Friday, December 14, 2012

Push It Baby

MOTIVATION! I NEED MOTIVATION!

I know I've got the deadline and I'm practically done with this novel but at the same time I'm not almost done. You know what I mean? I know where I need to go with it and I know how to get there, but the amount of time it will take to get there, meaning details and things, vary with each time I try to write.

Do I put a cute scene in or do I not?
Yes. Make them feel for the ending and their choices.

Do I add a little moment from the past for them to remember at the worst possible time?
Yeah, sounds perfect to make them know that they are real, they have a past.

So lets get this done!
YEAH!

But...where to go to connect the dots?

Lets make it up as we go! WOO!

Happy Holidays! xx

Amy

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Reconnecting

As you know, this project that created this blog has long been over. But that doesn't mean that my novel is done. In fact, I'm still writing the ending to it. There was a break for a while with me leaving it to grow musty. I did however edit what I had over the summer.

I absolutely loved editing it! I had forgotten so much that had gone on in the story before hand and I was so proud of myself for writing what I thought was really well done!

In fact, this past semester at school, this one's nearly done (one day to go!), I had a friend read it all the way through. The last person I had read it didn't make it very far before break, but she didn't seem to interested in reading it anyway. But this one, Melody, devoured it! She helped me edit, pointed out mistakes, gave her input, and the like. She was very much an editor which I sorely needed at that point in the story.

Melody gave me a deadline to have this novel finished. I intend on keeping that deadline for many reasons, but the biggest two are because a) she's not coming back to this school next semester and b) I want to get this sucker finished.

I have until Christmas. Maybe I'll even post once a day like I did with the project to keep me focused! Lightning just struck. And oh yeah, that was a pun. Not sure if I told you guys the title of my book!

When Lightning Strikes.

Happy Holidays xx



Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Mission: Complete

As you know if you've read yesterday's post, I've made it past the 50,000 word mark that makes any written work considered a novel. It's still not a finished book but it is at 51,061 words. Tonight before I go to bed though I will update with the final word count that marks the end of this project.


Honestly I'm not too sure how much I'll get done tonight because I'm watching the last two Rose Tyler episodes of Doctor Who with my roommate and that seems to be getting my attention more than this book. But I will definitely write some more today.


I'm going to continue with my writing schedule until it is ready to be edited. But I'll have a small break between putting the last sentence to this novel and beginning the editing process. I also have a team already lined up to read the book when it's finished which they will also be part of my editing team.


There's still much work to put into this novel but I think by the end it'll all be worth it.


-Amy


Update: Weighing in at a whopping 90 pages with single spaced lines of pure literature, I finish this class assignment (not the book itself) with 52,100 words organized into sixteen chapters.

Monday, March 26, 2012

One More Day! Passed 50,000 Words!

At 4:33 this morning I hit my second deadline of the day which was 48,333 words. It was the second deadline of the day because I had yet to sleep to make it from one day's deadline to the next. I hadn't slept because I was unable to. But that predicament made it possible for me to gain another day's work for this novel within the 30 days.


As of right now, I only have to write another 859 words for the day to make it the length of a novel. This is extremely exciting. Not only is it the longest piece of work I've stuck with writing, it's also the only novel I've ever worked this long, diligent and dedicated on.


It's also almost finished. I plan on using the extra day I have now to try to finish up the story. I hadn't expected to get to the 50,000 word mark a day early but it will definitely help me in the completion process. I'm excited to see if I can give myself one last challenge and put an ending on this book with my spare day.


Video found on youtube


-Amy


Update:
My 50,000th word is:
I officially have the word count to be considered a novel!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

So Close To Completion

Today I'm starting out with a completed 45,715 words when I have to get to 46,666. Less than a thousand to write for the day but I'll go way over. I would absolutely love if I hit two deadlines in one day. Not only would I finish the project early but I would be that much closer to actually putting an end to my book.

I've blocked out my entire day for writing this book, my Lit Review for English class and my paper for my EdPsy class. I have quite a bit of time for my EdPsy paper so that's kind of an extra thing for the day if I get to where I want to. But I'll probably just do that tomorrow when I have more time.

For those of you who are wondering, I'm actually starting to like how my book is turning out. I'm starting to like the character that I've been iffy on and have started to enjoy writing it again. I think my hatred of a certain character and writing was just a hump I had to get over in the process that I've now gotten over.

