Not much to report on the writing front at the moment. I took a couple days off after finishing Book 4 so I could recoup and distance myself from the story before jumping back in to edit. I am currently on pg 56 of 297 of editing and the story is getting a decent houseclean. I haven't actually started planning Book 5 but I do have a few ideas floating around in my head. I'll have a longer post about it later as I turn from editing to plotting. Until then, if anyone has good writing music consisting of theatrical or soundtracks, please pass them on as I am always looking for new tunes to write to, especially while planning a new book.
While in the middle of reducing the time I spent writing, I've turned my attention once again to my job search. I hope to have a job within the next couple months and find my own place by summer's arrival. I still have moments where I feel like a burden to my family and like a failure but I also realize that I am helping and making things somewhat easier for my lovely family.
The farm is well right now too. There are three happy kittens from the litter and our calf is free to graze during the daylight hours in a separate pasture where she stays with the pigs. Indy is a happy dog, of course. I haven't mentioned him on here in a while. Right now, he's definitely maturing out at the year and half mark and trying to find where he fits in as an adult dog instead of the pup he no longer is. He's working on a couple new manners and joyfully terrorizing the farm cats and Rocky.
Tonight is a hefty frost for the farm so here's to hoping most of the plants make it through the night!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Book 4's End
So Sunday turned out to be the lucky day for Book 4. It took well over 12 hours of off and on writing throughout the entire day but I managed to fly through the climax. I finished the epilogue today.
I had a pretty decent outline to help me get through the entire chapter without missing vital points while also tying up all the major, and minor, plots I had floating around. I hit nearly all of them and that's quite an accomplishment for such a complicated story.
The whole gist of this story was having all the mysteries and questions throughout the book pulled together at the end in a dramatic reveal. This meant that, unlike the past books, this book had nearly a dozen plots all coming together and forming one cohesive idea.
Basically, it consisted of these plots...
1) Why Roan has the powers he was given
2) Why did Arobin decide to bring Roan home to his ranch?
3) Tuck has unpredictable power that needs to be tamed
4) What is the connection between the break ins at all the plants on the east coast?
5) Why are the enemy plants suddenly increasing production of a volatile drug?
6) Why did Dugger try to assassinate Roan?
7) Is there a reason Arobin arranged for Zeus to join the ranch?
8) Will Roan learn to finally accept the results of a war by coming to terms with the deaths of his friends?
9) Why is Roan having dreams again?
Etc, Etc. This is as much as I can reveal without it giving away too much of the plot.
Try revealing all those plots to the reader in the final 30 or so pages of a book.
But back to the climax. It had a few really good parts where I'm impressed with the writing. It's different than what I'm used to putting on paper. It's getting far more serious as the war in the book progresses and pushes the characters to darken.
The epilogue really reflected this. Book 1 lacked an epilogue while Book 2's was pretty optimistic in atmosphere. Book 3 still had an optimistic atmosphere but it also had tinges of regret and sadness in it as Roan came to terms with what happened with his foster family. Book 4 is a lot darker than the others. The events in the climax have forced Roan to set aside his child-like hopefulness and instead see the world around him as the harsh, dangerous place it is.
It didn't leave me with the warm, happy fuzzies the other endings did and for that reason I'm a little sad this book is over. I had the greatest time writing this book. I looked forward to it for years and it was just as I had imagined but now that it's over it seems rather surreal.
This is where editing comes in handy as I get to spend a couple weeks working out the kinks while slowly introducing myself to Book 5 and its plot. Hopefully, things lighten up soon enough. I already have a fun beginning in mind for it!
A slight chuckle at the beginning of the climax
Azira Raptoreye takes on Roan
The whole gist of this story was having all the mysteries and questions throughout the book pulled together at the end in a dramatic reveal. This meant that, unlike the past books, this book had nearly a dozen plots all coming together and forming one cohesive idea.
Basically, it consisted of these plots...
1) Why Roan has the powers he was given
2) Why did Arobin decide to bring Roan home to his ranch?
3) Tuck has unpredictable power that needs to be tamed
4) What is the connection between the break ins at all the plants on the east coast?
5) Why are the enemy plants suddenly increasing production of a volatile drug?
