Day 22

Posted on May 21, 2014 by rachelsparling

Okay so I managed to find a bit of time to get some writing done today. I started on the first chapter and completed it. I may have to set new goals for this though and find more time to get the work done.

Anyway, the writing went well. I feel like there will be a number of things I’ll have to edit as I come to that stage, but it feels a little bit more free-flowing at this point. Not that the other one was laborious, but it seemed more simple, and I kept wanting to write more and more.

This will be short as I have a lot of stuff I need to finish up today. I was lucky to find the hour that I had to write, and that will likely be true of this week. Hopefully I can sort out a schedule and stick to it though.

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Day 20

Posted on May 6, 2014 by rachelsparling

FINALLY!

Okay so I finally got to writing. I finished a chapter though it’s a bit short so come editing, I will be making it longer and better. Either way, I couldn’t be happier that I got to write.

It was a bit of a fluke. I was answering emails from my employer and sorting out some work I have to do for tomorrow when I decided, well my brain may be fried from the migraines I seem to be constantly getting but let’s try writing.

Anyway, it was a good chapter story wise. Lots happens, lots is resolved character wise. I believe I only have 5 full chapters left to write. It’s progress. Although it feels like it’s taking forever thanks to the job and home responsibilities. So exhausted. Hopefully I can get things balanced better.

Busy week ahead of me, hope everyone else has a good week too!

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A balancing act

Posted on April 29, 2014 by rachelsparling

My plan right now is to try to get some writing done this week. It’s been about three weeks and it’s driving me a bit crazy that I haven’t been able to write in that time.

This week is a busy one for me again. My hours for working are basically any hour in which I happen to be awake; which isn’t the worst thing in the world since it means I’ll be able to have breaks, but what it also means is that my breaks are cut short so it’s hard to plan on doing anything.

Anyway, I won’t ramble on too much more about work. But this week is still a busy one. I have appointments tomorrow and other work this evening. Both will put a wrench in basically everything I have to do on a daily basis.

Despite all of that, I’m still going to try to get some writing done.

This post feels a bit pointless.

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Update!

Posted on April 21, 2014 by rachelsparling

I want to start this post by saying it is absolutely beautiful outside today. The weather is just perfect and I’m hoping to be able to do most of my other work out here today. I think my dogs agree with me too.

Now to what needs to be said. My laptop is back in repairs. I will be without it for about a week. I apologize for the last couple of weeks and not posting. I had little time to write and therefore couldn’t actually get any of it done. It caused more stress than I was experiencing due to the chaos that has been the last little bit. It’s slowed down since then but of course my life got busier.

I have taken up a job that mostly requires me to work from home. It’s nice but it’s taking me a while to figure out how to balance my life out. I have my responsibilities at home, my responsibilities for work, and then somehow in there I have to find time to write (once my laptop is returned), exercise, see my boyfriend and friends, and relax. It is difficult to find time to do everything. So needless to say it’s been stressful (this of course not counting the rest of the things that go on in my life but I’d rather keep my more personal problems off the internet).

Now my laptop is in for repairs. I’m in no way thrilled about the cost or the time away from my computer, but I don’t have a choice. It’s been having problems for a little while now and the temporary fix lasted at most three months. So now it comes to the better fix and hopefully permanent.

So that is the best update that I can come up with for now without it sounding like a lot of excuses and whining. I will do my best to update when I can and get more interesting posts on the way when my laptop is back where it belongs.

Thanks again to all of my followers out there and all of you who have liked my posts in the past. It means a lot to know I still have support out there with my writing.

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Day 19

Posted on April 4, 2014 by rachelsparling

Another chapter complete! The elation is hard to express here. I’m slowly picking away at what’s left. Except there is a problem with this chapter. I had written about 500 words of it before hand and I realized I couldn’t think of anything good to connect it at the start. It flows well with what is happening, don’t get me wrong, but a really good joke needs to be implemented here and I couldn’t think of one. I will have to get back to it.

Either way, the writing went well and I’m quiet content with most of it. I think some of the descriptions could be a bit more detailed but I know that what I want to get across is definitely there. I think I’ll just work on some of the wording when I get to editing it.

It’s a rainy day here, which I guess is to be expected when spring finally rears it’s head. It seemed like a good day to get some writing done since going outside isn’t on my list right now. I also don’t have a proper rain coat so that makes it a pain to go out in this weather. Normally I love the rain, and I never mind going out in it, it’s just not as wonderful when you don’t have proper clothing.

