Hurray!

Chapter 3 is complete! That brings my word count up to 25090 words and 98 pages! I'm so excited as to how it's coming along! I saw the Sorcerer's Apprentice yesterday and it was really good inspiration - so good that I agreed to see it with some friends today so I might be able to get more insight on the movie. I am just...so incredibly happy as to how everything is getting pieced together. With only seven chapters remaining, life is good.

Until next time,

Ashley the Impressed

Yesterday...

was one of the most amazing days ever. :) Complete inspiration for two of the remaining chapters of my book. I'm really happy right now. :)

I'll write more later, I promise.

Until next time,

Ashley the Spectacularly Happy

What a Day...

So I nearly died four times yesterday, all within the space of two hours, while trying to take my dad his ID's that he left at home. Way ridiculous and completely terrifying. I won't go into details but it scared me to...well, death...no pun intended. Yeah...but I got a new plot idea from it for another book, but not for the series I'm currently writing. This one will probably just be a stand-alone book. And that was my day yesterday. Basically, I was so messed up from all the near-accidents that I checked out for the rest of the day. To say the least, I was hardly "there" all day. And I'm behind on my word count again because of that because I couldn't concentrate for more than a few seconds. Good times. :/

Until next time,

Ashley the Exhausted

Only Eight More Chapters Left!

I just finished another chapter today! It's so surreal to think that this is going to get done by the end of August - I feel like I'm on top of the world as I go through these chapters. :) My word count is a little lower than I thought it would be but I can live with that because that's what rewriting and editing is all about. Adding what's necessary and taking out what's not. And when I'm not writing or having a social life now, I keep going through my favorite books and analyzing them. You know, I could actually get used to this kind of lifestyle. I really really could.

On a quick side note, I managed to take the only slot available for private instruction for the violin today - it was crazy awesome because the spot was previously taken and I managed to snag it before anyone else. So exciting! Now my parents can get off my back about taking music classes and it relieved a LOT of stress in my life because now all I need to do is get my books and pay for tuition and I'm all set. Then I can spend the rest of August happily writing the last eight chapters and not worry about school. :) And on another side note, my mom got me another SUPER rare card from the comicon convention in San Diego - a Draco Malfoy autograph card and there's currently only one on ebay and it's $300 - mine came in a package with an exclusive costume card set and a prop card from one of the Harry Potter card sets, plus the binders, mug, bag and magnets. :D All for a grand total (shipping included) $96. :D I freaked out when my mom told me I was getting the Draco card - like near heart attack moment for me because I told her I really really wanted the card. Like badly. Anyways...that was my nerd display for you.

Oh boy it's late...and I really need to get some sleep...got to get up early in the morning to water my neighbor's yard and write another chapter in between moving the sprinklers. Yay. Haha

Until next time,

Ashley the Amazed

Yay!

Just finished the pivotal chapter of my book, the one that really sets things in motion and I'm completely psyched. Eleven pages of pretty good material and some funny dialogue (if I don't say so myself) that I spent from 8:30 this morning until noon writing and (kind of) editing. To fill my word quota for the day, I just need to get a thousand more words (I've been playing catch-up for the last couple of days because I was busy) and then I'm golden. My friend just randomly picked chapter thirteen to write so I'm going to get on that. That would probably only need to be about 1000-2000 words anyway so it's perfect. :D Life is good.

Until next time,

Ashley the Excited

Pool Parties and Other Fun Stuff

So I went to a pool party with my friends and was, yet again, inspired by things that went on there. I may even rewrite a key scene to incorporate them. Way cool. :) It keeps hitting me that I am really doing this - really, actually, honest-to-goodness writing a book. And it's well on its way to being complete. I am beyond excited. Like, you have absolutely no idea. It's so amazing, like I'm really accomplishing something and it's going to be fantastic (with work) and it's going to be published (in time - hopefully). I was also flipping through some of my favorite books, re-reading my favorite scenes and figuring out why they struck a chord with me so I can get a feel for how to write my book. And I still get the chills every time I finish a chapter, even just a passage or two. It really is gratifying, knowing I am going to finish my goal. :)

Until next time,

Ashley the Amazed

Yeah, It's Late...

I just finished today's quota for my word count. I am so far totaling at 18,659/70,000 words. I wasn't intending on having an epilogue but I felt like it fit, giving more suspense for the next book to come. I'm getting more excited as each day goes by and I get closer to my goal. :) And like my good friend, Will, said, after this I get to work on something even more fun - rewrites. Yay. But those are going to wait until winter break. When I have the time to just sit and re-read my manuscript and mark what I want to change. Especially on the car trip to Florida - we're going to Disney World and Harry Potter land for Christmas! So that's what I get to work on in between car rides and meeting characters. :D

Until next time,

Ashley the Exhausted

Oh the Things I Find

So, I found a bread knife in the sink today while I was washing dishes. Except, I found it, blade sticking straight up as I reached down to grab something and found it with my wrist. Can you say hello band aid? Actually it was pretty bad so I had to get a few of them. Just imagine the look on my dad's face when he saw it and the hilariously awkward conversation that ensued. It makes it slightly difficult to type because it's pressing against my laptop and it's not exactly the most comfortable feeling in the world, but I'll survive. No pain no gain, right? :D Well, aside from that and getting a super rare (as in less than a hundred made) autograph of Barty Crouch Jr. from the fourth Harry Potter movie (exclusive San Diego Comicon Convention card), my day was pretty average. Got my quota done for writing like I previously said and yeah. But it was a good day - good for keeping my morale up. :)

