Let's just get right to it...for my goal of 25,000 words written this month, I need to write 807 words each day. This means by the end of Day 21 (aka yesterday) I needed to be at 16,947.
So, what's my current word count?
7,092 words
Yeah, I'm almost 10,000 words behind. I need to catch up big time.
What else do I need to do?
Right, actually work on the project I chose to write for the month: Souls Unknowing. The only exception to this is naturally, Project Death: Revelation, because people keep asking when it will be released.
I want to get both of these books out into the world. I have a date in mind for publishing SU and I'd really like to stick to that date, so if things go poorly over the next couple months then SU will have to be pushed back to next year.
And I am definitely getting Revelation out this year. I think Thanos might be cooperating enough for me to write the last few chapters and ship the story out to my beta readers. Then it's just a matter of a quick clean-up and edit (hopefully) and then I'll have a publication date announcement.
Why have I been distracted?
Oh yeah...reading books. I realized I was about 7 books behind for my 2015 reading goal of 75 books, and I have been buying a number of books that I just really want to read, so I ignored my notebooks so I could delve into already created realms and characters, places where I could avoid the fact that my own characters didn't seem to want to participate in the storytelling process.
Maybe ignoring my characters had made them more willing to talk to me.
I can only hope.
I need to have a big writing push this weekend, and then stick to a schedule for the remainder of the month so I can finish on schedule. Or at least finish on schedule for this altered schedule that is really only half of the goal I wanted to meet.
I guess if I want next week's update post to be filled with good news, I need to get off here now and actually write.
Until next time...may the words be with you always.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Camp NaNoWriMo July 2015: 1 Goal Change, 2 Weeks Down, and 3 WIPs?
Hey everyone! I'm going to try and keep this update post fairly brief because I really need to get a shower and then get to bed. I've already worked 32 hours this week and I have another 20 hours to go. I'm also hoping to get some writing time in this week too...because I'm still just a little bit behind.
First things first: I have changed my goal for the month because it has been a bit difficult for me to carve out time to write and real life is a bit more stressful at the moment than I thought it would be. Shooting for 50,000 words this month is not all that feasible, so I have changed my goal to 25,000 words, though I would still love to write more than that.
Second...WOW...how are we seriously already halfway through the month? Where is the time going? I mean, I feel like July just started and yet here I am writing up a blog post on July 15th and looking at the calendar for the next few weeks and feeling like I have no way to hold on to the remaining time in the hourglass compromising July. The sand just continues to run out and soon enough it will be gone.
Yikes. I really need to pick up my writing pace. Seriously. I do not want to have two failed Camp NaNoWriMos this year.
Third point to this post...I originally started the month wanting to get as much of the rewrite for Souls Unknowing finished as I could. Naturally this meant putting Project Death: Revelation to the side for a bit. Apparently this is the time that Thanos decides he wants to cooperate, and I'm not going to say no to getting words on the page, no matter what story they pertain to. Of course, I have also been having fun little daydreams about this cool science fantasy world and characters and stuff so I've been doing a little bit of world-building and plotting for that. I'm not trying to really get into writing it, but I want to have enough down that I don't have to worry about forgetting the cool idea. So, in a way, I am currently in various stages of three writing projects this month. That's fun and random and a bit chaotic.
I guess I'll just leave you with a statement of where I need to be with my word count as well as detailing my progress so far, and then I'll head off to do what I need to before I pass out. A shower is a definite must. Working in a factory is not conducive to smelling nice and clean.
With the new overall goal in mind, my word count by the end of July 14th was supposed to be 11,298 words.
My current word count is: 5,819 words. So I still have a bit of catching up to do.
Right now Camp NaNo is telling me that I need to write 1,129 words per day to finish on time. That is totally doable, so long as I can find 30 minutes to an hour of good solid writing time. When I get going on Write or Die sessions I can usually manage around 1,500 words or so in 30 minutes, which would definitely get me to my word count goal.
May the words be ever in your favor this month, Wrimos. Until next time...for now, I need to daydream and write.
First things first: I have changed my goal for the month because it has been a bit difficult for me to carve out time to write and real life is a bit more stressful at the moment than I thought it would be. Shooting for 50,000 words this month is not all that feasible, so I have changed my goal to 25,000 words, though I would still love to write more than that.
Second...WOW...how are we seriously already halfway through the month? Where is the time going? I mean, I feel like July just started and yet here I am writing up a blog post on July 15th and looking at the calendar for the next few weeks and feeling like I have no way to hold on to the remaining time in the hourglass compromising July. The sand just continues to run out and soon enough it will be gone.
Yikes. I really need to pick up my writing pace. Seriously. I do not want to have two failed Camp NaNoWriMos this year.
