Ready. Set. Write! (Goals for Week 4!)

Ready. Set. Write! (Goals for Week 4!)

Posted by Raven M on 7:07 AM in college life, goals, ready. set. write!, unfair, writing,

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS
I didn't do too well or too bad. While I didn't write, I did figure out a part of my story that I couldn't quite piece together. So, I think for now, I'm finished with forming the backstory. Unfortunately, my flash drive with Unfair saved on it decided to stop working all of sudden so it. I have another copy saved to my computer but the other one on my flash drive was more up to date and while I'm glad I didn't lose all of my writing, I spent more time trying to figure out how to fix it (because I don't think it's broke) than writing. Technology has not been my friend this week.

MY GOALS FOR THIS WEEK
Try to get back the lost time. While I'm bummed about my flash drive, hopefully I can get back on track and if I fix it, that's great, if not then at least the majority of Unfair is still saved on my laptop and I can go from there. I'm going to go stay with a friend for few days because I haven't seen her since school let out, so we'll see how much I can get done before I leave. I'm going to set the goal word count at 500.

A FAVORITE LINE FROM MY STORY OR ONE WORD/PHRASE THAT SUMS UP WHAT I WROTE/REVISED

"The snow kept falling to the earth in clusters, and though it looked beautiful; like a million little white crystals, there was something about it that just didn’t seem right." (Since I didn't write, this sums up what I want to write more of in the future.)

 

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK

Aside from my flash drive, I'd say the biggest challenge was the fact that my mind was elsewhere for most of the week. Since my internship fell through for the summer and I couldn't find one to replace it, I have been looking through the ones provided by the school that I can do for the fall term. I found three that I want to apply to so I mostly spent the week fixing up my resume and working on cover letters. I've also been researching more law schools because ten isn't enough lol I really need to work on shortening the list but, as you can see, my mind was elsewhere this week. While I was still productive, I really wish most of the productivity could've been used for my writing.

 

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP

It's always there, in the back of my mind. There are some stories that I have started that I have unfortunately left behind once a shiny new idea came my way but Unfair is different. Even after months of not working on it, I still want to write this story, and even when I'm not writing, I still think about it and the characters. I am constantly taking notes in my head and thinking up scenes that even if I don't jot down right away, I remember them later. Unfair is the kind of story that I know won't go away anytime soon and I like to think that, even if it takes me a long time to draft it, it'll get written.

 

 

 

I hope everyone had a productive week. Good luck with this one!

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What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 11:47 AM in carpe juvenis, inspiration, shadow & bone, 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, you can click on either one of the links.

 

WHAT I'M READING

 

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. I want to reread S&B and S&S before I buy Ruin and Rising. I keep hearing everyone talk about how amazing it is on Twitter so I can't wait until I can get to it.

 

 

WHAT I'M WRITING

 

Well I'm still working on Unfair. I just haven't done a lot of writing lately. I have jotted down a few sentences here and there but nothing big. I really want to get back into the swing of writing but this week isn't really going well in that department. I'm not giving up hope though! I will be sure to update you guys on my progress on Monday!

 

 

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

 

I think it's amazing that people can start off with one scene in their head and then turn into a book. Writing is such a wonderful thing and I'm not saying that because I'm a writer. As a reader, I am in awe of every book I read - good or bad. And it's mostly because, at one point, every book we see at the bookstore was just a draft or an idea that stemmed from a dream or something the author saw or heard or felt or whatever inspired them to sit down and turn their idea into a novel. The book-writing process is painful and hard and sometimes it makes me want to cry and rip my hair out but there's no denying that it's amazing, life-changing, and extremely inspiring.

 

 

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

 

I recently became a contributing writer for Carpe Juvenis, an online publication that's all about, well, seizing your youth. You can learn more about it here. I'm really excited about being apart of the team and I already have a few ideas for articles I want to write, so I'm going to be mostly working on that this week. It feels great to be doing something productive with my summer especially since looking for a job and/or internship didn't go too well. I can't wait to tell you guys more about it. :)

 

 

Thanks for reading guys! I hope everyone is having a productive week. 

