So, yesterday, after arriving home from church and finding that we were not going on our weekly geocache, I was a bit bummed.
For me, geocaches are a breath of fresh air (literally) and I absolutely love them.
For those of you who don't know, geocaching is treasure hunting done with a GPS ("Global Positioning System"... or something like that). You go to the official geocaching website, type in where you are and how far you're willing to travel, and voila! It gives you a list of coordinates to nearby geocaches that you can chase after! They have easy ones that you drive up to, step out of your car, and find without really looking, and they have ones where you have to hike five miles through woods, briars, creeks, etc.
They get pretty interesting-- Especially when your little brother about falls off a cliff into a creek, or when you have to climb through connecting trees to cross said creek. Or there's always when you get dizzy and start seeing things for lack of water. (Yes, my family tends to do things the hard way, don't let it scare you off)
Anyways. In the end you find a plastic container full of (usually) useless plastic toys. But what you find isn't the joy of it, it's how it is found! Who wants to stroll down a paved sidewalk, look over your shoulder, and say, "Oh, there it is." When you can crawl under fences, tramp through nettles, climb through trees, and then, with great relief, at last turn over that special rock and shout, "FOUND IT!!!!"
Sure, in the extreme temperatures, like Summer and dead of Winter, easy caches are the way to go. But otherwise? Easy caches are for the weak of heart.
Plus, there's all the listening to music and chatting on the way to the cache site.
...That was a rather long rabbit trail far off what I was going to talk about. Ah well, you can see, I love geocaching.
And yesterday, we didn't go, and I was a bit sad over.
But then it occurred to me that I had an awful lot of writing to get done. See, on September 3rd, 4th, and 5th (Labor Day weekend), I am going to write a novel. A complete novel.
Yes, I'm insane, no need to tell me.
And I would very much like to have the current novel I'm working on ("Avesolitus") finished by that time, which gives me about three weeks. And on top of that, I would very much like to finish "Avesolitus" by the 31st of August, so I have some no-writing time before the 3Day Novel, to recuperate and think a few things through. And, before yesterday, I was only partly through the first chapter.
Yeah. Problem? I think yes.
So, instead of moping about no geocache, I decided I would write. A lot. As close to 10,000 words as I could get.
At 12:00pm, I started. I finished chapter one, zipped through three more chapters, and then, most of the way through chapter four, I ground to a sudden and final halt.
7:30pm
It seems you can run completely dry on creative juices. I'd not experienced it so potently before, but it happened yesterday. After seven and a half hours of writing, I just couldn't think of a single interesting thing to write.
I was a bit worried that I had used up all my creativity in one day, and wouldn't have anymore for a week or so.
But, the mind is a wonderful thing! After a cup of tea and a night of sleep (albeit not the most restful sleep), it has refreshed itself and is chafing at the bit to start writing again.
So, off I go!
Oh, and in case you were wondering, and are still reading this very long blog post, my final word count yesterday was 8,500 words.
Leaving me with a total word count of 14,166 words for "Avesolitus".
Yes, you may now be amazed.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Avesolitus Update Two
So, this is... Day seven of writing "Avesolitus" (estimated).
Including the chapter I wrote that I am rewriting, and some random scenes from other places in the book, I've written 5,684 words. Hoping to get some more work done on it before bed...
I'm eight pages into the first chapter. I've totally changed the beginning. Well. Actually, pretty much the whole chapter. I think it is coming together better this way though, so I'm hopeful that I won't have to rewrite this chapter for a fourth time. Currently Nichol, my main character, is in a... kind of hospital-type place. And of course, not very happy about it.
Anyways, there we go! An update! I'm going to try and update as often as possible, to hopefully help keep me on the ball with this. And with editing "Faerlocher", which I didn't get any work done on today.
'Till next time!
Including the chapter I wrote that I am rewriting, and some random scenes from other places in the book, I've written 5,684 words. Hoping to get some more work done on it before bed...
