Plot Anxiety

As I've mention recently, I've begun to reanalyze the plot of The Decoder. For the past twelve hours, I've been working almost nonstop on this. I now have pages and pages (no exaggeration, I have ten pages, front and back, so far and I'm not even halfway done) of notes on what needs to be reworded, reordered, completely changed and, worst of all, removed. I'm not resistant to change, but it does stress me out when I have to delete 1,000 words at a time. Those sections will be replaced with better things, but it's still scary to to see huge blank spaces on my word documents. I've found some really helpful blogs and guides on how to accomplish what I've set out to do, but it's slow going. I feel like I've assigned myself the online course from hell.
Luckily, I'm discovering that I already understand and have been utilizing the inner workings of plots and 'grabbing the audience' techniques, etc., I just haven't been thinking about it in that sense. I've been thinking of it more as "How can I make this not suck?". Let's just call the not sucking method High School Plot Planning, and the other one How to Make Something Awesome and Sound like a Professional. Yeah. I think that's good.

The Decoder has gone under serious changes before, but those were mostly because I didn't have any idea where I was going with the story. About six months into it, I finally realized that this was legitimate and began taking it more seriously. That's when the first plot overhauls started, and mostly consisted of removing the stupidity. At this point, I don't see any major changes in store for the plot; instead I'm focusing on making sure everything is fluid, and everything that occurs has a reason behind it.

While most of this has been difficult but doable, there is one overwhelmingly frustrating problem I keep running into. Most of the things I'm reading about plots and the like apply to stand alone works, whereas I'm writing a series. Not all of the questions brought up in the The Decoder are going to be answered until The Second Book That Still Doesn't Have a Solid Working Title, and even then some of the story arcs won't be complete until the third book. And that's just stuff brought up in book one. I haven't been able to find quality advice on writing a series of books, so I'm kind of teaching myself about it by studying the techniques my favorite authors use. Which is what I was doing in the first place.
Another, smaller, concern I'm having right now is that The Decoder doesn't exactly follow a traditional sort of narrative map. It isn't wrapped up in a neat little package like most of the other First Books in series, and instead is kind of open-ended. The denouement of The Decoder is the last chapter, but the actual end of the first part of Tammie's journey is in the second book.   At this point, I'm considering this a strength, but I'm kind of freaking out about it as I continue to work on it.

Also, I don't usually like spin-offs, but I am beyond thankful that Rick Riordan has written the Heroes of Olympus series. It has helped me more than I ever imagined it would. I need to see about getting that man a gift basket, because he is owed many thanks.

On a side note, I'd just like to mention that my classes are awesome. I get grades for talking in class and disagreeing with others, editing papers and making everyone pay attention to me while I educate them on what I think is most important. Everyone is getting a good dosage of Nikki this semester, and I'm not going to apologize. That makes me sound incredibly cocky and self-absorbed. I just really like to communicate, and I feel like my opinion matters. I mean, that should be obvious, otherwise I probably wouldn't be a very good author.

-- Nikki

The Unexpected Wednesday

I've had a really insane day. Aside from the normal hectic-ness of classes and being in college, I've begun to rework not just scenes but entire chapters of The Decoder. Although I know it's all for the best, rewriting 3,000 words, while tweaking a lot, in one sitting is a lot to handle. I sort of underestimated how much would be changing. Speaking of which, I'm also considering changing the title of the first book and calling the series The Decoder Files, or something along those lines. That's a pretty big Maybe, though.

Kelsey and I have face problems, Homecoming 2010

While I was pondering all of that, I received a handful of really intense text messages. All at once. One of them was from my mom, saying that my younger sister was in the hospital and had broken her nose at cheerleading practice. My sister is only twelve, so I was freaking out and ended up spending a couple of hours with her in the ER. Her face was swollen and she looked like Quasimodo. Thankfully, it isn't a horrible break, and they'll be able to put it back in place.
There are four kids in my family, and out of all of us we never figured she'd be the one to have the first surgery. My brother and I have both had concussions, he's had whiplash and a sprained wrist, I've sprained my ankles too many times to count and  torn ligaments. This has all given me a pretty good catalog of injuries to reference, but I haven't been to a hospital in a really long time. So really, going to the hospital at this time was a good thing. My sister is okay and I got to creep around the Emergency Room for awhile. Blessings often come in bloody, screaming little packages.

