Inspiring Distractions

Aiya!

The end has come.

Today marks the beginning of the end.

Don’t get side tracked now guys! Smash out those words! *recalls guiltily the amount of times that I have been distracted during NaNo* Hmmm… Well, maybe being distracted isn’t too bad…

Congrats for making it through NaNovember alive! At least… I hope you all survived it. Even if you characters didn’t.

As you may have gathered, often NaNo comes with a loooot of lovely little distractions. I mean, who doesn’t love to procrastinate? And what better time to do so than when you have a time limit? And, I mean, sometimes you can procrastinate on task! At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

So, for your amusement as an end of NaNo reward I figured I’d give you a list of great distractions that are on task—complete with examples!

1. The Insane Story Researching
Yup. This is often a form of procrastination. But… isn’t it just so much fun to look into something with so much depth that you have the knowledge on the topic as a surgeon? Or as a victim to knifing? Or as a murderer? Isn’t just so cool to know all of these things to such an extent that you can fully relate? And describe it to perfection?

My main case of this during the month was in my research on running about with a guitar, burns and forest fires. A quick glance through my search history makes me look like I am a musical pyromaniac. (Although… I think that may not be too inaccurate… )

I am willing to take a guess that I spent about 4 hours researching different degrees of burns in a day, and my brother also happened to be a research tool. Please note: the burn on his hand and arm were NOT caused by me, I merely figured I would question him on what the type of pain felt like and examine all of the pictures of it with what was apparently a morbid fascination.

I learnt from this that the pain of second degree burns—I hope you have that notebook of random story research facts out all of you NaNo procrastinators who are reading this instead of frantically writing words—is late in coming. The instant effect is shock and a feeling of near separation of your mind to your body. After a few minutes a stinging and tearing pain (Also known as a burning pain) comes in. It causeses your muscles to seize up and rates high on the pain scale (on someone with high pain tolerance about a 7-8.) Appearance-wise, it is little more than red skin. Red angry skin. Depending on the area and the severity, it could release a pus, or bleed.

The heat also does not tend to vanish straight away as some people believe, but can last for days. The particular case that involved my brother was a burn caused by oil which meant it clung to his skin in a way that I would imagine magical flames would.

After a few weeks, a second degree burn will go down to a less noticeable pink scarring that mostly would be permanent. Burns can do damage to tissue and any weak tissues or thin muscles could be destroyed completely.

But yes, that is some of what I learnt and spent time procrastinating on.

2. Pretty Collages
Okay guys. This is the main one I have a tendency to get caught up on. I mean, it’s on topic, just not on task, and, and, and, it’s fun! To quote Jane Maree when I mentioned that I was distracted but on taks by collages, she described this as an example of the exchange I am sure most of us go through…

Person: What are you doing?
Writer: I’m writing.
Person: With pictures?
Writer: Uhmm…Yeah?

I completely cracked up when that was how it was described, ‘writing with pictures’ But it really is like that. You get to form more about your characters through a pretty collage, and they are useful just to have around when you need a certain mood.

And they look pretty.

That’s always a bonus.

So, I figured I would give you guys a chance to look at some of the fun collages I did during this NaNo!


This is one for the whole story kinda thing:

This is one specifically for Jade DeArchet:

This one is Caeden Casté:

And the last one is my favorite—Courage:

So yeah, I enjoyed doing all of the pretty collages. And getting very distracted while doing them. But it was a good kinda distracted. And I did look back on all of those during my writing to get ideas and to get into the mood. (Shhh, I know that you’re meant to get these things prepared before you do NaNo, to do it in the planning time, but oh well! xP)

3. After the End Stories
Don’t bother denying this. We have all at least thought of some sweet scenes that just make us all happy in the inside while we are being horrible to our characters. I may or may not have written these ideas done.

In the form of stories.

I have hunted through my pile of little snippets of what happens after it is all over to see if tere are any with no spoilers in case any of you guys do happen to read this one day. *Mind explodes at the thought of perhaps publishing it* Anyways. All of the scary thoughts aside, here is a spoiler-free (in other words, I have changed a few names, but you may still be able to take a guess) snippet:

Life.