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Ready. Set. Write! (Goals for Week 3)

Ready. Set. Write! (Goals for Week 3)

Posted by Raven M on 12:52 PM in goals, ready. set. write!, unfair, worldbuilding, writing,

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS
Not as good as I wanted to. I did do some writing, which is always good, but I didn't really pay much attention to my wip this week partly because I spent some time out of the house, reading, and at times just didn't feel like working on Unfair.

MY GOALS FOR THIS WEEK
Get back in the groove of writing. I remember last summer I couldn't stop working on Unfair and that resulted in me pushing out 25K. I want to get back to that. I also need to make up for last week's lack of productivity and finish note-taking. It's the pantser in me. I'd much rather continue on without an outline or anything but I know that if I don't try to make sense of the story before I get farther in, things will just get more tangled up than they need to be.

A FAVORITE LINE FROM MY STORY OR ONE WORD/PHRASE THAT SUMS UP WHAT I WROTE/REVISED

Genoveva could see it when she looked into her eyes. Though once blue, they were now black with desire and want; a craving that neither food or drink could sate. (This is two lines, I know, but one couldn't be shared without the other)

 

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK

Doubt. It's everything from doubting that I can tell this story to doubting my ability to write. I hope that these feelings will pass because I don't want them to get in the way of my writing.

 

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP

I love that I get to experiment with this idea. I'm letting my imagination run wild with Unfair and I'm finding that even if this a retelling of Snow White, I do have a lot of freedom in the worldbuilding department.

 

 

I hope everyone had a productive week. Good luck with this one!

 

 

 

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What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 11:04 AM in birthday, college life, goals, inspiration, love in the time of comic con, reading, 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, you can click on either one of the links.

WHAT I'M READING

 

I finished reading On the Fence by Kasie West a few days ago (it might've been Monday but I'm not sure lol) and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND  IT (yes, the caps were necessary). It was such a sweet book and it's a perfect read for the summer. I only wish that I was able to sit on the beach and read it but that's the reality of living in Pennsylvania. It may be considered 'east coast' but I don't actually live on the coast. So no beaches for me. Either way, On the Fence was a great book to read curled up on the couch and I'm sure it would be great to read in other places too. I hope you guys check it out when it releases in July.

As of now I'm still reading The Swan and the Jackal by J. A. Redmerski. It's taking me forever to read because I keep getting distracted by other books. And Ruin & Rising just released so I know that in order for me to get it, I must finish this first. Otherwise, I'll kick it to the curb because I've been waiting for R&R for what feels like a very long time.

 

 

 

WHAT I'M WRITING

 

I did get some writing done but it wasn't Unfair-related. I was doing some reading up on how to handle those pesky shiny new ideas and most people have been saying that if you spend some time getting it 'out of your system' then you should be okay. I gave myself a day to work on Love in the Time of Comic Con, a YA Contemp idea (you can find out more about it here) that's been bugging me for a few days now and I ended up writing about 5K for it. It's at a point where I feel comfortable enough to leave it alone but I know that if I ever need a break from Unfair, I'll set a timer, work on it for maybe an hour, and then once that time is up, I'll go back to working on my main project. I don't feel the urge to work on any SNIs, surprisingly, so I'm really excited about getting back to Unfair (maybe that mini break was exactly what I needed). I don't know how much I'll get done today since I'm going out with my mom later, so we'll see.

 

 

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

 

I'm going to have to say storytelling. I have had that song Rude by MAGIC! stuck in my head for a few days now and so I decided to listen to it because strangely that's what helps me get a song out of my head. Anyways, I found an acoustic version on YouTube and the lead singer was talking about how the story behind the song was made up and that none of them have actually experienced any of what the guy in the music video/song was going through. Him saying that reminded me a lot of how I feel about writing. I usually write stories that have nothing to do with me. My main characters aren't anything like me and I do that on purpose. In my opinion, storytelling isn't storytelling if you don't challenge yourself to tell a story that isn't your own. In other words, I don't want to write an autobiography. Maybe there are elements of my life that I use as a basis for my characters but being able to use those elements to create a character that is their own person is what I love so much about storytelling.

