What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 1:06 AM in birthday, goals, inspiration, reading, ready. set. write!, shadow & bone, teaser, the 5th wave, unfair, what's up wednesday, writing,

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk where writers post about what's up by answering four questions. If you want to participate go here.

WHAT I'M READING

 

I finished Shadow & Bone a few days ago (if you want to know what I thought about it, you can read my review here), and that was perfect timing because The 5th Wave arrived in the mail. I won a copy from Jaime and since a lot of people were saying how good it was, I immediately started reading it and so far this book IS as good as everyone says it is. It's really hard to put down, and if I didn't force myself to, I don't think I would've gotten any writing done.


WHAT I'M WRITING

If you  read my last WUW post, then you know that I wasn't feeling too good about my writing. I was upset about not being able to get anywhere with any of my projects, and for a few days I just felt horrible about it. Then I read the comments in my WUW post and it made me feel better. I can't thank you guys enough for all the encouragement. Your support truly means a lot to me.

I am happy to report that I have written a little over 7K since last Wednesday. I'm writing Unfair without any kind of outline, and with only a general sense of the plot. I love my main character Camellia and I'm learning so much about this world through her eyes. I'm also learning a lot about her in the process. I might have to scrap everything in the next draft, and start from scratch but I'll cross that road when I get to it. Right now I'm just enjoying being able to write and more importantly - write freely.

I was debating over whether I should share a snippet but then I remembered that I said I would post one once I reached 4K. I apologize in advance for the sucky first draft writing but here's the opening:

I knew the soldier would come for me.

I just didn’t know when.

Sondra was staring out the window when she saw him. She had been standing there for what seemed like hours, face pressed against the glass, eyes stuck between here and somewhere else. The glare of the morning sun lit up her face, illuminating the curiosity that gleamed in her eyes and the disappointment that hid beneath it.

Had she been expecting someone else?

It would make sense if she was. Sondra didn’t long for the sea of wood and dirt that made up our village. No – the longing that colored her face the moment she first stood in front of that window was caused by something else. Someone else. My sister wanted to get out of this village more than anything. She wanted to see the world beyond the trees and the charred remains of a castle that meant nothing now that its king was dead. The person she was waiting for was supposed to come and whisk her away from all of this.

Only her knight in shining armor didn’t come, and the heavy sigh that shook her tiny frame was proof that she had given up on ever being rescued.

I'm having so much fun writing this, and I really hope I can get a big chunk of this written this summer. My goals for this week is to finish Chapter Two. If I finish it early, then I'll start working on Chapter Three. I'm really excited about writing the next scene because I get to introduce the Huntsman! I had fun figuring out his background/making him different from the one introduced in the original story, so we'll see how this goes.


WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

• Research: I'm doing a lot of research on Snow White to see how I can use some of the little elements in the story in my retelling. So far burning shoes (the original version deals with this), poisoned apples, and glass coffins are really important to the plot. I also have read a few interesting articles about what messages Snow White (the original fairytale and all of the adaptations) sends about beauty.
• Ready. Set. Write!: I know I keep saying this but it's so true. Everyone participating in this is so supportive and helpful and reading tweets about progress inspires me to write even when I don't feel like it.
• Henry Cavill:

This is his 'Shouldn't you be writing?' face

            I have really considered putting a character in my wip that looks exactly like him so if (by some miracle) my book gets published and made into a movie, he can be in it and...yeah. A girl can dream, can't she?


WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

My friends and I are trying to figure out where we want to go for Spring Break next year. We can't seem to agree on anything at the moment. Everyone wants to go to California and I want to go to Florida. Hopefully we agree on something/have everything planned out before next year.

And thanks for the birthday wishes!




As you can see, pink is the best color in the world my favorite color

I got an Amazon gift card which is about the only thing I ask for every year. My mom still is surprised that I don't ask for something else but I'm a really simple kid. Give me money for books and you'll make me the happiest person alive. I'm going to buy Siege & Storm once I reach 10K (bribery works people) because I need to find out what happens next.

Also, this is my LAST year as a teenager. I know it's too early to start freaking out but...just thinking about it makes me wonder where the time has gone.

Well, enough about me. What's up with you guys? Anyone meet their goals for the week or have something exciting going on?