RoW80: Round Three Goals

So after 5 days of a family holiday and isolation from the internet I have finally returned home and can, at last, tell you all about my RoW80, Round Three goals. I have started working on all of them already and hopefully I can keep working on them for the next 80 days. I’ve come up with at least 6 and may or may not add a seventh.

First up are the big two:

1) Draw everyday

Even if it’s just a 5 minute doodle I need to do a little bit of drawing every day. So far that’s going well.

2) Write everyday

I plan to write something non-forum related. Whether it’s 100 words of world building, 500 of story planning or even 2,500 words of actual writing, I want to get something written every day.

These two are designed to encourage me to treat writing and drawing as my job, just like I want it to be. Hopefully if I can get into it enough it will become a habit and no longer will I feel as though I’m wasting my time every day.

3) Finish one art piece a week

So often I start to draw something big and never actually get it finished or it takes months to finish. I’m hoping that pushing myself to do this will encourage me to actually finishing things. Plus it’s a great incentive once I start actually drawing the pages of my web-comic. Which leads on to....

4) Work on oSaM daily.

As long as I do 30 minutes of work, at least, on oSaM every day I will be happy. It could be character designs or page thumbnails or anything else related to it. I’m going to make sure that the 30 minutes is uninterrupted and gets something productive out of it. Just thinking about it doesn’t count.

5) Edit 100 words of D.W. daily.

I’ve been putting off editing it and it’s really beginning to annoy me. I know what I need to do and I’ve already thought about things I need to fix/remove.

And finally;

6) Plan for NaNoWriMo

I’ve not got a set amount, time, words or otherwise for this one as it’s sort of an open book. I’ve already got the ideas brewing and a few notes made so from now until November it’s just going to slowly build and build. I’m hoping to work on 3 or 4 novels or short stories throughout NaNo so there are lots of things that I can flick between.

So for now, that’s it on the RoW80 front. I’m hoping that this time I’ll be able to stick to them much better than with Round 1 and who knows, I might actually enjoy it.

Ciao!

A big rant in which I repeat I WILL POST MORE OFTEN far too many times to be healthy

I’m aware right now that I’m an appallingly bad blogger. So bad in fact that I should hang up my blogging hat and retire to some dark corner of the internet. Buuuut I’m not going to so nyaaaaaah. I’m not going to stop blogging because as some of my friends know I’m part Scottish and that makes me very, very stubborn. Combine that with the fact that I’m also part Irish, an equally stubborn race, and I’m worse than a cat stuck in a tree over a lake. I’m determined to prove to myself and anyone out there that I’m a serious blogger and a serious writer. Even if I do keep misspelling blogger as blooger. So like a cat in a tree over a large pool of water I’m going to stubbornly cling to my little blogger branch until an Act of God makes me let go (please don’t smite me, please don’t smite me)

Any regular readers (hey, I may have some) out there may well be wondering WHY I haven’t been blogging lately. Well I’ll tell you. Yes, they are mostly woefully inadequate excuses to any seriously dedicated blogger but they’re MY excuses and that’s what matters. To me. Because I’m special. But anyway, now my little ego boost is over with, here’s a little list for now and I’ll go through the reasons one at a time.

• ·         Laziness
• ·         The Novel
• ·         The Webcomics
• ·         Other News

Laziness

I’m a chronic procrastinator. Unless it’s actually important to my existence/income I generally put off doing something until the last minute. I’ve always done that since school, through university and into my job seeking. I’m getting better now though. I’ve been learning to write cover letters, different CVs and the importance of good quality research. That doesn’t mean though that my dastardly procrastinating ways are over. I still think that doing other things is more important, or rather funnerer (shush it is a real word!) than doing the things that I should be doing. Instead of writing I’ll watch TV, instead of blogging I’ll play WoW, instead of drawing comics I’ll read about drawing comics. Some days I’ll just spend hours flicking through DamnLOL pictures. I’m just too freaking lazy. On that note then I’ve realised I need to change.

