For some reason I'm feverishly writing tonight. You'll have noticed a nice big jump in the word count meters. Huzzah!
I finished one chapter and am two paragraphs into the next (which was, coincidentally unplanned but needs to happen now).
Just a quick note for those of you voting for me to finish BoR for November (and shame on you for voting more than once!). If I progress too much more in BoR before November I won't have enough material to finish 50k words and so I won't write it. What I do is still up to my discretion but if I hit even 80k then that doesn't leave me enough. And I doubt anyone wants me to stop working on my book completely until november just because.
So don't vote more than once, and sincerely think about what you'd like to see from me.
If you're lucky I'll have an even bigger word count before the end of the night. We'll see what happens!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Nanowrimo preperations
I know we're quite a ways away from Nanowrimo but it's been on my mind.
For those of you who don't know what Nanowrimo is, I'll enlighten you briefly. It stands for "National Novel Writing Month" and during the month of November, the goal is to write a minimum of 50k words of a novel. There are a bunch of rules and other information that you can peruse on the website if you want more details.
Last year I began The Blood of Renatus during Nano, although I didn't come up with the (current) title until chapter 13. I spent a painstaking amount of time in October planning for the novel only to have a majority of it change and go in an entirely different direction. I blame Rafe. He was too moody.
Anyway I'm having a bit of a conundrum here because I don't know what to do for Nano. You're supposed to write something brand new, and not continue on a current project. Meaning that if I want to play by the rules I won't write a word on BoR during November even though I'm sure more than 50k words left to write. Sarah, of course, would tell me to just finish BoR before November so that it isn't an issue. I could do it, i mean i wrote 50k words in one month last November but it's increasingly hard to find time especially when I am admittedly disenchanted with BoR.
So here's what I'm going to do, I have several ideas that I could start in November. I'm really not ever short of ideas and there are a few that consistently stick out in my head. So I'm going to give you a very brief synopsis of my ideas and let you choose what I work on come November.
Jack of all Trades and the Masters of One:
A series of 5 short stories that all connect together. It's an Earth-based fantasy in which a human (or several, i haven't decided) must go on a quest in each realm (sea, sky, underworld, land) in order to prevent the Apocalypse. An interesting premise, and it could be fun to write.
Flare
Another fantasy novel but not NEARLY as epic as BoR (I couldn't handle another epic fantasy right now). It begins with a feisty teenage girl named Flare trying to wake up her drunk father who has passed out in an alley. She mistakenly gets accused of being a thief and trying to steal from him and is thrown in jail with her accuser for starting a fight. While in jail mysterious assailants try to kill the man who accused her of being a thief and they escape together. The rest of the story ensues.
Open and Shut
A 3 part YA novel about people who have the power to either "open" or to "shut". They work in pairs known as Partners and there are very few in the world. A pair of Partners have known each other since childhood but do not get along and so choose to not work together. They are called in to figure out a way to open Sealed room that has been shut for hundreds of years. However, opening the room proves to be a huge mistake and dormant, evil forces are let loose to pray upon the unsuspecting population.
Something entirely different (no working title yet)
Not a fantasy! A coming of age story about a young woman just out of college working as a barista at a local coffee shop. She battles life lessons in learning how to deal with her two older sisters and through the deaths of several family members. Also includes girly romance.
Finish Blood of Renatus
If I focus like I did last November on BoR I'll be able to finish at least the first draft for sure. It would, however, be going against the rules of nanowrimo.
Part of the problem with starting something new is that I'm going to need to take several dedicated weeks to plan out whatever it is I write. It might be fun to start something new however taking on a full novel (which is generally much longer than the obligatory 50k of nano) might be more than what I want to take on. So what are your opinions on the matter? Please vote in the poll and I encourage you to comment!
For those of you who don't know what Nanowrimo is, I'll enlighten you briefly. It stands for "National Novel Writing Month" and during the month of November, the goal is to write a minimum of 50k words of a novel. There are a bunch of rules and other information that you can peruse on the website if you want more details.
