I’m writing HTRYN and the Crash Revision workshop right now, and have a couple other big things on my plate. So TalysMana is getting a week of hiatus (with my apologies).
If you’re playing “Write A Book with Me,” this is the topic for the week.
And I have some new contest entries I’m going to try to post tomorrow.
{ 61 comments… read them below or add one }
654 Words,
Is it just me, or do the first words of the week never seem that good? It’s like it takes a day or so for me to get back on point.
Well, tomorrow should be better. . .
Charactersx2, a chunk of world-building, developing customs and the like. Progress, but I’m keen to get all the behind-the-scenes stuff done and get back to my draft!
467 fiction words yesterday–Yay! Looked at the “MC can’t free his friend” scene, found a spot that had a pretty rough transition, and inserted half an arguement where the friend asks, “what do you care about freedom?” With a little work this is gonna blossom into a new scene where the MC has to stop being defined by his circumstances and pull a backbone out of the ether…
Been chipping away at two languages. One is the ‘old tongue’ of the heroes’ homeland before it was mostly replaced by the ‘common’ tradespeak, and the other is the language of the super-empire, Kivoshia.
Story wise, put out about 1,747 words on two surprise scenes I had not planned. See I STILL haven’t gotten to the actual tournament events yet – the characters have been snatching the scene from each other and running away with it like it was Spotlight Football.
First the female lead revealed she had a lady mentor who taught her how to knife-fight before dying in a piratical blaze of glory, and who didn’t exist before this scene.
When the OTHER female lead decided to be a less than sweet little thing by drugging her guardians and running off into the city for a few thrills, forcing the heroes’ best friend to brave his claustrophobic response to large crowds to chase her. She’s turning into a Disney princess on expired crack. o.o
And the Big Bad has suddenly decided that he wants to meet the heroes two books early, and THIS is the scene he’s going to make his play…
And he’s also going to order his favorite minion of the moment to enter the melee specifically to fight the main hero.
After all that re-reading of Ivanhoe to get inspired for a medieval tournament (and then write one NOTHING LIKE the one in Ivanhoe) I haven’t even gotten there yet, but the scene just jumped from ‘show off the cultures’ to ‘show off the characters’.
Sounds like a lot of fun! I love the “Disney princess on expired crack” part! lol
Woah! This seems like a super cool story.
I can’t help but agree with Jessica about the disney princess. Spunky little thing?
It seems reading Ivanhoe gave you inspiration alright! Haven’t read the book myself, but I seem to recall hearing the name. It’s a classic right?
If by “classic” you mean “Mom still raves about it but I haven’t read it yet” then yup, it’s a classic.
lol, ya. It’s a bit dry (then again, my kind of read is Stoker, Shelley or Lovecraft so I can’t talk) but any story which throws in tournaments, chivalry, knights and maidens and Templars and Saxon vs Norman rivalry with a hefty dose of ‘what the Jews had to put up with in medieval Europe’, and then has Robin Hood and Richard the Lionheart show up in unexpected spots…is pretty damn fun.
Thanks for the comments guys
that princess is going to be a bit of a bombshell, yes. Its pleasing because she was always the weakest of the main trio & was a horribly drippy, sad-eyed little cliche the first time I tried to write it. Now she grew a personality and I’m not sure what to expect next!
Those are the best kind of characters! Those who decide what they do rather than when we (writers) try to come up with what they do.
Hmmm, I have to get my hands on this Ivanhoe, who wrote it? (My dad has half a library here (well almost!), so I can probably borrow it.)
Ivanhoe was written by “The Author of Waverly” aka Sir Walter Scott, and published in 1820, according to my online sources. ( http://www.bookrags.com/notes/ih/BIO.htm )
That’s the one! It’s a pretty good read.
So far my tourney’s come off more like a fantasy olympics, but the knights are about to take the field so we’ll see.
Characters still playing football with the scene.
Princess has been stalking the other MCs. srsly. if she was some ugly old guy and not a dainty damsel, this would be right creepy stuff.
Definitely sounds engaging! And I’d love to see just how crazy an animated royal pain in the backside could get…
346 for the day. Happy with what I got.
DH started training for his own EDJ finally. So I was helping him with his “homework”. No words.
Cait is still choking to death on the balcony and I’m now debating by who.
Switched story focus, now working on Beti. Have characters, sentence, don’t have ending yet, i’s still “Lady or the Tiger” for me, but I won’t leave it that way. Ew, I just got an idea … ew, ew.
I have 20 pages already written, will print them today and see what I want to salvage. Should be fun to resurrect this, I wrote it for a class several years ago, but never quite finished it.
138 words this morning; going to write more now. Doctor, this character needs a spinal implant right away!
