Week in Review – 2013/07/08 – 2013/07/14

Posted on 2013/07/14 by Tonette dela Luna

WRITING:

Camp NaNoWriMo and JulNoWriMo. Tweeting updates with @JulNoWriMo and #CampNaNoWriMo. Every Friday until September 21st, I’ll be writing update posts for WRITE YOUR NOVEL THIS SUMMER.

Fractured Tales Series Word Running Total for July: 38,106 words

Totals from April, June, and July: 201,955 words

It’s high noon. The sun blisters and I squint as a tumbleweed rolls by. There I stand, fingers dancing over my holstered weapon. Across from me, several paces away, my WIP stares me down. It’s a battle of wits, of endurance. On the count of three, I grab my weapon and point to shoot–ink? I look at my outstretched hand to see a pen. Yes. I remember those.

In the distance, my WIP is on the ground, its jacket flung off upon impact. I inch my way towards–my foe?–and see my laptop languishing in the dirt. The screen flickers before it goes to sleep. To my right, a notebook approaches, to my left, more allies, a sketchpad and pencil set. They flank me in a semi-circle as we mourn the sleeping WIP.

What’s this all mean, you ask? After my cathartic FRIDAY FORAGE post, wherein I rambled, pondered, and planned, I spent the weekend in an unusual decompression mode. Most of Saturday was spent outdoors in the sunshine as I and the Mothership ran some errands. Something so mundane as banking and grocery shopping was for me, on a glorious Saturday afternoon, both freeing and relaxing. I strolled the aisles, enjoyed the A/C, and was satisfied at the nutritious bounty we took home. I recall in my youth how much I used to hover in the processed food aisles but have since realized that a healthy body and mind contributes to better creativity, as well.

Never have I appreciated some time away to clear my head–sans The Keysmashing Tots, sans the WIP–before now. It’s been nonstop words, carpal tunnel, baby food and dirty diapers. My mind (along with the rest of me) needed a much needed break. It truly does wonders. Yes, I planned on vegging out Saturday before my epiphany struck me upside the head, and in some ways this was a veg of sorts, but one that was good for the creative soul.

I came home rejuvenated to face my beast of a WIP and try again. What a difference a few hours make. I completely understand why writers insist on putting a draft away for days if not weeks at a time to regain that fresh perspective. Alas, I do not have that extended luxury in my fledgling career, but I’ll take these small breaks whenever I can, especially if a break leads to a breakthrough.

Despite my blogging about the experience here, I’ve decided to go old school and draft the way so many others have suggested. Pen to paper, I’ll continue this writing journey and see where it takes me. At first, I worried that my word count would suffer, but I’ve found so far that free writing sessions unleash even more great stuff that ideas and scenes are flowing more readily now.

This afternoon, I drew maps of my story world. I was pleasantly surprised and how the imagery translated from my mind onto the page. I’m no cartographer, but the crude drawings came out well. Aside from family trees, I also created ‘How’d they Meet?’ trees and all the crisscross connections between characters are helping keep things straight.

I’ll give low-tech creativity a whirl and post an update on the progress and/or pitfalls in the next mid-week check-in.

READING:

Currently reading:

First time I didn’t finish any books during the week. With the aforementioned WIP overhaul, my downtime from crafting was never quite downtime. Still, I’m reaping the benefits of reading. I see how it’s improved my writing. And it’s just fun to immerse myself in another world outside of the one I’ve created or the one in which I live.

Next up:

Total books read since June 23rd:

Fiction: 7

Non-Fiction: 3

Working on it…

SOCIAL MEDIA-ING (formerly known as BLOGGING):

Check-ins on Angelina C. Hansen’s blog for #wipmadness are every Monday In July. Two Sunday #ROW80 check-ins and two Mid-Week Check-Ins.

FRIDAY FORAGE will hopefully be a shorter post than the last one, but equally fulfilling as we discuss the fourth week of summer writing updates.

I have to give props to my workshops because they were responsible for my epiphany. The were like the canary down in the mines. Good thing the wisdom gained was the canary getting out just in time. Gotta love the proverbial sunshine after the rain. 🙂

OTHERS:

I’ve probably had several Duolingo updates, but today is the first time I accessed the app to see just how much has changed. While I haven’t yet gotten all up in that business, to be fair, I’ve been speaking the lingo thanks to a few rounds with Dora and Diego. I’ve learned to love the shows TKT watches. So, I’m still working towards my goal of being multilingual.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the sunblock’s on and the words are flowing. I’m not Stella, but I’ve certainly got my groove back.