Third point to this post...I originally started the month wanting to get as much of the rewrite for Souls Unknowing finished as I could. Naturally this meant putting Project Death: Revelation to the side for a bit. Apparently this is the time that Thanos decides he wants to cooperate, and I'm not going to say no to getting words on the page, no matter what story they pertain to. Of course, I have also been having fun little daydreams about this cool science fantasy world and characters and stuff so I've been doing a little bit of world-building and plotting for that. I'm not trying to really get into writing it, but I want to have enough down that I don't have to worry about forgetting the cool idea. So, in a way, I am currently in various stages of three writing projects this month. That's fun and random and a bit chaotic.
I guess I'll just leave you with a statement of where I need to be with my word count as well as detailing my progress so far, and then I'll head off to do what I need to before I pass out. A shower is a definite must. Working in a factory is not conducive to smelling nice and clean.
With the new overall goal in mind, my word count by the end of July 14th was supposed to be 11,298 words.
My current word count is: 5,819 words. So I still have a bit of catching up to do.
Right now Camp NaNo is telling me that I need to write 1,129 words per day to finish on time. That is totally doable, so long as I can find 30 minutes to an hour of good solid writing time. When I get going on Write or Die sessions I can usually manage around 1,500 words or so in 30 minutes, which would definitely get me to my word count goal.
May the words be ever in your favor this month, Wrimos. Until next time...for now, I need to daydream and write.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Camp NaNoWriMo July 2015: It's Been a Week Already?!
Technically the one week mark was yesterday, but today is the start of week two, so I think it's a good place to pause and do the one week update post.
So...my plans did not go quite as I expected. I wanted to utilize my couple days off work plus my standard weekend to get as much written on the page as possible. It should have been easy to do, at least for the first couple days. July 1st and 2nd...and half of the 3rd, I spent on my own. In those days, I managed to write 3,483 words...which is good, but still about 1,400 words behind par.
Camp NaNoWriMo in July runs just a tiny bit different from the big event NaNoWriMo in November, not just because you can set your own word count, but also because July has 31 days. Because of this, my goal of 50,000 words does not mean needing to write 1,667 words a day. Instead, to be on par for the month, the goal is 1,612 words per day. That sounds great, right? One extra day of writing? Yeah...it should be great, but somehow I turn that into the idea that I can have a day early on where I don't accomplish as much, and it's fine, because there's an extra day.
For my own goals, by the end of July 7th, I should have reached 11,284 words.
My word count as of July 7th: 5,000 words
That's just a bit behind, but it's okay. I'm starting to figure out my writing schedule for the month and working around other scheduling issues like work and sleep, etc. All I need is a couple hours of time set aside for writing each day and then I should be able to catch up and possibly even get ahead.
Obviously it is still early in the month, and a lot can happen in the next few weeks. I'm going to try and keep getting these Wednesday update posts up for you guys, but I'm also going to try to do little updates on my Twitter and my Facebook page.
Moving on to actual non-word count details of writing Souls Unknowing. Considering we are at the beginning of everything, I have spent time thinking about how I came up with this story and different conversations and scenarios that eventually led to me writing this book back in 2004-2006. In 2004, in Spanish II, I vividly recall my teacher discussing how bad it would be if there was a fire in the school, mostly because of the location of the Spanish classroom. She said that if for some reason we were trapped in that room, death would be pretty gruesome. See...the class was right across the hall from the boiler room. I just recall her talking about how if the flames reached the boiler room, the result would be a pretty decent explosion.
That image got my writer brain running and processing and I began to wonder if I could use that in a book.
At that time I was also watching shows like Tru Calling, and reading books like the Mediator series by Meg Cabot, and my brain starting putting together pieces that intrigued me, and I ended up with a fire at a school 50 years earlier, that had the unfortunate outcome of everyone dying. Fast forward to present day, and a new school was built and I put four mediators (people who can see ghosts) into this new school, which is also filled with the spirits of the deceased.
In 2005, another TV show joined my queue of to-watch shows: Ghost Whisperer. Watching that really helped me get into the mood for writing about ghosts.
So with those inspirations and of course the support of several friends and fans, I wrote this story, and realized that the characters would have more to say, which led to the creation of the Souls trilogy: Souls Unknowing, Souls Abandoned, and Souls Crossing. Strangely enough I started rewriting SA before I decided to redo SU, so there is almost 25,000 words of better writing already done for the second book. Hopefully that means I will have an easier time of finishing it, and I'll be able to put these books out one a year, instead of having the two plus year gap like I have with the Project Death series.
It has been interesting so far to re-enter this world and try to start at the beginning and write the adventure in a way that shows just how much I've grown in the past decade. Perhaps later I will post up the original prologue from Souls Unknowing, and then share the re-written prologue, just to show you (and myself) how much my writing style has developed. I know that sometimes we writers might not really think about how much progress we've made, because we are always seemingly stuck in this cycle of planning, writing, and editing. It's cool to just take a moment to appreciate where we've been and what we've accomplished.
Now...back to increasing that word count. The goal for next week's update post: 22,568 words by July 14th.
So...my plans did not go quite as I expected. I wanted to utilize my couple days off work plus my standard weekend to get as much written on the page as possible. It should have been easy to do, at least for the first couple days. July 1st and 2nd...and half of the 3rd, I spent on my own. In those days, I managed to write 3,483 words...which is good, but still about 1,400 words behind par.
