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Strange Flesh
Feb. 8th, 2018 11:08 amPut all 23 chapters into a single file. Over 109,000 words. I may be becoming slightly emotional.
Strange Flesh update
Feb. 7th, 2018 05:02 pmI've rewritten the novel from start to finish. Just need to add a critical scene to Part Two and add some essential explanations and foreshadowing, then throw in a few "vitamins" to enrich the ms, and I'm done and it's off with its bundle on its shoulder to look for an agent. I've given myself until the end of February to complete it but I think it'll be completed before then.
Flesh, Strange
Sep. 18th, 2017 12:46 pmBack to working on the novel. Looking good until chapters four and five, which are a messy patchwork of bits from different drafts which don't fit together - people do things for reasons that no longer exist, that sort of thing. What a mess. I've already rewritten a chunk of exposition; I'm going to have to do the same with the actual action, writing out an outline, making it make sense and then rewriting from scratch. Gee it would have been nice if I'd done that IN THE FIRST PLACE. Oy
(no subject)
Oct. 1st, 2016 02:53 pmAbsorbing the knowledge and wisdom of many writers and editors here at Conflux. Equal parts intimidating and inspiring.
The advice I've given to many newcomers to writing - not to worry too much about any individual story, because as a writer you'll write hundreds in your life - has come home to bite me on the bum. I've been 110% invested in my novel for a long time; now that the dust is settling on the first draft, I'm gaining the perspective that it's not the be-all and end-all of my writing career or my life either.
The advice I've given to many newcomers to writing - not to worry too much about any individual story, because as a writer you'll write hundreds in your life - has come home to bite me on the bum. I've been 110% invested in my novel for a long time; now that the dust is settling on the first draft, I'm gaining the perspective that it's not the be-all and end-all of my writing career or my life either.
Of course, then come rewrites. And then more rewrites.
Three-day writing retreat: still alive
Sep. 9th, 2016 07:59 pmThree days in a hotel room with nothing but the novel and iTunes for company. (iTunes library now suspiciously well-organised.) Part Three is complete; Part Four is well underway (which means I can now see lots of rewrites which will have to be on Part Three, argh). Well on track for finishing the book, including major re-working of certain bits, by the end of the year.
To commemorate my not being dead after three days in that gods-awful hotel chair, a few writing-related links:
On parasocial relationships with fictional characters. Similarly, Cory Doctorow writes that Stories Are a Fuggly Hack for making us empathise with non-existent people, before going on to those annoying artists who can get straight to the emotions without the suffering and punishment of generating narrative. (More Doctorow advice: Cheap Writing Tricks. Note the reappearance (so to speak) of his breakfast yoghurt.)
What makes bad writing bad? Oh, gods.
To commemorate my not being dead after three days in that gods-awful hotel chair, a few writing-related links:
On parasocial relationships with fictional characters. Similarly, Cory Doctorow writes that Stories Are a Fuggly Hack for making us empathise with non-existent people, before going on to those annoying artists who can get straight to the emotions without the suffering and punishment of generating narrative. (More Doctorow advice: Cheap Writing Tricks. Note the reappearance (so to speak) of his breakfast yoghurt.)
What makes bad writing bad? Oh, gods.
(no subject)
Aug. 1st, 2016 11:23 amThis morning I finished Chapter Eleven, and with it, Part Two of Strange Flesh. I think this is the hardest thing I have ever written. Or rather, rewritten, from a horribly half-thought-out and half-written draft. The relief is immense and physical. To paraphrase Indiana Jones, now I'm gonna sleep for a week.
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Jul. 23rd, 2016 10:59 pmChapter Ten done. Thought Chapter Eleven was basically finished. It isn't. Same old same old. What a rubbish mess of a draft I left for myself in 2013.
Chapter Seven
Jun. 21st, 2016 08:32 pmEvery time I think this novel has made me work harder than I have ever worked on a piece of writing, it makes me work harder still. But somehow, despite all the crap my meds have thrown at me over the last couple of months - the sedation, the depression, the withdrawal - I have managed to defeat Chapter bloody Seven of Strange Flesh. *stands on its corpse, brandishing its entrails*
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May. 8th, 2016 07:53 pmOh no, not ANOTHER draft chapter in which people stand around delivering exposition and agreeing with each other! Repeat after me: every scene must contain conflict, demonstrate character, advance the plot.
Strange Flesh Chapter Eight First Draft
Apr. 22nd, 2016 03:20 pmRewriting the midden that was Chapters Seven and Eight has been some of the hardest work of my writing career. :P
X_X
See the two full moons
Feb. 6th, 2016 11:48 am1. Don't be a science fiction writer. Or if you must be one, don't make up planets with seventy-nine hour days and two moons. The effort required just to tell what time of day it is is exhausting.
2. I wonder if Joe from Gatchaman has such a terrible temper, in constant contrast to Ken's self-control, because he's half-gaijin.
2. I wonder if Joe from Gatchaman has such a terrible temper, in constant contrast to Ken's self-control, because he's half-gaijin.
uuuggghhhhh
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Jan. 26th, 2016 07:50 pmFirst draft of Chapter 4 of Strange Flesh. And just in time; Jon's getting hungry (me too!).
Rewriting the previous draft of Strange Flesh is a matter of taking the useable bits, generating some new bits, and gluing them all together in a way that makes sense. This time. I hope. I'm just finishing off Draft Zero of Chapter Three, including the deadly Chicken Soup Scene which gave me so much trouble.
And that's Draft Zero of chapter one
Dec. 7th, 2015 11:39 amMy immediate goal is a full first draft of chapters one through six - the first chunk of the novel. As you may recall from my eccentric numbering system, a chapter is at Draft Zero when only small bits are missing (such as individual lines or paragraphs), and Draft One when no bits are missing. Chapters one, two, and six are Draft Zeroes (Drafts Zero?); chapter three has a few scenes needing overhauls; chapters four and five are a bit of a dog's breakfast tbh.
