Leap week, 02-27-12 Did you Write?

Leap week, 02-27-12 Did you Write?

It is that time of the week again. It is a place to tell about what is going on in your life and in the process, what is going on with your writing. By posting here every week, whether you write or not, hopefully the shame of not writing will get you to open something so you can say you wrote.

As to what is writing, it really can be anything. We know that new writing is writing, but so is editing. Critiquing is also a form of editing so it counts as writing. Poetry, synopsis, query letters, technical writing, blogging, writing assignments, world and character creation are just some of the list of what can be writing. Bulletin board posts and E-mail can also be writing if they are very wordy and pertain to writing or story. If you have to ask, the answer is yes. You might also not consider some of this as writing. It is really up to you.

AS for me, I can honestly say I wrote, but nothing like what I should have done. I did nearly as much today as I did the whole week. Fitting in writing time is a challenge. I am about a third of the way through this story and I really need it done by the end of next month. At this rate, I doubt I will be able to do that. There is a whole bunch of editing to do between THE END and the end of the month.
I can say I got some good ideas to fix some bothersome scenes this time. Some of what I came up with during the week has aimed me at my planned ending. I still have to get there, but I am aiming in the right direction.
The basic way I write is I will develop a series of scenes to hit and then try to work my way between them by adding whatever it takes to hit them.
This week, I did a whole lot of editing, rewriting, and swapping scenes so my 1200 words is actually less than I really wrote. I am happy to say I am getting closer to my next key scene.


On the story idea front, I have 44 stories in my compost pile. I got several new ideas during the week. I also lost several. What I hate is that fleeting thought that would be a good story idea that is gone before you finish the momentary work you were doing. Those have a different disappointment than the ones that are strong, but you cannot write them down in time. Sometimes you can recapture the handle of the strong thought, but never the fleeting one.
Until today, I was an idea ahead for the month. I was looking at actually ending the month with extra posted ideas. I had to pump up my tires today on the way home so that killed any chance to add a new one today.

I went to the Renaissance fair this weekend. I accidentally followed my tenancy of wanting to see everything NOW and walking the place at full bore. My guess is that the grounds have about half a mile of pathway. I have had foot problems for years so my range is not great. walked the entire place, taking pictures of everything. I started the second time around and my camera locked up on me. The image disk was toast so I had to use a new one. I then rushed to retrieve my pictures. I never gave a thought about stopping to watch the programs, RESTING, taking my time. when I finished the second time around, I was hobbling and had to leave. I should have sat and rested even then but did not think of it. The walk out to the car was torture. I did enjoy myself otherwise.

Using the above as a story idea. They say that they have a time machine. He had studied the medieval period and really wanted to see what that period was really like. He went to them with the big fee they said they needed for the trip and made his appointment.
It was several months before they were ready for his trip. He studied more of the time period so he would gain more from his visit. He was taken to a different part of the state and settled into the seat of a really strange machine. they gave him a shot of something they said would make the trip easier to handle. They turned the machine on and it started making all sorts of sounds.
He woke up and he was dressed in period clothing. He slowly got up and a group of men told him that he was to return here before dark. Stay within the walls of the enclosure so he does not get into trouble.
He wandered around and there was food, weapons, artists. Soon there was thousands of people all around. merchants called out about their wares. He ate, examined the work, talked to people, asked questions. Something was really wrong but he did not know what it was.
As dark approached, he got all twisted around. He found himself some place else.
He found a hiding place to wait out the cold night. He woke and it was dawn. He felt better than he did yesterday. he saw civilization and walks in. He finds he is at a fair, not in the past. he enjoys the fair since they had given him plenty of money. He finds he has enough to get home. He never could find the people who ripped him off, but he laughed about it for years later.

As to the question of the week,

I can honestly say

YES I DID WRITE

DID YOU WRITE?