#wip: the subtle art of counting crows

[parttimeghost]

trick or treat!

happy halloween! 🎃

you get a treat! here's the work-in-progress cover for 'the subtle art of counting crows'

[image id in ALT]

[parttimeghost]

Last Line Tag/Heads Up, Seven Up

Thank you for the tag, @marigoldispeculiar! <3

Going to share a silly little excerpt I was working on from The Subtle Art of Counting Crows cause I was missing them recently (I haven't written about them in nearly five months). It's a little long, so I'll throw it behind a cut.

I'm also going to leave this as an open tag, so for anybody that's waiting for a sign that they should share some of their spectacular work, here it is.

“As I was saying, tonight’s entertainment is Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, released in 1983 it has the privilege of being the last good Star Wars movie–” A barrage of boos fill the air; Bran throws a handful of popcorn toward Melissa, who dodges it with a tired sigh. “Never have you said something so wrong on so many levels.” Clancy flops down onto the ground before turning back to Melissa. “Evidence?” Clancy pulls herself into a sitting position, straightening her spine and turning her chin up slightly. “The defence produces the following evidence: Rogue One.” “Denied.” “The defence also produces this.” Clancy brings her fist to the air, raising her middle finger with meticulous precision.

[parttimeghost]

Trick or Treat! 🦇🎃🕷️

Hello Yav, Happy Halloween! You get a treat! Here are the picrews for the main characters of WIP: The Subtle Art of Counting Crows (top left: Bran, top right: Clancy, bottom left: Melissa, and bottom right: Jeanne)

Picrew Link Here

[parttimeghost]

4 & 20 for the writing ask meme?

Hi Finn, thanks for the ask!

4. what does it take for you to be proud of something you’ve written?

tagging @marinesocks because she also asked this question! <3

I think the thing that brings me the most joy in a WIP, the thing I'm most proud of, are the little details. I'm a big fan of parallels and foreshadowing, easter eggs, little references to my other works, and extended motifs. It's the way each detail is a little love letter to something important in my life right now, the way I'll be able to look back at these little patchworks, these scrapbooks in written form, and see myself reflected in them.

20. where do you begin a WIP? ex: a mood, a scene, a certain character dynamic, etc. does this differ per project?

I think it definitely differs from project to project. For WIP An Ode to the Destined, it was my own interest in Arthurian mythology and, more specifically, Morgan le Fay's developing role. There was this quote in an academic article I read wherein the author stated that: "male Arthurian authors [were] increasingly unable to image powerful women in positive terms". And it was kind of a metatextual concept, the idea that Morgan was never going to be the hero of this story because a powerful woman could only ever be the villain. And that's how the story evolved: Morgan, born with magic, prophesied to become the villain of a story that was never her's to begin with.

For WIP The Subtle Art of Counting Crows...I think it was the character dynamic that first came to me. These three kids whose lives were cut short, who died and came back different. Who have no home to go back to and that, even if they did, they don't really belong to anymore. Who find one another against all odds and create something new.

WIP Vignettes of a Life I Never Lived Vol. One was definitely a vibe and I feel like that really carried through into the actual feel of the WIP itself (which I feel is very kind of ethereal and full of promises, written in possible future tense).

[parttimeghost]

Hiya Taylor, name's Midnight and nice to meet you!! Please, tell me more about both of your WIPs!

Hi Midnight, it's so nice to meet you! <3

I know you're probably referring to the two WIPs I have in my pinned post so I'll talk about those first. But I've also got a couple of other WIPs that I'm currently working on/thinking about and I just haven't gotten around to updating my pinned post so I'll chuck a little bit about them on the end as well for a bit of fun!

WIP AN ODE TO THE DESTINED (Arthurian WIP)

An Ode to the Destined is my main WIP at the moment; I just started rewrites for the second draft which I'm super excited about! It's an Arthurian-inspired fantasy told from the perspective of Morgan of Avalon, the twin sister of Prince Arthur of Camelot. The story follows Morgan as she attempts to stop King Uther's purge and prevent the veil between the worlds from unravelling, whilst also dealing with the prophecies of Taliesin (who believes she is destined to fall to darkness) and her own seer dreams, the lines between reality and vision blurring as the events of her visions draw nearer.

