In a Pickle

Oh hey there! So guess what month it is... OCTOBER! It's also NaBloWriMo, which translates to National Blog Writing Month! So I decided I'm going to write a blog post about writing and stuff everyday on this blog! Yay! I know I missed three days, but that's because... well, I have no excuse. But ta-da!

So next month is NaNoWriMo and I'm in a pickle. The book I want to write for NaNo is the first in a new middle grade series I have planned, and the word count will be less than 50,000 words. I know NaNo is more about writing a book and all, but I won't feel like a real winner unless I write a book with 50,000. And I don't want to write the second book in the series when I'm done, because I want to let the first book sit for a while so I can edit later, then submit to agents, etc, etc.

The NaNo book I wrote last year was basically a disaster and I hope to never write anything like it ever again because it was bad. Hopefully that taught me not to write as bad. The book was so stupid, and had so much unnecessary detail and was boring until the absolute end. So yeah, let's not do that again.

I have a few ideas could also write for NaNo, but I am just so excited to work on the new middle grade series. What do you think I should do... write the middle grade book even though it won't be 50,000 words, or write a different idea that definitely will reach the minimum word goal?

A Bunch of Random Updates Which Relate to This Blog

...Awkward moment.

I know I've been horrible to all of you loyal, awesome followers who actually care about what I do. I haven't really written all that much in the past, you know, almost year. And it's just as hard for me as it is... well, none of you are probably affected by it, so... yeah. BUT the point is that in the past week or so, I have been writing.

It's weird the way I operate. It seems like if I am not doing a million things at once, I can't do anything. It's just easier for me to write now that school has started again, and I have two internships, and whilst I still operate Electrifying Reviews. It's weird, I know.

So here are updates on what I am currently writing:

The Heart of the Beast (short story): 216 words
The Curse: 251 words
Outlawed: 3049 words
Slice: 4001 words

I don't know why I have so many WIPs. It's probably not a good thing. And I just keep coming up with more ideas, and I will probably start working on those too. Will I ever get another book written? I hope so. But maybe not. But I really hope so.

Speaking of books written, Enchanted. I don't know if it's worth the effort it's going to take to turn this into a book even near the point it will need to be to take it to the next step. Most writers don't get their first book ever written published, and I don't think mine will be. It's just not that good. So I guess that trilogy is cancelled. I might write it again in the future, when I don't have so many more ideas that have so much more potential.

So that's pretty much what's been happening with me and my writing. Again, I really hope to finish another book. Soon. I'm aiming for November to have one finished so I can start something new for NaNo. But who knows.

Oh, and I am really going to try to blog at least once a week here. So PLEASE let me know what you want me to write about in these blog posts or else I will not have anything to say and won't be able to post as much as I want to.

Exciting News That Hasn't Been Announced Yet

Oh hey everybody! So I have some really cool news to share! L.J. Smith (The Vampire Diaries, Night World, Secret Circle), my favorite author, like, ever is currently hosting a contest for aspiring authors and I entered and... I am a finalist! Not officially, but L.J. did send me an email with the questions she is asking each finalist.

Basically, the contest was for writers who have finished a novel to submit the first three chapters, and the final chapter, of their finished manuscript and L.J. is paying for an editing company to edit and give feedback. I submitted the first three chapters of Enchanted, my NaNo10 novel, but my first three chapters were only thirteen pages long, so she emailed asking for more and I sent them. She then asked me to answer the questions each finalist will be asked.

L.J. hasn't made any official announcements yet, but I am very excited. It would be awesome to have Enchanted edited so I can make the next big step.

Oh, and here are some other things:

- I'm going to start writing again. I promise. As you probably know, I've barely written anything since NaNo10, but I am really feeling inspired to get back into it. I think I'll start slow, with 500-1000 words a day.

- What is up with the new blogger layout? Not on my  blog, but from blogger as a whole. Me no likey.

- Please leave comments telling me what to blog about here. I'm at a loss.

