I tried scheduling a few posts earlier in the week, but something got messed up. It seems like my brain still isn’t quite on straight. Very frustrating, but whatever! I’m just going to roll with it because that’s what I do! I’m combining the now belated Wednesday Check In post with this one. It’s like a two-for one sale! Woo hoo!
Here are more pics I took on Sunday while in Plymouth, Michigan. I just like the grandness of this old girl! They call this the Wilcox House, but it was built by William Markham, co-founder of the Daisy Air Rifle Co. Yup! This is the same company who made the Red Ryder BB Gun as in the movie, A Christmas Story. 🙂
Now, for part two, my Wednesday check in!
ROW 80 is a friendly group that’s there to help writers focus on their writing goals. Each writer decides what they would like to accomplish in the next 80 days. We check in on Sundays and Wednesdays with their “linky tool” and are welcome to adjust our goals as we need to. If you’re late getting started, that’s OK. Round 1 lasts from January 2, 2012 through March 22, 2012.
Sunday:
Went out with my family, took lots of pics!
I tried working on Chapter 26, but I don’t know where to go with it. I think I need to scrap those 3600+ words and try again. Grr! I don’t know. I hate it when I do this! This chapter is seriously blocking my progress and it shouldn’t be. I keep asking myself, “Hey, umm…Juli? So…what’s this story ‘supposed’ to be about again?” The answer is, “Not where this tangent is leading me,” and that’s why my gut says that I should be pitching out all those words from this particular chapter, and start writing this chapter over again. It’s just so hard! Chapter 26 seemed fine at first. I thought it fell right in with the rest of the story line. Sure it needed a little tweaking, but nothing major. But now…well…I think if I want to make progress on my story, then this version of Chapter 26 needs to go bye-bye. I keep a “junk file” for all these bits and pieces. It’s WAY fuller than I wish it was.
Sometimes story writing feels like an algebra equation. If this happens plus this, then the situation is multiplied by this, then how is the outcome going to be affected? Grrrrrrr!
Monday:
Still blocked by “Stupid Chapter 26.” I think this chapter must be contagious. I’m debating on scrapping my entire original ending. Not good! Not good! I’m not slicing up anything until I know where I’m going with this line of reasoning. I keep ruminating on the SAME path of self-questioning:
What IS my story about?
I KNOW what my story is about!
Does the current ending support this?
Ummm…no? RATS!!!
Tuesday:
Still debating about butchering up my WIP. Oh boy! I can’t seem to write ANYTHING until I do. I should just get it over with. I’m in a holding pattern until I do. What’s stopping me? Oh…about ten chapters that would need to be pitched. Why? They DON’T support the story I want to tell. The more I think about it, the more I see the truth. Unless I change the ending, I’m NOT going to be happy with this book. I KNOW this, but I’m dragging my feet over here!
Wednesday/Thursday:
What the best thing about the Row 80 check ins? I feel as though I’m being forced to stay productive. I want to finish my book. That is my goal. My situation is out there. I am acknowledging it.
“My name is Juli, and the current ending of my book is crappity-crap-crap! It doesn’t support the story I want to tell.”
Taking in a deep breath…and…Yup…I just shoved ALL of the chapters that DON’T support my plot into their own folder. It’s done! I feel strangely more relived than sad. I’m not even going to look at the word count for those chapters. It’s irrelevant. Chapters One through Twenty-five are still there. They support my story. It’s going to be all right. Now…I feel like I have a fresh chance to get this book finished. Time to get some writing done!
Have a great day!
Juli
JULI HOFFMAN 
oooooooooooooh!! I LOVE that house!!!!!! That little half tower is friggin’ awesome!!
LOL! Yeah, it sometimes takes a lot of trashing to get something good from a WIP. I am in the opposite park now – I have nothing. I am staring at book 5 and there is nothing prewritten for it. nada. blank page. I haven;t started from nothing in… erm… well it’s been a long time. I did get a page and a half done yesterday, though, so now I have an intro that will likely get deleted later, lol!
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It’s like doing the writing cha-cha! Three pages written. Two pages deleted. Cha, cha, cha! Gesh!
At least I feel like I know where I’m going with book 1 again. Once I chopped off those last 10 chapters, I felt like I was free to go in whatever direction I needed to go in. Then it hit me. Those chopped off chapters belong to book 2. In fact, my working title belongs to book 2. That’s why I couldn’t get the beginning of my book to mesh with the ending. It’s one of those “Duh!” moments. 🙂
I made a LOT of changes over the course of writing this book. I originally planned on writing a story that was dark with adult themes. There was supposed to be a love interest for one of my main characters. Blah, blah, blah… That was before my character, Chloe, existed. Once she came into the picture, everything changed, but in a good way. Chloe is just turning 16 when the series begins. Book one still has a “love story,” but it’s not the story I planned on writing. It’s not as dark as it once was. It’s turned into a mother/daughter story. The “love story” is the relationship that develops between a parental figure and their child. Though I NEVER planned on writing a YA story, my series does have some cross-over potential.
I love vampire stories. I love being a mom. I never thought I’d write a vampire story that combines the two and allows me to share some of the imperfect ups and downs of parenthood.
As far as YOUR book five goes, I have faith that it will come to you. You’ll be in the middle of something else when it will hit you in a “Oh crap!” sort of way. Then you’ll hermit yourself away, and the Joleene word factory will be back up and running again. LOL 😉 Take Care Jo!
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thought I’d stop off and visit – and the discussion fits right into what I am feeling this evening. NO new ideas – scary – so I sat and thunk – and said oh right – I have to edit the entire MF devil “book” And I need both you and Jo’s help too 😀 And then I have the kids to write – that will take til I’m 98. Juli you should come back to bloggy – it really does help in the writing – I miss your stories. Maybe I need another writing class to pump me up again. Yes i am babbling like I did on Jo’s blog I should go to sleep – I don’t wanna edit
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Yeah, I didn’t want to miss last week’s Blogophilia, but I just wasn’t feeling up to it. I really enjoy doing those posts! So much fun. 🙂
Sweet dreams, Sue!
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