Reward Systems

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It is painfully obvious that I have trouble sticking to a project. I get frustrated and move on, or I get a shiny new idea and chase it, or I find a solution to a problem in another story and get caught up in that.

So. I need a reward system for working on Narrator. I want this sucker done with. If not by the end of July, then by the end of August – when my friends and I will be having our own version of NaNoWriMo. The goal isn’t so much “50,000 words of a new novel” as it is “finish one of the projects sitting in your sidebar.”

Right now I’m thinking each goal for the reward system is 5,000 words. But I’m still not sure what to reward myself with. A tasty treat? Not good for my diet. Watching an episode of a tv show? Too much of a time suck. An hour at the gym? Hey now, shouldn’t that go the other way…?

What do you guys use to reward good writing behavior? (Or good any behavior, really, I’m not picky.) More importantly: does it work?

Writing Weekend

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Even though I did my taxes this weekend, I still managed to get a lot done on Narrator. The problem with revising is that it’s so slow. Analyzing every sentence, every word. Fixing mistakes, adding new plants and payoffs, cleaning up the language.

There are a bunch of new scenes I need to add and I’m going to – again – change up the ending. I guess I’m just better at writing my way to perfection than planning it all out beforehand.

Do you find revising to be more difficult than writing, or just another type of challenge?

Rechargeable Creativity

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Crazy as it may seem, sometimes the best way to recharge your creative batteries is to work on something else.

But wait, you say. Doesn’t that just use up more of my creative juice? Won’t I be even more burned out?

Answer: not at all. Different characters, different plot, different problems.

What you really need is a break from your novel. Nobody ever defined what that break entails. Maybe it’s listening to music, maybe it’s getting out of the house, maybe it’s reading a good book.

But don’t be afraid to write. Trust me. You’ll feel better working on a different novel than you would sitting around feeling stymied.

The Middle Squared

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That guy on the left? That represents me. That pencil in his hands? That represents revising.

This giant monster of a task that just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

When will it end? I can’t say. Not a specific date anyway. I was hoping for the end of July, but looks like that’s only going to get me to the 3/4 point. Maybe August will fare better.

The good news? I can put The Narrator away for a while to let it marinate.

The bad news? I still have to incorporate the critiques from my writing group.

The worse news? It’ll be that much longer until I can begin querying agents or publishers.

All I know is, I can’t wait to be in the Middle of a new project.

Expanding Your Story

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Have you ever received the comment, “you need to expand this?”

Sometimes it’s a good reminder. When you’re writing, your mind flies so much faster than your hand. You might have left out sentences that could help the reader follow the action.

But sometimes you feel that you have nothing to expand. Maybe you wrote twice as much description as you normally do, or you wrote every thought your character had. What’s left to expand?

Part of my revision this time around is focused on expanding what I already have. Mostly this involves adding new scenes and extending old ones.

I like to write concisely, so expanding can be a difficult task for me.

How do you expand your story?

Do Over

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Make the revisions stop!

Hopefully this is the last time I have to re-plot The Narrator before I send it out to beta readers. I’m getting sick of re-plotting it, but I know the story is benefiting from it!

If you know anything about the protagonist’s inner and outer desires, excuse the quick explanation. The outer desire is what they want, and is usually selfish; the inner desire is what they need, usually unknown, and is usually unselfish. To create a great protagonist, these desires need to be in opposition.

I came up with the perfect set for Prince Calder. His outer desire is to go on adventures and be a hero; his inner desire is to control his own life. Normally those go hand in hand. But with an omniscient, powerful narrator as your antagonist? Holy crap, you’re screwed.

If you go on adventures and are a hero, you’re not really controlling your life because you’re falling into what the narrator wants. If you don’t, you are controlling your life but you’re very unhappy. And probably no longer qualify as the protagonist!

Unfortunately, this revelation also means that my progress bar reset to 0. The first quarter of the revision should go pretty fast, since the content is similar, but it’ll slow down as I expand or totally re-write the rest of the novel.

I Am Stuck

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Revising is hard. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

In between writing bouts for Screnzy, I’ve been trying to revise my NaNoWriMo novel. Ha.

I want to change like, half of it, but getting up the nerve to actually buckle down? My mind instantly rebels and runs back to Screnzy to crank out a few more pages. That’s not what you’d call the best progress.

I’ve managed to storyboard the thing, but I’m not super happy with how it looks at this point. I might end up tossing out the end and free-writing again to see where it takes me. I hate when I have an absolute ending in mind and can’t for the life of me figure out how to get there.

  • Welcome

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    Hi, I'm Jenn, new grad student and old YA fantasy writer. I've long dreamed of being a novelist, and I bet you have too. I hope you find my blog helpful, inspiring, and maybe just a little bit fun. (But not too much fun. Writing is serious business, you know.)

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    jennifer.a.johnson7 at gmail dot com

  • Official Progress


    4/21 segments

    A narrator hijacks a cliche fantasy story, much to the chagrin of its characters.

    Status: Second revision



    1,639/70,000 words
    A young noblewoman with strange powers must choose: her king or her soul.

    Status: First draft



    1,087/70,000 words
    When a girl's heart is stolen, she's plunged into a world of magic and shadows - but can she get her heart back before she loses it completely?

    Status: First draft





  • All writing, unless otherwise specified, is the property of
    Jennifer Johnson © 2010