A long overdue update

I guess I've put off writing this long enough.

Unfortunately most of you probably have noticed the lack of progress made on Enigma.  I promise you that was not intentional and I am greatly sad to inform you all that, due to computer difficulties, Enigma has been lost.

Uhm, how do I begin to explain what happened?

A couple of months ago my computer became the only one that worked in the house.  Of course I had no problems sharing it with the other members of my family but, because of the intensified workload it was experiencing, my computer began glitching out.  My mother set out to discover the problem and I left for work.  I completely forgot to ask her to backup my files if it became necessary and paid the price.  Dearly.  Unfortunately there was nothing to be done with my computer other than restore it factory settings.  And that meant the lost of Enigma.

Now, there is some good news in all of this.  There is an older version of this story that has been backed up.  I have yet to actually look at it so I have no clue what I would be looking at as far as the editing of it and the status of its completion.

I guess what I am trying to say is that Enigma has been placed on a permanent hiatus until further notice.  I can't promise that I will ever work up the motivation to revisit it.  I'm overwhelmed at the thought of how much work is still needed on a draft that is still in it's infancy.  But, rest assured that this does not mean the permanent death of Enigma and those characters.  I still care about the story a great deal and want to, one day, continue writing it and, hopefully, finish it.  For now, however, I must move on.

And I have.

For quite sometime I've been drafting an outline of a story that popped into my head one day.  Since the beginning of the outline so much has changed and I am thrilled to announce this new project here!  As of right now I have yet to decide on a name and the details are still a bit fuzzy.  However, I can tell you that I plan on this story being a three part series that involves a lot of drama.  So, buckle up!

I plan on starting the first book sometime this week but I cannot say how consistently I will be uploading chapters to figment.  On Monday I start a new job and my schedule becomes even more hectic than it already is.  For now, though, I can promise the first chapter by the end of this week.

Thanks again to all my lovely followers and your continued support.

Kelsey

Still Here!!

Once again busy life has kept me...well, busy.  I'm still working on Enigma (previously known as Secrets) and am focused on getting it where it needs to be.  But, man, it's a slow process!  Now that life has slowed down, for now, I'm hopeful that I can spend the remainder of my freedom on grooming it to perfection.

Unfortunately I'm still not ready to release any new information on the changes that have occurred.  But I have posted the revised first chapter on figment.com.  You can read it here.  Please read it and let me know what you think!

For now, that's all I've got.  I hope to remember to post on this thing more often.  That's what I have it, right?

Changes, changes, changes

Goodness me it's been a while since I've written on this thing!  After Nano I took a little hiatus from writing in Secrets merely for creative purposes.  Half a year later I'm back typing away!

In case you're wondering, yes Secrets is a finished story that I am currently revamping.

After a quick read through I discovered that there was need for a face-lift.  First thing on my list: a new ending.  Once that was written it opened the door for the development of a whole series!  Now I am more than half-way done with mapping that out and have a general idea what direction I'm going in.  Secondly, I changed the books name.  I wanted something stronger than just Secrets.  So, now, the series is called The Enigma Trilogy and the first book goes by The Game of Shadows.  If you've read the story all the way through you'll know the significance of this title.  :)

And, for one final bombshell, I was inspired to modernize the story.  With this comes a whole new take on my original manuscript.  Every single one of my characters have shifted and morphed into something I could never have imagined.  The cast is stronger than ever and I have renewed vision.  Names have changed as have the setting.

I promise to give more details later but now I'll leave you with a list of changed names and roles.

Eliza - Lavender's tutor
Patrick to Ralerin - same role
Hadley to Patrick - same
Olivia - Lavender's companion/hand-maid
Charlotte - deceased
Autumn - deleted

Nano - Day 5

I know, I haven't updated in so long! I'm sorry! Well, it's day five and I think I'm doing fairly well. My word count is slowly getting up to par. I have been posting the edited chapters on Figment, so if you want to read it go there. :) I have posted the link several times but here it is once more: CLICK! Leave feedback. :)

National Novel Writing Month

Well, once again Nanowrimo has begun! This year I will be participating, though in a different way. I will be going through it for the editing stages of Secrets. I am very excited at the prospect that by the end of this month Secrets will be finished. I have a good feeling that this will be a story that I can be proud of.

Oh, and sorry for not updating this sooner. I have been super busy. I was housesitting for my grandparents for a week, then I got sick. Luckily I'm feeling better and am eager to work hard on Secrets. Wish me luck!

Kelsey

Almost done

This journey has consumed my every moment. I feel as though my inside want to scream right now! I only have three more chapters to write until I am done with Secrets. What's more is I will exceed my intended word goal. Just as I am preparing to end chapter eighteen I look and see I have 48,000 words written. My goal was 50,000. I doubt I'll reach that by the end of eighteen but should reach it near the end of chapter nineteen.

