At Least I Have Wombat Going for Me (IWSG)

Alex J. Cavanaugh's Blog Hop

Another NaNoWriMo has passed - and I should be feeling like this:

And to be honest, Saturday morning I did... You see it's been a crazy month. Wombat and I celebrated our anniversary. We had some family pictures taken. I had two long dental appointments that knocked me down pretty good. I got sick. Wombat got sick. Our Thanksgiving plans kept falling through, which meant multiple planning sessions. Wombat and I got into a glorious fight. Wombat and I made up after our glorious fight. Then, the crowning experience of the month, was a phone call that landed a major piece of family news that left me bug eyed and my mind spinning for a whole week. 

However.... that isn't why I didn't write more than 4100 words. No, all of that was crazy, and definitely kept my mind far from writing, but there were plenty of evenings or morning that I could have - or even DID sit down to write. 

No, it was Saturday morning- with one November day to go- that I lay in bed postponing my grocery trip with a furrowed brow trying to deduce the reason of my dismal progress. As with anything that I can't figure out - I turned to Wombat and told him, "I keep sitting down to write, but I can't stand the scene I am working on. It's so boring. I'm bored writing it! That's a bad sign!" 

He suggested that I skip ahead to the other character's thread. 

I sighed. "Yeah, but his will be boring too! I mean..." And then my mind began to percolate. "I guess it's boring to me, because there are no relationships. It's all plot, and that's boring to write. Curiel already has his passel of friends. Emerick is kind of interesting because at least you are getting to know Cicero...."

To which the Wombat made me feel jointly dumb as a door knob and chipperishly hopeful, by suggesting: "Well maybe you should make Curiel's friends not his friends yet. You could show him making friends with them."

I thought it over critically. Could I do that? Will that screw up the timing? How would that coincide with what I've written already? All 4100 measly words. Ooo! I know!

And the Wombat came to the rescue. It's always a little disheartening to have to scrap your work before it's really even begun, but if you have to, I guess there is no better reason than to do so to make writing your book more enjoyable.

So, while my NaNoWriMo attempt doesn't even deserve an honorable mention - I press on. Maybe December will be my month.

Que Beethoven! NA-NO-RI-MO!

A year later and here we are again. My past attempts at NaNo have not been successful, but my recent success at finishing draft one of my book has taught me part of the reason why NaNo has so entirely eluded me. Different people are motivated by different things, and I have learned that word count does not motivate me. It stuffs me. It keeps all the good stuff in my brain. So instead of following the NaNo Original Rules - I, like many others - am planning a Pseudo-Na-No-Wri-Mo.

I have been outlining Book 2 this month and frankly - planning out a sequel is so much more fun than the first. It's so much easier. I've been having a blast. I don't have everything figured out - but! I have what I expect will be at least 50,000 words. So instead of setting myself those word count goals and stressing about getting that certain number done within the day or the week - I will set my goals based on scenes and sections - it may come out to the right amount or it may not but my chances of getting my PseudoNaNo become realistic. Cop out. I know, but if I could achieve this goal I will be almost half way done with book two in a month instead of a year and a half like the first. Which would be a dream come true. Obviously.

Here's to NaNo2013!

I/O for the Brain (IWSG)

Not only do I feel insecure about my writing today, but about my intellectual existence. Basically, my TV consumption has increased over the past few years, and my intellectual exercises have decreased to such a degree that I've gained POUNDS of dumb-fat (we won't even discuss what it's done to my level of fat-fat). Further, I can watch the extra weight slowly flattening my word count to nothing. not only did I poopoo on my NaNoWriMo goals, but I probably had the lowest word count for the month then I've had in a year. I'm just pulling that out of my rear - I didn't actually make any calculations. I'm trying not to beat myself up too much - most of the time all that does is cause a downward spiral to worse behavior... at least for me... <.<   >.>..... I can be stubborn like that :p
I am working to change my habits and behaviors, though. It's been a pretty hard few months for me personally. I actively avoided the blogosphere for awhile, because I was a might-bit antagonistic and moody and critical - I was in bad form, basically (though, I'd like to say thanks to Elise Fallson for thinking of me, and checking to see how I was doing - Elise your awesome). Thanks to some NET - I'm doing better and better. Part of my goal, is to limit the amount of time I'm watching TV - putting my foot down about what I really want to watch, and not go searching for entertainment beyond that. I've also begun making a list of things that I want and like to do - so I have answers when I think "there's nothing to do". My ultimate point is that I need to give my brain a jump. Turn it back on.
Part of this plan also includes the significant increase of reading. What? I'm a writer that doesn't read? I used to a read a lot when I was younger. Then life got me busy. Obviously I'm not as busy now- since I can spend as much time as I do watching TV (even when excluding when I multi-tasked). I'm in a new place now and one of my strongest focuses is to finish this book. I've not been reading, because I'm gotten picky and critical - but I think its time to hunker down and do some purposeful reading. Heck, even if I don't like a book, I can still learn "what not to do" and the truth is, most of the time, I'm so fickle that I won't even finish the first chapter. Too much TV has given me an extremely short attention span.
So, now, for the sake of my future as a writer, for my health as a person and personality - I'm going to fight for my brain's right to write, logic, express, and experience.

