My Etsy shop is doing surprisingly well. Which is awesome! My mum and dad came to London today and took me out to dinner. Which is also awesome!
My writing hasn't really progressed today, though, as a result...
I'm up to a whopping 1957 words today, a whole 110 words further than yesterday. This is... not ideal. I will have to do better over the next few days. Wish me luck?
Tuesday, 2 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...
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Change of plans...
In best NaNo tradition, I've completely changed my mind about my story. At the last minute. I'm now going to write a murder mystery, set in a small Breton island village of 800 inhabitants, where there has been no murder for 100 years. Until now. The island doesn't even have a policeman full-time - someone comes over during the summer.
Think of the festering resentments that would build up there. And the coverups of murders during the world wars, the Algerian war, the blackmail and bullying that could take place. It's going to be like Midsommer Murders, but French. Awesome. Also, based on a real-life story that this weekend's papers talked about - I can't wait, I can almost smell the mist and rotting fish in the harbour now...
Think of the festering resentments that would build up there. And the coverups of murders during the world wars, the Algerian war, the blackmail and bullying that could take place. It's going to be like Midsommer Murders, but French. Awesome. Also, based on a real-life story that this weekend's papers talked about - I can't wait, I can almost smell the mist and rotting fish in the harbour now...
Friday, 15 October 2010
Friday update
NaNoWriMo is getting closer... I'm getting more and more excited, and hope to meet up with London NaNoers when things are more settled in my flat and I have functional internet again!
The plot for Krystal is bubbling slowly at the back of my mind - it's going to tell the story of how she came to join Lerrix's army, the civil war, and her relationship with Derryn. It's going to span a much, much longer period of time than Exile did (that covered only a year or so) and be a challenge to write. I can't wait to get started!
The plot for Krystal is bubbling slowly at the back of my mind - it's going to tell the story of how she came to join Lerrix's army, the civil war, and her relationship with Derryn. It's going to span a much, much longer period of time than Exile did (that covered only a year or so) and be a challenge to write. I can't wait to get started!
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Updates, news and general musings
So, I'm now back in England. It's rainy. I got married 2 weeks ago and am still getting used to having a husband. And being a wife. I relaunched my jewellery website.
These three events are not unrelated to the recent lack of posts. This will be remedied shortly, since it's nearly NaNoWriMo! I'm really excited about this - last year, NaNo led to the first draft of Exile, and this year, I'm hoping to be similarly productive and driven and produce a prequel, telling the story of Krystal, one of the main characters in Exile. I'd never written a long piece of fiction before, never even really thought of myself as being someone who could write a book, but I did and I'm fascinated by the way it's changed my perspective of myself and the world around me.
You will no doubt hear more about this new story than you ever wanted to, in the coming weeks. If you're NaNoing too, let me know what you're writing about in the comments - Id love to follow your journeys too!
(I haven't forgotten about Emperor's Assassin; it's sitting here waiting to be drafted. But NaNo takes priority for now, in amongst flat-hunting and pesky things like employment, so EA is shelved for the minute...)
These three events are not unrelated to the recent lack of posts. This will be remedied shortly, since it's nearly NaNoWriMo! I'm really excited about this - last year, NaNo led to the first draft of Exile, and this year, I'm hoping to be similarly productive and driven and produce a prequel, telling the story of Krystal, one of the main characters in Exile. I'd never written a long piece of fiction before, never even really thought of myself as being someone who could write a book, but I did and I'm fascinated by the way it's changed my perspective of myself and the world around me.
You will no doubt hear more about this new story than you ever wanted to, in the coming weeks. If you're NaNoing too, let me know what you're writing about in the comments - Id love to follow your journeys too!
(I haven't forgotten about Emperor's Assassin; it's sitting here waiting to be drafted. But NaNo takes priority for now, in amongst flat-hunting and pesky things like employment, so EA is shelved for the minute...)
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!
Friday, 3 September 2010
Progress: 9k words!
I've decided a weekly progress update will keep me actually doing something on this story, even if no one else is reading these posts ;-) (If you are reading this, do drop in and say hi in the comments...)
So far, I've got the rough structure for the first 7 chapters worked out, and I've got 9k words written - although a lot of those are just notes now for scenes I haven't got to, and half-started scenes like Taris' wedding. But they count!
I also have managed to work out some of the Lieroi storyline for Juri - Juri-as-hero - which is good; I know how that starts and how that ends, I just need some middle now. And I get to work out some different peace-keeping and post-conflict reconstruction scenarios - one of which (increasing authoritarianism and power vested in the army) doesn't work for Taris' uncle, one of which (as yet undetermined) does work for Taris. Or at least, will work, since the book isn't going to go long enough to see its success. I need to do some more research into successful post-conflict reconstruction theory and practice; I knew that MA degree would come in useful one day!
So far, I've got the rough structure for the first 7 chapters worked out, and I've got 9k words written - although a lot of those are just notes now for scenes I haven't got to, and half-started scenes like Taris' wedding. But they count!
I also have managed to work out some of the Lieroi storyline for Juri - Juri-as-hero - which is good; I know how that starts and how that ends, I just need some middle now. And I get to work out some different peace-keeping and post-conflict reconstruction scenarios - one of which (increasing authoritarianism and power vested in the army) doesn't work for Taris' uncle, one of which (as yet undetermined) does work for Taris. Or at least, will work, since the book isn't going to go long enough to see its success. I need to do some more research into successful post-conflict reconstruction theory and practice; I knew that MA degree would come in useful one day!
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