A small side effect of writing so much every day is that writing this 8-12 page paper for English is way to easy. I fear I may actually have to cut back quite a bit to keep it within that 12 page range. But that's better than not having enough to say about my experiment.

Here's some music that's keeping me company as I continue to write papers and my novel. Enjoy :)

Video found on youtube
-Amy

Saturday, March 24, 2012

More Choices - Three Days Left

I'm so close to the ending of this project but still a bit away from the ending of this novel unless I make a certain decision today.


I'm not to big on time skips in books because many of them aren't done properly or effectively and that's one of my biggest fears with my novel because I already have a major time skip in the story. I'm now at a crossroads of either using another one for the characters preparations or I could use no time skip and make it more difficult for the characters in their adventure.


Choices choices. 


The problem today with me making choices however is the fact that I don't want to do anything. Everyone's had those blah days where doing anything productive just doesn't sound fun. I've managed to push through those days during this process so far so hopefully I can push through again. Last night was another one of those moments and I managed to hit and pass the word count then.


But I have to make up my mind with the time skip soon or I won't be able to write how I want and may even make my first failed word count which even as I'm writing this I know I won't allow that to happen.


Video found on youtube
-Amy

Friday, March 23, 2012

That Was Easy

Last night I expected to have a difficult time hitting my deadline with all of my plans. Much to my surprise I got it done before I even left for Noblesville. In fact, I went way over the deadline and for today if I want to hit the mark, I just have to write another 632 words.


I know where I want to be going with the next couple scenes so hitting that mark and surpassing it should be pretty easy if I keep up with it. The only thing I'm worried about is my other English homework like writing that paper.


This is a short post so I'll just leave you with this.


Question for the audience:
What's the longest thing you've written whether it's a novel or a school paper?


Video found on youtube
Luke Conard - The Arena


-Amy

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Tonight Will Be A Challenge

As you know, I'm going to the Hunger Games tonight which means little time for me to write. But, I'll just take it as a challenge that I hope to accomplish rather than have my first deadline miss. But I shall attempt to make it to 41,666 words tonight.


I've just been informed that I have more time than I thought right now to get this into my word count. But my dilemma is whether or not I work on my novel or the lit review for English tomorrow. Not going to lie, I'll probably do the novel based purely on the fact that I have time between my math class and English class for me to get some work done.


Don't get me wrong, homework is important and I swear I'm not putting it off, I'm just planning out my time. That is after all what all the articles said to do when I was researching how to write a novel successfully in just 30 days.


Now I'm going to go into my mind palace and create a stressful and telling scene.


20 points if you understood the reference in the previous sentence.


-Amy


Update: I hit the deadline for today in just an hour and a half! Now onto the schoolwork! :D

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

40,000 Words, 10,000 To Go!

I just reread through my research proposal for this project and I noticed that I wrote "I expect to be stressed throughout this project due to the amount of schoolwork I also have deadlines for as well as writing this novel and keeping up with the blog about it". I haven't really been stressed at all with this project besides the small moments of me wondering how bad and when I was going to hit the writers block wall.

With already having written 40,000 words by the end of the day today you'd expect me to have had stressful encounters with my computer and myself but that doesn't seem to be the case. What I find odd however is that I'm a little worried about hitting the 50,000 word mark.


Because this is an assignment, I was able to keep up with the novel and the blog. But what happens after I've finished? Will I still have the desire to finish and complete this book with my whole heart? I like to believe that I will but the future is something I'm unsure of. Things can get in the way and change plans but I'd love to keep myself focused on this project.


I'm so close to the end it's very exciting, but I know that my word count will go way over 50,000 words, but of course, not more than 120,000. Publishers don't want new writers to have books over 120,000 words. I'm hoping that I can get this published in a few months when I feel like it's ready.


Feeling like it's ready is going to take work. While I'm reading I keep finding myself comparing it to people like JK Rowling or Suzanne Collins which is not good because there's nobody who can write like them. But there are some ways I can at least calm myself down about my own work.


To get this to it's full potential I'm going to have my friends read it, point out parts that need editing, go over it myself multiple times, and trust in myself with this. But it helps that I have so many people around me wanting to read it.


