Update on my Writing: June 4th

I have not posted an update on my novels recently, and so here one is!

At end of April, I finished my two hardest classes this year, and so I had a lot more time for writing in May! Then my family went on a road trip for two weeks, and we spent six separate days (or 41 hours) driving all over Texas. This ended up working in my favor, and I got to spend a lot of time writing! Yay!

Here is a summary of what I got done:

• Child of the Curse: I reformatted the entire document in the proper way for agents! This actually took longer than I expected… but it is done now.
• Child of the Curse: I finished adding in some edits from a friend, and I added in two or three new scenes and a couple of character quirks.
• Child of the Curse: I finally fixed Baehur’s accent! I’ve been putting it off, but I think that Baehur’s written dialogue is no longer laughable (seriously, several people thought it sounded like a mix of a Southern accent and a Swedish one…)
• Daughter of the Flame: I finished my detailed outline of this book which included outlining every planned scene, goals for each chapter, making sure the beats landed properly, and coming up with an emotional focus for each scene. My outline ended up around 4,000 words, but I should be set for Nanowrimo this July!
• Daughter of the Flame: Properly formatted this document, too, and I prepared it to be writing during Camp Nanowrimo this July.
• Nanowrimo: I created a playlist of music for “camp” this July.
• Also I rewrote and fixed a poem which will appear in all the novels in my series. It had some major meter issues, but I think that I have fixed most of them.

However, I still have several things which I need to get done in June, so here is my tentative list:

• Daughter of the Flame: I need to edit and rewrite the first two and a half chapters since I wrote them almost two years ago. Those chapters still include my old names, and my writing style has matured since then, so I want those chapters to be on the same level as what I will write during Nanowrimo in July.
• Child of the Curse: I hope to finish adding in some edits which a friend is doing for me. However, this may not happen, and I might need to finish this in August after Camp Nanowrimo.
• Child of the Curse: I will finally be attacking querying agents about my novel this month! I was slightly lax with my approach to it before, but now I am much more confident in my manuscript. I would prefer that the final grammar edits from my friend were added in before I start querying, but I really think that I have put off querying for long enough. So I plan on starting right away!
• Scholarships: I have a few writing ones due this month… oh joy (sarcasm)
• Other: I will be writing two “bills” for a Christian government camp (iGovern) that I am going to at the end of June.

Thank you all for following my blog, and I love all the support from you guys! I thought I’d include the poem I worked on below. Please enjoy it! Also if you notice any problems (especially technical ones such as grammar or meter), please comment and let me know. I would really appreciate it!

(Please note that the poem is written in first person by an elf named Hodesha’; she is a significant historical figure in my story, so this is on purpose. Also I am sorry if you don’t understand much of what the poem is saying, but I cannot give you any more information without revealing too much of my novels.)

The Hodesha’ Prophecy

Throughout a bright and moonlit night,

Stood I next to the sea.

As overhead stars did shine,

The King spoke down to me.

 

And He told of how times shall come

When evil shall awake.

From the desert in the south

An army one shall make.

 

Some children of the Eshaem tribe

The Traitor shall debase.

Serpent fangs and dragon wings

Cloak his accursed race.

 

From my first race a boy shall come

To lead all elves away.

With the moon marked on his brow,

He shall not let them stray.

 

From the cursed race, a child born

With eyes of green and grace,

Shall escape the fateful vow,

And take an elven place.

 

One from the fire; one of deep sea;

One of the forest green:

Braves shall come to help my heir,

The nations to convene.

 

Of flaming throne, the free heir shall,

With passion in her soul.

Lead nations, should she choose, or

Fulfil the martyr’s role.

 

The violent seas have born a son;

A lie he shall possess,

Though trained by pain and hatred,

The truth he must confess.

 

The child of the servant’s life,

From inside Etsaem’s trees.

Should she find her unheard voice,

She will hold wisdom’s keys.

 

Yet should instruction e’er be scorned,

A different path they take,

The captured hearts shall beating cease

If fire does not wake.

 

Yet if they stay on straightened path,

And lead the faithful few.

By trav’ling desert paths will,

Nokri’ah be made new.

A funny story: As I was struggling to find a word to rhyme with green, I asked my family for help. My mistake. They gave me useless words like “baleen” and “preen.” However, the worst thing they did was try to insist that I include this beautiful line in my poem. Amidst my laughter, I managed to refuse.

Down the mountains I careen,

And lo! I have ruptured my spleen.

That was a very interesting picture (especially if I pictured my characters doing it), and I thought you guys might find it funny, too. In any case, the moral of that story is to never ask your family for help rhyming—they will be even worse at it than you.

So that is what I have been up to with my writing; I think I have had a very successful month! How about you guys? How have your projects been going?