Idea…when we all get these done enough/published, we could send a copy around and leave notes in the book for the author as a keepsake. Or start a page online and the author can print them, which would probably cost less in postage. Comments, questions, snide remarks?
Yeah I’m maybe a little nutso tonight.
I like that idea too. It would also be a great way to get feedback from people that aren’t family and have no problem saying “yah, that’s really so bad, I couldn’t get past page 5.”
799 Words tonight.
My MC just intentionally ticked off what I think is a pack of Werewolves. She has no idea yet, what she may have started.
Single-mindedness is definitely a fault of hers.
Three more characters written up, and a chunk of work done on societies and customs for the two main cultures.
Greg,
Are you starting some new projects? Excellent. Hanna
Aaaaaaaaah!
I. Killed. Cait. And I’m not telling if she gets revived or not. Muahaha!
Climax is done. Epilogue is half done. So I’m considering this story… dun dun done!!! *happy dance time* God does that feel good to say!
And it was a complete fluke! I wasn’t even planning on writing but just put my butt on the couch, turned on the laptop and started typing. Now just to finish up the epilogue stuff and let it rest for a bit.
Yay- congratulations!!! that’s awesome
Congrats. Finishing is ace!
Yay! Congratulation.
Hmm, this is motivating…I believe I shall go write…
Oh. But. Wow!
Congrats on finishing, Jessica!
*starts a part*
I actually meant *starts a party*, lol. I’m not good anymore even at saying silly stuff on the internet XD
I was so sure she was going to recover, too… Way to go!!
Well done! You’ve reached that milestone the rest of us are still striving for. Congratulations, and give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back. But don’t forget to keep writing!
Thanks everyone! Now I’m taking a well-deserved weekend off! Weeeeeeee!
Still stuck on which way to go with a scene. My MC’s reaction just kind of leaped out and bit me. I’m trying to figure out how to reconcile so I can keep the story but also be true to character. I feel so close to the end that it’s frustrating to be stuck on how to approach this scene.
adding, subtracting, rearranging… grr. it keeps getting worse. whenever i put these 2 characters together, it makes a mess of everything. maybe I just shouldn’t? hmm… must ponder further.
Beti. Have a new ending. Can’t wait to get my planning done.
307 words, and all of them except 2 are exactly what I needed to finish up the chapter. Cliffhanger chapter! The problem is, the two words are “cognitively impaired” –as a phrase– and they’re the wrong ones. MC just had a huge thinking session that I managed to make dramatic, but now he’s wondering if he can ever face his fear and hatred of Race T, when the reasons that he hates and fears them have been blocked by “magic” and he can’t bring that barrier down. Next chapter: MC decides who he wants to be, lays out a set of personal guidelines, and gets jumped by the bad guy–oops, forgot about him, didn’t we? See what happens if you sit around just thinking for too long?
You cracked me up at the “MC gets jumped by the bad guy because he was too busy sitting around thinking” bit. I really like that idea. In an evil way
Hehehe. I’m excited about this scene too, because the sitting and thinking is “important” and does actually drive the plot forward, and then BLAM! Attack from left field! Well, forest. Glad you like it.
489 words on my new ET.
Amanda (may be temporary, she needed a name) is starting a new school “Teen Home”, the school for extraordinary teenagers. She doesn’t yet know what an “extraordinary teenager” is, and she isn’t told either. She has gotten to know that most of the school is off-limits to her at the moment. She’s very suspicious.
What I wrote today was a lengthy dialog between Amanda and her dad, they are basically saying farewell, plus you realize they have a better relationship than what was apparent in the principal’s office earlier.
A couple more characters, and some work on political systems. It’s dragging on, but I’m trying not to rush it as I keep getting good ideas that may be useful in the sequel if not in this book. Looking forward to finishing this up and trying to draw it all together for the redrafting.
Hanna – this is still KavI. The first draft was satisfactory plot-wise, but I largely ploughed through it without adding to the world-building and characters as I went along. So I’m taking the time to work through all of that, finalising characters and deciding exactly how the world and cultures work. Then I’m hoping to weave all of that in when I tighten up the plot on the write in. I may use the planning of the sequel(s?) as a break from this story at some point, since it may also give me some nice ideas of what I could foreshadow.
502 Words.
A sort of quiet interlude, between my MC and her boyfriend, there’s a lot of secrets between them and it gives the whole thing weight. . .very calm-before-the-storm.
*emerges from the mists of yore. or something*
I LIVE!
Hi everybody! Last week was pretty bad but I managed to write a little. 1189 words total from the last time I posted. I’ll update my tumblr later.
