Now that NaNoWriMo is over…

I don’t know what to do!

There’s always that adjustment period, for me anyway, after NaNo where I spend a bit trying to figure out what the fuck I’m doing.  I don’t have much of a life to get to, since what I do most of the time is write and make art stuffs and job hunting on the side when my fragile sense of self can handle it.

• Need to get back to first edit of book #1.  This is my TOP PRIORITY.
• Some *gulp* meeting new people and trying new things? Imagine!
• Planning out my “Better than Twilight” book.  I have have a title in mind and was thinking of using some characters from a few short stories I did years ago.  For this, I really ought to:
• Finish reading Twilight.  Which is painful but educational (on how NOT to write).
• Need to do some regular piano practice again (every day or every other day would be great)
• I’m planning on asking some friends if they want some website space, for a nominal fee.  I want to keep my space but it would take a miracle for me to have it this coming V-day.
• Play lots and lots of NWN online.  I found a cool server to play on.  This is the only video game I should allow myself to play for awhile.  Too many/too much gaming can be too distracting.
• Keep my ear on the ground looking for a job >.<
• Improve my drawing.  Probably back off my other art endeavors for awhile, but improve my drawing…

So I think I need to cut back on my graphics work, silly little side games… umm… I probably shouldn’t visit those snark communities for awhile or even dA or fA for awhile.  As much as I love looking at art, I need to foooocus.   I need to prioritize my time!

NaNoWriMo ’09 Winner is I!

OMG. So I reached 50k last night… around 6 or so. Then I promptly fell asleep >.<

Now I have the post-NaNo shock thing going on. Which pretty much consists of feelings of: 'What do I do now?' and 'I never want to write another word of fiction ever again!'

I had a hard time with it this year. I started out going pretty well, but I had problems figuring out my ending. It's hard to write a novel when you don't know how the ending is going to go, exactly. Even now I'm turn between just plain ending the book -and- that particular story line or ending the book in a cliffhanger/lead in to another book.

Sigh.

Now I have to figure out what I used to do before NaNo. Other than writing.

Gearing up for NaNoWriMo ’09!

So my goal this year was to write through all 4 books (skipping the one we shall not name) and tidy things up, now that I have a lot more knowledge about whats been going on. I failed that completely and haven’t even finished the first book. I got hit by depression, family issues and great amounts of physical pain (my back is currently still fubar but feeling loads better today).

So I was thinking of just screaming through all the books and doing a general, quickie rewrite of the rest of book 1, all the way to last year’s book. This is just so I can get everything that I now know about sorted out and set in stone so I have a jumping off point. Then, when NaNo is over, I can go back to where I left off and start filling in all the blanks.

It sounds like a painful journey, but my other options are:

1) Writing the next book in the series (that picks up after last year’s unfinished story). I may want to try to piece together how last year’s book ends before NaNo starts.

2) Do a different story, an idea I had that takes place in Q’lanth and might use Zyra as the MC.

3) Do a completely different story that Wulfen inspired. It likely won’t take place on Q’lanth.

#3 would be the easiest option to go with, though it would be the most… unnatural? I’ve been doing NaNo for so long that its like a habit each time to write the next book in the story. There was a couple times that I tried to write something completely different, only to get a couple days in and give up and go back to Q’lanth.

Today I think I’ll try the quick re-writing through business and see what happens.

once again, Xeen p0wnz NaNoWriMo

its all thanks to wandering back and looking at some older scenes from the beginning to see how far all my characters have gotten (and because i was stuck in the story line and was procrastinating), finding a couple of “could be” sex scenes and started working on them.

i highly do not suggest working on 2 sex scene at the same time.

i’m going to go implode now.

i’m a dirty girl!

mmm… 😉

-now- its starting to feel like NaNo! *looks at calender*  23 freaking days into it.

Usually I don’t get lost in their heads (mainly Adrian’s) this late in the game.  And luckily I got a bit ahead of my word count today and I didn’t even write anything to do with the story.  And it was EASY.

How, you might ask?

SMUT!

Okay maybe not down ‘n out dirty smut.  This was good old fashioned girl-in-shower-gets-dirty scene.  Not even -that- dirty, just a little.

