Draft #2 is Done!

I finished this morning! Draft #2 of my novel is complete! After 272 days after starting draft #1 (or 143 days after finishing draft #1), I'm done with the second draft! This is how I felt right after typing out the final words of the epilogue:

 But wait! Now I have to work on draft #3!

Ah, yes, draft #3. I have a new scene in mind that I have to (most likely) insert in chapter 2. Invent a name for a religion. Refine and polish my writing. Build up the roles of a few characters. Give a better reason for why certain children have to regurgitate beautiful silver charms. And several other surgical performances to render my manuscript alluring enough to present to agents.

Can I possibly finish draft #3 and have my manuscript be query-ready by the end of summer? Along with conquering my evil mandatory calculus course, which I have to get a good grade in upon pain of death?

Typing up Chapter 13

After typing up yesterday's blog post, I just had to write another one today. I'm taking a break from typing chapter 13 for now. I am now at the novel's climax! I can't reveal too much, but I have to say that the fact that I sprained my ankle on Monday is a blessing. Satu sprains an ankle in this chapter. Although I have sprained my ankles three times in the past, spraining my ankle on Monday has refreshed my memory of how painful a sprain can be!

I was partially inspired by the event "Mandyland" from the game Vampire Wars

If I had to summarize the atmosphere and aesthetics of this chapter, I would describe it has a topsy-turvy kaleidoscopic-colored circus that is, on the surface, an innocent revelry for a royal princess's birthday party, but masks a sinister plan full of dolls, wine, and adult recklessness. This chapter is also sprinkled with revelations, test of relationships between characters, and a few reunions.

I'm having so much fun with this chapter. I wrote the first draft in my notebook on my birthday (fitting, since there is a birthday party in the chapter!). Here are more inspirations I had running through my head when writing this chapter:

The "Topsy Turvy" scene from Disney's adaption of The Hunchback of Notre Dame

One of my old drawings, titled "I Want It"

That creepy dinner scene with the pale man from Pan's Labyrinth

The Night Circus, written by the lovely Erin Morgenstern

Whimsical, creative tiered cakes

The artworks of Takaya Miou

Marina Bychkova's dolls

The song "Cyanide" by the Swedish metal band Deathstars

Now, before I end my post and return to typing chapter 13, the three main albums I listened to when writing this chapter were Carnival of Lost Souls by Nox Arcana, Grim Confections by Cindergarden, and Imaginaerum by Nightwish. Here is a track from each of those albums:

"Living Dolls" by Nox Arcana

"Candles on a Cake" by Cindergarden

"Scaretale" by Nightwish

Till next time! :)

Survivor of Finals Week!

My apologies for not being so active on my blog as I used to be. I had been so swamped with finals week, and after finals week, I just needed to recuperate and felt as though I was lacking energy and motivation. Well, finals week is over...but in June, I have to go back to summer school for eight weeks of Math 1B. UGH. My worst subject...and after that's over, I have a couple weeks of summer left before Fall semester starts. I'm going to be a sophomore! Time to face even more excruciating weeder classes designed as a campaign of mass murders of naive students' GPA's in the hopes of finding the diamonds among the rough!

This applies to finals too! D: Image courtesy of the UC Berkeley Memes page on Facebook.

Freshman year is over! Okay, enough bemoaning over school for now. Novel update time!

Ever since spring break ended, I had been in a slow-mo limbo while typing chapter 10 of my novel, which, if you remember, was discussed in this post. I felt creatively drained as I was constitutively studying. Pretty much, I was typing up a few sentences a day. Then, after finals were over, I went back to my novel and essentially spewed out a level of composition in which a kindergartner can surpass me in.

Either chemistry had drained me of creativity, or I really was suffering a horrible writer's block.

Last week, I just speed-typed chapters 11 and 12, knowing (or at least, hoping) that I will return to refine them once I'm done with draft #2 of my novel. I'm currently typing up Chapter 13, which contains the climax of the novel, and is my favorite chapter. But I'll talk more about that in my next post.







P.S. Due to the considerable amount of time it takes me to assemble a list of authors, email them, receive no responses from a good number of them, and format the responses of those who do get back to me, my Writer of the Week feature is currently on hiatus. I do intend to return to it, and am still open to responses from writers, but right now, due to the priorities of academics and my novel, it will be put on hold.

Writer of the Week #16: Jaclyn Dolamore

Jaclyn is the author of Magic Under Glass, which  made it onto the booklist of Top 10  First Novel for Youths

Name: Jaclyn Dolamore

Age: 30

Website: http://jaclyndolamore.blogspot.com

Location: Outside of Hagerstown, MD

When did you realize you wanted to be a published author?
As far back as I can recall. When I was nine I wrote a story about a girl and her horse so I could sell it, even though I didn't care for horses, because I knew horses were popular with other girls, and I got Writer's Market out from the library and wrote it by hand, formatted for submission. I was too chicken to actually submit it, though. Perhaps subconsciously I knew it was an awful story. I also spent a lot of time writing other stories, but that was the first time I considered publication.

Name 5 authors and 5 books
I have talked about my very favorite books ad nauseum on other blogs, so you, I shall give five YA (or upper MG) that I think should be more widely read:
A True and Faithful Narrative by Katherine Sturtevant
The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle
A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan
Faery Rebels/Knife by R. J. Anderson
Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford

Where do you get your inspiration from?
History and the fascinatingly diverse world we live in inspire my settings, while my plots and characters tend to be inspired by plots and characters I love in other people's works. I like to dig out what makes me love a story, twist it, and use it for my own.

What do you think is the best quality a writer can have?
Dedication to craft.

Any last words?
If any of your readers are in the mid-Atlantic region, please do check my website for events! I love meeting readers.

Challenge: Write a one-sentence story!
All she knew was that the vintage cocktail dress gave her more confidence, and the ghost that haunted the wiggle-cut taffeta affair was happy enough for her to keep on thinking it.










Thank you so much for your insightful answers, Jaclyn! If anyone is interested in being a writer of the week, please read the instructions here.