Partners in Time: The Series

Wow, I totally forgot to post an update last week!

Anyway, The Beast of PIT5 went off to the Betas on September 4th. I've got 8 Betas this time -- 6 gals and 2 guys. All repeat Betas. They've got until November 22nd to read and feedback me on the book. This way I can work on the outlining for my changes before Winter Break, and actually start doing the revisions on my 2 week winter vacation a month later.

Until then, I'm keeping my writing muscles in shape by dabbling on fanfic for the first time in more than a year. My brain is also sketching out the plots of PIT6 and PIT7 in bits and pieces, which is always fun.

So it may be quiet in this blog for a couple months. Just sayin'.... :-)

-K

Yay, I finished rereading PIT5!

But I have a couple other things I want to mess with before it goes to the Betas, including writing the questions and suchlike for that.

But it will be off to them this weekend...oh yes, it will!

-K

Yes, the work goes on with PIT5, draft 1.1. I'm a couple chapters from the end, but it looks like I will meet my goal in getting this wrapped up by/over Labor Day weekend. It's crazy. Life has been insanely busy for the last 3 weeks, but I think (I hope?) that it will settle down from this point on.

Overall, I'm not satisfied with this story right now. This is typical, not unexpected, but I hope the Betas won't hold it against me! I'm taking notes of things to possibly change already, and when it gets to that point, hooboy, will things be overhauled! Why, you may ask, should I bother letting anyone see the story in the current state then? Simple. The feedback of my Betas helps inspire me where it comes to changes made. Suggestions they make are often incorporated into revisions, which may actually be why I have a high rate of returning Betas. (They know I use their suggestions and comments and do not just blow them off!)

Also, a break of a couple months often helps me return with a fresh perspective when it comes to tackling the story anew.

Hopefully by Friday or thereabouts I can get the draft in decent shape to send off to Betas. In the meantime, I need to fix dinner and then, possibly, I will tackle Chapter 22.

-K

I've gone through the first nine chapters so far in PIT5...I seem to get one or two done a day, depending on what time I get home from work. (This week, one is a pretty consistent number!) I'm hoping I can pick up the pace a bit this coming weekend, but since I'm also doing lesson plans, uploading files to an online classroom, etc and so forth...we'll see.

So far, the story seems a tiny bit awkward with the pacing, and some sections seem to drag. I'll see what the Betas say. (I've got 7 ready and waiting for the MS now.) I'm not sure how to fix the problem unless I compound two days to one or something. Hmmm.

I am also realizing I'll probably have to rewrite parts of the final chapter in the past to sort of conclude the arc of two of the local characters in the tale. I left that hanging...the fates. But maybe I should figure that out. Huh. More food for thought, perhaps to deal with post-Beta.

Still hoping this can go off to the Bs by Labor Day weekend. I've got two weeks. Doable.

In other news, I thought it would be fun to start up a creative writing club where I teach. I had seventeen students show up for the initial meeting!! Way awesome.

-KS

I read over the first two chapters of PIT5 today. So far, so good, though I'm noticing a lot of typos. (Typos of words being omitted or tense being off...typical if I write something out and don't reread over it. Since I'm reading over stuff I wrote last summer, I really have no remembrance if I reread it after I originally wrote it.) Nothing substantial has really changed so far...I suspect that stuff may do that a lot more in the later chapters.

I also noticed that the first two chapters are sort of long and don't really spend a lot of time in Sam and Meg's home time. (Or any in Sam's!) But, again, this was something different I was trying...I'll see how the Betas like it. (I've got 7 "for sures" on Beta-ing PIT5 so far, which is awesome. I have such awesome friends!)

Hopefully I can get through 1 chap/day (at least) during the week.

-KS

13 months...that's how long it took me to the day to finish Draft 1 of PIT5! Yep, I wrapped that puppy up this morning! Now I get to reread it and do the construction work that is going to be my life for the next year.

It feels good to have it wrapped up, but I know that the real fun is just beginning.

