The New NaNo Log - Day 3

Today was actually much fewer words - only 1,000 - but I have to leave for an evening commitment fairly soon and it took me to the end of the chapter, which is a pretty good stopping point. Mr. Smiley is going to be gone now for most of the book, which is...kind of nice. I'm going to rewrite the MMC and FMC confrontation scene from the MMC's point of view, which should be very interesting.
Highlights:

• Not much happened, actually. I have a feeling that a lot of this is going to be cut for the editing. There were some fun conversations, but I feel like they were redundant.

Lowlights:

• Not much happened

But, you will still get your excerpt!

     Gabby backed away from the portal. “This can’t be real. I’m hallucinating. You’re insane, and so am I.”

     “You said you would be willing to go.” Mr. Jackson stood very still, never taking his eyes off of her.

     “It was a game. I didn’t mean it. I thought we were just making conversation.”

     “A custom of yours I never understood.”

     A chill ran through Gabby’s veins. “All those books of yours, written in a mysterious language from far away that had to do with your family history…you’re not from this world, are you? You’re – you’re some sort of space alien, or something. I should go.”

     Mr. Jackson took several sudden steps forward and grabbed her arm. “No, please.”

     She tried to pull away, but his grip was iron. Maybe all his muscles were stronger than normal humans, not just his face muscles. “What? I’m sure you have plenty of capable people on your own planet. You don’t need me. You never needed me."

~ Sophia-Rose

The New NaNo Log - Day 2

I have been keeping up a consistent pace - I did about another 2,000 words today, and it was a lot more fun. Mr. Smiley is less smiley now, which I guess is a good thing. Chapter Two isn't quite done, but it's going to be fun to finish.
Highlights:

• I actually had two potential chapter titles: Tea with a Madman and Doorway to Another Realm. Thanks to advice from my cabin, I chose Tea with a Madman and proud of it. That's the sort of thing that I think would catch the eye of someone browsing a Table of Contents.
• MC and Mr. Smiley play a little game (see excerpt for abbreviation)
• Lots of fun description

Lowlights: (word?)

• I didn't have much time to write today, otherwise I probably would have done more.

Excerpt!

“What would you say if I told you that you had to go on an adventure to save another world?”
Gabby blinked. The question was even more unexpected, but she answered immediately. “Yes. At least, after I had some time to prepare, yes. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to learn to wield a sword and uncover evil plots.”
With a smile, Mr. Jackson asked, “What if swords were off-limits to you?”
“Still probably yes,” said Gabby. “I could be the mastermind behind a counterplot.” She smiled back, for the first time since the storm had come in. “Is this some kind of game?”
“Of a sort.” Mr. Jackson stood up and slowly wandered toward one of the bookshelves. “How about if swords were off-limits and you had to leave everything you had ever known to visit another world?”

All for today...

~ Sophia-Rose

The New NaNo Log - Day 1

This was probably the worst I've ever done on a first day - I have only just over 2,000 words under my belt, but I know the dull bits are over because this was Chapter One, which is a rewrite of a rewrite. Ugh.
Highlights:

• I added a Prologue, which I almost immediately just merged into Chapter One
• I made Mr. Jackson a very smiley person (not sure if this was good or not, but it was fun!)

Lowlights: (is this even a word? Whatever. I'm calling it this anyway)

• Most of the rest of Chapter One. It just felt boring to me.

Well, here's an excerpt!

“And your point…?” Gabby didn’t care just what had happened to Mr. Jackson to make him this happy, but his optimism was ruining the mood. “Why aren’t you dry back at home like everyone else?"
"I thought you might like to go somewhere out of the rain, so I came this way to see if you’d like to come to my house for a little while," he replied.
“Um…” Since he had come all this way just for her, Gabby tried to put more thought into tact, but eventually gave up. “I don’t even know you all that well, and I really just want to get home. My parents might be wondering why I’ve been gone for so long.”
This news didn’t seem to faze Mr. Jackson at all. Gabby wondered if his face muscles were stronger than everyone else’s, because she’d never seen anyone else hold a smile for this long.“When we arrive, we can notify your parents.” When she hesitated, he added, “I have food there as well…I have heard you enjoy chocolate.”

~ Sophia-Rose

What's Happening in Wardiloth

This is just a short post on what's been going on since winning NaNoWriMo 2013, since I've been pretty quiet about the topic recently.

The answer is: pretty much nothing, and here's why -

My enthusiasm has suffered a major - and I mean MAJOR - lag; if you're reading this, you may know about how I struggled with this in November, but back then, I only knew some of the truth. My intrinsic reward was gone, which was definitely true, but I couldn't pinpoint why. Now I know. Here's why. I've been sensing this for a while now. My story is...off. Majorly. Some of the characters are kind of messed up, the overarching plot is formulaic, and I have way too many planned main characters. I plan to keep most of them, but I'll need to shake up the series completely to do it.

That means a complete rewrite is in order.

Oddly enough, I'm not sad about it in any way. I'm confident that now that I know what I should salvage and what I should throw away, a complete second (or is it third?) draft will be much better than the previous ones. The themes will be entirely different, but I think this is a good thing. My friends and family were understandably shocked about this decision (how could you just throw away such an accomplishment?) but I'm not throwing it away. The file is still on my computer, and I never plan to delete it. I have, however, removed it from being accessible on this blog.

The story world, by the way, now has an ink and watercolor map - the world also got a complete makeover. Incidentally, my art class now thinks I am awesome.

Comments? Please don't be shy.

~ Sophia-Rose