Above & Beyond

No one can be more surprised than myself at this very moment. Not only did I write today’s word count goal but I also wrote beyond that. I wrote 2,290 words! That’s right and I can’t be more pleased. And I have hit 25k words!

This hadn’t been my plan at all. See I like to hand write anything before I type it up on my laptop. Today’s pages weren’t too appealing just because nothing really interesting was going to happen until much later in the ‘arc.’ As I started writing, I couldn’t bring myself to continue. Honestly, I didn’t want to even write today. For some time, I was forcing myself to type up what I had written. Somewhere after the first 500 words, a scene between Avon and one of the supporting characters, Sean, started forming in my head.

I diverged from the plot and plan that I had set up for today and typed up that story. The words just flowed like magic. I couldn’t stop writing and it felt like my fingers were ready to fall off. It doesn’t even matter that I might not be able to use this scene later (but as I think about it now, I definitely can use it later – it fits the plot), I knew that I just needed to write this scene now. It was such a character defining moment for Avon. I feel very proud.

Tomorrow: I will follow the plan that I had for today unless anything else changes.

Word Count: 2,290

Not Everything is Exciting

One scene, one chapter at a time.  No action today. Only a verbal beat down. Sometimes you got to slow down and do your research.

Word Count: 1,761

Stories Thrive In Conflict

I’ve hit 20k+ words today! It’s more than I wrote last year but let’s not talk about last year. Ah, it feel so good. Plus, I didn’t have to make up petty arguments like yesterday. Now the story can truly progress forward. It was about time too.

Today, I’m proud to say that I instigated two fights. I meant in my story of course. Generally, I don’t like confrontations unless I have to get into an argument. Anyways, the first “fight” was between Avon (the Lead) and Margret (Avon’s fellow co-worker of sorts). They have history since Avon dated Margret’s brother and now that brother is dead (sort of) but that’s all I’ll say because SPOILERS! Now isn’t the time to reveal any twists.

Technically, it wasn’t a fight. It was more like

with Margret’s face being that bag. It wasn’t pretty. And I probably spent too much time looking up that gif than I needed to but I regret nothing.

The second “fight” was not a fight at all. It was more like Avon insulted someone and the third party wouldn’t have any of that. She jerks the truck off the road and they stop. Being a werewolf the third party is ready to start gives Avon an earful. Avon on the other hand is like

because someone has a backbone. Not many people do when it comes to Avon. Enforcers are seen as elite warriors that help the Fae Council rule with an iron fist.

I think the story needed more conflict between characters and about views and agendas. Plus, I noticed that the story wasn’t really going anywhere. I spent too much time in my character’s thoughts and there wasn’t enough balance between the actual story and those thoughts. From now on, I hope to avoid this kind of scenario.

Tomorrow’s plot: Personal agenda and professional agenda clash

Word Count: 1,720

 

Advice and Inspiration

My plot has been going down the drain day by day and it has shown in my writing and in my blog posts. However, thanks to Akaluv, I started to give thought about my plot in the way of chapters. I tend to plot my story from plot point to plot point so I don’t really focus on how many chapters I’m going to have or what’s going to happen in those chapters. For chapters, I just caught off after a scene when I want to end in a cliff hanger and/or when it is a good spot to end.

This morning, I’m happy to announce that I managed to plan out the next 2-3 chapters in advance! It didn’t take me that long either. My pen flew across the page like

Well, it wasn’t fancy and there was no dramatic music but you get the point. At least now, I know what is going to happen next. It’s also thanks to the fact that I managed to put in points of conflict before and now was the time to bring them into full circle. More like a half circle to be honest. The full circle won’t be complete until later but that’s okay. This also means that I’m starting to intertwine the few sub plots that I have written. The bumps in the long road of plot are starting to vanish and it’s a nice feeling.

What Plot?

Yeah, I don’t know what to write anymore. There’s too much exposition and I’m jumping at every opportunity to distract myself. It’s like I know where I want to go with this story – honestly, I do – but I don’t how to get there. For right now, I’m moving the story forward at a snail’s pace just so I can hit the word count for today.

Hmm, perhaps that’s the reason why I feel like I’m lost. I should be rushing to get to the good parts and yet, I can’t do that. I know if I do then I feel like I won’t have anything to write and I’ll just drag this on and on. At this point, I’m having my character argue which is better: grape or strawberry jam (It’s grape btw). Petty arguments are the only reason my word count is growing.

I need to come up with some spontaneous in my story. Have a demon fall out of the sky or something. Yeah, or like an assassination attempt. That’s always fun, right? I’ll think of something? Any suggestions? And no, I don’t have writer’s block.

Word Count: 1,825