SPHERES #2: Yellow **NaNoWriMo Excerpt(s)**

So this past month I participated in NaNoWriMo, which was STELLAR. Seriously. I had so much fun taking a much-needed break from the ultra-structured Whispers and Murmurs and moving into the more spontaneous territory of the second book of the series, Yellow. Working with Yellow's protagonist, Kara, was nothing short of thrilling. 

Kara is one of those characters whose charisma grips you and refuses to let go...and you are totally ok with it. Also, not going to even try to deny this, she's so easy to work with. She lets me know exactly what she wants, where she intends to go, and doesn't waste time deliberating *long hard stare at Nikaiya* which is almost the complete opposite of Nikaiya, who, while reckless at points, is a strategist at heart and “wastes time” thinking about, well, pretty much everything. I'm making Nikaiya sound annoying. She's really not; just difficult to prod into cooperating... 

Yellow also proved easier to navigate despite—ironically—being much more convoluted. We're talking timey-wimeyness here, peeps. But unlike in Whispers and Murmurs, where literally everything is structured down to the word count per chapter, Yellow offers an abundance of wiggle room provided all the key scenes are put into the novel. Obviously I have an order to it; just a much more lenient one. 

(Short glimpse into the somewhat stifling structure of W&M: each of the 32 chapters is exactly 3,125 words long...to total exactly 100,000 words.)

I put forth that I wanted to share a few bits of my efforts—efforts which resulted in about 20k! Woot considering circumstances, which I'll again hopefully be announcing soon. Next week? :D—and now I'm finally getting to do so. Yay!

What you're about to see is the unadulterated rough draft of rough drafts—meaning none of this has been edited at all. Not for grammar or spelling, syntax, or logical consistency...so please keep that in mind while reading! Don't be too worried, though; my grammar isn't impeccable but it isn't atrocious, either (same goes for spelling). And brackets? My lifeline for brain farts. I love brackets. 

To avoid some spoilers and such, I had to blot out a character's name (sorry!). I'm really excited—and a bit nervous—to share this because 1) as expressed above, it's NaNo-style rough; and 2) I'm afraid to be giving away too much at once before I've even finished the draft! Nevertheless, this is something I wanted to do to give a peek into my first NaNo experience. 

Hopefully you find it encouraging—maybe enough to tackle NaNo yourself next year?! 

Here's my (also) rough synopsis. It desperately needs help, but will suffice for the moment:

For Kara, a girl who’s cursed with the rare and volatile affliction known as Ipsen's Syndrome and who’s haunted by the tragic event that triggered its manifestation, existence is a nightmare she longs to wake up from. Despite numerous treatments, counseling sessions, and continuous outpouring of love from her family and few remaining friends, she has yet to recover. In one last attempt to at least lessen the effects of the curse, Kara’s parents allow her to travel to Mydoria with a family friend.

Upon arrival, the pair is shocked; Miaka, the eldest princess, insists Kara accompany her if she desires to receive healing—and miraculously, once the process is complete, Kara’s migraines are gone. Thus when Miaka requests the pair’s aid in helping Nikaiya accomplish her quest, both willingly oblige; Mikael, because he believes this journey could be the answer they’ve been searching for; Kara, because she has been given a sliver of hope, and wishes to thank Miaka.

Shortly after departing Mydoria, Kara encounters a priestess from Hikari, and is challenged to confront her precarious past—to come to terms with what happened, and with what could be: to embrace the redemption she's really been searching for all along—if it exists.

She could refuse.

But if she does, she'll lose herself and those she holds most dear—for good this time.

Onto the Story...

*Mikael's name will probably change :)

Tidbit #1:

When I listen carefully, I hear the flow of water. The water underneath us…it’s moving. And much faster than it should be. My legs threaten to give way beneath me as Mikael’s shouts pierce the air. It hurts to breathe. His voice echoes along the river, carrying an eerie note of foreboding. Run, he’s saying. RUN!

