Preparing for Camp National Novel Writing Month July 2016 Pt 1 & Writers Advice

Today's Earworm: Mr. Uninvited by Bessech
Today's Date: June 6, 2016

Today was a day of shopping. Which wasn't happy making, but I got it done! Yes.

Anyways, as of right now, I am setting up to get ready for the next round of Camp National Novel Writing Month, which starts July 1st. Again, I'm going for like 35K for the round, but that's about normal since I usually average about 20 to 30K a month in my normal writing and rewriting work.

I have so much to work on that it's not funny. So I'll just go over what I have in the works that need to be done.

1) Untitled M/M pairing short story

This story is going to end up around 24 chapters in length, about 13 of those chapters are complete rewrites with a couple being split into two parts. It's an older story that I had finished, but after a couple years of letting it sit I decided that it needed a full on rewrite/fleshing out.

So if I do do this story, I'm going to have to write at least one chapter and one chapter rewrite as I come across them. I'll probably end up finishing it half-way through the month.

2) All You Need

Again, this is a full on rewrite/flesh out story that is a couple of years old and I have no idea how long it will be. I need to fill out the first half of the story yet, which means that it's going to be interesting. I have something like 5 chapters planned out so far? When I get to the main chunk of the story there's going to be another 10 chapters added, at least.

I'm still working on getting it planned out since I need to flesh out the world and the plot line yet.

3) Thread the Needle - Don't Look Bk 0

I actually got about 3 chapters into this story before steam just kind of tapered off. I'm working on building the world some more and building the outline but that's going to be interesting to do. That's for sure.

Especially since it's the entire basis for the rest of the Don't Look books.

4) Untitled Superhero Book - Through the Ages Bk 1

I'm somewhere in the 20's chapter for this story (since I don't have that file open right now and I'm not going to open it). I have about 37 chapters planned for this story so I might be able to finish it if I go with this story. We'll have to see how things go in the long run.

5) Random other short or almost done stories

I have a lot of these stories actually. A lot. Most of them are fanfiction but there are some originals, like the Forward Motion 2016 anthology submission that I'm working on. I just need to work it out.

As it is I think I'm going to use this time to think about my Butterfly Living world that I started oh so long ago. I swear that I need to rewrite that first book like nothing else. I might start playing with that idea here soon because that and the Crimson series are both eating my mind. Need to finish a few other stories first.

Fun times.

Time for some Advice from one writer to another:

Write. Every. Single. Day.

I can not tell you how many people who come to me and ask me how I get so many words done are always surprised when I simply say "I write every single day". They just sit there and go "No, way".

Yes way.

I get up. Turn my computer on. Go to the bathroom. Come back and log on (because dangit I am going to make idiots log on if they want at my stuff). Go get water/tea/breakfast. Come back. Say hi to my friends and writing cheerleading squad (who are made of the awesome), open a couple of files that I use to type up whatever I working on then. 

Make my tea. I usually let my tea steep while I'm doing the rest so I have my sugar and a spoon close at hand to sweeten as needed. I also take the time to start eating.

I then open up my Chrome, and for all the bs it puts me through, the GDocs are still my baby, wait for my tabs to open, and find the tab with my current file. 

I start to write.

And write.

And write some more.

I say hi to my friend who comes on. Tell her what file I'm in and go back to writing.

Or I'll be rewriting that day.

If I'm editing, I'm just usually editing my OpenOffice Writer file because I don't want to deal with the gdoc for whatever reason.

I'm doing something in regards to my writing. Anything! Every. Single. Day. 

Even those days that I have a migraine that takes down an elephant. Once I can see straight, sit up, and stare at paper or my tablet, I'm working on something. Usually plot points that my drugged up mind comes up with for later editing and figuring out how to make them possible.

It's not amazing. It's not a super power. It's good old fashioned hard work.

Ask any published writer who is serious about their work, and they'll tell you getting into the habit of doing something in regards to your writing takes practice. And time to get used to. But if you really want to see your name on a printed version of your book with some money coming in from sales, you Write. Every. Single. Day. 

I'm sorry to say but holidays are non-existent to most writers. We write. Be it on paper, phone, tablet or computer. We write.

