Tag: novel writing advice

Blog Frenzy – Day 11

Meg DowellLeave a comment

Word count: 63,712. Chapter: 27. Page: 192.

I don’t think I’ll be able to finish this thing today like I would have hoped. I have homework to do, and more scholarships/program layout to do. And laundry to put away. Yes, Colleen, my laundry was hiding in my closet the entire time. Heehee.

I got sunburn through my shirt. I’m not exactly sure how that happened. But I sat outside most of the day in the sun and worked on this chapter that I’m still not done with. I’m adding in a few eements to this thing that I wasn’t really expecting to put in, so it’s taking a little longer to think through. But that’s okay, because I think I’m going to miss these characters. There are still more stories I have to tell about them, of course, but I’m going to have to put them on hold. School kind of needs to be my priority right now.

I still haven’t gone to Borders. But honestly, I can’t risk too many more distractions right now. The good news is, I’m turning in all my hours this week. So I’ll have those responsibilities off my chest. I can’t wait! In other news, I want to color in a coloring book.

Love&hugs, Meg♥

Blog Frenzy – Day 10

Meg DowellLeave a comment

As of this moment, I’m at 60,804 words.

Yesterday was kind of a slow day. I didn’t get much writing done in biology, only because my prof kept talking about things that aren’t in the book or notes. So I actually sort of had to pay attention to what he was saying. But that was okay, because I learned plenty of things about wolves that I never would have known otherwise. Did you know that their gestation period is only 63 days? That’s because they mate in January and February, and they have to be somewhat grown before the winter comes around again, or it’s not likely that they’ll survive. But you probably either already knew that or wish you didn’t.

I’m not sure how many words I’m going to be able to get in today. I somehow got stuck designing the programs for NHS’s induction ceremony next month (at least I get paid in hours). And I have two scholarships due next week. I think. But I might as well get as many of them done today as possible, because I’m also extremely behind on all of my schoolwork. Seriously. Weeks behind.

This is why I wanted to get my novel finished this weekend. But we’ll see how that goes. I could either work on it all day today and possibly get it even closer to completion, and get all my work done at the last minute tomorrow. Or I could try to be responsible and get all my work done this morning, so I have all the time in the world tomorrow to work on my novel, no pressure.

Personally, I like the second option. You’re not even supposed to do real work on Sundays, anyway.

Right now, Melanie is getting lectured by an unexpected mentor. But the advice she’s being given is actually proving to be useful. So she’s going to visit some people before the day is done. But that’s all I’m going to say, because Evie is sitting at her laptop going, “I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you.” Except she doesn’t really hate me. She just hates the fact that I’m keeping novel secrets from her and tossing out hints along the way. Hints that she’s totally not even picking up.

Or is she?

On top of scholarship essays and program designing, my room somehow got messy again without me noticing. So I should probably take care of that before it gets out of control (again). You know, I’m still not really sure how that happens. You clean your room and expect it to stay that way. For a few days, you make the extra effort to put everything in its place and make your bed, etc. And then a few more days go by, and you start getting lazy. The next thing you know, you can’t see your floor. And you’re almost afraid to go in there.

I’m pretty sure I only have like five weeks of school left. Of course, I’m not even free after that, because I have to take the ACT at college orientation. But that’s okay. I’m not going to spend twelve hours a day three weeks in a row studying for it. Though, if I did, there’s a good chance I’d get that 28 I’m pushing for. College is expensive. For some reason, higher test scores equal more money I won’t have to pay back later. I don’t really understand the whole concept. I always score lower on tests than I should. Except for the high school placement tests, when they told me I should skip algebra 1 and go right into geometry. Yeah, right.

I’m not going to tell you how many more chapters are left. But I’m very excited for each and every one of them! Except for the next one. I haven’t really figured out how it fits into the rest of the novel yet. That’s sort of a problem. But oh well.

I’ll try not to let all this work kill me. And if it does, you’ll never know. Because no one else knows my password.

