galacticgazebo

[galacticgazebo]

I think sometimes we underestimate how difficult trying to write a fantasy book is. I mean, you’d think it’s easy, just state what you need to happen in plain text, then go back and dress it up. Bing bong, bobs your uncle, done. Right?

Wrong! At least for me. I just end up staring at the computer screen for hours….I’ve spent days, ways weeks of my life sitting at my MacBook trying to force myself to write this book. It should’ve been done years ago. I know what I need to write, just not how to write it.

A sea of light started as a google doc titled the lightning princess back in 2017! But I didn’t seriously start really writing a first draft of the book until march 2021. I really wish I’d done something simpler. Something cleaner in scope and theme. A sea of light is messy, but maybe that’s a good thing. It’s like me, flawed and honest. Imperfect on purpose, or rather by acceptance.

I really want to be proud of my first book, but I’m also learning that for books at least, ideas are cheap, execution is fucking hard. I have sooooo many ideas, for dozens of complete separate series. But the issue is actually writing the words out. I need to figure out some system that helps. I clearly don’t have issues typeing. I wrote this post in like 20 minutes…

Id quit, but a vorkyl lives rent free in my head, and I can’t shut him the fuck up. Asol is at 94,000. 14k left hopefully until this thing is actually done. I keep getting stuck on stupid stuff.

I was hoping to get my first book out this year, but that’s not happening. I can’t tell you how depressing it is to write this. No hope. No cope.

I’ve been thinking of starting another new series of this. A slice of life that’s episodic, so I can focus on small chunks and release something low stress. Kinda like a mix of epic and casual. Low stakes, like Pokémon, lol. Maybe that would help me figure out how to write quicker.

[galacticgazebo]

That’s 0-2 for me in terms of Nanowrimo! Maybe next year!

Work killed this one, I’m afraid. Buried it in the shed, next to my hopes and dreams. Rest in peace nano2023.

[galacticgazebo]

Day 10. Work is brutal. I just go home and pass out. I work today too, so don’t expect this to improve!

[galacticgazebo]

Day 9!

[galacticgazebo]

Day 8. I’ll need some big days to caught up. Work has been asinine, and I don’t know when it will get better, certainly not this year. Another sentence and this post will be longer than what I wrote yesterday!

We should be at double that number.

[galacticgazebo]

Day 7: had time to write, slept instead.

[galacticgazebo]

Me: I’m gonna get caught up on nano today, otherwise I’ll fall even father behind

Me not 5 minutes after I get home from work.

I’m really upset, ngl.

[galacticgazebo]

Here on day 7 with day 6 metrics. Got a little caught up and I’m hoping to continue that today. Thought about adding some lines I wrote that day to the daily post but decided it wasn’t worth the stress. Definitely a grind to try to write 2k everyday. I feel like you have to plan for down days or you just get burnt out. Not really writing in my other wips either. I should get to writing. I’ve spent too much time long rewriting this post, lol.

[galacticgazebo]

Day five. I wrote some but not enough. I’m about 2000 words behind at the moment. I hope everyone is doing better than I!

[galacticgazebo]

Not every day this month will be a win. Some days you’re going to write nothing. I struggled to start writing so I just got lost on YouTube, baked a margarita pizza, and then promptly passed out before writing anything, oops.

Let’s try to do more tomorrow, I mean today!

[galacticgazebo]

Day three of nanowrimo. I wrote even less than day two. I fell asleep after work and had a hard time writing today. Hopefully I can change things over the weekend and get caught up. I forgot how challenging 1600 words a day can be lol. I hope everybody is having fun!

[galacticgazebo]

Second day of Nanowrimo! I did not write a bunch, but that is OK.

[galacticgazebo]

First day of nanowrimo is over! Here’s where I ended up:

[galacticgazebo]

Nanowrimo is here!

My book is called A Wildfire in Winter.

It’s meant to be a fun break from the more serious stuff I usually write. There’ll be soft magic that won’t be the main focus of the story but will hopefully elevate what I got planned. Sapphic romance, radioactive werewolves, and a preacher with a 12 gauge, oh my!

I’m really, really looking forward to this!

[galacticgazebo]

A belayed weekly metrics post from me.

And a secret book cover concept reveal for A Sea of Light. Don’t worry this won’t end up as the real cover!

A few references in one cover idea, I think it’s pretty cool. The circles are actually script that read Oai’ao up and down, which means there, here, and back again, I.e like a journey, a reference to Tolkien, but the circles could also represent a standing ring, which are kind of like travel nodes that Ora set up when she began to sculpt Joma. They also represent the journey between life and death for many religious groups that follow Ara, Ora’s daughter. The script in the four corners reads Sona, literally meaning color liquid, or more commonly known as a sea or pool of light. Neat!

Anyways, I did a listen through last Monday night, and I have to say we’re closer than I think to being done. On 1 1/2 speed it took almost 4 hours. I’m struggling with editing still, but I think I figured out some things to make the ending work better. Right now my main problem is showcasing the new physical system in a way that is compelling and intuitive, without overwhelming the reader with details that are irrelevant within in the context of the book.

Nanowrimo starts next week, and I have decided to do daily updates for the month of November. The project is called A Wildfire in Winter. After that I will probably pull back and do monthly updates, or updates as I actually make progress.

Metrics:

SoL: 67,639 84% of 80k ZGS Volume 1: 96,928 40% of 240k Rain&SoT: 15,485 19% of 80k

[galacticgazebo]

Another weekly metric post. We had someone get laid off on my team, so work has been extra rough these last couple of weeks and will only get rougher. Anyways, I should start prepping for nanowrite soon. I should probably have some kind of an outline by now, oops.

For the giggles:

SoL: 65,754 82% of 80k ZGS Volume 1: 95,041 39% of 240k Rain&SoT: 14,410 18% of 80k