Raveneye - NaNoWriMo - This Shattered Eden

[Alatariel]

Nov 3, 2022 16:39:12 GMT -6 RAVENEYE said:

Progress Diary

Oh good grief. The writing was going soooo much better today. Words were happening, etc. I was happy with how the scene was flowing. THEN the build-up to a major plot event tossed me into an instant of research and what I learned forced me to realize I needed to build a timeline, with hard dates.



I mean, WTF. I had to find a calendar -- an Eastern Julian calendar (WTF is that, you ask?) -- that told me when Easter was in 1873 -- because a Coptic wedding will NOT be conducted during Lent. This wedding must take place for the sake of the novel. And guess when my timeline falls???? Exactly in the middle of Lent!!!!! I mean, WTF. For real, y'all. 



So I spent the last half of the writing day diving back through all the novel's content to figure out what happened when (I didn't think I would need hard dates, so I never established them, just generalized by month) SO THAT I could figure out which downtime/transitional areas could be stretched out across weeks SO THAT the timeline moves forward SO THAT the big plot event can happen right AFTER Lent.

Ah, the joys of writing Historical fiction. I want to scoop out my brain now. It feels raw. 



Here's a FUN historical tidbit that you may not know: during Coptic weddings, the bride and groom wear gold crowns and sit on thrones.  No joke.



P.S. This means I got all of 462 words written today. This won't cut it, ya'll. Maybe doing an Historical for NaNo is a shitty idea.

OMG that made my heart speed up just reading it. The amount of work you're doing for this novel is staggering and admirable! But yea, I can see how this kind of thing is, um, a massive headache. Totally understandable type of delay. Just means you gotta have a few marathon writing days in the future.

[Caulder Melhaire]

Ooooh! I've been super curious about this project ever since you went to Egypt (I can't believe that was already a year ago, sheesh). That's gotta be so friggin cool, getting to write about these places when you've actually seen where they were/are.

[RAVENEYE]

Progress Diary

How is it Tuesday? I don't usually write on weekends, but I wrote on Saturday to make up some word count due to the research shenanigans last week.

I've discovered that, when I arrive at a part of the story that incorporates a lot of cultural details, exposition, etc. that might bog down the story and bore the reader, turning that portion of the story into a letter that Gabriella writes to her cousin helps move things along so smoothly and in a way that allows me to write G's opinions and reactions directly, filtered tight through her POV. Her letter summaries of what happened allow for fun foreshadowing with "Wow, you won't believe what happened" AND helps me choose the more important details to include instead of trying to incorporate every neat tidbit I've gathered in my research.

So that's what I spent the weekend and yesterday doing, crafting a letter of a strange Coptic wedding. This week, I get to deal with the fun consequences that ramp a major plot point toward a crescendo.

Yay.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

[pelwrath]

That’s an interesting idea and way around that problem.

I’d consider using it but not sure it would fit in what I write, I still really like it,

[RAVENEYE]

Progress Diary

Yesterday was a good writing day. Hurray. Made some decent progress into the next scene. Had to stop to research what certain garments are called.

Because of this, I learned the words bisht and agal and where they are worn. 

Hoping I can finish this wonderfully turbulent and subtly tense scene today without any research pitstops.

[RAVENEYE]

Progress Diary

Had a great run of writing yesterday. Almost hit my quota. Sorta. Have I hit the 1000k mark a single time since this started? Methinks not. Will today be better? I've decided it will not. Having a tough time concentrating today. Kinda all over the place. I blame the out-of-routine morning that started the day, and the unintended nap after that. Now I have a headache, and a drastic weather change is about to hit, so I'm totally distracted.

I think I'll fill out registration for a SFWA mentorship lottery instead (please, please draw my name!). Gotta get that done by the end of the month.

Oh! And yesterday, the only research pitstops I remember encountering had to do with food. My characters are having a feast at the moment, and I needed authentic Egyptian food on the table. That's when I discovered mahalabiya. Take a look at what my characters are eating when a big interruption happens:



Not sure how authentic the strawberries are though, so I left them off.

[RAVENEYE]

Progress Diary
At last! I had a really good writing day to close the week. Exceeded my 1000k quota for the first time since NaNo started.   

Plus! A surprise development. I thought this story had no surprises left for me. This is a 3rd version (or 4th?) after all. So when this new little twist presented itself, I got that gorgeous electric jolt of excitement and grabbed onto it. It not only ups the interest factor, increasing the tension at this chapter's conclusion, but solves an issue I couldn't figure out how to work in.

