At this very moment… yes, right now… Cassiel rewrite draft 1 is complete at a whopping 104,108 words. That’s… er… that’s a lot more than I intended to write. I started this rewrite as a revision, but the story took on a whole new life and got away from me. It’s much better than the first version, I have to say, but it is essentially a whole new FIRST draft of a new old story. *sigh* I’m going to walk away from this for a few months. I’m going back to revising Anúna (any betas interested in reading an urban fantasy *hint hint wink wink*). My goal is a nice, in-depth revision and read through while Cassiel marinades in my brain. Get ready for manic revision blogging!
How did I write so much? Oh, the edits to be done…
I want to finish Cassiel by the end of the month. I need to stick to this plan. I’ve let it go a bit too long, but there’s no real excuse for it other than sheer laziness on my part. This is a much better draft than the first one, but there’s still work to be done and I need to keep at it until it’s in solid shape.
My plan is to finish and let it rest for a few months. Not look at it, not think about it. I need to get back to Anuna to ready it before I can get some readers.
It might not be the best plan, but it’s something.
Not a true update, but just writing to say that I’m close. Oh, so close! Cassiel is in its final chapter. I just know it. Plots are starting to wrap up and this draft will soon be complete. I’m thinking there will be an epilogue.
I did it! I actually reached my 80k word goal! That’s the Good News…
The Bad News is that I’m still not finished.
Yep, I was right when I said predicted that this draft wouldn’t be complete when I reached my goal. Re-outlining the ending certainly helped me get it going at a better pace, but I still see another 3-4 chapters to finish, which might mean anywhere from 15-20,000 more words given my average chapter lengths for this draft. All in all, I feel much better about it than I did last week. See 🙂 staying positive after all.
*Goodness, I just compiled and saw that it’s really 337 pages long! Thank you, Scrivener, for keeping all that text in an orderly fashion.*
that is it. 80k reached.
Cassiel, rewrite draft 1/part 2 (total word goal)
About Cassiel (or the best summary I could come up with for the moment)
With her family and fortune gone, sixteen-year-old Cassiel Loriett is placed under the guardianship of the exacting Mrs. Maywoods, but there is more to her family’s fate than Cassiel knows and the only way to learn the truth is to solve the mystery herself. Willing to do whatever it takes to find out what really led to the loss of her father’s fortune and her mother’s unexpected death, Cassiel runs away with little more than her father’s journal a couple of clues, but first she has to stay away from Mrs. Maywoods and her brother, Mr. Stellworthy, who seems to take a strange interest in Cassiel’s position as the Maywoods’s erstwhile ward.
Finding herself on a quest, Cassiel ends up the unlikely resident of Walstone House–a derelict manor house run by Stephen Frye, and his cousins Christabella and Nathan Walstone, and owned by their reclusive grandfather, Pierce Walstone. Finding a friend and ally in Stephen, Cassiel sets on a journey that might mean losing it all, or finding herslf along the way.
A YA historical mystery set in late Victorian England.
June proved to be an eventful month, what with there being birthday cakes and presents and all. But there were also books! And trips! And chairs!!!
Here’s a look at some of the best things that happened in June (sans the birthday stuff, for that silliness see this post)
OMG! I got a book signed by Neil Gaiman. The joy and joyness cannot be contained! Also, the book is beautiful.See! There he is in all his mad-haired, creative genius glory!I also had a rare beach outing. It was really a momentary excursion, but there were dolphins and seashells.And I got chairs and only had to spend $40 on the gas to pick them up. The kitteh is more than pleased. He purrs with pleasure every time he climbs on them.
July is proving to be a busy month… much busier than I anticipated. I’m doing what I call Camp NaNo part 2, in the hopes that giving myself a deadline means that I will finish Cassiel within the month. It’s starting to grow out of control again. I need to reign my creative juices in… I’m wordy to a fault. There must be a project that I can complete in less than 100k. This is not a good thing. Really, I need to focus on action and cut out the extraneous stuff. I’ve let myself go with setting and inner thoughts. I need action!!! ACTION!
So that is that. If it’s a bit quiet around here, it probably means I’m being a stern taskmaster and making myself stick to writing… turns out, I also got in a bit over my head and have to frantically rework some of my work-related writing for publication. My fingers may very well go on strike after all this.
