Whomp Whomp

PseudoWriMo was kind of a bust after the first 10 days or so. Whomp whomp!

As soon as I can get past finals (finish the 13th) and a friend leaves town (the 18th) finishing this story is ON.

ON, I say!

Will write more as it happens...

PseudoWriMo update #1

So, "PseudoWriMo" (as I am calling it) is going ridiculously well! So well that perhaps I am a little afraid of how it is going to crash and burn in the near future?

I've finished with Chapter 4 and am already a page and a half into Chapter 5. The Shift covers almost 2000 years of time, from when Legolas is born until just before the War of the Ring... so it's kind of bizarre to write that Legolas is born in chapter 3, grows from infant to toddler in chapter 4, and is 15 in chapter 5. But I am pushing myself along just so I can meet my deadline in December!

If I can write 15000 words by the end of the month, I can (at an average of 2500 words/chapter) complete 6 whole chapters by the end of it, pushing me to chapter 10. By the end of December (because PseudoWriMo pretty much will become PseudoWriMos so I can finish!) I can make it through to the end of chapter 15, which is all I have mapped out at this point. Chapter 15 is already scripted (you will understand why soon enough! And by 'soon' I really mean 'within a year or so'), so really I just need to make the intervening chapters something of interest, right?

Anyway, with a final word count goal of 2500 today, I am at 2859! Perhaps I will push myself a little farther and write more of chapter 5, because I'm on a roll tonight!

More soon enough. Enjoy your weekend!

Some News!

By in large, I have been almost entirely inactive in the way of posting on this blog because, honestly, I have been almost entirely inactive in the way of writing. Writing = fodder for posting to le blog. I've written a whole paragraph ("a whole paragraph!" they shout, "nothing more than that?!") but it is Novembertime, and Novembertime, as I am sure you know, is NaNoWriMo. (NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, which is a month-long effort to write 1667 words a day to complete a 50,000 word novel by the end of the month. You can read about my NaNo exploits from last year here.)

Now, before you jump out of your chairs and cheer for me, let me strap you back in and disappoint you from the getgo by saying NO, I will NOT be participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Last year proved to me what a disaster it can make of my studies and I cannot allow myself to be sucked into that, no matter how tempting it is that it is November 1st and I am not writing a new novel.

Although I will not be participating in NaNo this year, I will, however, use this time to write. In the spirit of NaNo, I hereby promise that I will write at LEAST 500 words every day from November 1st to November 30th, which brings me to a total tally of 15,000 words by the end of November. (500 words is about a page.) This is totally doable. It will force me to continue writing the story, which has been at a standstill for a good few months now.

I still have a deadline of December 31st for this story, and goshdarnit I will be MAKING that deadline. December only involves classes till the 3rd, final exams until the 13th, and then sweet, sweet freedom.

The Musician

I know, I know.

STEFANIE. What the HELL. Where have you BEEN.

Answer? School. It sucks up all of my time. Literally. So now, when I am busiest, I seem to have the CRAZY idea that I have time to write. Well, I had 15 minutes last night, and came up with this. I don't know if it's good, but my friend Ally seemed to like it when I read it to her at 2 in the morning after what could best be described as a marathon homeworkathon.

Music has always been a great inspiration to me, and being a pianist of more than 13 years, I understand how music, especially that which you created yourself, can fill you and heal you in so many ways. Personally, I imagine the musician playing a piano, but as those wouldn't have existed in Middle Earth, it's really up to you, the reader, what she is playing. The main character, though also ambiguous except for his sex, I imagine as Legolas because - come on - this is me we're talking about.

In other news, I still have my December deadline for my first Metamorphosis. We shall see how that works out. (Siobhan has threatened to hunt me down and... make me finish it!)

One Shots

Recently, I've been on a one shot jag... I just really want to write a few of them before I go back to The Shift.

