I have on my Camp NaNo t-shirt, and I have writing group tonight. It just feels like it's time to get back to writing.
But before I get into that, it's coming up on nearly a month since I've completed "Peeping Tomcat," but I'm still periodically receiving notifications that I'm getting likes and faves. So I want to do another stats recap to see how much it's still being found in the sea of Miraculous fanfiction, even though I'm no longer updating it.
Granted, most of those stats are equal to or less than what I got as weekly views/faves, but it's still cool that my story is getting love even after I completed it. It will probably fade into obscurity soon, but it was fun while it lasted, and I love that people seem legitimately excited for a continuation of the story. Yay!FFN: 2017 views, 4 faves, 3 followers, and Jowy's Pixie's review
AO3: 430 views, 7 kudos, and 1 comment
DA: 27 views
Total Results: 2474 views, 11 faves, 3 followers, and 2 reviews
AO3 Review:
1. I love this fic, reading from Adrien pov was truly amazing, hope you continue with the sequel, congrats for your amazing work.
Another interesting bit of trivia for you: all this time, all these weeks, all these months, and "Guilt" is still the ONLY chapter I have posted on DeviantArt that doesn't have a single fave. I guess that was a weak chapter... Weird thing is, I KNEW from day one that I needed that "Marinette tries to give Adrien soup to feel better" chapter to help showcase that he DOES like Marinette for who she is; not because she's Ladybug. Guess it just didn't translate well.
One more side note. Since "One and the Same" is a continuation of "Peeping Tomcat" I can set them up as a series on AO3. I was going to wait to do so until I have the first chapter of OatS posted, but at the same time, I have a LOT of companion stories.
In PT I have three akumas, and so I have a "how they became akumatized" side story for each. I also have the side story of Ladybug setting up the video for the Ladyblog with Alya. Yes, these are all little side writing projects I did to help me center my main writing for PT, but they're technically canon for this universe, and I did enjoy them enough to post them online. So I threw them into the series as well.
I called the universe "It's You", and boy was it hard figuring out a title for the whole series! I think the series name "It's You" is fitting for both stories, as well as the companion stories thus far.
So, if you want an easy catch-all location for "Peeping Tomcat" and all the stories that relate to it, you can find it here:
Anyway, let's wrap up this journey back through "Peeping Tomcat" with Jowy's review.Adrien becomes torn when he realizes that he has a crush on Marinette. Can his love for Ladybug survive if he is attracted to his classmate and friend?
Marinette becomes just as confused when she notices the blush she gets around Chat Noir. How could he get her flustered when she's so madly in love with Adrien?
- Main stories are "Peeping Tomcat" (completed), and its sequel "One and the Same" (currently in production).
- Includes side stories showing the akumatization of various original villains, and chapters told from an alternate POV.
Stats: Words: 92,693 Works: 5 Complete: No
Jowy's Pixie really knows how to choke me up. Reading things like "It shows that an author has put much more thought into the ending which is something that I can definitely tell that you did." and "It's rare to find a story with this much depth..." and "...it really felt like I was reading an actual episode from the show." and "You are so incredibly talented!" and "Your work is worth the wait because it's of such magnitude and amazing quality." It all just dumbfounds and humbles me.Jowy's Pixie: Yaaay, I finally had the time to catch up on this story and leave a review. Eeeeek, I really love the ending that you decided to go with. It really leaves things open for the sequel which I'm super excited for! I actually kinda like the fact that you didn't have Chat Noir/Adrien admit to and reveal everything. However, I can see it creating an even bigger conflict in the future which I'm worried yet really excited for! I like endings like this where stuff is still left open and up for debate because I'm not really a person for cliches. It shows that an author has put much more thought into the ending which is something that I can definitely tell that you did.
This story was truly an amazing read! It's rare to find a story with this much depth and I love it! There was just the right balance of description and dialogue. It was great to get an in depth look into Chat Noir/Adrien's mind and the emotions he was going through, despite how much it made me want to smash his head against a wall for being so dense, lol. But bless him, he really went through so much mental anguish in this story and you really managed to amazingly capture that. I'm in awe over how well this story was written. The characters were so in character throughout, and I know I've said this before, but it really felt like I was reading an actual episode from the show. It was just that realistic and true to the source material. You are so incredibly talented!
I'm soooo excited for the sequel and to see where you take this story line now as there's so many possible routes that it could go down. Normally I can get a rough idea of what will happen next, but this story has been completely unpredictable and I like that. I'll be ready and waiting for when that gets released and don't worry about the long wait for it, take your time. I understand that stories can take a lot of time to plan and write. Your work is worth the wait because it's of such magnitude and amazing quality. Good luck for the future and with your work. Thank you so much for sharing this story with us because it has been such a wonderful experience and a pleasure to read. Best wishes!
These are phrases used for reviews of MY work? I mean, this is how I'd describe OTHER PEOPLE'S work; specifically professionally written work.
I know I have improved a lot. I know that I've always had talent that made others believe I could do this professionally. I know it's a lot easier for me to write than it is others. I know I have better confidence than a lot of amateur authors.
