Way Behind.

Today marks, pretty much, the 7th day of Nano. And how much have I written?
Well so far: 3,600 words.

If that isn't sad, I don't know what is.

With Depravity, I had procrastinated, but I had written more than 100,000 words in a few months. But with Nano, I won't have a few months. I only have one. And being the careful planner that I am, I've realized that I need to write 1,800 words each day in order to reach my more-than-50,000 words goal. With this being day 7, I'm supposed to have around 12,000 words already.

But I don't.

I need 9,000 more, which I can't do in one day. I'll have to stretch this out again, like I had during my first draft of Depravity (when I reached 90,000 words). I'll be less busy now, at least.

- E

And Nano Begins.

It's almost 7 PM where I am, which means Nano is definitely underway. There are probably thousands of witers out there right now, writing furiously, their pencils or fingers flying across the paper or keyboard. Their minds are going at least a mile a minute, concentrating only on the goal ahead of them: to complete a 50,000 word novel in the span of the month of November.

At least, that's what I'm assuming right now, being a newbie in this whole Nano business.

I'm not sure how to take this whole entire thing--the first actual writing event I've ever entered willingly. Should I be jumping up and down, squealing in excitement and anticipation? Should I be slamming on my laptop, pounding those deep beginning scenes I've pictured over and over in my head of my novel? Or should I be writing this blog post, talking about nothing significant?

I know what I should be doing, and it's definitely not the last one.

But even with that in mind, I don't know what the heck is wrong with me. I keep on saying, Come on Ella, you need to get to Word and start typing away. I keep on telling myself that, but both my mind and body won't obey. It's pretty ironic, but I think it's my procrastinating self speaking to me.

However, once I do get everything under control, I swear I'll start writing, right after I dig up those sheets of paper and notebook that have my plans in. I don't have much of a feeling of how this month will turn out, but I hope it'll be a nice first experience.

And I wish all of the Nano writers out there luck--and enough coffee and chocolate to last a life time.

- 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

Problems with Action Scenes.

So after finally getting to my draft 6 revisions, or making notes for draft 7, I've realized something.

I'm pretty awful when it comes to action scenes.

Going through my first official action scene, I've ended up with about a dozen notes on one page. It's pretty sad:

That would be half of the page.

I wonder if this'll be what Shadowed looks like, once I revise it. Well, if I win Nano, anyway. Hopefully I do. There's less than 2 weeks before Nano begins, and I'm getting kind of worried...

- E

Revisions Commence

I was supposed to have started my 7th daft a long time ago, but decided against it through all of homework and other sorts of things that just got in the way. But right now, I'm going to start. I'm going to read Depravity from start to finish, without taking down any notes. I'm going to focus only on what I have right now.

And then I'll figure out what to do from there.

I think it's a pretty good plan, although I've never gotten this far on any novel before. Hopefully I'll also get this far with Shadowed, unless I finish the revisions way before draft 7th. Depravity is, in a way, much more complicated than Shadowed. Which is good, because it took me 2 years to write Depravity's 1st complete manuscript. And I only have 1 month for Shadowed.

So here I go. And wish me luck!

- E

Book List: The Lost Hero (#1)

My Ultimate Book List is a collection of books that I really, really want to read, whether they have been released or not. Some of these books might not be on the shelves yet; some of these books might have been on the shelves for ages. It doesn't matter. I just really, really want to read them.

I'm seriously freaking out right now. Because LOOK:

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly?

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out.

Leo has a way with tools. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god.

This is The Lost Hero, book 1 to Rick Riordan's Percy-Jackson-Sequel Series: The Heroes of Olympus. I'm not completely sure of the details yet, but it'll be released in a mere 2 days. October 12th. October 12th. October 12th.

I normally read YA novels, and I can't exactly consider Percy Jackson as really YA. But the characters of the series are amazing, the plot elements awesome so naturally I'd pick this book up as well. And I'm just freaking excited, if you know what I mean. And anyway, it has a very interesting cover.

I just hope one of those three doesn't end up being a son or daughter of Zeus.

- E

October Already?

I'm just going to go ahead and say it:

I am not much of a fan of autumn.

I know this might come out as a shocker to those of you who actually read this blog, but it's the truth. Sure, fall is fine with me. I mean, I love the fresh smell of the season change, the sight of the leaves, and, of course, Halloween. And it'll all be spectacular and awesome right now.

But then the temperatures will drop, the leaves will already have fallen, and I'll probably find myself bundled up in jackets and coats that make me feel like all uncomfortable and awkward. And knowing that I will end up hating it is why I don't like it in the first place.

I already miss spring, even though it rains way too much. Everything comes alive in the spring--or at least they begin to. That's what I love the most about it.

Pessimistic thoughts aside...October means that NaNo is less than a month away. Less than a month! I still have so much to do though--planning, outlining, brainstorming...with all that's been going on, I haven't written Shadowed since I'd started thinking of it. Horrible, I know. I'm so ashamed =P

At least I've found a nice article here on Let The Words Flow that talks about outlining new novels and such. It should help me with my NaNo somewhat this year. After all, I'm pretty new to this.

- E