To those who are just coming onto this and are horrified by this, go to the Camp NaNo website for the April or July, rounds of Camp, sign up, create your book, set your word count (minimum is 10K), and practice getting words every single day. I use these months as a way to finish off a few smaller projects (as shown above).

Or even join in the insanity that is National Novel Writing Month in November. Go to the NaNoWriMo website and sign up. Minimum word count? 50 thousand words in 30 days.

No, I'm not being paid to tell you to do this but my first Nano was back in 2009. I've won every single one that I've been a part of since. It taught me how to turn off my editors brain to get the words down and out. It also taught me how to write every day without fail. 

And I carried those lessons over into my writing career, just like every author and writer before me.

So again: Write. Every. Single. Day. And don't whine about it.

You're the one who chose to pick up writing as a career path. I get enough of that from the 12 to 18 year olds who come to me about writing advice. 

Until next week!

Let's Talk...Abandoning a Story and Updates

Today's Earworm: The Way of Your World by Destrophy
Today's Date: May 30, 2016

Okay, so sit back and close your eyes. Imagine you're reading a story (on Fictionpress.net, or WattPad, or any service like that and you come to the last two chapters.

But wait! They're not chapters! They're an Author's Note that is telling you they're ditching the story or stories for whatever reason. Usually it's something stupid like "I don't get enough reviews/likes/kudos/whatever to post more on this so fuck all of my readers who really enjoy this story".

Or they're not even an Author's Note, they're actual chapters but the story hasn't been updated in years, so you go to the profile page of the person. And they state that they aren't doing their stories any more for a bad reason*.

*Bad reasons are those reasons that you have to stare at and go "What? What kind of bull is this?" This does NOT include reasons that include mental problems, emotional problems, computer problems, or reasonable real life excuses.

Now this really pushes my buttons (and the fact that I had to edit this several times to make it less ranty and more actually informative is telling you something I hope) and I seem to keep running across it.

Both in the world of fanfiction and site based originals. In regards to site based originals, I am talking about such sites like WattPad, Adult-Fanfiction, Archive of Our Own, and Fictionpress.net. Yes, AFF.org and AO3 both do have original sections but you have to kind of dig around for the better things.

I can and do understand life getting in the way. I've had stuff make it so that I wasn't posting, much less writing, for months at a time. So thank you to those who have updated us about their lives and where things are going for you , and I hope life balances out and doesn't kill the muse on you completely.

But I can't understand people not trying to find a balance in their life with their writing.

Okay, look. This is kind of an interesting subject because I had to work on finding a balance with my own writing and life when I was younger.

I have to say this again though: I can and do understand that life can get in the way or your writing and this is directed to those whose life is kind of not writing allowable currently. This is directed to those who say that they want to write, but don't do anything to figure out a schedule or work ethic.

I keep finding those who go "I want to be published/publish" but for some reason ditch a story (even if it is just fanfiction or an original on a site) because they're not getting any reviews/kudos/what have you.

I'm going to impart a bit of truth: Unless you are an established writer who has a good sized fanbase who feels they can trust you in getting your stories out and written and looking good, you won't be getting many reviews. Or pimping. Or anything like that.

Allow me to break it down into simple terms. For those who self-publish, they work their asses off to get any kind of reviews for their books, much less any "You should read this book!" reviews. Most traditionally published writers work just as hard depending on their popularity at the time and the company that is publishing them. They tend to still talk about their own stuff on their own blogs, web sites, and social media accounts.

If you have problems with the fact that most readers on a free to read site doesn't review or kudo, then you're going to have many more problems with the fact that your books won't have that many reviews. At least not until you start creating a fan base that trusts you in putting out a good book.

And in this world, holding a book hostage for reviews is career suicide. It's career suicide to hold a chapter to an online story as it is anyways. People are getting kind of tired of that and tend to pick up and move on.

Yes, I do have some stories that aren't done, but that's because I have decided that I need to sit down and tear them into bitty pieces to rewrite them, if not just turn into some new books.

No, I am not abandoning them.

Yes, they will be done.

No, I do not know when the stories will be done.

No, I do not know if I will replace the posted chapters on my sites with the new stories.

