Last year, I was pretty pleased that I'd managed to break myself out of bad habits -- I could happily scribble away anywhere with anything, setting and circumstance didn't matter. And I've been pretty good at sustaining that... until recently.
Now I find it impossible to write at home on my laptop. Which is fine on the days we're in Starbucks, but less fine on the days off. I don't know what it is -- I just can't concentrate at home like I used to :P Too many distractions, I suppose. Need to work on getting back into good habits, especially now my daily output is dwindling.
Saying that, today's been another good day. A big reveal's on the shore and the characters are behaving themselves nicely. And words are coming easily! I think I'm still riding off the back of yesterday. Got some real nice compliments on my most recent excerpt, and good reviews are pretty potent as fuel! Hopefully it'll last!
Having Lilo and Stitch cravings today (such a good movie don't even talk to me) so let's have some of that here!
Today was a good writing day, and I will share an excerpt with you --
Squeezing his legs as tight
as he could to Loam's sides and clasping his hands around Kai's middle, Dakin
squeezed his eyes shut and tried to focus on his breathing to keep the
instinctive panic at bay as he felt the dragon's muscles shift and move beneath
them as they lurched towards the mouth of the cave. It was bumpier than he had
expected it to be; the dragon was awkward in its gait, and with every heavy
step Dakin felt as though he was about to be flung off. And this was only when
they were on the ground, and walking! Heaven knows what it would be like
when they were actually up in the air... Seriously regretting letting himself
get talked into this, Dakin pressed his forehead to Kai back and concentrated
on not throwing up as the cool sea hair ruffled his hair.
With room to stretched,
Loam spread its wings -- wide and leathery and quivering -- out then up, then
out again, stretching out the kinks as one does with their arms after sleeping.
The satisfied shudder coursed through its body, starting at the very tips of
its wings and down and across its back, shaking the riders along with it.
Kai chuckled when he felt
Dakin's grip tighten in response. "Relax," he murmured. "You'll
make Loam nervous. And a nervous dragon is not a safe dragon."
"You're not
helping," came the muffled response, hot through his jacket. "Just
tell me when it's over so I can look."
"I bet you anything
you like that within ten minutes you'll've opened your eyes and won't be able
to shut them again 'till we land."
Dakin gave an indistinct
mumble of *doubt in response.
Knowing that he was
absolutely right, Kai leaned forward and patted Loam's neck. "Come on
then, dragon. Let's show him what it's all about."
A squeak emitted from
Dakin's lips as he felt them dip down like a coiled spring. It was happening
and there was not a thing he could do about it and oh god--
There was a sharp rush of
air and the squeak turned into a shriek as they suddenly hurtled upwards; the
heavy beat of wings pulsing deafeningly in his ears, louder than the raor of
the wind and the rush of his own blood. Up and down, they sank and rose like a
ship on the most turbulent sea, higher and higher until the air was thin and
crisp and cool, and only the steady throb of adrenaline kept his skin hot.
Kai gritted his teeth
against the sharp pain of Dakin's fingers digging into his middle and patted
the dragon's neck a second time.
At once, the wings stopped
beating and the jerky movements smoothed out into a sleek glide, broken every
now and then by a single smooth stroke just to keep them up.
As they soared high and
fast above the sea -- their silhouette a tiny shape skimming across the water
below them -- little by little Dakin's grip began to relax and the high-strung
tension in his body start to ease.
Tucking his ruffling hair
behind his ear, Kai glanced briefly backwards to see Dakin peeking out with
wide blue eyes. "I told you so."
Now that he didn't feel
like he was going to be thrown off at any moment, Dakin swallowed down the last
remnants of terror and eased himself carefully away from Kai, raising his head
to take it all in.
"Wow."
Kai's laugh reverberated
through them both. "Breathe it in," he said. "You'll find no
sweeter taste in this life."
Dakin obeyed, taking in a
lung-full through the mouth. Kai was right. He'd never felt anything like it
before. "What is it?"