 

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

 

My birthday (excluding today) is in three days! I went out for lunch to celebrate with my mom and two of my cousins yesterday since my mom works on weekends and my birthday unfortunately falls on Saturday this year. I'll most likely spend the day reading Ruin & Rising because I don't really do much on my actual birthday anyway. But my mom and I are going out for dinner later on, which I'm really excited about. These last few days being a teenager weren't as scary as I thought they would be, only because I know I'm still going to be the same kid when I'm twenty. I mean, just because you get older, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to grow up completely.

 

I've been worried about not having enough money for next year since I'm changing campuses and the one I'm going to is a little bit more expensive. But I got an email saying to check my financial aid and thankfully the university has given me a scholarship and a grant which pretty much took care of the rest of my tuition. That was some much-needed good news because I've been bummed about not being able to find a job (started looking for one in the beginning of May) because I'm in college. That's the answer I've been getting a lot, which sucks, but it's a relief to know that at least my tuition is taken care of.

 

Thanks for reading! 

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Ready. Set. Write! (Goals for Week 2)

Ready. Set. Write! (Goals for Week 2)

Posted by Raven M on 12:25 AM in diversity, goals, ready. set. write!, unfair, writing,

HOW I DID ON LAST WEEK'S GOALS

I figured out the backstory and it helped me figure out some things in the main plot. I also did a bit of writing just to get the creative juices flowing. I still have more planning to do and some things to figure out before I officially start writing again but it feels good to have gotten what I wanted to do last week, finished (for the most part).

 

MY GOALS FOR THIS WEEK

Finish my note-taking. Answer any of the remaining questions I have about characters, plot etc. I also want to start thinking about how I want this story to end. I think that having an ending scene to work towards will motivate me to finish this even more.

 

A FAVORITE LINE FROM MY STORY OR ONE WORD/PHRASE THAT SUMS UP WHAT I WROTE/REVISED

"Before the night is out," she whispered, watching as one of the royal servants helped her father's new bride out of the carriage. "I'll have another heart for you, mother."

 

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE I FACED THIS WEEK



Staying focused. I've been getting a lot of SNIs lately (because this always happens when I try to stick to one WIP). I'm really trying my hardest not to let myself get distracted so hopefully I'll be able to fight off any new character that pops into my head.

 

SOMETHING I LOVE ABOUT MY WIP

The diversity. When I decided to write this story, I wanted it to reflect our world culturally. While the places in the story that are inspired by different countries and continents don't match our map (and it's a whole lot smaller), I like being able to piece together different parts of our world to make up a new one.

 

 

 

I hope everyone had a productive week. Good luck with this one! 

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What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 9:57 AM in inspiration, reading, supernatural, 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, you can click on either one of the links.

 

WHAT I'M READING

 

The Swan and the Jackal by R. A. Redmerski. I started it about a week and a half ago and it usually only takes me a few days (or one, depending on the book) to read something. However, I've been more preoccupied with my own story which sucks but hopefully I will be able to get back to reading this week. I also received an ARC of On the Fence by Kasie West a few days ago, and I'm excited to read it because it's on my TBR list and it's YA Contemporary, which is something I haven't read in a really long time.

 

WHAT I'M WRITING

 

Unfair has always had a prologue but after reading over the old one, I decided that it didn't fit the story that I wanted to tell so I scraped it and wrote a few sentences in Snow White's POV instead. Before it was told from the Prince's POV about his first encounter with Snow White, and it just didn't seem to do anything for the story. Even though my WIP isn't about Snow White, she does play a major role in main plot so it only seems right to start there. I also took some notes on the world-building, backstory, and the relationships each of the characters have with each other. So this week, so far, has been surprisingly productive. I can't wait to see what I have done by next week's RSW check-in.

 

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

 

A number of things have been inspiring me this week:

 

For one, Thistle and Weeds by Mumford & Sons has been on repeat ever since I first heard it on YouTube yesterday. I was always aware of this band but I've never actually listened to their music. Then I listened to White Blank Page and the rest was history. I really love this particular song because it fits my story so perfectly. It just doesn't tell the story of one character either, which is what I love about it. I hear it and I think about each of my character's individual stories and it's truly an awesome thing when you find a song that allows you to do that.