I’m writing. I am. But I’ve reached a major transition in the thing that is Cassiel and feel that I’ve worked myself into a pile of mush. This story is finished. I know where it’s going because I’ve already written it, but in rewriting, I have gone in totally different directions. My characters have changed. Oh, they’re still the same characters, but their voices have changed just as much as my writing has changed. It’s both exciting and disheartening to see my story taking such a turn. And now I’m trying to find the inspiration to just finish already. I want it done. Now. Ugh!!! I need a new project. I need to get away from this mess. I need to write.
Writer’s Block struck this month. Between family medical dramas and too much writing at work, the idea of squeezing in time to write before or after work was a joke. Not only have I been dealing with too many life issues, professional writing tends to put me in a frame of mind that creeps into my creative writing and leads to some terribly dry prose. It was not a good place. But I’ve managed to break past it! Today, I had a major breakthrough in my writing (well, major for me) and finally got through one of the most important transitions in Cassiel–getting Cassiel out of London and on her adventure!
So how did I do it? I tried to find inspiration in other places. I turned to research. I became obsessed with train schedules and sweated the small stuff. I also made time to get away from the house and took my writing outside–to Starbucks, to the boy’s house, and to work. Sometimes, a change of scenery (both mental and physical) is all it takes. Sometimes, you need a bigger push. I’m hoping to steer clear of those times that require a greater push.
I’m still making good time and will try to continue to do so in order to meet my goal of 50K by June 20. With today’s sessions, I have just over 35K words. It was a good day 🙂
Cassiel, rewrite draft 1
About Cassiel
With her family and fortune gone, sixteen-year-old Cassiel Loriett is placed under the guardianship of the exacting Mrs. Maywoods, but there is more to her family’s fate than Cassiel knows and the only way to learn the truth is to solve the mystery herself. Willing to do whatever it takes to find out what really led to the loss of her father’s fortune and her mother’s unexpected death, Cassiel runs away with little more than her father’s journal a couple of clues, but first she has to stay away from Mrs. Maywoods and her brother, Mr. Stellworthy, who seems to take a strange interest in Cassiel’s position as the Maywoods’s erstwhile ward.
Finding herself on a quest, Cassiel ends up the unlikely resident of Walstone House–a derelict manor house run by Stephen Frye, and his cousins Christabella and Nathan Walstone, and owned by their reclusive grandfather, Pierce Walstone. Finding a friend and ally in Stephen, Cassiel sets on a journey that might mean losing it all, or finding herslf along the way.
A YA historical mystery set in late Victorian England.
Still recording with my phone, but I promise I will get a proper camera one of these days… especially as I’m really getting into this whole vlogging thing 🙂
For now, here’s a quick update on Cassiel and my obsession with getting things right the first time around… even when getting things right means turning to twitter for help.
this writer is sooo tired
I’ve been a very bad noveler. I’ve not checked in as often as I told myself I would … but the words are coming along and that’s what counts, right? Right now, I just plodded through a morning writing session and managed a little over a thousand words. The story itself is moving at a faster pace than it did in the previous draft, but my writing itself has slowed down to a snail’s pace. Them fingers are tired! Actually, I’m tired all over. Since the move, Didymus the Cat has become very demanding and has recently discovered the joys of waking me up between 3 and 4 am. And making me get up right when my alarm rings. I feel that I’m barely able to keep myself going on most days… and there’s work and workouts and life in general to contend with. I need a break sometimes and it seems I’ve been taking them more often than not. However, I am more than halfway to 50k, though I’m sure this will be a 60-70k novel. I’m trying to keep it within a reasonable word count for a historical YA, but a story is a story and sometimes it takes more to spin it than a measly 50,000 words.
Going historical was definitely the right thing to do. It’s allowed me to create a much more believable narrative (or so I tell myself), and the research gives me something to do when I’m too tired to right while still keeping me in a writing frame of mind. I do miss working on Anúna, however. These are two entirely different novels, so the one remains in the back of my mind even as I make progress with Cassiel. I told myself I would edit Anúna on the weekends, but that really hasn’t happened and I’m starting to think it will be best to continue writing and go back to editing while I let Cassiel sit (and marinade! go, terrible cooking metaphors!)
So that’s what’s happening in writing land. I need a nap. And I need to get to work. TTYL!
Cassiel, rewrite draft 1 (total word goal)
About Cassiel (an impromptu synopsis)
Her family dead and her life in shambles, sixteen-year-old Cassiel Loriett is placed in the care of Mrs. Maywoods, who loves to parade her around as the ideal charity case. But there’s more behind what happened to her family than Cassiel knows and the only way to find out is to solve the mystery herself. With the help of a few loyal sidekicks, of course.
A YA historical mystery set in late Victorian England.
marginalia and such 