In truth, I probably could have hit my daily goal this week, but I've been unofficially distracted by something. See, my husband and I have been going out on walks for anywhere from an hour to three nearly every night after work. It's great exercise, but it keeps me from doing things at home, like cleaning and writing.
Oh, let me get more specific. When I say "my husband and I have been going out on walks" what I mean is that I race after to follow him while he goes on Poke-hunts. Yup. He's a full-fledged trainer with Pokemon Go! As is about 80% of the world, it seems! Works for me, it gets us out of the house and exercising. Something that pretty much hasn't happened since we got married. Plus, we get to socialize - which this butterfly also hasn't really been doing as of late - and I've probably seen more of the town in the past week than I have since I moved here five years ago!
Also, it's fun to have complete strangers call across the road "What team are you on?" and either cheer if Hubby's on the same, or playfully boo if not. We get to meet our neighbors as everyone gathers to discuss which pokemon were found where, and give each other tips. No one is anxious or awkward. You just lean in close and show off your phone as you chat; complete strangers jumping into the conversation to either ask a question or answer one. Such a phenomenon. I love it!
So, even though I myself am not much of a pokemon fan, I'm still loving Pokemon Go and what it's done for both the community and my husband's health. And, in extension, my own health. I just wish Hubby didn't want to "hunt" for three hours at a time! By the time we come home from work, eat, and then hunt, I'm not home to do my own thing until about 10pm. Not much writing done then. So, I'm still on the "write at work" train.
It's good, except for my days off where I try to play catch-up on chores since they've been neglected for these Poke-hunts. It also cuts into my writing time when I actually have customers to wait on so that I can get money at the end of the week! Yay, money! So, it's kind of a given that writing is second or third priority in the time I have to work on it. I need time where it's first priority. I need to restart my writing hour.
So, I'm thinking, go out with Hubby right after dinner and "hunt" with him for an hour, then give him a kiss, send him on his way, make my way back home, and then write in silence until he comes home. Or, at least for an hour, because who the heck knows when Hubby will actually come home! I get my exercise and time with the husband, and then my alone time, while he continues hanging out with friends, exercising, and training to be the very best.
We'll see next week if I manage to pull that off.
As for this week? Well, as I mentioned, I did get nearly a dozen pages written, so that's something. Granted, it's mostly dialogue, and so the pages fly by pretty quickly in scripts, but it's still something to read to my group tonight.
I feel like I really need help with this story, so I'm going to try to be brave enough to actually take the spotlight. Normally I go "eh, I'll read today, but others might need more help, so let them go first." Tonight, though, I might be like "HELP!" to make sure I can actually have time for feedback.
My issues? Well, for one, the info-dump exposition section. I don't know if I should cut it all, cut most of it, leave most of it in, or just go ahead and leave it all in. So, there's that. Then there's the fear that the action scene isn't as intense in the second half as it was in the first. I dunno, I'm better at emotional turmoil than I am real-world issues. Maybe because I find those fairly easy to either deal with or overcome, while emotional issues can last forever if not conquered. At least, that's my personal belief.
Anyway, my third issue is that I'm hedging on "Neo-Wolverine's" name again. I started with Mateo once upon a time, but when I did my character reworks last summer I landed on Dominic. As I'm writing, though, I keep getting this nagging thought to go back to Mateo, so I'm going to workshop that a bit tonight, I think.
I'm also stalled on the actual plot now. I was so focused on building the world that "Glitches" takes place in that I never really figured out how to drive the characters to the main plot points I'm grabbing from X-Future. As of right now my first main catalyst is Devon meeting Pyro - or Iggy in my version - and wondering about his heritage. I feel like I need to build up Devon first. Let the reader see him with the other "Glitch" kids for a bit; get a feel for who he is. Then throw the curve ball at the kid. That way he's a sympathetic character when he's going through his inner conflicts. That way his relationships with Chayse, Lia, and Willow are well established. So, how do I do that? How do I go from point A to point B? What elements of those first few months of X-Future can I grab? Or, what scenes can I create to bridge the gap?
Until I figure that out, adding more non-padded pages to my script is going to be hard. As it is, I'm done with my opening action scene, and need to figure out what comes next. Deciding to go with Dominic or Mateo might help because at least then I know who the heck is talking to the kids in the next scene. I dunno. I'm hoping for some guidance from the group tonight.
Worse comes to worst, I now have a new writing buddy via email correspondence. Ali Luke now plays match-maker for anyone over at Writers’ Huddle who wishes for a writing buddy. It's mostly to hold each other accountable so we don't slack off with writing, but it's also for encouragement and direction. Atlanta and I already seem to be a fairly well-matched pair both in where we are in our writing as well as what sort of genres we enjoy reading/writing. We decided last night that we'll email back and forth three times a week, and so if I still feel like I'm floundering after tonight's meeting I'll have to hit her up next.
She's not my only writing buddy, lately, though. Seems Ronoxym had the writing bug bite him again. Something about a bit of role play I did as Trish on the forums. He's working on an AU X-Future using both of our original concepts of the two characters. Ya know, before Devon and Trish went "Pfft. Yeah. Okay. How about no?"
In other words: Evil Devon with the Brotherhood and his romantic companion Trish. COMPLETE alternates of our current incarnations of those two, but hey, if it's getting him writing again I will wait with bated breath for him to finish and share. I may have also been nagging him about it daily for the past three days or so....
I've been thinking a lot about his writing lately, and he'll most likely not have any time in the near future as Cyhyr gets closer and closer to her due date. So, I'm going to nag and poke because I'm excited to see what he comes up with! I promise I'll avoid steamrolling it like I did with Please, Let Me Explain. Another reason why I'm nudging him back into writing, especially writing Devon. Perhaps it will get him pumped up enough for us to get back on track with PLME, but we'll focus on one thing at a time.
I dunno. I've been in a big "Devon Kick" lately. I've been meeting more and more "Devons" in real life. I've been working with him as a main character in Glitches. Ron has been excited about his Devon/Trish story. And I'm FINALLY starting up Magnus Chase: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan. I know, it's hard to figure out the connection there, but exchange Devon's Brooklyn accent and brunette hair for a Boston accent and blonde hair, and you essentially have Magnus Chase. I asked Ron if he also saw the similarities when he read the book, and it seemed to be a bit of a bashful "yup." I find that amusing since Devon was created presumably years before Magnus, since the forum has been around since 2012.
First "Girl Meets World" and now "Magnus Chase".... great minds think alike?
Anyway, yes, I STILL haven't heard back about Sandy's first book returning to the library for me to borrow, so I needed a plan B. Hubby finished "The Sword of Summer" so now I'm good to go with it. I was originally planning on waiting until September so I can flow straight from that to the sequel that comes out in October, but you work with what you get. Since the book is intended for kids in their early teens, it's a fast read. Each chapter is only about seven pages or so, which also makes it easy to stop whenever. I can charge through about 30pgs per day easily. So I should be able to race through the story before the end of the month.
Whoo! Two books in one month! Roughly 15 days reading each! Go me!
Alright, well, it's a LOT later than my noon update time now - stupid chaotic morning - so I'm off to get some other things done today before my meeting. I'm excited and hope to have some positive updates for next week!
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