Starting What You Finish

I've always heard that you should finish one WIP before starting another. From lots of people. I seem to have a problem with this. A while back, if you remember, I started my contemporary WIP, Slice. It was going great and I got a few chapters in and then the plot turned into something drastically different than what I originally had in mind. You see, it was originally supposed to be paranormal. Yeah, now it's not.

Then a week or so ago, I just had to start my dystopian WIP, Outlawed. That's going even better and it has garnered interest from some very influential people. Which is awesome. I've only written the first chapter, but it is already going great and I am in love with the story.

Just a few minutes ago, I was struck with a line. And I realized it is the perfect line for a book I've been wanting to write, The Curse. And I started thinking about the line, adding more in my head. And that story is already taking a turn and changing into something different than what I thought it was going to be. I'm going to start it tonight.

So, I now have three WIPs. And I don't know if this is good or bad. I know people say that you should finish one before starting another, but my overactive imagination just has all these ideas and I can't seem to turn them off.

So what are your thoughts on this? Do you write more than one book at a time? Should I just finish one of these and then go back and do the others, one at a time?

Worry and Failure

Tomorrow, I am starting something new. And I am scared. I am putting Slice away for now, because I really want to write this new idea. This new idea is a dystopian. It is called Outlawed. More info can be found in the "My Books" tab.

I've never really worried about writing before. But with dystopians, I am. What if I suck at it? What if I can't make a convincing futuristic world? What if it is just...bad? All of these worries have prevented me from writing dystopian before, but I have this idea and I just need to write it.

I have the same worry with historical fiction. I have one or two of those that I want to write, but what if I get it all wrong? What if I don't research enough and fail?

But in the end, I will start Outlawed tomorrow. And I will write those historical fictions later on. Because I am a writer and I need to write them.

Also, I just updated THIS PAGE. Please go look at it because I literally spent hours doing it.

Inspiration

So today I am going to start a new WIP. I am a few thousand words into one short story (that I think I am going to cancel), and another WIP (Slice). But I just have to write this new idea now. Why? Because I have been inspired!

Usually when thinking of new ideas, I start off with a creature I want to write about. From there, a story starts to mold in my head. Example: I wanted to write about witches. After some thinking, Enchant was born.

For my new WIP (The Curse), I was inspired by a song called Howl by Florence and the Machine. If you listen to the song, it is really cool and it totally just made me want to write.

So, I'm off to start this new book. What inspires you? And how do your stories first appear in your head?

All My Failures

Today's topic is ideas that have been thrown away. And trust me, I have LOADS of these failures. I can't even remember all of them, but I have been writing for a few years and most of what I have started I stopped writing after a few chapters. As I've gotten older, (if you can call fourteen older), I've stopped giving up and kept working through my stories. Well, they also are good ideas.

One idea that I trashed was pretty much an exact replica of the Sweep series by Cate Tiernan. It was told from a guy's POV, and it was pretty much Sweep. I got a few chapters done with that before deleting it.

Another idea that I threw out soon after starting was about a boy who finds out he is a witch, and a girl takes him to a magic school in Italy. He gets a crush on this girl, but when he gets to the school he discovers that she is already in a relationship... with his cousin. There was also going to be some riding on sea monsters in this book. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I would like to try to revisit this story in the future. This was told in duel perspectives: one boy and one girl.

The final bad idea I am going to be talking about is The Deceased. It was a book about a girl and a guy who are seemingly the last ones left after the zombie apocalypse. This one was the farthest I've actually gotten in a book without finishing it. The problem was that the story was going way too fast, and the book was already about three fourths done when it was 15K. You can see the problem with that.

And then I wrote Enchant for NaNoWriMo. I actually finished a whole book. Admittedly, it needs a lot of work, but I think it could actually be something when I get those rough spots fixed up.

And while writing this post I've noticed something. I think the reason I've had so many flops was because I was still finding my voice. When I started writing, it was always from a boy's POV. Then I got a little better when I added some girl perspective. Now, I almost always write from a girl's POV. Don't ask why, because I can't tell you.

Anyway, those are some of my failed attempts to write a book. If you have any that you'd like to share, feel free to comment!