Tag Archives: editing

Steps to Completion: Drawing Challenge

24 Monday Apr 2023

Posted by in Arts & Crafts, drawing challenge

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In an effort to improve my drawing skill, of which I have none, I started a drawing challenge.

I visit Random Generator’s Random Things to Draw. The first drawing challenge I used the first image that came up. It was a sunflower. I feel pretty good about the results. I screen recorded the drawing process and made a video, which I posted on my YouTube Channel.

The first.

At the end of that video, I shared three options for the next drawing challenge. And of course the one and only person who ever comments on any of my YT videos chose the next Drawing Challenge subject.

TLDR

Long story short I’m in the middle of the fourth one of these, and the soul reason I’m doing it is because she wants me too. Am I a good aunt or what? So here’s a list of steps to completing a drawing challenge from start to finish.

Drawing Challenge

  • Have niece choose next subject.
  • Contemplate not doing it
  • Open safari and Google subject (ie: sword)
  • Look at pics of swords
  • Ask a question my Facebook which no one will answer
  • Get really good ideas
  • Don’t draw anything for at least a month
  • Remember you need to work on it every day for said month
  • Open Procreate, regret life choices.
  • Draw… something.
  • Start over
  • Cheat. Just a little (take the lazy way out. Not cheat on your significant other that’s wrong)
  • Doubt yourself. It’s part of the process.
  • Put on a podcast and eventually zone out while working, complete forgetting to record.
  • Don’t work on it for a month. Minimum.
  • Niece keeps asking about it. Make up excuses.
  • Wallow in self pity. Everything is going wrong, you’ll suck at this too.
  • Schedule a time to work on the thing. Make yourself do it.
  • Actually work on it, manage to finish the drawing fairly happy with it. Don’t look at it too hard though, you’ll find the flaws.
  • Put all videos in a folder on iPad so they’re in one place and easily accessible. This is responsible. Remember not to delete the videos until everything is complete. Trust me on this. I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE.
  • Create Video intro: basically just update the last one to the number of the challenge and subject. Upload to VideoLeap app.
  • Upload videos. Probably one at a time since your iPad is five years old and has to think about it for a minute.
  • Edit videos for length and content. We don’t want a 30 minute video.
  • After editing is complete, research and write script for voiceover.
  • Record voice over
  • Add background music where needed. Note title and artist. (You will get copyrighted, but the video won’t get taken down. At least they haven’t yet.)
  • Remember: don’t touch anything. If you add in stuff then change the video, YOU. WILL. HAVE. TO. MOVE. EVERYTHING. AGAIN.
  • Once you think you are done watch it through. AGAIN.
  • When you’re finally happy or just content or about to throw the iPad across the room with vigor, upload to the ‘Tubes.
  • Schedule it to premier so The Niece has a countdown to watch.
  • Profit. Wait.

The editing process will take several hours, if not days. I’ve gotten migraines. I’d hate to be a popular creator and have to have quality videos.

Honestly I dread it.

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“Come back! We miss you!” Said No one. Ever.

09 Monday Jun 2014

Posted by in Books, Darkness, My Writing, News, Non-Fiction

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I keep meaning to make my triumphant blogging return, but sadly, I just… Don’t.

I’m going to do what has become a thing for me, now. I’ll blame it on pregnancy. You see, I am constantly tired. Sometimes I wake up tired. And then I go to work all day, and MORE TIRED.

Coming home and blogging is not something that sounds thrilling to me, so, I indirectly blame pregnancy!

But what would I blog about anywho? I’ve not worked on “Darkness” I’m weeks, so no news there. Although I have uploaded a trial copy to CreateSpace, and OH MY WORD no errors!

I still plan on one more run through, and I need to add the “about the author” at the end. Probably going to skip any table of contents, if it doesn’t throw off the ever so complicated layout.

The cover is still the most frustrating part. But I do have a friend who I’m thinking of asking to draw or sketch an image for the cover. Maybe. Or maybe I’ll try it. We shall see.

Also, I was watching my 12 yr old nephew play some video games this weekend and (sadly) I came up with two “inklings”. “Inklings” are what I call teeny tiny blips of ideas.

I say “sadly” because I promised myself that nothing else gets written until “Darkness” has been published! But I do plan on jotting them down. Perhaps I’ll make them into blog stories!

-c

UGH

21 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by in Books, News, Self Publishing

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So, after a long day (and an even longer period of not posting) I am actually working on my book/story/novel/really long piece of fiction. And let’s just say, it’s not the fun part of “working on it”.

