What are you Writing?

[AmateisGal]

My reward is to carve out at least an hour and smoke a cigar.

That works, too!

 

[AmateisGal]

So I'm going to try this program mentioned in this post at Writer Unboxed (which is a fabulous blog for writers): http://writerunboxed.com/2016/01/07/this-is-your-brain-on-brain-fm/

I have a hard time concentrating sometimes (honestly, I think there really is something to how our brains are "re-wiring" themselves due to the Internet, as in we are constantly changing tasks and clicking on different websites and Twitter and FB, etc., which is a whole 'nother topic) and this program might be just the ticket.

I plan to work on the novel today (in between searching for a new house - we are renting and very ready to buy, but finding what we need is a challenge since hubby is a car guy and needs room!).

 

[belfastboy]

So I'm going to try this program mentioned in this post at Writer Unboxed (which is a fabulous blog for writers): http://writerunboxed.com/2016/01/07/this-is-your-brain-on-brain-fm/

I have a hard time concentrating sometimes (honestly, I think there really is something to how our brains are "re-wiring" themselves due to the Internet, as in we are constantly changing tasks and clicking on different websites and Twitter and FB, etc., which is a whole 'nother topic) and this program might be just the ticket.

I plan to work on the novel today (in between searching for a new house - we are renting and very ready to buy, but finding what we need is a challenge since hubby is a car guy and needs room!).

Thank you, a website such as this is exactly what I have been desiring just have not bothered to begin the search.. You just saved me a ton of time and a huge distraction that I would use to take me away from actually writing. Thank you!!!

 

[AmateisGal]

Thank you, a website such as this is exactly what I have been desiring just have not bothered to begin the search.. You just saved me a ton of time and a huge distraction that I would use to take me away from actually writing. Thank you!!!

Oh, you're very welcome!!! I was around when this site started probably 10 years ago or so, and it has really developed into an amazing site. Tons of terrific writing advice on everything from craft to the business side. An agent, Donald Maass, also blogs once a month here. Definitely one of the best writing sites around.

 

[MikeKardec]

So I'm going to try this program mentioned in this post at Writer Unboxed (which is a fabulous blog for writers): http://writerunboxed.com/2016/01/07/this-is-your-brain-on-brain-fm/

I have a hard time concentrating sometimes (honestly, I think there really is something to how our brains are "re-wiring" themselves due to the Internet, as in we are constantly changing tasks and clicking on different websites and Twitter and FB, etc., which is a whole 'nother topic) and this program might be just the ticket.

I plan to work on the novel today (in between searching for a new house - we are renting and very ready to buy, but finding what we need is a challenge since hubby is a car guy and needs room!).

The internet is the equivalent of having a five year old in the house!

I'm a car guy and have the whole place torn up to build extra parking. I keep looking lustfully at my neighbor's house and hoping he'll decide to move. That would be crazy expensive (like take-my-blood expensive) but it would solve a lot of other problems.

 

[AmateisGal]

The internet is the equivalent of having a five year old in the house!

I'm a car guy and have the whole place torn up to build extra parking. I keep looking lustfully at my neighbor's house and hoping he'll decide to move. That would be crazy expensive (like take-my-blood expensive) but it would solve a lot of other problems.

We went and looked at a place today that had two separate garages - perfect for hubby! Unfortunately, the house was NOT perfect. It was horrible.

We are seriously thinking of building at this point.

 

[MikeKardec]

We went and looked at a place today that had two separate garages - perfect for hubby! Unfortunately, the house was NOT perfect. It was horrible.

We are seriously thinking of building at this point.

You're scaring me ... no wait, it's the idea of building that's scaring me. I've only done remodels and building scares me. How about finding a great place and just building the mother of all garages?

 

[AmateisGal]

You're scaring me ... no wait, it's the idea of building that's scaring me. I've only done remodels and building scares me. How about finding a great place and just building the mother of all garages?

