|
Post by sunjumper on Nov 30, 2022 1:24:41 GMT
And Chapter 3 is done. 1349 words and I think that pushes me slightly above 5k! Which makes me very happy as 5k in 3 days is NoNoWriMo worthy. This is going much better than I ever expected. It's the small things in live. Also with the slight shift in perspective I'm enjoying writing again. :-) P.S. @vvunty, thanks to the glorious now page you might miss my rather extensive feedback for your first chapter. Don't forget to check the last post on the previous page.
|
|
wunty
Full Member
Pastry Forward
Posts: 5,084
|
Post by wunty on Nov 30, 2022 10:28:53 GMT
sunjumper Shit man, what awesome feedback. Thank you so much for taking the time. I'm going to save all that down in a file so I can go through it when I edit! Glad to see you've done another chunk! Great going. Didn't manage to read yesterday as it was mental but will read both parts today as soon as I get a few mins!!
|
|
|
Post by thejackketch on Nov 30, 2022 13:33:39 GMT
sunjumper & wunty - congratulations both for getting material written first off. I'm intrigued by both stories and want to know where they go so keep up the good work. Definitely 1st drafts but both have the meat of a good story in them. wunty - I do love the build up of tension in your writing and also the mystery, some definite wtf is going on moments in there, as sunjumper said a bit of pacing issues to sort out but some lovely writing there. sunjumper - I wonder if you have a genre for this in mind as you are writing, at one point I was thinking future magic fantasy but chapter 3 has changed my mind on this, is it more hard sci fi. Either way it has me thinking and intrigued - all good things when it comes to writing. You should both be really proud of yourselves for getting something done, it's way more than I have ever tried and know myself I don't have the words/imagination/skill to do what you do. Round of applause each.
|
|
|
Post by sunjumper on Nov 30, 2022 14:17:03 GMT
Many thanks for your feedback thejackketch. To answer your question, I am trying to go after one personal holy grail of mine the genre would be hard science fantasy. Kind of. Also as other readers have pointed out to me that while the flow of the story is decent enough they don't have the first fucking clue what is happening. So using that feedback I'm trying to bring it back on track and while staying true to the narrative flow of the story get the more important pieces of exposition out there now. You can only follow deeply confused people for so long... Which leads me to Chapter 4 part 1. Slightly over 1k and not quite there yet with explaining what some of the core problems are. But we are certainly at the threshold. And I hope some things are a bit clearer now.
|
|
|
Post by thejackketch on Nov 30, 2022 14:27:06 GMT
OK hard science fantasy makes sense. I like the mystery and I think you can keep people along for the ride longer than you may think by slowly explaining/revealing plot points and world building. I'm reading The Peripheral by William Gibson at the moment and he is the master this.
|
|
wunty
Full Member
Pastry Forward
Posts: 5,084
|
Post by wunty on Nov 30, 2022 16:12:58 GMT
sunjumperRight. Managed to read chapter 2. I still have to say I haven't got the slightest clue as to what is going on, but that's not a bad thing. I'm slowly being drip fed information and little nuggets of the world. Enough so that my interest is very much piqued, and sustained. I'm not adverse to this though, and don't see it as a bad thing. So long as it's interesting then I'm happy for it all to take as long as it takes. I've got nothing beyond grammatical stuff to point out but that's part of the whole NaNo first draft thing, and I'd be pretty hypocritical! Great stuff.
|
|
|
Post by sunjumper on Dec 5, 2022 1:08:39 GMT
Took me a while and it is short but here is another bit of Chapter 4.
|
|
|
Post by thejackketch on Dec 6, 2022 11:13:39 GMT
sunjumper I do like the shard personality split you've gone with, continuing it with the male protagonist is good, links the characters in a clever way. I hope you keep up with the story even though NaNoWriMo is done.
|
|
wunty
Full Member
Pastry Forward
Posts: 5,084
|
Post by wunty on Dec 6, 2022 11:18:40 GMT
sunjumper Shit I never read your other bits. This is me to a tee. Once November is over my brain shuts down. I'll rectify that tonight. Glad you're still at it!