So I just rewatched an old episode of As Told By Ginger after Kelsey and I had a really great discussion about how it was the best episode ever.

Book Covers

I love to design things, put smaller pieces together in order to create something bigger. My mom insists that graphic design is my true calling, but I don't want to spend the bulk of my career designing logos or posters. But she's isn't wrong on one point: I do have an eye for what looks good.

I taught myself to use Photoshop when I was twelve, and have been editing pictures, putting together graphics and impressing my art teachers every since. So I'm always slightly shocked when I see books with absolutely dreadful covers. I mean embarrassing to look at, even more embarrassing to purchase, just all around unattractive covers. Not that the writing is bad or that the author didn't deserve to be published. But the fact is that people DO base books by their covers. Which is why I've taken the design into my own hands.

Whenever I start a book, I don't just focus on the characters, settings and the writing. Maybe it's because I've got ADD or something, but I also obsess over whether or not the book will have an interesting cover, if the style of clothing is aesthetically pleasing or whether or not the settings translate into something that's easy to comprehend. I have filled sketchbooks with rough designs for covers, preliminary character looks and landscapes. I want everything to visually translate, because it's no use if the reader doesn't see something the way that I see it. They might not be onto the underlying plots yet, but they better understand the floor plan of Riverwick.


So I definitely don't want just anyone designing the covers for the book or the series; even if they got my approval on everything, I'd more than likely be unhappy with it. I'm very particular about things like this; my friends already consider me a bridezilla and I'm not even dating anyone. And I consider my books to be about three tiers more important than my wedding. (To put this in perspective, I've had my wedding completely planned since I was sixteen, down to the hairstyle the bridesmaids will wear to the flavor of the cake and the kind of bachelorette party I want.) Being able to design my own covers would be an immense relief to me, saving a lot of time and stress for anyone else who is involved in the publishing process. (Although, if another artist did make the cover, Brigid Vaughn, aka Burdge would be my number one choice. She's incredibly talented, and has a real knack for nailing character description.)

On a completely unrelated note, I'm still on Tumblr hiatus. It's strange how much happier I've been since I decided to stay away from the site. It'll be so much easier to make it a permanent change than I thought. Which is a huge relief. I'm incredibly more productive, I remember to eat at a normal time and I'm less likely to get upset with trivial matters. This will definitely be a change for the better.

Check out these great songs, or Voldemort will rise for a third time:
Suppose - Secondhand Serenade
Faithless - City and Colour
Blood - The Middle East
Your Biggest Mistake - Ellie Goulding
Lover to Lover - Florence + the Machine

How did I go for an entire post without including a single picture of myself? Times are a'changin'.

Character Inspiration

So today Kelsey forced me to watch a video of Vermin Supreme. At first I was upset with her, because the man wears a boot on his head and wants to harness the power of zombies, but then I was so pleased, because that man is an inspiration. He's taught me that I'm writing eccentric political figures all wrong. This information will be extremely useful.

Aside from correcting that mistake, it got me thinking about how many of my characters came to be. I've always said that my friends are a huge inspiration -- this is absolutely true, and there are characters that appear in the second and third books that are based solely off of Kelsey and Marley, respectively. But what about the main characters? They aren't particularly biographical of myself or any of my friends. Yes, certain parts of them have basis in people I've met or points in my life, but no one person. In a sense, I kind of just made them up. That's a first for me.

But it's very different from the series I'm planning to write after the completion of The Decoder. The central trio is based exclusively off of Kelsey, Tyler and myself. (This is because the series was inspired by a dream Kelsey had, and it seemed wrong to change the central characters.) Other friends make appearances as minor characters, and as always people I don't like will be the villains. It will be pretty interesting, because when I'm writing a difficult situation I'll have to ask myself, "Okay, what would Kelsey do at a time like this?" rather than, "What would Eloise do at a time like this?". Is it possible to separate people from their characters? I guess I have three and a half more books to write before I have to find out.

