writing group

As the weather has improved I’ve noticed attendance for the weekly write-ins has gone down, with only three of us in attendance today. People are no doubt vacationing and such, but I think there’s also a bit of that “Do I really want to sit in a room and write for three hours when I could be lazing in the sun/swimming/[random sporting activity] instead?”

I once more attempted tackling my Camp NaNoWriMo 2017 project, a 5,000 word short story that would be “spooky.” After a few minutes I tried something I’d done before (but failed to get any traction on): write a story about someone having trouble writing. I even gave it the same title, the ever-so-imaginative “Writer’s Block.”

But this time something clicked and I managed over 2,400 words with a premise that promises to be all sorts of Twilight Zone creepy and out there. If I stay on pace I could conceivably finish the story next week, then have another week to polish it to a brilliant shine. Or at least polish it so its edges can no longer gouge innocent readers.

In all, a successful session and weirdly it wasn’t nearly as cold in the store as the previous session, though both of the other attendees agreed it was still cold.

Also, this particular Waves store moves/removes furniture every week for no reason I can fathom. It’s strange and could be the basis for a weird tale all its own.

Today’s writing group was well-attended despite some SkyTrain shenanigans that delayed the arrival of some. A fire or something fire-like led to service being closed between New West and 22 St. stations, meaning anyone at Columbia had to take a special bus to Edmonds station. For those not familiar with the SkyTrain network, this is what qualifies as a major pain in the butt, especially since we meet at the Waves Coffee one block away from, the New West station.

I only faced the minor inconvenience of getting off at Columbia and having to walk a few extra blocks. I was first to arrive and apparently the drizzly weather was a major turn-off for people as the place was empty (business picked up as we moved into the afternoon).

We had seven total, though one had to leave early for a spontaneous house-viewing (don’t you hate it when that happens? I’m speculating because I never knew such a thing could happen.)

My plan today was to write the chapter where Christian goes to his first AA meeting but despite turning out over 2,000 words he has yet to attend because I found myself putting him through mind games instead. Specifically he can hear what may be the tinkling of the beer bottles in his fridge calling to him. He dismisses the thought and heads off to a local bakery…where he hears the tinkling again.

Then Rachel–from the house party–shows up. I’m not sure what happens yet but I’m eager to find out.

He’ll eventually get to that AA meeting.

I have been subtly reshaping bits of the story to create more ambiguity on whether Christian is actually experiencing things or merely thinking he is because his drinking and current mental state are such that he can never really be sure.

In all, a productive outing. I am still amazed at how gigantic most of the others’ laptops are. One person has a purple Dell laptop that I’m pretty sure you could land a Cessna on. I still think my MacBook Pro at slightly over three pounds could be lighter and these behemoths probably cause permanent damage to your muscle tissue if you actually try placing them on your lap.

Still, if the tool works for you, it works for you.

While the weather was an uncertain mix of cloud, sun, and “will it rain?” (it didn’t, hooray) my writing was a lot more focused and I’m now confident that the first draft as written so far, at around 66,000 words, is basically where it should be, with inconsistencies smoothed over and scenes that no longer fit removed (but put in safe storage for possible use later). The only major piece still left somewhat unresolved is the whole piece that the novel currently takes its name from, namely the closed road and the mysteries of Miller Woods.

Ultimately I don’t want Miller Woods to seem more important than it really is. It’s where the murder victim was buried and another person dies but beyond that it doesn’t serve much purpose in the story. It’s almost a red herring of sort as it stands now, with Christian and Kevin investigating it, trying to find answers, while also grappling with who or what Wendy is.

On the other hand I currently have Christian receive secondhand information from Wendy urging him to go there to find clues to a “dark past”–what he interprets as a possible clue or clues to her murder. And indeed there may be clues there that help lead him to the killer and ultimately closure for Wendy–should he survive (himself).

Anyway, all good food for thought and I’m comfortable with writing the rest of the novel, wrapping the first draft and then letting it sit for a few weeks before plunging back in again.

