Writing Goals – March 2012

1 04 2012

So here is the update for the month:

1.  Edit “Of Kings Queens and Noblemen” – 1/2 way through read through.

2. Finish my Ice Planet Story

3. Edit Ice Planet – 1/2 way through

4. Edit the Gothic novel (Tobias and Arabella – aka the bloody gothic novel)

5. Finish writing “Son of God”

6. Edit Medusa’s Garden.

For Evil Editors Unite, I decided to edit Ice Planet and KQ&N, and I have managed to do some on each, but the Ice Planet has captivated me, so I have done most of my editing on this one.

more pictures at http://pinktentacle.com/2011/02/photos-snow-monsters-of-japan/

While at the cafe on Friday, I couldn’t believe how many moments I laughed at the story.  And I loved that.  The two main character really make sparks fly.  She hates him, but he has the hots for her.  That is more evident as the story progresses, but I am loving the dynamics between the two of them.  Add into the mix that he is a double agent is making it very interesting.

KQ&N is a very technical book, there is a lot more going on in that one, and it really needs time to itself, so May, I think will be KQ&N month, and I have really enjoyed working on that one, but there are some gaps in the story that need to be filled or removed, and I have actually preferred to read the story rather than edit it.

I have also had a thought about SoCNoC, I don’t know if I am capable of doing that so I might do HalfNoc instead.


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Writing

Confidence = 0%

26 03 2012

I have been working on Ice Planet lately, which is my 2011 SoCNoC novel that I lost half of when my laptop crashed.  I have spent most of this month editing it, and trying to work out what I had put in the original so that I can finish it.

While I was out walking the other day, I made a significant discovery.  I am afraid of writing.

I am presuming that this is from the fact that I haven’t written anything in quite some time, and while I would love to start writing, I am scared that it won’t be the same, that I won’t be able to capture the beauty that I already have down on paper and instead make it rather mediocre.

Depression is a funny beast, the way that it has interacted with me and my head.  Some things are coming back to me, like dreaming, but they are much weirder than the used to be, and I have had quite a few naked dreams in the last few weeks, something I have never  done before.  I know that the naked dreams are that you are feeling vulnerable, and I am wondering, as I write, if this is to do with my writing?  Perhaps that is what I am feeling so anxious about, and my brain is translating this during the night time.

The only way I can get over this is to actually write I guess, but it is a hard thing to try and bring myself back to.  I will just have to bite the bullet and do it, which I don’t mind doing, but it is taking a real effort to make the time.

I guess, I really have to stop talking about it and start doing it, right?


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Writing

Evil Editors Unite

8 03 2012

I have taken a liking to editing.  I guess it is whipping the first draft into a more user friendly state, and heavens knows my first drafts need all the whipping they can get!

As this month is Evil Editors Unite Challenge over at KiwiWriters, I have decided to go with two works, only because I really couldn’t chose between them!

Of Kings Queens and Noblemen (KQ&N) is a novel I wrote a couple of years ago during SoCNoC and trashed because I thought it was tacky.  But on further reading, it wasn’t half as bad as I thought it was.  It is based around a king who while in exile falls in love with a serving girl.  He strikes out big time with her and goes back home to reclaim his throne, but he can’t stop thinking about her.  Because there are tight restrictions on royal marriages, he abdicates his throne to find the serving girl and convince her that he is serious about her.  This is done from the King’s point of View, which is an interesting position from a female writers point of view.  I hope he is masculine enough without coming across as a sissy when he does fall in love.

The Ice Planet story is another SoCNoC novel, I wrote last year, and I was very pleased with it.

more pictures at http://pinktentacle.com/2011/02/photos-snow-monsters-of-japan/

It had a strong female lead, a conflicting love interest, and espionage and intrigue, but the gutting thing is, I lost half of it when my laptop crashed.  I now have to work my way through it, find the areas that are missing, because it wasn’t just the last half of my novel, there are scenes that I added and subtracted as I was writing that need to be reinserted, reinvented and rewritten.

My goal for the month is to do a chapter a day on KQ&N and work on two chapters of Ice Planet.  KQ&N chapters are fairly long, so if I give myself a chapter a day, I have some time up my sleeve for those longer chapters.  And with Ice Planet it is a case of trying to find the scenes that need work, then writing them up.

I am looking forward to this month, I know I will do more than 20 hours editing, but I hope to achieve two stories in one go.  Wahoo, Go me!


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , ,
Categories : Writing

What a Week!

