The First Final Stage

WOW! I have finally managed to do something that has been eluding me for the past year and a half…at least. Tonight I put the finishing touches on a story I have been working on for over two years now. Of course we're only talking first draft here, but still it's quite an accomplishment for me, especially lately. Unfortunately due to my life circumstances I have not been able to devote the amount of time I would like to my writing and I have stories that are suffering and being ignored because of it. Over the last couple of days however I have found it damn near irresistible. I just had to finish this story! I've had stories and characters screaming in my head before but this was like an absolute takeover of my mind. I slept even less than normal at night and I could barely concentrate on my studies. BUT the good thing is, it's done!

This particular story, Immortal, has been one of my favorites to write even though it's been a very long process for me. Generally when I start on a story I can pound it out within a few months. This one was not so easy to complete. Because of my now non-existent work schedule, school, and other personal issues I didn't have the time to sit and write this story the way I wanted to. I always carry my notebook around with me in my purse so I was at least able to jot down ideas and dialogue when they came to me. I was so excited when I finally got to sit down at my computer and type it all out into the file I had started so long ago. What really surprised me was that I remembered every detail of what I was thinking at the time I wrote each particular note. This never happens for me. Usually I write a note and have to add a lot of detail to it so that I make sure I get it right in the story, but with Immortal I didn't have to do that. I had a few notes in the book that were just one or two words here and there and I managed to remember exactly what I was thinking and why I wrote it down. So with all of this I was able to finish up the last few chapters of the book.

Now comes the hard part. Self-editing. Just the thought of it makes me cringe. As I've stated a million times before this is not something that I am very good at. I don't edit my writing; I butcher it and murder it until there's nothing left but the main concept of the story with a few good scenes or dialogue I can't bring myself to get rid of. I have vowed however that this time it will not happen the way it always has in the past. In the very little spare time I had while I was working I was able to do some research and get some tips on how to be a better self-editor. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one that struggles with this and the tips I did get were extremely helpful…so far at least. I started the editing process earlier this evening and think I'll be going back to it here shortly. I think the reason I'm trying so hard this time is that this particular story is one that I really, really want to get out there. This one I have more confidence in and am more comfortable sending it off to betas and my friends/editors for corrections, suggestions, and advice. Baby steps, right? The first time I subbed a story I about cried when I read the feedback for it. But it was good feedback, even if some of it was a little harsh, such is the nature of the writing beast. Once I went back and read the story with all of the suggestions given to me in mind I realized that for the most part they were right. The story wasn't good enough, not nearly good enough. But that was ok. I didn't expect it to be perfect anyway so I made the adjustments where I needed to. Unfortunately that story has gone nowhere since. But that's because that story is in the M/T/S genre and I'm more of a Fantasy girl so I wasn't really feeling it. Maybe there will come a time when I can go back to it, actually better than maybe since I already have the idea for a sequel in mind, but for now I'm just sticking to my Fantasy writing because that I know I can do better than M/T/S.

So anyway, Immortal is wrapped around the prophecy made about Makayla (my favorite witch ever!) centuries before she was born. Very powerful, destined to be the best, blah blah blah, you get the picture. Sounds like a million other Fantasy stories you've read huh? That's what I thought too when I started it, not that it really mattered to me. I get an idea in my head and I'm far too obsessive not to see it through to the end. The things that I love the most about the story are the twists and turns and little things here and there you are not expecting to happen. Like the types of friends that Makayla associates with, one of which is a very powerful demon that nevertheless assists Makayla every chance she gets. And the "villain" that she is "destined to destroy" is not who you expect him to be. That particular twist happens to be my favorite one, though it doesn't come until the very end of the story. Anywho, the problem she runs into throughout the story is trying to find out how to destroy this particular villain without also killing herself in the process. Without giving too much of the story away they have fought in the past and both have been injured severely, mentally and physically. With the help of her teacher/mentor/secret lover Samuel, Makayla finally finds a way to destroy the one being on earth that can kill her. Will she actually go through with it is the question…

WTF Is Goin On Around Here?!?!

To Do List:

Remove progress bars from blog ...... check
Rip up and burn every word written on both idle (former current) WIP's so as to remove all evidence of such horrid writing......... check
Take slow, deep breaths
Remind self that giving up is not an option
Repeat following lines until you have convinced yourself: I can be a writer, I can be a writer, I can be a writer, I can be a writer

...
Um yeah, sorry about that but I had to do it. It's been a weird couple of months to be sure. I haven't had a whole lot of time for writing and it's become very frustrating. There are multiple reasons for this, but the main one would be that even when I do get the chance to write, it's nothing but junk. Oh and I really mean uberjunk!! Like a grade school child is trying to write a novel, that's what it ends up like. That's even worse than normal for me. I can generally make it seem like I am mildly intelligent with good ideas, someone who needs help here and there with their writing, but still has potential. Not so much lately though. I spent some time today editing the little bit of work that I have been able to do on my Fantasy WIP, a big mistake as anyone who knows me will tell you (I don't self edit, I murder my work. If I don't pass it along to someone else to do that job, it all goes in the trash.) So when I started I was expecting the usual battle of whether or not to trash every single word I've written, save a few witty remarks here and there, but there was no battle this time. I hung my head in defeat and said goodbye to possibly the worst writing I have ever done in my life.