Anyway, Draft 1 clocked in at just over 97,000 words. I think that is currently the longest PIT story ever. It also opens differently, does not use the same POV in the final chapter as is used in the first and...yeah. I like to try different things, mix it up, stop things from getting too clichéd.

Tomorrow is Friday. I plan to spend a blissful weekend sleeping in late, polishing the beast, and possibly seeing The Time Traveler's Wife. I wish it was already Friday afternoon!

-KS

I'm not done with PIT5's first draft yet, despite the fact I go back to teaching tomorrow. (Yes, my district begins school tomorrow...as in the kids return to the classroom. It's crazy early!) However, I do feel confident that within 1 week, I'll get it done.

Currently I'm about halfway through the second-to-last chapter. I know exactly what is to happen; it's a matter of sitting down to focus and concentrating to write it all out. We all know that me writing on weekdays is a JOKE, in that after work I'm pretty much fried. But next weekend makes me optimistic. And, who knows, maybe I can get some stuff done this week. Maybe the first week won't be super grueling. (Yeah, right.)

After Draft 1 is done, I'll go back to reread and retweak and rewrite some stuff before the Betas get it. I'm hoping I can get it Beta-ready by September or the end of Labor Day...but we'll see, as always.

-K

The end is nigh! Or at least two chapters away. I have noticed that I tend to write gangbusters every other day or so, which is interesting. (Like, why can't I do it every day??) Today I felt that sense of power, almost of pent up writing fury, and I got the "writing high" where I lose all track of time, etc, which is always most pleasant.

Unfortunately, after today, my writing fun will be severely curtailed. This coming Friday my summer break ends, and in the days leading up to that I've got a lot of things to tackle from lesson plans to cleaning to oil changes. Fun! Or not. If I do a little each day, I should still save some of me to write, but we'll see by how much. There's also the ? of how good I am on my attention span every day.

I may start in on Chapter 23 tonight...I know what's gonna happen. It's a matter of focus...and I think I can focus enough to write the first part of it out.

-K

Back in California now, at rest from the stress of traveling (and living out of a suitcase for a few weeks), I'm trying to hunker down and write. My summer break is over two weeks from today, so I feel some pressure to actually be productive...a final push to finish Draft 1 of PIT5.

Strangely, I've actually been able to accomplish some work at home. The past two nights I've brewed some decaf coffee after dinner, shut off all televisions, fired up some classical music, and forced myself to write at least one page. I'm kind of amazed this is working...better than going to coffee shops has been as of late. I find the last gasp of summer break to often be filled with almost desperate creating, as if I'm trying to loot the palace before the cops show up. It's definitely the most rested I am of the whole year!

I think I have about 2.5 or 3.5 chapters left to write. Actually, I'll probably finish the current chapter I'm on tomorrow or Sunday. One more push and I think that will be done, since it's a meaty scene.

I started the beast on July 13, 2008, and I'm still not done. I hope I can get the first draft done by August 13th...we'll see. This birth has definitely been a laborous process, not at all like the smooth gush of PIT4.

-KS

PIT5 so far, in some numbers:

Numbers of Chapters So Far: 21

Number of Projected Chapters: 24

Current Word Count As Of This Second: 84,098

Date Began: 7/13/08

Days Left of Summer Break: 22.

Goal Of Draft 1 Being Done: 9/2009.

Still hope for a summer or fall release in 2010....

-KS

Written on Sun, July 12th, 5:17 P.M. PDT

As I sit here on a plane on a very very long day of traveling -- flying from England to Oregon involves about 24 solid hours of being in motion...this would be twenty-four hours to your body, not to any clock since you pass through no less than 8 time zones -- I find the current confines to be a great way to force me to write. Seriously. You are trapped in a seat for many hours; there is no Internet; there is no cell phone; and you need to do something to make the hours bleed into one another.

