So, yeah, no posts in January. Barely any in December. I'm sorry. Bad blogger.
New Years Day came and went, and I, along with certainly thousands of others, made a new years resolution. Usually, along with certainly thousands of others, mine are doomed to failure. This year, I vowed to write, edit, plot, or otherwise work on my writing every day WITHOUT a NaNo to depend on. And yet here I stand, crossing into February, and aside from a small stumble, I'm still going. I missed one day due to being on the go from literally 8:00AM to 11:00PM. Driving five and a half hours hours, birthday party for my niece, short break spent with family, then back out for a hockey game. I got home and hit the pillow HARD. I barely had time to THINK that day, much less write. Didn't even realize I'd forgotten to do anything until we were on our way home the next day. But you know what? I got back on the saddle and picked up where I left off. As of yesterday, I have a finished, well, I don't think it's technically a short story. Based on the word count, it just squeaks into novelette territory. But it's mine and it's done.
I wish I could say I did this just because, but I have to admit there was a little NaNo-esque motivation behind it. Back in December, I signed up for a Secret Santa exchange, except instead of gifts, we were all to exchange stories. Give a prompt, get a story, and write one for someone else. The story's due in its final form on Feb 14th. It's still got some polishing to go through, but I have something, anything, for my promptee. I have just under two weeks to polish it until it shines, and then it's just a matter of hoping he or she likes it.
Once all the editing is done and the story is ready, that's when the hard part begins. I've written because I promised someone else I would. When this is done, I have to write because I promised myself I would. It's a lot easier to let yourself down.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Oh yeah, I made a twitter. Like, a few months ago. Should have said something sooner. I am not a prompt person.
If you want to find me and the very few posts I make on here, I'm http://twitter.com/wanderingquille or @wanderingquille.
I also changed my Pinterest link to http://www.pinterest.com/wanderingquille/ from maxwellwrites. It was the only place I used that name. It just didn't make much sense to have something different, so now everything of mine can be found under Wandering Quille in one way or another, aside from email.
If you want to find me and the very few posts I make on here, I'm http://twitter.com/wanderingquille or @wanderingquille.
I also changed my Pinterest link to http://www.pinterest.com/wanderingquille/ from maxwellwrites. It was the only place I used that name. It just didn't make much sense to have something different, so now everything of mine can be found under Wandering Quille in one way or another, aside from email.
Monday, December 2, 2013
End of NaNo 2013
It's over. I lived. I emerged victorious. Exhausted, incomplete, and just barely over the finish line, but I made it.
Am I happy with the end result? Not really. I lost track of how to get from Point A to Point B at the end. I have scenes I like and scenes that I don't know what they're doing in there. There's a LOT of talking and not much action, which really bothers me. Ultimately, I feel like... I need to read something else. I haven't picked up a book in a few months (maybe since September?) and I think my brain has forgotten how to book. Seriously, it's nothing but "Characters go to Point A, talk, say "let's go" and go to point B, talk more," etc, etc. The action scenes that are there, I really like. I like them a lot. But they're so far between each other with lots of nonsense chatter in the middle.
So this one's going to sit and simmer a while. It needs something different to finish it. There's a missing ingredient and I don't know what it is. I'm going to move on to some other things and see what happens.
And now I'm suddenly wondering if I've got my 2nd male MC's sex wrong. Was Daniel supposed to be Danielle? It'd be breaking a MAJOR gender role in the setting. Daniel's a deputy, a rough and tumble tough guy, the man of the house while his father is gone.
...I think I have some things to think about.
Am I happy with the end result? Not really. I lost track of how to get from Point A to Point B at the end. I have scenes I like and scenes that I don't know what they're doing in there. There's a LOT of talking and not much action, which really bothers me. Ultimately, I feel like... I need to read something else. I haven't picked up a book in a few months (maybe since September?) and I think my brain has forgotten how to book. Seriously, it's nothing but "Characters go to Point A, talk, say "let's go" and go to point B, talk more," etc, etc. The action scenes that are there, I really like. I like them a lot. But they're so far between each other with lots of nonsense chatter in the middle.
So this one's going to sit and simmer a while. It needs something different to finish it. There's a missing ingredient and I don't know what it is. I'm going to move on to some other things and see what happens.
And now I'm suddenly wondering if I've got my 2nd male MC's sex wrong. Was Daniel supposed to be Danielle? It'd be breaking a MAJOR gender role in the setting. Daniel's a deputy, a rough and tumble tough guy, the man of the house while his father is gone.
...I think I have some things to think about.
Monday, November 25, 2013
NaNo Day 25
21 Days Later... oh wait, I was gonna blog about this, wasn't I?
It's been a trip. The second weekend, barely a week in, I fell behind. I skipped a day in favor of going to a comic convention and seeing Thor: The Dark World with friends. I figured I wouldn't have trouble catching up. And then the wall came up. Oh, what a wall. I tried going around it. There was another one just waiting for me from the other angle. So I fell, I sobbed, I moaned, I said "I can't do it anymore, I'm done. This is terrible and I don't want to do it anymore."