When I first started on that particular story I was writing between 2k and 7k a day. Over the past few months I haven't even written 3k. Freaking ridiculous! I love the story idea and I have lots of scenes in my head, but they are just not coming together properly when I try and put them down on paper. And yes, that is exactly what I do. First draft is always longhand. I just write better that way... well, normally I write better that way. In this case I have even tried doing the first draft on my trusty laptop, but to no avail. The biggest problem is that I don't really get to devote the amount of time I want to the story. A few minutes here and there just isn't going to cut it for me. Thank goodness for my notebook cus I'd be in a big ole mess without it. There I can jot down the ideas when I can't get them into the story and go back to them later. Sort of anyway.

I'm also experiencing the issue of not only that story idea floating around in my head, but yet another one that's screaming to be let out. Of course it's another Fantasy one, but it's a bit different than what I would normally do. Generally I keep my character list light, but for this one I'm thinking it should involve a whole group of people. Not really sure on the number yet because every time I think I've completed the circle so to speak, another one pops up that fits right in. Oh and usually I have female MC's, but not this time. I am seriously infatuated with one particular guy in my head right now. I'd love to get him down on paper and see how he turns out because for me they never turn out the way I originally intend them to. I don't know how many times I've said it, but the story goes where it wants and all I do is follow along like I know what's going on. I'm ok with that though. As far as I'm concerned that's the way it should be. Let it do what it will and never mind what you think or want. 'Cus it's not about you. It's about these people, or just person, that you're letting come through you. I've never had control over any of my stories and nor would I want to. I tried to force a story into a different direction than what it seemed to be going one time. That didn't turn out well at all. Suffice it to say that one was never even see by anyone else, that's how badly I jacked it up. But I learned my lesson long ago not to mess with a good thing.

And this story in my head seems like such a good thing. It seems so wasteful to me to just let it roam around up there, or rather scream around because that's what it's doing, and not let it out at least a little at a time. I'm only afraid that if I do it a little at a time I'll lose something of the story that makes it so special. I have a thing about writing when I get the chance to do it. I want to do it nonstop. I want to sit in a comfortable spot and write until my hand is cramped and then write even more. I want to be able to spend all night long just whipping out words on what these people are about to go through and how they come out of it in the end. I want to...but I can't. School alone can keep me busy enough on most days that by the time I sit down to write I feel like my brain is nothing but a pile of mush sloppin around in my skull. I mean, I know that right at this moment while I'm typing this I could instead be writing my story, but I'm not in the right frame of mind at the moment. Everything is too jumbled and chaotic at this hour of the night and I know what kind of things I write when that's the case. *shudders* No, I'll save it for when I put a coherent thought or two down without being sidetracked five seconds later by another one that's equally interesting to me. Sometimes I'm just too easily distracted, that's all there is to it. :)

So, ok, now that I've rambled and vented a bit it's time to see what I can make of this group of chosen few on earth who possess these strange and unknown powers. ;-)


P.S.
*kicks self for going so long without even writing so much as a blog post*

Blocked or Just Not Creative Enough?

Truth be told I don't think it was either. Since it lasted less than a week, I'm of the opinion I was just in a minor slump and could have easily worked myself out of it sooner had I bothered to use any common sense. Oh, you don't know what I mean do you? Long story short: writing issues, ideas in head, mind goes blank when it's time to actually write the ideas/dialogue out. It was like for that period of time when I tried to write, I would forget everything I'd been obsessing over. Go to something else, thoughts of WIP are back in my head. A complete and total pain in my arse. I have an active, vivid imagination, so it wasn't lack of plots, scenes, or dialogue that was  plaguing me. I had it all up there ready to come out, it just didn't want to.

Great. Now what? I get extremely cranky when I can't write. And when I say can't write, I mean anything. It took me three frakin days just to do the last posting here! Ridiculous. I moped and felt sorry for myself for a minute, then made myself try and write. That turned out great. *rolls eyes* One usually fool proof method I use when this happens is reading. I picked up a book I've been taking my time with and got comfy.So, I asked my writerly type friends for advice.

