Brief Synopsis: A young man is pulled into the American Revolution by the death of his brother and the events along the Battle Road. When he joins the Continental Marines, he is unwittingly assigned to a ship inhabited by a Royalist spy--a spy who recognizes him. Now he must not only survive his mission, but also survive the spy's clandestined attempts to kill him.
Violent and sexual content (I'll post this with every chapter so people know). Title: War of the Wolves
Synopsis: When her mountain home is invaded, the princess Gwineth arranges a marriage which will end a long-time feud. But treachery forces her to choose between her family and her new husband. Now she must rally her people to fend off the invaders before it's too late.
Goal: Write chapter 4
Genre: fantasy Status: About halfway through the first draft
Violent and sexual content
Title: The Whore of Helias
Synopsis: Imara escapes from the oppressive temple with one goal: to become the most skilled courtesan and so win the emperor's love. But her heart has deceived her from the truth, and she realizes she must escape the monster who would claim her for his own.
Goal: Write a bridge between two existing scenes
Next, please!
[This message has been edited by annepin (edited September 12, 2008).]
posted
It's always good to have novel goals instead of boring old ones! (sorry, my sense of humor is terrible this late at night)
Genre: Futuristic Dark Fantasy Status: Initial Draft
Tentative Title: Graveyard Brief Synopsis: The human race, abandoned by the gods, is dying. The one chance for salvation lies in searching for a hidden artifact in a graveyard full of demons. The rule is that each human has one opportunity to search for it, but Celeste decides she is no longer interested in living by the rules.
Goal for this week: Complete outline and rewrite the few pages I started so that they make sense for the longer story.
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Status: First rewrite of version 2 Tentative Title: Varanian Brief Synopsis: Though Leanna is fated to destroy her city, she has no wish to do so. Now she has to try to explain that to the terrorists who have kidnapped her, and find a way to save her city and herself using a magic that is in no way suited for fighting.
Goal for this week: Write a completely new version of Chapter 5.
Synopsis: Addy Harper is a former party girl who has turned her life around. She now is the director of the Harper Street Shelter in Tucson. On her 30th birthday, ten years after the death of her estranged father, Addy and her brother Paul stand to inherit Ben Harper's fortune. A month before Addy's birthday, the police become aware of a link between a number of unsolved murders involving shelter regulars - big money insurance policies paying out to Addy Harper. Homicide detective Renner Cole poses as a street bum to find out who is killing the residents of Harper Street - and exactly how Addy Harper is involved.
Status: first 100 pages written; about 100 pages of the remaining book is fully plotted out
Goal: complete the next chapter, which includes a bit of police procedural, and get the story moving along back to the juicy bits.
Brief Synopsis: MC is a young associate and she's just been handed a milk run for her first trial - a wrongful death case against the company that maintained the decedent's (dead guy's) airplane. Since the plane's engine blew apart and turned its occupant into sushi, it's a case even the corpse can win. Until, the widow refuses the settlement offer. Now, the mob, and a large pharmaceutical company want the MC off the case, permanently.
Goal: Rough outline by end of month.
Genre Fantasy Status redrafting/ merging plot lines Tentative Title: The King's Falcon Brief Synopis: Stripped of her birthright and saved from the burdens of royalty, Falcon become Queen Sabryna’s agent, avoiding personal entanglement in the political gambits and romantic liaisons she reports. Through sorcery and guile. Mordenet preys on her kingdom's wealth to save his own. Unable to reclaim her throne, Falcon must somehow protect her kingdom and its people.
Synopsis: Victor has an odd hobby. He likes to break into houses to admire works of art. His friend, Detective Anderson has been turning a blind eye for years. Until people start dying. A serial killer is using Victor to gain access to new victims. As the killings continue, Victor must find a way to stop an unforgivable present and an unbearable future.
Goal - Write(translate) 5 chapters from screenplay outline
posted
Synopses are so much harder than they look!
Genre: fantasy Status: getting a complete 1st draft down. I'm about 200 pages, 2/3s of the way through so far Working Title:The Darkness of Light Synopsis: The Gifted are dying out, hunted to extinction by a fanatical league who see them as witches and demons. Abandoned as a baby, Morgan has grown up in hiding, protected by her manipulative guardians. When a series of events offers her the chance to escape from a life she hates, she decides to use her Gift to help others, but to do this she must risk capture by those who will stop at nothing to kill her.
Current Goal: I'm going to be away this week, so I'll keep it modest. First page of chapter 17.
Tentative Title: Are you kidding? I can't even think of titles for my 13 line submissions, let alone for a whole novel!
