Young Writers Society

Okay, so I only did 800 words yesterday... what can I say? My in-laws stopped by at my usual writing time, so I wanted to visit with them instead.

Tomorrow is Good Friday, so I am going to be fasting from all electronics for a day. So I'll be even more behind, lol. But, hopefully not for too long because we're about to come up with the major fight scene and I tend to speed write those.

Anyway, I just want to make a couple of random notes:

- Describe the setting more! Inside and out, because it's not really... real right now.

- The Imposter is probably not alone when he comes to meet him, so maybe describe the people he's with at first before he dismisses them.

- Also, describe the men more and their weapons and how they treat the Black Swans.

- Make up names for the two new Black Swans and the truthseer.

- Multiple languages are being spoken! Make sure that you are clear which language is being spoken and what the reaction of the non-speakers are to the words being thrown around.

- Also... it's actually really awkward that the languages don't have their own names. Gonna have to come up with names of the languages and the regions that people are from because I am starting to get mixed up.

- Describe more of what the Lady is doing, because her reaction to this all is... interesting.

...okay! I managed to write the 1200 words that I needed to do to make word count for today.

(Also, I sort of want to write more because I just wrote a cliffhanger, and ahhhhhhhhh I need to see what happens next!)

One thing that surprised me was how easy the conflict came to be with this particular part. The Imposter and the MC are just... such natural antagonists and rivals. Which is funny because in many ways they are such similar characters, but NOPE. They do not like each other. So when I thought I would have to maybe force them to not like each other through external forces... nope. Not necessary.

Omg, I am terrible at describing things. Like... in Book 1 (mind you, I'm on book 4 right now, haha) I still have a note that I have to describe the sumptuousness of the room that you first meet Solea and Alainna in, because Solea's room IS a sumptuous room. And her family is rich, despite her whining about everything, haha. Though, with Solea as a narrator, it would make a lot more sense for her to ignore the stuff because it's just so normal to her that she wouldn't particularly care.

BUT. Like... book 4's main character would notice wealth, especially the Imposter's wealth. SO.

Anyway. Technically, I need to write 2000 words to make up word count today, but ALSO I have a very complex carrot cake to make and cinnamon rolls, for tomorrow's Easter feast, so we will SEE how much I can feasibly write...

So APPARENTLY my parents drove 3000 miles as a surprise and came to my house for Easter dinner??? And now they'll be hanging out for a couple of days??? So RIP Camp Nano, lolololol my word count is going to suffer so badly, hahaha.

I did manage to scrape together about 1800 words since I last posted, so I am only 2200 words behind, technically, but I might have to change my goals a little anyway.

I am about to finish this chapter (maybe a thousand words or so need to be written to finish the chapter). There's gotta be the fight (which I am literally about to write!) and then the twist, so that's already planned out. But I also need to read through the chapter and add the description that I planned and just make sure the whole thing is cohesive and makes sense, because as soon as I finish it, I'm sending it to my niece who is reading this whole catastrophe, haha.

Anyway... I'm starting to have doubts about where I want to head after this chapter?? And I wanted to come here and talk out???

Right now, they're doing a bit of a side quest that they stumbled upon because they just... had bad timing and got mixed up with the Imposter AND SO they kind of just... well... yeah. XD THERE'S TROUBLE AHEAD.

But! This is only the side quest! So then it's a question about meeting the other antagonist.

Anyway, I was originally going to have the other antagonist kind of wait before doing anything because they kind of have to recover a bit??? Also, originally in my mind, the antagonist was slightly more chill. But, based on everything that has just happened... the antagonist is probably not going to want to wait and is also probably not going to be chill. Not after everything. There is LEGITIMATE ANGER going on here!!! (And besides, why would you wait if you have Swans that can help you instead?)

BUT. If the antagonist comes sooner, they still need at least a little recovery time and if they don't have that... well... I might have to majorly veer from what my projected outline was and rewrite my outline majorly. They might have to split up sooner... and then split up again... actually, that might be even better as far as a dramatic thing goes, because OH NO they're being picked off one by one! (Maybe I can work with this???) And I have to think about what else happens because a lot of what I planned depended on having the antagonist wait and HAHAHA yeah that's not about to happen.

