It’s Wednesday once again, which means it’s that time when a group of awesome bloggers/writers, me included (if I do say so myself), come together to share an excerpt from their current WIP. The only rule is that it somehow correlates to the day’s date (29 lines, paragraphs, something from Chapter 29… you get the idea; also, you can be as creative with this as you like!). Then add your link to the blog hop and then do the rounds as other posts being to appear! Many thanks once again to K. L. Schwengel at My Random Muse for hosting.
I haven’t actually made any progress on Operation: Sugarplum since last Wednesday (the Sugarplum Fairy is annoying me) but these following eleven (2+9) lines follow on from last week. I find if tricky deciding what to use as my snippet for end-of-the-month posts because I don’t like Walls of Text, and I also don’t want to give too much from any one section away. But when this section was a perfect 11 lines, I took it as a sign, and since it ends with a question, I’m not giving too much away. FYI, the first line is Max speaking.
“Oh, come on, are you saying I should have known?”
“In our position, one can never be too careful.”
“Question! I have a question.” Once again, Clara had found herself standing awkwardly by while Max and his uncle argued.
“What is it, Clara?” Drosselmeier asked.
“Well, I was just wondering. Given that you’ve been protecting a prince during your time in my world, wouldn’t it have made more sense to keep a low profile, rather than build a multi-national gaming company? I mean, you’re practically the Steve Jobs of the app world now. When the Rats got here, it was going to be pretty easy to find you.”
In terms of ROW80 check-in-ness, there’s not really much to add since Sunday. I wrote the first 500 words or so of what may well become my entry in the June short story competition at the Australian Literature Review. Last night I spent about an hour working on AMCF. The order of some scenes has changed in the new draft, so I was figuring that out.
I’ve also decided not to do the whole aim for 15000 words a month thing. It was probably a bit ambitious, and with a lot of the work I’m doing on AMCF at the moment being edits and revisions, it’s just not going to happen. By the end of May, I’ll probably be at around 12000, which is still more than I’ve ever written in a month, but that was with doing the Story a Day in May at the beginning of the month and other little side projects. With the exception of the aforementioned short story competition, I don’t really want to get distracted by other stuff. I have a terrible propensity to sign up for challenges whenever I see them (similar to my compulsion to sign up for anything new on the Internet), so I’m going to try to curb that and really put all of my focus on my WIPs. I think I’m much better at time-based goals rather than word-count-based ones. I need to remember that.
Well, I think that’s about it. You can check out other ROW80 participants via the blog here. I was really awful at getting around to all the WIPpeteers last week, so I plan on remedying that this week and I’ll be sure to check out some of your check-ins as well. Much love!
I love Clara. Hey, guys, have you forgotten I’m here? π
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Right? I love her, too. She’s quiet and a bit dorky, but soon Max and Drosselmeier will realise that she’s actually amazing and integral to everything (… once I figure out exactly how this will be the case, anyway)
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Clara has a point. Not really flying under the radar were they… I love how she is the little voice of reason!
I had the same compulsion to sign up for everything writing. But missing the targets by great margins got too depressing. Now I just write when I can!
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As someone who picks plots apart, I like having a character who says, “Why didn’t you do this much more obvious thing?” so that it gets addressed in-story. Even if the answer is just “Well, we were a bit stupid and didn’t think of that.”
Yep, that’s what I’m doing now, too, pretty much.
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Clara does have a very good point – I’m intrigued to know Drosselmeier’s answer to that. Great line ‘Question! I have a question..’ I could really imagine Clara eagerly butting into the conversation.
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I often do the “Question!” thing if I’m part of a group having something explained to us, so that I can get the attention of the person before I actually start asking anything. One of the many traits of mine that has snuck into Clara.
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I like the idea of time-based, not word-based, goals too. Besides, if you’re on a roll why stop just because you’ve met your word count? But speaking of word count, where do you get the little widget you have that keeps track of your writing goals? That could be handy as I write this June. O, and I liked the WIPpet too! Steve Jobs of the app world. I still smile every time I read from Sugarplum. Your parallels are so clever!
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Aw, thank you! This comment made me smile! As do all the comments I get on my WIPpets.
