When my friend invited me down to his house yesterday for a night of Sherlock Holmes and pancakes, I pounced on the opportunity, a chance for me to get away from the internet and all other distractions that I have when I'm at home.

The night was very successful. It was no thousand words, but I got my story moving along nicely. In the 343 words I wrote last night I managed to finish a scene and a chapter, with a nice reveal along the way. I won't tell you what it because it's a nice treat.

I'd love to get back to writing a little bit every day. I miss that. What happens happens, but there are steps I could take to ensure I get what I want, if only for a little while. So I'll make that a short-term goal: to write something tonight.

The next sample starts where we left off last time. If I don't start writing more each week, I'll have to cancel the samples until I am, otherwise you'll have read the whole novel by the time I'm done.

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Faine said, “Then we need your help, for the good of the people. If this war breaks through, famine will run rampant. Emareus will be cut off from its surrounding villages, and supplies will be cut short. Like you said, who wants to live that kind of life?”

Fórdhain sighed. “What do you want?”

Faine grinned and nodded to Athrù, who said, “We must meet with the Queen as soon as possible to tell her of these dire circumstances.”

“I am the king of the Underground. I believe you've taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way if you're looking for an audience with the Queen.”

“Don't play games with me, Thief-King. You're close with the Queen and our matter is urgent.”

“What gave it away? The heavy robe or the golden rings?”

“Let’s just say I’m familiar with the factions of Meira.”

Tonight I'm going to aim to churn out 1,000 words. This isn't a way to make up for the last half-month -- although it would be very nice if I could -- but tonight what I really want is to feel like I'm making some progress again.

Before I go to bed I'll update on how much I wrote.

*UPDATE* I got distracted with a song I've been working on, so I'm phasing the challenge over to tomorrow.

School is currently my worst enemy. I haven't written for half a month. It's sad, but I'll get back to it when I get back to it.

But while I'm here, I'll give you a look at my map, which is very nearly finished. I just need to add the final details. Click for a bigger picture.

I haven't written since the start of the month and school's return. Hopefully I can latch back on by mid-month.

I'll update on my progress again next Friday.

Currently, I'm continuing work on my map of Válkia.

I won't be able to write tonight. I just wrote a 1,000 word essay for Literature and now I have to write a short story for French. And it's nearly 2:00am. And these are overdue. So I don't have an out. Tomorrow's Friday, though, so I should be okay for the next few days.

This prioritisation is something I will have to face a lot. All I have to do is practise getting back to the writing as soon as possible.

Wow. All right, admittedly, it's been two days since I wrote, but I did jump back on today. I don't think I'll get to 5,000 this month, but I think I'm set up well to approach next month with more force. School is coming back tomorrow, and I'm excited to test myself to work around school, homework and the many other things that occupy my time.

Writing tonight was sort of funny. First I wrote a bit, and then I did a WorD Splurge (if you don't know what it is, Google Write or Die -- it's an amazing tool!), totalling to what word told me was around 280 words. But then, when I did the calculations at Critique Circle, it appeared that I'd somehow written an extra 40 or so words in there, and it churned out a 320! So I was very happy to see that number, and happily drew that number from my "manuscript progress" over to my "monthly progress". Here's what it looks like now. It's looking a bit sad, but I'm still seeing this as a positive. It proves that even after two days I was able to jump back on and write again.

I've been procrastinating from writing my bit for today. But of course, I must have been doing something productive in that time! Well, here's what came out of forty-five minutes or so.

This song is by Tim Minchin. It's called Dark Side. After watching the song for the second time last night I decided to learn it.

Feel free to laugh at the massive mistakes and key-bashing. This was a first take.



Now I'm off to write!

Yep. Even more than writing, I need to take a break, so tonight I'm going to catch up with some sleep. But I won't be trying to "catch up" with any writing tomorrow. I know where that's led me in the past. I'll be jumping right back on the horse tomorrow, with my next 200+ words. I'll still be very much on track to hit 5,000 words by the end of the month.

