Tag: dabbling in the art of writing

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.

Posted in NaNoWriMo, Writing

Ready, Set . . .

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

Camp NaNoWriMo starts in a day and I’m not exactly prepared. While I do know what I’m going to be working on next month, I might not be mentally prepared for this task.

Now, while I have participated in NaNoWriMo before, I don’t think I will ever be mentally prepared to write 50k words in one month. It doesn’t get any easier. It’s going to be a challenge.

I’m not nervous or anxious. Not really. It’s more like I’m already thinking of potential lack of motivation and hair pulling down the line. Granted, I’ve always finished NaNoWriMo and gotten through tough spots but even so, I can’t help but think of what’s in store. I guess this just means that I have to manage my time a bit more than I have been. (I might have to cut back on gaming. Yikes!)

As of right now, I haven’t downloaded Scrivener on to my desktop yet. I’m really hoping I can download the program to a flash drive so I can take it anywhere with me. Probably not but a girl can hope. If it doesn’t work, I’ll manage. It’ll work out in the end.

For those participating in Camp NaNoWriMo I wish you the best of luck. May the odds be forever in our favor.

Posted in NaNoWriMo, Uncategorized, Writing

Preparation Complete

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

Preparing for April has been very smooth. In part, it has to do with the fact that I’m rewriting a story I’ve already written. At this point, I have a good idea of where I want the story to go.

Even before the rewrite, I knew where the story was going. That was always present in my mind. The character development, background information, and subplots, on the other hand, need a bit more work. That is what I’m focusing on in rewriting the story.

Of course, preparing for Camp NaNoWriMo or just preparing to write a novel or even the other half of a story can be tough. You can prepare so many things but at the end of the day, you could scrape the entire thing. It’s happened to me more times than I can count.

While I can prepare for all situations of what might occur when I’m writing, I have a bit of confidence that I won’t loose my way, so to speak. IMHP (in my humble opinion), I believe that rewriting a novel might be easier than first starting out. Here are three of my reasons.

First, at least I have a basis of the story. I’ve put my thoughts and ideas down on paper. It doesn’t have to be great but at least I have something written down. I might not use everything or even anything at all but that’s okay.

Second, it’s something you can proofread/mark up. I like to print out the story and mark it up with a red pen. I write my comments on it and I have something visual to go back to whenever I need it. Personally, I’m not a big fan of editing on a screen. I have always found it more useful to me to write out corrections and comments.

Lastly, at least the story exists. It is out there and that just makes it all the better. This motivates me to work to make the story better. It’s the process that solidifies the main storyline and other aspects I want to include.

In essence, everyone has their own methods on how they do things. Finding what works for you is just another step in the process.