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Weekly Writing Update – September 24-30, 2017

Posted on by R.M. Archer

September 24 – Word Count: 481

Well… That’s a lot of words. I wrote a couple of blog posts that day (and apparently didn’t copy them into the program that I use to track my words. Oops), but I did about nothing on drafting my novel.

September 25 – Word Count: 535

Another blogging-centric day. I came up with a list of blog posts to schedule and liked some people as my Facebook page, and that was all. Although I did figure out a couple of trouble spots to fix in my novel, which is always good to do.

September 26 – Word Count: 606

Hey, two palindromes in a row! At least that’s cool. On Tuesday I replaced the images for the majority of my blog posts and pinned them to my Pinterest account. (I apologize for the disarray of my boards. Pinterest decided to experiment with something and then didn’t clean up the mess it left behind. I’m working on hopefully getting it fixed.)

September 27 – Word Count: 448

Wednesday I started working on editing my Pinterest account, adding descriptions to my boards, secreting the ones that I didn’t want public, changing my account name from Autumn Meadowlark to R.M. Archer, and changing my profile picture so that everything matches my Facebook page.

September 28 – Word Count: 445

Wow. I did… absolutely nothing on Thursday. Except emailing Pinterest to get their mess fixed.

September 29 – Word Count: 465

I wrote a scene of The Last Assassin yesterday! Hooray! I doubt anyone would understand a triple rhyme, but someone may. (Sorry, booknerdiness. Don’t mind me.) I also copied a lot of worldbuilding information for The Dark War Trilogy into my binder for easier access and made myself a NaNoWriMo prep checklist. My hand was sore afterwards.

September 30 – Word Count:1,931

Hey! I actually wrote something of substance! Specifically, almost a chapter of The Last Assassin. I’m glad to finally be being productive again, and hopefully that’ll continue. This week has been massively unproductive.

 

Writing Resource Roundup

Writing Resource Roundup

Posted on by R.M. Archer

So I’m going to do something a little bit new and put together a roundup of online writing resources that I’ve found helpful, and hopefully you will too. All of the following are free unless marked.

Brandon Sanderson’s lectures at Brigham Young University. I’ve linked the first of twelve YouTube videos. I’ve only watched the first three so far, but they were very good. He talks about the main aspects of writing – characters, setting, and plot – and what he calls “the box,” which I haven’t gotten to yet.

ShaelinWrites. This is a writing YouTube channel that I follow. She uses occasional cuss words, but not enough that I’m super uncomfortable recommending her videos. I would warn you that in the videos featuring her brother, her brother drops an F-bomb in at least one of them, so I would warn against those (which is unfortunate, because the one in which I distinctly remember he used that was a really good video aside from that.) She talks about a lot of different writing topics, and I’ve found almost all of the videos I’ve watched to be helpful.

Fighter’s Block. This is a writing sprint website. You set the number of words you want to write and it’s set up in a game format so that if you stop writing your health points decline. The monster’s health points are the words you want to write.

myWriteClub. This is a good goal-tracking site. It has graphs a bit like the NaNoWriMo one, and you can set your own deadlines and word counts. You can also measure chapters, scenes, to-do items, pages, percent, or lines. There’s also an “other” option that you could use for hours, paragraphs, etc.

WriteDeck. This is another writing sprint website, but instead of racing yourself you’re racing others. I find this one really motivating because you can see your opponents’ progress up at the top of the screen. At one point I sprinted with a friend of mine and was literally winded at the end because I was trying to keep up with her. (Which I did do, by the way. I felt very accomplished. XD) This one also sets word count, as opposed to time. (Update: This no longer exists)

NaNoWriMo goal tracker. NaNoWriMo has a new goal tracker on their website that’s accessible through either the “My NaNoWriMo” dropdown or as one of the tabs when you’re on your profile. It works roughly the same as myWriteClub, but can only track words and hours. On the other hand, if you click on “stats,” it gives you your average per day, target average, average needed to make it on time, and projected finish date, which myWriteClub does not. I tend to forget that the NaNoWriMo tracker is an option and thus use myWriteClub instead, but that’s just me.

