#But I also know that November is usually a writing month.. especially with NaNoWriMo

[fdragon-art]

Day 350 - "A Journey Begins"

"He pushed down on the laid-down log as if to test its squishy-ness. Yep. It's solid wood. It doesn't take long for him to test it some more with his butt, sitting himself down on the wood and letting out small giggle.

This is a perfect seat for a hide-out."

[readythefanons]

desk dispatch (early May 2023)

writing desk updates from your pal reddy

desk status: under control (patches of the desk's surface are visible, and the stacks do not exceed 3 inches in height = manageable but in the middle of some things)

General notes from April:

I used April's camp NaNo (NaNoWriMo=national novel writing month, which is in November. Camp NaNo is for self-set goals and is held in April and July) to work on an outline! I outlined the Petra/Sylvain fic, and I wrote about 10k >_> the outline is mostly there, but there are a few sections in the middle that could use some more attention

I finally succeeded in winning the "write every day" achievement for (camp) NaNo!!!!!

I posted "Place" in April which is an Adopted!Hilda AU. If you're reading this post, you probably saw at least one of the eleventybillion promos I scheduled for the fic. (five. It was five.) I started that fic in 2020, so it feels great to post it

What's in the can: NOTHING. I have nothing lined up to post. But...

The Leonie fan anthology (AKA Sunflower: A Leonie Fanzine) is shipping/has shipped! I have a fic in that one, and I hope that soonish I'll be able to post that fic to AO3 :) That piece is titled "not a circle, but a spiral"

I am poking the Leonie/Lorenz SciFi AU again. In a fit of productivity, I re-outlined the thing and I hope to poke the draft itself soon.

I wrote and edited 3k of thoughts on pronouns and personhood in the book Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. When I finally hit post on that, you'll see it on my book blog @reddy-reads but I might also bump it over here because why not. embarrassment is for other people. (disclaimer: not every blog on tumblr with "reddy" in the name is connected to me, i promise)

Miscellaneous thoughts: outlining

I might... love... outlining? To be determined. But it felt so good to work on the Petra/Sylvain outline, and it felt good to work on the SciFi AU outline. So IF these fics actually get written, then I might never go back to my no-outline ways.

What I liked about it: it was so satisfying to think about all the parts of the story and how they were supposed to fit together. It was useful to be able to plan out which characters would show up when and where. It was useful (but often felt bad) to realize that certain scene ideas I had weren't working (usually because there wasn't enough concept there). It was SO much easier to go "wait this isn't working" after only writing a few sentences instead of pages and pages. It was much easier to go "oh I need to introduce X earlier" in an outline than after writing (and posting!!!) whole chapters. It feels good to have a plan about where the story goes and how it reaches the ending.

Outlining (it's new to me): My other multichapter fics ("all things considered could be worse" in Netflix!Daredevil fandom, and of course the "Pull It Together" duology) were written without an outline! I knew generally what I wanted to happen and how the ending should feel, but I didn't know how I was going to get from A to Z.

(Actually... those fics BOTH started as oneshot responses to prompts on kinkmemes... and... the Petra/Sylvain fic was inspired by a post on a kinkmeme, and it was originally conceived as a oneshot. So, uh, credit for finally recognizing a pattern!)

Why I'm finally trying outlining: I've become increasingly aware that I have limited time and energy. I wish I didn't. I wish I felt limitless, but the last few year-or-so has just taught me that I only have so much bandwidth. (Which is a good lesson, even/especially if it's not really welcome.) So since I'm admitting that I have limited time and energy, why shouldn't I help myself spend more time doing what I enjoy (writing!) and less time doing what I dislike (not writing because I'm stuck). So that's part of why I have this fresh interest in outlining.

The other thing about outlining is that--well Leonie and Lorenz's stories were fundamentally pretty simple. The Matt & Foggy (Daredevil again) story was even simpler because it was a slice of life. It was hard to get truly lost there. The Petra/Sylvain story needs to fit together a little more precisely, and that means prewriting. AKA writing the whole thing, then editing and posting. I'm not looking forward to giving up my post-as-you-go ways, but maybe I'll end up loving it.

The last part of the "why suddenly outline and prewrite" puzzle is a little... uh... it's a little sensitive. I have ideas about Petra and Brigid that I want to express, but the themes involved (colonialism/imperialism) are delicate. I want to give myself the option of really thinking it through & maybe even getting an extra set of eyes on it before putting it out on the whole internet to see.

So that's why I haven't been posting as much. I'm cooking up something big, I hope people will like it.

Final goodies

Fic rec: Ruu has written a Leonie/Lorenz fic called "Of Conduct, Of Manners." The Jane Austen influence wafts off the page. It updates regularly, and the whole thing is already written :D :D :D

Writing podcasts: I like the writing podcast "Writing Excuses" and "Fiction Writing Made Easy with Savannah Gilbo."

Media podcasts: I still adore "Be the Serpent." It's on hiatus but they have an extensive back catalogue. I got so many great media recommendations from them.

Writing essays: I enjoyed Diane Duane's blog post about her outlining style and approach. I used her "grocery shopping list" and it really helped me build my outline's backbone.

Writing essay 2: A discord pal shared this post with me, which helped me get past an outlining block. The bit about "stop writing scenes you don't want to write" was the magic ingredient for me.

Meal Idea: Vegetarian sushi bowl. Make some rice, season it into sushi rice. Add all the yummy veggies you want. Eat and enjoy. (I made the sushi rice, but then I mixed some riced cauliflower into it for extra bonus veggies. For topping I did avocado w a sprinkle of soy sauce, finely cut carrot, Japanese pickles [cucumber and ginger], and edamame. I also had nori to wrap it as I ate because I loooove seaweed.)

[dracothedeatheatingcupcake-ao3]

TPWM Update

Y'all!!! Guess what???

I finally finished chapter 23 of TPWM!!! Yay!!!

Ahh, this has been a long time coming, ha. It still needs a LOT of editing, since I struggled with writing it in places, but honestly, as long as it is written down, I can work with it. Honestly, I'm mostly just glad I was able to finish it before the end of November! I knew I prolly wasn't going to be able to write a full 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo (fanfic edition, ha), not with school, but I was able to write about 20,000 AND finish a chapter I've been struggling with for months. I already had about 8,000 word written before November started, so chapter 23 has ended up somewhere around 28,000 words. Which is almost double chapter 24 of TPWP. Which is... yeah.

Honestly, I think TPWM has a good shot of reaching 500,000 words. It's currently at about 392,000 words according to my word document with all chapters. Which is... yeah. 🙃 The Problem Series is probably going to reach 1,000,000 words, too. It currently has 824,541 words according to AO3, and when you add the two chapters I've not published, it brings it up to about 870,000. And I may have other one-shots to add some day, if the inspiration strikes. So, if anyone manages to read all of The Problem Series, you will likely end up reading something that is at least close to a million words. You're welcome 😅😅

The funniest part of all of this is that I would NEVER be able to read even a fraction of The Problem Series. I don't even know if I'd have been able to finish TPWP, though I do honestly really like that fic. Because, while I did have to read it over and over for editing, it was not usually in order. I've also always struggled to get past chapter 14 when I try to read through the fic again. Not because I don't like it, but mostly because I'm just not the kind of person who can read long fics like this, especially not in one go. Which makes it the biggest irony that I've written almost 1,000,000 words for one single fanfic idea. I still don't know how 😅

Anyway, just wanted to give this update and commentary. I don't know when I'll post chapter 23, but I don't think it'll be any earlier than March, to give me time to edit it and maybe build up some other chapters. I'm going to try starting chapter 24 soon, maybe tonight since getting the motivation to START a chapter is always the hardest, ha. ^-^

[clementines-writing-corner]

NANOWRIMO: the conclusion + learning from failure

Hello friends!

Long time, no see! ᕱ__ᕱ These past two weeks I have been giving myself a little break from this blog. I have been swamped with final projects in all of my classes and have been trying to balance getting all of them done with middling success. I’m not thriving, but I am surviving. 

However, to make up for my absence, I will be giving y’all some extra content within the next two weeks. In those posts I won’t be boring you with my rambles as I usually do and instead will simply be giving you some content that I have created for my novel! In this post, though, I will be updating you on my novel’s progress and giving you my thoughts on NANOWRIMO.

For those of you who have been here for a bit, you will know that I attempted to participate in National Novel Writing Month for the first time this November. (As always, here is a link with more info about NANOWRIMO for your perusal.) My personal goal as a full time student with a part time job, was to write a 25,000 word manuscript instead of the full 50,000 words. November has ended and I am happy to report that I failed. I failed to reach even my cut down goal. However, I am surprisingly really happy with my progress this month. I learned a lot about myself as a writer and about my process and while I didn’t manage to write even a 10,000 word manuscript, I feel much more prepared to tackle writing this novel.

~*~*~

So, here are the things that I learned:

Character design and building is VERY important to me

This, I already knew. One of the main things that bother me about book to movie translations or “hot takes” about books on social media or even some fanfictions is that characters, their personalities and development and relationships, are often either misunderstood or sacrificed for the plot or the sake of another character's development. It’s so annoying. I personally belief that every character in a work of fiction should be able to stand on their own, especially if they are a main or secondary character. Characters should be their own individuals with their own motivations and backstories and for goodness sake they should be consistent! (Crappy character development is a thing that bothers me about published novels too. The wasted potential of Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, and Draco Malfoy, among countless other characters, in the Harry Potter novels bugs me so, so much!!)

 So, one of the things that happened everytime I sat down to write this NANOWRIMO was that I would find myself getting “stuck” on this character’s backstory or that character’s personality. I have 13 characters that exist for this story in my head. 2 are the main main characters. The 11 others are also going to have their own plot lines and spin offs. Before NANOWRIMO, I knew that this would make my novel complex. After NANOWRIMO, I realized that I was going to have to organize and map and structure and detail my characters (along with several other things) to the metaphorical gods before I even try to manuscript anything or else I am going to be stuck forever and I will never get this book out of my head.

Worldbuilding is also VERY important to me

This was a bit of a surprise. I am definitely no Tolkien and before I started this blog, and my creative writing journey, at the beginning of this fall, these original characters simply just floated around in my head in a vague fantasy realm with no discernible structure or detail. I expected to be able to just continue with this vague fantasy world and as I started writing let the structure fall into place. Yeah… that’s not what happened. 

As I began to outline character backstories and a basic plot to start writing, I would find myself drawing up short when I needed to insert a detail about the world in which my story is taking place. This month made me realize that I need to also worldbuild to the metaphorical gods before I try to manuscript anything, and in some cases before I try to go deeper into outlining my character’s backstories and such as well. I’m such a detail oriented person that I have no idea why this didn’t occur to me before, especially because I am including a magic system in my book. I hate fantasy books (that are meant to be serious and not just cozy reads) in which the magic systems rely on the “because it’s magic” excuse and the author doesn’t make any attempt at giving at least some sort of structure or rules. So yeah. I really need to worldbuild, which I am going to hate because it is going to take FOREVER (detail oriented person).

