My Favorite Writing Quotes

“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” 
― Anton Chekhov

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” 
― Maya Angelou

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” 
― Ernest Hemingway

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” 
― Toni Morrison

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” 
― Mark Twain

“Tomorrow may be hell, but today was a good writing day, and on the good writing days nothing else matters.” 
― Neil Gaiman

“The first draft of anything is shit.” 
― Ernest Hemingway

“I write to give myself strength. I write to be the characters that I am not. I write to explore all the things I'm afraid of. ” 
― Joss Whedon

“This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until its done. It's that easy, and that hard.” 
― Neil Gaiman

“You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” 
― Jack London

“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” 
― Nathaniel Hawthorne


“You can fix anything but a blank page.” 
― Nora Roberts

First Draft Down. Numerous Rounds Of Revisions To Go.

So, I finished a novel - a momentous moment in any writer's life, no matter how many times s/he has written 'The End' (at least I suspect and hope this will always be a significant occasion).

Yet it's only a first draft and very flawed. As Earnest Hemingway once said, "the first draft of anything is shit." So it is in this case, but if Mr. Hemingway felt this way, I don't think I need to feel bad about it, either. Instead, I need to figure out what needs fixing and then make it better. 

I've already identified several things that aren't up to par. A lot of the world building is still only a thought in my head or scribbles in my notebook, because I was focused on getting the action, the plot, down on paper. The main characters' developments isn't as fleshed out as I'd like. The main antagonist is never once seen until the third to last chapter (ouch!). Several info dumps in the beginning must be handled differently. A couple of characters serve no real purpose. And, of course, it's a tad too long at a little over 110k words. 

Ergo, revisions are in order.

Which is perfect, because in November I'm attending a writing workshop that deals with exactly this topic: revisions. My plan is to spruce up this first draft, editing the most glaring flaws I mentioned above in a second, third, and maybe even fourth draft, to make it presentable for the workshop. Until then, I also plan to have the first draft of the next book under my belt, or at least most of it, say 80%. If I can match the writing pace of the last six months, that is actually quite possible. Then I'll have two novels to use my minty new revision-knowledge on, with which I will make them awesome. 

Or at least whip them into good enough shape for my beta readers. :-)

AGENT OF THE ARCANE - DOUBLE CROSS

Undercover agent Ilona Hardy of the Paranormal Investigation Division (PID) is on a mission: infiltrate a werewolf pack to gather intelligence about this elusive supernatural species. To catch the attention of Cole Tanner, the only confirmed werewolf in Los Angeles, Ilona poses as a human hunter of the werewolves’ worst enemies: vampires. Ilona’s cover story quickly lands her a gig as the local werewolf pack’s vampire hunter, with Cole as her partner. 

To her surprise, confusion and growing horror, Ilona finds herself captivated by Cole’s charm. She begins to question her loyalties, something that has never happened on any other mission. Her focus unravels further when one of her vampire victims insinuates that the director of the PID may be in league with the Tsar, the infamous, unidentified vampire king. 

By the time Ilona manages to sort through the confusing information and her conflicting emotions, the Tsar has set his plan to eradicate the werewolf packs in motion, using Ilona as both bait and executor. She now has to choose between the organization that has provided her with a purpose for the last ten years and the pack that might become her family – and double cross both sides in a desperate attempt to stop them from eradicating each other. 

90.000 words
Contact

May Writing Tally

May was a great month. A great month. I finished the first draft of the UF novel I've been working on since December 2012. I'm still kind of in awe, but more about that in the next post. This one's about the numbers, and boy do I have big ones this time. 

First, the previous tallies:

January: 19.675 words
February: 15.781 words
March: 19.215 words
April: 27.336 words


May Tally:
Last month, I concentrated almost exclusively on the novel. Ergo, the numbers summed up like this:

- 11.010 words for Chamaeleon Chronicles
- 38.393 words for my UF novel

In total: 49.403 words in May. 
Holy. Moly. 

O_O


Now, for June I need to focus on a few other things as well, primarily my screenwriting assignments. I want to hand in at least three of them, otherwise it might get a little tight towards the end of the studies in September...

I Did It! I got to "The End"

Bring the cake. Pop the bubbly. Light the fire-crackers. It's time to paaartaaay!

I did it. I DID it. 

Once again, because it feels so good: I. Did. It.

Today, I wrote the last word on the last page of my second ever completed first draft of a novel. 

I shall now rest for a few days. I shall not write a single word, except maybe on a grocery list. I shall read words that others have written in books I've been stacking up on my TBR-pile. I shall watch TV, possibly seasons 2 and 3 of Game of Thrones, which I've been keeping for a rainy day when I have nothing else to do (and I mean nothing, because once I start, not even the apocalypse will tear me away, if they're anywhere near as good as the first season). 

And, most importantly, I shall reap the reward I promised myself in the case that I finished this book: a professional massage with a friend who is said to have the magic touch.

But for now, a toast to my accomplishment, and to all the other writers - published or unpublished - out there who have ever reached this momentous goal of The Completion Of The First Draft.

We rock!

Cheers!