It's been two long years, but I learned earlier this week that I passed my Masters. Yay! \o/
(THOSE WHO FAVOUR FIRE is careening towards its climax/revelationary stuff. The finish line is finally becoming visible on the horizon!)
Sunday 14 December 2008
Tuesday 14 October 2008
*determined*
I will have a completed and polished draft of THOSE WHO FAVOUR FIRE to give to my readers by early December.
Enough faffing about. It's time to get things done.
Enough faffing about. It's time to get things done.
Monday 8 September 2008
My set of His Dark Materials has been taken over by the coloured sticky-note army
*waves from sea of sticky-notes*
I love how the urge to write hits me like an anvil over the head right during thesis crunch time.
Nice timing, life. Niiiiiice.
The end is in sight!
I love how the urge to write hits me like an anvil over the head right during thesis crunch time.
Nice timing, life. Niiiiiice.
The end is in sight!
Wednesday 20 August 2008
Losing my mind a little...
My thesis has to be written, edited, printed and bound by the 21st September. 17,000 words, hardly a medium-sized drop in the ocean in terms of a book. And yet, I'm freaking out a little. Unlike this time last year, however, I have tricks up my sleeve, the best of which is to spend all of my days off in the library. The one good thing about being a postgrad student is that no undergrads are using the reading room in the library at this time of year.
(For anyone interested, my thesis is about women, gender and sexuality in His Dark Materials and The Chronicles of Narnia. It'll be awesome! When it's done.)
Unfortunately, I've also just moved into a new house, so I'm trying to get to know my flatmates without spending all of my time in my room, frantically reading. And I'm trying to get my partner's birthday present done in time. And I'm going on holiday to spend time with said partner on the 22nd September (hence my self-imposed deadline--the real deadline isn't until 30th September). Ergo, I'm not having a lot of time to actually relax and such right now. In an effort to stop myself from going completely insane, I've allowed myself to do some non-thesis reading and write a couple of hundred words on TWFF every few evenings. As much as I hate it, the thesis has to take top priority (apart from work, obviously).
See you on the other side--there will be some serious celebrating on October 1st!
(For anyone interested, my thesis is about women, gender and sexuality in His Dark Materials and The Chronicles of Narnia. It'll be awesome! When it's done.)
Unfortunately, I've also just moved into a new house, so I'm trying to get to know my flatmates without spending all of my time in my room, frantically reading. And I'm trying to get my partner's birthday present done in time. And I'm going on holiday to spend time with said partner on the 22nd September (hence my self-imposed deadline--the real deadline isn't until 30th September). Ergo, I'm not having a lot of time to actually relax and such right now. In an effort to stop myself from going completely insane, I've allowed myself to do some non-thesis reading and write a couple of hundred words on TWFF every few evenings. As much as I hate it, the thesis has to take top priority (apart from work, obviously).
See you on the other side--there will be some serious celebrating on October 1st!
Wednesday 23 July 2008
I fully admit I haven't updated in a while. *waves hand sheepishly* Unfortunately, my life hasn't been very exciting! Writing is still happening, though some unexpected twists on the life road have thrown my self-made deadline to the curb a little bit. I am almost a quarter of the way through TWFF. The second draft of CR will begin on September/October when my thesis will finally be submitted.
I'm very excited about TWFF--it's been a long time since I've had such a teen-focused story to work on, and it's brought back many memories from my own teen years (some good and others bad, of course). It's also unintentionally touching on some things I've been experiencing for the last few years, and this in itself is a very strange feeling. I haven't unexpectedly borrowed so freely from my own life for my writing before and, while this is good, weaving it into the story without readers stopping and realising I'm talking directly to them though the characters, whether deliberate or not, will be a challenge. But it's one I'm up for, I think. :)
Anyway, I've been making very good writing progress for the past few days, so I think I better get back to it.
I'm very excited about TWFF--it's been a long time since I've had such a teen-focused story to work on, and it's brought back many memories from my own teen years (some good and others bad, of course). It's also unintentionally touching on some things I've been experiencing for the last few years, and this in itself is a very strange feeling. I haven't unexpectedly borrowed so freely from my own life for my writing before and, while this is good, weaving it into the story without readers stopping and realising I'm talking directly to them though the characters, whether deliberate or not, will be a challenge. But it's one I'm up for, I think. :)
Anyway, I've been making very good writing progress for the past few days, so I think I better get back to it.
Friday 30 May 2008
Those Who Favour Fire
I've been meaning to mention this for a while--I've been working on a YA fantasy concerning female werewolves for a while (working title: THOSE WHO FAVOUR FIRE). It's going well, and it's nice to have something completely different to work on when the fantasy novel is driving me up the wall. I'm hoping to eventually query it as well, when the time comes (fingers crossed). I'm enjoying it a lot, and it's more than nice to have something where not as many expectations, so to speak, are placed upon it.
Tuesday 20 May 2008
*grits teeth*
I finally realised this morning that I'm going to have to dump what I have of CR's second draft and change it from third person limited to first person.