I'm eight pages into the first chapter. I've totally changed the beginning. Well. Actually, pretty much the whole chapter. I think it is coming together better this way though, so I'm hopeful that I won't have to rewrite this chapter for a fourth time. Currently Nichol, my main character, is in a... kind of hospital-type place. And of course, not very happy about it.
Anyways, there we go! An update! I'm going to try and update as often as possible, to hopefully help keep me on the ball with this. And with editing "Faerlocher", which I didn't get any work done on today.
'Till next time!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Current Happenings in my Imagination
Okay, so in the last post I gave a pretty broad overview of my writings and such. Here, I'll cover what is at hand.
As I mentioned, I'm editing "Faerlocher" and writing "Avesolitus".
Faerlocher progress is going... All right, I'm working on the second chapter, and it is going notably slower than the first chapter, mostly because I have three or four new scenes to write and add to chapter two. I'm making a pretty major change to the story: Adding a whole new character. So this will be a very interesting experience... I've probably never done this much major editing since I wrote Ravenhollow, and rewrote half the story. But, despite going slowly, it is going well.
In Avesolitus, I've finished chapter one, but am rewriting it. For the third time. Thankfully, I think this time will do it. I actually got inspiration at ten o'clock last night, my official bedtime that is often stretched because story inspiration loves to strike right around that time. Anyways, I wrote nearly a thousand words in thirty minutes, which was refreshing and, of course, exciting! Now I just need to read through it and see if it turned out as good as I thought it did last night.
Aside from those two stories, I'm determined to write a short story, eventually. I hate writing short stories, quite honestly, but it seems that is the best way to get noticed in the story writing world, so I'll just have to deal with it.
And, I'm developing the characters for "Einmaesquet" and "C.G.", which is my favorite part of story making. Characters are just plain awesome and so rewarding to get to know! I shall definitely have to make a post about my charries sometime...
Until then, farewell!
As I mentioned, I'm editing "Faerlocher" and writing "Avesolitus".
Faerlocher progress is going... All right, I'm working on the second chapter, and it is going notably slower than the first chapter, mostly because I have three or four new scenes to write and add to chapter two. I'm making a pretty major change to the story: Adding a whole new character. So this will be a very interesting experience... I've probably never done this much major editing since I wrote Ravenhollow, and rewrote half the story. But, despite going slowly, it is going well.
In Avesolitus, I've finished chapter one, but am rewriting it. For the third time. Thankfully, I think this time will do it. I actually got inspiration at ten o'clock last night, my official bedtime that is often stretched because story inspiration loves to strike right around that time. Anyways, I wrote nearly a thousand words in thirty minutes, which was refreshing and, of course, exciting! Now I just need to read through it and see if it turned out as good as I thought it did last night.
Aside from those two stories, I'm determined to write a short story, eventually. I hate writing short stories, quite honestly, but it seems that is the best way to get noticed in the story writing world, so I'll just have to deal with it.
And, I'm developing the characters for "Einmaesquet" and "C.G.", which is my favorite part of story making. Characters are just plain awesome and so rewarding to get to know! I shall definitely have to make a post about my charries sometime...
Until then, farewell!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Greetings and Salutations, People of the World
Well... Hi!
After some thought as to what to use this blog for, since I'd started it on a whim without really knowing why I was starting this, I have decided to use it primarily for writing motivation.
So there you have it, what this blog is going to be about: My writings. I'll post updates about my writings, and probably some short stories too.
Now, who on earth am I? Good question...
I'm an aspiring writer, who writes primarily Fantasy/Sci-Fi Adventure novels, but also enjoys writing some Adventure novels that aren't Fantasy or Sci-Fi. I hope to get published one day, though I don't necessarily want to become really famous to the present day. Getting some notice now, enough to earn some money off of, then having my books last for a while after I'm dead would be awesome.
Aside from writing, I enjoy...
Music. I play piano, ocarina, drums, voice, and a little guitar, and have a lot more instruments I want to learn.
