Apologies and an Update...

I am a terrible blogger. I have found this out through hard work and looking at the amount of days piling up between my last post and now. I AM SO SORRY TO THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN WAITING (if any of you are out there in the world!) AND I PROMISE I WON'T DO IT AGAIN. Or, at least, not for nearly two months...

Alright, so let's dive in to what I'm updating you on today.

Since December 1, 2014 (BTW: Happy New Year everybody! And Happy Holidays! I know it's very belated, but who cares...) I have found that my "Guide to Editing a Book" is horribly wrong, and that needs to be rectified. The bones are correct, yes, but I had no idea what I was talking about then, and probably not even now. If you'll remember from my first post, I am a freshman in high school. Do the math...

Anyways, the guide to editing a book does not exist, only interpretations exist. And for me, my interpretation comes from a lovely author named...Susan Dennard. If you go to her website, and go under her "For Writers" section, you'll find she has nearly everything you can imagine on how to plan for a book, write a book, revise a book, etc. And I am going to be using her guide to revising books, because I cannot find one of my own. I won't put it out on here (firstly because I don't want to get in trouble with anyone) but here's the link to her website: http://susandennard.com 

Do with it what you will.

My basic plan of action for revising my book, is I am going to follow the detailed steps Susan Dennard has supplied on her website, and I am going to get it done...I am going to revise The Last Dragomir. And ever since I finished writing it two (almost three) months ago, I already have things I know I want to fix in it...such as the fact that the climactic scene I did in under an hour on the 27 of November really sucks. And the ending has no foreshadowing towards it and the...well, never mind. Some things I need to leave up to the imagination, so that none of y'all will steal my story! (And I hope none of you will, because that would really suck). 

That's it for tonight. 

See you next time on the Writerly Journey!

My Guide to Editing a Book!

Hello everyone, today's post is going to be about editing, and how I plan on (attempting) to edit The Last Dragomir in the coming months! Also, there will be a little interjection on the fact that: I GOT MY WINNER GOODIES! First, let's do the GOODIES:

For winning NaNoWriMo, I get a 50% of coupon code for Scrivener--which I've been using while drafting TLD. I get two free paperback finished copies of my book through createspace, if I choose to publish through them (of which I have no intention of doing because I want mine traditionally published!). And the last thing that I believe is most relevant (to me and hopefully you guys) is that I got 10 free ebooks with prompts and guides to Indie publishing.

Now onto the tough stuff...

Recently, I was using Siri to look up "how to edit a book" and came up with an awesome website that gives four steps to get from start to final product. I have taken these steps and given them my own spin, but here's the website: http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/how-to-edit-your-book-in-4-steps

Now, here's my adapted guide to editing my book:

1. finish the first draft
2. go through the first draft on the computer and edit in a different color
3. finish the second draft
4. print out draft and got through with a pen and make edits. then put edits into computer
5. finish the third draft
6. print out draft again and read the whole book aloud, marking the places where the wording is awkward or the grammar is off
7. finish the fourth draft
8. QUERY LIKE A MANIAC

While my guide is not that different from the one from my search, I just wanted to alter it and give it more steps for my personal use. And now I've posted it here for the rest of you to look at, if you so wish. Something I've always found with editing, is that while I look at every author's guide to editing, I can never figure out what the F they are trying to tell me to do...so yeah, I hope this helps any of you struggling to edit your book out there!

I will begin editing TLD by the end of next week or so, maybe a bit earlier, or maybe even a bit later! I just want some time to regain some of my brain, and focus on schoolwork!

Do you have any tips for editing a book? Tell me in the comments!

NaNoWriMo Day 27!

IMPENDING NEWS: I HAVE WON NANOWRIMO. I REPEAT: I HAVE WON NANOWRIMO.

Today has been a ridiculously happy day for me, because I won NaNoWriMo and finished The Last Dragomir in its entirety! Here are the stats:

2014-11-01: 4,055

2014-11-02: 6,326

2014-11-03: 9,000

2014-11-04: 10,401

2014-11-05: 11,467

2014-11-06: 11,489

2014-11-07: 11,489

2014-11-08: 13,467

2014-11-09: 13,736

2014-11-10: 15,099

2014-11-11: 19,023

2014-11-12: 19,023

2014-11-13: 19,023

2014-11-14: 22,726

2014-11-15: 22,726

2014-11-16: 22,935

2014-11-17: 27,000

2014-11-18: 27,089

2014-11-19: 27,274

2014-11-20: 28,711

2014-11-21: 29,291

2014-11-22: 29,291

2014-11-23: 32,081

2014-11-24: 38,919

2014-11-25: 43,429
2014-11-26: 46,666

2014-11-27: 50,613

Yep, I wrote nearly 4,000 words today!!!

