Author Archives: Richard Reilly

50 Day Memory Challenge

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I am back from the mountains.  While talking with some close friends I decided to do something I’ve been needing to do for a while.  I have a horrible memory.  In order to help me remember, I created a 50 Day Memory Challenge.  Starting tomorrow I will write down a memory.  There are a few guidelines.

  1. You must write about a new memory each day.
  2. Upon completion, you should have memories of each age (that you can remember).
  3. Upon completion, you must have at least one memory that falls under each:
    1. Happiest Memory
    2. Saddest Memory
    3. Memory you are not proud of
    4. Most excited memory
    5.  Craziest Memory
    6. Most vivid memory
    7. Memory you would like to relive
    8. Romantic
    9. Sexual Memory
    10. Embarassing Memory
  4. Try to include one memory of every person who was important to you at some point in your life.
  5. Memory must not be altered (to the best of your ability).

I will be starting this challenge tomorrow.  I may not upload everything that I write.  This is more of an excercise.  It may result in material that I may upload, but that is not the focus.  I will continue to edit and work on other things as well.  Now that it is summer, I have plenty of time to work.  Here is a quick poem I wrote last night.

Changing Perspectives
I’ve starting spending more time writing poems with regard to the past/present/future.  It may having something to do with my critique group wanting to do a theme night (time travel).  In the end, however, it is bringing out a strange sense of nostalgia.  I love it.

Summer Break Means Time to Write

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When I finished substitute teaching today, I went over how many days are left in the school year.  Suddenly, I realized I was on Summer Break.  I am heading up to the mountains tomorrow for a long weekend of reading, writing, editing, and friends.  When I get back, I am going to a fundraising lunch with my mother and helping out my sister with babysitting.  After that, I’m pretty sure there is only one day left of school…and I’ve never much desired to sub on the last day of school.

With time abound, I have plenty to do.  I have four books on my immediate to-read list.  I need to finish editing my latest novel.  On top of all that however, I will continue writing.  I have two stories in my head that I may start working on.  I also have two poems in-progress that I will try to flesh out this weekend.  This summer break will be a godsend to my writing.  I must make sure I keep it up the entire summer.  I need to give my followers some new material.  When I get back from the mountains, you can expect some.

With Love,
Richard

Filling in Plot Holes

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Ten pages of editing a day ended up being a bit much.  After three days of editing, I have 16 pages done.  Since the manuscript is already pretty clean, I don’t mind going a bit slower than expected.  Five pages of editing a day is great.  Plus, I’m pretty sure I’ll do much more this weekend.  I’ll be up in a family cabin in the mountains with no internet access for a few days.  It’ll be perfect.

It’s strange finding plot holes in your own work.  In some instances, I started something early on in the book and lost track of it as I wrote.  Other times, I didn’t plan on a certain plot turn and now realize the start of the book doesn’t line up with the end of the book.  I’ve come up with a good method of tracking all of them.   This is one of the main reasons I do at least three edits before letting anyone read my work.  By the time I’m done with the second edit, grammar and spelling is ususally fine.  It’s the plot holes you have to worry about.  I don’t want my first readers to be confused.

Time to go read.  The Handmaid’s Tale is quite interesting.

With Love,
Richard

Creating Free Time to Write (or Edit)

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I remember all the tipsI found about writing when I was a teenager.  It was all great advice.  It’s just that I didn’t understand all of them.  One was: “Don’t find time to write.  Make time to write.”  For a high school student, this idea was brilliant.  I kept failing to write anything of length because there was always so much else to do.  Forcing yourself to write is one of the best things a writer can do for themselves.

As I quickly approach the district’s summer holiday, I realize there is a new layer to this advice.  It’s one thing to make room for writing in your day.  It is another thing entirely to make room for writing in your life.  I substitute teach and take odd jobs because it allows me to focus on writing and (most importantly) write every single day.  Lately, I only take about two days off a month from writing/editing.  I make the decision to write on a daily basis.  But I also take it into account when i make decisions about my life.

And I wouldn’t change a thing.

With Love,
Richard

Getting Down to Editing

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I just finished editing the first two chapters of the book (out of 47).  I’ve decided to edit on the computer.  I could say it’s because I want to be environmentally conscious…but that would be a lie.  I prefer editing on the computer because I can make all the changes I need to instantly without the chance of forgetting.  I go straight through the writing and change what is needed.  At the same time, I have another Word document open tracking all of the plot holes and whatnot that I need to keep an eye on.

I’ve heard plenty of times that you are supposed to ready through the entirety of the novel one time without changing a thing.  I have to cry bullshit on that one.  I cannot read through, see all the small mistakes, and not do something about them.  I’m really enjoying editing right now.  Of my four novels, this one seems to have the fewest mistakes.  Considering how quickly I wrote it, I expected the exact opposite.  My goal for this editing job is to edit about ten pages a day.  With about 110 pages in Word, I should get a new draft done every eleven days or so.

With Love,
Richard

66,073 Words in 42 Days

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At 4:45pm today, I have completed my fourth novel.  It took me 42 days to write and is a total of 66,073 words.  That means I wrote an average of 1,573 words every day over the past six weeks.  Although the novel is slightly shortly than I would like it, I will probably take care of that in the editing.  I will wait until tomorrow to figure out how to edit this monster.

