I’m free from school. Next week I’m pushing for another 5500 words. Let’s all see how I do.
