Things are finally starting to fall back to normal at work, and I'm starting to get my free time to work on my writing while there, at least, over my lunch breaks. I still can't figure out that darn second akuma attack towards the end of Act II in "Peeping Tomcat," but I have thought of a slew of other potential akumas. I have them jotted down in my Miraculous notebook to possibly use in other fanfics. The main reason why I'm not using them in PT is because they just won't work with the story I have in mind. Either the idea of introducing that particular akuma is too large and deserves its own story, or the subplot it would bring up with the dynamic between Ladybug, Cat Noir, and/or Hawk Moth goes in the opposite direction than I want PT to go in, or there's no clean way to introduce the akumatized victim without going into a side-tangent in PT, or the battle wouldn't showcase what I need showcased in PT, or.... well, you get the idea. They just wouldn't work for whatever reason, but I do have a few fun ones.
Back stock for when I need akumas in other stories. Maybe I could even use one or two in "One And The Same" later this year.... Still doesn't help me now though.
Speaking of helping, even though she's pretty booked, since she was on spring break, I sent Cyhyr my story thus far. We both agree that her own stuff comes first. However, Netflix is FINALLY getting the American release of season 2 of "Miraculous Ladybug". It premieres this Friday - March 30 - and perhaps a read through my story is a nice pre-gamer? She offered to at least attempt. So that's sweet of her and I love her for even offering!
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Yes, I should try to be as professional as I can in all things I write in order to better prepare myself for this being a career. However, I shouldn't STRESS about it. Fanfiction is supposed to be fun. Even the "not so great" ones get love because people understand that they're done by novices, and people can see the story potential. It may be hard to find an audience that is willing to read a 7000-word first chapter, but they're out there, especially with the hype of the new season coming out this week.
In fact... I might cash in on that hype and post the first chapter THIS FRIDAY instead. Ride the wave of people swarming to fanfic sites.
I've gone through that first chapter about five times already, not including the three-plus versions I wrote before this draft. I can only find a few paragraphs here and there that might need to be cut. I'm still debating if I definitely should. Worse comes to worse, I'll take "Peeping Tomcat" down if Cy or Chibi have anything drastic they'll need me to change, and repost the revised edition. Sure, I'll lose any lovely comments/reviews people may have posted, but it's not the greatest loss in the world.
And so what if this isn't the most professional thing in the world? So what if the story seems lopsided because I have 7000-word chapters along side 2000-word chapters? Who cares if one week has a massive chapter update, and the following only has a quick-read one? Worse comes to worse, I'll double-post since I'll have them all done ahead of time anyway.
The point is that I'll hit the milestone of COMPLETING A LONG PROJECT. That in and of itself is huge! The point is that I'll also hit the milestone of weekly updates. The point is actually finishing, editing, polishing a NaNo story. There are a LOT of milestones within this story already. Having it be professional-quality perfection doesn't need to be one of them. Not yet anyway. I know I still have a ways to go until I hit that "I can publish a novel" part of my career. I know I'm about a decade behind where I should be. Thank you, College Professor. However, I also know that I've been improving more and more, and faster and faster, each year.
I'll get there. I still need to push myself to make sure I do. I don't need to KILL myself in doing so, though. And I can't use perfection - or the pursuit of it - as an excuse to procrastinate.
So, uh, I guess keep an eye out. I think I just talked myself into pushing up my publication date.
Oh! And since I'm on the topic of publishing, it IS the end of the month, and I still haven't posted anything. Although, it does sound like I'm remedying that on Friday.... Anyway, in an attempt to sort of clear my head from it being bogged down with PT stuff, as well as making sure I stick with my "something new per month" goal, I decided to work on a little side-project.
It's not done yet - I need to finish after I'm done with this blog post - but I'm hoping to have it ready to read at writing group tonight.
It occurred to me that I haven't worked on "Glitches" in a long time. I had a desire to write with at least one of My Girls. In the shower - where all the plot bunnies come to find me now, I guess - I thought of early in the X-Future game when Penumbra was wary of Devon, and was not a fan of Willow potentially flirting with him. For whatever reason, this became a scene in my head. I think it's a fun way to give some character background while also showcasing some of their personalities.
So, I have a little scene where Penumbra is lecturing Willow about the dangers of interacting with Devon. In response, Willow goes to bat for Devon, and tries to calm Penumbra with some flirtatious illusions. Penumbra is not pleased. In part, because Willow is trying to skirt around the problem instead of solving it, but mostly because Penumbra knows Willow doesn't think of her romantically, and hates being lead on.
