Writing Struggles

So, today, I sat down to write, only to struggle on the female POV. I guess I spent too much time writing and thinking in Gerard's POV that doing Talin's became a problem. I did try just g oing with the flow, inserting the POV needed to make the novel go but it was choppy and didn't work well so then I tried just Gerard's POV but really important parts of the plot went missing and there was no way to draw them out without it becoming dialogue. It took away from my novel.

So, I went back to how I originally wrote it. It became and every other chapter sort of thing. It worked really well the first time I wrote it so I think I should stick to it. Actually, I've come to the conclusion that I shouldn't have changed much of the first draft anyway. The style worked really well. I just second guess myself...I really need to stop doing that.

I'm actually going to try to stop doing that when I write. I always go back to how I originally planned something. Maybe it's perfectionism.

 Well, anyway, I'll leave you with more music from the band The Lumineers. You should see me listening to this song when I drive...I love this song.

Here I Go Again

I'm rewriting this yet again. Well, I guess I wouldn't say rewriting. I'm editing the first four chapters and adding things to it. I had to add Talin's point of view in there or else a big chunk of important events will be missing. I tried in just Gerard's point of view but it didn't work as well.

Most of the things I wrote are staying. Some are being redone. That map is slowly coming along. I'm at a loss of what to do so I'm considering just adding the buildings and roads so I can finish the details later. I still have to add my marks to it. I'll be sure to share that when it comes down to it.

So, that's what I've been up to lately. Just writing. I'm actually rather far. I'm taking my time with this novel. I feel like I need to make a new cover...I keep staring at the one I have and I'm extremely unhappy with it. I mean, it's okay but...I'm just not pleased. Maybe it's because I think I have a title for the novel, like a real one. I'm still testing out other titles for the novel.

Okay, I'm stopping here for now. I should be writing my novel but I'm sleep deprived and not in the mood so I'll write when I get home from work tonight or at work.

Here is what I'm currently listening too. It's a great song.

Better Than the Original

So, Tanghin is a rewrite to one of my other novels that I wrote two years ago. It's coming out better than before but the title is going to change. I already know it is. Tanghin is the name of a poison so it's the reason why I use it. Everything is temporary.

Anyway (sidetracked already), I'm barely finished with the second chapter and I'm already seeing a huge difference. As in, this is way better than what I've written before. Anyone who follows me on twitter might be getting sick of me saying that so, I'm hoping that this will be the last time I mention that this one is starting to make sense. There is a big process that I'm actually bringing to light because in this book, little things sometimes matter.

My issue will be how I pull in my female character into the main plot. She's already part of the main plot unknowingly but she somehow has to be a huge part of the main picture since this novel and the next one revolve around her. I'll figure it out.

Ugh, I'm starting to go on one of my rambling writing entries I do when I can't figure out the direction I need to go into. So I'll shut up and give you a song. Something old-ish

Maybe some Cartel. I've been listening to this song a lot lately. Sometimes I think going back to the stuff I used to listen to in high school and before that is better than listening to the new stuff that has been coming out...but that's just my opinion.

Writing Inspiration?

I don't know about you but when the weekend comes around I start feeling lazy when it comes to writing. I always want to get some art in, which isn't at all a bad thing. Just this week, I was inspired to create artwork for my novel. Now, this isn't the first time I've made artwork for my novels but it's the first time I had this idea.

My sister is taking an art workshop where mapping the area you live in is one of the little lessons given. I thought the whole idea was awesome so I decided to adopt it for Tanghin as I write it. It will be a map of the city and where all of the bodies are found. I started it all today and just got a huge burst of inspriation. I don't know if it was because of the art or the music but it worked.

I'll try it a few more times and if I find it helpful, I'll definitely add it to my list of writing tools.

Here is the song I was listening to. This has been my favorite song since it came out now it's all over the place. Sorry if you're sick of hearing it.

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.

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

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.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.