Tell a story that begins with a ransom note.

This prompt sparked a scene from a potential sequel to the wip (work in progress) that I'm revising at the moment. That's all I'll say for now, but if you're intrigued, I might think about posting snippets from the current project ;)

Tell a story that begins with a ransom note.
'If you wish to see her safe and whole, you will come and work for me. I expect and answer by Wednesday noon. You know what I am capable of.'
Caroline gripped the note so tightly that her thumb had ripped through the edge. Her hands shook and her vision blurred.
'Caroline?' a voice, muffled by the rush of blood in her ears, said behind her. Caroline didn't move until a hand on her shoulder made her turn. Mary swam into view, her dark, shapely brows darwn. 'What is it?' she asked, and reached for the note. After a moment of resistance, Caroline opened her fingers.
'She?' Mary's brow puckered further.
'Abigail,' said Caroline, her voice quiet. Mary's eyes wnet round.
'Oh, Caro!' mary pulled her into a tight embrace. Caroline held her friend close for a breath before Mary pulled away again. A spark shone in her eye, 'it's the Professor, isn't it?'
'I believe so, yes,' Caroline nodded. her vision was beginning to clear. A resigned determination settled in her gut.

Write without pressure.

It's been six months since I last posted here! Wow-o-wow. I hope you've all been well. If not, feel better soon.
The reason I stopped blogging is that it started to seem like a chore. And I was in a tricky place. I was seeing a councilor and with his help came to realise that if I didn't want to do something and I didn't have to do it, why do it? So I stopped.
I also decided to go easy on myself writing-wise. Writing is something I really want to do. But the more pressure I put on myself, the less I write. Since the last time I posted, my writing has been going well. I attempted NaNoWriMo, and managed 30k (so I say I came second :P), but got stressed and remembered my promise to myself to write without pressure. And since November, I've kept going with the project. I might have the first draft finished by the end of January.

What else have I done? I've enrolled in a Postgraduate Diploma in Writing that will start at the end of February next year. I'm very excited, overly so. As in, already enrolled in all my classes and chosen tutorials excited.

And there's the West Coast Swing routine I'm doing for a competition in March. Yeah, I've kind of taken up Ballroom dancing too.

And I have two jobs! Ack! It's stressful, but there are things like rent and food that are necessary to life.

And! And! I've started researching an idea for the project I'd like to start once the first draft of the current WiP is finished. I won't let myself start writing it, but research is fine, and the more the idea brews in my head before writing it the better. So for now, I'm entertaining myself with pretty Steampunk pictures and cool facts about Sydney in the decade after Federation (naughty, I'm breaking my rule of not talking about future projects, but WHATEVER, I'm excited).

So, it feels good to be back and blogging because it's FUN. :D

Help with research.

1. If you could ask a witch for any kind of spell, what would it be? It can be good, bad, small, big, anything.

2. What trade does a bit of everything? A trade that has an apprenticeship, but might involve wearing a suit.

You're help is appreciated (I'll thank you in my acknowledgements, if this thing ever sees the light of day :D).

Happy writing!

Procrastination

A short post today.

In my last non-book review post, I was talking about my GAD. At my appointment with my psychologist today, we looked at some ways to tackle procrastination.
I procrastinate a lot. A lot of people do it. I even feel comfortable saying that everyone does it now and then.
But I'm not comfortable with the way I put things off. Especially things that make me happy, like writing.
Part of what we talked about today, was writing down the pros and cons of the task I might be putting off. If the pros outweigh the cons, do it. If the cons outweigh the pros, then you've stopped procrastinating and confronted the issue*.

So, regarding my NYWM project, my heart just wasn't in it. I'm sorry if you enjoyed it, but I've put it on the back burner for now and may return to it when I'm ready to put my heart into it.
Talking to a professional has helped me to look forward to writing time again. I've never believed in writer's block, until this year when I started yet another WiP while I had a two book series on the go too. I still don't believe in writer's block, not really. But I do believe that there are emotional and other problems that create the blockages, not the writing or creativity in themselves.

