Kill your darlings...

... But what if I don't want to?

So for those not aware, I take writing classes and have been doing so since late August 2013. I have known since the very beginning of the course that I would have to write a short story, which would get published along with everyone else's from the writing classes in a short story collection. Now... This is cool. Infact, I am really excited! By Spring I will be a "published"-ish author. But there is one problem... short stories is not my specialty... 

It's not that I don't like writing them, trust me I do, but whenever I do write one I am really proud of it.

Especially the one I have written for the short story collection. It has a very simple plot, but then again it is very mysterious and I love that. Not a lot happens, and that is okay. Or so I thought. 

Apparently it doesn't quiet fit under the theme that my writing teacher gave my class... She loves my story, but says that not enough happens in it.

So here I sit. I have rewritten it, but I am just not happy with the new result. I think it is stupid, and sounds really unnatural and I have to say... I am a bit disgusted by the language. I can usually write really well, but when I am forced to write a way that will make other people happy that talent falls flat.

My teacher told me to "kill my darlings", but I don't think she understands how hard that is to do in a short story... whenever I write a novel I cut away like a crazy person! In my current novel I think I have cut away maybe... 20k words? SO FAR. And I am actually scared that my 103k first draft will become less than 50k words... so as you can see I can easily kill my darlings. But those are the darlings, that I just used as filling. With this short story I really poured my heart into it and made it as perfect as possible, but because it doesn't fit the theme, I had to change almost everything...

That hurts...

I don't know about you guys, but I will:

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

New Year Resolutions...

It's 2014! Wow! And I who thought 2012 had just started. Crazy how time fly.

So another year has ended, and what a year it was! I look back on it and for the most part all I can do is smile. Now every year has its downers, and I've had a fair share of my own, but that didn't stop me from having an awesome year.

One of my biggest accomplisments in 2013 was probably finishing 1st year of Gymnasium. The first year is always the hardest, and now that is it over I'm having a blast with 2nd year. And as of today I only have 1½ year left before I'm graduating and then going to university! 

Another amazing thing 2013 brought me was NaNoWriMo 2013. I've talked a lot about NaNo here on this blog, but this year was especially good for me. I was able to write 50k words in one week, and even better, I had a 100k novel finished in twenty days. Not only did I finish it, I also began the rough edits. I took out my yellow marker and marked those words up!

But the thing I am most excited about is probably beginning the early work on a fantasy trilogy, which I'll be writing in 2014. I have finished the outline for book 1 and is now working on the outline for book 2. On top of that I also know the plotline of book 3. But I won't be writing it until my current novel is sent off to a publisher.

Which brings me to 2014. What are my plans? 

Well, I have a few New Year Resolutions that I plan on actually achieving this year.

1. Stop the nail biting! It is disgusting and I should not be doing it. So stop it girl.
2. Complete the final draft of current novel and send it off to a publisher.
3. While waiting for the inevitable rejection letter, I will start working on my fantasy trilogy.
4. Whether or not I get a rejection letter or a contract for my book, I will get a novel published in 2014.
5. Say yes to more things.
6. Passing my exams.
7. Win NaNoWriMo 2014.

So these are my goals for the coming year. They seem achievable, right? I think so. I hope so.

Do you have any NYR? If so tell me about them!

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.

When they know what they are talking about...

While I am writing this, thunder can be heard from outside my window. Every now and then the dark sky is lit up by the ligthning that you just know is bound to come. I have never understood why some people find thunder frightening; to me it is the most calming weather. I have always been the most creative after 6pm, but I can write at any time of the day as long as thunder can be heard. I guess it reminds me of the night.

Schedule

After having thought about it for a few days, I have come to a decision regarding the schedule of future blog posts.

I am going to be posting on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Reason being; they are the most convevient for me. So far they have been the days, where I have had the most time on my hands, so I thought it would be a perfect match.

Now, I am going to try to keep this schedule every week, but there might be certain Saturdays where I can't make it. In that case, I will let you know beforehand. 

NaNoWriMo preperation process #1

As I mentioned in the last post, I am currently working on my NaNo-novel outline. For a few days I had been stuck on chapter 5, but yesterday I finally crossed that chapter off the list and began on the 6th. So far I think the 6th chapter is going to one of the most fun to write. Let us just say; a lot happens.

I am still not 100 % positive on how many chapters there are going to be in the book, but I know where it will start and where it will end, and what comes in between. This is my first time doing a complete outline of a book before writing it, and I have to say I am surprised. I thought it would be dull, but it is actually quiet fun, and in the end it is going to save me a lot of problems.

A glimpse of the dream

Something I have yet to have shared is that I am taking creative writing classes.

I have been doing it since August this year, and so far I truly believe it has helped my writing. But up till the Fall break all we had been doing were smaller writing exercises. We had not focused on any larger projects. That was why I was excited to hear, at our last class before the break, that we could send some of our own works to our teacher, and she would look at it doing the break. The same day I hurried home and sent her my NaNo-novel from 2012.

Yesterday was our first class since the break, and our teacher wanted to talk to each of us alone. When it came to me, I was filled with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. She could with a few words crush my dream, and that scared me.

I sat down next to her, and she explained, that she was happily surprised by my writing. She told me how I have the gift of story telling and sense of progression.

Something that got me all red in the head was, when she told me about this other manuscript she had been going through from a 22 year old man. Apparently mine was a master piece compared to his. Yes, I had a very big head in that moment.

But the best part was when she said that, if I continued working on the book, she really thought I could get it published.

Now...why is this so exciting? Why is this different from when everyone else say it? 

Because she knows what she is talking about. She is a published author herself, so she knows what it takes to make it. And having her believe that I got it, has just gotten me more motivated than ever before. 

Keep Calm and Write On.

- Nanna.