writerly ways

otherwise known as my nano sucks but I'm gonna write it anyway. The problem here is two fold. The more serious one of only one character shouting loudly and everyone else content to be in the background where they can not remain. THe other is the niggling thought of why are there crows, oaks and pumpkins in a non-Earth world. For now I can ignore that and change it later.

What I'm finding harder to ignore is the idea of Ms. and Mr. This is a matriarchial society. Surnames and inheritances are passed along the mother's line. I feel like they need something OTHER than Ms. and Mr. to denote them. The problem is I don't know WHAT to call them and I feel it's important because this is, in a way, the crux of the novel (the matrilinear inheritance not the naming). Marija is the elder sister. Amalur is queen but is the younger sister. However, they share a father, not a mother and Marija's mother was not the former queen. Naturally Marija wants to be queen.


If you get stuck here's an exercise from findyourwords

Write three paragraphs describing a character's emotional state via the landscape around him or her in third person limited point-of view. You have a limit of three adverbs.


or check out take a prompt, leave a prompt under the word war section of the nano forums.

like... 'why does every stray cat in the world end up on my door.'

yearly count -

83645 / 175000 words. 48% done!

yeah i'll be backing down my goal next year. funny last year i put it at 100,000 and i had to up it three times...