Video found on youtube


-Amy

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Editing Will Be Long

How I approach parts of my story I don't like is that I'll fix it during editing. That's what it's for anyway right? Fix what you don't like, take out what shouldn't belong. I feel like what I wrote last night is going to have a major amount of that editing process. It seems to me as if I just skimmed over the whole thing. Not just because I could or I wasn't feeling too creative, but because there wasn't to much to the time frame of waiting.


I'm debating on actually fixing it now and making it more difficult for my main character. But I feel as if I need to give her time to think through everything. And I gave her some type of story to what makes the jump in time a little bit more approachable.


But in other news I have finally decided what I want to do with the main character at the end. In fact I wrote the very last sentence just today, ready to be lead up to the end. I'm quite fond of the ending even if the people who read it don't like what I do with her. I know I'd be miffed if I was reading a book and it ended the way I'm ending mine, but that's half the fun in writing. Getting the audience to have a reaction.
Picture found on tumblr.
I can only hope that I can make someone have the exact reaction the picture depicts but as of right now I feel like I wont, but that may just me being too hard on myself again. I'll find out during editing when I have to go back through and read it all over again.


Today I'll be getting past 38,333 words and as stated in the previous post, I'll be making sure it goes well beyond that so I don't have to write so much the night of my premiere.


-Amy

Monday, March 19, 2012

May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

This week is going to be a little bit different than the past few weeks of this project. That is because, you guessed it, I'll be attending the Hunger Games midnight premiere. Because I'll be going to the Noblesville Imax for this movie I'm going to have to plan my deadlines around that while still keeping up with my schoolwork.

Honestly, this shouldn't be too hard and if you've been following my blog, you should know that I can hit the word count if I keep myself focused and have a certain time deadline for myself. But because I have little time on Thursday to myself to actually write, I'll be going quite a bit over every day for my own word count so I may even be able to eliminate a whole days worth of writing altogether.

Hopefully my thoughts, ideas, plans, characters and odds will be in my favor so I won't have to miss a deadline at all during this project. It's worked for me so far, here's hoping I can continue that until I actually finish the novel which will in fact go past the allotted 50,000 words.


Video found on youtube

-Amy

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Inspiration

To write a story with length, depth and heart, to begin you don't just need an idea, you need inspiration. But you don't just need inspiration once to conquer the entire book, you need it throughout the writing process, the editing process, and the publishing process. Without inspiration you hit a wall, get writers block, and lose confidence in yourself and your writing.


Inspiration can come from anywhere. Recently, I knew where I wanted to go with my story but I had no idea how to get there. My inspiration for that fix is named Sarah and she helped me come up with a way to make the scene a little bit more dramatic and suspenseful. With just one idea she sparked many different routes to get the story going to where I wanted to lead it. Inspiration is everywhere.


Today's goal is to get to 35,000 words. I have little over a thousand left to write today to get there so that shouldn't be too difficult. I'm the type of writer that takes the scene in question the way I'm feeling at that precise moment. If I'm relaxed, I'll give it a nice fun vibe, if I'm a little peeved, I'll probably make someone get hurt or kill someone off entirely, if I'm loving the weather, oh, here's a nice description of the weather that just happens to be the same in real life as in the novel!


Find your inspiration that helps you create. Create anything, imagination is key to a life of happiness.


-Amy

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Neverland: Where Time Stands Still

Well I just finished watching Neverland (the syfy original movie) and I adored it. I've always wanted to go to Neverland but now with this project I feel like it would be even better. No time to worry about, I could write whenever I wanted. I could write however long or short I wanted a day and it not matter because there is no time that consumes me. No worries to complete it on a deadline. Adventures await.

I haven't written today just yet, I'm going to start as soon as I publish this post to my blog so right now I'm still only at 31,750. Today's goal is to get to 33,333 words. This one may be just a bit tricky because I'm sort of lost at where to go with this now. I don't have writers block because I can think of directions to take it but either I'm not to fond of them or it conflicts with what I want to happen later in the story. Maybe I'll introduce the new character I've been wanting to work in.

In Neverland there are all of these adventures just waiting to be had, but here there's just the adventures we have to dream about. We can only experience them by writing them and sharing them for others to enjoy. It is a type of adventure but you're not actually there sword fighting with pirates, going back in time, fighting for your life or even using powers to defend the world. Writing is an important thing to do if you want to keep people dreaming and innocent. I only hope that what I'm creating now will keep people just as the lost boys are: innocent and ready for any adventure.

