Apologies for it taking so long to post again.
I've been super busy. Got a new job and been planning my move. A week to go so it's been super frantic. But at least I've had some time to write. I'm making progress with my alien story. Just finished a romantic scene, which I've been dreading. Now I don't have to worry about it until I get around to editing.
Another cool thing is I plan on doing Camp NaNo. It's basically NaNoWriMo except in April and July. The other main difference is that you get to choose your word count goal. Anything from 10,000 and up. So hopefully I'll finish my alien book.
In other news, I'll work on my next blog post soon. It should be on something like character building and my inspiration for characters.
Xoxo Rachel/Indigo
March 23, 2016
February 11, 2016
Pantsing v. Planning
So unless you've been on NaNo, you probably don't fully comprehend the terms pantsing v. planning. Basically it's two ways of writing a novel. Whether you just wing it or plan everything out. Bet you can guess which category I fit into?
If you guessed pantsing, you're correct. How does that contribute to how I write? Basically for me I have that initial idea that usually comes from a dream. It's usually just some scene that isn't even a big part of the story. Luckily the idea is usually something in the beginning of the story so I can practically start with that. After I get past that idea, I'm basically winging it. I might have an idea on what I want to happen here and there but nothing concrete. I don't even know how I want the story to end... well other than some version of happily every after (unless it's a series and then that might be the ending of a second or third book). The cool thing is that if I don't know what's going to happen, how will the readers know. So if I suddenly decide some character's got to die, I'd assume it's going to be a surprise to whoever reads it.
So what exactly is planning in comparison? Basically this means that the whole novel is planned out start to end. It could be short or pages and pages of outlining. Basically planners know where they're going. They even sometimes already have the chapters planned out unlike me who can't separate chapters until a good most if not all of the story is written.
And I've started to rant on for a while. I'll post another blog post soon.
Xoxo Rachel/Indigo
If you guessed pantsing, you're correct. How does that contribute to how I write? Basically for me I have that initial idea that usually comes from a dream. It's usually just some scene that isn't even a big part of the story. Luckily the idea is usually something in the beginning of the story so I can practically start with that. After I get past that idea, I'm basically winging it. I might have an idea on what I want to happen here and there but nothing concrete. I don't even know how I want the story to end... well other than some version of happily every after (unless it's a series and then that might be the ending of a second or third book). The cool thing is that if I don't know what's going to happen, how will the readers know. So if I suddenly decide some character's got to die, I'd assume it's going to be a surprise to whoever reads it.
So what exactly is planning in comparison? Basically this means that the whole novel is planned out start to end. It could be short or pages and pages of outlining. Basically planners know where they're going. They even sometimes already have the chapters planned out unlike me who can't separate chapters until a good most if not all of the story is written.
And I've started to rant on for a while. I'll post another blog post soon.
Xoxo Rachel/Indigo
January 26, 2016
Naming Revisited
Since I did touch on naming in the last post, I figured I'd get into it a bit more. Obviously over time, I've figured it's really tough to find the perfect name. And... I'm one to obsess over the name sounding and looking correct for whoever I imagine the character to be (personality wise, job wise, etc.)
On top of that, I really can't just leave a blank space where a name will eventually be placed. Oh I've tried it before, but leaving large underscored areas drive me nuts. So basically I know I've got to spend the time (sometimes hours) coming up with the name or I won't be able to work that story until I have the name.
It's not always character names. It's also book names and technology names. Also alien species names, alien foods, and alien worlds. I could go on and on for ages about different types of names.
I'm still working on a couple alien species names. Hopefully I'll figure it out in the next few days. One's a tad more important than the other since the character is about to be introduced. Yay mixing rhino's with pompoms and some other cool stuff. I know it sounds strange but it took nearly 200 words to work out the details.
And with that alien story, my rhino character might turn out to be a main player in a separate book down the road. Just need to introduce a few more characters that would play a large role in his book. But then again, it's a long way off. I only have just over 10k written in book one when it will probably be in the 50k + range.
So where do I figure out these names?
A lot of them I find through random name generators. Some I like a name and change, others I take half of one name and combine with half of another. Another source of inspiration is from ancient god/goddess names. Usually the minor ones. Once I find names I like, I tend to put them on a list for future reference down the road.
Back to my alien story, I used all three of the above. My main character is a hacker. Her name is Nikole but often goes by Niki. I saw a variation in a random name generator and it fit with my description of her. Her hacker name though is Nyx (a minor goddess of darkness). Her best friend, Rebecca or Becca for short is just something I came up with. The rhino alien (species name unknown) is going to be called Gnufie and I do have a god reason for such a funky name. Another random name generator modified name.