Yeah, that's all really vague. In the old version I'm using as my guide and outline, the crisis is resolved through a tearful conversation. But in the new version, I throw my upset characters out into the desert at night (location provides the solution AGAIN) and suddenly my heroine falls down a literal hole (the foreshadowing for this was already gloriously built-in and I never realized it). Now the crisis ramps up a degree higher as Gabriella goes missing, must be found, and rescued, and this threat to her wellbeing --and not a tearful conversation-- causes the change of heart.

I'm so thrilled by this. I get to leave the writing for the day in a great place. I love feeling satisfied at the end of a writing day.

====================================
P.S. I got distracted twice by a few research pitstops.

1. I fell under the spell of looking through 1870s fashion for about an hour. I mean, what "history of fashion" buff wouldn't get lost gawking at things like this: 



2. I needed to double-check the habitat range of these guys:

[pelwrath]

Again nice pictures, so does Riki-Tiki-Tavi save the day? Is it possible to get a snipette?

[RAVENEYE]

Nov 12, 2022 10:45:16 GMT -6 pelwrath said:

Again nice pictures, so does Riki-Tiki-Tavi save the day? Is it possible to get a snipette?

LOL! Nope, no mongooses. 

Hmm, I might share a very tiny tidbit, since there's no telling if any of this content will make the final cut. Totally out of context, here goes Gabriella falling down a hole:

... If she reached the temple proper and could not find him, she would turn back and wait for him in his cottage.


The darkness, however, was a great deceiver. Knowledge that was clear in the day was now skewed, and shadows played tricks. She avoided one stretch of darkness only to step into another, and the darkness swallowed her. For an instant, she caught herself on the edge of the hole in the storehouse roof, but the sand forbade her a handhold and down into the darkness she tumbled.

/chapter

[RAVENEYE]

Progress Diary

I've written nothing since my last diary entry. I spent the weekend mulling over the optional consequences of the accident quoted above. I'm caught between two resolutions to the problem, and I'm not sure which one to go with. But the clock is ticking, and I'm not going to make my word count, if I don't write something.

I guess I could share a pic of the place Gabriella just had her accident. These are the ancient temple storehouses referred to: 




She is traversing across the top of the arches b/c they have not yet been excavated and unburied, only probed through those holes in the ceiling. It's a 12-foot drop to the floor.

[pelwrath]

Ravneye,
That was a great snipette, especially having her walk over the unexcavated arches and find a hole, the hard way.

[RAVENEYE]

Progress Diary

 <-- This is an actual picture of me doing my happy dance. Didn't you ever hear that to be a writer is to be a chronic liar? We just channel the lies onto the screen instead of loved ones' ears. One would hope.

Anyway, I really do feel like doing a happy dance this evening, b/c I met my quota again today. Poor Gabriella is in a fix, and tomorrow I will write her out of it. And into another fix.

Her situation had me looking up these creepy-crawlies:



This is the deathstalker scorpion. With a name like that, I can't NOT include it in the story, right?

[dawndragon]

Nov 15, 2022 17:17:07 GMT -6 RAVENEYE said:

Progress Diary

 <-- This is an actual picture of me doing my happy dance. Didn't you ever hear that to be a writer is to be a chronic liar? We just channel the lies onto the screen instead of loved ones' ears. One would hope.

Anyway, I really do feel like doing a happy dance this evening, b/c I met my quota again today. Poor Gabriella is in a fix, and tomorrow I will write her out of it. And into another fix.

Her situation had me looking up these creepy-crawlies:



This is the deathstalker scorpion. With a name like that, I can't NOT include it in the story, right?

I couldn't resist looking it up too! Yeah, you're contractually obliged to include one in your story for no other reason than getting to write the words 'deathstalker'. I kinda want to call something a deathstalker now...

[RAVENEYE]

Pre-Progress Diary

I foresee two distractions on the horizon.

1. The prompt word for the next round of Fractured Lit's micro fiction contest has been released, and I have two weeks to write an entry. Submissions due November 30. I may count the words I write for this contest as part of my overall NaNo word count. That way I'm not freaking out that I have to step away from Eden for a few days.
2. Heading to the movies with my mom on Friday. I may get some words written Friday morning, but I doubt it. The rest of the day will be spent with family and recovering afterward.

Okay, I better get to it.

P.S. Ooo ooo! Just ran across this blog post about weaving historical facts into historical fiction. Several great reminders and a couple of great tips to consider during revisions, so the story isn't boring as hell. Posting the link here so I don't lose it. pelwrath - it might interest you too:  HISTORICAL FICTION: THE STORY COMES FIRST

[pelwrath]

Raveneye,

Thank you for that link. Read it once and know I’ll return to it.
Some good suggestions in there.