World Building and Researching Part 1

Researching 

In addition to finishing my first rough draft for my story, I have started world building.  One of my first posts on this website discussed that the setting of my story will be in Virginia Beach, Virginia in the United States.  Although I have lived near that area since 1993, there is still a lot to learn about the city's beach, events, and even its history.

Through writing my first draft, I ended up adding a fantasy realm for my merpeople to in habit.  The setting in my fantasy realm takes place at a village near a beach.  Due to taking Marine Biology in 2006, I forgot a lot of information I learned about the ocean.

These are what I am using to regain that knowledge of the ocean.  

This book is not just filled with pretty pictures but also a ton of information about the ocean.  I plan on reading this book fully; front and back.  My story has a ton of sea travel and I better know the ocean like the back of my hand.

 

Videos on Youtube and Animal Planet

There are a ton of playlists and channels dedicated to oceanography on youtube.  One of the most interesting sources was Mermaids: The Body Found.   This creative documentary has some people believing that merpeople exist with various stories of mermaid bodies found or encounters with mermaids.  I never knew about the Aquatic Ape Theory until I saw this documentary.  

This post was originally on Indie Author Tiffany.

Moving Beyond National Novel Writing Month (November)

Today is January the first, 2014 and I hope that everyone has had a Happy New Year.  I am still writing my novel beyond the 50,000 word goal.  Part of my writing process has me writing some parts of my story in my notebook, some parts in a writing app on my iPhone, and then putting everything together on my computer.

Writing Tips

What I use to write with depends on whatever I have lying around, if I'm waiting for an appointment, or who is with me.  For some reason, typing in my Iphone is more acceptable than writing in my notebook when I am with friends.   Everyone thinks I am writing a long text message to a friend rather than trying to add more words to a long story.  

I have joined National Writing Month's forum which is open all year long.  You can click here to view my profile.  Also feel free to add me as a friend on the forum.  It's always nice to see what others are writing.  There are a few very helpful threads that have helped me continue writing my novel.

One thing that helped me out last month was knowing that I was writing a rough draft.  There was and still is no need to feel like every word on paper or screen has to be perfect.  Editing will become important on the second draft and whenever I let another pair of eyes view my work.   What slowed me down on the first week was constantly stopping and editing my work as if I was on the final draft.  

The last tip was generally knowing what direction my story was going, what my character's personalities were like, and how my characters respond to certain situations.  For me, knowing such things helped prevent writers block and kept me writing.

This post was originally from Indie Author Tiffany

Winning National Novel Writing Month

Last month was the ever so popular National Novel Writing Month.  Each participant had the chance to reach the goal of writing 50,000 words.  I started participating in National Novel Writing Month  around the second week of November.  There was a lot of time sitting at home, turning down friends who wanted to hang out, or leaving parties early to return to my novel.

I'm not sure how I would have felt if I did not reach my goal.  There was a ton of sadness I felt at the idea of not reaching my goal.  I guess that sadness was the competitive side of me who did not want to tell my friends that I did not reach my 50,000 words goal; especially after turning down so many chances to hang out with them.

Last month I believe I spent the most time in years typing my story down.  There is a good feeling in no longer having my story exist in my head.  In other words, National Novel Writing Month was fun.  I hope to participate in the event again next year.  

Networking and National Writing Month

Getting Tips in Unlikely Places

So last week was Nekocon, an anime convention.  At the end of a panel titled "How to Make Your Geek Job a Reality", I had the opportunity to share with the panelists the websites I have created.  While I was there at the anime convention to promote websites not titled "Indie Author Tiffany", one of the panelists discussed National Novel Writing Month.  

National Novel Writing Month 

Apparently November is a month when writers get together and write a novel as soon as possible.  Before I turned ten I was able to quickly create long stories within a month and check my grammar and spelling mistakes to the best of my abilities (the best a ten-year-old could).  I find with a deadline, cases with writer's block has been happening less and less now.   My deadline for this month is to finish my rough draft for my story or at least get REALLY close to finishing my electronic book.

I just created an account today on National Novel Writing Month.  There are prizes for people who accomplish writing 50,000 words at the end of November but I am more concerned with finishing my rough draft.   

