NaNoWriMo 2012

So apparently I’m a horrible person and completely forgot about this blog for a good… what, year? Wow, I’m.. wow. That’s worse than usual, and I do so apologize. However, it’s mostly for my benefit, so screw everyone else (I kid… mostly).

Anyhoo, I am underway with NaNoWriMo 2012, and it’s going swimmingly thus far. A series of unfortunate events led me to not finish Camp NaNoWriMo this summer, such as falling behind normally and then the death of my grandfather, but I’m making good headway so far this month. It’s the fifth day, and I’m already at 15,2021 and counting. Let’s call it a word sprint day and call it a day, shall we?

The premise of this year’s novel is a little different from how I’d normally write. This time, every chapter is from a different character’s perspective, but the plot focuses on Luke Wells, the protagonist of the story. He always wears a red string tied a few times around his little finger, but he refuses to say why when anyone asks him why. You’ll find out why as the story progresses. Other characters include his geeky little brother (based loosely on my own personality), his single mother Samantha, his best friends Katie and Clark, his grandmother Helen, and his uncle Jeffery.

Now, I don’t really want to give any plot spoilers, but I will say that this is definitely darker than anything I’ve ever written thus far, both in plot and in character development . The characters have a different angle than I’m used to, but I’m seeing it as a challenge that I’m glad to take on.

Aaaaand… that’s really all I have for you today. I’ll try my best to post more updates, but honestly, I can’t guarantee that I will because I’m a horrible person who’s really bad with unenforced deadlines.

Two Weeks In

Welp, it’s August 14th, and Camp NaNoWriMo is just about halfway through- tomorrow, actually. And I’m absolutely horrible at updating this thing, and I do so apologize for that.

However, I do have good news. The quota for today is 22,580. My word count goal for myself is 28,000. What am I really at? 27,685 and there’s still time in the day to write. I mean, come on- look at the clock. It’s almost three o’clock in the morning. What I am trying (apparently unsuccessfully) to say is that I am pretty much perfectly on track, word count-wise.
Now ask me if I’m happy with the story I’ve written so far. The answer? Yes, and no. Naturally, I’ve had to forcibly shut my inner editor up throughout the entire thing, or else I would have scrapped entire conversations that the story really couldn’t have done without, but for the most part I’ve stuck to my outline and expanded from there, and I’m more or less pleased with the results.

Last November was a complete disaster. I didn’t have an outline of the story- just vague ideas for a plot and backstories, and that was ultimately my downfall. Yes, I reached 50,000 words, but the draft wasn’t even fit for anyone’s eyes at that point. I said in an earlier post that I left it open for a sequel, but the truth of the matter was that I had jumbled the story so much that it didn’t even make any sense, so my ending wasn’t really an ending. On top of that, I was writing about things which I had absolutely no knowledge. In a large chunk of the ending, my characters were climbing Mt. Everest. I have never been mountain climbing (thought I want to someday), so I had absolutely no idea what it was like. In The Truth Seeker (I retitled the story), I pretty much know what I’m writing about- the experiences and all that. Yes, my main characters are mermaids, but I’ve been swimming. I’ve done some research on how light penetrates water and how fish deal with pressure and all the fun stuff of swimming really really deep underneath the surface of the ocean.

Plus,  I really like swimming. A lot. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to do this story in the summer, so I’d actually have the opportunity to go swimming, and not sitting inside with a cup of cocoa and a bunch of blankets, watching the snow fall outside the window. Yup, your typical winter in the Midwest.

And now, since I’ve rambled on for far too long, I’ll leave you with an excerpt from the current chapter 5. That’s subject to massive change during editing. To give you some brief back story since this is a really short excerpt, Medea (my main character) and Ruka (her second in command have just come back from a hunting expedition- and they were hunting humans.

Some merfolk considered it barbaric and, in some cases, disgusting that some still hunted humans for food, but truth be told, that was how merfolk started out. They were hunters of men, not the happy-go-lucky singing mermaid princesses that humans idolized. They were not merely pretty things to be admired; they were fierce warriors in their own right, and they would eat what they damned well pleased.

Disclaimer: This story and all its characters are mine. Don’t steal them, ‘kay? Thanks!

Yeah, I know- it’s really short, but it’s early and I need to sleep, so…

Happy writing!

For real this time

Does anyone else think that this song sounds a lot like Pirates of the Carribbean, especially around the 6:00 mark? It’s a little weird.

Anyhoo, now that I’ve gotten some sleep and a shower, I feel a heck of a lot better, so you lucky ducks get to read my pseudo-synopsis and an excerpt! Woo!

Synopsis: Two polar opposites must work together and find a cure to a poison that threatens the survival of their people.

No, it’s not really specific, nor should it be.