4thewords*. 4thewords is the only item on this list that charges. However, I’ve found it an extremely helpful tool. It’s set up as an RPG, but the monsters HP is words, as with Fighter’s Block. There are different zones, quests, and for some holidays there are also events in which there are special zones or monsters and additional quests. There’s also a forum, a customizable avatar, and it will store your files. However, the majority of the monsters have really long times (I think the smallest regular monster is 200 words in 30 minutes), which isn’t the greatest if you want to challenge yourself through a fast battle, and it does charge. You pay for subscription through things called core crystals, which you can buy in bulk. The smallest set is 44 for $4, which is a month’s worth of subscription, and the largest pack is almost 21 months worth. I believe if you don’t have your subscription for a bit then you can still access your files, you just can’t fight monsters or anything until you renew it. You can extend your subscription as far as you have core crystals. There’s also a streak calendar on your dashboard, and you win in-game prizes for specific milestones. The minimum word count for a day’s streak is 444, so 4thewords is great for consistency, as well as motivation. And if you use my referral code – CCXLG41162 – then we both get a bonus.

 

Hopefully you find a few of these helpful. :)

Character Interview: Ismena Ivery

Character Interview: Ismena Ivery

Posted on by R.M. Archer

Today’s interviewee is something of an anti-villain, but I kind of like her, and a significant portion of The King’s Paladin will probably be told from her point of view. Enjoy. :)

Ismena: *comes in and takes a seat across from the interviewer, looking quite regal with her perfect posture and flowing gown* Good morning.

Interviewer: Good morning. How are you?

Ismena: I’m doing well.

Interviwer: Excellent. Then let’s get started. *smiles* What is your name?

Ismena: Ismena Faye Ivery.

Interviewer: How old are you?

Ismena: Nineteen.

Interviewer: Do you have any siblings?

Ismena: No.

Interviewer: What is your job?

Ismena: I’m princess of Mandoria.

Interviewer: Are you an introvert or extrovert?

Ismena: Extrovert.

Interviewer: What is your favorite food?

Ismena: Cream cheese pastries.

Interviewer: What is your favorite color and why?

Ismena: Purple. It matches my eyes. But I tend to prefer darker purples.

Interviewer: What is your favorite book?

Ismena: Alander’s Adventures in Lornea. It was my favorite when I was a little girl, and now it bears a lot of sentimental value.

Interviewer: Is there a job you’d rather have than the one you have now?

Ismena: Not particularly. I don’t think I’d be good at much else.

Interviewer: Do you have any hobbies?

Ismena: I draw on occasion and I play the piano.

Interviewer: What traits do you look for in a potential husband?

Ismena: Someone clever and strategic, preferably physically attractive, and someone I can make plans with.

Interviewer: Which of these is most important to you: Kindness, intelligence, or bravery?

Ismena: Intelligence.

Interviewer: And honesty or selflessness?

Ismena: Selflessness.

Interviewer: What is something you can never leave the house without?

Ismena: My cloak.

Interviewer: That was the last question. Thank you for your time.

Ismena: *stands and leaves, looking just as regal as when she came in*

If I Had a Fandom…

If I Had a Fandom…

Posted on by R.M. Archer

When I asked a friend of mine what I should write about on my blog, she suggested talking about what my response would be to a big fandom. This isn’t something I’m super interested in having, just a few dedicated fans would be fine, but it’s fun to think about and I think it’ll be fun to write about, too, so here goes. :)

The biggest thing that comes to mind with a big fandom, to me, is fanart. I love fanart. I love seeing it on Pinterest and stuff. And for that fanart to be focused on my books and characters, bringing to life visually things that I can’t because I don’t draw well? That would just be fabulous. I would love that. It would make me grin so wide… The only problem would be if they got the characters all wrong, like giving a black-haired character red hair. *cough cough* Eragon *cough cough* That would irk me, but other than that… *huge grin*

The next thing that comes to mind is fanfiction. This is one I’m more hesitant to see, mostly because of the bad stuff that tend to come with fanfictions. Gay pairings that were never a thing, adult romance, etc. *gag* I don’t think I’d mind the altered storylines (dude, I’ve written AUs for my own stories. I love messing with timelines. But only when I know they can be repaired. *cough cough* Barry Allen *cough cough*) or even the ones where the main character is basically the author getting to fall in love with one of the characters in my story. If I’ve created characters likeable enough to warrant fanfics like that then I’ll be happy (as long as the romance stays appropriate.) In short, I would welcome good fanfiction, but bad fanfiction would almost make me mad.

