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Category Archives: Writing

Re-learning

So, I was starting the rough draft of this new story, and it was kicking my butt. I didn’t know everyone’s eye color, or what they were going to do next, or how each one’s diction differs from the others. Blank screen, blank screen, blank screen, pah. I did mange to squeeze out two scenes [...]

Posted 07 March 2011 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Speak no ill

A cartoon circa 1819 depicts the effects of policies such as the Gag Acts and the Six Acts as the shackling and gagging of British freedoms. The “common man” cannot speak ill of the government under pain of death and cannot rise because of the burden of taxation. In the background John Bull’s shop is [...]

Posted 25 January 2011 † nickyp § History ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Writing Successes 2010

This past year, I: • spent 543 hours writing (not web-surfing or sitting, but writing) • spent 108 hours doing volunteer work • saw some of my neuroscience reporting reprinted in arts and education journals • finished 1 print-worthy book (!) • built up ideas for 3 short stories and 1 novella • traveled to [...]

Posted 31 December 2010 † nickyp § Reading § Thinking ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Ready for new input

Giant Revise is done! The type-in was so much faster this second time — only 20 hours — because I’d fixed the structural problems in the first go-round. This time, it was beginnings, endings, trimming dull stuff and plumping up interesting stuff, as well as copy-editing, proofreading, inserting fixes and answering the first beta-reader’s questions, [...]

Posted 13 December 2010 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Award-winning novelist

Again, I have slain the writer’s-block beast and churned out 50,000 words of prose to win National Novel Writing Month. Woot! ’80s dance tunes, playing loud. Last November, I had an outline, semi-solid characters, enough plot and historical details all in a row to mow down the first draft of my Manchester story (which ran [...]

Posted 29 November 2010 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Ready, go!

National Novel Writing Month starts Monday. In the next 30 days, I’m going to write at least 50,000 words on a new story that I have only the vaguest idea of at the moment. I think it will be contemporary, and I’m going to try to make it sassy if not snarky; I’ve been finding [...]

Posted 31 October 2010 † nickyp § Learning ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , ,

It’s a story

Look! Second-draft is done! No pages remain on the bottom shelf, no scene notecards above them. All pages on the top — done, done, done! I used up all the 500 loose-leaf notebook pages in my pack, so had to switch to the yellow pad for the last two scenes. Structure is solid, promises are [...]

Posted 12 September 2010 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Remembering 16 August

A wreath in remembrance of Peterloo, 16 Aug 1819, laid on 16 Aug 2010 beneath the commemorative plaque in Manchester. I saw this while on the Peterloo tour given by Ed Glinert through New Manchester Walks. Heard a lot of good details, some of which matched what I’d read and learned, some that was new [...]

Posted 16 August 2010 † nickyp § Learning ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Making the turn

So yeah, it’s taking longer than I thought, but this story is even better than I thought, so there. I’ll be running silent, running deep until vacation in a couple weeks. I really want to be done with this pass and take a complete break, but as the parents say, “we’ll see.” On scene 50 [...]

Posted 14 July 2010 † nickyp § Learning ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Off-line, on deadline

So, I’ll be running silent, running deep for a bit (like, 4-5 weeks) as I plow through the big second-draft revise. This pass includes the massive plot revise, character sharpening and combining, story rearranging, scene setting, and fluff cutting. I’m finding this nearly as hard as the scene-for-scene cards I did in April, and for [...]

Posted 11 June 2010 † nickyp § Learning ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , , , , ,