The Same Time Every Year

I don't know what it is about March but I always seem to disappear at around that time but that doesn't mean I stopped writing. I've actually been going through the Holly Lisle classes that I'm in and working on some details of the novel I'm writing. I'm still writing Nested and sadly, other than planning, I haven't written much. I'm going to read through what I have already and continue where I left off.

And the story I've been writing for the last few weeks will be temporarily on hold until I'm back on my writing schedule.

I just thought I'd do a quick post before I hit the WriYe Forums.

Writing Update #6 - Slow week

I honestly have no idea what word count I'm currently on. I spent most of the week without power since it stopped working and out landlady couldn't remember that it was shut off since it wasn't her part of the house. I could go on about it but I won't since that's behind us.

My writing week was spent mostly writing by hand. I made sure to get 1k everyday but it took a long time to get there but at least I wrote something for Nested. Now, I'm going to zip right along with this novel since I already like the way it's going.

Stowaway is coming along as well but it has gotten to the point where it could end and be a short story so I'm going to leave it there until I finish Nested. I have a feeling that I'm going to change it around a bit.

I came up with a great idea for the rest of my romance novel. I already started it but I'm going to write down my ideas and put them on my wall (filled with note cards of ideas). I have to say, going out Friday night with my friend and meeting new drunk friends helped me a lot with this.

So, that's all that has been happening here.

My Shallow Antagonist

Do you base your characters off of people in your life? 

I don't try to base all of a character on one person, maybe bits and pieces but in the novel I'm writing called Doormat Syndrome, every character is based on someone in my life.

The one I'm focusing on is my main antagonist. She is shallow, selfish, rude, and vain. Honestly, I don't know why or how I put up with her for so long but I did. She's still in my life now but only when she needs something - that's the only time she'll contact me. This person and I still talk to. She's not always bad but she does have moments that just completely cancel out her goodness.

Maybe I'm being a pessimist.

But you'll understand why I call her my Shallow Antagonist if you read the pieces I've already written about her. I will probably post a few at some point in time.

5k Weekend

Today is the start of another 5k weekend, where I try to write 5,000 words by tomorrow night. I think I can handle it...if I get started right now. I'm hoping to get further into my novel, Nested. Right now, I'm at a point where there is important stuff going on but I want move on from that and get more towards the action. Yeah, I'm awful like that. I'm still towards the beginning of my novel (it's at 11k right now) so it will be picking up again. The first part of a novel is something I always change in the end, anyway.

I want to work a little more on Stowaway, my short story. My character has found herself in a strange situation and needs to find her way out of it. Stowaway and Nested are in the same world. There will be, at least, one character from Nested that pops into Stowaway some time in the story but that moment is brief.

Have a good weekend!

Cylee

Writing Update #5 - Balance

February Goals

• Word Count Goal: 10,855/85,000 
• Finished 1st drafts: 0/1 
• Books Read: 0/1
• Blog Posts (Every Friday): 2/4 
• Genre Stretch Challenge: 0,688/2,501

Today concludes the first week of February and I hate to admit it, but I'm behind. Not a big deal. Today is Friday, I'm not doing anything since it's early morning on Friday. Okay, that's not true, I have to run a few errands but that probably won't happen until the afternoon.

If all goes well, I'll be spending all day writing because I want to catch up but also, because I'm really enjoying my novel right now. Nested is turning out better than I had planned. Waking up everyday at 5am seemed to be what I needed to get writing again. Things certainly have changed in my novel since I wrote it for NaNo. I might have to change my cover...even though I love my cover art for it. It was simple and actually made a lot of sense.

Now...it could makes sense in a way. I'll make samples to see if I like it but that's only after I catch up or I reach my word count goal for the month. Not the year...that would be crazy since that will take me until next week to catch up if I dedicated all of my free time to writing but this month, I've finally found my balance between writing, reading, and crafting/art. It works out rather well in my favor and my inspiration has been endless. Knock on wood, I might have jinxed that. I'm really doubting that - even still, I'll beat up that writer's block, no problem.

I started my Genre Stretch Challenge this week. The short story is called Stowaway and it has gotten a little strange. I honestly have no idea what's happening in my story, I just know a character popped up that seemed completely out of the blue but my muse explained to me why he was in the story. Makes sense now, and why it's called Stowaway. During one of my sleepless nights, I made up a simple mock cover for my short story but I might remake it. It's not great.

Well, I think that's it for my writing. There is my cellphone novel The Abandoned City but that's coming along slowly and I won't add the word count until a chapter is finished...and I only work on that novel when I'm out of the house without my laptop.

So that concludes my week, I guess. Today, I'm going to remember to add a song. This song is currently stuck in my head. It's not a song I usually listen to unless it's playing on the radio but since it's stuck in my head, I have to buy it....yeah, sometimes, I don't make sense (actually a lot of the times I don't).

Anyway, here is the song.

