kungfuwaynewho | January Writing Progress, New Media, and WIP Meme (Reply)

The Orphan Queen: 64121 words --> Monthly Total: 6406 words
The Fall: 58 pages --> Monthly Total: 30 pages (rough draft complete!)
Some Passing Shadow: 14 pages --> Monthly Total: 1 page
The Burning Brand: 28 pages --> Monthly Total: 0 pages

So my priority this month was to finish the rough draft of my TV pilot, The Fall (which I might rename), and I actually completed that goal! I have more work to do on it, of course, but revision's always easier when you have at least something complete to look at. It seemed to me that I did more work on the novel this month than just 6400 words, but I spent about a week writing up my revision manifesto, which doesn't exactly add to word count, though it is still a very important part of the process. Mostly happy with writing progress thus far. My goal this month is to get at least to the halfway point on one of the other screenplays. I might end up just having to pick one to work on for submission season in May.

New Books
1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), Mindy Kaling. 1-5.
2. Glow, Jessica Maria Tuccelli. 1-14.
3. 11/22/63, Stephen King. 1-29.

New Movies
1. Les yeux sans visage (1959). 1-1.
2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). 1-7.
3. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011). 1-14.
4. The Time Traveler's Wife (2009). 1-16.
5. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). 1-20.

New Television Episodes
1.   Raising Hope – 2x08 – "Bro-gurt." 1-6.
2.   Raising Hope – 2x07 – "Burt's Parents." 1-6.
3.   It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia – 5x05 – "The Waitress is Getting Married." 1-7.
4.   It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia – 5x02 – "The Gang Hits the Road." 1-8.
5.   Raising Hope – 2x10 – "It's a Hopeful Life." 1-9.
6.   Modern Family – 3x10 – "Express Christmas." 1-10.
7.   Parks and Recreation – 4x11 – "The Comeback Kid." 1-15.
8.   30 Rock – 6x01 – "Dance Like Nobody's Watching." 1-17.
9.   30 Rock – 6x02 – "Idiots are People Two!" 1-19.
10.   Parks and Recreation – 4x12 – "Campaign Ad." 1-19.
11.   The Office – 8x12 – "Pool Party." 1-19.
12.   Modern Family – 3x11 – "Lifetime Supply." 1-20.
13.   Fringe – 4x05 – "Novation." 1-20.
14.   Sherlock – 2x01 – "A Scandal in Belgravia." 1-21.
15.   The Office – 8x11 – "Trivia." 1-22.
16.   Fringe – 4x06 – "And Those We Left Behind." 1-25.
17.   30 Rock – 6x03 – "Idiots are People Three!" 1-26.
18.   Parks and Recreation – 4x13 – "Bowling for Votes." 1-26.
19.   30 Rock – 6x04 – "The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell." 1-26.
20.   Fringe – 4x07 – "Wallflower." 1-26.
21.   Fringe – 4x08 – "Back to Where You've Never Been." 1-26.
22.   Modern Family – 3x12 – "Egg Drop." 1-26.
23.   Modern Family – 3x13 – "Little Bo Bleep." 1-27.
24.   Fringe – 4x09 – "Enemy of my Enemy." 1-27.
25.   Fringe – 4x10 – "Forced Perspective." 1-27.
26.   Raising Hope – 2x11 – "Mrs. Smartypants." 1-28.
27.   Modern Family – 3x08 – "After the Fire." 1-28.
28.   Modern Family – 3x08 – "Punkin Chunkin." 1-28.
29.   Up All Night – 1x01 – "Pilot." 1-29.
30.   Up All Night – 1x02 – "Cool Neighbors." 1-31.

Finally, I snagged this WIP meme from

hearts_blood. Post the first sentence (or several) from every WIP you're currently working on, even if it's very short. Then invite people to ask questions about your WIPs. With any luck, you'll get talking about writing, and the motivation to take that WIP one step closer to completion will appear as if by magic!

Fanfiction

Alma Mater Chapter 9: “So there we are, bottom of the ninth, down one, one out."

February 14, 2257: It was nice to be back in his own quarters – he wouldn't survive another night sleeping in his desk chair.

Untitled Babylon 5/Battlestar Galactica cross-over: The room was a lot nicer than Galactica’s ward room. For one thing, the environmental controls were working; Kara was nice and comfortable instead of shaking with cold.

Chapter 4 in Alan/Quorra story I abandoned about eight months ago: They were walking hand in hand down the main access route from the input/output terminal back toward the gaming grid. Tron knew, before the Master Control Program had been written and installed, and had quickly and ruthlessly seized control of the Grid, that they had taken many leisurely strolls just like this one – everything secure, systems running at full optimum power.

(And then I thought for fun I'd post the first line(s) of each chapter of my novel, at least as far as I am right now.)

Prologue: They watched the sunset together, the sky all pinks and reds and purples, like a great gaping wound. “It may be the last we ever see,” Erik said. Erik was always too optimistic.

Chapter One: The sun was barely up, the day just an hour old, but the line for the grain dole already stretched halfway to the Temple of Minerva. Claudia hopped from one foot to the other, needing to piss so badly she could think of nothing else.

Chapter Two: The knock at his door should have awakened him, but Hermann wasn’t sleeping. He was still dressed, sitting at the desk under his bed, staring at a book open before him. The page hadn’t been turned for over an hour.

Chapter Three: The mean cock crowed, and Wulf woke up. The sun was still sleeping, though, and the world was dark.

Chapter Four: Once the library had been her favorite place. Claudia loved the smell of all the old woods, and the feel of the soft rugs under her feet. She would take off her shoes and walk around with her eyes closed, pretending that she were an old blind beggar woman who had been brought in from the cold on a stormy, sleety night, and they had put her in the library to wait while someone in the kitchen made up a great big bowl of hot stew.

Chapter Five: He knew it was a dream, yet he could do nothing. He could only watch from the corner. Legs frozen, unable to run. Throat frozen, unable to scream. Eyes frozen, unable to blink.

Chapter Six: The day was hot before the sun even came up, just like the three before it, and Hermann knew they would find no relief today. After dressing, he climbed the stairs to the tower, looking out on a flat blue sky devoid of clouds from horizon to horizon. The air felt thick and heavy, and sweat already ran down to the small of his back.