New Year's Resolutions

First of all, I'd like to say that for the first time I've completed my most important resolution from last year. In fact, for the past five years one of my goals for the new year has been to write an entire novel. I can't believe it's taken me this long to just go out and write one, but hey, better late than never, right?


I'm still trying to figure out my resolutions for 2012, but it definitely includes writing another book. Now that I've written one, I've got the confidence to keep going and going and going. I feel like the energizer bunny, lol.


Anyway, I have a skating test on Monday. For those of you who know skating, I'm taking my Juvenile Moves, and my Pre-Juvenile Freestyle tests. I'm skating a two minute program, when I'm used to only a minute and thirty seconds. It seems like a short amount of time, but it's amazing how long two minutes feels like when you're constantly moving.


To make matters worse, I think I'm getting sick. My head feels like it's about to pop, and my throat feels like I swallowed a thorn bush. (Okay, maybe not quite that bad, but still.) So hopefully I won't lose my balance during my tests.


What are you're New Year's Resolutions?


--Jess

New Inspiration

So, it turns out the 'secret place' that we went to was West Virginia. We stayed at the Greenbrier Resort in Sulphur Springs and I was impressed. I was afraid that since this vacation was mostly just to 'relax', it would also mean doing a whole bunch of stuff that I didn't want to do, and falling behind in editing and all kinds of stuff. But, that was not the case.


We had so much fun, but I have to say, my favorite activity was playing laser tag. There were other families there, so we had a big group of people with us. We split up into two groups and chose teams. After that, the game began. Since I write Sci-Fi and Action/Adventure/Dystopian sort of things, it was pretty good inspiration. I felt like my main character in the heat of battle. Only, the worst thing that could happen to me in there was losing one of my ten lives, where in my story, the consequences are much worse.


I was actually surprised with how good of a shot I was. Sure, I risked my 'lives' a few times, but overall, the girls team won. Of course, after we had achieved victory, the boys tried making excuses, saying that they let us win. But something tells me that that wasn't the case.


Anyway, Christmas break starts tomorrow for me, and I'm looking forward to lots of time to write and get stuff done!


Have a great day!


--Jess

Sacrifices

No, don't worry. I'm not talking about food or animal sacrifices or anything. (Unless you're trying to impress the writing gods or something...)

We all have to make sacrifices to get our writing done. But it can really be hard sometimes. For this entire week, I've been trying so hard to meet my goal of finishing my entire book on the 10th of December, but as tomorrow swiftly approaches, I just don't see how I can possibly edit thirteen more chapters tonight.


I'm still trying to figure out what I did wrong. I've sacrificed so much time this week for my writing! Okay, maybe I didn't wake up as early as I planned to every day, but I did a lot of other stuff. I stayed up late to get my work done. I didn't go to the movie theater last Sunday with my mom, sister and dad! I even skipped watching two episodes of the TV show Glee to get my writing done! (I couldn't resist watching the most current episode of Star Wars the Clone Wars with my brother, though...)


So, maybe I set too big of a goal for myself. Or maybe I just didn't execute my 'plan' correctly. Or maybe it was just a bad writing week. It sounds silly, but some days when I'm practicing my violin it's just randomly worse than other days. Same thing with skating. Some days I'm really focused, and other days, I completely lose my balance doing simple things.


It's easy to get discouraged when no matter what you do, you feel like you won't finish soon enough, or won't get good things written down. But, I've found that going around and feeling sorry for yourself isn't the way to get what you want done, done. Trust me, I've tried it.


Luckily, I happen to be in a very good writing mood today, so even if I don't finish on the tenth exactly, maybe I could extend my deadline to the end of the weekend or maybe even Monday. Either way, I've still got a lot of work to get done, so I should get back to it.


What are you guys planning for the weekend?


--Jess

Thanksgiving Week

Hey everyone! I'm really sorry I haven't posted in a while... as I've mentioned too many times already, I've just been so busy with NaNoWriMo and editing that I've hardly had time for anything else! I promise that once November is over I'll try to post more regularly and I'll definitely be blog-hopping more often.


Okay, so in NaNoWriMo, I'm at 33,062 words meaning I'm 3,062 words behind... and I'm not really sure what to do. I've still got a ton of editing to finish and I know I could get to 50,000 words if I worked through Thanksgiving. But, we're having family over, so I can't be working then.


Secondly, I know where the story is going, but I'm not entirely sure how to get there. Already, I'm seeing things that I've written wrong and that I have to change. I think the romantic tension is moving much too fast, and I have no idea how to slow it down! And at this pace, there might be a train wreck soon.


