Jenna Harte

Well sort of. I have a complete draft of chapter one. While its not horrible, its far from finished. But its something. All I need to do is tweak it, flesh it out a bit.

Many writers suggest that you don’t re-write before you’ve finished the entire story, but in this case, I’m going to get the first chapter to near as perfect as I can get it. I just feel so much better if I can refer to writing that I’ve done that I think is okay. Otherwise the old “you can write” demon gets in my brain.

I’m loving my ASUS but I did buy XP and upgrade it. Because I got the smaller version of ASUS, I’m pretty much maxed out the harddrive with XP, WritersBlocks and virus protection, but with a 4 gb SD card I’m good to go with more storage and programs.

I live in a rural area and my only hope for a writer’s group seemed to require a lot of driving. But in May a local writer’s group was started. Last night I was finally able to attend. It was a small group… just 3 of us last night. There was a sci fi/fantasy writer, a poet and me. There wasn’t any real structure to the group and no one brought any writing. A part of me thinks this may not be what I need, on the other hand, it could be an opportunity to help form a group that can meet my needs.

Just a side note on my Asus. I love it, but I’ve decided that I’m going to install XP on it. I really want to use the Writer’s Blocks which requires windows. And the Linux is too much like DOS and I don’t want to figure out how to code.

I finally got some time and wrote 4000 words on my book. Over the years I have written the opening scene in a variety of ways, but this time I was finally able to get something substantial down on paper (or computer as the case may be). It still needs work. And I did find myself struggling a bit as I moved into later scenes. I picked up my book Make a Scene Make A Sceneby Jordan E. Rosenfeld to help me.

I recently came across some software that look like it could be helpful to me as well. Writer’s Blocks is a software allows you to have your notes on one side of the screen while tpying your document on the other sidie. I haven’t used the trial to test it out, but it looks like the kind of set up that would help me by keeping my ideas in front of me without having to move between tabs or pages. The only problem is that my new Asus Eee runs on Linux not XP (the XP version cost more…not so bad, but didn’t come in green. I really wanted green). I can add xp but I’d have to by xp or I can try to use a software called WineHQ that helps Linux run windows compatible programs. I think I’ll try the WineHQ first as its free. However, Linux is a lot like the old windows used to be when you’d have to go into DOS to do stuff. So I may want to move to XP anyway. I’ll want to try to install the Writer’s Blocks on my 4 gb SC disk so I can use it on my regular laptop as well.

I’m still on my quest to read 100 books. Sometimes I feel guilty because when I’m reading I’m not writing. But since I’m not writing anyway, perhaps reading will inspire me.

I read Diana Gabaldon’s interview in a recent writing magazine. Romance and adventure sounded right up my alley even though I don’t like historical romances much. I picked up Outlander and tried not to be overwhelmed by the idea of reading over 800 words. That last time I read that much was either the Stand by Stephan King or And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer that was over 1000 pages.

Overall I liked Outlander but I did struggle some. It meanders a lot which I’m not into. I think its Elmore Leonard who’s quoted as saying “Only write the stuff that people read.” I skip a lot of stuff. But I did get into the book and was up late several nights wanted to know what happend. I like the risks Gaboldon takes. She went out into a very dark and disturbing situation without making it too much. I did think it would have taken Jamie, the victim of the worst tortures, more time to overcome the trauma, but perhaps thats 18 century men. I also struggled with Clair’s lack of grief over leaving her husband in the current day (1943). And I didn’t really get that Jamie (1740’s) was the love of her life. I didn’t see it as much in her as I did in him.

But with that said, I did get the second book, but found it wasn’t the story I wanted to read. I wanted to know if she went back to Jamie. So about 1/4 of the way into Dragonfly in Amber, I put it down and instead picked up Voyager, the third book in the series. So far I’m enjoying it even more than the first book.

So I’ve read 16 of 100 fiction books (I’m on 17). Maybe when I reach 20 I’ll feel like I’ve actually made some headway.

Reading my last post, its clear I should be done with my draft. But I’m not done. I’m no where near done. Oh woe is me! I have no real excuse. I can tell you I’m busy. My work is up in the air. My husband was injured. They sound like good excuses. The problem is, there have been times when I thought, “I could be writing” but I didn’t. Part of it is that I work-at-home and sit at my computer all day. I don’t want to sit there all night too. I’ve got to come up with a plan….

If I wrote 1000 words a day, I could have a rough draft of my book done within 75 days. So why can’t I write 1000 words a day? I haven’t even written one word. My excuses are that I’m busy and have lots of more important projects. But watching House or American Idol aren’t projects or important.

Part of it is that I work at my computer all day and I get tired of it. I don’t want to sit at it at night time (the best time for me to write) as well. But if you want to reach a goal, sometimes you have to do the uncomfortable.

I finished writing my “and then…” outline. Some interesting things happened. While the overall story stayed the same, many scenes changed and others came into focus. I wish I’d thought of this sooner. I’m feeling much more relaxed now about the actual writing. Its almost like its all there, I just need to dictate it.

On the other hand, I haven’t actuall started writing…so it may not be as easy as all that. I’ll have to let you know!

I made a goal to read 100 books and so far I’ve only read 15. Well that’s not exactly right. I’ve read only 15 fiction books. I have read probably 30 or 40 books total since setting my goal, but most of them are related to writing, blogging and other non-fiction books.

I’m currently reading Southern Hospitality by T. Lynn Ocean about a retired government agent who has a bullet proof car and breast implants thanks to Uncle Sam. It sounds silly as I write it, but so far its a fun read. My next read will be Whale Watching by N.M. Kelby.

I completely forgot my Blogger login and I can’t get it because my email has changed. Oh well. Its time for a new start anyway. If you want to check on the old posts, you still can here.