Update: Revising and About Hourglass

I'm pretty sure I said something about this before, but I put Call of the Piper on the back-burner for a bit so I can break it down a bit better and fix the plot holes and just the big mess I made with it. Instead, I'm writing a novel called Hourglass. Well, it's written, I'm just revising it now (because it's a mess).

There isn't a synopsis right now. I'll be working writing one soon. I'm currently focusing on revising the first few chapters before sending it to my critique partner...but I'm finding a hard time fitting it in. I need to revamp my schedule because classes started up again and the professors this semester aren't messing around. I can't slack off like I usually do. I'm currently working on fitting everything in.

For my WriYe challenges, I decided to jump in on one (like I didn't want to do) and participate in the Genre Challenge. It's Origin Story. It's such a good pick for the month. I couldn't pass it up. I decided to write an origin story for someone in the novel I'm currently working on. It's really good to know the backstory of this character, though I can't tell you without giving some kind of spoiler.

Other than that, I have to say, revising is probably one of my least favorite steps in the process. It's long but it's worth it.

WriYe Blogging Circle: More and more goals

What’s your Wriye Word Count goal and why did you chose it? What are you going to be focusing on this year? What are you doing differently this year compared to last year?

Bonus:

What are you most excited about for in 2017? Writing wise or not. Let us know!

The Blogging Circle for 2017 is up and thought I've already written a post about my goals, I'll be a little more specific on my writing goals and there are things that I didn't talk about. 

My WriYe word count goal this year is 250,000 words. I might raise it later but I'm uncertain at this point how much writing I'm going to complete but 250,000 words sounds like a manageable  goal to me. 

This year, my focus is on publishing. I after many changes, I've decided to nix the Call of the Piper as the novel to publish and just start working on Hourglass. I have a lot to work on for that and I've already figured out my plot and start working on my new outline. Hopefully, I'll be able to start revising by this weekend. 

The biggest thing I'm doing differently this year is having a critique partner or two.  I'm actually part of a critique group in one of the writing groups I'm a part of...but I haven't sent anything to them yet. Maybe this will be a good chance to send them something. I also have a few beta readers and a deadline. Some of the other things that I've done differently is join a writing contest. I might join more or try to write for an anthology. Just trying to get my writing out there is important.

I'm most excited for publishing. This is a goal I've been working toward for some time. After lots and lots of research, I finally feel like I have everything ready to publish this year. It's probably not going to go smoothly, but it will be a good experience.

Writing Traditions

Traditions
Zombies are a July tradition here at Wriye. Do you have a writing tradition of your own? How did it come about?

Bonus: Share an example of your tradition!

I think the closest thing to writing traditions I have are NaNoWriMo and WriYe. Even the prepping is part of the tradition because it gets me excited to do what I have planned. Then I fall flat on my face (with WriYe) half way through. But I try. I really do.

How I came about NaNoWriMo was by accident one year. I don't even remember how it happened, I just stumbled upon it my Freshmen year of high school (12 years ago) and I've kept going since. I don't normally get involved with the local writing events that happens with NaNo. I mainly just use the site to keep track of my word count, and to lurk in the forums from time to time.

I came about WriYe a few years later. I can't remember how though. Probably by accident - like everything else.  WriYe is a huge commitment and I have a hard time staying on the forums for the whole year but that doesn't mean I forget to accomplish my writing goals. Though, I do tend to lose track of where I'm at in my goals.

That's really all I have to say about my traditions involving writing. I don't really participate in any other writing events, not yet anyway. I'm trying to get everything organized and I have too many manuscripts to edit. Though, I might stop editing from time to time to write a new novel to add to the stack.

...Editing my own work is hard but I'm slowly getting there.

Critique and Criticism

Critique and Criticism
What is your method of critiquing a piece of writing? What do you expect out of people critiquing your work?

I haven't critiqued in a really long time. In my head, I do it all of the time, but I haven't critiqued someone's work (with them being willing) in years. But, I guess I could say, that I look for inconsistencies or anything that stands out to me that really shouldn't be there (misplaced plot, forgetting to delete a passage before continuing, etc). I tend to ask a lot of questions when I'm looking over someone's work, mostly to benefit them. Instead of telling them that something is wrong, I ask them specific questions so they will figure it out and hopefully, it will help them improve other places of their story as well.