Anyway, enough rambling for today. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

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Day 18

Posted on March 29, 2014 by rachelsparling

Writing is highly therapeutic.

I spent the last bit working on a chapter. I exceeded my goal again this week which makes me happy, and I completed a chapter as well! One down, another 7.5 to go (if you count the ones I’ve already started)!

I wasn’t sure I would have time to do some writing today. Things seemed hectic around the house. Luckily I didn’t have to feel too confined to my daily responsibilities, and I was able to break away to get some writing done.

It went well overall. I feel better about this chapter than the last one I wrote. The previous one wasn’t my full effort so it will require a lot more editing. This one felt more like my usual writing and that’s a good thing. I felt like the characters are more comfortable in their surroundings now too which makes a big difference I think. When there’s so much to learn and nothing really happening except for truths being dropped on a character, there’s not much to be seen really. This chapter helped with that quite a bit. It had more showing than telling and for me, that’s a good thing.

Anyway, must get back to my usual saturday. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

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Twitter helps!

Posted on March 28, 2014 by rachelsparling

As most of you know, I have a twitter account. I hadn’t used it too much except to talk about blog posts and have the odd writing comment or tip to throw out there. Recently though, I was added to a “writing experts” group and then following that a “authors/writers II”. I wasn’t sure what it exactly meant since I never realized twitter had groups on it. What happened afterwards was great though! Since yesterday, I’ve managed to acquire several more followers, some are authors and others are Indie publishers!  Prior to this, with each tweet I might gain one or two followers every week or so, but since I’ve been added to these groups, I’ve been getting more followers.

I am so thankful for my followers and supporters. It means a lot that people are willing to follow my blog and take a look at my tweets on twitter. It shows that what I’m doing is at the very least interesting to a number of people. I appreciate each follower, each reader, and anyone who takes interest. So thank you everyone for all your support!

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Day 17

Posted on March 26, 2014 by rachelsparling

I can’t say that I did any actual writing today. Instead I spent some time going through my outline, fixing up a few things here and there, and adding some more detailed notes to certain chapters for when I finally get to that point in my story. I had an idea I debated adding in the story and it was a matter of finding which chapter to put it in. I think once I actually write it, it will work.

In all reality, there are only seven full chapters I have left to write from start to finish. I’ve completed more than half of the rough draft of my manuscript so far, and I’ve added in parts of other chapters that happen later on. So if you say I wrote about half of those other chapters, I have about, in total 8.5 chapters left. That doesn’t sound so bad at all really.

It feels strange because I still feel like I have a lot to write. And maybe that’s because the chapters that are left are part of the climax of the story. They are the bigger parts of it all. In theory, if I master a chapter a week, I might be done in just over two months. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do that as some responsibilities keep pushing their way into my daily routine, forcing me to put things I love – like writing – on hold. I’m hoping that it won’t be the case though.

It feels a touch surreal to think I could be done the rough draft so quickly though. I’m sure I’m mostly over thinking it all but it does a bit. The editing is what will take the longest. I have seen how long it takes me to write, say 4000 words, and how long it takes to edit 500. It will definitely take up most of my time. I’ve debated, in fact, printing out the manuscript and writing all over it for where things need to be fixed. I did it with one of mine, it just uses a lot of paper and ink and environmentally speaking, that’s probably not a good idea.

Anyway, I will be posting again some time this week since I haven’t written yet. Hope all is well with my followers.

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Second guessing

Posted on March 19, 2014 by rachelsparling

I have spent the last couple days debating my outline. Realistically, I don’t think I really need to change anything to the story itself, but what I’ve been contemplating is some of the lack of detail my outline holds. I had many ideas which I incorporated into the outline itself, but there are a couple parts, which as I look at them, I feel as though it’s lacking something; some detail that could make it better. Perhaps it is because I am reading a fair bit while writing as well.
Anyway, I’m thinking of re-working my outline a bit and adding in more details to help it better form my writing. I am about to reach a somewhat important part of the story and it involves something more unique and original. The idea I have will work, but it’s the execution and the details that will make a big difference. It is a concern I have that it won’t come across the way I want it to in the rough copy.

That seems a bit scattered and I apologize for that. I have been in the mids of thinking about my outline and the parts I am about to write quite a bit lately; it has been weighing heavy on my mind. I felt the urge to talk about it but as you might be able to see, my thoughts are still rather scattered.

I just thought I would post about it as a concern I have as a writer. There are lots of things that go through my head as I think about my manuscript and how I want things to turn out. I am sure I’m not the only writer with this problem.

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