As I Walked Out One Evening by W.H. Auden

I am not one for poetry, I will admit, but this poem is different I think:

As I walked out one evening,
Walking down Bristol Street,
The crowds upon the pavement
Were fields of harvest wheat.

And down by the brimming river
I heard a lover sing
Under an arch of the railway:
"Love has no ending.

"I'll love you, dear, I'll love you
Till China and Africa meet
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,

"I'll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
Like geese about the sky.

"The years shall run like rabbits,
For in my arms I hold
The Flower of the Ages,
And the first love of the world."

But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
"O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.

"In the burrows of the Nightmare
Where Justice naked is,
Time watches from the shadow
And coughs when you would kiss.

"In headaches and in worry
Vaguely life leaks away,
And Time will have his fancy
To-morrow or to-day.

"Into many a green valley
Drifts the appalling snow;
Time breaks the threaded dances
And the diver's brilliant bow.

"O plunge your hands in water,
Plunge them in up to the wrist;
Stare, stare in the basin
And wonder what you've missed.

"The glacier knocks in the cupboard,
The desert sighs in the bed,
And the crack in the tea-cup opens
A lane to the land of the dead.

"Where the beggars raffle the banknotes
And the Giant is enchanting to Jack,
And the Lily-white Boy is a Roarer,
And Jill goes down on her back.

"O look, look in the mirror,
O look in your distress:
Life remains a blessing
Although you cannot bless.

"O stand, stand at the window
As the tears scald and start;
You shall love your crooked neighbor
With your cooked heart."

It was late, late in the evening,
The lovers they were gone;
The clocks had ceased their chiming,
And the deep river ran on.

--And it has inspired parts of ARoN as well (and speaking of ARoN, I've finally uploaded Chapter 4)

- E

February's update of The Ink Timeline.

What I recently found online: An article on the traits of a Mary Sue character. Basically, an article on What Not to Give Your MC. I thought it was pretty entertaining if not a little intimidating. And mind wracking (although some parts of the article are just a little weird). Because eventually during the middle of the article, you will start comparing the article's list of traits to your own MC's list of traits (or you will have a sudden revelation that your MC is, in fact, a Mary Sue). Which, I suppose, is the point. o.o

This post is going to be about me. (And something I'd [reluctantly] like to mention over what I'm about to read.)

As some of you might know, on January 19th I made a post about the Ink Timeline which basically stood as a list of writing goals I hope to make by the end of this year, labeled in chronological order with a time limit per goal. The goals of the timeline include: finishing the GOoD (Giant Outline of Dread--and I did change what the acronym stands for because after starting the GOoD, I've dreaded finishing it ever since), finishing the WAPs (Wikia Article Profiles--world building documents based off the format of Wikipedia articles), revising Depravity, and writing/revising Shadowed.

My first goal was to finish both the GOoD and the WAPs during the months of January and February. Because today is March 5th I should be done with them both, right?

Ha ha ha.
Wrong.

By my count, this is what I have finished so far:

• 16/26 WAPs
• Like 1/20 of the GOoD
• Revisions of the prologue and chapter one of Depravity
• All of the Pre-GOoD (an outline of events that took place leading up to the start of Depravity)

But look. At least I did something with my life during that time. I just didn't do enough. Which, by the way, will not happen again. I've extended my timeline so that (basically) I'll have until the end of April to finish what I should have finished by the end of February, and I'll have to write more during the July-August time span. Which is perfectly fine since I'll be on break, as long as marching band doesn't barge in and ruin everything.

The thing is though, what worries me the most aside from finishing the GOoD is finishing the WAPs. That requires a great deal of detail; I'm basically putting in whatever world building detail I can think of into one document, so I don't end up forgetting that detail or changing it up, or anything else, really, when I'm writing/revising. And it takes so looong. On Saturday, I had about fourteen of the WAPs done and I thought, "Oh, my gosh. I'm more than half way done." And for a moment I allowed myself to celebrate. And then I thought, "Oh, my gosh. If I'm half way done, then to finish it up I basically have to do it all over again."