I'm not that far along in this process after all. But that doesn't mean that I've abandoned my stories, okay? I'm working on them, and I won't abandon them. The same goes with my fanfiction. I have to much fun with it to give it up ever.

And I don't know if I want to turn my Butterfly Series into something publishable.

Now, onto something a bit happier, as a general update on things, I am preparing for National Novel Writing Month (November 2016) and the next Camp National Novel Writing Month (July 2016), so we're going to see where I'm at when it comes time.

I'm hoping to finish Bk 1 of Through the Ages series, which is my hero series. That will allow me time to set it aside for a couple of months before I start the massive rewriting overhaul of the story itself. I'm also going to work on a couple of other fictions that I need to get done and start a couple of others, including my submission to Forward Motions 2016 Anthology.

I need to rethink my plot for that as it is. I have a few ideas but I need to rethink it.

So I'm busy as always, melting from the heat, and editing videos for my vlog and for the youtube channel that I am a part of with my friend. Need to get the intro video done though if it keeps giving me trouble I'm going to say screw it and rerecord it when I can.

As for the NaNo story that I'm going to do this year, I'm working on a fanfiction idea that is driving me up a wall so I'm going to write it. I have around 11 chapters planned out already. Here's hoping I have the rest ready to go.

Anyways, I have a lot to do today and very little time to do it.

So for now, I shall leave you with this and go about trying to find a story that is complete, long, and not abandoned. Wish me luck!

Writers Meme Tag Questions 2

Today's Earworm: Whore by In This Moment
Today's Date: May 23, 2016

And we come to the other half of the asks that I started last week. Remember you can find the list of all 50 questions on Maxkrin's Tumblr Blog along with all sorts of goodies that will help any writer.

Writers Meme Tag Questions 1


26: Which do you enjoy reading the most: physical, ebook, or both?

Physical or Ebook. Now that's kind of a tough one to answer. I like both really depending on what I'm doing. If I'm going for a long trip, I don't want to carry physical books so I'll make sure I have my chargers and bring my tablet to read my books on. But if I'm in bed, I like a real book in my hands.

I have a thing for the smell of paper and ink okay? I'm a writer. It's my kink.

27: Which is your favorite genre to write?

My favorite genre has to be Horror. Especially psychological horror. It's just so much fun to take something innocent or simple and twist it and make others wonder and fear.

28: Which do you find hardest: the beginning, the middle, or the end?

I have to say that the middle is probably the hardest part for me. When it comes to the start, I tend to know where I want to start and how I want to start by the time I want to write, and the end usually writes itself, so to speak. But filling in that point B in the A-B-C of my books tends to be a bitch.

29: Which do you find easiest: writing or editing?

Writing is actually easier for me than editing. Why? It's mostly because I don't want to sit there and read my own writing over, and over, and over again. It's kind of hard to do that, but I push through it. I usually rewrite while I write though so I can smooth a few of my issues out before I edit so that is making things easier.

30: Have you ever written fan-fiction?

Yes, I have and yes I still do. If you want to find me, I'm willing to tell you where to find me but since I would like to keep that part separate from my original writing career, it will be via e-mails or private messaging on one of my man sties. Sorry you guys.

31: Have you ever been published?

Not yet, but I am working on getting there.

32: How do you feel about friends and close relatives reading your work?

It depends on the person and the story. Most of my relatives won't understand why I write male/male pairings much less horror so I don't share it with them. But I do share most of my writing works with close friends who I know will enjoy writing them.

33: Are you interested in having your work published?

Yes, and I'll probably end up doing indie publishing when I get that point in my career. Just takes time.

34: Describe your writing space.

My writing space is actually in my bedroom. It's pretty much just a desk that I bought from Amazon and a rather comfortable chair (now that I got a memory foam sitting pillow). My laptop sits on a lap fan with mouse and keyboard (wired both) attached to it but resting on a keyboard drawer, so that works for me.

My desk is kind of covered in stuff (tissue box, bunny, some candles, wax burner, lip balms, necklace, some rubbing alcohol, suntan lotion, aloe gel, and body lotion). The shelves are covered in notebooks and files.

35: What’s your favorite time of day for writing?

My favorite time for writing has to be around sunset when the world starts to cool down. I don't do well in the heat and unfortunately, I don't do much writing while hot. Which sucks.

