Watcha Writin'?

Day 2: 650 words total
Not much new written today, but at last I have a title [Underneath the Unicorn Moon], my main character has tried on a dozen names, the harbor has had three names, the tavern two. A smattering of support characters have shown up. When my antagonist sailed by with a masthead of a black, snarling sea serpent, this induced an idea for my main character's masthead: a golden unicorn. This in turn inspired the story's title and inspired a pantheon of astrological symbols: eaglet, cat, locust, salmon, dragon, dog, doppelganger, viper, monkey, unicorn, crow, vulture.
 
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Day 3: 800 words total
Still not much writing qua writing. :dunno: I'm working more on world building, :badcomp:
Dryads are now my underclass of laborers. :hammer: They're also the ubiquitous race upriver from the harbor in the Everglades.
The way from the harbor back to the Stonehart Empire is southwest across the pirate-plagued Crimson Sea and then around the Cape of Storms. :scared:
A theme of th story will be the merciless Stonehart Empire vs. the gentle dryads. :popcorn:
 
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Day 5: 1176 total words
I'd tried playing Crossroad Inn [the game which inspired Underneath the Unicorn Moon], but altho I could erase things, I couldn't build them, so I gave up.
This morning, "The Pit" a DLC I had already paid for, launched. :) Since then, the game has only frozen or crashed. :cry:
However, Underneath the Unicorn Moon is not a fan fiction of Crossroad Inn, it is merely inspired by it. So no biggie.
 
I have just signed up for a free, intermediate writing workshop offered by Writers of the Future. Judges are Orson Scott Card, David Farland, and Tim Powers. https://www.writersofthefuture.com/register/online-workshop/
Who's with me? :grouphug:

Here's their pitch. :yup:
They don't say when it starts or ends.

I've met Orson Scott Card. He's a jerk. Of course I didn't tell my sociology instructor that (they were related - cousins, or uncle/nephew; I don't remember).
 
Day 6. 1300 words.
Unhappy with Underneath the Unicorn Moon, I'm trying to morph it into a comedy Underneath the Hyena Moon. :badcomp:
 
Day 8: 1532 words

After the first couple of paragraphs, my comedy Underneath the Hyena Moon, lost its funny. :cry:

Plus, its prose reads really rough now, like riding down a dirt road, :wallbash:
 
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After the first couple of paragraphs, my comedy Underneath the Hyena Moon, lost its funny. :cry:

Plus, its prose reads really rough now, like riding down a dirt road, :wallbash:
So what you're saying is, you went out for a giggle and wound up on Hyena Road? :mischief:
 
At least you're working; it's been ages since I've managed any progress on what I entered this thread with. :aargh:
 
I finished Chapter 3. :w00t:

While I'm waiting on my beta-readers to get back on it (I probably made a thousand misteaks), I decided to go and get a head-start on Chapter 4. For some reason it's a lot easier to start an entirely new scene than to re-write an old one.
 
At least you're working; it's been ages since I've managed any progress on what I entered this thread with. :aargh:
When I moved to the Philippines a decade ago, I was paralyzed by writer's block. :badcomp: What finally saved me was fan fiction.:yup:

My first story was Casablanca told from Yvonne's point of view. (In my version, the Nazis were extorting her into spying for them.) Having a pre-constructed world, pre-constructed characters, etc. finally eased me into writing--which is the secret to breaking out of writer's block. You must write. For a year, I wrote nothing but fan fiction: Pirates of the Caribbean, Terry Pratchett, the Incredibles, the Wizard of Oz, etc,
 
I'm back to tinkering with "Cursed Voyage of the Sky Ship Prodigal Lady." :badcomp:
2324 words in 1 1/2 chapters.
The reason my world has turned to sky ships is the oceans are unnavigateable due to giant waves.
Even though I have failed at every "noir" attempt I've made, I'm trying again here. :wallbash:
I still don't yet know this story's theme :sad: except of course, a noir is always about fall of the main character & deterioration of morals
 
When I moved to the Philippines a decade ago, I was paralyzed by writer's block. :badcomp: What finally saved me was fan fiction.:yup:
It's funny because this basically is fan fiction. :lol:
 
I'm keep tinkering with "Cursed Voyage of the Sky Ship Prodigal Lady." :badcomp: My main character is about to land on my sky ship for the first time. :)
2600 words in 1 4/5 chapters.
I'm am really enamored with world building. :love: My world is reminiscent 0f Earthsea, but where LeGuin's oceans are placid, mine rage, :gripe:forcing commerce off the ocean's surface and into the air. I'm eschewing most high fantasy memes (e.g. elves and dwarfs) and instead am using e.g. a sasquatch, birds, and a whale-sized eel. I've already mentioned I've christened my story an "electro-punk," a medieval world but with electric engines, tasers, and electromagnetic locks. Holy magic can manipulate electricity. :yeah:

My story's theme, if any, keeps eluding me. :dunno: It should parallel the oceans' rage and the desperation of my main character, an abandoned and love sick priestess.

Ooh, new idea. :woohoo:In Chapter 3, the Temple will send an inquisitor after my main character.
:badcomp: 2774 words in 2+ chapters.
 
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After announcing that I was taking the week off about half a day shy of my last deadline, I am progressing well and should meet this week's. Pro tip: do not play two games of mafia at the same time if you are wanting to get anything done...or keep track of what day it is for that matter.
 
3922 total words in 2 3/4 chapters of my Cursed Voyage story. :) My fugitive priestess is safely aboard my sky ship. My scummy inquisitor is off in pursuit of her. :satan: He is currently ogling a buxom serving wench :groucho: as he tries to figure out how to cross the dread Sea of Fury. :scared:

I am smugly patting myself on the back for giving over all of Chapter 3 to him. I noticed I have a tendency to lock my POV on my main character, which strangles the possibility of subplots. However now, we can see the prey with the predator closing in. :popcorn:
 
Day 16. 4600 words as Chapter 3 of Cursed Voyage is finished. :thumbsup:
I went back, reread the beginning of Unicorn Moon, and moved it into storage. I don't think this can be fixed. :badcomp:

A month and a half before the next entry into the Writers of the Future Contest is due.

Edit: I'd planned my futuristic swashbuckler Comes Erebus to be 20,000 words. In mid-Chapter 5, it's 7,500. My plan is during the next 6 weeks to ease it back to less than 17,000. :yeah:
 
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Successfully hit my deadline last week and quality was up, so the week off paid off.
 
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