As for the actual group, two of us were early, three more arrived and it was a quiet but productive session, with lots of typing to be heard. We only had two hours instead of the usual three, so maybe that egged everyone into doing more with the time we had.

I’ve missed making a post or two for the writing group so I’m switching to titles referencing the date as it’s easier to keep track of by my small yet manly brain.

Today I had a case of the blahs. I got there first and early, a second person also showed up early and eventually, we had four, with a fifth arriving midway through.

I read the last few chapters of Road Closed and got caught up on the story, making a few minor tweaks to wording and fixing a few more small continuity errors (I’m pretty sure Wendy now consistently dies in the same year). I got all of this done with plenty of time left in the three- hour WOW (window of writing) but couldn’t muster any real enthusiasm. I switched for a while to rereading some of my last NaNoWriMo effort, Last Exit, but that only left me equally unenthused about it. I read a smidgen of Weirdsmth and nope, still wasn’t feeling anything.

I surfed a little. I went to the bathroom three times. I figured out (again) how to convert straight quotes to smart quotes and actually documented the process so I’ll have reference instead of needing to figure it out all over yet another time.

In the end, I almost wished I had gone for a run instead, as overall it would have been a more productive use of my time. Still, it’s important to keep the habit going, so ultimately it was worth it, if just barely. I did think about inventing an excuse to leave an hour early, though, an option I may keep in mind should I hit a big fat wall of ennui again.

We got into the meeting room early today, yay. Three of us were there at the start, with two slightly late arrivals and one arriving halfway through. Using my amazing math skills, we had a turnout of six.

I came in with no specific plan of action, only knowing I would be fixing more things in Road Closed. Somehow I managed to fix one of the last big remaining lumps in the carpet I’d created. The one vexing me this week was the spooky room in the old house that Christian visits twice for house parties, the first time alone (and drunk), the second with Kevin (and sober).

Initially, I had him discover a room that appeared to be a study, complete with very old Remington typewriter sitting on the desk. He hears or thinks he hears a voice telling him to leave. Spooky.

On the second visit, he meets Brandon, the son of the owners of the house. Brandon tells him the room is Grandpa’s study and Grandpa died a long time ago. The room has been sealed as a kind of memorial. He agrees to unlock it so Christian and Kevin can have a look but refuses to go in himself. Still spooky but it didn’t feel right.

I pondered and then it came to me rather obviously–I had to ditch both Grandpa and the study. Instead, the room becomes a bedroom, one occupied twenty years earlier by Brandon’s aunt–his mother’s sister. Christian doesn’t know it at the time, of course, but he has literally come across Wendy Kerr’s residence and effectively gets her spirit attached to him by entering the room. The proverbial ghost magnet, just as he laments later on in the story. Perfect.

The next lump in the carpet is what to do with Miller Woods. Right now I have it as the place where Wendy was buried and where Simon meets his end. Is there more to it than that? Early parts of the story suggest it has some significance but now I’m not so sure.

Once I resolve the Miller Woods dilemma (MWD) I will have smoothed out everything that seriously bothers me in the first draft and can jump back into finishing the first draft proper. I am cautiously optimistic.

In a highly unusual turn of event the sun came out today and temperatures almost reached seasonal levels. Almost.

Energized by the weird glowing yellow ball in the sky, five of us showed up 15 minutes early, which naturally meant the group in the already in the room was tardy in leaving.

In all, we ended up with eight, which is just enough for everyone to sit at the table. One more and we would have chosen someone to be the outcast sitting on a chair in the corner, Lottery-style. And given the gargantuan size of some of these laptops, I would not want to subject some of my fellow writers to actually using their computers on their laps.