Camp NaNoWriMo in July runs just a tiny bit different from the big event NaNoWriMo in November, not just because you can set your own word count, but also because July has 31 days. Because of this, my goal of 50,000 words does not mean needing to write 1,667 words a day. Instead, to be on par for the month, the goal is 1,612 words per day. That sounds great, right? One extra day of writing? Yeah...it should be great, but somehow I turn that into the idea that I can have a day early on where I don't accomplish as much, and it's fine, because there's an extra day.
For my own goals, by the end of July 7th, I should have reached 11,284 words.
My word count as of July 7th: 5,000 words
That's just a bit behind, but it's okay. I'm starting to figure out my writing schedule for the month and working around other scheduling issues like work and sleep, etc. All I need is a couple hours of time set aside for writing each day and then I should be able to catch up and possibly even get ahead.
Obviously it is still early in the month, and a lot can happen in the next few weeks. I'm going to try and keep getting these Wednesday update posts up for you guys, but I'm also going to try to do little updates on my Twitter and my Facebook page.
Moving on to actual non-word count details of writing Souls Unknowing. Considering we are at the beginning of everything, I have spent time thinking about how I came up with this story and different conversations and scenarios that eventually led to me writing this book back in 2004-2006. In 2004, in Spanish II, I vividly recall my teacher discussing how bad it would be if there was a fire in the school, mostly because of the location of the Spanish classroom. She said that if for some reason we were trapped in that room, death would be pretty gruesome. See...the class was right across the hall from the boiler room. I just recall her talking about how if the flames reached the boiler room, the result would be a pretty decent explosion.
That image got my writer brain running and processing and I began to wonder if I could use that in a book.
At that time I was also watching shows like Tru Calling, and reading books like the Mediator series by Meg Cabot, and my brain starting putting together pieces that intrigued me, and I ended up with a fire at a school 50 years earlier, that had the unfortunate outcome of everyone dying. Fast forward to present day, and a new school was built and I put four mediators (people who can see ghosts) into this new school, which is also filled with the spirits of the deceased.
In 2005, another TV show joined my queue of to-watch shows: Ghost Whisperer. Watching that really helped me get into the mood for writing about ghosts.
So with those inspirations and of course the support of several friends and fans, I wrote this story, and realized that the characters would have more to say, which led to the creation of the Souls trilogy: Souls Unknowing, Souls Abandoned, and Souls Crossing. Strangely enough I started rewriting SA before I decided to redo SU, so there is almost 25,000 words of better writing already done for the second book. Hopefully that means I will have an easier time of finishing it, and I'll be able to put these books out one a year, instead of having the two plus year gap like I have with the Project Death series.
It has been interesting so far to re-enter this world and try to start at the beginning and write the adventure in a way that shows just how much I've grown in the past decade. Perhaps later I will post up the original prologue from Souls Unknowing, and then share the re-written prologue, just to show you (and myself) how much my writing style has developed. I know that sometimes we writers might not really think about how much progress we've made, because we are always seemingly stuck in this cycle of planning, writing, and editing. It's cool to just take a moment to appreciate where we've been and what we've accomplished.
Now...back to increasing that word count. The goal for next week's update post: 22,568 words by July 14th.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
June Book Haul
Well, here we are at another book haul post for the month. I seem to buy about a dozen books each month, which means in a year I buy close to 150 books. That's impressive, and yet, so many of the books I buy end up sitting on the shelves waiting to be read. One would think that would make me slow down on purchases until I've read what I own, but there are just so many interesting books being published and I want to read so many of them. Plus, this way I know that if I fall on hard times and can't afford to buy books, I have a plethora of them still waiting to be read. Okay, so with the 21 books added to my collection in June, my total book purchases for the first half of 2015 stands at 93 books.
Let's get started with the June purchases then... we'll start with the hardcovers. I had three hardcover purchases, and only one of them was planned.
First we have An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. I had heard so many people talk about this book, and the summary sounded interesting to me, but for some reason I kept hesitating whenever I thought about picking it up. Then a friend of mine--who shares similar book tastes to me--finished it and I asked her her thoughts and she thought it was really good, and worth buying in hardcover, so here we are. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint. That is a pretty cool cover too.
Next is A Book of Spirits and Thieves by Morgan Rhodes. This is a spin-off of her Falling Kingdoms series and apparently alternates between modern day and this awesome magical past, so there is connection with the FK books. I really have enjoyed the books by Morgan Rhodes that I have read so far, so this one should be a good read...but I think I'm going to re-read the three currently published Falling Kingdoms books before I jump into this one.
Finally, for hardcovers, I have The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel. Every once in a while there will be a show or movie based on the book that is based on a true story, and it sounds interesting to me. This is one of those times. I have watched the first two episodes of The Astronaut Wives Club and I'm enjoying the story. Then I saw that Barnes & Noble was having a bargain sale on some hardcovers that had light markings on them, so I got this hardcover for only $3.99, which is awesome.