I breathe it in as the wind buffets my face gently. The world is full of it. My eyelids slide lazily open and I gaze out over the plains. The blackened ground is almost fully covered in the green gasses that come so lushly after a fire. A smile spreads across my face and I turn back to the small cottages. Never before had the gardens in Miritain grown as they do now. 

Vines clamber over the house and flowers the size of my hand laugh with me. My feet carry me down to the door of the first, smaller, cottage. Home. Anna and Travis’s voices are quiet in the next house as I turn the handle, stepping into the simple two room cottage. 

We made it, and we are alive.

4. Music Playlists
My other pet love in procrastination has to be making these fun little playlists. I mean, it’s like a collage, but with music! And you can listen to them while writing! What more could anyone want? I’m going to keep my list pretty small, just the one I listened to while writing in general… Not the ones for each characters… Or for different scenes. Or just about any of the other ones.


Random Lute Music
Scarlet (Brooke Fraser)
Broken (Steven Curtis Chapman)
Pandora
Wishing Well (Oh Hellos)
Burn Like a Star (Rend Collective)
Skyrim Theme (Peter Hollens)
Wilderness (Taylor Davis)
Awakening (Taylor Davis)
Starfire (Taylor Davis)
Hidden Falls (Taylor Davis)
Highland Spirit (Taylor Davis)
Tales of the Wind (Taylor Davis)
Gateway (Taylor Davis)
Morning Star (Taylor Davis)
Bishop of Burrill (Colin Buchanan)
House #163 (Colin Buchanan)

So, there’s a reasonably short playlist. And if you didn’t recognise any of those titles, YOU SHOULD GO AND WATCH THEM!!!

5. Talking to Friends
Yes. I have a life during NaNo.

I often talk to friends when I am ‘writing’ and often it’s about my annoying characters, or cool scenes, or sharing story research. But it really can be good to actually have a social life—even when you are writing madly. You need to have friends, and you need people who can keep you sane and writing for God.


So, there are all of my confessions, so, I suppose after all of this you probably still want Inspiration. Well, do not fear, it is just here!

Well, there you go! What are your favorite ways of procrastinating?

Chosen by Fire NaNo Peek

Aiya!

Sooooo, as some of you maaaaaaay know… *Takes a deep breath to calm down* *Epically fails and leaps about in excitement*

I DIIIIIIIIIID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAH!

*After a year or two of flailing and screaming…*

Okay, okay. I completed NaNoWriMo. 50k by day 20. Eeep!

As you can imagine, I have been veeeery excited about this, and therefore figured I’d let you, privileged readers of Inspiration, look at a few cool things and snippets from my WIP.

At 50k, I am at the climax of my fantasy novel, Chosen by Fire and figured I’d give you all an update of what has been happening in the book, and what has been happening in NaNoWriMo.

So, first off, this NaNoWriMo was unusually chaotic. Mainly because my sister is having a wedding in a few days, so, that meant a lot of excited business, and not tons of time for writing. Plus, there were exams, music nights, excursions and school in general, so, yeah. That drains a fair amount of time available to write in. But it was still a whole heap of fun, and, I would love to do it next year. *Tries to ignore the fact the I will be in year 12 for that.* I can totally do it.

Now, onwards to the novel.

I found that writing Chosen by Fire was a really cool experience. Mainly because I had a few unusual twists planned, and I wrote it in a totally different style. This was my first ever case of trying for First Person Present Tense, and I loved it. Every now and then it was hard, particularly at the start as it was my first ever time, but eventually I got into the flow of it.

I ended up learning a lot more about my characters as I wrote, particularly Caeden, my epic street musician whose instrument changed halfway through the book. Mainly as I realised that it must be quite a challenge to run through streets and jump onto roofs with a guitar… so, it swapped to a lute.

