Tag Archives: Characters

Sleep is Important

Posted in Progress by

Lack of sleep makes for an interesting day writing wise.  I’d say I got maybe an hour of sleep.  While I did get a lot of writing done, as I might as well be productive if I’m just going to sit and wait to be tired, when it comes to writing later in the day, I write even stranger things than normal.  I’m honestly surprised I didn’t fall asleep at the Living Room this morning.  Here’s a few tidbits from sleep-deprived writing:

  • “I am never reading barry potter.”  (who’s barry potter?)
  • “I’m hpping you don’t forget the.”  (forget what?  that you never ended the sentence?)
  • “Do you think he was in on it?” kiora saidked.  (don’t say or ask when you can saidked)
  • ancoient rines (what’s ancoient rines?  is it like ancient runes?)

Note to self: never write when I’ve only gotten an hour’s sleep.

Secret Service Novel: 33,522; I’m rather amazed I stayed awake long enough to write anything for this one.  Things have a taken an interesting, unexpected (and possibly illegal if it keeps up) turn.

Harry Potter Fanfic: 32,373; My attempt to write this one today hasn’t gone well, mostly because I felt like I was going to fall asleep.  Hopefully my nap will give me enough energy to finish today’s quota. 

2006 sequel: 35,674; at least something productive came out of my inability to sleeep.  I also realized that I’ve given up on trying to figure out a plot for the second half, and instead am going to complain about everything.  Chloe’s been complaining most of the last 6,000 words or so, and since complaining is good for my word count, I might as well run with it.  It is fictionalized complaining, as it’s Chloe who’s complaining about everything.  I’ll see where it goes.

Grand total: 101,569; I’m relieved that I’ve passed the 100k mark!  150k is firmly within reach now!

Things Are Moving Along!

Posted in Progress by

Things are moving along in NaNoland. 

  • Hermione’s researching up a storm, and the professor’s are starting to figure out something’s going on because it’s weird, even for Hermione. 
  • Harry’s having dreams that may or may not be predicting the future. 
  • Chloe came close to committing suicide again, and blames her mother for everything that’s gone wrong in her life. 
  • Dustin wants to get married someday, but his job takes up too much of his time.  There’s potential for him to give it all up but it would depend on the girl, and if she’s the “right girl.” 
  • Kiora’s aunt Audrey is the one behind the threats, and probably the kidnappings too. 
  • Blake has dropped off the face of the earth, and I have no idea where he is or what he’s doing. 

Secret Service Novel: 28,444; Kiora and Dustin are now in Texas.  This changes their relationship forever.  I remembered the title: Turning Point seems appropriate since getting secret service protection changes Kiora’s life forever.

Harry Potter fanfic: 30,285; things are really starting to move along.  Hermione’s considering a teaching career post-Hogwarts, so she’s working with McGonagall, Flitwick and Bill Weasley to help her decide if she wants to teach and in what subject.

2006 Sequel: 29,023; I wrote 2,000 words today for it, which makes me happy, and really helped close the gap that I had.  Being a thousand words behind is very manageable. 

Grand total: 87,752; I’m happy with this number.  It might not be where I want it to be, but I can live with it.  I like the pattern of Harry Potter/2006 sequel/secret service novel.  I’m doing well with the 1st and last novel, so I figure it’s a good day if I can start off with something that’ll boost my confidence, followed by something I’m struggling with, followed by something I’m doing well with to remind me that something is doing well.

And The Typos Keep Flooding In

Posted in Progress by

It really is amazing the misspellings that occur in a month.  I thought I’d share some of the more notable things that I’ve managed to type in the last couple weeks from my harry potter fanfic.  As usual, any comments in parantheses are my thoughts and everything is copyright me:

  • “She ran after fred, screaming arr at him.”  (the image that popped into my head is mrs. weasley dressed up as a pirate, chasing fred with a sword.)
  • “You’re a smart woth” (what’s a woth?)
  • “d.a.a., helping fred and george with he joke ship, and she’s resarcong the giant prehistoric chicken” (1- what’s the D.A.A., and 2- what’s a joke ship?)

there’s a few other ones, but I never marked where they were…so those will wait until I can look through it and see where they were.

Secret Service Novel: 26,592; I had a great title…and promptly forgot it.  I’m slightly off of where I want to be, but I have some interesting ideas to work with.  Today, Kiora took a trip to the future.  She went ahead 3 years, and apparently, somehow, started something (that’s yet to be determined) with dustin when they were in texas escaping her aunt audrey.

Harry Potter Fanfic: 26,860; george has admitted to liking hermione, if only she would admit she has feelings for him. 

2006 sequel: 26,712; chloe found a letter hidden under a rock in her front yard from her dad to her mom, and is now embarking on a scavenger hunt to find him.

Grand total: 80,164; knowing I’m halfway there is such a relief!