I have to train myself into regular habits, from waking up before 10 to blogging more than once a fortnight to using references in my comics to researching important things for my novels. I’ve managed to get myself waking up at half past 8 so I figured I’d move onto the next part of the list. I’m starting that today and I’m hoping that by telling you, however many of you there may be, I can train myself into actually posting at a regular schedule again. So that is my promise from this week onwards. 

I WILL POST MORE OFTEN

Who knows, maybe I’ll end up with a regular update schedule.

The Novel

My NaNoWriMo Novel (henceforth referred to simply as The Novel) was finished last month. Now I’ve finally gotten around to editing it. I’ve managed to edited enough chapters that I could, if I really wanted to, send it off to literary agents. I’m not going to yet though. It’s a massive 100k beast that needs a lot more work and I refuse to rush it. Should, by some freakish stroke of luck, an agent request the entire thing after I send the submission excerpt in I would do more damage trying to edit it all quickly than if I waited a little longer to edit more of it.

The Novel is a groggy beast. It starts off well enough until it reached the end of my micro-planning. After that point things got very, very fuzzy. Characters kept getting killed. Or kidnapped. Or at one point both. I’ve got more characters than I know what to do with. With this in mind I’ve been working through many of the plot points in my noggin, trying to straighten all the twisted tangling threads into one lovely French braid version of The Novel. A French braid plaited by Umberto G himself. Or some other hair stylist or plaiter. Yes that’s how I’m seeing The Novel’s plots, like a plait. It’s got nothing to do with the friendship bracelets I made with my Guide Unit last week. Nothing at all. Maybe.

To sort out some of these plot points, especially the ones involving the main antagonist I’ve had to do some research. This has involved buying a few books, actually reading through them and making notes. I’ve gone so far as to actually write in the books themselves *le gasp!* I know it’s sacrilege but I have no plans of selling them and it helps me figure out why a certain fact is/was important. With all this research, and the editing of The Novel itself I’ve been too distracted to come up with anything constructive to write. Or even whine about. 

Now though I’m realising that it’s no longer an excuse. Many other, more important/successful/busy writers and professionals than me find the time once or twice a week to post a blog, even if it’s only a few sentences. If they, who are probably busy almost every waking hour can find the time to do that why can’t I? A person who has no job (not for lack of trying I may add) and no other distractions other than self-made ones.  With that in mind I’ve decided that

I WILL POST MORE OFTEN

Just like the writers who are actually published find time to do between book tours and meetings with publishers. Oh and the actual writing.

The Webcomics

I’ve mentioned the webcomics that I do in several posts in the past. Well, with the start of Script Frenzy fast approaching, (in a week’s time in fact) I’ve been busy planning my idea for that. On the back of this idea though has come others. Specifically one exceptionally long webcomic idea. Before I start even thinking about researching or scripting that though I want to get these other ones out of the way first. In particular the Script Frenzy Webcomic (henceforth referred to as SFW). It’s short, only planned to be 100 pages. If I finish it, or rather when I finish it (I’m trying to be optimistic this week, shush!), I may start work on this new idea (NI). 

While I’m working on the SFW though, putting the script through my editing brain, planning the characters in more depth, etc, etc, etc, I will be rebooting some old webcomics. In particular is Loves Complication (LC) a webcomic based on a short novel I wrote and actually finished at 16. Looking back on the entire premise now it’s incredibly obvious how childish and teen fantasy-ish (shuddup) the plot was. With this in mind I’m re-writing the script, fiddling with the characters and actually writing a better plot. The main storyline/theme stays the same, it’s just the path from A to B is a little more complex and less wish-fullfillment. Which LC was. When I wrote it I was going through a bad time at school that suddenly got better. As a result the plot meanders quite happily from heavy teen angst (we’re talking major emo here) to happiness on level with a Twilight fan being locked in the room with Robert Pattinson. In short I had a manic depressive webcomic. I’ve decided to change that while I’m working on the others. LC will now be digital and less juvenile. It will also be on heavy medication in an attempt to even out its moods. It will be all these things... once I finish designing the characters.

