October Update

I've been working hard, editing. Not on my own work but for an assignment. Believe me, if I ever write such drivel I hope someone puts me out of my misery!

One good thing to come from this assignment is the realisation that even if I do write badly, it can be salvaged when it's time to edit. But editing is darned hard, so it's preferable to write well and leave the drivel to those who enjoy editing.

I wrote 316 words of my novel yesterday. I surprised myself because I didn't want to write anything (I wanted to collapse after completing my assignment). Aren't you proud of me?

I've been trying to follow Dwight Swain's advice and write in motivation-reaction units and have made a fascinating discovery. Without even trying, I managed to write 700+ words without ANY passive writing. Normally I don't do that.

I even checked my first chapter word by word in case my "find and replace" had gone wrong. What a discovery, though!

Of course, I should mention that I am not writing this blog in motivation-reaction units, which should give you a clue to my usual level of passive writing.

I don't know if this is a by-product of Swain's M-R units or if it's just the effect it has on me. But I'm not complaining.

The chickens would be proud of me.

Headless Chicken

No, the chickens did not escape again and I didn't lose my cool with them. I did get quite fond of them, but the time finally came when my friends returned from holiday and I had to come back to my boring home which boasts no animals at all (unless you count spiders, which I definitely don't).

The headless chicken is ME! As always after a time away, there seems a ton of things to do and the days have suddenly grown shorter.

I've been writing, revising, screaming, fiddling around in front of the computer trying to think of things like oxymorons, re-writing, editing, counting words, writing, thinking. You name it, I've been doing it - but not enough of that writing stuff. Sigh.

I started chapter one. Then I realised I'd made a complete hash of it and re-started. I remember doing that with my prologue, too. Hmmm. I seriously hope this is not "the way I write" because it seems like a time-consuming pattern. Still, if it gets done, I suppose I shouldn't worry.

I miss the chickens. (Should I worry that I'm missing CHICKENS of all things?)

Assignments and Chicken Feed

Oh boy! I get hit with a request for several assignments (at least I have SOMETHING to keep me writing every day) and I'm amazed at how quickly I've become focused on my writing.

The chickens, meanwhile, are keeping me busy. I swear they're digging an escape tunnel down by one of the bushes next to the fence. One of them digs deep and the other two keep watch. I look out the window and two chicken heads pop up and do that guilty-looking jerky swivel to see if I've noticed. I have. The other chicken is frantically digging.

I don't know why they wish to escape. Maybe they really don't see me as Chief Chicken and think I'm ominous in some way. Or maybe it's that I got so engrossed with my writing (yes, occasionally it does happen) that I burned their food. They might never forgive me.

Now I have to find some way to incorporate chickens into my story so at least I can call this 'research.'

I have at least written my back cover blurb, which is a real joke since I don't actually have a novel written yet. Here's hoping it will help keep me focused.

I'm sure the chickens are rooting for that result. It will give them time to dig.