Yeah.
So, wish me luck :]

- E

Note: On the reluctant part of this post: I'm about to read Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast. I don't particularly want to read this book because I am a little tired of vampires, but the series has around, what, ten books now? And I'd really like to know what all the fuss is about. So, Marked. Here we go.

It's really not what you think it is (Writing Prompt -- #5)

Plus a subtle query letter writing exercise at the bottom of this post.


I usually try to not talk about myself too much on this blog. It should be a blog on my WIPs, my anticipated discoveries, writing, rants, and books. It shouldn't really particularly be about me, and my life, and how successful or ridiculous or absolutely fantastic I might be. But then again, if you look at the labels over there (--->) it does say that there are currently eighteen posts tagged "words of me", and counting. That, everyone, is the second most frequent label, right behind "writing" and just a few more than "Depravity". 

Confession: Do I rarely talk about myself? No, actually. I do talk about myself. A lot. But I'd like to say it's a healthy and average chunk "a lot", and not a completely self-absorbed "a lot". (But if I ever get too far into the self-absorbed section on this blog, let me know, and I'll switch back right away!) Yeah, that's great and all, right? But what does this have to do with this week's prompt?

Brought to you by Creative Writing Prompts ^-^

Fifteen year old Ella lives a hidden life.

In fact, her name isn’t even Ella. Raised in a society where math and science are encouraged and the arts squashed into a bloody pulp, Ella takes on a pen name and finds refuge in her writing, an unrecognized form of creativity that many people in her school view with eye rollings and scoffs. In order to avoid embarrassment and possible emotional-wrecking humiliation, Ella works in secret, driven to beat the odds and prove her worth to an unaccepting public. But with this goal comes three things: unexpected friendship, theoretical enemies, and a daunting deadline that will decide the rest of her future.

Inspirational and heart wrenching, It’s Really Not What You Think It Is will make readers sympathize with this young writer and egg her on as she approaches the most crucial period of her teenage life: high school graduation, and what comes afterwards.

Word count: 158. Close enough.

I actually exaggerated in that blurb. Like really exaggerated. I can promise you one thing though: my life really isn't that exciting. I didn't make all of that up, however; every word is true. But it's really not that dramatic. Trust me.

This is actually a pretty good way to practice writing query letters, blurbs...all of that good agentman-stuff. I mean it. Think of every single aspect of your life and try to put it in a way that people would want to hear about, to read about. Make it gripping, interesting. Use a subtle exaggeration if necessary (like I did!), but don't lie. This should be similar to your current WIP; though the genres might be different, the concept put into the query letters is still the same.

If your life were a book, what kind of blurb would you write?

- E

5 things you should know about love triangles.

Note: This post is based solely on the love triangles observed in many books of the YA genre.

Lately, there's been a lot of mixed feelings on love triangles of some of the YA books: many people hate it, many people love it, and many people could care less about it. These feelings can evolve from the genre of books the people read. Like, for example, if you love the typical YA Paranormal Romance novels (Twilight! Fallen! Hush, Hush!), you'd be used to love triangles. You might look forward to reading them, even. If you're like this, then you are definitely in one of the majority groups. Because strangely enough, many books with these Love Triangles sell fairly well (Twilight Saga, Mortal Instruments, Vampire Academy, The Hunger Games, Matched, etc. etc. etc.), so, well, that probably means love triangles flow well in the market.

And I say "strangely" because I'm not, you know...

Okay.

Love triangles make me wince.

*winces*

There are 5 things you should know about love triangles (based off my observations 'course):

1. LOVE TRIANGLES HAVE MULTIPLE INTERPRETATIONS.

So many people have different takes on it. Generally, readers think love triangles are, you know, a three-person conflict with two people pining for the love of the third. Usually, the two people are males and the third is a female (hello, YA novels). But in Shakespeare, a love triangle is literally a love triangle: Person A loves Person B, who loves Person C, who loves Person A. Another difference is that in most of the YA novels out there these days, there aren't that many homosexual characters involved in love triangles (unless you count Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series, but I don't because the triangle really wasn't that defined). 