New and Improved Synopsis: Drew has been in hiding for 4 years when he meets Heather, whose life was destroyed when her boyfriend killed her twin sister. Together, they find not only romance, but healing. When Heather discovers that Drew is a faerie, she realizes that magic may ruin her life again.
Goal: Rough outline by the end of the month
I'm also toying with the idea of reworking a few chapters from a previous book, but I hope you can talk me down...
Synopsis: This is a sequel. The novel is exploring a seperate angle of the first novel. Sam Kent and Reagan DuSaint start a new game. Sam Kent is established in a new and very powerful role, Emily Whitmore is introduced and is trying to save her brother. Reagan is freed from his former situation and is discovering himself.
I REALLY hate writing these things.
My goal is to take my manuscript (complete as far as the story goes) get through the edits, tweak it and polish it until it shines. I am additionally trying to narrow down the list of potential publishers and perfect my synopsis/query. I'm hoping to have the manuscript close to a finished product over the next month. I want to have it completly finished and my queries in the mail by Thanksgiving.
posted
Genre: YA Science Fiction Working Title: Convergence Synopsis: Things aren't going very well for Anya in her first few weeks on the space station Convergence. The low-grav days at her school throw her for a loop - literally, and she seems to have gotten on the bad side of both the Queen Bee of the school and the Computer Science teacher. Her only friend is a computer, the central computer that operates most of the space station. Anya names her Isis and promises to keep Isis' existence, or rather awareness, secret-something that becomes even more important when she uncovers a plot to harm Isis. She eventually befriends a few humans, but will they be able to help Anya stop the plot to steal her computer friend, compete in the school's Wall-Ball tournament, and navigate the perils of high school life - in space?
Goal: Starting from page 1, word 1, redraft/fix/improve/polish/find opportunities to write more scenes. Immediate goal: Get through equivalent of "first chapter" (subgoal: start breaking it into chapters...) in the next week.
Brief Synopsis: Grace, Liz and David have been friends since grade school. Grace and David grew up knowing that they are different, shape-shifters. Heck everyone is in their families but Liz is just a normal girl. One day, Liz zaps her computer and she realizes she can start fires, control fire, play with fire. She turns to her friends who also reveal their secrets to her. The next day Liz and her Mom disappear. But not entirely, Liz can communicate with Grace and David via text messages relayed through Facebook, Twitter and other sites. While she is not sure exactly where she is or how she got there, she has a pretty good idea of how to help David and Grace figure it out.
Goal: in general I plan to 1/2 chapter each week. --this week I need to rewrite chapter 1.
Has this happened to anyone else - you have a big thorny plot problem, and for months you can't figure it out. And then inspiration smacks you in the back of the head, and you have a perfect solution to your problem plus several other problems you didn't know you had?
That happened to me last night, for "Graveyard". It's such a great feeling. So, one of my goals for the week is closer to completion, for now I have better detail in my mind to use to write my outline. Oh, and I managed to rewrite the first chapter.
posted
Nice, I have had that happen to me sometimes. Can't think of anything and then it just comes. It usually happens for me at night in bed. Way to go.
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it's those intuitive things that makes writing fun. It always make me feel like i've channeled into something bigger than my brain, for a few moments.
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Right, Deb. Terry Pratchett, in his Discworld books, talks about particles of inspiration zinging through the universe and zinging occasional people in the head. That's definitely what this occasion felt like to me.
And yes, satate, these things often happen to me while I'm trying to fall asleep. I've learned to keep a piece of paper and a pen by my bed, and to learn to read what I wrote in the dark.
posted
Wow. You're not going to believe this, but the exact same thing happened to me the other night. I'd been mentally wrestling with a plot issue for God knows how long, only to have it neatly resolved by a chance inspiration particle.
I blame CERN. Maybe that's what those Higgs things do...
Brief Synopsis: Ida, a village elder, leaves home and family to become a priestess of Yao. She travels throughout the land, combating the widespread influence of a pantheon of false gods. Although Yao has granted Ida the power to transform into a dragon, He has forbidden her to use this ability in her quest to restore her people’s faith. But Yao is about to act; Ida will lead a new generation of dragon priests in preparing the people for their destruction and redemption.
Goal: Sort out my options for the plot’s next set of scenes; fix the outline, and write the next chapter. (No time goal; just want to make progress!)
[This message has been edited by MrsBrown (edited September 14, 2008).]
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Anybody achieve anything over the weekend? I was literally balked until last night (which is my actual weekend/day off) and last night I put out three-times the work I normally do.
I didn't end the chapter, which I might have been able to do without the intentional obstacle, but I did up the output.
I'm up to 24,250 words.
I'll report of the progress again after next weekend.
