![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
One Month Deadline
Jun. 3rd, 2006 04:56 pmOkay, maybe less than that.
I have a little less than a month to come up with a decent summary of Gabriel and Cassandra, including the ending, which I have not written yet. Why, do you ask? Because I have decided that I will be entering it into the Writer's Workshop that is part of LA Con IV, aka WorldCon.
Being that I figure that I am about two thirds of the way through the book, I will have to spend the next few weeks coming up with a decent plot summary for the last third, which I have not written yet, let alone figured how I'm going to write it. Added to the fact that I'll be continuing with the writing at the same time.
(Side note: In related news, I've always known that Gabriel & Cassandra was going to be a temporary title for the story until I came up with another one. At the moment I'm playing with Love Like Blood, title stolen from the Killing Joke song, which plays a big part in the first chapter. I think I might run with that one until something better comes up.)
I haven't given myself this short of a deadline in over ten years when I completely rewrote one of my screenplays in the space of a month for a scriptwriting contest. In all honesty, though, I found the self-imposed deadline to be quite invigorating, not to mention satisfying in the end. It's something I should do more.
I see no reason why I can't do this. I certainly have the time to do it, if I give it a few hours every day (working on the book itself while still coming up with a summary). In fact I really think I should be done with this book by now. I'm not being hard on myself about this, I'm just saying that I've wasted too much time not writing while still on the computer (usually noodling around online). If I force myself to get the writing done, particularly if I start working earlier (say, starting in on it when I get home from work rather than waiting until later on in the evening) and focusing as much energy as I can on it, I think I could pull it off.
So this is also making me wonder if, when I start a new story, perhaps I should give myself a deadline of writing it. It's something to think about, I guess. Hell, I wrote one of the three books in my trilogy in the space of one year, I think I can do that with a much shorter story and in a shorter amount of time. I've always meant to run various things in my life on schedules; I seem to work best when I do have them. For one reason or another I've dropped those things (usually because I don't need them anymore, but sometimes because I get lazy and stop caring). And I always forget to use them again later on.
Maybe stricter writing schedules are a good thing. It's worth a shot.
Once I'm done with the summary, if my manuscript is accepted for the workshop, I get to talk with pro writers and other industry types about how to make it work better. If I pull this off and get that far, then I'll have taken a very significant step in my writing career. And hopefully one in a set of many steps that are going up. :)
I have a little less than a month to come up with a decent summary of Gabriel and Cassandra, including the ending, which I have not written yet. Why, do you ask? Because I have decided that I will be entering it into the Writer's Workshop that is part of LA Con IV, aka WorldCon.
Being that I figure that I am about two thirds of the way through the book, I will have to spend the next few weeks coming up with a decent plot summary for the last third, which I have not written yet, let alone figured how I'm going to write it. Added to the fact that I'll be continuing with the writing at the same time.
(Side note: In related news, I've always known that Gabriel & Cassandra was going to be a temporary title for the story until I came up with another one. At the moment I'm playing with Love Like Blood, title stolen from the Killing Joke song, which plays a big part in the first chapter. I think I might run with that one until something better comes up.)
I haven't given myself this short of a deadline in over ten years when I completely rewrote one of my screenplays in the space of a month for a scriptwriting contest. In all honesty, though, I found the self-imposed deadline to be quite invigorating, not to mention satisfying in the end. It's something I should do more.
I see no reason why I can't do this. I certainly have the time to do it, if I give it a few hours every day (working on the book itself while still coming up with a summary). In fact I really think I should be done with this book by now. I'm not being hard on myself about this, I'm just saying that I've wasted too much time not writing while still on the computer (usually noodling around online). If I force myself to get the writing done, particularly if I start working earlier (say, starting in on it when I get home from work rather than waiting until later on in the evening) and focusing as much energy as I can on it, I think I could pull it off.
So this is also making me wonder if, when I start a new story, perhaps I should give myself a deadline of writing it. It's something to think about, I guess. Hell, I wrote one of the three books in my trilogy in the space of one year, I think I can do that with a much shorter story and in a shorter amount of time. I've always meant to run various things in my life on schedules; I seem to work best when I do have them. For one reason or another I've dropped those things (usually because I don't need them anymore, but sometimes because I get lazy and stop caring). And I always forget to use them again later on.
Maybe stricter writing schedules are a good thing. It's worth a shot.
Once I'm done with the summary, if my manuscript is accepted for the workshop, I get to talk with pro writers and other industry types about how to make it work better. If I pull this off and get that far, then I'll have taken a very significant step in my writing career. And hopefully one in a set of many steps that are going up. :)
