WIPpet Wednesday: Pulling Teeth

Have no fear, we’re not actually pulling anyone’s teeth out today! But I’ve been working on revisions and drafting a new scene, and though I feel like the past few days have been productive, every word I’ve typed has been like pulling teeth from a reluctant dragon.

A reluctant mama dragon with halitosis, even.

So here’s nine sentences from what will be chapter four, if it stays in the story, because September is the ninth month, and that’s all the math my poor, abused brain has energy for right now.

I’m thinkinnnnng… no context. Just words. First draft warning applies.

—

Her head rolled back as I lifted her, leaving her throat exposed. A strong pulse pushed against the fragile skin, and the collar of her shirt pulled open where she’d neglected to close the top few buttons. At any other time such vulnerability would have seemed pathetic to me, but I found myself pulling her close to my chest, wanting to protect her. It’s her magic, I reminded myself, and released the breath I’d been holding. Of course it was still affecting me. Completely natural. Regrettable, but natural. It will pass, and no one has to know.

I gave into it for another moment and made her as comfortable as I could, removing her boots, loosening the ties at the waist of her trousers (careful to ignore the sliver of bare skin that appeared above them), and pulling a blanket up to her shoulders.

—

Bonus awkwardness points to this character, who doesn’t want to be here and happens to have no clothes to wear. AWKWARD.

I love my imaginary people.

Feel like joining in on WIPpet Wednesday? Head on over to the linkie to see what the WIPpeteers are up to, stop by and give a high-five to K.L. Schwengel to say thanks for hosting, and add your own link. Post a short excerpt from a work in progress that relates to today’s date, link up, and you’re in! It’s that easy, and so much fun.

“Holy Crappola!” she said in the classiest way possible, which as it turned out was not very classy at all. “It’s the last update for this round!”

Well, I can’t say I achieved everything I wanted to, but it’s been fun. I did get one novel out to beta readers and back, so that’s big. 1,000 words a day happened sometimes, but not other times. Better than nothing, right? I got my other creative stuff done. Here’s the other pony (it was raining the day I had to wrap the presents, so no nice pics for this girl):

You get the idea. I did it, I finished the pony and the doll and a bonus pony. It did put a dent in my writing, because as I’ve said before, I can’t switch gears between writing and customizing.

The good news is, I think I’ve switched back. All it took was being stuck at the car dealership for 2.5 hours with nothing but my computer, a synchronized-snoring elderly couple, and soap operas for company. I got chapter one re-written, and better yet, got the ball rolling on the whole fiction thing again. It feels good.

So would I call this round a success? I don’t know. I’m not as far ahead as I hoped to be, but I also haven’t burned myself out, which is important. Much as I want to treat writing like a job and be professional about it, I’ll give up if it’s not feeding me anymore. The approach I’m taking now isn’t the most efficient, but it’s working for me.

And no, I’m not taking time off between rounds. Nex round (if I participate again), goals will probably include getting a story or two up on Wattpad to try that out, finishing revisions and getting a novel out to different beta readers (so as not to torture the same poor souls again) and to try out a few editors. Editors as in ones I’d like to hire, not as in submissions. How terrifying. 🙂

More ROW80 Updates here (I’m going to get to as many as I can today, what with it being the end and all). Thanks to everyone who has stopped by and supported me this round! You guys are the best.