To be clear, I'm not just seeing a psychologist because I haven't been writing as much as I liked, but this is mostly a writing blog, so I'm posting my writing relevant thoughts here.

:D Not such a short post after all.

*That probably didn't make sense. I'll figure out exactly what I meant and get back to you.

Reassessing.

I have a tendency to take things a little too seriously. In this instance, it's NYWM. I started it because I thought it would be a fun way to start my character blog and challenge myself in a new medium as well as developing my protagonist from my book further.
Then I missed a day. Then another. And a third time.
I started to get anxious because I wasn't following through with my goals. And I started to get anxious because I thought it was crap and who would want to read it?
The best part was that I was concentrating on my other projects because I was putting off my NYWM goal.

Recently I've started seeing a psychologist, because this worry isn't something exclusive to my writing. He told me I have something called General Anxiety Disorder (GAD). It's treatable and already I'm starting to feel better.
However, I used some of the techniques I've been learning to manage the worry, and applied them to how I'm feeling about not following through with NYWM goals.
I've overreacted a little, and realised that the idea behind NYWM (besides the writing of course) was to have fun. At least, that's how I should have been taking it.
And it's something I need to remember about my writing. I write because I love it, and it is ultimately fun. As soon as I start taking it seriously, nothing happens and my projects lie stagnant. The same with Twitter and Blogging. If I take them seriously as 'networking tools', then all of a sudden, I'm overcome with anxiety and nothing gets done.

So, especially for the rest of this month, I'm going to have fun with NYWM. Who cares if my character blog doesn't go anywhere? Who cares if it doesn't make sense?

Right now, I don't. I'm going to have fun.

First day of NYWM!

I have started my new blog! The first post of Long Lost: A Diary, has been posted! Check it out, leave a comment. Or tell me what you think here on Asterisk That Thought.

In terms of responding to comments on Long Lost, I have decided to use them in improving my writing as I go. I won't be editing after I've posted. Just cause that would get messy.

Anyway, enjoy! And I will be back with non-fiction bloggy things as per usual on this blog :D

Recurring Characters

I was walking along the other day. I forget where, I think it was somewhere near my Mum's house.
So I was walking along, thinking about one of my characters, and how I had come to realise not long ago that I had got one aspect of her character wrong. And now that I knew more about her, I wondered how I had come to know that about her. I mulled over other aspects of her character, like personality and appearance. And then I realised what had happened.

 Tawny (the character I was thinking about) is a younger, fantasy version of Joss. Joss is a character I wrote about in a short story for class over two years ago now. She is one of my favourite characters, and I've always wanted to write about her more. And then unwittingly, I did, albeit in a completely different circumstance and scenario. It makes me happy, but also makes me feel a little foolish. Have I done this before?

 And just as I was thinking that, I realised that Caroline*, the protagonist from the recent short story, is very similar Molly, from the same WiP as Tawny. Granted, the similarities are less obvious, but they are there.

 Character similarities across different works isn't exclusive to me, because this train of thought reminded me of those personality tests on Facebook. I did two within a short space of time, 'Which Firefly Character are You?' and 'Which Joss Whedon** Character are You?'. I got Wash, then Xander (from Buffy). These guys are almost the same character.

 And there are many other authors and film makers who do this as well as recurring themes and plots. Whether it's a good thing, bad thing, or just a thing, I haven't figured out. But it makes me feel better that I'm not the only one.

Has this ever happened to you?


*Named after my cousin, because she asked me to name a character after her.

**Joss partly was named after him.

I can't believe -

I haven't written anything since Christmas. I also haven't read any of my favourite blogs since then (sorry).

So much has happened since then, in the world and in my own life. Therefore, there are a lot of things I could write about right now, like:

1) My overactive imagination that's been keeping me awake since NYE, despite the educated, rational person inside me debunking all my irrational qualms. The latest events in Japan and New Zealand (yeah, there was an earthquake there too, I didn't forget) haven't helped. Not to mention the massive moon that came around two nights ago, which is actually kinda cool.

2) I'm half way through Los Peregrinos, and have put it on hold for the next item on this list. And I'm 9000 words into a new project which I'm a little excited about.

