WIP IT! Chapter One: In Which A Story Is Announced

good morning, cyberspace!

Well, guys, it’s time. Today, we are finally going to do the thing–the very thing I’ve been teasing and hinting and promising you all I’d do for the past three billion years.

Today, I’m going to be telling you all about my brand new WIP!

^^ this is me preparing to spill my heart and soul out to you guys. but not really. because no spoilers.

First thing’s first, as I’m sure you can all probably tell, today is not Saturday. Which is kind of a problem, since in WIP IT! Chapter Zero, where I told you all my many hopes and dreams for this series, I said very clearly that this was going to be a Saturday thing.

But alas. That is no longer happening, folks.

It came to my attention very early on that WIP IT!’s are exceedingly time consuming, which means that when I write them, I’m leaving little to no time for writing an actual blog post to publish on Tuesday. So while I absolutely love the idea of having a normal post on Tuesday, and a WIP related thing on Saturday, that just ain’t gonna be happening right now. I’ve got way too much on my plate at the moment, what with first drafting a brand new story and working on edits for everlost, so my one-post-a-week-schedule–which has not yet failed me, might I add–is just going to have to continue for a while longer. Perhaps in the future I’ll figure out how to time travel and write multiple posts a week like some of those crazy bloggers out there, but as of right now . . . yeah. That’s not happening.

However, despite this little change in the posting schedule, I am still VERY happy to announce that my enthusiasm for categorizing all my WIP-related thing-a-ma-bobbins in one little place has not yet waned. I still have a ton of ideas for this project, so definitely stay tuned for more WIP IT!s in the future, folks!

But anyway, now that all that introductory stuff is out of the way, it’s time to get into the real reason why you’re reading this blog post.

My friends, it is my greatest pleasure to FINALLY introduce you to SK. . .

— INTRODUCING SK —

“In a place where the most unextraordinary things are thought to happen, the most unordinary things are about to begin. . .”

^^ Why, yes. That’s a snippet from SK. Don’t you dare go reading too much into that, peasants.

As I’m sure you’re all well aware, I’ve been yakking about my latest pet project for quite a while now. And I’m positive that a lot of you are at the point where, if I don’t begin to give you some sort of clue as to what this WIP is about, you’ll start to lose interest and toddle away to newer and shinier things like the treasure-seeking Niffler that you are.

Like blogs that actually talk about what they’re working on. Aha.

SO! Today I’m taking the plunge and answering all of your questions! . . .kind of.

not really.

As it is, I would very much like to tell you every single thing about this project, but I know that the minute I spill the beans on all of the nitty gritty details, I’ll lose both my inspiration to tell this story, and will also be letting go of a very, very special plot point that I’d like to keep secret for just a little while longer.

The premise of this book is a weird one, you see. One that I’ve never seen done in this particular way before. (and if I HAVE seen it done, I don’t remember it.) And while I know that there’s nothing new under the sun and all that, I’d still really like to keep this feeling of uniqueness as close to my heart as possible until I’m finally ready to release it to the world.

However, for the sake of satiating your confusion and–potentially–giving you some teasers to chew on, I do have some things about this story that I can share with you all. And hopefully it’s enough to tithe you over until I’m ready to share more. . .

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“So what IS this new Super Secret Project of yours, anyway? Is it another draft of everlost?“

Aha. Yeah. No.

Unlike Super Secret Project #1, which was . . . not all that super or secret . . . this particular project is a Brand New Story. It’s not The Girl and The Goblin King, it’s not everlost, and it’s not anything else I’ve ever mentioned on this blog before. It’s something new and fresh and different, and I’m really, really excited about it!

It’s also a standalone! Well, I guess I should say that it’s a standalone at the moment. Apart from The Girl and The Goblin King (which I still haven’t finished the first draft of lololol) I have never tried to write a standalone before. So again. MUCH EXCITEMENT. MUCH WOW.

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“Okay, okay, okay. So it’s a new project. Whoop-dee-doo. What’s it about? What makes this story special?”

Well, for starters, I’m not sure I’m liking your tone very much, my good sir. But alas. You are correct. I can’t exactly tell you to scream in excitement with me if I don’t give you anything to be excited about, so let’s dig into the core of the story a little bit more, shall we?

First thing’s first >> it’s a fantasy. Obviously. I’m not sure I’m capable of writing something that doesn’t have SOME sort of fantastical element to it. I tried making EV a relatively rigid sci-fi and . . . nope. Fantasy still leaked in somehow. Who’da thunk.

However, whereas I’d classify EV as a sci-fi/fantasy, I think I would have to classify SK as a contemporary fantasy. Or possibly an urban fantasy. I still have no clue what urban fantasy even is, even though people have tried to explain it to me multiple times.

Basically, it’s a fantasy set in a sort-of-modern day with action and car chases and quite possibly strawberry ice cream. So. Whatever you’d classify that as, that’s what this book is.