I work better on lists and schedules

This I did know, but I didn’t realize it applied to my writing. A lot of the reason why I failed to write anything of substance for the plot of my book is that I thought I could just throw myself in and make it up as I go. Incorrect. As November passed, and I kept getting stuck on details, I realized that I would need to incorporate my penchant for planning and list making if I was ever going to complete a task this large.

Also, side note, but I keep referring to this story that I’m writing as a novel. It will most certainly not be a novel. It will be a whole dang book series. (13 characters!! Who will each get their own POV at some point!! “A novel” my a**.) 

I can throw myself head first into school essays and short writing assignments no problem, but with a story this big, all coming straight from the mess I call my brain, I need to do a lot of planning beforehand. That, above all, is what this failed NANOWRIMO taught me. 

~*~*~

So! Now that I have torn my failure to shreds and dissected all the little pieces and given yall a short (yes that was short for me - I’m starting to think you guys don’t know me at all ᕱ__ᕱ) summary of who, what, when, where, and why my failure occurred, what’s next. Well, I plan. I outline to the metaphorical gods (as I seem to be fond of saying in this post), and next year, when November rolls around, hopefully I have done enough planning and outlining and detail work that writing a 50000 word manuscript should be a breeze!

That’s all for now folks! If any of y’all are curious as to some of what I did manage to get done on my novel/series over NANOWRIMO then stay tuned for the first of your special content posts which should be up within a few minutes of me posting this. Also, if any of y’all have suggestions about how to store/order worldbuilding content in an easily searchable way that would be fantastic!! Please do let me know. Thanks for bearing with me! ᕱ__ᕱ

And remember, dot your j’s and cross your t’s!

~Clementine J. Quincey 🪷

[the-darklings]

coa one year later & self-reflection

(*drags out a creaky metal chair and plops down on it heavily*)

Hi. It’s me, ya boi skinny--

Wait, wrong one. Do over.

Hi, it’s me, Kat, and I’m not dead. Clearly. Today being one year anniversary of COA has kinda put me in a reflective mood, so I guess I decided to sit down and just...talk about some things, thoughts and feelings I’ve been bottling inside for a hot sec. Especially given how radio silent I have gone on here and people deserve a bit of perspective. 

And before anyone starts worrying, it’s all good, and I’m still around and currently in good health for the most part. 

So, let’s take it back to the start. Regardless of how dramatic it may sound, we need to go back a year for that. 

By technicality alone, COA actually turned one year old on October 12th. That’s when the first part was posted. However, the reason I’m treating today as the aforementioned birthday is simple: I had no intention of this story ever being more than a short two-parter. I told this to the discord gang already but COA was only going to have two parts. V was going to die in Tokyo and the rest of the story follows glimpses of John throughout the movies and it’s her ghost that haunts him. Skipping ahead, it was going to have a bittersweet ending of John eventually dying, having completed his task, only to be greeted by V, Daisy and Helen in the afterlife. A peace of sorts. Then, I realised that, well, no. I have more to say on this world and intrigue about this placeholder character V kept growing. 

November 1st happened and I made a very last minute call to continue COA but with the added pressure of doing it during NaNoWriMo 2019. And boy did I. Most of the story was figured out during that very intense month. I posted Part 2 on this day a year ago because I was so eager to share it. Perhaps, in retrospect, a bit too eager. 

For those of you who may not know this, I work as a writer full time for my actual every day job. I’m the main writer for an original webcomic called In the Bleak Midwinter on Webtoon.com and have been for almost two years now. Getting what is essentially your dream job is amazing. I’m very lucky on that front but it also taught me stark realities of having your job and only hobby overlap. It’s a dangerous creative mix. Especially because I was not used to being constraint in what I create or the feeling like I have to please anyone else. Writing as a job is a whole other avenue of creative exhaustion. I love my job a lot and am very, very lucky to have it but it doesn’t change the fact that those initial stages made me fall back on COA a lot for creative freedom that I craved so desperately. To an unhealthy degree looking back on it now. 

But going back to November last year. NaNo time. I did it. Finished on the 24/25th I believe. A juicy final count of 52k+. All while maintaining a weekly update schedule for a fic that usually hit around 10k per update, if not more, even during those early days. Add writing an original story on top of that. Writing every day for hours on end (we are talking 10-12hr days) without any time for other hobbies or time for myself in general. I kept pushing and pushing and pushing. Losing weight and sleep in the process. I think the thing that convinced me that I should continue doing so is the fact that the outpour of support for COA ended up surpassing anything I ever expected or even dared to hope for. I’m not a huge numbers person but the outpour of love and just sheer investment in the story and characters blew me away. John Wick fandom is on the smaller side and has been going through downtime when I posted COA so my expectations were...well, small tbh. I like keeping expectations low to avoid any disappointments in general. But I’ve also always had an issue of being a massive 0 or 100 kind of person. If I love something, it consumes me. In this case, it brought me as much joy and freedom as much as it was steadily pushing me towards the ultimate crash. 

That being said, I can’t thank you all enough for every comment, like, reblog and message and fanart. You’re the reason I got this far. With your support. It brightened some really dark days for me.

But. 

To be frank, it’s never been about you guys. I never wrote or pushed because I felt like I had to appease anyone. That creative mindset is pure poison and I long since learned to let go of it. I kept pushing and kept working myself to the bone because I liked it. I liked how reading peoples’ responses made me feel. I liked the addictive nature of reading all the comments and theories after an update. I loved the idea of brightening peoples’ days and giving them something to cheer them up after what might have been a shitty day. Even if that was at expense of my own time/well being. But for a long time, it wasn’t. I love writing a lot but facts remain facts. 

It was beyond unhealthy and burnout wasn’t a question of if but when and that when was approaching at neck-breaking speed. 

So we come to the end of November. Part 4 has just come out. People were invested and I was invested alongside them. I was just finishing up Part 5 which (back then) was the biggest single chapter I’ve ever written and god I still recall my sheer dread because that was the beginning of Santino being established as a LI. Looking back on that now, it’s downright hilarious how worried I was about the reception of him and V together after John.

So honestly, I hit burnout at around Part 8. Because that’s the first time I recall struggling with writing a chapter. Part 8 came out on December 28th. I had a brief break for holidays. But my mistake was not taking longer back then. Because I continued writing with a barely healed burnout. Followed by almost a year of struggling and continuously creating through that state. It wasn’t like I eased off the pressure, either. Oh, no. The chapters grew in size, the world and the characters with it. AUs amassed quickly and while I adore every single one - again, I didn’t know how to pace myself well enough.

I’m spiteful though. The more the chapters struggled the more I pushed against the burnout. By the time Chicago arrived, however, I knew I was in trouble. I ended up writing 43k+ in a span of 2 months, I believe. And while to some it may not seem like a lot given the time frame, it’s a lot when you’re burnout to a crisp & writing an original story for work + deadlines. Which I was burned out and then some. Chicago was something I was looking forward to writing for months. I have built it up since Part 4. It was a long time coming. So while I’m still proud of it, I would be lying if I said that some scenes were not sacrificed for the sake of keeping to my invisible schedule that no one but me actually cared about. You guys have always been patient. I never felt pushed into anything. It’s always only ever been me doing the harm. 

Chicago was the downwards spiral for me mentally. I felt like I was failing to live up to my own expectations. That people were drifting away from it. I was plagued by the thought that the story I poured so much into was falling apart and growing weaker. Which this has always been an issue with me: I am my own harshest critic. Always have been. In fact, I’m a downright mean little fucker when it comes to just tearing at myself. I know writing is for fun - and it is - but I still like the idea of being proud of my work which only made everything worse despite the love each update received. 

This takes us to the beginning of June. Specifically, June the 2nd. Or, as I like to call it: Kat Makes Another Impulsive Decision but This One Actually Works Out For the Better. On this day, I created the COA Discord server. And damn, I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting when I did ngl. I did it for fun and as an escape more so than anything. But somehow it ended up being the best decision I made in a long while. I know some of you are reading this. So love you lots, dorks. It’s such a privilege to be able to call so many of you my friends even outside of COA now. That little community has given me some of the best memories from this year and helped me to crawl out of my own metaphorical pit I was stuck in. Mentally, I’m doing much better than I did beginning of this summer. Which could be summed up as a constant self-hatred cycle and a feeling of inadequacy. 

That, however, does not mean my burnout magically disappeared. If anything Chapter 17 just put a nail in the coffin so to speak. 2020 has been a shitty year just across the board for obvious reasons I don’t need to go into here but that can only partially be attributed to my mental state. Chapter 17 was...exhaustive. To say the least. But I was determined to stick with my vision and not split it up. I was also starting to be a bit more forgiving towards myself in terms of how long I may take to write it thanks to guys on discord though the feeling of failure and worry never quite faded fully. I’m proud of Part 17. Truly. But that was also when I hit rock bottom creatively on COA. It drained me completely. 

I tried writing Part 18 for weeks after, day in and day out, not getting past the first scene and hating every word I wrote. So I took a deep breath and stopped. Figured I let it marinate and wait instead of trying to piece one of the most crucial chapters in this story like some Frankenstein monster two sentences at the time.

So my solution was simple: give myself some distance from it and write other things. Get my spark back. Of course that’s always a good idea. Having multiple creative escapes is the best thing you can do for yourself creatively. There was just one tiny little problem. 

I was still burned out. Still am. The problem went deeper than just being burned out over COA. I was burned out over writing itself. 

Which is an issue for a person who only has writing as a creative outlet.

I don’t have any other way to express myself. So I was stuck in a runt, trying to write because it’s the only thing that makes me genuinely happy even when I really shouldn’t have. And let me tell you. It’s a shitty fucking feeling. My burnout worsened. I had a thousand ideas but every time I tried to get them down it felt forced, fragmented, and weak. Repetitive and dry. Now, this is also in part because English isn’t my native language, so my vocab is limited as a result, but I hit that sweet rock bottom in that regard, too. 

So, I worked on V (but in her OC form Clara), Lucien and The Elites. All those characters have grown so much since you last read about them. I have multiple original projects planned down the line that will feature all of them existing in their own world, with their own stories and no longer constrained by JW canon.  

Which, finally, takes us to the end of October and beginning of November 2020. 

I was convinced that the best course of action was to do NaNo again but with an original story this time (involving V). Suffice to say, it took a grand total of maybe 5-6 days and hating every second of writing it while also feeling like this project I’m so passionate and excited to write (still am) is just...going down the toilet to be blunt, to realise I may have made the wrong call. 

Still, the stubborn ass that I am, I pushed through. Convinced I can get into it if I just keep going. The realizations that I am sharing with you right now won’t have been possible if it hadn’t been for a rather curious turn of events about a week and a half ago.

