Whelp, wish me luck.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

As of 1:11 am on Friday the 7th of November, the first draft of Part One: Journey has been completed.

Part Two: Hall has now been started.

I have no idea how many parts there will be. I does rather depend on the plot. But still... Yay!

 

Progress for Friday the 7th of November
Words Written Today: 2,757
Words Total: 17,000 (Niiiiice)
Location Written: My Bedroom, Ricky's House
While Watching: Stargate Atlantis and Serenity (OMFG Kick-Ass Film!)
While Listening Too: Tom Lehrer's 'Songs and More Songs' and 'Revisited' (to the amusement of Ricky and his sister)
Unexpected Revelations: 3 (Added: Taiv gets frighteningly obsessive over projects, Cliff is a mercenary)
People Who Talk More Than I Do: 1 (Miss Liss Baker)
Sly Star Ocean 3 References: 1 (Greeton)
Plot Changes I Wasn't Expecting: 2 (I don't know if I'm going to use my last Core Character at all, Belen is planning a war but not with my original target)
'OMFG!' Moments: About 6 (all while watching Serenity)
Annoying Distractions That Hurt My Word Count: 1 (Ricky's brother Tim who Will. Not. Shut. The. Fuck. Up.)
Today Was: Passably okay

Excerpt Of The Day:

"Would you really have believed I was friends with Taiv if I'd told you I was a mercenary straight up?" She stared at him. "Bloody hell, you would have. Either you're a weird girl or Deis is a weird city."
"Can't it be both?" She smiled and shrugged. "I guess I'll see you around, yeah? And, uh, keep an eye on Taiv for me. He's dedicated, and I'm scared he's going to go all obsessive on me again."
"Obsessive?" He fell into step with her, and she started to up her pace to leave him behind. "What do you mean, again? What the hell is between you two?"
"A lifetime," she said, waving him off.
"You people are messed up, you know that?"

(Elenor and Cliff being, well, Elenor and Cliff)

 

Thank god nobody decided to do a NoJoMo here in HoL...

A friend of mine from high school had the "wtf am I doing here" affirmation in the middle of his finals English exam. He spent the first few paraphraphs explaining 'moop' - a substance he is yet to invent, where placing it in an oven-like device can be programmed to turn into any inanimate object (recently deceased, i.e. food, also included). He then spent the rest of the essay filling it with the word 'moop', hoping they will change into the marker's words of choice.

The punchline? We had to write three essays. He only wrote two, the moop essay being the second.

And he still got a higher mark than me.

Which just goes to show how clever the lazy really are. I.e. Laziness is the mother of all invention.

 

Moop.....kinda like poop.

Only the other way around.

 

Progress for Saturday 8th November

Words Written Today: 4,347 (More than 2,000 of which were written BEFORE 3 am!)
Words Total: 21,347
Location Written: My Bedroom (My family didn't even know I was home for most of the day!)
While Watching: Nyet
While Listening To: Tom Lehrer and Stairways (again)
Magic Unlocking Rituals Performed: 2
Magic Unlocking Rituals Performed SUCCESSFULLY: 1 (Long story)
Creepy Goth Teens: 1
Sly Arcanum References: 6 (Added: Master Jorian, who can read the future. Does that count as 1 or 2 references?)
Meals That I Regret Eating: 1
Authorial "FUCK YEAH!" Moments: 1 (I preordered Star Ocean: Second Evolution today, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!)
Scenes Involving At Least A Mention Of Alchemy: 3
Incidents Of Self-Referential Cheekiness: 1 (The novel and Elenor's first textbook have the same name)
"God Fucking Damn It, Xiao!" Moments: 1 (I need to get Elenor out of this bloody Academy and into the park before I snap)
Today Was: My most productive day ever!

 

Progress for Sunday 9th November

Words Written Today: 2,090
Words Total: 23,437
Location Written: My Bedroom
While Watching: Adam's PSO Tutorials
While Listening To: Far too much stuff to list here
Core Characters Introduced: 5/6 or 5/5 (Added: Noel "If I Could Talk To The Animals... Wait, I Can" Chandler)
Catfights: 1
Core Characters Rapidly Approaching Breakdown: 1 (Elenor)
Sly Real-World References: 1 (Noel's puppy is named after my sister's dog)
Authorial "Fuck Off Or Die" Moments: 5 (Only 2 of which were here!)
Authorial "I Want To Rewrite About 90% Of This Already" Moments: 2 (I will not edit until I finish... I will not edit until I finish... ad nauseum...)
Renames: 2 (Part 1 is now called Air, Part 2 is Earth... Part 3 will either be Wood or Water)
Real Life Problems Affecting My Ability To Write: 1 (And no I'm not sharing, fuck off or die)
Today Was: A really shitty day

No excerpt for you!

