Wednesday, October 31, 2012

From The Jazz Side (NaNoWriMo 2012)


So, it's here again. Tomorrow starts the most panic ridden and crazy month of the year, and it's all due to the  challenge we put upon ourselves. That's right! Tomorrow starts NaNoWriMo. (see the end of this post to get a glimps of my cover for this year ;-) )

Some of you are giving advice for dealing with NaNo from a planner's point of view, and that's great! But for those of us who are more on the Jazz side, instead of Classical, (see little to no planning) I thought I would give a little advice of my own. (I know it's the day before, but people do still jump in within the first few days of the event.)

If you're like me, and cannot make and stick to an outline for the life of you, that's fine. I find doing so lets creativity and inspiration flow much better than with such boundaries. Not that creativity and inspiration can't flow with an outline, but for some people, like myself, it tends to be too restricting....we end up focusing on sticking to it more than letting creativity thrive. However, I do recommend some planning. I don't know that even I could write completely by the seat of my pants- no plot, no thought out characters, no scenes already planned out in my head and possibly noted down somewhere.

So, as I said, I do recommend a little bit of forethought, and have a page (written or on your computer) where you keep all this info. Write down your character's bios, facts about your story's setting, and even descriptions and/or bits of scenes that you want to add into your story later.

I know this is general advice, but- pace yourself. Pace yourself, but also strive to reach more than the average. I recommend a daily goal of 2,000 words a day. It's a pretty reasonable amount to strive for on a daily bases, it's not too much more than the 1,667 words of the 50k split evenly, and it gives you a bit of a cushion... you know, just in case you have to miss a day or you have a day of massive writer's block. ;-)

Don't be too hard on yourself. Don't focus on just the quantity, but try to get the quality in there, too. At the same time, don't be scared to write a bunch of drabble if you're not getting the right inspiration for the quality at the moment. Drabble can always be edited later- and it boosts the word count. ;-)

Take time to chill out and relax. If you get too stress, it can drastically stifle the creative flow. Set aside time each day or every few days, depending on  your life's schedule, to do something you enjoy. Read a book, paint a picture, play a computer game- whatever it takes. A couple hours of that can spur days of creativity.

That's all the advice I can think of for the moment...a lot of that goes for both the jazz writers and the classical, and is pretty typical advice, but you probably can't hear some of that too often.

As for me, this year I have a little more structure than normal. Considering my story is based off of the Josh Groban song So She Dances, I have the lyrics for a rough outline- not that I won't be switching around a few of the lines...for storyline sake. I'm hoping this story will cooperate more like Hwinny's Story did, giving me both quality as well as quantity; not  like Naji's Story which put up a fight over both. :-P

If you would like to see a little more info about this story, I have a few posts hanging around here giving some hints. ;-)
You can also check out my NaNo page, and feel free to buddy me, if you'd like. ;-)

And here is the grand blog unveiling of the NaNo version of the So She Dances cover art. :-)


Saturday, October 27, 2012

Hwinny's Eleven

So, Hwinny was tagged by Kendra's character Marryanne for the Elevensies tag going around.
This is a little strange for me, as I don't usually let my characters speak for themselves (they prefer to be represented, you know), but I suppose there is a first time for everything.
Hwinny has requested to dispense with the eleven facts, and stick only to the questions. In order to get her to even do this (especially since I woke her up from a long nap), I agreed to the request.

Can we just get this over with?

In a moment. We have to get through certain formalities, first.

Hang formalities!

And what would Lady Nory say to that?

Considering everything, I don't think she would be happy- but this is one of those times where I really don't care...and I know Naji would be cringing if she heard me say that.

All right. Fine. Here are the questions. Are you ready?

No, but here goes:

1. How many knives do you usually have concealed on your person? I'm not going to ask where you conceal them, but if you want to answer that, you may.
I don't usually keep a knife on me, unless absolutely necessary, but, when I do, it's only one. After all, one is all you need if you know how to use it right.

