Trying something new

I recently took a webinar through SavvyAuthors.com called "Self Editing and Revising the Knockout Novel". It was taught by James Scott Bell and was very informative. He gave the attendees a lot of valuable information, like revising the previous day's pages before you start writing again, creating a rolling outline and using symbols for later revisions (he recommends printing out the pages you want to revise for this one).

However, one of the things that intrigued me was his idea of keeping a journal of your writing process. He explained that it should be about the writing you did the day before, what the current day holds and what you might want to write about the next day. Bloody brilliant idea! It never occurred to me to do this so I thought I would give it a whirl today since I did manage to do some writing yesterday and today.
*
*
**WRITING JOURNAL**

I won't go into too much detail but what I'm writing about but what I've done so far is as follows:

Yesterday, I wrote the first 500 words of my new m/m romance, Desert Moon (tentative title). I was actually happy to get that much written. Lately I've found myself becoming overwhelmed with the urge to edit as I write. I frustrates me to no end (I'm even doing it now). I have found a way to fix this little problem though, although it may be more time consuming in the end with fixing line breaks and extra spaces between paragraphs, I think it will be worth it.

My idea is to use Notepad to write my story. I know, not exactly "ground breaking" but here's the thing: once you get past the word wrap and adjusting the font size and style, it's probably a distracted writer's best friend.

Don't get me wrong, I love using Word (and Google docs if I can't), but for the love of gods and goddesses I hate the fact that it picks up on every single mistake I make. Yes, I know I spelled "the" like "teh" but I'm a fast typist and it happens...often. So imagine how bad it is that I keep trying to write anyway but those damn squiggly red lines just draw my attention back to them. I can't make myself look away. It's like a compulsion...that...I...must...fix...

It's the same with the grammar errors. "Your" and "you're" are always banes of my existence when I'm writing but I already know this. I don't need another glaring reminder of my failure as a typist to remind me of the error of my ways. Same with to, too and two. Same with and, an and "an dxxx" (that's when I've completely misspelled the word "and").

So, what's the buzz about Notepad? Well, I can type away to my hearts content and never get red or blue error lines. I can write with confidence. I'm free!

Yeah, I know, it's rather lame and all but it works for me. I don't have enough insider knowledge on the inner workings of Word to know if there is a way to turn off spelling and grammar checker but at this point I really don't care. I've found a way to help keep me writing without the constant stop and go of self-editing along the way. Besides, once I cut/paste to my word doc I can easily fix any and all errors at that point and that really is the whole point of this exercise, right?

Aww man, I totally went off topic. Okay, back to the subject at hand.

This morning I edited what I wrote yesterday and added another 950 words to it. That's pretty awesome since it was a complete re-write of what I did yesterday. Later today I'm going to try for another 500 words and also try very, very hard to do some more work on my other novel, Burn Rate, a paranormal romance.

Tomorrow, I hope to do some early morning edits before work. If I can get in another 900+ words then I'm doing good.

/sigh (gamer speak)

I wish I could use my "Write or Die" the same way I use Notepad but those damn red lines keep showing up whenever I work. Maybe I need to tinker with some settings or something. That's something else to look at.

Well, that's about it. This is my second post of the year and my second this month. I think I have fulfilled my obligations to my New Year's resolution. Maybe tomorrow I'll be full of piss and vinegar and tell you about the workshop I'm taking on book reviewing. I think that's going to be really helpful in my future as a writer.

Until the next post...Laterz!

A new year, a new resolution...

I've decided to start the new year off right by committing myself to a few resolutions. They are as follows:

1. Exercise one day a week.
2. Eat on piece of fruit a week.
3. Update blog at least once a month.
4. Write two fan-fics, any length, this year.
5. Make a new friend this year.
6. Hang out with friends at least once this year.
7. Look for a new EDJ.
8. Get a new iPod.
9. Fix my desktop computer/Buy a new one.
10. Get a new desk & chair for my "home office".

A very manageable list. I'm sure to fulfill my resolutions this year :)
*
Notice that I said nothing about my writing. Well, that's because I'm still working on my Savvy U course. We start the actual process of writing on Monday. I'm looking forward to it since I just finalized my story's outline. I honestly didn't think it would be this hard. The idea that I originally had has sliced, diced and reshaped but I'm much, much happier with the end product.