Querkites have asked, so here are photos of my proof copy from 2009. This is the proof from CreateSpace. This proof is 311 pages (I went well over the 50k that year). I designed the cover myself and I’m pretty proud of it.
Progress Blog
Jan 202011
Nov 232010
Somehow I completely missed spotting the Novel Cover thingy on the NaNo Info page. So I skipped a word war to make one. This is another image from the Flickr set I really like. Not so keen on the purple bars and titles, but I think that font is better the one I have in the current site banner. In other news, I’m officially Behind again. I fell 327 words short of the necessary minimum for Monday–which is actually not bad considering that I only worked on it for about an hour and a half. One thing I’m finding is that I CAN churn out a lot of words if my mind is sufficiently active. Interestingly, I’m only about a third of the way through my outline. If each third is 35k, that would make the full novel over 100k. That’s not a bad length, though it might be pushing it for YA. At least I’ll have plenty of things to cut. Then again, there are at least three places where I did an [INSERT SOMETHING HERE] and I’ve given up on transitions–this Scrivener organization is good for pushing me ahead, bad for making everything connect. That’ll make revision very interesting.
Nov 212010
I WAS ahead for about… four days? That’s gone now. Stupid work week chows through my lead like nothing else. I’ve downgraded my goal for the month from 80k to 50k. There’s no way I can manage 80, not with work and feeling shitty overall. Basically, I’m tired. I’m really, really tired. The only thing that seems to help this is to have the new light box aimed at me. When it’s off, I droop. I’ve turned into a flower. I need to have 35k before Monday. That’s not impossible, I only need another 1300. Here’s some procrastination time: Wordle, Day 21 I love these things, they really help you get a handle on just what words you’re using… and abusing. The only problem with a first person narrative is that the speaker’s name doesn’t show up much. You can find Janine lurking in the top-right quadrant. It’s clear that Manju is a MAJOR person in Janine’s life. Clara ties with Mom and Dad, just beating out Samantha. On the barely-made-it scale are Tillie, Saul and Buck. They don’t hold a candle to Manju’s screenname: HerMajesty96. Words that are clearly being abused: like just know back looked want time going one around rich go something even went I really need to find better ways to describe certain actions. Sigh.
Nov 162010
So, did not get as much done over the weekend as I would have liked, but it was very good for socializing. Mental health bonus points. I currently have over 28000 words, so I’m ok to skip a day or two. Giving up on the 80k dream, I just don’t have the energy for it this year. And at the rate I’m going, this book may go well beyond it anyway.
Nov 032010
80k goal for 11/3: 8,001 50k goal for 11/3: 5,001 Actual total for 11/3: 4,655 Yeah, not doing so well. Life interferes. Depression interferes. Sleep will help counteract all this. Zzzz.
Nov 022010
So, I met my goal last night, and even exceeded it slightly. Tonight I had to teach my last class for RP and so I don’t have any more energy to work with. My last act before bed was to upload what I have here. Happy, Sreya? I wanted to finish the scene for you, but it’ll have to wait. (Muaha.)
Nov 012010
A good start so far: 2,734 words in the first two and a half hours. That’s also about 3/4 of the first chapter, so that, too, is awesome. I managed to finish plugging my outline into Scrivener JUST before midnight, so I finally feel more settled on that front. (Also, Scrivener is awesome. Definitely still in beta, but SO AWESOME.) Despite writing a decent amount, I do feel that this first part is a big clumsy. Part of that is intentional–the first section is Janine’s old blog. I’m worried that that’s too sophisticated. And then the text immediately after it looks too juvenile. I didn’t get back into the flow until the scene in the kitchen. I think I’ll be ok from here on in, though.
Oct 252010
So close, and yet so far away!
Oct 142010
I got the idea when I was in high school. I have some issues with age of consent laws, primarily that people act like anyone under the age of consent is an innocent child. This is particularly ridiculous when that age is something like 17. Seventeen-year-olds are not children. They are not adults, but they are not children. I dreamt up Janine, a high schooler sleeping with a boy older than her, but not TOO much older. Most consent laws give a 5 year window–a seventeen year old is ok with a twenty-one year old, but not a twenty-three year old. My first draft had spunk, the spark of this initial concept, but it didn’t have plot. It meandered off into cliche, and I abandoned it. But the people who read it at the time were very enthusiastic. This surprised me, because Janine is actually something of a bitch. But, hey, people like a certain amount of bitchiness. I’ve toyed with the idea of returning to SS on and off over the years. I considered making Saul much older than Janine. I debated how she would spend her time after the break up. I didn’t want it to be a typical love story. And I wasn’t at all sure how I wanted Janine to feel about Saul. Some things that never changed? Janine herself and her family. I knew I wanted her to be the child of a second marriage, someone’s little step-sister. There is tension in her parents’ relationship [...]
So, I finished the manuscript of When She Fell in time for printing. Isn’t it beautiful? It’s now September, and the momentum for November is beginning to build. I’m decided what this year’s project will be: Statutory State, a project I began in high school. It’s Young Adult, but unlikely to ever be carried by, say, Scholastic. That’s because it’s about teenagers and sex. I’ve already done a good amount of prep work this summer, starting up an outline. The problem with the original draft was that I had only the spark of an idea when I tried to write it, I hadn’t developed it. I didn’t know where it was going. Now I now where it’s going, where it’s starting… it’s that blasted middle that’s tripping me up. Hopefully that will fall into place closer to the time.
