6.28.2011

I can't get enough of these things. I must be insane.

In two days, JulNoWriMo begins. Currently, I have a school project going on (and on...and on...), much carpet ripping, painting, caulking, etc. to do, and a ten-day limited-computer-use NUISANCE (in the middle of July!) in the works. I haven't won a single writing challenge since NaNoWriMo'10. I might be biting off more than I can chew...again.

One thing that's keeping me going is the fact that I roped my sister and cousin into doing it with me. They've agreed. Now I just have to remind them. It's all too likely they've forgotten. :-)

I found some more old pictures on my hard drive, which I plan on putting up here. However, my computer is currently unplugged and camping out on the floor of my sister's room, while my own room is undergoing metamorphosis. So no pictures for a while until it's back on my desk (which, I should say, is clogging up half the living room).

Right. Off to brainstorm for JulNo. That was a lie. I'm really procrastinating.

6.21.2011

Change is Turmoil: This is my emo moment.

An empty bookshelf is like a skull. Everything that gave it life has been stripped away. The shelves gape like empty eye sockets. It is the saddest thing in the world.


On the writing front:

As soon as I said I'd hold auctions for the MCs for my JulNo, I suddenly realized I knew already. Go figure! The winners: Jason and Destiny! As for the others, no one loses. Mary Sue and Barin will have secondary roles, Gavrel (now Gareth) and Slythin have moved to another idea, and everyone else will be...recycled. Not as scary as it sounds.

I had meant to put up sketches of my MCs with this post, but this is proving to be a very complicated matter, largely based on the fact that I'm not a very good artist. I have no sense of proportion, I can't shade, FORGET coloring, I suck at arms and hands, I'm terrible with faces, and I just can't draw men period. (Sorry Jason. I will give you a nice face as soon as I can, I promise.) Usually I just avoid these problems by sticking to women, drawing them with their hands behind their back, and going for a more cartoony approach.

So given all this, why do I even bother? I don't know...I guess I just live for that one accidental moment when I get it right.

I had a small triumph of sorts today when I tried drawing Destiny's face and halfway through I realized it was a completely different character (call her R). I went ahead and finished drawing R's head, and the resemblance is close enough for me to be happy about it. :-D

A dilemma denied:

Any of the following three things will make me write.

  1. General Feedback 
  2. Someone anticipating reading more 
  3. Competition. 
The NaNo rush provides fuel aplenty, but devoid of these three things the rest of the year, it is all too easy for me to slack. But I now have the solution! During the course of NaNo I made a couple of awesome NaNo friends with whom I correspond via email/chat. I was talking to T the other day about our mutual lack of any completed works whatsoever, and it evolved from there. We decided to bludgeon each other into productivity! We've kept it pretty simple. The goal is to write 5000 words per week, with points for each word written/edited so we can compare stats. The idea is that we will continue this indefinitely, until we start churning out completed short stories/novels/whatever. The writing gears must keep turning!

On a last note:

I've been going through my old files, and finding a lot of stuff I drew a long time ago. To atone for my lack of illustrations, I will now leave you with this comic I found! Considering what time it is and what's been going on lately, it sums up my mental state very well.

6.08.2011

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

I shall gather my resources and try again. This time I will win.



The madness begins again on July 1st. For real, this time. Summer. No finals. No work. No interference.

So I won't really re-hash my JulNo idea much here, since (unusually) I've told everybody but the kitchen sink, and that's because it hasn't got ears. (Got quite a mouth on it though! It won't shut up about its mother in law! And it tends to go nom nom nom in the middle of the night while it eats our forks. Comfort food to stave off the depression, apparently.)

The gist (for those who live in a box):

Storyland is a magical place where stories are built, and it is ruled by the great and wise Narrator, who ensures that all characters have their place, that all plot holes are closed, and that all stories end appropriately. Then the evil Ineffable Wizard, who wants all the stories for  himself, kidnaps the Narrator and imprisons him. Chaos reigns. The Ineffable Wizard destroys existing stories, enslaving all the characters for his own personal epic. It is up to the MCs to go on a quest to find the Magical Maguffin, an object that will help them to free the Narrator, and restore order to Storyland. 

Which brings me to my next point. Usually I start with a character and build a plot for them. This time I have no idea who my main characters are. Awkward. So I will be holding auditions for the role!

Epic quest! Fun! Danger! Adventure! Magic! Deadly enemies! Small hope of success! Huge likelihood of painful tortuous death! A chance to get the girl!

Contenders:


  • Jason - A magic flying boy who is allergic to gravity.
  • Destiny - A damsel in distress in training whose destiny it is to face her destiny. 
  • Barin - A shy young secretary who's lived in the shadow of his heroic brother Garin all his life.
  • Slythin Brenyssen - The most clever con man ever. He's such a good con man that even he doesn't know he's a con man. *wink* *grin with flashing teeth* 
  • Metonema Necrostophyte - a deadly assassin who can kill with a paintbrush. Possibly telepathic.
  • Gavrel Urthhart - A young farm boy who has no clue what's about to hit him.
  • Mary Sue - A hopelessly perfect multi-talented incarnation of the author who has a disturbing tendency to have a personality.
  • Horus Whyten - An artist who has the gift of making everything in his art come true. 

So that's that for now. I will post a cover or banner as soon as I finish making it.