Love&hugs, Meg♥

Blog Frenzy – Day 8

Meg DowellLeave a comment

I seriously need to stop waking up at ten o’clock. Now I’m way behind on what I was supposed to get done today when I should have woken up at 7:30. Fascinating.

 The good news is, i had a free day yesterday. No cummunications (and little communicating whatsoever with the world, besides Evie) and no voice lessons (though there was some singing, thanks to that shower I took at one point). The advantages to this free day included me being able to sit down at nine o’clock and write slowly for about thirteen hours, while also wasting time on Facebook, etc. But I made up for the writing I didn’t get done on Tuesday, and finished the day off having written almost exactly 8,000 words. So by the time I finally went to sleep, my word count was 58, 179. Which made me very happy.

I plan on finishing this thing very soon. So until then, I am putting off all other work and responsibilities. Not including tutoring, since that’s kind of a necessity at this point. I also somehow got stuck being responsible for designing the programs for NHS’s induction ceremony next month. And by “got stuck,” I pretty much mean I volunteered, expecting that someone else had already offered. I was the first one. So now I have to go meet with him as soon as possible. Which probably means missing math today, since this is ten times more important at this point.

I didn’t take my notes for class anyway. So it all works out.

This book is going to end up being longer than I expected it to. I was planning on making it around the same number of pages/words that the first book in the series was (70,600 words, 211 pages). But it doesn’t look like 12,000 more words is going to be enough to cover everything else that Melanie and her friends have to deal with before the novel is over. So I’m just going to stop looking at word count and write, write, write.

I’m not excited for tomorrow. Though tomorrow is Friday, and tomorrow means another glorious weekend (already), tomorrow also means back to biology. Back to a class from nine to twelve, or one, or two, or however long he’s going to keep us this time. This will be the first time I haven’t gone to biology completely prepared since the first day of class (sort of). But like I said, it’s not my main concern right now. I’ll catch up on everything as soon as this novel is finished. I hope.

I should probably get to writing. This day is starting to look a little hectic.

Love&hugs, Meg♥

Blog Frenzy – Day 7

Meg DowellLeave a comment

I completely failed at accomplishing anything yesterday.

I guess I just got distracted. Not really from studying for math, since I’m petty sure (and hoping) I scored a B on that test. I knew what I was doing, for the most part. Except for some of the stuff on the last page. I knew I should have studied that section a little more. Oh well. I’m close enough to an A, and scored a 24.5/25 on that quiz I was working on about a week or so ago. Almost perfect. Sad day.

It’s raining. That would have been a nice thing to wake up to. Except it wasn’t the rain that woke me up. It was my ten-year-old brother stomping around the house at seven o’clock in the morning, whining about getting in trouble yesterday (holding a grudge, I see). There are rumors that his X-box is going into temporary hibernation. I can neither confirm nor deny that this is true. I’m hoping that it is. Not because I think he deserves it. I just hate that thing.

I think every kid goes through that kind of stage. I remember getting grounded a ton when I was a little older than he was, for all the usual things: talking back, stomping around, slamming doors. Yes, I had an attitude. I know, you’re shocked. I’m sure you would also be very shocked to learn that junior high tried to destroy me, and I tried to tell myself that for some reason trying out for cheerleading meant I was the most awesome person in the entire seventh grade. I was a brat. I was pretty much mean to everybody. Eighth grade was worse, since I found myself caught in a rivalry with about half of my classmates for no apparent reason. I never made cheerleading, by the way. I eventually got tired of rolling my eyes at people I hated. The end.

 Maybe that’s where the desire to write this book came from. Maybe I still had a little mean-ness left in me. It was bound to come out sooner or later, one way or another. I could make Melanie Bowman a whole lot meaner. But I’m not sure if I’m willing to dig that deep. I mean, the definition of mean to you and the definition of mean to a thirteeen-year-old could potentially be two completely different things. By their standards, I was mean. It’s a good thing none of my teachers from high school knew me then. I’d probably have an extremely difficult time finding people to write letters of recommendation for me.