The additional factors of me being completely brain dead and conscious only by sheer force of will -- I am one of those people who is incapable of sleeping on planes, trains, or automobiles -- and a near constant stream of coffee also feed into it. Caffeine tends to sort of stoke the fires of creativity, and being so exhausted means it is easier for me to sort of slip into that hazy fantasy world I create.

In the two weeks I've spent in another country, I sucked in a lot of research. Yesterday, which seems like a lifetime ago, I got to check out the reproduction of Shakespeare's Globe Theater in London, which was super awesome; it fed into the ideas I have for a long-plotted PIT story that involves this, and I was able to get a lot of research -- both historical and personal experience -- done.

I also got to check out some real (old) castles and manor houses and see some real garderobes. (Seriously...they had discovered some and kept them as they were in the Tower of London...they were even marked as garderobes!) I got to have the experience of being a foreigner, of being in a position where people know from the moment you speak that you do not belong there, which can alter the way you are treated. (Also, I really really am no closer to faking any British accent than I was before I started, though after being in the country for going on 2 years, my sister-in-law can do a spot on impression.)

I also am getting the experience of being awake for more than 24 hours straight, fueled by coffee primarily, and suffering from a total mind warp experience of time lag -- er, I mean jet lag. Since I often push my characters in ways like this, I suppose it's par for the course that I have this experience on occasion to remind me how miserable it can feel. Ick.

I am trying to ignore the fact I felt like a total slacker these past two weeks since I did nothing with my writing...but I suppose churning out several pages in one sitting on these very long plane rides helps alleviate that. And there's the fact I was spending every day experiencing a variety of things that I planned to mine later in my writing.

At this point, though, my summer break is more than half over -- due to adjusting the beginning and end of semesters, we have this singular super short summer break -- and so this is adding a bit of self-pressure trying to get the book done before I go back to work on August 7th. (I'll be in Oregon another week-ish as well.) It may be a photo finish, or the first draft may not be done until after Labor Day. Urgh. So it goes, I suppose.

I started Chapter 21 today and already have 2 full pages down. With about 40% of my battery left, we'll see how much I can get done before I am forced to stop.

-KS

Right now, I'm visiting England for the first time. Actually, this is the first time I've ever left the U.S. (aside from the 24 hour trip to Vancouver B.C. that my homeroom class took my junior year of h.s.) It's already given me scads of experiences that I can use in my writing, particularly the sense one feels when they are a foreigner. I mean, the second I open my mouth I think it's fairly obvious I am not from around here...if the way I dress and behave does not already give someone that impression. I've never had this experience firsthand before, so I'm trying to take a lot of mental notes and impressions for writing. TIme travelers get that sort of thing all the time, after all.

Between jet lag, spending time with family, and seeing a lot of sights, I've really been lousy with writing progress. On the flight over here on Saturday, I managed to hack out the whole of Chapter 20, which was awesome. Five pages in one sitting! But after that point I had drained my battery a lot and the layover before the super long flight (to England, which was 8 hours) didn't give me much time to suck up more power. I suppose I could think of it as I got five days worth of progress done at once.

Today my brother and his wife worked, so my mom and I were at their house all day. But I pretty much used that time to catch up on uploading photos, doing some reading about the destinations we're hitting this weekend, and catching up on news back home. The weekend will be quite busy, and I may not take my laptop with me at all.

My mom did ask me if, after what I've seen these few days, would I write PIT2 differently, since that was set in medieval England. I can't say I would. The biggest thing that shocked me is the sunrise and sunset this area has. Being summer, the sun is setting after 10 P.M. and rising around 3 A.M. PIT2, set in January 1191, the sun would probably rise late and set early.

Also, I am going to get so much awesome research done for PIT 7 while here, even though I'm years away from starting it. That probably sounds kind of cryptic, huh.

-K

With a working laptop again and being back in my home state, I feel in a better frame of mine to write. There's something about Oregon that tends to stir up my PIT world, quite likely because the characters live in the state and so much of my life in Oregon inspired so many aspects of my series.