But on the plus side, at least the pacing will be better? I was thinking about how weird it would be to suddenly put the brakes on after this chapter and the story was about to get maybe a little too soft and undefined... but no, by reintroducing the antagonist again now, it's going to get a lot more intense and scarier and it's going to lead into the climax better. Already, there is so much at stake, so it's already kind of terrifying, but this is the last book. It needs to leave an impact. XD

OKAY. So I did about 1000 words yesterday BUT I am still behind, lol. I've written about 9000 words so far and I should have written 11,000 words, if I wanted to be on schedule. WHOOPS. Oh well...

Anyway, this chapter is starting to look more like a roller coaster??? I swear, when I plan out my chapters, I do try to plan them out fully. But then things just HAPPEN. Minor characters, who I thought wouldn't do stuff in the chapter, suddenly end up playing large roles.

THAT IS WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW.

I... this chapter is nuts. This book is nuts. Like, when I started this book, I was like, "Well, this is more like a typical fantasy quest sport, I guess and maybe it'll be too cliche, but whatever. Let's write!"

But it's crazy. There are so many twists. In fact, there might be more twists than the other books because even though you have a feeling of where it's going to end from the previous books and prophecies you've learned in those. books, it's just... a wild ride anyway because how do you even get there? My niece is reading this and she's like, "I know what needs to happen, but..."

And that's a big but, lol.

Anyway. My main point is this book is crazy, lol.

OKAY. Still 2000 words behind, but EH. Not bad, I guess???

OH MAN. THIS CHAPTER.

Before I began writing this chapter, I warned my niece that it would be disastrous.

Actually... the conversation went a little like this...

NIECE: That last chapter wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Like, everything could have been a disaster, but it all turned out fine.

ME: Well! Wait till NEXT chapter.

NIECE: Is it a complete disaster?

ME: ....maybe.

Anyway, halfway through writing it, I was like, "Actually, this isn't so bad." So I warned her not to expect a complete disaster.

But now that we're nearing the end, it is... actually quite disastrous. I wouldn't call it a complete disaster, but... like. It's a bit dismal. (How are they going to get out of this one???)

ANYWAY. Probably going to finish up the ending tomorrow, read through it, add description to the parts that need description, and so on.

I miiiiight need to split this chapter up as well??? Originally, I had these two chapters split up in my outline, but then I decided to combine them, but... well... It's really bloated right now. Besides, I have the perfect cliffhanger set up for the chapter end, so I can do that and then describe the fight in better detail. Because right now the description for the fight is a little sparse... which makes sense because the actual fight scene is QUICK, but also there is absolute chaos going on too, because SWANS and then you have the Lady in play and... yeah, I probably need to just do that and just draw out the conflict more. It's a bit of a side quest, but... like... as far as character development goes, it's pretty important. SO. Yeah.

TOMORROW.

And I guess that means this chapter won't end totally dismally? Because it'll end on a total cliffhanger, haha. (Mind you, things can end dismally and in a total cliffhanger [see: book 1 for an example] but YEP. Looking ahead.

(This also means that I have to come up with a pretty compelling ending for this new chapter...huh... I'll keep that in mind, lol.)

...I *did* write yesterday. A lot, in fact. But I didn't record it, lol.

ANYWAY. Today, I'm stopping at only 1200 words behind, lol, instead of the 2000 I've been behind as of late. So there is PROGRESS, haha.

So I split the chapters (yay!). So now I have two chapters -- chapter 11 and chapter 12. So now that I've split them, I've been adding more to Chapter 11 because YAY I have more space so I can write more about Lyda and the wedding and more interior thoughts and also more about setting the scene! All of this is good!

Also, we have a bridal song! Yes! I wrote some poetry for this book! The last poem I did was the Lady's Lament, and that was for the first book. So we have a similar song that is LOOSELY based on the song of songs. Kind of??

Anyway, here is the song, as well as a tiny bit of context to go with the song, though I don't think there are any huge spoilers here if you want to take a peek???



So YAY.

I think tomorrow I get to cut a couple things out, but hopefully I'll still get enough words written that it'll be good.

I also need to do taxes... which I am dreading... so please pray for me and/or offer me words of encouragement because I hate everything about taxes right now.

... okay, so I couldn't help myself and I cut out the parts I needed to cut out AND. I sent chapter 11 to the niece. So YAY!!!

Ooh a song !! That's so cool =O
You've been doing great with Camp NaNo so far, Snoink!!

...okay! I am about 2500 words behind now my desired wordcount, lolololololol. *doomed*

BUT I DID TAXES SO YAYYYYYY.