I can’t even tell you how excited I am for summer. I know I tend to babble on about this more than anyone would like to hear, but you have to understand something. Underneath all that mean was a very determined little monster. I haven’t had a free summer since I was going into the sixth grade (a very interesting summer, since…well, maybe we’ll get to that another time). The year after that, it was Panther Choir camp. The year after that, it was Panther Choir camp and ISYM. After that, it was prep classes for freshman year—some math, some English; etc, etc. Between freshman and sophomore year, I took World History. The next year was U.S. History. And, as you may or may not recall, last summer was Economics. That’s what it takes to graduate early, guys. The loss of many summers.

But I’ve convinced my parents that I deserve a summer off before I start at ONU. So I’m planning three months of sunshine, writing, books, beach, and no more terrifying pale thighs. You’re welcome.

Love&hugs, Meg♥

Blog Frenzy – Day 6

Meg DowellLeave a comment

I sort of just woke up. Which is a problem, since I have a math test today, as well as a goal to write five thousand more words before my glorious second day off tomorrow. I also should probably try cleaning my room. That is, if it doesn’t eat me first.

I don’t even have the time or energy to be excited about Will Grayson, Will Grayson. The whole way it’s set up just sounds interesting to me. But I highly doubt that I’ll be going to Border’s today, since my mom is working and my brother is back in school and all that. I guess I should just get used to going to bookstores alone, since I’m probably going to go book hunting virtually every chance I get once I’m away from home.

I really don’t have time to be writing this much.

I didn’t even end up watching Veggie Tales yesterday. I watched really old video tapes of me at birthdays and Easter and Christmas instead. Yeah, I guess I really just didn’t feel like doing anything productive until about eight o’clock, when I finally got to 50,000 words. That’s a huge relief. I don’t want to stop writing anytime soon (not until the novel is done), but at least I can say I won an imaginary Mar/ApNoWriMo. March 9 – April 5. That’s pretty good. I’m probably not going to get all A’s…but pretty good.

Actually, the fact that I’m going to fail at that 4.0 is most likely due to Hulu. So I’m just going to go take a shower and prepare myself for a long stretch of math, and hope I don’t explode in the process (of doing math, not the shower part). Though exploding in the shower would be a lot less messy than exploding at my desk, I really don’t feel like exploding today. Maybe after graduation, so I can at least say I accomplished something meaningful on that List.

I really should go now.

Love&hugs, Meg♥

Blog Frenzy – Day 5

Meg DowellLeave a comment

Happy birthday, Cassie!

As of yesterday, I had 48,762 words. So I’m going to sit down and get to 50,000 today before I get too distracted by having a day off (again). I’m going to make my brother watch all of the Veggie Tales movies we have in our cabinet, since the conversation we had in the car on the way home had to do with the fact that he’s never seen any of them outside of Sunday school. I think that conversation started when we passed an entire field of dandelions. My dad started talking about how they’re totally not flowers and how their roots tangle everything, and I was like, “Yeah! Like the Rumor Weed!” Yep, I’m just awesome like that.

I can’t believe that Will Grayson, Will Grayson comes out tomorrow! YAY! I want it. I want it more than I want to publish a novel. I want it more than I want to turn my dang NHS hours in already. I want it more than all these scholarships trying to eat me and for my laundry to do itself. Gosh. I want it more than I want it to be the first real summer vacation I’ve had in over four years.

I know what you’re thinking: I should probably be concentrating on more important things, like my schoolwork and those AP tests I dreamed about last night. And my own novelage. But there’s nothing wrong with wanting to read a book every once in awhile. Tell that to my brother. All he does all day long is talk to people on X-box Live. Worst. Idea. Ever. I can’t study when he’s on the other side of the wall screaming like a girl.