|
|
|
Post by sunjumper on Dec 9, 2022 16:48:17 GMT
thejackketchAs always, thank you for your feedback, this story is so weird, that hearing how other people see it helps me a lot to know what works and what needs to be tweaked going on and it really helps by not giving int to selfdoubt. You said that you also tried your hand in writing? Next time, or even now actually feel free to share it. Believe me everyone else's writing tends to look really impressive while the stuff that one writes oneself is often a confusing tepid mess. @the VVunty Protocol Don't worry mate, I've got the same problem. Once November is done the writing idea tends to vanish under the waves of everyday life. This time around I'm trying to shift my perspective and attitude towards writing. Seeing it as a constant challenge, in the long run was a toxic thought, as the success the failure ratio is really unfavourable. A specific sprint with a few likeminded crazies like NaNoWriMo is a great thing to do once in a while but not sustainable in the long run. At least for me. Right now I'm trying to focus on having fun with writing again. And instead of wanting to finish my story, just go with the flow and see how far it'll take me. I'm seeing a "OK... cool... now what?!" point in the not so distant future. But that's OK too. Either that's the point where the story is done or it is the basis for more interesting drama. P.S. I'm also going to return to your story because I want to see how it goes on. The main problem is still that I have yet to find the fabled time tree.
|
|
wunty
Full Member
Pastry Forward
Posts: 5,084
|
Post by wunty on Dec 12, 2022 12:49:59 GMT
sunjumper Yeah I do this every time. Get all inspired and say "I'll finish this novel by Christmas" then everything falls off a cliff after Dec 1st. I actually wrote last night though, and have a real hankering to get back to it this evening so all is not lost yet.
|
|
|
Post by sunjumper on Dec 13, 2022 15:35:30 GMT
I finally got some more writing done today, which makes me very happy. I've been feeling the block strongly these last few days. I tried to focus more on just writing something, continuing I story that I enjoy and where I would like to see more of it, instead of feeling like I am somehow "failing" to get something done. So here is the final part of Chapter 4.
|
|
|
Post by thejackketch on Dec 14, 2022 16:10:06 GMT
sunjumper - Chapter 4 as a whole is really bringing the story forward, it feels more focused now and has you writing towards something. I've no idea what it is but then that is the hook isn't it. I hope you manage to keep writing this story and we can see where it goes. As to me writing, at school I was piss poor at it and I haven't tried since, my creative skills lie elsewhere.
|
|
wunty
Full Member
Pastry Forward
Posts: 5,084
|
Post by wunty on Apr 18, 2023 9:18:58 GMT
/sigh
So I'm still writing this. I keep revsiing my completion dates. It's now part of Camp Nano and I'm plodding on. The fucking book is now at 170,000 words approx but I WILL fucking finish this one. I will. This is what happens. I can finish short stories but as soon as I do a novel, boom. I go write up my own arse (lol) and over complicate things to the point that it spirals out of control.
I didn't write it much in Dec, did nothing in Jan, then halfway through Feb I resumed with the inention of finishing mid-march at around 100k. So yeah, I'm beyond that. I revised to end March, now I've revised it to end of April. If I don't finish it then I never will. Then this one will join the pile of other novels that got completely out of hand (I have one sitting at nearly 300k that will also never get finished).
I wish I just kept the scope narrow and finished the fucking things.
The hilarious part is that it's probably all shite. I just need to finish it though and see what the fuck it is.
|
|
|
Post by sunjumper on Oct 30, 2023 21:43:33 GMT
Good grief, I always want to bring this thread back at the beginning of October, and here we are two days before the "one True Month" begins.
I'm in again, maybe I can at least come to the point of my las story?
My new idea, an European twist on the wuxia novel, will probably crash and burn during the first few pages. But then, it's about the process right? Also new trick of the day, Maybe this time I write the opening and the ending both first and then start to fill out the parts in between?
Anyone else back for more?
|
|
wunty
Full Member
Pastry Forward
Posts: 5,084
|
Post by wunty on Oct 30, 2023 22:41:23 GMT
Yes. I am because I just can’t help myself. Got more writing to finish and it’s a great event to force me to write more.
|
|
|
Post by sunjumper on Oct 31, 2023 14:41:26 GMT
Wunty, welcome back and glad to see you not giving in to sanity. :-)
Anyone else going to join us?
|
|
harrypalmer
Junior Member
GREAT ASS
Posts: 2,161
Member is Online
|
Post by harrypalmer on Oct 31, 2023 14:54:45 GMT
I reaaaaallly want to say yes, but I don't have any faith in myself or ideas that I think I could work up! I last tried in 2014 FFS!