I'm having some fun with it, but I'm sure it will need some polishing before I post. We'll see what the group says tonight. It will be one of the few times where I'll attempt to read something to them BEFORE posting it online.
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Oh! And speaking of exciting things for this weekend. Cy and her hubby, my awesome Wonder Twin Ronoxym, are coming with me and my own wonderful hubby to go see "Ready Player One"!!!!
Ron and I have been super stoked about this movie for over a year now, so we're going to be unbearably excited and antsy all week! We are both sorry to our respective spouses.
Anyway, I even got this guy already as part of the hype and excitement:
Which brings me full circle back to writing.
This past week Omnibladestrike has again struggled with his writing after having a nice spurt of inspiration. I don't know if it really helped him any, but in an attempt, I sent him the link to something called the Snowflake Method for outlining. I discovered it thanks to a fellow member of Writer's Huddle. If you'd like more about the method from the man who created it, you can check it out here: How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method.
The long and short of it is to start off simple and small so the task of creating a novel doesn't seem so daunting. Think in the most broad strokes possible while still defining specifically your novel. Start with a one sentence plot summary of your novel: your "hook." Then start expanding out. Create a paragraph summary using roughly five sentences: The exposition sentence, the initiating conflict, the Act II conflict, the climactic conflict, and the conclusion. Or, as the author of the article Randy Ingermanson puts it, “three disasters plus an ending." Now expand each of those sentences out to be their own paragraph. Expand each of THOSE paragraphs out again and again until you have a detailed outline of your story. Do the same with your characters. Start with basic info: name, age, race, gender, etc. Then expand out. Create a sentence summary of their character arc. Now expand out the same way you did with the novel. As you expand on both your characters and the plot, and discover something new about either, go back and adjust the other elements accordingly.
This is actually kind of similar to the outlining that James Patterson talked about in his MasterClass. The idea is to have the most detailed outline possible without going into the nitty-gritty of dialog or specific problem solving. Yes, you know that your protagonist is going to save his love interest from a burning building by jumping out a window to safety. You don't need to know the specifics of which window, what safety, how long it takes for them to escape, etc. That's for the actual writing portion in order to keep that fun. Point is, you know that the love interest is going to be in trouble by being stuck in a burning building, and you know that she and the protag are going to get out safely, and you know what kind of injuries - if any - you want them to suffer. You have your entire novel, in pretty great detail, only taking up about twenty pages instead of two-hundred. MUCH simpler and faster to sit and read through your outline to try to find plotholes, slow spots, and poor character arcs. Take it from someone who has been struggling through editing both "Peeping Tomcat" and "Please, Let Me Explain", it is a pain to read through a long work to try to figure those bits out. Another struggle that outlining could avoid is the "wait, did I already explain that same bit elsewhere in this story?" Much easier to pick up on that in a 20+ page outline.
If you take the time up front - even if it's a couple of months - to do greatly detailed outlines, you won't struggle as much or hit writers block as frequently - if at all - once you get to the actual writing. This allows authors to punch out a much stronger first draft in just a few weeks.
In fact, I might even attempt to spend the summer Camp NaNoWriMo writing up such an outline for my November NaNoWriMo novel idea, and see how that turns out. Will I be able to hit the 50,000 word goal easier? Will the story actually be complete at the end of the month, instead of the word goal simply being met? Will the first draft truly be much closer to being publishable - at least, online - once I'm done?
I've been playing a bit with the idea of more detailed outlines before writing since I took the James Patterson class, but perhaps with the add-in of this Snowflake Method breakdown, I might give it more serious thought. I might even use it for PT's sequel "One And The Same" in an attempt to make sure it's done and ready to publish once I'm done posting all of PT's chapters. I could use it to work on "Please, Let Me Explain" and finally finish that project. I attempted to do the James Patterson outlining method with Ron, but perhaps the Snowflake Method is a better fit.
I'm actually pretty excited about trying this method out. I'll have to let you guys know how it goes once I have a chance to use it. If you end up trying it, or already have, feel free to let me know in the comments what you thought of it. Did it work for you? Did only portions of it work for you? Did your writing improve? Did it take away the fun spontaneity of writing by the seat of your pants, or did it make writing more fun because you didn't have to stress about "what's next"?
I'd love to know your thoughts.
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