36: Do you listen to music when you write?

I do listen to music. It all depends on what I'm writing that will depend on what I listen to.

37: What’s your oldest WIP?

My oldest WIP has to be the Butterfly series, but I'm going to work on creating two different stories in that world. I'm going to focus the Butterfly series as a world on it's own while I work on creating Rye and his husbands as their own world connected with my friend's world.

I just need to get her for like 10 seconds and tell her what I'm thinking of doing.

38: What’s your current WIP?

I have several current WIPs. I have my "Zombie with a brain" story, Follow Me Down, Crimson Drops, Thread the Needle, Black Veiled Saviour, Honey Drops bk 1, a prompt based horror short, and my Lex/Rose story. There's a few that I had to forcibly put down because they'll be shorter series, but I seriously don't want to start those just yet.

39: What’s the weirdest story idea you’ve ever had?

The plot idea for Honey Drops because of the fact that it mixes Mythological creatures with aliens.

40: Which is your favorite original character, and why?

My favorite original has to be Rye. He's just such a broken little mess with so much power that he's not sure on what to do with it. He has two hubbies (for the moment), a Goddess watching his every move, and Fate trying to string him up by his nuts. Not only that he's stalked by a demon he fucked for power, and he's impossible to kill at the moment.

Though people have  tried to kill him. Once by burning him at the stake. It wasn't pretty.

He's just a such a lovely little thing.

41: What do you do when characters don’t follow the outline?

I adjust the outline if I feel that it's where the story should go to. There is a good reason why I rarely have more than 10 chapters planned out for any one book. And if I do have more than 10 chapters planned, it's because I know what needs to be done. But the outline is always changing as I write.

42: Do you enjoy making your characters suffer?

Yes. Why do you ask?

Okay, look, I'm a horror writer. I have to enjoy making my characters suffer or the story never goes anywhere and it doesn't read right. If I wasn't a sadistic bitch to my characters the story would fall flat okay?

I'm a nice person to those in the real life.

43: Have you ever killed a main character?

Why yes, I have. Clary was a main character in my Butterfly series and he was killed to help the plot move along. I got some heavy cries of "NOOO" from my readers at the time.

44: What’s the weirdest character concept you’ve ever come up with?

Weirdest character concept? Not really should he's weird but an old blood demon (original vampiric beings which spawned the vampires) that I used to RP with. He was then reformed into one of my brothers for Honey Drops.

45: What’s your favorite character name?

It has to be Alexx because it's such a lovely name. And very flexible. I have a few styles of this character for various worlds and places.

46: Describe your perfect writing space.

My perfect writing space is where I have privacy, sunlight that I'm not directly under, with a comfortable seat and a lovely desk to sit at with access to a TV, VCR, DVD player, computers, music systems, water kettle, coffee pot, and a good supply of both tea and coffee with all needed additives.

I pretty much have that now.

47: If you could steal one character from another author and make then yours, who would it be and why?

One character from another author to make mine? Hmm, not sure actually. It would probably be Son'arrin from my friend who writes "A Demon's Toy" (online story that is going through some MASSIVE amounts of rewriting) but I doubt that I could do him full justice.

He's a broken character just like Rye.

48: If you could write the next book of any series, which one would it be, and what would you make the book about?

Harry Potter. I would love to do a book in the Harry Potter series and write it from Neville Longbottom's POV or from Hermione Granger's POV. Work my way through all 7 books and see how things went through their eyes. They were such interesting characters.

Or even characters like Dean Thomas or Seamus (I forget his last name). It's such a big world that there would be so much to explore even sticking to the canon of the story.

49: If you could write a collaboration with another author, who would it be and what would you write about?

A collaboration with another author would have to be with Jennifer Amriss. She is a wonderful writer and a friend that I made a while ago. So I would love to work with her on a collaboration.

Or I would love to write with Necia Phoenix. She to is a wonderful writer and I would love to see what we could come up with if we sat down and worked out some interesting story lines.

Yes, writers who are indy are the ones that I'm after for collaborations if that ever happens. But I love their writing and their style. It's just so much fun.

50: If you could live in any fictional world, which would it be?