I recently bought a gaming laptop, all in preparation for Cyberpunk 2077 dropping ofc. But, in the meantime, I kept recommending a game to a friend on the COA server. That game? Far Cry 5. (It’s a blast to play btw, just a side note.) And playing it brought back all the feelings of nostalgia from the days when I used to write for that fandom. So I revisited some old work. Checked the stuff I never published and that has been sitting ducks in my docs for months and hoo boy. Let me tell you it was a vibe check of the worst kind. 

The stark difference in the prose and the ease with which it flowed was...startling. It made me remember why I love writing so much and how proud I used to be of what I wrote back in the day. Which is not to say I’m not proud now, but it was just such a sharp dip in quality it was impossible to ignore.  

So I didn’t.  

I paused NaNo, moving it to another month. I paused writing for everything but work, which with our season coming to an end I will also get a rest from soon, too. I kinda paused in general. For the first time in a while, I finally forced myself to switch off. Rest. 

The reason why I haven’t been on here is simple: guilt and not having energy to be on here. I like making my blog a safe space for everyone. Similar to escape it has become for me. I couldn’t pretend I was fine when I wasn’t. I felt obliged to perform and being here became exhausting. I haven’t been checking my inbox. Haven’t done much of anything except occasionally dropping by and reblogging a random post so people know I’m alive.

And that’s that, folks. That’s where I am currently. Resting. Completely exhausted mentally but resting. Getting my energy back. 

So where does that leave us, huh? If you read this far, dunno what to tell you. Thanks, I suppose. It’s still odd to think people actually care about my existence sometimes.

I know what you’re likely thinking, too. So does this mean COA is never gonna be finished? What is gonna happen to it? Are you abandoning it?

The answer: no. 17 out of 25 chapters and 250k+ in, I’m too far in not to give it a proper conclusion. Not because I owe it to anyone other than myself. I want this story to be a stepping stone for my future as a writer. I want to prove to myself that I can get this done and finish it. As of right now (as you can no doubt tell with how long it’s been since last update) it’s on a soft hiatus while I rest. This rest? Not sure how long it may last. Right now, my plan is till mid December at which point I will reevaluate. Ideally, I finish the year with an update. But my New Year’s resolution is to finish COA. That timeline has become a little more murky now but, again, ideally it’s within the first quarter of 2021. Will that happen? I don’t know. And I don’t want to make false promises, either. 

All I’m saying is that it will be done. I’m just no longer sure how long, exactly, it may take me to reach that Epilogue. I don’t expect many people to stick around for however long it may take me, but if you do, thank you. Truly. I really and deeply mean that. 

So what’s on the cards for this blog in the meantime? Well, CP77 is coming out in under a month (if it doesn’t get moved again lmao rip) and I expect that to be my soft return to posting my writing on here again. We will see where the muse takes me, if at all. Regardless though, I’m excited. 

One doctorate thesis later, here we are at the end of this really long rambling session. I hope that this has given you some perspective on things going on behind the scenes. I spared you some of the gorier details but I think this post has been long overdue. I suppose I, myself, was just too unwilling to face these things despite knowing about them deep down for a while now. I’m too self-critical not to notice but acting on correcting this behavior has been a whole other matter clearly. 

Thank you for reading this post, my writing in general, and supporting me. I’m not going anywhere. I’m still around. More is on the way in the future. I’ll be seeing you all real soon. And all my love to all of you. 

Love,

- Kat.   

[cryptid-s-wips]

NaNo Update #3: MBP

Wordcount: 10,204 / 50k

I am. so sorry besties. Because I totally forgot to post a NaNo update and that's for the same reason I will almost definitely not be finishing NaNo (unless some miracle happens in the next few days). I've been very busy (not to mention having a weirdly emotionally turbulent and socially dramatic month this fine November for some reason) purely by coincidence and it just so happened to coincide with me deciding I was going to do NaNoWriMo because let's face it I am at least a little sick in the head (and in the body. I am also really sick right now. Which is another part of why I haven't been writing as much as I'd like lately. And which is why I sound like this (a lil bit deranged))

BUT this month has gone so well in terms of writing. I've just loved trying to be creative every day and, honestly, I'm super proud of myself for what I've done. Breaking 10k is still pretty big and I'll be really proud if I can write more (maybe 15? 20k?). The goal of this was to get me to try to be creative every day this month and I think it's worked. I've been exercising my imagination a lot more than I usually do and having a lot of fun while doing it. And I've been getting so much better at not being so much of a perfectionist! The time constraint really allowed me to accept that my first draft is going to be shitty. And that's okay!

But here are some updates

James got the student's file and read it and everything just clicked

Also, he may or may not be a little bit in love with Elliot

And he's also realized that if the student is real, that means that he has some sort of way to escape. He'll be okay

But, on the other hand, while running through the woods around Edgewater, James and Elliot ran into a sort of Coraline situation where they ran in a straight line and just ended up back where they started so who knows? James certainly doesn't.

I'm just loving making the setting grow more and more unsettling as time goes on >:) especially the forestttt

As always, excerpt and taglist below the cut (get ready because this is kind of a long boi)

Excerpt (CW for swearing -- and also not so great writing)

We stopped by a tree after we were sure we’d gotten far enough away from the campus for them to have stopped looking. In fact, I don’t think they even ventured into the forest at all. Probably just left us for dead. Figures.

Elliot leans against one of the huge, twisting oaks and puts his hands on his knees, panting. “Holy shit, James. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary.”

This whole time I’d totally forgotten I had the file. I pull it out from under my arm. The student, whose name I still can’t say aloud.

“That better be pretty fucking important,” Elliot says, gesturing to the folder with his head, making his hair fall into his face. He doesn’t even try to fix it. “Or I’m just going to strangle you right here and now.”

I stare at it, but I can’t even open it. Well, not that I physically can’t, but there’s some mental force keeping me from opening it now. I risked my life, my entire career here, for this godforsaken thing and I can’t even open it now that I have it? I’m sitting out in the forest, in the snow, frost forming on my eyelashes, and I can’t even fucking open it?

“Well?” Elliot asks, “get on with it then.”

“I can’t,” I say.

He sighs and reaches for it. “Then let me.”

I pull it away from him and tuck it into my jacket. “No. Not yet.”

“All that for some stupid folder you won’t even open? Some file of some kid you don’t know and you won’t even fucking look at it?” Elliot stands up and pushes me back into the snow. “You goddamned idiot. You bloody fucking lunatic.” He practically kicks me to the ground. I scramble to get up, but he pushes me back down again with his boot. “I’ve been wondering if you’ve still got all your marbles rolling around up there, and you know what? This proves to me that you don’t. You never fucking have. And now look where you've got us. In the middle of some forest in the middle of the damned night. We’ll be lucky if we aren’t eaten by wolves in the morning. And you’ll be lucky if you are.”

He pushes me back again and I scramble away. My heart’s racing. I’ve never seen Elliot this pissed off before. It’s scary, in a good way.

Or, really, for me, it’s in a very, very bad way.

The man’s fuming.

And he’s right. I’m a raging lunatic. I’ve been hallucinating long-lost friends, breaking into offices at night, collapsing out of nowhere, not getting any work done while I’m at it, rather obsessively searching for a student who, as far as I know, is just a figment of my imagination, and now that I’ve found the source of my obsession, completed my goal, and I can’t even fucking open the folder. I close my eyes and sink even further into the snow. I’m stark raving mad.

Elliot kicks a tree and yells, slamming his fist against the trunk and resting his head against it, breathing heavily. He takes a deep breath through his teeth. And there’s something especially elegant about the way the moonlight hits his face, reflecting off of his nose, turning his jet-black hair almost a shade of navy blue, emphasizing his jawline as it shines behind it. Shadows line his face. He’s just about all I can make out. I’d forgotten a torch or candle. I might have some matches in my jacket pocket, but I can barely get up now.

My god, it is freezing outside.

Elliot turns around. The shadows on his face make him seem more menacing than he is. Or maybe just as menacing as he means to be.

But he reaches out a hand, and I take it in mine, and he pulls me up out of the snow, and brushes it off, and, even stranger, wraps an arm around me, pulling me in for an embrace. I sink into the warmth of his coat. A tear slips out of my eye and rolls down my cheek before freezing there.

“I’m sorry James,” he whispers into my ear, grabbing the back of my head with a gloved hand, “we’ll figure this out. I promise.”

“Who is this and what have you done with Elliot?” I quip, but we both know I barely mean it. I just smile and hug him tighter. “I’m sorry.”

He pushes me away with a playful punch. “We better find our way out of here, haven’t we? Or else we’ll really be fucked.”

“You’re right,” I reply. We both glance back to where we’d come from. There’s no sign that there had ever been any civilization there. Strange. I didn’t think we’d gone that far. ‘

“Come on,” Elliot says, gesturing for me to follow him as he keeps walking through the forest, away from the school.

“Hey,” I say, “Shouldn’t we be going that way?” I point in the other direction, the direction we came from.

Elliot scoffs. “Yeah, right. Like I’m going back to that hellhole.”

I laugh. And I follow him. Because he’s right. If given the choice I’d never go back.

But there’s not much further to go. Something glows up ahead, something warm. The golden light of a lamp. It looks like there might be a clearing up ahead. I let out a sigh of relief. Civilization. Maybe someone who will be able to give us a place to stay for the night, give us a ride into town. An escape.

Elliot and I look at each other and grin, before running toward it. It’s our last hope. And as we break through the trees, our worst fear greets us on the other side.

It’s Edgewater. Somehow, by some dark force, we ended up right back where we came from. And I can’t help but laugh, not from relief, or because I found anything truly humorous, but because, god-fucking-damn it. I thought I’d escaped. And yet here we are, back in our seemingly eternal prison.

I turn back, but I know I can’t return. Because no matter where I run, I’ll just end up right back here. What a joke. What a cruel, cruel joke.

And what a sick and twisted God He must be.

Taglist (lmk if you want to be +/-!):

@zoya-writes, @strangerays

[nanowrimo]

How to Get to The End of Your Novel (Not Just 50K)

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Dabble, a 2020 NaNoWriMo sponsor, gives you everything you need: manuscript, story notes, plotting, goals, drag-and-drop, auto-focus, auto NaNoWriMo word count submission, syncing between all devices (including mobile), and more. Today, they’ve teamed up with KJ Dell’Antonia from the #AmWriting podcast to bring you some tips on finishing your story:

I adore Nanowrimo. Tell me it’s impossible to write a whole novel in a month, especially a month with Thanksgiving in it, and I will set out to prove you wrong. My first novel, The Chicken Sisters (out 12/1 from Putnam) started as a NaNo project, and I’m hoping to be able to say that about my third as well. 

That said, I know myself. My first novel clocks in at around 107K, my current WIP draft is at 99K. I favor long, convoluted sentences. I like to express things in sets of three—reasons the character is reacting as she is, emotions that are bombarding her, the ways her body responds—or even five: lists, smells, tastes, memories, expressions. And, as I have just demonstrated, I tend to use a lot of punctuation while I’m doing it. 

I do this from the very beginning. If I’m writing a scene, I write a whole scene. The people move, they eat, they smell and taste and feel, they think about their backstory: the whole shebang. Historically, that’s meant two things. First, when November 30 rolls around, I’ll have 50,000 words—but I’ll only have a draft of about half of my story.

