Wandering Projects - I Am Indecisive

Unfortunately, I have the same story as usual to offer. No, I haven't done much writing lately. New ideas have been teasing me and I've written about 10K in a new story, but I haven't committed to anything lately.

To my pleasure though, I have been reading a non-fiction novel about Hatshepsut and have been learning a lot of about her and what ancient Egypt looked like. I've done additional research on the side and, with my love of ancient Egypt in hand, have been imagining a new story.

This story only exists in the pages of a notebook and I don't know if it's viable or where it's going exactly. I have thoughts and ideas, but nothing more. Mostly, this story is just for me. I want to see if I can pull something like this off. So yes, I am being cryptic on purpose. I don't want to divulge this one quite yet. I am enjoying its vibe and the way it transports me into my own little version of ancient Egypt.

On the other hand, the story I've written 10K in is science fiction and is the type of scifi that I love and don't see often. At least, that's how it is in my head. I've loved writing it and my target word goal for this project, code name: Layered, is about 60K. I'm actually hoping to draft the rest of it this July during Camp NaNoWriMo.

I've taken brief excursions into a couple of other ideas I've been wanting to write for quite some time as well but I'm not ready to commit to them quite yet.

In the mean time, I'm planning on finishing this round of edits for Traitors & Tyrants (hopefully before July). I still haven't completed them since November and it's time to get the rest of it done. I'll be reading what I have then finishing revisions for part 2. Now, I haven't done any actual writing for it, but I have been thinking about what to do with the ending. I believe I've happened upon one that neatly ties things together but that leaves the story open for a second book.

So yes, my writing has been sporadic but I've done an awful lot of brainstorming and that counts for something, right? I've been wanting to get serious about this lately though so I suppose it's time to buckle down and just do it right?

Writing by Hand

I'll cut the Camp NaNoWriMo report short and say that I didn't get far into finishing Rogue Beings. I'm sure I'll finish it someday but that day has not come yet. For now, I'm focusing on just writing for me and enjoying it.

I've sent Untitled Fantasy in to my instructor-editor and am waiting for their feedback. I was going to edit the first draft before I sent it but I decided not to (and the instructions were to send it as soon as I was done without editing anything). As far as I know, it has arrived at the school but I have no idea when I'm going to get any feedback. It's only been a week or two though so I'm trying not to think about it.

In the mean time, I've been rereading The Two Towers and The Return of the Shadow. For those of you who don't know, the latter is a book on Tolkien's writing process while he was creating The Lord of the Rings. I've read the first and second drafts of the first chapter so far and am amazed at the difference already. It's so interesting watching Tolkien figure out what is going on.

As I've mentioned before, Tolkien is one of my inspirations. I love knowing that much of The Lord of the Rings' creation was sporadic and disorganized. I'm slowly learning to enjoy the writing process. I have a habit of rushing myself and I'm trying not to do that. In my efforts to enjoy the journey, I've started writing by hand. I'm not quite sure what it is that I'm writing but I'm also trying not to think about it too much. My main goal with this project is to let my pen take me where it will.

An entirely different creative door opens when you step away from your computer and go back to pen and paper. When you're typing, the mind has a tendency to take over. It's almost like your hands are instinctively creative and that creativity tends to flow uninterrupted when given a pen. Magic blooms across the page and your mind remember words you don't usually use and phrase things differently.

That's my experience at least...

Sometimes you need a project just for you and this one truly is just that. I'm not ready to figure it all out yet, I just want to continue to write it in scenes and watch the story take form from there. It can be anything it wants and I don't intend to get in the way of that.

All I Can Think About

I've finally finished Untitled Fantasy and I'm supposed to be taking a break from it and writing Rogue Beings for Camp NaNoWriMo. The thing is, I keep thinking about Untitled Fantasy and how much I want to give a real name and how much I just want to read and fix it already.

I keep telling myself it's only 20K. I can do that easy. I also tell myself that I need to buy ink and paper so I can print Untitled Fantasy so I can't work on it anyway. This isn't helping me not think about it though. I need to just sit down and write, but now that it comes down to it, I remember the fact that I have to re-acclimate myself to a story that is near its end and entirely different.

I haven't worked on Rogue Beings for... I don't know, a year? That's a long time. And to just plop down 62K into it and write? That's not the easiest thing to do. I have to capture the character's voices, their problems, argh! Why did I not finish this before? It was an awful mistake. *sigh*

While all of this is going on, I remember how many times I wanted to quite on Untitled Fantasy and how glad I am that I kept going. I'm holding onto that knowledge and am pushing myself to just sit down and do this thing with Rogue Beings. I can do this and I will be glad I did.