The first one shot was Lin and Cirvel's story - the circumstances which they met and how they fell in love. I tried very hard to explain how Lin was before Cirvel, how much of a control freak she was, how shy and young she had been... just so you can see progress between the two stories. Siobhan assures me she loves the story, but I am unconvinced of its readiness so far.

The other one shot comes from my total obsession with Maroon 5. I've been listening to their CDs constantly in the last few weeks! The lyrics of "Little of your Time" particularly inspired me to try my hand at writing a one shot based on the lyrics. Hopefully Siobhan will pronounce it worthy of my profile and will edit it better for me!

School has just started now, so you can expect either a whole lot more from me or a whole lot less... it's hard to tell during the semester!

On Prolific Writers

I have mixed opinions about extremely prolific writers. (Writers with upwards of 40 stories)

On the one hand, I am very glad that they have so much to write about, that they are so creative and I'm sure that they have very good things to contribute (I haven't read many of them, to be honest.) But somehow when I see an account that's been active for a few years and 70 or 80 stories I get put off somehow. Part of it would be that I have no idea where to begin with reading their stuff, and part of it would be the same reason why I don't buy into extremely prolific writers who are being published "in the real world". Somehow I can't seem to believe that they are that original after so much writing in that short a time.

I spend a great deal of time tending to my stories, trying to make each and every one different from each other, even if some of them aren't all that different from other stories in the fandom. It takes me years to write it and get it right, so how is it that these other writers can slap anything and everything up on their profiles so quickly? I mean, I'm beginning to feel like I am building up a decent portfolio of writing at this point in time, and I'm only sixteen stories and seven years into the site.

Ah, well. That's enough for now.

In other news, I've written another page and a half of chapter 3. I think it's almost finished!

Breaking it Down

I say pretty often that I think that my earlier fanfiction is rather cringe-worthy. I don't mind if people read it (in fact, I am rather enthusiastic when people read it) but what I've discovered is my REAL problem with that fanfiction is that it no longer represents me and who I am and what I feel I want to present to the world.

So as an exercise for me and for your reading pleasure, I am going to sum up what my fanfiction says to or about me, if anything, and the age at which I published the story (which, in the case of my two longer one-shots, is not indicative of the age at which I began writing it)

1) Not Knowing: What this story says to me is that I was very enthusiastic about beginning my writing career. It kind of screams "OMG I'M LIKE TOTALLY WRITING A STORY! /SQUEE!" and it definitely highlights what I liked to read in a story at the time - epic fluff. (Age at publishing date: 13)

2) Secrets: My excursion into a second story, what I see as an experiment with "needing character flaws" and fighting to (and failing to) not insert myself into every character I created. Slightly darker character background, though you don't see it in the story. (Age: 13)

3) Moonlight Meeting: Lord of the Rings poetry... We were writing poems in my Language Arts class at the time, and I remember writing this for that. I'd say it highlights my fascination with the Strong and Silent Type. (Age: 14)

4) The Simple Valentine: This was my first excursion into excluding as much dialogue possible. An experiment with simply description telling a tale. (Age: 14)

5) Coiasira A'Auta Eska: I'd say my first true AU story from the very getgo. The others were definitely AU, but not always intentionally! I wanted a more lighthearted story, but let the characters get away from me. Legolas' character twist (i.e. being a man whore) later in the story was a decision I made when I was a little older (it wasn't part of the plans from the beginning) and kind of simultaneously ruined and made the story for me. (Age: 14)

6) A Night in the Mountain: I love fluff and I love Arkarian, so here, have 5000 words of it. This was my first excursion into another fandom, and the writing style is very different because of it. While writing this, I remember being really awkward about the sex scene, lol! (Age: 16)

7) Elves Among Us: My first long story one shot, and a writing exercise that many people write about. It took me forever to write, and really was just me having fun with modern day Earth matching Middle Earth characters. (Age: 16, probably 13 or 14 when I began writing it)

8) Upon Earth's Opening: This was my first experiment with a darker plot, with a darker, stronger character. This was definitely my first story that had a character-driven plot, as opposed to a plot-driven plot. (Age: 16)

