A.M. Gerbil

Writer | Hat-wearer | Rodent

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

Had this account since 2015; first time using it. Anyway, I'm writing a novel, and it's not going smoothly, so I figured I'd talk about it.

As of this morning, 47,089 words. Aiming to reach 50k by 12th March. Wrote 516 words today; happy with that.

#amwriting #WritingCommunity

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

Hello #WritingCommunity - 587 words today, taking me to 76,686.

My MC is in trouble now... after 76k words, at last, some jeopardy.

#amwriting

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

@GillJames It belongs to a ramen restaurant. They're trying (but mostly failing) to roll sheet music into chopsticks (they also work as straws). They give the good ones to their customers, but the chopsticks go soggy as soon as they get dipped in the broth.

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

Hello #WritingCommunity - 526 words today, taking me to 76,099.

I think I have, at last, figured out what elements of my story I'm going to lean into to create rising tension. Not sure yet how that tension will be resolved, but I guess that's for my MC to figure out

#amwriting

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

Good morning #WritingCommunity - 571 words today, taking me to 75,573.

That's fifty consecutive days of writing, and I'm 29k words further along than I was fifty days ago.

#amwriting

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

Hello #WritingCommunity - 514 words today, taking me to 75,002.

I have now written for 49 days straight, equalling Liz Truss's tenure as Prime Minister. Next in my sights is the unfortunate George Canning, who died in office after 119 days.

#amwriting

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

@HeatherHuitt3 Yes, an accident. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

Hello #WritingCommunity - 533 words today, taking me to 74,488.

I have a confession to make: I just killed somebody. He was minding his own business, not interfering with the story at all, but I wrote him to death. He fell under my keyboard. I couldn't help it.

#amwriting

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

@Author_ANG Well, what else would a cp;pml do?

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

@tienkeiw I recently became good at this. Poached eggs too.

My weirdest talent though is that I can hear abnormally high-pitched sounds. I've always been able to hear dog whistles and cat scarers, for example.

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

Hello #WritingCommunity - 511 words today, taking me to 73,954.

Like a true party animal, I stayed up late the other night ordering various literary mags. What are people's favourites?

#amwriting

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

Hello #WritingCommunity - 539 words today, taking me to 73,443.

My MC is sending me very strong signals that he's bored of my plot. He's now playing himself at chess (and no, that's not a metaphor). Hard to tell if he's winning or not.

#amwriting

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

@JazzAuthor Occasionally, yes, for the reason you mentioned. I try to avoid it though - generally I prefer something half-baked than just "something".

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

Good morning #WritingCommunity - 502 words today, taking me to 72,904.

Going back over my draft, I just found a chapter opening with "Clouds hang over Windermere like a something over a something." Some real Pulitzer stuff going on here.

#amwriting

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

@PeteWriting Only six bananas?

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

@Catrionaward Only if an equal or greater number are crawling back in. Must preserve nature's balance.

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

@HeatherHuitt3 In those cases, I do need to remind myself that I haven't completed a single novel, let alone got one published, so I shouldn't get too cocky... even if I don't like a novel, the author still deserves respect for getting the thing done.

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

The thing I've enjoyed the least about starting out as a fiction writer is the way that it has affected my enjoyment of good novels.

Ah heck, I don't like to do this, but here comes a thread... 1/5

#WritingCommunity #amwriting

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

@HeatherHuitt3 Oh absolutely - the inverse of what I said about good books is true of bad books, i.e. if I read a (published, commercially successful) novel that I think is garbage, it's a boost to my own confidence.

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

Do others experience the same insecurity when reading the work of writers they admire? If so, what helps you to preserve good fiction as a thing to enjoy for what it is, rather than a thing that brings negative feelings about your own self worth? 5/5

#WritingCommunity #amwriting

[A.M. Gerbil @amgerbil]

I know it's unhealthy to think this way about my own work, and unfair on other writers whose work I reduce to such a narcissistic comparison (it's there to be enjoyed and appreciated in its own right; it's not a stick for me to beat myself with). 4/5

#WritingCommunity #amwriting