Writing Wednesday: Early Start

2 weeks ago, I had trouble getting up when my alarm went off. This week it looks like I might have the opposite problem. Monday morning I woke up at 2 a.m. Usually when that happens, I can go back to sleep. Nope. Wide awake. So I was at my computer by about 3. Had my Story a Day finished right around 4 and got caught up on replying to blog comments and checking out other blogs by 5(well, most of them, some carried over until later), when I started brainstorming the next story in my Kurztown series, High On Your Love(title inspired by Florida Georgia Line’s song H.O.L.Y because there was a line in it that I thought fit Morgan and Anna really well). N(the boy) had a “writer’s gallery” at the school Monday morning. There were a bunch of table set up in the gym and each of the kids had a binder of their writing from the year. It went from the beginning of the  year, where it was mostly scribbles, to the end where you can actually read most of it).

Tuesday I actually slept until 4, so that’s something at least. And it was a more lowkey day. I did make some good progress on my goals. This new routine seems to be working. So far anyway. Wednesday was a normal wake-up time again. Not sure what my internal alarm clock thought it was up to Monday, but it seems to be going back to normal.

And now, it’s Wednesday!! I mentioned on Sunday that I was changing things up again. Characters are clamoring for me to pay attention to them. So, I’ve decided to work on a different main project each day. Today’s was Heart of Christmas, but I don’t have much for that yet. Yesterday I started Still Burning, which I’ve finished a scene for and pasted one of my Stream of Consciousness pieces in as part of the next scene. For today I have 6 paragraphs(2+4 for the day) from Still Burning.

He walked through the house and opened the door that led to the back porch. His father was manning the grill, smiling at something Austin’s little sister was telling him, using quite a few hand gestures as she spoke. He smiled a little, knowing she hated being referred to that way. But, she wasn’t quite twelve yet, so as far as he was concerned, it fit. And she’d always be his little sister anyway.
Jai glanced over at him and grinned, his white teeth flashing against his brown skin. “Austin,” he said. “You made it.”
“I said I’d be here, didn’t I?” He didn’t know why he got defensive by Jai’s greeting. The man had never made him feel like he didn’t belong. Even though he was the only one of them who wasn’t his biological offspring.
But, Jai was the only father he’d ever known.
Jai continued smiling, though it seemed to dim slightly. Damn it. He hadn’t meant to do that. He didn’t even know what was wrong with him lately.
Yes, you do. He really wished he could shut that voice off. It didn’t matter. This was about time with his family. He didn’t need to let anything else intrude right now.

If you check out the snippet in my writing section below, you might get an idea of what that problem is. 😉

Plotting

• Still Burning – finish Story Toolkit, Outline –
• Jayla & Carisa(Gilbert, Co #7) – brainstorm, character back stories, plot summary, get through Story Toolkit: Supporting Characters – This is going onto the backburner for the moment. I’ll pick it back up once I finish Not Meant to Be.
• High on Your Love(Kurztown #6) – brainstorm, character back stories, plot summary, Story Toolkit, Outline. This is Morgan(Kendall’s brother) & Anna’s story. I’m not currently sure if it’s going to be a Christmas novella(since that is when it takes place) or a full-length novel. Guess that will depend on what the characters have to tell me. I got the mind maps done, and Morgan’s back story started.

