Writer's Weekend
(Caissa in paradise)
I recently returned from a Writer's Weekend. It was Martin and I, at Chautauqua, alone, for the weekend, and it was an absolutely wonderful trip. If it was slightly less productive than I had hoped, it was also much more enjoyable than I thought, and the trip can only be classified as a major success. Especially since no cars were damaged, the foundation did not get damaged by flooding, and no snowmobiles were lodged into tress (not that there was enough snow on the ground for that to occur anyway).
The actual events of the weekend were fun - I have a quote page from it that will not only remind me of the events, but is fun enough to post - but it definitely got me thinking. Martin and I talked about his movie, and how he still has not completed it, and as we sat around the fire, I realized that my core, my group of friends who were most responsible for me completing the Gate of Dragons, were all having similar problems. Margaret was still writing her pilot (did she ever finish it, I wondered?). Marla, as far as I knew, never followed up on her amazing writing from high school (or did she, and I just didn't know it, I wondered?).
Thinking of them, I wished they were up here, to enjoy the amazing ambience - Chautauqua is muse crack - and critique and suggest and praise and doubt and all the 100 things that any writer really needs. And I wished they were there not just to read my story, but so that I could read theirs, and be excited by their plots and characters and turns of writing, and be inspired by them in turn.
And by the way, Martin - so much potential, so little completed - is the definition of not finishing what is started. Until recently, that is. He did finish his CD... and he did finish his job search, and was able to get a job and hold onto it. That gives hope that he may finish his children's book or Nione or the movie.
And I? I've been writing this book for five years. I thought I was working hard on it, but I realize I haven't really been working hard until last year. Then I went a level above that and realized I haven't really been working hard until six months ago.
And I'm not done either.
I guess that's why I'm thinking on the subject of my story; its current progress, it's ability to move forward, its final picture. I think it might be good to record the progress, just to see how it goes. This is an amazingly rough viewpoint, and only includes work that is significant enough to warrant its inclusion in this list.
Ch.1: 27 pages, 15,739 words
Ch.2: 13 pages, 7,489 words
Ch.3: 9 pages, 5,112 words
Ch.4: 11 pages, 6,567 words
Ch.5: 14 pages, 8,124 words
Ch.6: 16 pages, 9,125 words
Ch.14(in progress): 9 pages, 4,476 words
Ch.26(in progress): 8 pages, 4,487 words
Ch.27(in progress): 7 pages, 3,237 words
Ch.37: 13 pages, 6,669 words
TFOR All Notes: 51 pages, 23,457 words
TFOR All Sections: 39 pages, 18,828 words
Total
217 pages
113,110 words
Wow. ...Wow! I have never actually taken the time before to count up what I had accomplished. Even though this is a very rough estimate, I am still proud to see that I have actually made it a lot farther than I had originally envisioned. During WW, I told Martin I might have as many as 150 pages. The Gate of Dragons, which I wrote in high school, was 154.
Now, not all those 217 pages are good pages. TFOR All Sections is (by definition) all over the place. TFOR All Notes doesn't always translate to already written material. Some of the chapters (like 14,26, and 27) are incomplete. Others (like 2) are a disgrace. Damn you viewpoint issues.
But what gives me hope is the story, plot, and characters; how much I enjoy the characters I'm writing about, how much I enjoy them interacting, striving, failing, and succeeding. Ch.3 is decent, and the new Ch.4 was well-received by Martin over the weekend, who proclaimed it his favorite dialogue of the book. Ch.6 I've always enjoyed, and 14 has real power. The good points remain.
How long until I finish? How long until I have something, really something, that I can hand 120 or 140 or 160 pages to someone and say, "Here is the first ten chapters of my book, The Flames of Resistance"? ...I don't know. I know that the writing is coming more quickly; the days between my notations in All Notes, shorter and shorter. I now run more and more into scenes I've already written, and they match into what I'm doing, like speed powerups in a racing videogame. There is real potential here. What timeframe does that equate to? I don't know... but I know it is up to me.
I'm simultaneously overwhelmed and excited by it. I guess that's both my story and my life.
Not giving up on the dream yet.