"Freedom,"
Kai told him, stooping low over Loam’s neck as they made a wide, sweeping turn
to the left. "The freedom of dragons."
Excuse the cheesiness of the ending, I couldn't resist! I expect it'll get tweaked/aggressively deleted in the rewrite, but it's first draft so I can do what I like :)
I'm hoping to finish up this draft within the next few weeks (did I already tell you that?) The end is nigh, and I can already see the sequel series in the distance. Maybe. If the loss is too much to bare. I hate endings. Endings are worse than beginnings a thousand times over.
Aaand, because I don't know why I haven't recc'd this yet, The Call by Regina Spektor for the Prince Caspian Soundtrack. I am passionate about this song at the moment. A good song for endings :)
Yesterday, a wonderful NaNo'er -- Jinxmoonstone -- made me a beautiful cover for Book 3. Isn't it pretty? Jinx is supremely talented and I almost wish I was going through the self publishing route just so I could do it justice!
Okay, so we all know the cliche of The Brooding Writer, who sits alone in a darkened, smoke filled room with only fifty coffee cups, each in a different state of decay, for company. The door is shut -- locked, probably -- with a large sign tacked onto the outside written in thick black sharpie:
Keep Out: Muse At Work
The Brooding Writer does not emerge for months, weeks years, not until they reappear -- hissing at the sunlight -- with a perfect first draft clutched tight in their nicotine-stained fingers, ready for press. The Brooding Writer remains in the real world just long enough to make sure no-one butchers their baby, then returns, hunchbacked, to the darkened room, ready to begin again. The Brooding Writer has no care for their readers and their opinions. Afterall, hat difference does it make? The Brooding Writer will write what they write and to hell with everyone else! The Brooding Writer likes a nice thick fourth wall between them and the audience, broken only occassionally in a fit of writers' angst.
Now, in my time at university, I met a great many people who fit this title. Hell, I even considered it for myself once! It seemed bohemian and artistic and even a necessity to literary success.
For me personally, though, I think I have always been a communal writer. It's what comes from years of fanfiction and craving reviews such as 'Waaahhh what did you do?? More please!!" It's a high that quickly becomes addictive and I learnt the techniques to ensure maximum 'Waaahhh!!' By that I mean supremely sympathetic characters that you torture over and over with wicked cliff hangers. In retospect, I definitely think I treat each chapter - whether in original fic or fanfic - as a little bit like a TV episode.
Each part needs to feel complete and satisfying and, more than anything, have a good hook to keep people coming back for more.
In short, to be a communal writer, you need to have a good connection to your readership. If you want them to care and say nice things, you need to give them something to care about and you need to know how to play with their heartstrings. Be aware, also, of what affects you as a reader. Afterall, No Tears in the Writer, No Tears in the Reader, and I think that is absolutely true.
Brooding Writers are fine, and it's a method that I'm sure works for some, but don't ever think it is a requirment to shut yourself away from the world. I promise you from the bootom of my heart, that there is nothing in the world more satisfying and inspiring than a message from a reader that simply says, 'Wow.' Just like that, full-stop and all. Wow means 'You got me. You and your characters did their job.' Never underestimate the meaning of 'Wow.'
And if you want that Wow, you've got to get out there and connect with your readers.
As predicted, yesterday's slump has not (thankfully) lasted. I am pumped, I am prepared, I am ready to get back down to business! Aww yeah! Bring it!
The more time I spend in the 'Say Something Nice About the Excerpt Above You' (Located in NaNoWriMo Ate My Soul, for anyone who wants to pop by and join the party!) the more I'm starting to think about my revision, what needs to be added. As usual, I have completely neglected Alyk in any of the excerpts I've put up, which is terrible because he is such a crucial character! It was only when someone mentioned wanting to know more about him when he was mentioned in passed that I realised that, once again, I was pretty much pretending he doesn't exist. This needs to change. I can feel myself doing it to Tamsyn too, side-lining her in favour of other characters. Its just like Joanna all over again who's been completely cut from the first first draft.