Well I'm ranting now, so I'll stop. Hope this helps someone with naming. It's actually my weakest point in writing... figuring out names.
xoxo Rachel/Indigo
On top of that, I really can't just leave a blank space where a name will eventually be placed. Oh I've tried it before, but leaving large underscored areas drive me nuts. So basically I know I've got to spend the time (sometimes hours) coming up with the name or I won't be able to work that story until I have the name.
It's not always character names. It's also book names and technology names. Also alien species names, alien foods, and alien worlds. I could go on and on for ages about different types of names.
I'm still working on a couple alien species names. Hopefully I'll figure it out in the next few days. One's a tad more important than the other since the character is about to be introduced. Yay mixing rhino's with pompoms and some other cool stuff. I know it sounds strange but it took nearly 200 words to work out the details.
And with that alien story, my rhino character might turn out to be a main player in a separate book down the road. Just need to introduce a few more characters that would play a large role in his book. But then again, it's a long way off. I only have just over 10k written in book one when it will probably be in the 50k + range.
So where do I figure out these names?
A lot of them I find through random name generators. Some I like a name and change, others I take half of one name and combine with half of another. Another source of inspiration is from ancient god/goddess names. Usually the minor ones. Once I find names I like, I tend to put them on a list for future reference down the road.
Back to my alien story, I used all three of the above. My main character is a hacker. Her name is Nikole but often goes by Niki. I saw a variation in a random name generator and it fit with my description of her. Her hacker name though is Nyx (a minor goddess of darkness). Her best friend, Rebecca or Becca for short is just something I came up with. The rhino alien (species name unknown) is going to be called Gnufie and I do have a god reason for such a funky name. Another random name generator modified name.
Well I'm ranting now, so I'll stop. Hope this helps someone with naming. It's actually my weakest point in writing... figuring out names.
xoxo Rachel/Indigo
January 18, 2016
Eww - Housecleaning... or more like blog cleaning
Looks like today is the day for cleaning up old posts. Just went through everything... let's just say it was a mess. There were 3-4 different ways I formatted excepts and I just wanted something more consistent. On top of that was spelling and spacing issues. Yes I know, I'm probably a bit OCD at times. In addition, oh my lordie, I didn't realize my excerpts were so darned long. Now they're more manageable in size. So if there's a description that doesn't make sense with the excerpt, it's because I cut down the excerpt.
Been so busy, I haven't had a chance to work on my website (between job hunting and my family adopting a new dog it's been nuts to say the least). I'll see about posting a picture the next time I post. She's absolutely adorable.
Back to writing stuff... so I've mostly been working on an alien story. Let's just say "hacker & biologist & aliens oh my." For the life of me, I can't come up with book names until later. And on top of that I'm really not the most creative with naming. Guess I'm too immersed in the story to come up with something super awesome. So right now I've got to deal with my very basic title of "biologist and hacker w/ aliens." At least it gets the point across for me.
You know what the weirdest thing I've come across with writing alien stuff? It's always the naming. Whether it's alien names, tech names, or food names. I must have spent well over a couple hours trying to come up with a tech and food name. Figured it out eventually but not looking forward to the next one even though I know it's going to be something cool
Although now that I think about it, I have two alien species I've yet to name but so far no luck. Luckily, they haven't been introduced into the story yet, but one is going to be soon. So if you have any suggestions for a two-legged rhino mixed with a pompom and a few other things, feel free to comment it below. :)
Xoxo Rachel/Indigo
Been so busy, I haven't had a chance to work on my website (between job hunting and my family adopting a new dog it's been nuts to say the least). I'll see about posting a picture the next time I post. She's absolutely adorable.
Back to writing stuff... so I've mostly been working on an alien story. Let's just say "hacker & biologist & aliens oh my." For the life of me, I can't come up with book names until later. And on top of that I'm really not the most creative with naming. Guess I'm too immersed in the story to come up with something super awesome. So right now I've got to deal with my very basic title of "biologist and hacker w/ aliens." At least it gets the point across for me.
You know what the weirdest thing I've come across with writing alien stuff? It's always the naming. Whether it's alien names, tech names, or food names. I must have spent well over a couple hours trying to come up with a tech and food name. Figured it out eventually but not looking forward to the next one even though I know it's going to be something cool
Although now that I think about it, I have two alien species I've yet to name but so far no luck. Luckily, they haven't been introduced into the story yet, but one is going to be soon. So if you have any suggestions for a two-legged rhino mixed with a pompom and a few other things, feel free to comment it below. :)
Xoxo Rachel/Indigo
January 10, 2016
I'm Back!
