Crisply Spoken » Dirty Dozen

Redux: Day 12

Elisabeth Crisp / @crisplyspoken — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 04:22:25 +0000

Friday is the day the girls have Chinese lessons. I finished five pages while I sat on Lao Shi’s futon couch. I should have worked earlier in the day, but I didn’t have much left in the tank after yesterday’s marathon.

More tomorrow.

Redux: Day 11

Elisabeth Crisp / @crisplyspoken — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:17:25 +0000

I finished the day’s pages just before 8:00 p.m. From 9:00 this morning until 2:00 this afternoon, I worked with a stop watch, 30 minutes at the computer, 15 minutes off. It kept me going all day.

I’m tired but happy to be finished with packet 17. Four more to go in this draft.

Redux: Day 10, 100th Post

Elisabeth Crisp / @crisplyspoken — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:47:39 +0000

I have a great desk. Bacon bought it for me years ago on impulse. When I saw it in the store, I shook all over and tears came to my eyes. I never asked him to buy it. He just did. I should have taken a better picture. I’ll do that another time.

This morning I sat down to work, and everything was exactly right. I loved the way my laptop looked next to the manuscript pages marked up in pink ink. It was a picture for a writer. I had only three pages left to finish the section.

Actually writing the pages wasn’t nearly as glamorous as the picture of me writing the pages. I struggled all day. Doing laundry and scrubbing toilets was more gratifying. I have new pages for tomorrow, on the pretty desk, next to the nice laptop, marked in pink ink. I hope the notion of writing doesn’t get in the way of actually doing it.

Redux: Day 9

Elisabeth Crisp / @crisplyspoken — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:02:53 +0000

I had a good writing day. I worked from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., cleaning up pages, fixing errors, and adding layers to the characters.

When I picked the girls up at school, Coco ran to me and promptly wiped out on the sidewalk. If it had been a baseball game, she would have been sliding into home. For two weeks, I’ve said it was time for new shoes. After today’s blowout, it was a safety issue. We drove to Payless for sneakers.

I’d planned to write for another hour, but it didn’t happen. I’ll pick it up again tomorrow morning.

Redux: Day 8

Elisabeth Crisp / @crisplyspoken — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:19:55 +0000

I fixed yesterday’s problem by adding half a page where the heroine confirms to the other characters exactly what she’s been thinking. The reader has it figured out already, but the hero hasn’t. When he does, he gets mad.

I took some time off today to look around at Antique Rose Emporium. I go every few months, just to look around. Today, the musk roses were blooming, and they smelled wonderful.

Dancing With the Stars is on. That buys me more writing time this evening. I’ll never get the girls to bed tonight. When I do, Cherry and Coco will be jitterbugging in their sleep.

Later: Coco called it the jigglebug.

Redux: Day 7

Elisabeth Crisp / @crisplyspoken — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:54:03 +0000

I had a hard time getting started this morning, so Bacon took the girls and I to brunch. I came home and worked from noon until 4:00. That was when I got to a note in the middle of page six that said TRANSITION. Usually, this means I add a few lines to get from Point A to Point B.

Not this time. I didn’t agree with the thing the character was getting ready to do, so I went to the supermarket. I came home an hour later with groceries. Then, I sat down again and read the end of the scene. I have two choices:

Write the scene the way I planned, adding two lines of transition connecting Point A with Point B.
Rewrite the last three pages to reflect how I believe the heroine would really react after surviving the first 2/3 of the story.

Hmm. I guess I’ll be working on these pages again tomorrow.