Last year I began The Blood of Renatus during Nano, although I didn't come up with the (current) title until chapter 13. I spent a painstaking amount of time in October planning for the novel only to have a majority of it change and go in an entirely different direction. I blame Rafe. He was too moody.
Anyway I'm having a bit of a conundrum here because I don't know what to do for Nano. You're supposed to write something brand new, and not continue on a current project. Meaning that if I want to play by the rules I won't write a word on BoR during November even though I'm sure more than 50k words left to write. Sarah, of course, would tell me to just finish BoR before November so that it isn't an issue. I could do it, i mean i wrote 50k words in one month last November but it's increasingly hard to find time especially when I am admittedly disenchanted with BoR.
So here's what I'm going to do, I have several ideas that I could start in November. I'm really not ever short of ideas and there are a few that consistently stick out in my head. So I'm going to give you a very brief synopsis of my ideas and let you choose what I work on come November.
Jack of all Trades and the Masters of One:
A series of 5 short stories that all connect together. It's an Earth-based fantasy in which a human (or several, i haven't decided) must go on a quest in each realm (sea, sky, underworld, land) in order to prevent the Apocalypse. An interesting premise, and it could be fun to write.
Flare
Another fantasy novel but not NEARLY as epic as BoR (I couldn't handle another epic fantasy right now). It begins with a feisty teenage girl named Flare trying to wake up her drunk father who has passed out in an alley. She mistakenly gets accused of being a thief and trying to steal from him and is thrown in jail with her accuser for starting a fight. While in jail mysterious assailants try to kill the man who accused her of being a thief and they escape together. The rest of the story ensues.
Open and Shut
A 3 part YA novel about people who have the power to either "open" or to "shut". They work in pairs known as Partners and there are very few in the world. A pair of Partners have known each other since childhood but do not get along and so choose to not work together. They are called in to figure out a way to open Sealed room that has been shut for hundreds of years. However, opening the room proves to be a huge mistake and dormant, evil forces are let loose to pray upon the unsuspecting population.
Something entirely different (no working title yet)
Not a fantasy! A coming of age story about a young woman just out of college working as a barista at a local coffee shop. She battles life lessons in learning how to deal with her two older sisters and through the deaths of several family members. Also includes girly romance.
Finish Blood of Renatus
If I focus like I did last November on BoR I'll be able to finish at least the first draft for sure. It would, however, be going against the rules of nanowrimo.
Part of the problem with starting something new is that I'm going to need to take several dedicated weeks to plan out whatever it is I write. It might be fun to start something new however taking on a full novel (which is generally much longer than the obligatory 50k of nano) might be more than what I want to take on. So what are your opinions on the matter? Please vote in the poll and I encourage you to comment!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Alas, the end of summer vacation is upon us
Well I'm back from the beach. I was planning on waiting until I uploaded some pictures to post but seeing as I'm at work and trying to not work I figure I'll post now.
My vacation was great, too long and not long enough at the same time oddly enough. It was hot, I got stung by a jellyfish, twisted my ankle and got to lay on the beach, pick up seashells, and go swimming nearly every day. Well i didn't get stung by a jellyfish everyday, that was just once sadly. I also scribbled away in my new Moleskine 3 new ideas that will demand fleshing out at a (much) later date. Sadly I didn't do too much writing on BoR but that's okay. In fact I was hardly on my laptop at all during the whole week, it just didn't seem right to focus on my laptop when I could be outside in the sun. Everything about the beach, especially the area I was in feels like home. The smells, sun, sand and salt remind me of happy times and a wonderful childhood. Plus I just love being lazy and laying out soaking up sun (except when stupid jellyfish attack me).
I had a bittersweet moment on Thursday when I drove from Myrtle Beach to Southport and Oak Island meeting my childhood friend Lauren for lunch. My family owned a beach house on Oak Island for almost the first 20 years of my life. Some of my very best childhood memories take place in that house so visiting it was both painful and jubilant for me. I loved seeing the Brambles, they lived (still do actually) across the street and their daughter Lauren became a second sister. She's now married with a 1 year old son, but we picked up like we always do and it was almost like we hadn't seen each other in 5 years. It was quite painful for me to walk up the stairs to MY beach house and peek in the screened-in porch to see our deck furniture that was sold with the house. It's emotional just to write about it in remembrance, especially because of my grandfather's passing less than a year ago. It was our special place, my grandparents and the rest of my family and it was a huge part of my life. Some day, I vow that I'll have another special place. If I'm lucky then my family will be able to enjoy the love and peace a place like that can bring, even if it isn't my beach house anymore.