50-60K Update

I haven't reach 60K quite yet. I'm a little more than 3K off from it. I believe I hinted that I thought Untitled Fantasy's first draft might end up with more than 60K but from what I have planned and from what I've written, I'm going to hazard a guess that that's not going to be the case.

Of course, this novel has surprised me several times so who knows? But I'm pretty sure this time. I'm so stoked to finally be finished with the first draft. I just want to finish, give it some time and then read it so I can figure out what I have. I'm oddly excited to start revisions. This might be because I'm not quite sure what it is exactly that I've written. I know that sounds odd but this novel has thrown so many curve balls at me, I kind of don't. If that even makes sense.

Plus, I'm anticipating it's finish on either Saturday or Monday, which means, yes, it'll be done before Camp NaNoWriMo! This also ups the likelihood of me actually finishing Rogue Beings this July.

Return to Camp NaNoWriMo

It's Camp NaNoWriMo time again. After April's hideous performance, I have decided to return once again and give it another go. But, first, here's a sort-of interesting fact for ya'll: I've participated in Camp NaNoWriMo since its beginning in 2011; in that time, I've only finished one of those novels.

Here's a more comprehensive outline:

July 2011: The Memory of Trees (mystery)
I was already half way through this novel when Camp NaNoWriMo began and successfully completed the second half.

August 2011: History of Races (high fantasy)
I had already completed the first draft for this novel and was planning on revising it. I didn't get far.

June 2012: Across the Ribbon of Time: Pricilla's Story (high fantasy)
I almost reached 18K with this one.

April 2013: Rogue Beings (high fantasy)
I had started this back in November 2012 but only reached the 52K mark and didn't finish it that month. I was supposed to finish it in April. I almost reached 3K.

April 2014: Untitled Fantasy (high fantasy)
This is my current project that I keep blogging about and am hoping finish in the next couple of weeks. I almost wrote 9K in April.

So there you have it - a list of my failed attempts (well, with one success). You never truly fail until you stop trying though so I'm giving Camp NaNoWriMo another go. I originally wanted to finish Untitled Fantasy before July but I don't think that's going to happen. Still, I think it'll be almost done by then so that's fine.

Therefore, July will hopefully see the finishing of two projects, Untitled Fantasy and *drum roll* Rogue Beings! I'm actually not too far off from finishing Rogue Beings. Ironic I know. I should just sit down and finish it. I've been thinking about it a lot lately and am dying to work on it. As soon as I finish Untitled Fantasy, I'm going to throw myself into finishing Rogue Beings, which is a stand-alone novel.

July's monthly goal will only be 20K though. Honestly, I'll be happy as long as I finish both novels.

Camp NaNoWriMo - When Your Novel Has Multiple Personality Disorder

At least, that's what my novel is asking right now. When I first began brainstorming for Untitled Fantasy, I had two different roads to choose from that would each lead to a completely different story. Of course, I didn't realize there was a second until I'd already started developing the first. When I saw this second road, I chose that one because I believed (and still do) that it was the better road.

I'm 22K into it now and I've been presented with a third path. Boy does it look cool. Like, really cool. Here's the thing though, it would completely change everything, which would be okay with what I've already written. But if I go with it, that means I basically have to rethink the entire thing and I'm not sure what the story would look like. I'm not sure how two characters fit into that one. As it is, one of them just might have to be removed completely.

I'm not opposed to this change.

Okay, so maybe I am a little because I thought I knew where I was going and now I don't. It's slightly frustrating. I hate it and I love it at the same time. I've never had this problem before. This is literally my first WIP that has had so many different possibilities. I'm going to choose to believe that's a good thing.

I would love to fit this new development into what I have but I don't know if I can, which leaves me with two options. Rework everything and go with that. Or discard this road. I'm loathe to do either. At this point, I have to sit down and judge which path is the best option.

Don't get me wrong, I want to do that. At the same time though, I know that when I'm done, I'll be letting go of something I love.

Yes, even though this new idea/path is sort of a pain, I've already grown attached to its possibilities, which could be really cool.

Who do I have to thank for this? A fat, pudgy king that goes by the name of Barnabas. *shakes fist*

First Draft Celebration #1

I finally crossed the 10K mark in Untitled Fantasy this week. I know that's not really all that much but this makes me happy. Writing a novel can be long and hard and things should be celebrated. So, every 10,000 words I write, I'm doing a celebration post. These are happy things.

 

Things are starting to flow now. Also, I'll be participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this April so the goal is to have the first draft finished by the end of it. I'll be working on it in the mean time so, hopefully with my work in March and April, that shouldn't be a problem.