The other webcomic which I know I’ve mentioned on here is Witchan. I’ve ranted before about my impatience when writing and drawing and Witchan is the perfect example of this. I went into it last time too quickly without a decent character design or established style. As a result it shows in my art and the writing. Now though I’ve taken the pages down, I’m running through the first few chapters with a big pen and completely reworking the idea. The plot may not even stay the same. The premise will be though. There’s no way I’m giving up that magic wizard school that floats in the sky. The name may also change. The one thing I do like about Witchan however is that it isn’t as juvenile as LC. I’m trying to approach different, more adult themes in comparison to LC which is mostly teen entertainment.

LC and Witchan will, more than likely be slowly worked on at the same time as the SFW but posted sooner. Not as much work is needed for them in comparison to SFW as I’m not starting from scratch. Once SFW and one of the others is finished, then and only then, will I start drawing actual pages for the NI. That’s if I’ve completed the preparation work for it all. All I’m saying about the NI is that it’s reaching into new territory for me and needs a lot of research in areas that I have no knowledge of.

I’m not going to go through all this alone though. Oh no. For every little stumbling block I reach, for every little artistic epiphany I experience, for every time I want to screw everything up and set fire to it you, dear readers will be informed of it too. I might end up giving out spoilers, I might end up posting little snippets of art. Who knows? I certainly don’t. But I know that in order for us to find out... 

I WILL POST MORE OFTEN

Come on, you knew that was coming.

Other News

The site WILL be having a revamp. I don’t know when, I don’t what it’ll look like, I don’t even know how I’m going to do it as I don’t know any HTML code. But I’m going to change the design and make it look more professional, more stylish, more....me. But if I do it now no one will notice because I so rarely update. If I want people to come to the site and keep coming back and then go “Wow! Nicole the site looks so different and shiney and sparkly and new” then I need to keep people coming back. To do this

I WILL POST MORE OFTEN!!

Please, you had to have seen that one coming.

 And with that insanely long blog post out of the way (Boy, I really got carried away with all that ranting didn't I?) I’m going to look at some kittens and hunt up some reference pictures. I will hopefully see you all on Wednesday for WEBCOMICS WEDNESDAY, where I talk about my webcomics and any little epiphanies that have kicked me in the brain (do you like the title? I just made that up). This is all part of my plan to                 

POST MORE OFTEN        

What you thought I was done with that?

C’mon.

Toodles.

Nicole xx

The Sunday Workspace: Now with more writing

Alright, I admit it; I almost forgot that I’d promised a blog today. I’m a very bad writer/artist/blogger (person). What matters though is that I’ve remembered and have written this lovely, albeit brief, entry so please don’t pelt me with old fruit or run away!

So getting on topic, in my workspace for the next week are;

1. A series of Sketchbook Project Illustrations. Primarily they’ll be those of the world wonders, some will be the bases for a couple of fold out pages. I’m hoping to get some cutting and sticking done as well as a bit more water-colouring (I really do enjoy watercolour), all on those few pages that I have planned.
2. Further outlining for NaNoWriMo. So far I’ve got the separate scenes (mostly) outlined on individual note-cards. I can expand each scene on the back and move them around (yes I am so much of a geek that organising excites me).  I’ve got to get the order set and ready for expanding.
3. Lots and lots of research. I’ve got various areas that I want to research based on my novel idea; mostly surrounding the supernatural and the various mythologies surrounding those topics. I’m starting simple, using Wikipedia (I know, I know, it’s not 100% reliable however I’m adapting the info to suit me it’s not that big a deal) but by the end of the week I hope to have made a few visits to the library (that is if I get over my weird fear of going to the library alone out of paranoia that the books’ll eat me... ooh idea!)

     I did want to be a pantser (someone who rights by the seat of their pants) but the organising geek in me just couldn’t avoid the whole basic-outline-outline-by-scene-character-profile-exactly, thing.  That also reminds me, I need to come up with some more names for my characters along with descriptions, personality, backstory etc. I accept and acknowledge that I’m weird about this stuff but I reckon that’s part of the joy of being a writer. I just don’t think that Bethany is the name of my MC (main character for the non-writers on here) and as a result I gotta fiddle with that...AGAIN.