Progress-wise, I'm creeping along. I am still getting more done outside a house than in it. When I stay with my parents, I tend to have no decent place to set up shop and be undisturbed, so it's better for me to leave and hit up a coffee shop in the area. I keep looking at my notes and scratching my head at how little is left of the story to write, though. Huh.

Hopefully I can finish the current chapter soon...maybe before my mom and I fly to England at the end of the week! We'll see.

-K

The first week of summer break is usually wasted for me. I'm a person of routines and when my routine is disrupted I tend to flounder and flail a bit. Fortunately, it takes maybe a week to get a new routine established...unfortunately, this whole summer is going to be pretty unusual. Oh well.

I've made very slow, halting progress on PIT5 since school let out. My brain honestly feels like it's stuffed with cotton and it's hard for me to focus and plunge into the story. I think part of this does have to do with an inconsistent writing routine (as well as having my MO with writing totally disrupted and derailed since early May, when my laptop died...fortunately, next week, I will finally have my new one in my hands).

Writer's block, to me, does not happen too often...and even when it sort of does, it's not a block per se...I can write, I know where I'm going, but the zest and enjoyment is sapped from the activity. And that blows.

I've been kind of dreading the long solo drive (and a transatlantic flight) that lies in wait for me in the next week or so...but now I am wondering if that will be a great time to let my brain wander undistracted and force me to focus. I also hope that being in England in a few weeks and checking out some things for a future PIT storyline will also bring back my zest.

I could still get the rough draft of PIT5 done by August, which is my goal...we'll see.

-KS

After a run of great luck a few weeks ago -- which included the happy news of budgetary pink slips being rescinded in my district (so I will definitely have a job next school year), driving a DeLorean, and meeting my longtime favorite actor Michael J. Fox...twice! -- I had some rotten luck happen with various electrical devices. They included:

- Last Saturday, my PowerBook died. Kaput. This could've been worse for me if I hadn't already saved for and intended to get a MacBook in late June (timing it so I could buy it in Oregon and not pay sales tax) and there was nothing on my PB that I didn't have backed up already on my iMac. However, bottom line, I have no laptop until then and since I do most of my writing on a laptop.... This has tossed a kink into my progress.

- On Monday, my car's AC went on the fritz. Fortunately, that was fixed today for a sum that was not as bad as I anticipated.

- Tonight, my 5 month old iPhone decided to stop working...or charging. So tomorrow I get to go to the Apple Store and beg for help. Lovely.

Really, I hope that's the last of the bad run of luck for me!

PIT5 is, still, moving along. I've had to write segments by hand after marking up printed pages on the most recent stuff. I used to write like this a lot until I got so used to using a laptop. If I was in a revision stage, I would be dead in the water...you can't revise something easily without the whole beast at your access!

There's about four weeks left of the school year. This is my favorite time of year...the gradual slowing down of everything coupled with the celebrations and traditions and anticipations of time off. For my part, I look forward to being a fully functional person again by not rising at 5 A.M. for a couple months!

-K

Finished Chapter 17...although I decided as I wrote the end on it that I'm going to skip back a couple pages and rewrite things a tad. I think it will enhance suspense and all that jazz. And just generally work better. So it goes with the wacky first drafts!

I've (re)discovered something I've known in the past -- I am a better person if I write a little every day. So I've been trying to do just that, shoehorn in some time and get a half page or a whole page done. I am hoping I can continue this and sort of weave it into my daily routine...even though my "daily routine" will be changed once summer break starts in about 5 weeks.

This weekend is pretty busy with errands, lesson plans, etc, but after this it should be some smooth sailing for a while. I can't wait!

-K

I am still alive and breathing and writing. It's just been a crazy week-and-a-half. However, since I accomplished a few life goals/dreams in that time, I cannot complain at all!

Progress is still a trickle on PIT5 simply due to exhaustion, demands of work (5 weeks left before summer break!), and traveling on my part. I have gotten a couple pages under my belt since the last update, though, and I hope to get more this week. After this weekend I think I should be able to get a lot more done as I will be done with lesson planning for a couple months. (And done with traveling until late-ish June.)

