'Thinking'

Hmm, yesterday I was sitting in front of the boobtube watching - you guessed it - FOOTBALL!!!! and realized that my last blog was on the first football Sunday of the year. Now, it's not like I only function on football Sundays but the last few weeks, it's been the highlight. Sick, huh.

I'm still trying to wrestle the community of characters into shape on RC. So in addition to eating something that didn't sit well with my stomach all week and pulling a muscle on the treadmill (I told you that would happen), I had to just grit my teeth and plow through all my notes, character sketches, prewritten scenes, to get organized.

I know where it's going, some high points, though I don't know where they'll end up - end of a chapter, end of the book, the second book... My plot is essentially character driven so if I understand my characters' past and present, their paranormal natures and abilites, I'll wing the rest.

In my notes, I came across four scenes that I'd meant to write, so over the weekend I wrote 4000k. God, it was good. Reminded me what I'm preparing to do - and research ain't it.

So what to call my thinking process? I mean it should have a name. It can't really be research when some aspects are totally fiction. Planning seems to involve plotting, and I don't do plotting. Inventing, procrastinating... Then, I remembered that Allison Brennan, a pantser, said she'd been planning her paranormal suspense series for eighteen months! Yowsa! That's a scary thought. But this was done while she was writing her other books and actually it took much longer than that. What did she call her process? Drum roll (bdddDDDDDrrp)

THINKING! (Duh, so much for grandiose terms.) She quoted Steven King who said if there's a simple word for it - use it. Great minds...

Yesterday I brainstormed some titles. A good working title helps me stay focused on the story's theme. Also, finally got everything organized into my Scrivener file. I can promise you it won't be 18 months before I get back into it, more like a month. My new goal is November 1st - the start of NaNoWriMo so I can use the momentum to write a bunch in November.

How many words do you average a day/week/month? How long does it take you to finish a rough draft? I seem to write around 900 words per sitting in sprints, 2500-3000 on good days so I think 1000 a day average would be safe for goal setting. That would be a rough draft in 3-4 months. I could live with that.

On another note, don't forget Castle starts tonight on ABC. And of course, Monday Night Football. (Saints won big time - again - but that's a subject for another blog.)

Castle RENEWED!!

Cool! Castle has been renewed.

It'll be a long summer without getting to watch new shows each week..and enjoy Nathan's hunky self.

Save Castle on ABC

It was love at first sight when I saw Nathan Fillion on Firefly. And now every Monday night I wait for Castle to come on at 9pm central on ABC. I can NOT believe that ABC is about to cancel this show.

Well, I can for a couple reasons. First - Murphy's Law - I like it; my friends like it; my husband likes it. So natch they will cancel it. And it has some kind of sound problem and makes it difficult to catch all the dialogue in one sitting. Seems the pace is a little too quick (commercials too long) to delve into the characters' emotions. But as the season went on it was getting better.

So give the series a second chance! Contact ABC and tell them to save the show. Give your feedback.

I found this hilarious interview on Craig Ferguson's show with Nathan from earlier this month. He shows up in a leather kilt to honor Craig with his third visit. FUNNeey.



Don't forget to contact ABC.