Author Journey: November 10, 2023 - Good & Bad

 Welcome to the scenic route! I hope you're ready for this post because I wasn't ready for what all happened this week. Whew! Let me get started...

Author Journey: Good & Bad of Nano 2023

One truth: My files are actually organized, even if no one else gets my process. 

Another truth: I do my best to save multiple copies of my manuscripts. 

And one last truth: I am a flawed human who makes mistakes. 

Ok, so here's the deal. I was reading through one of my earlier incarnations of my manuscript for Over Land & Under Stone. Imagine my dismay when I come to the last chapter and find it's a piece of one chapter and a chunk of the final chapter with so much missing! 

I waited to check for those missing chapters, knowing I'd written them and that I'd eventually find the the right file. 

Because all my files are in the right mega file. 

Yeah, apparently not.

There are two more places where I file things which I can check. By this time, though, I've resigned myself to completely rewriting the ending of the story. I'm not super confident the words will come out as powerfully as they did a couple years ago when I wrote them, but I'm going to write this story. 

Because it's what I do. 

In any case, I didn't write/edit much at all yesterday. I did start making the chapter titles consistent. There was this idea birthed from writing the introductory novella which I wanted to carry through to the novel. Since the title of the novella is A Tale of Shadow & Storm, and the title of the book is Over Land & Under Stone, I wanted the chapter titles to reflect that style, even though they'll be a little long. That in itself has been a trip, since I don't want to be too repetitive. 

Here's where my progress stands so far. You'll note I'm still quite a bit above the goal. This puts my mind at ease a little. 

Current Word Count: 19492

Goal for Today: 16667

I'd share a picture but my internet isn't cooperating. I'm not sure what's going on but we're paying the same amount for our service and it seems to get slower with every passing month. 

Writer's Life: Mostly Good This Week

I'm happy to report things have been mostly good this week. The weather's been beautiful, though it warmed up some toward the end and we expect rain today. We still need that rain. I'm not sure if we'll be able to recover from so many dry days this past summer. 

My dad's garden patch has been producing eggplants like crazy. They've had to cook them down and freeze them because there were so many. I love fried eggplant...and I can't eat it. It's on my 'absolutely not' list. But I'm hoping not for too long. I've been doing some research and forming a health plan. The hope is to eventually reincorporate all these foods I can't eat back into my diet so I can have more variety again. 

Strangely enough, I found out that the supermarket chicken was upsetting my system. I'm thinking whatever they're using to preserve the chicken might be the problem. So I'm going to experiment some more with meat bought from local meat markets. If it works better, I'll adjust the budget accordingly. A body's gotta eat!

Spartacus is trying that new food this week. So far, it seems to be a good addition to what he's been eating. I can't wait to make the permanent switch to a diet that includes raw food. I think he'll feel so much better, though he's not too bad off right now. He's had a few issues with itchy skin, so I'm trying to adjust his diet to help with that. 

I know this section is kind of all over the place. I apologize, but it's already late and I have a ton of things to do today. I've been wondering if I ever really slow down... And with all the upheaval and uncertainty, my brain tends to jump around a lot more than usual. 

Just Keep Writing: Friday Fascicles

If this is your first time participating in this kind of writing exercise, you're in for a treat. If you've done this with me before, just keep scrolling for the prompt.

Rules:

1. You can use any/all of the words and/or the photo in the prompt below to create a unique written work. Fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, even lyrics are acceptable.  
2. Please keep the material you write clean (i.e. nothing R-rated or worse) if you wish to share the link to your work here, as well as if you link back to my site. I strive to keep my site free of such things. My readers know and expect this. I respect your right to write whatever you feel you need to write. And you're free to use my prompts. But if your material is graphic, I'd rather not view it, and most of my readers will not wish to. 
3. Have fun! This type of exercise is perfect for growing in the writing craft, or for helping through a rough patch in your current WIP. If you're looking to push your author limits and you normally write in nonfiction prose, try a whimsical collection of lyrics. If you normally write poems about real life events, try your hand at a fanfic. Give yourself some room to explore.

Don't forget to leave a link to your creation (unless you're writing graphic material) so my readers and I can check out your work. I'd appreciate a link back to this post to help me reach more readers, but it's not required. 

What say you, Creatives? Are these words helping you form ideas? I hope so! 

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I'm sorry the post was a bit late, but I hope you'll find it was worth the time you spent here. Let me know which part stood out to you most in the comments below. And next week, won't you visit again? You could bring a few more friends along. 

Until next time,
Turn the page...