More Tags // revealing the secret of how I smashed NaNo 2016

Let me tell you a story.

One day, I did a tag. I tagged Sarah. Sarah tagged Ralraymee. Ral tagged me.

And then one of the other people that Ral tagged did the tag and tagged Ral back and then. You'll never guess it.

She tagged me again.

*squints*

I did not sign up for this. *shakes head slowly* But anyway. :P

Thank you Ral for tagging me (both times) (and sorry for taking so long about getting around to doing this), everyone go check out her blog. She's only fairly recently started up again, but if you activate ninja skills you can stalk all her posts. *nods*

I shall now proceed to skip the rules and go straight on to the twenty questions (double tags shouldn't be allowed. xP) from Ral.


1. Can you share with us a Snippity Bit of a story you are currently writing/have written?

Nooo. You've already gotten enough Agent Kit snippets. Let's do something different. Time for stalking all my other story ideas and finding a nice little snippet.

I am a prince, therefore I must rescue the princess.

I must also have an over-protective mother, a father almost as stubborn as myself, and a name long enough to make a dragon cringe.

That’s just how it works.

No one asks questions. No one steps aside from tradition. No one protests that it jolly well gets boring after five centuries of the exact same thing. Over and again.

Cliché, am I right?

If one looks back through the history books, it’s all just repeating itself. Handsome prince, damsel in distress, tall tower. Toss in a couple of assassinations, wars, and on-the-side romances, and that’s the entire history of the country.

I can near enough recite it in my sleep.

And for me it’s all going to be the same.

“It’s what I did, and my father before me, and his father before him and—”

“His father before him and so on and on and blah blah. I get the picture.” I drape my hand off the side of the reclining lounge, trying to ignore my father.

Oh yes, I didn’t mention that because I’m a prince, I’m also a rebellious, stubborn son.

Again, that’s just how it works.

To be entirely honest, this one makes even less sense to me, because surely the fathers would have rebelled by now and slapped some sense into their sons. But no.

Not that I’m complaining.

2. Is there a funny writing experience you've had? If so, what?

a) I am a master of funny (do not question me here. *solemn nodding*)
b) how could I choose one thing??

Okay so let me pick one random thing. Last year in November - aka my first ever time of doing NaNoWriMo - I was doing some word wars. LISTEN CAREFULLY. This is where I tell you my secret of how I won NaNo in nine days.

I was doing word wars with some peoples on an online forum. Then one other girl and I decided to spice things up a little.

Next word war, we typed with our toes.

And then our thumbs.

And then our noses.

By the time we got to typing with our elbows, one of the others on the forum said 'do you think we could do a normal word war? Because I'm kinda doing this for NaNo.'

Then both me and the other girl said 'so are we.'

And I won NaNo in nine days so OBVIOUSLY IT'S A GOOD THING TO DO. Go. Word war with your nose, my friends. It makes things far more interesting and I highly recommend it.


3. What's your favourite thing to do to your characters?

Torture them

Of course.

And then cry over them.

And then do it again.

Ahh, the writer's life.


4. Is there a time you've gotten so angry at something that happened in a book you stopped reading? If so, what book/what happened?

No. I've never been so angry that I stopped reading (I've been bored and stopped reading a shameful amount of times though). I've had times when I was very grumpy, but I kept reading because I was holding onto a hope that it wouldn't be too bad. (spoiler alert: it was that bad)


5. What genre is your favourite to write in? (Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-fi)

Why do people like asking me this question? xD

I like playing around with a lot of different ones and I love them all for the different story opportunities that they have. 
- I love dystopian because cool inventions, explosions and fun stuff like that. 
- I love sci fi because -again- cool inventions, interesting planets, creative social structures. 
- I love contemporary fantasy because DRAGONS and also REAL LIFE. 
- Steampunk is cool because allll the gears and biplanes and old-style clothes and much fun stuff. 
And the list goes on and on. I SHALL NEVER CHOOSE A FAVOURITE.