I honestly cannot remember exactly where my meter came from because I just copy and paste the code now whenever I need a new one, but I know I found it by just Googling “word count meter” and a whole bunch of them came up.
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I agree. You are awesome. π
I love that I can tell the second line is Drosselmeier’s and the third line Clara’s just by the wording. You could have kept the dialogue going a few more lines without telling me who was talking and I’m pretty sure I’d have known whom was speaking. That’s quite a talent! π
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Aw, shucks. So are you!
It is so good to have you say that! In my head, they are so distinct, and I know that I don’t always convey things on paper the same way they are in my head, so it’s good to know that’s coming through!
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I really like that. It’s great that Clara finally gets to say something – and something important too. I’m glad your writing is going well. I think you’re very sensible not to expect too much from yourself. Sometimes you just can’t do everything. Mind you, I think I’m the opposite to you and don’t always stretch myself enough. Lol. But there’s got to be a happy medium.
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Thanks! You’d think once I figured out what worked for me, I’d stick to it, but apparently not! But the happy medium is definitely important, yeah.
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I agree with ReGi here — each character’s voice is very distinctive. And I love when Clara jumps in with her “Question! I have a question.” The image I get is her throwing her hand up like she was in class or something to ask the teacher a question.
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Hee, that is pretty much exactly how I imagine it as well!
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I love the “Question! I have a question!”
I do that all the time! =P
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Haha, so do I! π
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Will anyone nite my head off if I say that perhaps Drosselmeier was doing a great job of hiding…because often people don’t see what is right in front of them? That whole “hiding in plain sight” thing.
I do like Clara’s character, and it is a good question, but just because the question is good doesn’t mean that Drosselmeier hasn’t taken this into consideration and planned for it.
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Oh, on the ROW80 front, the only issue I’ve found with using a time-based goal versus a word-count-based one is it’s real easy to feel stuck and just sit in the chair for the time without getting anything written.
That said, either goal should be a minimum guideline. Set the goal low, but know that you not only can, but should keep going as long as you can… and then when things get hard… try to write just one or two (or five) more sentences.
That is, unless you have to race out the door because you’re late for an appointment or something.
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Last round when I had time-based goals, I also had a minimum word-count (500 words) so that if I did ever spend the time just staring at the screen, it didn’t count. Since I only set aside two compulsory writing sessions a week, though, I usually manage to exceed them.
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Ah! You hit things from both directions… That works! May the words flow then!
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Well, the thing is (and this has not yet come up in any WIPpets, so…) is that Drosselmeier is also a public figure in his own world as well as ours. So the Rats and their masters do know what he looks like and can easily spot him on TV/computers when he’s making appearances. Becoming famous was not his intention but it didn’t concern him too much because as far as he knew, their enemies had no way of coming through. That’s only a recent development, so the issue’s only really coming to light for him/them now.
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I see. Well, They do say that everyone has a double. Maybe that will help him?
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I didn’t even know about that meme! About 20 years ago, I was at the forefront of what wasn’t even yet referred to as social media, and now I can’t for the life of me keep up. *g*
Congrats on all your words. Even if you’ve decided to cut back on the competition front, it seems to have helped!
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Really? Haha, it is one of my favourites! I know what you mean, though – I like to consider myself fairly with it re: social media and such but then my friends are like, “Have you seen X? Are you on Y?” and I’m like, “…no?” I like to think it’s because all the time they spend frolicking on the Internet, I’m busy writing. π
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Keep a low profile! Ha! That makes me giggle. Clara is awesome!
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She is (if I do say so myself)! *snuggles her*
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“Question! I have a question!” Made me giggle. I have a friend who sometimes does that. Clara had a good point – they weren’t exactly flying under the radar were they?
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Not exactly! It was kind of accidental fame though, so he’s not entirely to blame.
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I too like the sound of Clara – she will drive the others mad but they will take her words on board prob wont admit tho’ – good sense from the ‘girl’:(
Wrod counts are curious entities some times they flood from the mind others they get all tetchy and ‘work to rule’ish – go with what feels good to you at the time is always best unless the deadlines are set in concrete
all the best for coming week.
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