      (Here’s a bit of whining/self-pitying, just to show that I’m not this mad happy gremlin that runs around Nottingham.) I accept that I’ve gone off Witchan for the time being. Maybe I started it too soon, I don’t know, I did put up the first pages before I’d even finished the Introduction when it’s possible that I should have waited until then. As it stands though I’m just going to focus on my writing and see if that gets me any closer to reaching my dream of being published. When the urge to draw a page or two strikes me though I’m not ignoring it and hopefully I can and will get a buffer going. I’m not going to force it though (forced art is bad art!)

So that’s what I’ll be doing this week. How about you? Any trips? Anyone else preparing for NaNoWriMo?

Friday Links; A little more writerly

That’s right it’s that time of the month again. I’ve been linking a lot to crafting websites lately. Well, this week I’ve gone all writerly (it’s a real word I swear *cough*) Not only have I been working hard on my current work-in-progress, a novel that is still nameless, but I’ve also been planning and searching for research (real word again :P) for the other idea I’ve got brewing (more on that later).  Anyway, on to the real purpose of this post.

My first link today is to this blog right here. You don’t have to go all the way through her archives but I strongly recommend it. It’s truly inspiring. Rachel Hawkins is a published writer with a trilogy in the works. She’s got two of the three books published as well as a few more novels in the works. It’s following her journey to this point that is amazing though. She was a teacher at a school that was depressing her horribly. At the urging of her husband she quit her job, as did he, and spent her time writing a novel. She sent it off to an agent and then got the book deal (all with a toddler which I just can’t imagine being able to do). She is a success story, and unlike some other people, she’s willing to share her success and give help and pointers to other wannabe-novelists.  It’s not just an inspiring story (yes I’m saying that a lot but it’s true!!) it’s an interesting one too, simply in that you get insight into the writing process of other writers. I find this ridiculously helpful. I’m one of those people that suffer slightly from anxiety of failure. I’m constantly worrying that I’m doing whatever I’m doing wrong. I seek constant validation that I’m doing it right. Just reading her blog, along with a few others, has shown me that there are so many different types of writers, from planners to ‘pantsers’ (a writer that just writes on the seat of their pants, winging it) and that the way I write is the way I write, there’s nothing wrong. (Back on track,) I’ve spent at least half the week reading through her archives, reading her thoughts as she struggled with the whole thing, even though I know how it ends, I’m just a big geek like that. She also put me on to the next link, having participated multiple times throughout the year.

NaNoWriMo, standing for National Novel Writing Month. I’ve found it before and looked into it but Rachel’s blog brought it back to my attention. Originally started in San Fransisco 1999, by one guy with a small group of friends to get them to at least try to write a novel, it has since expanded to cover so many countries. It’s has now sparked a non-profit organisation with a full time staff, charitable giving and more writing events during the year. It’s weird to think that it has been running for 12 years now. It offers a chance to bring together other writers from the area and gives encouragement and... wait, why am I telling you this?! Go go check it out for yourself, sign up, it’s free!  I signed up today so hopefully I’ll be able to get the vast majority of a novel written before the year is out. Unfortunately you are required to start a novel from scratch, doing only preparation beforehand. That rules the use of my current novel. I figure though that it’s a perfect chance for me to bring in that new idea (See! See!). I’ve got about 10 days to get the research done for the most part. And I’m going to meet a bunch of other Notts based writers. No worries though, I won’t be stopping my other creative endeavours.

This weekend I plan to learn to knit once more, getting inspired to take it up again from Rachel’s blog, so hopefully I’ll have new things to tell you about. Also keep an eye on the site, I plan on fiddling with the design a little.

Well, what are you waiting for?! Go check out those pages!

Progress Wednesday: Personal challenge, general crafting and a bit of baking.