Finding a house with room to build such a garage is the tough part. This town has a really tight market and since we're on a budget, it's making things even more difficult. There were stories last year of people putting houses on the market and them selling within a day or less.

It comes down to this: what I want and what he want are two different things. I want a nice, updated house - new windows, etc., but HE wants, as you said, the mother of all garages. Finding something that works for both of us and that we can actually afford is almost impossible.

I blame my husband for not buying a lottery ticket last week. If he had, why, all our troubles would be over! LOL (I wish!)

 

[MikeKardec]

He could use some of that engineering ability to figure out how to build the compact mother of all garages ... perhaps the aunt of all garages. Seriously, building is always insanely more expensive than you planned and you have to live somewhere while you do it. You also have to be sure sure sure you do it right or plan for expansion or change adequately because it's a great opportunity but totally exhausting (think moving times 1000) and you'll probably never do it again. The amount of time it takes to finish off a new home is unbelievably aggravating.

The only people I know who haven't been stressed to the max were some friends who ordered one of those log cabin kits. It was completely built in a warehouse, everything buttoned up then it was disassembled and shipped to them on a truck. They reassembled it an a week or two on a foundation they already had poured and BAM they had a house!

It didn't even look much like a "log cabin" because the logs were stripped and squared and the jointed ends were covered. They used a lot of craftsman details and the price even with the foundation was pretty reasonable. I was very impressed. I thought it might be a good way to build a stone first floor log second floor "Tyrolean" style home too ... but that's me planning something I'll never do. Anyway, it's the only sort of pre fab home I've ever seen that allowed to complete customization (you could get anything you wanted) and was SOLID when it was finished. I used to live in about the nicest conventional prefab I have ever seen (built for the owner of a huge golf resort) ... a house that came in on two semis and went up in a month and, as fancy as it was, it was NOTHING compared to some of those pre build cabins I've seen when it came to feeling strong and immovable. My mother lives in an updated (new windows, insulated roof) 1880s log cabin in Colorado and it's funky but you'd never say it was hard to heat!

 

[AmateisGal]

We finally came to an agreement: hubby is going to rent a shop with a few other guys, and that frees up the houses that will work for us. Unfortunately, what he wants, we can't afford. So, for now, we'll buy a nice house that will not stretch our finances, and then in a few years, who knows? We might be in a position to get that nice acreage on the outskirts of town.

I like the idea of building, but the reality? I probably wouldn't handle it well at all.

 

[AmateisGal]

I had a glorious writing session last night. You know, those kind where you're in flow and you don't even know what time it is? THAT. And it comes so rarely nowadays that when I manage to do it, I get the best natural high in the world. Pure bliss.

 

[Helena Grace]

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why 'benzadmiral' sounded so familiar. Solo, I quickly recognised - but it wasn't until I went back and was actually watching the next episode I've not seen that I finally realised it was from the blog I had been referred to a year or so back. Incredibly intriguing - whenever I finish the series I fully intend to read everything there.

That however, is completely beside the point.

Right now, I am writing a murder oneshot that I plan to expand into a novel sometime if I can balance my inability to write reality with my desire to write the characters with the other plot points I'd like to merge the murder with. and at the same time, I'm struggling to write the next chapter of my fantasy novel.

However, I wanted to thank you immensely for this thread. I have gotten many good tips from it - and I hope to perhaps make some progress and stop putting off writing. Worldbuilding is all well and good - but in the end, serves no purpose if one doesn't write.

.....unless one is Tolkien, I suppose. That worldbuilding I won't argue with in the slightest.

 

[Bushman]

I had a glorious writing session last night. You know, those kind where you're in flow and you don't even know what time it is? THAT. And it comes so rarely nowadays that when I manage to do it, I get the best natural high in the world. Pure bliss.

I love when that happens. I remember during a Writing and Rhetoric final last year, the final was a free write. You could leave when you were done. I sat down in front of that computer, and just typed and typed and typed. When I finished, I remember looking away from the computer screen and everyone had gone. I was the only one who stayed and used the full hour.

