NaNoWriMo - Day 22

This is my second NaNoWriMo "check up" for 2015.

I suppose I've been procrastinating on writing more "check up" posts. Partially because I've been busy with homework, etc. Partially because I've just been in such a writing slump.

I have either not been hitting my daily word goal (originally I typo'd and wrote 'faily'. So true.) of 3,333 words per day, or I've been just barely barely reaching it. For example, yesterday I wrote 3,370 words. Less than 40 words over. The most I've written in the past week is 3,535. And it's been like that for so long.

I'm just not liking my book or anything that I'm writing. At all.

I thought it was just the week two blues, and I would be over it by the time I got to this point in the month. But it hasn't blown over yet.

I'm afraid, myself, that this book, "Dragonslayer" is going to become just like last year's novel - I end up hating everything I write, but push through anyway to get the word count, and end up never touching it again because I didn't think there was anything worth saving.

This post is mostly just me rambling. I haven't written anything today but I know I have to. Otherwise I'll just keep falling more and more behind from where I want to be. I'm really sick (waaah. I have the snuffles again, it's true) and just overall very stressed out (maybe why I'm sick).

I hope your writing it going better than mine is!

Friday Reads [#10]

Hello, everybody!

 I hope everyone had a great week. Mine was... stressful. A 5-page essay, 3 smaller papers, and a lab report due was not exactly my idea of fun, but hey.

Yesterday, I finished Defiance by C.J. Redwine, and it was good. I'm not sure if it was better than I thought it would be, or not quite as good, since I first discovered it on a "Top 10 Favorite YA Fantasies" list. I really liked the romance though, and the creature was very dragon-like and I like dragons. So that was enjoyable. I'll be continuing on when I can!

As for what I'm currently reading, I finally get to read one of my most anticipated, if not my very most anticipated, book of the years! *drumroll please*

LEGACY OF KINGS by Eleanor Herman.

Guys.
Guys.
I am so excited for this one. I'm around 160 pages in, maybe a little less and so far, soooo good! I am really loving all the point of views and I think it was a little confusing at first, but now I've got it down. I think. Hehe.

All the characters are just so dynamic, and I love it. There's lots of romance, which usually can be 'meh' for me, but it's okay so far on that point. Plus, I'm really really loving getting to read about a time period in BC since I have never read anything in that time period.

In NaNoWriMo news, I'll try to make a catch up post tomorrow (it's been too long!) but I am very proud at the moment because my word count is resting at exactly 66,666 words. Ah, what a nice round number.

I'll talk to you all next week (or tomorrow, if I get that post up. But I'm aiming for 75,000 words by Sunday so that might not happen...) Happy Friday the 13th.

Until next time, happy reading.

Beautiful Books #2 // How I write!

 

 

Beautiful Books is a spin-off of Beautiful People. It is a monthly meme for writers to talk about their characters and, in this case, books. It is hosted as always by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up Further In.

Fun Fact: I've already made three four typos this post. And the NaNo-isms continue. (In early December I'm planning on making a masterpost of all my favorite NaNo-isms [aka: hilarious typos] I've made in my book this month. It will be glorious.)

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS. (Plus my answers.)

 

 

1. Is the book turning out how you thought it would be, or is it defying your expectations?It is a bit of both at the moment. For one thing, I'm 56k words in as of right now, and they still haven't started on their quest. Author fail. I got too caught up in the workings of the Dragon slayer academy, and forgot that there was such a thing as plot. Other than that, though, it's going fine.
2. What’s your first sentence (or paragraph)?*clears throat importantly*
   