So yeah ok I'll sign up.
|
|
|
Post by sunjumper on Oct 31, 2023 15:28:46 GMT
I reaaaaallly want to say yes, but I don't have any faith in myself or ideas that I think I could work up! I last tried in 2014 FFS! So yeah ok I'll sign up. What did you write back then? Also, no faith in yourself or your ideas? Then you are the perfect candidate! Welcome aboard. Let's fail together and have fun while doing it. (Icarus was one dumb motherfucker, but he sure looked pretty falling burning from the sky)
|
|
harrypalmer
Junior Member
GREAT ASS
Posts: 2,161
Member is Online
|
Post by harrypalmer on Oct 31, 2023 15:37:00 GMT
I did it three years in a row up to 2014 but never made the word count on any of them. I think the last one was about an assisted suicide centre or something jolly like that.
I've tried bits and pieces since then but always hit a wall. It's fun but I get disappointed by my efforts!
|
|
|
Post by sunjumper on Oct 31, 2023 16:33:16 GMT
Well I'm looking forward to what you write this year.
Also please for the love of god, this is for all of you who will join, post you work in progress stories, reading them is half the fun. And a story without a reader is a tragic thing.
|
|
|
Post by LegendaryApe on Oct 31, 2023 18:58:49 GMT
Might be tempted this year. Are stories about stand up wanks still popular?
|
|
|
Post by sunjumper on Oct 31, 2023 23:05:45 GMT
Might be tempted this year. Are stories about stand up wanks still popular? Write it and find out.
|
|
|
Post by sunjumper on Nov 1, 2023 2:37:20 GMT
The game's afoot. This time I used a cunning trick to win before the race has started. Not word count wise I am not quite 1.5k in. But story wise, I have never finished a story here, most of them haven even reached the part where the "real" plot begins. But this time I wrote the last chapter first. And then wrote the prologue and first chapter. Now there is a full story. And all I have to do is add the middle. Behold chapter "n"! And the beginning of the story.
|
|
|
Post by Nanocrystal on Nov 1, 2023 3:52:17 GMT
sunjumper I still vividly remember loving the opening few chapters of Sky Shell. You never finished it?
|
|
cubby
Junior Member
doesn't get subtext
Posts: 4,703
|
Post by cubby on Nov 1, 2023 7:57:05 GMT
Might be tempted this year. Are stories about stand up wanks still popular? Maybe a sequel to American Beauty? He enjoyed stand up wanks.
|
|
|
Post by LegendaryApe on Nov 1, 2023 8:10:19 GMT
I haven't seen that one. I assume it was a modern movie adaptation of Black Beauty, and they had to change the name to make it more marketable?
|
|
wunty
Full Member
Pastry Forward
Posts: 5,084
|
Post by wunty on Nov 1, 2023 8:29:11 GMT
Right I think I know what I’m going to do. I started a short story the other day so I’m going to finish that. Then I’m going back to the novel I started in the summer. And I’m going to finish that with the bulk of the nano count.
What encourages me is last years novel did eventually get finished, as well as the one I did before that. So I’m just going to go for it again.
|
|
|
Post by thejackketch on Nov 1, 2023 8:48:27 GMT
sunjumper Great start and ending you have there, world building in place and a likeable lead character already. Keep us all posted on progress.
|
|
|
Post by sunjumper on Nov 1, 2023 13:30:57 GMT
sunjumper I still vividly remember loving the opening few chapters of Sky Shell. You never finished it? Sadly no. Skyshell is still one of my own favourites and it is the one of my stories that keeps complaining most loudly about not being finished. I did a reboot of it a few years back for NaNo, you might what to have a look at that one, but its just part of the first chapter rewritten for better pacing. But I am glad to hear that you liked it and still remember it after all these years. :-) I won't make any promises because my track record is horrible but I do want to revisit that story and finish it. (Added irony is that Skyshell is the opening story for the fantasy world I was actually aiming for...) wuntyNice to see that you have something in mind, I am looking forward to it. And do share, I really liked your broken reality story from last year. thejackketchThank you very much. :-) I have already written myself against a wall, but then I started against a wall anyway. This is a genre I mostly know from movies and have only recently finally gotten my hands on in book form. Now trying to get my ideas into that structure is not that easy. Let's see where this goes.
|
|