Second, I’ll have put in a lot of time writing those long sentences and elaborate scenes. The terrible truth about my first drafts is that the writing tends to be pretty good. The dialogue flows, the action moves, there’s humor and pathos and feeling in the way the characters interact with one another.

It’s the story that usually sucks. 

Getting to The End, not The Middle

I suspect that to some extent it will always be this way for me. I plot, then I write, then I discover that the plot doesn’t create room to bring the character to the place where she needs to be and I have to go back and do it all over again. But I also suspect I could do that initial finding my way to a character arc and plot that weave together in a way that satisfies the whole a lot more efficiently if I just wrote fewer words. 

Make a Plan, and Try Dabble

To do that, I need a plan that forces me out of my usual loquacious style, and here it is: I divide my 30 days and 50,000 words into a beginning (6 days, 10K) , a middle (18 days, 30K) and an end (6 days and 10K again). I use Dabble Writing Software to lay out the plot lines as they develop and try to maximize the number of things every scene advances—and I set it to count every word, not just the ones in the manuscript! World-building and character riffing are fine as long as I stick to the schedule.  

Write Some, Pre-write Some or Just Say What Happens

Next, I pay attention to time and word count. If I’m lingering and I need to move along, I throw down some plans and some prewriting. Conversation about the Halloween event here. Town history TK.  Some prescient line that recurs at end.

So that’s my weird NaNoWriMo 2020 plan: write fewer words, but get more of the whole picture on the page, with the goal of finding my way to “the end” instead of “the middle”. I know (and you know) that it won’t really be the end. There will be much, much work ahead—but I’ll have a draft. It will be a terrible draft, as it should be, but it will help me do the work I find hardest: not writing the scenes but finding the story. If I’m lucky I’ll be putting flesh on the bones; if I’m not, I’ll be rebuilding a scaffolding, not taking down a whole house. 

KJ Dell’Antonia is the co-host of the #AmWriting podcast, a weekly show offering actionable advice on craft, productivity and creativity for writers in all genres. Her debut novel, The Chicken Sisters, will be out from G.P. Putnam’s Sons December 1, 2020. Follow her NaNoWriMo progress on Instagram: @kjda and find more at kjdellantonia.com.

Top photo by Anton Shuvalov on Unsplash.

[publishingpushltd]

Publishing Push LTD

Overcoming Writer’s Block: The Ultimate Guide

Imagine you just published your next novel, and it’s already on its way to becoming a best seller. That all sounds like a dream, especially if you frequently get writer’s block.

Luckily, you can get over a creative hump, and you can finish your book. Then, you can live the dream as a published author.

Read on for some tips on how to get over writer’s block.

Read What You've Written

If you’ve written a bit of your book, read through what you’ve written. Of course, this gives you a chance to do some proofreading and editing, which can make your book even better.

However, you may come across ideas for what to write to help get over your writer’s block. Maybe you forgot about a story one of your characters said, and you use that to inspire the next chapter.

Reading your current writing can also be good if your writer’s block comes from imposter syndrome. You can remind yourself that writing a book isn’t as hard as you think, and you’re a good writer.

Read Something Else

Do you get PMS or bad symptoms around your period? If you do, please give as much detail as possible.I get easily upset the week before my period. I feel bloated and hungry.

Take a Break

If you’ve been writing a lot lately, you may need to take a break from the craft. Even the best authors can struggle to finish a book in a short period.

You can take a few minutes to go for a walk or call a friend or relative. If writer’s block still persists, you may want to take a break from writing for the rest of the day.

Come back to your book the following day, hopefully with a clear head. Getting a good night of sleep may provide you with the energy you need to finish a chapter or your entire book.

Set a Timer

If writing a book still seems like an insurmountable task, use a timer. Set it for five minutes and just write whatever pops into your head in that time.

Writing against a timer can be a great way to motivate yourself to start writing. If you don’t like what you write, you can delete it, but you may find that some of the material is usable in your book.

While timing your writing doesn’t work for everyone, it’s worth trying at least once. Forcing yourself to write for a few minutes is an excellent way to help you focus.

You can then continue using the timer to write more. Or you can go back to writing without a timer if that works better for you.

Create a Schedule

A fantastic way to beat writer’s block over the long term is to develop a writing schedule. Set aside an hour or two at the same time each day so that you can write.

After a few days or weeks of writing at the same time, it will become like any other habit. That can make writing a book seem less daunting, and you may even get more excited for your daily writing session.

Over time, you’ll be able to write each chapter, and finishing a book will seem more within reach. To set a good schedule, consider when you’re most creative and alert so that you can be more productive with your writing time.

Participate in a Writing Challenge

Another excellent way to beat writer’s block is to participate in a writing challenge, such as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The challenge happens each year in November, with the goal to write 50,000 words in a month.

But you can create your own monthly or weekly writing challenge at any time. Set a goal for the number of words, pages, or chapters you want to write in that period.

If you set a writing schedule, you can hold yourself accountable. And you can break your overall goal down into daily goals. That way, finishing a book in a month will seem easier.

Write Something New

Maybe you’re not having trouble writing, but you can’t seem to write your book. Use your writing time to focus on another writing project, such as a different book or an article.

Writing in a different style allows you to get into the zone and be creative with your writing. It can also provide a nice break from your main novel.

When you come back to writing a book, you may have ideas to help move the story along. That way, you can finish your book and move on to the publishing stage.

Use an Outline

If you suffer from writer’s block often, consider if you use an outline. Outlining your book lets you list all of the main ideas you want your book to include.

You can also write certain details that you want each chapter to include. Then, you won’t have to forget those ideas when you finally get to the chapter.

Making an outline is also a great excuse to write on paper instead of on your computer. If you’re struggling to write in front of a screen, using a pen and paper may help you jot down more ideas to start your book.

Start in the Middle

Perhaps you’ve made a fantastic outline, but you still can’t seem to write the first chapter. Consider writing another chapter before the first one.

If you already have ideas for how to make another chapter go, use this time to create a draft. You can come back to the first chapter later, and you can make sure every chapter flows well together.

After you write the middle chapters, the first may come to you more naturally. For example, you may have a better idea of how to introduce each character based on how they act later in the book.

Change the Point of View

Another one of the best tips for authors dealing with writer’s block is to use a different point of view. Whether you’re writing the book from the perspective of the main character or a narrator, switch it up.

Write the next chapter or section from a different character’s perspective. If you find the other perspective boring to write from, you can keep things interesting.

You can then either keep the chapter in the different perspective, or you can edit it. That way, the same character or narrator is telling the entire story, but you don’t have to write that way the entire time.

Write Somewhere New

You might also want to change your perspective and view when writing a book. If you use a laptop, take it with you to a cafe or out on your deck.

The different view can help you be more creative, and you may get ideas that you wouldn’t get in your usual writing location. You may not always be able to write from a different spot.

In that case, you can turn on a different genre of music. The music might help you come up with different ideas for your story, so you might find writing a book is much easier.

Get Constructive Feedback

Before publishing a book, you should have someone else look at it. You can do this by hiring a professional editor, but don’t be afraid to ask friends and family or anyone else you know who might like the book.

Have them give you their thoughts on the storyline and characters. Sometimes, a second or third opinion may give you new ideas to incorporate into the story.

Receiving feedback can also help motivate you to write. Then, you can feel like you’re not simply writing into the void. And the early feedback may help you make the book better than it would have been.

Work Against a Deadline

When publishing a book with a traditional publisher, you may face deadlines. However, self-publishing doesn’t come with the same restrictions.

On the one hand, that means you can be more flexible. But that also means you can go weeks without writing your book and not face consequences.

So set a deadline for yourself, even if you publish the book without a publisher. Then, you can keep yourself accountable, potentially motivating your to write more.

Defeating Writer's Block Is Easy

Writer’s block may seem like the biggest obstacle in your path to finishing a book. Fortunately, you don’t have to succumb to the limitations of your writing.

From creating an outline to following a writing schedule, try a few things to get over your writer’s block. Then, you’ll be able to write and publish your next novel in no time.

Do you need help publishing a book? View our self-publishing packages to learn how we can help.

[teriwrites]

4 and 15 for the ask game, please? thanks!

Of course, thank you!

4. Are you including any tropes or narrative elements you’ve never tried before?

I’m going to be totally real with you here, not really. There is a little more focus on biological family, whereas I typically write more found-family relationships, but I already knew going into this November that it’s going to be an extra challenge for a number of reasons, so I’m mostly sticking with the things I know I enjoy!

15. If you’re a past participant or winner, do you have any advice to share?

I am! This is going to be year 10, which is intimidating to think about. As for advice, I definitely believe that different systems and set-ups work for everybody, but here are a few general things:

1. Find friends who are also participating! 

My first year, I was doing okay-ish, honestly slogging through it, but I ended up joining this little writing chat and met other people who were also doing NaNo. Having other people to write with and complain to and encourage was the thing that not only got me through the end of the month but also gave me the excitement and energy to come back to it the next year. You don’t have to be super active on the forums, or even have a huge group of people. But writing buddies, or even just one writing buddy, goes a long way, especially during the tougher parts of the month.

2. Making the challenge fun! 

Personally, I’m a big fan of writing games. Word wars, crawls, forum challenges, throwing in random prompts, sprints, tournaments. There are a million different ways to spin writing into mini challenges. It’s helpful towards reaching the wordcount, it’s often a solid social way of connecting with other people, it can be competitive or light-hearted, whatever you make of it. 

And obviously there are more ways. Having incentives is one thing I live by (usually, I’ll stock up on Halloween candy and bribe myself for completing the day’s wordcount goal).

3. Time management

Honestly, the time management might be the hardest part of NaNoWriMo for me, even over getting the words on the page. I’m not saying give up Netflix for the entire month or abandon your friends and hole up in your room. But sometimes, there are extra things that we can set aside for a little bit. Personally, my classes have slightly longer ‘passing’ times than most semesters right now. Usually, I’ll just be scrolling through social media or something. Next month, it’s a goal of mine to try to make use of those 20-30 minutes where I’m not really responsible for anything. 

4. Slumps will happen. This is okay. Acknowledge it, accept it, do what you can and don’t burn yourself out.

This is normal. Trying to write an entire novel (or a large chunk of one) in a month is a huge feat! There has never once been a year where I haven’t fallen behind at some point. Usually, in the 30,000 range, I crash. Sustaining the kind of energy that you have on the 1st of November throughout the entire month is impossible. But if you find yourself slipping behind a bit, don’t panic! Just write what you can and don’t give up! If you’re really feeling burnt out, you can take a day or two off. Catching up on 3,333 later is a lot easier than if you try to force yourself through and completely crash. 

4.5 - This is more for people who have participated before, but if you know where you are going to end up crashing, be aware of this! You’re super motivated at the start and end of the month, less so in the middle? Maybe set a higher goal for days during those times, and give yourself the leeway to accomplish less when you’re feeling burnt out.