I ended the infamous “blue room” scene… and I’ve discovered why my muse has brought me there. Also, Erthel learnt the real reason why mrs. Wilversen wanted to speak to her, along with some unfortunate implications regarding her little incident with the sewing needle… and this is enough to give her the creeps.
Mrs. Wilversen wants to know if she can still be trusted. And Erthel desperately wants to be trusted, she doesn’t want to give up that job, that life, that feeling of being welcome and accepted – but all she feels right now is rage. Rage for her mother’s disappearance and for all the lies she’s always been told, rage for the way she’s been treated today. And she says something she already knows she will regret forever, she says exactly what mrs. Wilversen wants to hear.
“I am not like my mother.”
Ohhh drama!
I don’t think most of us has actually thought things through when we wish for excitement and adventure…I want it anyway, without the bad stuff please. 
I wouldn’t want to be Erthel. Seems like too much trouble come knocking on her door. Which of course make a story.
I was starting to wonder where you had disappeared to. I hope work wasn’t too grueling!
Hi Felicia! I hope you received the reply I sent you by email yesterday
Work was evil, which, being the Evil Day Job, makes kind of sense. Also, evil gnomes and other supernatural miscellanea were involved. Damn them gnomes!
I wouldn’t want to be Erthel either, at least for the hardships she’s going through. I know I’ve hit one of her weak spots with the previous scene: the conflict between her desperate need for acceptance, her loyalty to her mother and her rage at all the lies she’s discovering. That’s going to hurt. But I know she will have to address all of these things in the future.
I see you’ve started a new project! You know, I perfectly understood what you meant when you said that you daydream yourself to sleep
It sounds like an excellent way to keep the creative juices flowing and jump right into writing what you feel like to!
I’ve always daydreamed myself to sleep, it’s my way of taking my thoughts away from school, work or whatever else my brain may want to torture me with.
About the new project. I decided I wanted more than just story planing. So while I’m planing two different stories (although as I’ve said before one is with a friend) and actually writing on another that I’m just running wherever. This story, ET, will probably not lead to a project I can actually use later, but I’m already enjoying it.
Aye, I got the email, will answer it tomorrow though, been busy today and it’s getting late.
Hey, don’t worry too much about replying fast to emails: as you may have noticed, I’m kinda bad at it
Oh, and daydreaming before sleep is an excellent, healthy habit.
Good to have you back
Thankee much Gabby! And how’s writing going for you?
It’s very motivating for me to hang out with all of you guys so I’m back to stay
I think it’s really motivating here too. Especially cause I keep getting stuck but I don’t feel quite so alone in my pain. LOL. [whispers so as not to jinx herself] I might actually make it to the end. [/whisper]
I’m glad the updates about Erthel are back. It’ll be good to find out what happens to her.
Heheh, I hear you on the “whispering so as not to jinx herself” stuff
But still. We’ll stick together, and yes, we’ll get to the end of it. One post, one muttered curse, one gnashing of teeth at a time… and one joke, one sympathetic pat on the shoulder at a time
Have good writing days Gabby!
Two more characters revised and some work on government and foreign policy. Got a bit sidetracked by naval ship design, but it needed doing.
890 Words on when Wolves Attack lol!
The Werewolf was, fortunately for my MC, in human form not Wolf, I don’t think she’s ready for that kind of trouble! Since she’s not quite human herself, she managed to handle herself pretty well. . .
I wonder how she’s going to do when she has to face the whole pack. . .
finally seeing my way through the troubley scene. what a maze! still haven’t reached the end of it though. one nice part is that it’s definitely added a few bonus scenes to the end of my story (and I was looking for a little more conflict and suspense stuff for the end). Also, trusting my Muse to kind of work out all the details (and plot-wishes) for me.
Production rate has slowed for me – only averaging 300-400 wpd. Hope to pick it up today.
On a different note, found Holly’s email about detail and asking questions about mundane objects/events thought provoking. It’s so easy to let everyday life become a big blur of what you have to do when you’re not writing. Will have to remember to key myself with the word “cobblestones” as I go about my ordinary life.
622 words today.
Amanda argued with the girl who showed her around the school (Tamora). Amanda wants to know more about this strange school that is hiding a lot of stuff, and admitting it to her. Tamora becomes pissed, feeling that Amanda is making judgments without information, which she is.
Not sure what I’m gonna do next, my char have about one more hour before the school have dinner, and I don’t believe she’d sit around in “her” room waiting for dinner to happen.
Me and you both will see I guess.
Hi, I’m pretty much completely new to the scene. Been checking out the site and reading the newsletters (thank you so much btw, they have been so helpful in getting me started!). I haven’t caught up yet on the Talysmana work (but getting there). I’m a long-time dreamer, first time writer. The most I’ve every written is a fanfic and 2 parts of this story running around in my head.
