My total for last week is 4589 words. Comparatively low for me, but I'm okay with that because it all feels like progress. For one thing, my untitled Yami story is growing a title! I'm calling it Stigma. For now, anyway. Up til last week it was just "the shower story," because it's based on a scene from one of my old notebooks in which Tsuzuki and Hisoka are about to get in the shower together.
My task in writing this story is to figure out how they got to that point. Since I want the lead-up to flow seamlessly into the existing scene, so it's been a matter of plotting in reverse. I started by going through the shower scene and picking out elements of dialogue, situation, relationship dynamics, and so on.
Much as I tried to be systematic, though, it took a lot of writing and throwing away to get to a beginning for the story that has the right vibe to set up the mood of the later part of the story. As tough as it is, though, I'm really happy with how it's starting to come together. Of course I'll be even happier when the boys start coming together...
Showing posts with label fanfic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fanfic. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
word count quandry
Today I wrote just over 900 words on my "B" story, which is based on a scene I found in one of my Yami notebooks. The scene in question falls somewhere near the end of the story, since it involves Tsuzuki and Hisoka gettin' busy with each other, I've been working backwards from that point, trying to figure out how they got there.
This, I'm finding, is not such a simple thing to do! In fact, it's quite a challenge. Over the past couple of weeks I've written several versions of what I keep hoping will be the beginning of this story. I like several of them, but none of them "feels" quite right.
I'm wondering if I should still record those scenes as part of my weekly word count? I'm 99% sure that they won't end up in the story, but they are still part of my daily writing practice in the sense that I showed up at my keyboard and wrote them. So I'm leaning towards counting them in the sense of "words that I wrote this week," and then maybe having a separate counter for my actual projects.
Either way, I find that keeping track of my words per day is really motivating. Even if what I wrote today doesn't end up in the story, I can still say I accomplished something.
This, I'm finding, is not such a simple thing to do! In fact, it's quite a challenge. Over the past couple of weeks I've written several versions of what I keep hoping will be the beginning of this story. I like several of them, but none of them "feels" quite right.
I'm wondering if I should still record those scenes as part of my weekly word count? I'm 99% sure that they won't end up in the story, but they are still part of my daily writing practice in the sense that I showed up at my keyboard and wrote them. So I'm leaning towards counting them in the sense of "words that I wrote this week," and then maybe having a separate counter for my actual projects.
Either way, I find that keeping track of my words per day is really motivating. Even if what I wrote today doesn't end up in the story, I can still say I accomplished something.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Random Generator Recs
I love random generators. When I'm stuck for ideas, I often hit my favorite random generator sites for just that perfect bit of random serendipity that will get my brain bouncing off in fresh new directions. Here are a few of my faves:
Seventh Sanctum - there are (seemingly) a billion different generators here, on all kinds of topics from the bizarre to the hilarious to the downright... useful. My favorite area to visit on this website is the section called "writing," which has several random plot-generators, in various flavors.
Nine Frenchboys - has a comprehensive selection of generators on all kinds of things, from settings to costume ideas to character profiles. For those who, like me, write in anime-based fandoms, I particularly recommend the Japanese Male and Japanese Female name generators, which will happily spew out as many names as you need for all those pesky incidental characters.
Cool Bits - this is my favorite plot generator of all time. As the name suggests, it generates the "cool bits" for your story and leaves the rest to your imagination. There's something so evocative about the way the prompts are worded that my imagination starts running wild. (Even when it doesn't exactly make sense.) Here's a random example:
Seventh Sanctum - there are (seemingly) a billion different generators here, on all kinds of topics from the bizarre to the hilarious to the downright... useful. My favorite area to visit on this website is the section called "writing," which has several random plot-generators, in various flavors.
Nine Frenchboys - has a comprehensive selection of generators on all kinds of things, from settings to costume ideas to character profiles. For those who, like me, write in anime-based fandoms, I particularly recommend the Japanese Male and Japanese Female name generators, which will happily spew out as many names as you need for all those pesky incidental characters.
Cool Bits - this is my favorite plot generator of all time. As the name suggests, it generates the "cool bits" for your story and leaves the rest to your imagination. There's something so evocative about the way the prompts are worded that my imagination starts running wild. (Even when it doesn't exactly make sense.) Here's a random example:
Your story begins with a woman who dresses sensibly for battle in the ocean. The antagonist is a priestess who is motivated because they've always wanted to be a hero. Plot elements include overcoming an age difference in a romantic relationship and premature greying.
Next time you're feeling stuck for a story idea, give it a whirl. It's guaranteed to get you thinking in avenues you wouldn't have come up with on your own, and you never know--it might be the inspiration for your next novel.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Revisiting Past Work
A few years ago, I had a daily writing practice where I would take my notebook to a cafe and write every day on my lunch break. What I got out of it was notebooks and notebooks filled with little scenes for the various fandoms I've written in. I have some Star Wars Han/Luke stuff, a little bit of Remus/Sirius from Harry Potter, and a whole lotta Yami no Matsuei Tsuzuki/Hisoka stuff.
What used to frustrate me to no end was the fact that none of these little scenes ever seemed to turn into stories, and I ended up feeling that this practice was ultimately a Big Waste of Time, that I was totally ADD and horrible at plotting. Some of which might be true. But I've been going over my Yami notebooks in the last few months and was surprised to find that I like most of the scenes in them, which is very heartening. As for the fact that none of them became stories, well, apparently it's up to me to make that happen. So with that end in mind, I'm working on transcribing some of the better ones into a Scrivener document and thinking of ways to expand them so they have beginnings, middles and ends.
What used to frustrate me to no end was the fact that none of these little scenes ever seemed to turn into stories, and I ended up feeling that this practice was ultimately a Big Waste of Time, that I was totally ADD and horrible at plotting. Some of which might be true. But I've been going over my Yami notebooks in the last few months and was surprised to find that I like most of the scenes in them, which is very heartening. As for the fact that none of them became stories, well, apparently it's up to me to make that happen. So with that end in mind, I'm working on transcribing some of the better ones into a Scrivener document and thinking of ways to expand them so they have beginnings, middles and ends.
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