 

Progress for Monday 10th November

Words Written Today: 2,571
Words Total: 26,008
Location Written: My Bedroom
While Watching: Stargate Atlantis and Star Trek: TNG
While Listening To: The Black Mages (Self-titled album)
Scenes Rewritten Or Adusted To Fit The Changing Plot: 12
Scenes Outright Deleted: 3
Real Life Problems Sorting Themselves Out: 1 (Thank the many and varied gods)
New Games Bought: 1
Hours Spent Doing An Ultimate Caves Run In PSO: 2 and 1/2
Rares Found During Said Run: 1 (Silence Claw... and I'm a Ranger! FUCK! Oh well, more trades for next time I visit Ricky...)
Vials Of Blood Taken From My Arm: 2
Alchemic Revelations: 2 (Alchemy is a scientific approach to magic, the country that uses Alchemy the most stole it from the people they're constantly at war with)
Seriously Creepy Goth Teenagers: 1 (Miss Sara Craft, who is scaring me and who I need to either write out or turn into an adversary quick-like)
Authorial Squee Moments: 2 (Another Miles and Keiko O'Brien moment, they're so damn cute...)
Today Was: Far more productive that the above entry would indicate

Excerpt Of The Day!!

"Interrogation," Nei said, and she was struck by how... nauseous the woman looked. It was somehow reassuring that even the somewhat amoral warrior-mage had lines she didn't want to cross. "The more them, the better."
"Shoot for the knees, then," Taiv said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Ah well, this little toy of mine was due for an accuracy test anyway." He whipped the pistol from its holster, spun it on his finger a couple of times, and slid it back into place with a grin.
"You know," Cliff said in a low tone, "I don't remember him being this... bloodthirsty before he came here."

(Not the first sign, but definately a major sign of how weird Taiv is getting. He's... not the guy he was at the beginning of the month. In fact, he's an asshole in a nice guy's clothing.)

 

Xaio, if you add everything you've posted here since Nov 1, I think you're over your 50k mark now.

CONGRATS!!!

 

Progress for Tuesday 11th November

Due to physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, today was a no-write day. :zzz:

 

Good for you! Breaking yourself will accomplish nothing.
...
...
That being said...
BACK TO WORK.
*must read story*

 

Patience, beloved Puppy. You guys will get it eventually.

 

Progress for Wednesday November 12th

Words Written Today: 2,204
Words Total: 28,212
Location Written: Josh's House
While Watching: Dead Space (bah), Otogi Zoshi (Squeee!)
While Listening To: Nuthin' much
Annoying Realisations: 1 (Thanks to some of the rewriting, Noel technically isn't intoduced yet. Damn it!)
Authorial "Fuck This" Moments: 1 (I burnt several places my arm and chest while cooking my dad's dinner. I am not fucking amused. Chances are some of them are gonna scar.)
Countries That Work Better Now: 1 (The Southlands, not in the book yet)
Groups That Work Better Now: 1 (Reunion, despite the Jenova reference there's nothing final fantasy about these people)
Today Was: Okay, but I wanted to write more than I did

 

Progress for Thursday November 13th

Words Written Today: 2,331
Words Total: 30,543 (Woo! 30k done!)
Location Written: My Bedroom. Again.
While Watching: Spicks and Specks
While Listening To: Whatever I Could Find
Minor Characters Unexpectedly Returning To My Narrative: 2 (Michael Thompson the Caravan Master, Lake the quiet technologist cursed with a magical heritage - that's how he wants it said.)
Core Characters Dumped And Good Riddance: 1 (Bye Rafe, you sucked anyway)
Core Characters Who Have Become Future Antagonists: 2 (Taiv and Nei)
Former Friends Of Core Characters Who Have Become Future Antagonists: 1 (That scary Sara chick, she is too frightening to leave forever)
Webcomics I've Started Reading: 3 (Irregular Webcomic, User Friendly and Exiern)
Meatspin Revolutions: 2,441 (Augh! The song, it burns!)
Today's Temperature: 27 degrees Centigrade! (Mother fucker it was hot today, and really humid, and it's not fucking summer yet)
Dares Achieved: 2/5 (Added: See excerpt below)
Today Was: Decent but not brilliant

Excerpt of the Day!

As the group started to fan out, Nei grabbed Taiv's collar and kissed him hard. Elenor made a nauseated face.
"It's like watching porcupines mate," she said. "It's prickly and horrible and I keep expecting to see an eye get poked out or something."
"...That is not a mental image I needed going into battle, Elly," Cliff said, turning slightly green. "In fact, that's not a mental image I needed at any point in my entire life."
"Sorry."

(Dare: Use the line 'it's like watching porcupines mate'. Achieved!)

 

Progress for Friday 14th November

Words Written Today: 2,949
Words Total: 33,492 (Sweet lord, when did that happen?)
Location Written: My Bedroom. Le sigh.
While Watching: Rock and Roll Nerd (A very interesting bio-pic about Tim Minchin. Part of the Melbourne Film Festival Travelling Film Festival.)
While Listening To: Stankonia (Outkast, I just love 'Miss Jackson')
Diplomatic Incidents Started: 1 (The scary part, it was actually the right thing to do)
Authoral 'FUCK YES!!!' Moments: 1 (I'm out of that fucking school! YES! Only a few more paragraphs and I'll be onto the stuff that all this has been working up to. Gah... I never expected the Belen stuff to take so long.)
Home Truths Noted: 1 (See Excerpt)
Word Count Rewards: 1 (25,000, going to the Film Festival, would have gone earlier in the week but the only showing was tonight)
Next Word Count Reward At: 40,000 words
Sly Arcanum References: 7 (Added: The Industrial Council rules Deis)
Today Was: Pretty good, actually

Excerpt of the Day!

