Vacation

Splash of the Day: Disney World!!

Afternoon Tea came with some lovely treats ^.^

Last Friday I mentioned I was going to visit one of my most favorite places on Earth, but what I didn't mention was that this vacation was also the second half of my honeymoon! After several months in between, the honeymoon is now officially over.

 

Disney and I go way back, but for Mr T. the true magic is just beginning. Mr. T and I got married a little more than seven months ago (hard to believe!!) at the Wedding Pavilion. While I won't go into all the details here, our planner was a little careless, with the result being that our honeymoon (which originally took place in December) got split into two! At the time, we were a little upset about the whole mix-up but it has truly been a godsend. I realize now that honeymoon's come at a horrible time in a newly married couples life--something about the stress sticks with you until you finally get to your new home (and life!).

 

So this weekend, free from any of that wedding anxiety, we got to enjoy the second half of our honeymoon at the Grand Floridian Resort at the Club Level and I must say: it was divine. Put aside for a minute the fantastic spread that was updated every two hours (afternoon teas, twilight refreshments, cordials and desserts), the staff was amazingly friendly and helpful--making the second half of our honeymoon everything we'd hoped it would be.

 While we waited for the sun to go down, in preparation for our Epcot trip, Mr. T got in some light afternoon reading our balcony. I on the other hand used the down time to get some writing done. Seems silly, but honestly that bit of relaxation was exactly what I needed to get me jump-started.  First-person seems to be working for me, I'm about fourteen pages into my first chapter, but I won't know for sure until I show some pages to my first (and only) critic--the hubby. With any luck, I'll keep the momentum going. If not, there might just have to be another Disney trip in my near future!!

XOXO,

Morgan

Tri-Monthly Roundabout

Splash of Color: Political Animals and a Mt. Dew.

So I took a bit of a break from blogging for what I call my tri-monthly roundabout. Our family situation is complicated, so every three months or so hubby and I make the rounds, taking three weekends to visit my parents and his parents. In between then I've been doing the mundane stuff (working, eating, maybe sleeping), I also found out that my brain tumor is gone, and will hopefully stay gone as long as I keep taking my medication. So good news all around. Still not sure what I want to do with this blog, but it's got page views which I totally wasn't expecting. So I've decided to update every Friday (starting the week of the 3rd--this week I'll be going to Disney World!), in case anyone is interested in the week to week of an aspiring writer.

As for the writing itself, the manuscript has taken a bit of a turn. I must admit that as a writer I have always had a bit of a problem with writing in first person. In school they teach you that it's juvenile, hardly ever appropriate, and makes for truly horrible fiction. That said, I've noticed first person is becoming more popular, people aren't turning down their noses at it as much. So this week, I decided to try applying first person to my plot. 

I have to be honest, it isn't as easy as it looks--not if you don't want to cringe at the end of every page. I definitely see the merit though, even as a writing exercise, so that's where I am in my current project. Trying to push through my fears of first person and dig in to the good stuff.

Plot

Splash of Color: Organization of Articles, Victorian Dramas, and Plotting

It's the end of the day and I have a guest coming to visit for the weekend, so it was important to me that I get most of my plotting done today. I haven't quite been able to reach my goal of 2000 words but ultimately I don't feel too bad about it since I've made overall progress. I am looking forward to getting back on track by tomorrow.

Part of my issue is that I am the type of person who likes to have a road map-so the fact that I didn't have the plot sketched out 100% of the way has definitely been weighing on my mind. I definitely have some things to tinker around with, it really is more of a road map than concrete scenes, but on the whole I am pleased with the direction things are going in. 

In other news, I have been caught up for the past three days on several different shows depicting Victorian drama/lifestyle. They are addicting!

Beginnings are wonderful things.

Splash of Color: Chapter one is almost finished!

 

After taking some time to practice my writing, I have finally come to a draft of chapter one that I feel satisfied with! It took me a couple of false starts but I am finally beginning to get back into my groove and I really couldn't be happier with my progress.

Even though no one reads this blog but me I think having it here, chronicling my progress, is what's keeping me honest. I've started plenty of things in my life only to stop midway and allow myself to be distracted by other projects. I don't know if I'll keep up this pace (writing and blogging) once school gets back into session, but I intend to try. 

If there is anyone out there, want to share something you've accomplished today?

Splash of Color: Trying to find my voice

 

That moment when you're thousands of words in and decide-eh I think I'll start over. In academia they don't want flowery writing, in fact no emotion at all is the best that you can achieve, so one could imagine that concentrating on that particular style of writing could all but kill a creative voice.

I've hit that point. So I am trying to rediscover my voice without having to start over every couple of thousand words. It is a frustrating experience but I read somewhere that each time you start over, what you've written before isn't a waste-it was an exercise in finding what works for you. I'm trying to really keep that in mind when I write or else I would be very frustrated right now.

One thing I have discovered however is that the idea I started with has evolved. I didn't realize at first that I wanted to write anything mildly dystopian, at first it was more of a mystery/quest novel. And yet when I read what The Winding City is about, it has so much to do with themes of oppression and power, more so than the boarding school sub-genre idea that it was before. I guess the lesson here is that you can always learn something new.

I'm also considering blogging some of what I am writing, hoping maybe to get some feedback if anyone happens to stumble across the blog. Something to think about.

Synopsis Time

Splash of Color: Bones and Tea

10 AM and I've already met my commitment of 1000 words (so far, so good!). I debate the merits of upping my commitment to 2000 words a day--I don't want to find myself getting bored--but I also want something that is manageable. In the meantime, as I settle in with a good episode of Bones, I've begun to think about the substance of my manuscript. I can't seem to pin down in a brief television blurb format what the plot is about. So instead I've decided to focus on what the story is and isn't.

So, without further adieu, an obnoxiously concise synopsis of current manuscript:

The Winding City

 The story of an ordinary young woman with extraordinary powers pitted against two opposing governments bent on spreading fear and consolidating power in the hands of the few.

The story of a movement meant to unite the people of a land enshrouded in mist, twisted until it is so perverse that it kills the very people it was meant to unite.

The story of a tortured young man longing to prove his worth to the father who abandoned him and to the society that shunned him.


Thoughts?

Modesty thou art 1000 words a day

Splash of Color: Productivity

After blogging my decision to commit to writing yesterday, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. I got off the internet (Castleville, you will be the death of me), decided to commit to an extremely modest 1000 words a day, and even began the process of further mapping out concepts that I had put off.

What's more: I began to write. A thousand words, which in academia I could do in my sleep, in fiction writing had never seemed so easy. And yet, there I was last night and well into this morning chugging away on what I hope is the beginning of a beautiful journey. Just me, my computer, and a coffee.

Anyone else made any progress today?

Committing.

Splash of Color: Avoiding Research.

Though my buzz of the day is avoiding research, I feel as though this first post should be about commitment. Commitment to what? To finally sitting myself down and getting it out. I've always said I wanted to be a professional writer, but the problem has always been about commitment.

I work for a living, I have a husband, I'm a graduate student in sociology. I've committed to all of these things, but I've never committed to the one thing that I've always had a passion for: writing. And maybe that's why I'm here today, blogging, because I've decided to commit.

Maybe it won't be easy (heh, who am I kidding? It is going to be incredibly hard) and maybe I still cringe a little bit when people look over my shoulder and ask me what I'm doing (fantasy fiction anyone?), but I think it's worth a shot. After all, what do I have to lose?