Another feature of interest is that it’s set in an alternate universe! And, unfortunately, I can’t really go into too much detail on anything related to that. Everything I have to say will be a major spoiler, but I can tell you that the world this story is set in is very much like our own, but . . . different. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

This story also has the potential to become a tear-jerker, and I’m both very excited and very nervous about this. I’ve never made anyone cry with my writing (yet), but this ending–if written properly–has the potential to make at least me cry, and I think that’s half the fun, anyway, right? Right. *thumbs up*

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Unfortunately, that’s pretty much all I can tell you about the overall story right now. It’s still very much under construction and under wraps, but I hope that this will help to alleviate some of the mass confusion and anger you have towards me for not saying anything about this story for months on end.

The next part of this post, however, will be delving headfirst into my absolute favorite part of this–and every–book: CHARACTERS!

— INTRODUCING THE CAST —

Staying true to my elusive nature, I can’t go forth and tell you everything about these characters. (I’m sorry!) But I CAN give you snapshots of who they are, which will probably be more interesting to read than a full character bio, anyway.

Let’s begin with Ed, shall we?

ED . . . This is the character you’ll probably hear me rant about the most in the months to come. Although he’s my MAIN main character, Ed is/was a VERY tough cookie to crack. He’s stubborn and sullen and has a hard time moving on from the things that have hurt him in the past, but when I somehow manage to write a sentence or two that is purely, perfectly Ed, it is the most magical feeling in the world. I’ve been living for those sentences this past month, to be honest.

SHELBY . . . Main Character #2, here! Shelby is a sweet little cinnamon puff. She’s brutally honest, has a penchant for being annoying, and has the wildest puff of hair that you have ever seen. She’s also one of two characters in this book with a stubbornness to match Ed’s, which makes for a very interesting character dynamic, if I do say so myself.

ELEANOR . . . Also known as the Mother Hen of this particular cast. Eleanor is the character everyone looks to when they’re in a pinch, and is the possessor of the second stubborn streak I mentioned. She’s quiet, bold in both word and style, and has a marvelous assortment of feathered hats. (something I only just realized. . .?)

LIAM . . . He’s Irish.

OLLIE . . . Oh, Ollie, my smol cinnamon roll, you. A little bit oblivious, Ollie is like the family Labrador Retriever. He’s smol, needs lots of attention and love, and will do literally anything to protect those he cares about. And as I think I mentioned in The Star Wars Character Tag–in which a few of these characters made the list–he absolutely adores playing games.

EUGENE . . . He likes hats. Also 10/10 needs a new name, because every time I think of the name “Eugene”, I can’t help but think of–

Also, as I type this, I’m beginning to notice there’s a hat trend going around with this story. Not sure what that’s all about. . . Perhaps it’s a plot point.

“SAM” . . . As per tradition, there is one character who I will not disclose their full name. Like Bella for everlost, this guy will officially go under a pseudonym on the blog. I’m not sure if “Sam” is going to stick, but it’s all I’ve got for right now, so we’re just going to go with it.

Anyway. Sam is probably one of my favorite side characters thus far. Pretty much all of these guys are a little cardboard-y right now (which I’m just going to pretend is normal for a first draft), but out of all of them, Sam is one of the few which actually seems to breathe a little bit. He’s cranky and lazy and definitely a little weird, but that’s probably why I love him so much. . .

BEAU . . . Eccentric and full of himself, this guy is probably the oddest of the bunch. But underneath all his oddities, he has a pure heart of marshmallow fluff and would literally die to save his friends if he had to.

But literally only if he had to. He’d probably try to wriggle out of it like the slimy eel that he is if he could.

CARLOS AND JUANITA . . . I’m lumping these two together because they are virtually never seen without each other. These two are quite possibly the most difficult side characters to write, but I think that’s because they haven’t gotten quite as much page time as the others yet. I’m hoping they’ll start to act less like paper and ink soon, though, because in my head these two are so adorable it makes me want to puke.

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. . . AN ANNOUNCEMENT . . .

Now that you’ve been somewhat introduced to the cast of SK, I can finally announce that I’m going to be doing an SK character interview soon! I’ve been wanting to do this for quite some time now, but I knew that any character interviews would have to be put off until I could finally announce this project–and the characters that make up its cast–to you guys. So now that you know a little bit about them, perhaps I can enlist your help!

Character interviews are something I absolutely adore doing, but–unfortunately–I’m always a little lax on the questions. So if you have any questions at all for any of the cast members (though, if you don’t mind, with a particular emphasis on Ed and Shelby), then feel free to plop those down in the comments below! I’ll be sure to ask any and all questions in the interview, though the answers are entirely dependent on the cast members, of course. . .

— WHERE WE’RE AT NOW —

If you read my recent post about The Great Camp NaNoWriMo Recap, then you’re already well aware that the first drafting process for this project has been less than stellar thus far. Although Camp NaNoWriMo saw the first eight or nine chapters of SK safely drafted and tucked away, I still have a lot of work to do if I’m going to finish this book before my self-imposed deadline of August 1st.

