Hi! So my Spanish class is almost done. I only have a few days left and I finally have time to think about the blog and write something for it so here goes.
I've decided to be more spontaneous when posting blog posts. I've decided to post what I write the day I write it though I'm still going to keep Friday in Review cuz I really love having a day of the week just for my geekiness about TV shows and movies and books.
The last few weeks, all of July pretty much, has been pretty busy and crazy. We had family over for a day and then we went out of town for a weekend to visit family and then this Spanish class has been swamping me and amongst all of that the air quality and weather around where I live has been pretty awful. The heat is stifling and the air has really gotten to me and the asthmatics in my family and is just making me feel not great all the time. So with all of that stress and non-stop go, go, go and the weather my brain has been drowning in too many things to think about. It's been on overdrive and the only thing that has semi-calmed it down is revising Golden and working on this new project. Project Khione has... kind of been put to the side for now. I will get to it, I'm not going to abandon Delphi, but right now that draft is being really difficult and every time I even think about working on it my brain rebels against me. Right now I have enough things to deal with, I'd rather not force myself to write and work on something that I don't want to work on. It's not worth the extra stress and another thing to think about.
So, for now I am working on Of Magic and Mayhem, Golden and this new project that I am calling Icarus (there isn't really a title yet... t's just what inspired the story). My mom is working on the awesome cover for Of Magic and Mayhem and I am planning on publishing it in the middle of August for sure. I am really excited to share my short stories with you guys! I'm really proud of them and I think some of them consist of some of my best writing, so I am really hoping everyone loves them as much as I do.
As for Golden, revising really shouldn't be this easy guys. It's kind of scaring me, how easy Golden has been to revise. Maybe it's because Weapon Icean was no walk in the park to revise. Even the first draft gave me some hard times. And Project Khoine? It's still kind of in shambles and still pretty much a mess of a book and I don't even know what to do with it right now. But Golden? My Renee and Jax and Zayde have been so cooperative and talkative and wonderful to me. I know that sounds weird, but I'm a writer and I don't care. Their stories have unfolded so effortlessly and perfectly and the first draft just felt complete to me. Like I had more or less already finished telling the story. I added one major plot point that tied everything together really well and I still have a few small things to smooth over and polish off but overall... I'm content with the plot and the characters and how the story has turned out. In the back of my mind, I have this doubt that maybe I am completely wrong and if an editor or someone who knows books and plot better than I do ever reads it they'll find all sorts of issues and problems with it, but... despite Golden being, what I think, is one of my best written novels, I don't know when I'll share it. Renee and Jax and Zayde? They're my outlet and something just for me. My own special project that I will gush over and talk about forever but that... I'm not ready to share yet. I'm not ready for anyone to read Golden and tear it apart or nit-pick all the little things I did "wrong."
And really, I think it all depends on the book. The revision process is unique to each individual and to each book because each book requires a different level of revision. Someone may have one first draft that is the skeleton, the bare bones of the story and during the revision process they have to flesh it out and make it come to life. That same author may write another book that feels like it wrote itself. The first draft is already pretty fleshed out and requires a few minor fixes and tweaks here and there. Another first draft may be in-between. You have to fill in a few plot holes, fix a few character arcs, but overall the plot is pretty sound. I've had all three types of first drafts. Weapon Icean and Project Khione were more or less the bare bones drafts that needed lots of time to be fleshed out. A medieval Steampunk book that I wrote so long ago, like in 2014 I think, was one of those in-between drafts. One that needed work but not too much work. It was mostly the ending that needed fixing. Then there are those gems that were a thrill to write and are close to your heart where the first draft came effortlessly and pretty much all the way finished and required little to no revisions. Truest, another book that I wrote a very long time ago, was one of those. My vampire hunter book that doesn't have a name -- I call it Tabitha, since that's my MC's name -- also pretty much wrote itself. And now Golden. All of those books are important to me and all of them are amazing and great and aren't lesser than one another because of the amount of revisions I did on them. Project Khione is just as important and loved by me as Golden. The only difference is that one requires a lot more time and patience than the other.
But, if I'm being completely honest, the ones that seemed to write themselves and didn't need a lot of revising are the ones I am unsure about, that I am most vulnerable about. I feel like, since I didn't revise them as much as others that there must be something wrong with them. They still on my computer, just for my eyes, because I'm just a little bit scared that if I were to share them people would think they sucked or would somehow know that I didn't do as much work on them as my other projects. That and I hate the thought of anyone giving me a bad critique or review on Golden or Tabitha or Truest because they were sort of my pet projects. The ones that just made me fall in love with writing all over again, the ones that I couldn't wait to sit down and write and work on because I connected and loved the characters and the world and story so much.