Foreign languages. Though I'm far from fluent in any language but English (and sometimes I really wonder how well I speak even that), I've played around in many languages... Latin, Greek, Bulgarian, Russian, German, ASL, and Japanese. I'm currently focusing on Latin, due to my current novel.
Dance. I've had experience with a number of different dance types. Ballet, Square, Swing, Drill, and HipHop... Really enjoy that, much to some peoples' amazement, since I tend to be the more introverted type.
And, of course, I love to read. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins, "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Narnia Chronicles" by C.S. Lewis, "Deception" by Randy Alcorn, and "Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are some of my favorites.
So. Since this is primarily going to be a writing blog, I suppose it would be a good idea to give you a brief idea where I stand, writing-wise.
I've come up with stories ever since I can remember, wrote my first story when I was around ten, and after that started several stories. I only finished two short stories, whilst all the rest of my ideas meandered on into nothingness, until I found "The One Year Adventure Novel" curriculum. With the help of that and National Novel Writing Month, I managed to finish my first novel in 2008: "Ravenhollow", a story about a school that housed and taught highschoolers with superpowers. Fantasy Adventure novel set in the modern world.
After that, I didn't write anything else until exactly a year later, instead I focused on editing and revising "Ravenhollow", which needed a lot of work.
But, in 2009, I began and finished "Secrets Rise", which was about a street girl caught up in the midst of a conspiracy. Adventure novel set in the modern world.
Then, I really started writing.
In 2010, I wrote four novels and novellas:
"Raven" (a Fantasy Adventure novella set in a medieval world, about a girl who controls shadows)
"Lost and Found" (another Fantasy Adventure novella, set in the modern world this time, about a girl with bird wings from an institution that does experiments on humans)
"Faerlocher" (a Fantasy Adventure novel [my longest novel up to date] set in the modern world, about a girl who finds dragons and faeries in her barn)
and "Hidden" (a Mystery/Fantasy/Adventure novel set in the same medieval world as "Raven", about a woman trying to figure out who or what is behind the mysterious deaths of people in her village)
This year I have only finished one novel: "Fusion through the Flood", an Adventure set in the modern world about a group of spies.
I've been focusing more on editing/revising/polishing a novel ("Faerlocher") to prepare it for publishing.
Not long after deciding to focus on "Faerlocher", I found that I cannot go without writing something new for long, so I took up my idea list, and am now in the midst of both editing "Faerlocher", and writing a new, currently unnamed story that I am simply calling "Avesolitus" at the moment. I would tell you what it is about, but honestly, all I know is that it is Sci-Fi/Fantasy, set in the future, about a group trying to save an almost extinct species. Sounds really boring, I know, but this nearly extinct species is a group of warriors with flying squirrel-like wings who speak Latin... well, it is a bit more interesting. At least, I hope so.
Aside from "Avesolitus", I'm soon going to be writing two other stories, both unnamed, but at the moment being called:
"Einmaesquet" (Sci-Fi, Adventure)
and "C.G." (Sci-Fi?, Adventure)
And no, I'm not saying much of anything about those two. Mostly because I haven't the slightest clue what they're going to be about. All I know is the characters, as is usual when I start working on a novel. So you don't get to hear how awesome they are.
Or maybe you're relieved you don't have to hear me ramble about them.
Now... this post has gotten a lot longer than I thought it would be, so I'll wrap it up. And possibly shorten it if I read through it on the blog and decide I don't want to completely bore anyone who stops by right off the bat.
If you're still reading, thanks for doing so! Hopefully I'll actually pay attention to this blog instead of forget about it...
After some thought as to what to use this blog for, since I'd started it on a whim without really knowing why I was starting this, I have decided to use it primarily for writing motivation.
So there you have it, what this blog is going to be about: My writings. I'll post updates about my writings, and probably some short stories too.
Now, who on earth am I? Good question...