I'm quite at a loss of where to go once I've finished. Do I look for an agent and try to get published? Do I settle with second best and content myself with the satisfaction of actually finishing? I can't ignore the creeping sense of doubt as it slowly consumes me. What if it really isn't that good? I guess I'll know once I start weeding through it and getting it at least agent ready. I'm not a grammar queen and know that with over 50,000 words there will be a lot of mistakes. I don't know how long it'll take me to go through it completely.

Still, I have to be asked an important question. Do I refrain from publishing it, use this as a learning experience and move on to something better or do I shoot for the stars? Help.

Fixed computer!

I finally got my computer fixed, which means I have been working harder than ever on Secrets. I finally got to chapter 14. I am super thrilled. Every word gets me closer to my goal of finishing it. I actually just posted chapter thirteen on figment. If you wish to read it click HERE.

I have 33,896 words and 92 pages. I think when I hit 100 pages I might throw a little party! Come to think of it, this chapter should carry me there. Wish me luck. I am ever edging closer to my dream. I couldn't be more excited.

Computer issues

It seems I can't catch a break. I managed to write a few paragraphs in chaper thirteen. Currently I'm writing this post from my iPod. Yeah. My computer screen cracked making it impossible for me to work on it. Luckily my Uncle will fix it. Unfortunately I have no idea how long that will take. So, I will keep you updated.

No New Progress

Unfortunately I have been super busy, what with co-op starting tomorrow (ACK!!!) and the lack of sleep I faced over the weekend. In short my muse died. I do plan on writing some so...stayed tuned!

YES!!

I finally finished chapter 11! I'm very excited about that. This is the farthest I've ever gotten in a story before. The story is really progressing nicely and I'm confident in it's eventual success.

Chapter 11 was brutal! It was unintentionally long (5,112 words). Not only was the original chapter summery three pages long I added a flashback that wasn't planned for. That added a huge portion to the chapter. I guess a lot happens in Chapter 11.

Needless to say I felt like I've been on Chapter 11 for days, but in reality it's only been, like, two. Anyway. I'm glad I'm done with that and will start on Chapter 12 tomorrow. You may be wondering how many chapters are left. I'll enlighten you. There are nine chapters left and an epilogue. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT! I know I can't. Then starts the painstakingly long process of editing. Which I hope to have someone do for me. You know who you are so I needn't say your name here.

Anyway. I'm going to take a break from the computer and typing before I go completely insane. Until the next chapter!

No new chapter...yet

So far I have been pretty consistent with producing/contributing to a chapter at least every day. Unfortunately my weekend has been insanely busy, not to mention the fact that this chapter is proving to be particularly long. It stands a good chance of exceeding my usual 2,000-3,000 words. Here is a short sneak peek of what I have written so far:

[This is a flashback] Ethel traveled through the streets her hood tightly drawn over her face. Tears streamed down her colorless cheeks as she fled through the palace walls. She barely registered the other Mystics ambling about the city square looking quite cheerful and unaffected. It was unfair how they could be so happy and here she was, battling with a moral war.

She had been a mystic for two hundred and eighty three years and nothing had changed thus far. Life had remained a mundane task to which she went to classes, learned and listened to Tibeus drone on and on about Mystic responsibility and their oath to servitude. It seemed unfair that she was forced to serve King Charles II for all of eternity while he sat up in his castle enjoying all that life had to offer. He had a beautiful wife, Krista and they had two sons and a daughter. Crown Prince Charles III was to be heir. He was a lovely boy, well taught in the history of Naomoni, and handsome too. His sisters, Ophelia and Dorcus, weren’t nearly as pleasant as he was. However, Ophelia was already engaged to some foreign prince. How glamorous their lives seemed. 

Ethel knew it was selfish, after all Dorcus lay in bed dying from a mysterious ailment that seemed to attack the heart. It was doubtful that she would live past autumn. It was a pity really, as young prince Charles seemed particularly attached to his youngest sister. Only fourteen years old and already fading like a flower. It seemed Dorcus and Ethel were to share similar fates, neither one would ever being truly loved by a man. Even Charles, merely twenty-five years old, was married and had three beautiful daughters and another suspected to be on the way. His wife, Charlotte, far surpassed Queen Krista in nearly every aspect. She was well spoken and handled herself with etiquette. But Krista seemed to like her daughter-in-law despite all of this.

I wrote the above piece around one in the morning. That seemed to be the only opportunity I had and was typing away at my keyboard until three. I am a mess. Hence the ramblings.

In short a new chapter is to be expected on figment tomorrow or the day after. In case you've forgotten here is the link to where you can read the story as I post more: CLICK!!