I also look for grammar issues and sentence structure flaws, if they ask me to, but I mainly focus on the story itself, rather than the syntax. At least at first. Unless the same mistake is consistent throughout the story. Then I'll point it out. For example: I was reading someone's story and they lacked commas.  I had to go back and read several sentences to figure out what in the hell they were trying to say. I definitely pointed that out.


When someone is critiquing my work, I would hope they would be honest with me and ask me questions as needed. Questions are beneficial, and so is being straight forward. Though, I haven't gotten close to this yet, I would hope that they would do their best to help me improve my writing rather than just be an asshole about it, but there is always that group of people who will be flaming jerks and just straight-up tell me that my work is crap. If they aren't going to give me a reason why my work is crap, then they aren't worth my time.

I don't mean to sound like a bitch about it either. I'm asking for constructive feedback to help me improve. Telling me that I suck at writing, isn't telling me where or why they think I suck at writing. It's just telling me that this person isn't into my story. That happens. I'm not delusional to think that everyone is going to enjoy my writing, since I know I don't enjoy every piece of writing that I come across.

Telling me how I should write my novels or stories is also something that I would like them to not do. My plot is written like this for a reason and trying to sway my story line isn't going to happen because the chances are, my story is already finished and the way I wanted it. They can question my plot if there are some major plot holes that need to be fixed or if the plot is weak (or has weak points) but their opinion on how my story should go is a big no-no. I can forgive small adjustments but not if they are suggesting that I go back and change everything. Just - no.

When critiquing, you're supposed to let the writer know where things really didn't connect with you, as a reader. If the characters come off a bit wooden instead of real, or if there is an incomplete subplot that never got resolved - these are things that should be pointed out. If they are a bit harsh about it, I'm okay with that, at least they are telling me where I need to improve. Let me know where my sentences get too wordy or if my sentences are too choppy. It happens. I catch them when I'm going through my edits. I hope that someone will catch them when reading through my story too (the ones that I miss).

Again, I haven't gotten to this point as I'm still going through my edits, since it's long and tedious but I'm getting to it. It's on my list of things to do once I finish editing the first short story of District Pluto.

Abandoned Novels

Trunked Novels
Have you ever set a novel aside? Was it finished or unfinished? Why did you abandon that novel? What would it take for you to go back to it?

I've abandoned a lot of novels. I've actually been spending a lot of time recently going through them just to see what I have and some of them were really good but then a twist happened and then it fell apart. To go back to that novel, I would need to do some serious rewriting and plotting to see where my novel should have been going.


That is going to be a goal that I have later. Finishing my unfinished novels. Some of them are probably a lost cause or they are novels that are going to have to be used in some other way. Maybe they just need a little more planning...who knows. I guess, going back to them really depends on if they really catch my attention when I go back to them.


Bonus: Post an excerpt of your trunked novel. - Unfortunately, I don't have an excerpt to share right now.

Crossing the Finish Line

That re-telling of a fairy tale that I started in February is finally finished. The ending was kind of rushed but I knew I was going to have a hard time with that part of the story since I hadn't fully thought of the ending though, I always struggle with the ending and the beginning on my first draft.

Strangely enough, the beginning was perfectly fine. I'm probably going to make adjustments here or there but it's done. It will sit until I'm ready to edit it. I'm trying to get the format down just right but I guess it won't really matter since I'm probably not going to publish this one. I'm going to test it out on my Kindle to see how it looks but it's not going to be available for some time.

It was fun to write. Though there are some small plot holes, it's something that I can easily fix when I get to it. I really enjoyed writing my characters especially my minor characters. I have a serious love for minor characters and I tend to like them more than main characters. I'm not sure why.

Anyway, soon, I'll be working on some cover art for this, probably hand drawn because I can't afford stock images right now, but I'll gladly draw it. Not to mention, this computer isn't the best for editing photos of any kind. I'm going to take my chances with doing it some other way. Or maybe I'll find an online photo editor that I can use.