I've never actually written anything solely for comedy. BUT this is me, and as I mentioned, I'm the master of funny (and humble about it, too :P). All my stories turn out funny without me trying. (Except maybe A Sprig of Green because it turned out mostly feelsy.)


6. What's your WIP story about?

WELL LOOK AT THAT I did a handy little blog post on this exact question a few weeks ago.


7. Is there a book you tried to read but got too bored? If so, which book?

*cough*WarandPeace*coughcough*
*more coughing* Among many others *cough*


8. Is there a time you realised too late you spelt something wrong?

Is there a time in any writer's life when they HAVEN'T spelt something wrong??

Ahem. Yes. Yes there certainly is. But that's okay because I don't even bother with typos in my 1st drafts and I don't usually do anything with my writing that's irreversibly set in stone if there's a mistake.


9. Is there a time you hated something that you've wrote? If so, please share :D

HA. HAHAHA. I love this question. I repeat my former answer: Have any writers NOT, at some point in time, hated what they wrote??

Because if you are that writer, please may I talk to you. Either you're delusional, or perfect.

Yes. Of course. I've gone through stages of hating every single novel or story or anything that I've ever wrote. True fact. But I get over it.


10. (Last one, phew) How do you get your ideas?

It's like this. For me, ideas are like ninjas. They stalk me, they see me right when I'm least expecting them, and then they pounce down from behind. They are merciless things.


FIRST TAG DONE, WOOT. And now for tag number two.


1. Do you draw your characters? *hint hint*

Let me get one point straight.

I am not an artist.

At all.

BUT STILL. Because you asked, let me show you some amazing pictures that the epic Sarah S-B drew of my characters because she's an amazing artist and friend and you all need to see her drawings.

Please say hello to the Ginger Ninja and the Green Trident. Two characters from a superhero story of mine. That isn't written yet. But shall be. One day. Hopefully. xD

And this adorable one is Ben Kit and Brinley. Brinley is actually Sarah's character, and she and Ben met in a character chat a while back. Good fun. (about 90% of the character chat was basically the scenario shown in the picture. xP)

Now go check out Sarah's blog to stalk more of her amazing drawings!!


2. Is there some strange thing you do to help you write? If so, what?

It's not really that strange as such, but I have specific musics for each WIP to get into the feel of it. I also avoid having the internet open (other than maybe a youtube playlist) while writing otherwise it's too big of a distraction.


3. Is there a time you've been interrupted while reading/writing and gotten so bored of reading the same thing over and over again? If so, what book?

I'm not entirely sure what this question means? Other than begin interrupted and rereading half the page to find out where you were up to. And eh. I don't normally get that badly interrupted.


4. Does your main villain have any special 'connections' with the main character? (Eg: Epsilon, Star Wars, ect)

For Agent Kit - if he did, I wouldn't say. Because spoilers.

For all my other WIPs - same answer. I shall not impart the spoilers.  *mysterious smile*


5. Is there a time you've never seen a plot twist coming and it surprised the living daylights out of you?

First of all. I had no idea that other people used the term 'living daylights.' I assumed that was a weird thing my family does. BUT NO APPARENTLY NOT. I am impressed. (Now I just need to discover whether it's Australian slang or just an odd figure of speech.)

And yes. Yes I have had that happen. Someone please help me find my daylights. Five cents reward for anyone who catches them - living preferably. Dead daylights don't work quite as well.


6. 3 worst books you've EVER read.

You do not need me to list these. Trust me. I will start ranting if I do and no one needs that.

If you're really curious, stalk my goodreads. (although note - sometimes my star ratings aren't what you should go off because I used to rate them...oddly. Which ended up with some books that I really didn't like...at all...somehow sporting three shiny stars. Also going off my two books that I've rated one star - one book I didn't like, the other I was just bored by and apparently bored enough that I slapped it with a one-star. xD)


7. 3 BEST books you've read.

THIS on the other hand, I shall answer. Maybe. If I can choose only three books. I'm going to stick with fiction books.