5. Be kind to yourself.

ESPECIALLY this year. We’re still in a pandemic! Attempting to create anything at all is a feat that you should be proud of! This sort of relates to the last one, but if you’re feeling frustrated, if you’re ready to quit, let yourself take breaks! The plan was to write 1,000 words after dinner, but you ended up spending two hours on tumblr instead? It happens. Don’t beat yourself up over the little things (or really any of the things). Easier said than done, obviously, but if you’re starting to feel yourself get worked up, go watch a funny video. (It’s actually been shown that certain emotions have a difficult time coexisting. Two of these are anger and amusement. So seriously, if you feel super worked up and you’re getting mad, I highly recommend vine compilations, or something else that you know you’ll laugh at!)

6. Just write!

I hate myself for putting that down as if it’s that easy. But really, the whole point of NaNoWriMo is not to have a shiny new manuscript by the end of the month. That’s the titular challenge, sure, but at the end of the day, the real goal here is to write more than you otherwise would’ve. You end up with 35,000 on 1 December? Well, guess what? That could easily be 35,000 more than you would’ve! And it’s a lot easier to work with 35,000 written words than 50,000 in your head. So don’t give up!

[garlickie]

All the botanical asks you haven’t got yet

lia that’s so many 😳 

lavender; soundcloud or vinyls?

soundcloud, i don’t have the money for vinyls, but if i had the money for them then vinyls 

primrose; what book does everyone right now need to read?

i can’t think of any lol 

lunar mist; do you like wearing other people’s shirts/jackets?

yeah

bird of paradise; what was the best thing that happened to you this month?

i hung out with my friends yesterday! also November 5th was incredibly funny

gardenia; what’s a promise you’ve recently made to yourself? 

i promised to be nicer to myself, and to exercise every day, and to get a job, and to write more

whirling butterflies; would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

have not kissed 

marmalade skies; do you plan your outfits? 

sort of? 

apricot drift; how do you feel right now? 

a bit tired! also a bit annoyed at the universe because I keep dropping and breaking things lmao (I dropped a glass lid everywhere and then kept stepping on glass as I was cleaning it, and then spilled water everywhere) 

everlasting daisy; what’s the last dream you remember having?

recurring apocalypse dream, I don’t remember the specifics 

queen’s cup; what are you craving right now?

chocolate 

lavender dream; turn ons/offs?

uhhhh i don’t like most perfume smells, or specific sudden loud noises

water lily; when was the last time you cried? why?

i cried a little bit yesterday when I was watching bly manor, but it wasn’t a full on cry

lily of the valley; did the one person who hurt you most in your life apologize?

no, but I don’t expect one, i’ve moved on 

winterberry; do you bite or lick your ice cream?

both 

desert rose; do you like yourself?

a little bit more every day. two steps forward one step back 

snapdragon; have you ever met or seen in person a celebrity?

nope 

night owl; how many countries have you visited?

5, i think? excluding one flight layover  

heliotrope; have you ever been in a castle? 

yes! in Germany 

creams and sky; what’s the craziest/bravest thing you’ve done?

idk if i’ve done anything really 

lantana; what’s on your mind right now?

the mini nanowrimo i thought I would start, that I haven’t written anything for (10k words in two weeks) 

pumpkin patch; what’s your zodiac sign?

aquarius sun, sagittarius rising, scorpio moon

tulip; name 5 facts about yourself.

1. i love rollercoasters, 2. i love love, 3. i cut my hair the other day, 4. i overheat easily, 5. i am a bad actor 

daphne; do you believe in karma?

yep! even if not in a spiritual sense, I think that being kind can bring kindness back to you, and being cruel can bring cruelty back to you 

queen of the meadow; ever been in love? 

perhaps, but I might be wrong 

wisteria; whom do you admire and why?

someone I once knew, they are good at making boundaries 

angel’s face; what was your favorite bedtime story as a child?

i don’t remember 

remember me; did you make someone laugh today? 

hannibal played by mass mikkelsen 

lilac; if you could go back in time which time period would you visit?

hmmmm 1920s? 1980s? 

caramel kisses; would you want to live forever? why/why not? 

i would want to be immortal until I want to die. there’s so many things that I want to experience! but I don’t want to live FOREVER, that’s too long 

primula; what makes you sad?

a lot of things. there’s a lot to be sad about, especially this year

rain lily; was today typical? why/why not? 

it’s typical of the holidays, i’ve spent the morning watching netflix

queen anne’s lace; who do you trust the most?

damn idk that’s a loaded question. next 

forget me not; do you have any regrets looking back in your life?

yes lol many 

lunaria; what’s your favorite fictional universe? 

honestly? rise of the guardians 

violet; favorite tv show? 

doctor who is my favourite comfort show, but i have a lot of shows that i love like dghda and bly manor 

snowdrop; what does your ideal day look like?

visiting a theme park with someone i love, and then we have a picnic, maybe on the beach. it’s sunny and there’s a nice breeze. then we go for a drive along the coast and listen to music together. we get home and it starts storming so we hang out together and watch movies 

tiger lily; do you have any hobbies? 

knitting! i started a blanket in the Irish moss stitch :) i like writing too. i also like baking and cooking, and i sometimes pick up guitar and ukulele and duolingo. um also games. 

peony; share a small random book passage that means something to you. 

there’s a bit in the book thief by markus zusak where Death describes the colours of the sky 

tea rose; what’s something you always wanted to do but were too scared? 

can’t think of anything rn 

honeysuckle; do you usually date people your age or older/younger? 

i’ve only “dated” one person and they were my age. i’m not really into dating people older or younger 

love in the mist; best books you’ve ever read? 

i literally cannot remember and I'm too lazy to try and remember 

foxglove; who is your favorite cartoon character?

dr doofenshmirtz 

magnolia; coffee or tea?

both! i love coffee!! i also love tea!! i’m a multifaceted person 

crown imperial; would you rather be extremely rich or extremely loved?

extremely loved. but if i had a lot of money i could help a lot of people 

snowflake; are you a dog or a cat person? 

both! 

bell flower; what is your biggest addiction? 

don’t judge me lmao i am addicted to asmr, it makes my brain go brrrr

cosmos; do you ever think about the galaxy? 

all the time

moonflower; what’s your favorite color?

yellow, but also pink, and blue, and so many others 

freesia; do you have a good relationship with your parents and siblings? why/why not? 

yes, they always try to be good people. also i just generally get along with them 

poppy; have you ever dealt with a mental illness?

perhaps. i think so yeah. self diagnosed. i’ve gotten pretty good at dealing with it over the years 

clover; how would your friends describe you?

uhhhhhh idk quirky? 🤪 i don’t know. 

dandelion; do you consider yourself an extrovert or an introvert?

introvert, i’m good at spending a lot of time alone, and that’s how i recharge. but i still enjoy people’s presence. i think the words extrovert and introvert are uhhh misnomers? it’s like asking if you prefer the darkness or the brightness. there’s different shades of light on a spectrum 

lilly; what’s something you love watching/reading but you are too embarrassed to admit you do?

asmr but i’m only tentatively embarrassed 

anemone; describe yourself in 3 words.

weird, eclectic, trying 

lotus; best memory as a child?

can’t remember much, but i can remember that time i went on the green lantern rollercoaster at movie world like 4 times 

angelonia; what is your eye and hair color?

brown, dark brown/black 

dahlia; do you like crystals?

yeah, not really in jewellery (it tends to look a little tacky (not always!)) but i like crystals :) 

buttercup; if you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

stop overall suffering. it’s not one thing, it’s a series of things: war, poverty, food deserts, etc. um if i had to choose one i’d make it so that there’s a reliable source of water available to everyone 

baby’s breath; what’s your hogwarts house?

hufflepuff 

calendula; biggest pet peeve? 

people who have a very different sense of personal space to me and don’t respect mine 

blanker flower; would you rather go to a cocktail party with your best friends or stay home and read a book/watch a movie with your pet?

hm stay home? but also i want to hang out with my friends. i haven’t been to a cocktail party before with friends 

blazing star; share a secret.

scroll through my old blog, i’ve blurted a lot of secrets on there 

carnation; would you rather live longer or happier?

happier 

bluebell; do you wear glasses? 

nope

orchid; do you like exercise?

depends on your definition of “like”. I like the benefits, the after effects. if i’m walking, i like the time alone, and the time out in nature and on the street 

pansy; do you like poetry?

yes duh i’m a poet 

morning glory; any special talent that you have? 

adapting

botanical asks

[raychleadele]

For the past several years, I’ve made a point at the end of the year to make a list of the good things that have happened to me personally in the past year. Maybe those are accomplishments, maybe they’re just things that made me happy, and some are big and some are small and seemingly silly. But I think it’s important to remember that every year is filled with good things, along with the bad. And this year especially is going to be hard to remember the good things, which makes me think this list is more important this year than ever. So, with that in mind...

Good things in 2020:

- I started student teaching in January. I got to work in a kindergarten classroom, and it was short lived of course, but I loved it. I loved writing and teaching my own lessons for the first time, and I loved my students. Really made me realize just how quickly I fall in love with my students, because I only spent about 8 weeks with them, but I still remember them fondly and miss them.

- When we got sent home in March, I took up baking sourdough. I didn’t know it was going to become a basic white bitch hobby this year when I did, it was just something I’d been interested in before and finally felt like I had the time to learn. As I write this now, in January, I can say I don’t believe I’ve mastered the craft by a long shot, but I can produce consistently good loaves of bread almost every time, and usually can point out what went wrong when I don’t. So I feel like I’m a relatively accomplished amateur sourdough baker now.

- I did more yoga this year than I have in any other year.

- Additionally, I can say the same for how much I meditated this year.

- Did a really big abstract painting when I couldn’t sleep back in March/April, and I still don’t know if I’d call it finished but it’s not bad and man it was nice to paint.

- I watched She-Ra for the first time this year, and loved it.

- Hmm, pretty sure I watched The Witcher this year too? My husband made me watch it with him because he’s played the games and was excited about it and uhh turns out I ship Geralt and Jaskier.

- Oh dunk we also bought a couch this year! First time we’ve owned a brand new, unused couch! (yes I’m scrolling my own blog at this point to help me remember wtf happened this year because I’ve lost all concept of time)

- We also bought a grill this summer! That got the hubby cooking more than usual, which was lovely for me. I do love cooking, but having a regular night off was so nice.

- I graduated with my education degree this spring! And by “graduated” I mean “my diploma got mailed to me.” Which is totally fine, I actually hate sitting through graduation ceremonies, so this was actually the ideal outcome for me.

- I chose to stay home for the BLM protests this summer out of a covid-minded caution, except for one. It was organized specifically for educators to show support for BLM and I’m really happy I went.

- In lieu of attending protests, I helped organize local artists to paint BLM artwork on windows of local businesses. I’m so glad I could be involved in a way that both used my creative strengths and allowed me to feel safe and stay healthy.