Anyone else find that a daily habit hurts their writing? Done anything to help it improve?

In Which I Prove Just How Bad I Am at Synopsis and Selling (IWSG)

I was thinking at this point in the much anticipated month of November that I would be lamenting about the infamous NaNoWriMo... okay, so I am currently very behind and that doesn't really make me feel like a winner - but truthfully I don't care so much about my word count as I care that my word count is suffering because... well... how do I put it... I guess I feel lost. 

I sat down to write the other day and got stumped. Which really shouldn't be a biggy - getting stumped is a part of writing for many of us out there. However, as I thought about it, I realized that I wasn't just stumped with my scene, I was stumped with my purpose. I have a pretty darn good outline for the remainder of my book (thanks to Wombat) - so it's not a matter of where I'm going - it's a matter of why I'm going there. I want my book to say something important, even if it doesn't spell it out as clearly as some of our old time fables. Right now, I look at my book and I feel uncertain about what I'm trying to say. 

Because of how my brain works and how I write, I know that I do well to hammer out the "what happens" and then add in the nuance when redrafting - but for some reason the lack of power in my manuscript is making me blue. frozen. insecure...... and I can't even blame it on hormones (I actually checked my calendar to make sure). 

After all, you know it's a bad sign when you're bored with what your writing. 

I get even more bored with super whimpering blogposts though - so now that I've confessed my blues, I think I'll take on a challenge. 

Y'see I've been tagged for The Next Big Thing Challenge by the incredibly talented and oh-so-entertaining Julie Touvi, over at From Pen to Paper. She's working her tail off posting on her blog daily for the month of November - and she's definitely worth following if you haven't already.

Now, I have avoided attempting to succinctly explain anything about my book thus far in my career (I know, I know, I'll be choking down nails when I have to start querying and pitching), so here's me doing my best to answer a few questions.

1. What is the working title of your book?

Unbanded   - Because my first book was called Banded... and  this is not it.

2. Where did the idea come from for that book?

I really only know part of the answer to this. In Banded, the cataclysmic event that  eventually required my dear heroes to have to do their hero thing was the eruption of an exceptionally terribly plague. Unknown to the main characters, the man responsible was the great Al'man Emerick, First Servant of the Almighty. Enraged by the murder of his son, Emerick struck out against the man responsible, unknowingly unleashing a disease that would not only kill hundreds of innocents, but  his daughter among them. So... while creating Emerick's backstory, Wombat and I came to fall in love with the extensively flawed holy man - and I intended on writing a prequel that would tell his story. The prequel turned into book one -and here I am. I don't know where the idea to make him originally came from - though flashes of memory lead to me think it was very different from what it is now - and if I looked through my old writings I'd probably find his beginnings within.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

Epic Fantasy

4. What actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I have in fact done this.

Emerick

 My main "good" guy, Emerick has been the hardest to pin down. If I could find the perfect mix between Robert Downey Jr. , Russel Crowe, a young Alec Baldwin, and James Dean you would see what I see when I write. 

Curiel

My "sidekick" Curiel - easy - Luke Perry.

Peaches

Almighty

Oh-so-down-to-earth practical Peaches - Juliet Aubrey

Lourden

The Almighty -  Edward Norton

Councilor Lourden, bad guy for book one -

        Gabriel Byrne

And the bad guy to span all books- The Antithesis - you just can't put a face to.

5. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

(*starts with the nails* )  Murdered and then resurrected by the Almighty in a time of ignorance and cruelty, the once undefeatable crime lord Emerick is refused his freedom, and set on a path of redemption in which he quickly finds that the whims of his deity demand the ushering in of a new age - an Age of Enlightenment. 

