February Progress Report III

Note: So, yeah, I published this on time... no, no I did not.


Writing:

• Several scenes of King's Shadow; the story is finally coming at a decent pace.
• Plotting for the next 'arc' of the story
• Nearly 5k in Dan's story

Crafts/hobbies:

• Worked on Klein costume- not quite completed, maybe another week
• Ordered wig- and received wig. It's- short and Really Red xD
• Cut fabric for huntress overdress

February Progress Report II

Oh, that's right- I need to post this on Sundays. I have the feeling that this is going to be a recurring theme, forgetting the progress report...

    Writing:

• Started scene two in "The King's Shadow"
• First read-through for editing R'anna's In the Wake of Ambition (first 150 pages)
• Continued working on Novel Bibles
• Added another scene in Dan
• Began editing Dan

    Crafty things:

• Completed Quilt
• Organized Scrapbooking Supplies

The Speed of Thought- which is Rather Unstable

How do you develop your writing ideas?

     I have about a dozen off the cuff answers to this question, ranging from 'carefully' to 'I don't, they just show up,' all of which are true at certain times.
     On the one hand, I have been heard to plot an entire story over the course of two and a half hours- I was talking to a writing buddy on the phone.  The prompt was "identical twins," and that became the basic idea for my current work in progress, The King's Shadow.
     On the other hand, when it comes to the actual story writing, my pace slows to a crawl. I over think things. In the words of another writer friend of mine, "You do over think things. You want to know too much before you start. You won't work with the characters until you know them, but you can't get to know them until you write them, because until then they aren't doing anything."
     Ouch. Sad, but true.
     The world building just... happens while I'm not paying attention. Character development is my Achilles' heel.
     Unfortunately, I have yet to discover a way around the issue- though once I do, my output will hopefully increase dramatically.

Completed: Psychedelic Quilt of Doom

Yes, I do actually call it that.

     This is a project of mine from roughly 2008, which I shelved during college. I have worked on it on and off over the years, and this year decided to make the final charge to finish it.
     January 8th, I dragged the top of this twin-sized quilt out of it's dark corner and commenced work- ironing, pinning, hand sewing and machine sewing.
     As of today, the Quilt is finished.

Psychedelic Quilt of Doom

     May I have a nap now?

February Progress Report I

    In an effort to keep the forward momentum going, an update on this week's progress! (I'll be posting these on Sundays, hopefully.)

    Writing:

• Finally finished the first scene of "The King's Shadow"
• Printed out what I have written for the other four stories I'm currently working on, so that I can re-read them and start writing again.
• Mid-creation of novel bibles for all five works in progress.

    Crafty things:

• Hand sewed center eight blocks of Quilt (January). Need to set up a sewing machine to do edge word and bind.
• Started sorting "scraps" for SMASHbook (Just My Cup of Tea) and two scrapbooks (ConCave and an unnamed personal one). It looks like a craft store blew up.

    Other:

• My Taxes (definitely deserves a mention)
• Read two books
• Researched for a professional portfolio (at least 2-3 hours)

Character Relationships: Spatter Painting with Purpose

   This month's prompt:
      Character relationships.
         Oh joy- this is going to about kill me.
     Bonus Points: Give us a picture of your planning process when it comes to characters!
         I'm going to do the easy part first:

Spatter painting with Purpose!

       How hard is it for you to create character relationships? 
         This depends entirely on the character. I mean, All characters (bar hermits, psychopaths and sociopaths) have relationships of some sort. The majority of my characters begin with facsimile relationships because they themselves are still "flat" characters when I begin writing- as they grow into themselves, their relationships become more dynamic and believable.
         Interpretation- insultingly easy to absolutely impossible.

       Do you pre-plan them or do you end up letting them develop as the novel goes on? 
         Some relationships I build into the framework of the story- best friends, Main Character love interests, mentors,  how they relate to their families... The rest just sort of spring up along the way.

       Have your characters betrayed you and ended up with someone you didn't expect?
         You had to get me started. I have this one character duo who have taken this to the level of headache inducing. Saeki and Tsora. They're elemental mages from rival clans who are roommates at boarding school. Neither of them has a good home life, and they have a really odd exclusive relationship. The best way I can describe it is that they're in an asexual relationship with one another.