- Oh yeah, Animal Crossing happened this year! I went from never playing any video games ever to playing ACNH every day for months. I don’t play as much these days because I don’t have as much free time now, but I still love visiting my island now and then.

- I got a new battery put in my phone so now I can actually use my phone for the entire day without having to recharge it multiple times, and prevented this phone from prematurely going to a landfill.

- Oh, we watched The Umbrella Academy for the first time this year! Turns out it’s great.

- Rewatched Avatar the Last Airbender for the bajillionth time, while my younger siblings were watching it for the first time, so we got to bond over that a little.

- This fall I started my first real teaching job! It’s been a wild year so far, and certainly not one I’ll ever forget, but despite all the headaches I do love my job, and my students are a delight. I miss them right now, and am excited to see their faces again very soon.

- I attempted Inktober for the second time this year. I didn’t complete it, but I’m glad I did what I could.

- Similarly, I did NaNoWriMo again this year. I set an exceptionally low personal goal and wrote about 9000 words in the month of November. I wish it could’ve been more, but I did meet the goal I set for myself, and I’m glad I did it.

- Got invited to join some internet friends in their D&D campaign, and it’s been so fun! You know who you are, I love you guys.

- My other D&D group moved online, which is kind of a bummer, but the happy part is we’ve continued playing and have been at this campaign for nearly two years now.

- The husband and I started house hunting in December. We have yet to find our house, but we’ve started the process, and it’s very exciting!

- shit editing to add that I watched virtual live shows for MBMBAM, Chris Fleming (that was...an experience), and my favorite band, can’t believe I forgot to include those

So yeah, 2020 has definitely not been all bad, at least not for me. I hope that if you’re reading this, you can say the same for yourself as well. This is not erasure of the bad things, not at all, but I think it’s important to remember the good, too. 

[angst-in-space]

📝 november ‘19 writing progress

total words written: 17,987

most words written in a day: 1,662

least words written in a day: 129

current yearly total: 162,037

projects worked on:

- altea rising chapter 15 - red skies chapter 8 - roman holiday au - galolio fic

❄️december goals❄️

- write every day - finish galolio fic - finish chapter 15 of altea rising?? maybe? - get some more progress done on chapter 8 of red skies and the roman holiday au

notes:

i attempted to do nanowrimo as i always do and....obviously i didn’t get all the way to 50k, but i wasn’t expecting to and i was really just hoping that it would at least motivate me to get a bit more done than usual so i’m still happy! especially because october was such a rough month for me, it felt good to get out a decent amount of words.

i went into november with the intention of focusing mostly on chapter 15 of altea rising since it’s been nearly a year since i updated it *laughs nervously* and uhhh well i wrote a pretty good chunk of it but i probably still have maybe half of it left to go. in my defense, since it’s the last chapter it’s going to be extremely long and eventful, so hopefully it will be worth the wait. i hope maybe i can at least finish a draft of it by the end of december, but with the holidays and everything...we’ll see. i do hope to get a lot more progress done on it, though!

i also started chapter 8 of red skies even though i promised myself i wouldn’t start it until i finished altea rising but LOL WHOOPS! kinda glad i started it though, because i really missed it and it got me cranking out some words on days when i felt super burned out on altea rising.

additionally, i’m slowly working through a galolio fic that i’d originally thought would be...much shorter but might end up being a little on the longer side (like maybe 10k-15k so not SUPER long but...yknow). as i’ve probably mentioned, i’ve been finding it a little challenging to get through since i’m writing for a brand new fandom/characters, but i’m still having a lot of fun with it! 

although i didn’t get a whole lot of progress done on it, i also worked on the klance roman holiday au a few times...i’ve kinda only been adding to it when i’m feeling stuck on everything else, but i’m hoping to really throw myself into it a bit more soon, especially since it’s now been almost a year since i started writing it sldkfjd.

OH ALSO!! i had a yearly goal to write 150k words and I MET THAT GOAL AAHH so that’s super exciting! and it’s kind of a relief going into december knowing that i already met my goal for the year so, phew! 

anyway sorry i haven’t been posting a whole lot of fic updates in the past couple months but i promise i’m chugging along and hopefully will post Something by the end of the year. i hope everyone has a good december and happy holidays to all! 

[siarven]

11/11/11 tag

Thanks @pheita​ for tagging me! :)

1. What is your favourite genre to write? Fantasy, because you can put almost all other genres in it but also dragons ;D

2. Who is your favourite OC and why? How can you ask me that?? How the hell should I know? :’D Probably Ava or Kiyera from As Dreams Collide? I have no idea. Maybe Onii or Timbre or Selandri from LDOO! I love all my children so much for so many different reasons?!

3. Who is your least favourite OC and why? .... uhh..... I find all my Ellariel characters really hard to write because they’re so inhuman. It’s especially hard with Mikaen because we get so close to him and his thoughtprocess... so from a hard-to-write point... maybe them. 

From a purely "I despise them” point of view, it’s 1) Rheon, who’s from Feuervogel, my first ever “proper” wip (to be continued when I’m better at writing...). He’s a minor city lord and has sympathetic motivations (saving his people from starvation, ...) but the ways he goes about solving these problems and the way he changes throughout the story are ... not good. :’D Also Kardim from the same wip (but I can’t say anything more about him because it’s all spoilers). He’s pretty horrible. And Luzire from As Dreams Collide. And...

Basically I have a few antagonists that I really don’t like as people :P

4. Do you ever find yourself self-inserting in your writing? I think every character is a tiny piece of me because how else am I supposed to bring them to life? :) Some are just a bit more “me” and others a bit less. :)

5. Are you hoping to publish your work? If so will you submit your work or self-publish? Hm, I haven’t really thought about it yet because the first step is to create a finished story that can be published XD So I’ve decided to tackle that issue when I get there. But right now I think I might go the traditional way because I don’t have enough experience with self-publishing (and don’t really think I’ll be that good at the business side of that). Maybe I’ll change my mind when I actually get there, though :) 

6. What is your favourite book and why? I have faaaar too many favourite AUTHORS, let alone BOOKS xD 

But I did manage to meet Brandon Sanderson yesterday and I’m still reeling with that so I’ll say Oathbringer, book 3 of Stormlight Archive (which is phenomenal) because I cried in public transport at 11PM surrounded by strangers who all stared at me, but I didn’t care at all because I was in SO DEEP and cared so much. He’s the reason why I fell in love with creating amazing worlds and magic systems, and I care about soo many of his characters SO MUCH and just. The plots are amazing, too?? His books are literally everything I want. AND HE’S SO AWESOME IN PERSON TOO???? Still Shooketh. 

Thank you @random-stuff-thrown-into-a-pot​ for bringing it to my attention that he was in Berlin yesterday :’))) <333 (and getting my book signed when I didn’t know if I could make it in time ;W;)

7. Do you set yourself goals in your writing? If so what is your current goal? Hm, I work really well with nanowrimo goals because the NEED to have a pretty statistic is enough to force me into aggressive productivity. That helps especially well during November, a bit less so during April and July. Apart from that I don’t really have word goals because quantity isn’t really a problem for me, more the fact that I have to be happy with what I make because otherwise I’ll just rewrite it from scratch instead of editing XD so the nanowrimo mindset is actually not all that helpful for me, apart from writing the very first draft... up to a certain point. XD

8. Do you like to handwrite your drafts or type them up? My hands will die if I handwrite them so I type actual scenes etc. Also, my hands are far too slow XD. I like plotting on paper, though. Especially when it’s larger than A3 and I have a lot of space to just let my mind wander :)

9. What do you think is the hardest thing about being a writer? Not moving on to the next project when I get a new shiny idea... also not rewriting a chapter again.. and again .... and again.... :’D

And not being discouraged when nobody else seems to care! There are people out there who love exactly what you do. You just have to hang on long enough to find them :) ... even if it’s hard. 

10. Do you plan out your projects or just start writing? First draft is usually me having a series of ideas and knowing the beginning, end, and a few things in between. (That’s also usually the beginning of NaNo). So then I write and discover things and characters along the way, until I get roughly to day 15 of NaNo, when I sit down and make a rough outline. It’s still very general, just story-beats, but then I have a better idea of where I’m going and already know the characters a bit (So I can see if things might work or not) :) So then I write draft 1, which is mostly me telling the story to myself, and tweaking the outline if I have to. Especially near the end, when characters have changed over the course of the story and the plotted ending wouldn’t fit them anymore :)

So I’m somewhere between plotting and pantsing, where I plot the general course of the story but am more of a pantser when it comes to characters :) And also always have enough room to change things around when I have better ideas along the way!

...At least in theory xD. As Dreams Collide (ADC) is the only thing that’s ever come this far (I’m still re-plotting draft 3) and it’s had MAJOR changes (and turned into a trilogy... sigh) so I can’t really say that it’s been all that structured. But most of the process above is how I’ll continue working for Like Dragons Of Old (LDOO), for which it worked really well this far :)

Slowly but surely I’m getting the hang of this, I think!

11. Do you like to stick to one project or have multiple ones at once? I have all in all 8 wips that I all want to finish one day. (with possible spin-offs that like to show up.. sigh) Out of all of these, I started LDOO lsat november, and I’ve been working on ADC on and off since november 2014. 

I only work on one thing at a time but LDOO isn’t quite as much on hold as the others, and it’s also the one I’ll go back to when I’ve gotten ADC to the point where I can let it wait a while :D (So when I’ve written draft 3, I guess)

tagging: @corishadowfang @lynnafred @asttralhell @raiswanson @paper-shield-and-wooden-sword @random-stuff-thrown-into-a-pot @fatal-blow @wilde-writing @kittensartsbooks @romenna @cirianne if you want to <3 

I think I was tagged for this multiple times last month (or before that?!) but I’m really bad at doing all of these so heyyy I did it now! XD

[camwritesbooks]

         ↝ NANOWRIMO 2018 WRAP UP; Cursed Queen

Okay, so this is ten days late, I’m sorry. The past few days have been a much-needed chance to get back some energy and sort out my headspace. But here I am now to talk about how happy I am with how NaNoWriMo went this year! As some of you will know I set a goal of 20k words and didn’t *quite* make it (but that was a very specific choice made with my mental health in mind, I may add). However, I did get 18.5k, which is more than I’ve ever written for a WIP and the most I’ve got down in 2 years. My plan from now on is to attempt 10k a month and finish Cursed Queen by the middle of next year. I’m not sure that will happen, but I will try.

This November, I made some great strides with Cursed Queen and my WIPs in general. I sorted out the overall plot of the first book and fleshed out the main characters as well as creating some new ones! I’ve just fallen in love with my shiny new OCs including Sasha, Petro, Mira and more. I’ve also come to adore the villain, Kaliannisse, and all her evilness. I just can’t wait to keep writing more of her (including the novella I have planned that tells her backstory). Del and Merrin and Kieran have become so much more precious to me too.