Anyway, have a great Thanksgiving everyone (and a great end-of-November, just in CASE I don't post until then)!


--Jess

Wonderful Weekend + Thanksgiving Approaches

Hey everyone! Sorry I'm posting so late today, I had a lot of homework to do today and I'm trying desperately to stay up to date with editing and NaNoing! But, oh my gosh, I got so much done over the weekend, I'm so excited! Well, maybe I didn't get a ton of stuff done, but I still feel pretty satisfied.

GOAL: 50,000
TOTAL WORDS WRITTEN: 25,643
WORDS REMAINING: 24,357
DAYS REMAINING: 17
MOOD: Feeling Awesome :)

So, maybe I only got 5,643 words written, but I finally did some editing. And, dearest followers (and new people), I just want to say that I'm really sorry for not checking anyone's blog for almost this entire month. I'll really try to get back into everything after November, but with NaNoWriMo and Thanksgiving coming up, I have no idea how I can get any writing done!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, Let me tell you about a little (big) family tradition we have. Every year my whole family comes to our house to celebrate Thanksgiving. I guess not my whole family because that would just be waaay too many people. But in total, we've got about 19 family members at our house and it's just as crazy as it is awesome. So hopefully I can get ahead in writing because I don't think I'll be doing much of it in two weeks!

Have a great Monday, everyone :)

--Jess

NaNoWriMo Day 11

First of all, I have to say that it's 11/11/11. November 11, 2011. This kind of day only comes around once every hundred years, so enjoy it!


Anyway, here's my NaNo Status Check:


GOAL: 50,000
TOTAL WORDS WRITTEN: 20,000
WORDS REMAINING: 30,000
DAYS REMAINING: 20
MOOD: A little stuck, but getting through


I'm pretty excited that I'm already 20,000 words through my sequel, but I'm a little stuck. I'm all caught up with my skeleton (my extremely detailed sketch), and when I was writing more of it, I got completely stuck. I've had the overall story planned out in my head for some time, but I'm not entirely sure how to get to the end!


As I was writing, I started to feel like some of the conversations were pointless. I started to see that I had already written things that I'd need to cut out. And it kind of hit me that I might not be moving the story along fast enough.


Of course, I'll never give up hope with my writing, but I hit that point that point that makes you wonder who is really going to care. Is my story interesting enough? Is it too cliched? What am I doing right? What am I doing wrong?


It's hard to push your doubts aside. It's hard to ignore that inner voice that begs for a reply. But all in all, I wouldn't be able to turn back even if I wanted to. I already wrote a novel. I've passed the point of no return.


The point is a cliched point of course. But it's a cliche that we tend to forget. The point is that we are doing this because we love it. In the end, it's really doesn't matter who loves what you write, or who doesn't love what you write.


So on that note, I better get back to work!


--Jess

Starting a Novel

STATUS CHECK:


GOAL: 50,000
TOTAL WORDS WRITTEN: 2,240
WORDS REMAINING:47,760
DAYS REMAINING: 29
MOOD: Completely Confident


Well, seeing that yesterday was the first day in NaNo, starting off with a total of 2,240 words isn't too bad. And in that 2,240 words, I have officially completed my first draft of my first chapter! Yahoo!


Starting a novel can often be hard. I swear, I wrote and rewrote the first line and paragraph about twenty times before it started to sound like what I wanted to say. In my flash fiction pieces for the Campaign, making a good hook wasn't too hard because, I only had to carry on the story for another 250-300 words. In a novel, you're obviously keeping it going for much, much longer.


And then of course, there's always those writerly doubts. Especially coming from editing my book 1, I've gotten used to being extremely critical of my work. And I guess that's okay, but to get anything new done, I've really got to accept that it's not going to sound perfect. I've just got to move on to the next passage.


So how do you start a novel?


I say you've just got to begin. You can't keep thinking that your first line will sound better if you change it one more time. (Even though it probably will). Get what you need to get down then move on. This is only the first draft, after all.


So how was your first NaNo day? And for those of you not doing NaNo, whatchya workin on?


(Getting back to writing now!)


--Jess

NaNoWriMo... Let's Prepare (Pay it Forward)

NaNoWriMo is coming in less than twenty days and I can't believe how excited I am! Last year was the first year I did NaNoWriMo. To be honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. And now that I think back on it, I started my novel (which sparked me to write the rest of the story, start a blog, and become a writer) because of NaNoWriMo. Of course, I just started it to have some fun. I didn't know it was going to turn into an entire story.


Anyway, for the past few days I've been contemplating what to write for it. I've got tons and tons of ideas I could be using for NaNoWriMo but what the heck am I actually going to write for it? Starting a whole new novel is a little scary since I've only written one so far.


