The Finish Line

I won't lie, I only managed 50k this year. I just wasn't into my novel and writing 50k was hard for me. Nothing like last year when I hit 50k within the first week. I'm a bit disappointed in myself but I'm going to try to write regularly again. This last year, I stopped writing. It was mostly stress that stopped me but I won't let that happen again.

Right now, I'm going to start working on the second novel I have planned, Tanghin. I will take my time with it and hopefully have it finished by the end of December so it can be ready for the first edit. Nested will be something I tuck away for another day. I'm going to have to do some serious rewriting of that novel in order for me to like it. Though there are some parts that I'm willing to keep. One of them being the little twist that happened during the story. I think that it made my plot stronger and turned it more into a mystery than anything else.

I will definitely try to keep up with this blog while I write. Give updates and comment on other people's posts. I've been awful at that recently. I will also being doing a better job at keeping my writing journal updated.

I Would Rant....

But I took it out on my journal instead. I'm just stressed and annoyed with everyone. Well mostly a certain someone...I live with her.

With all of the interruptions today, I managed to get over 13k written. I'm a bit disappointed in myself. I've never had this problem before. Of course, my stress didn't live with me at the time. It was work but I like work now. My new job is great. The girl is super cute and fun to hang out with and the family it down to earth. I can go on about it.

I'm annoyed with my sister. It was just petty things today that started to set me off but this is years of pent up stress and annoyance with her. My solution is that I need to move out. I think I let her walk all over me for too freaking long...

Well, I'm going to sleep on it. I'll feel better in the morning.

A Day of Writing

Since I'm so far behind on my writing, I'm spending all day writing today. I'm updating my twitter ever hour as well. It's not really excited but it's motivation for me. I can use all the motivation I can get.

In the last week, I've fallen behind. I've also been very busy. I have a lot of words to catch up on. I'm only at 28k as I write this. It's my five minute break right now. I give it to myself after ever 2000 words. If I wrote straight through an hour, I could probably write 3k but I need to break sometime, right?

So yes, I'm writing all day. I started at 8:30am. And I'm finally on my desk top. It makes a huge different in my writing performance, I think. I mean, I feel like I'm more focused.

Except right now.

I'd better get back to writing.

Have a good day!

The Start of a New Novel

I am starting the planning for this novel today (it should have been yesterday). I'm currently seeing a difference between the first novel I planned for November and this novel. That's just with how to go about planning.

Since this is a plot driven novel, rather than a character driven novel (like Nested), I need to approach it differently. I need to start with research on poisons. I'll probably use some of the poisons that I had used during the first draft but I'm going to aim for a few more specific poisons. Tanghin being my main poison. It's what's going to start the novel and will keep reoccuring.

I'm not sure what others I will include but I have my trusty book of poisons with me so it shouldn't be that hard to find one that suits the situation.

This novel will probably not have a mindmap unless I really need one. If I do, it will be small and I'll probably make it on the computer rather than using up my poster board. Instead, after the research, I'll need a sequence board. This isn't like a story board. It's far more general than a story board. I just need to know which order the poisons will go in my novel, etc. These aren't scenes. I guess I'll have to show you in my next post when I take a picture of it.

I will be working on this tonight and tomorrow when I'm not doing last minute babysitting jobs...I seem to be the only one who can do it today. I'm okay with that. I need the money. I need a job.

- Cylee

Finally doing my mindmap

Yeah, the title says it all. I'm finally doing my mind map and I have to say, it's harder when I do my storyboard first. I really can't let my muse have fun with it because I already figured out my novel. I did find out some interesting things about my MC's family. So, I guess that's good. It kind of explains a lot with my MC's "upbringing" and the state of the government.

I'm learning a bit about Austin as well. But, it's hard. It doen't help that my poster board is huge. I can't write on it very well but I'm going to try to finish this by tomorrow before I put it up on my wall and start working on my second novel. This time I'll start with my mind map and then work my way to the storyboard. I also have a playlist on my iPod that I need to transfer to my desktop sometimes before November. At least I have time.

I hope everyone's plotting is going well...for those who are planners.

Cylee

Still Working On My Storyboard

So, I was going to post last night but I fell asleep as 6 o'clock but I manage to wake up at 8 this morning so I think my sleeping schedule is going back on track...one can only hope.