It seems silly to make cover art for a story I don't plan on publishing, but it feels more complete when there is a cover.

Making Connections

How do your characters connect with one another? What kind of connection do they have? How do you connect your characters to the reader? 


This is a bit difficult to answer. In my current novel, which I'm editing, my characters (my two main characters) are connected through their university. They are opposite in certain aspects but, in a way, they are very similar in their values. I'm hoping that people can connect to them because they both go through some real life struggles.

I think that when a character, no matter the setting, have similar or the same problems that real people go through, then they can form a connection with the readers. Though you can't expect to have that kind of connection with every reader.

Generally, I try to base connections off things that good portion of people go through, or even things that I've experienced before. Being able to relate to a character helps make them feel real to the readers.

Changing Things Up

After my computer stopped being reliable for school, I decided to get a new one. Now, it still works just fine, other than the battery being terrible but it's still functioning. For the time being, I'll be transferring my documents into an external hard drive until I get a new desktop.

For now, I have a little Netbook like computer. It has a terribly small memory but I'm making due with all my flash drives. It works. I've decided to try a new writing program as well. Since 2009, I used Liquid Story Binder and loved it but lately, I've been wanting to try Scrivener. Partially because LSB hasn't been updating and I need certain things that it doesn't have. I won't feel bad about not using it as my main writing tool because I think I used as much as I spent on it.

I told myself if I ever got a new computer, I would give Scrivener a try. So that's what I'm doing. I have 30 days before it expires and by then, I'll know if I want to use it or not. Not that it would cost me much. I'm still trying to understand it but I think I'm really liking it. It's simple and while it doesn't have everything that LSB has, it has enough to make writing easier.

I'm not getting rid of LSB at all. Heck no. There are certain things that the program has that Scrivener doesn't and I can use it for more than just writing. I could use it for lesson plans. Actually, I was considering using it to hold all of my lesson plans so I can recycle them from time to time.

Anyway, now that I have a slight grasp of what I'm doing, I'm going to put all of my notes for Dowsers into Scrivener and see how much I like it. I know I should start off by writing an actual novel in it, but that will have to wait for another time. I have several novels that need to be written. For now, I'm just focusing on editing.

The Editing Begins

This week was pretty good. I'm currently 44,148 words into my novel. After it went astray for awhile, I finally got it back on track. Thankfully, I'll be able to edit those scenes out later this year when I decide to edit it.

I recently printed out my stand alone novel Dowsers for editing. I just started editing it so it should be fun. I'm pretty excited about editing this one. I'm not sure if I'll publish it but I'll enjoy it, at least.

Well, other than that, that's all that really happened for me this week. Reaching 750 words is getting harder and harder. I might change my goal to something lower. Maybe 500 words next month. 

School, Work, and Writing

This last week was my first week of having classes, a full time job, and trying to write and edit projects at the same time. Well, the first week this year and the first time in a very long time. It turned out pretty well. Writing 750 words was a lot easier than I expected it to be. I had to squeeze it in from time to time.

Thankfully, I managed to do it consistently for the last 17 days. I'm hoping to keep it up. Tuesday might be an issue but I'll work it out.

My weekly word count is, 6,484 words. My grand yearly total so far is 36,605 words. Not too bad. My novel is going to be ridiculously long though. I'm not even a third of the way through it yet. Though, I do know that there is going to be a lot of editing with this one.

WriYe Goals

WriYe Blogging Circle is back. Hopefully, I can keep up with it this year.

Goals:
What’s your Wriye Word Count goal and why did you chose it? What are you going to be focusing on this year? What are you doing differently this year compared to last year

Bonus:
Set your intention for this year. Share it with us!

My WriYe word count goal for this year is only 300,000 words. It's not a large goal but a more reasonable one for me this year. I decided to aim low so I could actually reach my goals (both writing and personal). My main focus this year will be writing my novel series. It's a 5 novel series, the first two novels are already planned out.

Another thing I'm focusing on is editing. I still have that short stories series that needs to be edited, but after the 3rd short story, I need to rewrite the other two and add several more 10,000 word short stories to go with it. There are just so many things that need to happen with this project that I realized it won't be finished any time soon. So my main editing focus is a stand alone novel called Dowsers (for now, at least). I wrote this novel two years ago and it currently stands at 122,000 words. There is a lot of work that needs to go into this novel.

