NaNo Day 11

Whew!

I've been having trouble keeping up with my wordcount. I'll neglect it for as couple days and get behind, then catch up, then get behind again, argh! I've almost caught up again, I'm about 200 words from the 18k and some odd words total that's required for today.

My novel is coming along. Already, I know there's going to be some changes going on in the beginning but it's nice to actually be putting words to paper for once, finally I'm using the world that I've created! It's fun. My character Drae is finally leaving his little villages, earlier than planned because his father is more or less kicking him out (with the expectation that he'll return. That's not gonna happen :p). Now that I think about it, it's probably time to bring in my other POV character, Siron.

So, so far so good, though I'm lagging behind in wordcount at times.

I'm about to have to start writing an essay for school. Yay. More writing, for something that isn't my novel. And reading for research. And a memoir to write. Oh my gosh, so much writing!

11 days down, 19 to go! I can do this! >:D

Say Hello to. . !

Only a few more days (omgomgomgomg)!

And for the first time in history I know (omg, I know!) what one of my human character look like!!

Now perhaps I haven't said anything about this but I'm usually extremely indecisive when it comes to what my characters look like, particularly the main characters (I don't really have a problem throwing out some random looks for a random character). One day I think their eyes are blue, the next green. Later, hazel. Brown hair? Blonde hair? Black hair? Who knows.

Consequently, if you were to read most of my stories, you'd notice that there is very vague or no explanation at all for what some character physically look like. You may know what their presence feels like, but not really anything like eye color, hair color or facial structure.

But, lately, I've become a bit more decent at drawing human faces and while I was doodling some random ones, trying some different nose shapes, I found one of my characters!

I was doodling some random dude and was like "Hey, this guy looks sorta cool," so I redrew him a bit better and I was just like, "Oh my God this is one of my characters." I knew exactly who it was just all of a sudden, it was pretty cool.

The character is a relatively new addition, added probably in the last year or two. I couldn't think of any name for him until the last week or two and has before been referred to in my head as simply 'The Mentor.' Now, I'm tentatively calling him, last name Quivyr (Qui as in quiver, vyr as in veer), first name currently unknown.

This is the prototype sketch of him:

Not anything like I would have imagined him to look like. I mean, for one- bald?? Would have never, ever guessed that. Ever. And yet, somehow, this is definitely him.

It's pretty awesome how this sort of things happens. :)

NaNo Day 10

Argh!

Today has been sloooow goooing. I've written 1,222 words so far, giving me a total of 7,735. I'm still hoping to get in maybe 3k today. There's still a few hours left of the day!

The good part is that I'm almost to the more exciting bits of the story. My character Emily is about to have to fend for herself with little money that will quickly dwindle into nothing.

But an unexpected character has snuck her way into the story. Emily's maid, Clavre. Clavre was completely unexpected but in the beginning it made sense that a rich person back in the day would have a servant of some sort. So in came Clavre and now she's gotten left with Emily in another country. Except, for Clavre this country is the place of her birth and in her country she is considered free and not a slave to anyone (unless she signed up for it anyway). I'm not really sure what Clavre is going to do. So far she is helping Emily but she could leave in a heartbeat if Emily treats her wrong.

I had planned for it to just be Emily on her own, but with Clavre I'm not really sure what to do now. perhaps something will happen to her. . . I don't know. Guess I'll find out if I get back to written eh?

Nano Day 5

So today was great! I went to another write in and wrote about 5k words today. I've got a total of 14,441 words, 10k of them in my story Sun Touched. Things are going pretty awesomely with Sun Touched really. I didn't know how far I'd get with the idea before I got stumped but ideas are popping up like crazy and the general idea of the plot, saving the world from a dying sun, is coming along nicely.

I'm really glad I switched from the Chronicles to Sun Touched because when I had been writing the Chronicles I was getting stumped and I wasn't even 5k into it yet. With Sun Touched? Bring. It. ON!

I'll go ahead and explain a little bit more about the characters (because I can).

Dalon Av Baen is 159 years old and lost his power a century ago when the sun began to die. His outlook on life is predominantly negative and memories haunt him. He's pessimistic, sarcastic, and I like writing him :) I view him as the main character of the story even though his POV time is split with. . .