If you have a fandom, you’ll probably get letters, emails, messages, etc. from fans. If you have a big fandom, you’ll probably get… more letters, emails, messages, etc. And then there are probably those really dedicated fans who send numerous messages and you either get really annoyed with or become friends with through the correspondence. (Not that I should know, since I have a fandom consisting of about fifty people, all of whom I know fairly well. I’m going from imagination here. Hey, what did you expect? I’m a writer. It’s what I do.) I think fanmail would be cool because it shows that people are enjoying what I’ve written, which makes me very, very happy. The only problem would be if there was too much fanmail and it was hard to respond to it all. That would disappoint me only because I would want to respond to all of it and I couldn’t. And it would be cool to make friends with those two or three or ten who write regularly. :)

If I inspired people to write with my books my life would be made, okay? That would just be spectacular. If someone wrote me asking for writing advice I would have to think about it for a while before getting back to them, but I would be more than willing to help out. Writers are awesome. I’d love to be able to encourage someone to finish their book and publish it for people to enjoy. *cough cough* My dad *cough cough* So bring on the requests for writing tips. I will do my very best to answer well.

Book signings. I have zero experience with these whatsoever. I’ve never been to one (though believe me, I would love to get a book signed by Wayne Thomas Batson. Or maybe seven books, you know…), so all of this is imagination and a few pictures of famous authors signing books at bookstores. Is it weird that I have actually practiced writing my pen name like a signature? Because I have. I am prepared. Other than signing books I don’t know how book signings work. Do readers ask questions? Do readers and the author chat? (Honestly, that would be cool. I’d love to hear specific things they liked about the book. Favorite characters, favorite scenes, etc. I love hearing what people enjoyed or didn’t in my books. ^-^) Anyway, since I have limited experience (as in, none) I can’t really make much of a commentary on this one, but whatever.

In general, I think it would be cool to have a fandom, but not necessarily one like J.K. Rowling’s or George R.R. Martin’s or Rick Riordan’s. I’m happy with just a couple hundred fans, I don’t need a couple thousand.

How would you respond to a big fandom? Let me know in the comments. :)

Writing Terms & Abbreviations

Writing Terms & Abbreviations

Posted on by R.M. Archer

So I use a lot of writing abbreviations, because they’re a lot faster than writing out whole phrases. I have abbreviations for a lot of my story titles, as well, because writing out a full title takes too long. Take, for instance, my recent short story Sea Glass & Pressed Flowers. That’s a mouthful, right? (Or fingerful?) So I shorten it to SG&PF. It’s not very pretty, but it gets the job done. But what do common writing abbreviations mean? I hadn’t even heard of the majority of these shortened terms until I joined the NaNoWriMo forums, and I’m not entirely sure how I learned them, whether it was from context or whether I looked them up on Google, but let’s make things easier for you than it was for me if you’re new to these terms and give you a glossary.

NaNoWriMo – This is short for National Novel Writing Month, which is an event that takes place in November. The aim of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words in a month (1,667 words a day).

WIP – Work-in-progress.

MC – Main character.

OP – Over powered. This means your character is too perfect or has too much power and is becoming a Mary Sue (described below).

RP – Role play. Generally this is where a few authors (or even just one) throw their characters into a situation together and see how they would react.

OTP – One true pairing. This means you see two characters as a perfect pair.

WW – Word war. This is where two or more authors agree on a length of time and time to start and write as fast as they can to see who writes more in that time frame. Because of time zones, start times are usually proposed with the minute only. For example: 15 minutes @ :15 would mean you write for fifteen minutes at quarter past whatever hour it is in your time zone.

AU – Alternate universe. It’s pretty self-explanatory. It’s an alternate universe (or timeline) with the same characters as a book or movie. It’s sort of like a fanfiction where you displace the characters into some other timeline or universe and see what happens.

 

Mary Sue – A character who is too perfect. Sometimes changed to Gary Sue for a male character.

Ship – Like an OTP, two characters you see becoming a couple.

Canon – This is a theory that is proven in the book or movie (sometimes a series) it’s affiliated with.

 

If there are any terms or abbreviations I’ve left out and you’d like to know the meanings of, let me know in the comments and I’ll explain them, too. I hope this was helpful! Have a great day. :)