 

 

The original Snow White story is always an inspiration for me because even though this is a retelling, I do want to make sure that my story keeps the dark elements of the original tale. While I like Disney, their version of the tale written by the Grimm Brothers doesn't really intrigue me like the original does. I also have a fairytale book (didn't know I had it until I found it the other day) with a translation of the original Snow White in it, so I've been reading over that a lot lately.

 

 

When I was first coming up with the idea for the story, one of the questions I asked (after figuring out who Snow White was and what she would do) was: how does her actions affect the rest of the world? So coming up with the backstory and trying to piece together my own world by using our world as a blueprint has been very interesting. I want to draw a map so I can visualize where I want everything to be but...my drawing skills aren't that great when it comes to map-making haha.

 

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

 

We're most likely moving before the end of the summer so I've been helping my mom pack up some of the things we don't need out anymore and throwing away old stuff. I found some of my old stories from when I was in high school and the years before that. It's always interesting to see what kind of writer I was back then and even more than that - what kind of person. I'm a much different person now than I was then but I am also still the same in some ways. So looking back on my younger self was a lot like saying hello to an old friend and that was nice, especially since I'll be hitting another milestone in ten days. My birthday is on the 21st and I will be the big 2-0. Haha, okay. Maybe it's not that big of a deal but I can't wait to see what my twenties has in store for me.

 

I've also been re-watching Supernatural obsessively. So far, I have watched it every summer since I've started college so it's sorta kinda like an obsession tradition. Not only does it make me wish I had a sibling to go on a 'road trip' and fight monsters with but it's also teaching me a lot about character development. Since I'm an only child and don't know much about sibling relationships, accept for what I read/see in real life or on TV, Sam/Dean's relationship is really helping me with the dynamics of my MC's relationship with her sister. There are people who don't like Supernatural (and I just look at those people like: O.O) but even if you're one of those people, there is no denying that all of the main characters have grown throughout each season and it's a wonderful thing to watch and to learn from.

 

Thanks for reading! :)

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Ready. Set. WRITE! (Goals for Week 1)

Ready. Set. WRITE! (Goals for Week 1)

Posted by Raven M on 2:47 PM in college life, goals, ready. set. write!, unfair, writing,

Last summer I started my current WIP, a (dark) YA High Fantasy retelling of Snow White. I currently have 25,000+ words written for it and I couldn't have gotten that much written if it wasn't for the support of everyone who participated in Ready. Set. Write! RSW is a summer writing intensive hosted by Jaime Morrow, Katy Upperman, Alison Miller, and Erin Funk. If you want to join in on the fun, click on any one of the links and sign up. Trust me, it's worth it! :)

So...I haven't worked on Unfair in months. Both my lack of writing and the centuries long blog/social media hiatus is due to the fact that the last semester of my sophomore year (I'm officially a junior in college guys!!!) was stressful. I made the decision to take six courses all at once because I thought I could handle it but...to make a long story short: I couldn't handle it. Most of my time was spent studying, pulling all-nighters, and writing papers. While I have been doing all of those things, pretty much, since the beginning of my college career, for some reason, last semester was extremely overwhelming. That said, I honestly didn't think I was going to make it out of that semester alive but I did. And, on top of that, I made Dean's List, which is always a good thing, I guess.

I don't want to keep rambling on so, in light of months of not working  on it, here are my goals for Unfair for the week:

• Worldbuilding: I have already started to figure out the limitations of the magic in Unfair but there are still some things I have to figure out. This week, I want to try to answer all of the questions I have about the magic system in Unfair.
• Plotting: Since I was able to take a break from it, I want to use that to my advantage and look at the plot from a different perspective. This week will mostly be about filling in holes character and plot-wise and try to form some kind of 'outline' (I'm a pantser through and through so we'll see how this goes).
• Writing: I don't know if I will get any writing done this week since it's going to mostly be dedicated to working out details and things but if I do write, I'll set my goal at 500 words. Baby steps.

That's enough about me. What about you guys? What's your writing goals for this week?

Thanks for reading!

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