Divergent is pretty freakingamazing.

Not only is the cover amazing, but the blurb, which can be found HERE, is also freakingamazing. The freakingamazingness, of course, is mainly derived from the freakingamazing characters and the equally freakingamazing plot, and the freakingamazing prose and ideas blended into this freaking. amazing. novel.

Sorry for overusing that word. (Which, now that I think about it, really isn't a word at all.)

I honestly wish I owned this beautiful, beautiful piece of work. But I don't. I've only borrowed it from my library. Now I'm forcing my older sister to read it. She's currently struggling with City of Fallen Angels (Cassandra Clare), but honestly, I feel like Divergent might be better. Even better than City of Bones, which has been my favorite for a long time. So yup, Divergent is now my favorite book. (I actually want to say a classic, like To Kill a Mockingbird or something is my favorite read, but I can't. Sadly. The YA World has grabbed a tight hold on me and it isn't going to let go for awhile.)

(WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW)

I loved, loved LOVED Four. I mean, Tobias (I still refer to him as Four because I'm just used to reading "Four" instead of "Tobias"). Tris was a freakingamazing (<--there goes that word again :P) heroine, too, but Tobias was all the way my favorite character. The ending of Divergent was a MAJOR cliff-hanger. It was exactly like--like--well, City of Fallen Angels. But this time, the stakes are much higher, and the tension stronger. Plus the ending of City of Fallen Angels wasn't exactly that great. (Frankly, I thought COFA was kind of pointless, but I still love the overall ideas and characters of the series, so I'm still sticking with reading the rest of Cassandra Clare's books).

(END SPOILER)

So people reading this blog: if you haven't read this book (which debuted as #6 on the NYT Bestseller List), you should read it. Now.

- 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

Book List: What Happened to Goodbye (#2)

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.

Because this beautiful thing:

Who is the real McLean? 

Since her parents' bitter divorce, McLean and her dad, a restaurant consultant, have been on the move-four towns in two years. Estranged from her mother and her mother's new family, McLean has followed her dad in leaving the unhappy past behind. And each new place gives her a chance to try out a new persona: from cheerleader to drama diva. But now, for the first time, McLean discovers a desire to stay in one place and just be herself, whoever that is. Perhaps Dave, the guy next door, can help her find out. 

Combining Sarah Dessen's trademark graceful writing, great characters, and compelling storytelling, What Happened to Goodbye is irresistible reading.



is officially out TODAY.
I've pre-ordered it and I CANNOT wait until it comes. I love, love, love Sarah Dessen and I'm pretty sure her tenth book is going to be phenomenal as well. I doubt I'll be disappointed.

Official release post can be found here.

And that is all :]

- E

Welcome back, Ella.

Remember this little picture I had in one of my posts, once upon a time?

This was on Word 2007. The blue bubbles to the right are comments on sentences I'm supposed to fix, paragraphs I had to rewrite, passages I needed to tear apart, etc.

For the past few months, I've abandoned fixing what the bubbles told me to fix. Instead, I've been working on scene revisions (as mentioned in my last post). Inserting passages, rewriting certain parts of a chapter, lengthening/chopping up chapters, and adding plot-related things that forced me to add and rewrite other scenes. For those months, I was doing that. I haven't bothered with my bubbles. Ever.

But Saturday and Sunday night, I decided that I was being absolutely ridiculous. It took me one month to write 3,000 words. One month. If that isn't pathetic, I don't know what is [at least it is for me ;)]. So Saturday, I decided that my procrastinating had to end NOW, and I worked my butt off compiling a check list--and then tackling as many points as I could on that check list in one night. At the start of the check list, I had about 93,000 words. When I was done with the check list, I ended up with 99,000.

Now, I didn't finish all of that in just one night. I had Easter night to back me up, thankfully. My word count for my 8th draft is currently 99,694, and I've added even more bullets to The Check List. The only good thing (somewhat) is that these bullets aren't as important and dire for me to add/fix/take away as the ones from Saturday and Sunday. Which means:

I'm back to my bubbles.

Honestly, I don't really like my bubbles. I have a natural insecurity when it comes to my writing that, whenever I'm changing something, I think "didn't I already do this?" or "now if I change this, then doesn't that mean I'll have to change this? and even if I do end up changing the latter, then wouldn't that open up another plot hole?" It's crazy, I know, and I tend to over think everything. Especially when it comes to my writing. And when it comes to my bubbles, it's like insecurity to the maximum. It's pathetic and ridiculous, and it's a very bad habit I can't just get rid of. Hey, maybe that's why it takes me such a long time to revise (at least that's what I like to tell myself).

In either case, I'm back to my bubbles. I might move away from them in another month or so, but for now, I'm back. And frankly, it isn't good to be back.

- 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

Florida Adventure.

I know it's been really quiet on here lately, but! it's not exactly my fault. Well, not really. For the past few days, I've been away on a band trip to Florida, where we marched in a parade around City Walk and played at Universal Studios. It was pretty awesome (except for the parade, which I might as well say that it felt like I was drowning in my own pool of sweat), and it was very fun. In fact, when the plane landed in Indianapolis, I didn't want to get off at all. My friend and I were having a conversation about it, too, of our dislike for leaving Orlando.

Me: Don't you just LOVE the smell of corn? Ahhhh. Breathe it in!
Friend: I don't want corn! I want the smell of roller-coasters and fast food...
Me: Sorry. We're in Indiana now.

The best part, I think, was when we got to the hotel the first night. Our curfew was in three hours, and my roommates and I hadn't eaten dinner yet. So we ordered pizza, sat in the lobby, (which had been occupied solely by bandies, and which was right next to the pool) and hung out. Talked about guys. The usual. It was nice and relaxing and pretty cool. Of course, there were other awesome parts about Florida, but just the peace and quiet from a hectic day at Sea World (our first destination) made it amazing. Especially since by the time I got to the hotel, I was soaking wet (I rode a water roller-coaster exactly fourteen times, and the thirteenth time, when I was sitting in the front, water sloshed literally right over me). Like I said, it was nice.

I couldn't exactly call Florida a vacation though. Sure we spent every day at an amusement park for at around 8 hours, but it was still exhausting. The actual calming time at an amusement park was when we sat down to listen to the jazz band play. Plus, there was the time when my friends and I went to the Arcade, found a $20 on the ground, and played a bunch of games. I actually didn't mind staying there for the rest of the day. (The games were addicting. Plus I could've won an iPod Touch.)

Really though, there's just something different about going to another state with a large group of your friends, who's almost like your family, than actually going somewhere with your real family. The plane ride with them, hanging out with them at Orlando...it was a memorable trip to say the least. I really do miss Florida, but I can't stay there forever. I have to come back, make up for the homework I missed, and then figure out how to edit the rest of my manuscript.

In other words, back to the usual.

- E

P.S. For those who ask, I play the French horn :D