I've also decided this summer to give PIT more of a push...my writing career, anyway. I've been slacking terribly on that for a couple years and once the book event in December happened, I've pretty much put promotion on the back burner. I will freely admit that selling myself and my writing is not my favorite part of the process -- frankly, I am not comfortable doing that at all...it feels bizarre -- but I just need to do it long enough until I get an agent to do the dirty work! (Or so I tell myself.)

-K

The new chapter has been started...I did it several days ago. I wound up going back and doing something I'd originally planned to end/begin a prior chapter with in the outline stages. I also realized that, logistically and scientifically, I need to change something else. Kind of minor, but will involve tracing several chaps back to alter a detail.

I'm about a page in currently. I don't anticipate getting much done in the next couple days, since I'm venturing off tomorrow on a "mini-vacation" down to Los Angeles for a weekend of geeking out over the Back to the Future film series. I may have time to write Friday evening if nothing else is happening (and the drive doesn't totally wipe me out), but I suspect Saturday and Sunday (when I drive back home 400 miles) will be shot.

I cannot wait until I finish the current piece of the story, though. I am so over writing it!

-K

So, I FINALLY finished Chapter 16 today. About time!

On Sunday, I got a page or two of writing done, spending some of my time outside on the porch since that works for me in warmer months. Monday, which I had off (still) due to Spring Break, I decided to spend as much time as possible writing. So I got work done in the early afternoon during my coffee time, then I packed up and headed out to a Davis coffee shop, where I got more work done. I sort of forced myself to do it.

And I got four pages done! But I was still not-quite-there with the end…maybe a paragraph or two away. I suppose that it is good that when I force myself to write, put my mind to it, I can produce. It takes some epic concentration, though. And caffeine. And determination to not be distracted by the Internet, which can be a powerful distraction!

When I output like that, though – in a huge spewing chunk of forced prose and progress – I usually feel like whatever I wrote is crap and is sloppy and so forth. Usually when I reread the passage, however, I am pleasantly surprised that it gels and flows fairly well. (I also notice redundancy, like the use of certain words. The word suddenly is a favorite with action scenes, for example!)

But I always work on the phrasing and word choice and all that at the second pass and beyond. My general philosophy with a first draft is, “Write first, ask questions and critique later.” Revision is when you polish it up so it looks like a glittery ol’ diamond. A rough draft is just that – rough and dull and with some sharp, unflattering edges. Both parts of writing have their good and bad points in my opinion. (For example, the thrill with a rough draft is the act of creating and of being surprised by decisions the character makes that veer slightly from the outline. The thrill of the revision is watching your work slowly become better by the day.)

Anyway, the biggest concern for a rough draft is getting the damned thing out and on paper in the first place.

Hopefully I can get the next chapter begun this weekend…God, I hope it won’t take a month to pen!

-K

Spring Break '09 is almost over, and I've done...very little writing! Sob. I did have a good excuse though.

1) I spent last weekend cleaning like crazy. The whole Spring Cleaning thing...that deep down cleaning and reorganizing that tends to strike maybe twice a year.

2) My mother came to visit me, so I was entertaining her from Sunday night to yesterday morning. Consequently, I was dead exhausted.

3) Natch, I decided to get a cold early on in my mom's visit, which has further drained me and addled my brain.

Tonight I did get some work done -- I buckled myself down at home and managed a page or so. (I tried working at Borders, but the hacking cough I have was annoying patrons nearby.) The plan is to continue that tomorrow and Monday (which I have off still) to wrap up the current chapter. Seriously, it needs to be done, and I tend to work better with momentum behind me. I just need to wedge in a few lame chores around that -- you know, grocery shopping, lesson plans, etc.

Next weekend looks quiet, but the three weekends that follow that will be busybusybusy. I'm starting to worry I may not finish this by August...my sort of goal. I suppose we'll see what the future brings.

-KS