Other people take the topic of love triangles subtly; if two guys so much as develop a crush on a girl--even without the girl knowing--it's a love triangle. Or...it might not be to some other people. They might claim that in order for a love triangle to work out, the third person must know in order for the triangle. Different interpretations at work here.

2. LOVE TRIANGLES CREATE POSSIBILITIES.

Take this picture for example:

'tis here

In the blurbs of books (and again, I'm focusing on YA), it's all, "Will she choose super hot Guy 1 who makes her feel calm and collected or super hot and wild Guy 2 who's always been there for her?" The players in the triangle always make the MC feel differently towards each one, creating the central conflict that may or may not turn melodramatic if the author isn't careful. Distinct feelings = distinct possibilities. The Girl realizes she could live happily ever after with Guy 1, but then she'd be missing out on an epic adventure with Guy 2. Distinct possibilities = birth of distinct teams. Are you Team Guy 1 or Team Guy 2? 

3. LOVE TRIANGLES CAN BRING OUT THE MARY SUE/GARY STU.

Why is it that the hottest guys in the series always end up falling in love with our lovely MC? A MC who either thinks she's bland (but really isn't!) or appears to be weak (but really isn't!). A MC who has a best friend who's been in love with her since the Beginning of Their Friendship. Or, even worse, a MC who radiates such an amazing personality that at first glance, Guy 1 or 2 falls in love with her (Hourglass by Myra McEntire! I still don't understand, Kaleb, I really don't...). 

4. LOVE TRIANGLES HAVE [occasionally] PREDICTABLE RESOLUTIONS.

The Girl usually chooses the first person she meets--not including the best friend. So, in other words, the Girl wouldn't choose the best friend. Bella chose Edward. Katniss chose Peeta (Why, Katniss? Why?). Clary chose Jace. The list goes on. Maybe it's because the non-best friends are new characters, new and interesting in the MC's life. Or maybe since the MC hasn't connected/felt the connection with her best friend, well, why start feeling them now? (or at least a connection stronger than the one with the New Guy) But there are still examples of resolved love triangles with a twist, or love triangles that keep readers continuously guessing on who the MC would choose in the end (such as Aprilynne Pike's Wings series because I honestly have no idea who Laurel will end up with, or Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers Trilogy which had a pretty surprising outcome). 

5. LOVE TRIANGLES ARE JUST OVERUSED THESE DAYS.

I'm sure everyone's figured that out by now. I could list a whole bunch* off the top of my head. Some books focus primarily on the love triangle. Others have it as a strong sub plot and let the other major elements of the story take over (I prefer that one personally ^-^). And even others actually develop the love triangle relationship fully before unleashing it out into the world (I love this). Either way, so many authors use it in their books these days, and it can get a little exhausting, especially if the triangle feels rushed.

And those are the 5 things you should know about love triangles...if they weren't all just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, rant-ish stuff to you o.o

What are your opinions on the ever famous love triangles?

- E

*Twilight Saga, The Host, Mortal Instruments, Infernal Devices, Matched, Vampire Academy, Iron Fey, The Hunger Games, Hourglass, Wings, House of Night, Unearthly, Faeriewalker, Books of Faerie, Wicked Lovely, Darkest Powers, Nightshade. Whew.

The Ink Timeline that I probably won't follow / Another Challenge-Thing

T h e  I n k  T i m e l i n e

- AKA: the-flawless-timeline-so-I-can-finally-finish-something. Honestly.


WHAT?
Well, it's a timeline. You know, your average line with times...and events...
But the important part is that this timeline doesn't give us a glimpse of the past--it gives us (specifically me) a glimpse of the future. So it's like--like--an outline of all my writerly goals. It will include everything I hope to achieve in the year 2012 before I start junior year in high school, which is supposedly The Hardest Year. This is the ultimate timeline. So it overrules every past thing I've said about my NaNoWriMo or my WIPs or whatever (by the way, after this post, I'm updating my other post on my WIPs just to keep everything as consistent as possible).