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I wrote a couple sentences on WotW. I'm stalled, though. I'm changing so much stuff around since the last draft I'm having a hard time letting go of the old draft and re-envisioning the new. A lot of things that worked last time aren't goig to work this time, but I haven't found new solutions yet.
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I've been doing a lot of head work. There was no real need for a villain in my first book, but this time around there will one. It has been more difficult than I anticipated to create a villain. The more I think about it, the more complicated it gets--and just this morning I realized that I now need to build a whole religious system. (To think I thought my world was completely developed in book 1.)
I'm having a great time! This is one of the things I love about fantasy writing! You create one new part of your world and it sends ripples through the whole story. None of it has gotten onto paper yet though.
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I didn't do any writing, but I organized my various WIP. That really helped my head. When the notes start stacking up I start to feel out of control.
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I was struck down by the evil ragweed all weekend. Well, all Sunday. Sat we had a pre-existing commitment. No writing. I;'m hoping to catch up this week. My goal is still a rough outline for the second half of Falcon by Friday, midnight. I think I can do it especially since I'll be spending 3 hours on a plane that day.
But, yes, I had that light bulb moment when I got some of the comments back from EE. It's so NICE!!
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I finished my first short story, then spent the rest of the weekend tending to kids who, it turns out, have roseola. Lots of fever, very little fun. I couldn't concentrate to write much. I did over 900 words from Thurs pm to Sun pm. But half of it is crap, I'm sure.
Palaytia is researching flashback/dream sequences with me. So I can get in there and work out the kinks in those.
My goal for this week is to finish off two chapters in a re-write. I'm tweaking my end-of-A-world/abandon planet scene. So, 1.5 pages a day this week min, but try for 3 to make up for this very sucky weekend
posted
Annepin - your lucky day. You are a member of a novel group. Let us help jumpstart you! I consider this group an investment in my children's future libraries.
When I hit a plot snag I start asking hypotheticals. Do you have specific hang-ups that you can simplify and pose as a generic hypothetical question?
I say generic, because you have a room full of creative thinkers and we can run with anything, but if you give too much detail, it may make it harder for some of us to think on. For example, in the other thread I asked about worlds ending, but didn't elaborate the finer points (like the fact that the world is a sort of parallel and how I have parallel worlds set up, etc) because then I may have lost a few great ideas and ref.'s. The ideas are then generic enough that your own imagination can format them to fit your story.
So, is there any hangup in particular you are trying to see a way around? If so, tap this crack team of creativity engineers. All writers research, starting by asking for input seems the best way to research to me. And again, because the questions& answers are generic, the end product is still your own idea. It's like going to a scenario buffet.
[This message has been edited by Reagansgame (edited September 15, 2008).]
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I got a request (Thank you, God!) for a full from an agent who said he really liked the partial, so I spent part of the weekend tidying the file up and then printing it out, finding a good box - we don't talk enough about box selection here, I don't think - and now I'm just waiting till friday when I get paid so I can ship it out.
I got tagged by Adam to see if I would be interested in submitting to Polluto (which is semi-pro in two more issues) and I accepted with thrilledness.
AND I got 2,000 words done on Harper Street, after working out some painfully difficult scene settings/details. Ouch. And Wouldbe agreed to read what I've got so far. I was really happy about that, because he's a great crit-person, who knows obscure things like the correct way to write dosey-do. He should be covered in glory and rose petals.
posted
I was happy with my progress this weekend. I wrote almost a 1,000 words which is good for me since I hadn't been writing much lately. This group has me motivated. I wrote a scene that I liked, but I liked it at 12 midnight and I never know if it's really good until I read it the next day. I'm almost finished with the chapter and then I wanted to get started on the next one this week.
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I got most of my goals completed on Friday night, especially since I'm just going to do "Graveyard" in this group (I know I've said that before, but this time I'm sticking to working only on the one). It didn't take long to rewrite the first chapter since it's so short, so that's basically ready to be swapped.
Alas, it's the rest of my projects I'm behind on: two collaborations, a couple of crits, and my WOTF Q4 story (still in revision process!)
posted
I had a breakthrough. For the last few months, I've been hunting for the answers to two specific questions:
What did the Continental Marines do from their inception (November 10, 1775) until the left Philadelphia (January 4, 1776)?
What did they do when they were frozen in the Delaware (January 5, 1776 - February 17, 1776)?
Tonight I received detailed answers to these and more than I'd even considered. I also broke 100 pages, and am concerned that I will achieve my protagonist joining the Continental Marines before 350 pages.
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited September 17, 2008).]
