Monday, December 5, 2011

It is over...

Wow. Is it really December already? Like, December 5th? Oops...

Needless to say, November (and NaNoWriMo) has come to an end. I finished with a grand total of 120,002 words, and about ½ of my story finished. Have I written anything since? No. Will I this month? Probably not. Once December came around, I was more than happy to take a step back from the story and just let it lie.

Sometimes you get so wrapped up in what you’re writing that you really start to forget the objectives of where the story is supposed to go. Like right now, James is stalling in Scotland over Christmas break, after meeting his Gran and a plethora of other relations that he didn’t know existed before. It’s been going on for the last... 15,000 words, and he really needs to get back home for the story to continue.

One of the hardest things about writing a sequel though, is trying to keep them roughly the same length. Already, this sequel is longer at the halfway point than the first book is completed. I don’t want it to be twice as long when I’m finished, so there will definitely be a lot of editing out unneeded things in there. Though, one of the hardest things about editing is parting with those scenes that you just love but know are unneeded.

Just because I’m not writing doesn’t mean that I’m not planning for the future of the book. I’m trying to get future events straightened out in my head, so that when I actually get around to writing them, it won’t be quite so unknown for me. Maybe I’ll get this one finished in the next couple of months...

--Star Lit

Sunday, November 27, 2011

NaNoWriMo: Day 27

Status: 108,211 words / 50,000 words

So... I kinda skipped out there for a while. But I was somewhat sick and not feeling good. And it was Thanksgiving, so nyah. And I had to sing... so this got put a little far down on the list of priorities.

BUT. I have something now. I'm going to be extremely brave and put up an except of my unedited NaNo. The old lady is Dad's mother, and Renee is his older sister, FYI, and James isn't quite sure how to refer to them yet (it's his first time meeting them).

DRUM ROLL PLEASE ^_^................

                “When did you two meet? Again, I guess. Something tells me it wasn’t here.” The old lady was referring to Mum and Dad now.
                “While we were both in Poland.” Dad said.
                “And you forgot to mention it to both your families that you were married?”
                “When was that, anyway?” Renee asked.
                Dad sighed. “Just before we moved to Cambridge.”
                That stopped things for a moment. Both Renee and the old lady glanced between me and Mum and Dad. Now I knew why Dad had warned me. Dates weren’t adding up for them, as far as I was concerned. They might not know exactly how old I was, but they knew I wasn’t six or seven.
                Dad was quick to clear up their thoughts. “It’s not like that Ma. We adopted James a few years ago, while we were taking a break in Wales. Honestly, you two. Is that really the first thing you think of?”
                Renee at least had the decency to look slightly ashamed. “Well, you have to admit Russell, it’s you we’re talking about.”

It came out a little differently than I had first imagined, but it was still interesting. We'll have to see how it changes in the editing stages...

--Star Lit