9) And Set Me Free, My Love: After my success with the Guardians of Time fandom, I wanted to write a poemfic. Et voila! Because of its length, it doesn't say much about me, other than a sudden interest in characters that are not main characters. (Age: 16)

10) Understanding Elemental: Back into Fanya and Legolas' world, and the first time I ever wrote Fanfiction of my own Fanfiction. Virana is not a character I would have liked to follow for very long, and the oneshot was perfect for her. (Age: 19)

11) Never Realizing: A change in writing style that suited where I was in life, having just started college and being unable to put much effort into a longer story. Also, my first male main character. (Age: 19)

12) The Blossoming: A further venture into a third fandom, and a Night-In-The-Mountain-esque love of Fluff and Lots Of It, (except with a better writing style, I think.) (Age: 19)

13) The House on the Hill: My only venture into Harry Potter, and one of my darker visions. Voldemort requires it, though. (Age: 19)

14) Him: I love little random oneshots, and this was a short, angsty one about Thranduil missing his son. What I introduced into my writing at this point was an awareness of word choice and the exclusions of certain words to further the plot (for this one it was Legolas' name, which Thranduil avoids saying until he actually sees his son at the end.) (Age: 19)

15) Earth's Final Closure: What this says to me is that this story is the reason why I am writing this blog, although you don't see it with the publishing dates. The 16-year-old me who wrote Upon Earth's Opening is a very different person from the 20-year-old who just published this story. It was a struggle to go back even 2 years to when I started to write it and even more of a struggle to go back 4 years to Caen's character. (Age: 20)

16) The Loss: A more serious look into the lives of Arkarian and Isabel, and definitely my most angsty fanfic yet. I wanted to write something that wasn't all fluffy fluff for the fandom. Also, I wanted to experiment with a sex scene that was more destructive to the characters than constructive to the plot. (Age: 20)

So I don't know if any of that is helpful, interesting, or at all coherent... but there you have it! 16 stories.

What I find most amusing about the age I was at publishing dates is that it definitely speaks to my interest in writing and fanfiction at the time. The years that have none were some of the most formative years I had, and because of that I found I wasn't as creative. (I believe creativity comes out of stability, you see.)

13: 2

14: 3

15: 0

16: 4

17: 0

18: 0

19: 5

20: 2

The Loss!

The Loss, my latest Guardians of Time fic has been posted! Visit HERE to give it a read! (Warning: Sexual content)

Thanks go to both Siobhan and Ally, they both were very good betas!

Lots of writing has occurred over the last month or so while Siobhan was here. I am about halfway finished with Chapter 3 of The Shift... and if I want to have it finished, I better get my ass in gear! (I swear, I can just feel Siobhan across the ocean nodding to my statement.)

But as photographic proof... look. Here is us hard at work.

Well, hard at work...ish. Really.

(Stop looking at me like that!)

Earth's Final Closure!

EFC has been POSTED! Go here to give it a read!

Many thanks go to Siobhan for being the fabulously meticulous beta that she is! In 18 pages she found more than 400 things to correct... kudos to her!

(those who are clever will notice that we are SUNBURNT...)

Also, many thanks go to the ridiculous amount of coffee and tea that have gone into the wrapping up of the story.

(Yeahhh... Starbucks. Patron beverage of writers around the world!)

Development Stints

In the land of writing, there has not been much recently! In the land of development of plot, there has also been a distinct lack of progress... and finally in the land of editing, there HAS been progress!

As I am sure you remember, Siobhan sent my chapters back to me in shreds, which I then corrected and have put away into their little slots on my hard drive.

The GoT fic (which I named, but the name I am not as pleased with as I hoped I would be) has been sent to another friend Ally (penname CSG4ME) who said she'd like to have a look over it (and who has actually read the series) and as soon as she finishes, it will be uploaded onto ffnet. And at least by the end of July, I will have EFC edited and uploaded. (That is the plan, and I am sticking to it!)

