Writing the Old-Fashioned Way

The biggest chunk (almost all of it actually) of the first draft of Dragonslayer was written in Scrivener. I love the program - it makes it so easy to make your manuscript look professional, and it's very organised. However, since I started university I've barely been writing. Sitting in front of the computer doesn't inspire me, it only distracts me or reminds me of school assignments. I've barely written any fiction for over a year, which is terrible because the stories are still so fresh in my mind.

So I decided to try if writing the old-fashioned way would help. It's slower, but it's more portable and won't force me to spend even more time on a computer than I already do on a daily basis. So, I'm now writing in a note book with fountain pen.

I actually really hate pink. But this Monologue notebook was on sale for only $3, which is a deal I couldn't resist. If writing like this works for me on the long term, I'll make sure to buy a notebook in a slightly more "me" colour like purple.

So far it's been great. I managed to write almost 700 words today, after not having written anything in over a month. I call that progress!

Dragonslayer
The first draft of Dragonslayer was awesome, but it really needed tightening. Instead of trying to patch together little pieces of story, I'm rewriting huge parts of it. Therefore I'm resetting the counter on the sidebar. Bye bye, 20.000 words! I hope to see you again soon.

So Many Ideas, So Little Time

As you can see, I'm stuck on Dragonslayer. And I've been stuck for a while now. It's not that I have a writer's block - it's nothing like that. It's just that real life is getting in the way. In between starting a new job, moving, going on vacation, there just hasn't been enough regularity in my daily routine that I felt I had the peace and quiet to write. I hope this will change when I start university again in two weeks.

But, there is also good news! While at work I got a sudden flash of inspiration for a horror short. I haven't written a horror short in years (I wrote two under the pen name Finn Herloce, which you can find here if interested), but I loved the twist in this one. When I came home I immediately wrote down the outline in Scrivener so I can't forget it.

So I'm adding the short story progress bar here, so you can all see when I find the time to write it (: It still has the temporary name of "Horror House" but I think that sounds awful, so I'll change it after I'm done writing it. I'm aiming for it to be 8,000 words, but it could be a great deal shorter, that's something I'll have to work out while writing it.

Reached the Magical 10K

I reached ten-thousand words today! I'm so proud that I've been pushing through with this writing thing. It gives me a lot more confidence that one day I'll actually be able to finish a story.

There will probably soon be a little adjustment to my goal; at the moment it's on 20,000 words, but I'm noticing that my story won't be finished by then. I might up it to about 30,000 soon. I still have the silent hope that this story will grow into a whole novel length book (about 50,000-60,000 words) but that's still a faraway dream.

I've been looking into printing my book, and so far CreateSpace seems to be the best choice. It will cost about $80 dollars to print & ship 20 books, which seems like a very good price in my opinion. The companies here in the Netherlands that print books for you often ask for about $20 for every book.

Let's hope I can continue writing as much as I do now, then the first draft of the Dragonslayer manuscript will be done in just a few months!

Camp NaNoWriMo

To continue my writing throughout the month of June, I'm going to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo. (For those of you not familiar with the abbreviation: National Novel Writing Month). In about 20 days thousands of people will try to reach one goal: to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of June.

I'm probably not going to make those 50,000 words (I write 500 every day now - I would have to up that to 1,724). The main reason I'm participating is because I would love to meet some more fellow aspiring writers!

I'll probably be working on Dragonslayer during NaNoWriMo, unless I manage to finish it before then. Wishful thinking!

Excerpt from Dragonslayer

I would like to share one of my favourite scenes so far from my work in progress, Dragonslayer. Alys is walking through the town surrounding the Dragonslayer castle, where she meets a certain thief.

This excerpt is taken from Chapter 2 of the first draft of my story.

***

     Alys decided to take one of the many alleyways. It was a lot quieter in this particular one. The houses were built so close together that their roofs almost touched, making it feel like she was inside rather than in the open. There were some stores left en right and some taverns where meaty looking men were having a pint of ale.
     It crossed her mind that she should be afraid, walking through this part of town on her own. She had heard stories of innocent ladies being attacked or abducted, or worse. But why should that fate befall to her? She didn't have any money, and she had a rather influential family. Surely, if something would happen to her, they would come for her and kill the culprit. She rounded another corner. It was so much quieter here. She could barely hear the noise from the main street. Where would these little alleys lead to? Would they just stop at the city wall? Or would they lead to a wonderful secluded place? There must be some reason why people would want to live here, Alys thought.
     The street wasn't paved any more, but merely a sandy path, with the occasional remnant puddle of the morning's rain. It was nice to walk here on her own, with no one bothering her or watching her. Even the occasional shop had disappeared. She saw some movements behind open shutters, but never more than glimpses. It was almost as if there were only ghosts living in these houses,not real people.
     "Why hello, little lamb." Alys jumped, turning instantly. The gravelly voice had come from behind her. She was so sure she had been alone just a second ago. Now a scruffy young man stood in front of her. His face and hands were dirty. The underside of his pants of indefinite colour were caked in mud. Or excrements. Alys preferred to think of it as mud. He had short blonde hair that sticked to the top of his head. His youthly face was curiously void of any facial hair. It made him look a lot younger than he must be. What was even more curious that he didn't have any hair on his face. No eyebrows either.
     "Pooh, you scared me there! How do you do, sir." Alys made a little curtsey. The hairless man frowned. At least she thought he frowned. It was hard to tell without any eyebrows.
     "I am Curt the Cutter, and I want your money now!" A knife appeared from between the folds of his threadbare jacket. He seemed a little proud that he had remembered his lines.
     "Oh I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I didn't take any with me. Is there any other way I can help you though?" A real lady always has her manners with her. If only Mother could see this, she would be so proud, Alys thought.
     "No money? Alright then..." Curt scratched his head with the back of his knife. "Well that does propose an issue. You see, if I don't come home with something to show my fellow thieves, they will laugh at me again. A week ago, I came home with nothing too, and they shaved off my eyebrows. See?" He pointed to his face. "They said that if I didn't bring anything again, they would shave off something else." He looked rather uncomfortable, Alys thought. The poor thing.
     "That does sound very unpleasant. I am afraid that I have nothing of value on me though." She wasn't wearing one of her bracelets or other valuables. "Oh wait, you can have my pin!" She started untying her cloak, so she could give him the silver pin that held it together. It was a very pretty one, in the shape of a tiny dragon's head. Alys didn't like the thought of giving something away that was her's, but sometimes a lady had to make sacrifices.
     "That would be amazing!" The young man practically beamed. "Thank you so much. That means I can keep my hair for another day."
     "There you go." Alys gave him the pin. She had to hold the cloack together with one hand now the pin was missing.
     "Thanks, miss. Have a great day!" Curt the Cutter ran away, clutching the pin in his hand. Wait, was he... Skipping?

Writing! Writing!

Hi guys, and welcome to my writing blog! I decided to not post writing things on my book review blog, Nyx Book Reviews, as I would like to keep these two things separated. I don't want to turn into one of those people that use their book blog as a promotion tool for their own stories.

So what am I writing? I'm currently working on a novella, the first in a series, that has the working title Dragonslayer. It's a medieval fantasy book, on the border of YA to adult, about a girl that decides to go kill the dragon that's threatening her family's lives herself. Of course, that's not going to be that easy for her.

My goal is to write 500 words every single day. The story will probably be around 20,000 words, if everything goes as planned. You can follow my progress in the sidebar.