<–The State of the Writer: 10/15/16 The State of the Writer: 10/29/16–>
A weekly post updated every Saturday discussing my current writing projects and where I stand with them. This will include any and all work(s) in progress (WIP) be they creative writing, essays/analyses, or reviews of any type.
Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction (FFVII) Novel
Current Word Count: 279,446
Prior Word Count: 280,583
Word Difference: -1137
Status: Editing
Progress: 1st Edit of Chapter 6
The picture is yet another option considered for the chapter cover. I liked the house in the background, but (and this sounds so petty), it isn’t on the side I envision it to be in the story. The scene they’re in where it’s visible from the beach, the estate is more directly behind them not that far off to the right.
Chapter 6 is quite challenging to edit. It’s about as long as Chapter 3 at 25 pages (the third chapter has 26) and may actually have more or equal due to the additions. Regardless, it’s extremely heavy and verbose, and I’m trying to whittle down the latter as I’ve noticed some repeats. I don’t want to use the same phrase or word order too often as that will make a dull read, though repetition of safety’s assurance is an important aspect of trauma recovery.
I thought I would’ve discussed the chapter title in my opening post about it, but looking back it appears I haven’t. Heaven’s Gate is the name of the house/estate. It can be taken in two ways and indeed is viewed different by Aeris and Sephiroth. In being “Heaven’s Gate,” it could be considered the gateway to heaven/paradise, but there’s also the implication that it’s not quite heaven, but rather the farthest he as a fallen angel can go. Aeris; however, sees it as paradise itself as opposed to Sephiroth who views it as an edge he can never breach.
I’m on page 88 of 95 so I’m hoping to finish the first edit early next week and the second edit by early November. If fortune favors I’ll only need to do two…though that hasn’t been the trend especially for these longer sections.
Quote: “General’s estate sounds presumptuous,” he muttered and summer opened to his endless light. “And it’s not just mine anymore. It’s yours, too, my Aeris.” He squeezed her so gently, and the maid shook a quick tear from her eye. “Your ‘palace,’ as you would say, is called *Heaven’s Gate.”* He sighed in his turn for her look told him all. “Not a name I chose. It came with the house, a long time ago, when I first arrived…”
Project: Story
Title: The Threads of Sorrow
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Retold Fairy Tale
Type: Original Short Story
Prior Word Count: 6787
Current Word Count: 6787
Word Difference: 0
Status: Critiques reviewed
Progress: On hold
I’m officially waiting until I finish editing the first six chapters of The Broken Rose before I work on this again. I need to do the second edit based on received critiques then get myself prepared to submit. This will be the last week I include it on this status post unless I do something with it between now and then.
Project: Essay
Title: Half a Tragedy Is Worse Than Whole
Subject: FFVII Comparative and Meta
Status: On hold
Progress: Outline Completed
The same goes for this. It’s really hard for me to concentrate on more than one project at a time no matter how much I beat myself up. I’m also not just working on one project as you’ll see below. Either way, I’ll reevaluate when I’m going to work on this once the first six chapters of TBR are posted.
Project: Review
Title: Final Fantasy Friday: Final Fantasy IV Review
Subject: Review and analysis of Final Fantasy IV
Status: In progress
Progress: Introduction drafted
I started prepping and writing the beginning review of this last night. I finished up the introduction, but stopped before the Gameplay section. All of my game reviews are broken into four parts: Gameplay, Story, Music, and Rating. I wish I could show you the extensive notes I have for the story. That’s going to be the most involved part.
I’m planning on working on this this evening and at least drafting the Gameplay part. If I feel up to it, I’ll work on Story. I’d like to say I’ll have this finished by next Friday so I can have a double Final Fantasy Friday post, but I don’t like to promise things I can’t deliver.