Summer school is almost over, and when that ends Siobhan will arrive! I expect a lot to develop over the three weeks that she is here!

Beast

Siobhan is a beast. I sent her three chapters (chapter 1, most of chapter 2, and the Guardians of Time fic) and she returned each one of them with all of her various descriptive and adverbial additions (she loves her description - I tend to suck at it the first run through) and a sum total of 393 alterations between the three.

I love her. Nothing is so humbling than to know that in 19 pages of work she can find an average of 20 things to correct on each page. That's why she's such a more brilliant editor than me.

In recent writing news, I have wrapped up chapter 2 of The Shift in longhand form. I'll type that up sometime this week, do the preliminary edits, and then send chapter 2 back to Siobhan so she can tear it to pieces. I love getting chapters back in ratty tatters.

They're shiny!

I've been working my new trilogy for probably a year and a half now, though in the beginning it was a very different concept. I wrote three chapters in quick succession, lost the inspiration to continue (something just wasn't right about it), and the plot bunny scurried off into the distance. But, having seven years of experience with this kind of stuff beneath my belt, I saved the files and tucked them away neatly in a folder, waiting to be rediscovered and re-realized as absolutely brilliant. (Of course they're absolutely brilliant, though I may be a leetle bit biased.)

I don't mind sharing an excerpt from the prologue I wrote then, because it does a good job of explaining my approach and really, this was a good beginning but I probably won't be using any of it in the actual story!

Since the first moment I laid eyes upon that elf, he’s had a habit of appearing abruptly and disappearing just as suddenly. At first when I would see him, he would be a disheveled young elfling, hair sticking out at odd angles and clutching at his training bow. He had worn a wicked smile on his face and would duck behind the nearest and most convenient statue in the gardens, clearly hiding from pursuers who would capture him and drag him back to his lessons. Shortly after his appearance, two unsympathetic and entirely anticipated elves would appear, spot their charge, and do exactly what they always did: drag him back to his lessons. His high-pitched yells of protests and whiny complaints would always echo around the halls for all to hear.

Into his adulthood, there came less of him in the halls and more of him on the fields. No longer could he leave the halls, since he was hardly ever home. His place as one of the captains of the army of the wood meant that he had a duty, and that duty, coupled with the crown on his brow, held precedence over any of his childish tendencies. He seemed to forget, or at least put aside, his days of tomfoolery over the years. Usually when I was sure that he had given it up altogether, I would catch him staring longingly at the door and would know who was really behind that well-mannered and composed royal façade.

Obviously that's not the entire prologue, but it gives you an idea of what I began with and where I wanted the story to go. While the premise of the story is still the same (Legolas dealing with compulsivity and other issues to do with discomfort in his own skin) the scale of the story is now much larger, spanning three full-length (at least 50,000-word) stories that are taken from three different points of view and while they will all be sufficiently standalone, they will be more easily read and understood in order. It is an entire new collection of characters, who, already, are some of my favorites.

In the interest of creating something as detailed and realistic as possible, I will be writing one-shots or short stories to do with my new family of characters in order to make sure that I am being consistent and thorough as possible. I will be posting these as I go along and not, likely, with any kind of planning involved. They'll probably be released as I see the need to write them.

What has been gnawing away at my brain recently has been the fact that, while I have these wonderful stories planned, I don't have any titles! So the other day, I spent a good deal of time working on the them. I wrote down what I wanted each of them to portray, what aspects of each story I wanted them to emphasize, and consulted what seemed like hundreds of words in my thesaurus before I came to a collection of titles I approved of. The more I looked at them and thought about them, the more appropriate they seemed.

So without further ado, The Metamorphoses Triology: The Shift, The Battle, and The Inheritance.

They're shiny, they're new, and they're perfect.

-----

Also, I have finished writing the Guardian's of Time one-shot, which I have titled The Loss, though I will perhaps change it. That will be posted by the end of the month!