I don't think I would ever live in any fictional world because they all have their problems and I'd rather not run into that.

Writers Meme Tag Questions 1

Today's Ear Worm:
Today's Date: May 16, 2016

First and foremost, go over to this here Link, and read my interview done by the every lovely Connie! It's my first one and I kind of had fun doing it.

But I decided to do a couple of writer tags but just do them on here since I can't do a video properly right now due to my throat.

So this is part one and the list of questions if you wish to do it yourself is here on Maxkrin's Tumblr Blog.


01: When did you first start writing?

When did I first start writing? Gods years and years and years ago. I was about 12 years of age actually when I started scribbling silly little poems before moving onto fanfiction that will never see the light of day right around 15.

02: What was your favorite book growing up?

I didn't really have a favorite book until I was like 14. And then it was Anne Rice's "Interview with a Vampire" which expanded to a few of her other books.

03: Are you an avid reader?

Yes, I am. I read quite a bit actually.

04: Have you ever thrown a book across the room?

No. No, wait yes, once. When I tried to read "50 Shades of Grey". I threw it hard enough to break the spine.

I. Do. Not. Regret. It. One. Tiny. Bit.

05: Did you take writing courses in school/college?

Outside of the basic English courses, no I didn't. I find that if I try to take a course on writing it tends to mess with my writing and I don't learn anything at all because I'm sitting there going "this is to stiff". It's kind of counter-productive.

06: Have you read any writing-advice books?

Again, they tend to be counter-productive for me, but I have read a few when I was first starting to write and looking to become better. One thing that I've taken from them is all "practice is a good thing" and "editing is your friend". So pretty much what I knew.

07: Have you ever been part of a critique group?

No because the last time someone asked for a crit, I was rather blunt that read as harsh since the bit that I was reading didn't look like she had tried to edit it much less make it look like a story.

08: What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten?

Not a lot actually since I rarely share my stories, but the best bit I could have gotten was from a wonderful friend who told me to try psychological horror. I have and have learned that I love writing in that.

09: What’s the worst piece of feedback you’ve ever gotten?

"You suck. Your story sucks. Your characters suck." That's it. Yeah. Not the least bit helpful.

10: What’s your biggest writer pet-peeve?

Dialogue tags and punctuation! I swear people seem to not know how to write dialogue tags with proper punctuations. Let's not go into that yes? It's not that hard to understand. *sighs*

And "Damsel in distress with more than one guy after her". Just...overkilled lately.

11: What’s your favorite book cover?
Mmm, not sure actually. But it has to be J.A. Marlow's series book covers.

12: Who is your favorite author?

I don't really have a favorite author actually. Surprisingly enough I really don't. 

13: What’s your favorite writing quote?
Frank Miller's quote about a noir hero. It's a good thing to have in mind when writing it.

"The noir hero is a knight in blood caked armor. He's dirty and he does his best to deny the fact that he's a hero the whole time."

14: What’s your favorite writing blog? c;

No real favorites again. I watch and read so many that I don't have a solid favorite for various reasons.

15: What would you say has inspired you the most?

My mother. She's been here from day one and encouraged me to find a new story in everything that I do. Which is what I'm inspired by. Just living my life and moving through things.

16: How do you feel about movies based on books?

They would be well done I think but I think that it would need to be watched by the writer if they're alive, or someone who knows the books well enough to make sure that the important things get into the movies.

17: Would you like your books to be turned into TV shows, movies, video games, or none?
I wouldn't mind any of them actually. But my books would probably be better to be movies more than TV shows and video games. Except my Magical Girl series actually. That would make a good TV show if done right.

18: How do you feel about love triangles?
Love triangles actually kind of annoy me to a point. Unless it's very well done, I tend to stay away from them when it comes to reading or writing them.

19: Do you prefer writing on a computer or longhand?
A mix actually. It depends on the story and what I'm doing during that month. During April and July (Camp National Novel Writing Months), I tend to write on my computer with very little longhand, and during November (National Novel Writing Month) I write exclusively on my laptop.

20: What’s your favorite writing program?

My favorite writing program is actually just Gdocs and OpenOffice Writer. I don't have the money for anything else really so I'm happy with what I have.

21: Do you outline?