So essentially I forgot about writing for a while & now I'm back. Can't really say I'm going to be posting a bunch, but at least I remembered my login information. :P Oh and you might see that I took down the website linked to this blog, I'm making something more dedicated to writing. That website was for a college class. Might be a while though since I'm job hunting. *play dreaded music*
So since I last posted, I've learned a bunch about myself and taken up some different hobbies... First off I have what I've termed as writers ADD (no I do not have ADD, I was tested as a kid and it came back negative). For some reason it's just around writing. I have to have a zillion stories going on at once (some nearing completion while others are just ideas). I need to be bouncing between ideas, as I learned, to be the most productive.
How did I figure this out? I completed my first NaNo this past November and let's just say it was rough sticking with one story. I kept thinking about what I wanted to do with all my other stories. If you haven't heard of NaNoWriMo, I highly recommend looking it up. It stands for National Novel Writing Month and there's a bunch of writers that compete in November to write a novel (50,000 + words) in a month. Even if it's not November, there's usually people hanging around on the forums. Especially helpful if you're stuck. Need a shortcut, click here. If you really feel determined, you can try to find me there... I go by Indigobolt (just like this blog's username). But long story short, my NaNo story is a long way from finished. Oh it's got potential but let's just say it's too predictable in a good portion of it... I don't want straight out happily ever after (which is what happened). I want them to work for it.
I've also figured out what I like to write about more and more... So basically thats paranormal/fantasy stuff. Almost always got to have some sort of shifter. But then again there is the occasional scifi with awesome aliens. And always, always, always a bit of romance. Can't help it, I want a happy ending & what girl doesn't so I want my characters to have a happy ending (eventually... usually after a bunch of torture, maybe some deaths, and a whole lot of bad luck). I'm actually planning on killing a character sometime soon so it's sort of awkward to say I'm excited, but I am.
Since I don't really have anything else to say, here's an excerpt of one of the pieces I'm working on. It's only about halfway finished so it could be a while with my writers ADD happening. Hope you like the teaser...
Ever wonder what a necromancer does when she’s not out raising the dead or causing general chaos? Ever wonder how she would stay out of trouble? One way would be to lay low in a dark hole, while another, highly improbable way, would be to make deals. I made one of those impossible deals with Satan a while back.
You see, I raise the dead every so often, and since there aren’t many believers left of the old Gods of the Underworld, I normally raise those who’d go to Satan. Satan - aka Lucifer and Fred - had sent his daughter to try and scare me away from raising his dead, but that sort of backfired. It turns out his daughter and I are really good friends. So, I’ve got a standing deal that the dead I raise, I’ll send them back to him… eventually. I’m also not “supposed” to raise huge amounts of dead at a time, unless it’s an emergency. In return, I get three hellhounds, essentially as pets. The hellhounds actually help with my work when it gets dangerous.
As you just read, the main character is a necromancer and let's just say there are demons, werewolves, and a bunch of other characters I've enjoyed working on.
Have any questions/comments/critiques, feel free to comment them below or find me on NaNo. If you have an idea for my next (eventual) blog post, let me know. Otherwise it may just turn into a rambling rant about something or another.
XOXO Rachel/Indigo
So since I last posted, I've learned a bunch about myself and taken up some different hobbies... First off I have what I've termed as writers ADD (no I do not have ADD, I was tested as a kid and it came back negative). For some reason it's just around writing. I have to have a zillion stories going on at once (some nearing completion while others are just ideas). I need to be bouncing between ideas, as I learned, to be the most productive.
How did I figure this out? I completed my first NaNo this past November and let's just say it was rough sticking with one story. I kept thinking about what I wanted to do with all my other stories. If you haven't heard of NaNoWriMo, I highly recommend looking it up. It stands for National Novel Writing Month and there's a bunch of writers that compete in November to write a novel (50,000 + words) in a month. Even if it's not November, there's usually people hanging around on the forums. Especially helpful if you're stuck. Need a shortcut, click here. If you really feel determined, you can try to find me there... I go by Indigobolt (just like this blog's username). But long story short, my NaNo story is a long way from finished. Oh it's got potential but let's just say it's too predictable in a good portion of it... I don't want straight out happily ever after (which is what happened). I want them to work for it.
I've also figured out what I like to write about more and more... So basically thats paranormal/fantasy stuff. Almost always got to have some sort of shifter. But then again there is the occasional scifi with awesome aliens. And always, always, always a bit of romance. Can't help it, I want a happy ending & what girl doesn't so I want my characters to have a happy ending (eventually... usually after a bunch of torture, maybe some deaths, and a whole lot of bad luck). I'm actually planning on killing a character sometime soon so it's sort of awkward to say I'm excited, but I am.