Writing Update #4 - February Begins

February Goals

• Word Count Goal: 00,000/85,000 
• Finished 1st drafts: 0/1 
• Books Read: 0/1
• Blog Posts (Every Friday): 1/4 
• Genre Stretch Challenge: 0,000/2,501

Today is the start of a new month and that means a start of a new novel. I'll still be working on Sea Foam as I go to try to finish it but I'm going to start writing Nested again.  This is going to be a different version of it though. After reading through my NaNo novel for '12, I realized that this novel was in the wrong genre. While there was nothing wrong with my storyline or my characters, there was something wrong with the setting. So, I went through and changed it. Now, I'm really looking forward to writing this novel from start to finish (hopefully).

I have yet to get started on anything. I was working on my novel that I'm typing out on my cell phone. It's not really a novel I guess...it's more of a story for children. There is one little boy in particular that I'm aiming this towards because he has such a hard time finding something that he likes and I'm going to write him something that he will like...I know this kid well enough to write a novel for him. The first book is called The Abandoned City...well, it is for now. Titles on my novels change drastically as I write.

There are a few new things I'm trying this month. The Genre Stretch Challenge being one of them. Another things I'm going to do is get  back into this writing tournament that I abandoned a long time ago. It's on deviantArt and in one of the groups I'm in...I think it's the Writer's Guild. I participated in it once and I loved it. I'm still surprised that I got as far as I did in the tournament. My friend deserves the thanks for getting me back into that. She is the one who inspired me to join again...and I'm really nervous about it (like always).

Well, I think that's all for now. I'm going to start writing and hopefully get at least 3,500 words in today, if not more.

Have a wonderful day.

Cylee

Writing Update #3 - January Wrap Up

January Goals

• Word Count Goal: 70,302/85,000 
• Finished 1st drafts: 0/1 
• Books Read: 6/3 
• Blog Posts (Every Friday): 4/4 

 I managed to finish half of my goals this month. I didn't know whether or not I could finish a first draft because this novel is so heavy in plot but I'm happy to say that I'm half way through Sea Foam. I'll continue to write it slowly but I think there are some things that I need to go back and fix before I move on. I know exactly where it started to go wrong so if I fix that and a few other minor things, I'll able to finish it soon.

I'm not disappointed that I'm 15k behind. In fact, I'm rather proud of myself for reaching 70k. That's the most I've written in a year. Yes, it's sad, I haven't been writing much. My muse likes to hide from me a few times during the year and I'm too damn lazy to try to find it. Not anymore. I've decided that I'm going to try to make writing a regular thing, even after long work hour. It doesn't matter how much I write, I just want to write something. I do have a story I started on my cell phone that I write while I'm working. Nap times are perfect for that. I have no idea how many words I have from that but I'll transfer it to my computer when I'm finished with it.

So, back to January. It was a good month. I'm breaking out of my shell a little more and starting to comment on people's posts. Slowly, I'll have a little more confidence in replying. Is it sad that I have a hard time posting a reply? I think it is. That's why I'm working on it.

As far as reading goes, I think I've read enough books for both January and February. I didn't mean to go over my goal (which is completely okay) but I just was in the mood for some reading. I wanted something light and funny to take my mind off the pressure I found myself in earlier this month.

I've been pretty good about posting on my blog regularly. I wrote more than 4 posts this month, this post will be the 6th one but I just wanted to post regularly so I wouldn't abandon this blog like I did last year. Trust me, I'm going to try to keep this up.

Overall, January was a pretty good month. I hope this means that I will go back to writing 100k novels within a month but I'm not going to get my hopes up. Things happen. I'll just go with it for now.

Tomorrow, I'll be posting my February Goals and start my newest novel. Those progress meters on the left side of the blog will probably become a long list of my projects. I'll try not to start anything new...but we know that might never happen.

Writing Day!

I woke up a bit late but today is going to be my day of writing. I'm behind, like usual, but with good reason. I've been busy with actual work. I had orders and I've been working on something else. I have been planning my novel for February. It's a rewrite of the novel I wrote in November, Nested. This is going to be much different though. I'm changing the genre. After putting much thought into it, Cyberpunk was not the best choice for Nested but it was worth a shot.

For now, I'm going to continue writing Sea Foam. That is the only thing I'll be doing...and maybe a little grocery shopping but I need food.

I'm starting today at 57,969 words.

Inspiration is Random

 

Where do you get your initial spark of inspiration? Is it from anything important? What else about inspiration intrigues you? What is your advice to other people to kick start their inspiration? 

I'll try to keep this short and simple.

Inspiration is rather random for me. It comes from everything, even the smallest thing. I was once inspired to write a novel around a necklace that I made. If I’m desperate for inspiration, I look around DeviantArt and look at all of the amazing work posted on there, or I listen to music. I’m a daydreamer and I tend to get caught up in them while music is playing. I have no idea why. The music doesn’t even filter in to my daydreams. Other places I look for inspiration…prompts. Lots and lots of prompts or I use my Tale Craft Cards or my Story Cubes (not so much anymore but I love to play the game with the kids).

I have a love/hate relationship with these random bouts of inspiration. I accept them willingly but they always come at the wrong times. Sometimes it happens when something goes wrong at work or when I’m driving. Inspiration never fails to hit me while I’m in the middle of writing another novel. The best thing I can do is write them down while I can. If not, then I’ll probably forget. Some of the things I come up with have me questioning my sanity. Where do some of these ideas come from?