Really, I would love to have this book done by the end of the week, or by the end of the weekend. If I get five thousand words a day in from now until then, it’s definitely possible. But we’ll see if that actually happens. Melanie is still in a tight spot at the moment. She can’t see Derek? What? And whose shirt was she wearing this morning? Exactly. There’s conflict all over the place in this thing.

But I guess it’s time for Veggie Tales! And laundry. And making my brother breakfast since my mom’s teaching this morning and my dad’s taking another vacation day off to go see a Sox game. It’s okay, though. I have Easter candy and an ostrich pen to keep me company. And Bob and Larry. Maybe I should try to actually get something productive done today.

Nah.

Love&hugs, Meg♥

Blog Frenzy – Day 3

Meg DowellLeave a comment

By the time we left yesterday around 6:30, I’d almost made it to 46,000 words. I don’t think I made it to 50,000 yesterday, since I didn’t get much writing done in the car (thanks to that lovely thing we victims like to call car sickness). But I’ve been scribbling in my novel notebook (am I a dork for having one of those?) for about three hours. Once I type all that up, we’ll see where I’m at. Hopefully, very close. I need another reason to celebrate.

There’s not much else to do here, since it’s raining and the men went to golf (in the rain, I guess). My mom and grandma and cousin spent a good twenty minutes talking about healthcare reform. Joy.

I kind of forgot that tomorrow’s Easter. I mean, that’s the whole reason we’re here and all. But as a kid I was always excited about the stuff I was going to get in my basket. And now all I want to do is finish my novel so I can concentrate on my last month-and-a-half of school. Which I really need to do, because I’m currently not getting all A’s. Yet.

I think I’m going to keep writing. Plenty still has to happen before I send Evie the last chapter, and I’m not completely sure how it’s going to go. But I guess we’ll see. Melanie is kind of confused and sad at the moment. There are a few characters I love to hate. And Derek’s just an irresponsible and horrible jerk. I genuinely hate him almost as much as she does.

Let’s hope she can work things out with everyone before things get worse.

Love&hugs, Meg♥

Blog Frenzy – Day 2

Meg Dowell2 Comments

Yikes! Yesterday was an interesting day. I went to math class. That was pretty much the highlight.

But the good news is, I did end up getting past 40,000 words. More than I was expecting, actually. The funny thing is, I’m pretty sure I could get to fifty thousand words before this weekend is over. Which would mean that I wrote fifty thousand words in less than a month. More like 27 days, maybe. That’s kind of ridiculous. Who am I, to use March and April to write all these words? That’s November’s joy.

I guess I’m just a crazy person. It makes sense.

I went to a speech team showcase at my school last night for ten extra credit points. Actually, I only get the points if I write about two out of the five speeches we heard. Honestly, I was pretty much bored out of my mind, and spent the last half thinking about my novel. I guess you could say I’m obcessed, and maybe I am, but this story is turning out pretty well. I’m excited that it hasn’t fallen below my expectations yet. I try not to set my standards too high these days.

I leave for my grandparents’ tonight. It’s only a two-and-a-half hour drive, which isn’t too bad. I just can’t read or write in the car, or I get sick. So I’ll probably just end up listening to music the whole time. Or maybe I’ll take a nap. Sleeping in is great every once in awhile, but I had my heart set on getting up early just to celebrate that I don’t have to go to biology class for the second week in a row.

Well, it’s done. Melanie revealed her big secret to Jason, but we’re still not really sure how he’s feeling about the whole thing. Is he going to tell his parents? That would be kind of awkward, considering the fact that they’ve known Mel since she was an adorable little fourth grader. Well, she’s not so adorable now. Not that Jason has anything to worry about. Except the fear of losing her. Again.

Unless he’s not afraid of that at all. Then he’s good to go.

What we do know is, Uncle Grant won’t be calling her “kiddo” much longer. And her mother has enough issues of her own to deal with already, without another cave-in. Great. What is Melanie going to do now?

