It’s funny seeing your writing style change over time, but I never thought it would happen so quick over a two-year period. I have glimpses, whole sections of dialogue and exposition that I find wonderful, mature and continuously impressive to me. But betwixt such ingenuity I see puddles of crap that need to be cleared up.
I’m also fighting with the ongoing “Is this erotica or not?” battle. Since deciding to write erotica two years ago, many of my new story ideas have centered around that tone. My older stories in this series, with the exception of the boys’ stories, Kaven and Kane (those being relatively new stories as well), were all conceived with a mainstream romance vibe in mind. I like erotica, not just for the sex factor, but because there are a great many less restrictions to bind me, no pun intended. I like to use profanity when I want, and I have no problem describing certain events in a more descriptive, grittier context. And I’ve read some fiery mainstream romance one could classify as erotica, so, hey, who knows anymore?
My outline has been reevaluated, and I just need to identify those various holes in the story so that I can concentrate on making this work one cohesive story instead of garbledy-gook strung together with all-caps notes and empty promises that I’ll get to them eventually. I’m better than this.
JLH
Monday, January 21, 2013
Februrary 2013 JNoWriMo
After several failed and half-hearted attempts at JNoWriMo in 2012, as well a failed NaNoWriMo in November, I’ve decided to pick myself back up for a February 2013 JNoWriMo, sticking with a standard 50,000-word goal. We’ll see how that goes, and then maybe try yet again in April with a modest 55K goal. Or maybe 60K. Writing 2,000 words a day is a meager step up from a minimal 1,667 words a day, and that would take me to the 60K mark.
Inspiration waned this past summer and fall, but then it flourished in December with the acceptance of a new job. Kray has been “completed”, in the sense that I wrote the last bit of the story and am quite pleased with the tone and hook-like quality that will hopefully urge people to buy and read Defenders Book #2, Kayt. It still has a way to go with filling in the holes and then starting the editing process, however.
Starting with names, damn it all. There are still some naming conventions I need to iron out, so perhaps a good exercise for me in the next two weeks is setting up maps for which to properly see where all my characters are living, and then map out all my characters' names, too. My very title of the series contains the name of the island they all live on, and it still remains blank to this day. And how long have I been writing these stories?...
My desire to write my second series should be my fuel, my inspiration, for finishing my first series, as the second series’ books are a tad more exciting to me. But maybe that’s because they’re still so new in my mind.
JLH
Inspiration waned this past summer and fall, but then it flourished in December with the acceptance of a new job. Kray has been “completed”, in the sense that I wrote the last bit of the story and am quite pleased with the tone and hook-like quality that will hopefully urge people to buy and read Defenders Book #2, Kayt. It still has a way to go with filling in the holes and then starting the editing process, however.
Starting with names, damn it all. There are still some naming conventions I need to iron out, so perhaps a good exercise for me in the next two weeks is setting up maps for which to properly see where all my characters are living, and then map out all my characters' names, too. My very title of the series contains the name of the island they all live on, and it still remains blank to this day. And how long have I been writing these stories?...
My desire to write my second series should be my fuel, my inspiration, for finishing my first series, as the second series’ books are a tad more exciting to me. But maybe that’s because they’re still so new in my mind.
JLH
Monday, November 19, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
NaNoWriMo 2012
I have to say I was diligent during my self-imposed JNoWriMo in February and April, and I came out successful in my 50,000 and 55,000 word goals, respectively. Even though I failed at finishing (or, rather, starting) JNoWriMo in June and August/September, nor did I give any attempt at JNoFiMo, which I believe I slotted for spring of this year. Circumstances arose, a new dog, a hot summer that plagued all of SE Wisconsin with incessant stickiness, blah, blah, blah... No damn excuses, Jen--"Kray" needs to get done, period.
Well, this time it's for realsies. NaNoWriMo is right around the corner, and with my stats public on the website, with writing buddies watching my every move, it is time to buckle up and take the plunge after a six-month recess.