Video found on youtube: song found on tumblr

-Amy

Friday, March 16, 2012

It's time for a change!

Image found on tumblr, unknown source

For anyone that knows me, they know just how accurate and perfect this image is. Since I'm guessing the majority of you have no clue what this is, it's a Dalek from Doctor who. It's catch phrase is Exterminate because the human race is inadequate. Well, you can see it's obviously saying Procrastinate and is tumblr. If you've been following my blog, you know that that's the major source of my procrastination.

Well, I'd like to change that, the procrastinating I mean. I spend so much time trying to write that just ends up with me procrastinating on tumblr when I could get the writing done and then spend my time reading or planning. So here's a goal for myself, when I know where I'm going in my story, I have two hours to write the daily 1,666 words. If I should fail, well, I don't know what type of punishment I'll have for myself just yet, but giving myself a time limit usually helps. Just like in a past post I talked about only having an hour or so to write before I had my plans start. I got it finished in time so here's hoping it'll work this time too.

Yesterday I was on stumble upon and I found this: www.terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/03/06/25-things-you-should-know-about-word-choice/
I've been wondering about all of my words choice - if it's effective or catchy, or even making sense. If the word choice makes you hate the main character and love the bad guy. Hopefully this will help me make sense of it all and allow for smoother writing.

I'm afraid I may have hit some type of wall. As of right this second, I'm not quite sure where I want the story to go to next. That's not a good thing in the least. So I plan on spending the next few minutes reading up on what I have so far (not the whole thing of course, just the last chapter) and seeing if I gave any clues to where I was going with this. My planning had stopped just as I finished chapter six part one so here goes the rebirth of how I used to write my novels. Here's to 31,666 word count by tonight! Lets take this anywhere we want to go.

Also, I'm obsessing over this song:



-Amy

Thursday, March 15, 2012

How Fast Is Too Fast?

I've run into the problem before and I keep worrying about it. Am I making this story line go too fast? What is considered too fast anyway? It's not the beginning of the characters story, it's the beginning of where I wanted to start it. So does that mean there really isn't a way to make it go too fast as a novel?


But I had a long discussion about books today with a friend of mine that really helped me think about how I look at each character and how I want it to end. It was a wonderful conversation. Readers for the win!


We also talked about how many words are on an average page in a normal sized novel. Right now, I have about 685ish words on an 8x11 page. I googled for the answer and it came up around 300 a page. If that's true, as of right this second, I would be around page 95 in a normal sized novel! That's so exciting!


I've actually noticed another fun little side effect from writing so much all the time other than my ability to writer longer passages for school easier. I save my work without realizing it. It's second nature to me now to have my mouse up at the save button and every time there's a pause, I click the save button without realizing it. It's an awesome little superpower I must say.


Today I must get to 30,000 words, that means there's going to only be 20,000 left! How weird is that? Already more than half way done but hitting that mark is going to make it feel more like I'm reaching my goal.


While I was writing last night listening to my stereomood.com writing playlist, I came across a song I was quite fond of so I'll put that right below here for your enjoyment.



Question for the readers:
What's the longest book you've read whether it was for school or for fun?


I think mine was about 870 pages. Kudos if you can figure out what book it was.


-Amy

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Cliche College Day Is Living Up To My Expectations

Yeah, today is a balmy 76 degrees which makes every other college student find their ways out of the dorm rooms and into the light, playing games such as Frisbee, soccer and volleyball. Girls are tanning and boys are running. It's as if we were living in a scene from a movie and I'm sure it's not helping that my roommate and I are laying on a blanket writing in the sun with these antics going on around us.

I've always envisioned college life to be just like this, down to the point of me writing outside in the perfect weather. But because it's perfect weather, before I switched back to my laptop in the shade, I had a pen and paper, it was going to be handwritten for the day until we went back inside and I transferred it over. That wasn't to productive, I wanted to just sit there in the sun and do nothing. But now that we're back on my laptop, it's all fixed. I'm writing and enjoying it.

I realized a few days ago an unexpected result of my writing 1,666 every day at least. I write so much more and so much quicker on papers for school now and it's a good thing. It's improved my filler abilities as well as my vocabulary and descriptive skills that school papers so desperately look for.