WHY?
Because I've realized my lack of progress in everything I've been writing, and have decided to do something about it. Will I follow this timeline exactly? Probably not. Will I at least try to? Probably. And the trying matters the most. At least I'd be getting somewhere with my life.


AND THE TIMELINE IS...?
The timeline is this:
(UPDATED: 3/3/12)

January - February: Finish the Wikia-Article Profiles (WAP) and the Giant Outline of Dread (GOoD) for Depravity. 

• This did not happen whatsoever. Instead, I finished all of my Pre-GOoD (the timeline of the era before the start of my WIP series), about half of my Wikia-Article Profiles, and have only started on my official GOoD. Epic fail of the year. So far.

March - April: Write the rough draft of Shadowed; meet the two-thirds mark for Depravity revisions (no idea where that would be). EDIT: As of now this will include:

• Finish the Wikia-Article Profiles (WAP) and the Giant Outline of Dread (GOoD) for Depravity.

May - June: Revise Shadowed. EDIT: As of now this will include:

• Write the rough draft of Shadowed; meet the two thirds mark for Depravity revisions

July - August: Revise Shadowed. Finish revisions for Depravity.


September - December: ???


Simple enough of a timeline, but as for actually meeting the goals...well, not so much.


BUT WAIT. THERE'S MORE.

I'm participating in the Harry Potter Reading Challenge! Through 2012, I have to reread and possibly rewatch all seven of the Harry Potter books and movies. I don't have to post a review about them, but I can post discussion entries on my blog or on The Reading Fever (<--well, I would comment in this case). I'm super excited because I. Love. Harry. Potter. (Even though I've got to say, the Potter Puppet Pals are pretty funny.)

This might be the sixth time I've reread the series. I can't wait.

- E

I'm killing trees/The Giant Outline of Dread.

Confession time!

What does a writer/potential author do best?

Kill trees.

No matter what kind of writer you are, whether or not you write brilliant stories or crappy stories, you will have to kill trees. Well, indirectly. Words go on paper, paper comes from trees. End of flowchart.

I try to avoid printing as much as possible. Since two weeks ago, I'd done all my editing on the computer, but it had been very slow. I felt restricted, like I couldn't see the Bigger Picture. Then two weeks ago, I started printing out my manuscript at school, 10 pages each time I managed to get a computer. So far I've printed about 100 pages, and...you know. 100 pages. That's...a lot. Way more than enough to make me feel guilty.

*sigh* 100 pages. 200 more to go. *winces*

The reason for killing trees, however (at least for me) is to get ready to make the Giant Outline of Dread, or GOoD for short. GOoD will either drive me crazy or make my life considerably easier--or maybe even both. Or neither.

The point of GOoD is for organization purposes. So far I've been working on my WAP (Wikia Article Profiles--they're ideas/word building of my story based on the articles and format of Wikipedia), which also helps with the whole brainstorming ideas part of the organizing. But what I really need is GOoD:

story arcs > chapters > major events = post it notes
post it notes + more post it notes = GOoD

(^if that made any sense at all)

I hate to get all technical, but that up there is GOoD. It's time to stop spending hours trying to remember tiny details in my manuscript and start getting organized.

*sigh*

- E

What I have been up to lately.

Three things, actually. First, I've been rereading the Harry Potter series, which I'm also going to bring with me to China (actually, just books 1-4). I'm now on the Chamber of Secrets--really good so far, of course, because J.K. Rowling is a writing goddess--and I really want to watch the movies again, even though I'm not that big a fan of some of them. Except, the only movie I have is the Sorcerer's Stone, and that's on a VCR tape. Plus, our VCR player won't work, so...nope, no Harry Potter movies for me this week.

The second thing is this:

There's a difference between these four books. The first two are the ones I bought at Walmart two days ago because the bottom two were decapitated and...dead. You know the bottom two versions of the Goblet of Fire and the Order of the Phoenix are a few years old because their bindings are different from the first two: they have patterns instead just a single solid color like those <--. They also have pages that are browner and thinner, and they're extremely worn. In fact, they're so worn, that they were once split into parts: The Goblet of Fire was split into thirds (with 1/3 missing) and the Order of the Phoenix was split into sevenths (with 2/7 missing). I had to hunt all of the pieces down, like horcruxes (ha ha ha, bad Harry Potter joke :P). Then I hot glued the pieces together and taped the bindings. With book five, I had to make a whole new binding. Now I have two book fours and two book fives.

