Curmudgeon Says What?

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#amwriting #5amWritersClub Got a late start (6:30am) but managed to make it to 10k words. Decided to rewrite the first chapter from 3rd person to 1st person, which I prefer for mystery or cozy type stories. Will be 1st person going forward. Hope everyone's staying warm. I'm in the frozen zone.

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Good morning. #amwriting Slept 'til 6:30; can I still qualify for #5amWritersClub? Up to 8300 words, technically, but a lot of those are bits of later chapters. When I get an idea for a scene, I try to get some of it down, even if it's out of sequence. Probably why I spend so much time revising. 😝

Thank you, Bee. I believe the story will end up being a "cozy urban fantasy", though it's not set in an urban area. Other elements at the similar. It's basically a 'skeptical boy meets practical girl' & they uncover the supernatural at their place of employment. Do they embrace it, or destroy it?

#amwriting #5amWritersClub A month in on the new WIP. I'm only at 6500 words, mostly just revising the old material to reflect the trimmed cast and plot. 24 chapters titled with vague references to plot points. Tried pantsing, but I guess I'm just a plotter. Lots of scenes done in my head, though.

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#amwriting So, technically, I started writing today at 8am, but while there's a #5amWritersClub and no #LazyBumWritersClub as far as I know, so here we are. Rewrite on latest WIP is well under way, with 3400 words in Chp One, and another 800 in Chp Two. Just 2 MC instead of 4. Much cleaner. 👍

Yes, you mind, or yes, please, a little spice is nice?

#AmWriting #5amWritersClub Major rewrite ahead: once more I started an overly complex story. Trimming the plot seems to make it stronger, so that's good. Readers of 'cozy' fiction... do you mind a little spice when the folks are over 40? Not explicit, of course, but I'd like to keep it real. 😉

#amwriting #5amWritersClub Paused my WIP at 58,250 words in mid-November. I lost the joy in the writing. I'll get back to it one day as it has 'good bones', but I needed a break. Took a month off, started a new story, something lighter and, so far, more fun. I've got 2800 words so far on Chapter 1.👍

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Good morning, #5amWritersClub. I #amwriting, but not much. Finally made it to 58k words, but I won't celebrate yet, as I still have a few more 'weeds' to excise from the garden. Good news is, my outline is still pretty solid, so removing the abandoned sub-plot won't cause too much trouble.

I'm old, and still use proper grammar, complete sentences (except in external or internal dialogue, of course), and em dashes for interrupted thoughts--of which my protagonist has many--to introduce amplifications or clarifications. Am I using them correctly?

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#5amWritersClub #amwriting #writingcommunity Been hovering around 57k words for the last few days. Excising a discarded sub-plot is like weeding an unkempt garden--every time you turn around, there's another shoot to be pulled. Still, it feels like real progress, as I add in new material.

#amwriting #5amWritersClub #WritingCommunity Got up to 55k words on the WIP yesterday. Spent this morning dropping whole pages & related references for a discarded sub-plot. 😒 Tightening up the story line, though, gave me the nudge I needed to add 2 new chapters, so now I'm back up to 56k words! 🙂

#amwriting #writingcommunity #5amWritersClub Spent the morning watching the first 2 episodes of The Witcher season 4, instead of writing. (Fantasy was always my favorite genre.) But now it's time to knuckle down & do some damage on the WIP.

#5amWritersClub, #amwriting Started up after a week-long hiatus. Now at 53.5k words, but I seem to be losing as much old material as I add new, because of changes in the story line (had a soggy middle) & a few supporting characters. Also, can I still participate in #NaNoWriMo if it's not a new work?

Any thoughts on how to avoid being distracted by other plot ideas? I tend to have the same problem, or else I go back and tweak prior chapters instead of moving forward...

#5amWritersClub #amwriting Up to 51.7k words on the WIP. Adding new material to avoid doing the latest major revisions on earlier stuff. Switching characters' roles & MC's motivation. Enhanced two minor characters, too. For me, the usual. Too much good stuff to just delete & start over.

#amwriting Didn't plan to join the #5amWritersClub, but my cats thought I should. One's supervising this post now. Not a bad bit of work this morning, though, so maybe these cats are on to something. I'd lost quite a bit--another major revision--but I'm back up to 48k words. Cheers, early birds!

#writingcommunity #amwriting Took a few weeks off after my latest revision to my WIP fizzled out. Went back to my original story idea. Despite cutting a bunch of new stuff, I added more content, so now I'm at almost 44k words, a new record for me. Not 100% sure where it's going, but it's going. 🤔

Is the green emblem some variation of the U.S. Marshall's patch?

Does the iron-on patch on his sleeve say "1789"? What's the significance? I don't recall seeing this on other police uniforms.

#amwriting #writingcommunity Not a great weekend. Only added 1k words to WIP. Lost my mojo. 😐 Realized my cozy mystery was too gritty & spicy to be cozy, & there really wasn't a big mystery to solve. Is my WIP an existential quest? The middle-aged hero's search for his life's meaning? 🤔 Mojo found!

Never been published, so my advice is worth little. Tried to write for 30 years, in fits and starts. My kids are grown & gone, but it's still hard to be a 'writer on the side'. I get an hour in before work while my wife sleeps in. Some weekends, too, 'til my wife figures out I'm not doing chores.

#amwriting #writingcommunity I'm now up to 34.8k words in my WIP. 9 chapters so far at the beginning; just added 3 more towards the end. I have 12 or 15 outlined for the middle. Then 2 or 3 needed to wrap it up. Does anyone else skip around like that? Are most writers more linear? Advice welcome.

#amwriting #writingcommunity Took another short hiatus to restructure & clarify my plot outline. Just wrote a 1000 word scene this A.M. First try at fast-paced, gritty, violent action in this WIP. And it's brilliant, IMHO. My cozy mystery just got a bit dark, though. Perhaps it's only *mostly* cozy.

Congratulations! from someone who is a year older and has published one fewer novels... I wish you continued success!

Thank you for your response. I think my chapters are ending at the appropriate point, though they're sometimes long, like many of my sentences. Thank you for making me feel better about my dialogue-heavy writing. Probably a good technique, as my first person POV narrator tends to be unreliable. 😆

#WritingCommunity Apologies to The Curmudgeon's Corner podcast folks. I didn't see you were using that name. I've changed mine. Cheers!

#amWriting #writing #WritingCommunity Burst of energy: turned 3 more chapters of notes into first draft pages. Had to split a long early chapter. Now at 8 chapters & 24k words. Is 3k words per chapter too much? Lots of dialogue, only some description. Middle-aged characters, so maybe less is more?

#amWriting #writing Absent this past month--death in the family & some unrelated family medical crises. Back on track now. Something to be said for taking a break! I re-read my first 3 chapters: added some details & foreshadowing, clarified the story line, & added a 4th chapter. Now at 18k+ words! 👍

Right there with ya.