Here’s a snippet of me realising that I seriously needed to change the instrument for this to work…

‘ I’ve given this town all I have and it has given nothing back to me. I glare up at the snowing clouds as I hug my guitar closer to my body. Snow is certainly a successful way of ruining business. The only people who are stupid enough to walk along the streets are Callers, and most of the store tenders hadn’t even come. Oh yes. And then there is the random street guitarist who thinks that snow is fine to play in. I shift the position of my guitar slightly and tuck a hand under my arm. So cold. Pickles race over my skin and I shiver—glancing behind me. My muscles pull tighter than my guitar strings. He’s still following me. Why is he following me? 

With a low growl I push my aching bones into a jog. I need to get away. I can’t let them keep sticking onto me like this. Snow cushions my shoes so that they only release a soft thud and the running warms me up. Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing to do anyway. I duck behind a house and jump, sliding my guitar onto a low shed roof before climbing up to the main house’s rooftop with it. Please don’t let him find me now. It vaguely crosses my mind that running away may not be the best idea if I’m trying to look completely innocent.

My back presses into the mud roof and I try to force my breathing to still. My limbs start to shiver again. So cold. Why does it have to be this cold? 

Footstep thud past where I lie, powdery snow dulling them to a soft, muffled sound. A sigh escapes my chest as they move past the house. Rolling, I move to the edge and peer over. No one. I drop to the ground, bending my knees at the impact and instantly straightening, with the guitar still clutched in my hand. Maybe doing stunts like that is not such a brilliant idea with a guitar. Why a guitar? Couldn’t I have picked a more practical instrument? ’

So yes. After a few incidences of Caeden jumping on roofs and running through markets with a guitar, I figured I should swap it for something more manageable. So, a lute it was.

I also realised that the world building ended up coming a lot more into my novel than I thought it would. My characters were constantly bombarded by strange creatures, explosive flowers, and last minute travelling. I realised pretty quickly that I did not have any names for the structuring of the towns and country… so, that became rather confusing rather quickly.

‘ “We need to go to the Ninth Sector.” My breath fogs up in front of me and my lute swings gently by it’s strap—tapping on my thigh.

“We are already in the Ninth Sector.” I turn to Jade with a slight frown on my face. Has she never studied Miritain’s town structure? My frown deepens. I guess I haven’t either. 

“Like...” I wave my hands about vaguely, “The Ninth Ninth Sector.” 

Jade’s steady pace comes to a halt and she turns to face me, her eyebrows shooting into  her reddish hair, “The ‘Ninth Ninth Sector?’ Honestly?” With a casual finger she flicks some hair from her eyes. “What in Miritain is that meant to be?”

Why does she always have to turn everything I say into an argument? Maybe it’s because of the fire stuff. “The middle big circle sector in the middle of the big circle town in the middle of the big circle country.” 

She blinks. ’

… Maybe in my second draft I can come up with a better system of ordering my country, sectors and towns… *shrugs* Let’s leave that for another time.

One of the things I was most excited about though, was getting up to the climax. It was cool to finally get up to the most dramatic point.

Now, in case you don’t know about this already, my main character, Jade DeArchet, is the Chosen One of an ancient prophecy, and the only one with fire magic (Or any magic for that case) left in Miritain. She is the only one who can possibly save her world from this danger that lies in their government—the corrupt Callers.

So, she sounds like a pretty cliche main character. The biggest stereotype of all time.

What I’ve done to ammend this is to make her not want to save the world. She is a coward. Her sidekick who has dragged her along on this mission the whole time is a courageous musician with no sign of any magic.

So when at the climax, does Jade actually follow through to fulfil the prophecy? Or will she run away and fail yet again? (Mwahahaha, I feel so evil now.)