Writing

• Not Meant to Be – Add 53000 words/28 scenes to finish 1st draft – 19204 words/21 scenes finished this month,
• Still Burning(Hunter Family #4) – Write 70000 words/61 scenes – 1397 words/1 scene finished
  • He wondered if discussing the volunteers from the town’s other department counted toward the moratorium on fire talk. Or would that be sorted under girl problems? He shook his head. “No, it’s nothing.”
• Side Projects – Add 4400 words between all projects – 8209/4400 words, 1584 words this week
  • Roman – 386 words – Carlos blinked then, and Roman saw it. Exactly what his boss had suggested. Pain and grief buried under the layer of anger. And it was a thin layer now that he looked closely. He wasn’t sure how Carlos would hold up if it was ripped away.
  • Tavin & Haiwee – 509 words – He wouldn’t have expected to be so sad about that. He had not even been home in five years. It should not make him want to mourn. And yet he did. His brother had moved his young family to the city, and they had a place there, and he was learning a new trade. It had to be enough. He wanted to invite them to come here, but what had he to offer them? Not even his own land.
  • Preggers – 323 words – But, it was. And that woman in there had started to reawaken it. That thought brought another sob. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sorry, Darren.” She’d loved her husband and missed him so much. So how could she be having these feelings for someone else after only a few months? It wasn’t right.
  • Jacob & Matthew – 366 words – Barrett snorted softly as the woman headed away after he declined anything besides coffee. “What she wanted to offer you had nothing to do with food, my friend.”“As you should know, Barrett,” he said with barely a glance up at him. “Maybe you should go and tell her you have an appetite.” *This is pretty close to the beginning of Stained Blood. Soon, Barrett will only have an appetite for one woman, but he hasn’t met her yet. 😉

Editing

• Flames of Renewal – CP Edits
• In the Moonlight – Transfer from OneNote(on my Surface) to Scrivener(on my laptop) – 27 chapters(there’s actually 32, counting the epilogue, but I’d already started it before) – 19/27 chapters typed up.
• Stained Blood – Adding this in as I’m starting to get chapters back from beta: Compile comments – 0/26 chapters. I’ve transferred 71/79 comments to the scrivener doc for Chapter 1. Well, not all those. I’m not copying the “this is great” type comments, though I love reading them. 🙂 And I love that Kingsoft Writer numbers them so I can keep track. I’ll get back to this during my next editing hour.
• Snow White Twist – Beta edits, rename, & submit – compiled notes from 1 beta reader to the main document(so I can put them all in one place when I get them back from other reader) for 6/8 chapters(1st 2 chapters done last month). Have a potential title for it as well. Still simmering on that, though.
• Dance with the Devil – read through, make revisions, & polish – Applied 81/81 comments(not counting areas I highlighted, though those will be fixed as I go through, too). Polished 2/10 chapters.
• Beta Read – Read 58 chapters(total of 73, but that’s what I have left) & return to author – 58/58 chapters. Will be emailing author later today(at least that’s the plan).

Blogging

• Story a Day – Write 31 stories – 24/31 stories written, 3 this week
  • Diner – Anna’s getting the diner kitchen ready for the day and gets a surprise visitor.
  • The List – Morgan tells his ex exactly what his problems with her are.
  • Hidden Message – Caelen writes a letter to Alaina with a hidden message, trying to explain why he acted the way he did(which I haven’t written that part, so I only have a vague idea of what he did).

Reading

• Listen: 5 books – 6/5 for the month, 1 this week
  •  Conspiracy(Lindsay Buroker) – this is book 4 in her Emperor’s Edge series.
  • The Immortal Irishman(Timothy Egan) – I don’t read or listen to much non-fiction. But this one was the daily deal back on St. Patrick’s day and it combines two of my interests, Irish history and the Civil War.
• Read: 31 books – 24.5/31, 3.5 this week
  • Hometown Heartbreaker(Maisey Yates) – Finished this Sunday afternoon. Enjoyed it. I’m only counting it as half, since it was included in the back of another novel
  • Up in Flames(Sidney Bristol) – Finished this Sunday afternoon. Really enjoyed it. The next 2 books in the series are written by a different author, then this one wrote the fourth, so we’ll see how that goes.
  • Death at Peony House(Krista Walsh) – I started this Sunday afternoon. At 30%. This was still in my Unlimited folder, though I think the series is out of KU now. So this will be my “extra” book for now. Really enjoying it(so good incentive to finish my other books for the week and get back to it).
  • One Good Earl Deserves a Lover(Sara MacLean) – Started this Monday morning. Finished it Tuesday night. Really enjoyed it.
  • Before that Night(Violet Duke) – Started this Tuesday morning. Finished it Tuesday afternoon. Liked it.
  • Reckoning(Myndi Shafer) – Started this Wednesday morning. At 3%

Crafting

• Knit: Duo Cable Hat – Finished 2 decrease rounds