Tag: NaNoWriMo

The Struggle Within

It being a mere two days from the start of this year’s second CampNaNoWriMo I thought I would shamelessly advertise that as well as work through some issues I’ve been having getting ready for July.

Recently, like a week ago, I finished the first draft of Rebel Love Song.

Now, when I finished Tiger, Tiger I didn’t have any problem taking a deep breath and setting it aside for a month and a half while I did other things. Rebel Love Song has proven to be a different kind of beast. I can’t get it out of my head. It’s the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing when I go to bed. I have entrenched my heart and psyche into that manuscript and as I try to pull back to give it some breathing room before starting revisions it just won’t let go.

Like that thing in Alien that clamps onto that guy’s face.

And here I sit, trying to prepare myself for another writing marathon for the month of July and I just can’t get my head into the game. Any other time, I would just surrender to the urge and knock out revisions on RLS, but here’s the thing; RLS is only the first book in what is going to be at least a seven book series. Did I mention it’s a dystopia? Yeah, talk about bad timing with that idea. And while I very much want to continue working on RLS and the next books, they need to be simmering on the back burner. They will be written, if for nothing more than I want to read them, but they can’t consume my existence right now.

So July is dedicated to The Charlatans (Title of a great song by Dakrya, highly recommend it) and my newest imaginary friend, Jace. Jace seems to be as annoyed with me as I am him. I’m hoping we can reach a truce in the next two days so we can get through Camp NaNo with as little bloodshed as possible.

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The Sound of Madness: The Beginning

 

            It being the start of Camp NaNo, I thought I’d really kick this blog off with what I’ll be occupying myself with this month. I’ve spent several months, even years, with the idea percolating in the back of my mind; there are scraps of paper with random words and short phrases jotted on them scattered in journals and drawers, and when I look out my window I see the characters on the street.

Now, either it’s time for medication or it’s time to write.

Music is a part of who I am. I’m always listening to something while I type. A lot of people use background music, this isn’t something new. This has never had much of an impact on my writing; it’s just something to occupy my mind when I hit a snag or to block out background noise or a way to set the mood for a scene. But this manuscript, this storyline, these characters; they’ve proven to be quite different from anything I’ve ever written.

The story wriggled its way into my head after I got Black Veil Brides’ album Set the World on Fire. Track number six has become something almost sacred to me. It’s the song that hit the top of my “Songs that will get me Fired” playlist for work. It’s the song that gave me the courage to flip my major from anthropology to creative writing my final two semesters of college. It’s the song that told me to look beyond this dying town and go. If you’re a fan, you’re probably humming the chorus by now, if not; the song is called “Rebel Love Song”.

This song is freedom. I can’t fully express the buoyant joy the chorus fills me with, the teeth-grit determination the verses give me and the inexplicable feeling of flying I get when that guitar solo kicks in. And it’s that whirlwind of emotion, that impact that goes deeper than skin when you hear the words, that my newest manuscript is built on and why it’s working title is Rebel Love Song.

I’m writing my character to embody these songs that—through my own hectic life—have become pep talks, shoulders to cry on, hands to pull me up, and a friend to sit with me when I start to break.

I have tailored a song list to fit this storyline. Every section, every chapter, right down to the paragraphs; correlates with a song. And I hope I can find the words to do these songs and these feelings justice.

 

P.S. It’s not too late to join Camp NaNo this month! You can sign up at www.nanowrimo.org or www.campnanowrimo.org. You can find me there as Writing_Fiend. Happy Writing!