Since I don't really have anything else to say, here's an excerpt of one of the pieces I'm working on. It's only about halfway finished so it could be a while with my writers ADD happening. Hope you like the teaser...
Ever wonder what a necromancer does when she’s not out raising the dead or causing general chaos? Ever wonder how she would stay out of trouble? One way would be to lay low in a dark hole, while another, highly improbable way, would be to make deals. I made one of those impossible deals with Satan a while back.
You see, I raise the dead every so often, and since there aren’t many believers left of the old Gods of the Underworld, I normally raise those who’d go to Satan. Satan - aka Lucifer and Fred - had sent his daughter to try and scare me away from raising his dead, but that sort of backfired. It turns out his daughter and I are really good friends. So, I’ve got a standing deal that the dead I raise, I’ll send them back to him… eventually. I’m also not “supposed” to raise huge amounts of dead at a time, unless it’s an emergency. In return, I get three hellhounds, essentially as pets. The hellhounds actually help with my work when it gets dangerous.
As you just read, the main character is a necromancer and let's just say there are demons, werewolves, and a bunch of other characters I've enjoyed working on.
Have any questions/comments/critiques, feel free to comment them below or find me on NaNo. If you have an idea for my next (eventual) blog post, let me know. Otherwise it may just turn into a rambling rant about something or another.
XOXO Rachel/Indigo
March 26, 2010
Hmmmmm...
So I realized I have not posted as often as I could have. The chaos of classes just about sums it up. With two things, at least, due per week, it is just going to be crazy. Hopefully I will have some time to write otherwise I probably will get crazy with all the stress.
I have two stories I have started since I last posted. I still have yet to finish any of the previous stories even though I want to and have a clue on how to.
So while I'm lazy and need to get some of these stories finished, I'll post a bit from one of my more recent ones. This one has the main characters as four girls with elemental powers, ie. fire, water, wind, and earth. I have not gotten all that far into it and have only 22 pages unlike the 30 plus on others.
I don’t know how I always got in this situation. It’s not like I asked for trouble, but here I am, fighting to stay free. I was out in the country so I had some time to relax, burn something, and during one of the first days, I had these two assholes attack me.
Oh and to add to the trouble, one had an affinity with water and the other with fire. I wasn’t all that worried about the one with fire since I had the same ability but I still had to make sure to keep an eye on both of them.
So I was turned sideways, trying to keep an eye on both of them as they circled around me. One began throwing water at me as the other threw fire. I countered the water by heating my temperature up and throwing fire at the water. Big clouds of steam formed every time they hit. I didn’t do anything about the fire coming at me because I knew it couldn’t hurt me.
My focus slowly switched to be mostly on the guy throwing the water. That turned out to be a very bad idea. With my back partly turned, as well as all the steam, the other guy had no problem sneaking up behind me and injecting something into my back.
I thought I’d have at least a few minutes but it kicked in practically right away. My legs gave out and the guy caught me so I wouldn’t break any bones. The first wave of the drugs hit my head and I blacked out.
I slowly came back around in a car. I was lying across the back seat and slowly pushed myself upright.
“Welcome back to the real world,” one of the guys in the front said.
I tried to make up a fireball to toss at them but nothing happened. “What did you all inject into me?”
“A combination of three drugs,” the one guy said.
The second continued, “The first was to paralyze you and knock you out. The second is to keep you from using your powers. The last is to knock you back out.”
I have two stories I have started since I last posted. I still have yet to finish any of the previous stories even though I want to and have a clue on how to.
So while I'm lazy and need to get some of these stories finished, I'll post a bit from one of my more recent ones. This one has the main characters as four girls with elemental powers, ie. fire, water, wind, and earth. I have not gotten all that far into it and have only 22 pages unlike the 30 plus on others.
I don’t know how I always got in this situation. It’s not like I asked for trouble, but here I am, fighting to stay free. I was out in the country so I had some time to relax, burn something, and during one of the first days, I had these two assholes attack me.
Oh and to add to the trouble, one had an affinity with water and the other with fire. I wasn’t all that worried about the one with fire since I had the same ability but I still had to make sure to keep an eye on both of them.
So I was turned sideways, trying to keep an eye on both of them as they circled around me. One began throwing water at me as the other threw fire. I countered the water by heating my temperature up and throwing fire at the water. Big clouds of steam formed every time they hit. I didn’t do anything about the fire coming at me because I knew it couldn’t hurt me.