And that, everyone, is the second thing I've been up to.


The third thing is of course PSAT studying. Lately I've been diligent and committed to my prep book, but I think I'm about to crack. There's only so much studying a fourteen year old can do when she isn't even going to take the test until September.

This picture over here --> are some of the PSAT notes I took on sample problems covering what the prep book calls "basic math". It includes rate, average, symbols, and special triangles. I don't know why I took these notes. Math is supposed to be a subject where, you know, you either know it or you don't. There isn't too much studying required (or so everyone says). Just practice, practice, practice.

But not for me. I take notes. I make detailed step-to-step notes on how to solve a specific problem, and then follow it up with an explanation why. I don't know why I do this...and now that I look at this picture, I'm like, "Outlining math problems? What the heck was I even thinking?" Maybe this is my writer side coming out.

And, just for the heck of it, here's a song I really like by a band I haven't listened to in awhile, that reminds me of the last book of my demon slayer series.




- E

I wrote 2,000 words today.

I kid you not, I really did.

My goodness. 2,000 words.

While studying PSATs and rereading The Lightning Thief.

2,000 words.

This really is a Big Deal to me because I rarely ever write more than a thousand on a daily basis, and until lately, I've barely even written that much. It's really pathetic, I know, but I get distracted so easily. I wrote these 2,000 words in one sitting too, while munching on toasted almonds and drinking pink guava juice and listening to nothing. It sounds like a weird combination, but hey, I guess it works.

- E

And so another journey begins.

The first day of summer break and I'm plotting and writing. How dedicated hardworking late am I?

Very late, actually, because I've started plotting and writing a few weeks ago, with a single excerpt. I've written a good seven pages or so before I realized that I should probably get going on the actual manuscript, especially since I already have more than enough basic facts to get me going. That's some awful procrastinating.

I've also procrastinated by playing the Sims, being on Facebook, reading, and of course, writing this blog post. Which, I guess, should be when I say that I'm going to be posting less frequently now that I'm in the Writing Zone again. Common sense says so. But too bad, common sense, because I highly doubt I'll be able to do that.

My mind functions like Dug from the movie Up. Well, I guess it functions like all the dogs from Up. I get distracted easily--not to the point where I'll suddenly scream out "Squirrel!" or anything, but to the point where I'll do anything to not write or plan or whatever it is that I do whenever I'm not procrastinating. And that means rambling on my blog about inconsequential stuff. It's a really bad habit I really need to break before getting to my junior year (the hardest year of high school, they say) and college. And hopefully I'll be able to. You know. Some time later.

Wish me luck on draft one!

- E

Musical inspirations.

I actually have a bunch on my playlist, but I'm going to share with you awesome people a couple of them. I don't really listen to...sophisticated music like Adele or Florence and the Machine (that's what I call sophisticated music, for some reason). I'm more of the, well, alternative/punk rock/pop kind of person. So...I'm stereotypical. Hm. That's what my sister calls me anyway.

Well, moving along...here...is...Depravity's playlist! Or part of it anyway:




The Adventure - Angels & Airwaves



Shadows and Regrets - Yellowcard



My Immortal - Evanescence

These songs make me so happy :3

And then, I've made a playlist for my "Unnamed" novel. Already. I know, I know. I should probably be concentrating on the actual manuscript before making a playlist. Ah well.



Na Na Na - My Chemical Romance



For The First Time - The Script



Chaoz Fantasy - Paragonx9
--because my MFC loves techno

What are your musical inspirations?

- E

Say no to doubts!

This link says it all (:

Clicketh for a superamazing comic strip.

New novel.

I'm not usually the kind of person who works on two completely different projects at once, mainly because I absolutely suck at it. Nano would be a good example of my failure to stay organized and motivated. This time though, I won't be working on two projects at once. Not really.