   It was pleasantly miserable, thought the lady cloaked in gray.
3. Are you a plotter or a pantser? Have you ever tried both methods and how did it turn out?I've always considered myself a pantser, but I'm thinking I'm probably more of a planner. I haven't tried thoroughly (isn't that a fun word to spell?) plotting a novel yet, but maybe next year? I feel like it would help me stay on track.
4. What do you reward yourself with after meeting a goal?I go to sleep.
5. What do you look for in a name? Do you have themes and where do you find your names?Wherefore art thou Romeo?I like to find my names based off meanings, sometimes. My protagonist for my Camp NaNo novel in July was named "Corvina", which means crow. Was she a crow shifter? You betcha.
   For historical fiction names, I like to use Time.com's baby name popularity thing. Bascically, it lets you see what your name would be if you were born in the 1920's or any decade from now (2010s) to the 1890s. IT IS PRETTY MUCH THE BEST.
6. What is your favourite to write: beginning, middle, or end — and why?The ending gives me such a sense of satisfaction. I like to write the ending the most.
7. Who’s your current favourite character in your novel?PUPIL ONE. She is so innocent and fun, and thinks a lot. And she has such a love for her brother. Her voice comes so easily to me.
8. What kind of things have you researched for this project, and how do you go about researching? (What’s the weirdest thing you’ve researched?!)Nothing for this project. #rebellious
   But for my first-ever NaNoWriMo in July 2013, I had to search the following:
   * How to break into a house through the window
   * How to kill someone with a shovel
   * Good places to bury a bodyWhich is especially hilarious because everyone knows I would never even hurt a fly. But when writing a murder mystery, it is a different story.
9. Do you write better alone or with others? Do you share your work or prefer to keep it to yourself?I definitely write better alone (unless it's word wars in which case I shall write furiously with all the people). I need complete silence when I write, I can't even listen to music or anything. I have tried sharing my writing, but I generally prefer keeping it to myself.
10. What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best? Feel free to show us a picture of your writing space!I don't listen to music, but I actually work better when it's raining? Weird, I know. It just gets me in the cozy mood which I guess I associate with late night writing. I love munching on candy when I write which maybe isn't the best thing ever for me but pfft who needs healthy during NaNoWriMo? (Me, probably.)
    I tend to write best at night, or I used to. Now, I think I work best in the afternoons. And the time of year I work best (I know, weird) is definitely Autumn and Winter, and now just because of NaNoWriMo.
    
    Voila! My writing space! It's a bit cluttered, so please excuse that, but this is where I work on my books.

This is my writing "routine", if you will? Link to your post down below if you would like, I'm always interested in seeing what others have to say!

 

NaNoWriMo - Day 3

NaNoWriMo 2015 has officially begun.

And, I'm actually very surprised at how far along I am already. The first two days, I was on a roll, and didn't even stop writing for long enough to have doubts about my story. But now... doubts are creeping in. What if I'm not good enough for this story? What if this story isn't good enough? The doubts are barely here at all at this point, but here they remain.

Anyway, quick summary of what's gone down the past couple of days:

NaNoWriMo Day 1

Words Written: 20,000
Total Words: 20,000

So... I kind of beat my "amount of words written in one day" record. That's a thing that happened. Probably because, where I live, we got to set our clocks back one hour, meaning that on November 1st we had 25 hours instead of 24. I had been aiming for 15,500 words on the first day but I surprised myself by far exceeding that goal!
I also attended my region's "NaNoWriMo Kickoff" but I'm an awkward person so I didn't actually socialize. Socialize? Me? Pfft. I just came for the sticker. (This year's sticker is rather nice, I'll admit.) Also the espresso fudge and Double-Stuffed Oreos over at the snack table. Those were delicious too. In all seriousness though, my region has some of the nicest people I've met, and they were all so encouraging and didn't even mind my awkwardness. Thank you, regional WriMos.

NaNoWriMo Day 2

Words Written: 6,714
Total Words: 26,714

Somehow I wrote almost 7,000 words?! On a Monday?! Someone tell me how. (Truth: I may have sacrificed some sleep time to write. Also some homework time. But shh. No one needs to know that.)
My writing only got interrupted by dinner (rice and cabbage soup, yum!) and the latest episode of Grimm because priorities, people. (The episode of Grimm was so intense. It was the season premiere, and since I had missed the previous season's finale, I was all kinds of shocked.) Also my family watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown because our power was out on Halloween so we couldn't watch it. Sad times.
And I got a piece of cake, so that was delicious.
Back to the writing part, though, almost all of my words were written thanks to this Word Crawl. It has the perfect amount of long sprints and short ones, and it has "Galleons" that you can use to skip certain challenges. (Did I mention it's Harry Potter themed? 'Cause it is.)

I hope everyone who is participating is having an outstanding NaNoWriMo so far! I will hopefully be back with more updates in the future so see you then.