Of Steampunk gadgets and the literary dillemma

Monday I did not write anything because I was incredibly busy on le good ship internship and have a presentation to work on. So big zero on the daily word count. No worries, because I'll catch up tomorrow.

So as most of you know, I am writing a Steampunk NaNoWriMo.

That means gadgets and gizmos a plenty. Unfortunately, that can be quite the problem.
Films, videos and comic books make these things so easy to accept. We see them and well seeing is believing so we accept them. However, when it comes to the ever complicated novel, we are rendered blind.

The only way to end this horrid blindness is with descriptions. However, it can be very hard to describe something if you don't have a clue what it is [or even what it does]. This was something I intended to fix with pre-NaNo planning, but that didn't really go as planned. So I'm thrust into the world and making up thingamajigs on the fly. I know I have a vivid imagination, but I'm generally more of a engineer of "magic" than of anything remotely like engineering.

So this is definitely going to be a struggle. I'll probably resort to just making up random names and just vaguely mentioning the power source or if any levers need to be pulled. I can always go back and fix it.

And to flex my steamy inventing muscles, I will probably begin a "random inventions" list in the Excerptlopedia. Maybe I'll use some of them or it'll just be for fun.

If you can think of anything...and I mean anything, please feel free to share.

Finally caught up!

Huzzah! After silencing my inner critic and some early morning, lunch and evening writing, I am finally back on track.

Writing is going well. The dialogue is still a little shaky, but characters are beginning to develop. The tech side is a little iffy too but that's something I can always go back and edit properly.

Another excerpt. Hopefully this will not disappoint:
A little side note. In this scene, Olivia is disguised as Edwin Jones.

Millicent Doyle's tour was nothing if not thorough and she made sure to usher "Edwin" to every room, nook and cranny. Whether it was to meet yet another crew member or to see some facet of the massive airship's inner workings, Millie made sure that the boy was introduced to everyone who crossed their path. At the moment, the woman had cornered an unfortunate engineer and the elaborate routine of introductions was about to happen for the fifteenth time today.
"Edwin Jones, this is Marshall Patterson. Marshall Patterson, this is Edwin Jones." Millicent said as she quickly pointed between the two men and watched eagerly until the two being introduced finally shook hands. Olivia tried her best to keep up the "firm handshake" that had impressed Mrs. Doyle, but her hand was getting tired by the time she had reached Mr. Patterson.
"Marshall is one of our crewman..." Millicent continued, completely ignoring the nervous look on the crewman's face. She had cornered him on their way to the engine room as he was probably rushing off to somewhere important. But as she had mentioned to "Edwin", the first time he suggested that it was not necessary be introduced to everyone, that manners were what made their country such a dignified place.
"Nice to meet you." Olivia said as she gave the other young man an apathetic look. The sooner the introductions were over, the sooner he would be released from his civic duty of cordiality.

That's all for now. I've earned some early rest.

Back on track, but still have some catching up to do...

So as of tonight I have 5,037 words [although most of those words are from the older plots--but hey I still wrote it for NaNo].

Nevertheless, I am back on track and trying my best to catch up and then get ahead. It didn't help that I've been sick today and so I decided to take it easy instead of making myself worse with stress.

Anyway, at least half of my plot is in my head. As for writing it, we shall see how it goes. I've started to put words on paper, but it's been a little slow and clunky [reminds herself that it's just a draft...die inner critic, die].

So as a little taste, here are the new opening lines:

As Olivia watched the play come to its conclusion, she could not avoid the sneaking suspicion that somehow this story was based on her life, albeit less comical. It is not strange to associate oneself with the characters in a play, but most would have picked the dashing hero or the scheming villains over the hapless victim that was now clinging on for dear life.

Reworking

I'm still here.

I am currently reworking my plot as we speak and I'm very excited about how it is going.

As for actual writing, I am still incredibly behind. Unfortunately, due to stressing myself out over my predicament and spending a chunk of today focused on elections--I probably won't write any more tonight.

Besides, I need to have a clearer plot line/character ideas before I try to ramble off 4,000+ words or so. I mean, I can write it, but will it be worth it?


So I'm off to plan before bed.

Plots fall apart...[or why character goals are important]

On the third day of NaNo, I wrote absolutely nothing.

Yep, nothing.

Fear not, I am not quitting NaNo, I just ran into a major issue that needed to be tackled before I could write anything else. That major problem being that my MC/Protagonist did not have her own goal. Sure she took on the goals of others as they came, but nothing was driving her. And as any good writer/writing book will tell you, the MC needs a goal or what's the point?

So I spent most of today trying to figure it all out and I have decided this:
My MC/Protagonist's father has gone missing and she has to find him/save him.

This opens a can of worms, so I still have a bit of replotting to do. Some characters can be salvaged, but a lot of them will probably be recast or dumped.


I've got a catching up to do.
Hope I don't have anything to do at work tomorrow.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday.

So Steamboy was very useful for inspiration. If you are interested in Steampunk or just an enjoyable movie in general, I would definitely look into it.

Most of today was spent planning...but it was super helpful. I figured out about a quarter of my plot and smoothed out my villain. Also, I created a helpful little playlist for myself to aid me as I write.

I started writing at 8pm and it's going, wouldn't say it was great, but it is coming along.

So I plan to start a few new posts in the Excerptlopedia.

1. Excerpts [anything from chapters to great paragraphs]
2. Favorites [lines, mottos, character quotes, etc]

Check em out when you can.

Today's challenge between myself and Penny was that we were to reach 4,000 by day end. I do not think I will win this one Penny, but we'll see.

Planning Saturday

So planning is going okay...sort of. I think I need to talk to someone or just take a little break.

Lots of revelations and discoveries, but some may be complicating my plot.
I'm gonna watch Steamboy for inspiration and to keep from any possible self-sabotage.


I need support people...call or drop me an IM.