Tag: creative writing

Posted in Methods, NaNoWriMo, Writing

Catching Up

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

Well, I’m officially behind work count but it’s only by 300 words. I didn’t exactly plan to be behind it just that I play Dungeons and Dragons on Fridays (well most Fridays anyways) and, unfortunately, after that four hour campaign, I was too tired to finish writing. 

Overall, Blue Moon still has a lot of work on it. The beginning is going to change yet again. I don’t need to type up anything new. At this point it is all about rearrange scenes. I won’t do that as of right now because I don’t want that to me my main focus. For now, I need to be writing and not worrying about how the story is going to start.

I have typed up a brief summaries of my scenes. That way, I’ll have them “in sight” and I don’t have to go back through the document to find them. I was thinking of using note cards to jot the scenes down so I would be able to rearrange them “physically”. Or maybe if I had a program or a website where I could do that – that could also work. So if anyone knows of a good website or program for a storyboard that let’s me rearrange scenes then let me know. I’ll be looking into that sort of stuff.

The story with my sister is going well. It’s a work in progress because at this point, I’m making things up. It’s all been pull out of thin air. My sister hasn’t complained about it so that’s good. Our plot for that story is holding strong. It’s all “according to plan” so to speak.  

Posted in NaNoWriMo, Writing

Camp NaNoWriMo, Day 3

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

I’m happy to announce that both my collaboration and side story are progressing as planned. So far, I’m keeping up with the word count. Luckily, I know how my side story is going to end so that has helped me quite a bit.

My sister and I are working hard on the collaboration project. Since there are two of us, we’ve been making some progress. Plus, with the extra pair of eyes, we can help each other reach the word count for the way. Some of the story has been planned out so we haven’t hit any writer’s block or anything. Even if we do, I’m confident we’ll be able to push past it.

One of the biggest issues I had to deal with today was with my side story. I’ve called it Blue Moon. This morning, I  started typing up notes to myself on how the story should progress. As I typed, I realized that I started the story with a scene that could be used later in the story.

Because of this, I wrote the beginning again. I think it was a good idea because the scene before will be of use later. With this beginning, I could show more of my main character’s characteristics and basically, why she belonged in this story. Plus, it also helps put into light her motivation for doing what she does and living how she has been living. Despite being the first draft, I like to make everything as perfect as I can the first time.

I know it won’t always be perfect and sometimes I just have to push through the awkward scenes and get to the other parts. It’s fine to skip around in my opinion. If I’m having trouble with a scene, I leave a note and move on. I don’t like feeling stumped because I can’t get a scene perfect. There’s a reason revision and editing exist.

For now, everything is going well. I hope my good luck streak continues.

Posted in NaNoWriMo, Writing

The Night Before

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

Camp NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow. I can’t believe June is already ending. Where did the time go? There’s a few things to know for the following month:

I won’t be creating a seperate blog for Camp NaNoWriMo. I’ll be updating the progress of the story here on the main one. I’m not sure if I’ll post everyday but that’s up in the air.

Secondly, I’ll also be collaborating on a story with my sister. We’ll be splitting the writing but I might write another story on the side so I can actually wriite 50,000 words in a month. For this month, it’s going to be, what I call, “the spirit of participation” because mostly I like to write an actual story for NaNoWriMo. 

It should be a good experiment. The most important goal for this month is to write. Sure I’ve been writing and editing here and there but I haven’t written as I should be. There’s really no excuse and it’s time for me to really get back on band wagon. This upcoming month should be good. 

On a side note: today I created a science fiction story about vampires. They’re more like genetically engineered creatures than the mythological ones. I made the entire back story of the world and it felt good. Sure, I don’t know every detail but at least it’s something. However, I won’t be writing this story just yet. 

For my side story, I’ll be working on my fantasy story that’s been begging for attention.

I see productivity for my future. 

Posted in Game Reviews, NaNoWriMo, Writing

Conflict: the bread and butter of a story

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

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Image Source

As July approaches, my sister and I are hard at work planning out her story. By this point, I should say our story but that still feels weird. I don’t believe I will ever consider this story as mine because I had no say in the idea development. Saying that, if collaborating helps my sister finally write her story then I’m more than happy to do that.

Recently, we discussed the source of conflict of the novel. While we don’t have the most of the middle and the ending planned, we still wanted to plan out what would drive the story forward and what kind of obstacles the main character, Nina, would face. I like to term this discussion as: “how do I make the life of a character more difficult?”

First, we started with the external conflict. This conflict derives from external forces. Meaning, the conflict comes from outside forces like a flat tire on a way to a job interview. Or a jealous co-worker secretly sabotaging the main character’s report. It can also be two people arguing.

Now, Internal conflict comes from within the main character. I like to think of these as feelings or simple terms: the inner struggle. e.g. stopping to help someone who fell or hurry to an important appointment. Or pay your bills early or buy that book you have no room on yourself for. It’s also choosing right from wrong. Depending on the character and/or situation, right and wrong can be different.

Not only did my sister and myself identify where the conflict was coming from, we were also able to expand on those ideas. Furthermore, Nina, the MC, will be overwhelm with her new position and current one and she believes there’s been a mistake and waits for the moment where someone else replaces her. This leads to her work being sloppy and incompetent and it further leads to confrontation with the boss and others in the managerial positions.

I’m happy to say that Nina’s life will be very, very difficult.

On a different side note: two of my reviews are up. One of them is called Tubocity. The game is an endless runner as you try to see how far can you get as you jump and swipe your way past obstacles.

The other game is called Picture Perfect Crossword. It is exactly what is sounds like. Players are given a picture to name. They select letters at the bottom of the screen to fill out the crossword puzzle.

Posted in NaNoWriMo, Writing

Negative Nancy

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

There’s around two weeks before Camp NaNoWriMo and things aren’t really progrrssing as I hoped. Doing a collaboration with my sister will be good, don’t get me wrong but I’m not sure how this is going to work out. 
The story we’re planning on writing is her idea. Sure, I’ve helped developed it but there’s no connection between me and the story. It’s not like I’m not interested in the story, it’s just so distant. It was my sister who thought of the story so its her baby. Mostly, it feels like I’m intruding. Plus, I don’t really know how to contribute to the plot or how we’re going to split up the work.

We’ve talked just not in depth. I’m not too worried. Not really. We have time to figure it out. Maybe I should still write my own and at the same time help her out with her story. That . . . could work. Maybe. 

On a more optimistic side, I have made a lot of progress working on my “TV show idea”. I’ve done four character sheets, and started working on the beat sheet. It’s basically a summary of what’s going to happen and major plot points. 

It has helped me figure out where I want to put certain information pertaining to the characters and story. Despite me awful drawing skills, I have also done a sketch of my characters. They’re very rough sketches. At least I can say that I’m making progress.