Until next time,

Ashley the Accident Prone

What a Day of Accomplishment

I wrote the last chapter of my book today and it was completely different from what I thought it would be but I love it. I'm really excited to finish this because I seriously like the direction it's taking. I had to fix another chapter in order to keep everything in sequence and avoid plot holes but it's all good because I like it better the way it is now than before. It turns out that I'm actually going to make this a longer series, which is exciting because I don't think one book and a prequel will be enough to do the story justice. :)

I Hate Ruts

I am in a rut again. I realized it when I sat down today to write and couldn't focus on anything, which generally happens when I get writer's block. I kept losing my train of thought and nothing came out. Nothing. And I kept getting that feeling that what I'm doing is stupid and that I'm wasting my time. I know I need to get out of it and just push on through because August isn't getting any further away. So...with that said, Im just going to get some sleep and try again tomorrow. I will keep updating and hopefully this won't last as long as some other times - I once couldn't write for almost three months. It was horrible.

Good night and good luck,

Ashley

Another Realization

So, I've come to realize I can't write when my room or where ever I am is messy - it really messes up my thinking because I'm distracted by all the clutter. So, I'm going to make a sacrifice of my 1800 words for the day and clean my room up. It won't be perfect because I'm pressed for time, but it will be good enough for me to get back to work and write more than a couple words every ten minutes. :)

I've also realized that if I spent as much time writing as I do on facebook, I could probably be more efficient, so I'm going to limit my time on facebook to ten minutes a day. Sorry to those I would normally chat with but I really need to get this done. Then I'll respond to all your messages. I love you guys for putting up with my anti-social behavior!

Until next time,

Ashley

I Really Need to Find Some Woods

So, I've made it common knowledge that I live in Texas (aka the desert) and I've found it difficult to write certain scenes in my book because they take place in the woods, but it's supposed to be a really magical type of forest. No matter how hard I've tried, I just can't get a solid description down because even though I see it in my mind, I don't quite know how to express it to others. If I could see them in person, then yes, the task would be more feasible. One of my many weaknesses as a writer - I have to see things in order to get it right. So...I went on deviantart today and looked up a bunch of pictures of forests and woods and found over 100 that I really liked, so maybe this will help me get past this stumbling block in the road to success. Or at least finishing on time. It was pretty funny seeing how many people commented on my profile (I made a new account so my friends wouldn't think I was crazy...well, crazier) saying "Welcome to deviantart!" I didn't have the heart to tell them that I've been using the site for over two years. :) So, I guess I will go back to writing, seeing as I have a deadline to meet and a long night ahead of me.

Until next time,
Ashley

Inspiration at the Oddest Times and Something About the Story Itself

The book is fiction - fantasy fiction to be exact. Well, in the sense that there's magic. What it doesn't have are vampires (I have standards), zombies, unicorns, dragons and other mythical creatures. I say vampires because they are currently the most overused characters in teen fiction (yes, I'm writing a young adult novel) and it's getting really old and annoying. Mainly because of a certain story that starts with a "T" and ends with an "wilight." But that's neither here nor there.

My friend, Jonathan, who actually appears in my book as the character "Joe Shepard," asked me while I was at a broomball tournament for young single adults in my church, how the book was coming and I realized that my friend, Matt (Steven Carter in the book), is a seriously evil guy. It took me by surprise but also gave me something more in depth about him. Cool cool. Who knew that running on ice in sneakers, chasing a rubber ball with "brooms" could bring inspiration. That brings me to the other thing I wanted to talk about.

I've found that carrying a pen and paper with me wherever I go is quite beneficial, in that you never really know when something will hit you. In my case today, it was four hockey sticks and the wall during the game today and then inspiration came while I was nursing my bruised hand. But in all seriousness, you never really know when an idea may come to you and you want to be prepared if and when it does. Take JK Rowling for example. She was stuck on a train ride when Harry Potter suddenly appeared in her head and she didn't have anything to write with. No bueno. I've lost crucial ideas because I wasn't prepared and it's nerve-wracking, wondering if that would be the idea that brought you a best-selling novel. So I make it a habit to have a composition book or a "creativity log" that I bought for a few dollars - it has parts for quotes, sketches and ideas so when inspiration hits, I'm completely prepared for whatever it may be.

So all I have to say really is to be prepared. There may be more to come in terms of my book - I have to write more first.

Until then,

Ashley

Getting Started

So I wrote a 65,000 word novel for Nanowrimo last year (I was barely able to turn everything in on time due to internet issues) and since December, I have been feverishly rewriting it, changing the plot and all the scenes I'd previously written so that it would flow better. I even set a goal to finish the book by the end of the summer so that I could have time before Nanowrimo to edit and polish it so I can find myself an agent. Unfortunately though, I keep getting bogged down, feeling as though it's not worth it and that my story is lame and I should just quit and start one of my other four pending story ideas. I then came up with the idea that if other people know what I'm doing and they expect to hear progress, it will keep me motivated enough to finish the manuscript and get it sent in for publishing. Yes, I know there's only a month and a half until school starts. Yes, I know it's practically impossible to finish since I have half the book left to write. Yes, I really am crazy for doing this, but I feel that if I can accomplish this, not only would I get the opportunity to become a published author, but I may be able to build a promising career out of it. So, this is what I need to do.

49,000 words by August 23rd

1325 words per day

Call me crazy, but there is a chance I can actually do this.

Until next time,

Ashley