The real challenge in the next few days and the coming weeks will be trying to work writing into my days regularly while also keeping ahead with homework and getting enough sleep. I think the trick lies in getting the homework done when I get it, or some days before it's due, and that's something I have to work on.

Today: 362 words.


Pointless caption is pointless.

Introduction:
The characters have entered the Underground, a thieving organisation which is actually located underground. They are looking for the Thief-King, with whose help they are hoping to contact the Queen of Meira.
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Having followed the man’s directions, they came to a door with an engraved piece of wood on its front that read Cartachamber. Before Athrù could knock, the door was opened, although it wasn’t the Thief-King who came out. Instead it was a startled boy almost half Eoin’s height.

Once he had regained his composure, the boy turned around and said, “Thief-King, you have some guests arrived.” Then, walking past them, he said, “Remember to be respectful to the good King.”

Saera crossed her arms as the boy left them in the corridor. “There’s nothing like an innocent-looking little boy to make an inconspicuous thief.”

“Can’t judge anyone for being poor,” said Athrù. “At least everyone down here respects one another. You wouldn’t get any of that above ground. Maybe pity. But no understanding. Thievery isn’t always a choice. The Underground entitles everyone to a life, and the means they take don’t harm anyone.” Without another word, Athrù entered the room.

“Well someone’s certainly passionate,” said Saera as she, Eoin and Faine followed him inside. Again, this room was reasonably dark, but the firelight was more than enough to see the silhouetted shape of the Thief-King hunched over a table. He wore a thick robe that splayed on the floor. His whispers were strings of incoherent drivel, soft and meaningless.

“Your Excellency,” said Athrù.

The Thief-King grunted loudly, holding his hand over the map and drawing invisible lines. Eoin managed to decipher one of his whispers as behind the bazaar, where that bastard sleeps. From next to him he picked up a compass and placed its points on the map.

“Your Excellency.”

A bird squawked from somewhere in the darkness, making Eoin’s heart jump.

“Yes, yes, I need just one more moment. You would not want to be the cause of this boy’s death now, would you?” The tall, silhouetted man retreated to a desk nearby. He dipped a quill in its inkwell and scribbled a one-line note onto a piece of parchment. After tearing the note away, he lifted it above shoulder height, at which point a raven shot out of the shadows, snatched it up spiralled upwards, disappearing through some secret hole in the roof.

“You lads wish to speak with me?” said the Thief-King.

“I’m not a lad!” said Saera.

“Excuse me.” The Thief-King turned to face them and stepped into the flickering light. “You are not of my men.”

“No,” said Athrù. After a pause, he said, “We bring before you a matter of utmost importance, Your Excellency.”

“Of utmost importance to me, lad, is the safety of my men. If you are not here to report to me, then I hold no interest in your issues. Every second I waste could be another man gone red.”

Faine spoke coldly. “With all due respect, Excellency, these issues are not ours, but yours. They concern your men’s safety.”

The Thief-King’s face became less stern. “My name is Fórdhain. I rule the Underground, but monikers like Excellency, Liege and Highness please me not. This is no audience hall. I want to hear my name.”

"Writing is not like painting where you add. It is not what you put on the canvas that the reader sees.
Writing is more like a sculpture where you remove, you eliminate in order to make the work visible. Even those pages you remove somehow remain."
- Elie Wiesel

Those are some very wise words from a person I've never heard of before but for this very astute observation. (Sorry, I'm still young!) But this idea should really be expanded upon.

Writing is very much like a sculpture. In your first draft, you collect your ideas and throw them onto the paper (depending, of course, how you like to write your first drafts). Then you slot them together into something cohesive, until you have something vaguely representative of a story that goes from start to finish. That might be your chunk of clay, in the general shape of your sculpture.
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So now that you're up to your second draft, how do you approach it?

In steps, that's how! At each step you will go through your manuscript once and focus on just one aspect. This makes revision much more manageable and structured.

First Pass
This is the first stage of revision. At this stage, the story truly begins to take shape. You go through and edit for content, change any details you want, and make sure they're consistent. This is also the stage where you will rewrite any scenes that have been niggling you from that first draft.