6) Why did Dugger try to assassinate Roan?
7) Is there a reason Arobin arranged for Zeus to join the ranch?
8) Will Roan learn to finally accept the results of a war by coming to terms with the deaths of his friends?
9) Why is Roan having dreams again?
Etc, Etc. This is as much as I can reveal without it giving away too much of the plot.
Try revealing all those plots to the reader in the final 30 or so pages of a book.
But back to the climax. It had a few really good parts where I'm impressed with the writing. It's different than what I'm used to putting on paper. It's getting far more serious as the war in the book progresses and pushes the characters to darken.
Roan realizes he will never win over the entire public
It didn't leave me with the warm, happy fuzzies the other endings did and for that reason I'm a little sad this book is over. I had the greatest time writing this book. I looked forward to it for years and it was just as I had imagined but now that it's over it seems rather surreal.
This is where editing comes in handy as I get to spend a couple weeks working out the kinks while slowly introducing myself to Book 5 and its plot. Hopefully, things lighten up soon enough. I already have a fun beginning in mind for it!
The final few sentences
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
The Downside to Farm Life: Saying Goodbye
Life on a farm is never easy. I think any farmer could tell you that. Luckily, I don't take care of all the responsibilities of the farm here. Everyone has a share in the chores. I rarely have to mess with plants and I'm okay with that. I hate plants, dirt, bugs, mud, and weeds.
What I can tolerate is animals. They make sense to me. Their lives are based around food, hormones, dominance, and instinct. An animal does something for a reason and, if someone is willing to watch, research, and learn, they can understand it in a way that will make sense to them. You can curb their behavior by providing them with the resources they need to thrive. An animal will listen to a human if a human is willing to listen to the animal.
What I can't understand is the death part of farm life. As a young girl, I swore to never take the life of another living creature. I took that promise to heart.
When I hit an animal while driving I always cry and say a prayer for them. When it comes time for a chicken to give up its life for us I always thank it. When another animal dies and I have to bag it I feel a sense of remorse and filthiness for putting it in a bag. I feel a creature should never be bagged like a sack of vegetables and shoved in a barrel only to be carted away to a dump for the afterlife.
But all those creatures died from something I understood. Running in front of a car, becoming a meal, weakness and whatnot. And they were all creatures humans typically don't bond with. While it's harsh, I don't think all lives have the same worth. A fuzzy worm on the road does not have the same value as a dog in the backyard.
What I cannot fathom is when a creature dies for no reason, especially when you can see the life and emotion in its existence. The little kitten I picked out upon the first day of its birth has been fighting for her life the last week. Every morning and every night I go out there and take care of the animals and check on the litter and each time I see her weaken. I watch her waste away while her littermates grow stronger. I see her cry and crawl and try with every ounce of strength she has left to just persevere.
A few days ago she seemed to be getting better or at least wasn't worsening. I thought she would make it. But this is a farm and our saying here is that everything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Tonight when I went out to check on her after chores she was letting out a desperate cry. When I looked at her she was lying on her back. After living on a farm long enough, you start to recognize the signs of a creature dying. You can tell when the life is leaving the flesh, and this kitten was near her end. She would not last the night.
When I picked her up she managed to curl up in a ball in my hands. I pet her head until she fell asleep in my hands.
And I started to bawl my eyes out.
I couldn't understand why she was dying. Why, out of all the kittens in that litter, did she have to be the one to die? She was supposed to live. She was supposed to get big and healthy and run around the farm and grow old chasing mice.
Instead, I was holding that tiny little life in my hands watching her take her final breaths. She fit in the palm of one hand. She could melt anyone that say her with that face. She was hand-crafted by God, raised by a mother that loved her, and adored. But she was still dying.
I'm sure there was some scientific reason for why she died but, looking down at this little warm fuzzball, I couldn't see it. All I saw was the life slipping from a creature while I held it. This was the first time I've been so close to death in something I adored.
Hours later and I'm still crying. This whole time I'm telling myself I'm 23. I shouldn't cry over kittens. I shouldn't cry over things like this.