I'm considering writing my sequel. Because, the only reason I split my story into 2+ books is because the entire story in my head was too long. Not writing book two right away feels like stopping in the middle of drafting to me because the story isn't complete without the rest of it.


So because or despite your helpful advice, I'm just going to write what feels right. I'm going with book two. I know you're supposed to start a new book for it, so hopefully this isn't cheating. I'm still a little nervous though. Can I keep up with two parts of the same story at once? Will I be disappointed with the results? I guess we'll have to find out!


You're doing NaNoWriMo, right? What are your plans for the National November Novel Writing Month?


Have a great weekend!


--Jess


P.S.


I can't believe it, I almost forgot! If you haven't been there already, go check out David Powers King's blog because he's having a 400 followers celebration and is giving away books!


And,


I signed up for Matthew MacNish's Pay It Forward Blogfest just now and it's going all today so here are three recently discovered blogs:

1. Lyla Lee
2. Shannon O'Donnell
3. Cortney Pearson

Back In The Blogosphere

Wow, we're finally here and I'm loving the coffee and rain! Hopefully I'm back for good. Well, at least until the month in temporary housing is up, but let's not worry about that right now.


Okay, now to business.


I am exactly halfway done with editing my novel (give or take a chapter)! I can't believe I've already come this far, it's so exciting! I'm struggling to not explode from excitement because we're living in Seattle and because I'm halfway done! (Or maybe thats from the mocha latte I drank earlier...)


Anyway, I'm kind of torn. For the entire way here, we've only had one laptop (I ordered my own yesterday so that shouldn't be a problem anymore). So while my mom was writing on the computer, I really couldn't work on my current story. I was tempted to just watch the TV with my brother and sister, but Food Network doesn't hold my attention for very long. I'm not exactly the 'cooking' type. Besides, I've been feeling in a creative mood all week. The perfect time to write, right?


As of today, I've written down ten to fifteen different story ideas, all of them completely separate from my current novel. Each has about a paragraph of back-story and where I want the story to go. I'm proud of myself for that, but a little overwhelmed. What the heck am I going to do with ten new story ideas?


And that's not all. I've got the first few chapters of my sequel planned out. Like completely planned out. All I've got to do is write it.


So why don't I just go for it?


To be honest, I'm actually afraid for my first book. Am I giving it enough attention? Am I giving it too much attention? Should I start book two or just continue focusing on book one? Or should I take a break from this entire story after finishing my second draft and write something completely different? There are things in book two that would definitely help me edit book one but would I be cheating book one from my undivided attention? Gosh I'm so confused.


Do you guys have any advice? How far along are you in writing/editing a novel when you feel comfortable starting something new? Do you write the sequel right after book one or do you take a break and write something different?


I love hearing what you've got to say!


--Jess


P.S.
I'm trying to come up with a better blogging schedule. I think I'll be posting Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays but we'll see. Thanks for stopping by!

Be Prepared!

First of all, thanks to all my new followers from the campaign and for all the wonderful comments on my flash fiction post!

Alrighty, with that statement out of the way, I can tell you some exciting news! I have a skating competition tomorrow! (In case you didn't know, yes I'm a figure skater.) I usually don't get nervous until I'm actually at the ice rink, awaiting my turn to be called in front of the judges, but I'm not exactly sure how prepared I am for this one. I've got two jumps in there that I can't land consistently and a spin that doesn't exactly spin very well. So, with that being said, yes, maybe I am a little nervous right now.

Me and Alyss after one of our many competitions!

I'm not really someone that preforms well under pressure either. My knees get a little shaky and I constantly feel like I need to take a trip to the bathroom. Not to mention, the past few weeks I've been much more interested in my writing than in my skating (which I guess isn't a terrible thing because writing is my first favorite thing ever), but it isn't so good if I want to have a winning chance.


So, I'm sure you've made this conclusion already, but no, I'm not exactly prepared for this competition. I've got a little bit of an idea of the people I'll be competing against, but to be honest, I could lose miserably, or take first place. I've got no clue how this is going to play out.


And here comes the catch. Maybe I'm not the most physically prepared person there. But from a mental perspective, I very well could be. Not because I can land my jumps or do my spins, but because I'm prepared to lose. I'm prepared to skate hard then walk away with nothing but a green ribbon saying "Honorable Participant". And I can be happy with that.


How can we take this into writing perspective? Well, we need to be prepared. We don't exactly know what we're up against. We could luck out with our manuscripts, and just happen to send it to the right place, reaching the right person at the right time! And that's awesome! But more often than not, we get a nice rejection letter (if we're lucky).