Yes, yes I do, mostly because if I don't I'm not going to get far.

22: Do you start with characters or plot?

Mix actually. I'll start with a few characters and work the plot out that comes with them.

23: What’s your favorite & least favorite part of making characters?

Creating personalities, figuring out looks, and sexuality. All of that is just such a pain in my ass but I do it. 

24: What’s your favorite & least favorite part of plotting?

My favorite part of plotting is creating it. My least favorite is sitting down and fleshing it out. It's a pain but it must happen.

25: What advice would you give to young writers?

Research is your best friend. That old adage "Write what you know" doesn't have to mean "don't fucking well learn nothing in the course of your damn life". You have books. The internet. Use it! Learn things. It'll come in handy with your writing and with your life to. 

Come back next week for the second half of the questions!

Peeking Into My Mind

Today's Ear Worm: Highwayman by Beseech
Today's Date: May 9, 2016

Forwarning: This is going to be slightly rambly because there has been a lot that has gone on in the last 9 plus days. But this is what I'm going through and what I'm thinking and what I'm planning so buckle in and read each section's title.

My Friend Tonya

The last couple of months have been extraordinarily busy for my friend. She has, like me, chronic pain, but unlike me she has found a good chronic pain specialist who has been sending her to get various tests done. Which is good for her.

But makes life a tad busy for all of us since some of those tests are to see how she reacts to epidurals steroid shots. What happens is she's put under so that they can take long ass needles and stick them on either side of her spine.

She did the last one of her spine shots on May 2nd and I was babysitting a mutt while exhausted and doing a younow stream. I'll talk about the stream later in this post, promise. But she has a few other shots to go yet and those will be happening on the 9th and later on the 26th of this month. 

She also lost her mother on Wednesday but we have been prepared for this for a long time. 7 Years and about 5 different types of cancer in those years will do that to someone who is having to watch. We knew that she wouldn't have long since the doctors couldn't unfortunately do a whole lot since through all of the other cancer's she became allergic to the chemotherapy and it was such an aggressive cancer this time.

She lasted a month at home with hospice care, dying with her husband by her side, holding her hand.

Tonya spent yesterday smoking her cigarettes and having an adult smoothie. Fruits, vanilla smirnoff vodka, and some juice okay? Adult smoothie.

So my friend isn't bad, but still it's been a stressful time for all of us since we do have to go with her to the appointments due to the fact that she is knocked out for the shots.

Camp National Novel Writing Month

Yep, that's right, I won April's round of Camp! I'm rather proud of myself really since it was such a fight to get the words out and down. I got about four chapters into Book 0 of the Don't Look series, the book called Thread the Needle. I have to work out what I want to continue to work on with it before I do anything with it thought so that's going to take time.

I did get some one-shots, gift fictions and a few other things done which was nice. 

But still it was so hard to get the words down, but I did get them.

Personal Life

My personal life is just kind of eh right now. I'm having to say no to people just to keep my sanity and of course jury duty decided to pop up. *rolls eyes* So now I'm having to go "I can't do jury duty because of this reason" and having to call them and all that good shit. I'm sighing and stressing. 

Not good for my health. 

Writing

My writing is actually going okayish. I'm getting words, which is nice, but I spent most of last week rewriting with very little actual writing because I was just so busy with everything else. 

I am focusing on Thread the Needle, figuring out what I want to do with it and how to go about doing it. I have the family and their names, have hinted at how the world is built (because it's historical but it's not at the same time), and have been thinking about how to mess around with that world.

I'm about 17 chapters through my first book of my superhero series, called Ages, and still have something like 19 more chapters to write before I put it to the side to sit and contemplate the second story for the series. It's now up to about 8 books in the series, but it's going to be interesting to write in the long run. 

I'm also working on book 1 of my Crimson series that is pretty much the rewritten version of my NaNo book from 2010 or there about. That's making me happy.

I'm also doing the next anthology for Forward Motion (2016 one, 2015 shall be out soon!) with the prompt "Open Roads". I need to write that so I can have time to rewrite and edit it actually. I'm planning on doing that sometime this month.

