Weaver of Words

E.M. Weaver, forty-something genderqueer aspec writer of speculative fiction.

[emweaver]

Random Idea

It’s late August and that means NaNoWriMo is fast approaching. And you know what that means: that means this blog will get somewhat active again. 

Today, I come with an idea for this year’s NaNo: 

Futuristic Vampires. That’s about all I have for now, just vampires in a futuristic setting. But it might be something I want to venture into. 

[emweaver]

No NaNoWriMo

So yeah. I was going to try NaNo this year. And I kind of did. But then I didn’t. I wrote a few hundred words the first night just after midnight, and then haven’t written anything since. 

I’m just not feeling it this year. So I’m not going to kill myself trying to do something I don’t have the mojo for. And I’m okay with that. 

Hopefully, next year will be better. 

Over and out. 

[emweaver]

NaNoWriMo 2020

So yeah, I know I promised I’d get active here again up to and during NaNo, but here’s the thing: I’m not really feeling it this year. Possibly, it the whole world wide situation with Covid-19 and everything that’s followed on from that, or it’s my personal situation (lots of stuff happening, some of it good, some of it not). 

At any rate, I didn’t feel the usual excitement in October as I normally do, and though I had kind of a plan in continuing a project from back in 2015 with short stories and flash fictions, I didn’t really have many ideas at all. 

I opened the Scrivener document a little to midnight last night, then didn’t get around to writing anything for another twenty minutes or so, and only managed 745 words. 

Today, I haven’t written anything for NaNoWriMo at all. Instead, I’ve been churning out replies for an RPG I play on and have so far written 2,536 on that. So it’s not that the muse is completely gone. It’s just not there for my project. 

I haven’t entirely given up yet. But I’m not enthusiastic or hyped about it. I’m giving it another couple of days before I decide if I quit or not, but if I do, I’m not feeling bad about it. Some years, it just doesn’t work, and this may be one of those years. 

[emweaver]

NaNoWriMo 2020

I announced my project today, and you can find it here. Don’t be alarmed that it’s on my old NaNo username (ComradeCharlie). I decided that having participated for more than a decade was worth more than the anonymity of the E.M. Weaver profile I made a couple of years ago. 

If you want to be buddies, go ahead and add me, and I’ll likely follow you back. 

That’s all for now. Maybe over the next few weeks, I’ll introduce you all to the stories I wrote in the first part of this project, so watch this space. 

[emweaver]

NaNoWriMo 2020

I announced my project today, and you can find it here. Don’t be alarmed that it’s on my old NaNo username (ComradeCharlie). I decided that having participated for more than a decade was worth more than the anonymity of the E.M. Weaver profile I made a couple of years ago. 

If you want to be buddies, go ahead and add me, and I’ll likely follow you back. 

That’s all for now. Maybe over the next few weeks, I’ll introduce you all to the stories I wrote in the first part of this project, so watch this space. 

[emweaver]

Hey, it’s September!

You know what that means, right? 

NaNoWriMo is only two months away! And what does that mean? 

It’s means it’s time for this blog to begin coming back alive! 

Watch this space... 

[emweaver]

Radio Silence

Yes, it’s been very quiet around here.

Yes, it will probably remain very quiet around here. 

I’m having fun writing with other people in a forum RPG, and I do not feel bad about neglecting my “own” writing one little bit. But it does mean that I don’t have much to post in this blog until November rolls around again. 

Which is to say, I’ve already decided what I’m writing in November. I’ll be continuing the project I began with 2016′s NaNoWriMo, and writing more short stories/novellas for that. 

[that was before I had this blog on Tumblr, so there are no updates on that, but it was the project that spawned Wildfire] 

That is all. Thank you, and goodnight. 

[emweaver]

NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up

It’s been more than a week now since NaNoWriMo ended, and while I meant to write this sooner, I got distracted by shiny things (I got a new phone and a Fitbit on Cyber Monday). So, a bit delayed, but here goes: 

Despite having nothing more than a cast of half-formed characters, an extremely rough idea of a story, and a little developed setting, I got off to a pretty strong start with writing 2k+ words a day during the first four days. I don’t recall having ever had such a strong start with NaNo before. 

Of course, I started lagging a bit, hitting a slump in the second week that would have been hard to recover from if I hadn’t padded my word count in the first week. 

At some point, I began making little notes on what was going to happen in the next scene or further along the way, and that’s when I turned from a pantser to a plantser, which is new to me, and something that has absolutely helped me with this year’s NaNoWriMo. 

I hit the 50k mark on the 29th and where I’ve usually stopped writing dead on previous NaNos, I managed to add a bit more on the 30th. 

I’m far from done with this project. I’m no good at estimating how many more words are needed, but at a wild guess, I’d say this novel still has a good 15-20k left in it on the first draft and many more to add in a rewrite (because, let’s face it, NaNoWriMo is more like a huge outline than a first draft). 

In conclusion, I love the characters, I love the plot, and I love the setting. I want to finish this novel. I want to rewrite it. I want to revise it. Edit it. And revise it again. Whether I want to take it further than that remains to be seen. 

On a more self-deprecating note, I did say the same about Wildfire a couple of years ago and that project is currently languishing in a digital drawer… so we’ll see. But I do have high hopes for Sunward. 

[emweaver]

NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up

It’s been more than a week now since NaNoWriMo ended, and while I meant to write this sooner, I got distracted by shiny things (I got a new phone and a Fitbit on Cyber Monday). So, a bit delayed, but here goes: 

Despite having nothing more than a cast of half-formed characters, an extremely rough idea of a story, and a little developed setting, I got off to a pretty strong start with writing 2k+ words a day during the first four days. I don’t recall having ever had such a strong start with NaNo before. 

