What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 3:51 AM in doctor who, eyre house, goals, inspiration, jane eyre, north & south, reading, ready. set. write!, siege and storm, teaser, things left unsaid, 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 The 5th Wave a couple of days ago and it blew my mind in so many ways. I've read a lot of good books, but this one it's more than good. It's just...I can't put it into words right now. I tried when I reviewed on Goodreads (don't think I did the book justice), but just know that The 5th Wave is what everyone says it is and more.



I'm supposed to be reading Siege & Storm right now. I've been waiting for that book for awhile now, seeing as though I couldn't buy it until I reached 10K (which I did) but then another book caught my eye.

Eyre House is a New Adult retelling of Jane Eyre and if you don't know this already Jane Eyre is my favorite novel. I read it for the first time when I was eleven, and have read it at least a hundred times (this is not an exaggeration) since. It's the book that inspired me to write. It's the book that got me through stormy nights, and made me fall in love with the idea of storytelling/becoming more serious about writing. Jane Eyre could never be redone in my eyes. I'm even picky when it comes to movie adaptations (the one with William Hurt is terrible and I have a strong dislike for it). But when I heard about this book, I couldn't help myself. NA? Male POV? Modern retelling of Jane Eyre?!

I bought it last night and I have not regretted my choice so far.  Eyre House is set in a 'haunted' Bed & Breakfast in an island in South Carolina and the writing is perfect. It's modern and it has charm and a darkness that pulls you in. I'm nowhere near finished with this book, but if the first few chapters is how the rest of the book is going to be, then I think I'm going to love this one in the end. I might even read Jane Eyre again when I'm finished (sorry Siege & Storm).


WHAT I'M WRITING

So, as I mentioned, I reached 10K! This was my goal because every wip since I've started since I finished writing my first novel has never surpassed 10K. It's like, as soon as I hit 9.5K I run into a wall, and then the story just never goes anywhere from there. My current word count is 12, 406 which means I wrote about 3, 263 words last week. It probably would've been more if I didn't cave and finish that last couple of sections of The 5th Wave in one setting. But progress is progress and the fact that I passed 10K means a lot to me. It means that I can finish this. One word in front of the other.

I wrote a Next Big Thing post yesterday talking a little more about Unfair, if you guys want to check out.

I couldn't decide on what to share from my wip, so here are two short paragraphs:

I do know that people still talk about that night, about the things they had seen. In the darkness, in the shadow of the fire that swallowed the city. There is talk that there was something there. Something dark, something that once was. There aren’t that many documents from the Dark Ages but the ones that have been preserved talk about creatures made from the absence of light, they move in the darkness, and some would even argue that they are darkness.

And

Malodyra used to be the capital of this kingdom, now it was just a skeleton, what was left of the kingdom once the fire ate through the skin, and burned away the flesh. The king once said that the Sun would never set on us, but it had, and now that it has, it doesn’t seem like it will ever rise again. Not completely. Though it may hang in the sky from time to time, we will always be submerged in a perpetual darkness.


My Ready. Set. Write! goal for this week is to finish this chapter because it's dragging on longer than I thought it would. I also want to try to add another 5,000 words this week. I'm also doing a good job ignoring SNIs which is something that I have hard time doing. Like a good writer, I've been writing them down, and leaving them alone. No shiny idea is going to take me away from Unfair. I am really determined to finish this.

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

A lot of quotes. Sometimes I find quotes that explain my book better than I can, and so I make sure to put them on my Pinterest board, to remind myself that this isn't just some random idea. I do know what I want the book to look like (even though I am pantsing at the moment hehe). But, yeah. Loads of quotes, especially this one:

"I believe I have seen hell and it's white, it's snow-white.” 
― Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South

This is the line that sticks out every time I watch the North & South miniseries (I have the book now *squee*) but it took on a different meaning this time because of my wip and it just has so much meaning. It's one sentence but it means so much to my story, to the characters, and it's just perfect.

Doctor Who is also a huge inspiration right now. I'm falling in love with David Tennant's Doctor all over again (and I feel like I'm cheating because the Ninth Doctor will always be my favorite) but I think it's amazing how they can take one character, who is essentially the same man, and make him different every single time. I meant to write a post about this but what I learned from Doctor Who is that it's okay for your character to change. It's okay for them to be...different (if it fits the story). The Doctor in the first series is completely different in the second, and it's not because he's played by a different man and has a different face. He just changed internally and that's okay. Don't know if this makes sense but I have been thinking a lot about characters, everything from their beliefs to their motives, changing.

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

Another thing  that is inspiring me right now is the proof copies for my first novel. Those of you who participate in NaNo know that the reward for winning is a coupon for free proofs from Createspace. I finally used mine so I could have copies of my 'first' (It's more like my third but I don't count the first two...for reasons haha) novel and if I wanted to, one day, go through one of the proofs with a red pen. Though after they arrived, I haven't had the heart to write in them. They're just so pretty and shiny. I have used Createspace to order proofs before, and they do a fantastic job.

My mom (and a few other people) have asked to read it and they all get upset when I tell them no. This is a first draft, and there are a lot of holes in it. My last chapter? It's only two pages long! I was reading it yesterday, and there are a few passages/chapters that I am especially proud of but...it's not ready for anyone to read. One day.

Thanks for reading guys!