Have a splendid evening! :)

Chapter 10 = 23,523 words total

So tonight my mom had a meeting with the tutors apart of our homeschooling co-op known as Classical Conversations. After all of the running around and getting things prepared for an event tomorrow I had time to write. I managed to start and finish Chapter 10. By far I must admit it's one of my favorite chapters. I think the quality is pretty good (I read through it when I finished writing it) and it keeps the story interesting. I've actually been really excited about this particular chapter. It's really when everything starts picking up and heading towards the inevitable end.

I must admit I've never gotten this far in any of my stories for a very long time. I'm pretty confident that I will finish this, in fact I'm determined! It's been hard forcing myself to focus on writing Secrets and nothing else. I dabble...a lot. Which, I think, is why I never finish anything. Too many ideas. The only ideas that have popped into my head since finishing the chapter summaries for Secrets involve Secrets.

Unfortunately, the way I have this story end require me to write a sequel. o.O. That should be interesting. When the time comes I'll really have to devote myself to the development of that to make sure it's just as good (if not better) as the first.

Anyway. As you can tell it's late (11:25 to be exact) and I always tend to ramble when I'm tired. I've also had coffee this evening which means me falling asleep at a decent time tonight is highly improbable. It's not any better that I have to wake up at seven-thirty tomorrow morning (which isn't too awful).

I guess I should sign off before this post goes to the dogs. NIGHT!

Kelsey

20951 words

I finished Chapter nine this morning. I felt like it took me forever! The chapter summery itself wasn't that long but I added so much to it. Overall I'm really happy with how it turned out. Here is a sneak peak.


“Lavender,” he spoke her name with gentle authority. She remembered all the times as a child when he would come to her room and sooth away all her night frights. Long lost were the events of her childhood. Never to be regained. Now she stood directly in front of him, the whole room looking upon her like a criminal. “Are you aware of your true parentage?”

Lavender was chilled to the bone at the question. They were asking for names, two names in particular, Ethel’s, of course, and the name belonging to her true father. She only knew of Ethel, not caring enough to go searching for her sire. Or, perhaps, she had found herself contented with the thought of Charles as her father. 

The room began to shift as her silence stretched on. Her gaze was lost in thoughtfulness as she debated between her options. She could lie and save Ethel or she could reveal the truth and condemn her. The latter certainly wasn’t the more honorable of the two but Lavender found herself leaning towards it. It wasn’t for some sick, twisted need to punish her true mother. She felt that Charles had been lied too enough for the duration of her life. He needed answers and she found herself willing to hand them out.

But, what would that mean for Ethel? Lavender wasn’t greatly practiced in the laws strictly put in place by Mystic Elders, but she knew that they held a high standard of what is expected. When had she ever been concerned with the fate of Ethel? Lavender was her mistake and she shouldn’t seek to protect the Mystic from her deserved punishment. After all, Charlotte faced the same fate.

“My mother’s name is Ethel,” The words fell from Lavender’s lips before she could stop them. There was a thrill of satisfaction as the Mystic Elder grew stiff. “She is a Mystic who is still undergoing proper training by the order of the Elders. Go below and you will find her.”

I know, it's really short. Anyway. I have passed the 20,000 word mark! I am so excited and feeling more motivated than I ever have before. 

Too Long

It's been too long since I last updated this thing. It's almost embarrassing. Not much has happened. I'm working on a new project called Secrets. Its going fairly well so far, with my having the chapter summaries completely written. I think this is the farthest I've ever gotten in concerns of writing a story. I'm pretty proud of myself. It takes a lot of concentration just to jump to thinking about a possible sequel or such things. But I don't want to ruin anything.

I started writing Chapter 9 yesterday and haven't really had the chance to finish it. I want to be certain that my quality doesn't suffer for sake of quantity. I know that can be one of my tendencies. If you haven't already read chapter 8 (or any of Secrets, for that matter) please do. I'd really appreciate feedback and such.

Finally!

After months of begrudgingly fighting to finish editing Chapter 7 I managed to finish it! I am officially done with that chapter. That is a liberating fact! Though, the prospect of starting on chapter eight is slightly less welcoming. That and the fact that my outline is MIA. I guess I'll have to start searching if I ever want to finish this novel!

If any of you want to read Emblem I'm currently uploaded all my edited chapters on Figment.com. Here is the link to my story: Emblem, Time of the Emerald. Enjoy!!

Stuck On Seven

So, I've been uninspired lately. Nothing is worse than fighting your way to finish a chapter. For a while I was utterly repulsed by how it turned out. Needless to say I avoided it by any means possible. Earlier this week I finally managed to sit down read it and start the long process of editing out all the 'yuckies' as I call them.  Its a whole lot of work. I'm still combing through it and it's Friday! Hopefully my friend will read it and be able to help me get on the right track. Transitions are the hardest part of a story.

