Yes!

Another update. I've passed my goal, but my novel's plot ends, I think just under 10,000 words from here. My current WC is 18,000 approximately, so at the end it should be around 28,000, 1st draft. Not the 36k I was hoping for...

Let the novel be the length it wants to be. Besides, the word count might change significantly during editing.

Hooray for passing the goal! Cupcakes for you!

I think it's time I posted the goal for my fantasy story here.

I want to start writing the story on June 24, my birthday (What better way to turn 15 then start a new story? ). I am a little unsure if I will be completely ready, but I have to start sometime. My current plan, then, is to focus more on characters and plotting then world-building. I can always add in world-building to the next draft, but I have to know where I am going.

Indeed.


At least you passed your goal.

Sounds good.

I like this plan, Mae! What kind of things do you need to do to be ready?

Well, I need to develop my characters. That will probably take the longest, since I've got a whole handful of 'em going. The most imporant thing to do before I start is probably snowflaking it. I do not do well without a plan. Hopefully that won't take too long, since I can skip the character steps because I will be using Jay's character fractalling system instead. I have a fairly solid structure in mind too. I'd also like to, at the very minimum for world-building get the history done. I want to do some flora, culture, and a bunch of other things, but I could wing the rest if I had to and add it in the next draft. So it appears I have my work cut out for me.

Yes, but knowing what you need to do is the first step. Have you made a to-do list? That's what I would recommend - order what you need to do by importance and start setting small intermediate goals to get it done. Oh, and are you going to post your development on here?

Good idea! I made a general world-building to-do list, but I didn't think of that. I'll post it when I figure out what else needs to be on it. Sure, I'll post some development here! Jordan is helping me with a logline.

Ah, that's all good, very good. *rubs hands and waits for stuff to be posted*

Aubrey, I'm planning to finish my novel this week, if possible. At the moment, today I may be able to (at least, it's quite likely) reach 20,000 words.

All things are going well!

This is the current to-do list:



And ideally, much, much more world-building. But it's the characters I'm more worried about. I'm hoping to finish Mirza this week. If I can complete that, it will have taken me two weeks to do her fractal. That's racing at top speed, too. So I don't know if I will be able to develop them all like that.

I got approximately half of my final chapter done last night. Hopefully I can finish this week, and send it out to this draft's test readers by the second week of May.

*gasps for breath* Too much awesome news at once... *sits back and marvels for a minute*

Vivace! I can't tell you how extremely happy that'll make me. Go for it - and I want to know when it's done! Like right when it's done!

Great list, Mae! Is that in order of importance? You might consider ordering it by importance and working from the top down, at least on the fractals. If you don't have time to do them all to the complete depth, I'd recommend doing your major characters first (take them all the way), and then do less for your minor characters, if necessary.

*hugs little sister* Yay! I'm excited you're so close.

Yeah, I think that is what I will do for the fractals. Anria (Name may change) is being done with the Step-by-Step Character fratalling, and then after that Ezli and Kaios will be done. I might as well finish Mirza's, because I am already well into hers. If I have to, I'll do at least the first few stages on the ones I don't have time for.

For the other things, I'll probably be mostly working on it all at once, a bit of this here, and a bit of that there.

*nods* Methinketh this sounds like a sensible plan.

*Tiptoes in* Okay, my goal is to get to Chapter eight by the end of this month! *Runs out*

I think most writers go through 'I love my novel!' days, and 'I hate my novel!' ones. Most of today has been the latter. I'm getting stuck on things like character names that are annoying me because I can't get them right. Little, silly things that I should work out later but can't stop thinking about. Lovely. I did some freewriting, though, and think I am ready to get back to it with a few issues worked out.

Good plan, Lottie! You go for it!

Trust me, I'm there every other day with Peter's Angel, Mae. Sometimes when that happens, it's good to either take a small break or work on another section. Since you have a nice to-do list, you could easily work on another area for a little while. Also, brainstorming in HW chat is nice.

Ditto.

I know exactly how you're feeling, Mae!

I think I forgot to set a goal!

I need my novel to be finished by the end of this month.

*is waiting eagerly for the report of success*

Bleh. I've been really busy this month, and probably the next 4 will be busy as well.

*nods sympathetically* It happens... but give it a shot! See how it goes.

I finished Mirza's fractal! *Flops down on couch* That was the fastest I have ever done a fractal, in two weeks. It's 16 pages and over 5,000 words long.

You, my dear Mae, are epic. *offers a tray of cupcakes for re-fortification*

'Sank you! *Grins and takes tray of cupcakes*

I have completed the first book in my trilogy( ), The Battlehost Trilogy, and I'm now working on the second book.

1. Penalty
2. Retaliation
3. Fulfillment

Just updating y'all.

But, I'm setting myself a goal. I want to be in the draft stage of Retaliation by May 5th. I still need to make a few changes to my plot, and set up the ending of it for a sequel.

My first trilogy!!!

**does hyper dance**

Congratulations, Ace! *showers Ace with cookies*

*was talking to Vivace when the awesome trilogy name was decided* Fantastic goals!

Actually, it depends on how productive I am today, but I may be able to start writing Retaliation this afternoon.

And I am... *dramatic drumroll* DONE! I finished last night at 71,921 words, almost double the word count of my first draft.

Anyone who wishes can read my thoughts about finishing the third draft here. It was much too long to put here.

Do it, Vivace, and tell me about it afterwards.

*hugs little sister tightly* I am SO delighted for you! Wait, almost double? That is amazing.

*hugs tightly back* It is?

Yeah! I mean, doubling the length of the draft is a huge change. So that's amazing just in a facts-n-figures sense. However, from what I've been hearing, it sounds like it made the book doubly better, so I'm happy for you.

*blushes and hugs her Aubrey*

Congratulations, Sir W and Raven Z!

Bravo, y'all!

If there is one thing so far that snowflaking a novel has taught me, it's seriously considering turning it into a trilogy. There's just... So much. It would be a huge stand-alone book. It also means that the character fractal I just finished would not be needed till the second or third book.

*has an update with the story that might be a novel*

Azlyn's continual plugging of the system has convinced me to try snowflaking Beorn. I look forward to seeing what happens.

As do I.

At the moment, I'm taking a week long break from writing of any kind. That way I can focus on getting the 2nd draft of Penalty done. Also, I do have the beginning of Retaliation written, so I suppose I completed my goal.

Oooooh! Cool! I wasn't fully aware of doing that, but I am glad it helped! Even though I have not gotten that far into developing it yet, it's becoming much more structured already.

Excellent, excellent. Mae, I know splitting/expanding a book into a trilogy is a hard decision to make. (Did that with Peter's Angel.) Keep us updated on what you decide!

Oh good, you didn't murder Beorn. I like this development, Mark.

I'm glad you're taking the week off, Vivace. Hooray for getting Retaliation started!

Yes, I've enjoyed not writing full speed for a while.

I'm planning on cutting out the sections that I like from Penalty, and writing in the parts that I think need more work.

I've done that during revising. I recommend starting a new file (so you always have your complete rough draft) and copying & pasting the sections you want to save.

Correct.

Well... I want to make a goal, but I am going to wait until I can realistically keep that goal.