Awful Intent Update: finished 17
I just finished chapter 17. Our hero and the pretty but no-nonsense Sheriff Hood are now in majorly deep doo-doo.
Which is all exactly what we need for a cracking good story.
Wish I could share more (grin).
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Good Stuff! Operation Underground Railroad
I blogged about this before.
On February 28th, Operation Underground Railroad freed 20 kids from slavery and brought 5 slavers to justice. They are continually running operations.
Oskar Schindler didn’t stop the killing of all Jews. But he did what he could. One of the most poignant moments of Schindler’s List was when he pulled out his pen and realized he could have saved someone with his pen. We all have a pen opportunity in front of us. Join me and my family. Become an abolitionist.
We’ve set up a monthly amount, but even a one-time donation puts you on the team.
I know you want more information. Here’s an awesome video where the founder explains what’s happening and what they’re doing.
In this one, Glenn Beck interviews Cliff Graham about the organization. It’s a must-see interview.
See how you can help.
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Awful Intent: sheep block busted
Sometimes the writing flows. And sometimes you get to the chapter you’ve sketched and realize you’re stuck until you get the sheep off the road.You had no idea they were going to be there, but there they are, bringing you to a halt.
For me, this means I have got to do a lot more thinking to make the scene work realistically. Or work at all.
That was chapter 13.
It stopped me dead in my tracks. Some folks say to write on, get the first draft done, but that isn’t how my brain works.
Besides, I tried that strategy with my first draft of Curse. I ignored the little Spideysense warnings I had about a fundamental situation and wrote on. I ended up with a big old honking manuscript that had to be rewritten from almost the beginning because everything from about 1/3rd the way through had taken the wrong trajectory. So instead of taking 10 hours to figure it out and fix it, I spent 300-400 rewriting.
That’s called stupid writing.
So for the last ten writing sessions I was researching and thinking and researching. And when I finally had a sketch based on how things actually work, I went back into flow and wrote the chapter without much trouble at all.
Huzzah.
Chapter 14 looks like it will be quick and easy. Some sneaking, some fighting, and a big discovery of a plot turn.
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Good Stuff! The Addiction Recovery Program
Part of my research for Bad Penny led me to the Utah state prison. I was able to attend a session with five of the convicts. Let me tell you: walking through those high fences and electric doors and hearing them close behind you was something.The five men all had interesting and unfortunate tales to tell. But they were all hopeful. I was there with a couple of kids in a troubled youth program and their leader. And of course there were a couple of guards.
We got to ask questions and chat. It was an upbeat session despite the topic. One thing I asked about was the food, and one fellow said that the worst thing was this “crack wheat” they served for breakfast.
“Cracked wheat?” I asked with a smile. “That’s good old Mormon food.”
He said, “It’s awful.” We laughed. There were many times we laughed.
And there were a lot of things asked and shared. One of the key things that stood out to me was that all of them were there because of drug addictions. And as they shared their goals of staying clean, they revealed that this wasn’t their first time inside. For one it was his third, another his fifth, another his ninth.
And it was with those comments I realized just what a hold addiction had on these guys.
Fortunately, most folks with addictions don’t have to go to prison. But a lot fail to break out of them and miss many opportunities for joy, sometimes wrecking the ones they have. The 12-step program has one of the best success rates of any program.
My church has meetings and programs all over the country. They’re free and open to anyone. If you or someone you know is struggling with an addiction to alcohol, drugs, tobacco, porn, or eating disorders, you might want to go here to see what to expect from a 12-step meeting and how to participate.
Even with all the vicissitues, life is meant to be enjoyed.
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Lesson 8 finished
If you write poopy-slow like me, you will finish 500-700 words of your draft in an hour. Let’s see what that means for various novel sizes.
- 25,000 words: 50 hours
- 50,000 words: 100 hours
- 75,000 words: 150 hours
- 100,000 words: 200 hours
- 200,000 words: 400 hours
And those requirements don’t count time you might need to spend re-imagining a piece or researching some gap in your knowledge or figuring out some knotty bit you couldn’t see was problematic when you first set out. A novel can be a big project and stretch over a few weeks, especially when you don’t have eight hours a day to write.
In this lesson, you will learn that you need to treat the draft like what it is–a project–and use basic project management techniques to help you get the work done.
