Tag: Editing

3. Wednesday · Me And Mine

Quick Catch Up

paulaacton9 Comments

First apologies yet again for going quiet but as you will see have been busy editing videos. Second has anyone else ended up on the blue screen to write a new post I don’t like it and want my normal one back.

This weekend saw our first event with our new work charity partner, this year the Huddersfield Down Syndrome Support Group get our support and a great day was had by all but you don’t have to take my word for it watch the video I shall post at the end of this post.

I also got to collect my T-Shirts that were my reward for pledging as part of a Kickstarter to save one of our local shops, I was guilty of one of the greatest crimes effecting small businesses, apathy, I always assumed the shop would be there, I would see something I liked but put it off for the next payday, luckily our shop was saved and hopefully we have all learnt that very important lesson “Use it or Lose it!” For my Tees I got one Doctor Who one and another which I designed from the Charity Anthology cover…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And yes I know after a weekend in a bag I should have ironed them before taking the pictures lol

A quiet week this week for me playing catch up with writing and house work before getting excited for the athletics next week!

Back to the Grindstone
Editing · Research · WIP Wednesday

Back to the Grindstone

paulaacton8 Comments

As you all know me so well it will come as no surprise that a week after my op I have already turned on the computer and started back at work even if tentatively.

I want to thank everyone for their support, prayers and warm wishes over the past week and I am positive all the positive energy that has been coming my way has helped my recovery begin so speedily.

I am determined to get back into writing everyday as soon as possible and to that end have actually played around with a great NaNo Tool that Svenja Liv has provided on her website for free.  You can find her http://svenjaliv.com/2012/10/nanowrimo-2012-word-trackers/  She provides amazing spreadsheets for every aspect of NaNo but for me I have adapted the word tracker one for use monthly to keep track of not only what I am doing but how much time and energy I am spending on it.  For example if I post 500 words onto a blog post for a day then I shall take those words into account.  Likewise should I prepare extra posts ahead of time one day I shall recognise that and then look to see how if affects my actual writing, will it mean on days with no posts to write that I write more or does it mean on those days I am lazy.  It is in part a study of my own writing habits to see how I can best utilise my time and energy to gain the best results.

For someone like me who loves lists and being able to keep  track of what is going on this is wonderful and the fact this amazing person is generous to share their work for free makes it so much easier for someone like me who has only just learnt what a spreadsheet is lol.

Apart from two pulls on a cig a couple of days ago I am not doing too badly at stopping smoking I am torn between using the money saved from smoking on here making this my own domain and on actually buying Scrivener although I still have about ten days free to go yet.  I am also tempted to blow some of the money on something really frivolous I just haven’t decided what yet.

Any how back to editing on the Woca Short Story for today.

The Muse · Thoughts on thursday

Banging My Head off the Wall

paulaacton7 Comments

Woohoo I got my 100th followers thankyou so much to all of you who visit, like and comment.  I still have some blogs to revisit and some to explore more fully I will get there I promise.

 

Tonight the house has been turned upside down by the new arrival Patch and I do have lots of pics I shall post soon.  But for tonight it is the frustration of writing which is on my mind.  Am a few chapters away from the end of the first draft of the novel and have hit a little wall.  If I am honest it is the first one I have hit so I probably shouldn’t complain.  Don;t get me wrong its not as if I don;t know where the story is going or anything like that it is just a few paragraphs I just don’t seem to be able to get to sound how I want.  Three times I started wrote the first few paragraphs of the chapter in question then deleted them all. Then about a dozen times I wrote the first couple of lines and hit you guessed it the good old delete button.

 

I left it went off did other things went back to it repeated all the above steps.  Finally I bit the bullet and wrote without hitting delete am still not happy with it but have decided to leave it till the next draft to worry about it and move on.  I guess as i am new to the whole novel writing process I am asking for advice, is this normal? Will it all sort itself in the editing? What do you do when your muse has buggered off to the pub and left you home alone?

Highs and Lows · Thoughts on thursday

Wet Weather Greetings

paulaacton9 Comments

Well yet another day of rain.  Is it just me or does the sight of grey miserable skies diminish creativity? Or maybe it is simply that a stir crazy toddler desperate to run free does not leave my brain time to wander.  Right now we are sat watching yet another Thomas the Tank Engine Dvd and I will confess I am rapidly reaching the point where a ten train pile up on Sodor is getting rather appealing. 

 

I just want to take a few seconds here to thank everyone who is dropping by to check out my posts and those special few especially who have deemed what I write worth following.  It may seem strange that having the approval of people who I may never cross paths with matters so much but it does.  Family and friends although honest in some cases can also be guilty of sugar coating their words and in one or two cases give undue praise. To have someone who does not know you or have any vested interest in keeping you happy give you their approval validates your ability to produce something worth reading.  I also want to thank here my fb friends who are reading along with my novel as I write it for their patience and faith in me each of them was selected for their knowledge and the fact they are some of the people I know are capable of being brutally honest with me lol and I love them all the more for it.

I had hoped to complete another chapter this morning but with Thomas tooting in the background and the toddler demanding I pay attention to Toby this does not look likely. Instead I sit here typing a few words at a time between interruptions.  The novel is nearing completion then I start the process of editing not something I am looking forward to.  I have always known how and where this novel would end but as I draw closer to writing those lines I find myself putting it off a little. Is this normal? Or should I be racing towards it ready to start another journey? Its my first novel so I really have no idea how I should feel about this. I don’t even know if there is a normal maybe every book is different I know there are some of you reading this far more qualified to answer that question.