Tag: planning

Status Update and Plans for the Rest of 2019

Hello all!

It seems like it has been forever since I last posted an update here. The past few months have been wild with work and judo and everything else in between. First a quick update over the last few months, and then onward with the plans for the rest of 2019.

In the past few months, I have started with a new medical company at my job, which is just about as stressful as it sounds, starting and adjusting to the new company and the lack of trust that causes in the patients, especially since not all the pieces are quite in place yet. Along with that, the Judo club I have been going to since July of 2017 closed its doors at the end of April. That means that along with the new medical company at work, I’m now trying to help start a new judo club as well.

All of these new activities and new projects have made it difficult to write over the past few months, but luckily that turned around in June. I finally finished my NaNoWriMo project from 2018 and broke through the huge block I had had for months. That primed me for what I’ve been working on since July.

Camp NaNoWriMo!

This year for Camp NaNo, I’m working on a piece that I started in 2010 and then put away for a while, or got stuck and then got busy with school, I can’t quite remember. I titled it The Kiss, and that name just stuck. So far, with five days of a lot of writing to look back on, things are going well. I set my goal for 25K and I’m sitting at around 10K once I add today’s word count.

So far, the story is cooperating well, but we’ll see how that goes for the rest of the month.

Looking back on my writing plans from earlier this year, I’ve realized I’m probably not going to reach my goals that I set in January, before everything seemed to hit.

I had wanted to write one million words from November 1st, 2018 to November 1st, 2019, but judging by the word counts I’ve had in the past few months, sitting around just about 150K for the last eight months, I doubt I’m going to make one million words unless I do nothing but write for eight to twelve hours a day. So I’m changing my writing goals now, in July.

Instead of one million words, I’m going to do my best and write every day and see how far I get. Whether it’s five words, or five thousand words, I’m going to see how far I can get if I do a little bit (or a lot) of writing daily. The goal, I’ve had to remind myself, isn’t number of words, but projects finished. However many words that takes.

Over the years I’ve been working on my series, I’ve left a lot of holes to fill. There are parts of each book written, parts that need to be typed up, and parts that I haven’t even fleshed out since I’ve changed the series so many times. Finally, I think I have a decent trajectory of where I want the series to go, so it’s time to go back and fill in the holes in the months before November.

In November, I plan to start book nine of the series, which I had intended to be the last book in the series. Thanks to plot bunnies, and of course lovable characters, book nine will now be the penultimate book. I’m hoping that if I stay motivated enough, and continue to write every day, I can have that book finished by January of 2020.

There will be a lot going on, but I think if I stay focused, I can get it all done and continue my writing dreams.

In short, here are my plans until 2020:

July: Camp NaNoWriMo The Kiss. Goal- minimum 25K, but I want to see how far I get if I write every single day. It’s not too late to join me

August: Continue The Kiss; Continue with books 3, 4 and 5 of the LOVED series. Goal- Anywhere from 25K upwards.

September: Finish The Kiss (if not complete); Continue with books 3, 4 and 5 of the series. Possibly attend a local writing conference (It’s in the works). Goal- 25K and upwards.

October: Finish up any projects that aren’t complete by the end of the month. Plan book 9 for NaNoWriMo 2019. Goal- Minimum of 30K.

November: NaNoWriMo! Book 9 of the series. Goal- 50K minimum (to win), but I plan to shoot for at least 100K.

December: Finish book 9. Supplement with fanfiction for a palate cleanse. Goal- minimum 25K or to completion.

We’ll see how things go, but stay tuned for updates!

Moodboard for Camp NaNoWriMo’s The Kiss

 

Tuesday How to: Write Developed Characters

 Hello Readers! Special Message here: If I seem short during this Tuesday,  blame WordPress. I had been working on this post for more than a week, almost 2000 words put into it, and then WordPress decided to be a butt and delete it all. So here is attempt number two!

Some writers will tell you that naming characters is the hardest part. To develop them all you have to do is write out their story and their arc, then edit it in later drafts. I think that it really depends on the character. Whether or not their arc is a wide sweeping arc or a simple event that sets their actions. Being a writer, and having several characters, I can tell you that sometimes their arcs come easy, and then other times it will be several drafts in and I will be staring at a blank page thinking “Who the hell are you? What the F*@K do you want?”

To write developed characters, with complete arcs and growth, there are three things to keep in mind: Backstory, Mid-story and post story.

Backstory

Backstory is important, but not always relevant to the specific scene you’re writing. You should make it match your character, but not too obvious that the reader feels like they were fooled. Unless your character is the luckiest person in the world, everything is not going to just fall into their lap. They have to work to get where they are when your story starts. They have to have failures and successes. Not just one or the other.

Depending on your story and your character arc, your backstory determines how your character will react to certain situations in your plot. If your character is in a bank robbery, whether they are a trained soldier, or a guy who adamantly hates guns and violence will change how they react to the gunmen.

Mid-Story

In the middle of the action, your characters decisions determine their growth and their arc. There are generally two reactions to growth in story. Your character can either accept the changes, or fight them tooth and nail. There are a thousand choices, several types of growth, but it all basically boils down to “I accept this” or “Not in a million years”.

The most important thing in Mid-Story character development is consistency. If your character encounters a barking dog at the beginning of the story and is scared of it, then if they encounter the dog again in the middle and are not scared, there better have been some kind of growth in between.

Post Story

Post Story is probably the least important development, but it is still important. Unless your character dies at the end of your work, or they are braindead, they still have to grow after the events of the story. Post story is more important if you are working on a series, but for stand-alone is still relevant.

Post Story is what happens “after the credits”. The hero has saved the girl (or vice versa), the evil baddie has been taken care of and all is well. So what are the hero/ girl’s plans after? Some choose to let the reader decide, hence the “Rides off into the sunset” ending. Still, some others add in small hints throughout the piece. Like for instance, your character loves knitting and is working on a blanket, but they are pulled into this elaborate plot against the president. “ALL I WANT IS TO FINISH MY DAMN BLANKET!” is repeated several times in your piece.

Post story they better finish their damn blanket.

No matter what your plot or your character arcs, do your best to keep them consistent and your characters will be well developed and readers will thank you for it!

Happy Writing!