I stumbled upon a website that is quite lovely for me to use while writing today. It's stereomood.com and I absolutely adore it. There's a link for writing mood and it's wonderful to have on while I'm continuing in this experience. I recommend you check it out for your daily mood needs.

Today I shall be getting to 28,333 words with ease, I know exactly what I want these next two scenes to say so I will be putting all of my effort into it.

Question for my readers:
What is your favorite book, whether it's popular or not and why? What do you look for in novels?

-Amy

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Concerns That Create Distractions

Studies have proven that taking naps help with creativity. This is not a good thing for me right now because I'm so tired, I need to write today's 1,666 words and a small one paged paper for tomorrow. Sleep would be lovely. But instead of taking those filthy naps I despise so much, I'm drinking my Tetley British blend tea to try to keep me awake until my roommate and I head out for dinner. It seems to have been working so I'm not complaining.

I have some concerns of the characters second names that I don't think I'll ever get rid of but that's just me second guessing my punny cliches I enjoy so much. I also can't seem to keep focused on today's amount of writing, probably because of issues with trying to stay awake, tumblr keeps calling my name and I keep succumbing to it's power. On top of that, I found out one of my favorite shows won't start filming again until 2013. Thank you so much BBC for first inflicting emotional pain with Reichenbach Falls and then making us wait over a year.

So because of that news, I've been going on a spree of fandom conflicts (if you're in a fandom you understand this, if not, please excuse my rambles) which makes it even more distracting to me to keep writing what's in my head. And even on top of that, I feel like there's going to be a bit of writers block soon. Not so much to where I can't write, but to the point where I really won't like what I'm putting into the story and feel like it's lazily written. Never a good thing to feel about your writing.

-Amy

Monday, March 12, 2012

25,000 And We're Half Way There!

That's right, today's benchmark is to get to 25,000 words! That's half of the count needed for it to be officially considered a novel! Which also means we're half way done with this immersion. But, I shall continue on until I believe my novel is actually finished. But then, I'm going to take a small break and then make myself participate in the 30 day editing challenge!


Big dreams I know, but since I've been able to keep up with this amount of writing so far without any drawbacks as of yet, I believe I can still do this. All it takes is motivation, creativity, and a little elbow grease.


Question for my readers:
So I realize I haven't actually talked any about my novel except the word count, some music that helps me write and my progress and complaints. Is there anything anyone is curious about or wants to know about/read about the novel itself?


-Amy

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Reintroducing: Time Management

Spring Break is coming to a close today as I head back to Ball State University to finish out my last two months of the school year. But that doesn't mean that this writing experience is near over, I have to once again manage my time around a schedule while I've gotten so accustomed to having no schedule what so ever here.

It shouldn't be difficult seeing as I've easily done it before, but that doesn't mean I'm going to like it, or be quiet about it. My roommate is surely to hear some small complaints thrown out here and there and for that, I'll apologize right now to her. But it's bound to happen. Writing this much all the time while meeting deadlines every day so you don't get put behind and lost completely is rather stressful in and of itself. Lord knows I don't need any more random gray hairs.

But I'm enjoying this beautiful weather by sitting in a room writing on a computer screen. But, my window is open completely and I get that wonderful breeze in here which is very calming which helps me write. The sound of nature and silence is also just as much of a contributor to me getting today's deadline finished.

I'm finishing up on most of the back story for the villain in my novel today and weird to say, I'm actually liking the bad guy a little bit more than the good guys. That may have a strong effect on whether or not I do sacrifice a main character or two at the end like I've been wanting to do since before I started writing it. Only 1,089 left for me to meet tonight's deadline and I'll be a happy camper :)

Here's a song I love to listen to that keeps me writing when I don't feel the need or desire to.

Video found on youtube

-Amy

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Only 17 Days Left

Today I needed to get to 21,666 words. Well, mission accomplished, and I'm still going. I'm going back to campus tomorrow and I'm so not looking forward to that at all. I like my break, and I love being able to have the freedom of finding time for myself to write whenever I want. And then there's the freedom to find a place that works for me to write in peace and alone.

I've found it's much more difficult for me to write around people and noise and back on campus when I'm sharing a room with someone else and we always have our door open because we're just those kinds of floor mates. But since I have no choice but to return to school with the rest of the student body, I must make time once again when it's available to me.