Oh boy, the things I heard from them. Some of them sympathized, others did not. There were some who had been down the same road before and gave me a few ideas to try and help, prompts and things of that sort, but I'll get to that in a minute. I want to touch quickly on the ones who think, as many out there do, that writer's block does not actually exist. Now, as I said before, I don't think I was actually blocked, just in a funk. But there are people who will tell you, and told me when I asked them, that writer's block isn't a real problem, it's just a myth, whatever. Now, I have gone through one period where I was literally unable to write. We're talking shaking hands, nauseous, sweating, the whole nine yards. It terrified me to try and write. That lasted for a little over six months or so, and was not a pleasant time for me. The whole time, all I did was read. I couldn't write, so I read. I think I managed about a book every day or two, depending on the length. Then one day, without thinking about it, I sat down at the computer and my fingers started flying. Problem solved, blockage taken care of. Don't ask me how, but it was. And I've never had it so bad since then. I've gone through slumps where my ideas are crap, or the words I do manage to produce don't work well with the story. So, all that being said, I don't know how someone can say that writer's block doesn't exist. I've been through it. I know what it's like to be physically unable to write anything. Perhaps those people are just more talented than I am and never have difficulty with their writing. *shrugs*

So, what did I do to get out of my funk? I actually used common sense... go figure. It annoys me that it took me so many days to realize what I should/could try. Because when you think about it, it's just simple logic. Try writing something else. I suppose the fact that I couldn't even do a blog post was stopping me from trying anything else, let alone another story. But I was given the idea of a prompt from someone and I thought I'd give it a shot. Said person gave me three items to write about, told me my limit was no more than 500 words, and sent me on my way. I figured I'd give it a shot, and I'm glad I did.

I wrote my little piece, which with me being long-winded and all came out to 658 words, and I realized I didn't want to stop. I had to keep going. And as somebody told me later on, I'd gotten my MC into a mess, I had to give her the chance to get out. It's now over 1500 words, which isn't too bad considering the circumstances it sprouted from. I posted some of it up on Absolute Write to be critiqued and I've received some good advice so far. Of course I'm extremely grateful for that. I'll always take advice on how to improve my writing. I've also been thinking about other plainly obvious things I could do to help me form ideas for a current WIP or help me move on when I am stuck. I know a few people who swear by any and every form of writing exercise under the sun. They say the exercises spark little ideas here and there and eventually one is going to begin to grow. More than one if you're lucky. And of course there is my favorite standby, reading. I love to read anyway, so it's not hard for me to find a book to escape into. There's usually something out there that can help you get back to what you love. As long as you never give up, there's always hope. :-)

Writing a Fantasy Novel

I love writing in the Fantasy genre. There's so much room to move around and play. My favorite part about it, and also the most troublesome, is that you get to make new worlds if you want ,or just revamp our existing one. Either way you do it, it's always good fun, and when done properly a great read. My reasoning for all this can be broken down into three simple sections; the worlds created and/or changed, the powers given to characters, and the plots of the stories.

The Worlds:
Let's take a look at the world part of the story first. It could be the world we know and are familiar with, only with magic behind the scenes (or not), or it could be something completely new, created from scratch by the author. One of my favorite examples of this is, that I've read recently anyway, (of course) the Shadowmarch series by Tad Williams. (Forgive me talking about him so much in these posts, I just really like his books. *shrugs*). He started from scratch and made up, not only a kingdom, but a whole world filled with gods and demigods, human characters, and various forms of magical/mythical beings. Writers who create new worlds go through quite a bit of work to make it happen. I for one love to do it. I have created new worlds multiple times in my WIPs. It can be daunting and sometimes hard to figure out all the details needed, but in the end it's always worth it. To me anyway... When a writer creates a new world they have the opportunity to go beyond the boundaries set for them by the world we live in. There are limits, of sorts, that come with writing about our world. But when you create a new one, there are no restraints. Granted, it has to be somewhat plausible, but there is far more room to move when you can create everything down to the tiniest detail; make it all your own design.

Shadowmarch Castle

Another thing I love about the world aspect is jumping back and forth. In Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, he has his own little world, or rather ours but one that has "moved on". But, Roland, the MC, travels from Mid-World to our world... a few times actually, and he's not the only one. By means of portals and doorways they are transported to different times and places in our world. (Insert King into his own work during two of these excursions, which some people think is arrogant, but I adore. He did it quite well IMHO.) Other characters are transported in different ways, in some cases death, from our world to Mid-World. Being able to see a character go back and forth between the two worlds allows you to see not only their world, but to see ours from a perspective we have never had. Things that are commonplace to us are alien to them, and would be the same if we were to travel to their world. That's what does it for me, right there. To be able to not only jump into a place I've never been before, but to know what our world looks like to an outsider, is what appeals to me.

