What are you writing about now?

[david_wendelken]

Figured out the missing piece that makes our starting good guy transform into a very evil one and worked it into the last chapter.

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

I recently found out about this and made a post about it on Tumblr, and thought I would share it here as well.

 

[WatcherWraith]

Why, thank you!

 

[Ent]

Well. I'm not currently writing on my own stuff, while I think through the various ways of setting parts of it up as articles for publication in various Journals - there are a wide range of potential places and approaches - to 'get the information out there' as the book itself unfolds.

So... in the meantime I'm also back to editing - this time, an interesting article - a work on Muhammed and the veracity of his validity as being a true 'prophet of God' (or not).

A subject I've done some small research on myself in the past, so yet another 'item of interest' for me to assist with.

Also still doing quite a bit of reading, gathering pertinent information for my work.
Bizzy, bizzy, bizzy. Seems to be the name of the game.

 

[david_wendelken]

Well. I'm not currently writing on my own stuff, while I think through the various ways of setting parts of it up as articles for publication in various Journals - there are a wide range of potential places and approaches - to 'get the information out there' as the book itself unfolds.

Getting out bits of the story in various locations is a good way to build interest in the bigger work. Gets your name out and other people excited about your concepts. If you tie that in with a website of your own that will capture their email info, you can use those emails to market to when the time comes to publish.

For those of us telling stories, it might be a good place to put those short-story sized bits that we write but then discard as they don't fit the book's plot (but do fit the character's personalities and life stories).

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

I've made a really nice progress on my newest story. I've posted the first chapter, but I've withheld from posting the rest publicly. I think I will resume that after finishing my first arc of the story which isn't far away. Though perhaps due to it containing more action scenes, it might take longer to write.

 

[Vardarianna]

I'm writing up an alternate timeline version of my fanfic, which I have yet to share here despite prepping the threads.

In my original, I used the 'estimated' year of Eldorian's birth of year 30 of the 4th age. With the release of NoME and the 'ageing' part laying out a different year for Eldarion (year 1, which changes Arwen's rate of ageing from Elven to Mortal), I've come up with a totally different tragic tale to tell. I plan on sharing them both here in time.

 

[david_wendelken]

Book One in the series, 39 chapters first-draft ready, 5 chapters with solid progress in them, and about 8 additional chapters to write.

332 pages at the moment, I expect it will end up about that size when done, as a quite a few pages will be pruned out when I turn the appendix with the detailed timeline into a summary one.

Then comes a whole lot of editing!

I am seriously happy with my progress. I'm knocking out one to two chapters a week. That's very exciting!

I'm continuing to learn new ideas to write faster and/or better.

The latest productivity technique, which is working splendidly , is called "orc writing" by my mentor. Pick a scenario idea (or idea fragment) you've had for your book (regardless of where it should be placed in the book), set the timer for 7 minutes, and write as fast and hard as you can. No editing, no wordsmithing, no fact checking. Just write. Don't worry about showing vs telling. Don't worry about exposition vs action vs dialogue. Just slam into that scene as hard and fast as you can.

Now, I'm not a fast typist at my best, and with a bit of arthritis and an injured hand, I'm not even close to my best, so I set my timer for 10 minutes to compensate for that.

I have been extremely pleased with the results.

I usually get a solid start on a scene I had no clear idea of how to begin writing on. Yeah, I have to do all that wordsmithing and such afterwards, but I'll tell you, it's one heck of a lot easier to edit something I've already written than it is to edit something I haven't written!

If two or more scenes are near one another in the storyline, I often just need to write a transition from the prior scene/setting, a transition between them, and a resolution/transition after the final scene in the chapter, and the chapter is done. If the chapter needs 3 scenes, that's just one extra scene and one extra transition.

What's more, the act of filling in the blanks on what happened in those scenes often reveals what should happen in other scenes I haven't yet written!

I'm hoping to have the first draft of Book One ready by the end of September 2025, end of October at the latest.

 

[david_wendelken]

I got a free credit to try the new Manuscript Analysis feature in the ProWritringAid software.

I have to say, I'm impressed. It did a very good job. Made some (small) mistakes, but it provided some solid analysis in a helpful format.

 

[david_wendelken]

Finished the first draft of another chapter this morning. The Two Tales in Volume 1 are now properly intertwined. Yeah!!

 

[david_wendelken]

Made a good start on the next chapter today. (It was a great writing day.) Our heroine is transforming from naive and passive girl into a woman who is beginning to embody one of my favourite quotes:

”People speak of hope as if it is this delicate, ephemeral thing made of whispers and spider's webs. It's not. Hope has dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, the grit of the cobblestones in her hair, and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go.”

 

[david_wendelken]

In Volume One, my protagonist and antagonist tales are now properly intertwined. Even better, their future mutual opposition is personal at a gut level. They both have an understanding of the other that their counterpart won't grasp, that's partly correct and part misconception.

