Tag: tolkien

Writing

The Yearly Writing Round-up!- 2017/2018

Emily

Here we are again, another year come and gone. It’s time to look back, see what I accomplished in 2017, and lay out the plan for 2018. It’s been…quite a year.

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A lot happened in my personal life, which heavily affected my writing. I lost my grandmother, and then my grandfather eight months later. Grief is a hard thing to work through, even knowing both of them are no longer suffering. Harvey came, and he was a jerk, as anyone living in Southeast Texas knows. I have several friends still dealing with the repercussions of that particular asshole. There were other things going on in my life as well, all of which made it difficult to stick to schedules. It always felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

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All of that to say, I’m trying to be kind to myself, to celebrate the victories and let the other stuff go. It’s hard (especially when I have so many plans and not enough time), but one of my intangible goals this year is to stop comparing my writing life to the lives of others and do what I can do, while still making time for myself. I’m really bad at that.

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Anyway, let’s take a look at my goals from 2017!

Overall goals for the year: Edit and (Finished, Q1/Q2/Q3) Publish “The Stars Are Fire” (now titled “Doubt The Stars”) (Finished Q4) Write (Finished, Q2), Edit, and Post “Good Intentions”; Finish Writing “Double The Baggins, Twice The Took” (Finished, Q3); Finish Writing “Wonderland Reclaimed”; Write first draft of Tempest in Space novel (tentatively titled “Such Stuff As Dreams”) (Finished Q4)

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Blogging, Writing

The Quarterly Writing Round Up!- Q3, 2017

Emily

Oh my gosh, it’s a new quarter already!

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2017 is just flying by. If it could slow down a just a smidge I would be fine with that, actually. No? Alright then.

Here’s a recap of my goals for the year, in case you don’t want to go back and read the original post:

Overall goals for the year: Edit and (Finished, Q1/Q2/Q3) Publish “The Stars Are Fire” (now titled “Doubt The Stars”); Write (Finished, Q2), Edit, and Post “Good Intentions”; Finish Writing “Double The Baggins, Twice The Took” (Finished, Q3); Finish Writing “Wonderland Reclaimed”; Write first draft of Tempest in Space novel (tentatively titled “Such Stuff As Dreams”)

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Blogging, Writing

The Quarterly Writing Round Up!- Q2, 2017

Emily

Welcome to Q2, y’all!

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Halfway through 2017 and I’m feeling pretty good (despite what you are about to see). A lot of things are coming together, setting up the second half of the year to likely be a cascade of productivity!

Here’s a recap of my goals for the year, in case you don’t want to go back and read the original post:

Overall goals for the year: Edit and (Finished, Q1/Q2) Publish “The Stars Are Fire” (now titled “Doubt The Stars”); Write (Finished, Q2), Edit, and Post “Good Intentions”; Finish Writing “Double The Baggins, Twice The Took”; Finish Writing “Wonderland Reclaimed”; Write first draft of Tempest in Space novel (tentatively titled “Such Stuff As Dreams”)

Continue reading “The Quarterly Writing Round Up!- Q2, 2017” →

Blogging, Writing

The Yearly Writing Round-up!- 2016/2017

Emily

It’s that time of year again! Time to take a look back, see what I’ve accomplished this year, and lay out my tentative plan for 2017. This is going to basically be an elongated Quarterly Round-up post, so let’s start with a recap of the goals I had going into 2016.

Overall goals for the year: Finish Changing History rewrites DONE! (Q1, February), Finish first draft of Changing History: Entwives DONE! (Q3, July), Write the Worth Living For short that I’ve been planning for ages, DONE! (Q3, July) Edit and begin posting Clarity DONE! (Q2, June), Finish the first draft of all three parts of Wonderland Reclaimed.
Reward Project: If I finish Wonderland Reclaimed, I can write my Avengers: Age of Ultron fic for NaNoWriMo in November.

As I mentioned in my Q3 round up, I’m pretty happy with having completed 4 out of 5 of my goals for the year. Wonderland Reclaimed… well, it’s going to have to take a back burner for a while. I feel like I maybe could work through its issues eventually, but I’m going to be a little busy with The Stars Are Fire in the next year, and I already have plans for another book in that loosely connected universe, so… we’ll see how it goes 🙂

Other notable highlights from the year include:

  • March- Began posting Double The Baggins, Twice The Took (15 chapters posted, 2016)

This was an unexpected addition to my workload this year, but not entirely unwelcome. I’ve enjoyed working on this fic and it has taken the place of Changing History in my life quite nicely. Though I do hope it won’t take me 15 years to finish! ;P

  • July- Finished posting Clarity

I honestly did not expect to finish this story this year. I expected to still be posting it well into January. But it was so… easy. Really, this whole process flowed so smoothly (even if sometimes it didn’t feel like it was) that once it got down to posting, it was simple. It was a real encouragement, especially as I had so much trouble finishing Changing History this year.

