posted
If anyone still remembers, I took up the challenge (with SteveRogers) to write a YA fiction novel in a "long weekend," or four days. Originally I hoped to write the story in one four day stretch...but the realities of grad school are making that impossible. Instead, I'm going to write it over four days, but they'll be spaced out a bit for the sake of feasibility.
My goal is a roughly 70,000 word book. After one writing session, I'm 14,000 words in. Three more sessions like that, combined with SteveRogers' contribution will get to that goal, which is roughly the size of the Hunger Games, or the first Harry Potter book. The original goal was also to have Liz B's class of 8th graders read the book in May, which I'm looking forward to.
If anyone wants to follow along as I go, I'm more than happy to share drafts and chapters as I come up with them, either post here or shoot me an email. I wouldn't mind the feedback, I'm editing as I write, sort of.
A brief plot synopsis:
It's the story of Rose Fortune, a fifteen year old girl living in Paris with her father, who is an American diplomat. After a mundane intro, she finds out that magic is real, and incredibly dangerous. She's being hunted, but she doesn't know by whom, or why. She'll find out why, and how magic works, and it'll terrify her as much as excite her, I think.
It's basically modern urban fantasy. Rose leaves her father and goes on the run to try to figure out who wants her and why, and also to figure out how magic works.
I could go into more detail if anyone is interested, or if you'd like to avoid spoilers and check it out, I can send you what I have so far. It's at about 28 single spaced pages, 12 point new times roman font on MS Word at the moment.
Some of it is going to feel like stereotypes and tropes. It's really hard to get away from some things because the "magic/powers are real" genre has been hit so hard in the last decade, but I think I put some nice twists on a couple things that make it a little different.
I think I've emailed you before. Will look for it and send another one so you don't have to dig. (my email is... pretty obvious, though)
Posts: 3580 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Blayne Bradley
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posted
Email me as well, though in return you must also read my stuff!
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Blayne that's not how this sort of thing works.
Believe me, a surefire way to ensure nobody reads your stuff is trying to push people into reading your stuff.
(Spoken as a failing amateur writer who only has a couple friends and family that are actually willing to read his crap.)
Posts: 3580 | Registered: Aug 2005
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I will tell the kids tomorrow! Yesterday one asked, "Hey, is that guy still writing that book for us or what?"
Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
The other thread actually turned back into a serious discussion of Hunger Games. Didn't want to muck it up. Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Blayne, I'm afraid I don't have the time to look over your stuff right now. Maybe over the summer when I have more time? If you'd still like to look over mine, I'd be pleased to have your opinion. You're Hatrack's resident expert on tropes and stereotypes. Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
It's actually been, though I dare speak for both Lyrhawn and myself at this time, a very fun and interesting experience.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004
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I've written more in one day than in the last two years combined. And it's taking surprising turns even for me as a writer. It's quite fun.
Plus SteveRogers and I have a bit of a mind meld thing going on that's leading to some great ideas. I'm almost sad this process is going to be so short.
But there's always Book II!
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I'd be really interested in reading this! My email should be on my profile. I've been reading a ton of YA for work and I'd love to see what sort of twists you've done.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Sent it to the email in your profile Shanna. Thanks Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Blayne Bradley
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: Dan I sent you a copy.
Blayne, I'm afraid I don't have the time to look over your stuff right now. Maybe over the summer when I have more time? If you'd still like to look over mine, I'd be pleased to have your opinion. You're Hatrack's resident expert on tropes and stereotypes.
Perhaps I should've been more clear, I meant read my stuff eventually as they are not written yet. v v
Additionally Dan this is how it works. When people want critique they have to also be willing to offer it. This is how virtually every writing forum works that I've been to.
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Sent you a copy, Blayne. Hope you enjoy it. I'm hoping to pound out another 15,000 words today. Let's see how I do!
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I updated them. They are kind of surprised that it's actually happening, I think. But mainly they're excited.
I can't decide if I want to see the draft in progress or wait till it's done...I'll think about it over spring break. Happy writing!
Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
Alas, it doesn't look like I'm going to make 15,000 words before I head to bed tonight. I've gotten through about 4,000 words in the last couple hours, and we're up to 37 pages now. I think the chapter I just wrote is the best yet. Writing this much and this focused is, I think, forcing me to better my writing with each chapter. I just reread the last chapter a couple times and did a little minor editing, but all in all I'm actually very pleased with.
Hopefully I'll still be able to at least crack the 20,000 mark before I go to bed tonight. Wish me luck!
Edit to add: Signing off for the night at 21,444 and 41 pages.
posted
Sat down today to write another large section and have a serious case of writer's block. I know exactly what happens next, I have the plot summaries for each chapter of the rest of the book, but I wrote one line for the eighth chapter, which I like, and can't seem to come up with another. I think I'm getting a little case of writer's fatigue.
SPOILERS (for those that care that much)
I've found lately that some scenes are taking much longer to write than I expected they would. Chapter 6, originally, was supposed to feature Rose meeting up with her friends, and then a bunch of stuff after that. But what was "Rose meets up with friends" on my chapter summary became an entire chapter, and it's taken three chapters to write what was originally just one.
I've also found a lot of surprises along the way. I have it all worked out, I know how it's going to happen in the big picture, but lots of smaller stuff is surprising me as I write it. It's maybe my favorite part of writing, when I discover something about the characters or world I'm writing in that I didn't know beforehand, like it was always that way, and I didn't create it, I just found out about it and reported it. And now I look back at those things and think to myself of course it's that way, and it couldn't be any other.
But now I'm starting at the first line of this chapter: "It was Rose's first sound night of sleep in days. The Swift house felt like a refuge, the only safe island in an ocean of storms." And trying to figure out where it goes next.
quote:But now I'm starting at the first line of this chapter: "It was Rose's first sound night of sleep in days. The Swift house felt like a refuge, the only safe island in an ocean of storms." And trying to figure out where it goes next.
Hopefully this is the chapter where the real trouble starts? Because that opening sounds ominous to me. Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Lyr: Just fyi I do plan on reading this but I have been sort of overwhelmed with personal stuff. Sorry to be a lamer and ask for a copy only to not give you feedback!
Posts: 3580 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Hey, no worries! I still have lots of writing left to do, and some editing, so there's plenty of time. Whenever you get to it is fine with me. Just take your time. If you like, just email me when you have the time, and I can send you the latest copy.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:But now I'm starting at the first line of this chapter: "It was Rose's first sound night of sleep in days. The Swift house felt like a refuge, the only safe island in an ocean of storms." And trying to figure out where it goes next.
Hopefully this is the chapter where the real trouble starts? Because that opening sounds ominous to me.
SPOILERS
Well, the previous chapter ended with this:
"What do you intend to do now?" John asked.
She stood and faced Penfold and her friends.
"Well my family is full of bounty hunters aren't they?" She turned back to John and flashed him a ferocious grin. "I think it's time I stop being the hunted and become the hunter."
She's already been in plenty of trouble, cliched though it sounds. Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Blayne Bradley
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posted
Exams coming up, i'll try to send back my review when I can. I do have a short story I can send you (or anyone interested) if you (or anyone) want(s).
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Now that the semester is over, I'm getting back into it. I lost about a month during the end of the semester. It was a nightmare. I didn't do anything but read and read and read and write papers.
As of right now, I'm maybe halfway through it. Is there a hard deadline for when it needs to be done for them to get to it? I might be able to get it done by next week, if a little roughly, before I go on vacation.
Would 30,000 words tide them over for long? They can read the first half as a tease.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Blayne Bradley
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8 week summer semester for me, so I'm a bit busy just resend me your most uptodate stuff and I'll merge my commentary with it and continue it at some point.
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I'll hook you both up in a couple days. My internet has been down all day and will be done for a couple more until the tech gets there. I'm holed up at a friend's house now. Thanks.
Without the internet, I'm sure I'll be cranking the words out over the next couple days.
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posted
It's always good to see people writing, so I wholeheartedly approve your experiment, Lyr.
