Wriding. Reating.

One of my major difficulties when it comes to longer projects is my attention span. I love the process of initial creation- but once work stretches beyond that, I feel my mind wandering. Before I can tell the inside of my head, "No!" my focus drifts, and I've started several other assignments. I'm starting to realize that halting my wandering aspiration is a chore- maybe an impossible one at that. So instead of counteracting the relentless vigor of my brain cells, I'm learning to wield the zeal and express it in manageable ways. The most basic is the organization of my time. By slotting myself into hourly or half-hourly spans of time, I allow my mind to remain concentrated on the task at hand. The constant shift is enough to keep me willing and striving to use over 100% of my effort to complete a goal at hand, while simultaneously keeping everything else interesting.

See those eyes? That's focus.

This all is for the casual work, of course. When I need to write, I'll write. But if I have time to spare and an easy going mental state, I'll spread my time and tasks to design a route that best suites my mood.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've been reading my novel and analyzing what I need to fix.

Today, I read through pages 1-16.

Commas and extra words are the main problems I've noticed so far. I have an obtuse love for commas, and in the process of my speed writing placed them in horrid locations throughout my text. In addition to commas, I place the word "though" in plenty of times. Also, "the" has mangled into a position where it comes just before many adjectives. Grr. As far as repetition goes, I'm not nearly as bad off as I expected. However, several sentences have needed rewording, which is to be expected.

In this first bit, my main character decided to turn into Robin Hood. I'm positive this was the result of me writing my novel from 11:30pm - 2:00am daily... it created corny lines. One is, "Take from those that have, give to those that need." My main character, Elijah, isn't Robin Hood... he's just a poor kid stealing some food from the well-off. Nevertheless, he's decided  to secretly think like Robin Hood. Also, I've realized that my town, Kindle, has a rather cruel policy for kids that steal. Zero tolerance is an understatement.

All in all, I'm happy with my prologue and first chapter.

-TWO-12

Myonad Yarnauj Dthri

Wonderful.

Monday, January Third.

The great thing about the start of the week is that it is so expected that it is unexpected. You ready yourself throughout the weekend, moaning or perhaps looking forward to, that initial day of seven. But when it hits and you have to wake up at a slightly earlier time than usual (and for most people, head off to work), you still aren't exactly prepared.

Like most Mondays, Myonad Yarnauj Dthri is similarly unique and jumbled in a good and pleasant manner.

I've spent the majority of my morning driving. But what hasn't been driving has consisted of brain-storming for a thick-headed plot structure for a novel idea. A large part of me wants to do a modern take on the classic Western theme, and I think that is where my story is headed. I've been equally fond of the idea of a division of technology- where the upper-class maintain devices like todays or more advanced than todays and the lower class are stuck with basic construction means and devices built by hand, not machine.

Since it is past January 1st, I've allowed my eyes to take a peek at Gideon's Rebellion again. I'm on page 11 out of 112 in Microsoft Word and so far it isn't as bad as I expected. Before I head back to Tucson, though, I'm looking to get a good portion of it printed out so I can wield a real, non-virtual pen to my story. Likewise, editing on parchment is a much nicer way than staring at the computer screen for hours.

I hope everyone has had a great start to their New Year.

-TWO-12