*squirms in chair*

Is it warm in here?

*fans self*

Anyway.  It would make a good stand alone scene, mayhaps.

I’ve written at least 1703 words today to a total of 38808.  I really need to get in an extra day or two for some breathing space as The End approaches.  I don’t want to have to keep digging up smexxy scenes or even start the idea of smexxy scenes just for word count.

God how horny my characters must be >.<

Its only because they know now they can get me to write it now. They just want their private times, to relax.  Doesn’t everyone? ^-^

Note: Anyone I happen to really like right now should prolly stear clear of me until my mood is no longer Flirty, Horny and Hyper :-p  What a horrible combo to inflict onto someone…

*ahem*  Now that that pipe is unclogged, looks like I can get back to the actual story ^-^

NaNo ’08 update, thoughts on whiny writers… and more?

I did it! Last night I caught up on my word count! I’ve been behind by 3 to 6k for a bit over a week I think but I caught up! And magically enough, I got what I’ve been lacking all this time.. an information dump about the story.  Ok so the dump wasn’t as big as it usually is but man its might cool.

Anyway, my good friend in Arkansas and I have been talking about noveling.  He sent me an e-mail yakking about outlines.  I decided to post my response…

Hiya!

Wow you try to hit all the spots a lot of writers get bitchy about.  I don’t know why but there’s a lot of whiny writers out there.  Bringing up writing programs and outlines is like bringing up politics and religion in mixed company.

I did an outline for my first NaNo and it went okay.  But took all year to plan for it though and work out all the details.  Then in the end the outline was nothing more but a guideline or a hint of what to do next.  If I had followed my outline exactly, my characters would have lost  a lot of their freedom and personality.  Maybe I’m not a good outline writer but I just don’t like to follow something that is step-by-step like that I guess.

I haven’t done an outline since that first year and have enjoyed the process a lot more.

For someone who has never written a novel, I think an outline is a perfect way to start.  You got your ideas out there and you create a bunch of blanks… great jumping off point! But don’t be surprised if you started writing and you start deviating off the path.  When that happens you have to sit there and wonder what you’re going to do.  Stick to the plan or follow whats really going on?

But yeah, its so true… there’s a lot of whiny writers out there.  Or maybe whiny isn’t the word, more like overly defensive.  You bring up outlines and writing programs and they feel like they have to instantly start defending themselves and their beliefs.  I’ve seen it way too many times.

Personally, I don’t care what people do and don’t do.  If I found out that my favorite books were written from an outline, so be it.  If it worked for them it worked for them.  I’m just grateful for the reading.

I do think a lot about using outlines but everytime I try to form one up… just ugh.  Not for me.  Sometimes I wish I had an outline to go off of but I know better.  I know that won’t solve my problems.

Almost NaNo-fied & Ayreon

I don’t remember when, but I remember where I was when I hit 45,000 words.  Good gods.  I.  Am.  So.  Tired.  Not because I was up all night, but I think because I was pacing myself all month, instead of rushing it and setting insane, personal goals.  But I prolly felt like this last year, too.

But what’s really got me excited for the moment is, I believe that this is my best NaNo novel yet.  Which isn’t saying a lot, I think, since ’05 sucks my grumble monkey.  But maybe it doesn’t suck as much as I remember it.  I’ll be sure to give it a read.  *twitch*  Then I must finish writing it.  *double twitch*  But at least I know of some stuff that happens in it, thanks to this year and book 3.

As for <strong>Ayreon</strong>.. I don’t know… <strong>Fred</strong>? You might <strike>like</strike> love them.

I got the chance to hear “Into the Electric Castle”.  ZOMG.  Yeah.  That sums it up.

But really, folks.  Electric Castle was exactly like this: Pink Floyd’s The Wall meets Jesus Christ Super Star, who just got back from a convention on Egyptology and they make a sweet sweet baby with the help of Ramstien’s german grunting while Metallica/insert-metal-band-here watches from the sidelines, smoking pot and illegally downloading bits and peices of New Age music.

Yeah.  Like I said:

ZOMG!