Saturday, November 29, 2014

NaNoWriMo 2014

Tomorrow is the last day for NaNoWriMo this month and unfortunately I'm not going to finish.  In fact, I'm not even close.  While I had high hopes for this year, it just never came together fast enough.  Too many distractions and not enough self-motivation to play catch up.

This book is my first attempt at a YA novel but I don't think that had anything to do with the slow start.  A more realistic reason could be that this is also my first novel with a main character who is female.  It may sound sexist, but being a man and writing a story that follows a young woman takes a bit of a mental shift and then some effort to make sure I'm staying in character.  Probably by the second book, I'll be able to stay in rhythm easier, but at the start, it is slow going.  As with any story I'm learning more about the characters and their ways of thinking as the story unfolds.  I've already repurposed one character and added another from my original cast but that's the great thing about writing.  I don't have to anticipate things going wrong because they usually work themselves out in the writing.

Anyway, I have the first ninety-plus pages done andI'm about to start chapter six.  The main character, Talia, has uncovered powers that no one has seen before and now the process of discovering what she can do with them and how others want to use and/or exploit them has begun.  This will fill out most of the middle of the book along with her budding romance and helping her new friends with their own dangerous pursuits.  I'm still hoping to get this all done by Jan. 27th (especially since a PS4 may be on the way for my birthday).

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Crystal Heart, Chapter One

Day four of NaNoWriMo sees the completion of the first chapter of my newest novel, Crystal Heart.  While I am off pace to finish 50000 words by Novenber 30th, I'm still pleased with what I've written. From what I've reviewed, I can see where more description would have helped but I'm happy with my attempt to keep the chatter to a minimum and have the dialogue be more focused and necessary.  That's not to say I won't have a few creative arguments once the characters know each other better, but that's what I like best.

The one thing I will be checking on later when I take a break is if the end of the first chapter is intriguing enough to lure the reader into wanting to read the next.  I want every chapter to end, not necessarily with a cliff hanger, but with at least a question hanging in the air that the reader will hopefully want to have answered.  By then, I've introduced more problems and more questions.  I'll see.

The next chapter will have the main character, Talia really delving into her powers and the end will bring about the biggest surprise of the beginning when she does something that has never been itnessed before.  It will also see the introduction of the trilogy's main antagonist, though for now he will only be a mysterious caller with inside knowledge.

It's getting good now.  Write on!

Monday, November 3, 2014

NaNoWriMo, day three

Well, it took three days for me to get to blogging about my attempt at this year's NaNoWriMo, which should be an indication of how well it's going.  It's been a rocky start but I'm going to assume that this will get the kinks out early and the rest will flow better.  I hear you scoffing, but I'm hanging my hopes on that so hush it.

Saturday is probably the worst day to start anything since I work then have to go to bed early to get early on Sunday.  I managed to get a lot of writing done at work so that helped but only about half of what I wanted since my goal was 2000 words a day.  I got down 1200 by days end so it wasn't all bad.  Then Sunday came and along with it a migraine that got worse as the day went on.  I banged out about 800 words so by Monday, I was basically down by a day already.

Now, here it is Monday and my headache's gone so I'm going to make up some ground today and tonight.  So far I haven't had to stray from my plot as the scenes are going as planned.  Ideas have been popping up like summer showers but I've been able to incorporate them so far without any need for changes.  I'll take that as a good sign.  If you want to check out my first scene look here: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/ralosravenclaw/novels/crystal-heart-584630

Here's hoping everyone else is still plugging away and having fun.  Write on!