Tonight I will rest and celebrate.

8 April 2012: 600 Words
9 April 2012: 2,700 Words
10 April 2012: 4,300 Words
11 April 2012: 4,800 Words
12 April 2012: 8,700 Words
13 April 2012: 9,900 Words
14 April 2012: 10,700 Words
15 April 2012: 11,600 Words
16 April 2012: 13,800 Words
17 April 2012: 15,900 Words
18 April 2012: 17,500 Words
19 April 2012: 20,000 Words
20 April 2012: 21,100 Words
21 April 2012: 22,100 Words
22 April 2012: 25,300 Words
23 April 2012: 27,100 Words
24 April 2012: 28,500 Words
25 April 2012: 30,200 Words
26 April 2012: 31,500 Words
27 April 2012: 33,300 Words
28 April 2012: 34,700 Words
29 April 2012: 36,300 Words
30 April 2012: Halftime Break
1 May 2012: 38,300 Words
2 May 2012: 39,900 Words
3 May 2012: 40,700 Words
4 May 2012: 42,500 Words
5 May 2012: 43,400 Words
6 May 2012: 44,300 Words
7 May 2012: 46,600 Words
8 May 2012: 48,000 Words
9 May 2012: 48,900 Words
10 May 2012: 51,000 Words
11 May 2012: 52,300 Words
12 May 2012: Fourth Quarter Break
13 May 2012: 53,700 Words
14 May 2012: 55,100 Words
15 May 2012: 56,400 Words
16 May 2012: 59,800 Words
17 May 2012: Two-Minute Warning
18 May 2012: 64,700 Words
19 May 2012: 66,073 Words

The Everyday Project

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With only a few chapters left, I am starting to wrap up the storylines of several characters. I’m enjoying it a lot.  I’ve grown to know my characters a lot over the past month an a half.  Their lives after the events of the book almost feel like they are writing themselves.  I know how they act and what they are capable of.  As the book comes to a natural conclusion, I am finding out a lot that I didn’t know about my characters.  I love it.

Today I am uploading a personal project that has nothing to do with writing.  Five and a half years ago, I started taking a picture of myself everyday.  Today, that means that there are more than 2,000 pictures.  When played in quick succession (10 images a second), you can see me age.  The Everyday Project is something I believe everyone should do.  I hope you enjoy.

Reader Contest #1

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As I continue to write, I want a way to say thank you to all of my faithful readers who continue to comment and provide encouragement.  My good friend–Jordan–suggested this contest yesterday.  It is honestly the perfect way to get to know my readers better while rewarding them.

Here’s how it works.  In the next 24 hours, comment on any one of my short stories, flash fiction pieces, or poems.  24 hours from now (4pm Mountain Standard Time on Thursday), I will write down the names of everybody who commented, put them in a hat, and pull one out at random.  The winner will receive a book from my own personal library.  When I read, I mark my books up with comments in the margins–so the winner will get to know me a bit better to.  I will provide the shipping.

For the first contest, I will be giving away “Feed” by M.T.Anderson.  This book is one of my absolute favorites.  Good luck to all my readers!

A Day to Write

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Yesterday was great.  There were eleven of us at the poetry critique this month.  I got a lot of great feedback. Every time I go to one of these things, I figure out what I need to work on.  Coming away from this one, I found two things that I need to work on: Metaphor and Line Breaks.  I was actually quite surprised at the power of line breaks within poetry.  When I reworked my poem today, that was my main focus.  As I write more in the future, I need to work on creating metaphors.  I’m so used to writing stories straight out that I’ve never developed that aspect of my writing.

Wednesdays are a good day to write for me.  I get my normal writing in during the day.  I’ve already reworked a poem and I’m preparing to write more on my novel.  The thing is, my roommates hold a gaming night on Wednesday Nights.  It’s usually reason enough not to be around the house for a couple hours.  That means I’ll have another writing session later today.  My goal for today is to reach 60,000 words.  I am racing towards the end.  I can’t wait to have this rough draft done.  Then I have to make a decision on whether to edit on the computer or on paper.

Fell free to read The Wailing Wall again.  I think the changes made it significantly better.

The Wailing Wall
I wrote this poem following a bad breakup.  I tend to allow my mind to wander…and that usually leads to worst-case scenario thoughts.  The combination led to this poem.  It sat in a folder for more than a month.  I rewrote it twice and finally like it.

With Love,
Richard

Poetry Critique

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Along with my friend–Jordan–I attend a monthly poetry critique.  I’m a bit nervous.  This is our second month and the first time that I will be sharing a piece.  I decided to use “The Wailing Wall” for my piece–partly because it’s short and partly because the others are extremely personal.  I hope to gain a better grasp on how to develop my poetry through these work sessions.  I’ve already done pretty good by writing more often.  Getting the input of other poets will be priceless.

I wrote 1,300 words today.  I ended up combining two chapters into one.  Now I’m getting a little worried that by word count will fall short of 70,000.  Although this isn’t entirely a bad thing, I would really prefer it to be in the golden range of 70,000-80,000.  I do have a short list of extra scenes I could include if I need the content.  I might have to end up using it.  None of them are fluff–I just wasn’t sure how to include them initially.  The editing of this book will be complicated anyway.  I might as well make it even more complicated…right?

With Love,
Richard