I am in the editing stage of “Darkness”, my NaNoWriMo novel. It’s really more of the aesthetic stage, where I perfect the layout, page numbering, and stuff like that. Not the most fun part of the journey, to say the least. There are about 32 chapters to go through, and basically what I’m doing right now is the same thing repeated for all 32 chapters. Oh the glories of self-publishing!

Of course, there are self-publishers out there who can actually afford to pay for such services, and pre-pregnancy I had every intention of paying for a cover. I also had every intention to have this whole thing done by May. I laugh in the face of deadlines. Mostly those sad “fade to crying” laughs that just sound pitiful in the end.

The thing is, I know Perfectionist-Me will just have to keep going back and trying to make everything just right, and she will never be happy! So, I’m hoping I can at least get this done before the next National Novel Writing Month rolls around!

Wish me luck!

-c

Woo! Whose up for round two?!

04 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by in Books, My Writing

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I have, this night, finished editing Darkness! This edit was mostly for typos and wording issues. And I am so glad to be finished!

A writer’s work, however, is never done!

The next stage of the process is formatting for self publishing. I use CreateSpace to self-publish all my finished work. And there is a lot to be done to Darkness, before I can complete it.

I usually just refer to this stage as “The technical work”. Layout and formatting for uploading to CreateSpace.com involves making it look just right so it comes out looking right in hard copy form. The process is complicated and hard to explain right now, but maybe at a later date!

Suffice it to say that my projected “release date” of sometime in May is hopefully accurate!

Wish me luck!
-c

Darkness

29 Saturday Mar 2014

Posted by in Books, My Writing

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I’ve been sitting here trying to think of an interesting blog post. I’ve bounced around about nine billion ideas, and apparently almost 2am after a full day of work is just a dead zone for my brain activity. So, in lieu of something better, I present to you, the previously elusive details on my much mentioned NaNoWriMo novel.

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to discuss this with you. I am quite proud of it, though I’ve neglected it for the last FOREVER. It’s the longest thing I’ve ever written, and it was completed in 30 days. A task I will never attempt again, unless of course, I have been given a month off from adulting. Yes, I turned adult into a verb, write it down it’ll be famous.

My 30 day novel idea started with one simple sentence, uttered by a co-worker as she left one September evening. I doubt she even knew I’d heard, or if it mattered. She and another co-worker were walking out, and they said something along the lines of “It’s already dark, it its only 8:30!” Of course, in the Fall, time starts getting all weird, and the sky decides its time for nap-nap, so darkness falls a bit earlier.

But, my writer’s brain (this should be a condition, perhaps the name of a syndrome) decided that this would make interesting fiction. And so, about two months later, “Darkness” was born.

The story (calling it a novel still feels odd and makes me giggle) is about the world without the light in the sky-no sun, no moon, no stars. Something, telling you would give it away, has taken the light. The first to be affected, in the confines of the plot of the story, are three large dogs, owned by the first characters introduced. Edward and Rosalie. The dogs, Do, Re, and Mi, are frightened of the dark and their owners bring them in.

As the endless night wears on, people quickly grow concerned. The President (at this point he is unnamed and has no physical traits. YAY FOR EDITING) intervenes. He assembles a mighty team of scientists. Sorry to disappoint, but THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES. I am not salivating.

The scientists–a geologist with an attitude, a psychologist with a superiority complex, a shy botanist, a timid zoologist, a retired meteorologist with with a  weather themed name, a German astronomer with an interesting accent, and a biologist who now that i think of it has no defining characteristic YAY FOR EDITING–are tasked with discovering the cause and delivering us from darkness.

The darkness seems to suck up all light, swallowing it up, weakening the streetlights and headlights on cars. Soon, it seems to suck up life as well. Birds fall from the sky, deer, attempting to find somewhere safe from the darkness, die in the middle of darkened roads. And very quickly, it begins to seep into our homes, and into places more private–our minds. Not only is the world darkened, but the people in it seem to grow darker as well.

Intrigued?

I hope to get my rear in gear and get back into editing soon. I’ve made it about a quarter to halfway through, and that’s just a rough edit. Once that’s done, I hope to snag a decent designer whose willing to go cheap to help me create a cover fit for a bestseller, or just a self-published wonder. When I know, you’ll know!

And as always, thanks for reading!

