WIP Update

I was supposed to post a writing tip today, but when I checked in my file, I found that I had no pre-written posts ready. Since today is a busy day (I have to watch Hamlet, read all of The Tempest, start studying for my final exam on Monday, go job searching, tune my 34 string harp, help my mom garden, and try to find some time to read and write) I don't have the time to spend the hour thinking up a good topic, writing about it and then cutting it down to something resembling a reasonable length. So, to make a long short story long, there will be no writing tip post this week.

Instead, I'm going to update you on my WIP, The Web. I started it a little bit over a month ago, at the beginning of May. Now, I'm normally a die-hard plotter, and I have complex character sketches and chapter outlines and random ramblings about the story. This time, I started off with only a very general idea of where I was going. For the first 20k everything was great; I loved the story, I had no trouble writing it, and everything came to life perfectly.

After that point I wasn't sure exactly what was going on. I kept slogging on, coming up with new ideas and trying to fit them together with the old ideas and characters and trying to find my way to the planned ending that was seeming more elusive as time went on. At last, when I reached the milestone of 40k, I looked at what I was writing and realized that it was boring.

Boring isn't good for any story, especially not when it's supposed to be an action-packed Sci-fi/dystopia. So, despite the fact that I had been slogging ahead, writing an average of 2000 words daily, I just stopped writing the story. But I didn't stop writing. I got out my brainstorming document and wrote about the story. I wrote about why characters would do what they did, about what they were feeling and what they thought about the other characters. I wrote about how The Web works in my story, figuring out its limitations. I wrote about the conflict in my story, trying to force it to the center and create a well-paced book.

Then I went back and edited. Almost every chapter, even the first ten chapters that I absolutely loved, had to be changed somehow. Some were cut entirely. Other events were moved around. Some characters were cut, others had their roles changed and enlarged.

Just the other day I started writing new stuff. I'm now 31k into it again with a bit of an outline stretching in front of me. I know what sort of things are coming and I vaguely know the order, but nothing's set in stone. The outline is flexible, but at least it's there. I've discovered that I can't write without an outline. I need some sort of a guide to keep me going. 'Pantsing' it just doesn't work for me.

So far, this story has been great experience for me. I've learned how to write without a super-flexible outline, but I've also learned that I need an outline to keep me going. Now that I've learned this about my writing style, I'm ready to go full speed ahead. If I don't suffer another setback like this, I may well have a finished manuscript by the end of July. Wish me luck!

New WIP: The Web

The other day I learned that I won't be starting work until the end of May (I work in a restaurant, so it doesn't get busy until the tourist season starts) so I decided that May was going to become MyNoWriMo. Last fall I really enjoyed doing NaNoWriMo, and I managed to finish WANDER in just 19 days. This year I'm not expecting to be able to write that fast, since my Shakespeare summer course starts next week, but I still believe I can reach the goal of 50k. I've got 5115 words so far, over three days.

Anyways, the novel I'm working on is a YA dystopian Sci-fi thriller (yeah, I know, way too many tags, right?). Here's the pitch I created:

With the New American Union at war with the European Alliance, it takes sixteen-year-old Cognate protégé, Astrid, to pre-fight all the battles in her mind.

As the youngest Cognate—the intelligent elite— on the Island, Astrid is the only one with the perfect brain to run the complex mental simulation known as The Web. Astrid is the ultimate weapon; in The Web, she can fight upcoming battles over and over to come up with the perfect strategy, allowing the NAU to win every time. It seems like the European Alliance is helpless against this superior technology, until Astrid meets a strange boy inside The Web.

The next morning, the NAU loses their first battle. An hour later, Astrid’s older brother fails the Cognate test and is banished from the Island. That evening, Astrid receives a new brother, Caiden—the mysterious boy from The Web. Astrid hopes that Caiden will explain what’s happening, but there’s one problem. He doesn’t remember a thing. Now Astrid is stuck fighting a losing battle and slowly falling in love with the boy who is legally her brother.

Astrid is convinced that Caiden is innocent, but there’s no denying that the NAU is losing the war. The only way to end the war is to kill the boy she loves, or destroy The Web forever. 

Does this sound like something you'd read? If you're on inkpop, I'd be happy to add you to the notification list. For samples, check out The Prologue or Sample Chapter. This cover is just one I created really quickly; I'll have a better one made by the time I'm done. 

April Review

Since I didn't really get any books this week (Still working on last week's pile) I'm going to do a quick April Review instead of IMM.

Followers: 43 (up about 23, I think...)

Pageviews: 1800 (up from 1100 in March)

Day with the most pageviews: April 10th

Most viewed page: Main Characters: How to Write Good Characters

Website that referred the most views: Inkpop.com

Country with the most views: US


I can't say I'm terribly surprised by those last two. The crowd on inkpop has been amazingly supportive of my blog, and since lots of inkpoppers live in the states... I've just got to say, thank you to all my readers! I really appreciate your support. I know I'm not getting a ton of views, but 1800 isn't bad considering this was only my second month blogging. Thanks to all of you for reading!

In this next month I'll hopefully be finishing off my 'How to Get Published' series and starting a new one (any suggestions?) In my other writing posts I'll be talking a bit on how to keep your readers reading. I'll also post some book reviews (including reviews of one of my new favourite series) and just other random things. I plan to dive into my new novel, The Web soon (meaning as soon as I stop writing this blog post) so I'll be sure to keep you updated on that. For a complete pitch, check out inkpop.

Again, thanks for reading!