I spin, forcing my legs to move back to *****. He must have seen the river breaking from atop the slope. If we don’t get off the ice, we’re all going to die. 

Confessions of a Writer Tag

This tag is brilliant. Thank you for coming up with this, Nicolette Elzie of A Little Bookish, A Little Writerly!! 

So what is it, you ask? A fantastic 20-question tag to help us get to know more about other writers in the blogdom! Woot. You can check out her post and the guidelines here. 

Breeanna Pierce kindly nominated/tagged me (thank you ^^!), and I'm excited to share with everyone! :)

1) When did you first start writing? Was being a writer something you always aspired to be?

I started writing when I was really young, but it wasn't prose—it was poetry! Looking back now, it doesn't really surprise me; I love poetry. Sadly, I don't think I'm going to go the publication route with it. Poetry is a difficult market to break into! :sulks in corner: 

In a way, I did always want to be a writer, but I wasn't sure what kind: singer/songwriter? Author? Poet? At the time I was only certain I wanted to change the world. When I received an award for creative writing in fifth grade and was acknowledged again by my L.A. teacher in sixth grade I realized hey, maybe creative writing is my thing. Of course I still dreamed of being a singer/songwriter (I mean, hey, who doesn't?! >.>). 

Another shift in my thinking occurred in ninth grade, when I suddenly decided that I wanted to write Fantasy. Awkward truth: I have NO IDEA where I got this idea from. Yeah, I liked reading—a lot. Maybe it was Harry Potter (*_*), or Eragon (pssh, I could've written this!) that spurred me on, but I don't have a specific, piercing—or, apparently, memorable—experience that awoke the desire to write a novel. I was kind of like Luffy from One Piece: I've decided! And that was that. 

Luffy: We're going to be nakama! Zoro: It doesn't work that way! Luffy: Nakama, nakama~

So I started penning what is now SPHERES...except, as you likely suspected, it SUCKED. (SO. BAD.) I went through a phase where I questioned whether or not it was worth reviving after I trashed it, and a couple years later, I started re-envisioning the series. Pretty much the only thing that survived was the characters and the world, and even those have evolved drastically since that time.  

2) What genre do you write?

I still pen lyrics and poetry (check out my stuff from April's Poem a Day challenge here! Yes, this is a shameless plug ;-), but as a novelist I spend most of my time in YA Fantasy. I intend to branch into MG Fantasy after making some headway. I also hope to write some children's books....and I have an idea for a NA book...yeah, I'm pretty much all over the place haha.

3) Can you tell us a little about your current work in progress? When did you start working on this project?

Oh boy. And you thought I was verbose with the first question....Ehh, I'm really sorry lol ^_^' 

It's called SPHERES, and it's an 8-book YA SF/F series that features a GoT-style POV shift in each book. If that hurts your brain or just fails to compute: there are 8 main characters in the series, and each of the main characters is featured as a protagonist in their own installment of the series. 

I'm currently working on the first book, Whispers and Murmurs, which is Nikaiya's story.  

Whispers and Murmurs is written in a stream-of-consciousness style similar to Mafi's Shatter Me series. (If you must know, it's really more of a combination of Shatter Me, Atlantia, and Chime....) 

Protagonist: newly-17-yr-old Nikaiya, a clever, selfish girl fated to become Kiran (queen) of a small island country known as Erevfaüna–a role she's loathe to play because she has no interest in politics and considers herself unworthy of the honor. Add the fact that she's taller than every man around, has reflective eyes (kind of like Riddick) that tend to leave people either starstruck or anxious, and possesses all the grace of a dead starfish, and she concludes everyone else must share her sentiments: she is unfit to be Kiran. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a choice; she's sole heir to the Light of Stars. She can't remain Karun forever.

