30 in 30: Day 12 - Tickle Me Fancy (2)

[fivecats]

Read it and Write!
January 2010 Chapel Hill, NC
____________________________________

Day 12→Whatever tickles your fancy

Somewhere during the Christmas and New Years break I managed to come up with an almost complete (all save the last, wrap-it-up chapter) Draft Zero of the third (or fourth) Steampunk-ish story as well as a completed Draft One of the Intro Steampunk-ish story. Currently the Intro clocks in at only about 12 pages, the third (or fourth) at 80. I already have a list of notes to myself on things to change, things to include, things to cut.

(One disappointing cut is a reference to climbing Cambridge buildings by two of the characters during their University days. It reads as too forced and the later reference just doesn't hold up in the story. Sorry -- it was meant as a surprise, keirf, but it's not to be. Alas)

There's Tax Work to be done now so I'm giving all three stories a forced rest before I start going back to give them a reasoned, respectful edit. I know I need to write to engage the senses more, as well as to increase the Steampunkery of the stories.

Eventually, I'll have to get some opinions on what I've written, other than my own.

Meanwhile, I trust that amlaped recognizes his handwriting. I've read bits and pieces of this book over the years and now I'm reading it cover to cover on the ride in to werk. (More on that in another post) And while the photograph makes it look worse than it really is, the book has, obviously, been through a lot over the years, including a rough stint out in the barn where I'd pulled it out of a box to bring into the house but went back inside without it. Between that time and the time I went back out there and found it we'd had quite a bit of rain and humidity.

Still, with that inscription, I wouldn't trade it for the world a newer copy.

...

Comments

[keirf.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the thought.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

maybe i can work it into another story further on down the line.

...

[amlaped.livejournal.com]

Ugh. That book must stink, literally. Keep the photo, get a new copy of the book. It's a pretty good book, as I recall, though I never took my own advice. Kudos to you for keeping up your writing.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

there isn't any odor to the book, actually.

the first third of the book is all about how to get started writing, with the focus being more on Writing Reports for Work rather than fiction. there are some parallels, naturally, but i found a lot of the frantic writing/editing/feedback/final product due by X date to be fairly distracting.

i'm hoping the section on editing is better -- especially since i have started that part of the process with my stories.

...