Camp NaNo Week 1

Well, I ended up spending most of the first week revising sections of Surge of the Soul Eater. I also did some exploratory writing for Nusquamton Archives.

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Camp NaNo Progress Update #1

Yesterday’s word count 4498. So much for taking it easy this run! I spent the entire day writing a new chapter in Surge of the Soul Eater to accommodate moving scenes from the end to the beginning. After that I had to revise the next chapter to smooth things over and tie it all in.

To Rewrite or To Revise

I sat down last night with the intent of rewriting the first chapter of “Surge of the Soul Eater” but instead I ended up just revising it. For some reason I just couldn’t bring myself to start from scratch and put it in 1st person, even as just an experimental writing exercise.

I know what’s wrong with my book. It’s not personal enough so it doesn’t generate the emotional response I want from it. Knowing this should make rewriting and revising easy but it isn’t. I rewrite short stories often, testing POV narrative styles, and don’t experience this much angst over it. If anything it feels as part of the normal process. Some reason this book is different.

Honestly, I’m not sure which will work better for this book. Rewrite from scratch or keep revising what I have? I’m frustrated that in the feedback I’m getting Thomas continues to remain distant.

Camp NaNo Prep Update

I finished writing the short story episode, “The Demons That Consign Us”, introducing Eddie yesterday. Current draft 3,290 words total and it’s nothing like the original Eddie’s intro episode posted over on the Chaos Pen.

Discovering Scapple

I’ve discovered Scapple and… holy cow I love this program! It let’s you build mind maps with it and you can drag and drop them right into Scrivener (if you have it).

Explaining the Nusquamton Project

I thought I would take a moment to explain what this project is to those visiting for the first time.

Revision Notes – Concept of Layering

My brother is still reading my vomit draft. He has shared with me only one thought so far after he got 30 pages in and that was, unsurprisingly, that I could add more detail and expand the scenes more. In particular he felt that the first scene where the soul eater brood is introduced was somewhat confusing in places.

Ideas for the Next Book Germinating

I posted my initial idea on my life blog, The Art of Chaos, and I’ll be damned if I can’t find the post now. But that’s fine I haven’t forgotten the idea: a Lilim named Octavia bound to serve Thomas’ family, and attempting to pursue a relationship with Rue, finds out she is really a simulacrum. I want to write a book exploring that idea.

Scenes Semi Outlined Today

I sat down today and in Scrivener I created a page for each scene. I then put each scene into the acts they are currently in for the vomit draft. Finally I labeled each scene for the plot line they are a part of. One of the things that resulted is I ended up breaking up some of the scenes that covered multiple plot lines into separate scenes. Except for one in the beginning of the book.

Self Assessment of the Revision Process

Okay so I’ve been making some very slow progress with the revision of my novel here. I’ve discussed somewhat on my personal blog in this post.