Posted in NaNoWriMo, Writing

Camp NaNoWriMo

camp_logo-e8deafda6bcc5574e54da9c596dbf6b6

It’s the start of March but Camp NaNoWriMo is just a month away and I’m debating whether or not to participate. While I’m still revising and editing Phantom Blade, my NaNoWriMo project, I can’t help but feel like I should write as many stories as I can this year. It’s not exactly a New Year’s resolution but I always promise myself that I need to write more and not to quit.

For those of you who don’t know, I have a lot of ideas swarming in my head. All of them have be jotted down in my idea notebook. A handful of them have almost everything planned out to write the novel. So it begs the question, should I put revising aside and write a new novel ( and start on my writing goal) or should I continue revising and finish up Phantom Blade?

A part of me thinks this is one way that I’m subconsciously trying to put off revising and editing. It’s a fine line that I’m navigating here. It’s not like I’m going to just keep writing and never get any editing done but I also want to keep my goal. If I do plan to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo this year then, I need to start organizing the story now. During that time, I can still revise and edit so that won’t be an issue.

So what’s stopping me? The usual. Doubt. Afraid that I’ll quit midway. Or that I won’t like how the story will turn out. Every fear that I have when starting a new story. I also feel like I’m somehow abandoning my other stories. In part, its true but on the other hand, I always go back and work on them.

Another goal of mine is to become a published author. At this point it feels like I won’t ever become one because I keep wanting to write other stories. Sure, I’m getting a novel ready to send out to agents. I’m just waiting for my last beta reader to finish with the feedback before seeing what I need to change and sending it out (This kind of feels like I’m making excuses).

I’m torn.

Posted in Resources, Writing

Map Making

For the past week or so I have been drawing some maps for my fantasy stories. These include: Crimson Queen and Blue Moon. Blue Moon is more of a story that I have been working on the lore and the background story of how the world came to be once the story starts. I haven’t really started writing the novel yet because there’s so much and I need to make an outline for it once I figured everything out.

I will say that I have written a movie script for this idea. Actually, it all startes out as a movie idea and, as time went on, I began to realize that it would be good as a book series. 

So, overall, I’m not saying that I have never drawn a map of lands/worlds before. I’m just saying that it has been a while and they’ve never been so detailed before. How did I mange to do this?

For starters, all I used was a piece of paper and a pencil. Nothing fancy. I’m not an artist, I can’t draw but I do know the name of the town my story takes place in and a few more details. For example, there’s a river near town and a cave. I started off small. Well, it also helped that I had a world generator but more on that later.

Creating a map for Crimson Queen had me going back to the planning section. I needed to create a layout of the town but that wasn’t too difficult. I focused on the main points in town like the church, the Major’s mansion, and enforcement office. From them, I added all the other pieces. The buildings weren’t perfect and I didn’t create any floor plans but I knew where everything was.

After the layout, I zoomed out and focused on the surrounding areas. I added trees, a river, farm land, the cave, and even neighboring towns. Thanks to the map generated by the world generator, I was able to use set my towns on the map and be done. 

At least now, not only do I have notes on the distance betweens towns and those details, but I also have a visual aid. Sure, it might not be perfect but no one but me is going to see it. Plus, making a map makes the world come alive a bit more. 

Posted in Game Reviews, Writing

Progress

I used to publish my blog posts on Fridays but now I think it would be better if I do this at the start of the week. That way, I can write about my progress during the week and over the weekend. However, with my schedule in choas, I don’t have a definite day. It has been difficult to get back into the habit of both writing a blog post and working on my stories.

While I have been revising my NaNoWriMo novel and Crimson Queen, a wattpad story I finished last year (?), it hasn’t been as much as I hoped. However, I will say that rushing a revision never did me any good. As long as I don’t stop, everything should be good.

On a happier side note, another one of my game reviews has been posted. You can find it here. While this isn’t on a weekly basis, at least I got a few articles out there. So far, that is good enough for me.

As long as I continue to go forward and, though it’s at a slow pace, I can say that I am working towards my goal. In the meantime, I just got to keep reading, revising, writing, and beta reading so I can help other improve and improve myself too. 

Posted in Writing

Changing the Plot & a possible Multiverse?

I’ve started to plan out the plot for Phantom Blade. After taking a peak at the story that I wrote, I realized that I had to change the plot. The one I currently have is good but I think it n…

Source: Changing the Plot & a possible Multiverse?

Posted in NaNoWriMo, Writing

And So It Begins

The new year has been great until recently because I have to deal with a huge inconveiance. For the most part with going back to work and moving back to my place, I’ve been busy and I haven&#…

Source: And So It Begins