 

[AmateisGal]

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why 'benzadmiral' sounded so familiar. Solo, I quickly recognised - but it wasn't until I went back and was actually watching the next episode I've not seen that I finally realised it was from the blog I had been referred to a year or so back. Incredibly intriguing - whenever I finish the series I fully intend to read everything there.

That however, is completely beside the point.

Right now, I am writing a murder oneshot that I plan to expand into a novel sometime if I can balance my inability to write reality with my desire to write the characters with the other plot points I'd like to merge the murder with. and at the same time, I'm struggling to write the next chapter of my fantasy novel.

However, I wanted to thank you immensely for this thread. I have gotten many good tips from it - and I hope to perhaps make some progress and stop putting off writing. Worldbuilding is all well and good - but in the end, serves no purpose if one doesn't write.

.....unless one is Tolkien, I suppose. That worldbuilding I won't argue with in the slightest.

Yay! Welcome to the Lounge! Glad to have you aboard.

 

[AmateisGal]

I love when that happens. I remember during a Writing and Rhetoric final last year, the final was a free write. You could leave when you were done. I sat down in front of that computer, and just typed and typed and typed. When I finished, I remember looking away from the computer screen and everyone had gone. I was the only one who stayed and used the full hour.

I love this story!

 

[Helena Grace]

Yay! Welcome to the Lounge! Glad to have you aboard.

*cturseys* Gramercy! Thank you - I've thought about it for a while, and finally just made the account. *smiles* It is quite fun to read through here!

 

[Fading Fast]

Does this happen to you?

I live in a coop and the Board President asked to run a few ideas by me before the annual Shareholder meeting (I'm not on the Board or anything, just a resident). When I made some suggestions for her speech - she showed me a copy - she asked if I might "jot a few talking points down" for her. After seeing what she had - which was a mess - a very smart woman and outstanding Board President, but not a writer - I offered to tweak her speech and add in the talking points we discussed. Three days of back and forth later, I had completed her speech.

I was glad to do it, but wondered if I wasn't a bit bamboozled* as she knows I write, so I'm thinking she might have played me well. No harm, just wonder if this happens to some of you - do people, friends, colleagues look to get you to write for them?

* Note to self: Post "Bamboozle" in "Terms Which Have Disappeared" thread.

 

[AmateisGal]

Does this happen to you?

I live in a coop and the Board President asked to run a few ideas by me before the annual Shareholder meeting (I'm not on the Board or anything, just a resident). When I made some suggestions for her speech - she showed me a copy - she asked if I might "jot a few talking points down" for her. After seeing what she had - which was a mess - a very smart woman and outstanding Board President, but not a writer - I offered to tweak her speech and add in the talking points we discussed. Three days of back and forth later, I had completed her speech.

I was glad to do it, but wondered if I wasn't a bit bamboozled* as she knows I write, so I'm thinking she might have played me well. No harm, just wonder if this happens to some of you - do people, friends, colleagues look to get you to write for them?

* Note to self: Post "Bamboozle" in "Terms Which Have Disappeared" thread.

Ok, for a second, I was confused as to to the "coop" word - I read it as coop and not co-op.

Anyway!

People often send me things to look at and I make suggestions - but don't usually end up writing the entire thing (though maybe my suggestions politely suggest they rewrite the entire thing!).

 

[Fading Fast]

Ok, for a second, I was confused as to to the "coop" word - I read it as coop and not co-op.

Anyway!

People often send me things to look at and I make suggestions - but don't usually end up writing the entire thing (though maybe my suggestions politely suggest they rewrite the entire thing!).

Did you think I was living in a chicken coop? My fault, the correct way is how you spelled it, but in NYC, since the context is there, "coop" is used a lot.

 

[AmateisGal]

Did you think I was living in a chicken coop? My fault, the correct way is how you spelled it, but in NYC, since the context is there, "coop" is used a lot.

Yeah, for a minute there, I was confused as to your true living arrangements! LOL!