Thank you to all those who have supported me, left comments on my NaNo updates and shown me and my blog love recently, especially during this past month. I doubt I would’ve managed to get this far without the continued kindness you guys give me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Below the cut I’ve put the *entire* first chapter, not something I’d usually do, so uh... check that out if you want! I know it’s a bit shit, but it’s the start and I’m proud of it!

wip(s) page • characters  • intro post  • del & merrin edit

Read the (totally unrevised and kind of crappy) Chapter One below ↴

chapter one; Del

I can smell smoke. Somewhere in this forest, something is burning. There are a lot of things it could be. A lightning storm raging on the other side of the nearest hills might have set a flame, or perhaps some fire bubbled out of the earth in the valley. Either way, it’s not a good thing.      

I follow the trail back around, skirting the cliffs. I have a slightly unsettling feeling that I’m not alone in the forest, except that’s impossible. Nobody ever comes up here. Still, I swear I can hear what sounds like bracken crunching under feet some distance behind me.     

“Merrin?” I call into the forest. My brother is the only one who might be out here, though even he doesn’t know how to get to this side of the plateau. Besides, he’s busy preparing for this evening. There’s no reply – all I can hear is the faint rustlings of wind in the trees. I probably imagined the footsteps. My nerves are just high because of the council meeting tonight.     

I pause, resting a hand on the stone cliff beside me. The smell of smoke is growing stronger. If there is a fire, it could be close. After a moment of hesitation, I break into a run. The trees melt into a blur of brown and grey around me as I follow the track I’ve followed so many times back to the village. Wind rushes through my shoulder-length curly hair. Scrambling over smooth stone, I cross the crevice that cuts the plateau in two. I run and run until I’m gasping for breath. I stumble out of the trees and onto the wide open land of the plateau. The edge of the cliff is within sight, and beyond it is the mountains – two great ranges coming down on either side and converging in the middle, all of it lit up by golden late-afternoon sun. From up here, they seem so surmountable. I look out behind me and in the far distance I can see a small plume of smoke rising above the rocks and trees. There must be a fire somewhere. It’ll probably burn out before sunset though, so I’m not really worried.      

I follow the curve of the plateau, breathing in deeply as the wind buffets me. Everything is beautiful up here, in this moment. I can pretend that I’m not hungry and slightly ill and that the people down in our village are all slowly dying. From here, I can see all the world I’ve ever known – the mountains, the valley, the great cliffs of the plateau. I can try to imagine what lies beyond the snowy hills or behind me, on the other side of the cliffs. I have only ever seen desolate tundra in that direction, but I can’t believe that it goes on forever.      

Two or three years ago, I discovered a way from the smaller part of the plateau – the part the rest of the village knows of – and the forest-covered stretch of rock and earth beyond it. A deep ravine between the two sections, but I found a place where the walls of the trench caved in and you can get across safely enough. I didn’t tell anyone about it because there was little over there worth gathering, so it didn’t seem unfair to keep it as my place. If I did speak of it, the village leaders might not even let me go there anymore, saying I was too weak and thin to make it anything but a danger to me.      

I close my eyes for a moment, trying to think forward to the rest of the day. The town council. The ceremony. I have a nasty sinking feeling in my stomach every time I think of it. Within a few hours, I will have nothing or everything. Merrin will have everything – the town leaders like him. But they never really liked me.      

I climb down the crumbled part of the plateau cliff, following the path carved there by hundreds of journeys. From this side I can see my village with its dark-tiled roofs and great town hall in the centre. A part of me doesn’t want to go back tonight, and I’m almost thinking of just turning around until I spot Merrin standing at the base of the cliff, glaring at me. His arms are crossed.

“Hey,” I say sheepishly as I land on the flat ground.      

“Where’ve you been? The council meeting is about to begin,” he says.      I shrug. “I was… around. I couldn’t deal with everyone staring at me.”     

“They were staring at me and Sasha too, and Lorrie and he’s not even a part of it! Father was worried about you – people were saying you weren’t even going to show up.”      

I feel bad for considering doing just that. “Of course I was,” I say. “I couldn’t miss this.”      

“You know nothing bad is going to happen, right?”     

For you, no. The story’s very different for me. There isn’t honestly much between me and Merrin, but that’s not how the town leaders see it. Sasha’s their golden girl, but they love Merrin too. Who they don’t love, is me. I’m too thin, too sick, too slow. Anything I do right is never enough. Which is why tonight, at the town council, Merrin and Sasha will be made full citizens of the town – adults – and I won’t.      

I follow Merrin back towards the village, lurking behind. The streets are empty, which tells me I’m later than I thought. Sasha is waiting for us outside the town hall. She doesn’t have anything to worry about, the town leaders like her.      

“What took you so long?” she asks, grinning.      

“Sorry, sorry,” I say, throwing up my hands. “I lost track of time.”      

“No issue, nothing starts till we go in,” says Sasha.         

Merrin gives my hand a quick squeeze. “Well, shall we?”      

I enter alongside Sasha, tucking my hair behind my ears nervously. Sitting at the great table at the end of the room is the town council, the rest of the town crowded around in the hall. The town meeting happens once every moon but today will be a special one because the ceremony is happening today. Me, Sasha and Merrin. Next year it will be Lorrie and possibly me again, if I don’t pass today.      

“Ah,” says Ren Bell-Lu, the leader of the town council, as we enter. “Here they are.” I don’t like Ren very much, he was never kind to me.      

We follow Merrin to the front of the crowd and people move out of our way. Silence falls over everyone. My father meets my gaze as I pass him and I look away quickly, feeling a heaviness on my shoulders. I don’t want to disappoint him.     

Ren leans forward as we arrive before the table, smiling. “Sasha, Merrin and… Del,” he says, disapproval on his face as he says my name. “You are brought before the council today to be judged. You have all reached the age of eighteen and are now given the chance to be full citizens of the town. Are you ready?”     

The three of us nod.     

Ren raises his hand, making the sign of our village – palm facing the sky; middle, ring and pinky finger together and index finger curled up to meet the thumb. “Then, we shall begin. Merrin, step forward.” My brother steps out from beside Sasha, hand on his heart. “Merrin, do you accept the responsibilities of adulthood and swear to uphold the traditions of this town, forever and always until your death?”      

My brother grins as he speaks. “I do.”      

“Do you stand by your name?”     

“I do.”      

Ren dips his head and Merrin returns the gesture, stepping back into line with Sasha and me.      My hands are shaking as Ren’s gaze moves to Sasha.      

“Sasha, step forward.” Sasha moves towards the table, her long blonde hair swishing. “Do you, Sasha, accept the responsibilities of adulthood and swear to uphold the traditions of this town, forever and always until your death?”     

Sasha’s eyes sparkle. “I do,” she says solemnly.      

“Do you stand by your name?”     

“From this day forth, I wish to be Sasha Blue, if you will grant it,” Sasha says. A flurry of whispers rushes around the room. I can’t remember a time in my life where someone requested another name. Of course it would be Sasha. I suppose she deserves it.      

Ren looks surprised but recovers quickly. “Due to invaluable service past, present and future, we grant you this name. You are now Sasha Blue.” He and Sasha nod to each other before she steps back into line.      

Ren’s gaze moves to me and I feel my cheeks burning. “Del,” he says tightly with none of the respect he showed Sasha. “Although you have proven herself to be a competent member of this town, we do not believe you are yet ready to be a full citizen.” I cringe. “I’m sure,” he continues, “by next season, you will be successful.”     

But you hope I won’t be. Horror and shame melts over me. I can’t bear to look at Merrin or my father, fighting to keep the tears out of my eyes. I saw it coming, but some part of me didn’t want to believe it.     

Ren looks away from me as if I never even existed. He starts going on about the crop yield this month and I try to merge back into the crowd.      

Sasha follows me, furious. “How can they do that?” she hisses. “It’s completely unfair!”      “Yeah,” I say dejectedly, staring at the floor.      

“I wouldn’t have taken another name if I knew they were going to do that to you,” she whispers.     I shake my head. “No, you deserve it. It’s a lovely name.”     

Ren seems to have stopped talking and chatter begins to sprout up around us.     “Thanks,” Sasha says, “I’m glad you like it.”     

“How did you choose it?” I ask, trying to direct the conversation away from me. I just want to pretend that none of what just happened took place.      

She shrugs. “It’s not that deep, I just like the colour blue.”      

Liz Bell-Lu, Ren’s wife, appears at Sasha’s side, who happens to be her niece. Like Ren, Liz was one of the lucky few people who received a second name. Ren Bell and Liz Lu married several years ago and have ruled this town ever since.     

“Ah, Sasha, congratulations on the name!” she says in her usual simpering tone. “Del, I’m sure it’ll be your turn next time.”     

I do my best to force a smile.     

“All you need,” Liz continues, “is just to put on a bit of weight, dearest. You are such a skinny little thing.”      

Sasha looks embarrassed but I shake my head at her. The last thing I need is to be on Liz Bell-Lu’s bad side.      

“Well, we’ll see,” I reply with as much charm as I can muster.      

“Your mother was quite the same, if I remember correctly,” Liz goes on, completely unaware of herself. “Thin as sticks and always rather ill. I’m surprised she lived long enough to bear a child!” She laughs as if making fun of my dead mother is somehow an appropriate thing to do.      Sasha grabs my arm and drags me away with a hasty, “Let’s go talk to Merrin!” We make our way across the room. “I’m so sorry for my aunt,” she says once we’re out of Liz’s hearing.     

“It’s okay,” I say.     

“It isn’t, though. Nothing tonight is okay.” Sasha sends a death-glare in the direction of Ren, who’s speaking with another member of the town council.     

I sigh. “Look, I’m sure they’re right and next year I’ll join you and Merrin as full citizens. It just wasn’t going to happen this year.”      

“Excuse me everyone!” calls out a voice and the room falls silent. Standing on the elevated platform before the town council table is Vrin, the oldest person in our village. He’s one of the most knowledgeable people in the town and spends his days transcribing old texts and tutoring children. He taught me how to read and write which I’m decent at, but he also showed me healing herbs and survival which I took to immediately. He taught Merrin and Sasha too, though unlike nearly every adult I know, he always liked me best.      

“My good friends,” he says, raising his arms. “It is with the greatest joy that I announce to you that I have finally completed the translation of the old books.”     

The crowd applauds – this has been Vran’s project for years.      

“Aha, thank you,” Vran says, smiling, “but that is not all I have to say. I discovered in the texts the existence of another town – a city – beyond the mountains to the north.”     

What? A heavy silence falls across the room.      

“I will read to you the passage, if I may,” Vran continues, squinting down at some papers he holds. “We passed by the city of Veneficia on our journey into the continent. We were greeted warmly by the High Empress, who provided us all with rich meals and supplies for the road. This place is heavenly – the streets are lined with strange shops and market stalls. The people here are endlessly kind to us and I am honestly sorry that we must leave soon. I hope one day we shall return. The city is located at the west end of the mountains ranges and we aim to move only eastwards from now on.” Vran looks up, clearly delighted with the effect he has had on the room. “That is the final entry in the book we found underneath the floor of this very hall. Somewhere, only weeks away, is a city of people who could help our town,” he continues, punctuating each word. Whispers start up throughout the crowd.     