I'm an aspiring writer, who writes primarily Fantasy/Sci-Fi Adventure novels, but also enjoys writing some Adventure novels that aren't Fantasy or Sci-Fi. I hope to get published one day, though I don't necessarily want to become really famous to the present day. Getting some notice now, enough to earn some money off of, then having my books last for a while after I'm dead would be awesome.
Aside from writing, I enjoy...
Music. I play piano, ocarina, drums, voice, and a little guitar, and have a lot more instruments I want to learn.
Foreign languages. Though I'm far from fluent in any language but English (and sometimes I really wonder how well I speak even that), I've played around in many languages... Latin, Greek, Bulgarian, Russian, German, ASL, and Japanese. I'm currently focusing on Latin, due to my current novel.
Dance. I've had experience with a number of different dance types. Ballet, Square, Swing, Drill, and HipHop... Really enjoy that, much to some peoples' amazement, since I tend to be the more introverted type.
And, of course, I love to read. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins, "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Narnia Chronicles" by C.S. Lewis, "Deception" by Randy Alcorn, and "Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are some of my favorites.
So. Since this is primarily going to be a writing blog, I suppose it would be a good idea to give you a brief idea where I stand, writing-wise.
I've come up with stories ever since I can remember, wrote my first story when I was around ten, and after that started several stories. I only finished two short stories, whilst all the rest of my ideas meandered on into nothingness, until I found "The One Year Adventure Novel" curriculum. With the help of that and National Novel Writing Month, I managed to finish my first novel in 2008: "Ravenhollow", a story about a school that housed and taught highschoolers with superpowers. Fantasy Adventure novel set in the modern world.
After that, I didn't write anything else until exactly a year later, instead I focused on editing and revising "Ravenhollow", which needed a lot of work.
But, in 2009, I began and finished "Secrets Rise", which was about a street girl caught up in the midst of a conspiracy. Adventure novel set in the modern world.
Then, I really started writing.
In 2010, I wrote four novels and novellas:
"Raven" (a Fantasy Adventure novella set in a medieval world, about a girl who controls shadows)
"Lost and Found" (another Fantasy Adventure novella, set in the modern world this time, about a girl with bird wings from an institution that does experiments on humans)
"Faerlocher" (a Fantasy Adventure novel [my longest novel up to date] set in the modern world, about a girl who finds dragons and faeries in her barn)
and "Hidden" (a Mystery/Fantasy/Adventure novel set in the same medieval world as "Raven", about a woman trying to figure out who or what is behind the mysterious deaths of people in her village)
This year I have only finished one novel: "Fusion through the Flood", an Adventure set in the modern world about a group of spies.
I've been focusing more on editing/revising/polishing a novel ("Faerlocher") to prepare it for publishing.
Not long after deciding to focus on "Faerlocher", I found that I cannot go without writing something new for long, so I took up my idea list, and am now in the midst of both editing "Faerlocher", and writing a new, currently unnamed story that I am simply calling "Avesolitus" at the moment. I would tell you what it is about, but honestly, all I know is that it is Sci-Fi/Fantasy, set in the future, about a group trying to save an almost extinct species. Sounds really boring, I know, but this nearly extinct species is a group of warriors with flying squirrel-like wings who speak Latin... well, it is a bit more interesting. At least, I hope so.
Aside from "Avesolitus", I'm soon going to be writing two other stories, both unnamed, but at the moment being called:
"Einmaesquet" (Sci-Fi, Adventure)
and "C.G." (Sci-Fi?, Adventure)
And no, I'm not saying much of anything about those two. Mostly because I haven't the slightest clue what they're going to be about. All I know is the characters, as is usual when I start working on a novel. So you don't get to hear how awesome they are.
Or maybe you're relieved you don't have to hear me ramble about them.
Now... this post has gotten a lot longer than I thought it would be, so I'll wrap it up. And possibly shorten it if I read through it on the blog and decide I don't want to completely bore anyone who stops by right off the bat.
If you're still reading, thanks for doing so! Hopefully I'll actually pay attention to this blog instead of forget about it...
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