Everyone has a different way of finding inspiration. My friend takes her inspiration from the History Channel. My other friend gets inspiration from her old relationships – she can create some pretty good poetry from it (not in a Taylor Swift sort of way). Knowing where you can get an idea is always a good place to start. Constantly questioning things can help turn that idea into something more. It’s a method I use with my writing buddies whenever they get stuck. Just start questioning everything. Your muse will start answering eventually. There are tons of ways to help you move an idea forward, you just need to figure out what works for you.

Well...I hope that made sense...

Writing Update #2

January Goals

• Word Count Goal: 44,621/85,000 
• Finished 1st drafts: 0/1 
• Books Read: 6/3 
• Blog Posts (Every Friday): 3/4 

 I'm getting further into Sea Foam but I have a feeling that this novel won't be finished by the end of the month if I don't pick up the pace. I need some sort of encouragement to help me get by. I've been stressed out lately.

*Rant Warning*

My sister is bothering the shit out of me. She's constantly badgering me about money...all of the time. I've never had an issue when it comes to money. She's just in so much debt that she's taking it out on me. I also think I spoiled her for far too long. My sister had gotten used to me paying for rent or making sure we were up on everything but after I quit my good paying job and started this part time job, she's been getting on my ass about everything.

Every time we talk, it's about money or ways we can make more money. Part of the reason why I don't follow through with the plans is because of her constant nagging. I hate nagging. It's one thing if it's my boss doing it but it's a whole different story when it's my sister.

...I'll cut my rant short. Let's just say, that my novel Doormat Syndrome (Temp title) is all about all the things I had gone through from when I was about 15 years old until now. The Doormat Syndrome has faded a bit after quitting my other job but it seems to have made my sister really pissed off.

I just can't bring myself to care. Is that awful? I'm not sure anymore. I know I'm done letting people walk all over me.

*End of Rant*

Anyway, back to my writing progress. I've been doing really well. I did some plotting today for another story, just to get it out of my system and I'm thinking about doing a little more outlining for my novel novel. It took a turn but it should be a good turn. I can work around it.

I have to get started on the blog post for the WriYe Blogging Circle. I'll probably write it tonight just so I can avoid my sister and the annoying sighs she gives me whenever I don't respond the way she wants me to.

Goodness, my head hurts. Maybe some music will help with that.

Writing Update #1

January Goals

• Word Count Goal: 21,153/85,000 
• Finished 1st drafts: 0/1 
• Books Read: 6/3 
• Blog Posts (Every Friday): 2/4 

 I just updated my progress meters and I will probably have to do it again tonight before I go to sleep because I'm still writing. Everything is going well with writing. Like I said yesterday, I'm behind. Instead of doing 10k days, I'm cutting it in half to 5k days. It will be easier and I think I'll be able to keep focused until I write 5k.

My novel Sea Foam (temp title) is coming along nicely. I'm actually rather pleased with what I have. There will be some scenes that I'll need to rewrite but I don't think I'll have to go through a huge rewrite like before. Definitely an improvement. Now, I just need to get to the point where my characters meet...It will have to be soon. Probably in the next chapter. I have no idea. I'm going to have to journal to get my muse out of hiding.

I also started two other novels. These ones I probably will work on slowly throughout the year. Doormat Syndrome is a novel that is for my own amusement...kind of. It's based on a lot of real life experiences I had between being a nanny and my dysfunctional family. It's not really a fun-loving story as much as it is a depressing story. My MC is just like me. Doormat Syndrome sucks, just so you know. I had it for some time but I'm getting better since I quit my job. Portland is my last step.

My Untitled novel is that damn romance novel I'm writing for the BOYB challenge on the WriYe forums. I'm taking my dear sweet time with this novel...partically because I have no idea what I'm doing with this. I have some things planned out but not much. I'm trying to create a decent plot for it...I'll probably have to journal about that too.

Hmm...what else. My next blog post will probably be for the WriYe Blogging Circle I joined. I'm just making a note of it here because I'll forget about it. I know I will.

I think my blog needs renovating. I'll probably work on making the headers and icons and whatnot but it won't be finished until later...I wish I paid attention in my AP Comp Sci class. I would have been able to make my blog look just the way I want.

For now, I'll leave you with some music. I was debating on Parachute but I settled on Keane because this song is stuck in my head.

I've Been Hit!

So, I was supposed to post on here every Friday. Unfortunately, last Friday, I got sick. Nausea, headaches, breathing issues. Fun stuff. I still have the headaches but I'm feeling better. I sleep my sicknesses away usually.

I'm getting really distracted right now...Sorry.

So, I'm behind on my word count for the month. I'm not too worried since I'm starting on having 5 day weekends now! I love 5 day weekends. For today, tomorrow, and Sunday, I'm going to write 10k a day to catch up on my word count. By the end of next week, I should be at 60k and on track!

I did get a lot of planning done and finished my reading goal for the next two months.

I need to remember to update my progress bars...see, distracted.

I'll just leave with a song and come back tomorrow for another post.