by Jenai May
The past two of days have been filled with both work and health “blahs”, both of which have slowed my writing a bit. Not entirely, just a bit. I’m not at all discouraged and still pacing ahead of schedule.
So here is a marvelous dragon painted by Frank Moser.
Back to writing I go!
The last scene I wrote in Dragon Relic depicted a nightmare I had, numerous times, when I was about four or five years old. To have this dream, that has haunted me for decades, suddenly find its home in my book, felt surreal. The experience was more surreal than the dream itself. It required no force and minimal alteration; the dream simply belongs in this book.
This isn’t the only dream that has influenced Dragon Relic. A story about dragons had been on my mind for a few months, particularly because I knew my children might enjoy it. Then, one morning, I woke up from a nightmare that starred a terrifying dragon. Everything about it… how it opened, the setting, and the cliffhanger… was perfect for the beginning of a book. [Read more…] about A Nod to Dreaming
I’ve been battling a yucky head cold the past couple days. Yesterday was the worst, and I predicted that I wouldn’t write a single word. However, I did write… 2,500 words! I’m sure most of it is Benadryl-induced-rubbish, yet I’m still very pleased with my self.
Half-way through last November’s NaNoWriMo event, pneumonia paid an unexpected visit. Needless to say, I did not finish that novel. Though I suppose the pneumonia wasn’t solely to blame; the novel had dystopian elements that promptly became… [Read more…] about Congested. Inspired. Notoriously Stubborn.
For this Camp NaNoWriMo, participants are able to set personal goals in a variety of ways: word counts, pages, lines, hours, or minutes (which means it wouldn’t be difficult to start late!). I opted for the traditional word count and set my goal to 30,000. During the November event, the goal is 50,000 words in 30 days. I figured that 30,000 words in 30 days would still be a challenge, yet not as stressful.
So, of course, I froze yesterday. Fortunately, I recovered and still managed to write 2,000 words last night. Whew!
Then I woke up convinced that I’d gone about everything all wrong, and would need to reorganize my opening scene. I worried that it was a tangled and rambling mess, while I hoped it provided a clear hook paired with a dash of succinct background.
[Read more…] about Thawed