Younow Streaming

Yes! I stream on Younow.com. I'm called SunnyLewis on there and I've only done 1 or 2 so far. I'm trying to figure out the best way to get things going so we'll see how things do in the following months. I have decided that I will be doing a stream every week as long as I'm up to it, but I just need to figure out the best time to do so seeing as I live in Arizona and we have our own time zone. 

Can you see the rolling eyes? Yes? Good.

I'm thinking Sunday's around noon or 1PM will be best so we'll test that out for the next few months.

My Twitter account has the announcements of me online, along with my tumblr and facebook! So keep an eye out on that. :D

Well, that turned out less rambely then I thought it would be. Huh.

Anyways, if you have any topic that you would like to see come around, feel free to comment and suggest!

Also, on Connie's Random Thoughts on May 11th, she will be posting the interview with me! My first interview! Woot! I hope you guys enjoy and read it. :D

Camp National Novel Writing Month April 2016 - Days 25 to 30

Today's Ear Worm: Billy Talent "Pins and Needles"
Today's Date: May 2, 2016

April 25:
Word Count: 0
Total Word Count: 33,622
Thoughts for the Day:

I spent the day going up to Gilbert. I'm exhausted and just to tired to do anything but crash out hard for the day. Nights all.

April 26:
Word Count:
Total Word Count:
Thoughts for the Day:

I have officially validated my novel! Yay! I hit just over 35K words which made me very, very happy. I'll work on getting more words probably tomorrow.

I do need sleep though. Still getting over yesterday's trip.

April 27:
Word Count: 374
Total Word Count: --
Thoughts for the Day:

4:33PM

I actually started kind of late today but that's mostly because I was reading through Necia Pheonix's book and seeing how it read.

Two hours, 22 chapters, and a cliff hanger as I wait for more to come my way...and I'm hooked. *sighs*

I'm going to finish off another short story today since I need to get it done.

Midnight:

I got my rewriting done but that's about it. I started on actual words but only got about 200 in. That kind of sucked.

April 28:
Word Count: 2544
Total Word Count: --
Thoughts for the Day:

I did get those words done! One long as chapter that happily feel in about 2,544 words total, so that made me happy!

I also got a friend hooked on two of my stories. Which is fun. I cackled and teased her with ideas for future chapters. She pouted and demanded more.

Now I'm just rewriting an older story and getting that off of my plate (I'm still pretty damn far from the end actually), but it's slow going since it was well over 3K when I started editing it.

April 29:
Word Count:
Total Word Count:
Thoughts for the Day:

12:31AM:

I am still editing this monster of a chapter. Seriously.

I have no idea when I'll finish this but I've gone through two cups of coffee, a cup of tea, and half a huge bowl of popcorn so far working on this thing. And the entire collection of "Duff Until Dawn" which was like 6 half hour episodes. So about 3 hours.

So much detail to rewrite! This is killer man.

1:19AM:

3 hours, 3 cups of coffee, and a shit ton of squinting and I have gotten it done! *flops* I added well over 1K worth of words to it to, so that was surprising.

Really, really surprising.

I'm going to get ready for bed, crash out for a few hours. Get up at 11 to take a shower and wait for my friend to get her ass over here so we can go do things.

See you guys later!

April 30:
Word Count:
Total Word Count:
Thoughts for the Day:

I've been pretty much working on rewriting and putting down notes for one of my stories. I am still exhausted after yesterday. If you noticed, I didn't write anything yesterday because I was exhausted after all our shopping.

So rewriting and figuring out what to write tomorrow for the final thoughts on this April is pretty much what I'm doing today.

Fun times.

Final Thoughts on Camp National Novel Writing Month April 2016:

So this month was interesting. Seriously interesting since it was so busy outside of my writing.

I had days where I didn't have a single word put down and some days where I couldn't stop writing, which balanced everything out.

I got 3 chapters of "Thread the Needle" down but I need to plan a few more chapters out before I write on it some more. I want to get it done by maybe December, or at least the first draft.

I did get some fanfiction done and I'm working on finishing up a couple of other stories before I do anything since I have so much to finish.

And so little time.

I'm thinking that I will be doing the "Story-A-Day" thing on Forward Motion Writers, level 1 or 2 (which are light versions), and posting them here come June. So keep an eye out for those!