So this week I've been up to a fair bit of fun and creative stuff. A fair bit of it is related to my Personal Challenge and the October targets. Firstly I've managed to finish another chapter-type thing for my novel. It's a bit tricky to tell this sort of thing now because I've removed the chapter seperations from my first draft. Either way, I've managed to write a large amount since I last posted about the novel. It's tricky because I still wanna research and create my world but at the same time I'm writing. The great thing is that I've found a load of history programs on BT Vision that I can watch as part of research regarding the world itself. As I've been writing though my characters' histories have been revealing parts of my world's culture. I guess that's the way sometimes, when the writing itself runs away and takes on a life of its own.

 For the Sketchbook Project I've managed to finish another page. This one will be in the first few pages and is part of a series of 'Wonder Images' a bunch of pictures linked by the theme of the Wonders of the World. I figured I'd start from England and work my way eastward acround the world from there. This was drawn with soluble watercolour and ink. I sketched the design first before I shaded in the sky and ground with the colour crayons before running over with a wet paintbrush. I then outlined the stones with a fineliner and used a brush pen that was running out to lightly scrub in the texture of the stones.
The lines on the other page, around the date-stamp, is the next in the series, the Eiffel Tower in France. Talking about this has made me think that maybe I need to start taking pictures of my progress as I create a piece.

The picture to the right ---> is also another image for the Sketchbook Project. This comes much later in the book.
In other Personal Challenge news, I've managed to finish the colour for the first full page of Witchan. I need to go over the colour with water as I've used water-soluble pencil crayon again. There will be a white border around it all once I've scanned and editted it on the computer. First though, I've got to fiddle with scanning settings so that the pages scan properly. The comic's on hiatus now, as I said before, while I try to sort things out.
 I spent most of today playing with glue, tissue paper, pom-poms, pipe-cleaners, foam, lolly sticks and goggley eyes. I'll probably pop a few pictures up of my creations once I've finished making them. For now, enjoy these images of my mince pies, I spent Monday afternoon making them by hand. They're surprisingly tasty and now all gone. The big one with the shooting star hole is big enough for two!

The Sunday Workspace: pretty much the same as last week

So to be honest, my workspace is pretty much the same as last week. I'm working on my novel, the new idea and the Sketchbook project.
Today I went for a walk and came across a bunch of pottery scattered across a field. I grabbed a couple of shards and cleaned them up with my thumb as I carried on with my walk. There's a fabulous pattern on it that I fully intend on copying into the Sketchbook. I like the idea of including images from when I'm actually travelling, even if it's just a walk around the village or the country park and fully intend on wandering around in the next few days with my camera and art journal so I can sketch some scenes to draw in. I did have a bunch of images planned to include but I'm fully happy to replace those with my walk pictures.
In other Sketchbook Project news, I'm also working on the first full signature this week, drawing loose pencil crayon images and water colour paintings of the wonders of the world. I'll explore more about that once I have some actual pictures to show, which will hopefully be on Wednesday. Provided I don't get distracted again by a ridiculous job interview, stage two that is.
In terms of the two novels, I hope to write a few more chapters, or at least further what I've already written. It's a bit tricky, referring to chapters in my writing at the minute as, because it's a first draft, I'm now just writing as I go. I will write certain things seperately if the idea for later parts come before I actually have reached them with my writing. For the other novel I hope to write a clearer story outline and a few character profiles as well. I may, if I manage to develop my notes enough start on the Snowflake method, a method of writing found on the internet that I will explore more fully in Friday's link post. I also plan on doing some research for the idea too. So come Wednesday I may well have a bunch of papers to show you. Here's hoping at any rate.
In terms of Witchan, I hope to have some more page layouts organised, and hopefully, fingers crossed, I'll manage to sketch out the pencil lines for a couple of those pages. I also want to get the colour on at least a couple of pages finished. Considering the amount of detail that I've drawn into each panel though, it's looking slightly harder though but I'll try anyway. Either way, I want to try and create a buffer soon so that I don't have to keep the comic on hiatus for too long.
Whelp, that's it for today's post, I'll blog again soon.

Progress Wednesday: A fair bit done.