(Seriously bare bones. Someday I'll post a pitch that'll knock your socks off :)

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I'm aiming to get representation. I dream of being the next one-big-world--multiple-book-rockstar like Anne McCaffrey or Terry Brooks. I don't want to just write for myself though - so if no one else sees my vision, I'll project it myself :)

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Ahem, well... my goal is to finish it by the end of the year... and if that happens (come on NaNoWriMo - kick me into shape!) then it'll have taken about a year.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Oh, wow... well, I suppose you might find a similar element or feel in Redemption of Althalus by David Eddings, or Song of the Beast by Carol Berg. That's a tuffy.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

God.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

Ideally I'll capture a depth in showing a man's redemption, but it is by no means an entirely solemn account. The characters are an unlikely sort providing plenty of banter and fun. In addition, for those like me that love being able to explore - both across distance and through time- a whole new world through the eyes of meaningful characters - heh, well, this is just the first installment.

Ah... I feel a little better.

Tossing the challenge along to Elise Fallson, and Andrea Franco-Cook if it so suits their fancy :) Happy November y'all!

So THAT's Why I'm Bothering to Write a Book!

Lately, I've been having some personal crises. Far from being the most Duckie's-World-shattering, but still pertinent enough to get my attention was the dilemma of the "why" in regards to writing my book. I looked at my writing and wondered, "Wait, why do I like books? Why do I think it's important to read, aside from the fact that I feel it's my calling?"

It took a little while before I realized there were two problems. The first was that I hadn't read much in the past couple years. I'd kind of forgotten the joy, even as I tried to guard against the distraction from writing. The second reason, was that I hadn't read very many books that I believed were truly great or challenging. I think I've read a lot of YA  books lately - and while I really enjoy them, a lot of them don't have the depth that I'm trying to put in my own book - so I don't come away feeling inspired - just entertained. I've also read a few micro-histories. Super fascinating, and really enjoyable - but so far from what I'm writing that - again- I didn't come away feeling inspired.

I've also grown picky. I can't tell you how many books I've  brought home from the library - read two pages and set aside. Being "particular" can be okay - being "picky" just bums you out. So Friday my husband an I went to the library and picked up some books. My to-do list yesterday included "find a book you like and read it!" I did just that. I ended up reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

This book was very enjoyable. It built up with great intrigue. It wasn't a masterpiece. It didn't have quite enough power - but it was one of the better YA books I've read in a long time. What was the most amazing thing about the book, however, was not just the story but the presentation. The book was gorgeous! The cover design, the quality of paper, the page design, the colored chapter pages, and the vintage photos - accompanied with an enjoyable story - had me spending my intermittent thoughts on who might like to receive the book for Christmas! It was absolutely beautiful- the kind of you book want on your shelf because of the way it looks and the way it feels to hold.

My Wombat

The greatest thing about it - it inspired me.

I'm no photographer - I don't intend to try to recreate Ransom Rigg's work of art. However, I rediscovered that a book can be a work of art - a thing of beauty - and I hope to do just that with my writing.

P.S. I woke up today, and my husby says, "We need to finish outlining the rest of the scenes in your book before NaNoWriMo starts." What can I say? I have the best husby ever. I love my Wombat.



Do you find that you have to keep reading to care about writing? Have you read a book recently that inspired you in some aspect of your writing?

Not-Really-NaNoWriMo

Something wicked this way comes!! That's right - it's NaNoWriMo! 

Yeah, I know, it's a little early. You have to understand though, that I've only known about NaNoWriMo for a few years, and the past couple Novembers were times of transition. I was embroiled in distractions... things like... my wedding, moving, etc. I've consistently remembered NaNoWriMo over midway through the month. This year, I'd like to participate! 

Sort of. 

I've succeeded with the first step, and that was to remember it. Unfortunately, I'm not really keen on officially participating because... well... I really don't want to write a new book - and that's kind of one of their very few rules. So, instead I'm going to unofficially participate. Conveniently enough, my projected word count for the fantasy novel I'm working on is 110,000, and- wow, actually, as of right now I'm exactly halfway there. This means that after I write another 5,000 words before November (and I better ~.~ *holds bat up to my Lazy Butt threateningly*) - I will have 50,000 words left til I'm done (give or take, of course). 

So my NaNoWriMo participation will be to write the remaining 50,000 words of my novel. It feels outrageously daunting (especially considering that it took me months to write the first 50,000), but the incentive of finishing is oh so tasty! *slurp*

How 'bout all y'alls? Any of you officially participating in NaNoWriMo? How about unofficially?