And maybe I can figure out a few of my stories, get a few other things done. Here's hoping.

But I think that I will make sure that July kisses my ass and I work on things during that month. Don't have much else to do after all.

Camp National Novel Writing Month April 2016 - Days 18 to 24

Today's Ear Worm
Today Date: April 25, 2016

April 18:
Word Count: 1,467
Total Word Count: 28,003
Thoughts for the Day:

7:44PM

I have no idea what to say. I'm exhausted, wanting to just sleep for the next six years, but I'm working my way through some Marilyn Manson songs on my spotify so that's always fun. I've also completely rewritten 2 chapters of one of my stories so far, so that is making me happy.

Let's see if I can get a third one done.

Midnight:

I got the last one done. I go boom.

April 19:
Word Count: 0
Total Word Count: 28,003
Thoughts for the Day:

Midnight:

Writing? What is this writing you speak of?

Actually I did get a lot of writing done but I've been meh all day. I got around 524 words on this gift story for a friend chapter done then my mind went "Wheee!" without me and left me going "The flying fuck?".

That's not...really an odd thing though. ADD does that to a person. I figure it was because I wasn't listening to the right music today.

So we'll see how tomorrow's writing goes.

Ah...? What? Oh! The ADD and music thing? How does that work?

Well, for me at least (cause I do NOT speak for the rest of those who have ADD or ADHD, and if you don't know what those terms mean, click the links), I have to have noise of some kind. It's sometimes a TV Show (I watch a lot of anime, and I enjoy Rosewood when I have time to catch up on Hulu). Sometimes it's a movie (horror mostly. I like The Puppet Master and Paranormal Activity most often than not). But mostly it's something like music.

Today I was listening to a band (for the most part) called Abney Park. They're...steampunk meets gothic southern in terms of sound and I happen to really love their song "Airship Pirates". Or "Steampunk Revolution".

But I don't think it was a good idea to listen to them while writing. It may be a good idea later, but not at the moment, but that happens.

I'll see what happens tomorrow.

April 20:
Word Count: 1,792
Total Word Count: 29,795
Thoughts for the Day:

8:31:

Let's see, I got on, took a hot shower because I slept wrong on my shoulder (whoops), and reread over what I had written. I took a moment, got some breakfast of a kind, ate, and then opened twitter.

I stated that I was sitting at 524 words and would be rewriting it. I finished the rewriting at 677 words, and the chapter at 1,503, but now I need to rewrite what I added to the first bit of rewriting.

So no matter how this goes, I've gotten 1,503 words total! Sweet. That makes me happy. But I think I'm going to rewrite for the rest of the day and keep in mind for future chapters that I have the option of rewriting what I've already written, even if I'm not finished with the chapter.

I've also started a twitter hastag list for myself because my superhero series (now called Through the Ages) got it's own hastag (#ThroughTheAge) so that rocked. I also have 8 books in that series instead of 7.

Just made more work for myself there, but that happens I suppose?

But yes, the music was what was messing with me. I've been listening to a list on Spotify called "Writers Block Inspiration" all day long and I've been able to focus. Which is very nice.

9:26:

And yes! Finished that chapter. Going to work on getting some rewriting done. Wish me luck!

April 21:
Word Count: 0
Total Word Count: 29,795
Thoughts for the Day:

I didn't get any words actually. I was just so tired and kind of out of it. But that's about normal for me. But I did start the words. I just didn't finish said words until after Midnight. Whoops?

April 22:
Word Count: 2,040
Total Word Count: 31,835
Thoughts for the Day:

I actually got a chapter done and then rewrote another chapter on another story. Which was a total yay moment since I didn't get to bed until around 9:24AM this morning. I luckily finished the writing before I crashed, since I didn't get up until 4:15 PM.

Whoops.

Yes, I say that a lot.

April 23:
Word Count:1,787
Total Word Count: 33,622
Thoughts for the Day:

9:47 PM:

Whoot! I got another chapter written down and ready to go. I'm about to work on a second chapter now. I'm SO close to winning this camp! Here goes nothing!

April 24:
Word Count: ---
Total Word Count: 33,622
Thoughts for the Day:


-- I ended up being away for most of the day, sorry you guys. --