What Are You Working On Now?

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

What are you working on?

Is this your main project or do you have several going at once?

How long have you been working on this project?

Is this project part of a series or larger project or something new?

Is this project different from what you have been working on?

What is the biggest challenge?

Comments

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

I started a new novel in February this year after completing the first draft on my old project. It is sort of a futuristic alternate Earth urban fantasy, a genre I never thought I'd be writing because I consider myself a strictly traditional fantasy kind of person. Until this plot bunny got me.

This book will stand alone but it can easily become a series if I wish. Some of the biggest challenges and also some of the most helpful things are that I'm working in a completely different world, setting and I have a completely different set of characters. My other projects are all set in the same world and have an intertwining set of characters. I really like that this novel is fresh and new and that I can make everything up from scratch and that I'm not limited to my other world's existing rules set.

[e-moon60.livejournal.com]

1) Structural revision of book two of the group, with a little light first-drafting of book three.

2) The whole project (the new contract) started in late 2007.

3) The immediate work is in the middle of a larger project (3 books or more. The contract says three, but I think I need more.)

4) Yes and no: it's going back to an earlier fictional universe after years in others.

5) Losing all the background notes & maps from the first books in this universe, and thus having to re-create things that were background to the original books but didn't appear on the surface.

[qazyfiction.livejournal.com]

@e_moon60 Ouch - losing the background notes/maps sucks. It happened to me once and I ended up having to put that piece of writing aside for a while until I could remake all the notes.

My answers:
I'm working on two things right now: a serial webnovella (Above Ground (http://qazyfiction.wordpress.com)) which is more of a side project / fun, and a more serious adventure/urban fantasy novel.

I started Above Ground in June, the novel 3 years ago.

Don't really know whether either will turn into series or not. I'm just trying to finish writing, for now.

I guess the biggest challenge is actually making time to write. There are so many demands on our time and distractions that it's easy to get carried away and not write at all!

[adalira.livejournal.com]

What are you working on?
I'm currently working on writing out the story of my life as it was 10+ years ago.

Is this your main project or do you have several going at once?
This is the main project, although I do tend to get sidetracked when looking for writing prompts to cure writer's block

How long have you been working on this project?
The first part of it was written about 7 years ago, which I found on my hard drive in April of this year. I have about 16 'chapters' written at this point

Is this project part of a series or larger project or something new?
I guess it would be a larger project. I'm hoping to have the story printed and bound into a book for myself, and see what happens later

Is this project different from what you have been working on?
This is really the only thing I'm working on right now, but it's much more in depth than anything else I've done in the past

What is the biggest challenge?
For me it's remembering. The story I'm writing now has a very, very tragic ending, something I have not yet managed to get over, even 9 years later.

Dandelion Lawn

[insane-poet-46.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to write a first novel - Young Adult Fiction. I'm breaking a lot of rules - mainly that I'm starting out with various thoughts that I want the novel to serve as a vehicle for, and I'm structuring the plot so that the novel will include the points I want it to make.

That being said, I'm trying hard not to be an ass about it. I'm making tha characters as real as possible, and letting the action proceed from who they are - subject to the overall direction of the plot.

The theme is conformity versus individuality - and I take sides. (Not too heavy handedly, I hope).

We first see Kaitlyn Evans in the prologue graduating from Middle School and receiving a second-hand bass guitar (Fender P-bass) from her dad and a somewhat cryptic inspirational talk about dandelions from her slightly weird but lovable Uncle Bill.

Within two years, as the story ends, she is part of a moderately successful local indie rock band called Dandelion Lawn. She has spent her Freshman year at Wood City's exclusive private prep school, Forest Academy (on scholarship) where she makes friends, has advebntures, makes hard decisions, and is officially invited not to return the following year.

Sophomore year at Wood City Central (complete with metal detectors at the doors) is very differenet. But there will be more adventures and more growth.

At some point, the band is successful enough to write their story, and Kaitlyn is chosen as the writer. So the novel will be first person in her voice.

Is this your main project or do you have several going at once?

My "main project" would be my day job, which I'm shamelessly neglecting as we speak. But this is my one and only current writing project.

How long have you been working on this project?

About 2 months, actively. About 50 years getting ready :)

Is this project part of a series or larger project or something new?

I'm obsesed with the thought of making a difference and leaving a mark of some kind. This is the latest attempt. All different - all the same. But as a literary effort it stands on its own.

Is this project different from what you have been working on?

Very different from my day job. (computers). Very in tune with the threads of my life otherwise. Will probably include as much of my poetry as can plausibly be worked into the plot.

What is the biggest challenge?

Keeping motivated. I have one friend who has been reading chapters as I finish them and likes the story. Without her input I would probably stagnate and give up.

The next biggest challenge is trying to write effectively in the voice of a person very different from myself.