Next up...the paperbacks.
First I have The Fire Seer and her Quradum and Healer's Touch, both by Amy Raby. I have absolutely loved her Hearts and Thrones series; they are so good. Healer's Touch seems to be one not published by the company that published the first three novels and the novella though, so sadly the book sizes don't match, but I guess sometimes that happens. I do like matching sets though. Anyway...and I have enjoyed her Coalition of Mages series so far, though not to the same extent as Hearts and Thrones, so I guess we'll see what happens to Taya and Mandir next.
I also picked up copies of City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire, and Clockwork Prince, all by Cassandra Clare. The only one of these I have yet to read is CoHF, but I had been borrowing from the library so it was time to finish up the collection (for now). But with three more trilogies and the collections of side stories still to come, it will be a while before I have all of the Shadowhunter books.
I was going to wait a while before getting more Dresden Files books, but I was talking with a co-worker and her excited fangirling over the books made me want to get back to reading them. Since I own the first three, I figured it was time to pick up books four and five. Summer Knight and Death Masks by Jim Butcher continue the story of Harry Dresden, the only professional wizard in the phone book in Chicago as he helps the police with crimes that don't seem to be ordinary. I love Dresden's voice and it makes for fairly easy reading. It will be fun to keep going with this series.
Speaking of continuing on with series, I have also picked up Raven Cursed and Death's Rival by Faith Hunter, so books four and five of the Jane Yellowrock series, which follows vampire hunter and skinwalker Jane Yellowrock as she handles jobs and creatures down in New Orleans. I enjoy Jane; she is a tea snob and she rides a motorcycle that she built herself. It is a dark urban fantasy series and I really need to catch up with the books before the spinoff is released, since that sounds really cool too.
Finally, my last two paperbacks are from writer buddies of mine, and I am so glad to be able to support their writing careers.
Remedy for Memory by Brista Drake is a really true-to-life coming-of-age high-school story. I already finished reading it and posted my blog review about it here. I followed her through her editing and preparation for publication, so it was awesome to see the final product.
Then there's The Levees Can't Hold by Vince Moore. He is an English professor from Tiffin University, and I met him during my NaNoWriMo ML duties while I was at Heidelberg University in Tiffin. He became the ML after I left, but I have followed his publishing progress, and this is the third (and I believe final) book for this interesting urban fantasy series. It follows Dr. Paul Layton, who also runs a martial arts dojo, as he and other members of the dojo have to save the city of New Orleans from supernatural forces, which change by book. One had vampires and one had ghosts. I haven't read this last one yet, but I think it deals with zombies. Regardless, I'm sure it will be action packed.
And now for the e-books.
Broken by Dean Murray
Bound by Dean Murray
The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows
Jillian Spectre and the Dream Weaver by Nic Tatano
Justice Calling by Annie Bellet
Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones
The Dean Murray books were both free and tell two different sides to the same story, so we'll see if they're any good. If so I can buy the rest of the series. I have had The Orphan Queen on my to-read list and my most anticipated list, and it was on sale for $1.99 so it was about time to snatch it up. I really loved the first Jillian Spectre novel, so finding the second one was an auto-buy for me. Justice Calling was free and is about a witch who is also a geek, and I think has a comic book store. And I have had Illusive on my to-read list for a while because it is YA story that is touted as X-men meets Ocean's Eleven, so that just sounds cool...and it was only $2.99. The sequel is set to be released July 14th, so that also seems like perfect timing for me.
Okay...so tonight there may be a bonus post for Camp NaNoWriMo. We'll see. I'm hoping to do a lot of writing today.
Let's get started with the June purchases then... we'll start with the hardcovers. I had three hardcover purchases, and only one of them was planned.
First we have An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. I had heard so many people talk about this book, and the summary sounded interesting to me, but for some reason I kept hesitating whenever I thought about picking it up. Then a friend of mine--who shares similar book tastes to me--finished it and I asked her her thoughts and she thought it was really good, and worth buying in hardcover, so here we are. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint. That is a pretty cool cover too.
Next is A Book of Spirits and Thieves by Morgan Rhodes. This is a spin-off of her Falling Kingdoms series and apparently alternates between modern day and this awesome magical past, so there is connection with the FK books. I really have enjoyed the books by Morgan Rhodes that I have read so far, so this one should be a good read...but I think I'm going to re-read the three currently published Falling Kingdoms books before I jump into this one.
Finally, for hardcovers, I have The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel. Every once in a while there will be a show or movie based on the book that is based on a true story, and it sounds interesting to me. This is one of those times. I have watched the first two episodes of The Astronaut Wives Club and I'm enjoying the story. Then I saw that Barnes & Noble was having a bargain sale on some hardcovers that had light markings on them, so I got this hardcover for only $3.99, which is awesome.
Next up...the paperbacks.