The good news is I'm done with my mad mission to up my word count. All my chapters are 2380 words or more! Yay. Which gives me a grand total of 17102 words (this includes my stinkish seventh chapter). So I'll just keep pressing on. I'm slowly making progress.

Word Count is everything!

For the past couple of days I have been working hard at getting my word count up to par.  I've done some math and figured that in order to reach my goal of 50,000 words for 21 chapters I need to have 2380 words for each chapter. So I've been working on getting that fixed, though I have exceeded that on more then one occasion! I'm pretty pleased with my progress so far.

Other than adding words and writing like a maniac I haven't got much to say here. So...until tomorrow!

For my fellow Inheritance cycle nerds!

Today's pep-talk was by none other than Christopher Paolini! Since I have a few friends who share my interest with his series I thought I'd post it. This pretty much says it all!!

Dear NaNoWriMo Participants,

No doubt you are currently hard at work on your novel for this year's contest. As someone who once wrote 200,000 words in three and a half months, I know exactly what you're going through.

So. Here's my advice based on over 10 years of working to deadlines.

First, writing your book is going to be difficult. Know this. Accept this. Embrace this. It may be fun as well, but make no mistake, what you're attempting is a major undertaking.

Second, pace yourself. Because it's going to be difficult, you don't want to burn out. Save the late nights and early mornings for the last week, week-and-a-half of your effort. You may be writing at a quick jog, but don't break out into an all-out, fear-driven, there's-a-bear-behind-me pace until it's absolutely necessary. Conserve your creative strength. You're going to need it. (On a related note: avoid making big decisions not related to your writing. A person can only make so many good decisions over the course of the day, and you want them to go into your novel.)

Third, if you haven't already, think about where your story is going next. If you're going to be flying headlong through the pages, it's good to have a road map. That said, don't be afraid to deviate from your plan if a good idea strikes you during the process.

Fourth, if you're stuck, go for a 15-minute walk. If you don't feel like going, that means you've been sitting at the computer/typewriter/paper for too long. Get up and get the blood flowing. It'll make all the difference.

Fifth, don't worry about punctuation, spelling, or formatting. Those are easy to fix. Instead, worry about pacing, characters, and setting. Get those right, and no one will care that you put a comma in the wrong place.

Sixth, a casual tone (like this letter) is quicker and easier than formal. Nevertheless, use whatever voice best suits your story.

Seventh, tea is a big help. Black or green tea in the morning—Lapsang Souchong is a favorite of mine—cinnamon in the afternoon. Why cinnamon? For some reason, it helps keep my mind sharp. Don't have black or green tea later in the day unless you're in your last big push, then you can have a second in the afternoon, when you start to flag.

Eighth, try to relax when you can. Watch a movie, have dinner with your family, blow up enemies on an Xbox 360 or PS3. Just don't think about the book.

Ninth, try to reach for your word-count goal every day. But, don't feel bad if you get less on a certain day. You will get less on some days. Trust you'll also get far more on other days.

And tenth… don't give up! You can do this! It may not seem like it day to day, but as long as you keep putting words on the page, you will get to the end of this. And who knows? People may actually like what you've written. And that's the best reward of all.

Fellow authors, I salute you. Luck in battle.

– Christopher Paolini

Chapter 5!

Last night I wrote my behind off and managed to get half-way finished with chapter 4. This morning I finished the chapter and am about to start chapter 5. I'm feeling good.  I have 6740 words. Really insignificant compared to what I had before I got on restriction. But if I keep writing like this I'm confident I can reach my goal.

I wish I could make this post longer but my story won't write it's self. Adios!

Original idea for Nano vs. current Nano novel

Before I explain my title let me just apologize for the lack of posts.  It may sound funny but believe me, it wasn't my choice.  Let's just say my computer privileges have been 'cut off' for the past week.  Now that I'm off restriction I can once again resume writing.

Now I shall explain the meaning of my title. Long before Nano even began I was busy preparing by writing an outline to a story that I had been mulling over in my noggin for quite some time. Even though I had the final chapters planned out there were still some minor details to attend to.  Unfortunately before I was able to oversee these changes I lost the notebook which contained my entire 21 chapter outline.  You can imagine my distress, this was every writer's nightmare!

So when November rolled around and Nano began I was forced to come up with a whole new story. Only when I was put on restriction did I actually think to look under my bed.  Much to my glee I found it! So now that I'm a week behind on Nano I have decided to start from scratch on a totally new story.  Sounds reckless...I know.  But I do believe I can do it!

Now I must stop procrastinating and get to work.  This 21 chapter novel won't write itself!