I did some revisions, which is why it's so low, lol. The story wasn't going in quite the right direction that I wanted, which I didn't like. So I changed things around a bit and deleted a bunch of stuff, so even though I've been writing like a crazy person, it doesn't sound like it on paper.

Anyway, I beefed up the fight scene! Clarise gets a big mention!

Actually, I'm a little bit happy about the Clarise mention, not gonna lie. Though like... I might have to beef up the last Clarise mention???

I might have to change up more stuff? It's... still not quite set up the way that I want it right now, which is slightly frustrating... might have to mull this over a little, lol. Or at least set up a map of where everyone is, because that's the big issue. It's not really well set up right now in that it doesn't make sense why the people who are acting out are where they are and that is driving me a bit crazy. Maybe I'll draw up a map or something.

OR. Maybe I should describe where the people are at the beginning???

Hmmmm...

OKAY. So, I did a bit of mulling over and I *promise* that I will write today. But also, I want to outline some of my thought process, just in case it might give any of you brainwaves???

So one of the problems that I have is that I'll be writing a super chaotic scene -- like a fight scene, for example -- and ALL CHAOS is happening at once, but there are a bunch of different characters that are all acting in different ways, usually in their own self-interest. So, for example, in a fight scene:

- You may have several characters who are actively fighting. (How important are they to the story? How important are they to the scene? Are their actions going to affect the story in any minor way? Major way?)

- You may have several characters who get injured at various levels (Are their injuries major? Minor? Can they move and to what extent? Were they actively involved with the fight, or did they get hurt accidentally?)

- You might people who are invested in the fight, but for whatever reason are refusing to fight... for now anyway. But they are wildcards and they may or may not participate later in the fight if they feel provoked enough. (Why are they invested in the fight? What are their motivations for not fighting? What would provoke them into joining the fray? How desperate are they? If they join the fight, would they fight cleanly or would they fight in a dirty, desperate way?)

- You may have bystanders who are not really involved in the fight, but they might have some reaction to it nonetheless. (Why are they not involved? Are they trying to run away? Are they staying around to watch? Is it possible that they might accidentally interfere in some way?)

So the reason why I have so many problems with this particular scene is that I have two characters that are actively fighting, several characters who are injured, a bunch of people who are invested in the fight and are willing to step in, if things don't go their way (including several Swans on opposite sides of each other) which adds up to... about four wildcards on one side and five on the other side. And a lot of bystanders. Which means I'm juggling between eleven different people right now in this scene.

So the reason why I've been rewriting a bit is because there was just a fight scene (which was relatively straightforward!) and now the wildcards are starting to act their parts. And so, I'm having trouble identifying which is the most important wildcard to focus on because once one wildcard acts, this prompts another wildcard to act, and it's a bit of a domino effect where all chaos is erupting.

...anyway. I think I know who to focus on now.

WISH ME LUCK.

GOOD LUCK =D

...when I said that I promised to write yesterday, what I really meant was that I would vomit my guts out, take a nap, then spend the rest of the day staring blankly at my phone and crocheting a little because my brain was dead.

Because isn't this the same as writing???

Needless to say, I am now 4000 words behind, lolololol.

*doomed*

Mind you, I did write about 400 words yesterday last night when I was feeling slightly better. But I also deleted about 300 words. So we're doing FANTASTIC here. xD

Anyway, I wrote a bunch this morning. Somebody just vomited (because I write SOPHISTICATED works here, and also I refuse to be the only who is vomiting, haha), several people are quite angry, and the chaos is organized so instead of a confusing mess (which it was!) it currently looks like a bunch of plot twists. Which is a lot more fun to read, haha.

Also, I think I'm back on the right track again! Well... almost. Still have to work on Mama Doni's entrance, but other than that I'm on the right track!

ON A MORE POSITIVE NOTE. I have written about 15K words so far this month and finished one chapter. This is not nothing! I am also probably about halfway through with this chapter, which makes me happy.

I've been traveling for the last two days, so.... not a lot of writing, but I am up to 17K words for the month, which is nothing to sneeze about!

One thing I want to say... while daydreaming in the car, I sort of realized that a Conqueror would know certain things about how to bleed Swans properly that non-Conquerors would not know. So if a non-Conqueror attempted to bleed a White Swan, unless they had made sure that they could safely do it and implemented several safety features, it would probably backfire on them terribly.

So yep...