End of the Month Overview: February

February Results

Hours Edited: 18

Word Count Total: 28,393

Hand-written pages: 12

Challenges Completed: 2

February wasn't my best month, but it's only the second month of the year so I can't bring myself to really complain. I think because I'm coming to a close on my novel, I'm really dragging with my editing.

Now onto my goals for March.

• Edit my District Pluto Series
• Continue with my Handwritten Novel 

This should be a good enough list of goals to keep me busy during the month of March. I might add more as I continue through the month. The series I'm editing is supposed to be my first published works. Since I'm actually happy with the way they are written...it might go out sooner than I had anticipated (depending on if I can get a beta and someone to edit for me). Well, I guess I'll see how it turns out.

Music & Writing

There are a lot of people who can't write without a bit of music playing in the background or blasting in their ears. There are people who have to write in silence. And there are people like me who need a little of both. There are times when I need it quiet to write and there are times when music is okay.

I've discovered something odd that has been happening to me lately, and that is, I can't write if the music is related to the scene I'm writing. Strange, I know. I was writing a scene that was meant to be a little suspenseful because my character could get caught at any moment by some dangerous people, and I was listening to some love song. These characters aren't even close to being romantically involved.

The song that I was listening to was Never Stop by SafetySuit. The wedding version. I don't even know how that worked out but it did.

I've also notice that if I have a short playlist and keep it on repeat, that works for me. The repetition ends up being predictable background noise that won't distract me. I'm great at tuning things out. If it's silent, I tend to get antsy and distracted by everything. The smallest noise will distract me because it's something I'm not expecting. With the short playlist on repeat, it helps me maintain some sort of control of the noise around me.

Maybe it's just me that has this strange way to stay focused but at least it helps.

Progress Update: Getting Ready For More Editing

Weekly Progress

Editing Hours: 4

Words Written (Typed): 8,915

Pages Handwritten: 2.5

Summary: It wasn't my best editing week but I did manage to get in a fair bit of writing. I need to write some more to catch up with Hush.

That list and summary should be enough to tell you how my weekly progress went. Next week it will be March and I'll have a whole new project to edit. I know I'm not even close to being finished with Call of the Piper but, that's too bad. I planned to edit District Pluto for Editing Month (March). These are short stories so they shouldn't take as long as Call of the Piper but it will still be a pain in the butt.  

  

When I'm done editing District Pluto, I'll go back to Call of the Piper, if not sooner. There are 5 short stories and my goal is to have at least 1 of them completely edited by the end of the month. I'm thinking that it's time to switch it up. My muse needs a rest. I've been editing the same novel for almost a year. These short stories shouldn't take too long to edit. I hope it won't take too long to edit. 

Now, I'm about to go backwards a bit. I already mentioned my plans for next week (next month) but I didn't say anything about Tell a Fairy Tale Day! That's on Thursday. I already made stuff for my crafting blog for this. I get way too excited about days like this. There are a few I have marked down in my calendar. 

Overall, I'm ready to start a new month. I'm hoping to post more during the month of March, not just progress updates or blogging circle posts but other things that are writing related and less boring than my progress updates. 

Motivation Behind the Character

Not the final version of my Firewall cover art.

Character Motivation: What is the main motivation behind your characters? Where do you come up with that motivation? Do you tend to use the same sort of motivation in every novel, or do you tend to mix it up more? What is your favorite example of character motivation?

Bonus: Share with us an excerpt from your current or completed novel(s) that demonstrates your favorite example of character motivation.

The motivation for my characters usually vary. In the novel I'm currently editing, Call of the Piper (temp title), my main character Radley starts off by wanting to figure out more about her past, why she ended up in the place she did and the like but later on, it becomes apparent that there is something else motivating her to keep going. That becomes a huge point in her character development. 

That's just my current example. Where they come from is questionable. I'm sure some conflicts come from something I saw in real life or a very indirect connection to something happening in my life.

I try not to use the same motivation but occasionally it will happen. It will come out different than the other story but it's still similar. The common factors are there and are noticeable to me (and possibly to others).

My favorite example of character motivation - that's a hard one. I'm not sure if I have a favorite example but since I've already written about Radley's motivation for doing stuff. I guess I can give you another example of some character motivation that I like and that is from my novel Firewall. My minor character's motivation is to try to gain control of his life (that's the best way to word it without giving away too much). Though he is in the background, a lot of his decisions caused my main characters to be where they are in the novel.

I'm not sure if I explained that right. Well, if it doesn't make sense, I'll try to explain it again in a different way.

Sadly, no bonus again this month.

Progress Update: Slacking

This week hasn't been a good week. So far, I only have 11.75 hours of editing and that isn't including today. Hopefully I'll get that count up soon.

My current novel is kicking my butt. I'm basically rewriting the whole thing and that's where it's dragging me down a bit. My new plot line keeps changing, not in a bad way, I just keep adding things. That's what I get for not giving myself room to move things around so I have to track my scenes a bit differently than I usually do. Maybe I should bust out my index cards but that motivation just isn't there.

I did read through my Hourglass series though and started marking places that need to be changed. I just needed something different to read. I won't be editing the Hourglass series until later but it will happen this year hopefully.

I'm hoping this week will be a better week. My goal is 10 hours of editing. That's all I want to get in. It is possible if I stop being so lazy.

Progress Update: Getting Organized

My progress hasn't really been great for the first week of February. While I'm getting places with both my editing and my writing, it's a bit slow. Part of the reason is because I need to get organized. I'm currently making a planner that suits my needs but I also have something for blogging. Eventually, I want to start doing more than just boring updates on my progress. There are the blogging circle prompts which are fun but I think there should be a little more.

As of right now, I have no idea what those posts are going to be about but it will happen. I want to work on better graphics for my posts and maybe some book reviews or random research topics I find interesting. I already have a crafting blog to post my fun stuff on but I'll think of some content to make this more interesting for me.

This coming week might be slow with progress. My goddaughter is due any moment now and I plan on being there when she is. But, then again, I might not be with my best friend in her daughter all week. They are going to need time to adjust and I don't want to get in the way.

I think getting a little behind on my editing will be okay this week because I think getting organized will help with that. I have two planners, one that travels with me and one that stays at my desk. I really want to make the most of them and hopefully create some kind of schedule for my life.

Maybe next time, I'll actually talk about some real progress.