12 12 2011

This has been a very emotional week for me this week, just with things I have had to deal with, the downside is I am extremely tired!  The upside is, I am getting plenty of sleep!  :)

I have spent the weekend at my Mum’s (gotta love Mum’s) and had a very relaxing time.  So relaxing that I have even managed to get some more writing done this week!  I have had a couple of opportunities to just spend time, laptop and me, writing, editing, looking, seeing but mostly writing.  I have been working on my Ice Planet story, the one I finished for SoCNoC and then lost when my last laptop crashed.  I lost most of the story, which was quite gutting.

I was hoping to work on Son of God, but for some reason, I have been meeting some resistance in this story, so instead I have gone back into Ice Planet to try and pick up the pieces.  It hasn’t been as good as the original, but if I can at least finish it, then I can go back in and edit it, to make it closer to what I originally had.

The original story was great, I came away from it feeling very satisfied, and why I didn’t back it up, I don’t know, but the lesson was learnt, and now I back up pretty much every time I work on my laptop now.

It is hard to try and work through those parts I lost, because it was mostly the climax, which was really exciting, and I was so excited writing it.  Now, I am not sure I can capture that excitement, but if I can at least get some of it, I can edit it into shape for the final version.

The school holidays are about to start, and in the Southern Hemisphere, that is 6 weeks.  6 weeks of constantly having my son in my face!  Still, I will work out a way to try and get some writing in somehow!  If not, there is always the garden to work on!


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: ,
Categories : Life, Writing

Back to the Grindstone

6 07 2011

Now that SoCNoC 2011 is over, it is time to get back into my normal writing routine.  Not that it is normal, but at least getting back into something that resembles a scheduled time each day to allow for writing.

And this week it starts.

I have two novels that need editing, a story that needs to be written and a story now sitting on the backburner, but still requires some thought.

Each day I am going to spend some time editing both stories.  One is quick and easy to edit (KQ&N) while the other is a little bit more labourious (Bloody Gothic Novel), so I will split them up, so I don’t feel I am doing the editing drag too much!

I will also spend some time working on Blood Gold, because I really want to get this story done.  At the moment I seem to be bogged down with court details, so I might need to just step back from that part and start working on the actual story instead.  I still need to find out about what printing presses were used in 1850′s NZ – if anyone out there does know, please let me know.

I also want to brainstorm my latest story, the Ice Planet because at present it is 51k, and I really want it to be 65 – 75k, so need to add some more tension and excitement into the mix.  Just how, I am not too sure, but I will think of something, especially if I brainstorm regularly every day.

There is also another novel that I put to one side ages ago, it is a series of short stories all linked together, so I might just resurrect that and work on one of the stories at a time, because it was a deep and meaningful kind of story and I would like to tell it.  But short stories aren’t my forte.  If I can get some feedback on these stories, then I can work at putting that novel together too.

I found a publisher the other day, which would fit in with my style of writing, so I guess the big push on editing is so that I can get something submitted to them.  All going well, perhaps by October or November I will have at least one of my novels ready!

And I haven’t forgotten about Medusa.  I need to work on this one, as it is a character based story, and I need to work on this before it will be ready, but I haven’t given up on it, so never fear my fellow and supportive writers.


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Life, Writing

Progress – Week 2 SoCNoC

13 06 2011

Light at the End of the Tunnel, Kawatiri Tunnel, Feb 2011

I can say, with great relief, that I have caught up with my word count – I am where I should be, and I hope to build on that this week.  (20144 as of yesterday afternoon – expected word count for 12th is 20004)

My story is really taking off, and I am thankful that I have a plan.  So far, I have managed to keep it within cooey of the plan, but I know that the first flush of enthusiasm is starting to wear off, and I can almost feel the rush of excitement waning.  I will push on, because this story has been inside me for so long.

My characters are starting to settle down, although there is still action aplenty, and yet more to come.  I was writing about the story the other day over at KiwiWriters, and realised that I had originally wanted it to be a war, yet there hasn’t been any reference, or any signs of a war… so I will have to have a rethink and go back over what I have written and try and make it more war like.

The mornings are getting cooler here, and I am pleased that I write in the afternoons, once I have all of my other jobs done.  My hands are frustrating me – I have recently been diagnosed with osteo-arthritis – and have two ganglion’s one of which was quite painful.  I also have tingling in my thumb, which could be RSI.  These things aren’t stopping me from doing what I love, although my son throwing another sickie is really starting to get on my nerves… I obviously need to spend more time with him!


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Life, Speculative Fiction, Writing

Wait for me!

11 06 2011

Hey, wait up!  Stop!  For goodness sake!  Wait for me!

This is how I am feeling with my writing at the moment.  It feels like Vyvica is taken over and the story is no longer near enough to my plan for me to recover, so I am just going with the flow.

The scary thing is, I really don’t know where the story is heading.  But everytime I sit down at the laptop, the words just flow out.  Mostly it is dialogue, which is a big change for me.  Most of my characters used to be strong silent types.  Now they appear to be strong vocal people.  I am not complaining, and I dare not argue with Vyvica – she is likely to land herself on my chest, feet first.  Not a pleasant feeling.  Just ask Kelvaras.

At night, I turn off the light and imagine where the story is going to take me.  Last night, I had then in the pod heading to another city, and Kelvaras told me that he wanted to have more say in the story.  He has, but I don’t think he likes where it has landed him.  A week with Vyvica’s best  and very flirtatious friend.  Should have thought about that a bit more, aye boy!

Anyway, I am enjoying the journey they are taking me on, and I can see how I can pull it back into my plan, if for some reason, Vyvica decides to leave me in the lurch.  But I certainly hope she doesn’t.


Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Speculative Fiction, Writing

Conflict

10 06 2011

I am still behind in my word count in my SoCNoC story, but I can tell you this, my story is definitely not short on conflict.  There is internal conflict and external conflict and I really can’t leave Kelvaras and Vyvica alone together for two minutes without her trying to rip his head off.

Strange how a story unfolds.  I knew Vyvica was a tough cookie, but she truly is the ice queen, and the smallest things will set her off.  Scary actually, and Tyron, her minder, is normally pretty good at diffusing the situation quickly.  So what ever possessed the man to send Vyvica and Kelvaras together in a pod to the northern hemisphere?  Heavens only knows what he was thinking.

Which brings me to another point.  Just what is Tyron’s role?  He is supposed to be a minor character in this story, but he seems to be dodgy, which is a worry because he is the second in command.  And he is Vyvica’s minder.  And the closest thing she has to a friend.

Vyvica is surrounded by lots of issues that she doesn’t trust and it is interesting to see how she reacts, mostly physically.  In the first four chapters, she has been in 4 fights.  Not to mention nearly crashing the pod.

There is definitely action a plenty going on.  Keep tuned for more exciting adventures of the Ice Planet.


Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Speculative Fiction, Writing

Characters

6 06 2011

I am relieved in a way that the Ice Planet story was chosen, because the main female character has been driving me nuts for some time.

Vyvica is her name.  I tried to rename her several times, and even give her a royal title, but she refused.  I wanted a distinctly Gothic name, but couldn’t really think of anything.  I liked Vy, and she kind of suggested to make it “spiky”, so Vyvica it became.

Let me tell you about Vyvica.  She first started invading my mind about two years ago.  She is very forceful and told me that she wanted a strong story to go with her.  She has got it, in fact it is the most action packed story I have written.  Already in the first two scenes, she has been shot at, lost one of her  best friend’s, and about to have an emotional breakdown.  (Don’t tell her I said that!)

Vyvica is a strong willed person, and the head of the army.  She has to be, there is no way she would have been obedient enough for me to start the story with her lower than commander.  She is very straight laced, has few friends and demands respect.  By the end of the story, she is going to be a completely different person, I can assure you of that!

The main lead character is Kelvaras.  I have loved the name since I first heard it.  It is based on a town in California (although I am sure it is spelt Calvaras) and the name just inspired a vigilante type of loner.  He isn’t in it for anything except the pay packet.

Vyvica and Kelvaras are both strong characters in their own rights, and I expect sparks to fly when these two meet.  Especially when they start having to trust one another, which is something that neither wants to do.  Neither of them trust anyone except themselves, another aspect of the story that will change by the end.

I am unsure at this stage whether one or both will survive the ending of the story, I have some possibilities at this stage, and I am pleased to report that so far, the story hasn’t really followed the one I have plotted, but it isn’t too far away from it either, so when I need to bring it back, it won’t be a big stretch.

So anyway, how are others going with their writing?  What do you like/dislike about your characters?


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Life

And the Winner is…

27 05 2011

As you can see, the clear winner is the Ice Planet.  Thank you all those who participated in this little experiment.  I will try and blog a little each day during June to keep you up to date with progress on this.

Now will have to think of a new theme for my blogsite… Ice Planet, science fiction, lazer weapons… could get interesting.

Funnily enough, at night I have been plotting this snow planet one, mainly because the female has been a very strong presence for a while, and once we got whiff of this idea, she made it a point to bring herself to the fore.  I have the opening of the story already thought out, just need to plot the rest of the story!  Hopefully I won’t disappoint.


Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Speculative Fiction, Writing


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 198 other followers