<–The State of the Writer: 3/5/17          The State of the Writer: 3/19/17–>

A weekly post updated every Sunday 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.

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Project: Story
Title: The Broken Rose
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Fanfiction (FFVII) Novel
Current Word Count: 270, 123
Prior Word Count: 270,271
Word Difference: -148
Status: Editing
Progress: 3rd edit of Chapter 8

The picture doesn’t really have anything to do with the chapter (besides being Sephiroth), I just absolutely adore it.  I found it last week on DeviantArt, and it was a fantastic RP prompt for my Sephiroth and Aeris fanpage (yes, I’m that big of a dork).  The artist rendered his half/crooked smile/smirk perfectly, and it’s exactly what I picture when I write lines like:

“Long lashes fluttered above a crooked smile that nonetheless held all his joy.”

Also, little known fact, the Shameful Narcissist has a similar smirk.  I can smile fully with both edges of my lips turning up, but in general, only the left side tends to do so.  It’s weird, too, because I’ve tried to emulate the expression on my right side, and it just does not happen. 

Seph pretty much proves that you can have a “crooked” smile and still be the paragon of beauty.  I mean I always knew this because obviously I smile like that, too (narcissism alert), but having someone like the Great General do so, too, utterly seals the beauty deal.

Speaking of which, if you look closely, you’ll see BethanyAnnie (whose other work you should definitely check out) also gave him long eyelashes (and slit pupils), which I consider integral to any Sephiroth rendering, because they’re ridiculously luxurious, dammit!  This is a mini-rant, but it kind of grinds my gears when people don’t include or at least give an inkling to his long eyelashes, and while I’m not irked that none of the cosplayers I’ve seen have taken that into account, it’s definitely something I’ve noticed and intend to remedy in when I finally put everything for that together.  It’s the main reason I bought the Sephiroth bag I found while scrolling on tumblr one day.  I swear to god, there’s just no place to hide from anything, if you’re trying not spend money.

I like that he looks a bit mischievous (in BethanyAnnie’s picture), but not malevolent either.  I love this picture so freaking hard ♥♥♥

Anyway…to editing.  I feel like I didn’t accomplish much this week, but I apparently finished the second edit because I’m on the third.  I haven’t had much time to delve into it.  I think I’ve only edited twice this week, but I’m about halfway through the (greatly shortened) chapter and should be finished by the weekend if I can eke out the time.  I think third time is going to be the charm.

Quote: The general gazed down at this innocent rose. *A tiny white flower will be waiting for me within Heaven’s Gate.*  She clutched at his hand and Sephiroth folded both of hers within his one.  *When I return, she’ll run to my arms.*  For moments, he could only stare.  Witnessing the future happen before as if it had already come.  The miracle occurred within Mako eyes where slivers bisected bright emerald.  She could dwell in their centers, but never be cut, and her sigh of joy filled his dark heart.  In swift afterthought, he retrieved a great coat, one that was velvet lined.  Just in case the maid fell asleep and wished to remember his warmth. 

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Project: Story
Working Title: The High Lord
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Type: Original Novel
Status: Planning for NaNoWriMo

Nothing else is happening in terms of physical writing this week.  Encouraged by ignitedmoth’s “Necro Rhino” (her creative name for NaNoWriMo) adventures (I kind of prefer it and hope she’s okay with me using the term!), I’m planning on participating in it again this year, but I’m actually going to try to fulfill the stipulations of the “contest:” writing 50k words of new novel in a month.

Now, I told myself the next thing I wrote, I’d go back to hand writing it first, because though I had very enriching experiences writing Northern Lights and The Broken Rose, I did them both entirely in Word, and I really missed the hand written experience.  I feel like I would’ve been far less neurotic and paranoid if I’d had a physical copy of both, so I’m going to return to that method going forward.  I do appreciate the experience that writing these fanfiction novels in such a way taught me, and I still consider Northern Lights my best piece of writing to date, but I’m much more comfortable in front of a blank notebook than I am in front of a blank document.  I’ll just count the words per page lol.  1667 a day will be my goal, so I’m thankful I have seven months to prepare.

I need to do a lot of research and organize my notes.  I’ll probably save the latter for October, so that the details of the story are fresh in my mind.  Alas, I won’t be able to talk too much about it since this is something I want to submit for traditional publication, but I’ll at least reveal more details about the work as it gets closer to go time.  It’s another “inspired by FFVII/Aeriseph” story (shock) and uses the same characters from my first original novel, The Serpent’s Tale.  I’m excited to work on it later this year and have already decided I’ll put the editing of TBR on hiatus (if I’m still doing it) if such needs to be.  Until then, I’ll continue editing as much as I can, especially considering The Broken Rose is the “test story” for The High Lord.

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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: 3/5/17          The State of the Writer: 3/19/17–>

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