Monthly Archives: July 2017

Day 4 & 5/10: Summer Writing Afternoons

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Four and five today because Day 4 turned into a day trip to the Zoo with my family. It was lovely, if less productive and secretly shackling.

Today was great as I got 1,000 words out in my afternoon session. Unlike other times, I got right to where I left off this time and only cleaned previous parts when needing to backtrack anyway. Had a fine flow going until I got a phone call, but it all worked out well enough regardless. Having spent so much time on my Gilche/Daegolor story lines compared to anything else in the past year, I will have to reread everything I have on any other story line to continue. This chapter asks me to merge with Daia’s, so… lots of backreading coming up. Oh, to write daily and keep it all in my nebula.

My favourite extract today details a warrior: “He wore his skin like a carapace, as if it toughened to stone just by constraining his immense proportions.”

Day 3/10: Summer Writing Afternoons

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Today I battled with concerns oft battled – those of if I am throwing too many story lines together into this one, and if it would be better if I could split the book cleanly into two. There are certainly enough separate parts, but also many times they entwine. I didn’t get to writing until about 2:30 due to organizing, so 600 words is fine for two hours. I need to have it outlined before continuing too far, and hopefully I see to that in the next few nights. Must know the section goals!

My fav extract today is from a Sveldtlander ceremony:

 
“Dorgoga’s thirsty morning was far from quenched, yet the Joss Face Eaters stood with heads downturned, still and solemn, as Dancetrap performed the Meditation of Death.
 
More a dirge than a dance, the aged spiritflinger’s arms spread wide, satha fanned out behind him, tips brushing the meager grasses to resemble the outstretched wings of a crow. He ululated the collective mourning of the clan in a low groan akin to rolling thunder, skeletal fingers trembling mid-air and releasing minor spirits in offering for Hugulk, the endae’s chosen spiritcatcher. Dancetrap shook and occasionally flicked his wrists, releasing what was otherwise held within the confines of his reverent chain. Broad-faced Hugulk leapt about the incantation circle, snatching said spirits from the air before they could be lost to the sky. His expression a mix of indignation and unflinching resolve, the glistening veteran showed his thirst, for the minor spirits were as numerous as __________’s spirit was strong, and the sweat rolled freely.
 
A murmur ran through the mourners, whose eyes always secretly followed the spiritcatcher’s dance, as Hugulk missed three of a possible four flings in a row. A small thing, but the spirits would now nourish the yellow life-giver instead of remaining at the behest of the clan during the bloodshed that now seemed inevitable. Impatient, he waited for the impending rise in Dancetrap’s pitch that would begin the heraldry of the life-giver and mark the end of the ceremony.”

Day 2/10: Summer Writing Afternoons

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Okay, so I spent most of today editing and improving what I wrote yesterday while finishing the section. It’s not my fault! I stumbled upon a beautiful parallel and had to do some surgery to include it. Now it ends with such a thump, to me, that I swapped where it was in the chapter so it can end it instead. Always good to end on a high note. Now onwards! Sidenote: has any fantasy book you know included a bestiary at the end?
 
Fav extract for today: “Turning away from the woeful celebration, a cool plains wind swirled up and tussled his hair. He found himself gazing out at the distant Lake of Songs. In the descendant darkness the water was speckled with a thousand lights, an insult of boat-faring outliers sitting back with loved ones and letting the gentle breeze skim them along. A night remarkable only in its gaiety. Nearby, the wall loomed black, its peaks illuminated by the tracing glow of more than a thousand lights within. The contrast pained his breast a second time.”

Day 1/10: Summer Writing Afternoons

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Though I was woefully tired for the first few hours, it was so nice to actually write new content again after 1.5 years of tending to Purge of Ashes. I wrote 600 words, but reread/cleaned 16 pages to get there while remembering everything, so I should be ready to go Wednesday. Of course, the scene only has about a page left before I have to hop somewhere else, so… we’ll see. But overall: a great start! Hooray!

Fav extract, at duel’s end: “There was no taste of victory. Only heart-pounding fear and the certainty of death. A part of him still shrieked awareness, unable to shake that certainty. It was so recent. So fully true in his mind, he could not shed its veracity. Trembling hands dropped his weapon and seemed to turn to face him, asking the price of what they wrought. The necessity of his actions did not accustom him to their execution, and as ________ hefted him into the blazing night, amid swarms of brethren crying his name in triumph, _______ floundered in his fortune while his other self thrust both knuckles together, howling delight to the white smudge of the moon.”