This Website 

For anyone who is actually reading this website, may have noticed that I barely update.  The reason for the lack of updates is simple; I do not know what to write about on this site.  That's the honest truth.  In addition to writing my first draft at a quick pace this month, I will be looking at other indie author websites and seeing what these authors put on their websites.   By doing this, I will get some ideas and there will be more posts in the future.

This post brought to you by the website: Indie Author Tiffany

Writing Myself to Sleep

I have been writing while following a schedule to the best I can for some time now.  For some reason I lack the skills to type my story directly into Microsoft Word.  When writing on paper, I find my words come out a lot easier.  When I open up Microsoft Word, without preparing anything on paper, it takes me a few minutes for me to type a single paragraph.

As far as a schedule of at least 30 minutes a day, writing myself to sleep has worked well for me.

Sitting down on my bed, putting a pen to paper and writing away till I fall asleep.  The best part about this process is that I tend to dream about the last activity I have done before sleeping.  Dreams can provide a lot of writing material for me to work with in future stories.

I would like to know what other techniques others have used in order to continue writing.

As for my story, the story has changed from what information I posted about it a few months ago.  I hope to finish the rough draft or at least come close to finishing some time in December.

Researching...Writing...Typing

So some of you might think that this was an abandoned website but as of today’s post, indieauthortiffany.com is alive and well.  There are many reasons for this website to not have many posts and the two main reasons are writer’s block and the fact that I write on paper 90 percent of the time.

WRITER’s BLOCK

My story involves Virginia Beach, Virginia as the setting in present day, merpeople, and witches.  I used to write a ton of modern fantasy when I was younger but now since I am an adult I have the habit of trying to add common sense to my stories.  Nagging thoughts like “people know merpeople do not exist”, “do I make my own version of witches or do I research them?”, and “I’m not the best at grammar so why don’t I come back to writing my book once I have taken an English course at a community college”.

The majority of these thoughts are losing their effect on me and I will tell you readers why in future posts.

Researching

Virginia is a state that I have grown used to since I moved to the state in 1993.  There is a ton of history to work with while still being able to insert my own fantasy elements into my electronic book.  Since my merpeople will live near water, I searched a few real estate websites with a large database of homes on or near the oceanfront. The next part was looking up the mythology commonly found for merfolk.   The research for merfolk helped me recall a lot of information I used to know back when I was fascinated with merfolk as a child.

Summary for my Electronic Book

Apollo has been ordered by his king to take residence in his recently murdered uncle’s house on the surface in order to continue his late uncle’s study on humans and the witches.  Although dedicated to his race, Apollo finds the human race annoying and would rather return to his original duties; finding a bride for his older brother under the sea.  When Apollo becomes interested in his neighbor Jacob, Apollo finds himself involved with the witches and and the humans who killed his uncle.

Jacob’s mother has been given Jacob pressure, for a year, after graduating high school to get a job and move out of the house.  On top of the pressure, his mother has been sending him to a therapist for years after the disappearance of his sister in the middle of the night.    With his demanding mom’s threats to send Jacob to the navy just like his brother, Jacob rides his boat during the night time to be by himself.  When his mother forces him to get to know his new neighbor Apollo before the family reunion, he finds himself getting closer to the whereabouts of his sister and group of witches.

Lastly

This book is modern fantasy with romance as the sub genre.  I thought I should set the summary for two of the main characters as their activities and their families’ activities influence each other.

Setting a Writing Schedule

For a while, I have been getting into the habit of writing.  Of course the most common and cliched advice I have ever heard was to begin writing at least thirty minutes a day.  Making myself put a pencil to the paper and force myself to write for thirty minutes helped me develop a habit and a schedule.

Without developing this habit, my story would forever stay in my head and would never become an electronic book.  The discovery of making new ideas or changing a few elements to make my story more exciting and understandable is fun.  Of course I am still a human being and I have missed the opportunity to write my story and my idea out for the day.  Sometimes the harshness of life or unexpected events in my life do get in the way my schedule.

Because I write my ideas on paper first, I am able to travel to different areas in order to write.  Traveling to different parts of my neighborhood and writing a story which takes place in my state, really helps my story's setting.

So far, my story is a contemporary fantasy set in Virginia Beach, Virginia with merpeople, witches, and romance.  I may or may not have a summary for the story in the next few weeks.