*jazz hands*

I did it! It wasn't a sure thing a couple of times, but I buckled down and did it! Final word count: 50,161, so pretty close, but I'm even happier than I have been with some previous years where I wrote more. I made myself stick to a plot and follow it instead of my usual MO of skipping around wherever my muse takes me, so it took a lot more work than usual. But I have a solid part of a story instead of something I need to start over!

Also, my Saturday of book-related adventures was fantastic. Allison and I went to two bookstores that were participating in Seattle Independent Bookstore Day and tried to get to a third but were foiled by parking. (Turns out there was no parking because that was the bookstore with jello shots. Which explains a lot.) Turns out that it's not just a race to get all the stamps, it's a party everywhere! There was cake and balloons and book signings and authors reading their work and coupons and champagne and crowds of people. If you're in the Seattle area definitely put it on your calendar and get a group together, it's the last Saturday in April and we had a blast. Next year we're strategizing and spending all day doing it, which will be awesome.

And then we went directly from bookstores to a play based on a book, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief: The Musical! We didn't know if it would be good like the books or bad like the movies (moment of silence for the movies and those of us who suffered through them...), but it turned out that it was fantastic. I definitely recommend it, if it comes to your area. The cast was very talented, it was incredibly clever, the songs were surprisingly well-written, and it managed to actually capture the quirky atmosphere of the book. I definitely recommend it. If it comes here again, I'll probably see it a second time.

Now to figure out what project I want to work on now that Nanowrimo is done. I'll let you know next week what I decide on! See you then!

Hello again!

I can't believe it's the end of another month. Where the hell do these days go. What am I doing with them. It's why I need to set concrete goals for myself and refuse to let myself not meet them. This blog is helping immensely, so I'm definitely going to keep going!

There are only four more days to write for Camp Nanowrimo, basically two if I don't count days I work and don't have much time when I get home, and it's a little shaky on whether or not I'll be able to finish, not going to lie. I have about 33.5K words, which means I have basically tomorrow- I'm done writing for the day today, more on that shortly- to write 17K words. Relevant words, even, because that's part of why I'm going slower than I have in the past, I decided I was going to stick to a plotline and not write for different projects. I've written more than that before in one day- my record is 22K in one day!- but  we'll see if I have the focus and motivation and inspiration. I'm optimistic and very stubborn, so I hope to update you at the end of the week that I got there!

I'm done for the day today because I'm about to leave for an important event- Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief: The Musical! My best friend Allison got tickets for us, and I'm so excited to see it. I don't know whether to expect it to be good like the books or bad like the movie, but regardless it's going to be amazing. And since we're going to be in Seattle, we're also swinging by a bunch of bookstores to celebrate Seattle Independent Bookstore Day! I'm going to get in so much trouble. It's going to be great. :)

I'll update on Wednesday, this week, to let you know how the show and shopping went and whether I was able to complete my story! Wish me luck!

We have reached the halfway point of the month! Kudos to everyone who has done Nanowrimo with a full-time job in the past and I apologize for not understanding how very different it is from doing Nanowrimo with a part-time job. I had no idea. I am exhausted like you could not believe.

However, I am doing really well for being really busy! I hit 20k yesterday after a long weekend of staring aimlessly at my computer screen, so I'm within striking distance of being on target. Even better, though, I feel like I'm really getting into the groove of my story. I have my characters sorted out, I have my voice, I have my world-building coming together, and I have some really good plans for the plot. So I'm really happy so far with my progress.

Also, I just wanted to share that some good writing music is the "Gloria Regalia" album by Tommee Profitt and Fleurie. Excellent medieval fantasy soundtrack. I've been listening to it nonstop since it came out, highly recommend it!

I'll check in next week after Easter and my weekend in Seattle for Sakuracon! Until then!

Hello hello!

I can't believe the month is a third of the way over, it's gone by in a blur. I've been busy with Camp Nanowrimo, but not doing the story I thought I was going to do: after a full day of staring at a blank screen and not writing a single word, I realized I didn't want to work on Rush for Nanowrimo. It needs editing, not really new content, so I wouldn't have gotten very far if I had stuck with that one. Instead, I'm working on a rewrite of an idea I started and mostly scrapped for November Nanowrimo last year: a high fantasy called Runeless.

It's an interesting exercise because it's teaching me how to worldbuild, which I don't have a lot of practice with. It's a lot like character-building, I'm finding- you pick traits, and dig for why that trait exists, and how the different parts of the personality interact, and what impact that has on the story. My world is temperamental and very old, and it's a lot of fun- and a lot of work- to find out what exactly that means.

Currently, it's slow but steady wins the race. I'm hoping so, anyways. I'm at 10k words when I should be at around 16k, but I'm really happy with the words I do have so I'm optimistic the plot will come faster the further I get in.

I'll update at the halfway point on the 15th whether I'm at 25k words like I should be (fingers crossed!) and in the meantime, if you're doing Nanowrimo too, swing by our cabin! My username is Kayuka-Skye, hit me up! Word wars do me good. ;)

Until the 15th! Back to writing!