Still.... It's hard for me to believe it's ACTUALLY true. I'm always in that mindset of "people believe I can be an author because they're my family, friends, and some of my teachers." Having complete strangers starting to tell me the same thing? I STILL can't wrap my mind around it.
NEVER LET ME FORGET THIS FEELING!
I've been saying this more and more lately, and I hope that one day every one of my readers/fans knows this mantra of mine:
Never allow me to stop appreciating my readers, and if I do, my fans have my permission to smack me upside the head and call me out for being an arrogant jerkface.
You guys - and yes, my initial circle of family and close friends completely count - are my drive to keep doing what I'm doing. You pick me up when I doubt. You remind me that I can do what I love. NEVER EVER allow me to forget that. You are my tether that allows me to float in the clouds without getting lost up there.
I love you all so much!
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| Hacker Girl Facebook sticker by Birdman, Inc |
As I've mentioned in the past, I've been trying to figure things out via the Snowflake Outline method created by Randy Ingermanson. I sort of hit a wall with that, so I decided to research into the "Three Act Structure." I know what it is, but I last learned about it over a decade ago, so I needed some heavy-duty refreshers.
I scoured the internet for a little bit, finding both broad and more detailed explanations. Most things I quickly found were simplified. Just stated what the structure was in bare bones format.
After typing up all of my notes into said in-depth breakdown, the end result was 3 pages long, so I won't share it here, sadly. That might be something I will change in the future, but as of right now... Anyway, the point is it really helped. I already know I have to scrap and rework a lot of what I filled out for my Three-Act Structure, but that's the beauty of it.
I know the story enough to already see what changes need to be made.
That's progress.
That's also why I'm now on board with outlines over Pantsing.
Pantsing is still a very valid way of writing. A lot of professionals do it for their first draft, and then polish after. I used to do it, and still do for shorter stories. One of my fellow writers in group is doing an amazing job on her first ever fantasy story simply by following wherever her main character wants to take her. And she learns the rules of the magic within her world just as the main character and the reader does.
Pantsing works.
I just learned that for my longer stories, it doesn't work as well for me.
As I tend to say, I am actually quite analytically creative. Which is why I was never much of a doodler. Most people while they're bored let their hand just scribble in margins. They may not be good scribbles, but it's something stupid for their mind to occupy itself with.
Me? I'd attempt to scribble and doodle in my margins, but unless I knew exactly what I wanted to draw, I ended up just filling the margins with ink; coloring it in. Same with any of my crafts.
While I was visiting my family for my birthday last month we decided on an impromptu painting party. This actually terrified me slightly because I had NO CLUE what I wanted to paint, and so I couldn't even find a reference. I told myself "just throw paint on the canvas and see what happens; abstract art style," and even that turned into a disaster that caused me to paint back over everything a couple of times.
I just can't do anything creative without at least an end goal anymore. So outlines are now my lifeline, which is great at figuring things out BEFORE I start writing, instead of needing to "kill my darlings" after the fact when said darlings don't fit anymore.
Anyway, my point is, now that I outline, I can see the bits that don't work BEFORE I write them out, and that saves me a LOT of time and headache, and a bit of heartache as well when I have something amazing, but can't use.
I don't have the whole story figured out; not by a long shot. However, with what little I do have I know what isn't working already, and how it's stopping me from sorting out the full story. "If this bit plays out how I have it I'll never be able to finish the story..." sort of things.
As I tried to work out more details to know HOW to change the things that aren't working, I actually came up with some scenes that MIGHT work well. Which brought me back to the "scene per card" notecard outlining I used for PT.
The combo of all my outlining notes thus far - excluding the Snowflake notes since those are digital still - looks something like this.
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| SCRIBBLES! SCRIBBLES EVERYWHERE! |
Aaaaaand, while you're waiting for "One and the Same" to come out, you can go through another story.
My old college roommate has a cover and release date for her premiere novel! A pre-order link will be coming soon too. In the meantime, you can become excited with me for "Leather and Lies."
Once Ali Luke has everything set up for her release of "Not So Imaginary" I'll be sure to share that too. Lots of good books to tide you over while waiting for me to post anything new.
....
SOMETHING NEW!
This is going to be my first month of not hitting my Resolution to post something new at least once a month! Even in July I at least posted something not related to PT at the very beginning of the month.
Guess I know what I'm working on the next couple of days! Look for something new shared here next week, but published online before Saturday! Whoo... dropped the ball a bit on that. I have been thinking about Gabriel and Emilie Agreste again lately... they seem to be my Miraculous go-to whenever I need a break but want to stay in the fandom.
My Girls also want to feel some more love. I also started thinking a bit more about Amara. Jolene has kind of vanished into the background for a year now, and poor Elymoxa has also been sidelined since our monthly D&D sessions have been a bit delayed/cancelled lately.
Then again, back on August 2nd, I did write out how the first akuma in "One and the Same" got transformed, so there IS that... should I share it as a teaser already!?
Until next week!
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