To complicate matters, Nikaiya isn't "normal"; she can breathe underwater, hear things ordinary people can't, and has no trouble seeing in the dark–a secret she's kept hidden from everyone around her (or so she thinks) because, let's face it, she's already odd enough and would prefer to avoid drawing any more attention to herself…but because the pull toward the sea has become much stronger lately, she fears her secret will be exposed. As if that isn't worrisome enough, on the day the story opens, she experiences three separate, yet clearly connected, mfirenar (dreams that are like visions)–all of which feature a creature of myth: a monstrous irekarn (sea dragon). 

Later that same day, her parents reveal the truth: she's adopted (which she figured) and is a Seabreather like her birth parents (which she, well, didn't, because she had no idea such a thing existed). According to the Arken (king) and Kiran, Nikaiya was placed in their care to protect and hide her from those seeking to destroy her; apparently she's the supposed catalyst of the Prophecy of the Spheres, which makes her the prime target of a particular group of Seabreathers. 

Gathering Research That Counts—a Cautionary Tale

Research. 

Some revel in it and dive in with perhaps a little too much zeal; some flail and whine and procrastinate until they can't anymore, and continue to gripe during the process; and some whine and moan and complain and then find they actually like research...and go about the rest of their exploits with a jovial, can-do attitude and get stuff done.  

Everybody approaches the task differently, with varying rates of success.

Me, I actually like research (I'm one of those fanatical revelers :D). In fact, I like research so much that I overdo it and spend time looking up fairly irrelevant facts about things like ecosystems and water currents when I should be writing. 

I'm in recovery.

Back when I was a junior in college, I took a course that essentially revolved around gathering anthropological research—information about people groups and their cultures—and how to use that research in the context of ministry (I majored in Cross-Cultural Studies).

Initially I was excited about the project because it seemed easy enough and it was an opportunity to learn more about Japan because we got to choose our own people group—though it had to be a people group that hadn't been researched by other students in the last five years. I love Japan, so obviously I was going to choose a people group...in Japan. (Didn't see that coming, did you? ;-) My mindset: Research+Japan=Double Win. 

I ended up choosing the Ryukyuan of Okinawa and used the term Okinawan...which turned into a funny story later because someone chose the same people group and it slipped the professor's notice because my fellow student referred to the people group as Ryukyuans! (: 

Anyway, our assignment was to fill a box with research on our chosen group and organize the info via categorical hanging folders as per the OCM, or Outline of Cultural Materials. 

The box itself was graded numerically, and I was an extremely busy student; time became the most important element of my efforts. Usefulness took a backseat to time spent because I had to have 15, 25, 30 (etc.) pieces of info in that box by the deadline(s) or risk failure...though that isn't to say I didn't think I was gathering at least somewhat useful information. I wouldn't realize how aimless my efforts truly were until I began to USE THE BOX. 

I don't know how I missed it...but the point of gathering research for the box was to write a paper—several papers, actually, each 10 pages with the exception of the capstone paper, which was 30+. Which requires research. Preferably relevant research. 

You see where I'm going with this? 

When I finally did get to writing said papers, I had a ton of unanswered—and unhappily required—questions that my box couldn't help me with. I had to do even MORE research. 

Commence table flipping and wailing about the cruelty of ignorance:

I'd say at least half of what I'd gathered was wasted effort. OUCH. Triple ouch, really. Still hurts sometimes...*sniffs*

If I'd known precisely what things I'd need to research to complete the papers, if I'd had some sort of rubric or guide, my research would have been targeted and, well, relevant. A good use of my time.

NaNoWriMo Inspiration! 42 Inspirational Quotes for Writing

In honor of the month of November, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo!), I've decided to compile *42 FANTASTIC WRITERLY QUOTES* to inspire you ^_^!

They aren’t in any particular order. Some are hilarious, some are blunt, some are nurturing…but they’re all inspiring. So read and interpret at your leisure, and if you hit a slump, come back for more!