The magic system of AOTTD has to be one of my favourite things that I've ever come up with! The basic concept is that reality is set out like a weaver's loom, right? The warp is everything that provides the structure to reality, things that cannot be changed (like the rising of the sun, the phases of the moon, and the seasons of the year). Whilst the weft is everything else, everything human. It helps to explain the way Seer visions work in AOTTD, where the future is possibilities (the different ways in which you can weave), whilst the past cannot be changed (as it is already woven).

I'm definitely going to be posting about this story over the next couple of months: here's an excerpt from the opening that I posted for HU7U!

WIP THE SUBTLE ART OF COUNTING CROWS (Superhero WIP)

This is probably the WIP that I've been working on for the longest. I started writing about these characters in 2020 for my HSC English Extension Two major work (basically I elected to take a course for my final year that meant that I got to submit a major work, which in my case was a short story) (they didn't like it very much lol).

It follows the lives of Bran Wren, Clancy Culpa, and Melissa Kennedy (though it's mostly told from Bran's point of view) as they navigate life as newly initiated superhero-vigilantes in the city of Wrenwood.

It's very much a slice-of-life superhero story; it's told in a non-linear fashion where each chapter of the collection is based on that counting crows nursery rhyme (One for Sorrow, One for Mirth, etc.). And I'm thinking about adding a couple of 'bonus stories' in the second draft (shorter stories based on alternate versions of the nursery rhyme, maybe told from Clancy and Melissa's point of view?). It's just really fun to write and the characters are so dear to me. Here's an excerpt from one of my favourite chapters so far.

I'm currently working on the second (?) draft so I'll post some more excerpts as I get into that (and when I finally stop procrastinating).

WIP VIGNETTES OF A LIFE I NEVER LIVED VOL. ONE (Short Story Collection)

I haven't actually posted a lot about this WIP so far so I'll give a brief overview. Vignettes of a Life I Never Lived Vol. One is a collection of short stories I wrote in early 2021/22 about being unsatisfied with the direction my life was heading but being uncertain about where exactly I wanted it to go. It's a work in progress and I'm adding little vignettes every so often when I think about different lives I could've led (some of them are realistic, others less so). I'm currently writing the story in a kind of weird possible-future-tense (I'm not sure how to explain it) but it makes for a really interesting structure and reading experience.

It's more of a love letter to all the people I could have been than anything else; a way to mourn them and say goodbye. I might have to finally get around to writing up a WIP intro for this soon...

WIP DON'T PAY THE FERRYMAN (Afterlife WIP)

Don't Pay the Ferryman is my most recent WIP. I started it for Camp NaNoWriMo back in July, but uni kicked my ass that month, so I only managed to write a little bit. It's about Thea, an Afterlife guide, who ferries unmarked souls (those without religious belief) through the afterlife and is looking for a way to escape, to find her own peace in an afterlife (any afterlife really). The only way for a Ferryman to retire, and that is to get an unmarked soul to take their place by paying them before the journey is over (based on that Chris de Burgh song of the same name). So when Thea receives her first charge, she believes herself willing to do anything to reach retirement. That's when she meets Adriana. So it's a road trip romance novel but with a fantasy (and philosophy) bent.

Thank you for the ask! Have a lovely day (and lmk if you want to know anything more about any WIP in particular)! <3

[parttimeghost]

WIP Title Tag Game

thanks @hymnonlips for the tag!

Rules: post the names of all the files in your wip folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous they are. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it. Then tag as many people as you have wips (or don't). (you can make your own post or reblog this one!)

Titles and tags below the cut!

AN ODE TO THE DESTINED

[AOTTD] taliesin's prophecies [AOTTD] the graveyard [AOTTD] an ode to the destined [AOTTD] ygraine lives au [AOTTD] untitled no. four

THE SUBTLE ART OF COUNTING CROWS

[TSAOCC] for sorrow [TSAOCC] for mirth [TSAOCC] for a wedding [TSAOCC] for a (re)birth [TSAOCC] for silver [TSAOCC] for gold [TSAOCC] for a secret never to be told

OTHER MISCELLANEOUS WIPS IN VARIOUS STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

[SSC] vignettes of a life i never lived vol. one [ARCH] untitled no. two [POEM] ancient dreams vol. one [POEM] i love you and other fun catchphrases: on writing a birthday card [ARCH] bazaar of broken dreams [ARCH] there’s frost on the windowpane (and in my heart) [ARCH] fall of an empress [ARCH] museum musings [ARCH] a walking study (in demonology)

tagging: @friendlyneighborhood-writer @approximately20eggs @marrowwife