It doesn't mean I'm giving up on Depravity though. I just feel like it's going really slowly, staggering along like a turtle. And the progress is just too slow, too uneventful; nothing happens anymore, and it isn't exactly because I'm procrastinating. I've lost a bunch of inspiration on urban fantasy and demon slayers, and patience on my revisions, and confidence on writing an actual series. I guess I've really just temporarily lost my taste. For me, changes of genres usually has to do with changes in life events, preferences, and what-not. And in this case, these changes have taken me to realistic fiction.

I have no idea what the novel's going to be called yet; as of now, it's title is "Unnamed". I've started outlining, which is something I didn't do (and probably should have done) for Depravity. The thing is though, writing realistic fiction for me has always been character driven, which makes outlines in my opinion more suitable and much easier to make. I'd start with characters, and I might not even need an outline for plot. The point of my realistic fiction novels is to get the complex characters from Stage 1 to Stage 2--or how many other stages it'll take until it's his or her last stage. Realistic fiction to me is fiction of growth and development. Oh, and symbolism is also key, too, in my novels.

So far, I'm still outlining my main female character, and then I'll be moving on to my MMC. This might take me several days to do, but I love planning my stories out. Just spewing out information is pretty freaking fun, and I definitely have a lot of ideas for this novel.

- E

Falling Behind.

One of the strangest things I've realized is how horribly most of my planning goes. I set deadlines for myself ahead of time, and I almost always either end up going past the deadline, or moving the deadline to a later date. In writing, the former usually happens. But in writing, the topic that's supposed to meet the deadline in the first place changes.

In case that didn't make any sense at all (and it probably didn't considering I'm writing this at eleven pm after a long day on trying to figure out how to write my AP essay), let me explain further.

Months ago, when I was writing draft 5 of Depravity, I've already set "draft goals". I knew draft 6 was going to be finalizing my scenes, draft 7 was going to be finalizing dialogue and grammar, and draft 8 was going to be finalizing everything else. Now I'm at draft 8 and what am I doing?

Still finalizing the scenes.

Now, I'm not discouraged or anything. I tend to change my mind a lot about things, especially if I care about the "thing" a great deal. When it comes to writing, I always have all sorts of ideas, and those ideas always change from time to time. I could have one idea one day, and the next I could wake up with an even better idea, although it might mean adding another short passage or altering one I've already written. Add that in with the fact I get distracted easily--and I tend to procrastinate a lot--and it basically means that my "draft goals" will be slowed down and I'm going to end up taking forever writing my next draft. AKA draft 9. In fact, I'm still taking a long time writing my eighth draft.

I'm not sure how long it's going to take before I am absolutely proud of my work, until my manuscript is agent-presentable. It might take another few months, or even another year. All I know is that I'm going to take my time. I can't rush these things. I only get one debut, and I might as well make it the best it can be (if of course I do end up getting published).

- E

W.I.P. Database.

'tis here

DEPRAVITY  {YA Urban Fantasy} -- in the Giant Outline of Doom phase. See The Ink Timeline.
is my current official work in progress. The story is about fifteen year old Gwen, who finds out she is a demon slayer and is sent to a demon slayer training school, where she must uncover the motives of a supernatural guild of assassins and its relationship with the disappearing students--and Gwen herself.

'tis here

SHADOWED: THE RETELLING OF THUMBELINA {YA Fantasy}-- see The Ink Timeline.

Thumbelina was born from the flowers. Maia was born from the shadows.


In the land of Celeste, Maia Amblyne lives a seemingly quiet life with her adoptive grandmother, but at night she faces vicious apparitions in her sleep: looming shadows that taunt her and draw her to them. So when Maia sees one of these shadows when she is awake, she is compelled to follow it. She will soon realize, however, that the shadow-like creature is a trap, and when it disappears with Maia's grandmother, Maia is determined to get her back. But to do so would mean striking up a bargain with a newcomer, a faerie prince from a completely different world named Zeric who claims he needs Maia to help his clan rise to power, but will be able to help Maia find her grandmother.