First I have The Fire Seer and her Quradum and Healer's Touch, both by Amy Raby. I have absolutely loved her Hearts and Thrones series; they are so good. Healer's Touch seems to be one not published by the company that published the first three novels and the novella though, so sadly the book sizes don't match, but I guess sometimes that happens. I do like matching sets though. Anyway...and I have enjoyed her Coalition of Mages series so far, though not to the same extent as Hearts and Thrones, so I guess we'll see what happens to Taya and Mandir next.
I also picked up copies of City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, City of Heavenly Fire, and Clockwork Prince, all by Cassandra Clare. The only one of these I have yet to read is CoHF, but I had been borrowing from the library so it was time to finish up the collection (for now). But with three more trilogies and the collections of side stories still to come, it will be a while before I have all of the Shadowhunter books.
I was going to wait a while before getting more Dresden Files books, but I was talking with a co-worker and her excited fangirling over the books made me want to get back to reading them. Since I own the first three, I figured it was time to pick up books four and five. Summer Knight and Death Masks by Jim Butcher continue the story of Harry Dresden, the only professional wizard in the phone book in Chicago as he helps the police with crimes that don't seem to be ordinary. I love Dresden's voice and it makes for fairly easy reading. It will be fun to keep going with this series.
Speaking of continuing on with series, I have also picked up Raven Cursed and Death's Rival by Faith Hunter, so books four and five of the Jane Yellowrock series, which follows vampire hunter and skinwalker Jane Yellowrock as she handles jobs and creatures down in New Orleans. I enjoy Jane; she is a tea snob and she rides a motorcycle that she built herself. It is a dark urban fantasy series and I really need to catch up with the books before the spinoff is released, since that sounds really cool too.
Finally, my last two paperbacks are from writer buddies of mine, and I am so glad to be able to support their writing careers.
Remedy for Memory by Brista Drake is a really true-to-life coming-of-age high-school story. I already finished reading it and posted my blog review about it here. I followed her through her editing and preparation for publication, so it was awesome to see the final product.
Then there's The Levees Can't Hold by Vince Moore. He is an English professor from Tiffin University, and I met him during my NaNoWriMo ML duties while I was at Heidelberg University in Tiffin. He became the ML after I left, but I have followed his publishing progress, and this is the third (and I believe final) book for this interesting urban fantasy series. It follows Dr. Paul Layton, who also runs a martial arts dojo, as he and other members of the dojo have to save the city of New Orleans from supernatural forces, which change by book. One had vampires and one had ghosts. I haven't read this last one yet, but I think it deals with zombies. Regardless, I'm sure it will be action packed.
And now for the e-books.
Broken by Dean Murray
Bound by Dean Murray
The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows
Jillian Spectre and the Dream Weaver by Nic Tatano
Justice Calling by Annie Bellet
Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones
The Dean Murray books were both free and tell two different sides to the same story, so we'll see if they're any good. If so I can buy the rest of the series. I have had The Orphan Queen on my to-read list and my most anticipated list, and it was on sale for $1.99 so it was about time to snatch it up. I really loved the first Jillian Spectre novel, so finding the second one was an auto-buy for me. Justice Calling was free and is about a witch who is also a geek, and I think has a comic book store. And I have had Illusive on my to-read list for a while because it is YA story that is touted as X-men meets Ocean's Eleven, so that just sounds cool...and it was only $2.99. The sequel is set to be released July 14th, so that also seems like perfect timing for me.
Okay...so tonight there may be a bonus post for Camp NaNoWriMo. We'll see. I'm hoping to do a lot of writing today.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Camp NaNo July 2015: Souls Unknowing Replotting
Wow guys and gals...just one more week until the start of Camp NaNoWriMo July session. I am really excited for it and I think I'm going to get off to a decent start. My work has already scheduled off days for July 2nd and 3rd, and obviously the 4th and 5th are the weekend, but there are rumors that we might get the 1st and 6th off as well, which would be amazing, and I would definitely try to write as many words as possible during that time.
In the week of June I have remaining though, I am spending most of my time reading books to recharge my creative energies, as well as to hopefully get my book review posts ready for July. We'll see how well that goes.
But you aren't here to listen to me ramble about reading or vague plans, at least today you aren't. No, today the topic is on my replotting efforts for Souls Unknowing. Now, I wish I could say that I've spent quite a lot of time following through on the topic and writing down all of my random ideas, but the truth is that sometimes that isn't really my style. I've learned over the years that if I write down all my plot ideas then somehow my brain likes to think "but you've written that already" and then it is really difficult for me to actually write the scenes or chapters.
So, what I do instead is to just think on what I need to do and have a mental list. Yes, I have considered some plot points to change or to enhance in this rewrite, mostly because some of the plot I remember wanting to write about and then somehow I just didn't write down the scenes. For example, main character Tru spends quite a bit of time with her history teacher, Mr. Malone, and I remember wanting to actually write more scenes and conversations between them, but then I got distracted by my main plot about the ghosts and everything else sort of faded into the background. I hope to fix that issue this time around.