      Give us the story of how your favorite written characters got together and what makes their relationship the strongest.
      Confession time! My favorite written characters are not both mine. They inhabit a story I've been working on with my writing buddy Kinkatia for over a year. Dan Mandel (originally Dan Mandarion from a Star Wars fan fiction I did with another writing buddy, Teva, when we were thirteen; which we then proceeded to rework at least four or five times over the next eight years) was lent out as a mentor to her character, Sebastian Moran, in the art of being a freelance assassin/bodyguard. We found their interaction so interesting that we traveled back in the timeline to write the back story for their relationship, and then an alternate ending to Kinkatia's original story.
      In the beginning, Dan picks Seb up after he was wounded in a knife fight and objects to the man dying in his kitchen; Seb survives and becomes Dan's apprentice, then partner (professionally). They separate and work individually for some time, during which Seb ends up in a relationship which ends tragically when his partner suicides. Dan picks up the pieces and they go back to being professional partners for another several years before Seb's little sister forces the issue of their 'feelings.'
      *phew* And that was the short version. The story itself is well over 150k, and still in progress, as well as having spawned its own AU in which the evil partner (Dan's opinion) never existed.
      This was originally a BBC Sherlock Fan Fiction, but we may, with a little tweaking, be able to have Dan and Seb stand on their own as an original work.

Organization- or Lack Thereof: A List of Projects in Progress

     Now, having pretty much taken January off from writing in favor of hand stitching a quilt (six years in the making), it is time for me to get my writing in order and ready myself for the insanity that is authorship.
     I have signed up for Write Year 2014 in an attempt to motivate myself to get some writing accomplished. I have some hope of keeping up with their blogging circle. (Anything is better than not blogging at all, right?)
    So now my task is to rediscover all those projects I had lost in the maelstrom of college and graduate school.

    Thus far, I have uncovered:

• a scrapbook
• a SMASHbook
• the Psychedelic Quilt of Doom
• several counted cross stitches
• a huntress costume
• a SAO Klein cross-play (no, this is not cross dressing!)
• a barely- begun knitted shawl
• a pair of finger-less gloves (knitting)
• a pillow sham (also knitting)

    And now for the writing projects:

To Write:

• The King's Shadow- medieval fantasy world, originally started in 2009. MC- Aiden Trevallyn.
• Drakaeo- feudal high fantasy; Dragons (nobility), Elves (servant/rebels), Humans (peasant class), originally begun in 2011. MC- Drakaeo Llywellyn
• Caelmare- clan-ish elemental mage culture; Begun 2012. MCs Saeki Kuroni and Tsora (who may or may nothave a last name)
• Seeking the Dawn- medieval border war with random magical elements? Originally begun in 2012. MCs Djari and Sirael.
• Chimera- military/mob dystopian madness? Begun early 2013. MCs Tobias (hawk) and Leon (viper).
• Trevin- Medieval desert culture. Tried in 2008, scrapped. Re-start?

To Edit:

• Dan&Ian- ever-growing universe. Something similar to an rp with startling resemblance to a novel. They're basically hit men...
• Sarius- a friend's story I'm beta reading/editing.

    So, first things first- I suppose I need to print it all out and see where the heck I am, in order to determine where I might be going. Should be.... Interesting? 

    Beware impending avalanches of paper!

Follow that Plan! ... What Plan?

    Well, I seem to be starting a month late (by four days... oops?) on the WriYe Blog Circle. Typical me. I'd defend myself, but I had to give up on that. It really is my own fault.
Nevertheless, time for the Blog Circle Prompt (for January): Planning.

         ... Wait, what? Jay, the arch-procrastinator, is supposed to write bout planning?
         What cruel irony.

The Ship of Planning- which I was too late to board.

I have two "planning modes"

Option A: Plan it to Death. In which case, the project, idea, trip, what-have-you generally doesn't happen unless taken over by more capable hands than mine.

Option B: Create a checklist. If done in a- timely fashion, I can usually bulldoze my way through at least half of the list before losing interest, and occasionally complete the project (at the last minute, of course). I have been known to write ten page research papers for master's level courses in a day.

As you can see, Planning and I have a love/hate relationship. More "hate" than "love," but I cannot seem to function without it.

My writing suffers greatly for lack of this skill (I have been reliably informed that planning is indeed a learned skill and not some arcane inborn talent) as I rarely begin a piece with any inkling of where it is going or what its purpose might be.
My characters walk up to me, tell me their back stories, and cheerfully drag me along for the ride, often without a proper introduction. Such impolite catalysts.