Here are some snippets of the general area for you to look at and torment yourself more with! (Hopefully…)

‘ I’m here. My eyes drift up to gaze at the massive pillar. Caeden urges me forwards with a slight nod of his head. ‘All you need to do is burn the pole. Bring magic back into the fiery heart of Miritain.’ I bite my lips as Travier’s words writhe through my mind. Light it on fire Jade. My trembling hand drifts upwards—palm out towards the massive pillar. You can do this.
…
I whip my head around—gaping at the quickly disappearing figure down the tunnel. Dakried steps closer again, a smirk playing with the corners of his mouth. “You can’t win. Not anymore.”
…
Staggering blindly backwards and falling to the ground with his body on top of me, I fling my arm out towards the pillar. Fire roars and billows up. Dakried’s body freezes above me—his grip on my throat loosening briefly. That’s all I need to roll away, coughing and rubbing my neck. “You did it.” His voice rings through the room despite the crackling of the fire. “You…” 
…
The scorching heat of fire overwhelms me. Why can’t I control it? A scream rips from my throat and I stagger forwards, trying to fend my way through the blur of agony and flames. How could this happen? ’

Well, there you go. A few little snippets from the climax area for you to read. Sorry that it is rather first draftish, that was a busy day.

Well, I reckon I have talked enough. Now, I must give some Inspiration to get you through this last stretch of NaNoWriMo-ing

Eeep! I still can’t get over all of this! Yay! How are you going with NaNo? Have you had any interesting discoveries about your characters?

Magical Mayhem

Aiya!

The week has been interesting. Let’s just say that.

I mean, it isn’t everyday that you can say you have painted mosquitoes getting married.

Or poured out the blood of your enemies upon the ground.

Or had a friend escort your dying self back from a hayshed.

Or sat and smelt old books for about an hour while listening to Colin Buchanan and teaching Indonesian to a friend. (Nevermind, I do that every day. xP)

Anyways, I had a fun weekend with Larissa. She’s an awesome friend of mine who is an aspiring artist and writer, as well as having a passion for God and a heart for India. She came over on the weekend and we had a whole heap of fun.

Aaaaaand, there is something else veeeery exciting. *Nods* Nadine Brands has revealed her cover for her new book, Fawks. AND IT LOOKS SO EPIC! Look here at Jane's blog to see it for yourself if you haven't. (Look at it if you have as well, just cos it is so awesome!!!)

But anyways. Amidst all of this, I did get some writing done! Yay! So, onwards to the post!

Magical creatures and plants have played a large role in My NaNoWriMo Novel, Chosen by Fire, so far. I mean, I’ve had Anrail trees,(When burnt they release a gas that prevents pain and often induces sleep) Lieliten flowers,(They explode, fun times!) esorays (Similar to a goanna) and maltacs (Birds that are attracted to fire and could rip you into little pieces). So yes, I have been having some fun with these shreds of magic in nature.

Raise your hand if you have read the Wingfeather Saga? *raises hand* Keep your hand up if you loved the fact that it had Toothy Cows, Fangs of Dang and Rockroaches? *Keeps hand up* *Surveys the countless number of hands* Well. Fascinating. I think you guys actually like the fact that this fantasy had creatures in it that are not just dragons, fairies, and other normal mythical creatures. You actually seem to like these unique ones.

Maybe you should be writing them.

“But I don’t have any ideas!”

Nope. If you have no ideas, well, do you have little siblings? Or just any little kids in general?

A little while back, my little cousin, Ann, gave Jane beautiful artwork with a collection of “One Eyed Splooges.” She made them up. She drew them. And guess what? She made herself her own fantasy creature. Can you draw Inspiration off that? Or off some other hilarious thing that some little cute kiddo has created? Because ideas are so ready and exciting in a little kid’s mind. They are always imagining. *Realises that that hasn’t ended for me yet* Well, I guess I am still a little kid then.

Go fishing for that crazy imagination that you have. Create something aside from dragons and talking horses. (Don’t get me wrong though, I love dragons and talking horses.)

So, now onto my Inspiration for you guys… 

Yay! You feel Inspired by the randomness? Anyone? I love to chat!

What to do when NaNo Eats Your Life

Aiya!

NaNo is a very hungry monster, and likes to eat lives. *Nods* Mhm. It eats our lives.

*Cue everyone running away screaming*

Do not fear! This is not necessarily a bad thing! You just need to control it a little bit.

Today I realised that it was Thursday and I had noooo clue what I should do for a blog post. I mentioned this to Jane and she said, “You could just do a blog post about how NaNo ate your blog post.” So, that is what I shall do!