Writing can be rough and sometimes even ruthless. But we can be tougher than that! We've got to look beyond rejection and see that it's all part of the journey. People will knock us down and honestly not like what we write. But what matters, is that we'll get back up and try again! And sometimes, getting that rejection can make getting published in the future all worth while!


Have a great weekend!


--Jess


P.S.

I updated my 'Poetry' page so it's got all of my recent poems. I also got a few new story ideas, so I'm excited!

Last Day of Sparfest and Going Back To School

First of all, it's the last day of Sparkfest! I'd like to thank Christine Tyler for hosting such a wonderful Blofest! If you missed the sign up days, you can still post for the Sparkfest on Saturday and make sure to read other people's entries!


For my last Sparkfest post, I would like to say that my biggest inspiration hasn't come from a movie, or a book, or even a song. My biggest inspiration is all of you! I can't believe how supportive and friendly everyone is! So thank all of you, who thought this blog was cool enough to join or comment on, or even glance at! Because you guys are awesome inspirations!


Now with that being said, let's get to the second title in this post. School starts on Monday. I'm not exactly thrilled about that, though I don't actually have to go anywhere because I'm homeschooled, which is awesome! Unfortunately, I'm going to have much less time to write than I usually do, which will be pretty sad since I've hardly done anything else this summer. (Writing forty four chapters in a summer is quite a challenge! Not to mention time consuming...)

Speaking of, this was probably my most productive summer ever! I used to think of summer as a time to rest, do nothing, and play video games all day long. Thank goodness I re-discovered my love for writing or I think this summer would have gone to waste! I'll still try to post every morning, but I might miss some days.

Have a great weekend!

--Jess

Sparkfest W.I.P. Inspiration

The second question in the Sparkfest is:


What author set off that spark of inspiration for your current Work In Progress?


Let's see. I started my novel last November (not exactly knowing what I was getting myself into) when I was a little bored doing school work. I pulled up a Google Docs (I don't have the current Microsoft Word on my computer) document and began typing.

(Source)

I didn't exactly have a plan right then, mostly because I had no idea that it would turn into a full scale YA novel! So I'm not sure what inspired that. The more I wrote, the more I learned about the story and the characters (which is also why the beginning of the story is terrible!), and only then did I find inspiration.


First there was The Hunger Games. We all know that there will never be another Hunger Games. How can another story be like the Hunger Games without the reader going 'hey this is too much like the Hunger Games'? Don't worry though, it's not like the Hunger Games. (It has a few aspects of it though.)

(Source)

Second, there was Star Wars. (I give waaaay too much credit to that darn story, don't I?) The futuristic setting in Star Wars was a pretty good inspiration for where my story was to evolve. Who doesn't get inspired by a place where people can move things with their minds?


And then of course there are the random snippets of inspiration that people get without warning. I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I even got inspiration from the online game called Poptropica. In fact, that might have been my first inspiration for the actual story! It didn't have a huge influence on me but there was enough to make the story what it is right now. Another big inspiration was Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. I found inspiration in that after I had the story pretty much down. And how could I forget Ice Skating? Maybe it wasn't a big inspiration, but strangely enough, I managed to mix the Hunger Games aspect with the skating aspect of it all. Come to think of it, I have no idea how those two came together.


Anyway, those are my inspirations!


What inspired your current W.I.P.?


--Jess

Editing (Part 2)

Okay so I'm not sure how you guys edit your novel (or whatever you're currently working on) but I have a very hard time with changing my work. Now, it's not that I'm attached to what I've written. I can usually spot the things that are wrong in my book, but I'm just unsure on how to fix it!
As I have previously mentioned, I've been having my mom, my younger sister and a close friend read through it and tell me whatever they think might need to be fixed. Of course, we came across a problem. In some of the scenes, my characters looks are inconsistent. Sometimes a girl has brown hair, sometimes it's blond. Some of the characters change between two versions of what I've imagined them to be. To fix this problem, Alyssa (my sister) and my best friend helped me come up with descriptions for each person which was going along pretty well, until they came to a disagreement. The second main boy in the story looks completely different in their minds. The funny thing is, I've imagined the boy in both ways! So not only are they in disagreement, but I'm torn between what he should look like! I know that this really shouldn't be a problem and that I should just make a decision and move on with it... but this is my first novel and I can't help feeling that it has to be perfect.
Of course, I know that it won't be perfect, even in the final draft. I still think it's a good thing to shoot for... don't you?


Have you had any problems that should be an easy fix but you just can't find the solution? 


--Jess