I'm right in the middle of writing a YA science fiction novel, myself. I think I'm at about 140 pages (33,000 words, roughly, if I remember right). It has taken me a while to get to that point because I only write a few pages every week or two, but you have inspired me. I am totally going to dedicate my day tomorrow to writing as much as humanly possible. It should be interesting to see how far I get.
Posts: 1324 | Registered: Feb 2011
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posted
This is all very exciting!! You know what? Send me what you have so far. I will figure out a way to distribute it. Hard deadline for the whole thing is going to have to be May 28. That will give me a chance to figure out distribution & at least some kids a chance to read & respond before the last day of school (June 8).
Send attachments or whatever to liz3blue at gmail dot com.
Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
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I'll send by tomorrow night. I'm planning to crank out a significant amount between now and tomorrow night. It's still in rough shape, needs some editing, but if I can finish it soon, hopefully a round of editing will smooth it out some.
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posted
Emails have been sent out to everyone who requested a copy with the most recent version I have.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Jeff C.: It's always good to see people writing, so I wholeheartedly approve your experiment, Lyr.
I'm right in the middle of writing a YA science fiction novel, myself. I think I'm at about 140 pages (33,000 words, roughly, if I remember right). It has taken me a while to get to that point because I only write a few pages every week or two, but you have inspired me. I am totally going to dedicate my day tomorrow to writing as much as humanly possible. It should be interesting to see how far I get.
So how far did you get?
And out of curiosity, what font or page size are you using that gets you 140 pages from 33,000 words? I have 60 pages from 31,000 words using the standard Word settings.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Well that's why. Make sure you switch to double spaced. Most manuscripts are double.
I chose Bookman Old Style because I personally think it looks more professional. I got the idea from OSC, who also uses it.
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posted
I'm a fan of Bookman Old Style as well. It does take slightly more space than TNR, although the spacing is certainly more of an issue for page count.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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With that format, I'm up to 122 pages. I think it's handy for gauging my page count under more realistic publishing circumstances. In other words, if I was going to publish an actual book from my manuscript, it wouldn't be with tiny single spaced font on an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper. So this tells me where I'm at.
But it's still pretty awkward to look at and write in. 12 point BOS is just huge. It also means I have to scroll a lot to read anything more than a paragraph or two at a time. I think I'll stick to my old reliable formatting, but if I ever actually send this out to anywhere, in a different fantasy world where I try to get published, I'll change the format.
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posted
Hey Lyr, wasn't this supposed to be like a 4 day project?
Not trying to rag on you, it seemed an insanely ambitious attempt. Just curious. I know you changed it to 4 nonconsecutive days earlier... did you abandon that plan?
Posts: 3580 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Yep. The initial plan failed entirely. I was actually just talking to SteveRogers about this the other day.
It started out really well actually. I was writing about 15,000 words in a HALF day. Over two half day sessions I wrote something like 25,000 words, but I've lost track of how many hours I've spent on it now. After those first two writing sessions I really thought I could do it, but after that the writing broke down to an hour here and an hour there and I lost all track of time. I have no idea how long I've actually spent on it now.
Still...we're working on it.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: Yep. The initial plan failed entirely. I was actually just talking to SteveRogers about this the other day.
It started out really well actually. I was writing about 15,000 words in a HALF day. Over two half day sessions I wrote something like 25,000 words, but I've lost track of how many hours I've spent on it now. After those first two writing sessions I really thought I could do it, but after that the writing broke down to an hour here and an hour there and I lost all track of time. I have no idea how long I've actually spent on it now.
Still...we're working on it.
That's understandable. I've never found that pace to be very sustainable. Awesome when you can manage it, though.
Doesn't matter, as long as you guys push through! So keep it up. We're all rooting for you. Posts: 3580 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I sent it to most of the kids as an email attachment. One doesn't have internet access, so I actually printed him a copy. I changed it to 11 point font first, which is still pretty readable and saved 10+ pages.
We don't have a specific plan for discussion yet, but we'll definitely figure one out before the end of the school year. They're pretty excited to be able to give feedback.
Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
I'm really interested in what their feedback is. If you could set up some sort of...I don't know, either videotaping your group discussion, or have them write reviews or something, I'd love to hear what they have to say.
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