Anyway, today I began to work on the opening of The Decoder. Again. For what feels like the millionth time. Actually, it's probably the fifth time. But I really want to get it right, because the opening is everything. It's where readers will either get hooked or they'll abandon the book for their trips to the bathroom. I don't want The Decoder to be the bathroom book, I want it to be a stay-up-all-night book.

I know all of this work will pay off in the end, but patience isn't my strongest virtue. I'd prefer to get things right the first time. Oh well. Third draft, it is.

Recent adventures.

I have decided to take a temporary hiatus from Tumblr, so I can experiment with what it'll be like when I actually delete that blog for good, and have some time to get work done.

Recently, I've completed the first part of the second book. I changed its working title to The Detained. But then again, I re-titled The Decoder probably twelve times before I deciding on the final one. As it is right now, all disconnected and rambling, The Detained is 61 pages long, which is half the length of the most recent draft of The Decoder. It's inevitable for the sequel to be longer, but I'm a little concerned that it will totally overshadow the first book in length, as this isn't even the halfway point. 

The Decoder is undergoing another bit of work, but it's coming along. My Tumblr hiatus only started last night, so the amount of work done in the five days I'm away from the site will be a dramatic increase from normal. I'm kind of excited. Isn't that weird? I'm freaking out over writing and rewriting hundreds of pages. The English department is definitely the place for me.

Speaking of college, I am considering adding another concentration to my degree. A double major in English and Film would be a dream. After I survive this semester, I'll decide on whether or not giving myself more work is the right thing. 

But for the upcoming week, I have a lot in store. Aside from schoolwork, I have sorority things to take care of, Harry Potter Club duties to perform and writing to get done. It's certainly the time to think about deleting Tumblr and focusing on working. There's a lot that I want to do with my life, and none of it is going to get done if I'm wasting my time on the internet. 

Need some good writing music?

A Thousand Years -- Christina Perry (judge me, but I am in love with that song.)

Stay With Me -- You Me At Six

I'm Hidden So Well -- The Glass Child

Comin' Home -- City and Colour

Oh My God -- Ida Maria

Vivian and I had an editing/writing party, and I destroyed her computer battery about ten minutes after finding the webcam.

Happy new year!

Happy new year! I don't know about anyone else, but I've declared that 2012 will be my year. Nothing's going to stop me, even the apocalypse. Not that I buy into any of those hokum predictions. Just know that the end of the world won't stop me from taking on this year my storm.

I have found an literary agency, and I'm slightly obsessed. I feel like it would be the right fit for me, and I'm absolutely determined to get a deal with them. Tomorrow my query letter goes off, and then the waiting begins. If I am lucky enough get represented, then -- agh, I can't even process how amazing that would be.

Speaking of amazing things, I saw The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo over break. One of my favorite books transformed into a movie by one of my favorite directors? Yes please. I'll have to write another whole post on how much I loved it. Just know that it's coming.

The History Channel is my new favorite thing. I had no idea how much information that I wanted was just waiting for me on my television while I attempted to Google it. I learned more in twenty minutes than I did in a week. Yes, THC will definitely be my new go-to for viewing pleasure.

I am constantly finding myself in need of the same inhuman drive that Daniel Radcliffe possesses. The man is incredible. I'm convinced that he can do anything.

Last night I couldn't sleep so I threw together a cover for The Decoder. It's not exactly how I want it to look yet, mostly because it's missing an explosion and a couple of hovercrafts, but it's getting so close. It almost feels like I'll be seeing it on shelves during my next visit to Barnes and Noble.

Listen to these kickin tunes:
My Body - Young the Giant
Faithless - City and Colour
Baby Girl, I'm a Blur - Say Anything
Welcome Home, Son - Radical Face
AND!
Safe and Sound - Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars

Bringing in the new year with a semi-good picture! Hopefully I'll be able to add many new files to my "Good Pictures" folder... probably not.