Spring break 2k15

Hello, I did not update this blog on Friday. However, the requirement for spring break was that you post and it didn't specify when. Since I am still on spring break, this blog is within the time parameters. 

So spring break. I've found it's nearly impossible to try to do anything productive during a time when you're not required to do anything at all. That said, I've been editing my way through the first draft. I've decided that right now I'm editing the story and then I'll go back through and edit the writing. This is likely the only way to stretch out the project until it ends. 

I have done some editing over break but, mostly, I've been doing nothing. I've watched quite a lot of Dan and Phil on YouTube, which has been incredibly unproductive but very worthwhile and entertaining. I took the SAT and later tried to meet an actor from Buffy who didn't show because he'd been arrested. I finished all of Supernatural so I don't have that distracting me anymore.  Oh, I passed my drivers test today. Congrats me. Now I have absolutely no excuse for sitting at home and not leaving the house. But I'm gonna do it anyway. 

I realize that this post is pretty much not at all about writing but that's okay. One of Veronica Roth's (or maybe it was Cassandra Clare's) writing tips is that after finishing your manuscript, you take a break from it for a week. While I didn't last an entire week before beginning my editing, I have been taking breaks. I suppose I just need to let the story simmer before diving back into it. 

Well, I don't think I have anything else to say. I'll probably come back while editing act 3 and whine about how hard editing it. Please bear with me. 

So spring break was chill. Break from school and break from work. I don't wanna go back to school but I don't really have a choice, do I? Oh, well. I'll cry later, I'm sure.  

Thanks for reading. 

Deliverable 5

So get this: I finished the first draft of my novel! After a long and arduous struggle, I finished chapter 19 over the weekend, chapter 20 on Tuesday, and the epilogue on Wednesday. It's terribly unedited and needs a lot of help. Everyone's been asking me what I'm going to do for the duration of the project. I don't understand. Do people believe books are perfect after the first draft, or that spelling and grammar errors don't occur ever or that plotholes don't spontaneously occur as you're writing? As an amateur writer, I can assure you all of this happens--and often. So I have my work cut out for me. The project isn't finished and neither am I.

Anyway, here's my clever photo of the entire novel.

That should be every page included and the whole pages wouldn't all fit so some of them are halves. Current, unedited stats are 168 pages on Microsoft Word, since there are no page breaks for chapters, and 42,291 words.

Yay for deliverables! Also I'm posting late because my laptop lost its mind last night so I tried to update it and it froze on 17/44 updates for like 5 straight hours so I had to hard  shut it down and then it was 11pm when I tried to restart it and it decided not to work at all and I had the SAT this morning at 8am and I wanted to sleep and evidently so did my laptop. But it's working now. Remind me to update my laptop more often.

Thanks for reading.

Not a deliverable week

Do you remember the times when I would blog and I wouldn't have writers block? Yeah, I don't either. I have a deliverable due next Friday and it happens to be the entire rough draft of the entire novel and I'm entirely too stressed about it. I probably shouldn't be.  I should be finished with chapter 19 by tonight. Then all that's left is chapter 20 and the epilogue. 

So Elsie goes through some pretty heavy stuff during the war and I figure, since we've been studying mental disorders in psychology, why not give her PTSD? Of course in order to write the PTSD, I have to give her some serious psychological damage in previous acts. There was a split second where I considered changing my deliverable to a rewrite of act 3 but I'm not going to be a weak writer. You're not supposed to reread your writing before you're finished because then you'd only spend time editing and never get anywhere. It's best to have something to edit and then return to it then spend all your time going in circles in the same spot. 

So I will be continuing with the original plan. Finish this act by next Friday and spend the time editing until the next deliverable. Strange to think that I'm nearing the end of my little ink journey with Elsie. But there's always editing. And there could be the possibility of a sequel (there won't be one--probably). Actually if I wrote a sequel, it would be about someone else in WWII, maybe with ties to Elsie. But I'll cross that bridge when I get there and I haven't even finished paving the road I'm currently on. 

But yeah I'll probably finish chapter 19 tonight, which I'm starting to like as much as chapter 14. It's really cute. 

Maybe another snippet next week. Acually I have to have proof of my deliverable and I have a clever idea for that so who knows what could happen. Thanks for reading. 

Moving into act 4

Okay well my failure isn't totally failed. I finished a very rough draft of chapter 16 and act 3 in general. It's terrible. It is genuinely awful and I already have so many ideas for how I want to edit it. But I refrain. I know all authors have moments of crippling self-doubt and it's not that I think I can't do it. Sometimes it's just really hard to actually do it. The words just aren't there all the time. I even struggle to write this blog. But I'm glad I squeezed out enough to justify it being a full act. As I often say, something awful is something to edit and that's better than having nothing. And now I have something to edit.

So Elsie has just returned home from France and the war is coming to a close. The story will also be ending soon. I am now in act 4, which i think is shorter than the others. I might be bittersweet to finish it but it's not like I won't be spending time with her. As I said, I have a lot of editing to do. 