The ironic and sad part is that this marks, as it did in many years past, the end of summer vacation. Most schools start back up in a week or two and this would be about the time I would return home from the beach after spending several weeks or months there to start school back up always thinking I'd be able to return the following summer. It was a sad parting the last time I was there and it wasn't any happier of a parting this time. However, at least now I'm old enough to return to the area whenever I have the time or money even if it isn't the way I'd like.
My grandmother has vowed to never again go to that beach, it's too painful for her. She hated selling the beach house and I think it's even worse now with my grandfather gone. Days like Thursday make me see her point of view on the matter a little bit more clearly. I can completely empathize with her decisions and don't fault her for it at all, it is painful and we can't go back to those lazy summers no matter how much we want to. That being said, I think the happiness that place brings me is far stronger than the pain and I'm pretty sure my grandfather would want me to spend as much time at our beach as possible. If he could, he'd be swimming out there with me. Maybe he was, in spirit at least. I miss it every summer and I'll definitely be going back.
It was a good vacation.
My vacation was great, too long and not long enough at the same time oddly enough. It was hot, I got stung by a jellyfish, twisted my ankle and got to lay on the beach, pick up seashells, and go swimming nearly every day. Well i didn't get stung by a jellyfish everyday, that was just once sadly. I also scribbled away in my new Moleskine 3 new ideas that will demand fleshing out at a (much) later date. Sadly I didn't do too much writing on BoR but that's okay. In fact I was hardly on my laptop at all during the whole week, it just didn't seem right to focus on my laptop when I could be outside in the sun. Everything about the beach, especially the area I was in feels like home. The smells, sun, sand and salt remind me of happy times and a wonderful childhood. Plus I just love being lazy and laying out soaking up sun (except when stupid jellyfish attack me).
I had a bittersweet moment on Thursday when I drove from Myrtle Beach to Southport and Oak Island meeting my childhood friend Lauren for lunch. My family owned a beach house on Oak Island for almost the first 20 years of my life. Some of my very best childhood memories take place in that house so visiting it was both painful and jubilant for me. I loved seeing the Brambles, they lived (still do actually) across the street and their daughter Lauren became a second sister. She's now married with a 1 year old son, but we picked up like we always do and it was almost like we hadn't seen each other in 5 years. It was quite painful for me to walk up the stairs to MY beach house and peek in the screened-in porch to see our deck furniture that was sold with the house. It's emotional just to write about it in remembrance, especially because of my grandfather's passing less than a year ago. It was our special place, my grandparents and the rest of my family and it was a huge part of my life. Some day, I vow that I'll have another special place. If I'm lucky then my family will be able to enjoy the love and peace a place like that can bring, even if it isn't my beach house anymore.
The ironic and sad part is that this marks, as it did in many years past, the end of summer vacation. Most schools start back up in a week or two and this would be about the time I would return home from the beach after spending several weeks or months there to start school back up always thinking I'd be able to return the following summer. It was a sad parting the last time I was there and it wasn't any happier of a parting this time. However, at least now I'm old enough to return to the area whenever I have the time or money even if it isn't the way I'd like.
My grandmother has vowed to never again go to that beach, it's too painful for her. She hated selling the beach house and I think it's even worse now with my grandfather gone. Days like Thursday make me see her point of view on the matter a little bit more clearly. I can completely empathize with her decisions and don't fault her for it at all, it is painful and we can't go back to those lazy summers no matter how much we want to. That being said, I think the happiness that place brings me is far stronger than the pain and I'm pretty sure my grandfather would want me to spend as much time at our beach as possible. If he could, he'd be swimming out there with me. Maybe he was, in spirit at least. I miss it every summer and I'll definitely be going back.
It was a good vacation.
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