2. How many times have you run away from home? Do you ask your parents permission before you do so?
Well....what do you count as running away? I suppose I did run away from my guardians home and college, but I don't know if that counts. Besides, that was actually running to home, not away from home.

3. What is your rank and station in life?
In the mortal world I am a college student and a youth ministry assistant. In Faerie, I am a princess.

4. Do your cousins like you?
Oh, yes! They like me very much. 

5. How many siblings do you have and do they like you?
I always thought I was an only child, but it turns out I have a twin sister. She's the only sibling I have, though, and I think she likes me...she doesn't always approve of my adventures, but she ends up joining in with me and I think we've started becoming the sisters we were born to be.

6. How many pets do you have? What are they and what are their names?
I don't have any personal pets, unfortunately. I should remedy that.

7. Can you dance? Sing? Fight?
Well, I've had to learn more dancing than I was already able to do, once I got to Faerie. I don't know that I can say I'm entirely proficient, but I think I do fairly well. Yes, I can sing, though not enough to go professional. Fighting is a whole other matter... I had to learn, and I can defend myself, but I don't think I could lead a battle or anything- I'll  leave that one to Caleb.

8. How many adventures have you gone on?
Oh, goodness! I suppose it was all one big adventure, but there were a few smaller adventure type segments in there.

9. You enjoyed them? Right?
As much as anyone who's grown up in a somewhat mundane human life and suddenly thrown into all that can, I suppose.

10. Can you hop on one foot?
Maybe?

11. How many languages do you speak?
English, of course, and I did take a couple years of French and Spanish in high school, but I don't think I retained much of anything. Besides, those languages are no use to me here in Faerie, unless a courtier wishes to practice their knowledge of the mortal languages...which freaks me out, because I don't remember them very well- except, English, of course. I'll have to refresh myself on those eventually. Right now, though, I'm steeped in trying to learn Faerie. Not easy, but not as hard as I thought it would be.


Is that it?

Yep, those are all the questions.

Okay.....good....I'm out of here! I'm going back to sleep!

Hwinny! Pardon her, please. I don't think she's in a very good mood right now. :-P
And since Hwinny didn't leave any word of whom to tag, I'll just leave it as is. Sorry. :-(
But if you want to consider yourself (or one of your own characters) tagged, feel free, and here are some questions. You can answer them via post (please let me know if you do) or via comment. :-)

1. Paper or plastic?
2. Red and gold or blue and silver?
3. Potted plants or cut flowers?
4. Favorite lesser known (or completely obscure) fairy tale?
5. Cake or pie?
6. Do you wish the Grand Duchess Anastasia had actually survived?
7. Roses or daisies?
8. What is your favorite part(s) about Fall?
9. What is your favorite Christmas tradition(s)?
10. Do you still own VHS tapes?
11. What is the best food accompaniment to tea, other than scones?


Sunday, October 7, 2012

Let Me Show You Around

This  is all explained again in the following videos, but I decided to spin off of Miss Laurie's bookcase tour and make a video tour of my own. Only I did my movies, as my books are fairly scattered at the moment. (I really need to fix that :-P )

I will warn you, this turned out to be quite long, so I split the tour into different segments. Each segment is labeled with what sort of movies (the highlights) are covered in that video.

Part 1- Intro, Narnia, Lord of the Rings

Part 2- Fairy tale movies, Hallmark collection, American Girl and Mandie movies

Part 3- Jane Austen, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Anne of Green Gables/Road to Avonlea

Part 4- Doctor Who, Merlin

Part 5- Literary, Braodway Musicals, Movie/MGM Style Musicals

Part 6- Miscellaneous/Classics/Animated....anything that didn't fit into another category, Conclusion


If you made it through all that, good on ya! I know I talked too much. :-P
Any questions or anything to add, just leave a comment! Or anything you want to comment on, leave a comment as well! :-)

As I said in the conclusion, I do want to do my books, eventually...I don't know when it will be, though.
Also, I hope to do a period costume tour via my paper doll collection. I've got some pretty good ones. ;-)

As for now, NaNoWriMo approaches, and our focus goes to that!