Everyone else is making their resolutions, so I’ll introduce you to some of mine. Other than the old standards of “lose weight” and “stop biting fingernails” and the new addition of “get a job”, the rest of writing-related.
- Finish Lionheart draft by end of March.
- Finish The Circled Green draft by end of September.
- Write 20 000 more words for the Bones draft
- (In order to complete the previous goals) write a minimum of 10 000 words a month.
So yeah, those are the goals. The first 50 000 words of Lionheart are already with the beta, so she can get a good going on it while I write the last 20 to 30 000 words. The big elusive goal is “get Lionheart into shape so I can query it”, and given the encouragement I have received, I hope that will a) happen and b) lead to something more.
I’d cross my fingers, but I can’t type like that.
As my writing friends/betas know, I am paranoid about the possibility that I am a bad writer. Every so often I swing about and along comes the “Do you think I can write well?” question (followed by “And you’re not just saying that because you are my friend, right?” one). I’m sure we all have that moment, that horrible “should I just stop now?” train of thought.
Sometimes you just need a confidence booster. And today I got one.
Yes, having an author you adore (in fact, that book inspired you to dabble in this setting) say, in regards to the opening 300 words, “This is GOOD… Really GOOD!” is definitely one way of getting a confidence boost.
Now to take this confidence boost and run with it. And keep from bugging the friends with “stupid questions”.
The better I feel, the better I write. And the better I write, the more I write. And so the more I write the faster I get to finishing the draft. I have three incomplete WIPs going at the moment (The Circled Green, Lionheart and Bones) and I would like to have three complete WIPs by the end of the year.
Does that sound reasonable to you? I think I can do it. 
(P.S. Read Prophecy Of The Sisters. It’s awesome.)
It’s the end of NaNo, or, well, pretty much. It’s 4.15pm here on the 30th, and I have Guides tonight.
As you can sort of tell, I didn’t win NaNo. I started off pretty good, actually being about a day ahead. And then I had camp, and that meant I lost about four/five days of writing time. I had a second overnight camp (but that still equals two lost days when you factor in prep-time and “oh gawd I am tired *snores” the day after) and then I got sick a little while after. So I kinda gave up, and set a new goal.
So all in all, I wrote about 25 000 words in 20 days. That is omgexcellent for me – the most I have ever written in a full month is 20 000 words, and my average is about 12 000. Now I know I can write so much more than I did before, which hopefully means I can keep doing it and finish the drafts for The Circled Green, Lionheart and Bones sooner than I otherwise would have thought.
Anyway, have one last teaser for The Circled Green (if you haven’t read the others, follow the teasers tag back a bit). I wanted to pick something with Aurora, but this is one of the earliest scenes that wasn’t all wrapped up in other stuff. Also, Ciar appears. Whether he is being less creepy is all up to you.
And yes, I know Aurora is weird at times, but just bear with it. Also bear with any errors or awkward sentences, as this is unedited NaNo stuff we’re talking about.
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I thought it might be time for another snippet of The Circled Green, and after much thought I decided to introduce you to not Aurora, but her father. Aurora will come soon, I promise.
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I don’t know how much of this will stay when I edit this after NaNo, but it is words and they count, so who cares.
One of my main characters is meant to be a creeper. He has been watching the female lead for two years through windows etc. and under heavy glamours. He obviously is obsessed (another character points this out just prior to the following snippet, and tells Ciar what he really should do… and provides visual aides) and has plenty of free time on his hands.
It is meant to be disturbing, and I think I succeeded, considering I really wanted to get out of his POV and felt like I needed to take a shower afterwards.
Anyway, feel the creepy.
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And by “it” I am referring to both NaNoWriMo and my newest WIP, The Circled Green.
It’s 8.50am, I am sitting here at my house with Rebekah and we are writing away. Well, I was writing away, but I have finished my prologue and needed to check something. So, in the meantime, have a really really really rough prologue to tide you over, and also as my first snippet.
Make sense, no?
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Just to let you know I have signed up for NaNo – my username is Amynta if you want to add me. It’s my first year, and I’ll be looking forward to it immensely.
I don’t think I’ll be able to get the full 50k (although if I do that’ll be bloody fantastic), but I do hope that this will motivate me into getting much more than my usual monthly amount written. 30k? I would love that, really.
Anyway, in the meantime I will be working on Lionheart (I did not know I was at the 63% mark until I checked just a little while ago) and dabbling in Bones. And, of course, I’ll be doing prep work for The Circled Green.
I also need to come up with an actual blurb thing for The Circled Green, but not right now as it’s nearly midnight.
Over on the YA forum at the Absolute Write Water Cooler, we’re having fun with a little game: Your WIP In One Sentence. I have already posted my four up there, but I want to share them over here. They aren’t perfect, and they miss a heck of a lot out, and sometimes they seem long-winded… but it’s still fun.
LIONHEART: After he is killed and his sister kidnapped by the same magical force, Leander finds himself the champion of the force that resurrected him – the long-dead High Mage blamed for the destruction of their glorious empire – and in a battle three centuries in the making.
BONES: When Dinah Gillespie discovers that the dying can see the dead – and that there is a ghost in her attic – she makes it her mission to do one last good thing before she dies, and set him free by solving a murder that occurred over sixty years ago.
BLOOD BOUND: The only thing that sucks more than vampire boyfriends and brothers is murder.
THE CIRCLED GREEN: A woman with a mysterious past is eight years dead, the man she loved and left behind is convinced by his domineering mother to stop grieving and remarry, and their beautiful daughter is being pursued by a dark faerie determined to have her at any cost – this is what happens after a supernatural being gives up immortality in exchange for human love.
