Writers: a lonely occupation, made up of odd people lost in the worlds inside their head, people a bit cut-off from normal real life. That's the impression a lot of people have of writers. Many more think of writing as an essentially solitary activity - I certainly did that. Until I went to a write-in today, in London. For the non-NaNoers amongst you (and I shall flatter myself that one day, someone who isn't a NaNoer will read this blog entry, even if it's just because it accidentally comes up under a search for purple polka dotted umbrellas, or something - sorry about that, if you were really looking for purple polka dotted umbrellas. I own one, but that's probably not much help to you - I bought it in C&A in Nice. They probably don't have any more. Umbrellas are like hen's teeth down there.)
Anyway, write-ins - a whole load of writers - in this case, all doing NaNoWriMo - meet in one place, and sit for two hours writing. Interspersed with chatting, and eating and drinking. It was surprisingly fun, the people weren't at all weird like I half-feared, and I shall definitely make an effort to go again soon!
Thank you, London NaNoers, for making me feel welcome - and for helping me boost my wordcount to a very respectable 6674! I've now caught up from Tuesday's almost complete failure and am back where I should be!
Showing posts with label writer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writer. Show all posts
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Monday, 1 November 2010
And we're off...
A late plane ride back to London meant that I was, in fact, awake at midnight so could make an early start to my new and shiny story. I managed to get 250 words done before I got home and slept, and am now up to somewhere near 900, handwritten on the train to and from work. Plan for tonight: type up the words done so far, and carry on bravely into the night. My goal is 1700 words a day, though I probably ought to aim for nearer 2000, since chances are that my Saturdays, at least, are going to be non-writing days. We'll see - slow and steady might be the way forward, after all...
I also think I have a working title: The Island. Not very imaginative, but it's a crime novel, not fantasy, it doesn't need so much world building. (I hope. I may yet regret the rash impetuousness of that statement, I realise.)
Other NaNo participants, do feel free to chime in in the comments at any time to let me know how you're doing, or send me a message on Twitter - I'm @nicolehill.
Good luck everyone!
ETA: 1848 words! Stopping for dinner now...
I also think I have a working title: The Island. Not very imaginative, but it's a crime novel, not fantasy, it doesn't need so much world building. (I hope. I may yet regret the rash impetuousness of that statement, I realise.)
Other NaNo participants, do feel free to chime in in the comments at any time to let me know how you're doing, or send me a message on Twitter - I'm @nicolehill.
Good luck everyone!
ETA: 1848 words! Stopping for dinner now...
Friday, 10 September 2010
Emperor's Assassin
OK, so I've only written another thousand words in the last week. I have cleaned my flat twice though, and even gone to the supermarket a couple of times. I rock at domesticity, clearly.
This story I'm writing is a fantasy story about an assassin, called Juri. (At least I think it's a fantasy story, we might change this as it actually gets written. But for now, a fantasy story.) It's set on a made-up world, with 3 moons. Which is great because it means I get to play with tides and all sorts of things. (Unless that gets to be too much of a hassle, then I'll just delete the idea.) Juri works for the Emperor of Ertia, who is engaged in a low-key civil war with his younger brother; they each go round killing each others supporters, and decrying these terrible crimes afterwards. Ertia has recently emerged from a proper civil war, and not everyone is happy with the way in which the Emperor has managed the aftermath; his brother isn't lacking in supporters.
The Emperor has a daughter, Taris, who Juri is assigned to guard from her uncle's own assassins. Taris and Juri fall in love, obviously, but their relationship is interrupted when Taris meets and falls in love with the Prince Kalim, of A-Land-I've-Not-Yet-Named, who she marries. When she goes to live with him, Juri accompanies her. The Emperor is slain, and his brother takes over the ruling of Ertia, declaring Taris to be a traitor to the nation.
Prophecy tells of a hero that will arise to save the nation. Juri, in addition to being an assassin, is also - unbeknownst to him - that hero. The hero has a magic weapon, as is so often the case, which is death to anyone else to touch. In this case, the whole story came from this knife, and it's based on a real knife I saw in Italy:
There are relationship twists for Taris, Kalim and Juri, and there are frequent flashbacks to Juri's youth in training as an assassin. (Brutal training, social services should be called...) And, of course, the climactic battle to save Ertia from its new increasingly tyrannical ruler.