 As the title says, I'm still working on my story board. It's really the last thing I need. It's going to take me the rest of the week to finish this at the rate I'm going but I'm getting somewhere for Austin's part of the story. His parts are mostly when he is feeling out of his comfort zone...which is a lot but he never complains about it to the man he works for (name to be determined). This was actually something new that I figured out last night when I was journal writing because I ramble like crazy and things just jump out of my head.

After that was written, several other crazy things come out. These are all going on my storyboard. I might not use them all but they are going to be there just in case.

Oh, I lied, this isn't the only thing I have left to do for this novel. I need to do the bubble mapping...I mostly do that for my entertainment but I get a lot more ideas from it too. I should probably do that now. And I have my playlist...that will be last.

 I have until Saturday to finish the plotting of this novel before I work on Tanghin.

Nested - Novel Cover and Plotting

I've been working on the storyboard of my novel and I think I have most of it finished...kind of. Okay, I'm just barely over halfway done but it's further than I was. I just need to get my male character Austin's side a little more since he is awesome. Not really, he's a bit of a jackass at first but he gets better...I hope. I've decided to put a hint of romance in my novel. It worked really well for my character development and some weird plot element so I added it. But the romance is going to be in the background so it doesn't take over the plot.

 Ugh, Cyberpunk and Romance. I'm just trying to make NaNoWriMo hard, aren't I? Well, I might as well kill two birds with one stone.

I also made a novel cover for Nested and I rather like the simplicity of it. Really if you saw it in a store you'd have no idea that my novel was Sci-fi which I find rather suiting. If I decided to do something with this novel, I probably wouldn't use this cover because the image used was from a deviantArt stock image. Most people don't like their photo distributed like that - I understand. I will post image information at the end of this post. Please be sure to check out her stuff. Her stock is awesome and I'm certain this won't be the last time I use it. But that will probably be for my own amusement that I'll post on deviantArt rather than here. Anyway, constructive criticism welcome. I'm slowly starting to get back into this photomanipulating stuff so anything will help.

More to come...later today.

...I need to do something about this insomnia.

Cylee Blake

Stock Links:

• Stock Image
• xStockx's Gallery

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New Goal

So, I discovered something by looking through old messages in my NaNo Mailbox. 300,000 isn't my goal this year, it's 250,000 words! I don't think anyone knows how relieved I am. I thought I had completed my 250k goal last year but I didn't. I fell behind. So this year, I will have to complete that. If I don't, I'll try again during CampNaNo because for my 10th year at NaNoWriMo, I would like to aim for 300,000 words. I think that would be a perfect goal.

Yeah, I just wanted to clear that up...with mostly myself. This will make it so much easier to work and write.
More things going on.

At this very moment, I can't get to sleep. It's 3:30am and I'm wide awake. The same thing happened yesterday and the day before. Both times I had to get up early in the morning. If my sister comes in my room at 10 in the morning, I will have to throw something at her. She knows very well that I don't sleep well and she just come right into my room when she gets bored. It makes me mad sometimes...I think I need to start taking melatonin. I'm starting to worry about my sleeping patterns (or lack there of).

Be prepared. Starting Monday, I'm going to be posting my NaNoWriMo Preparation details. Starting with my novel Nested. Then it will be my novel Tanghin. Those two I really want to finish during November. The other one that I have in mind is called Once Inhabited. I figured the one word titles were getting a little overused. Heh...

Tanghin - Quick Cover

Here is my quick cover for my novel Tanghin that I'm going to write this year. It's just a temporary cover that I threw together. It doesn't look half bad but I know I can do better. Though, I do like the simplicity of the cover. I think the cover has a lot of elements to the novel too.

Tanghin is a poison, if you are wondering. I was reading about it in my book of poisons and decided that this one was a good one to use.

This book is a rewrite of something I wrote back in 2010 for NaNoWriMo. It is not really a series...it's part of a group of novels that are loosely connected. I mean, extremely loose. If someone has the set of them he or she will be able to read them in any order.

I liked the first draft of this novel but the plot was thin and I knew I could make it better so I'm going to rewrite it. I had made so many changes from the first draft to now that a rewrite would only make sense.

Now a little about Tanghin

Genre: Fantasy/Mystery
Word Goal: 100,000 words
Synopsis: Give me time to write this. I get really nervous about these things.

