Just a mere twenty four hours to go and I’m finally into the
swing of things now. The finishing line is in sight, both in terms of deadline
and word target.
I’m gonna make it!
CAMP UPDATE
It’s been a good burst towards the finish despite still
having a couple of non-writing days. I not only managed three days in a row at
1000+ but that included a weekend, an actual weekend, with writing happening.
So the novella is coming along nicely. Each session still
ends with me wanting to change stuff with the overall plot but it’s more about setting
up the world so that I can return in future stories. It needs rules and it’s
only been in the writing that I've seen what does and doesn’t work with the
magic system I’ll be using based around the tattoos.
Something interesting happened with one of the characters a
few days ago. I’ll admit he was a little generic when it comes to villainy but I
hadn’t really planned much for him (see ‘Too Many Villains’ from an earlier post).
He’s not really mentioned at all throughout and then he turns up right in the
middle of a critical scene at the end of the story. I just started writing him
with no real plan (reckless, I agree) and he suddenly became this important
role that is very central to the mythology, a mythology I didn’t even realise
was there. I think it works to expand the world very suddenly for Julie. This
guy turns up and shows what a real threat can do. He pretty much sledge hammers
the one scene he’s in but in a good way.
I’m looking forward to finishing it now (hopefully tonight).
DAY 23 – 585 words
After last week’s blog I hung about and managed to just
finish up Chapter 12: Proof. I’d
started this scene with Julie talking about the tattoo to Eleanor but she was
ready to speak to her friend about the strange side effects she was experiencing.
I ended it a little forcefully with her convincing Eleanor to take part in a
demonstration but it’s messy and needs a heavy rewrite.
DAY 26 – 1855 words
A good nights writing. Stayed up a little late and got to
work on Interlude: History part 2. This
is a flashback to Kirsty and tells how her path crossed Michaels once more. Now
I know some people hate flashbacks but I think these need to be in the novella.
In fact, while going over my notes this evening I’ve actually decided to move
it slightly and have it close the story, that way the ‘History’ parts
(originally three but now two) will bookend the main story. There’s more to
tell as well so I think I follow on with the same method on the next book.
Once this was done I got started on Chapter 13: Answers. It’s now that Julie confronts Michael and
finds out exactly what he’s done to her and why.
DAY 27 – 1443 words
Another great day of writing. I finished Chapter 13: Answers with the arrival of the stranger, the man who
has been tracking Michael since the beginning. He wants to hurt Michael for the
wrongs he’s done and only Julie is around to stop someone getting hurt.
DAY 28 – 1573 words
On a roll with this writing lark. Another late night; tired
but worth it if there are words on the page and 20,000 is closer. This was the
big scene, the finale, the violent revelation. It was exhausting but I’m really
happy with Chapter 14: Intruder. I
think it will require the least amount of chopping when I start the next edit
and it’s what will now help shape everything that comes before it. This is
where our mystery character shows up and it the random backstory I produced for
him that solidifies the backstory to the Tattoo plot. This is the chapter where
most stuff is finally explained to the reader.
DAY 29 – 631 words
Pub quiz night again so had to cram in some writing where I
could. Started Chapter 15: Ink which
sees someone’s life hanging in the balance and a tough choice needing to be
made. I thought this chapter would be the wrapping up of loose ends before leading
into a nice quiet, final chapter to end with but unfortunately my brain said NO!
So, while everything seems happy and peaceful up to the point where I finished
last night, it’s all going to change once I’ve finished this blog post. I’m
going to spring a little surprise on our characters. Hell, I was surprised
myself but I think it’s a much better ending now.
Can you say cliff hanger?
FLASH! FRIDAY UPDATE
After no mentions for BAYWITCH
in last week’s Flash! Friday, my wife said she didn’t like that it made me sad
whilst my mother said that I shouldn’t expect to get mentioned every week.
Mentioned? I’m trying to be a better writer. I want to
improve, I want to be known, and I want to win! You hear that Flash! Friday. I’m
coming for you!!!
(please note that this is just a dramatic, empty threat. It’s
a known fact the creators of Flash! Friday are on good terms with dragons and
no one should mess with dragons).
But seriously, BAYWITCH (big thanks to my awesome wife for
coming up with that title) didn’t do as well as I thought and it came off the
back of disappointment that my 1000 word short, WE WERE FRIENDS ONCE, AND YOUNG also didn’t make the shortlist of
the Dog
Days of Summer competition.
I took that one harder because I immediately realised my
mistakes. With other shorts that haven’t won I’ve struggled to see what was
wrong and assumed it was read by a judge that it just didn’t click with. But
with WE WERE FRIENDS I knew deep down that the story itself was broken and that
was only my fault.
It seems a weakness I have is my love of the fantastical.
This is fine in my longer works and I won’t stop writing the stuff I love to
read. But for short words and especially Flash Fiction, it can take up a lot of
room trying to jam in something like the supernatural or super heroes, genres
that have rules to work in a story. Rules need explaining to the reader and
this costs precious word count.
So I knew that I should have left out the twist ending with
the army science experiment that created a super soldier who fights on the
beaches of Normandy (seriously, that’s what I wrote). I should have just left
it as the story of friendship that is shattered by war, something emotional and
dramatic.
Lesson learned.
On a more positive note, a big shout out to everyone that
took part in the Dog Days competition. It was a real pleasure to read your work
and, as with Flash! Friday, it’s nice to see the extreme diversity on show that
all comes from the same prompt.
Writers are awesome.
SCRIVENER REVIEW
What more can I say. It’s a safe bet that I’m going to
purchase this once CampNaNo is over. I’ve loved working with it and, although
it hasn’t set my writing world on fire, I think there’s a lot more under the
hood that I’m going to love discovering. It really is a useful writing tool and
I will take anything that helps me produce work and put it out into the world.
And now I must go. I have 1207 words left to write on this month’s
CampNaNoWriMo entry and I can’t wait to update my word count to be declared ‘winner’!
Just a quick big thanks to the lovely people who have left me
comments on my Dog Days of Summer entry. Some really nice things were said that
boosted my confidence and I’m extremely grateful for those that took their time
to not only read my story but write about it too.
In fact it’s not just that one story but anything that I have
written, be it my Flash! Friday entries, my blog posts or my short stories on
Wattpad. I’m grateful that anyone would take time to read my work and love
getting feedback, positive and negative.
After all, I’m still learning here and all comments are
welcome.
See you in seven.
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