Excerpt:

He was a shark hybrid, but his dorsal fin had been torn off near where it met his back. His other fins had deep gouges on them, and bruises were just starting to show up on his face and torso. Medea frowned and slowly swam up to him, holding her hands out in front of her in peace. She lowered her fins to her body to seem smaller. The boy glared and bared his teeth for a moment, but let her approach.

“What is your name?” She asked in a low, quiet voice.

“Ga- Galen,” he replied, wiping the blue tears defiantly from his eyes.

“Why are you crying, Galen?”

He shook his head. “I- he’ll be mad if I say.”

Medea didn’t reply, but sat on a nearby rock, handing him her lunch.

Galen’s eyes widened as he scented the shrimp. He hesitated, but at her nod took it and practically inhaled it. “It’s good,” he muttered.

Medea gave a small smile. “You know, the military feeds you every day. Most times even three times a day.” She broke into a grin as Galen’s eyes widened. “You look a little young-”

“I’m fifteen cycles old!”

“You’re still a little young, but I… know some people. I’ll pull some strings.”

“You’d do that?” Galen whispered, disbelieving. “Why?”

Medea thought about it for a second before answering. “Because I don’t want to see children suffer.”

“I’m not a child!”

“Galen, I am almost two hundred cycles old. You are a child, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone has to start somewhere.”

“What if I don’t make it through training?” Galen muttered, folding his tail up to wrap his arms around it. “I’m not strong.”

Medea snorted. “Not strong? You’re part shark. And even for some gods-forbidden reason you don’t make it, we won’t cast you out. We’ll find you somewhere to go.”

Galen’s head snapped up as he squinted at her. “We? You’re someone important, aren’t you?”

“My name is Medea. I’m the Watcher.”

Galen froze for a moment, and his jaw dropped soundlessly. “You- you’re…”

Medea smiled at him, gave him some simple instructions and sent him on his way towards the barracks. She watched as he swam away in a daze, making sure he headed in the right direction, and then continued on her way around the palace toward the market. She had just passed the gate when she heard her name called.

“Now what?” She muttered, turning. Zipping down the path was one of the palace guards, Lazarus, she thought his name was.

Disclaimer: This story and all its characters are mine. Don’t steal them, ‘kay? Thanks!

Happy writing!

Day 2-3

Camp NaNoWriMo is well on its way! It is currently day 3 (although I haven’t slept yet so it’s really still like day 2 for me). With 31 days in August, the word quota per day is around 1613. Being day 3, I should be at 4838 at the end of the day. What am I really at?

Eight thousand four hundred and one. Yeah, that’s 8,401. As in words. In three days. What. Did I mention I’m still writing more tonight?

Oh, and while I was listening to the song below, I wrote the most amusing sentence I think I’ve ever penned, or typed: “People were more prone to get out of the way of fierce warriors on dolphins than simple mermaids with pokey sticks.” I really have to stop writing while I’m sleep deprived. For real.

There’s not much more to report, but I’ll post a synopsis and excerpt when I’m less loopy from sleep deprivation and/or blood loss (I’m giving blood, I’m not mortally wounded).

Happy writing!

T minus 7 hours

Camp NaNoWriMo starts in 7 hours. I’m hyped up on caffiene and raring to go. LET’S DO THIS.

Pencils and pen for quick notes, laptop for music (and word processor- I’m not that much of a masochist that I’m writing 175 pages by hand), appropriately themed background, laser pointer to distract the cat, sticky tabs for quick reference, and, most importantly, diet Mountain Dew. Well, that’s going back in the fridge to chill until later tonight, but yeah.

I thought I’d share my soundtrack for this week, as well as some last-minute inspirational pictures that I’ve picked up on DeviantArt.

Can you tell who I listen to a lot yet?

^^ Probably my favorite piece of music to listen to while writing action scenes.

And I’ll leave you with these for now. I’ll try to make a post every couple of days to report on my progress, but to be perfectly honest, I’m not guaranteeing it.

Anyhoo, happy writing, and good luck!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these videos or pictures.

T Minus 3 days

Hey. Camp NaNoWriMo starts in three days. EEEEEEEEEEEEEP! Sorry. I’m just bored to tears with a four-month long summer vacation (sounds fun, right… it’s not), and need something productive to do. I guess school starts in 23 days, but still.

So, with that, I leave you with a sense of exhilaration, excitement, trepidation and….

Fish. I found this on io9 a while back, but I cannot for the life of me find it again.

EDIT: Here it is. I’m just blind.

Happy writing! And good luck to you NaNoWriMos!

Pictures: Landscapes

Time for some landscapes! I seriously wish I could draw/paint/doodle half as well as any of these people. However, my talent lies elsewhere. Mostly in rambling randomly on queue, but that’s another story for another day.

Photo Source: merl1ncz on DeviantArt

Photo Source: Fel-X on DeviantArt

Photo source: Apofiss on DeviantArt

Photo Source: tgw-Raptor on DeviantArt