1: A Time to Rise - Nadine Brandes
2: Veiled Rose - Anne Elisabeth Stengl
3: Resistance - Jaye L. Knight

And just so you know, I spent about half an hour trying to choose those books. Other than A Time to Rise. That one I wrote immediately. *throws Nadine's-fan-forever confetti everywhere*


8. Your character and their friends have to go on a looonnnnggg journey. Monsters attack. What does the main character do?

Ben considers himself a bit of a ninja. He would probably charge in to protect his friends, get thwacked by a monster and then Will would actually save them all.

This is basically the rough summary of the whole of Agent Kit. :P


9. One of your favourite things you've ever written.

*blinks*
I can't choose.
How could I choose something like that.
I protest.

My favourite story that I've written is probably A Sprig of Green but that said it's battling with Rogue Escarlate and co. because I honestly love those characters so much and I've been working with them for over a year and they're just such a part of my life. So yeah.

I tried to choose. I really did.
I also failed. Oh well.


10. (Last one, phew *sighs with relief*) Your character has the opportunity to kill the super-ultra-evil-villain BUT. He's unconscious, he doesn't have a weapon, he's severely wounded, someone else beat him up. Would your main character spare him (for now) or straight-up kill him?

One thing that I shall say here - Ben would never kill the villain. There's one scene in A.K. where he almost kills a man (it was slightly different originally but I'm changing it in the rewrite) and it leads on to a huge traumatic stuff and let's just say that Ben's goal is to stop anyone from getting killed. 

Not killing people is also a big part of his overall character arc and stuff.

He wouldn't kill someone who was about to kill him, let alone someone who was unconscious and bleeding. He would try save the villain if he was like that.


And there we have it. I come out with yet another tag post (are you tired of them yet??) and more collages and snippets from YET ANOTHER story idea. I have enough story ideas to keep me going for almost a decade.


What's your favourite thing to do to/with your characters?
(face it though, writers are all horribly cruel and we torture our preciouses.)
Do you like making aesthetics/collages for your characters/WIPs?
(I'm not the only person obsessed with this, riiiight??)

A Sprig of Green // editing is happening + snippets (as requested)

Yes. You heard (read?) correctly. I am doing more edits.

*dramatic music*
(because why not? Dramatic music makes everything more exciting, don't you think?)

It doesn't seem like too long ago when I was doing this for Rogue Escarlate, but now I'm working on a completely new story and it's still so exciting. I'm really enjoying working through it actually.

I've gone through the whole thing, fixing bothersome typos and mistakes so I can concentrate on what's actually going on. Then I read/scanned through and wrote down all the plot holes. Ahem yes there are several of those. XD Aaand I started to plan out how to fix said plot holes. I also need to work in the theme a little more so it's not quite as vague, and there's a heap of telling and probably tense switches where I accidentally went back into past tense instead of present. BUT for the moment, I'm happy with how it's going.

It's been really easy and fun to edit actually, and I'm not sure why? I'm motivated to go over it, and fix it, and spend hours working on it.

Plus if I ever need some more encouragement, or a laugh, I can just look back through some old comments on my short story version of this, that I asked some friends to alpha/beta for me...Some of them are quite amusing.

And now for some more stuff other than just talking about editing. Let's move on to some pretty collages!

This one is a collage that my friend (and alpha reader) Krystal made for me for my birthday and ack it's so cool. <33 I love it so much. *hugs picture*

Aaand this is one I made, and I don't remember if I've put on my blog before?? Help, I suddenly can't remember anything. xD

I also have a case of 'that character who doesn't seem to belong to any faceclaim ever' and it's very bothersome. Braden is still faceless. *squints at him* Rude.


BUT NOW. The thing you were really waiting for. YOU REQUESTED SNIPPETS AND I HAVE OBEYED. Because I'm a very nice person like that.

