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Saturday 27 September 2014

#WIPMarathon Update #8

Last report wordcount and chapter count/scene count: I was at 30K of the Shiny New Manuscript!

Current report WC + CC/SC:
 I finished my draft at 78K - which means I wrote a book in 24 days. o.O I'm still not entirely sure how that happened! 


I then went through a couple of rounds of self-edits, which brought the word count up to 79K (I added around 3000 words and then cut 2000).

I also worked on a prequel novella and started the second book! Because this crazy writer's brain refuses to rest. :P I'm currently at around 15K.

WIP Issues this month: Oh, this story...you know, this is the first time I've not had any issues with a first draft. The book just wrote itself! There were a few busier/slower days, but nothing like the usual mid-draft self-doubt and angst and confusion.


Editing has been trickier, though, because I'm so attached to the story. :P One dilemma is that I purposefully withhold information in order to reveal it at the right time, and I'm not great at judging the timing on that (I love mysteries!). Also, figuring out how much to reveal in the first book of a series...I'll have to see what my critique partners and beta readers say!

Four things I learned this month in writing:

  • Outline, outline, outline! I mentioned this in one of my What's Up Wednesday posts, but every single detail I noted down beforehand saved SO much time later down the line. Spending two months outlining the whole series and even going as far as to sketch out whole scenes beforehand meant that I literally wrote scene-to-scene, without running into walls in between.
  • And if I did run into any issues, I'd take time away from my laptop and think/brainstorm until I'd figured out what the problem was. It's so much easier than staring at a blank screen!
  • My characters are a lot more badass than I will ever be. That is all.
  • Write the book you love. I've said it before (and I'm actually writing a post on this for IWSG's free writing advice ebook), but I'm infinitely glad I took the time to make a list of all the things I loved in a story and tried to incorporate as many of them as possible into this novel... combined with a central idea that I knew no one had written about before. With other books I've written, it's been more like, "this is a cool idea, I like these characters, the plot's interesting...I'm going to write this". With THIS book, it was, "OH MY GOD I HAVE TO WRITE THIS STORY. I'm in love with the story world, and oh my God, these characters. They won't stop talking to me! Wait, whole scenes are playing out in my head! *scrambles to find pen and paper*" Uhhh... that might be a bit extreme. :P But it's pretty much how it happened!
What distracted me this month when writing: 

Um... if anything, this book distracted me from doing anything else! :P

Goal for next month: Since I can't leave this series alone, I'm hoping to get some serious words down on the second book! :D


Last 200 words: Here's a teaser from the first chapter! Gotta love a monster fight scene (and there are plenty of those in this book!). :)



One stone-like fist connected with the wall, inches from my face. I dodged, kicking at the hand that grabbed for me, and my foot connected with something solid. The creature hissed at me, its face stretched in a hideous grin. It was enjoying this.
I backed up and prepared to spring.
The hand swiped as I jumped, letting magic flow through my hand to propel me higher. Oh, alright, then. Level-one magic would hardly register even here in the Passages. Basically, I’d given myself a boost. It was risky, because magic demanded a reverse reaction, and if you weren’t careful, it would knock you out. Using magic in a closed space was generally a stupid idea, like firing a rocket in a cubicle. The back-blast might well kill you.
As it was, I aimed well. My feet connected with the creature’s face, and as I let go of the magic, the backlash knocked into the back of the chalder vox’s head, driving its teeth into the heel of my luckily-padded combat boot. Ouch.
I’d already drawn my dagger. With my other hand, I gripped the side of the chalder vox’s elephant-sized ear for balance, pulled myself upright, and aimed the point of the blade directly at a dip in the back of the creature’s neck.

13 comments:

  1. I seriously don't know how you manage the wordage you do month after month *bows to your writerly superpowers* You're amazing!

    It's awesome when that happens with a book and it kinda just writes itself. A rare and wonderful experience. And this story sounds like loads of fun too, judging from that excerpt :)

    May October bring you more writerly awesomeness ;)

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    1. Haha, thanks! No superpowers here lol. The book has a mind of its own! :P

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  2. I'm always impressed with how much you write per year. Seriously lol. So many words!!!!

    "Um... if anything, this book distracted me from doing anything else! :P" LOVE when this happens.

    You're totally right. You need to write the book you love, because no one else will and most of the time, it'll nag and haunt you until you do. I'm so happy you did that here, and I can't wait to read it :D

    Have a good weekend!

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    1. Thanks! Yes, I don' t think this book would have left me alone until I wrote it! :)

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  3. Agreed, you are one of the superstars of this marathon! ^^ Glad to hear this manuscript went so well for you--isn't it just amazing what that happens?

    I like the detail in this fight!

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  4. I SO wish some of this energy would rub off on me!!
    I've spent the entire month outlining, so I'm hoping this speeds me up later. It's been a long while, LONG while since I've started a story with the outline done from the get-go. This post gives me hope. ^_^

    I love fight scenes! If I write too many, I wear myself out, but always enjoy good hand-to-hand combat!

    Random side note: LOVE the new cover! ;)

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    1. *sends energy your way* Outlining does make it so much easier for me! I love fight scenes, too - this book was like a huge adrenaline rush to write!

      Thank you! ^^

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  5. I have the opposite of your problem: revealing too much at a time! But I'm sure it's something you can solve once you get other eyes on it.
    And I'm so with you. My characters are more fun than I am!
    I seriously have no idea where you pick your muses from, but I'm so interested! I wish I could write one-third of your progress in a month!
    Great scene too, and so intrigued with the magic system in your book!

    All the best next month! (Also, send some muses my way!)

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    1. It's SO hard to find the balance! *sends muse dust your way* :)

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  6. "One dilemma is that I purposefully withhold information in order to reveal it at the right time, and I'm not great at judging the timing on that (I love mysteries!). Also, figuring out how much to reveal in the first book of a series...I'll have to see what my critique partners and beta readers say!"

    I can totally relate to this. Either a) you can't figure out where to put the "hints" (or you forget to put them in altogether) and then the reveal comes out of nowhere, or b) you find the perfect place to put the "hints," but then you forget to actually reveal the information (or you decide that the reveal should come in a different book.) It's especially complicated when you have multiple drafts, and you have to keep track of any decisions you changed.

    "My characters are a lot more badass than I will ever be. That is all."
    --This is a major source of angst in my life, and probably why my characters are so horribly flawed. That way, writing feels more like scandalous gossip than wish fulfillment, haha. (Not that there's anything wrong with wish fulfillment.)

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    1. Yep - I always have a mystery element to my plots, and I always struggle to figure out when to reveal things.

      I worry about it seeming like wish-fulfillment, too, but I do try to make my characters three-dimensional and give them real problems to deal with!

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