The writing session went fine, too. I immediately jumped in and fixed the problematic house party. Changes made:

• the first house party now has Christian actually go into the basement. It’s no big thing and is thus dealt with as a plot device. I may go back and remove the scene altogether in the second draft.
• the second house party, previously fleshed-out, is now further expanded, by having Christian meet the son of the house’s owners, a young and pensive young man named Brandon. He willingly gives Christian a key to enter the study but refuses to go in (or to say why). I have not finished this scene but it’s clear things are not quite right in the study.

I’ve still got some further work to do in aligning other parts of the story, notably Miller Woods, which comprises a good chunk of it, but I’m confident that even if I don’t come up with fixes that will stay, I’ll be able to get the story as is on a proper course so that I am comfortable expanding it beyond where it leaves off now.

Time will tell, of course.

Today was gray and not especially mild, so it was a good time to be cooped up inside and writing.

I arrived at Waves Coffee early, to find the private room empty. I seized the opportunity to get in early and was already writing away when the next person arrived. In all we ended up with seven once again, though Dave, suffering the ill effects of being ill, came in around 1:15 p.m. Sans laptop, he cracked open a package of new pens, cracked open a new notebook, then proceeded to write faster than I’ve ever seen someone write before. I have no idea what he was writing but it seemed he had pages within seconds. He was handwriting faster than I can type. It was kind of weird.

For today my loose plan was to write the second house party scene of Road Closed, which was only covered in a few brief paragraphs in the original draft. I tweaked it to be the same house as before, with the plan being the party would be a bust (as originally written) but that Christian would seek out and explore the “spooky-ass” basement, which he neglected to do on his first visit, due to his impressive drunkenness.

And indeed I wrote most of the scene, culminating in Kevin and Christian going into the basement. Then nothing much happened. I hinted vaguely at a few things–an old hammer covered with rust–or was it blood? But in the end, it all felt perfunctory and now I question the need for the expanded scene. This isn’t a bad thing, as it provides some clarity to the story, even if I end up chucking thousands of words as a result.

I had time to re-read most of the first house party scene I’d written a few weeks back and I’m pleased with how it holds up. I think there is something definitely in that house, I just haven’t quite figured it out yet.

Except that it’s not in the basement.

I skipped the last writing group because it was held in the amenities room of an apartment building and I wasn’t really sure how it would turn out.

I returned for #11 this week, though, on an unusually pleasant Easter Sunday. Surprisingly, attendance was quite good, perhaps because we’re all too old to go on Easter egg hunts.

I didn’t have a specific goal coming in and was concerned I might end up faffing about for three hours but instead I quickly decided to focus on the opening chapter of Road Closed and tidied it up, removing a big chunk of exposition and smoothing out the introduction to Christian’s new life in a college town. I also began some tentative work on lining up the other earlier parts of the story but that’s still early enough along that I’m not sure where exactly that will go.

I’m basically deciding between a spooky house or spooky woods. Or maybe both.

Overall I was pleased with the work done and Road Closed is now officially my longest piece of fiction at nearly 63,000 words. I have no idea where it will end up by the time I’m done but around 100,000 seems reasonable. It’s like two NaNoWriMo novels smushed together!

Today’s group was a robust group of seven (though no painting was attempted). This was all the more surprising given that it was a rare day, both mild and sunny. Early spring-like, even.

For some reason, the group was especially chatty today (not a problem as I can always don earbuds and type away to my terrible taste in music if I want to avoid distraction). We only had the room for two hours, after which we migrated to the main area of the shop. We shed one person and the remaining six pushed three tables together to reconvene. We actually got much quieter, possibly because the whine of machinery making fancy 750 calorie drinks made regular conversation that much more challenging.

I didn’t do a lot of writing, as expected, but busied myself nipping and tucking bits of Road Closed and finishing up organizing the chapters so I have a better feel for the overall story as it now stands. I’m going to have to make a few big decisions before I continue writing or else resign myself to a massive rewrite instead of a merely big one.

I also spent some time organizing a few of my other unfinished novels (ie. all of them), so while I didn’t bang out a lot of words I still came away feeling I’d made good use of the time.