WIP meme

[xerinmichellex]

Stolen from rhoda_rants: If you happen to be working on some creative writing project, fanfiction or NaNaWriMo or what have you, post exactly one sentence from each of your current works in progress in your journal.

The Book (tentatively titled THE IRON CITY):

The morning after my father disappeared, they said the air around the Porter Building tasted sharp and foul, as if the proud tower knew something had happened to its king and it now turned away anyone who dared approach it.

Then, I pulled other lines from other WIP's in various stages of completion that I'll (eventually) return to. Let's start in order:

The Watchmaker Series (time travel and other Sci-Fi goodies)

As far as prison cells went, it was one of the nicer ones Eliza had had the pleasure of staying in.

The Corvis Chronicles (YA horror à la Rick Yancey's Monstrumologist Series)

Bram groaned. "Uncle Liam always looks at me as if I'm something he scrapped off the bottom of his shoe."

The Ill-Fated, I Shouldn't Even Be Entertaining the Idea, WHHHHHYYYYYY Do I Hate Myself? Nutcracker Retelling:

Clara threw her skates, and as skates are wont to do on smooth surfaces, they slid across the hardwood floor, leaving a faint trail behind them.

Comments

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

Welp, from your first quote, I think I already like your (protagonist?) Eliza. :)

Clara sounds quite miffed in that quote. Am I correct (or should I not ask)?

Arg, that does it, I'm doing this meme, too! It looks too tempting. (Edited for spelling errors.)

[xerinmichellex.livejournal.com]

Eliza is one of two (three?) MC's for the time travel novel. In her original incarnation, I was going for a "toned down" version of River Song. Then, River Song went in her odd direction in S6 and S7, and Eliza's. . .different now.

Clara is throwing a temper tantrum, yes. (She's trying to get a rise out of her mother; but I won't say whether or not she succeeds.)

Can't wait to see some of your lines!

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

Then, River Song went in her odd direction in S6 and S7, and Eliza's. . .different now.

It's funny how our characters take on a life on their own, and promptly take off in a direction we were NOT expecting. But now I'm quite intrigued, because a character that's similar to River, but still very much herself, is definitely someone I'd like to meet.

(She's trying to get a rise out of her mother; but I won't say whether or not she succeeds.)

Hee, given how good kids are at being irritating when they want to do so, my bet's on Clara.

My lines are up! And they all feel kinda boring. Maybe because I know them so well.

[xerinmichellex.livejournal.com]

And they all feel kinda boring. Maybe because I know them so well.

Awww, don't be so hard on yourself. I think about 98% of what I write is utter crap.

If it makes you feel any better, I like your names. I'm always envious of writers that can come up with unique, other-worldly names. I suck at naming things--ALL things.

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

Awww, don't be so hard on yourself. I think about 98% of what I write is utter crap.

I keep hearing this time and again from writers everywhere! And it's what keeps me writing. It's just super ironic that everybody can adore a writer's work, except the writer herself.

If it makes you feel any better, I like your names. I'm always envious of writers that can come up with unique, other-worldly names. I suck at naming things--ALL things.

Awww, thank you! It makes me feel A LOT better, since I put a lot of work into made-up names. I'm sorry you have trouble naming things. For me, names are either great, or just making do because the perfect one doesn't exist. Star Wars was definitely the catalyst that made me want to make up names for my characters. It's one of the reasons I love sci-fi and fantasy.

[xerinmichellex.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you have trouble naming things. For me, names are either great, or just making do because the perfect one doesn't exist.

I'm okay with naming characters and sometimes I can manage naming organizations or groups. But I suck at naming bigger things: like countries/cities in other worlds or species, etc.

In The Book, since Illinois and its neighboring states have broken away from the United States, I have to come up with their new country name. (Like the Confederacy did during the Civil War.) I've yet to name the damn country, and I'm like, "Welllllll, maybe I can just never mention the county's name. . .?" This has been going on for 3 years now.

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

I've yet to name the damn country, and I'm like, "Welllllll, maybe I can just never mention the county's name. . .?" This has been going on for 3 years now.

Oh, I can relate! Countries are hardest, by far, because you want the name to convey everything you feel about the country itself. It's so easy to put off pinning something down, and instead just decide to be mysterious, at least for a while.

[xerinmichellex.livejournal.com]

Right? Like, I don't want the name too ridiculous or hard to pronounce. Then I have to take into consideration what the people within the story would choose as an appropriate name.

I should really get off my butt and research how the Confederacy got its name, and "America", and "Britain", and every other country that's managed to name itself. But, eh. . . .

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, I LOVE YOUR ICON! It's perfection. :)

Right? Like, I don't want the name too ridiculous or hard to pronounce.

Exactly! I came up with a bunch of tough names for my "Venture" trilogy, but I love them too much to get rid of them. So I compromised and had most of the characters go by a similar English names 90% of the time, since they had to pretend to be fully human anyway. Win/win.

Oh, I loathe research, if it's specifically tied to a book. It's weird. I'll be totally excited to learn something new if it's a spontaneous curiosity, but nothing else. (My gut is telling me America was named for some Amerigo Something Something that supposedly glimpsed North America before Columbus, and Britain = Briton, and that's all I got.)

[xerinmichellex.livejournal.com]

LOL that icon describes so many of my WIP's.

I should probably keep "of the United States", like the Confederates did. So, I just need to figure out what goes before "of". The country itself is very industrialized; so I think I have to go something along those lines.

There's some research I love and NEED to do; such as looking at the specific time period and setting in order to get started. But other research I avoid or save for later because I know it'll be super intensive and I don't feel like I have the time right now to look.

[gothrockrulz.livejournal.com]

There's some research I love and NEED to do; such as looking at the specific time period and setting in order to get started.

Yeah, that's the best kind of research. I don't know why, but stories seem most exciting when you're just beginning, and everything seems possible.

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

Oh man. Is that line from The Book your opening line? If so, it's a cracker! *thumbs up*

The Watchmaker: Heh, Eliza spends lots of time in prison cells, I gather? I'm getting a Victorian Time Travel vibe there, just from the description and your word choice. Is that right?

[xerinmichellex.livejournal.com]

Gah! I wish! Now I have to find an EVEN better opening line now.

Yes, Eliza's from the Victorian Era--1876 in the first book, to be exact.

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

Haha, oh dear!! It's a great line, wherever it falls. And wow, your icon makes so much more sense now. I've always liked that icon, if I haven't mentioned that before.

[xerinmichellex.livejournal.com]

I do love that line. I guess you'll have to slog through the beginning to get to that line and see how it relates to the narrative. MWHAHAHA!

Thanks for the icon love; it's one of my favorites. :)