Let's Play The Yay-Boo Game!

Well, folks, it's everyone's favorite game show!

It's. The.....

GAME!

Here's how you play. You have conflicted views/feelings about a subject, and you go back and forth about the yay's and boo's of that subject. Ready to play?

This week's subject is: My Writing Progress

I finished Chapter Eight of "Peeping Tomcat" with a few days to spare before I needed to check in over at Writers’ Huddle. First week I wasn't just squeaking in at the deadline! YAY!

The reason why I finished Chapter Eight so soon was because, while the rest of my chapters average at 5412 words, my latest didn't even hit 1600 words originally. BOO!

Yes, there are three chapters that skew the results one way or the other, my longest chapter being the one about the akuma attack which clocks in at 7560 words, and my previously shortest chapter was the lead-in to Adrien and Marinette's pseudo-date, which was only 3062 words. Here's the actual break-down:

Chapter 1: Mistake - 6978
Chapter 2: Itch - 3967
Chapter 3: Opportunity - 3062
Chapter 4: Normal - 4876
Chapter 5: Mimicker - 7560
Chapter 6: Parallels - 6804
   (I'm still debating calling chapter 6 "Epiphany" instead)
Chapter 7: Confusion - 4639

I have since been able to go back and add more definition to the story though. YAY!

But it was for the seventh chapter to bring that up to the above 4639 word count.... BOO!

HOWEVER! Yesterday I was able to steal away some time to add to Chapter Eight's word count, bringing it up to 2139 words, much closer to my minimum. Plus, I'm not done reworking it yet! YAY!

I really need to stop worrying about how short this chapter is, though, because this week's challenge is a second akuma attack, and I don't even have a starting point for this akuma. BOO!

I DO have some of the interaction I want between Chat Noir and Ladybug thanks to the akuma, though, and that's the whole point of the upcoming chapter.
Added bonus: if the chapters "Normal" and "Mimicker" are any indication, I'll probably have to introduce the akumatized character and the distressing event in Chapter Eight, as a lead-in to the actual akuma attack in Chapter Nine. Which means figuring out the akuma attack for Chapter Nine will help bring up Chapter Eight's word count. DOUBLE YAY!

The big problem, though, is that I've been so focused on this project of "Peeping Tomcat" that I didn't even think of a short to post this month. Which means I only have today and tomorrow to write, edit, and post something new online in order to keep with my new years resolution of something new published each month. On top of that, I don't have anything to share here for the month, AND, unless I get at least the writing done today, I again won't have anything to read at writer's group tonight. DOUBLE BOO!

AAAAAAAAnd, there we have it! The conclusion of our game! Let's see the results:

YAYs: 5              BOOs: 5

Well, looks like it was a tie game! Each up swing had its fall, each cloud had its silver lining!

Thanks for playing the

GAME!

Now back to our regularly scheduled program....

Okay, so for writer's group tonight, even though I probably won't have a new one-shot to read, I COULD start reading off "Peeping Tomcat" to hear their thoughts, add them to my betas' reactions once I send them the story, and see where I end up. As you saw above, though, each chapter is LOOOONG! But then again, isn't this the point of the group? To read off your WIPs and get reactions in order to better them? Sure, none of them know "Miraculous Ladybug", but don't I want opinions from non-fans to see if they understand the story? To make sure I'm explaining the scenes and episode events well enough that you don't NEED to watch the show to enjoy the story?

I'll see what I decide when I get there. If I'm one of the first to read, perhaps I'll just go full throttle and read off "Peeping Tomcat". If I have a new one-shot written, perhaps I'll read that to help polish it before posting tomorrow.

I'll let you know what I decided next week.

In the meantime, I finished my re-read of Lycopolis a couple of days ago.

I told Ali that, while my mind and world views have evolved since my first read, and I understand the characters better this go, I still had the following thoughts on each character:

• Seth is definitely the charmer he's supposed to be, but he's also a complete jerk, and it's masterful how Ali has him walk that line.
• Kay is a lovely heroine, but there's one scene late in the book where I always seem to scream because she's too timid! I get why she reacts the way she does, and I get why it's important to the overall story that she does, but, dang, girl! Move faster!
• Edwin just needs all the cuddles! He's portrayed as Goth, but he is by far more Emo than Goth. If Emo's wore baggy clothes to hide in instead of the skinny jeans, you'd have Edwin.
• Mark is my least favorite character. I understood him more this read than I did last; probably because I'm going through a similar weird 30-something "mid-life crisis" but for completely opposite reasons than Mark. He also started to redeem himself towards the end of the book, more so than I remembered from my first read. Still, I don't like him. I still think Hannah can do better....
• Hannah we don't really get much of outside her role as "Mom," either to her actual kids or to the teens in the book: Kay, Brandon, Edwin, and Robert. I like Hannah, but I don't really get enough to build a true opinion of her.
• Robert is another one we don't get much of, mostly because everyone else is from around the same area in England, and Robert is Texan. While I get his teenage/religious rebellion and questioning, I also think he's a jerk to follow Seth so easily.
• Brandon is still my favorite character. His aloofness is just so enduring to me for whatever reason. The fact that he thinks in numbers is fascinating to me, and I totally get his justifications for the numbers he assigns each person he meets. The characteristics do seem to fit both the people and, strangely, the assigned number. 

All-in-all, I want to see how Seth reacts post-Lycopolis, I want to learn more about Hannah and Robert, I want to see Kay become more confident, I want to see how Mark redeems himself and grows, and I just want more Brandon. Edwin just needs more love and cuddles. Man, I love broken characters....

I've been taking a roughly week-long reading break instead of getting a jump start on "Oblivion". Mostly because whenever I know I should be working on "Peeping Tomcat" I've instead been reading.... It's a seemingly wonderful excuse for procrastinating...

Come Thursday, however, it will be March 1st, and I'll be back to reading. I'll let you fine folks know how my opinions may change for each character. Ooooor, you can decide for yourself by going over to Amazon and buying the books.

Okay, this blog is now going to posting late. Stupid computer lag. Plus, I still need to figure out my monthly one-shot. So, I'll catch everyone next week!