First Impressions: "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

So I am officially crazy for starting this giant book. On top of its lenght I am also reading it in english, which - if you don't know - is not my primary language. But I'm doing it anyway. There are certain books that I want to read in the language they were intended for, and "A Song of Ice and Fire" is one of those series. 

I am currently about 100 pages into the book, (I'm about to read form Tyrion's POV for the 2nd time) and I am loving it! 

I have to say that the prologue was really confusing, but beside that I have been able to follow along quiet well. I love how many POVs were are introduced to, my favorite characters so far is Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Eddard Stark and Dany (her name is weird, so just go with it). 

Jon - I love him because he is different. He is not like his over siblings. He is a bastard. And I felt sorry for him within the first chapter from his POV. How he got drunk and almost cried at the dinner... oh! The feels!! And then what Tyrion sad to him! I was actually this close to crying when Catelyn said "It should have been you".... OH more feels!! I can't wait to see where his road takes him... he is after all going to the wall.

Tyrion - do I have to explain? He is a dwarf, who is probably the funniest person in the freaking book. And again, what he said to Jon... oh the feels! He is so smart and I love that! 

Eddard - I just find his storyline really interesting. And he is a great character. Shouldn't have to say much more.

Dany - See this one I am confused about... I did not like her first chapter, but her second I really enjoyed... however I tend to forget that she is only 13 years old... I guess she did have to grow up pretty early...

The characters are really what drives me in the book, as well as the setting. I love how it's about sword fighting and not magic! I've gotten kinda tired of mages... (says the aspiring author who is currently outlining a story with magic as a central plot device...)

so yeah... awesome setting + awesome characters = I will read it. 

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

First impressions: "Daugther of Smoke and Bone" by Laini Taylor

This is going to be a short one for a change. But I need to talk about this book to someone, because I am addicted.

First impressions

I had heard a lot of good things about this book from a number of people, but I never really looked into it or anything. Seeing the cover I thought it was some sort of romance story and a masquerade. I was so wrong. But anyway! I was pretty annoyed one day and decided to buy something for myself. So I went to my local bookstore and there I saw it; Daugther of Smoke and Bone. Hardcover. For only 9,5 $. Little to say, I had to buy it.

I started reading it immidiatly and right from the first page I was sold.  The characters are funny and the plot is unlike anything I have ever read before. It's been a while since I've wanted to be a character from a book, but I can say without doubt; I want to be Karou. She is beautiful, funny, and has a freakin family of chimaeras! Oh and Akiva! I am falling for that angel! He sounds so perfect... I just... I can't even! 

Something that I don't have a problem with, but I can't not notice is the amount of passive voice used. It might be because I am reading the danish translation, and maybe it is different in the original one, but I have started to count the amount of times the word "was" is being used.

As I said, I don't have a problem with it. The book is amazing. And I am actually off to reading it right after writing this! Unfortunately I will have to wait quiet a while for the danish release of the sequel. One may argue that I could just read it in english, but I like to finish a series in the language I started it in, so I'll have to wait... #sadface.

Anywho. That's my first impressions. I will probably do a review of the book this coming Wednesday, because I can't keep myself away from it. And I want to share my final opinion on it once I finish it.

Just a little update on my writing; I am about 2/5 through my chapter revisions! Hopefully I will be done by the end of December... hopefully.

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

My writing process...

Everyone have their own way of structure. This is mine.

Pre-writing phase

In this step what I do is gather information. If my story is going to be somewhat realistic (like the one I am currently editing) I need to get my facts down. You can't have a nurse do surgery. Some people may not know the difference between a nurse and a surgeon, but the ones who does will get annoyed and will probably put the book down. In my current novel I had a lot of astronomy themed research to do. It was very important for me to get it just right, and I actually spend an entire summer doing this.

I guess outlining would also go under this step, since you aren't writing the actual story yet. So I do that. I make a very brief description of the world and characters, and then I do my chapter-by-chapter outline. What I do is I write everything that is going to happen within the given scenes in a chapter.

First drafting phase

This is where I write the actual novel. For NaNoWriMo this year it took me 20 days to finish this step, but last year it took me 44 days. I am not sure how I feel about the first drafting phase yet. I love to write and get the story down, but then again it feels so much better to have written than to write. Doing this phase I tend to follow my outline pretty strict. However, things do change. In my current novel I intended to kill off a pair of brothers, but when writing that part I decided to have one of them live. Because of this I had to change my entire outline so it would fit with this new stream of events. 

Revising phase

When the first draft is done and you've put down the lovely words "the end" it is time to revise, revise, revise! What I like to do is first make a one-sentence summary of every scene within a chapter so I can get a better understanding of what my book is about. After this I print out my chapters and go through them with a yellow marker. I mark every sentence or paragraph that needs to be changed and write the changes down on a notepad. I cross out everything that needs to be taken out of the book, which sometimes is a lot. 

Second drafting phase

Now I am still currently at the revising phase with my current novel, but this is how I plan on structuring the rest of my editing.

In the second draft I will start on a blank page and write the story from beginning to end while implying the changes I made in the revising phase.  Having already written the story and all the changes this step should not take more than half a month. Hopefully. 

Beta-reading phase

Once my second draft is done I should be comfortable enough with my book to give it to a beta-reader. So far all I have is my writing teacher and my best friend, but I will probably ask others. I plan to ask them to write down the emotional impact the book had on them; where they were bored, happy, sad, confused, etc. Things that I can take into account when doing my third (and hopefully) final draft.

Third drafting phase

Same process as the second drafting phase, however, this time I imply the feedback I got from my beta-readers, assuming the feedback was valid and usuable. If they said something like "You should have" I won't listen. This is not their book and therefore I will only listen to feedback build on the emotions felt throughout the reading of my book. In this phase I also make sure to correct all grammatical errors that may have sneaked into my book so it is ready to be sent off to a publisher.

Publication phase

Now this one is not guarenteed, but I this phase also includes the "sending the manuscript off into the sunset- phase". While I am waiting for a response from the publisher, I will start something new. That way if I get a rejection letter I will have something new to send in. At some point they will get so annoyed with me that they'll have to publish me. Simple as that.

If you write, do you have a specific process? Or do you just write for fun and see where it goes?

In any case:

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.