ieva melgalve » outline

back on track

ieva — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:41:37 +0000

The change in setting helped a lot. I was stuck in my pre-defined place, with my pre-defined characters and while I liked them and there was a lot to explore, I somehow just couldn’t get myself interested.
That makes me think of outlining for future works. There are two versions I can do: to see outline as the “crappy first idea” that just has to go, as it always has to, or to change the outlining process from “and then: …” to “here’s a problem: …” (Especially since the things that I’d defined as problems, not events, survived, while the events didn’t.)

full gear

ieva — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:35:56 +0000

After the slacking weekend, I am currently working on:
- rewising a story,
- a non-fiction article,
- another short story I’m really excited about.
I’m a bit confused about NaNoWriMo plotting because the software just doesn’t feel like the perfect solution for outlining, but I don’t have a better solution. I’m strongly considering index cards (a solution that has failed for two previous projects), this time cutting them to business card size and ordering in those A4 multi-card filing pockets. My main trouble with physical index cards is that I’m so messy/working on the move/have curious kids at home that I always lose them. Filing them and binding in my NaNo binder could be a solution.

notes on public transportation

ieva — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:36:07 +0000

On public transportation, it seems that working on a netbook is the best choice (because it’s easy to prop it on my bag and I can forget about the fact that I’m in a tram until somebody starts leaning over my shoulder and begging me to type faster because he has to get off soon… that hasn’t happened yet though). Working with outlines? Not so good because I am working on paper, and A4 standard clearly wasn’t created with a tram-working-writer in mind. Writing in a small notebook – cool. Now, I’ll just have to try writing by hand in a normal journal.
Which makes me wonder what I’m gonna do when I’ll edit and write-in Vega. That’s some 40 days away, if I start editing in December.
Anyhow, I did 800+ words on Vega yesterday (in half an hour!) and planned NaNoWriMo on my way back. I’m still undecided about whether I’ll use software (StoryBook) for planning it. Probably yes, because the outline seems to be getting rather extensive and probably hard to manage normally.

more catching up

ieva — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:34:52 +0000

Yesterday, I did a two days’ work, 1600+ words on Vega. I’m a bit troubled about how my love line is progressing. I feel like writing a mystery or a suspense novel *inside* the love line. Right now, it’s like running back home from a scary forest and even scarier driveaway, locking yourself in, leaning against the door and letting out a big sigh. Right before opening your eyes and seeing what’s inside the house.
I have a vague feeling that’s not how the love lines are usually built.
Also, I solved some plot problems that’d been troubling me and moved forth with some others. By this moment (ended chapter 12 of what seems to be 18-chapter thing) I have roughly outlined the remainder of the novel and feel quite confident that I can finish it, for better or worse.

And on top of that, I wrote a short-short story that, as I realized today, is actually a first scene in a longer story, and possibly a scene I’ll eventually cut because it’s all setup. I adore the piece though, so I’ll let it stay for now. (Sometimes I wonder why the hell do people ever go semi-pro like me with writing. The kicks are in actual writing and loving what you’ve written, not re-reading, editing, cutting and all that gory stuff that sorta makes a writer better… for more edits and cuts and gore.)

rock on

ieva — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:32:55 +0000

Yesterday, I started by doing sloooow 307 words… added some 200 after work just to do my drop-dead wordcount (500+ words) and finished by scoring a total of 1100+ words, well over my goal, just sitting on the floor in the kitchen, waiting for the lil one to come thomping in, demanding that she wants to sleep.

So this was a success, and something that sorta insures I can work on We Crunch this week if I do 300+ words today. (It’s a beginning of the chapter though, and by now I know better than jumping in headfirst without doing a proper outline first. So outline it is.)

I also made my dream calendar/to-do-list, I hope this will help me keep track of my progress instead of stalling me.

Ahh, and an idea for a novel occured at some point between sleep and, well, more sleep, loosely based on “The Final Turn” concept.