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[personal profile] elfs
Jay Lake ([livejournal.com profile] jaylake), has gone in six years from having no fingerprint on the publishing world to having six novels and 200 short stories out there in one form or another. His is a shining example that someday I might emulate. He recently praised Justine Larbalestier's method for writing a novel with a single quibble. He says, "Her spreadsheet thing would make me insane."

Well, I went one better. Since I use emacs and a very customized para-outline-mode anyway, there's metadata at the top of all of my "in progress" stories, and I figured, hey, all that metadata adds up, so why not use it usefully? Monday night I wrote my little Ruby script to extract the metadata from the headers, chapter order from the filenames, and filesize from the file system, and viola: my computer generates my spreadsheet for me. Screw word counts, this is where the real progress indicators lie:
ChapterTitlePoVCountActionSummary
0First EncounterRhiane4084NSRhiane & Illonca meet, Polly & Khrystyne dating
1The Last To KnowRhiane4877NS (Girls kiss)Rhiane is assigned to the Pendorians. Polly confesses her crush.
2You Just Don't Get It.Rhiane5847NS (Girls kiss)Rhiane and Illonca finally have a round of gentle petting.
3Not The Heat She WantedRhiane6663NS (Girls kiss)Rhiane survives a terrorist attack.
4The Moment To Wait For.Rhiane6300F/FRhiane and Illonca finally fall madly in bed.
5Why WaitPolly6399D/FRhiane & Polly have a date.
6Polly & SaulPolly4253D/MPolly & Saul meet
7Expose536NS
8TauPolly5473D/F, D/FPolly has a bad night, meets Zia, thinks she's blackmailing Zia
9Press ReleaseEha1649Rhiane takes Eha Sigma to the Realm
10ConsciencePolly2651D/FPolly has a crisis of conscience until Zia cures her of it.
11HeightPolly2915D/FZia & Polly, good sex, Dove listens.
12Voyeuse.Dove2596D/F,voy Dove watches Polly and Zia.
13Word gets out.Rhiane5365F/F, zero G.Rhiane talks to Butler. Dinner in the Concourse: Rhiane, Illonca, Zia, Polly, Dove. Rhiane & Illonca.
14Provocation.Saul2804M/D, anal, roughSaul & Khrystyne.
15SeductriceDove, Polly6862D/F, D/F/F, 1st, analDove tries to seduce Polly, is caught by Zia
16PoliticsKacea4518NSKacea converses with Butler, San Txema, and Tempany, and comes to a decision about her fate.
17MidpointPolly6901D/F, D/F/F, D/M, M/FOrgy at Zia's Place! Zia, Polly, Saul. Saul, Khrystyne. Saul, Khrystyne, Polly, Zia. Dove, Khrystyne. Saul, Dove. Khrystyne, Polly, Zia. Polly, Zia
18The TwinsDove6648F/M/MDove meets the Twins, who seduce her.
19New WorldsRhiane, Polly, Dove4476F/F, D/F anal toys, Rhiane & Illonca celebrate arrival; Zia takes Polly's anal virginity; Dove finds the Twins irresistible
20Senatorial DecisionsKacea Alfan3695NSKacea Alfan negotiates the Letter of Intent
21Risky InvitationsDove6090F/M/MDove considers an offer from the Twins, and wrestles with what that means for her relationships with her peers.
22Stable PlacesRhiane104F/FRhiane and Illonca take a tour of their new Embassy, guided by Reff Ng.
23Polestar: VacationMava606F/DMava meets Aderyn, and starts on an adventure among the Sterling starsystems.
24SeedPolly134F/DPolly discovers a strange surprise in the Sterling genome.

Date: 2006-12-14 05:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] athelstan.livejournal.com
I've got to ask. What does the D stand for in the action column?

Date: 2006-12-14 05:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elfs.livejournal.com
Futanari (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futanari). The "F" was already taken.

Date: 2006-12-14 06:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jaylake.livejournal.com
:: twitch ::

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Elf Sternberg

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