I understand that there's a reason behind her death, both scientifically and spiritually. God has a plan that I don't understand until far after I want to know the reasoning. I still see the beauty in life even after witnessing death. That kitten cried and meowed before I picked her up. After I cradled her in my arms she fell asleep and no longer cried. I know she's an animal but I am one hundred percent confident that she stopped crying because she was safe. She was near something warm and comforting and was no longer afraid.
I held her until her momma came before placing her back with her. She slept against her momma's chest, silent and still, happily content against her.
And now I wonder how people can ever say a creature doesn't have a soul. A life that can touch another in such a profound way as that will never truly die. A life like that lives on forever.
What I can tolerate is animals. They make sense to me. Their lives are based around food, hormones, dominance, and instinct. An animal does something for a reason and, if someone is willing to watch, research, and learn, they can understand it in a way that will make sense to them. You can curb their behavior by providing them with the resources they need to thrive. An animal will listen to a human if a human is willing to listen to the animal.
What I can't understand is the death part of farm life. As a young girl, I swore to never take the life of another living creature. I took that promise to heart.
When I hit an animal while driving I always cry and say a prayer for them. When it comes time for a chicken to give up its life for us I always thank it. When another animal dies and I have to bag it I feel a sense of remorse and filthiness for putting it in a bag. I feel a creature should never be bagged like a sack of vegetables and shoved in a barrel only to be carted away to a dump for the afterlife.
But all those creatures died from something I understood. Running in front of a car, becoming a meal, weakness and whatnot. And they were all creatures humans typically don't bond with. While it's harsh, I don't think all lives have the same worth. A fuzzy worm on the road does not have the same value as a dog in the backyard.
What I cannot fathom is when a creature dies for no reason, especially when you can see the life and emotion in its existence. The little kitten I picked out upon the first day of its birth has been fighting for her life the last week. Every morning and every night I go out there and take care of the animals and check on the litter and each time I see her weaken. I watch her waste away while her littermates grow stronger. I see her cry and crawl and try with every ounce of strength she has left to just persevere.
A few days ago she seemed to be getting better or at least wasn't worsening. I thought she would make it. But this is a farm and our saying here is that everything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Tonight when I went out to check on her after chores she was letting out a desperate cry. When I looked at her she was lying on her back. After living on a farm long enough, you start to recognize the signs of a creature dying. You can tell when the life is leaving the flesh, and this kitten was near her end. She would not last the night.
When I picked her up she managed to curl up in a ball in my hands. I pet her head until she fell asleep in my hands.
And I started to bawl my eyes out.
I couldn't understand why she was dying. Why, out of all the kittens in that litter, did she have to be the one to die? She was supposed to live. She was supposed to get big and healthy and run around the farm and grow old chasing mice.
Instead, I was holding that tiny little life in my hands watching her take her final breaths. She fit in the palm of one hand. She could melt anyone that say her with that face. She was hand-crafted by God, raised by a mother that loved her, and adored. But she was still dying.
I'm sure there was some scientific reason for why she died but, looking down at this little warm fuzzball, I couldn't see it. All I saw was the life slipping from a creature while I held it. This was the first time I've been so close to death in something I adored.
Hours later and I'm still crying. This whole time I'm telling myself I'm 23. I shouldn't cry over kittens. I shouldn't cry over things like this.
I understand that there's a reason behind her death, both scientifically and spiritually. God has a plan that I don't understand until far after I want to know the reasoning. I still see the beauty in life even after witnessing death. That kitten cried and meowed before I picked her up. After I cradled her in my arms she fell asleep and no longer cried. I know she's an animal but I am one hundred percent confident that she stopped crying because she was safe. She was near something warm and comforting and was no longer afraid.
I held her until her momma came before placing her back with her. She slept against her momma's chest, silent and still, happily content against her.
And now I wonder how people can ever say a creature doesn't have a soul. A life that can touch another in such a profound way as that will never truly die. A life like that lives on forever.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
The Build
Today is the day!
All signs point toward today being the day that I will finally wrap up Book 4. It's been nearly a week since I last wrote thanks to being at the climax of the story. I'm the type of writer that can't split a climax up over several days. I have to sit down and get it all out at once.
So when today came and I started going through my preparation routine, I knew it was here.
There are a few, slightly obsessive, behaviors I follow that prepare me for writing a hefty scene. Here they are.