I much prefer break where I get to sleep in and take up time to write when I want, watch some television, and not have to worry about spending food money within a certain time period if at all. But, that all starts again tomorrow sadly and I'm just going to have to re adapt.



-Amy

Friday, March 9, 2012

Only 30,000 to go!

Today's benchmark is 20,000 words. I  have no doubt that I will easily surpass this deadline tonight. I have a whole scene planned out in my head that explains so much of the main two characters. Any confusion felt before in the story should hopefully be gone after this is introduced.

Because it's such an easy task and I only had to write 900 words today because I went so over yesterdays mark I've been spending far too much time on tumblr. But as said before, I'll easily get the deadline passed.

I haven't been able to stop listening to this song (and all of John Mayer's music) and I will say it definitely inspired some future writings. Enjoy :)
Video found on youtube, wouldn't link so I uploaded it from my computer
My Girl - HeyHiHello cover
-Amy

Thursday, March 8, 2012

It's Going To Be A Big, Big, Big Day!

I so hope at least some of you knew that this title is a very famous quote by a miss Effie Trinket from the Hunger Games trilogy. Now that that introduction is out of the way, let me tell you why today is so exciting.

Today I had to wake up early, yes, 9:30 is early for a college student on break, especially after having a friend over all night. I had to go to my old high school and observe an English class for a college course. That went really well. But now, today is a day out and about.

I'm going to the movies (yay Josh Hutcherson! :D), turning in an application for a place I would really love to work at this summer, then dinner at my favorite restaurant (Izakayas), and then I get to go to a Wine and Canvas thing. That's where the legal drinking aged adults go and get wine and paint a famous picture on, you guessed it, a canvas. Now, because I'm only 19 and have no desire to try to drink, I'll just be painting the picture. Still very exciting!

Because I have all of these plans that will go well into the night, I've dedicated the little time I have back home today to finishing my deadline for today's word count. Before I go to sleep I must be at 18,333 words. Right now I'm at 17,112 which is a good place to start for when I get home. I found if I'm ever at a loss for what to have happen next, I could just go back to what's already done and add some dialogue, description, or fix the things people pointed out to me when I sent them the rough draft a few days ago.

I'm finding it easier and easier to write and find time for it, I have less distractions now and I don't know if that's because I've gotten over the proverbial hump or because I'm really getting into this story. Maybe there's a whole other reason all together. Who knows? But the good thing is, it's working and I like it.

-Amy

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

16,666 For Today: But That's A Lot Of Words!

Today I really have one hour to make it up to 16,666 words before one of my best friends comes over to visit. I'm currently at 15,290 and am almost at the end of the planned out section of the novel. I have no distractions for today because I know I want to get this done so I can spend quality time with someone I never get to see anymore because I'm up at BSU and she's not.

The music and internet being turned off last night really helped so I'm going to end up doing that again.

Because I literally only have one hour left before she gets here, this entry is going to be short unless I decide to add on later, which honestly, I probably wont. So, enjoy your day and for those of you on Spring Break, have fun!

-Amy

Update: I hit the mark!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Week 2, Day 9. 15,000 Words

Today I haven't had much time to write, I've been running errands all day with my mother. Finally some time opened up around 2 hours ago and somehow I've managed to procrastinate yet again on tumblr. But, I have been able to add on 152 words in that amount of time. I know, it's not a lot but in total right now I have 13,662 words so that's something.


Tomorrow I'm going to a funeral so I won't have all day to write again but I'm trying new ways to keep me focused. Believe me, I do know what keeps distracting me but for some reason, I don't feel the desire to stop myself from procrastinating. You know what? I'm going to stop it right now. Music - off. No noise to distract me. Once I post this, the internet - off. No facebook or Tumblr to get me. No email for me to keep checking while knowing I didn't get any new messages. I'll just have to sit here and write. Like I used to!


Okay, lets do this. But before I go, here's the best commercial I've ever seen in my entire life.
Video found on Youtube
-Amy

Monday, March 5, 2012

Because This Isn't Nerve Wracking

So today I've realized, not reading through my entire story a billion times to catch up and make sure things are going smoothly in my writing is a very hard thing to do. I always used to do that as a part of my writing process but I'm really trying to just write through it and go back through editing later to make sure its the way I want it. But that's very hard for me to do.