Even with Of Magic and Mayhem, some of those short stories I am so, so proud of. Like they are some of my favorite pieces that I have written and it just makes me happy every time I get to read over them or revise them. So, I'm just a little bit nervous that, first of all, no one will buy the book or want to read it, and second of all, that if someone does buy it and does read it and decides that the short stories sucked or were no good or weren't great. But I'm doing it anyway because I really do want to share these short stories and I'm willing to take that step, that risk just like I did with Weapon Icean.
This post kind of, accidentally turned into a post about revision and I don't really have a main point. But I do have some encouragement. Don't worry if a first draft you've written already feels complete. Listen to your gut and your heart. If they're telling you that the story doesn't need too much work plot-wise and revision-wise (every story can always use some good editing and polishing) then don't feel like you have to. Don't push it or force it. Just let your story be that story. Just let it be if that makes any sense. And if you have a first draft that is an absolute mess. A skeleton of a plot with plot holes and plot points all over the place, but if you're passionate and in love with this story then work at it. And if you lose steam, don't give up. Take a break, take a step back, breathe and let the story sit for a little while in the back of your mind and then come back to it when you feel ready. Sometimes, you write a story, but aren't ready or mature enough yet to fully get the story credit, if that makes sense. So, don't force it.
As for Icarus, if you haven't figured it out already, it's going to have Greek mythology and Icarus in it. But it's a twist on the Greek gods. I'm still figuring it out, but it's fun to twist something that's been done over and over and over again. Maybe my idea isn't as original as I think it is but I don't really care. I want to try this thing that I've seen others do. They post one chapter or part of their book on their blog each week. The Bright Eyes Project, actually inspired me to try it because I loved the first episode and I like the idea of having "episodes" of a story being released each week. So yeah, I hope you would be interested in some Greek mythology/scifi-ish? story on my blog with Icarus and a girl with future telling and magical powers called Skyler and the Greek gods -- I call them the Immortals in my book -- stuck on Earth in modern times. I can't give any promises as to when it'll be ready or up on my blog or if I end up finishing the story or anything like that, but I really do want to try out this blog/book each week thing.
It feels so good to be writing on here again! I can't believe I missed almost a whole month of blog posts, but I plan to make it up to you guys. Have a great weekend everyone!
I've decided to be more spontaneous when posting blog posts. I've decided to post what I write the day I write it though I'm still going to keep Friday in Review cuz I really love having a day of the week just for my geekiness about TV shows and movies and books.
The last few weeks, all of July pretty much, has been pretty busy and crazy. We had family over for a day and then we went out of town for a weekend to visit family and then this Spanish class has been swamping me and amongst all of that the air quality and weather around where I live has been pretty awful. The heat is stifling and the air has really gotten to me and the asthmatics in my family and is just making me feel not great all the time. So with all of that stress and non-stop go, go, go and the weather my brain has been drowning in too many things to think about. It's been on overdrive and the only thing that has semi-calmed it down is revising Golden and working on this new project. Project Khione has... kind of been put to the side for now. I will get to it, I'm not going to abandon Delphi, but right now that draft is being really difficult and every time I even think about working on it my brain rebels against me. Right now I have enough things to deal with, I'd rather not force myself to write and work on something that I don't want to work on. It's not worth the extra stress and another thing to think about.
So, for now I am working on Of Magic and Mayhem, Golden and this new project that I am calling Icarus (there isn't really a title yet... t's just what inspired the story). My mom is working on the awesome cover for Of Magic and Mayhem and I am planning on publishing it in the middle of August for sure. I am really excited to share my short stories with you guys! I'm really proud of them and I think some of them consist of some of my best writing, so I am really hoping everyone loves them as much as I do.
As for Golden, revising really shouldn't be this easy guys. It's kind of scaring me, how easy Golden has been to revise. Maybe it's because Weapon Icean was no walk in the park to revise. Even the first draft gave me some hard times. And Project Khoine? It's still kind of in shambles and still pretty much a mess of a book and I don't even know what to do with it right now. But Golden? My Renee and Jax and Zayde have been so cooperative and talkative and wonderful to me. I know that sounds weird, but I'm a writer and I don't care. Their stories have unfolded so effortlessly and perfectly and the first draft just felt complete to me. Like I had more or less already finished telling the story. I added one major plot point that tied everything together really well and I still have a few small things to smooth over and polish off but overall... I'm content with the plot and the characters and how the story has turned out. In the back of my mind, I have this doubt that maybe I am completely wrong and if an editor or someone who knows books and plot better than I do ever reads it they'll find all sorts of issues and problems with it, but... despite Golden being, what I think, is one of my best written novels, I don't know when I'll share it. Renee and Jax and Zayde? They're my outlet and something just for me. My own special project that I will gush over and talk about forever but that... I'm not ready to share yet. I'm not ready for anyone to read Golden and tear it apart or nit-pick all the little things I did "wrong."