Last year, I focused mostly on editing. I didn't get very far with that. In fact, I think I only finished about 2 1/2 stories. I'm pretty sure I wrote more than I edited. My goal is still pretty low for word count but it's manageable. That's what I'm going for.

My intention for this year, in terms of writing and editing, is to prepare for publication at some point. Currently, I know I'm not ready for publishing, since I don't have a single story that I would share with others. Hopefully, soon, I'll be at that point.

January Goals

The beginning of the year is going to be harder to start off than my normal years. With my classes starting mid-January, I need to try to get ahead of the game before then but if I don't manage to finish, I still have the rest of the year. Because 2016, I'm taking it a bit slower than I usually do.

Here are my writing/editing/reading/etc goals for January:

• Write book #1 (no real title yet)
• Edit 10 hours in District Pluto
• Read 1 book
• Blog once a week

It's simple enough right. That's just my goals for writing. I have personal, work, and school goals that are not added to the list. For now, I'm keeping my blog strictly writing related until later in the year. Smaller lists help me stay focused. I won't feel so overwhelmed with all the things I need to do.

We'll see if it helps at all.

Poetry

Poetry

How do you feel about poetry? Do you write any? Do you see the significance of it or do you think it's a waste of time?

Bonus: What is your favorite poem?

I don't mind poetry but it's not something I enjoy writing. I have a hard time writing it for some reason. For those of you who can write it, good for you. I find that poetry is a way for a lot of people to find emotional release.

It might not be something I like to write but I don't think it's insignificant. Everyone has different styles and there are some poems that I really like. I couldn't name them right now but there are a few that I didn't find dull as hell while sitting in English class. I don't go out of my way to read poetry. If it's there, I'll read it but it's not something that immediately grabs my attention.

Archetypes

Archetype
It’s said that there are only so many plots in the universe and all novels/stories are a twist on them. What about for our characters? Can you pinpoint your current main character’s archetypes? How do you feel about the concept of archetypes? Do you think your character is a blend of a few or one steadily - or unique in their own right?

Bonus: Let’s see your interpretation of your character as the epitome of their archetype. Write us a sample or draw us a sketch

I'm behind! This prompt was for April.


Almost every character falls under at least one archetype. The writer might not realize it but there are some traits a character shows that will cause them to fall under such an archetype. It's not particularly a bad thing. Just because it's categorized doesn't mean the character feels like every other character of that archetype.


My current main character is definitely categorized as a reluctant hero. Though she could fit under few other categories, it's the best she identifies with at the moment. As I said before, even though she falls under a reluctant hero, doesn't mean she's like every other character who shares this archetype. There are aspects about her that make her different, as it should be for every character.

Progress Update: Getting Organized

My progress hasn't really been great for the first week of February. While I'm getting places with both my editing and my writing, it's a bit slow. Part of the reason is because I need to get organized. I'm currently making a planner that suits my needs but I also have something for blogging. Eventually, I want to start doing more than just boring updates on my progress. There are the blogging circle prompts which are fun but I think there should be a little more.

As of right now, I have no idea what those posts are going to be about but it will happen. I want to work on better graphics for my posts and maybe some book reviews or random research topics I find interesting. I already have a crafting blog to post my fun stuff on but I'll think of some content to make this more interesting for me.

This coming week might be slow with progress. My goddaughter is due any moment now and I plan on being there when she is. But, then again, I might not be with my best friend in her daughter all week. They are going to need time to adjust and I don't want to get in the way.

I think getting a little behind on my editing will be okay this week because I think getting organized will help with that. I have two planners, one that travels with me and one that stays at my desk. I really want to make the most of them and hopefully create some kind of schedule for my life.

Maybe next time, I'll actually talk about some real progress. 

Results of January

This January wasn't one of my best considering my goals and all but I learned a thing or two along the way about editing. I'm not sure if it's just for this particular novel but that's something I'll figure out as the year goes on.