FRIDAY FORAGE – 2013/07/12

Posted on 2013/07/12 by Tonette dela Luna

WEEK THREE: WRITE YOUR NOVEL THIS SUMMER

Fractured Tales Series Word Running Total for July: 33,357 words

Totals from April, June, and July: 197,206 words

I have the following book titles for the Series and currently reworking Bk1 after separating a subplot to Bk2. The third book is just ideas, at the moment:

BOOK 1: AARALYN’S SONG (FORMERLY BOOK 1: HAMELIN)

BOOK 2: THE CURSE OF BRIAR ROSE

BOOK 3: AND THEN THERE WERE SEVEN

So, you know how too much of a good thing can also be a bad thing? Welllllll… okay. It’s like this. How can I not be enamoured with all the possibilities that a fairytale universe provides? I’ll have story ideas, plots, subplots, and character mash-ups to last me a year. HOWEVER, as the saying goes, I think I really need to divide and conquer on this one. Yes, so many twists and turns are great. The new takes on old favorites (good and evil) are a joy to write, but I need to maintain a streamlined flow of ideas and not get ahead of myself. <– this is my self pep talk.

Yo, Self! Are you listening? Write the story that wants to be told and stop listening to all the whispers. Each character will have their time to shine–if they’re worthy! haha That’s another thing. I need to put the brakes on the characters. Here are just a smattering of mashed-up and/or retweaked characters I have so far in Book 1 (and I’m not even including minor ones). If I add the rest I have for the series, I’ll run out of bandwidth!

Aaralyn – inspired by the Pied Piper

Jaron – her father, abdicated his position as Heir to the Throne of his Kingdom, currently living in Hamelin, a town far, far away

Caleb – her brother, taken by a group of thieves who attack Hamelin

Melantha – her mother (and rogue witch, but I’ve recently revamped her and am considering, ugh, more on that in a later blog post)

The Old Woman – lives in a gingerbread house and nurses Aaralyn back to health after an ambush that results in Caleb’s abduction

Jack – forced to kill giants because an unknown group holding his sister Jill hostage. Killing giants at their behest is to keep her alive.

Ali Baba – a boy who first appears to Aaralyn in a dream, then when the town is under attack; currently cursed as a magic carpet

Morgiana – a friend of Ali who was once a fairy, but was cursed as a genie in a lamp

Robin of Locksley/Sheriff of Nottingham – this mash-up is inspired by my love for Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark, he’s Aaralyn’s godfather and Jaron’s best friend

Queen Aerwyn – Jaron’s mother; formerly a mermaid, chooses mortality for the love of a human,

King Brage – Jaron’s father, who’s currently at war with Aerwyn’s father, the King of the Water realm for, you know, the whole forbidden love thang

Rapunzel – has a bad history with both Aaralyn’s family but more recently with Jack. She’s a magical water creature and her hair is actually tentacles. She can change her form for certain periods of time.

Merlin – a wizard who is an old friend of Robin (and taught him a few tricks)

Nimue – another water creature but she’s allies with Aaralyn’s family

Okay, new plan. I can do that, right? I’m halfway through Camp NaNoWriMo and JulNoWriMo and I’m pretty sure I’ll hit 50K by midweek, if not before. Since this is an ongoing journey, as is the entire WRITE YOUR NOVEL THIS SUMMER challenge, I say yes.

1) I’m enjoying this exploration of characters but I need to really hone in on the story I want to tell first.

2) As much as I enjoy discovering connections between events in Book 1 to an story arc in Book 3, I should focus on getting out all the words of Book 1 first. Well, duh. I know it’s an obvious statement and yet…

3) I must spend time analyzing the characters I have and make sure they have a solid purpose in Book 1 that helps move the story forward. I don’t want to have them there just because I think their new mashed-up version is cool. I’m thinking of writing side story novellas to complement Book 1. BUT THEN PLEASE REFER BACK TO #2. One beast at a time, no?

4) My flexible plotting needs to be less flexible. I’ve always loved structure with wiggle room, but I don’t want to wiggle onto a different tangent. I need to spend a day–sans The Keysmashing Tots, so that means tomorrow–and go over all the key points of the book and make an outline that flows towards a resolution rather than branches out into a world of possibilities. REMEMBER: A standalone novel with series potential. The story should be complete in and of itself, regardless of what I think may happen beyond the words THE END.

5) Don’t sweat over it too much. I tend to overthink things and end up getting the blahs when I’d rather be having the YEAHS! (That made sense, right? I’m sure you know what I mean.)

So that was me this week. A frenzy of words, both written and read (I’ve been reading up a storm for a different challenge) and a frenzy of activity with The Keysmashing Tots. So much for having Saturday to completely veg out. Have you seen the list I just wrote for myself above?

Ah, the writer’s life. I’m such a masochist. ;-P

#ROW80 Mid-Week Check-In 2013/07/10

Posted on 2013/07/10 by Tonette dela Luna

WRITING:

Camp NaNoWriMo and JulNoWriMo. Tweeting updates with @JulNoWriMo and #CampNaNoWriMo. Every Friday until September 21st, I’ll be writing update blog posts for WRITE YOUR NOVEL THIS SUMMER.

Fractured Tales Series Word Running Total for July: 28,329 words

Totals from April, June, and July: 192,148 words

Tried different POVs this past week. Might continue this way because the story is too grand to have my protagonist in every scene. Also, I’m sure I’m not the only writer who’s had a ‘middle of the night’ epiphany linking events from Book 1 to events in Book 3 (which is but a twinkle in my eye, at the moment… twinkle and brief outlines).

