I sat down to start on chapter 14 of my current novel-in-progress, but as I was changing the font to Times New Roman, I thought I haven't looked over some of this earlier stuff in a while.
So then I sat down and read chapters 1-12.
A lot of folks don't believe in going back during the rough drafting stage. I'm not one. If I leave off in the middle of a chapter, I always read over the chapter before starting the new stuff, mostly so I can get back in the rhythm of things.
I'm glad I read through tonight, because it's already been 2 months for the writing of these 13 chapters. Funny how easy you the author can forget stuff that you wrote.
For me, it was a good reminder of the current actual reading pace of the book, and not the writing pace. Now that I'm sitting at 36k words and eyeing the middle ground, it's imperative to know where I'm heading next in the journey towards the climax. This book, more than any other I've written, is go! from chapter 3 onward, so it was good to read through all that again and remind myself where my MC is at in her arc, where I can start pulling up some sub-plots, and where I can slow a little to let some development happen.
I usually have a very good idea of how long my book is going to be, almost within a thousand words. This one I'm not so sure about, but I'm pretty certain it's going to be shorter--probably in the 70's and maybe early 80's. Hence, even more important to refresh on the old stuff, since technically I could be getting close to the novel's middle already.
It would be nice to have a little recap available for myself, like they do on TV shows--someone to give me a highlight reel of what I'm going to concentrate on for the next chapter, along with some great music to pump me up. Someone should work on that...
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Week in Review (week 11?)
Really only 11 weeks left? Surely that's not right... Nope, I just counted on my calendar and IT IS RIGHT!
Eleven weeks until I'm done with nursing school! (This round, anyway. There's advanced degreeing in my near future. Just waiting on my acceptance letter.)
The past week has been fairly uneventful. School is settling into the gentle slog phase, where it seems like you have class every time you turn around, despite it being only once a week. This is how nursing school warps time. And once the exams start (they have), it goes by even faster.
Still enjoying my OB rotation far more than I thought I would. I witnessed two C-Sections yesterday. Still haven't seen a natural birth, but my chance for that is coming soon. I'm also getting much better at assessing the heart rate and respirations of a newborn. The first one I did was in respiratory distress, so his rate was in the 80's. It threw me off so much I thought I'd miscounted, but the nurse confirmed it for me. Crazy times!
Cross your fingers for me on the job front. I've been selected to a meet & greet for a nurse residency program at a nearby hospital, which is step 1. I also emailed my nurse manager from my nurse extern program last summer, and her response was very positive. Hope beyond hope is that I'll have multiple job offers and will actually have to make a decision! Which will be really tough, especially since I feel a strong sense of loyalty to the people from my extern program.
Anyway, I don't want to get ahead of myself there, but I'm excited to see some things happening.
I hope you all are doing well! Next week's review may be more interesting. This Saturday I'm meeting up with a bunch of Atlanta-area writers at a pub... last time we had fun shenanigans, and I anticipate it only being better this time...
Eleven weeks until I'm done with nursing school! (This round, anyway. There's advanced degreeing in my near future. Just waiting on my acceptance letter.)
The past week has been fairly uneventful. School is settling into the gentle slog phase, where it seems like you have class every time you turn around, despite it being only once a week. This is how nursing school warps time. And once the exams start (they have), it goes by even faster.
Still enjoying my OB rotation far more than I thought I would. I witnessed two C-Sections yesterday. Still haven't seen a natural birth, but my chance for that is coming soon. I'm also getting much better at assessing the heart rate and respirations of a newborn. The first one I did was in respiratory distress, so his rate was in the 80's. It threw me off so much I thought I'd miscounted, but the nurse confirmed it for me. Crazy times!
Cross your fingers for me on the job front. I've been selected to a meet & greet for a nurse residency program at a nearby hospital, which is step 1. I also emailed my nurse manager from my nurse extern program last summer, and her response was very positive. Hope beyond hope is that I'll have multiple job offers and will actually have to make a decision! Which will be really tough, especially since I feel a strong sense of loyalty to the people from my extern program.
Anyway, I don't want to get ahead of myself there, but I'm excited to see some things happening.
I hope you all are doing well! Next week's review may be more interesting. This Saturday I'm meeting up with a bunch of Atlanta-area writers at a pub... last time we had fun shenanigans, and I anticipate it only being better this time...
Monday, February 4, 2013
Week in Review (week 12)
85 days until I'm finished with school! Not that anyone is counting.
Nothing too majorly exciting happened since my last post. The puppy is phenomenal, very smart and sweet. She already has an arsenal of tricks and walks on the leash like a champ.
Hit 30k on my WIP this morning. Starting to enter that murky middle-ground territory where I have to keep reminding myself it's a first draft and it's okay if events aren't perfect this time around.
I've been reading Stacia Kane's Downside Ghosts series recently. It's urban fantasy, but completely unique and wonderful. I'm seriously addicted. The first three books are really cheap for Kindle right now. If you want to read some masterful world-building and voice, do yourself a favor and buy.
Hubby and I started watching American Horror Story. I'm a huge weenie with scary things, but now we're more intrigued by the story and our wild speculations as to what's happening/happened that the scary stuff is just something to get through for the plot.
I'm going to a birthing class tonight. Hold me.
And tomorrow I'm doing half my hours for service learning (community service). I'm teaching for half an hour on "general health." What a topic! I spent about 8 hours writing material and putting together a tri-fold board. I have so much to print for handouts that I'm going to have to go to the college, because my printer won't handle it. I'm nervous, but excited. I won't say what type of facility I'm going to, for privacy's sake, but it's something close to my heart.
Happy February!
Nothing too majorly exciting happened since my last post. The puppy is phenomenal, very smart and sweet. She already has an arsenal of tricks and walks on the leash like a champ.
Hit 30k on my WIP this morning. Starting to enter that murky middle-ground territory where I have to keep reminding myself it's a first draft and it's okay if events aren't perfect this time around.
I've been reading Stacia Kane's Downside Ghosts series recently. It's urban fantasy, but completely unique and wonderful. I'm seriously addicted. The first three books are really cheap for Kindle right now. If you want to read some masterful world-building and voice, do yourself a favor and buy.
Hubby and I started watching American Horror Story. I'm a huge weenie with scary things, but now we're more intrigued by the story and our wild speculations as to what's happening/happened that the scary stuff is just something to get through for the plot.
I'm going to a birthing class tonight. Hold me.
And tomorrow I'm doing half my hours for service learning (community service). I'm teaching for half an hour on "general health." What a topic! I spent about 8 hours writing material and putting together a tri-fold board. I have so much to print for handouts that I'm going to have to go to the college, because my printer won't handle it. I'm nervous, but excited. I won't say what type of facility I'm going to, for privacy's sake, but it's something close to my heart.
Happy February!
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| Ripley hanging out with her Scottish Terrier friend. |
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