And yes. I decided to give myself a self-imposed deadline of August 1st. DON’T YOU DARE TRY AND JUDGE ME, PEASANTS.

Now, I know this deadline appears to be very far out in the unforeseeable future as of right now, but if I’ve learned anything about deadlines over the years, it’s that the minute you turn your head, that little bugger will sneak up on you with the inexplicable speed of a mutant werebear and stab you in the kidney with a plastic spoon. SO. Allow me to introduce Kenzie’s Three-Month-Foolproof Plan™!

I’ve carefully constructed this plan out of blood, sweat, tears, the juice of my left eyeball, and exactly one full day of procrastination, so I am thoroughly convinced that no matter what I do to try and fail, it will be physically impossible probably not possible to do so.

As you can probably tell by the name, my Three-Month-Foolproof Plan spans the course of three entire months–May through July. Or, if you’d rather, stretches from this very day all the way until my deadline. The goal is to write 65,000 words by July 31st, which means that–if I had started on May 1st–I would simply have to write 707 words every single day for the next 92 days to reach that goal.

Totally doable, right? Right?

WRONG.

Unfortunately for me, I completely slacked off for the first few days of May (and also three days afterwords for a total of seven slack-off days but SHHHHH. no one can know this.), because CLEARLY I needed to rest up from the marathon that was NaNo. Aha. So now I have some days to catch up on.

But never you fear, my dearest bean child, because I am determined to reach my goal. And to further help me along in my endeavor (and to possibly help keep me accountable), I’ve decided to sign up for the Go Teen Writers 100-for-100 Challenge! If you have absolutely no clue what this is and would like to see the rules and post for yourself (or if you’d like to sign up and join me in a crazy 100 days of writing!) then I’ll leave a link to the original post and signup sheet right here, but in a nutshell, the 100-for-100 challenge is where writers from all around the globe strive to write 100 words a day for 100 days straight. It takes place from May 20th to August 27th (I’m already panicking), and–in my personal opinion–is going to be an absolute blast.

And possibly a complete failure on my end, but I digress.

This is my first year participating, but depending on how well this goes, it will definitely not be my last! (she says, completely oblivious to the fact that by day 72, she’ll be pulling her hair out and screaming for the Wendigo to mercifully sweep her up into the sky)

Honestly, I think my–and quite possibly every writer’s–main struggle is the simple act of just sitting down to write. We get distracted, we tell ourselves we’ll “do it later”. We do every single other thing imaginable on our To-Do lists as procrastination instead of doing the ONE THING that we, as the writer kind, are supposed to do–WRITE.  And I think this is exactly what’s been getting me into trouble recently. Ever since NaNo ended, I’ve been letting my writing regime slide bit by bit in order to cool off and give my creative tank a break. And while I do believe that breaks are VERY necessary for every writer–especially after a NaNo–I also know that once you let yourself slip off your daily writing streak, it is very hard to get back up once again.

So this is me making a pact with myself to write at least 100 words every single day for the next 100+ days. 100 words isn’t a lot. I can usually get that and more down in less than five minutes. But once those 100 words are down, chances are I’m going to want to keep writing, especially if those words are the opener for a particularly intriguing scene. And right now, with a goal of 65,000 words staring me smack in the face and 4,657 words to make up for due to my severe slacking skills, I’m going to need all the help and motivation I can get.

And also cookies. I’m gonna need an entire boatload of cookies for this craziness, you guys.

I’ll definitely be keeping you all posted on SK’s progress over the next few months, both here on the blogosphere and over on my Twitter, where I’m planning on posting wordcount updates frequently. (who really knows with me, though, amiright?) I’m very excited to see if I can actually write this draft in four months, and since Camp NaNoWriMo gave me such a marvelous–if not slightly difficult–springboard, I want to try and carry that momentum all through the summer.

So here’s to a three-month-long writing adventure, my friends! If any of you are crazy enough to join me on this, I’d be eternally grateful if you’d leave me a comment down below to tell me I’m not alone. Otherwise I’ll just sit here. By myself. Wondering why on earth I signed up for this madness. . .

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TALK TO ME, PEASANTS!

Well, there goes Chapter One of WIP IT!. This one was a little bit more update-y than I wanted it to be, but hopefully learning about our brand new cast was a little bit interesting, yes? Maybe? No? Okay. Well, the next chapter of WIP IT is going to be a character interview, so hopefully that one will be fun. *thumbs up*

QUESTIONS!: What do you guys think of WIP IT! so far? Is it fun? Is it boring? Do you have any questions you’d actually like to ask about this particular story? What sorts of manuscripts are YOU currently working on? Do you like to set deadlines for yourself, or just see where the story takes you, whenever it takes you? Are you going to join me in the 100-for-100 challenge? and, of course, most importantly. . .

DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE CAST OF SK???

Let’s talk about ALL OF THE THINGS! (and all of the questions!) down in the comments below! And as always, until next time. . .