My roommate was going to be a book editor for a future job so she's offered to look over my novel so far for me to see if it's going smoothly and making sense. But for that to happen, she's obviously going to have to read it. I get very anxious when people try to read my work unless it's a paper for school or a short story or poem. Well, even for the short stories I get nervous when they read it.

So once I hit my word mark tonight which is 13,333 words, I'll be sending it to her, hopefully getting some positive feedback. I have many worries about my work so far that I have so many excuses for that personally I hope is just the perfectionist in me seeing and isn't completely apparent right now.

But good news, today, I wasn't upset about having to write. It may be because I stopped writing right before a dream sequence and those seem to be my favorite to write. Those and the death scenes. So hopefully, it's not just that. I'm hoping I've gotten over that initial hump of not wanting to commit that I've experienced with nearly all of my other novels I've attempted to write.

Here's a song that I keep listening to that keeps giving me different perspectives on the main characters development.
Video found on Youtube
-Amy

Sunday, March 4, 2012

23 More Days Of What Now?

It's only day 7 of writing this novel and as my previous posts have mentioned, I've been losing the desire to write and I'm not to fond of what I put to paper. So today, I've been completely procrastinating and spending my time on tumblr. But lets not forget I've been watching 17 Again and She's The Man.

But I've been writing a little bit too. About a paragraph so far today but I know I wont be going to bed tonight without making it to my 11,666 words. But it's not completely my fault for not wanting to write today. I've been forced to write another school scene. And this one isn't going to end up as acceptable as the last one I had to write.

What I do end up getting onto the word document doesn't seem to meet my standards until a later day and I had forgotten what it was I actually wrote. But I'm that way with pretty much all of my creative writings so it's nothing new to me. Giving it time gives me a chance to look at it with a different perspective so hopefully I'll eventually like what I'm having to write today.

Also, the way this is going, I'm going to have to use all 30 days of this project to make it to the 50,000 word mark and the novel still wont be finished.

-Amy

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Oh The Irony

The amount of television I watch on a regular basis is little to none. I barely even have enough time to catch up on the few shows I do watch while at school. But because it's spring break and I'm left home alone for another night, I thought I'd watch an episode of the Simpsons. The first episode I've seen in months and it's about Marge writing and publishing a novel. Believe me, the irony is not lost on me.


My novel is already at 10,242 words. That's 16 pages of what should be readable material.


Video from youtube


Enjoy this song that helped me write certain parts of today's scene :)

Once again, I'm not very fond of what I'm coming up with but hopefully that'll change for tomorrows writing, I have so much more to cover!


-Amy

Friday, March 2, 2012

Writing A Novel Is An Emotional Roller Coaster Ride

I've been hitting my deadlines quickly, efficiently and easily but not without a toll. I have waves of self doubt followed by fits of this isn't turning out half as well as I expected which then turns into moments of I'm loving this so far which goes back to why did I think I was good enough to write a novel? I'm also somewhat stuck on my outline, I'm writing chapter three now, but I stopped outlining after three was thought out.


Last night I spent about 20 minutes staring at the blank bullet points fully aware that once I finished writing chapter three, I'd easily be able to wing it from there and think of more points for the later chapters.


I'm also disappointed in the size of my chapters so hopefully that can be added to when I go through editing, or I'll be able to convince myself that there are good books out there that have short chapters and it's nothing to fear.


But I'm seriously starting to doubt my own writing skills which is not good for an English Education major. The way I used to attempt to write my novels is by when the mood strikes, write it. My emotional standpoint on what I'm writing has a huge effect on me liking it and putting so much thought into it, it's anything but bad.


But with Spring Break officially having started for me, I believe I will be writing so much, I may even finish the 50,000 word mark a day early if not more.


I'm currently working on the death scene of one of my favorite characters who started off the story having already been killed. Yeah, it's a flashback/dream sequence that I'm especially fond of. But it's really hard to write it because I'm so attached to him, I find myself tearing up with every intimate and depressing detail of his death. And because I listen to music sometimes while I write, this song came on and I thought it was really appropriate. I hope you are all aware of the series The Hunger Games. This is a song from the movie coming out soon and if you've read the books, this scene is alike in some aspects to where this song is mentioned.