I also need to work on expanding on some of the characters, like fellow mediators Megan and Allie, as well as Tru's friends Tammi and Tess. These characters have lived in my mind for the past decade and I know them quite well, but I think back when I started writing this book I didn't know that much about them, and what I did know I didn't know how to express properly.
There is one really awesome scene involving Tru, Ian, and Ava that I am definitely keeping. It was one of the best moments and twists in the whole story, mostly because it started out as being completely unplanned, but after it happened I realized how much more interesting it made the book. Those of you who read SU back in high school know what I'm talking about, but please do not talk about it. I'd like to avoid spoilers if possible.
For the most part I am following the loose outline of the original draft for this story, but I always give myself room for new scenes or relationships or conversations. I like to let the characters dictate the events of the story, and considering how much everyone has developed since those early days (including me and my writing ability), I know there will probably be changes along the way.
I hope that my early readers will enjoy this new adaptation of the story. I have been thinking about how to improve the story for so long now that it will be really nice to actually follow through.
Okay, so next week I will have my June Book Haul post up on Wednesday, but I might also have a first day of Camp recap bonus post. It all depends on how many words I get on the page. Let's get ready to write.
In the week of June I have remaining though, I am spending most of my time reading books to recharge my creative energies, as well as to hopefully get my book review posts ready for July. We'll see how well that goes.
But you aren't here to listen to me ramble about reading or vague plans, at least today you aren't. No, today the topic is on my replotting efforts for Souls Unknowing. Now, I wish I could say that I've spent quite a lot of time following through on the topic and writing down all of my random ideas, but the truth is that sometimes that isn't really my style. I've learned over the years that if I write down all my plot ideas then somehow my brain likes to think "but you've written that already" and then it is really difficult for me to actually write the scenes or chapters.
So, what I do instead is to just think on what I need to do and have a mental list. Yes, I have considered some plot points to change or to enhance in this rewrite, mostly because some of the plot I remember wanting to write about and then somehow I just didn't write down the scenes. For example, main character Tru spends quite a bit of time with her history teacher, Mr. Malone, and I remember wanting to actually write more scenes and conversations between them, but then I got distracted by my main plot about the ghosts and everything else sort of faded into the background. I hope to fix that issue this time around.
I also need to work on expanding on some of the characters, like fellow mediators Megan and Allie, as well as Tru's friends Tammi and Tess. These characters have lived in my mind for the past decade and I know them quite well, but I think back when I started writing this book I didn't know that much about them, and what I did know I didn't know how to express properly.
There is one really awesome scene involving Tru, Ian, and Ava that I am definitely keeping. It was one of the best moments and twists in the whole story, mostly because it started out as being completely unplanned, but after it happened I realized how much more interesting it made the book. Those of you who read SU back in high school know what I'm talking about, but please do not talk about it. I'd like to avoid spoilers if possible.
For the most part I am following the loose outline of the original draft for this story, but I always give myself room for new scenes or relationships or conversations. I like to let the characters dictate the events of the story, and considering how much everyone has developed since those early days (including me and my writing ability), I know there will probably be changes along the way.
I hope that my early readers will enjoy this new adaptation of the story. I have been thinking about how to improve the story for so long now that it will be really nice to actually follow through.
Okay, so next week I will have my June Book Haul post up on Wednesday, but I might also have a first day of Camp recap bonus post. It all depends on how many words I get on the page. Let's get ready to write.
Friday, June 19, 2015
From the Stacks: Remedy for Memory by Brista Drake
For today's From the Stacks post, I am pleased to review the debut novel of a local writing buddy of mine. Please note that friendship with the author does not have an effect on my review. Today I am talking about Remedy for Memory by Brista Drake.
Overall rating: 4 stars
I have been following Brista's progress with writing and editing this book since I met her last year during a write-in for NaNoWriMo. Since then I have watched all of her YouTube videos and given as much helpful commentary as I could. So I am immensely proud to see another one of my region's writers reach publication status.
That being said, this book honestly surprised me with how wonderfully realistic it was. Yes, sometimes narrator Trisha jumps around and there will be plot points that are actually left unanswered, but isn't that how life works sometimes? We experience events and then forget them or brush them aside for something we think is more important, regardless of whether or not it actually is. This book did that, thanks to a journal-esque feel to the writing.
While reading it, I could also tell that it was set in the general area where both Brista Drake and I happen to live. This setting is enriched by including details such as a day trip up to Cedar Point--an amusement park--, a performance at The Historic Palace Theater, and of course, the Ohio State Fair. Look, I was completely a band geek through school, and yes, I did participate in the All-Ohio State Fair Band for three years. That, plus all the other details, and the descriptions of the interactions of these high school characters, made reading this book an interesting trip down memory lane for me.
I did note a number of typos in my paperback, but hey, I've found those in my own book, so I typically don't mark down my ratings for that, unless I have no clue what was actually meant to be said. As the typos were mostly use of the wrong homonym (your/you're, passed/past, cord/chord), I can still grasp the overall meaning.
