Monday, April 24, 2017

CampNaNoWriMo: Last Week Jitters



It's been a rough three weeks. My lil girl had spring break from school, my hubby had oral surgery and I've completely abandoned the house work. Somehow I've managed to stay more or less on track with my camp goal of 50k. Only 10k left to go as of this post, but it's had its ups and downs.

Last week it was all I could do to get just a few hundred words typed for this story. Shadow's Fall has proven to have characters that have a mind of their own and the plot went completely twisty turby. It kind of looks like a pretzel when I look at it. In the last stretch now I know there are parts I'm going to have to go back to and work on. I've left a couple of half chapters with vague dialog and actions. Defiantly going to have to fill those in.

But I always get a case of the jitters at this point of any NaNoWriMo challenge. (When I've made it to this point anyway). I also get these jitters when I'm getting to the last few chapters of any story. I know I'm going to have a lot of work ahead of me even after I type in "The End" and that's okay.

For those writers struggling to meet their word counts here's a shout out: You Got This! 

You do. Even if we don't meet the challenge we've got a lot accomplished. Whether it's 2,000 words or 40k words, there has been something added to the stories that keep us awake at night. So keep going. Keep telling those stories and don't quit.

Peace and Love everyone and keep the stories flowing.

Friday, April 7, 2017

CampNaNoWriMo : Break Time


I love camp. I love writing, but sometimes I go into writing overload. I just write and write and write and the life going on around me goes a bit ignored. My husband keeps me balanced as best he can and my daughter knows how to grab my attention. So my family is still there, but my brain doesn't always know when to take a break.

To fix this I cut time out of  my writing schedule for me time. This past week my me time has been all about an anime. Fairy Tail is a great way to let the mind rest and recharge. The characters are rich and the stories are enjoyable. While watching one of the later story arches I realized it was the characters I loved more than anything. They are proof that fictional characters can make you cry, laugh, fall in love and want to kill them. (Any reader already knows fictional characters can do this.)

I'm pulling one of my favorite characters out for a bit of character study. This is a great way to look at how an already complete character is setup and can help an author give some depth to their own characters.


Cana

She is a drunk with daddy issues. And I mean a drunk. In the anime she can turn up a barrel and drain it. Thankfully she's a functioning drunk. This means that even while three sheets to the wind she can walk out into the middle of an arena and pull off one of the most powerful spells of the Fairy Tail Guild.

Cana is loyal to her guild members. She is strong enough to fight off enemy guilds and still deal with her own emotional stuff. Cana's mother died when Cana was very young and the small child wondered around until she found the guild her father was apart of. She had never met her father, only heard about him. Then she sees him and realizes he doesn't recognize her as his child. So Cana decides she's not going to tell her father about anything until she's become a super strong wizard. She joins Fairy Tail and suffers watching her father paying attention to all the children.

I think this is what led to the drinking. Is it a healthy way to deal with emotional issues? No, not at all, but it's her crutch. As you'd expect from a person basically raised by a group of adults in a guild, Cana is very lively. She believes in living life to its fullest and that's just how it is. No ifs ands or buts about it.

Her daddy issues come to a head and she fails to get the title she wanted before she told him. Her father still loves her and wants to be with his 'little girl' as much as he can to make up for lost time. It's kind of smothering, but Cana keeps getting stronger. She keeps reaching for that goal, I believe in part to make her father proud.

In the current story arch that I'm watching Cana proves that a drunk with real daddy issues can save the day. When everyone in the guild is knocked out of the fight, Cana takes charge, issues orders and in a way leads an attack to save everyone. This is her true bad-ass moment and it was a journey that would make any father proud.

This is a complete developed character with a personal story line that made her real. Looking at Cana's development helps me work on my own characters.

Why does Kree have that weird tick? What's behind Jade's irrational fear of returning to the Dream Realm? Developing these details and others fills in a character and gives them personality that may otherwise read very flat.

That's all for today. Take time for yourself and happy reading/writing!

Peace and love!



Wednesday, April 5, 2017

CampNaNoWriMo Writer Fuel


Who doesn't love a good book? What's better than having a cup of coffee or glass of wine with the good book? Maybe a snack. Writers are the same. For me, the best idea for fueling any inspiration is always going to be Coffee and Wine.

But you, like me, need a couple of other things too. Real food matters. To get started, I love quick fix meals. The best and easiest meals to fix are ramen noodles. There are hundreds of ways to make ramen and everyone likes it a little different.

Instant Noodles, Noodles, Instant Ramen, Ramen, CheapHere's my go to recipe:

1) Bring one and a half cups of water to boil

2) Add ramen noodle pasta block

3) Give it half a minute to soften up and then unfold the pasta block

4) Add your flavoring packet and a splash of soy sauce

5) Stir and let boil for 5 minutes

You just made Jessie's Camp Special. Enjoy!

Peace and Love!


Saturday, April 1, 2017

CampNaNoWriMo 2017: It Begins



So it's that time of year again and I'm ready! Camp NaNoWriMo is one of my favorite Spring/Summer activities, and it has helped me complete books and really fill out others. NaNoWri month is always in November and I almost completed my first novel, Witch Hunt, the first year I participated. I fleshed out Fox Hunt between a Camp and a November challenge the next year. In a 2015 Camp I completed Lost Relic. So I love challenging myself and the challenges really do help. Even if I don't complete the challenge, I've always added a great deal to a WIP.

This year I'm working on Shadow's Fall. I'm working with a handicap though. Several months ago this story had a sudden spark of inspiration and I was able to type up part of the first and second chapter. At the time I was revising another story and let the spark flare to life and flicker out after I'd done all the typing. So I'm starting this challenge with a little over 3k words already written, but I'm going to withhold those and only report the words I write this month.

Shadow's Fall is the second story in a trilogy. So the characters and world have already been created and some details filled in. I've also already got an outline and lots of notes. I'm going into this challenge ready and I hope to meet my 50k word goal.

And if I don't I know I'll learn something and have a nice chunk of this novel completed. I'll be adding a tracker to my sideline. (It helps kick me into motion if I know others are tracking me too.)

That's all for now. Look out for a few CampNaNoWriMo tips and updates this month.

Peace and Love!