I’m going to stop talking about my novel now, since you still probably aren’t Jackson or Evie and therefore have no idea what I’m talking about. Moving on.

I walked into a door the other day. There’s a huge bump on my head and it hurts very much.

Love&hugs, Meg♥

Blog Frenzy – Day 1

Meg DowellLeave a comment

Easter candy = headless bunnies of chocolate-ness.

I got woken up this morning by the sound of a bell. That’s the default sound I hear when I get a text message. Really, I love texting. If more people texted me every day, I’d pretty much be set for life. But I don’t really like texting at seven thirty in the morning, or being woken up by texts that early. No one should be up at seven thirty on a Thursday anyway. But who’s complaining? I’ve gotten texts at five thirty in the morning, midnight, and two o’clock in the morning before. Kelli.

I don’t have any homework to do today, and no class tomorrow or Monday (thank you Good Friday and national speech team tournaments). So I’m pretty much going to spend most of today (when I’m not in class, of course) working on my novel. I’m about 36,000 words into it, my goal being 70,000 to match the first book in the “series.” Even though it isn’t really a series. Most of the characters are the same. Different narration. Completely different story. Completely.

I just finished chapter 17 (well, almost), which is one of the chapters I’ve been anticipating since I started writing this thing. It’s kind of a breakthrough chapter, one of those “oh, snap!” moments (yes, I just wrote “oh, snap”). I can’t say much more about it, because Evie (who reads this blog) has not read it yet. And she won’t, until she reads sixteen. Which she hasn’t. I’m still not sure why.

Basically, everything that happens in the book from this point on is kind of intense. I say intense because, well, I can’t really tell you. There are some things said, some tears shed (hey! rhyming!), and a lot less lying. Let’s just say someone got caught with someone they shouldn’t have been with, after someone else pushed someone else away they’re convinced they don’t want to be with. And rules. Lots and lots of stupid rules.

It doesn’t make sense. I know. If your name was Evie, this would be a whole lot easier. If your name was Jackson, things would be easier, too, except Jackson is still on like chapter 9. So he’s still confused, too. Unless he’s forgotten about me and isn’t even reading this. Which is a possibility.

How about we shoot for 40,000 words today? That’s a good goal, don’t you think? Happy April! And just so you know, I hate April Fool’s Day. I’m the most gullible person on the entire planet. People like to make me cry today. It’s completely not a fun time.

Love&hugs&truth, Meg♥

Blog Frenzy – Pre-post

Meg DowellLeave a comment

In honor of Script Frenzy (which I will not be participating in, due to the fact that I barely have time for anything without the addition of writing a screenplay), I have decided to participate in a challenge of my own over the course of April, called Blog Frenzy.

It’s not that exciting, I promise. I’m just giving myself a reason to blog every single day for an entire month. Which is going to be difficult, since I’m currently not getting all A’s like I kinda/sorta need to be. I’m also 35,000 words into a novel, filling out scholarships (Satan’s idea, I swear), and slowly but truly getting ready for my two AP English tests in May. Did I mention I’m also turning in two honor societies’ worth of hours this month, and celebrating Easter and a birthday, and doing five million otherr things I don’t even have time to list?

The fun of challenges like NaNoWriMo, Script Frenzy, and the completely non-existant everywhere but my mind Blog Frenzy is that you have to learn how to balance everything. You have to learn how to balance grades and writing and all the other fun stuff that comes along with living. Which is why I’m doing this. I need some sort of motivation to do SOMETHING. And really, the more I have to do, the more I end up getting done. See how that works?

Today I have to jump through hoops to survive comm and voice lessons (which I still haven’t practiced for—fantastic), finish Chapter 17 (working on it), pick out which outfit I’m going to wear on Sunday, start packing, fill out more scholarships, try to set up a meeting with my NHS sponsor even though he’s on break, clean my room (again) and figure out how to motivate myself. So let’s do this!

See y’all in April. And, I promise: this is no joke.

Love&hugs, Meg♥