“is everybody going crazy”

July 2010 August 2010 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 January 2012

I'm not doing a very good job with these progress updates, but I've been keeping a writing log - though, that's for my English teacher to see. I'd say Day 10 was the day I was most engrossed with writing for Nano because I managed to spit out a little over 2,000 words that day. It doesn't sound like much but I was pretty proud of myself. I didn't write anything on Day 11 (yesterday) but I was pretty busy running around the school, handing things in, writing tests etc. Today is almost as hectic, but not it's not as crazy as yesterday. I have one more test to write, one teacher to see, and I'm free! It doesn't sound so hectic but if I add in the fact that I've already written one test, seen one teacher, studied for my second test, AND manage to write something here, it adds up to a bucket load of missions.

Anyway, I'm planning to write my test either midway through lunch or fourth period. It depends on my mood but something tells me I'll end up writing it during fourth period because I want to eat food. Me? A pig? Sure. Anyway, I'm actually feeling a lot more motivated to write for NaNo now that I can feel surges of ideas a lot of the time. It's a good feeling.

I think I'll stop posting the progress of my novel here and leave it at that. I've actually written a little bit more and the dialogue's started at last. To be honest, I always find it tricky when writing dialogue because you're describing the flow of conversation between two or more people. All at once, you have to be sure the reader is aware of the topic of conversation and isn't confused about who is saying what. Of course, dialogue can get boring if one keeps using the conventional "he said" or "she said". Anyway, I'll most likely go back and change a few things up but I'm pretty happy with what I have so far.

I'm far behind everyone else in NaNo but it doesn't bother me too much to be honest. I'm just glad that I've finally found the drive to start writing at all. I'm currently updating Arielle and Ms. Santiago with my progress but this is because I want both their opinions on it. Arielle because she's honest and she's reading it from a regular teenager's perspective. Ms. Santiago because she's an English teacher and really good about editing and putting forth more ideas. I'm contemplating on whether or not to add a third party but I think I'll keep it like this for now. I'd rather surprise others with what comes out rather than show them now.

I've finally found the value in brainstorming as well ever since I started writing this novel. I used to always just write freely, no planning ahead or anything. If my school work ever required the process work (meaning the brainstorming and plot planning) I would always do it after I've actually written my piece. But now, I have to develop the main plot, various sub plots, character backgrounds, character features, the layout of places, and where I want to take the story in general. To be honest, I thought that I was prepared for this month's writing but it turns out that I've had to do even more planning when this started as well. It's as if I'm planning as I go along really. Nonetheless, I have a very strong idea of where my story's going to go and now it's a matter of getting there.

In other news, I'm sitting in the Library at school and it appears as if I'm doing work but in reality I'm whipping up this post. I've been continuously pimping out my new graphics community on livejournal but to no avail. It's been a while since I've made graphics to showcase to people. I've been trying to self-teach typography and other little tidbits in Photoshop. I think it's safe to say that I've pulled a lot from those times and I guess I just felt like going back to the root of it all and hopefully I'll be able to successfully showcase that to an actual audience.

Anyway, I feel an idea coming on so I'm going to start writing again.

Hopefully I don't keep up this pattern of writing every other day. Thank goodness there's no school tomorrow! Anyway, I've actually added on to my paragraphs yesterday and this is it!

--

A cool breeze flew through the forests of the Unknown. The trees shuddered with the breath of the north winds, their leaves rustling – as if they were whispering secrets. The rustling began forming words and sentences, as if there were people living within the trees.

“Be quiet, they might hear you.”

A man stood aloft in the middle of the trees branches – or at least, he appeared to be. In reality, he stood atop a floor of oak, ornately carved with drawings and illustrations which all held the same message. In fact, he was surrounded by many carvings and artwork that adorned the walls of the tree house. Branches wove in and out of the windows, camouflaging it and making it seemingly obscure. Deeper into the tree house, a woman lay on a bed in pain as she felt the contractions come and go. Midwives were all scrambling to get cloths and water to deliver the coming baby. Female family members stood by her side, holding her hand as she pushed. Her insides felt like they were being pulled away from her body, her hands were clammy and she couldn’t bear to open her eyes. Every minute felt like an eternity and her body was in utter chaos. Not only did she feel pain around her large midriff but she felt a sharp pain inside her head – A pain that wasn’t at all affiliated with her labour.
Her body ached as she struggled to push the baby out. Her head felt like it was cleaved in two, as if there was someone digging into her head and penetrating her skull. I just want it to be over.

The thought had barely formed in her head when she felt something tugging at her heart. All of a sudden, all sound disappeared from the room. She finally squinted as she opened her eyes, only seeing shadows of figures. The pain around her pelvic area had greatly lessened, but the burning pain in her head remained. However, she felt like she was slowly being separated from the pain and felt another short tug at her heart. She began gasping for air, her lungs screaming from the sudden lack of oxygen. Her body felt as if it were paralyzed as she couldn’t feel anything more.

The man outside had heard the woman’s screams and he let out a shuddering breath.

“They are coming for you.”

Beads of sweat form on his upper brow as he strained his ear to hear for any possible intruders. He heard a small creak of the wood and drew his sword from its sheath, pointing it at the direction of the sound. The wind whistled, slowly calming down as if sensing the man’s anticipation. It was then a large figure appeared from the shadows, floating about an inch from the tree house floor.

“This is not your place, Shadow.” The man lifted his sword to point at where the figure’s head would’ve been. The figure didn’t speak but instead glided on forward. The man stood his ground but his face betrayed his emotions. It was then he felt frozen in his place, unable to move. The figure veiled the sword with its long arm, concealing it in darkness. It then withdrew again and the sword had vanished. It then glided along, this time small black strings sprouted from the figure’s neck area, wrapping itself around the man. He silently struggled against the tendon-like strings but they seemed to tighten themselves each time they sensed him willing himself to move. The dark figure then proceeded to veil the man as the screams stopped and it was then that he found the ability to speak.

“You are too late! It is done!” The man yelled, but the figure went on veiling him as it did with the sword.

And then darkness fell.

I would start with Day 1 (which was yesterday) but I didn't actually get any writing done yesterday, so I'm posting what I managed to put together during fifth period. I'll be writing more later on so I'll edit this with that as well. Also, I will NOT be editing this as it's a write as you go type of thing. However, whenever I do finish, I'll probably pick it apart. Go NaNo!

Disclaimer(s): The plot and the characters all belong to me as they are a figment of my amazing imagination. This is written for the purpose of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and is not to be copied or used by others.

--

A cool breeze flew through the forests of the Unknown. The trees shuddered with the breath of the north winds, their leaves rustling – as if they were whispering secrets. The rustling began forming words and sentences, as if there were people living within the trees.

“Be quiet, they might hear you.”

A man stood aloft in the middle of the trees branches – or at least, he appeared to be. In reality, he stood atop a floor of oak, ornately carved with drawings and illustrations which all held the same message. In fact, he was surrounded by many carvings and artwork that adorned the walls of the tree house. Branches wove in and out of the windows, camouflaging it and making it seemingly obscure. Deeper into the tree house, a woman lay on a bed in pain as she felt the contractions come and go. Midwives were all scrambling to get cloths and water to deliver the coming baby. Female family members stood by her side, holding her hand as she pushed. Her insides felt like they were being pulled away from her body, her hands were clammy and she couldn’t bear to open her eyes. Every minute felt like an eternity and her body was in utter chaos. Not only did she feel pain around her large midriff but she felt a sharp pain inside her head – A pain that wasn’t at all affiliated with her labour.