Of course, I started lagging a bit, hitting a slump in the second week that would have been hard to recover from if I hadn’t padded my word count in the first week. 

At some point, I began making little notes on what was going to happen in the next scene or further along the way, and that’s when I turned from a pantser to a plantser, which is new to me, and something that has absolutely helped me with this year’s NaNoWriMo. 

I hit the 50k mark on the 29th and where I’ve usually stopped writing dead on previous NaNos, I managed to add a bit more on the 30th. 

I’m far from done with this project. I’m no good at estimating how many more words are needed, but at a wild guess, I’d say this novel still has a good 15-20k left in it on the first draft and many more to add in a rewrite (because, let’s face it, NaNoWriMo is more like a huge outline than a first draft). 

In conclusion, I love the characters, I love the plot, and I love the setting. I want to finish this novel. I want to rewrite it. I want to revise it. Edit it. And revise it again. Whether I want to take it further than that remains to be seen. 

On a more self-deprecating note, I did say the same about Wildfire a couple of years ago and that project is currently languishing in a digital drawer... so we’ll see. But I do have high hopes for Sunward. 

[emweaver]

Thank you for playing my name game. How would you describe a character with the name Annika?

[Sorry… Geek side showing up there…]

Okay, so more seriously: 

Annika is a sweet and helpful woman, who will go to great lengths to support those in need, even to her own detriment. She may seem naive and easy to take advantage of because of this, but she is strong-willed and will not let anyone abuse her kindness. 

She is trustworthy and has a particular love of children and small animals, and also a soft spot for those who society has abandoned, such as homeless teens and drug addicts. Therefor she spends much of her time volunteering at local charities. 

She has an orange cat named Pippi and a terrier named Tommy (that’s another silly reference, btw), and lives in a small house by a lake. 

[this was fun! thank you for letting me play!]

[hannah-deactivated20220725]

If you like or reblog this post

I'll send you a random name and you have to describe what you would make a character with that name like.

Whee!~

[emweaver]

NaNoWriMo - Day 30

Project: Sunward Daily word count: 652 Total word count: 51,096 Notes: Slow day. I meant to finish the scene I stopped in the middle of last night, but then got lazy since I reached the deadline already. 

Going to post a more extensive summary of how this year’s NaNo went, but probably not for a day or two. 

As for the story itself, it’s coming along, but there’s still a lot left to write before this first draft (or ‘very long outline’, really) is done. 

Excerpt:

Sitting on the bed behind Gus, who sat in a chair across from the one they had put Trevor in, Des remained quiet and observant. She was letting Gus take the lead on this one, and would only comment if she saw something he didn't, which she very much doubted would be necessary. Gus knew people, he knew how to talk to them, how to get them to open up, even if they were hostile toward him. Des had no clue how the old marine had learned that skill and she suspected that it was probably just a talent he'd been born with, one that had come in pretty handy for him as a sergeant in the marine corp.

[emweaver]

NaNoWriMo - Day 29

Project: Sunward Daily word count: 3,292 Total word count: 50,444 Notes: WOOOOOO!!! (that is all) 

Excerpt: Last line:

She gave a last look at the man who had been her brother, then turned and left without another word.

[emweaver]

Hmmm...

Do I write the 607 words I need to win NaNo tonight, or do I wait until tomorrow? Aye, that is the question. 

(the story is far from done, but the 50k is soooo close!)

[emweaver]

NaNoWriMo - Day 28

Project: Sunward Daily word count: 2,578 Total word count: 47,152 Notes: Back on track, and once again thanks to Kai and his wordiness. I get the feeling that when it comes to rewriting this stuff, I’m going to have to muzzle the poor lad and not rely on him for words. 

Excerpt: Last line:

That night, he dreamed confusing dreams of swimming through data streams, unable to interpret any of the ones and zeroes that came at him like a flood of unfiltered information.

[finickyquint]

Writing Tip:

If you don’t feel like actually writing, prepare for writing:

Open your WIP Word doc

Read the last page again

Scribble notes on what happens next

Once you’ve done this, you might just find yourself wanting to continue after all. And if you don’t, no worries. You’ve made it easier to jump back into it later. 

[candy-m-s-deactivated20180720]

This always works for me! Really good advice!

[bookishdiplodocus]

I do this to get into the writing mood. I can tell myself: “I don’t have to write, no pressure. Look, I’m not writing, this isn’t writing.”

[shadokatninjakitty]

^^GREAT advice!

[emweaver]

I started doing something like this for NaNoWriMo this year. 

It has turned me from a die-hard pantser to a plantser, and it’s made writing the next scene and the next and the next so much easier. 

And the only reason I’m lagging behind now, is because I haven’t been doing this in the last week or so. 

[emweaver]

NaNoWriMo - Day 27

Project: Sunward Daily word count: 1,036 Total word count: 44,574 Notes: Falling a little bit behind on goals, but I’m still confident that I’ll have 50k by November 30. Did a little flashback scene today, inspired by a scene in Firefly episode “Out of Gas”. 

The crew are enjoying a meal together before bad things happen. Oh no! 

Excerpt:

"No, what actually happened was that you, my friend, must have taken some kind of hallucinogen, and Orlando and I had to wrangle you and your hallucinations for the rest of the night. Might have been fun for you, but not for the rest of us. Those cat people, by the way…" [Maggie] paused, her shoulders shaking with mirth as she held in an laugh waiting burst out. "That was a bar's mascot. And you were trying to pull your little 'provoke a fight' stunt on her." Still not done, still keep her laugh inside, Maggie leaned closer, reached across the table with her fingers hooked in a way to mimic cat's claws that she swiped across Kai's face without touching. "You never wondered where those scratches came from the next morning?"