The Last Dragomir clocked in at 50,613 words, 194 pages, and Twenty-Five chapters full of Magick, Darkness, Dragons, warriors, and evil queens. I never thought it would be possible for me to finish NaNo early, but it happened, and I couldn't be happier!

Yes, I will be editing this, and yes, I will be documenting the process as often as I can, but it will not be like this month: it will probably be, like, once a week from now on, until CAMP NaNoWriMo arrives!! Yeah, I know, I'm digging myself a mass grave to put myself in, but I DON'T CARE....I LOVE IT!

*Sorry for getting that song stuck in your head now!* #sorrynotsorry

But yeah, I'm not going to be posting here for the duration of the month, because I won't have anything to update on. I will be posting on December 1, when I get my WINNER GOODIES, and then I'll be posting from then on as I attempt to go through my book (hopefully in printed format) and edit it. 

Editing has never been my strong suit, and I absolutely hate it, because it is such an arduous process and a complicated one at that. BUT I WILL DO IT THIS TIME! I PROMISE! And I might even begin to write the SECOND DRAFT, or edit All Of My Beautiful Wickedness. One or the other, really.

Goodnight everyone, and for those of us in the US: Happy Thanksgiving! For those in other countries who are (hopefully) reading this blog: Happy Thursday!

Keep writing!

Give me a moment you were ridiculously proud of yourself and tell me in the comments below!

NaNoWriMo Day 26!

Hey all! How is your day going? Good? That's really good. Mine went pretty well as well. Had a half day, went to see THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 with a couple of friends I haven't seen in a while, and wrote a pretty good amount if I do say so myself.

Here are the stats:

2014-11-01: 4,055

2014-11-02: 6,326

2014-11-03: 9,000

2014-11-04: 10,401

2014-11-05: 11,467

2014-11-06: 11,489

2014-11-07: 11,489

2014-11-08: 13,467

2014-11-09: 13,736

2014-11-10: 15,099

2014-11-11: 19,023

2014-11-12: 19,023

2014-11-13: 19,023

2014-11-14: 22,726

2014-11-15: 22,726

2014-11-16: 22,935

2014-11-17: 27,000

2014-11-18: 27,089

2014-11-19: 27,274

2014-11-20: 28,711

2014-11-21: 29,291

2014-11-22: 29,291

2014-11-23: 32,081

2014-11-24: 38,919

2014-11-25: 43,429
2014-11-26: 46,666

Yeah, I kind of wrote, like, 3,237 words today. No biggy or anything, ya know, just a normal day...

EEP!!! I ONLY HAVE 3,334 WORDS LEFT UNTIL I HIT 50,000 WORDS! AND I AM ONLY ABOUT 4 CHAPTERS AWAY FROM THE FINISH LINE IN MY BOOK!

Guys...I think I might finish a book tomorrow, if I'm crazy enough...

We'll just have to see tomorrow then!!! Have a good evening guys!

Tell me a moment you were extremely proud of yourself!

NaNoWriMo Day 25!

This is not a drill people! We are close to the end of NaNoWriMo! I repeat, this is not a drill!

Yes! Today is the 25th day of NaNo, and there are only 5 MORE DAYS LEFT! AHHH!!! Let's look at the stats and see how I've been doing so far in The Last Dragomir:

2014-11-01: 4,055

2014-11-02: 6,326

2014-11-03: 9,000

2014-11-04: 10,401

2014-11-05: 11,467

2014-11-06: 11,489

2014-11-07: 11,489

2014-11-08: 13,467

2014-11-09: 13,736

2014-11-10: 15,099

2014-11-11: 19,023

2014-11-12: 19,023

2014-11-13: 19,023

2014-11-14: 22,726

2014-11-15: 22,726

2014-11-16: 22,935

2014-11-17: 27,000

2014-11-18: 27,089

2014-11-19: 27,274

2014-11-20: 28,711

2014-11-21: 29,291

2014-11-22: 29,291

2014-11-23: 32,081

2014-11-24: 38,919

2014-11-25: 43,429

4,510 words written today! Unfortunately, I had GLEE today, so I could not properly participate in #10kTuesday, but I did do a pretty good #4kTuesday! And I'm thinking of doing something really insane...

I'm thinking of either finishing NaNoWriMo tomorrow or on Thursday, Thanksgiving...