Joining this group today! I got 322 words today. I haven’t yet done any real worldbuilding or much structure yet. So I feel like I’m doing this somewhat bass-akwards. Just decided to start writing the damned thing, haha.
I’m nervous about writing it, I love the story myself, but worried that it will seem.. dumb to others? I’ve taken a different path with my MC that I, myself, haven’t seen in a while, but I don’t know if it will be of interest to readers. I took the newsletter “write for yourself” to heart, but nervous none the less!
This looks like fun tho!
Welcome, Lindsey! : D
If you love your work, nothing else matters. Honest, don’t worry about if readers will like it. First off, if it’s not written, there are no readers to worry about, so you’re set. Second, if it’s partly written, then the only readers are people you show it to, which is probably maybe…two or three people, although zero is preferable. And you’re still set, because they don’t know the story you are trying to tell, and their opinions don’t usually include intimate knowledge of first draft roughness. It’s like pottery–you’re working in wet clay (commonly known as mud) and others are wondering why there’s no color and why it’s a little saggy and squishes when you try to pick it up, because all they are used to is finished, watertight vases and coffee mugs. And you know the pile of gunk they just squished is going to be a rare one-of-a-kind work of functional art–so long as they stop squishing it long enough for you to work on it. (Yeah, figuring out THAT metaphore was what I did this weekend.
And sometimes when you jump in, you get the relevant details to start your worldbuilding with. In one of my current WIPs, the setting is the scrubby edge of the desert, but I didn’t know it was until I got 2k words into the bugger and realized I’d just described a place exactly the same way Mom had when she talked about working there…lol.
Anyway, just wanted to say hi! You can do this, and when you can’t, we’re here to help. : D
LOVE that pottery metaphor! thank you so much for your advice
I’ll see you around! (err… read?)
Welcome to the party, Lindsay!
I second the advice of writing for yourself – and writing what you love. You’ll get to worry about the dumbness of the work when you get to the end, then you’ll see the big picture and you’ll have a clearer idea of what you want to do with it. Until then… just write. Which is a huge work in and of itself, guaranteed.
See ya around here, have good writing days!
thank you!
see ya!
If I am ever gonna make a contest entry, I’m going to have to stop writing for five minutes, lol.
Spent most of today writing a scene where the runaway princess gets nabbed by slavers and then threw it out – too tacky – it would’ve given me a good op. for her to unleash her powers without knowing it, but I’m not fond of ye olde contrived damsel in distress situations.
I told my best friend about it and she randomly dropped ‘should have had her steal a dress’. Brain sparked. Questions started popping into it – what kind of dress, from who, why? Friend added ‘you said she didn’t have any good traveling clothes’.
That little gem has turned into a much better scene.
Been busy with plot bunnies on the latest few days… and even surprised myself with the ideas for the next scene. This side of the story has grown really deeper than what I had imagined, and I love that. Onward!
Hello again,
Thanks so much for the warm welcome and advice! I’m taking it to heart
and I’m really excited to continure
In my story I have 1 Female, 2 males and a male beast as the “main characters”. my MC is the female, and the others fall in order of beast, male 1 and male 2 (secondary, but still main characters). I’ve decided to start at the beginning with these guys, so I have female lead and animal introd. What I’ve been working on since I’ve started here is the intro to male 1. Which is interesting. I never really understood when people said their chars just did something on their own. My thought was always “they are of your imagination… how can they do something unexpected by you?” BUT! it happened today. I only made 302 words, but in those, Male 1 went and was irritated and hissed at female. He was supposed to kinda give in to her most of the time, because he’ s protecting her from everything. But here it is, they’re only children, and he’s ready to give her a boot in the pants. lol
Also, I was wondering everyone’s opinion on posting snippets of stories/plot ideas etc online? sometimes, I’m nervous to, because you’re just throwing your idea out there to anyone who wants to take it, others I really want to in order to get feedback
And last but not least, I suppose it would be ok to have the MC’s names out at least? It’s going to be a pain in the butt having to write out “female lead” Male 1, male 2 and beast character each time I talk about them… lol
I think we all do different amounts of revealing. Some reveal more, I believe I belong there, and some just gives the barest minimum.
And I think it should be up to what you feel comfortable sharing.
No one can write the story like you do, because no one is you.
I don’t give away all of my story, just enough to get an idea of it. Like I said last time:
“Amanda argued with the girl who showed her around the school (Tamora).”
And then I said a little more, but not tied tightly to the scene. And that sentence wasn’t so revealing.
Anyway, I’ve rambled enough. Welcome to the party and hope some of this helped.