I’m not participating this year because…

Subject: I’m not participating this year because…
Author: Iximaz
Posted on: 2021-11-03 20:36:55 UTC

At the end of October I finished the first draft for an 85k word book I’ve been working on since March! Instead I’m planning to spend this month revising it, fleshing out what’s needed needed and cutting down what’s not, and get it ready to send to publishers.

It’s an urban fantasy set in Chicago 2015, where vampires, werewolves, and mages exist, and hunters roam the streets, fighting the gloambeasts that spawn from the darkness.

The story kicks off when Ordinary College Student Lee gets attacked by a werewolf and is rescued by her roommate Bella—who is actually a hundred and eighty year old vampire—and their classmate Ariel, a hunter and descendent of one of the oldest families of hunters who helped broker the Night Treaty that lets the underworld live in peace.

Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with the Night Treaty—especially the vampires whose hunting rules are strictly monitored for the safety of mortals. And the werewolf that attacked Lee is just one of the first of many feral attacks, werewolves going insane without the influence of the full moon. Tensions are rising, and the peace offered by the Night Treaty is no longer guaranteed if the werewolves keep putting it in danger.

Reply Return to messages

Jump to this post's position in the thread ↴

NaNoWriMo Thread: 2021 edition by Novastorme on 2021-11-02 08:23:51 UTC Writing Reply

I don't know if anyone else in the PPC is doing it, but I figured I'd start a thread up about it anyway.

For those of you who aren't in the know, NaNoWriMo is where you write a 50,000-word novel in November. That's it. 1,667 words per day on average. It's a load of fun*, and great for those 'I always wanted to write this story but never got round to it' types.

Like last year I'm kind of deviating from the norm and aiming to write 10,000 words each for 5 stories (that are all on the go at the same time) instead of 50,000 for 1, and after 1 day I'm happy to say I'm on target (we'll see how long that lasts).

So yeah, if you're taking part shout it out! What are you writing about? How's it going?

Nova

.* Enjoyment levels may differ from person to person and Nova is in no way responsible for any lack of fun and enjoyment that comes from forcing yourself to write 50,000 words in a month ;)

50,061! by Huinesoron on 2021-12-01 12:22:16 UTC Reply

Snuck in yesterday morning, making wordcount by inserting a reference to Thomas Becket in an earlier chapter.

As this is a rewrite, the actual document is about 5000 words longer, but I didn't count words I copied directly across.

Now onto a much harder challenge: not thinking about Tudor court politics for the rest of the year. ^_^

hS

Glad to have inspired your creativity, however tangentially =] by Scapegrace on 2021-12-01 16:10:31 UTC Reply

I got to just over 20k between three projects: a full Codex for the alien races referenced as being part of the T'au Empire; a lore bible for my homebrew Space Marines chapter; and the closest thing to an actual story, a summaryfic wherein Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom's backstories are swapped. It's been more fun than I thought it would be. I think having multiple projects helped, since I could dot about between them as inspiration came and went.

Not bad, considering I only started properly on the 20th. =]

And thank you for it! by Huinesoron on 2021-12-02 14:17:02 UTC Reply

I would've been perfectly happy to let the story drift into abbreviated oblivion, but you were spot on that there was a lot more to tell. Mabdragon 1: Queen Mother needs a bit more work - the finale is compressed a lot, because NaNo, and I'm sure noble Tudor ladies did actually do something besides embroidery - but it's light-years better than the original version.

20K words in 10 days is really impressive, actually! I think the NaNo deadline pressure is really good for forcing you to just work at it, even if it's not your best work. Though, were you not worried you'd end up with Tau philosophy infecting your marines, and Harry accidentally making contact with something unspeakable in the Warp? ;) My side-stories definitely drifted a little mock-Tudor formal during November!

hS

Technically, I suppose I'm doing it. by Zingenmir on 2021-11-04 15:44:17 UTC Reply

I'm not tracking my word count right now (may eventually do so not on the site), but I do intend to try to do more writing this month, and I have a specific project in mind. I've also attended my region's kick-off party by zoom, and am hoping to tune into a write-in as well at some point (possibly tomorrow morning, actually). So I suppose that more or less counts?

To sum up the (current) plot very quickly: guy fell into a middle schooler's novel several decades ago and now...it's happening again. Perhaps surprisingly, that's the least of his (big) worries.

~Z
I’m not participating this year because… by Iximaz on 2021-11-03 20:36:55 UTC Reply

At the end of October I finished the first draft for an 85k word book I’ve been working on since March! Instead I’m planning to spend this month revising it, fleshing out what’s needed needed and cutting down what’s not, and get it ready to send to publishers.

It’s an urban fantasy set in Chicago 2015, where vampires, werewolves, and mages exist, and hunters roam the streets, fighting the gloambeasts that spawn from the darkness.

The story kicks off when Ordinary College Student Lee gets attacked by a werewolf and is rescued by her roommate Bella—who is actually a hundred and eighty year old vampire—and their classmate Ariel, a hunter and descendent of one of the oldest families of hunters who helped broker the Night Treaty that lets the underworld live in peace.

Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with the Night Treaty—especially the vampires whose hunting rules are strictly monitored for the safety of mortals. And the werewolf that attacked Lee is just one of the first of many feral attacks, werewolves going insane without the influence of the full moon. Tensions are rising, and the peace offered by the Night Treaty is no longer guaranteed if the werewolves keep putting it in danger.

hype HYPE by Cicada on 2021-11-13 02:19:29 UTC Reply

I am so excited to be able to read this, I really hope that day comes!
Oh cool! by Huinesoron on 2021-11-05 13:51:57 UTC Reply

I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark here, but all things being Ix I feel like it's a fair bet... will there be angst? ^_~

Do you already have a publisher in mind, or are you going to have to put together a list and just send out... emails? Letters? I don't really know how this works.

hS

Guilty as charged! by Iximaz on 2021-11-06 11:46:44 UTC Reply

Yes, there is angst, but also I like to think the characters learning how to grow past it. There's a whole scene where Lee finally agrees to go to therapy that I'm incredibly proud of (so watch it get cut in the final edit, aaaaaaaaaa—)

[ahem]

This whole thing actually started off as a bit of a joke idea in my head, combined with a Castlevania RP with a friend of mine. Lee and Bella are essentially reskins of Agents Ix and Charlotte, while Ariel is Lorson with a couple fewer prosthetics. See kids? PPC writing can lead to 'actual' writing!

Right now I'm just going to be sending out to any and all publishers that will accept unsolicited scrips in my preferred genre. I've already got a 500 word synopsis ready to go; all that's left is to get that first draft into something more appealing.

Might I suggest Thinklings? by Neshomeh on 2021-11-06 14:40:50 UTC Reply

At least one of the founders is a former PPCer, and they've published at least one book by another former PPCer. Seems like a good place to start. {= )

ThinklingsBooks.com | Submission guidelines. Looks like they're currently accepting submissions!

Also, whatever happens: go you!

~Neshomeh

Oooh, thank you! (nm) by Iximaz on 2021-11-06 15:01:48 UTC Reply

Eh... by Ozzielot on 2021-11-03 12:12:05 UTC Reply

I got other things going on so I don't think I'll commit to this.

--Ozzielot
I'm in this year, thanks to Scapegrace. by Huinesoron on 2021-11-03 09:18:25 UTC Reply

Last year, I asked her to take a look at my alternate history NaNo from a historical perspective. When she hit the end of Part 1, 20K words in, she pointed out that it should really be its own book. I took a look over the plot, and... well, she was right. ^_^

Curtana, Book 1: Queen Mother

I've had a good first couple of days, and the actual word count of the book is higher than shown: I'm not counting text I've pulled across from the previous draft. Hopefully I'll end up with a 60-70K "second draft" at the end, which I can actually do something with.

hS

So how's everyone's wordcounts? by Huinesoron on 2021-11-19 09:44:58 UTC Reply

I'm at 29,191 going into today, which puts me about 900 words short of where I should be. That's not counting the ca. 5000 words I've copied directly from the previous version.

It's been an interesting experience, this revise-and-expand process. I've just finished a run of six chapters where Queen Elizabeth (not that one) (not that one either) (this one) sparks off the Cornish Rising, which is ultimately crushed. Two of those chapters were borrowed almost whole from the original version - I've tweaked things, but there are hundreds of words just copied across. Another covers exactly the same ground as the original, but changes to the timeline and character development mean I had to rewrite it from scratch. The other three are entirely new - the Rising didn't even happen in the first version, so the events of it are fresh writing. I had to construct a pocket timeline for those chapters, to make sure my messengers were moving about at sensible speeds. (Not that sensible; the key message crosses 200 miles in 2 days, by way of a lot of changes of horse. That's still not as fast as word of the Battle of Trafalgar, which was carried 27 miles to London in 37 hours.)

If I can pass 2000 words a couple of times over the next few days, I should get back on track; it'll be nice to see the graph go above the par line again!

hS

I'm not actually signed up for this, but hearing about this has inspired me... by ClaireBook1 on 2021-11-19 16:28:07 UTC Reply

... to try and make a book of the various random poems I've written here and there. I'm not really doing a word count. I'm mostly just editing, fiddling with rhyme schemes, and writing the occasional new poem when inspiration hits me. I haven't made as much progress as I would like, because I'm trying to dig myself out of a pile of chemistry homework. If I ever actually finish this, can I plug it here?

Hmm... Am I allowed to do a book of random poetry? by ClaireBook1 on 2021-11-02 18:32:39 UTC Reply

I don't know anything about this. Poems are the only thing I can write consistently. Are there lots of rules? -Claire

There are rules, but you're also officially welcome to break them. by Zingenmir on 2021-11-04 15:39:26 UTC Reply

I think you can even set your goal as something other than 50k words now, unless that was just for Camp NaNoWriMo in the summer--fewer words, a page number, etc. People do all sorts of things.

~Z

Well, the first week is going to stink... by Midnight on 2021-11-02 15:06:42 UTC Reply

because I have a pile of homework to catch up on so I don’t fail my courses. However, I will be doing the rest of it if I can. I’m focusing on editing/rewriting ‘An End of Peace’ (which I wrote the first draft of last NaNo). It’s a book about pirates. And cats. Lots of cats. Makes sense in context, I promise.