"I know..." she said, sighing deeply. "I just wish we could have done something... I don't know, something more immediate. Those letters made me sick to my stomach. My countrymen are suffering and I can't do anything that I haven't already done."
"Welcome to the human race, Elly. It sucks, doesn't it?"
"You said it."

(And if you don't know what the home truth is, I fear for you.)

 

Progress for Saturday 15th November

Words Written Today: 2,472
Words Total: 35,964
Location Written: Josh's House
While Watching: Otogi Zoshi (finally finished the fucker. I am unimpressed.), Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker, and Bioshock (which gave me motion sickness... WTF???)
While Listening To: Stankonia
Minor Character Unexpected Revelations: 1 (Turns out Lake was kidnapped by Belen once, which actually explains an awful lot about him.)
Core Character Unexpected Revelations: 1 (Elenor loves murder mysteries - not for the murders themselves, but for the puzzle aspect of it all.)
Character Deaths Planned: 2 (Rafe Wyvernsbane, Nei Fereth)
Authorial "Oh, That's What This Reminds Me Of!" Moments: 1 (New Haven reminds me of something I wrote a long time ago)
Alchemic Revelations: 4 (Alchemy is older than Veek and Belen like to admit, they stole it from somewhere else and prettied it up so the nobles wouldn't get pissy about teaching 'commoner magic' to their kids. It's still a scientific kind of approach, though.)
Sly Arcanum References: 8 (The large area of completely uninhabitable dangerous wasteland was caused by a conflict between magic and technology)
Today Was: Meh. Could have done without the motion sickness.

 

Progress for Sunday 16th November

Words Written Today: 2,195
Words Total: 38,159
Location Written: Ricky's House
While Watching: Stargate Atlantis, The Melancholy of Haruhi Whateverthefuckhernameis (Weird shit, man, really weird shit.)
While Listening To: Tom Lehrer
Days Left Until I Finally Reach New Haven: 1 (At most. I fucking mean it this time)
Unexpected Snippets: 1 (Apparently Deis lets relatives into the city without problems, but most visitors have to go through an application process)
Awesome Sights: The Southlands - it's a constantly shifting magic-infused desert with a massive area of black glass where a couple of cities used to be
Friends Who I Have Finally Seen After About Four Months: 1 (Donna, weird chick who I love)
Bard's Tale Songs Spontaneously Performed With Sammi: 3 (Beer, The Viking Song, Bad Luck To Be You)
Today Was: Meh...

SPECIAL REQUEST!!

I've decided that the original title for this work, The Fundamentals of Alchemy, is no longer appropriate. Help me rename my novel!

 

I have no idea what you story is about. So I couldn't possibly come up with a fitting name.

But if you could tell me what the story is about, in short, maybe I can help you.

 

The first part of the book (the part that's taken me the entire month to date and which will pretty much definitely see a lot of cropping and editing before I consider submitting it) deals with Elenor, a woman who leaves her home in search of a friend and inevitably causing a diplomatic incident which has the unfortunate side-effect of worsening a rather nasty war.

The rest of the book (the part that I'm finally working on) is set about 14 years later, when the repercussions of part 1 fall heavily on the woman and those around her, and deals with the efforts of a student of the first woman to protect her home and save her mentor.

It's getting a little... complicated. I do like Taren (second part) above Elenor (first part), it turns out, and as I delayed the introduction of a couple of characters Taren will get all kinds of interesting stuff to deal with, not to mention a certain scruffy but adorable animal empath...

 

Progress for Monday 17th November

Words Written Today: 3,221
Words Total: 41,380 (Yay! Time for reward number 2! What shall I do...)
Location Written: My bedroom, in between desk cleaning
While Watching: Stargate Atlantis, Lano and Woodley
While Listening To: Fallen and the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack from the Baz Luhrmann film.
Personal Milestones Reached: 2 (I finally made it to New Haven and the second part of the novel! ABOUT BLOODY TIME!)
Generation 2 Core Characters Introduced: 2 (Taren 'You Know, A Robot Spider Is Taking It Too Bloody Far, Xiao' McKay and Doctor James 'I Apparently Drink Too Much Coffee To Sleep Properly' Bowman.)
Unexpected Perceptive Shifts: 1 (WTF? Suddenly I'm 14 years into the future and the main character has changed! Having said which, I like Taren, even if she is scared of machines and soldiers.)
Today Was: Interesting...

 

Hmm, Interesting.
With short notice, I'm just going to throw out a few names, that won't have that much thought in them. Most probably, they will be bad. Also, I'm not good at names.

"The journey of two"


Ok, I suck so hard I could only come up with one bad name.

Eat a cookie, or two