Deliverable 3

Right okay deliverable one is finished. I have completed up to chapter 10, which completes act 2. As for writing, I'm in the middle of chapter 12. So the whole book is roughly 87 pages and about 21,000 words. Again, this is with minimal editing and no chapter breaks.

So I have to have some form of picture evidence of my deliverable. But unfortunately for you, I've already posted the beginning of chapter 6 so that's nothing new. 

Okay but also I'll give you some evidence of chapter 10 aka the very end when she decides to be a Red Cross nurse. There's a minor spoiler I guess so don't read if you don't want a spoiler. 

And now I'm on to act 3, probably my favorite part for reasons I can't tell you. But trust me, it is wonderful. 

Okay well I'll post again next week. Thank you again for reading. 

I don't know how to title things

Act 2 is finished! Chapter 10 is done and now I'm on to chapter 11. The deliverable isn't due until next Friday so I'll have time to edit and add things and all that jazz. But coming up is Act 3, which is probably my favorite. It's when things get very interesting. Seeing as I've already started act 3, I'll give you the first snippet of chapter 11.

The tents were white. The sky ranged from blue to gray to black. The people were ashen and the smiles invisible. But the color I saw the most was red.
Red was the color of a nurse's flush as she ran back and forth, carrying water and supplies to sick and dying men. Red was the color of the cross we bore on our arms and heads, representing the aid we delivered. And red was the color of the blood that dripped through our fingers and congealed on bandages wrapped around wounds of an even deeper crimson. 

Also I have that playlist I promised. The link is http://8tracks.com/jaydabird/rose-of-no-man-s-land

Okay well I guess that's all I really have to say for now? Writing is hard, if you're wondering. I have had the worst writers block and I'm going to have to go back and add a lot to this past act. But I introduced one of my favorite characters so I guess you have to appreciate the little things. I'll keep you updated on the deliverable. Seeing as it's a grade, I have to. 

Thanks for reading again. 

Posting on time!

Okay so I have miraculously managed to remember to post on time. I finished chapter 8 this week and I'm almost through chapter 9. My goal is to finish chapter 10 over the long weekend, thereby completing the act and giving me 2 extra weeks before the deliverable is due to get ahead on act 3.

But the good news is, thanks to my favorite history teacher ever (hey Mrs. Guffey) I have another resource on the battles of the war to assist in my writing. Battles are pretty important to a war so I should probably have a better understanding of them. 

Okay at this point in the story, Elsie has befriended a young soldier over the phone and they talk often. Soon, however, she will leave the Hello Girls and join the Red Cross. There are a good number of events leading up to that, none of which I want to spoil. 

So I'm going to add a few links to this post and put them on a links page somewhere on this blog. I might add to it periodically. 

http://pinterest.com/Jaydabird18/the-rose-of-no-mans-land-storyboard/

This is the link to the Pinterest board I created to pin inspiration for the novel. It's helped me find some nice resources in addition to actors I would cast as the characters. 

http://8tracks.com/megan_h/downton-abbey-mix

http://8tracks.com/thefontbandit/nanowrimo-adventure

http://8tracks.com/thefontbandit/nanowrimo-writing-fuel

http://8tracks.com/thefontbandit/nanowrimo-fight-scene

These are playlists on 8tracks that I listen to while writing to drown out the real world and focus. Credit goes to the creators of the playlists. I should probably make my own. Maybe next time I'll have that up for you. 

That's really all for now. How about an original playlist and maybe another snippet next time? Thanks again for reading. 

Better Late Than Never

So I had a blog post due Friday but I totally forgot about it. I don't know what kind of grade it counts for but I figure that I should probably post just in case; and besides, I owe you all an update.

The good news is that I managed my goal of finishing two chapters over break. Then I slacked off. But with chapters 6 and 7 done, I only have 8-10 left for the current act. I intend on working some tonight and throughout the week. These chapters have been shorter than the previous ones but I expect after editing, they'll beef up nicely.

And now for a surprise! I've been considering doing this for some time but I wasn't sure what to do. I'm going to post a snippet and talk a bit about it. To avoid spoilers, I'll post just a nice description. This is the beginning of act 2, which I'm currently working on. It's Elsie's description of France.

Winter melted into spring. Snow dripped into rain. Crisp wind swirled into a gentle breeze. France was beautiful in the changing seasons. Until we reached the cities.
It was early March when we arrived. After swearing into the American military, a ship and a few train rides later, we found ourselves in the heart of the country. We glimpsed the French cities, bustling about with their everyday lives. It was different here than it had been in America. Women worked almost every area of the city. Men were incredibly sparse. And yet every “bonne journée” was resigned, like it might be the last day they would ever have, whether or not it was good. Each smile between neighbors struck somber, clipped with melancholy, as if the smile might be toxic. The air swam with the tension of total war, knowing every effort they made for their soldiers was being replicated in a German town elsewhere to be used against those soldiers.
America wasn't like this. We still had joy and hope, festivities and a fighting spirit. But total war took as much of a toll on its supporters as it did its soldiers. America wasn't like this. But it was on its way to becoming it.
I tried not to think about how the Germans across the continent were looking at each other with the same misery. I tried not to contemplate that we were all the same people, standing on opposite sides of the battlefield and looking at our own reflections. I tried. I really did.
The country was beautiful for a while. That’s where I saw the changing of the seasons. Then we passed the trenches, miles of holes in the earth, fortified with barbed wire and dead bodies. Even from the distance, I could see this was no childhood fort. It was hell on earth.

There you have it. A description of France from the perspective of a Hello Girl. "Bonne journée" means "good day" if you didn't pick that up from context clues. It's possible you didn't. Forgive me for any typos; my software doesn't notice such things.

Well I guess I don't have much to say about the snippet after all. I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for my forgetfulness. Thanks for reading.