*The night before a big write, I tend to have a revelation of sorts. Last night, that indeed did happen
*Wake up early feeling jittery
*The only thoughts in my head are about the scene that needs written
*Drive into town for a sweet tea
*Clean room
*Turn on every light in the room
*Turn on the Battle Scene playlist, headphones, and fingers on keyboard
Now let's see if the words flow out as fast as I want them to.
All signs point toward today being the day that I will finally wrap up Book 4. It's been nearly a week since I last wrote thanks to being at the climax of the story. I'm the type of writer that can't split a climax up over several days. I have to sit down and get it all out at once.
So when today came and I started going through my preparation routine, I knew it was here.
There are a few, slightly obsessive, behaviors I follow that prepare me for writing a hefty scene. Here they are.
*The night before a big write, I tend to have a revelation of sorts. Last night, that indeed did happen
*Wake up early feeling jittery
*The only thoughts in my head are about the scene that needs written
*Drive into town for a sweet tea
*Clean room
*Turn on every light in the room
*Turn on the Battle Scene playlist, headphones, and fingers on keyboard
Now let's see if the words flow out as fast as I want them to.
The Final scene before the climax chapter
Sunday, September 9, 2012
A Jumbled Mess
That's how my mind feels right now. It's not making any sense at all.
For your sake I'll try to sum up.
I'm writing the build to the climax in the book so I guess it would be the crisis' denouement. As a writer, I know it's expected that there be loose ends at the end of each novel and that eventually the book itself will show us how our loose plots come together.
But wow...
I never knew it could be this shocking. I've worked 250ish pages on a plot I thought I had figured out. I thought I knew how it was going to end.
And then this happens.
And this is brilliant. As in breathtakingly stunning. I didn't think there was a religious plot in this story. There was a nice little mention at one point but we've handled religion two books ago and I had no intent on addressing it again.
However, when Roan decided in Book 3 that he and God were on bad terms, he decided he wanted to address this in Book 4, despite my intentions to leave it alone. There was only a couple fleeting mentions of religion in this book so far but now at this point it seems like religion has slipped its way back into the story by orchestrating all the events until now.
And oh.my.god. It's amazing how well it came together.
Everything really. I was writing all these plot points and factoring in so many little details just thinking they were typical mentions in the book. There was an overarcing connection between a few points but not to this degree. Things I wrote, just a sentence here or there, mentions and side observations, nothing serious at all, TURNED OUT TO BE THE MAIN PLOT and it's so epic that I can't even really fathom it. I never intended for it to work like this but it did.
And now the book is perfect. The ending is beautiful, flowing, gorgeous, poetic. All I needed was just a little faith in the words I was guided to write and I would eventually find out what they meant. This is art.
For your sake I'll try to sum up.
I'm writing the build to the climax in the book so I guess it would be the crisis' denouement. As a writer, I know it's expected that there be loose ends at the end of each novel and that eventually the book itself will show us how our loose plots come together.
But wow...
I never knew it could be this shocking. I've worked 250ish pages on a plot I thought I had figured out. I thought I knew how it was going to end.
And then this happens.
And this is brilliant. As in breathtakingly stunning. I didn't think there was a religious plot in this story. There was a nice little mention at one point but we've handled religion two books ago and I had no intent on addressing it again.
However, when Roan decided in Book 3 that he and God were on bad terms, he decided he wanted to address this in Book 4, despite my intentions to leave it alone. There was only a couple fleeting mentions of religion in this book so far but now at this point it seems like religion has slipped its way back into the story by orchestrating all the events until now.
And oh.my.god. It's amazing how well it came together.
Everything really. I was writing all these plot points and factoring in so many little details just thinking they were typical mentions in the book. There was an overarcing connection between a few points but not to this degree. Things I wrote, just a sentence here or there, mentions and side observations, nothing serious at all, TURNED OUT TO BE THE MAIN PLOT and it's so epic that I can't even really fathom it. I never intended for it to work like this but it did.
And now the book is perfect. The ending is beautiful, flowing, gorgeous, poetic. All I needed was just a little faith in the words I was guided to write and I would eventually find out what they meant. This is art.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)