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I did it. I finished my goal. I got the chapter done and started on the next. Now I'm stalled as I'm not sure exactly how to proceed into the next chapter. I know where I want to go, just not exactly sure how to get there. I have a vague idea though, I'm not completely lost. I'm just not sure how to transition. I do have a scene I want to do. I think I'll do the scene and then worry about the transition. So that is my next goal. Get the scene all down and start the transition.
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Hm... thanks for the suggestion, reagansgame. I'll try to describe my problem in general terms. My novel is a multi-viewpoint novel. In the first draft, I had five characters. I eliminated two for the second draft, am thinking about reinstating one; at any rate, eliminating two has somewhat destroyed my rhythm. In my prior draft I had a good sense of suspense, of teasing events in one character's POV and then working in another's. Well, that sense is gone. Part of it is I no longer know what's going to happen... my plot's kind of scrambled now because I lopped off the first 100 pages or so of my novel to speed things along. A good thing, but it leaves me feeling... uneven, I guess. Off beat somehow.
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When I get that 'not quite right' feeling I usually go back and redo until things feel right. It's like only partly completing an electrical circuit. Nothing goes right until I take care of the things I'm not sure about.
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Anne, sounds like you need to take a step back and reassess your plot outline so you can find your way. I know this may not be your style, but might be a good exercise to just try to step back and look at the plot as a whole so you can find that flow again.
I have used the snowflake method before with pretty solid success. I don't follow the time guidelines as rigidly as the author suggests, but as I mentioned, I've had good success with this. I think it works really well for a well-established idea that you've already got details in mind for, in my opinion it works OK for a nebulous idea but you have to spend a lot of time in between the steps of the process working on more details so you can go to the next level.
Meanwhile, I'm a miserable failure on my novel goals (and short-story ones for that matter.) I did manage to finish my slush input for my slush reading gig, one of many writerly tasks that I have not been able to get to. Hoping to prioritize some of my other writerly stuff for tonight.
posted
The Snowflake method is sort of how I look at my outlines. I try to do a rough outline (like a rough sketch) and refine it along the way. I agree, however, that you might need to back up and re-outline/plot to get clarification.
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Thanks for the suggestions! I tried the snowflake method a while back without a lot of luck. But I did get some ideas, so maybe it's worth trying it again.
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IAB, since this is sort-of "did you write?" I'm wondering if we should start a new thread each week. Otherwise, we'll have a boatload of pages to scroll through very shortly.
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I'm not sure, but I think I may be the writer with the least experience in this group. Is anyone else a contender for that title? My first experience with writing was Nanowrimo last year, and my next challenge is this novel I am trying to outline.
I came a long way this week. I actually got some words on the screen--1000 words in my outline. I've run into a bizarre problem though. My first book was a fantasy/romance and my second book was supposed to be a sequel to it, but I was going to use different main characters. As I've tried to work through this outline, I am realizing that the story of these two characters really doesn't pick up where the other story left off. In fact, it starts years before my first book, but the climax doesn't happen until after the first book ends. The two stories parallel each other, but only touch in a couple of places--important places though. What should I do???
I could try combining them into one book, but that would destroy all hope of staying around 100,000 words. Plus, the story arcs don't really match. The second story line really heats up only after the denouement of the first story, plus I can't think of any way to tie the two stories together until nearly the end.
Is this something I even ought to be worrying about?
posted
Unwritten, I don't think it's a concern. OSC wrote Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow as parallels, and there was no problem. I actually think it would have been a deeper experience if Ender's Shadow would have been like a mystery or something.
Deb, I don't have a problem with that. Since it's a "Novel Goals and Support" thread, it'll probably just be acronym and dates: NGAS 9/19 - 9/25. What does everybody think?
Oh, and anyone who is ready to trade a chapter or so, speak up -- likewise, if you're interested in anyone's work, just ask.
posted
I'm ready to swap! My first chapter is about 2200 words.
First 13:
Gwineth counted twelve men running along the ridge down from the pass into the valley. She squinted against the bright snow to make out the details on their shields strapped across their backs but she could only make out a flash of metal here, a flash of metal there. In their hands they held spears. Their gait was swift, but the long, loping stride of men who had been hard running for a long time.
Her brother, Gaylen, would be able to see them, with his eyes keen as an eagle’s. She waited until he climbed up the escarpment before she pointed out the men. He shifted under the dead deer laid across his back and shaded his eyes with a dark hand. “Maer,” he said.
“Are you sure?” She strained her eyes to try to make out the face
[This message has been edited by annepin (edited September 18, 2008).]
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Oh, right. Here's my first thirteen. The chapter is 1400 words.
