NaNo Update–Word-wise I’m more than on track for writing through the 14th. Yay! My brain’s coming down from the chapter a day experiment although it’s going to be a little more difficult to find where I left off since the chapter numbers don’t correspond to the days anymore. But I’m doing it!
It was just today that I realized that I don’t have a category on here for Earth Shatterer, the NaNo novel that I’m writing. Actually, in all fairness, I was planning ES long before I decided to pump it out for NaNo so, in this case, the egg came before the chicken. Anyway, I realized it was because I was doing the WIP updates in the NaNo update portion of my posts since I started writing it. That and, unlike DC where I wrote it pretty much at my leisure, I’ve been so wrapped up in maintaining word count with this one since November first that my brain really hasn’t had a chance to stop and think. So consider this a two week round up of how the writing for ES is going outside of it’s NaNoness.
As the title of the blog suggests, this one’s coming out so much easier than DC (uh . . .). So much easier. I don’t have to worry about finding my place in writing, finding the voice, experimenting with the world, finding my footing in it all. I spent from December of last year to roughly June trying to manage DC and get it going. I didn’t really start writing it with any degree of flow until around then. With ES, it’s flowing right from the beginning because I know I’ve found my voice. Did that with the first one and this one wouldn’t be running like it is if I hadn’t.
That’s not to say the editing’s going to be any easier with this one. Just the writing’s going good right from the get-go. With this one, I’ve been noticing that I’ve been starting way too many sentences with pronouns which is never a good thing. Very amateurish. ‘He’’s are running the gamut in my writing, along with its female equivalent. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the crazy rushing I’ve been doing trying to get the words out but that’s the major flaw than I’m going to have to take a rat tail comb to when it’s ready to edit.
I had a very solid idea of what I wanted Earth Shatterer to be and so far, it seems to be working out pretty well aside from seemingly minor characters are taking much more vital roles in the story. And the story itself is twisting. It’s twisting to such an extent that I didn’t see it coming and I only hope to be able to write it so that the reader doesn’t see it coming either.
The (for lack of better words, don’t shudder) portal does exist in a very large sequoia (just to be clear, ‘very large sequoia’ isn’t necessarily redundant) that was cracked open with an earthquake. Michael and his family live in semi-seclusion in the redwoods with a yellow lab named Crater (named so because he kept digging holes in their yard when they first got him), a sister named Zana (Suzanna, call her Susie and I’m pretty sure she’ll punch you in the throat), mom Colleen who’s the suit in the family and dad Hank who’s a construction contractor. He built the house they’re living in now.
Shenanigans start to happen in Michael’s world because things are coming out of that crack in the tree and when he and Zana witness a rather odd paint fart on the door (which they can’t remove), they go and check out this tree at Michael’s urging (Michael was the first one to witness the “other side”). Zana goes through first (no funny vortex stuff, just a short walk through a trunk and there’s a hole looking out someplace else) and gets captured. Crater to the rescue! But it turns out Craters i really the son of a Council family banished to Michael’s world as a dog. Ba zing! Like they saw that coming! I know I didn’t.
I also didn’t see Zana’s burgeoning like for him which is leading into the major twist in the story which I’m not going to divulge. That would just ruin it! Michael also might have a love interest who’s turning out (to me, not to him yet) to be more than what she appears to be. Crater’s also turning out that way too, the sneaky bastard. But please, call him Rowan when you’re on the other side. He hates unnecessary questions.
It’s all working itself out as I write. I’m about 25,000 words in in two weeks which is astounding for me. I don’t know how long I was working on DC before I hit that mark. But it’s coming along good. Much fewer bumps but I think a lot more kinks. Always fun!