If you've already seen some of these snippets, please pardon my forgetfulness because I couldn't be bothered to go back and check. :P

Also they're purposefully vague. Aaand one or two may or may not have had a sentence or two (or three) cut out of them for spoilers reasons. *ahem*

BUT HERE GOES ANYWAYS. *bows out*


Standing again, I blow out another breath and cross over to the door. Someone could come in at any moment and then I’d be roasted. Knowing some of the people who stay at the Maestoso—the roasting may be literal.

I slip out on the landing and check both ways. All clear as far as I can see. The servant’s door is unlocked, and I go down the stairs two at a time. Reno will definitely be worried, since I rarely stay out this late at night.

Leaping down the last few steps, I duck out into the kitchen, and stumble straight into the barmaid. She lets out a yell of protest and spins, giving me a hard kick in the side.

“This is a staff only zone. Get out,” she orders, her brows furrowed in a fierce line.

I press my hand against my throbbing side and stumble toward the door. Falling through, I stagger into the street, looking for all the world like any drunk man. Why has everyone suddenly decided to start kicking me in the side?

It’s not nice.

- - -

 “All I did was smash a vase on his head.”

- - -

He stands, slouched against the wall, hands deep in his dress-pant pockets, his suit jacket meticulously perfect and his white shirt buttoned right up to the top. His eyes are shielded behind impenetrable shaded glasses, but the corners of his mouth are twisted down just a little bit.

I start to cross the room, leaving the supporting wall and trying to get my knee to support weight properly without just crumbling underneath me. He doesn’t even shift slightly as I pull up beside him.

Am I invisible suddenly?

“Sir?” I wince as my voice comes out dry and hoarse.

No response from the man.

“Excuse me, sir?” I stand on tiptoe and try to talk louder so that he actually hears.

Still no sign of reaction.

I narrow my eyes. He isn’t deaf. He isn’t stupid. He’s just ignoring me. I grab a chair from the table and drag it sideways over to him. My leg folds beneath me and I only just catch myself on the chair. I will make him listen even if he doesn’t want to. I scramble onto the chair and use the wall to stand up properly.

As soon as I’m at the level of his ear, I clear my throat and speak as loudly as I can without yelling. “Please excuse me, sir. I’d like to speak to you.”

He pulls away roughly, the movement almost making me topple to the floor. “Leave me alone, girl. It’s not my fault. Go away.”

I scramble down from the chair and peer up at him, trying to see beyond the dark shades of his glasses. “I haven’t even asked you anything yet,” I protest.

“I don’t care. I already told you. Go away.”

- - -

The woman grabs out at my shoulder, but I duck back. Only to have the man grab my hair roughly from behind. I gasp in pain and clutch the box tighter. “Don’t!”

They don’t listen, the woman just grabs the box by the sides and tugs at it. “Let go, girl.”

“No. You let go,” I reply, holding on as tightly as I possibly can. “If you want something you should ask.”

She stops, her mouth opening as she stares at me. I reach up and pull my hair from the man’s grip. “And you. It’s not nice to grab a girl’s hair.”

He stares too.

I run my tongue over my lips, still not relaxing my grip. “If you want something, don’t try attack the person who has it.” And then I turn and run.

- - -

“Are you okay?” I manage to get the words out through the choking in my throat.

The words seem to snap him from some sort of dream. He straightens and shoves his hand across his hair, his pale eyes dropping away from mine. “Why would you do that?”

A tingle touches my fingertips. “Because I care.”

- - -

“Braden?”

I raise my head, straightening my shoulders into their fake, stiff position. Matthew Reno paces down the narrow walkway toward me, his hands deep in his pockets.

“I thought I’d find you here.” He settles down beside me, in the exact same position we’ve been in so many other times.

“Yeah,” I grunt, studying my fingernails.

“Look.” Reno slaps my knee gently. “I know it’s hard when you have to do things like you did today, but it’s got to be done.”

I don’t reply. I just sit, listening, trying to convince my conscience that he’s right.

He’s always been right before. Why is it only now that the doubts are coming?

“You did exactly as I’ve always taught you. It was wonderful.” Reno leans forward, waving his hand in front of my eyes.

I snap my gaze up to his and he smiles a little, his greying brows creased in a concerned frown. “Braden, are you feeling okay?”