So, that's pretty much the summary of my new story - now there just remains to flesh it out into a novel-length piece of work. Easy!
This story I'm writing is a fantasy story about an assassin, called Juri. (At least I think it's a fantasy story, we might change this as it actually gets written. But for now, a fantasy story.) It's set on a made-up world, with 3 moons. Which is great because it means I get to play with tides and all sorts of things. (Unless that gets to be too much of a hassle, then I'll just delete the idea.) Juri works for the Emperor of Ertia, who is engaged in a low-key civil war with his younger brother; they each go round killing each others supporters, and decrying these terrible crimes afterwards. Ertia has recently emerged from a proper civil war, and not everyone is happy with the way in which the Emperor has managed the aftermath; his brother isn't lacking in supporters.
The Emperor has a daughter, Taris, who Juri is assigned to guard from her uncle's own assassins. Taris and Juri fall in love, obviously, but their relationship is interrupted when Taris meets and falls in love with the Prince Kalim, of A-Land-I've-Not-Yet-Named, who she marries. When she goes to live with him, Juri accompanies her. The Emperor is slain, and his brother takes over the ruling of Ertia, declaring Taris to be a traitor to the nation.
Prophecy tells of a hero that will arise to save the nation. Juri, in addition to being an assassin, is also - unbeknownst to him - that hero. The hero has a magic weapon, as is so often the case, which is death to anyone else to touch. In this case, the whole story came from this knife, and it's based on a real knife I saw in Italy:
There are relationship twists for Taris, Kalim and Juri, and there are frequent flashbacks to Juri's youth in training as an assassin. (Brutal training, social services should be called...) And, of course, the climactic battle to save Ertia from its new increasingly tyrannical ruler.
So, that's pretty much the summary of my new story - now there just remains to flesh it out into a novel-length piece of work. Easy!
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Holiday time
This blog is, however, about to be abandoned. Not the best time to start a blog, right before you go away, so I thought an explanatory post might be useful.
If you stumble across it while I'm away and notice the large gap between these first posts and whenever you're looking at it, don't worry. It's not abandoned for ever, I'm just away on holiday and then taking a break from the internet for a few weeks.
I will be back online in September, assuming I can't find any reliable access before then and that the lack of internet hasn't driven me insane. It will be by far the longest break I've taken from being online in the last decade.
Wish me luck!
If you stumble across it while I'm away and notice the large gap between these first posts and whenever you're looking at it, don't worry. It's not abandoned for ever, I'm just away on holiday and then taking a break from the internet for a few weeks.
I will be back online in September, assuming I can't find any reliable access before then and that the lack of internet hasn't driven me insane. It will be by far the longest break I've taken from being online in the last decade.
Wish me luck!
Fable and Fantasy
Fable and Fantasy is my new blog, where all my writing related blogging will be. This may, obviously, be cross referenced to my personal blog when I'm lacking inspiration, but should otherwise cut down on the number of posts over there that talk about word count and the like. Which probably interest no one other than me.
But that's ok, because this is my blog.
I intend, here, to document my writing progress, to share useful hints and information I've found (if only to remind myself) and generally to give myself a space to be "a writer", rather than any of the other aspects of me that constantly compete for time and attention!
To introduce myself to anyone reading this who doesn't already know me, I'm Nicole. I'm currently living in France, though due to move back to the UK soon. I'm in the middle of edits on my first novel, and have started outlining my second. In addition to writing, I make jewellery, try to keep vaguely on top of domesticity and sleep in the sun. (Always beats domestic chores, every time.) Hopefully the existence of this blog will help provide some sort of accountability and force me to set aside time to actually write.
But that's ok, because this is my blog.
I intend, here, to document my writing progress, to share useful hints and information I've found (if only to remind myself) and generally to give myself a space to be "a writer", rather than any of the other aspects of me that constantly compete for time and attention!
To introduce myself to anyone reading this who doesn't already know me, I'm Nicole. I'm currently living in France, though due to move back to the UK soon. I'm in the middle of edits on my first novel, and have started outlining my second. In addition to writing, I make jewellery, try to keep vaguely on top of domesticity and sleep in the sun. (Always beats domestic chores, every time.) Hopefully the existence of this blog will help provide some sort of accountability and force me to set aside time to actually write.
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