Oh, this is going to hurt. But I'm confident it will make CR better. *touches wood and crosses fingers*
Oh, this is going to hurt. But I'm confident it will make CR better. *touches wood and crosses fingers*
Friday 2 May 2008
the joys of second draft
Every so often, about once or twice a month, I drag my laptop to the nearest Starbucks without internet. I settle in with a venti coffee, plug in my earbuds, and start to write. I usually manage to get a lot of work done, or at least make some decent headway.
Yesterday, I managed to work through a pacing problem in the first draft that had been annoying me since last October. I nearly pumped my arm in the air, drunk on that 'this is going to be so much better than my first draft' feeling.
So, yes, yesterday was definitely a good writing day. *g*
Yesterday, I managed to work through a pacing problem in the first draft that had been annoying me since last October. I nearly pumped my arm in the air, drunk on that 'this is going to be so much better than my first draft' feeling.
So, yes, yesterday was definitely a good writing day. *g*
Wednesday 23 April 2008
if I could dance, I would
After two months of metaphorically bashing my head against the wall (because, otherwise, that would hurt), I have finally found my groove in draft two of CR.
Right now, it feels like the possibilities are endless. I could do anything in this book (you know, within the realms of proper characterisation and plausibility). Things are sliding into place and scenes are moving together and neatly tying in with later ones. Above all, I'm finally beginning to see that this draft is a vast improvement on the first one (thankfully, or I would be in very big trouble right about now). I have no idea how long this writing good mood is going to last, but I'm going to follow it until I crash into the next mental wall.
Right now, it feels like the possibilities are endless. I could do anything in this book (you know, within the realms of proper characterisation and plausibility). Things are sliding into place and scenes are moving together and neatly tying in with later ones. Above all, I'm finally beginning to see that this draft is a vast improvement on the first one (thankfully, or I would be in very big trouble right about now). I have no idea how long this writing good mood is going to last, but I'm going to follow it until I crash into the next mental wall.
Wednesday 16 April 2008
*peeks in*
Nothing much to report.
- Still working on the second draft. of CR.
- Have started making tentative notes for Book 2.
- Am making a slow dent in one of my tottering to-read piles.
*waves hand* Carry on, don't mind me.
- Still working on the second draft. of CR.
- Have started making tentative notes for Book 2.
- Am making a slow dent in one of my tottering to-read piles.
*waves hand* Carry on, don't mind me.
Wednesday 19 March 2008
Monday 18 February 2008
Breaking silence...
So, it's been a while!
A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all since I was last here. Nothing much has happened since my last post, except that the rewrites to CHASING RABBITS have finally begun, after leaving it sit for three months. It's slow going - I ended up trashing around 80% of the first draft, so the second draft is a series of slow, trembling steps as everything unfolds - but I'm very excited, and I think I've finally found my footing in the book.
The last major research I need is to retrieve all of my Victorian history books from my father's house, mostly for the little niggling details that I glossed over in the first draft so I could keep on going. Everything that needs to be changed or clarified is being noted as I go. This odd rewriting draft stage is where I do most of my major work. The first draft is the easy one for me to write; the second where I do most of my tapping and shaping, so I spend a lot of time rereading what I've written the day before and do some very obvious syntax and word changes. Then I read it out loud and do further changes to what doesn't sound right. It's very slow going - a finished chapter can take up to a week when things are going bad, but it means my second draft is 95% finished, before I do a quick third edit and send it to readers for opinions.
It's very odd that for this second draft, I do my best work in the mornings and early afternoons; I'm usually too tired in the evenings for the level of concentration I require for this. Yet in the first draft, I do some of my best work at night. I suppose it's the amount of brain-work the polishing requires, or, more likely, it's to do with my laziness. ;) Still, it's interesting to think about.
Signing off now.
A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all since I was last here. Nothing much has happened since my last post, except that the rewrites to CHASING RABBITS have finally begun, after leaving it sit for three months. It's slow going - I ended up trashing around 80% of the first draft, so the second draft is a series of slow, trembling steps as everything unfolds - but I'm very excited, and I think I've finally found my footing in the book.
The last major research I need is to retrieve all of my Victorian history books from my father's house, mostly for the little niggling details that I glossed over in the first draft so I could keep on going. Everything that needs to be changed or clarified is being noted as I go. This odd rewriting draft stage is where I do most of my major work. The first draft is the easy one for me to write; the second where I do most of my tapping and shaping, so I spend a lot of time rereading what I've written the day before and do some very obvious syntax and word changes. Then I read it out loud and do further changes to what doesn't sound right. It's very slow going - a finished chapter can take up to a week when things are going bad, but it means my second draft is 95% finished, before I do a quick third edit and send it to readers for opinions.
It's very odd that for this second draft, I do my best work in the mornings and early afternoons; I'm usually too tired in the evenings for the level of concentration I require for this. Yet in the first draft, I do some of my best work at night. I suppose it's the amount of brain-work the polishing requires, or, more likely, it's to do with my laziness. ;) Still, it's interesting to think about.
Signing off now.