But Zeric is not the only one who needs Maia. For a malicious intent, the current ruling clan of Zeric's world needs her to control the shadowed creatures that stalk the night. And a mysterious faerie named Cassandra requires Maia's assistance as well. Maia herself must spend time mastering her skills of control over the shadowed creatures, but she must do it quickly. For despite the number of people who are willing to help her, there are many more who are willing to kill her; and each person she encounters can either take her one step forward--or one step back.

Shadowed was my NaNoWriMo project in 2010 and 2011, but both years I was not able to complete it (boo...)

* Shadowed creatures are gigantic things. Like this big thing.

A RUSH OF NEEDLES -- read it on FictionPress.

When sixteen year old Nell Carlton stumbles upon a strange man encased in needles, she is brought into the dangerous world of the puppets and their human puppeteers, where she must find her role and learn about her abilities to help a supernatural guild.

This is probably my most unofficial WIP that I'm actually writing. You can go to this post for a more detailed blurb, and for more information on ARoN.

That's it!

- E

Mer.

Hello out there. Just thought I'd pop in and say a few things.

I've been pondering several questions lately, that all refer back to my writing. How do you stay organized with your ideas? How do you keep your ideas from blending with one another, and ending up turning all of that into another idea? How do you sift through all your subconscious mind's babble, and try to keep everything straight?

Doesn't it just drive you crazy?

Well, maybe it doesn't. Maybe I'm just the crazy one here for thinking all of that. :P

- E

The different types of drafts (for me).

At the very beginning, it's what most people would refer to as the "first draft". First drafts for me are drafts where I just write with one primary idea, but nothing that branch out from it. At the end, I can't say it really sucks. I mean in the general scheme of things, heck yes, it sucks. But if I'm concentrating on where that draft took me, it doesn't suck. Well. Maybe that's pushing it a bit. First drafts tend to be the longest drafts of the novel's history.

After that, there are the "plot drafts". The number of plot drafts last as long as they need to, until my plot and characters have fully developed. This is where I write and fix the plot and scenes in my manuscript, and toy with them to find the perfect one(s). Not really revising them, but trying to figure out what I'm supposed to actually put down on paper. They kill. They sap up my energy and patience like...I don't know, leeches. Either way, I hate them. And I'm sure plot drafts also hate me.

Next, there are "revision drafts", which are about two or three. I start at the beginning of these (in Depravity's case, draft 7 was my first revision draft), thinking of all the things I needed to finish. I've already compiled a mental list of things-I-have-to-fix, starting with holes and writing issues and the like. While revising, I always feel accomplished. I always feel and know that I'm one step closer to my goal (as cheesy as that sounds), and that motivates me. That makes me...happy. Ish. I like revision drafts. These revision drafts also include revisions from my critique partners.

Finally, the last draft is called, well, the "last draft". This is where I finalize everything, reread it until I'm satisfied, and maybe tweak little things here and there. And then...it's usually off to My Documents, where I never see them again.

Depravity has the first manuscript I've ever written that I don't plan to keep away. I'm not quite sure what I'd really do with it, but I'm definitely not going to shake it off. Depravity's the longest novel I've ever written (the other novels, or I should say short stories, I've gone through with complete drafting lasted only a few pages long). I'm not leaving it. Nope.

As you can see, I have a really complicated writing process. This might not be the smartest thing to do, but I feel the most organized and I write the best this way. If I try anything else, and I have tried some other ways, I get confused and everything is reduced to a mess. I have to take one thing at a time when I write.

Strangely enough.

- E

Winter break ftw.

(Photo from Weheartit.com)

I finally get to sleep in! Well, that's definitely not the only reason why I love winter break (even though the winter break this year is only about a week and a half long), but it's definitely a primary reason. I've been staying up late all night catching up with my favorite TV shows. Oh, and revising Depravity. Of course I was doing that as well.

No, really. I was doing that. I have less than 100 pages left to revise, which is making me seriously happy.