I recently returned from a Writer's Weekend. It was Martin and I, at Chautauqua, alone, for the weekend, and it was an absolutely wonderful trip. If it was slightly less productive than I had hoped, it was also much more enjoyable than I thought, and the trip can only be classified as a major success. Especially since no cars were damaged, the foundation did not get damaged by flooding, and no snowmobiles were lodged into tress (not that there was enough snow on the ground for that to occur anyway).
The actual events of the weekend were fun - I have a quote page from it that will not only remind me of the events, but is fun enough to post - but it definitely got me thinking. Martin and I talked about his movie, and how he still has not completed it, and as we sat around the fire, I realized that my core, my group of friends who were most responsible for me completing the Gate of Dragons, were all having similar problems. Margaret was still writing her pilot (did she ever finish it, I wondered?). Marla, as far as I knew, never followed up on her amazing writing from high school (or did she, and I just didn't know it, I wondered?).
Thinking of them, I wished they were up here, to enjoy the amazing ambience - Chautauqua is muse crack - and critique and suggest and praise and doubt and all the 100 things that any writer really needs. And I wished they were there not just to read my story, but so that I could read theirs, and be excited by their plots and characters and turns of writing, and be inspired by them in turn.
And by the way, Martin - so much potential, so little completed - is the definition of not finishing what is started. Until recently, that is. He did finish his CD... and he did finish his job search, and was able to get a job and hold onto it. That gives hope that he may finish his children's book or Nione or the movie.
And I? I've been writing this book for five years. I thought I was working hard on it, but I realize I haven't really been working hard until last year. Then I went a level above that and realized I haven't really been working hard until six months ago.
And I'm not done either.
I guess that's why I'm thinking on the subject of my story; its current progress, it's ability to move forward, its final picture. I think it might be good to record the progress, just to see how it goes. This is an amazingly rough viewpoint, and only includes work that is significant enough to warrant its inclusion in this list.
Ch.1: 27 pages, 15,739 words
Ch.2: 13 pages, 7,489 words
Ch.3: 9 pages, 5,112 words
Ch.4: 11 pages, 6,567 words
Ch.5: 14 pages, 8,124 words
Ch.6: 16 pages, 9,125 words
Ch.14(in progress): 9 pages, 4,476 words
Ch.26(in progress): 8 pages, 4,487 words
Ch.27(in progress): 7 pages, 3,237 words
Ch.37: 13 pages, 6,669 words
TFOR All Notes: 51 pages, 23,457 words
TFOR All Sections: 39 pages, 18,828 words
Total
217 pages
113,110 words
Wow. ...Wow! I have never actually taken the time before to count up what I had accomplished. Even though this is a very rough estimate, I am still proud to see that I have actually made it a lot farther than I had originally envisioned. During WW, I told Martin I might have as many as 150 pages. The Gate of Dragons, which I wrote in high school, was 154.
Now, not all those 217 pages are good pages. TFOR All Sections is (by definition) all over the place. TFOR All Notes doesn't always translate to already written material. Some of the chapters (like 14,26, and 27) are incomplete. Others (like 2) are a disgrace. Damn you viewpoint issues.
But what gives me hope is the story, plot, and characters; how much I enjoy the characters I'm writing about, how much I enjoy them interacting, striving, failing, and succeeding. Ch.3 is decent, and the new Ch.4 was well-received by Martin over the weekend, who proclaimed it his favorite dialogue of the book. Ch.6 I've always enjoyed, and 14 has real power. The good points remain.
How long until I finish? How long until I have something, really something, that I can hand 120 or 140 or 160 pages to someone and say, "Here is the first ten chapters of my book, The Flames of Resistance"? ...I don't know. I know that the writing is coming more quickly; the days between my notations in All Notes, shorter and shorter. I now run more and more into scenes I've already written, and they match into what I'm doing, like speed powerups in a racing videogame. There is real potential here. What timeframe does that equate to? I don't know... but I know it is up to me.
I'm simultaneously overwhelmed and excited by it. I guess that's both my story and my life.
Not giving up on the dream yet.
Labels: Caissa, You Can't Stop Me
posted by Mat | 4:12 PM
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