Tag: dabbling in the art of writing

Posted in Writing

Exhaustion -A ‘Poem’

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

Exhaustion isn’t the word I’d use to describe how I feel.

It’s the feeling of no energy.

Of being drained.

Of the weight on my eyelids and

The pressure build at the front most part of my brain.

It’s the knowledge that I can’t rest

Until I get more homework done.

It’s the combined efforts of a long week

And not enough time for everything.

It’s the unfocused part of my brain and

The refusal of my eyes to remain open.

It’s the knowledge that I won’t be home until 1am.

It’s the obligation, commitment, and responsibility all wrapped in one.

I’m Exhausted.

Posted in Writing, Writing Prompts

Writing Prompt – D&D Adventure

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

“There used to be six of us . . . Now I am alone.”

Five pair of various colored eyes turned around and looked at me. Their brows were creased.

“What are you talking about?” the book loving wizard asked. “We’re about to be rich!”

I shook my head and didn’t respond.

“We have just liberated a cultist infected castle,” the beast of a barbarian spoke up. “We deserved to get paid.”

His smaller companion, only four feet in height nodded in agreement. “When you hired us, you said we could keep what we found.”

They were mercenaries after all. I wasn’t surprised not really. Sure, I liked loot too but if this was anything like the other chest, we were probably going to get our faces melted off like the lightning strucked sorcerer.

You would think he learned his lesson but no, he was up there along with the others staring at the red wardrobed.

It leaned against a dark wall. Beside it was a desk with documents spread all across it. The dwarf was there. Shifting through the parchment, trying to find any clues as to where the leaders of the cultists had gone.

“Good luck,” I told them.

“Then you get no loot,” the wizard piped up.

“You guys ready?” the small roguish mercenary asked.

She stepped forward, theives tools in hand. As she did, I walked out of the room. I pressed my back against the wall. There was no way I was going to get caught in the trap.

I heard the wardrobe open and a hiss. Cries of pain and shock echoed from the room. I waited for a few moments before peeking into the room. Acid bubbled and hissed across the ground. My companions laid on the ground, moaning in agony. The smell of burnt flesh wafted through the room.

Whatever the wardrobe held at one point was gone. It now stood as a blob of melted wood. I squatted down by the doorway.

“So,” I said, “who needs healing?”

Groan answered me.

Posted in NaNoWriMo, Writing

A New Schedule

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

It’s the start of a new month and that means Camp NaNoWriMo has ended for the moment. Yours truly was able to reach 50k words. While I didn’t exactly finish writing the entire story, the plot did move to the third act where a lot of reveals and betrayals happen. I call it the more exciting part of this story in particular.

Saying, I won’t go back and look at what I wrote. Instead, I’ll keep writing at my own space towards the finish. Sue to the original draft, I have a lot of it already prepared. For the most part, the last section of the story has been written and set in stone. Some of the events might change but the results will be the same.

New stuff is starting this month. Not only did I start school again (well it’s a certification program), I also plan to post 3x a week. It’s a lot that I’m putting on my plate but I think I can manage.

Mondays, I plan to post some helpful tips on world building, helpful websites, among other stuff. Wednesdays will be for writing prompts. The post won’t be super long. The purpose for this is to get me to write different sort of scenarios and genres. It will be a good learning experience. Lastly, Fridays will stay the same. The posts will mostly be about progress, exciting news, etc.

I will start the new schedule the following week. It’s going to be tough starting it out but I’ll manage to do it.

For those who finished all 50k words for Camp NaNoWriMo, congratulations! For those who didn’t, congratulations as well! Taking the time and effort says a lot about you. For that I applaud you.

Posted in NaNoWriMo, Writing

Evolving Goals – For NaNoWriMo

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

I haven’t quite caught up with the word goal to finish Camp NaNoWriMo in time. I’m not exactly worried either. As I’m writing, my goal of what I want to accomplish this month has gradually changed. While I still want to finish writing Crimson Queen as a complete story, it might not be possible even with 50k words and I’m okay with that.

As it stands right now, I want to get as close as possible to finishing Crimson Queen as I can. The plot has changed from what it was at the beginning, but I think the new direction it’s going will work well.

In other news, Scrivener only works if you download it on an actual computer. My USB idea was a bust but at least I know. I haven’t bought it just yet and I will. For right now though, I have the 30 day free trial. After the trial is done, I’ll buy it.

I haven’t exactly used the program yet simply because I’m still going through the tutorial. For the most part, it has been relatively easy to understand. There’s just so much to know about the program. Some of it has been lost to me but through trial and error, I can figure it out. Plus, I can always go through the tutorial again on the parts that I don’t understand. It’s something I’m willing to invest time to learn.

Lastly, the site is going to go through some changes. The layout might change but I still haven’t decided. Hopefully, by next week, the finish look will be available.

Posted in NaNoWriMo, Writing

And . . . Go!

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

Camp NaNoWriMo isn’t going as I expected. Due to Easter, I’m behind about a thousand words. I’ve been catching up gradually but I haven’t exactly caught up. I’m not worried about not being on target. I believe I can still catch up and finish on time.

The story is progressing as expected. A few changes have been made some conversations because they simply didn’t make sense. It’s also probably because I didn’t know what I wanted to reveal in those conversations and they didn’t have a point. They didn’t do anything for the world or story. I needed to change that. I tend to only keep conversations that move the story forward in some shape or form.

Another thing I encountered while writing was the lack of characterization of one of my major characters. While he is a warrior and a devoted knight to the Church, I don’t think I was portraying him that way. He seemed bland or maybe it was just me. Either way, I needed change him.

Lastly, there’s one ‘issue’ I’ve been mulling over. While Crimson Queen is third person, I have the opportunity to change POV once in a while. There’s information I want to include that the main character wouldn’t know but I don’t know if it’s needed or not. I don’t want the reader to feel that I’m just dropping information on them all of a sudden. I think I’ll just add the information and see how that works for the story.

Decisions, decisions.