So it's Wednesday again. I've gotten a fair bit of progress made once more. Sadly, due to being in an interview all day means that I've not got any pictures. For the Sketchbook Project I've finished another picture and planned two more. That's further success for my personal challenge. I've also planned three more pages of Witchan and plan to sketch them up tomorrow, as well as finishing the colour for the pages I have. Hopefully I'll be able to finish altering the two pages I've scanned too. For my novels, I finished the first draft for one chapter and I've also started another. Research into the world itself and my creation of it is also going well, as is the research for the new idea I came up with.

Well, that's it for today, I may blog again tomorrow and expand on this but right now I'm just exhausted.
So, good night.

Creative Bursts, Decisions and Fashion

I got serisouly sidetracked last month. Even in the last week. I fully intended to write a blog post a fortnight ago, even wrote it on a sheet of paper and everything. That sheet of paper disappeared into the filing system that is my room though but the good news is I found it today. I'm not going to tell you what it said though, nyah nyah nur-nur nyah :P
Instead I'm going to write a new one, and maybe now and then pull bits from what I wrote if I can find where I put it... oh bugger.
Any whoo... I've gone a bit of a writing spree, in the hope of finally acheiving some monthly deadlines... it's semi-worked. I've written and finished the first draft of three chapters for a novel (incidentally the novel is not the one I originally planned to write but something completely different that spanned from a simple image in my noggin). I completely finished the introduction of my webcomic and have managed to draw the first four pages of the First Book. I also managed to write down some basic information for five different countries in my fantasy world. This makes me sound very geeky but the sheer amount of stuff I expected myself to do was a little ridiculous. I need to learn to stop setting myself ridiculous targets.
This creative burst was spurred on in part, I think, by the fact that I finally decided whether I was going to do the Masters or not. I decided not. I'm just fed up of being poor and to be honest, weirdly fed up of having so much free time on my hands. Plus I'm wanting a break from constant assignments and deadlines. I know I'll probably get them in the real world but they're not as... educational deadlines I suppose. If I decide I want to go do a Masters again next year I can always save up and reapply, this time without the worry of applying for a loan. In fact that actually seems like the better option.
Now onto the third part of my post's title. It's a little unrelated to writing and reading but fashion is a creative output so I fgured I'd include it. Another reason that I'm wanting to get a real job is that I want to be able to update my wardrobe or expand it when I want to and not have to worry about next week's food shop. I'm starting to develop my own personal style and hopefully soon I may well be posting pictures of the day's outfit. So this blog may soon get renamed, relating to fashion as well as writing. I'm looking at doing a collaboration with other bloggers to put links to each other's blog in our own blogs and maybe expand readerships.

Learning about Writing.

So earlier I hit a minor writer's block. Nothing serious mind you but something that would delay the writing process for longer then I wanted. I wasn't sure where to go next, whether to start writing or to look at my plot more indepth. Reading Terry Brooks wasn't working so I decided to visit a couple of forums I frequent. One of them is the SmackJeeves forum.
Now, SJ is devoted to webcomics I will admit and yes.. I write and draw a webcomic myself. It's home to a fairly successful group of webcomicers as well. One of them is Gibson Twist whose comic 'Pictures of You' is, I've been told pretty good. It's a bit to wordy for my tastes but I can appreciate the art and writing for their quality, even if the content is something I'm not interested in. Anyway, he also writes tutorials for writing, both webcomic scripts and prose. I read the one he'd posted on SJ forums and it really helped me figure out where to go next. You can find it here: Gibson Twist's Writing tutorials It's got information that'd be useful for all levels of writing both beginners and experienced writers. If you're having trouble with any part of the writing process I'd suggest checking it out.
Back to the me doing a webcomic thing. It's still a baby, there's not even a single page up yet. I'm not happy with the banner either, both for the forums and the site itself. Meh, it'll get sorted eventually. I've just got to find a way to juggle the webcomic and the novel I'm writing. For the curious though, here's a quick glimpse of the banner for the site itsel.

The text isn't quite right but like I've said, I'll sort it.