Project: Editing
Title: The Editing of Northern Lights – Chapter 8 and an Ocean Full of Sads
Subject: Meta-analysis
Status: Copied and pasted three weeks ago
Progress: Additional analysis, formatting and proofreading needed
It’s been a while since I’ve posted an Editing of Northern Lights because I’ve been struggling to find the best day to work on it. I was putting it on Thursdays, but that hasn’t been working out since that’s one of my editing days. I’ve been trying to do it on Saturdays, but I have so much catching up to do on that day, it’s been nigh on impossible.
The things is I have all of the notes for Northern Lights written. Most of them are drafted on Google Blogger, because at the time of their creation I was posted the story on that site. Due to lack of interest (and one nasty response) I decided to discontinue posting the story there, concentrating instead on this site, Fanfiction.net, AO3, tumblr, and Deviant Art where there was an overwhelming amount of support. But since I’d already drafted the Editing Blog posts (as I called it at the time) there, I figured I might as well house them on the site for safe keeping. When I go to post the next, I go to Google Blogger, copy and paste it here, and then have to go through to fix formatting discrepancies, add in additional material, and proofread. That second one can be the most time consuming, and (of course) I have a ton of additional notes of things I want to discuss. Since I’ve been caught up in my current project, it’s been hard to do much of anything with this, but I definitely still want to, so this is probably going to be another I’ll try to work on once the first six chapters are posted.
Ugh, I seriously feel like that’s my life. I’m constantly and consistently waiting for when the next project is done so I can concentrate on the next. I wish I were better at multitasking and/or I wish I just had more time. Well better to work on my projects than complain I think, which is what I’m going to do right now.
What are you currently working on? Is it a creative writing project, essay, review, or something else? Have you just started something new or are you wrapping up a long term project?
<–The State of the Writer: 10/15/16 The State of the Writer: 10/29/16–>
The Shameful Narcissist Speaks 
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There’s nothing petty about wanting an image just right! You hear about a lot of directors looking for somewhere to shoot an outdoor scene but “The trees are too far apart”. There’s a lot to be said for having things the way you envision them.
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It’s true and those directors who take their time and make sure things look how they want almost always get the best shots. I really wish I had the means to craft these pictures myself, but the internet is generally not stingy in what it provides!
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There’s always something! All else failing, tour the world with a camera and photograph everything!
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This “Heaven’s Gate” concept sounds intriguing. I can’t wait to read it in the context of the story. So many beautiful beach scenes… I really need a vacation.
You seem a bit overwhelmed by your writing goals, but I really respect your time management skills! My chaotic mind can’t stick to a schedule and nothing I plan to do ever happens, lol The finite perception of time waits for no one, so enjoy focusing on what’s most important to you, and the rest will fall in place.
Some arrogant Google Blogger troll said something nasty about Northern Lights!? That’s inexcusable! *channels her inner Lightning* Even with a rising ocean of supportive comments behind you, just one ugly response can drain away every drop self confidence. People really need to think about how wounding their words can be. Though I suppose these types of people care little about anything else besides bolstering their own fragile egos at the expense of others. Oh thanks for reminding me I need to finish reading the rest of your posted editing notes.
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I just tell myself time doesn’t exist and then I get caught up in an existential loop. The other day I was watching Futurama and they were talking about the “exact center of the universe,” and I thought, “Where is the center of eternity?” *shakes head*
I’ll tell you a secret: I keep using the beach scenes as pictures because I can’t find any other ones, and I’m committed to using a picture for each State of the Writer update. I’m also terrible at keeping track of what pictures I’ve already used. My memory is terrible so I’ll often have to go back through each post to make sure I’m not repeating.
It was so weird. I’d stopped posting the story there after Chapter 8 actually, and suddenly months later I get this notification. She complained about the white writing on a black background. Then..why did you read all the way to Chapter 8? I forget what she said about the story, but…at the time I was super petty and found her on Farcebook. I didn’t say anything to her, I just wanted to see who this person up. Afterwards I realized my Google was set to post publicly, so I changed it to only my inner circles.
People really aren’t careful with their words and writers tend to be a fragile bunch not always, but I’ve noticed it’s pretty common. It takes a lot to put yourself out there creatively. While I’m all for critiques there are ways to do so without coming off like a total ass.