My NaNoWriMo participation isn't going to result in a full length novel...and I'm ok with that because I have a portfolio to submit for a scholarship and I want to WIN IT. (Or, more accurately, one of the awards the Foundation offers for it.)

So even if you can’t write a full novel, write something. You’ll be glad you did :)!

If you're feeling discouraged about your plot, characters, and/or word count, read on!

If you’re simply looking for some inspiration to get you started or keep you going, read on!

If you’re not sure if you really want to jump on this wagon of crazy (it’s fun…you know you want to…), read on!

"Is life not a hundred times too short for us to stifle ourselves?" ~Friedrich Nietzsche

"It's never too late to be what you might have been." ~George Eliot

"The heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night." ~Thomas S. Monson

"If you've FINISHED writing a novel you are amongst the elite!!! You ARE NOT A FAILURE IF YOU CANNOT LIVE OFF YOUR BOOKS. You only fail by NOT TRYING." ~Nadia Cornier

“Every writer I know has trouble writing.” ~Joseph Heller

“You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.” ~Arthur Plotnik

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." ~André Gide

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, brain surgery." ~Robert Cormier

 “A one-page breakthrough starts an avalanche.” ~Nancy K. Haddock

"When asked, 'How do you write?' I invariably answer, 'one word at a time.'” ~Stephen King

"It's a sad day when you find out that it's not accident or fortune but just yourself that kept things from you." ~Lillian Hellman

“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” ~Thomas Edison

"I dwell in possibility." ~Emily Dickenson

“Pay no attention to what the critics say; no statue has ever been erected to a critic.” ~Jean Sibelius

“Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space.” ~Orson Scott Card

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection.” ~Anaïs Nin

"There were days when I wondered if I was a glutton for punishment or simply delusional. However, my writing must have been improving because one day I found myself with three agents interested in my latest manuscript." ~Lois Winston

"We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world." ~Marianne Williamson

 “There is no agony like having an untold story inside you.” ~Zora Neale Hurston

“We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” ~Joan Didion

“I'm not going to limit myself just because people won't accept the fact that I can do something else.” ~Dolly Parton

“If your ship hasn't come in--swim out to it.” ~Mary Engelbreit

 “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; there is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.” ~Henry David Thoreau

 “My books are water; those of the great geniuses are wine. Everybody drinks water.” ~Mark Twain

“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly.” ~Buckminster Fuller

“The expert at anything was once a beginner.” ~Hayes

"All writers are crazy. So never mind what the editors and your family and your critique group tells you. Submit your  manuscripts and keep submitting until you get an offer. Then you can be crazy, with a paycheck." ~Mary Janice Davidson

Not Sneaking (What I've been up to as a writer)

At the top of my blog I mention that I’m an aspiring author/novelist, but I haven’t dished out the details about what I’m up to…until now! 

I’ve had this Sci-fi/Fantasy novel series concept going in my head for about 8-9 years. I know, I know...it seems like a monstrous chunk of time (because it kind of is ^_^’). 

But during college I didn’t have time to invest in writing, and during high school I had no idea what I was doing. Case in point, I threw away the first 115 pages of my handwritten manuscript because it was complete garbage. It took me ages just to write it…but trash is trash, and trash doesn’t have a place in any novel of mine—uh, I hope not anyway. Long story short, there were only two things that survived that initial purge: the world itself and the characters.

If you’re saying ‘ouch’, my reply is ‘understatement’. It was a worse-than-gorilla-tape-being-ripped-off-your-arm kind of ouch.  But now, as I see my story finally coming together, I’m outrageously happy I ditched the ‘original’ version…it’s SO much better now. So. Much. Better.

We've met before...that one time...

Although I love writing, I was hesitant to start a blog featuring it. The main con about choosing writing to be one of my blog themes: there’s like, a bajillion (even more than a bazillion! I guess. I dunno) writing blogs out there!!! Yikes.

How can I possibly add anything?