You know, the normal Week 2/3 NaNo. But I really was ready to throw in the towel and give up. All my characters were doing was going somewhere and talking, going somewhere else, talking. There wasn't any action, and eventually, I didn't know where they were going anymore. That's where I got stuck. Even if I got unstuck, I was going to get to 30k at most. I was ready to give it all up. And then the pep talk came in. Lev Grossman, never heard of him. Still, couldn't hurt to read it, right?
Thank you, Mr. Grossman. You said all the right things at all the right times. You said exactly what I needed to hear. You told me I wasn't alone, this was normal, and I could get through it. I'd read it a thousand times before, but in that moment of darkness, as the curtain was falling on my novel, you said, "Wait, not yet."
I got up. I looked at the wall from another angle. I went back to the outlining I had been doing before NaNo and started to fill it out. I made a tiny hole in the wall. I went home and wrote. I broke through the first wall and filled in the gap I'd left (the first time I've ever skipped a scene). I went back to the other wall and just kept on going. Last night, I finally caught up on my deficit with a pretty 40,010 word count for the evening. The major subarc just finished, so I have 10k to get the rest of the main arc, which now involves more than I originally intended. My 30k prediction may end up getting me to 50k after all.
So thank you, Mr. Grossman. Thank you for the hand, for the leg up, for the right words at the right time. I'm gonna make it after all.
As long as hosting Thanksgiving for the first time doesn't kill me first.
It's been a trip. The second weekend, barely a week in, I fell behind. I skipped a day in favor of going to a comic convention and seeing Thor: The Dark World with friends. I figured I wouldn't have trouble catching up. And then the wall came up. Oh, what a wall. I tried going around it. There was another one just waiting for me from the other angle. So I fell, I sobbed, I moaned, I said "I can't do it anymore, I'm done. This is terrible and I don't want to do it anymore."
You know, the normal Week 2/3 NaNo. But I really was ready to throw in the towel and give up. All my characters were doing was going somewhere and talking, going somewhere else, talking. There wasn't any action, and eventually, I didn't know where they were going anymore. That's where I got stuck. Even if I got unstuck, I was going to get to 30k at most. I was ready to give it all up. And then the pep talk came in. Lev Grossman, never heard of him. Still, couldn't hurt to read it, right?
Thank you, Mr. Grossman. You said all the right things at all the right times. You said exactly what I needed to hear. You told me I wasn't alone, this was normal, and I could get through it. I'd read it a thousand times before, but in that moment of darkness, as the curtain was falling on my novel, you said, "Wait, not yet."
I got up. I looked at the wall from another angle. I went back to the outlining I had been doing before NaNo and started to fill it out. I made a tiny hole in the wall. I went home and wrote. I broke through the first wall and filled in the gap I'd left (the first time I've ever skipped a scene). I went back to the other wall and just kept on going. Last night, I finally caught up on my deficit with a pretty 40,010 word count for the evening. The major subarc just finished, so I have 10k to get the rest of the main arc, which now involves more than I originally intended. My 30k prediction may end up getting me to 50k after all.
So thank you, Mr. Grossman. Thank you for the hand, for the leg up, for the right words at the right time. I'm gonna make it after all.
As long as hosting Thanksgiving for the first time doesn't kill me first.
Monday, November 4, 2013
NaNo Day 4
Three days in and all is fairly well. Right now I'm managing a scene a day, but I've only got two more scenes planned out before we hit uncharted territory. I'm so bad at planning the middle...
I'm happy with the characters so far. The main three have their own personalities that are coming out on the page well. The third one I introduced even made his appearance before I realized it was him. Considering he's a spontaneous troublemaker, it fit that he's even playing games with me. End result is what I think is my best action sequence yet. It's probably still terrible, but I'm happy with it. I just hope I can stretch the middle long enough to fill the month. I'm already starting to worry. I mean, if I don't make 50k with this story, that's fine. I have plenty of other things to start. I'm just a habitual underwriter, and I'd like to get out of this gray area between novellas and novels. I just don't know how to add more.
Day 3 wordcount: 5,078/50,000.
I'm happy with the characters so far. The main three have their own personalities that are coming out on the page well. The third one I introduced even made his appearance before I realized it was him. Considering he's a spontaneous troublemaker, it fit that he's even playing games with me. End result is what I think is my best action sequence yet. It's probably still terrible, but I'm happy with it. I just hope I can stretch the middle long enough to fill the month. I'm already starting to worry. I mean, if I don't make 50k with this story, that's fine. I have plenty of other things to start. I'm just a habitual underwriter, and I'd like to get out of this gray area between novellas and novels. I just don't know how to add more.