Handwritten

In the last two years or so I've taken to writing by hand and then typing it up as I go along. The process slows my thoughts and makes me think about what is exiting my brain and actually making it to the page. Sometimes what goes down in ink actually makes it to the 'final cut'. Most of the time I will write something and as I am typing it up I will edit. It forces me into the first stage of editing, which I have never really enjoyed.

Having a beta has been great all of these years, but to be honest it's only been in the last two or three years that I've really taken a good look at what gets sent out. It's never the best it could be - but before now it's been: "Write it, send it, let Siobhan deal with it."

I guess I have higher standards now.

In any case, yesterday I was typing up something I'd written about three weeks ago while wasting time in Barnes and Nobles (I do so love to waste time in that bookstore!) and what had been five solid pages of black ink and hours of meticulously crafting the words barely made one page typed up. I threw away a lot of what I'd written. It just wasn't good, it didn't fit the story, it was dragging a point that I realized I didn't want to drag that far. I mourn the loss of the words, but hey. First drafts are like that, I guess! (Hear that? I'm LEARNING.)

Today, I will be working on EFC and the Guardians of Time one-shot. I am also thinking of finding some kind of "works in progress" bar for the sidebar of the blog.

Closure... Almost.

So for AGES (really, since I finished writing Caen's story Upon Earth's Opening) I've been trying to wrap up her tale. The way that I finished her story (in case you don't remember) was very sudden and there were a lot of loose ends. In the interest of finishing the story and not dragging out the end, I got the idea to write some kind of one-shot sequel in order to wrap everything up. So, Earth's Final Closure was born.

I've been writing it for about two years, and while it's not very long (It is nearing 20 pages), it's taken a while to get things right. I wanted to mix flashbacks with Caen's present. Flashbacks of, say, her arrival in Valinor, her last moments with Arwen, and even a fight with Legolas. All the while, she is getting ready for and marrying Legolas. It's a pretty straightforward story, I just have found it hard to push through for several reasons:

In the time that has elapsed since I finished publishing UEO, I have written another story (Elfaer's story, Never Realizing) and began working on an entirely new trilogy, (which I have yet to name). So in the two or so years that it has taken me to write this, I kind of feel like I have lost touch with the characters.

I have found that as I mature, my idea of Legolas changes - the quirks of his personality are different, his eye color (I need to create some kind of chart or cheat sheet for myself, because I can't seem to choose one!), his weaknesses... they always change for me. The Legolas that I was writing about then was a very different one from the Legolas that I am writing about now. That Legolas is, well, history to me. So going back in time four years to recapture what it was that I found appealing to me then has been difficult to say the least.

I am almost finished! I wrote a lot over the weekend, and I really only have one or two more hurdles/major scenes left. That being said, I have a few goals.

By the end of the year, I think I will want to have posted three things:

1) EFC (Duh.) I am giving myself a July 2010 deadline.

2) A prequel to my newest series, which will detail my main character's relationship with her husband before the series begins. This will have a November 2010 deadline.

3) Another Guardians of Time one-shot. My first one was so successful that I have been wanting to write another one for a while now. This one will also be about Arkarian and Isabel, just of a very different nature! I am giving myself a July 2010 deadline on this one, too.

By the end of this year, I hope to be finished writing the first new story, Lin's story. I promise I will write more about this soon. I want to be completely finished with the trilogy by the end of 2012. I know this seems like a long time, but trust me. It took me 3 years to write Not Knowing, 2 to write Upon Earth's Opening, and 1 to write Never Realizing. I will give myself about a year to write each story. This is totally doable!

Let Me Introduce You to a Mermaid

Let me introduce you to my writer BFF.


(I stole that off of her facebook page. I just think it looks cool.)

Her penname is Mermaid Sushi. Her real name is Siobhan.

Siobhan and I are besties, but, like in every good story of a friendship, we have our problems. The biggest problem is the Atlantic Ocean.

