Tag Archives: writing

Unplanned Sabatical

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I have to issue an apology to all of my followers.  This past weekend turned into pure awesome.  I hardly even opened my laptop for more than a few minutes.  I love when things just work out.  I got ten times more sun than I have in the past year.  I laughed more than I have in the past month.  It was pretty much the perfect weekend.

Now that I am back to normal, I have a long list of things I need to get done today and tomorrow.  I plan on getting a new memory up sometime tonight.  I also hope to start writing a few poems and short stories over the next weeks or two.  I’m still experiencing a bit of a hangover from this weekend, so bare with me.

Much Love,
Richard

The High Park Fire

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The graphic above shows the burn area of the fire near town and the properties that we have been keeping a close eye on.  It’s been a long ten days.  The fire keeps throwing smoke into town.  When it’s not, it’s difficult to look away from the billowing smoke.  There’s talk about this fire going on for weeks.

I got a memory done.  It is below.  I realized late last night that my Elance project isn’t sue until tomorrow night…so I feel a bit better.  I am going to spend the rest of today editing and working on the Elance job.  I can’t wait until this week is over and I can just sit back with a  book.

Day Eight: Inauguration Road Trip

Falling Behind

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I haven’t done much in the way of writing over the past two days.  Yesterday entailed little more than helping a roommate move in followed by a party.  Today was the hangover followed by meeting with a friend.  Although I may fall a day or two behind on the memory challenge, I will continue it.

My main worry is that I haven’t been editing as much now that I have a big Elance job.  I have three days to do the second half of.  That is more than enough time.  I think I’m just going to spend the next couple hours working on editing.  I really just want to get this draft done so that I can have others take a look at it.  I’ll upload a new memory sometime in the next 24 hours.

Until then,
Richard.

42

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I had gaming last night.  This is the first time I’ve ever played really played table-top RPG.  That’s not the point though.  The group that I am playing with always used to be the friends of one of my friends.  Slowly, I feel that shifting.  I am getting to know all the guys in this group and loving to hang out with them.  I even held a conversation with one of them until four in the morning…about life, the universe, and human nature.  All I can say to that is…Fuck Yes!

Anyway.  Today will be quite busy.  I have a lot of work to do for Elance.  To be perfectly honest, I kind of want to just do it all today so that tomorrow can be more of a creative day.  I have a lot of free time left today, so I think I may be able to pull it off…so long as I start right now.  Anyway, here is Day Six of the memory challenge.

Day Six: Daddy Problems

Editor Richard Reilly?

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I started work on a big Elance job today.  This one is particularly interesting because the end result will actually carry by name: “Edited by Richard Reilly.”  It’ll be a great way to build my portfolio.  It’s an easy task…it’ll just take some time.  I’m just excited because most of the work I do through Elance is Ghostwriting…meaning my name will never be carried on the finished work.  It’ll be nice for some real recognition (and a good paycheck).

I spent my morning garage saling and watching a fire grow in the mountains west of town. Now I’m spending several hours writing–trading between memories, work, and editing.  Lot and lots of work to do on every front.  My goal is to finish by Elance job early and finish the third draft this week.  It’ll take a lot of work, but it will be worth it.  Until tomorrow, here is day two of The 50 Day Memory Challenge.

Day Two: Kicked Out of a Bar 

Starting the Memory Challenge

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Twenty pages of editing down.  Today was utterly exhausting.  Lots of yard work followed by an afternoon with my grandmother followed by a couple hours of editing.  It is the good kind of exhausting.  The kind where, at the end of the day, I feel like I have accomplished a lot.  And the day isn’t over.  I have plans for what sounds like an incredibly strange evening ahead.  I can’t wait.

I started the 50 Day Memory Challenge today.  I’ve been wanting to start this for quite some time.  Having Jordan preempt me was all the encouragement I needed.  My first one comes from the trip I made to Europe during my Senior Trip.  I hope you like it.  More to come over the next 49 days.

Day One: Love in Frankfurt

A Long Day of Moving and Editing

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I spent four hours of my day helping my mother move out of her office.  After the role I played in getting her fired (or reassigned, as they put it), it was the least I could do.  As I walk away from today, I have a renewed understanding for why I hated working in an office and would prefer never to be a part of one again.  Politics is frustrating enough in a family or set of friends…it’s simply Hell at work.

I’ve started working on the third draft of the novel.  Since there are so few changes necessary, I am breezing through it.  There are 52 chapters in all…and I just spent the past 90 minutes getting through the first five.  A part of me just wants to finish off the draft over the next two days so I can focus on some other projects (like actually starting the Memory Project) while other people look it over.  I’m at least going to continue editing for the next 80 minutes (I hate that the coffee shop in this town closes at six).  Maybe I will continue working at home.

With Love,
Richard

Best Coffee Ever

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My hometown has some of the best drip coffee I have ever tasted.  It’s called The Blue Mug.  For only $2, they give you a mug that you can refill as often as you would like.  That’s why I feel like I can get so much work done here.  I just finished writing one of the extra chapters and loved it.  I was preparing the information for the second chapter when i realized it really wouldn’t add much.  I’m going to scrap the idea.  My novel is going to be short of the planned 70,000 to 80,000 range.  Going into the third draft, it stands at 67,344 words.

I’m going to alternate between Ghostwriting and working on the Third Draft the rest of this week.  I’m house sitting for my parents again–which gives me a lot of free time.  I just got a pretty big ghostwriting job via Elance.  I can’t wait to get started.  I think I will be able to strike a nice balance between writing as a job and writing as a hobby.  Only time will tell on that front.  I have to run.

With Love,
Richard

Third Draft

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With the help of forty ounces of coffee, I was able to finish the second draft of my manuscript. I am going to write two new chapters tomorrow before regrouping and starting on the third draft. It’s a great feeling to know that your manuscript is approaching the stage where others can read it and not be bothered by small mistakes.

When I finish with my next draft, I will give two people the opportunity to be the first readers. First is my mother–mainly because she would kill me if I let someone else be the first reader. The other is a friend of the family. She is a fast reader who helps me edit. She also is a great way to see how the average person will like the book. I can’t wait to get it to them. Soon enough.

With Love,
Richard

Ghostwriting Problems

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I don’t want to leave the wrong impression.  I love ghostwriting.  I like getting paid to sit down and write on random projects.  There’s just a problem that goes with it.  It forces all your energy away from your project and into someone else’s project.  I spent the last two days working on a website and real estate rewrites.  It was easy money…but I haven’t touched my novel in 48 hours.

It’s time to get back to work.  I am going to try to finish the first rewrite of my novel within the next 48 hours.  I’m still going to take sporadic ghostwriting jobs because I need the money…but I need to find the right balance.  I am currently dedicating at least three hours to writing a day–whether it is my own writing or ghostwritting.  I may bump that up to four hours.  Getting my own projects done when I have the time is the best way to not fell stressed out when i have a ghostwriting job.

Much Love,
Richard