And really, I think it all depends on the book. The revision process is unique to each individual and to each book because each book requires a different level of revision. Someone may have one first draft that is the skeleton, the bare bones of the story and during the revision process they have to flesh it out and make it come to life. That same author may write another book that feels like it wrote itself. The first draft is already pretty fleshed out and requires a few minor fixes and tweaks here and there. Another first draft may be in-between. You have to fill in a few plot holes, fix a few character arcs, but overall the plot is pretty sound. I've had all three types of first drafts. Weapon Icean and Project Khione were more or less the bare bones drafts that needed lots of time to be fleshed out. A medieval Steampunk book that I wrote so long ago, like in 2014 I think, was one of those in-between drafts. One that needed work but not too much work. It was mostly the ending that needed fixing. Then there are those gems that were a thrill to write and are close to your heart where the first draft came effortlessly and pretty much all the way finished and required little to no revisions. Truest, another book that I wrote a very long time ago, was one of those. My vampire hunter book that doesn't have a name -- I call it Tabitha, since that's my MC's name -- also pretty much wrote itself. And now Golden. All of those books are important to me and all of them are amazing and great and aren't lesser than one another because of the amount of revisions I did on them. Project Khione is just as important and loved by me as Golden. The only difference is that one requires a lot more time and patience than the other.
But, if I'm being completely honest, the ones that seemed to write themselves and didn't need a lot of revising are the ones I am unsure about, that I am most vulnerable about. I feel like, since I didn't revise them as much as others that there must be something wrong with them. They still on my computer, just for my eyes, because I'm just a little bit scared that if I were to share them people would think they sucked or would somehow know that I didn't do as much work on them as my other projects. That and I hate the thought of anyone giving me a bad critique or review on Golden or Tabitha or Truest because they were sort of my pet projects. The ones that just made me fall in love with writing all over again, the ones that I couldn't wait to sit down and write and work on because I connected and loved the characters and the world and story so much.
Even with Of Magic and Mayhem, some of those short stories I am so, so proud of. Like they are some of my favorite pieces that I have written and it just makes me happy every time I get to read over them or revise them. So, I'm just a little bit nervous that, first of all, no one will buy the book or want to read it, and second of all, that if someone does buy it and does read it and decides that the short stories sucked or were no good or weren't great. But I'm doing it anyway because I really do want to share these short stories and I'm willing to take that step, that risk just like I did with Weapon Icean.
This post kind of, accidentally turned into a post about revision and I don't really have a main point. But I do have some encouragement. Don't worry if a first draft you've written already feels complete. Listen to your gut and your heart. If they're telling you that the story doesn't need too much work plot-wise and revision-wise (every story can always use some good editing and polishing) then don't feel like you have to. Don't push it or force it. Just let your story be that story. Just let it be if that makes any sense. And if you have a first draft that is an absolute mess. A skeleton of a plot with plot holes and plot points all over the place, but if you're passionate and in love with this story then work at it. And if you lose steam, don't give up. Take a break, take a step back, breathe and let the story sit for a little while in the back of your mind and then come back to it when you feel ready. Sometimes, you write a story, but aren't ready or mature enough yet to fully get the story credit, if that makes sense. So, don't force it.
As for Icarus, if you haven't figured it out already, it's going to have Greek mythology and Icarus in it. But it's a twist on the Greek gods. I'm still figuring it out, but it's fun to twist something that's been done over and over and over again. Maybe my idea isn't as original as I think it is but I don't really care. I want to try this thing that I've seen others do. They post one chapter or part of their book on their blog each week. The Bright Eyes Project, actually inspired me to try it because I loved the first episode and I like the idea of having "episodes" of a story being released each week. So yeah, I hope you would be interested in some Greek mythology/scifi-ish? story on my blog with Icarus and a girl with future telling and magical powers called Skyler and the Greek gods -- I call them the Immortals in my book -- stuck on Earth in modern times. I can't give any promises as to when it'll be ready or up on my blog or if I end up finishing the story or anything like that, but I really do want to try out this blog/book each week thing.
It feels so good to be writing on here again! I can't believe I missed almost a whole month of blog posts, but I plan to make it up to you guys. Have a great weekend everyone!
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