  • October- Finished the Changing History saga

This was a bittersweet moment for me. One of those moments I thought would never come, and certainly never expected to come this year. 15 years of imagination and now, it’s over. I legit cried.

  • October/November- The Stars Are Fire original novel

This one truly came out of left field and I once again have to thank my writing group for making this possible. I’m hoping for this to be the book that I (finally) publish in 2017, and honestly, even as a rough draft that I know needs work, I’m really proud of it.

And a few stats, just for fun!

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  • New words written– 112,610 (across five stories)
  • Fanfiction chapters posted– 75 (across five stories)
  • Stories Completed– 4

What’s Coming Up in 2017

Overall goals for the year: Edit and Publish “The Stars Are Fire”; Write, Edit, and Post “Good Intentions”; Finish Writing “Double The Baggins, Twice The Took”; Finish Writing “Wonderland Reclaimed”; Write first draft of Tempest in Space novel (tentatively titled “Such Stuff As Dreams”)

So another five goals for 2017! These are a bit more ambitious, but based on what I was able to do in 2016, I think they are doable. I also have a non-quantitative goal of trying out dictation for my brainstorming and possibly even my first drafts. I’ve been hearing a lot of good things regarding dictation and writing productivity, so I thought I would give it a try and see if I can’t incorporate some more walking into my life. Healthier and more productive? Sign me up!

I loved doing the Quarterly Round-Ups last year, so I plan to continue the tradition into 2017! Here are my goals for the first quarter!

  • January– First month of NaNoWriMo’s “Now What?” months, focusing on revising and editing. TSAF- make character sketches, flesh out settings, build up the system of planets, research the tech, and figure out my themes. Dictate my brainstorming for “Good Intentions”. Post four chapters of DBTT.
  • February– Second month of NaNoWriMo’s “Now What?”. Self-edit TSAF. Continue to dictate brainstorming for “Good Intentions”. Post four chapters of DBTT (possibly start dictating new words?).
  • March– Give TSAF to a select number of readers for feedback. Translate my dictation brainstorming to a workable outline for “Good Intentions”. Post four chapters of DBTT and write 25,000 new words (possibly through dictation).

I’ll be honest, I’m a little nervous about this. A lot of it rides on my dictation experiment being a success. If not, I might have some trouble getting all of these things accomplished. But I’m going to try it, and if it doesn’t work, well, I’ll modify my goals for Q2! 😀

And our adorable animal to start out the new year!

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The capybara! The world’s largest rodent (and arguably the cutest as well):

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Babies!!!

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Look at him, he’s so chill! 😀

Happy New Year, everyone! See you guys in a month!

Writing

The Last Goodbye- Farewell to a Saga

Emily

If you are reading this, then it’s over. Changing History, the fanfiction saga that has encompassed my life for the past 15 years (off and on) is finally complete.

I must admit to mixed feelings. On the one hand, I’m very pleased with the results of my hard work. I’ve reached so many people over the years with this story, far more than I ever imagined I would, and I’ve learned so much about myself as a writer. And I feel like I’ve done the story justice, as if I’ve said the things I set out to say. I’m also very excited for the many other projects I have in the works, both fanfiction and original.

But I must also admit to a disconnected feeling. I sit down to the keyboard and my first thought is still “What do I need to do for Changing History?” Discovering that the answer is “Nothing” has been a strange sensation. I find myself asking if I’ll even know what to do with myself now, without Mel and Boromir urging me on. They have been a part of my life for so long, leaving them behind seems almost unimaginable. But I know that I must. I leave them in good hands, the capable hands of readers who love them and who will keep them alive. And while they will always be special to me,  and I owe them so much, it is time for me to let them go, to release their hold on me and give myself to other things, other projects, other dreams.

So long, Calenhiril. Be at peace, Son of Gondor.

No gelin idh raid lîn, a no adel len i chwest.
(May your paths be green and the breeze behind you.)