Winter has never been my favorie season. In fact, it's my least favorite season. The only good part of winter is New Year's, the holidays, and the school break. That's about it, really. Summer beats winter by a whole lot of points (summer break's longer, my birthday's in the summer, it has better weather, etc.), but I still have to give winter some credits. I mean, seriously. I've never gotten so much episodes through writing done before. So thank you.

Have a good holiday everyone!

- E

Wherein I finally read, instead of write.

I know this sounds sort of...off for a writer. Arguably, writing should always come before reading, right? I mean, writers write. They read, too, but they primarily write. It's what they do.

Lately though, I've been reading a whole lot and not writing at all. I blame school for this. There's been an abundant amount of homework lately to prepare us for our finals, I suppose, and a bunch of activities to fit in before winter break. Plus, the snow. Oh, snow. I hate it. Sure, it gives me an excuse to drink hot chocolate, but snow comes along with colds (which I've gotten twice, one after the other in the time span of only two weeks), and shivers, and a bunch of coats and what-not that makes me look like a burnt marshmallow, and my hair all crazy with static.

All I've wanted to do was curl up with a book, Iron Chef America playing on the TV, and drink my hot chocolate. I suppose I could curl up with a laptop, too, but still.

Except winter has always been my best writing time. I don't really know how to describe it; sort of like the smell and the air and the whole atmosphere--it helps me concentrate and just...write. Not read well, but write well. I've often made more progress in my WIPs than my books. But, you know, I love reading, and I've been craving a lot of Meg Cabot lately for some reason. Reading always spurs inspiration for writing, anyway.

I guess what I'm trying to do is make up petty excuses. No, there really is no true excuse for me to skip out on writing. I've made little progress with revising Depravity, or writing Incandescent, or planning out Book 3. Which is just really sad.

- E

December comes rolling in...

First and foremost, I'd like to say one thing:

I really didn't enjoy NaNo.

From what I've heard, most of the population of NaNo writers love or loved NaNo. I guess I'm not of the majority. Not sure if that's a good thing, or a bad thing. But the truth is, I suppose I just didn't really get into the writing zone, or my NaNo novel. Everything felt dull and pointless, and I wasn't motivated at all. It didn't help that schoolwork (a whole lot of schoolwork) was in my way. I suppose either Shadowed or Thumbelina didn't work out for me. Or maybe, it was because I was still so caught up in Depravity and Incandescent that all I could think about were demon slayers and not faeries and shadows. And what-not.

Which is why I finished NaNo with a messed up 30,535 words.

Am I going to start back up on Shadowed again? Maybe. I've never gotten such a creative idea before, and I'm still somewhat excited about it. But I'm not known for going back to old, unfinished novels. So maybe not.

As for Depravity, I'm doing fairly well. I'm more than a third in with my revisions, which are really tedious and annoying, but interesting all the same. For Depravity's sequel, Incandescent, I haven't written much, but I've gotten some pretty good ideas. This must mean something, right? I might not have won NaNo, but I at least had gotten somewhere with my Ascendancy Series.

Along with Depravity and Incandescent, I'm starting a third, 8,000-word novel for a Fiction Novel Writing Contest. Winner gets $1000. I'm not doing it for the money though. Not...really. I'm doing it because I'm just curious. I've never entered a contest before. It'd be good experience, wouldn't it? I have some pretty good ideas for my 8,000-word novel, but I don't have at title, and not many character names. Ah well. It'll happen soon enough. The submission deadline is January 15th, so I better get a move on.

Oh. And it's snowing over here...unfortunately.

- E

Depravity: Wordle.

From FictionPress and Let The Words Flow author/contributor Julie Eshbaugh, I've discovered a new way to revise my drafts: Wordle!

I've only used Wordle once in my whole entire life; I don't usually use generated softwares or anything too much. Instead, I'm more of a GIMP or Photoshop (though I stick with GIMP) type of person. That's how I release my technological creativity. I don't tend to use sites such as Wordle or anything.

But then, I discovered this revision process! I'm not going to get into it too much since Julie Eshbaugh already took care of that, and you can view her blog post.

And now, here's mine:

- E