My totals for the year are:

• Editing: 50 hours
• Writing (typed): 22,515 words
• Writing (hand-written): 1,219

I think that's all I have for this month's goals. I didn't finish editing Call of the Piper but I did figure out where I wanted to go with the story. It's not going to be perfect but after I finish rewriting some of the scenes, I'll be on the right track. I won't have to go through and change everything again.

February is going to have a nice range of goals. Some of them are more personal.

• Finish editing Call of the Piper
• Continue working on handwritten novellas
• Write Hush for the Keeping Warm in February challenge
• Consistency Challenge (750 words a day)
• WriYe Blogging Circle 
• Work on creating a healthy lifestyle
• Apply for Jobs

 That is all I have for now and frankly, that's all I really want to have for the month of February. There are going to be small challenges during the month that I might partake in but I'm not sure I'll have time. I want to keep them simple. I want to start working out again and eating better. Hell, eating more at home would be a good start.

I have my art goals that I want to do as well but I think I'll leave that for my crafting blog.

Progress Update: Software and Planning

I got sucked in to trying a new 3D program because it was free. Yeah, I get sucked into this stuff a lot. I just wanted to give it a try to see where it goes. So far, I suck at it. I need to play around with it a bit to get used to it and maybe watch tutorials.

I want to try to make novel covers or just artwork with it, just to try it out. It's just something to try out to see if I like it. If I don't, it's not a big deal. I can easily remove it from my computer and stick to Photoshop.

Other than software, I did manage to get a bit of editing done. I'm at a total of 39 hours with plenty more to come. Hopefully, next month I'll have Call of the Piper (temp title) finished. Well, at least finished with the first edit and where I want it to be for me to edit again later. I was going to take that month to write but I think I'm going to stick with editing this. I want to finish it and I think I know where I want it to go.

I finally finished my new storyboard and I'm keeping a lot more scenes than I thought I was. And I'm getting over another bump in the editing process. I'm hoping for some smooth sailing soon.

Progress Update: Plot Bunnies

I figured out my editing hour total. I currently stand at 26.75 hours and I still need to add more to it. I'm half way to where I want to be by the end of the month but I need to really buckle down on this editing. Once I get into the fun part of it, I think it'll just breeze on by but I need to push myself to get there.

A lot of the rewriting is setting me back. I have to make a new outline and a new story board. I just need to remember to stay on track. So, I'll continue doing that.

Lately, I've been really into writing everything out by hand. I have those moments and that's usually when paper ends up everywhere. Now my room is a mess. That's probably why I can't be creative in my room. It's messy. I should really work on that.

On another note, thanks to work, I got hit with a plot bunny and I'm considering using the idea for the Handwrite a Complete Novel challenge on the WriYe forums. They are probably going to end up being Novellas. 4 of them. I already started outlining them because it wasn't leaving my head. I'm not sure how I'm going to write it completely. I always get stuck with the 1st person VS 3rd Person POV. I'll have to do some samples later.

Writing Resolution: Editing

 Goals: What is your one main goal for this year? Call it your writing resolution. Not two. Not five. Your main and only one. And why is it your goal? 

Bonus:Make a mantra to tell yourself all year when you feel as if you can’t reach this goal. Share it with us! 

(WriYe Blogging Circle Prompt)

  

This year, for me, my focus is all on editing. I have a lot of projects to get through this year. One might not be fully finished by the end of the year due to the massive changes but I want to get it out of the first draft stage. There will be writing but it's not what I'm working with this year. Most of my writing will focus on short stories rather than full on novels. I will write a few novels this year but I don't have many planned. 

Editing is my primary goal because it's the next step I need to take if I want to try to publish something soon. It might not be a novel just yet but a short story or a series of short stories. Whatever it is, I just want to get something ready for publishing.

As for a mantra, I don't have one that goes with my current goal. At least, I don't have one right now. One might come to me later, as I continue to edit.

Progress Update: Writing By Hand

Today, I have no idea where I stand when it comes to editing. I haven't plugged in my chart yet but I did most of it by hand. There are times when I get really distracted with things around the house. So, I think I need to clean my room and get focused again.

I did get pretty far with writing by hand but I'm not sure how much was written. So, I'm hoping for a better week.