The Powers:

Another thing I adore about writing in Fantasy is the power aspect. Call them powers, gifts, abilities, whatever you want. The point is, they're fun to play with and enormous fun to dole out IMHO. For example; I have one MC who can do multiple things like control the elements, telekinesis, telepathy, etc. (the girl is a veritable fortress of power), and then I have some with only one or two powers. FYI: pretty much all of my MC's are witches, and female ones at that. I do have some that aren't strictly witches and some that are male, but for the most part, that's what I write. The one male I am truly in love with, and he stars in three of my WIPs, is simple really; he has only two powers and he kicks major ass with them, so I don't find it necessary to give him more. As for the one with multiple powers, she has to have them, it's all part and parcel of the life she's living inside my head. She also kicks major ass. ;-)

 

But when you start to look at all of the possibilities for powers out there, you'll find a very wide range. I'd be surprised to find there are limits to what you can make your characters do. I suppose I should allow that some people will say there are limits, but not for me, not in my work. I mean, think about it. You can make a character so powerful that he/she can wipe out an entire legion of evil beings with the swipe of their hand. Or you can just keep it simple, give the MC just the basics and watch them tear the world apart. ;-)

The Plots:
Ah, now here's where I really get long-winded and rambly. The plots, the plots, the plots. Love 'em. Not always mind you, there are some books I've read that I wished I'd never even heard of, but for the most part I do love them. Of course the plot is essential to any story, that's just a given. But what I'm referring to is the fact that pretty much every story has been told by now, it's the ways they are reinvented that really excite me. Who hasn't read various "chosen one" scenarios or the whole apocalypse idea over and over again? But why do we keep reading these stories that, at the core, are all the same? We do it because the author has the ability to make their story different from all the other ones out there. We do it because the author is able to take an old idea and put a new twist on it. Let's talk Harry Potter for a moment. Another "chosen one" situation, but done different than the rest by the tiniest details that make up the characters, the setting, the trials, etc. Inevitably one side is going to win in these battles, and it's not always the good side either. In my reading experiences, which admittedly is much less than many people I associate with, I have found that I like these chosen one stories that deal with the younger generation. Depending on how long these things go on for, years in the case of HP, we may get to see the character grow and develop, either into who everyone thinks they should, or into the polar opposite of that. After all, the chosen one doesn't always turn out good... or even begin that way. Watching how the character deals with the burden on their shoulders is also another appealing thing to me. It makes me wonder how I would cope if I were ever in the same situation. Though, I will say, it wouldn't be nearly as well as they do. :-D

How many times have we read a book where the fate of the world rested on the MC's, and possibly supporting character's, shoulders? I have done this a few times myself. The appeal for the end of the world scenario, to me anyway, is to see how the MC overcomes it all to win in the end....or not. There's a 50-50 chance that things will not go the way they should, i.e. HEA or at least the best HEA possible.

There's also a chance the world will crumble and fall, taking every inhabitant along with it. Don't ya just love it? There is also to consider, if the apocalypse is averted, the aftermath of such a battle. What does it do to our everyday lives? What does it do to those who, thinking magic is nothing but fairy tale and legend, see it firsthand and must live with the knowledge of something they've never faced before? Not only that, but let's say the MC survives the whole ordeal, how do they go on afterward? What do they do now that, in some cases, their destiny or purpose is complete?

Now, I know you don't always get the answers to every question you have when you read a book. Sometimes you're left scratching your head and wanting to give anything just to get more information. But that's the beauty of it. If a story can leave you wanting more it's more than worth it in the end. You may be frustrated with the way the story ends, you may not agree with what happens, but that's just the way it goes. If with your story you can manage to bring your reader into your world, make them feel like they are living through the same experiences as your MC, and sometimes even make them want to be your MC, then IMHO you've written an excellent Fantasy story. Even if your preferred genre is not Fantasy, I would recommend giving it a shot at least once. You never know what's going to come of it.

Major Renovation

I've done a major revamp on my current WIP....losing 3/4 of my work in the process, but still it was necessary. I've added a word tracker to the top of the page so that I can keep myself up to date on how well, or badly, I'm devoting myself to my writing.

This is why I don't edit my own work for the most part. But here's the thing. I was laying here this afternoon with my notebook in my lap, staring at the ceiling and brainstorming about where I was going next in my book (I like to brainstorm but if the book takes me in another direction while I'm writing it, I just let it happen) when it hit me. In order to move forward, I had to go back. There were things about the book that have been bothering me for a while now so I wanted to go back and take care of them, then see if I can manage to move forward from there.

The current word count for my book, after all the slicing and dicing I did, is at 7,493. I just hope this time it works out better for me than my last attempt. I'm really loving this story. And especially loving the little bits I'm adding to enhance the characters. I felt it was necessary as the first draft didn't do that as well as it should have. So, back to it.....