Nara Belvene. A sun-touched around 20 years old. She is rather optimistic and this irritates Dalon to no end. She thinks she might be able to save the world and drags Dalon from place to place as she tries to figure out how to do this.

I like writing about both of them because while Dalon is very negative, Nara is more positive and I like the contrast between their POV's.

Anyways, I'm getting to a part of the book that will be exciting. I think I may be getting close to the first plot point. They're about to come upon the ruins of a sorcerer city. There will be some rather nasty surprises there, and some good ones too. But for some reason I can't wait to write about the nasty ones. I almost feel bad for my characters, they have such a cruel author. *evil grin*

My grandparents are coming to visit tomorrow (Sunday) so we'll see how much writing I get in. If I wake up early I might be able to get some writing in but somehow I don't think that will happen. Seeing as I'm writing this at 1 o'clock in the morning. Cause that's how I roll.

Goodnight everyone! Have happy dreams of making things unbearably difficult for your characters! :D

The First Few Days

Augh! I was wanting to post everyday but I didn't Dx Well, here I am now so. . .

Day 1, I went to the midnight kickoff. It was a bit subdued, probably cause it was midnight or something. I got in about 2.5k before I left at about 2:30am. And then after sleeping I wrote about 2-2.5k more. So all in all a pretty good day :)

Except, well, I started out writing The Chronicles of Siron like planned and then I had a sudden plot bunny about something totally different about the sun dying and stuff and now I'm writing that instead because it has a simple but - what I think is a - compelling plot. Compared to The Chronicles which is endlessly complicated and I'm very indecisive on many points of the plot.

Day 2, I wrote about 2.5k more. (what's with all the 2.5k's?)

And then today, day 3, I wrote nothing until the write in at a coffee shop near by, where I wrote about 3k and won both 15 minute word sprints by writing more than 700 words both times. That's, like, the most I've ever written in that amount of time. I usually average at about 1k every half hour if I'm really writing, but 700 every 15 minutes? That blew my mind.

Today's write in was fun. We all laughed about milking sheep and dolphin cheese XD It's nice to write with other wrimos in real life. I can't wait to go to more!

So my total wordcount so far is 9,189, so far so good!

As for my 'new idea' I'm calling it Sun Touched and here's the synopsis:

Dalon Av Baen, former sorcerer, lost his power 98 years ago when the sun began to die. Now with winters growing long and cold, he has done his best to blend with the others and forget his former life, waiting for his death. But when he meets Nara - a sun-touched - and her foolish ideas about saving the world, he reluctantly begins to have hope.


How's everyone else doing? I hope everyone's got good inspiration. Sending writing vibes your way! :D

Review: Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children

 Goodreads summary:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here—one of whom was his own grandfather—were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

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First off, I love the title of the book. I mean just look at it: Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children. It's just delicious! And second, the cover is absolutely amazing.

Now, from the look of it, I assumed that the book would be very creepy and haunted, or eery somehow, but it wasn't. Not to say it wasn't good, it's just not what I expected.

I thought the story was really cool. I was able to pick up on many of the clues, though I don't know if that means I've become more perceptive or if they just weren't so well hidden. The photographs in the book give the story a nice touch, it makes everything come to life in a way that couldn't happen without them. Not to mention giving the book a slightly creepy feel that the story itself doesn't possess. Altogether unforgettable.

I'm also pretty sure that this will end up being a series given how the story ended and honestly I can't wait for the next book to see what happens left. Unfortunately the ending didn't feel as satisfying cause the ending wasn't. . . closed? The ending didn't resolve everything I suppose. I felt like it left too much hanging, but that's just me.

There's also a small touch of romance, but it's very small. And sometimes a little disconcerting every time you realize who it was the girl liked before. Plus I kept thinking part of the plot would be what is part of the plot in my book. But that hasn't happened. Yet anyway. I suppose it's still possible to happen in later books.

I would totally recommend this book to anyone who likes books with fantastical elements, cause it's awesome. And everyone please remember that this is only my opinion. Just because I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending doesn't mean you won't be :)

And this is pretty much my first time reviewing something. I usually avoid it at all costs unless it's to say "It's awesome, you should read it." I'm sure my reviews will get better the more I do them :)

Also, does anyone else think it looks like there's something peculiar in the background of the cover photo?

Do you see the creepy thing?