Young Writers Society

Naow! Change Ian if you must, but not Jake. Yeah, I suppose there are a lot of Jakes out there, but it doesn't matter. (Heck, how many Ravens are out there? and calling someone that is worse than calling them Jake)

You'll get by. And changing it'll be really, really difficult.

Yeah, that's true. Well, at any rate, the name Luke for Ian was rolling around in my head for a while. I don't know. Darn my characters for choosing excessively common names.

Wow, Firebrand sounds amazing. I can't wait till you publish it, I'd LOVE to read it.
I like Luke and Caleb, ithose name's are nice. But so is Jake. (I haven't read Twilight, so I have no preconcieved notions about the name.) I don't really like Ian as a name, but I'd have to know the character I guess.

Well, I just wanted to pop in and say good luck, and I hope you get published!

-Elise

Haha, you are very generous. "When it's published." Thanks, but I think the correct word would be "if."

Well, Ian is the very happy-go-lucky, kind of clueless, very hot older brother of one of my MCs. But he's also kind of pathetic, lol. He is very affected by what people think of him. He's got a lot of stuff going on underneath his slightly superficial exterior, and somehow Luke just feels like a good fit. Plus, it has a nice ring to it. "Lucas Benjamin Gardner."

Anyway, thank you guys for caring about my ramblings, lol.

And this is the part where I turn into a whiny puddle of disillusioned jelly for about five minutes...

Wait for it...

I TOTALLY SUCK! I am a disgrace to the world of writers and I have the distinct urge to throw my story off a cliff! It's going to be too short and too cliche and too BLAH to make any kind of ripple in the world, so why am I even bothering??? The only one who likes it is ME, and even I'M starting to get annoyed!! GAH!! Marc needs to do something unexpected, I need to figure out where the heck Zephyr has gotten to, Rae is just messing with my head, the Writhes aren't making any sense any more...where did my storyline go?? I TOTALLY SUCK!!

Okay, I feel a little bit better now.

A very little bit.

Suckitude is all in your head unless it's in your liver, in which case you're dead.

*glares*
Thank you, Raven.
*grins*
Just kidding. I'm a little better this morning. I was just looking for books to buy this summer and marveling at people's complex, brilliant plots, and feeling very very small.

Happily, the tyrannical era of writer's block has ended, and yet again, it was overthrown by excercise, journalling and relaxation. No beating the computer this time.

From here (here being chapter 12) it is a straight shot to the end of the novel...assuming it will be a novel. At the moment I have about 42,000 words. Since I have no idea how much Marc & Co. are going to want to talk before it's all over, the final word count could be anywhere between 50,000 and 75,000 words.

And then I shall begin the long process of editing and daydreaming about the day when Firebrand will be done...again.

51,000 words and counting! I did a small happy dance with my sister the other night when I announced, "I officially have a NOVEL!" She squealed and I rocked out to my own personal "Hallelujah" chorus. It was a proud moment.

It was amazing how easily the last 10,000 words spilled out of me. After I climbed out of my Pit of Despair, I somehow realized that it didn't matter if my story was too short, too cheesy, too cliche, too boring, or too complex. I liked it. And as long as I liked it, I decided, I would keep writing. So I did. And it was fun again.

Although going to the theater with my family the other night was a strange experience. We were taking a vote on what movie we wanted to see, and when I was polled I had to stop myself from saying, "Firebrand!" I couldn't fully enjoy "Get Smart" because behind my eyelids I kept seeing flashes of fire and dark demonic creatures battling phoenixes...


Anyway, the only thing I'm worried about in the coming chapters is the climax. It's about two pages away and I'm biting my nails in anxious anticipation. Because in my mind it's so huge, so monumental, so important, that I'm afraid my writing skills aren't up to the challenge. I see it like a movie in my head - the only problem will be getting everyone else to see it like a movie.
So, wish me luck.


Over and out,
~Sunny

There, see? All in your head.

And as to the climax, if it stinks, (hey, it won't) then there's always rewriting. Practically nothing's perfect first time round.

Have fun with it!!

It's almost 10:30 here, but I'm not tired. I don't think I'll be tired for the next month.

After 80 pages of confusion, pain, frustration, and ridiculous plot twists that messed me up as much as they did Marc, I have written the climax of Firebrand. The very first scene that I saw in my mind when mapping out the story. The one that I wistfully played over and over in my head. The one that I used as bait for myself when I got tired of writing: "Just a few more pages, and you can write Chapter 14."

And now it's DONE.

Somehow I expected it to be longer. The whole climactic high point spans about three pages. It felt like giving birth. I don't think I've ever spent three hours on three pages of writing, but guess what? I just did.

It was an exhilarating, frustrating, and terrifying experience. Mostly because I knew that these were the few pages that would make or break the story. If it ended up horrible, I knew I would be totally discouraged. If it ended up great, the rest of the story would be like walking on air. Call me silly or obsessed, but I did a lot of praying before I wrote it. And a lot of listening to music. And a lot of reading my Bible.

And now me and Marc get to go kick some butt for the next few chapters...
:twisted:

To quote Suzanne, "I want to puke happiness on you people."

*hands out free cookies to everyone*

Great job!!! Hey, don't worry about the climax. When I wrote mine, I expected it to be like 20,000 words, and it ended up in the 5,000 word range lol.

It felt like giving birth.

How do you know what...?

(Cute, twit.)

I somehow made it through a romantic scene without vomiting up cheese, without rushing, and without inserting my characters into soap operas. They remained real and angst-ridden instead of becoming miniature Zacs and Vanessas of High School Musical fame. I did another small happy dance yesterday afternoon while my sister's latest love interest was at our house. She gave me a very panicky, deer-in-the-headlights look as I announced, "Woohoo! Sixty thousand words!"

It was priceless.