I know! It's crazy how just a week ago I was struggling to try and catch up, and thinking that I probably wasn't going to be able to complete this book...but look at me now! I am writing 4,000+ words a day, and I'm all caught up for the day, and a I reached the word count for tomorrow!

Okay, I'm going off to bed because I am now delirious and I probably sound crazy in this post...yeah, good night and I'll see you tomorrow!!

Do you have any advice for struggling NaNoers?

NaNoWriMo Day 24!

OMG guys...today was such a beautiful day in terms of writing for me! I am so excited to share my stats with you that I'm pretty much skipping over the introduction!

Here are The Last Dragomir's stats:

2014-11-01: 4,055
2014-11-02: 6,326
2014-11-03: 9,000
2014-11-04: 10,401
2014-11-05: 11,467
2014-11-06: 11,489
2014-11-07: 11,489
2014-11-08: 13,467
2014-11-09: 13,736
2014-11-10: 15,099
2014-11-11: 19,023
2014-11-12: 19,023
2014-11-13: 19,023
2014-11-14: 22,726
2014-11-15: 22,726
2014-11-16: 22,935
2014-11-17: 27,000
2014-11-18: 27,089
2014-11-19: 27,274
2014-11-20: 28,711
2014-11-21: 29,291
2014-11-22: 29,291
2014-11-23: 32,081

2014-11-24: 38,919

Yeah, you read those stats correctly! I wrote nearly 7,000 words today! The reason I got this much today is because of WORD SPRINTS. They are literally saving my word count. And while I was kind of shooting for at least, like, an 8k day, I am still extremely proud of what I've written. The story seems to be coming to a close, as it should be, and I am super pumped for the last chapter I have outlined, but I'm not letting myself write it yet since I write chronologically. 

Usually, my outlines are very loose and have some wiggle room, so that, if I need to, I can change a few things around and still come out to the same conclusion. But for this time, I had a really loose outline, that I haven't really been sticking to, now that I think of it. I've just been looking at it to see where I originally wanted to go with the story, and compare it to how I want it to go now.

Alright, guys, that's going to be it from me for tonight! I'll see you tomorrow, and I'll hopefully have at leafs 9k, because tomorrow is....

10k Tuesday!! (Hosted by katytastic, @kat_tastic)

I'm really pumped to do it, so I hope I get a lot of words done tomorrow!

Are you going to participate in katytastic's 10k Tuesday? Tell me in the comments below!

NaNoWriMo Day 21, 22 & 23!

I am a terrible blogger, I know. But at least I'm here today, right? Right now, I am in the middle of writing a pretty cool scene--if I do say so myself--and I just wanted to give an update before the stroke of midnight!

Here are the stats so far for me!

2014-11-01: 4,055
2014-11-02: 6,326
2014-11-03: 9,000
2014-11-04: 10,401
2014-11-05: 11,467
2014-11-06: 11,489
2014-11-07: 11,489
2014-11-08: 13,467
2014-11-09: 13,736
2014-11-10: 15,099
2014-11-11: 19,023
2014-11-12: 19,023
2014-11-13: 19,023
2014-11-14: 22,726
2014-11-15: 22,726
2014-11-16: 22,935
2014-11-17: 27,000
2014-11-18: 27,089
2014-11-19: 27,274
2014-11-20: 28,711
2014-11-21: 29,291
2014-11-22: 29,291
2014-11-23: 32,081

YAY! I wrote 2,790 words for the day! I am still going to continue to write tonight, but I wanted to get this blog post out of the way before I did any such thing. 

As you can see, I wrote very little on the 20-22. Those days I just didn't feel motivated to write my book anymore, and the infamous Doubt was telling me things like this:

"You can't possibly write this book by the 30th of November! It is impossible. You're going to fail miserably and you'll be a failure as an author and as a student trying to prioritize!"

Yeah, my Doubt is real mean...

But anyway, I listened to Doubt those two fateful days (and all those other days that I didn't write, yeah that was Doubt's fault too! [though I guess it's my fault too since I listened to Doubt, but anyway]). 

My piece of advice for today is this: DO NOT LISTEN TO DOUBT! Doubt it a sneaky little bastard and can make you believe things that are totally not true about yourself, and make you want to just be done right then and there. But you have to keep pushing on! I'm going to start taking this advice and write the last 18,000 or so words left of my novel before the end of this month. 

And I'm going to win NaNoWriMo. And I'm going to be proud of myself. And I'm probably going to drink a lot of coffee and get very little sleep (but what's new?)

Good night everybody!

Have you ever listened to Doubt's ministrations? Any advice for pushing that little voice away?