When the calendars flipped over to November a deadly beast cracked open its eyes from a year long slumber. The NaNoWriMo Dragon has awoken.

Reports have been made that it has been sighted as far as Australia, and yet also circling around in America. Many countries are terrorised by the beast. Writers have ganged together online to fend off the monster, but some of our bravest warriors have fallen. The desperate battle to reach 50k is strongly underway now at day 9 for the Australians and less for the others.

We have thankfully been able to see our progress as we write, and mine for Chosen by Fire is on a steady course, despite having have been attacked by the dragon’s sly mid point attack—trying to slow down my writing by making the section seem boring.

How does one get past the evil dragon’s cunning attacks? Well, brace yourselves! Arm yourselves with word wars, character arcs, plot ideas, and a list of convenient names for those characters who you really should have thought of a name for.

Above all, ignore the evil dragon when he tells you  that you are a cruel person when you kill that two year old adorable girl. *Sniffs, grabbing a handful of tissues* Don’t let his words get to you! Remember, it helps for character development!

Finally, your prompt to get you through these hard times. I wish all of you luck facing the beast of NaNoWriMo.

Yay! Good luck brave NaNo Warriors! Go forth and slay the dragon with this Inspiration!

Tea While Torturing

Aiya!

NANOWRIMO CAME!!! *Runs about screaming*

*Coughs*

Anyways, as you have gathered, NaNoWriMo has arrived! Yay! And my exams are over, so, hopefully I will have some time to write!

I haven’t actually written much so far this NaNo. Normally I am much further on than I am on my current 3648 words of Chosen by Fire. But what I have written I believe to be pretty good. Not as traumatic as the last intro/chapter that I wrote for the Survivor trilogy. No one has died in it yet. (notice the ‘yet’ :P)


I have—however—done some severe damage, and I feel like sharing a few snippets of me torturing my characters while happily sipping a cup of tea… seeing that this is a post to do with NaNoWriMo and all!

So, heeeere they are!


“Fire is my closest friend.” The whisper releases a faint puff of mist from my mouth that makes the flames on my fingertips flicker and sway.

~~~

I don’t want to die. 

My hands shove against Pierre’s chest with all of my strength; my vision a blur. He stumbles back with a scream of agony. Why?

Heat roars around me.

Smoke. 

What’s happening?

~~~

I relax slightly, leaning against the trunk. A tidal wave of emotions slam into me. Pierre. The memory of his burned flesh is fresh in my mind. How did this happen? I suppose it was always going to, but to Pierre? I shiver, wrapping my arms around my body for both comfort and warmth. Tears fall and dampen my skirt.

I let them.

What if he dies? I shove the thought from my mind, but it pushes back in. “He won’t die.” My whisper sounds out of place in the forest. “He won’t die, and nor will I.”

I close my eyes and let the tears stream down my face.

~~~

My breath is a faint whisper in the sound of the dawn—loneliness in a forest of life and company. “Fire is my only friend.”

~~~

Well, I hope that wasn’t too depressing.

I figured that while I was on the topic of torturing character I may as well say few things about torturing characters. Or just being mean in general.

The first thing obviously is not to be mean if it doesn’t bring emotion. It’s always a disappointment for me in a book when something bad happens and I can shrug it off and not be at all affected by it.

Another thing is to not feel bad for being mean to your characters. That’s what makes them grow. That’s what makes your story worth reading.

I love books that murder my feels. *cough* A Time to Die *cough* And I love trying to write it.

And if you also try to write this, then know this—

I have never managed to write as feelsey of a scene as ones that I have read. As much as I try I can’t get it. It needs practice. So don’t touch that backspace button. Leave it alone. Just keep writing it. Eventually, it  will flow out naturally. Sometimes it will be better than others. Just listen to lots of depressing music and that helps you feel the mood you are trying to create.

Don’t give up on torturing your characters!

So, here is a prompt just for you people who want to torture your characters and other people’s feels.

There you go! Any Inspiration? Questions? Have fun!