Stupid Rebellious Characters

Posted in Progress by

During November, characters really do take on a life of their own.  You come up with all of these plans for them, and they decide they want to ignore your plans, and come up with their own.

I wasn’t planning on George and Hermione dating.  They apparently are headed towards a relationship, and I’m sitting here trying to figure out where that came from.  I’m just typing away happily, and all of a sudden george and hermione are on better terms then they’ve ever been in the entire series, chatting away, not admitting they like each other, even though hermione is helping fred and george with their joke shop and with george suggesting that he and fred get hermione a bunch of books about the giant prehistoric chicken.

Or my secret service novel.  Kiora and Dustin were going to get together when she was 18, but out of nowhere, dustin decides part of why he’s hostile towards kiora is because he’s attracted to her.  And once again, I’m sitting here wondering why he can’t wait a couple years until she’s legal. 

The characters in my 2006 sequel have decided that they’re all related to each other.  Avery and Gumbo, who met Chloe while they were all in the same treatment facility, are related to Betsy (who was one of chloe’s best friends) and Mike (who is letting chloe stay with him). 

This, of course, is why I try to avoid planning, because they’re obviously going to do what they want, without regard for what I planned for them.  If they’re not careful, I could just as easily kill one of them off just for the heck of it. 

Secret Service Novel: 23,411; this novel needs a title.  Like now.  It’ll have something to do with secrets, but I don’t have any other ideas.

Harry Potter Fanfiction: 21,627; no title needed for this one, as I already have one.

2006 Sequel: 20,017; I’m seriously considering taking a break from this one today, and getting ahead on the other two.  I do love how this novel has become my rant novel.  Annoy me enough, and you’ll probably end up in this novel.  I do need to rant though…so maybe it can be a flashback or a dream or something?

Grand total: 65,055; I should be halfway there on the 15th!

Here’s Some More Fun Facts!

Posted in Progress by

I thought I would share a select few (and fun!) facts about my characters:

  • chloe has never been on a plane; for that matter, she’s never left Ashton County
  • kiora wants to be a psychologist or a teacher
  • blake always wants to fix things
  • dustin hates apple cider
  • aisling has cancer

I’m really liking this in-depth character biography thing.  And in addition to the things that come up out of nowhere, this novel-writing thing really is fun, no matter how frustrated I get with the writing.

Secret Service: 17,810; this one is going quite well, and I find myself not bored with it at all.  Kiora’s dad has mysteriously vanished, and I have no idea where he is, or why he disappeared.  Things are pretty tense between him and kiora right now; maybe he’ll tell her what’s going on.

Harry Potter Fanfiction: 18,600; nothing else to report on this one.  Hopefully the frustrations that I felt last week means that it’s out of my system. 

2006 Sequel: 18,342; I’m still a little bored with this one, and I’m not quite sure what direction I should take with it.  Maybe it’s the perfect time to go back and write those chapters I skipped over.

Total: 54,752!  I’m starting to go into a word coma, I think, but I’ll come out of it.

I’m A Writing Machine!

Posted in Progress by

Holy cow, I’ve written a lot of words.  Tomorrow, I should cross the 50,000 tomorrow.  Of course, it’s a combined total for all 3 novels, but 50,000 words is a lot for 10 days!

Secret Service: 16,451; I got on a roll with this one, so I went with it.  Her relationship with her dad is starting to become more strained.  The thing that has surprised me the most with this novel is the fact that the secret service doesn’t have as big a role as I had orignally thought.

Harry Potter fanfic: 15022; The pace of the story moving slowly but quickly all at the same time.  Other than that, things are pretty…expected. 

2006 Sequel: 15,044; Chloe did get a visit from one the patients from the time she was in the treatment facility, which was a nice surprise for her. 

Grand total: 46,517; I’m very satisfied with my wordcount, but I’m not stopping until I get 150,000.

Fun Facts and Other Stuff

Posted in Progress by

I’ve noticed in the last week that I’m getting very particular about when and where I write.  I’m perfectly fine when I’m not at home, so I’m not too concerned.  However, writing at home is proving to be slightly problematic.  The middle of the night works is a productive time because no one’s awake except for me. The morning is fine because my mom’s not home.  When she is home, however, is the time I have the most trouble writing.  While I typically try to avoid writing during this time, and try to focus my attention on other productive tasks (eating is good, and so is going to the gym), it would be nice to actually get writing done during this time.  Perhaps I need to write elsewhere during this time.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to go into some rant about how much I hate being cooped up at home.  What I’m learning is that I need to work out the best times for writing, and working around things that are potential annoyances.  It’s definitely a different experience from past NaNo’s when I would write at school or during my lunch breaks at work. 

So onto the fun facts part of the post.  Today was the day for secrets to start coming out in my secret service novel.

