50k, Finally!

And, I am done too!!

I want to be clear, though. Technically, I finished my novel before Twin did hers. I just... didn't hit 50k. I got about 47k, so I have been struggling to get that up to 50k for the past few days by beefing up stuff.

Finally I gave up and just wrote two scenes from the possible Book 2 to finish off the last 2k that hated my guts.

I'm so excited to be done. My story is crazy awful (This was me, trying to go through and beef scenes: O_O This is terrible. This is terrible. Oooh, that's not so... nevermind, that's painful too. I wrote this?!), but that's okay, because I still love it. And now that I've spent a month writing it, I get to spend the next few months editing! Oh goodie! Um. Sorta?

Regardless. I'm happy. Plus, I get normality back now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over. I mean, I love my family to death, I truly do, but there are...so many of them. O_o

AND I can knit again! Well. Without feeling guilty that I'm knitting instead of writing. *cough*

I hope you all have as wonderful a day as I'm having! <3

Twin Moment of the Day: We both hate the little (1) that pops up when there are new messages in our gmail inboxes. Though, for me, it's more like, (29). >.>

On my Mind: Singing "I'm done, I'm done, oh yeah, I'm done!" to a little tune in my head.

Listening to: "Take Me As I Am" by Heather Dale

Grateful for: Being DONE. And the peace and quiet that follows the storm that most classify as "family". (I do love them, really!)

Wanting to: Sleep. Forever.

Writing: Nothing. Defiance sits, waiting for editing, at a lovely 48k!

Finished My NaNo Novel!

Well, it's official! I'm done with Draft 1 of my NaNoWriMo novel. I feel a little giddy, very much relieved, and also like throwing the novel out the window. (It's okay. It'll pass. This is normal for me!)

It's "complete" at 58,316 words! That's bound to change as soon as I get my hands on it.

Now all we have to do is wait for Constance to finish. Don't mind if I have some leftover Thanksgiving pie while I wait.

Best Part of Today: Finishing my NaNo novel. (Or the leftovers!)
Currently Craving: Pie.
Music Pick: "Cheek to Cheek" by Ella Fitzgerald
I'm Reading: Taking a break before the next Nasty Reading Assignment.

WIP: To Save Them (58,316 words)

Happy Thanksgiving!

A wee bit late, but Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans! Today's all about family, food and thankfulness. Thus, I'm going to post a few things I'm particularly thankful for this year. Even if you don't live in the U.S., feel free to post yours in the comments anyway!

I'm thankful for:

• My awesome family.
• My awesome friends.
• A warm house.
• The ability to write.
• Having reached 50k in my NaNo novel.
• Stories in general.
• Beautiful sunshine.
• Being alive.
• Hot tea.
• Pumpkin pie.
• Internet. Yes, even though it's responsible for 99% of the distraction in my life. (Okay, slight exaggeration.)
• My country.

The list actually goes on and on, but I'll spare you the details.

Your turn!

Major *facepalm* & Writer Sadism

So some of you might have seen this over on Noveltee(n) already, but since it's pretty silent around here because of NaNo, I'm double-posting it. But, first...

I am a terrible person. O_O I have school, 4 exams to take in two months, a song(in Korean) to memorize, and novel to finish writing before the 30th, and guess what I go and do?! I get 8 books from the library.

Plus I can't for the life of me figure out how to make all the fonts in this post the same... O_o Today is not my brightest day, to say the least. [Maggie: Twin to the rescue! *fixes fonts*]

But I'll live. Probably.

Anyway! On to the next bit.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that writers are really just sadists.

Okay, maybe only some. But it is pretty common, when one overhears writers talking about their work, to hear the writer gleefully discussing maiming or emotionally scarring their characters, or killing people off, etc.

But I'm thinking it's not actually the hurting the characters that the writer delights in (okay, maybe a little) but rather what the hurting will lead to. As S.E. Sinkhorn says over on her blog*:

"Try it. Take away something your character loves dearly. Cut away their family. Steal their significant other. Annihilate their best friend. Destroy their freakin' world. Then let them change. Let them grow. Let them become someone with a different outlook on the same past. Let them be stronger for it. And let the story continue."

What doesn't kill your characters  make them stronger. If you kill the character's whole family, they will probably be devastated. If you throw their life in a mud puddle and stomp on it with soccer cleats, they will suffer. But they will get over it, and become better characters. Because that is what people do.

So really, it is a truth not-so-universally acknowledged, that writers love their characters so flipping much that they are willing to put them through the pain that will make them better, stronger people.

