Haiku Sunday NaNo 2017 Edition – Name

“Name”

Is your connection

to your ancestors defined

only by your name?

I completely forgot to announce the NaNo 2017 edition of Haiku Sunday! Just as I’ve done for NaNo 2015 and NaNo 2016, my weekly haiku throughout this November will be based on themes from my NaNo project, The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy. Continue reading “Haiku Sunday NaNo 2017 Edition – Name”

Friday Write-Day: Busy with Business

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I nearly forgot it was Friday. I suppose that’s what the holidays do to you.

Writing was slow once again, despite my time off from work earlier in the week — 3,600 for the week and 24,800 overall. But my weekly total is low mostly because I’ve been… distracted by other priorities the past two nights. Continue reading “Friday Write-Day: Busy with Business”

Haiku Sunday NaNo 2016 Edition: Everstrong

“Everstrong”

Seeing from his Keep
the self-reliant Feldings.
Can he unite them?

Author’s Note: Emeril Everstrong is the first ever Falden of Everfeld. Most of the largest wards in Everfeld have supported Everstrong ever since he led the Felding militias to victory over the Redskael Clans at the Battle of Ever’s Edge, the decisive battle of the Second Redskael War. His quest is to unite the disparate Felding communities under one leader, but he has plenty of opposition. Can he hold the Felding wards together amidst internal rivalries and threats from outside Everfeld? If he wants to protect Everfeld, he may not have a choice.

Steve D

Writing Lesson #64: World-Building Offers Many Avenues of Storytelling — Use Them

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NaNo 2016 got off to a less-than-stellar start for me. For a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the shock induced by the presidential election, I was not focused on writing my second novel, The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy. Part of me feels like I’m jumping ahead too much, considering my first significant round of revisions looms for part one, The Warden of EVerfeld: Memento.

I tend to second-guess myself in such ways. The point is, I haven’t advanced WoEL much beyond the 5,000 words I covered over the first eight days or so. Instead of wallowing in my own thought process, I decided to change focus. Continue reading “Writing Lesson #64: World-Building Offers Many Avenues of Storytelling — Use Them”

Friday Write-Day: NaNo Marches On

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This week has been… interesting. I will spare you all my political ramblings in the wake of the US election, but suffice it to say that I have been wholly distracted from writing this week. I do not feel bad about it; elections are important. This election i particular is important, and I will be following President-elect Donald Trump’s policies closely. Continue reading “Friday Write-Day: NaNo Marches On”

NaNo Re-Hash: The Little People Still Matter!

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I published an earlier version of this article, “The Little People Matter Too!”, way back in 2014, but since it only has 15 total views, I’ve decided to revisit it and update it a bit. This was among my first “Creativity Sessions” pieces, and I think its themes still ring true as I begin exploring a new story this November. I wil post more of these re-hashes through NaNo 2016 (and likely beyond) with some new insights and thoughts to share.

As I discussed last Friday, I have entered NaNoWriMo 2016 with a much more solid foundation to begin a new novel. While WoE: Memento was largely experimental, with ideas and narrative points coming to me as I wrote, I have been much more structured in my approach to the follow-up novel, The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy. Continue reading “NaNo Re-Hash: The Little People Still Matter!”

Haiku Sunday NaNo 2016 Edition: Little Fox

Last year, I published five haiku through the month of November featuring themes from my NaNo project/soon-to-be novel, The Warden of Everfeld: Memento. To keep with tradition (because obviously doing something once makes it a tradition), I will be featuring four more story-related haiku each Sunday this month featuring characters or themes from The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy. Continue reading “Haiku Sunday NaNo 2016 Edition: Little Fox”

Friday NaNo-Day: Discovering the Discovery Draft

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It has been many long months since I have started a brand new draft with only endless brainwaves to sift through and get onto paper. Why is writing still this hard?! Continue reading “Friday NaNo-Day: Discovering the Discovery Draft”

Friday Write-Day: The Joys of World-Building

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My outlining has really taken off in earnest this week. I definitely have some big revisions in mind for The Warden of Everfeld: Memento, and dropping the synopsis on this site a couple days ago was invigorating. However, I’ve decided to let the alpha manuscript of WoEM (mostly) sit tight through National Novel Writing Month so I can focus on other aspects of my grand writing scheme. Continue reading “Friday Write-Day: The Joys of World-Building”

Novel Synopsis Announcement!

Okay, I’m ready. After mulling over and sitting on a synopsis for The Warden of Everfeld: Memento forever, I will finally publish it. I definitely wrote this synopsis after I wrote the story, but that was mostly because I began writing with a vague idea of where I was headed. Continue reading “Novel Synopsis Announcement!”