Weekly Update...
WRITING:
Total Word Count for the week: 3,835 words
Total Word Count in Novel: 26,984 words
Total Page Count in Novel: 140 pages
Time Spent: 3.25 hours
What's this? Actual progress? Why yes, I think it is.
Funny thing: before the sickness of doom, I constructed a short-term outline to get myself to the next major plot-point in the novel. I posted it over my computer as a daily reminder that I have absolutely no reason at all to NOT write. You know what happened, aside from getting sick? My brain goes, "Oooh, look! An outline! Let's not follow it!"
And did I listen? Of course. Of the two chapters I cranked out this week, neither one of them are part of that original outline. I think I'm more or less an organic writer. :-/
READING:
Two weeks worth, for what it's worth:
I finally got around to reading the Winter 2006 issue of Apex Science Fiction & Horror Digest (review here). I liked it for the most part, but I wasn't in the best frame of mind to be reading, because I was SICK AND ILL. I couldn't even read stuff I knew I would enjoy, let alone all of this. But I made it through, and liked it, mostly. Bucker's short story was the stand-out of the issue, which excites me, since I have her third novel, War Surf, waiting on my bookshelf.
Also finished reading my fourth required read for residency, Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively by Rebecca McClanahan. No review posted yet, because I'm still slogging away at my response for SHU, but despite a shaky start (due to my sickly frame of mind), I ended up appreciating this quite a bit. The book delves into various details of description very well, and I was especially impressed with its section on figurative language.
MISCELLANY:
1 critique. Doesn't sound like much, but it was a biggie. :)
KUDOS:
Kudos to my favorite Ridler (Odyssey 2005), whose short story, "Blood and Sawdust," is available online at Dark Recesses, Issue #7. You can read it here. Jay's piece is somewhere in the middle, and I promise, his stuff is always worth reading.
Also, a very belated kudos to Erica L. Satifka (Seton Hill), whose short story, "Automatic," was published at Clarkesworld Magazine back in January 2007. I meant to post about it then, but with residency and all, it completely slipped my mind until now, and besides, better late than never! You can read it by simply clicking here. I have a special bit of pride concerning this, because Erica submitted this to the January 2006 workshop, and I got to critique it! I think it was my favorite piece from that residency, and I'm uber-glad she got it published. :)
And while I don't know her personally, I feel the need to give a shout-out to Carrie Vaughn (Odyssey 1998) for the release of her third novel in her wonderfully fun Kitty series, Kitty Takes a Holiday. It finally arrived on my doorstep, and I hope to read it once I get through the gigantic stack that's required of me. :)
THIS WEEK:
SHU deadline on Wednesday, so I hope I can crank out at least two more chapters to torture my crit partners with. We'll see what happens.
Total Word Count for the week: 3,835 words
Total Word Count in Novel: 26,984 words
Total Page Count in Novel: 140 pages
Time Spent: 3.25 hours
What's this? Actual progress? Why yes, I think it is.
Funny thing: before the sickness of doom, I constructed a short-term outline to get myself to the next major plot-point in the novel. I posted it over my computer as a daily reminder that I have absolutely no reason at all to NOT write. You know what happened, aside from getting sick? My brain goes, "Oooh, look! An outline! Let's not follow it!"
And did I listen? Of course. Of the two chapters I cranked out this week, neither one of them are part of that original outline. I think I'm more or less an organic writer. :-/
READING:
Two weeks worth, for what it's worth:
I finally got around to reading the Winter 2006 issue of Apex Science Fiction & Horror Digest (review here). I liked it for the most part, but I wasn't in the best frame of mind to be reading, because I was SICK AND ILL. I couldn't even read stuff I knew I would enjoy, let alone all of this. But I made it through, and liked it, mostly. Bucker's short story was the stand-out of the issue, which excites me, since I have her third novel, War Surf, waiting on my bookshelf.
Also finished reading my fourth required read for residency, Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively by Rebecca McClanahan. No review posted yet, because I'm still slogging away at my response for SHU, but despite a shaky start (due to my sickly frame of mind), I ended up appreciating this quite a bit. The book delves into various details of description very well, and I was especially impressed with its section on figurative language.
MISCELLANY:
1 critique. Doesn't sound like much, but it was a biggie. :)
KUDOS:
Kudos to my favorite Ridler (Odyssey 2005), whose short story, "Blood and Sawdust," is available online at Dark Recesses, Issue #7. You can read it here. Jay's piece is somewhere in the middle, and I promise, his stuff is always worth reading.
Also, a very belated kudos to Erica L. Satifka (Seton Hill), whose short story, "Automatic," was published at Clarkesworld Magazine back in January 2007. I meant to post about it then, but with residency and all, it completely slipped my mind until now, and besides, better late than never! You can read it by simply clicking here. I have a special bit of pride concerning this, because Erica submitted this to the January 2006 workshop, and I got to critique it! I think it was my favorite piece from that residency, and I'm uber-glad she got it published. :)
And while I don't know her personally, I feel the need to give a shout-out to Carrie Vaughn (Odyssey 1998) for the release of her third novel in her wonderfully fun Kitty series, Kitty Takes a Holiday. It finally arrived on my doorstep, and I hope to read it once I get through the gigantic stack that's required of me. :)
THIS WEEK:
SHU deadline on Wednesday, so I hope I can crank out at least two more chapters to torture my crit partners with. We'll see what happens.