Jot That Down

only 441 words, mostly because i was sick today. i also did a little logistical work.

about 2.5 pages, starting with chapter eighteen. to be honest, i’m not super happy with the timeskip i pulled, but it’s not too bad, and i think it was necessary for writer’s block purposes. i also put the last dozen or so plot points on the “calendar.” i might not necessarily keep that time frame, but we’ll see how things work out.

i wrote a little over a thousand words, but considering how much i did today, i’m glad i got through that much. i’m also happy because i changed the way the sandy fight went, sort of by necessity, and then i thought of a way to resolve it, at least from chloe, that i think is a lot more respectful towards all the characters and as a bonus, it makes chloe do another thing that she just thinks is a good idea at the time, but turns out to be something that 202 would find suspicious. this is perfect. (a little clunky on the actual writing of it, but that i can revise pretty easily.)

i didn’t get a lot done today, but i did finish up the breakfast conversation. unfortunately, i don’t think i actually got completely over the part i’m stuck on, but writing anything is better than letting the block stay.

11: Split Up Together

fact: dave likes poetry. he has a bunch of langston hughes memorized.

got through about three and a half pages today. andrew does some lying, but i’m not sure if that’s evident to the audience or not. chloe definitely doesn’t get it. speaking of andrew lying, is it cheating to have a big conflict resolved offscreen? i think it narratively makes sense to have chloe excluded but also maybe i feel like i’m being lazy.

i wrote nearly three pages today, probably because i’ve been excited about this scene since i combined its two elements a few weeks ago. of course, the big reveal about “andrew’s angle” as i’ve been calling it, couldn’t actually be a reveal, because chloe can’t know about it. developing his backstory is really giving me ideas for later books thought. im also proud of all the dialogue i’ve been writing lately. and, against all odds, i have finished chapter seventeen. this means that 1) this day in the plot has at least three chapters dedicated to it, wow and 2) i am quite literally AHEAD of schedule!

two and a bit pages-- not bad considering how hectic the day was. i feel like im completely changing tamara’s character and role in the story. i sort of let the vibe and the characters lead the interaction i wrote today, and i think i have a really good opportunity to make tamara a real friend for chloe as a opposed to a throwaway conflict for the sandy plotline. she deserves better anyway.

wrote two and a half pages!! wrote two major points from the first draft, but actually toned down the tension in them. or, at, least, toned down the stakes. i don’t think it was a mistake though, i think it’s just taking longer for that tension to build. i like to think i’m letting the interactions be nuanced.

breaking news: i started chapter sixteen! that means i actually am on schedule. i am so inspired to keep it up. i didn’t do a time skip either, so i haven’t completely thrown away everything i built up in chapter 15!!

i wrote about four pages today, which included most of the mock mission. the mission part. honestly, the mission part will hardcore need to be rewritten, but i like the tension part at the end. there was some actual dialogue, and the whole thing isn’t as forced and/or nonexistent as in earlier drafts, and scaling it down actually worked better than i’d hoped.

i have developed a new strategy. today, i told myself to write a page, and then i could do something else. this works well, because i tend to get bored and/or lost towards the middle of the page, but right at the turning point, i’m into it. using this strategy, i wrote about five pages. i knocked out the second eavesdrop and some jenny development. most importantly, i started chapter fifteen, and it is saturday, so i am actually on schedule!

i got stuck on second eavesdrop for a while, and i eventually asked some of the people around for help. i don’t know how much of their advice i took, but explaining the situation to them helped me think about it. i pretty much figured it out, but only had time to write a sentence, but i know what i’m going to write when i get the chance

busy day today, but i did manage to finish up the conversation with ray. i think the reason i like this reveal better than my original draft is that it has more character. it was nice to work with the scene long enough to make ray come off the way i wanted him too. he’s sad and he’s upset, but he’s not hysterical over it. i had to write subtlety, which i don’t always do. i think it comes through that ray really cares about andrew, but is just confused by andrew’s actions.

finished up the scene with jenny and barb, and i think it went well, and even if it was a little rushed, i finally finished chapter 13!! and i didn’t stop there either. chapter 14 is started, and chloe has caught ray and andrew. i was really excited to rewrite that scene, and though i miss the humor that was in the original, this makes a lot more sense narratively and i actually like it a lot.

995...that’s almost a thousand. i haven’t hit a thousand in a while, unfortunately. i’m working though, i’ll get through it. i like the way i wrote the ray and dave tension, but i may have pushed the bounds of chloe’s obliviousness. that’s okay, though. someday i will finish chapter thirteen...so close and yet so far...