M. Arbon's Blog

I'm Bad at Blogging (and short on fiction-writing time as it is), so I won't be continuing this, but I'm @m_arbon over at Twitter if you'd like to see what I'm up to.

Words this week: 2830
Stories finished: 1
Research: Holi, prices of vintage clothing, stain removal, names for colours
Stuff I learned: The 1812 Overture is actually called The Year 1812

Words this week: 2,169
Stories finished: 1
Stories started: 1
Favourite line: "Jale waved at the barmaid, who slithered over to take their order."

Words this week: 3765
Words I apparently don't know how to spell: Algorithm
Life experience mined: World of Warcraft
Things I made up to amuse myself: buttercup mead, long-term repeatable quest involving sauerkraut

Words this week: 1,646
Terms stolen from another writer: Vat-grown meat (thank you, Lois McMaster Bujold)
Research: Foldable bowls, genus of cinnamon
Things I'm writing about rather than doing: Video games

Words this week: 884
Research: Hakka cuisine
French I didn't know: Les saules (willows)
TFW: You think of the perfect word while falling asleep, force yourself to rouse enough to write it down, and when you can't remember it in the morning, there it is!

When I was writing my first (unpublished) novel, I was mired in post-grad unemployment. I set myself a goal of 1000 words a day, and got a solid 100,000-word second draft in four months. Now, mumble mumble years later and with a full-time job, I'm like, 219 words on a Tuesday night YES GOOD JOB.

Words this week: 555 new + a lot of rewriting
Number of times the second half of this story has been rewritten: 5
Words I apparently don't know how to spell: Profligate, Brobdingnagian
Favourite exclamation of editorial approval: "Sweet baby ducks"