“It just…I don’t know.” I clench my hand and press it against my thigh, trying to work out what I even meant by that.

Reno’s smile fades a little and he leans closer. “I’m proud of what you did today,” he says, his gruff voice so old and familiar in my ears. He pats my shoulder and stands, grunting at the movement.

I don’t move from my position as he returns along the raised walkway. I just stare downward, not really seeing the maze of pipes and mechanics below. The vibration of his footsteps fades and then stops fully and I lean my head forward into my hands.

He’s proud of me. That should make me happy. What else could I want? What else have I been trying to aim for all these years?

Nothing.

So why is this guilt building higher and higher like bile in the back of my throat?

AND THERE YOU GO. *throws confetti* Allll the snippets for you. Originally I went a bit crazy and had an insane amount of snippets and then I changed my mind because "nooo let's not tell them all this so that it can be an exciting surprise one day."

To wrap up - here you go with a youtube playlist that I put together for A Sprig of Green!

(It's a perfect ending, don't you think? I started and ended on dramatic music. *bows* Excellent planning on my part, definitely.)

Do you have a favourite stage of editing?
Do you like listening to music while writing/editing?

Camp NaNoWriMo // the final day

1 July 2017, 12:00 AM. I was sitting on a stack of cushions in front of the fireplace in our lounge room.

31 July 2017, (ALMOST) 12:00 AM. I am, once more, sitting in the exact same place and thinking philosophical thoughts.

You know actually I'm not thinking philosophical thoughts, I'm bouncing on cushions. But anyways.

July was a big month. I had my cousin staying over for the first week, I had my weekends booked with odds and ends, I had this and that and everything else on.

Plus Camp NaNo.

And yet right now after all the month is past (*glances at clock* technically it's still another little while yet, I guess. :P) I feel a sense of achievement. I feel like I lived this month. I feel like I took time to be with my younger siblings (and my older ones. :P I actually went to bed at a sane time once or twice so we could hang out before going to sleep). I feel like I did just the perfect thing that I needed to refocus my gaze and remind myself of why I spend hours at the computer everyday. Why I pour my heart and energy into words on a page.

It was a good month.


I actually have a story for you today (ironic, I know). At the end of May, I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to do for July Camp. I was going to write Steam Flight. I was going to have a goal of 70k. I was going to spend half of June plotting.

Haha. Ha.
Nope.

None of that actually ended up happening, but I'm so much happier with what I ended up doing. I wrote A Sprig of Green - the idea of which came into my head about three weeks before Camp. I had a goal of 40k. I started plotting three or four days before Camp, and finished with eleven hours to spare with a chapter-by-chapter plot. I then realised that my novel was actually a novella, and so I lowered my word count goal to 25k.

I had so. much. fun.

A Sprig of Green was one of the easiest books I've ever written. It was just the thing my brain needed to get out of the secret agents and criminals mode, and take a creative break to try out something else. It was an exciting adventure of writing. I finished the novella on day fifteen, at approximately 35k. And then I did something crazy.

I didn't start editing.

I meant to. I honestly planned to. But it didn't happen. And that's all cool by me. I really enjoyed being about to roll back on my insane word counts and hours of typing and delve into other things. I finished some critiquing projects (plus started and finished yet another). I learnt-ish how to do a flying jump kick (don't ask xD although if you do ask, you might get access to a secret youtube video featuring my gymnastics skills xP). I got one or two new movies to fangirl over (Homecoming and Guardians of the Galaxy yaaass). AND SO MUCH MORE that I won't bore you with telling. xD


At the end of one NaNo month, I automatically look toward the next. November. Actual real super duper 50k NaNoWriMo. Normally I would be starting to plan out "Ohh I'll write such-and-such project then" but right now. I have no clue at all. I don't know what'll happen between then and now. I don't know how far edits I'll be. I don't know what God has in store. But I'm excited. I'm excited to see everything that he's doing and I'm super hyped to see what he continues to do.