I really wish I could commit to a day on the Editing Posts *grumble* I pushed it to today since I was up until 3 last night working on things and my brain was like “No way.” I want to work on the FFIV review though so it’s probably getting shuffled to the back burner again.
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Let’s see, the center of eternity…. *head starts hurting but suddenly gets into writer mode for some reason*
I can never see enough magnificent beach scenes so it’s a good thing! 🙂
Ugh, she sounds as bad as those trolls who spew hate on YouTube videos. Why the hell did you watch it if you didn’t like the subject? My experiences with random internet people have always been positive, thankfully. I haven’t been attacked by any trolls yet, but I know they are lurking out there.
As you’ve no doubt read me saying many times, the reason I’m scared to share the novel thing I’m working on is because of those fears of failure, and harsh criticism. I’ve been telling myself that the story will always be very special to me since it came from my soul. It’s not the worse thing in the world if it turns out to be horrible in the eyes of others. I’m chugging along on that thing by the way! I’m cruising through Chapter 13. I’ve got 2-3 more planned, and then it’s done! I’m so excited I might actually get to tick off “Write a novel” from my bucket list. “Edit my first novel” is another massive objective to tackle after that.
Sometimes I have to shut off my brain and just let my heart make the decision on what I should do, lol I can’t wait to read the review and the editing notes, so I’m happy to see whatever you choose to do first.
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It’s funny because I don’t even remember what she said, but trolls are just trolls to do it. They purposely watch something they disagree with so that they can spew their vitriol, and nothing is immune. I’ve seen classical music videos have down votes. Um what are you doing? The only think I could imagine down voting would be something that was spreading a hurtful message or bashing certain groups, but I don’t seek those out.
Stories are seriously like your brain children. You created them and you want to protect them from the harsh world because someone harming them is harming you. You’re close to the end! That’s always exciting though my stories usually suffer from what I call ending fatigue lol. It’s like how the LOTR movies had like five endings. I honestly feel that editing is…easier? Mm not really the right word. It’s challenging in a different way, but having the story out is so satisfying, because you can ALWAYS edit. It’s not that desperation to say what you need to say because you’ve said it.
It’s the review that’s taking precedence! I have the editing notes written, and I want to get the IV review out so I can start playing V. I’ve never played any of it so I’m excited to do something new!
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I guess I’ll never understand why some people gain sick happiness from making others feel bad 😦
That’s a great point! I never saw my story as my brain child, but it makes sense. Once the story is out of my head, I think you’re right and editing it will be more relaxing. In the meantime, must… keep… writing…
I always enjoy that fresh game feeling. It is always exciting to start a new journey. I’m looking forward to your review!
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I’m hoping I can crack it open this weekend so I can report on it on Tuesday’s post! I won’t have time tonight since I need to continue working on FFIV’s review after I catch up on my comments 🙂
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A creative project: My husband bought me an acoustic guitar yesterday. I tried to learn guitar once upon a time but didn’t have the attention span as I was a teenager and just wanted to be able to play cool stuff NOW. Music is my husband’s passion so he’s going to start teaching me all over again. I hope that I stick with it this time and don’t disappoint him lol. (Although, if I do quit, it just means he has his own acoustic now ^_~ )
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My friend gave me her guitar when she moved to Texas, because she was driving and it literally wouldn’t fit in her car. It’s still sitting in my closet hehe. I can play the piano and I did violin for a few years in elementary school. Guitar playing always looked cool. I imagine myself attempting to learn from the internet/YouTube videos, but hell I don’t even have time to practice my keyboard now. I hope you have better luck this time around! What does your husband play?
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He plays guitar, bass, drums and a little piano. Squeezing in the time to do it will definitely be a large factor.
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Ugh right? I wish I could say I was going to devote an hour a day to practice, but we both know that’s not going to happen. Good luck with finding your time to do so! Even if you can’t do it super regularly, I think you’ll still enjoy what practice time you have.
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