  • Kyle, one of Kiora’s secret service agents was adopted and is trying to find them
  • Dustin admits that Kiora is pretty, and might possibly be attracted to her, but won’t admit to it.  It might be why he is so hostile towards her
  • Kiora has an aunt Arabella that she doesn’t know about, and she’s currently in a psych ward
  • Blake (kiora’s dad) knows Arabella’s in a psych ward, and refuses to tell kiora about her unknown aunt
  • luna’s mom (luna being a classmate of kiora) and luna are in the same psych ward as her aunt arabella
  • holly (who is the presidents daughter and a classmate of kiora’s) is involved in some group; she currently trying to recruit kiora for the group, but her sister aisling is against the idea; holly also had to wait for luna to not be around in order to talk to kiora about coming over one weekend
  • i get the feeling that blake and luna’s dad go way back, but the jury’s still out on that one
  • I also have a feeling that kyle is somehow connected to kiora’s family, but the jury’s out on that one as well

Secret Service Novel: 13,386; I’m pretty happy with how this is going.  I’m starting to show what’s going on with other characters and the whole reason why Kiora need secret service protection will probably come up again (I just wish I knew when that would be).

Harry Potter and the Giant Prehistoric Chicken: No updated word count; I had trouble sitting down and focusing on writing today’s chapter.  There’s no particular reason why I’m having trouble focusing, since it’s been a problem I’ve had today.

2006 Sequel: 13,476; Chloe’s been doing a lot of reflecting and a lot of volunteering the last few thousand words.  Other than that, there’s nothing to add.

Wordcount: 39,019; assuming I can focus long enough to write the Giant Prehistoric Chicken, my word count should be at around 40686

Fun Tidbits

Posted in Progress by

My novels are really starting to develop a mind of their own, and I thought I would share a few of the things that have come up in the last few days.

  • chloe ends up in rehab/treatment facility because she came dangerously close to attempting suicide
  • kiora goes to a private prep school in D.C., and apparently is more extroverted than I had planned her to be
  • kyle, who is one of kiora’s secret service agents, is married and has a 10 year old daughter
  • blake (kiora’s dad) is apparently the secretary of education
  • mike is in love with chloe
  • george and hermione are headed towards a relationship
  • there are other ways to go to the underworld besides dying
  • there’s a ritual involving the giant prehistoric chicken, and it go either bad or good, depending on the intentions of the person in charge of the ritual

I also added a new link under the resources section: it’s a link to Q10 which is completely awesome.  I don’t use it nearly enough, but every time I do, I’m reminded of how great it is.  It’s pretty similar to notepad, but even cooler.  even with the internet on, it’s impossible for me to get distracted by anything because you can’t minimize the screen.  Or if you can, I haven’t figured out how to do that.  Actually, it’s probably a really good idea if I don’t know that.  I don’t need distractions because I’m distracted enough as it is.  Plus it makes the most awesome sound when you type.

Secret Service: 10,311; I’ve pretty much shown kiora at school or at home.  She lives in D.C., and I’m totally not taking advantage of that.  I must focus on that in the coming weeks.  And I’m not showing a lot of conflict.  Some, but not much.  What makes this more sad is that I have a pretty decent list of possible conflict.

Harry Potter and the Giant Prehistoric Chicken: 10,012;  I’m finally all caught up.  However, I’m still not feeling the story, so I may just randomly change directions, and ignore everything I’ve just written.  If I still find myself bored with it in a week, I’ll reevaluate and take things from there.  I think there are things that aren’t allowing me to have fun with this, which I’ll talk more about tomorrow.

2006 Sequel: 10,021; it’s taken a very interesting turn.  it’s definitely deviating from my plans on this one.  I have a great list of things that would get in the way of her writing, but sadly, I’m not using it.  But I’m taking this newfound idea and running with it. 

Total Wordcount: 30,344, which means I’m all caught up.  let’s hope it stays that way.

The Magical Binder

Posted in General by

The picture above is my NaNoWrimo Binder.  And yes, it is an offical binder to boot.

My binder originally started in December when I decided that I wanted to attempt editing one of my 2009 novels.  I also had a section for the character biographies as well.  Since then, I’ve added a section for names I like, and a section for plots, things I overhear and things/people I see. 

I’ve since updated my binder replacing last years kind-of edited novel with my 3 plot ideas and swapping out last year’s characters with this years characters.  The different sections can be seen below. 

    The tabs are the post-it filing tabs.  The backs have an adhesive, so I just stick the tab where I need it to go.  And  plus, they’re removable so I can change the sections around if I want.

The first section, Novels (2010) not only have my plots, but they also have any and all notes I have/need.  So I have family trees, a list of ways to get fired from your job, a list of things to derail a writer, and a bunch of notes and questions about the Secret Service.  My secret service novel definitely has the most notes out of the three plots.  I have the evolution of the idea, plot holes, questions, some basic info about the secret service, and random notes that I probably won’t use, but are still helpful.   