I have a pile of projects that are eagerly awaiting my attention, and I could do an entire blog series on what they are and what needs doing on all of them, but I'm not sure that would be terribly interesting after the first one or two. :) So currently, I'm just meandering along as God opens doors or closes them and I'm just so excited for next month. And I'm also excited to have all my wonderful blogging friends so I can bounce along and hear all the cool stuff about your life happenings too. :D

Only two minutes left. :P


What are you excited for in August?
Who's hoping to do NaNo this year??

Comparing Your Work to Others' // dealing with low confidence and fear

Do you ever feel like you’re a failure? Like you’re not as good as so-and-so? Like it doesn’t matter how hard you try, you’ll just never be enough?

Sometimes comparing our work to someone else can help. It can spur us on to work harder, strive more, learn how to be better.

But other times, it simply pulls us down.

It’s so easy to look at someone else and see their work—or even them as a person—and the compare it to your own work, your own self. The problem is that when we do this, so much of the time, we don’t measure up.

We can’t measure up.

We’re all different people, we’ve all been given different talents and gifts. Of course we can’t all be as good as each other. But we know that, and somehow it doesn’t seem to help.

So often I see people hiding back in the corner and not wanting to show their work. For some people they can pass it off as perfectionism. For others—introversion.

But I think for everyone, it’s also just that little seed of doubt.

Everyone has it. That fear that they won’t measure up. That they’re actually a failure. That, quite honestly, they’re wasting their time—and everyone else’s.

And then even worse, there’s the moments of timid bravery when the little artist (not necessarily drawing, I’m using the term in its broad definition) steps out and show some of their work. Some of the art they poured their energy and heart into. And then someone laughs. Or not even laughs, but just passes it off as ‘good’ or ‘nice.’

It hurts. It pulls down the timid hope and our little artist soul scuttles back and hides.

The problem isn’t with the person who betrayed the trust (though they are at fault—a topic I shall be rambling on next week), it’s actually with the artist.

The problem is that so often we look to man to fulfil our desires, to fulfil our identity. We look to our family, our friends, our acquaintances. But they can’t fill that role.

The One who gave us the gift in the first place can.

If you write a chapter, draw a picture, do whatever you do and look at your work and say “I’m a failure” you’re saying that God’s gift is worthless. That he gave you something that is a waste of your time. It’s a ridiculous thought.

You don’t have to measure up to so-and-so. You don’t have to be as good as anyone.

Because that’s not the point.

We need to be looking to God to find our purpose and identity, not the world around us. And when we do that, it doesn’t matter what other people think or do. It doesn’t matter if they all seem better.

Right now, God has you in a special place.

Don’t scorn it and hate it because it’s different than someone else. Accept it and embrace it because it’s a gift.

It’s not easy to accept, and the fear can still be there. But you need to go back to God over and over and over. Every. single. day. Commit it to Him.

I promise you. You won’t regret it. And it certainly won’t be a waste of your time.

Are Your Words Working? // lagging behind on goals and schedules

We're onto the twenty-first day of the month. Only ten more days left before August. Are you on target? Are those words working just how you planned them to be?

For me, I have to admit that the answer is actually no.

Now, I know it sounds bizarre. "But Jane, you finished your camp nano goal aaages ago and you finished your novella and what's wrong with all that??" And all that is completely true but I had (and still have) a few other things planned for this month, and it was all nicely scheduled out on my dry erase whiteboard calendar. (seriously though, if you don't use one of these, you need to try it. It's amazing.) 

I aimed to finish writing on the 15th - tick that box.
I aimed to have at least 25k - tick, again.
I also aimed to have a teensy bit of an easier time - and I think I can check that off too.

But then we get to the second half of the month.

I hoped to finish one of my critiquing novels on the 17th.
I hoped to finish the book I'd been given for free from the author to read and review.
I hoped to dig right in and get down to editing A Sprig of Green right away.
I hoped to finish my rough edits + synopsis.
I hoped to start on a beta reading novel so I had plenty of time to finish it before the end of the month.
Not even mentioning that I really really hoped to have plenty of free time to read the Road Rules book and prepare for my driving test.