It's ridiculous, really, because I know what parts they all play and how it's going to work out and why they're important etc. etc. but there just doesn't seem to be enough words in a day to include everything.
Oh well, at least I"m aware of it, and that's what revision's for, right?
In other news, hello all the new people following this blog! I'm completely overwhelmed by the traffic coming through here and seeing where everyone's coming from (This morning, Russia seems to be the most popular and yesterday was the Netherlands!) I've been getting upwards of fifty hits a day for the past three days, so the pressure's on to keep your attention (I expect it'll subside soon when everyone realises how boring this blog usually is!)
Today is very exciting; finally getting around to The Big Climax. I'm still not 100% how to play it, but I'm just going to go with what feels right and not over-think it too much. I need to catch up on my wordcount if I want to order my createspace books by January! A very kind NaNo'er gave me a spare code so now I can order four paper backs when it's done :D At the moment, this year's manuscript stands at 375-ish pages and I've still got a good 25K to go. It's gonna be a brick!
This is what I'm listening to at the moment -
'I Will Find You' from The Last of the Mohicans Soundtrack. A truly haunting ear-worm.I saw the movie years and years ago, and I really do need to see it again. It's brilliant, visually, emotionally and, of course, musically. Not for the faint-hearted though! Enjoy :)
I think yesterday I was running on NaNo fumes, and now they're spent. I am so written out. I don't even want to think about my story today! Actually, scrap that, I don't want to think about anything today. Nothing sounds good. I think I'm going to have a day off today, read some fic, read some Fruits Basket... I've been having alot of Furuba dreams recently; that's probably a sign about something. I wish I had all my books with me. The online ones are fine, but the translations are (more than) a little off :/ I should really start scouting out ebay to try and pick up the ones I'm missing from my collection -- 17 -- 23, I think?
In other news, my father-in-law asked me again what my story was about last night. The time before we actually had a good conversation about it, but it caught me off guard last night so I couldn't do anybetter than, 'Eh bleh bleh a sort of fantasy thing about people doing stuff.' Literally. Word for word. I really need to improve on my summary skills. It isn't getting any easier.
Yesterday was a good, encouraging day and today feels... Like I want to chuck the whole damn thing in and become a dentist. It's probably got something to do with the visa medical people still telling me that I have to wait to make my appointment, even though I've waited and waited and they said come back in December so I did and.... *headdesk* So now I'm in a slump. I'm going to eat bagel and drink tea and feel better :)
Browsing through the forums this morning feels like walking through a store ten minutes before closing -- everything's quiet and the air is still buzzing from the energy of the last minute rush. I"m pretty surprised so many people have disappeared so quickly, but I'm glad to see the regulars are still hanging around.
A lot of people are expressing their sadness that NaNo is over, and I totally get that. It's a mad month of friendzied scribbling, and coming out the other side is like waking up after a month-long sleep. It is sad, but it's also exciting -- now you've got the whole year ahead of you with an amazing block of raw material ready and waiting to be chizzled into something gorgeous!
NaNo, for me at least, is like the new-year's party for the writing year and I cannot wait to see what this year will bring! Last year, it brought me the confidence to go freelance whole new world and cast of characters of my own to work with. This year... who knows? But I think good things are going to happen. I feel more confident, more dedicated, and any excuse I had *not* to do my very best has been completely erradicated.
I have no more excuses, nor do I have the desire to make any more.
Whether you 'won' or not, simply by participating in the eventyou have shown more dedication, more passion and more drive than most self-proclaimed writers ever do. It doesn't matter *what* you've ended up with, only that you *have* ended up with something. And the coming year is the time to make that something into something brilliant!
So don't be sad NaNo's over, be excited for the next step in your novelling and look forward to next year :)
