Revamps and Rewrites

Well, this is going to be short, sweet, and to the point.... which coming from me is quite a feat :)

Revamping both blogs, though admittedly I haven't even made it to the other one yet, to refresh the look a wee bit...not too much though because if I try changing too much I'll just end up changing everything and I won't like it as much as I do now. Anyway, also added another author to this one because when it comes to writing she is as we always say, the other half of my brain. We just work so well together, I figured why not? Plus I can think of no other person in the world that I would entrust to write on my baby. Admittedly it's not a very popular blog but I take a certain amount of pride in it for some reason. I'm strange that way though. :D Allow me to introduce Christine, sometimes referred to as Greeny ;), and say that I'm glad she agreed to post here and I know she will be a valuable contribution here at My Fantasy Life. Ok, enough of my cheesy moment...

So, after the revamp is finished (a new post is already in the works also) I am also going back to the two stories I left behind. The Occult Collection and Immortal are going to be pulled from their graves......thankfully. I say this because they are my two favorite stories I've ever had ideas for and written. Something about them appeals to me more than any other WIP has and I did not like that I had to let them die...at least for a little while. And since their voices have not only been living in my head this whole time, but recently screaming to be let out, I must do as they wish. Just as an aside, Immortal is being revised, not edited. After taking a look at about three chapters of it I realized that it wasn't coming across as well as I originally thought so we are going back to do it the way it wants to be done.

Off we go........................................

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…

Week of January 31, 2010 Goal

My goal for this week:

25,000 words

Progress to date:

3,698 words 1/31/2010
2,879 words 2/1/2010
4,135 words 2/2/2010
1,309 words at 6am 2/3/2010 (couldn't sleep because of the damn scene in my head) 
HAVE NOT WRITTEN A WORD IN DAYS!!!! *smacks self* Bad Kerri, very BAD KERRI!!

Progress/Goal:

12,021/25,000 for week of 1/31/2010-2/6/2010


Alright people, so here's the deal. Things keep happening to distract me from my writing, and as we all know distracting me really doesn't take much at all. I am trying though, really and truly, to stop this from happening anymore as I can't seem to stop thinking about this story. It's quite odd actually, no matter how distracted I get and focus on other things, the story always seems to be sitting at the back of my mind. Little bits and pieces of it will come to me throughout the day and I just have to write them down. All I can say is thank goodness for notebooks. :D

Week of Jan 17, 2010 Goal

Ok, so I completely shorted myself last week and didn't come anywhere near the goal I wanted to. Bad Kerri! Very bad Kerri!! So I'm adding the difference to this week's goal and I hope I can actually do what I want this time. *crosses fingers*

My goal for this week:


25,000+16,940= 41,940 words


Progress to date:

1,564 words 1/17/2010
2,891 words 1/18/2010
459 words 1/19/2010
6,543 words 1/20/2010
4,216 words 1/21/2010

Progress/Goal:




15,673/41,940 for week of 1/17/2010-1/23/2010

Week of Jan 10, 2010 Goal

Hopefully I can manage to stick to this idea better than I do to others. As I don't have to do much in this case, it shouldn't be too difficult....but we'll see.

I wanted a new way to track my writing progress each week and a way to jot down ideas and things for stories for other people to comment on if they should choose to do so. So hopefully this will work and won't be left in the dark and forgotten about.

So, here it goes. My goal this week is get another 15-20k done before the weekend and hopefully another 5k at least over the weekend. I know those numbers seem a bit off to some, but at the rate I've been writing lately I think I can meet that goal...at least I hope so.

On a side note, I will be editing these postings throughout the week to track my progress and limit the number of postings I add to this blog. :)

My goal for this week:

25,000 words

Progress to date:

800 words 1/10/2010
3,000 words 1/12/2010
769 words 1/13/2010 (ugh, I hate when I write less than 1,000)
833 words 1/14/2010
1,500 words 1/15/2010
1,158 words 1/16/2010

Progress/Goal:

8,060/25,000 for week of 1/10/2010-1/16/2010....not bad, but could be better