None of that went according to plan. And looking at that list, I can honestly see why. I had unrealistic expectations. There was no way I was going to be able to do all that and school and life. I'm an overachiever sometimes and I like pushing myself and giving myself challenges. A lot of the time, I also overestimate myself. I simply cannot fit that much in. And adding to that, all the random things that just pop up unexpectedly and snatch away some of that precious time that I'm desperately trying to balance.

BUT. That's not where the story ends. We're only just getting to the best part.

I'm actually okay with this. I can see that I'm not up to the level I was hoping for, but that's okay. Maybe I don't need to be. I'm right where God needs me at the moment. Because when I'm here and I'm falling behind, I can look up and know that He's got a plan and, my goodness, it's better than ANYTHING I could ever come up with.

And sometimes it's in times like right now, when I stop and look at my goals and what I had hoped and planned to get done, that I realise that it really is better this way. I didn't finish a lot of those things because I was busy.

I was busy living.

So today, I want to encourage all of you, whatever you're doing - whether you're falling behind on goals, whether your striving insanely to reach them before you run out of time, or whether you're sitting right at the top and relaxing already. Whatever place you're at, stop and take a breath.

Take time to look up to God and just smile. Smile because what He's done. What He's doing. And what He will do.

Take a moment of every day and live.


How are your goals and plans working out?
Do you have any methods for keeping on track or scheduling out your plans?

3 ways to get rid of impossibly persistent story ideas

As some of you probably know already, I'm currently working through the third (ish?) draft of Rogue Escarlate. Editing has happened, and I'm giving it a last polish/read before sending it off to alpha readers. *screams dramatically* 

And I have one very important exciting plan for once I do that.

I'm going to take a break.

No more writing. No more editing. Just life. And I'm really looking forward to it.

But there's just one problem. If you're flighty or easily scared, don't read the next paragraph. Just warning you.

Plot bunnies.

SOMEONE HELP. I'm being surrounded by these amazing little creatures of fluffy evilness and they won't stop. I keep getting more and more ideas.

(Shhh yes this picture totally relates to the post. It's a road, because everything about writing is a journey. OF COURSE. *ahem*)

Now, I'm sure you've been in this situation too. Drowning under fluff and cuteness and floppy ears. But have no fear, because I am now officially an expert and today I'm here to tell you three ways to get rid of these impossible, persistent story/character ideas.


1: YOU CAN'T
Just face it. You can't now and you never will be able to stop these. They will come and go as they please and you have absolutely no control over them at all. I'm sorry, but it's true. You're just going to have to deal with it.


2: Maybe...listen to them instead?
If you're struggling to focus on your current dystopian work in progress because of all these fantasy characters dancing around in your brain, maybe that's actually something you need to think about. What if your futuristic creativity needs to take a break? Take a breath and listen to these bunnies and maybe even schedule in a break -even as short as one day- where you'll either a) stop writing altogether or b) write some of those snippets that are dyyying to be written. 
It might be just the thing that your creativity needs.

(And as it happens I'm soon taking both option a and b and hoping for the fullest result. But I'll have to tell you that in July when I've finished the experiment.)


3: Humour them
Do what they want. Write them. It'll be fun, even if it distracts you from your current WIP. And seriously! Why else do you write except for fun? Over the last month or so I've had plenty of fun writing little snippets of different things. And playing around with different tenses (about 80% of them were in 1st person present tense because that intrigues me and I wanted to try it out) and settings and ideas and gosh. It's just so much fun.

And because I KNOW you're all so curious to know what random plot bunnies I've been having recently (you weren't? WELL TOO BAD. Because I'm putting them here anyways. XD), I thought I'd include some of the little scraps of stuff that I've written randomly.