So...I guess the reason why I took this book from a 5-star to a 4-star is because I can see the potential to achieve more greatness, and the stars are my way to show that this was a great first novel, but we can all learn from our first attempts and get better. Also, I do feel like maybe there is more to tell with this story. Most of the plot that we see occurs during Trisha's sophomore year of high school, but there are brief scenes from junior year, and a tiny bit from after she has graduated.
Would the story have been enriched further if more scenes had been added? I can't say. But, once again, that's what you get with the way some people record their lives. Stuff will be missing. That is obviously the case with how Trisha thinks about her high school relationships, particularly with Aaron.
That is the other reason the book scores 4 stars instead of 5. I think we have all had relationships that have made little sense to us, but we go through the motions and such anyway. As an outsider (the reader), I didn't really connect with Trisha and Aaron's romantic relationship on an emotional level, though part of me did remember acquaintances who were in similar relationships back in high school. So I understand the decisions and the sometimes wildly swinging spastic feelings that ruled both Trisha and Aaron's actions, but I still couldn't see them as a couple.
Okay, this is getting long, and may be a little ramble-y but what I'm saying is that this was a really good first book, and a true-to-life glimpse at a typical high school student as she tries to navigate herself and her interactions with her peers. It is a coming-of-age story and a first love story and it did have some sweet moments and some intense ones. I would recommend it to my friends, for the nostalgia factor alone. Sometimes it is nice to think back to those high school days, and then to think about how much we have all learned and grown since then.
“After some time, I could talk to people, but I couldn't say your name. I couldn't put your name next to how I was feeling. There was something broken, and I just . . . didn't think anyone could believe me.
So I wrote it down instead. I wrote this all for me . . . For you.”
If Trisha could summarize in one word her entire past relationship with Aaron, "The Baron," it'd be a long, sarcastic "thanks." For most of his life, Aaron Madison glorified being the butt of every joke, but after meeting Trisha four years ago, everything had changed.
If there was a time to speak, it was now.
Overall rating: 4 stars
I have been following Brista's progress with writing and editing this book since I met her last year during a write-in for NaNoWriMo. Since then I have watched all of her YouTube videos and given as much helpful commentary as I could. So I am immensely proud to see another one of my region's writers reach publication status.
That being said, this book honestly surprised me with how wonderfully realistic it was. Yes, sometimes narrator Trisha jumps around and there will be plot points that are actually left unanswered, but isn't that how life works sometimes? We experience events and then forget them or brush them aside for something we think is more important, regardless of whether or not it actually is. This book did that, thanks to a journal-esque feel to the writing.
While reading it, I could also tell that it was set in the general area where both Brista Drake and I happen to live. This setting is enriched by including details such as a day trip up to Cedar Point--an amusement park--, a performance at The Historic Palace Theater, and of course, the Ohio State Fair. Look, I was completely a band geek through school, and yes, I did participate in the All-Ohio State Fair Band for three years. That, plus all the other details, and the descriptions of the interactions of these high school characters, made reading this book an interesting trip down memory lane for me.
I did note a number of typos in my paperback, but hey, I've found those in my own book, so I typically don't mark down my ratings for that, unless I have no clue what was actually meant to be said. As the typos were mostly use of the wrong homonym (your/you're, passed/past, cord/chord), I can still grasp the overall meaning.
So...I guess the reason why I took this book from a 5-star to a 4-star is because I can see the potential to achieve more greatness, and the stars are my way to show that this was a great first novel, but we can all learn from our first attempts and get better. Also, I do feel like maybe there is more to tell with this story. Most of the plot that we see occurs during Trisha's sophomore year of high school, but there are brief scenes from junior year, and a tiny bit from after she has graduated.
Would the story have been enriched further if more scenes had been added? I can't say. But, once again, that's what you get with the way some people record their lives. Stuff will be missing. That is obviously the case with how Trisha thinks about her high school relationships, particularly with Aaron.
That is the other reason the book scores 4 stars instead of 5. I think we have all had relationships that have made little sense to us, but we go through the motions and such anyway. As an outsider (the reader), I didn't really connect with Trisha and Aaron's romantic relationship on an emotional level, though part of me did remember acquaintances who were in similar relationships back in high school. So I understand the decisions and the sometimes wildly swinging spastic feelings that ruled both Trisha and Aaron's actions, but I still couldn't see them as a couple.
Okay, this is getting long, and may be a little ramble-y but what I'm saying is that this was a really good first book, and a true-to-life glimpse at a typical high school student as she tries to navigate herself and her interactions with her peers. It is a coming-of-age story and a first love story and it did have some sweet moments and some intense ones. I would recommend it to my friends, for the nostalgia factor alone. Sometimes it is nice to think back to those high school days, and then to think about how much we have all learned and grown since then.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Camp NaNo July 2015: Souls Unknowing Prep - Rewrite the draft
Okay, so in September of this year I will have another round of Basics of Writing posts, and one of those will cover revision, but today's topic is a bit different from revision. Also, today's topic is completely relevant to my prep for Camp NaNoWriMo and my project, Souls Unknowing.