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Since we're getting closer...

I'll probably be posting a lot more. I mean, I'll probably be posting my preparation as I go...and since I don't have a job then I'll be posting quite often. I hope you can handle my chaos.

I have various methods of plotting. While I use Holly Lisle's class a lot, I don't use all of her methods. Everyone has their own style, mine seems to be a chaotic mess of things. You'll soon be getting a glimpse into mine...though you won't see my color-coded bubble maps or my journaling that goes along with plotting and preparing.

...unless you really want to get a glimpse into my chaos...I wouldn't suggest that you do.

It's just a month away

National Novel Writing Month is coming up quickly. I'm still preparing for it though I haven't really been doing much on here. I'm still looking for a job as well. I've got one possible ending picked out  and I have the beginning...sort of. It's still a little uncertain. I've decided to let that part play out itself. There are some events in the middle that are a bit iffy. I'm going to sort through those soon to figure out what I need. I'm not too worried about getting everything ready for the month. I have my jar of writing prompts and some other things that can help me along. I've always been better at winging a good portion of my novel.

As long as I get the basic plot down, I'm good. And I've got the basic plot. I did most of my world building. Really, there isn't much left to do...for this novel at least.

I've decided to try to reach a goal of 300,000 words this year. I believe that was my goal last year but I failed after I finished my first novel.  The two novels I have picked out are both part of a series...but aren't the same series. One is a little more sci-fi while the other is completely fantasy. The three genres I'm going to work at are:

Cyberpunk - First attempt to see if I like it.
Science Fiction (Not Heavily) - Post apocalyptic - no dystopian/utopian societies. It may seem more like a fantasy and can easily be changed to fantasy with a little tweeking. It might change later. Then all of my reasearch and notes will be wasted. 
Fantasy - these novel I've been working on for the last nearly 7 years. I've been fine tuning them and now I have everything I need to create these novels.

I probably won't start a new novel until I finish one.

Sketch #1

Here is a sketch of something that might be in my novel. I can't draw people or wings so this is how it turned out. Yes, I'm aware she doesn't have hands. Hands are my enemy but I did try to draw them. Her hair is orange...the color changed a bit after taking a picture and editing it. I don't really mind it though. The concept of what I was trying to draw is there, so I'm happy.

To color the sketch, I used watercolor paint. I always paint my sketches because my sketch turn out better when I do. I'm much better at painting than drawing. Hopefully with practice I'll get better.

Other than the sketch, I've been working on possible endings. This is how I usually plan my novel. I have the beginning that starts the plot and then I figure out a possible ending. The one I want is a bit dark but it would work really well for what I have planned latter in the novel. Yes, I have an idea for the middle of my novel too but those ideas are very loose. All of my ideas are loose but I'm trying to nail down a few. The beginning for sure needs to stay - at least the concept of the beginning needs to stay. I've got a few characters that might play a role but I'm uncertain.

What I really need to get cracking on is my setting. That's going to be my issue. I can't jump into the novel not knowing something about the world so I have to start building that. Or at least some key things about it. In other words, I've still have a lot to do.

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Talecraft Cards

Back of the cards

I ordered these cards about three weeks ago and they finally arrived! Talecraft is a storytelling game from the Philippines that I discovered through an acquaintance. You can read more about them through their site here.

Unfortunately, I haven't had the time to play with them. I went out to the store to see what kind of phone I wanted to upgrade to. After that, I had to get cracking on some work. I did manage to paint something for my NaNoWriMo novel. So, I still have yet to play with these cards but I'll get right on it.

Front of the cards

Preparing for NaNoWriMo Early

My Prompt Jar

November is approaching and that means National Novel Writing Month. I always look forward to November for this reason. This year will be my 9th participating in this event and I'm hoping for my 9th win.

Since I'm writing something different than I usually write so I need to get started on outlining and plotting. My first task is prompt writing. I have a jar of writing prompts that will help me continue to write. There is a chance when I won't use these but I will keep my jar at my desk throughout November.

I've decided to take my novel Nested, that I started, and write it for NaNoWriMo instead. I started it and decided that I needed to change the P.O.V. but then I decided that I would build onto the plot more before I started writing it. I have a long way to go when it comes to the world too.

Next will be my sketches and some world building. This might take a good chunk of the month if not the whole month.