- contemporary road-tripping (pov character is about 17) -

I think I'm going to pass out.
His foot goes back, but then he howls something incomprehensible, clutching at his shin. Zap is scowling up at him, positioning herself between the boys and me.
"Stop it." Her voice is clear and not even quavering.
Better than I could do.
He stares, his eyes wide and disbelieving. "What?"
"Stop hurting my brother." Zap crosses her arms over her chest, head tipped far up to look at him. "Or else."
If not for the pain pounding through my temples, I might laugh. A five year old girl, facing down a teen boy.
And winning.
He backs off a pace, his gaze flicking to me for a moment before waving a hand impatiently at his friends. "Come on," he snarls. "I'm sick of this."
Zap stick out her tongue in his direction. "And don't come back!"
I can't do anything but stare as she turns to me. She smiles nervously, curling a finger in her hair. "Are you okay?" This time her voice wobbles a little bit.
She's still my little girl.
I push myself onto my elbow and hug her quickly. "I'll be all right."
A real smile comes this time and I smile back. Reaching out, she brushes a finger against my cheekbone, elicting a wince. "You need fixing."
I nod slightly. "We'll go back to the hotel and see if we can get an ice pack."
She takes my hand, trying to help me to my feet. It makes it harder actually, but I let her try anyway. The throbbing in my head dizzies me, but her hand clasped in mine is like an anchor.
"Come on." She tugs me lightly. "We need to fix you now."

- fantasy + seers and magic powers - 

The long grass swayed above his head, deceitfully peaceful in the contrast to his throbbing heart.

He gulped in shaking breaths, trying not to let any audible gasps pass through his lips.

But he knew that the dog could follow his scent. It didn't really matter how loud he was if he couldn't keep running.

Shoving up from his hands and knees, he started running again, stumbling on twigs and roots that seemed like branches and trees to him. His hair kept flopping into his eyes, but he didn't have time to push it back.

The ground vibrated slightly and fear swept up behind him, engulfing him in the form of a low, canine growl.

He could never run fast enough.

- more fantasy + dragons this time -

I flop back onto the grass, staring up a the sky. "Ugh."
The dragon puffs a curl of smoke over above me and I roll over onto my elbow.
"Really?" I jump to my feet and kick a tuft of grass. " 'How do I save the princess?' 'Go ask the dragon of course.' " I mimic the warlock's voice and tone perfectly, bending and yanking out a piece of grass from a bunch and proceeding to rip it into small shreds.
"And not even the smallest question of whether I actually can talk to dragons." I throw the grass viciously, but the dragon puffs again and it all flies right back into my face.
I splutter and collapse onto the ground again, groaning. "I don't care if you're nine-hundred-and-whatever-ridiculous-number years old. You're absolutely no use to me because I can't understand dragon's tongue."


- beauty and the beast retelling (and yes the main character is invisible) -

He shivers, wrapping his arms over himself. "Wish there was a moon." His breath puffed white in the air.
"But nights without the moon are better."
"How so?"
I gaze up at my home in the sky. "Because then you can see the stars."
Shivers trill my spine and for a moment I feel light, tiny galaxies sparkling in my transparent fingertips.
"Huh." My Prince hunches his shoulders to his ears. "Talking to myself again." He shakes his head, turning back to the door.
Everything is cold again.
I can hear the stars sighing.


I also have a fairly new superhero character and a steampunk aviator who has a tragic backstory that makes me feel like the most evil person ever. (And also a short story but more about that in another post. *nods*)

But I'm still getting places with my editing, and I'm hoping to have it finished and ready for my alpha readers in a day or two. (*screams again*) And then I'm going to take my own advice and take a nice break from writing until Camp NaNo smashes into me before I'm expecting it and I promptly drown after crash-landing in the ocean because I failed at winging it.


Are you hyped for July Camp already??
(I would be, but I'm stubbornly ignoring the fact that it's ALREADY INSANELY CLOSE)
(also - post upcoming about available spaces in my camp nano cabinnnn *flails excitedly* so watch out for that so you don't miss it)
What do you do to deal with plot bunnies?

(and shhh no one point out that this post was basically useless and was me just whipping something up randomly because I wanted to post something today. >.<)