Archive for the ‘Meg & Matt’ Category
Thanks to inspiration that struck on the drive down to the Boyfriend’s, I ended up writing 2,595 words today.
According to the Excel spreadsheet I’ve been keeping, that’s almost the most words I’ve written in a single day. (Only one day is higher, with 2702.)
Now I’m that much closer to finished with this manuscript. Maybe I’ll even be able to finish before the month is out.
I still have at least a couple of scenes to write before I get to the dreaded Black Moment … and then I’ll have to make them miserable for a while. (I’m really not good at that part. I hate making my characters suffer … probably why I struggle with conflict so much, but that’s another story. I’ll get to that post soon, I promise.)
Getting in the habit of writing is really helping.
I got another 1,000 words written today, bringing my total on Meg & Matt’s story to 44,090 — many of them written since Jan. 17.
That leaves a minimum of 11,000 words — max 16,000 — to finish this story. It’s definitely a category romance.
It means I’m in the home stretch with this one. Wonder if I’ll have the first draft finished by this time next month. If I can write even 500 words a day, it’d take about 20 days to get to 55K.
Perhaps I should make that a goal. Of course, if I final in the Golden Heart, I’ll lose a few days to chaos — at least that’s what I hear. I’d love a chance to experience it for myself!
I’ve had a busy Friday. I not only wrote about 800 words on Meg & Matt’s story, but also finally readied the talk I’m doing on dialogue at next Saturday’s NARWA meeting.
I know, I know. I’ve been procrastinating. A more conscientious person would have started preparing long ago. Actually, I did start gathering info on what makes great dialogue a couple of weeks ago. I just spent tonight finding examples from my writing to illustrate each point.
Here’s a sneak peek of the things I’ve determined make for great dialogue:
- It moves the story along, intensifies characterization or both
- It must be true to the character
- It doesn’t necessarily sound like we talk in real life
- It can include all the witty comments we don’t think of until it’s too late
Am I forgetting or missing anything? What do you guys think?
First off, I want to thank my regular readers. Apparently there are two of you out there. My blog had two hits for each of the last two days, even though I didn’t post a thing.
Maybe I’m wrong, but it makes me think there are some people out there who actually look forward to what I have to say. I’ll try not to disappoint.
On Monday, I started taking a synopsis-writing class via RWA Online. On Wednesday, I completed my first class assignment: Writing a query letter. I wrote one for “Blind Date Bride” and am reasonably happy with it. I haven’t turned in my homework to get any other comments yet, though. Guess I need to get on the ball, since we just got assignment No. 2.
Of course, the time I spent on my query took time away from the WIP. I’ve only written a couple thousand words on Meg & Matt’s story in the last few days.
I guess it’s still 2,300 words more than I had a couple of days ago. I had some fun today, writing a scene where the ballplayer confronts his woman’s ex (the baby’s daddy). I enjoyed making the ex a real creep. Here’s the part where Matt sees him for the first time.
The guy was wearing an oversized cowboy hat and shiny red shirt. His lip was curled into a sneer. Matt hated him on sight. What the hell could Meg have seen in a guy like this?
His mother’s soft voice popped into his head, admonishing him not to judge the book by its cover.
Matt sighed. His mom was right. This ex of Meg’s could have a scintillating personality. He’d reserve judgment until he’d actually talked to the bozo.
Of course, talking to him doesn’t change Matt’s opinion. But it was a fun scene to write.
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