-Amy

Thursday, March 1, 2012

My Desire Has Shriveled Away For The Day

Yesterday I wrote about how I didn't like what I was writing. Well, I reread through it last night and it turns out, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was so kudos for that right? Well, I wrote a fun scene last night and now for today, I'm left with a boring scene that's introducing another character that while she is important to the plot, I hate writing school scenes. School scenes are just so boring and feel too adolescent.


Honestly, I'm writing this post right at this very moment to avoid writing the scene I will eventually have to write tonight. My roommate is also having to hear me complain about having to write this part. But she's also a writer (and we share a major) so she understands the difficulty of pushing yourself to write the parts you don't want to.


I made it past my 5000 word count last night as well as got assignments done for school (one isn't even due for another week!) I know, I'm such an overachiever. But now, I somewhat regret staying out a bit late with friends after dinner because I have a concert to attend for music history class tonight at 7 pm so I'm going to dinner at 6. That leaves me from now to then to write 1,666 words to hit today's word mark.


Hopefully my tea and silence around me with no distractions for the next two hours will help me write this boring yet crucial part of the novel. Sadly, no songs have been able to inspire me to want to write this scene today. I shall now begrudgingly get to work.


-Amy

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

5000 Words, But At What Cost?


Video from youtube: Cady Groves - Little Girl
This is the video that is helping me in my newest scene with the sound and feeling I want to get across.

The word goal for today is 5,000 words. This is actually quite easy to hit, as of right now, I only need to write 886 more words and I only just started on the beginning of the dream sequence in the second chapter. But however easy it is for me right now to get through these word deadlines, I'm really not liking what I'm putting out.

From my research and other experiences with writing I knew this was going to happen eventually but this soon in the project surprises me. I haven't exactly hit any type of writers block just yet but this isn't much better. I have to leave this poorly written part of the novel for when I go back to edit after I hit the 50,000 word mark that creates a novel.

I know tonight I'm going to pass the word mark for the third day by quite a few extra words but that doesn't mean I'm going to be happy with what I type, I hope I do.

I also seem to be switching the tense in my story quite a bit. From present to past and I've noticed I've done that on other projects as well.

Here's to hoping that I can fix this and enjoy the words I put into this work.

-Amy

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Day 2: Goal: 3,333 words

Todays scene inspired by: Fantasy - 30 Seconds To Mars
Video found on youtube
Question: What do you think this song is inspiring for my novel?

Today is such a beautiful day I barely want to actually sit down and write something at a desk in a room. But, because I seem to be limited to my short laptop battery, I wouldn't be able to get everything I wanted done in that amount of time. But the conflicting part of me is really excited to actually get this story rolling, which luckily, is the side that won out. That and the fact that I gave myself the same deadline of word counts that NaNoWriMo sets for all its participants.


Day 1 deadline was to have 1,666 words, which I accomplished last night. In fact, I  was able to make it to 1,820 words even with my head start which was a good thing I had because without it, I wouldn't have been able to make that deadline. I kept getting distracted by everything around me. But it wasn't completely useless for the extra 715 words actually put into my novel, I was able to create an outline for the next three chapters that I'm quite happy with as well as a new title for the novel.


So here's to hoping I can make it to my newest word deadline tonight, 3,333 words while keeping up with my already made plans and social life!


One last question: How do you feel about authors killing off their main characters?


-Amy

Monday, February 27, 2012

The Beginning: Day 1

To those of you who don't know what my project for this blog is, I will be attempting to write a novel in just 30 days (a novel is considered a piece of written work that is at least 50,000 words). Very much like NaNoWriMo for those of you familiar with National Novel Writing Month. I'm going to be posting my progress on here which would be the amount of words or chapters I write between posts. I'll post some songs that are relevant to scenes I've been working on or videos that inspired that days writing. I may even post snippets of the novel.

I've been wanting to write this particular story since 8th grade so I'll be putting a lot of work into this. I have actually begun to write this novel before the official start date, but when a writer gets the inspiration and in the mood to write, you have to write. So, I'm officially starting off with 1,105 words. Not too much of a head start but somewhere to get started.

Here's a song that has inspired my newest scene in the novel. It sets the mood of the chapter and its overall theme for the main character.

Video found from Youtube

-Amy