Choosing A Story

As Camp NaNoWriMo creeps ever closer, I am left with a difficult question – what the hell do I write? In my last post, I wrote about my Elfpunk idea. Well, an older idea that I had has clawed it’s way out of the cobwebbed recesses of my mind, and now I’m way more inspired about it, than I am about The Beautiful Blessed, the elfpunk story.

I’m tentatively referring to this other story idea as Of Life & Death, though I’d like something different, ideally, for the title. The main character is a necromancer, and there’s a great deal of magic and such in it, but the story involves a lot of politics, and war from a political perspective. Also religious persecution, and disillusionment, and it’s also a bit of a coming of age story, at least at the beginning. So, as you can see, it’s pretty developed in my mind.

What lead to this sort of realization that I had a choice to make was my own desire to plot out my story. Outlines aren’t for me – I’ve tried them, and they don’t work. So I thought about it, and the perfect thing came to mind – a wiki. So I did a bit of research on creating free, and even more importantly, private, wiki’s, and found wikidot. I’ll probably write another post about how I use it, in detail, but for now it is enough to say that this is how I want to plot stories forever. I’m also currently researching other wiki hosting services, as wikidot only allows you to create five wikis, and I’m not sure that’s enough for me.

In any case, I first started a wiki which would contain the languages I’m working on creating, however incomplete they may end up being. The I made one fore my Elfpunk story, and I had a realization. I had a world, yes, but no plot and no character ideas.

Which is a problem, really.

So, I decided to let the story sit in the back of my mind for a bit, to let it develop. Lacking anything else to do, except for the important things like college, I remembered the older Necromancy story, and decided to pull it out. I made it it’s very own wiki, and starting edited it, based on the notes that I had in scrivener. And ideas just started pouring out, really.

So now I’m not sure which one to do.

I’m leaning towards the necromancy story, because I feel that it is more developed. Then I can keep working on developing the elfpunk story, until November if needed, or even longer.

Oh, writer problems.

Preparing For Camp NaNoWriMo

The July session of Camp NaNoWriMo is more than a month away, yet I already find myself preparing. I did not complete the April session, to my everlasting shame, and I am more determined than ever to win the July session. I have a solid idea, and this, I hope, will lead to a most excellent first draft of a novel.

This has inspired me to write about what I do to prepare to write.

They say that there are two kinds of writers – planners, and pantsers. I find myself firmly in the middle. Sometimes I plan, and sometimes I just jump right into the first chapter.

For my latest original project, however, I am planning. In fact, I’m doing a lot of planning.

I was inspired by this article, which describes the genre, Elfpunk. If you don’t feel like clicking the link, elfpunk is basically similar to Urban Fantasy, only with elves and fairies instead of vampires and werewolves.

In any case, I wanted to write something elfpunk. I didn’t know what, but the idea appealed to me, so I created a scrivener project titled simple, “Elfpunk,” and… let it sit for a few weeks. The writer’s block it me hard.

A couple of days ago, however, I was struck with the urge to write. I have many, many empty scrivener projects, each representing an idea that I have had, and have put on the backburner. I opened a few, but it wasn’t until I opened my elfpunk project that I felt any urge to write.

I started with this:

How would elves/fae adapt to the modern world? Their magic, their morals, their fashion, their magic, their rules? How would they hide? Would they hide? How would they interact with humans?

Elf or Fae? Both? If so, what is the difference between the two? Physically? Morally? Are they allies? Enemies? Indifferent?

I find the best of my ideas come from freewriting and asking questions, and that is where I usually start.

With the above in mind, I decided on a whim to create a language for my Elves and Fae. And so that’s what I’m working on now. I used The Language Construction Kit, which I highly recommend, as a guideline. And I created a free, private wiki at WikiDot, to keep everything organized.

The wiki was, in my opinion, a brilliant idea. It has been so useful to not only organize, but to inspire. So far I have two – one for language, and one for the universe. Everything is written as if it were a wiki created in-universe, though I do have a “meta” category as well.

I am having more fun world building than I have ever had trying it before.

Now, I just need to figure out my plot.

Thoughts On Writer’s Block & Purpose

I’m not a miracle worker. I get writers block just like everyone else, and perhaps more often or less often than others. The big question is, what do you do when you get writer’s block?

I, personally, do not have a magical answer yet. Which is depressing, as I’m experiencing some serious block at the moment.

I’ve been thinking lately, on why I write. And I realized that I had been bogged down by superficial reasons – I want to be published, I want to make money, I want my skill to be recognized – and it takes away from the reason I started writing in the first place.

It’s because I love it. I love the way words can pour out of my brain and through my hands on to the computer screen when I’m having a good go of it. I love to create, and that’s it. I am a creative type, and I like to create. And words are my tool.

One would hope that with this realization, my writing would improve. After all, I’m returning to the pure artistry of the craft! Alas, it isn’t so. I’m just as blocked as I was early this morning, when I had this profound realization.

So, as it sit here with my too-sweet iced coffee, people-watching, I have nothing better to do than wait for an idea to come to me. It seems that now that I’m back to writing for the love of it, I don’t know what to write. At least when I thought about what was going to be popular, I had some sort of idea. Urban Fantasy. Vampires (lolno). Something popular.

Now that I could not give a flying fuck what is popular at the moment, I feel lost. I have no goal, really, except to write for pleasure, which is a fine goal – when you have some kind of fucking idea what you are writing about, anyway.

I apologize for the cursing. I’m quite frustrated.

I have a few project ideas, some original, some fanfiction, but I crave something new, something inspired, something fresh.

I need a new idea, and I am lacking.

Why I Created This Blog

I’ll be honest – this isn’t the first blog I’ve attempted to write. I’ve tried this before, under a different pen name, and I found myself making all sorts of what I perceive now as amateur mistakes. For a variety of reasons, I quit writing there, and have decided, some time later to start again.

No matter what complications arise in my life, writing is my first and absolute favorite passion, and I will continue to come back to it every time I stray.

At least, I hope.

I have a lot of stuff going on in my life that might get in the way of writing. Depression, anxiety, migraines, not to mention college, where I’m going full time this fall. I also have a job to look forward too – tutoring at my university.

It’s not the busiest schedule in the world, but it’s enough that I’m questioning my ability to write enough this coming fall. Even with the writing club, and my own desire to write, I’m uncertain.

Hence this blog. It’s a way to hold myself accountable, a way to inspire myself, a way to force myself to continue writing even when I don’t feel like it or have the dreaded writer’s block.

Every person that follows, or comments, or likes a post helps me to keep writing something, even if it’s just a thought in a notebook.

I need a schedule, but I need that schedule to have a point, not just a series of numbers that I say mean something. So hopefully having a day that I have to post will help. In addition, I’ve joined writerverse on livejournal, where you have to participate by writing something at least once every two week to be a member.

I’m planning for the second session of Camp NaNoWriMo, which should also help, and as a side project I’m working on a novel-length Harry Potter fanfiction.

I have ideas aplenty.

I just need to work on actually writing them.