“You think it’s true?” Sasha murmurs to me.     

“I don’t know, Vrin’s pretty smart so I can’t imagine he’d get this wrong,” I say, not taking my eyes off the stage. I’m grateful to Vrin for finishing his translations coincidentally at this time to take the focus off me. Besides, this is the first time our town has had something actually newsworthy to talk about.      

Ren steps back up onto the stage, raising his hands for silence. “Vran and I have spoken extensively on this matter and we agree that while our town is one of beauty and tradition, we would do well to remember that a hard winter is on the horizon. If we can find this city, it might be of great advantage to us. Before I continue, are there any questions?”     

“Who wrote the book?” calls out someone.     

“Someone who was a part of a group travelling in these parts. We know very little of them, but they are a trustworthy source,” Vran answers.       

“How do we know this city is still around, if it’s even there in the first place?” asks Kit, who’s a few years older than us.    

Ren and Vran share a quick look. “We don’t,” says Ren, “but if it is, the resources there could save lives. We will not be abandoning our home here, only looking for some stability. We will be sending around 7 or 8 members of the town on a journey to find the city. And that is why we’re here today.” His eyes scan the crowd and rest on me for an uncomfortably long time. “Em will be leading the group and will take Orla and Gram with her. Petro too will go.”     

I look around to spot the people he mentioned. Em leans against a table, grinning, her lackeys Orla and Gram standing to the side. Petro is expressionless, standing in a corner with his arms crossed. I’m not surprised they chose Em, she’s one of the most respected young people in the town. Petro is a bit of a strange choice, but maybe he put himself forward.      

“As for the other places in the group,” Ren continues, his voice hardening, “there will be some places for volunteers. However, I think it only fair that people get the chance to prove themselves after past failures.” He looks at me. “For this reason, the fourth member will be Del.”     

My heart stops.

Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a good day and a fulfilling 2019. The future is bright <3

[warbirdwrites]

Useful Tips To Boost Your Productivity

Don’t get me wrong, I’m nowhere near finished. I still have around 13,000 words left to write until I officially ‘win’ at NaNoWriMo, and on top of that, I still have a good few chapters still to work on, plot wise, before I can begin my edit. But, things are going swimmingly. So I’d just like to share some tips on how to tackle NaNo, especially if you’re feeling a little time poor, or unmotivated, with instant word count gains in mind.

1: Think Before You Write

No, this doesn’t mean having a heavily detailed plan of what you’re going to write and when. You don’t have to have your entire project planned out, just as long as you have a vague idea of where you’d like to begin your story and end it at the start of the month. Throughout the month of November, you can take that anywhere - I certainly have. 

What I’m actually on about is taking ten minutes at the beginning of every writing session to sit, with a nice notebook (a different one to your work planner or your personal journal, have one for writing that you’re actually stoked to write in - for me, it’s a red Moleskine notebook, identical to my work planner to make sneaky writing sessions at work as inconspicuous as possible), and jot down how many words you’d like to write and which story beats you’d like to tackle. Keep this to a maximum of ten bullet points that you’re going to flesh out during your writing session. This is going to keep you on the right track plot wise, stop you from running out of steam and forces you to keep furthering your plot at a good speed.

2: Use The Pomodoro Method To Enhance Your Word Sprints

I’m a big fan of this approach to productivity; I use it at work when I have large video edits to complete and I’m on a deadline. I’m relatively new to it, I wish I had known about it at university. I’ve only recently applied this to writing.

The gist of it is that I usually set a timer to either 15 or 30 minutes and write as much as I can in that time. Then, I take a ten minute break for tea or coffee, and then repeat the process until I reach my word count and my writing session is complete.

This is fantastic if you’re competitive like me and like seeing instant gains on your word count because it gives you goals to work towards and you’re constantly trying to beat your word count for the previous sprint. Not only that, but if you know you can write 1,200 words in half an hour, and your word count goal for the day is 2,500, you can better schedule your writing sessions, because it’s only going to take two half hour sprints and one fifteen minute quickie to complete. 

You can also work this for any target and any schedule, no matter how time poor you think you are - you can always find ten or fifteen minutes here or there and you can always stagger your sprints throughout the day. This is something I’m going to need to work on, though, as I’ve hit a brick wall with mid week writing and feeling quite emotionally drained from work.

It’s also a great technique to use and learn because it helps you to factor in breaks on longer sessions (I like to spend three hours a day writing - not including breaks - at weekends because I struggle to complete my goals if something else gets in the way and distracts me). These are so important, because you will burn out quickly if your force yourself to sit down for three hours to write constantly, without breaks or anything else to keep you sane. 

There is nothing better to spur you on like a ticking clock.

3: Switch Off Spell Check

There is nothing more distracting when you’re trying to bash out a quick 500 words, than a series of red squiggly lines and annoying little suggestion boxes. Save this for the edit. Focus on getting the words out, even if they’re horrendously misspelled.

4: Use Big Words Later

Similarly, keep your words small. You can go back and use better lexical selections when you’re editing. For now, there’s nothing wrong with using garbage descriptions as long as those words are going on the page. Big or small, a word on the page is still a word on your word count. Plus, shorter words take less time to type.

5: Make Yourself Stoked For Your Next Session

Just like your favourite television shows, leave this session on a cliffhanger. Make a note of how you’re going to carry on in your notebook and leave it. This is going to make you want to come back to your project tomorrow just to actualise the climax of a gripping scene you set up the previous day.

Anyway, I hope you’ve found these tips useful, let me know what you think about these and let me know what works for you. I’m off to crank out another 2,000 words before rewarding myself with a nice long soak in the tub!

[nanowrimo]

Getting Prepared for NaNoWriMo! (With BookTuber FictionalFates and Scrivener)

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Scrivener, a 2020 NaNo sponsor, is an award-winning writing app that has been enthusiastically adopted by best-selling novelists and novices alike. Today, they’ve partnered with BookTuber Joel Rochester, a.k.a. FictionalFates, to help you get prepared for the month ahead: 

At thirteen years old, I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time. At that point in my life, being challenged to write 50,000 words in thirty days was daunting and very scary. However, I persevered and I somehow managed to do it, albeit the novel I wrote that year will never see the light of day.

However, now at twenty years old, I’ve learned that NaNoWriMo is a great time to break the spine on a new tale, or one that I’ve been working on for years. (Rebels, I see you.) I guess you could refer to me as a “NaNo-Veteran”; someone who’s participated in NaNoWriMo for many years now. Scrivener has very kindly asked me to impart some wisdom on my experiences, whether you’re participating for the first time or looking to refresh that writer’s memory.

But first, have you announced your project yet? This November, I’ll be writing The Dream Prince, which is an enemies-to-lovers fantasy following two princes, one alive and one cursed to die, who converse through their dreams. They are forced to work together to break the curse, or both war and the plans of an ancient cult will come to fruition.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s get to how YOU, beginner or fellow veteran, can better your NaNoWriMo experience, with the help of Scrivener! I have used Scrivener for seven years now, and I don’t think I would’ve been as organized with my writing if it wasn’t for them.

NaNoPrep

Usually, everyone takes the month of October to figure out and plan out their projects to write in November. However, we’re not always as organized as we’d like to be, scrambling at the last minute to come up with an idea. Don’t get discouraged — planner, pantser or plantser, there’s definitely ways for you to prep in your own way, and it’s on a sliding scale.

In my experience:

Pantsers (people who write off the seat of their pants) just need to know what direction their novel is going in, and perhaps some minor details about their characters and world.

Planners (people who extensively plan their novel) plan enough that you know the general beginning, middle and end of your novel and that they know their characters to some extent. However, as with most plans, they might be thrown out the window throughout the month as they begin to realize more details about their novel.

Plantsers (a combination of both, this is me!) plan until they're comfortable, and then discover the rest. In my experience, I mostly have the beginning and end planned, and tiny bits of the middle, and then the rest is to be found during the month!

Scrivener makes it super easy for beginners to prep their novels. By using their corkboard view, you can plot cards and rearrange as you wish. Plus, they have templates for character and setting profiles too, making it easier for you to flesh out your characters as you wish. And with the index on the left, you can arrange them into folders, making everything very neat and organized!

NaNoWriMo

November will come and go as swiftly as this year has gone. Whilst on average, it’s roughly 1,667 words per day in order to write 50,000 words a month — our schedules don’t always accommodate that. So I would say to pace yourself according to your schedule throughout the month.

Have a free day? Try to get as much writing done during that day as it’ll make other days much easier to reach your goals.

Need to be productive? Check Twitter or the NaNo Forums, there will probably be someone hosting writing sprints, where you can write for short periods of time in order to contribute to your larger goal.

I’ve found that in the past, spending five 10-minute sessions throughout the day writing 100 words was much more productive than one 50-minute session trying to write 500 words. Small amounts of progress add to a larger feeling of completion.

This is also what makes Scrivener exciting as I’m able to set word count goals and see the progression bar fill up as I write. Just seeing that visual confirmation really keeps me motivated to keep going throughout the month.

Plus, with Scrivener I’m easily able to organize and write my novel on a scene-by-scene level — plus, I won’t have to copy and paste everything into a manuscript as Scrivener’s compile feature does that for me without the hassle!

Have Fun!

Lastly, NaNoWriMo is a lighthearted fun challenge which most of all, encourages writers to write and make progress in their novels. Whilst winning and achieving the 50,000 word count goal is amazing, if you don’t win, the progress you made in November is still something to be proud of.

It’s important during this month to strive for progress rather than perfection. The words that you write during the month of November will only be the first of many drafts, so ensuring the words are down first of all is an essential step.

Have fun with your characters, have fun with your fellow writers. Maybe look to pick up the Traveling Shovel and use it in one of your scenes. This is a time to celebrate the fact that you have chosen to give life to an amazing story, so write it.

Overall, NaNoWriMo is such a fun month to get to know other writers, hone your craft and begin the progress of a novel you want to write. I hope that all of you make amazing progress over the course of November. Who knows, I might see you in some writing sprints!

For now, if you wanted to try out Scrivener, you can try out a free trial for 30 days and revel in the awesomeness. I highly recommend it, especially for those who are getting started with writing novels. Plus, if you use the code NaNoWriMo, you can get 20% off!

Good luck friends, and happy writing!

Joel Rochester is a writer of Welsh and Jamaican descent. As a young child, he saw books as an escape from the real world but he often found those books never truly represented him. He loves to read and write books about emotional boys, daring worlds, and intriguing tales. He advocates for more diversity in media. Particularly, more QPOC representation.

Presently, he reviews and discusses books through his popular social media presence, ‘FictionalFates’. He is also currently studying a BA (Hons) Creative Writing and English Literature at the University of Winchester. When not writing or reading, Joel can be found consuming other media. Whether it be video games, Korean dramas, or browsing social media. He also never goes long without a mug of matcha tea by his side.