-C

I hate editing

11 Tuesday Mar 2014

Posted by in Books, Non-Fiction

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For the record, I have been trying to think of a good idea for a post for ages, but I cannot seem to come up with anything interesting. In fact, I’ve been so frustrated and annoyed that I can’t find something I’m looking for that its what’s really occupying my mind.

I have two currently “in need of editing” but “done with actual writing” pieces. One is a reedit of “Black Friday” and the other is the first stage of editing on my 2013 NaNoWriMo novel (I will NEVER do that again).

Of course I have a volunteer editor for BF, but she’s also a college student, not to mention the two jobs. A girl’s gotta get paid, and she volunteered for “Black Semester: The Editing Story”. Volunteering is low paying, so I’m really in no rush. I’m crazy lucky to know an English major, even luckier that she (either) likes me enough to volunteer for such an epic undertaking (or liked the story enough to make sure the typos and wording did not make her want to scratch her own eyes out. Or mine). And I appreciate her effort, and I hope she knows that (shout out to Brittney).

My other “In progress” editing is being done solely by little ole me, and I’ve been on hiatus from it for more than two months now. I’d be in trouble if I had a deadline for some reason (one of many reasons why I refuse to do NaNoWriMo again). I hate deadlines, and I hate pressure. So, its also lucky I’m not under a writing contract.

Generally when I do my own editing, I simply edit for typos or badly worded sentences. And believe me, there’s enough trouble with just that. If I were actually going through and editing for all the writing boo-boos that can and do happen (especially when you’re writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days) I’d be at it for ages.

Another problem I have with my least favorite part of being a writer, is that when I do go back through, I often reread a part here and there, or think back at how I wrote the story, and think of a whole new way to write it, a whole new way to tell the story, I get ideas for grand changes or rewrites. Once I get them, if I’m in the mood I usually am (if I’m editing at all, I am in said mood) then I attempt the impossible. But I do it, and excuse my language, half-assed, and I try to rewrite or edit without completely changing the entire document.

When I first bought my iPad, I thought, “If I find the right app, I can use this on the go, to edit my stories!” And I did, at first. I found Pages for the iPad and downloaded it (it was free!), and soon emailed myself a copy of my NaNoWriMo novel, and started rereading and editing (what I call a soft edit, just typos and general smoothness). I cannot remember for the life of me how far I’ve gotten, but it’s been more than a month, at least, since I’ve even opened the app.

Q: Why didn’t I edit as I wrote?

A: Have you even HEARD of NaNoWriMo? NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month is a “contest” or basically a race to try and write a novel, at least 50,000 words, in 30 days. It starts on November 1st and ends on November 30th. What do you get? Uh, bragging rights? And you can BUY a tee shirt that said you did it. I did not buy the shirt. I was just glad to have finished. I knew that if I did edit while writing, I would most likely spend too much time “perfecting” the un-perfectible than actually writing. I ended up finishing a few days early, I think, but I did it, by Jove! It was mostly due to the fact that I just really got into the writing of it.

I attempted NaNoWriMo for two reasons. In college I’d heard of it, and had always wanted to participate. I was either too early or too late, whenever I would remember it. But this year I was actually on top of it, and I’d gotten the idea for the story in September.

The second reason was purely to prove to myself that my writing bone had not been irreversibly broken. Turns out it was a muscle injury and it was just sprained. I proved to myself that I wasn’t blocked or broken or wasted. I could still write. And man did I write!

But then I got the big idea that I wanted to enter the Amazon Breakthrough Novelist award. I never finished editing, obviously, and I got lazy (it also didn’t help that I was having a rough time at my day job). I’d had a reminder set on my phone, and kept ignoring it. On the first day of entry, I snoozed the reminder, shrugged and said, “Meh.” Luckily I hadn’t made solid plans on the prize money, amirite?

So, if it comes down to editing, a good hard thorough editing, then I will never be a contracted, agent-ed, or anything else remotely related to being a professional writer. I have a friend who is a freelance writer, and man am I jealous (Shout-out to Kim). My bestest friend (yes, I am 29 and I said “bestest”) writes more in a year’s time than I can in a decade, so she’s got me beat too (shout out to Selena).

I once dreamed of being a writer, and actually making a living off of it. I also dreamed of being an elementary school teacher too, but I’m currently in retail. But then, I don’t know if I could stand to write something, edit and reedit, fall shamelessly and hopelessly in love with the story I’ve written and send it to a publisher just to have them send it back and say “fix this, and this, and that, and those too, and we’ll go from there”.

Dude. No.

-c