My focus slowly switched to be mostly on the guy throwing the water. That turned out to be a very bad idea. With my back partly turned, as well as all the steam, the other guy had no problem sneaking up behind me and injecting something into my back.
I thought I’d have at least a few minutes but it kicked in practically right away. My legs gave out and the guy caught me so I wouldn’t break any bones. The first wave of the drugs hit my head and I blacked out.
I slowly came back around in a car. I was lying across the back seat and slowly pushed myself upright.
“Welcome back to the real world,” one of the guys in the front said.
I tried to make up a fireball to toss at them but nothing happened. “What did you all inject into me?”
“A combination of three drugs,” the one guy said.
The second continued, “The first was to paralyze you and knock you out. The second is to keep you from using your powers. The last is to knock you back out.”
January 21, 2010
New Story
So I obviously have problems finishing my stories. I still have the Dragon story to finish. I know what I to do to finish it but it I don't do well writing scenes that are slow. So I'm now working on a medieval-like story. I also obviously have a thing for big cats because they show up in one form or another in every story. So I might as well post a bit of the new one while I doing nothing much. This excerpt is near the beginning of the story but there is still action before this... Enjoy!
I looked over towards whoever was beside me. It was Nikolas. “How are you feeling,” he asked.
“Worse than shit. What happened? How’d I get here?”
“Ettai knocked out both the guard and the bastard. Ettai then freed himself and Edeos using the iron. They then got the keys and freed you. Edeos brought you up here and waited until I got here a few minutes ago. Ettai had waited out front while Edeos guarded you. They will both want to see you. I know Edeos took it extremely hard that he could not protect you.”
“They can come up,” I said. “I need to make sure Edeos knows he couldn’t have done anything other than what he did.” Nikolas got up to yell down the hallway that Edeos and Ettai could come up.
I was glad that there were sheets that covered me but I looked to my arm to see how bad the bleeding was. The bleeding had slowed to a stop but the brand on my arm looked swollen and possibly on its way to becoming infected.
Nikolas came back in to sit in the chair beside the bed. Edeos was the first to enter, followed by Ettai. “How are you feeling,” Edeos asked.
“Pretty bad but I’m sure I could be worse.” I changed subjects, “You know nothing that happened was your fault. I know you tried but in this situation it was the best you could do.”
“I still feel like I could have done something more. I should have been able to get free. There was so much I should have been able to do to help.”
“Come here,” I said patting the bed beside me. I carefully pushed myself up to a sitting position with only my right arm. I scooted back to lean against the headboard, pulling the covers with me. When Edeos finally sat next to me, I told him, “Trust me. I don’t blame you. You did everything you could and I know you did. The reason he wanted you two in there was to show that you were helpless to stop everything.” I hugged him with my right arm. “Stop worrying about it. I’ll heal from most of this.”
Edeos hugged me back. “I’m sorry, Princess, I couldn’t get away and stop everything.”
I looked over towards whoever was beside me. It was Nikolas. “How are you feeling,” he asked.
“Worse than shit. What happened? How’d I get here?”
“Ettai knocked out both the guard and the bastard. Ettai then freed himself and Edeos using the iron. They then got the keys and freed you. Edeos brought you up here and waited until I got here a few minutes ago. Ettai had waited out front while Edeos guarded you. They will both want to see you. I know Edeos took it extremely hard that he could not protect you.”
“They can come up,” I said. “I need to make sure Edeos knows he couldn’t have done anything other than what he did.” Nikolas got up to yell down the hallway that Edeos and Ettai could come up.
I was glad that there were sheets that covered me but I looked to my arm to see how bad the bleeding was. The bleeding had slowed to a stop but the brand on my arm looked swollen and possibly on its way to becoming infected.
Nikolas came back in to sit in the chair beside the bed. Edeos was the first to enter, followed by Ettai. “How are you feeling,” Edeos asked.
“Pretty bad but I’m sure I could be worse.” I changed subjects, “You know nothing that happened was your fault. I know you tried but in this situation it was the best you could do.”
“I still feel like I could have done something more. I should have been able to get free. There was so much I should have been able to do to help.”
“Come here,” I said patting the bed beside me. I carefully pushed myself up to a sitting position with only my right arm. I scooted back to lean against the headboard, pulling the covers with me. When Edeos finally sat next to me, I told him, “Trust me. I don’t blame you. You did everything you could and I know you did. The reason he wanted you two in there was to show that you were helpless to stop everything.” I hugged him with my right arm. “Stop worrying about it. I’ll heal from most of this.”
Edeos hugged me back. “I’m sorry, Princess, I couldn’t get away and stop everything.”
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