The second section, Characters, has character biographies for all characters in Plots 1 and 3.  I have a basic character profile worksheet (the link for it is the Writer’s Write Worksheet in the link section to the right).  I haven’t answered every question in the worksheet I’ve filled in what I think is necessary for a first draft.  Not only that, but not everything is relevant to every character.  I have a character trait worksheet that I found at the NaNoFiMo website (the link is over in my resources) for all of the Plot 1 characters.  And finally, I have a random fact sheet for a couple characters.  Hopefully I’ll be able to finish those up in the next few days.  For the random fact sheet, it’s something that I created on my own.

Using Kiora as an example, it has her favorite holiday (Halloween), favorite flower (daisies) and favorite food (spaghetti).  There’s a list of her likes (which include polka dots and headbands) and a list of her dislikes (which include hand sanitizer and wearing shoes).  And then there’s stuff like: wearing odd jewelry and volunteering at a hospital. 

I’m still not sure if I’ll refer to any of the character profiles once I start writing, but it’s still a good reference to have if I need it.  Since it all of the info about my characters, it’s definitely a good place to start if I’m having trouble writing any scenes, or if I have no idea what to write next.

Section Three is character names.  I hate coming up with character names, and every year, it’s one of the things I hate doing.  I figured that it would probably be a good idea if I compiled a list of all of my favorite names, that way I can go through and pick the ones I want for whatever project I’m working on.  I did the lists in a spreadsheet, with columns for name, origin, meaning, multiple spellings, and other notes.  If I want something English, I can look at the english section.  If I want a specific meaning, I can go with that.  I decided to go with a multiple spellings section, which is pretty simple- just a yes or no.  If I need an alternate spelling for a name, I can just look it up.  The other notes column has stuff like pronunciation, other origins or translations for names (like Hecate seems to be Greek in origin, but could also be Egyptian) or how I want to use a name.  A good example would Sparrow or Sage.  I like those names, but not really as a first name- so in my notes I have them listed as potential middle names.  

The names are really organized.  There’s female, unisex, and male names.  Under each group, they are arranged alphabetically by origin, so Aboriginal, American, etc.  Under each origin, they are arranged alphabetically by name (so Kiora, Kylie, Early, Kaylee, etc). 

And the last section is devoted to other plots I come up with, people I see and things I hear.  Sometimes people I see are such characters that there’s no way that I can pass up writing them; and sometimes things I hear are too funny not to include.  As far as the list of plots go, it’s  nice to have a list of things that I might want to work on.

I also 3-hole punch pencil pouch thing where I keep index cards, assorted post-its and paperclips, and I usually have pens and sharpies in an assortment of colors, plus a highlighter, pencil and eraser so I can keep everything more organized and for when I need to write notes and draw stuff out. 

So this sums up my binder for now.  More posts are coming in the next few days, but I still haven’t decided on what I want to cover before November.

Music

Posted in General by

Music plays an integral role in my writing.  I love writing to music, and when I’m stuck, oftentimes I draw inspiration from music. 

I love Pandora- it has some great music, and since I’m always looking for something new to listen to, chances of finding something I’ve never heard before is pretty likely.  With Pandora, there’s only a limited times I can skip songs, so I can’t be distracted by changing stations every few minutes.  A lot of my stations are finely tuned as well, so for the most part I’m not skipping through songs. 

I do have specific playlists for each novel, and if I’m anything like last year, then I’ll listen to the playlist part of the time, and the rest of the time I’ll probably listen to whatever.

As far as playlists go, I pick music that I think best describes my novel.  I also pick music based on music that my characters like.  They definitely are soundtracks for my novels, as well as my inspiration for where to go next. 

One example is Kiora, from my 1st novel.  She loves Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, The Gin Blossoms, and Black Stone Cherry so those artists will definitely be in rotation. 

As far as specific songs go, Many the Miles by Sara Bareilles, What Hurts the Most by Rascal Flatts, and Crush by David Archuleta are all expected to played a lot.  While romance is on the backburner, it will definitely by hinted at, so Crush accurately describes how Kiora feels about Blake.  

Harry Potter and the Giant Prehistoric Chicken is another example.  I’ll be heavily relying on the soundtracks from the 1st 2 Harry Potter movies, the music from A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel, and the music from Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, and Gred and Forge.  I hoping that by listening to Harry Potter-themed music (some serious, and others not so much) I’ll be in Harry Potter mode.

As far as my 3rd novel, the songs are super-random.  While there’s definitely going to be some drama, which is reflected by song such as It’s Been Awhile by Staind, Wonderwall by Oasis and Happy by Leona Lewis, there will also be a lot of light moments as well.  The lighter moments will be reflected in songs like Barbie Girl by Aqua, Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice, and Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham!