Wasted a lot of time today on a chapter that wasn't flowing well. Got caught up on a side character I didn't really know what to do with. Still much better than I did on most days last year, though, so there's that.
I'm really starting to get tired from all this writing now... I stay up until unhealthy hours normally, but the writing bit is suddenly taking its toll. Not that it isn't worth it, of course.
I'm also becoming increasingly worried that my main character is too much of an author insert. My attempts to differentiate him from myself seem to be having the opposite effect. Or maybe I'm just overly paranoid about potential Mary Sues. Speaking of which, I'm really worried the main female character is a complete Mary Sue. Welp.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
Monday, November 7, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
NaNoWriMo Day 6
I am really ahead of schedule at this point! 19,336 total words at the moment, whereas the goal for day 6 is only 10,000!
More good news? Most of the important characters have been introduced at this point. Even better, they're not all ridiculously boring! (Probably!)
A few problems though... Namely how long it's taking for the 'fantasy' portion of this 'urban fantasy' novel to get going. Also I might not be giving the villains enough screen time now. I may need to rework it a bit to find more time for them.
Possibly a large part of the problem is that I know that I'm not just starting one book, but a trilogy starring these same characters. Things will be more fantastic (definition 2) the further down the line we get. So I'm setting stuff up a bit too long in the first book. This is something that should probably be addressed. After all, who knows if I'll ever get to write the second book (Azure Earth: Title Pending)?
Overall, though, I'm just pleased as punch with the progress I'm making. Years of planning are really paying off. The words just flow so well. I didn't have nearly so easy a time writing last year, about characters I'd largely never used before (as well as a whole bunch of new ones basically created on the spot). So this is really nice. For now, I'll keep positive, and say I look forward to when I get back to Azure Night again (book 5 or 6, depending on how I work it) and giving those characters a better shake.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
More good news? Most of the important characters have been introduced at this point. Even better, they're not all ridiculously boring! (Probably!)
A few problems though... Namely how long it's taking for the 'fantasy' portion of this 'urban fantasy' novel to get going. Also I might not be giving the villains enough screen time now. I may need to rework it a bit to find more time for them.
Possibly a large part of the problem is that I know that I'm not just starting one book, but a trilogy starring these same characters. Things will be more fantastic (definition 2) the further down the line we get. So I'm setting stuff up a bit too long in the first book. This is something that should probably be addressed. After all, who knows if I'll ever get to write the second book (Azure Earth: Title Pending)?
Overall, though, I'm just pleased as punch with the progress I'm making. Years of planning are really paying off. The words just flow so well. I didn't have nearly so easy a time writing last year, about characters I'd largely never used before (as well as a whole bunch of new ones basically created on the spot). So this is really nice. For now, I'll keep positive, and say I look forward to when I get back to Azure Night again (book 5 or 6, depending on how I work it) and giving those characters a better shake.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
Saturday, November 5, 2011
NaNoWriMo Day 5
So I've begun deviating from the outline/rough draft/whatever I wrote last month... I guess that's probably normal, though. I'm just worried that I'll go so off plan that later notes will become basically unusable, and I'll end up hitting a major bump in the road. That wouldn't be a good time...
I'm also really worried that my characters don't mesh well together. A lot of dialogue in these last few chapters, and most of it between the same two characters in particular. I'm probably biased or whatever, but I can't help but feel that their conversation isn't flowing very well, and they don't really have chemistry together (which is a problem, considering they're suppose to be love interests!)
The villains seem to fit together a bit better, though, so it's not all a wash. And the heroes will soon have a third in their midst, who'll hopefully shake up the dynamic, and perhaps even make the other two more interesting at the same time.
A man can dream, right?
http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
I'm also really worried that my characters don't mesh well together. A lot of dialogue in these last few chapters, and most of it between the same two characters in particular. I'm probably biased or whatever, but I can't help but feel that their conversation isn't flowing very well, and they don't really have chemistry together (which is a problem, considering they're suppose to be love interests!)
The villains seem to fit together a bit better, though, so it's not all a wash. And the heroes will soon have a third in their midst, who'll hopefully shake up the dynamic, and perhaps even make the other two more interesting at the same time.
A man can dream, right?
http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
Friday, November 4, 2011
NaNoWriMo Day 4
Oh yeah!
So, status report, I'm just over 12k (12,008 precisely) now... Chapters 4, 5, and 6 have been merged into a hopefully not too Frankenstein-esque new amalgam chapter 4. The proposed chapter 7 nearly got sucked in, too, but I decided it was enough of a break in the plot and setting to warrant its own chapter. Chapter 4 would have been a little overly long otherwise, I think. It would've clashed tonally, anyway...
A LOT of dialogue in the new Chapter 5, too. I really worry it's too stilted. But that's probably normal for a new writer. Worrying, I mean. And stilted dialogue, now that I think of it...so yeah, lots of worries. But the character interaction is not all that bad, I don't think.