READING:

Loving my reading revival. Here’s what I read this week:

Currently reading:

I just realized how disparate these titles are. LOL

Total books read since June 23rd:

Fiction: 7

Non-Fiction: 3

SOCIAL MEDIA-ING 😉 (formerly known as BLOGGING):

Check-ins on Angelina C. Hansen’s blog for #wipmadness are every Monday In July. One Sunday #ROW80 check-in and two Mid-Week Check-Ins.

Friday, I’ll continue my new column FRIDAY FORAGE and will go through my third week of summer writing updates.

After attending an Author Chat at Savvy Authors, I learned many new things that will go towards mending my love-hate relationship with Facebook and how to best forge a relationship with readers out there. Author C.J. Ellisson was faboo–people still say that right?–and is hosting Reader Clubs. I joined her event for July and it’s coming up on July 24, 2013. I suppose I should have mentioned this in the Reading section above but it’s social media related as I’m linking to the impending awesomeness over at Facebook.

These are writing related but also part of my edification as a writer. Aside from my continuous workshops–super helpful when I get the chance to work on assignments–I also joined Ali Luke’s Writers’ Huddle and am cozying up in Holly Lisle’s Forums for that added oomph, support, and accountability. They join Joe Bunting’s Story Cartel Course and Dr. John Yeoman’s Writers’ Village. I’m in good company.

OTHERS:

In the words of Grantaire, “I am agog. I am aghast.” Okay, so here’s the deal, Duolingo. I’m not mad at you. I’m not ignoring you. Promise. When my brain’s more sorted with my Fractured Tales Series and all the words of other fine authors that I’ve been absorbing, you and I will have words. And hopefully in Spanish.

Week two of July is almost up and I’m getting into the summer writing groove. Whatever ailed the household is almost gone. In fact, I’m more than ready to kick it to the curb already. Press on, I must.

And how are you today?

Week in Review – 2013/07/01 – 2013/07/07

Posted on 2013/07/07 by Tonette dela Luna

WRITING:

Camp NaNoWriMo and JulNoWriMo. Tweeting updates with @JulNoWriMo and #CampNaNoWriMo. Every Friday until September 21st, I’ll be writing update posts for WRITE YOUR NOVEL THIS SUMMER.

Fractured Tales Series Word Running Total for July: 20,129 words

Totals from April, June, and July: 191,345 words

Some twists and turns this week and that’s just because the household came down with an onslaught of sniffles, fever, and coughs. Tissues a-plenty along with ACHOOS and I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANY LONGER, I still managed to get some interesting scenes written. Made discovers along the way and caught myself saying, “I didn’t think she had that in her!” a few times. That’s always a good thing when it comes to plot development. 🙂

READING:

More great books read. Here’s what I read this week, including me rounding out Lois Lowry’s THE GIVER QUARTET. Awesome stuff:

Currently reading:

Threw in some more non-fiction in there because, hey, why not? If you have any stories you’d like to recommend, please comment below. I’ve enjoyed the reads so far. It’s probably the highlight of my blerg days when I just didn’t want to do anything productive. Reading is awesometastic.

BLOGGING:

Will check in at Angelina C. Hansen’s blog tomorrow for #wipmadness. This is the first Sunday Check-In and we’ve had one Mid-Week Check-In, as well. I like hearing what other writers are doing this month.

Friday, I’ll continue my new column FRIDAY FORAGE and will go through my third week of summer writing updates.

How goes it in your neck of the woods?

FRIDAY FORAGE – 2013/07/05

Posted on 2013/07/05 by Tonette dela Luna

WEEK TWO: WRITE YOUR NOVEL THIS SUMMER

So, there’s that song that goes, “When you’re smiling, the whole world smiles with you.” Why can’t the week be as horrible as I feel from whatever it is I caught from The Keysmashing Tots? Ugh. It’s difficult to concentrate when it’s glorious out the window but your insides want to bust through every pore of your skin. Too graphic? Try FEELING that all day. I expected snow up to my eyeballs and dreary weather with zero visibility, but nooooooo, Raincouver had to go and be all beautiful instead.

Anyhoo, the week was not without words. Plenty, in fact, so there’s my silver lining.

Not even including the bit of June we had to begin this epic writing journey, here are my word count totals since July 1st:

Fractured Tales Series Word Running Total for July: 14,928 words

Me likey.

Things that helped get the words out this week:

– character journals

– what if? games

– plotting out alternate scenes along the same plot line

– throat lozenges

– oh and the midday snoozes helped because holy hockey pucks, I was wiped out this week!

Also, I’m storming the brain for what to fill my FRIDAY FORAGE posts once this challenge draws to a close. I’m thinking of combing the lovely interwebs to find the best of the best in writing sites, articles, and the like. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I’ll enjoy the hunt.

Hope your Week Two went well. Forward write!