Siobhan is also a writer. (You should get to know her better, because you'll be hearing a LOT about her on this blog. I may even let her write on it. This is her profile. It hasn't got much in the way of good writing on it (just kidding!) but it'll be getting better soon. She is writing this Story of Epic Proportions which will knock y'all flat, you just wait.)

Siobhan is my British Bestie, and we met each other long ago when she left me this review

and then I read her stuff and left her reviews, then she read more of my stuff and left me more reviews, and then I wanted a beta, and then she wanted to be my beta, and out of that review-seeking, beta-offering haze: BAM. FRIENDSHIP.

Now, one of the things I enjoy being the product of an American mother and a British father is the opportunity to travel a bit more often and a bit farther than the average American and, having the opportunity to go to England over Christmas break of 2004, I got to finally meet her in person.

To embarrass her (and quite frankly, me) further, here is us!

Aww, what wee 14 and 15 years olds we were! (Those of you who are clever, will note that we are indeed in London, and indeed in front of the London Eye!)

Well, after that, we lost touch for a few years. Because, well, it's hard to be Besties with just an internet connection!

Two years ago, as a high school graduation present I traveled for two months around Europe. On a whim, I emailed her to tell her the dates I would be in England, and we immediately reconnected. I stayed with her for a few days, and we took more embarrassing pictures:

(Those of you who are clever will have no idea where we are. This was Siobhan's 18th birthday, and we were in a dance hall. Also, we were drunk. It was her 18th birthday. Enough said.)

We spent the time writing, I inspired her to resume writing the story that she has been writing for like seven years (it's almost finishshed-ish!) and she helped me wrap up my second multi-chapter story, Upon Earth's Opening.

Our most recent visit was this last Christmas.

(Those of you who are clever will note that we are cold in this photo. It was snowing. Also, we were drunk, coming home from the pub. I wonder if I see a recurring theme?)

There was just as much talk about writing this time around, but this time it sparked the idea for my newest story which has yet to be named, and will someday be discussed on this blog. Someday soon, I promise. Once I finish up the huge one-shot sequel to Upon Earth's Opening, Earth's Final Closure. EFC is 14 pages long right now and is almost finished!

So, Siobhan is my beta, and I am hers. What is great about having her edit my stuff is that she knows me so well that even when I don't get something right, she knows exactly what I am trying to say and fixes it for me. She probably knows my writing better than I do at this point!

She is who I go to for ideas, for inspiration, and for a good kick in the butt. And believe me, a well-placed kick every once and a while does not go unrewarded. Usually that is all it takes for me to spin off into my own little world of writing and fiction. (Tonight, for example, she made me write about 700 words.)

So, in conclusion... it's her turn to cross the Atlantic now. See you in July, Siobhan!

Ivy Starts Here

So, I've decided to start a blog.

Well, that's not entirely true.

I have decided to start another blog. I already have a blog. It's here, in case you're interested. I've been blogging there for years. It's kind of my spot to talk to my family these days, and frequently I want to talk about my writing there, but it feels weird. My family knows I am a writer - this we established long ago - but having just celebrated my seventh "Writerversary" (The anniversary of when I first started writing. Which is May 31st, in case you were wondering!) I have been thinking long and hard (okay not that long OR that hard) about starting a blog devoted to my writing escapades and adventures.

They're not so much escapades OR adventures as much as I would hope, but hey. That's what this blog is for, right? You take a little this and a little that and turn it into a HUGE DEAL.

So here I am, Stefanie, writer extraordinaire, sometimes known as Ivy, the notorious-ish 'The Hobbit Ivy' of the land of Fanfiction.net!

I am a Lord of the Rings fanfiction canon-whore, a fierce beta, an aspiring editor (in real life, I know!), a longtime lover of fluff and a writer who has seen her fandom prosper and wither throughout the last decade.

Here, I will write about my writing. It's pretty simple, actually. I'll write and then I'll write about it. Perhaps it will keep me motivated?

Get ready, blogosphere. Yall ain't seen nothing yet.