Day 3 wordcount: 5,078/50,000.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
It's Hee-eeerrre
What is it about the time between the 30th and the 31st of October that makes us go from "We are READY. We are PUMPED. We can DO THIS," to cowering under a pile of blankets hoping that maybe NaNoWriMo will pass by without noticing us? All up until now, I've been psyched, confident, and prepared. And then today, with the sudden realization that once again, this yearly testament to novel writing begins TOMORROW, I panic. I'm not ready. I'm freaked out. I'm anxious. Why in the world did I volunteer to do Thanksgiving at our house this year? I'm supposed to write WHILE getting the place in good working order for the family we don't have enough room for? And having guests other weeks and movies and games coming out and JUST SO MUCH STUFF.
Whatever.
I am the llama.
Whatever.
I am the llama.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
It's the most wonderful time of the year
I'm always giddy ball of excitement when October starts. Why?
It's not Halloween or Thanksgiving or Christmas.
It's not because the leaves are changing and the weather gets colder.
It's time for NaNoWriMo!
The site has reset, the boards are clear, and the Your 2013 Novel space is waiting to be filled with thousands of characters and places and plots. There are new friends to meet and old friends to see. It's NaNo time, and it's the best time of the year!
I had a tough choice ahead of me for what to write. So many good ideas in the log, waiting to be brought to life. But a few weeks ago, a new one nibbled, then bit, then moved in and said "No, Atlantis. No, Pirates. No, Murder Mystery. This is MY year."
Friends, readers, meet Tricker's Gambit, the Old West fantasy.
Synopsis:
Hustling got real easy for James Proctor the day he found his magic staff. People with more money than brains were much more willing to throw their fortunes at someone who could get rid of ghosts than a shyster with a pack of cards. No one needed to know he's the one who made the "ghosts" with his power over illusions, and no one seemed to notice that the ghosts showed up around the same time he did. It was the perfect scam.
And then the trickster spirit showed up, pretending to be a ghost right in the middle of his "exorcism". And then Proctor used the staff in a way he wasn't supposed to. Now the trickster is stuck in the body of young housekeeper Helen, Helen's stuck as a ghost, and Proctor's just stuck. By all laws of the magic realm, he should lose his staff and memory of everything fantastic. However, the governing Council isn't without mercy...for Helen (Proctor and Varmint the trickster did this to themselves, after all). Proctor is given a stay of execution until he fixes his mistake and gets her back into her own body. With a deputy and his posse hunting them down for kidnapping Helen, a vampire lord tracking Proctor over a gambling debt, and the Council watching their every step, the three have very little time to find the lost artifact that will fix their problem, and they're not the only ones looking for it.
So that's my new baby. I love the characters, I love the plot and setting, and I'm looking forward to working on it. This month is for plotting, and next month, the fun begins.
I hope I don't pull my hair out.
It's not Halloween or Thanksgiving or Christmas.
It's not because the leaves are changing and the weather gets colder.
It's time for NaNoWriMo!
The site has reset, the boards are clear, and the Your 2013 Novel space is waiting to be filled with thousands of characters and places and plots. There are new friends to meet and old friends to see. It's NaNo time, and it's the best time of the year!
I had a tough choice ahead of me for what to write. So many good ideas in the log, waiting to be brought to life. But a few weeks ago, a new one nibbled, then bit, then moved in and said "No, Atlantis. No, Pirates. No, Murder Mystery. This is MY year."
Friends, readers, meet Tricker's Gambit, the Old West fantasy.
Synopsis:
Hustling got real easy for James Proctor the day he found his magic staff. People with more money than brains were much more willing to throw their fortunes at someone who could get rid of ghosts than a shyster with a pack of cards. No one needed to know he's the one who made the "ghosts" with his power over illusions, and no one seemed to notice that the ghosts showed up around the same time he did. It was the perfect scam.
And then the trickster spirit showed up, pretending to be a ghost right in the middle of his "exorcism". And then Proctor used the staff in a way he wasn't supposed to. Now the trickster is stuck in the body of young housekeeper Helen, Helen's stuck as a ghost, and Proctor's just stuck. By all laws of the magic realm, he should lose his staff and memory of everything fantastic. However, the governing Council isn't without mercy...for Helen (Proctor and Varmint the trickster did this to themselves, after all). Proctor is given a stay of execution until he fixes his mistake and gets her back into her own body. With a deputy and his posse hunting them down for kidnapping Helen, a vampire lord tracking Proctor over a gambling debt, and the Council watching their every step, the three have very little time to find the lost artifact that will fix their problem, and they're not the only ones looking for it.
So that's my new baby. I love the characters, I love the plot and setting, and I'm looking forward to working on it. This month is for plotting, and next month, the fun begins.
I hope I don't pull my hair out.
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