Celeste wrapped her fingers around the wooden handle of the gate to the graveyard, cursing the splinters that broke off into her skin. Her throat was dry as she pulled the gate back, but she made sure her movements were not hesitant. Any outward sign of fear would call the Sentinels to her. The gate banged back against the fence, and Celeste winced at the loud thwack. She set her shoulders and walked toward the statue of the Guardian that stood only a dozen feet past the fence. Beyond it stretched the graveyard, nearly one hundred meters square. It had looked so much smaller on the satellite images, but no less bleak. Like the dry lands that surrounded the graveyard, there was no life here, just frozen death. Dead grass and leaves covered the ground, never changing or
posted
Hi Anne -- I don't know if what you're dealing with is writer's block, but here are some suggestions for helping get that creative faucet running again. I found this post with a lot of other people's ideas on breaking the block. My favorite tip is to get several audio books along the lines of what you're aiming for in your writing and keep them in your car or set up a cd player in your kitchen, listen during house work. All authors say your reading is as important as your writing. Reading hour/day should = writing hours a day. Here's what other folks say:
I'm ready to trade work, too. I'm very discouraged by all of the pro-advice we Pal and I found online about flashbacks. Anyone know what the formula is in a formula story that starts in present day and the book is a flash back, then ends in the present day? Sort of like the Sandlot? I'm afraid that the flashback is too risky but I can't tell my story any other way!
quote: Anyone know what the formula is in a formula story that starts in present day and the book is a flash back, then ends in the present day?Sort of like the Sandlot? I'm afraid that the flashback is too risky but I can't tell my story any other way!
Ask yourself if the story needs to start and end in present day--and if so why? If it's just a frame story, it'd probably be just as good without it; if there's a lesson (for the character to grow, not the audience) that is a different matter. However, frame stories are different from flashbacks. Flashbacks aren't the main body of a story, they are a sidetrack or a supporting motivation/fear/suspiscion, etc.
posted
I have a chapter to trade, about twenty pages. Here is the first thirteen of this thriller, titled Harper Street:
Addy Harper climbed the stairs of the Harper Street Shelter for what she sincerely hoped was the last time that day. She was tired all the way down to her bones, and there was nothing in the world she wanted more than a hot bath and a chance to climb between her pretty floral sheets for eight blissful hours. She made it into her office and through the phone messages that Sandy had left on her desk. She'd worked a head-pounding ten-hour day today, then spent another precious two hours schmoozing potential donors at a gallery opening in Old Tucson. Her feet hurt, her head hurt, and exhaustion was making her stupid. The financial woes of the shelter, always touch and go, had taken a big hit a month ago, when they learned they were losing a grant due to lack of future funding.
Annipen, Bored Crow, IAB, I'll volunteer to read for you. IAB, I'm not much on American History, but I can line edit for you, if you're ready for that.
[This message has been edited by debhoag (edited September 19, 2008).]
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I've been trying that snowflake method tonight, and I can't seem to wedge my story into three disasters and an ending. I've got several mini-disasters along the way and a big one toward the end. Can someone please remind me its okay to deviate from the formula?
Seriously, I suspect I'm headed toward a meandering middle, which is why I wanted to try this method.
posted
Thanks, Deb, I'll send it your way. I'm happy to read for you, and for you, IAB, Annepin and Regansgame. And KayTi, when you have a chapter to share.
Anyone else, just email and me and ask, especially if you don't need a line edit.
posted
Thanks, Deb, but I'm nowhere near ready for that...I'm still trying to finish. However, and this is for anyone interested in mine, I am concerned with believability and continuity.
And, I do have a couple of chapters done. Here are Storm's Fury's misleading 13 lines:
quote:Rain pattered on Nicholas Storm's tricorn hat and thunder growled in the darkened sky, as he followed Rachael Church through the askew wagon door and into the barn. He counted himself fortunate to have drawn her attentions, for she was an ideal beauty in a low-cut bodice--a buxom brunette with a lascivious smile. As he pulled his hat off and shook some of the rain from it, she bit her lower lip and giggled. Rachael toyed with the corner post to right-hand hay stall, before she turned and fled through the gap and behind the heap of hay. Nicholas gave chase, and she let out a playful scream as he caught her by the waist and dragged her down into the hay. He stifled her scream with a hungry kiss, and tossed his tricorn hat aside.
The only thing is, I have an ongoing copy...it's not saved by chapters. Frighten anyone?
[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited September 19, 2008).]
posted
That's my story too, IB. Make sure you periodically copy and paste the text into a new blank doc and email it to yourself using an email that keeps a copy on the server (like gmail) as well as print some of it out from time to time...
I'm going back to put chapters in now. Hrm...going to be interesting.
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