3) I've spent the last five weeks traveling around the USA, visiting family and friends, and checking out cities I've never seen before. I decided this trip was reason enough to put on hold the WiP, and the relaxed attitude towards writing has caused me to start the new WiP (currently being called Apprentice Witch). So it's been an amazing experience, and has caused me to muse on different options for my future in terms of writing career and personally as well.

4) Now that I'm heading home, and arriving two days into the future (love time zones), I'm going to have to get a job, and possibly go house hunting. I've been staying with a friend in Sydney, and it's supposed to be temporary.

So, now that I've finished this post, I might just wander by and check out what's new with some of my favourite bloggers.

A third.

Hi guys,

It's been half a month since I last posted, and things are busy. And only getting busier.

But, I had my last exam on Wednesday, and got some results for essays and my major project.

I can't write essays. This doesn't surprise me, but I also know it's because I lack passion for them that I can't write them.

I can write fiction though. I got a Distintion for my Major Project. You remember the one I mentioned ages ago, that's a kind of prequel to my WiP? Maybe not. But I got a Distinction! It makes me feel good.

My daily word goal - it's increased from 300 words a day to 1000, because every time I sat down to write, that's about what came out. Of course, some days I write less, but it's not too much of an effort to make up the lack again.
And because of this, I'm a third of the way through the first draft! I'm very excited about where the plot is taking me, and when I stopped today, I left it at a place where the reader gets the first hint of a major revelation.
I can't wait to sit down to my writing tomorrow.

Another thing about being busy, is that as well as not updating here, I haven't been around to any of my favourite blogs. I miss you guys! But, I've got the whole month of January off, so there'll be lots of writing, posting here, and reading of other blogs.

I'll be back soon with a Christmas post. Until then, take care guys.

Done!

Hey there!

I submitted my last essay today. And had my Spanish oral exam too. I am done with my Bachelor degree (except for the Spanish written, but that'll be cool with the help of a study group :)!

Does this mean I can read as much of whatever I want now? Does this mean I can do as much salsa dancing as I can? Does this mean I can finally concentrate on my WiP???

No.

If this was a vlog, this is the part where I hunch forward and pout at the camera. Because guess what?

I'm moving. And I don't even know when. Due to some things (which I won't go into right now), my house is being put on the market this week. My housemate and her boyfriend have started getting the house cleaned and packed away. Now that I'm done with assignments, it's my turn to do as much as is left. The house could be turned over as soon as next week, or as late as the end of December.

No dancing (hopefully some though). No reading (except during breaks at work, or on the bus).

I will try and do at least 300 words a day though. There are no other (English) words taking up my brain so I think I can manage that. 300 always leads to more anyway. It's just a small amount so that I don't feel guilty about not writing more.

It's a great idea I got from Anne Lamott's writing book Bird by Bird. If you're ever feeling down about your writing or life (what writer doesn't feel this occasionally?), read it for some inspiration.

:D

Duology

Today I had my second meeting with my supervisor about my Creative Project. Last week I submitted the first draft as the first assessment for this unit, and my supervisor sat down with me and told me where my strengths were, and where I needed to work a little bit harder.

My main thing is to tighten the language - to cut out superfluity and repetition. Apparently my structure is good, which makes me happy and means I can concentrate on the language.

Other things that came up though, are that now we can come to the labels for my project. Before now I have just been writing, and writing whatever came out. Now it turns out that what I've come up with is a YA/crossover fantasy. This is okay with me, but it's weird to think about my work in terms of marketability and audience. This kind of thing has always seemed so far off. But the point of this unit is to mimic real-world scenarios and I have to think like a professional.

Another thing I have to think about is that instead of a novella, I am now working on a novel extract, which means that once this unit is finished, I'll have enough material to keep going.
When I first mentioned my Creative Project, I told you that it was going to be the back story of the older sister of the protagonist of my WiP (the poor thing has been so neglected lately). Now it seems like I have enough material for a duology. And I know I'm going to have to finish both before I give any other ideas a go. Sigh.

And I may well be sighing, but this is all very exciting. Things are happening!