I know of a number of writers who rewrite their drafts three to ten times before they are satisfied with the story. Rewriting was never that vital to my writing process. It used to be that I would write a draft, set the whole manuscript aside for at least a couple weeks and at most a few months, and then read through and scribble all over in the margins. I would make little notes about adding scenes or more details or perhaps a longer conversation, but I typically did not scrap a scene and start over from scratch.
But lately it seems like a lot of my projects are becoming unique and veering away from my typical writing process. Souls Unknowing is no exception to this. I have said it before and I will say it again: when I wrote the first draft of SU I was in high school and I thought that third person present tense was a good idea.
Now, for some authors, 3rd person present tense works as a POV, but looking back at that old draft now, I cringe while trying to read it. I am not one of those people. I can do 1st person present tense, but not 3rd. Looking at that old draft, I also cringe at how simplistic it is in a lot of ways. Sure, I ended up with a bit over 50,000 words, but about 75-80% of the draft is dialogue. I know I need to add a lot more description into this story.
So...for the first time, a complete rewrite seems to be in order.
Thankfully, SU was written about three computers ago and was saved on floppy discs and such, which means I have no digital copy available to me so my old way of revision wouldn't work even if I wanted to pursue that option.
I do have a complete printed out copy of the original draft, so I have something I can refer to while writing, but honestly, unless it is absolutely necessary, I think I'm just going to go with the flow and write...see where the adventure takes me this time.
I know my characters and I know the major plot points I need to hit this time around. But other than that, I think the best path moving forward is to try and treat this like a first draft again. I have grown so much as a person and a writer, and I have a much better understanding of the writing process now. It would be a shame to miss out on some great writing possibilities just because I'm trying to stick completely to the ideal of that decade old draft.
So, I may still call this a rewrite, and I may still reference that draft from high school, but I think when I do my writing updates in July that I'm just going to talk about my current writing and the progress I'm making for the duration of Camp NaNoWriMo.
That being said, I guess the question to address is...how do you handle writing a full draft of a book? The answer sounds so simple but is so extraordinarily difficult...you just write. Write down one word followed by another followed by another until you reach the end. Then you go through that draft and read it, with a critical eye as if it was written by somebody else, and make commentary and notes for how to improve the draft. Then you follow those notes and revise the draft. You repeat this as many times as are necessary to make it feel like the best book it can be. And then maybe you do it one more time just to be sure.
Writing and publishing is a long and tiring process, but that feeling of accomplishment at the end is totally worth it.
I know of a number of writers who rewrite their drafts three to ten times before they are satisfied with the story. Rewriting was never that vital to my writing process. It used to be that I would write a draft, set the whole manuscript aside for at least a couple weeks and at most a few months, and then read through and scribble all over in the margins. I would make little notes about adding scenes or more details or perhaps a longer conversation, but I typically did not scrap a scene and start over from scratch.
But lately it seems like a lot of my projects are becoming unique and veering away from my typical writing process. Souls Unknowing is no exception to this. I have said it before and I will say it again: when I wrote the first draft of SU I was in high school and I thought that third person present tense was a good idea.
Now, for some authors, 3rd person present tense works as a POV, but looking back at that old draft now, I cringe while trying to read it. I am not one of those people. I can do 1st person present tense, but not 3rd. Looking at that old draft, I also cringe at how simplistic it is in a lot of ways. Sure, I ended up with a bit over 50,000 words, but about 75-80% of the draft is dialogue. I know I need to add a lot more description into this story.
So...for the first time, a complete rewrite seems to be in order.
Thankfully, SU was written about three computers ago and was saved on floppy discs and such, which means I have no digital copy available to me so my old way of revision wouldn't work even if I wanted to pursue that option.
I do have a complete printed out copy of the original draft, so I have something I can refer to while writing, but honestly, unless it is absolutely necessary, I think I'm just going to go with the flow and write...see where the adventure takes me this time.
I know my characters and I know the major plot points I need to hit this time around. But other than that, I think the best path moving forward is to try and treat this like a first draft again. I have grown so much as a person and a writer, and I have a much better understanding of the writing process now. It would be a shame to miss out on some great writing possibilities just because I'm trying to stick completely to the ideal of that decade old draft.
So, I may still call this a rewrite, and I may still reference that draft from high school, but I think when I do my writing updates in July that I'm just going to talk about my current writing and the progress I'm making for the duration of Camp NaNoWriMo.
That being said, I guess the question to address is...how do you handle writing a full draft of a book? The answer sounds so simple but is so extraordinarily difficult...you just write. Write down one word followed by another followed by another until you reach the end. Then you go through that draft and read it, with a critical eye as if it was written by somebody else, and make commentary and notes for how to improve the draft. Then you follow those notes and revise the draft. You repeat this as many times as are necessary to make it feel like the best book it can be. And then maybe you do it one more time just to be sure.
Writing and publishing is a long and tiring process, but that feeling of accomplishment at the end is totally worth it.
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