And now the NEW chapter 6, rather than the one I said I was just about to finish up last night. Villains hanging out! Everyone needs down time once in a while, yeah?
http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
So, status report, I'm just over 12k (12,008 precisely) now... Chapters 4, 5, and 6 have been merged into a hopefully not too Frankenstein-esque new amalgam chapter 4. The proposed chapter 7 nearly got sucked in, too, but I decided it was enough of a break in the plot and setting to warrant its own chapter. Chapter 4 would have been a little overly long otherwise, I think. It would've clashed tonally, anyway...
A LOT of dialogue in the new Chapter 5, too. I really worry it's too stilted. But that's probably normal for a new writer. Worrying, I mean. And stilted dialogue, now that I think of it...so yeah, lots of worries. But the character interaction is not all that bad, I don't think.
And now the NEW chapter 6, rather than the one I said I was just about to finish up last night. Villains hanging out! Everyone needs down time once in a while, yeah?
http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
Thursday, November 3, 2011
NaNoWriMo Day 3
The plot hasn't exactly started yet, but most of the heroes, and the main villain, have all gotten to know each other (violently!) at this point.
This point being nearly the end of chapter 6.
Once it's finished, I'm out of previously written material until basically the end of the book, with the exception of one chapter late into it. So this'll be an adventure.
If nothing else, my characters are shaping up nicely, I think. Is my villain ridiculously over the top and Saturday Morning Cartoony? Yeah, kinda. But he's suppose to be. The rest of the villains aren't going to appreciate it very much. If I'm lucky it won't come off really, really stupid. We'll see!
Do I keep repeating myself on this blog? Feels like I do...
http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
This point being nearly the end of chapter 6.
Once it's finished, I'm out of previously written material until basically the end of the book, with the exception of one chapter late into it. So this'll be an adventure.
If nothing else, my characters are shaping up nicely, I think. Is my villain ridiculously over the top and Saturday Morning Cartoony? Yeah, kinda. But he's suppose to be. The rest of the villains aren't going to appreciate it very much. If I'm lucky it won't come off really, really stupid. We'll see!
Do I keep repeating myself on this blog? Feels like I do...
http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
NaNoWriMo Day 2
Current progress is 5812 words. That's another 3341 today, and 2479 words ahead of schedule! Don't you love it when a plan comes together?
I was pretty worried about today's bit. Yesterday I wrote the prologue and first chapter, the first of which I've written and rewritten a good dozen times by now, and the latter which has had a few rewrites as well. Today was mostly new territory. I'm still not quite passed what the parts I've been mulling over since forever, but I've written some of these chapters before, and only once, and never in such detail.
By the end of tomorrow night I'll be getting into stuff that has never hit the writing stage at all, and then stuff I've never had much of an opportunity to plan out. Hopefully the outline I created in October will pull me through it all just fine.
Intimidating, but also exciting! I'm enjoying the challenge so far, and look forward to more characters showing up so I can get to know them all better.
Dunno if I'll be posting here daily, though... I mean, it's not like I have any followers anyway, so what's the point? Still, I'll probably make an effort, at least...
www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
I was pretty worried about today's bit. Yesterday I wrote the prologue and first chapter, the first of which I've written and rewritten a good dozen times by now, and the latter which has had a few rewrites as well. Today was mostly new territory. I'm still not quite passed what the parts I've been mulling over since forever, but I've written some of these chapters before, and only once, and never in such detail.
By the end of tomorrow night I'll be getting into stuff that has never hit the writing stage at all, and then stuff I've never had much of an opportunity to plan out. Hopefully the outline I created in October will pull me through it all just fine.
Intimidating, but also exciting! I'm enjoying the challenge so far, and look forward to more characters showing up so I can get to know them all better.
Dunno if I'll be posting here daily, though... I mean, it's not like I have any followers anyway, so what's the point? Still, I'll probably make an effort, at least...
www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
NaNoWriMo Day 1
Hey look it's November now! Currently I have 7 text files open waiting to start some writing. I'll edit this post when I've actually done some...
EDIT: And the first day is officially over (though the site seems a bit behind on updating the day)! My word count sits at 2471 at the moment, a good 700+ ahead of schedule! Woohoo!
I dunno if I should call this a 'problem', per se, but I'm not even done with the first chapter yet. And with my rough draft/outline/thing planned out for more than 33 chapters, this could be a REALLY long book, definitely passing that 50,000 word mark by quite a bit. But as long as it doesn't become too ridiculous (I'd like to avoid hitting 100k please!), hopefully it'll still work out fine.
www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
EDIT: And the first day is officially over (though the site seems a bit behind on updating the day)! My word count sits at 2471 at the moment, a good 700+ ahead of schedule! Woohoo!
I dunno if I should call this a 'problem', per se, but I'm not even done with the first chapter yet. And with my rough draft/outline/thing planned out for more than 33 chapters, this could be a REALLY long book, definitely passing that 50,000 word mark by quite a bit. But as long as it doesn't become too ridiculous (I'd like to avoid hitting 100k please!), hopefully it'll still work out fine.
www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/psyched-slash
~Psylash...
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