So, a couple of things. First of all, if I'm slow to reply to comments (I was pretty good last week and replied to more than usual - huzzah!) it's because I'm sick. Super-sick with the Cold From Hell AND the Cough of Doom. Both together. I feel too ill to even bother trademarking(tm) these, so feel free to steal them brian_ohio. (That's what you normally do. Heh. *g*)

Secondly, I am seriously thinking about running a NaNoWriMo-style camp here in November. Would anyone be interested? Just a thought at the moment, but looking at my schedule (and assuming I would've moved by then), I think I might have November free to work on a completely new project... So give me a rough idea of whether you might be into the idea - I won't be signing up officially for NaNo, I never do, but that doesn't mean you can't do that and then use this space for check-ins and support/encouragement.

Thirdly... How did you do this week? Week 8 is upon us! We have until September 1st to try meeting our goals. If you need to amend yours, go right ahead and let us know in comments. We're all about the flexibility over here at KSC. ;)

Finally, I love this quote:

Writer's block results from
too much head. Cut off your head.
Pegasus, poetry, was born of Medusa
when her head was cut off.
You have to be reckless when writing.
Be as crazy as your conscience allows.

-Joseph Campbell

Makes me think of this beautiful book cover (can't wait for this one!):


PEGASUS by Robin McKinley (November 2010)

Kinda late posting today, sorry about that... I hope you'll forgive me, considering the good news I was able to announce today. ;) Huzzah!

Um... Okay. Enough about me. KSC is all about you guys! So, how are you getting on? We're 7 weeks into the 90-days of summer. Things have improved for me (a little), so I hope if you've been struggling in previous weeks this past one was a good one.

Speak up in comments! :)

I've been trying to keep up with you all, and actually do manage to comment - occasionally - on some of your journals. It feels almost impossible lately, though, and people keep saying to me: "Well, you're busy at the moment. Stressful stuff on the personal front. You're flat-hunting. Writing a sequel with a deadline. Website stuff. Editing a non-fiction proposal for a friend. No wonder you can't keep up!"

But the advice that comes through, usually, is: Let it go. You can't do it all.

Only... I don't want to let it go. There are people's journals that I really love to read. I just added a few to my Google Reader, to make sure I don't miss anything. And then added a few more to the 'track LJ user' thingie you can do here, where you get an email each time someone posts a new entry.

This isn't a whine about balance, though. Well, it's not meant to be! ;) I simply wanted to say "hello" and to ask you a very important question:

How are you? (Or as Joey would've said, "How you doin'?") Maybe let me know in comments? I promise to reply to everyone.

**ETA: This post is just an extra - the KSC check-in post will be up later today!**

“I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”
~Joan Didion

Okay, I totally forgot to post this. Well, I remembered earlier on when I was too busy... And then I thought I'd caught up on stuff until skarrah reminded me about the KSC check-in post. *facepalm*

Anyway! Here we go... 6 weeks have gone by since I first came up with this crazy idea - how are you all doing? It's the halfway point, and I'm finally getting some work done. Yeah, it took me long enough. ;)

And you?

Yes! It's that time again, lovely people: check in with your Summer Camp progress (or commiserate with supportive fellow writers). *g*

I read this quote the other day and I think it's brilliant. It's my new favourite writing quote--

Joseph Conrad:

I sit here religiously every morning - I sit down for eight hours every day - and the sitting down is all. In the course of that working day of eight hours I write 3 sentences which I erase before leaving the table in despair.... Sometimes it takes all my resolution and power of self-control to refrain from butting my head against the wall.

So, did you butt your head against the wall this week?

So, the fourth week of Kaz's Summer Camp has come and gone. I can't believe it!! One month (almost) already! And honestly, I have been HOPELESS. I'm such a bad example, but there are reasons for that. *sigh*

I won't go into those reasons here. I will say that I've made a plan for catching up as soon as possible, and I think I actually might achieve that. For now, I am having to put some focus on freelance stuff (web work) and crits (which I keep pushing to the bottom of the pile of work), but there has been a breakthrough, of sorts, on the DOL rewrite. :)

Anyway!! Enough about me, how about YOU?? How are you getting on? Are you having as many difficulties as me (misery loves company), or are you sailing along merrily, churning out thousands of words?

Speak up, inquiring minds want to know!