I finished chapter 17 this week and started chapter 18 yesterday. I haven't written at all today for the sake of sanity and because I'm watching Star Trek on account of Leonard Nimoy's passing. It's sad to see such a legend die and he was a legend. He certainly lived long and prospered. 

So I was watching early Star Trek and there was some underlying sexism, which is unsurprising given that it was filmed during the 60s. But I think I can talk about sexism during WWI and remain on topic. So people thought women were inadequate, belonged in the household, and existed to get married and have babies. The only reason they got jobs was because the men were off in the war. But! Their effort in the war is the reason that Woodrow Wilson changed his mind on giving women the vote. Prior to the US's entrance into the war, Wilson believed women had no reason to vote. But afterwards, he said it was only fair to include them. As he said, "we have made partners of the women in this war...Shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to a partnership of privilege and right?" Talk about character development. 

Thank you again for tolerating my whining enough to read this, my 2 viewers. Live long and prosper. And rest in peace, Mr. Nimoy.

Deliverable 4

I have accepted that I am a failure. I did not complete my deliverable in time. I got 5 out of 6 chapters written. I attribute this failure to the fact that I had 3 weeks to get a full act done. Even with trying to get ahead by starting on it early, I was unable to complete the full thing. I intend on finishing it this weekend. 

I will now talk about my birthday because I am writing this blog and can therefore talk about whatever I want. But I'll be reasonable. February 18th, I turned 17. As for relevant gifts, I got a Stephen King book about writing and some really cute Merlin bookmarks to accompany it. I intend on reading the book, obviously. Hopefully, it will give me the knowledge to be a better writer. 

So I talk about writing a lot. But this project has never been about just writing. It's about history and French too. So while I'm trial and erring with writing, I'm also learning history and French. Those two are probably easier to study. For French, I take French 3 at school so I learn something new every day and have to go fix something in the novel. It can be frustrating but it's educational. The history is different. I have an American history class but considering we spent about a week on WWI before having a little quiz on the information, I don't depend on school for the details.

Instead of using just the one chapter from a relatively generalized textbook, I keep Google handy and use it quite often. I use it for the major events of the war to the little details of individual people. I have a lot of books for reference: WWI books, fashion books, battle books. I have so many resources that help me learn every day. 

Well I'm supposed to include a picture that proves i completed my deliverable. Since I didn't actually do that, I'm gonna take a rain check. 

Thanks for reading. Wish me luck. 

Chapter 14

I've really got to make sure my blog posts are actually posting. New goal.

I had the best burst of inspiration this week. I finished chapter 14, which has to be my favorite chapter probably in the entire book (at least of what I've written so far). It's a very epic chapter where many things happen and lots of secrets come out. From now until the end of the act, there's a lot of tension and intensity.

The beginning of chapter 15 has been a struggle. I feel like it's there but I don't have any time to sit down and pull it out. So hopefully this weekend I can crack down. I'm so close to finishing this act, which is good because my deliverable is due next Friday. I totally forgot about that until now. I guess I will definitely be cracking down this weekend. Thanks for reminding me. 

But my birthday is this Wednesday so that'll be a fun obstacle to work around as I finish these last two chapters. I suppose professionals do it all the time so I'll have to do it too. As the phrase goes, a professional writer is an amateur that didn't quit. I'll be seventeen. But that's not important because this isn't a diary. 

So how about time for another snippet? This one will have a little bit of character development. At the beginning of the novel, Elsie was feeling really hopeful about finding a purpose by serving the war and by now, her steam is running out.

Where was that other me, less than a year younger than the present one? Where was the young woman longing for adventure and purpose and freedom in a colorless world? I supposed she’d grown up and realized the reality of the world was far different from what she’d imagined. Heroes aren’t filled with glory, but with tragedy. They aren’t heroes for their triumphs but for the sorrow they endure to achieve them.

 Deep, I know.
Well, that's all for now. Since I'm having to post this late, happy Valentine's Day. I'm spending mine by writing a riveting love story and then later with Dean Winchester of Supernatural.

Thanks again for reading.

Update on act 3

Okay so I had this awesome deliverable for last week and it didn't publish! So I had to publish it today in addition to the one I'm supposed to post this week. Yay you get two in one day. 

So last night I finished chapter 13 of the novel. Let's just say Elsie is having an interesting time in France. Life is also about to get really rough for her. But if I told you why, it would ruin all surprises and someone could steal my idea and my life would be ruined and we can't have that. 

Instead, I'll talk about my own struggle because, let me tell you, it is real. Sometimes the things you think will be really good ideas are not that good. Sometimes they are but they aren't good enough. For me, I write out my outlines for chapters but once executed, they aren't long enough. I've had to do a lot of research on this really snazzy chateau in France, Azay-le-Rideau, where most of this act is set. 

Here, have a picture. 

I told you it's snazzy. More pictures are available on my Pinterest storyboard, found in the links section of my blog. 

Not enough material is one issue. Writers block is another. Usually, I write through my writers block and go back and spiff up what I've written once I've got inspiration. This makes the chapters longer, solving two problems at once. 

Tonight, I'll be starting chapter 14, where things actually get intense. I'm excited. You should be too. 

Anyway that's all for now. Thanks again for reading.