I still wrote over the summer, but it was mostly hinged on a random good idea or starstruck inspiration here and there, and never on one story. Or even four stories. And I don't think I wrote enough. My spastic brain synapses had me thinking across the whole damn spectrum of my stories, over all three series, and in no particular manner of order. Perhaps it's ADD that has me getting bored with one story so that I'm propelled into another. Part of me gets defensive. As all these stories are interconnected, and I have the grandiose plan of planting recurring characters in the stories, perhaps it's not such a bad thing that I work on separate stories concurrently. Or maybe I'm just working on my next panic attack.
"Kray" is quite near the end, and with the story "Kayt" nearly completely mapped out in my head, though only partly on paper, I need to start working solely on that book in the background, should "Kray" hit a proverbial wall. Discipline is hard when you're a writer, particularly an unpublished one with no legal or contractual dates to oblige. I need to rely on my own meager sense of willpower and the good sense to turn the Internet off if I have any interest in attaining my goals.
So. As NaNoWriMo was set up so that writers could a) finish a novel, and/or b) write 50,000 words (that's 1,667 a day), I once again aim to satisfy both those goals with attention spent mostly on finishing "Kray", followed by a decent push into "Kayt". (No pun intended...)
"Kray": ~25,000 to 40,000 words
"Kayt": ~10,000 to 25,000 words
...And so there's a nut: as my stories are developed, so are the plots, the characters, the motives. Various plot points I started out with several years ago now, embarrassingly enough, seem moot. Confusing. Stupid even. I fear as I move on from book to book, I'm going to want to change various aspects of things already written. This rings out as "tireless editing" in my head. Blerg.
But I can't do anything until I shut my damn mouth and get my fingers moving. Thursday, November 1, 2012, starts NaNoWriMo--30 days to write 50,000 words. Wish me luck.
JLH
Well, this time it's for realsies. NaNoWriMo is right around the corner, and with my stats public on the website, with writing buddies watching my every move, it is time to buckle up and take the plunge after a six-month recess.
I still wrote over the summer, but it was mostly hinged on a random good idea or starstruck inspiration here and there, and never on one story. Or even four stories. And I don't think I wrote enough. My spastic brain synapses had me thinking across the whole damn spectrum of my stories, over all three series, and in no particular manner of order. Perhaps it's ADD that has me getting bored with one story so that I'm propelled into another. Part of me gets defensive. As all these stories are interconnected, and I have the grandiose plan of planting recurring characters in the stories, perhaps it's not such a bad thing that I work on separate stories concurrently. Or maybe I'm just working on my next panic attack.
"Kray" is quite near the end, and with the story "Kayt" nearly completely mapped out in my head, though only partly on paper, I need to start working solely on that book in the background, should "Kray" hit a proverbial wall. Discipline is hard when you're a writer, particularly an unpublished one with no legal or contractual dates to oblige. I need to rely on my own meager sense of willpower and the good sense to turn the Internet off if I have any interest in attaining my goals.
So. As NaNoWriMo was set up so that writers could a) finish a novel, and/or b) write 50,000 words (that's 1,667 a day), I once again aim to satisfy both those goals with attention spent mostly on finishing "Kray", followed by a decent push into "Kayt". (No pun intended...)
"Kray": ~25,000 to 40,000 words
"Kayt": ~10,000 to 25,000 words
...And so there's a nut: as my stories are developed, so are the plots, the characters, the motives. Various plot points I started out with several years ago now, embarrassingly enough, seem moot. Confusing. Stupid even. I fear as I move on from book to book, I'm going to want to change various aspects of things already written. This rings out as "tireless editing" in my head. Blerg.
But I can't do anything until I shut my damn mouth and get my fingers moving. Thursday, November 1, 2012, starts NaNoWriMo--30 days to write 50,000 words. Wish me luck.
JLH
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