In Volumes Two and Four, their lives become even more intertwined without either knowing why or how. I'm getting a glimmer of how they will become even more entangled in Volume Five, the final one in the series. I'll know when I know, and not one paragraph earlier.

I'm really excited!

41 chapters at first draft, 6 with a solid start, and circa 8 more to write from scratch. (And then the editing, of course.)

 

[WatcherWraith]

Sounds like your tale's really coming along! Congratulations!

 

[david_wendelken]

42 chapters at first draft, 5 with a solid start, and circa 7 more to write from scratch. (And then the editing, of course.)

Our heroine just (metaphorically) spit out a tooth and stood up for another go.

 

[david_wendelken]

Another chapter finished!

 

[david_wendelken]

We've got tradespeople over today working on the gas lines and kitchen. Banging, clattering, and asking me questions instead of my wife. Arrrgh!

Making no progress on new writing, but at least I'm fixing a bunch of grammar errors.

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

I am still working on I Will Hold Your Hand Again (IWH). I have just posted Chapter 4. Though my story is still not complete: there will be a final 'epilogue' chapter after this.

Fanfic - I Will Hold Your Hand Again

I Will Hold Your Hand Again (A companion story to The Works of Curufinwë) by S.R.G. The first two chapters are set during Curufin's life in Valinor. The rest of the story is set far in the future, after the events of the books, and can be read as an epilogue to The Works of Curufinwë. 1...

thetolkien.forum

IWH is a companion story to my other fanfiction, The Works of Curufinwë, which expands on the story of Curufin and Celebrimbor found in the Silmarillion, and retells it from their point(s) of view.

Chapters 1 and 2 of IWH focus on Curufin's family life in Valinor, and his separation from his wife after the Darkening. Chapters 3 and onwards form a sort of conclusion for Curufin's story as a whole, with the primary focus on his relationship with his wife and son.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I am still working on I Will Hold Your Hand Again (IWH). I have just posted Chapter 4. Though my story is still not complete: there will be a final 'epilogue' chapter after this.

Fanfic - I Will Hold Your Hand Again

I Will Hold Your Hand Again (A companion story to The Works of Curufinwë) by S.R.G. The first two chapters are set during Curufin's life in Valinor. The rest of the story is set far in the future, after the events of the books, and can be read as an epilogue to The Works of Curufinwë. 1...

thetolkien.forum

IWH is a companion story to my other fanfiction, The Works of Curufinwë, which expands on the story of Curufin and Celebrimbor found in the Silmarillion, and retells it from their point(s) of view.

Chapters 1 and 2 of IWH focus on Curufin's family life in Valinor, and his separation from his wife after the Darkening. Chapters 3 and onwards form a sort of conclusion for Curufin's story as a whole, with the primary focus on his relationship with his wife and son.

Looking forward to reading it when I have brain cells to spare! (That might not be for a while though...)

 

[Ent]

Update on the Ent's writing: There is none.
Heavily involved in restructuring and downsizing everything over this next year in preparation for retirement.
The ole heartwood just can't handle all the tendrils pertaining to 'life' at the same time any more.

SO... the question becomes, will there be writing in the future? Or, should I look for a likely suspect who agrees with, and can pick up the handle of, the work I have started.

I have (literally) 1.5 thousand books I've not yet read, and would like to before I become beauty bark...
What "season of life" do I want to be my final "season" given things as they now stand?
Time will tell.

I find it questionable, therefore, to continue considering myself an appropriate "encourager" of the writer, or user of a thread titled "What are you writing about now?"

(Unless of course the occasional essay, or poem, or "Ent Tale" on the Discord, or such things continues to qualify.)

I'm even finding it difficult to complete this last item I have in hand to edit for @1stvermont - though it's on a subject of great interest to me.
But I WILL get that done... just need to make it through the next two weeks here, laden with things being offloaded on behalf of the Ent-sons, as they begin participating in my move toward truly being 'retired' from the dogged pursuit of 'more income' to sustain my 'expense' levels.

(i.e. expenses are being assiduously and intentionally eliminated at this time. The good news - there are no 'debts' to deal with....haven't been for years. So what are the 'expenses' ? Oh... did I mention the Entwife and I are somewhat aged? Thus, insurances. And, unloading stuff to the sons? Call it multiple cars in our name, now becoming theirs, they can fund the insurances for. And, did I say something about 1.5 thousand unread books? Hint... and so forth.)

Anyway, seasons, seasons... the leaves grown and used in each season differ somewhat - a little known fact. And the sustainable twigs decline, with some breaking off. And the heartwood asks: what energy should I expend, knowing the depth and breadth of what I'd LIKE to see done.

My writing projects - the big ones - are both well beyond my available years. They would best be handled by another who can sustain them better.

We shall see. If I can find no one else, perhaps I'll finish the first book anyway. It may itself attract a successor, who knows.

 

[WatcherWraith]

I sincerely hope you do find a successor, Ent. It would be a shame to see your work fade into the falling leaves.