"There are some books which refuse to be written. They stand their ground year after year and will not be persuaded. It isn't because the book is not there and worth being written -- it is only because the right form of the story does not present itself. There is only one right form for a story and if you fail to find that form the story will not tell itself."
- Mark Twain
(Quote found at Laini Taylor's blog.)



So, how has the last week gone for you?

I've been busy with Real Life stuff, as well as some of the 'business side' of publishing... so all of that's got in the way of Actual Progress. (Oh, who am I trying to kid? I've spent too much time watching the World Cup. LOL! And now Wimbledon has started. *sigh* It's hopeless.)

But I'll check in below along with everyone else. Let's hear how you got on! :)

Hey there, campers!! :)

Just a quick check-in post today, but I couldn't resist sharing this awesome quote with you guys. It helped me get over a recent tricky patch this week, and to think about my process in a deeper way:

"All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath."
F. Scott Fitzgerald

I've talked about writing by using this sort of analogy before, but this is the first time I'd actually seen Fitzgerald's quote. It's something that I think is so true, and in order to become completely submerged in my current writing project I feel the need to go very deep before coming up for air again.

What about you? How has it been going since last Tuesday?

Share in the comments, and I'll try to reply to as many people as I can over the next few days. Thanks to everyone for chatting to each other and to people like triciasullivan for helping me by responding to so many comments on the first check-in, last week. (But don't feel you have to do it all the time!) I love how this is becoming a little community. In fact, I'm thinking of opening it as an annual community on LJ...

...for those who have asked.

I don't know if this is too big/small/whatever, but I've put it in the sidebar of my website and it works pretty well. Thanks to the people who suggested it. :)




You can save it and just link it to: http://kaz_mahoney.livejournal.com/

Or for those who aren't sure, you can copy & paste this html code into your blog to insert the picture/link all-in-one:

<a href="http://kaz_mahoney.livejournal.com/"/><img src="http://pics.
livejournal.com/kaz_mahoney/pic/0010d0gp" width="180" height="120"
border="0" /></a>

ETA: Smaller one for those asking, because I am good to you!

<a href="http://kaz_mahoney.livejournal.com/"/><img src="http://pics.
livejournal.com/kaz_mahoney/pic/0010d0gp" width="148" height="102"
border="0" /></a>

Weave together all the parts of yourself--the young, wise, incompetent, solid, sure--and then close your eyes and jump in. Be willing to accept massive imperfections.
-SARK (on getting started)

Here we go with the Week 1 check in for Summer Camp. It's great to have everyone here!

**The goals sign up post is now closed.**

There are 124 of us participating, and I think that's an amazing amount of people. I'm kinda shocked... O.o It just goes to show how difficult many of us find it to keep up with our writing goals throughout the summer months. Hopefully, these weekly check-ins - every Tuesday - will be a place where we can share our successes & challenges, and chat with each other in comments if we need the support and/or contact.

Checking in is not obligatory, but it would be nice to see a large proportion of people who signed up. If not every week, then at least a couple of times each month. Also, please try to keep your progress reports to Tuesday or Wednesday. By Thursday, I probably won't be checking the Tuesday posts all that much.

If you didn't get much done towards your goals, that does not mean you're a failure or that you should say negative things about yourselves in comments. Just say how you got on during the previous week - good or 'bad' - and then move on to the next week.

This is not a competition. We all work at different paces, and some people have crazy commitments during the summer. You can only do what works for you. Some people here are professional writers with multiple books published and a ton of deadlines. Some are just starting out with their first project or hoping to complete their first novel. Most are somwhere in between. You can't compare yourself to others if we're all at different points on this writing journey.

Finally, brian_ohio has the following to share with everyone (don't worry, it's not his usual kind of thing and is actually quite helpful... LOL!):

"I will be hosting 'Writing Buddy Wednesdays' WBW (tm) on my blog. A place for anyone participating in Kaz's Summer Camp (KSC) to coagulate and encourage each other's goals throughout the day."

So check out Brian's LJ each Wednesday to see if he's running a write-in that week. He may only host it on alternate Wednesdays, but will see how it goes. (I'm not sure about the time it will start, but am assuming it's best to check in the morning - in the US.)

Okay, so... keeping in mind that some people only signed up to join us yesterday (which is totally cool!), how did Week 1 go for you?

**If you want to share a snippet/teaser (in honour of Teaser Tuesday), you can do that in your comment ONLY if it is literally one or two sentences. Otherwise, please post teasers on your own blogs.**