*Nooo, I didn't just choose a blog topic that would fit that link because that link is about Doctor Who, why do you ask?

Twin Moment of the Day: Well, it's not really a TM, but I did get "Between Shades of Gray" from the library.

On my Mind: Where is all my time?!

Listening to: "I Dreamed a Dream" by Ruthie Henshall from Les Miserables

Grateful for: Very little homework

Wanting to: Eat. Sleep. Read. Write. Get one of Hermione's hourglass things that makes me be in two places at once.

Writing: Defiance (NaNo novel--27k!)

Hunger Games Trailer!

It's finally here!!

After missing the live version on Good Morning America, I scoured the web until I found it. May I present, the Hunger Games trailer.

March can't come fast enough.

A Request

So, y'all. I need some help. I have a survey I made for English that I need 30 people to take... I would love you forever and shower you with chocolate if you would fill it out. I honestly wouldn't ask if I didn't have to, but the alternative is going up to random strangers on campus... O_O At least I know y'all don't bite––often.

Anyway. It's just a survey about whether people read vs. watch TV, and it's only ten questions...

If you don't want to do it, don't! I won't hate you. If you do, just give one answer to each question in the comments, or email me at nacogdoches.girl@gmail.com.

I would REALLY appreciate it. Anything to avoid talking to those weird college students...

I hope you are all having a wonderful November! ^_^

Best Quiz Question Ever (& Other Random Things)

"The Visible Spectrum"

Wow. Long title there!

Today I had the Best Quiz Question Ever. I kid you not, it was as follows:

What are the colors of the rainbow?


Yes. It pretty much made my morning. I love colors, and I love getting easy credit for listing them. (Okay, there was a point to it. I promise.)

As for the Other Random Things, first and foremost tomorrow is an Agent Chat! That's clickable to make it easy for you to register and join me there! (Hey, just doing my Write On! duties by letting you know. Plus it's going to be awesome.)

Also, I'm about 4k away from being halfway done with my NaNo novel. And it's only the 10th! Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

I'm still totally eating Taryn's dust.

Last but not least, I HAVE CHOCOLATE. Chocolate chips, for the win! What? Don't you eat chocolate chips straight out of the bag?

(If the answer isn't yes to that, it needs to be! Trust me, it's delish.)

The purpose of this post, aside from simply updating you about the exciting things in my life, is to offer you a picture of a rainbow as an apology, for the lack of blogging lately. I promise, I'll be back to substantial posts-with-points soon. It's been a bit crazy since NaNo started, and somehow blogging got pushed to the bottom of my list!

Heck, I even forgot to post my From The Trenches on Write On!. I'm gonna have to sneak mine in after Taryn's. (So sorry, Authoress!)

Hope you're all enjoying your Thursdays!

Best Part of Today: Chocolate. My mommy loves me!
Currently Craving: PINEAPPLE. (I'm so predictable.)
Music Pick: "Feeling Good" by Michael Buble
I'm Reading: "Shiver" by Maggie Stiefvater 

WIP: To Save Them (21,658 words)

NaNo Check-In #1

We're on Day 4 of NaNoWriMo '11, and I think it's safe to say, just getting started. Here are updates from the desks of the both of us! Enjoy! And please, do share in the comments how you're doing so far.

MAGGIE-

So far, so good! Actually, I had a bit of a rough day today. It was all good for the first 3 days -- a kind of honeymoon period because I was still fueled by excitement -- and then I hit my first wall. None of my subplots were interesting enough to carry the story forward successfully. RED ALERT!

Now, I know what you're thinking. NaNo is all about quantity, not quality! Which is true. This ain't quality stuff I'm writing. But I do need a story if I ever want to hit 50k. After an unsuccessful walk with my sister to try to coax my brain into Brilliant Idea Mode, the solution finally came to me whilst I was boiling a pot of water. Figures.

I'm excited to see where this takes me. 

CONSTANCE-

Day 1 was awesome! Day 2...Well, let's just say I kinda sorta didn't get any writing done. Ahem. Day 3 saw me trying––and failing––to catch back up. Today, though, has been wonderful! I've already hit my quota, and I'm well on my way to getting back up to where I'm supposed to be.

And man, I am LOVING my story. I spent a month thinking about the characters for this, and how'd they'd interact, and worldbuilding, so now that I'm actually writing, it's just so... easy. I don't have to think about how things should be, aside from a few almost-uses of modern phrases that just wouldn't fit in a fantasy. Even on the slower scenes, I'm enjoying writing it. I hope it stays like this the whole time!

Happy writing, y'all. :)