Now you have smoothed out the form of your sculpture.

Second Pass
Go through your manuscript focusing foremost on characters. Make sure the way they act is consistent throughout, or that a change in them remains later on and that they don't switch back and forth between personalities. Importantly, check that their character voice is consistent. Do they speak with more or less contractions? Do they use shorter sentences, or do they tend to drone on? Do they say the word "that" when unnecessary, or do they leave it out where possible? Are they well-spoken? Gentlemanly or sour?

You've now carved the face into your sculpture, and it's smiling at you.

Third Pass
Here you will focus on the description in your manuscript. You want descriptions that are strong, that give the reader an image. You don't want to go overboard, though. We don't want to know about the flea unless it's pivotal to the story. Again, check for consistency. You don't want anything to have suddenly moved from one side of the room to the other.

That jacket on your sculpture is sure looking fine today!

Fourth Pass
Just read through here and check that things look fairly good in general.

You step back and take a breath before you jump back in one last time.

Fifth Pass
Now it's time for the line edits. This is where you go through the lines one by one and make the writing nice and shiny. But if you notice there's more to do from one of the earlier stages, back up. If it's major, deal with that first. If it's minor, touch it up and move on. When you get to the end of this stage, you've done your first revision.

You brush the dust off the top of your sculpture's head and all the details seem to suddenly come to life. But you want to sell this - this is going to make you famous. So like any good artist, you approach it once more, striving for perfection.
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As we all know, perfection is impossible. But make something as good as it can be, and you've got a good chance at being successful.

For a more basic breakdown of the steps, go here.

For my French class I had to write "an informative article for a local newspaper on an issue relating to technology and innovation in the 21st century". I thought what better to write on than something I feel so strongly about?

Well, here's the "article" and its translation.
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Bienvenue à la Révolution Livre-Electronique

12.04.11
Ryan Sullivan

Depuis nos vies en entier, on a lit les livres en papier, mais c’est en train de changer. Les trois années dernières signifie la révolution livre-électronique. Ce moment est très important pour les liseurs et les écrivains le deux. Si positif ou négatif relie uniquement sur les gens.

D’abord, il y a les liseurs loyaux au livre typique. Ces gens appuient le type de livres « traditionnels », qui sont livres en papier, et ils ont peur que le livre-électronique va détruire le livre traditionnel. Et peut-être ils ont de bon raison.

Lentement les vendeurs de livres ont perdu ses magasins, incluant ces qui sont réputé comme Angus and Robertson et Borders.

Mais ce « révolution », si le terme est approprié, est fantastique pour les auteurs. La technologie nouvelle permet que les auteurs puis éviter les publieurs complètement et télécharger leurs romans (ou histoires courts) directement à l’internet. Il y a plusieurs de sites pour cela, par exemple Smashwords, Kobo, iBooks et le plus célèbre Amazon Kindle. Un million rêveries a juste été faire possible grâce à la technologie de l’époque courant.

La révolution livre-électronique est une force imparable. Déjà c’est en cours. Maintenant vous doivent décider lequel vous allez appuyer.
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Welcome to the E-book Revolution

12.04.11
Ryan Sullivan

Our whole lives we have had paper books, but this is changing. The last three years signify the e-book revolution. This moment is very important for both readers and writers. Whether positive or negative relies solely on the person.

Firstly, there are readers loyal to the typical book. These people support the "traditional" type of book, which is made of paper, and they are afraid that the e-book is going to destroy the traditional book. And they probably have good reason.

Slowly, booksellers have lost their stores, including those who are reputed like Angus and Robertson and Borders.

But this "revolution", if the term is appropriate, is fantastic for authors. The new technology allows authors to evade publishers completely and upload their novels (or short stories) directly to the internet. There are several sites for this, for example Smashwords, Kobo, iBooks et the most famous Amazon Kindle. A million dreams have just been made possible thanks to the technology of the current era.

The e-book revolution is an unstoppable force. It's already on course. Now you must decide which you will support.