NaNoWriMo

Hello, Everyone!! It’s been a long time since I last posted.

This year, I started a new fantasy novel that I am really excited about! I did a lot of planning in preparation for NaNoWriMo this year, and I have been working hard to work on reaching my word-count goal. Fifty-thousand words, here I come!!

I think the hardest thing for me has been just writing. Normally, it takes me a long time to write chapters because I focus too much on the little details and editing. This month, I have put my editor aside and just focused on writing every day. For now, whatever I put down on the page is a rough draft. (A really ROUGH draft!) I plan to focus on re-writing and editing next month.

This NaNoWriMo has also helped me develop a new writing schedule. I now write every day for at least thirty minutes. And after November is over, I do not plan on stopping this new writing plan. It has been great sitting down for a specified time each day that I can solely dedicate to my writing.

Hopefully, at the end of this experience, I will have a finished novel (or close to a finished novel) that I can focus on fine-tuning over the rest of the year. I do love this saying, “You can’t edit a blank page.” So even if my rough draft sucks, at least I can say that it is written!

Thanks for reading!

~Nightsong

Books to Read in 2018

Wow! I can’t believe that it is 2018 already! Cheers to new beginnings:) And new reading goals!

Last year, I read 86 books, surpassing my goal of 60 by 26 books!

This year, my goal is set for 55, and there are a few books on my wishlist that I really want to read this year.

1) An Ember in the Ashes

2) Renegades

3) King’s Cage

4) Shatter Me

5) Flame in the Mist

6) Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Ship of the Dead

What is your reading goal this year? What books are you excited to read?

~Nightsong

Friday Quote (24)

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

-Sylvia Plath 
~Nightsong

The Versatile Blogger Award

I’ve been nominated by the wonderful Angelica over at The Book Cover Girls !! Thanks so much! If you haven’t checked out her blog yet, you totally should! She has a great blog!

Rules: 

1) Thank the blogger who nominated you and share their links.

2) Nominate at least 10 bloggers for the award and provide links to their blogs.

3) Also inform them about their nomination.

4) Reveal 7 facts about yourself that your readers may not know.

 

7 Facts About Me:

 

My favorite sport is basketball. I have played the sport since seventh grade, and I loved every minute of it. My usual positions were either shooting guard or point guard.

I used to hate reading. Yep! When I was younger, it would be a battle just to get me to read a few words. But once I started getting the hang of it, I never wanted to stop. My favorite place to be became the library. Now, things really haven’t changed much. Except now I prefer to buy my books so that I can add them to my own personal library.

I love dogs! If I could rescue all the dogs in the world, I would. As of now though, I own two dogs. One is a Yellow Labrador named Cruiser and a mixed breed named Skylar.

My favorite animated movies are the How to Train Your Dragon movies! Because come on, who doesn’t love Toothless?

I have been blogging for one year! I just got the notification the other day. I was actually surprised. It didn’t feel like I had been blogging for so long.

I own thirty or more fish. One of my favorite hobbies is fish keeping, and I have been doing it for as long as I can remember. My largest tank is 100 gallons and has been running for two years. The fish are getting so big!

My favorite flowers are Orchids. They are just so beautiful and I would prefer them any day over roses.

 

Well, that’s seven facts about me!! Thanks for reading:) As for tagging, I tag everyone. So if you are reading this, consider yourself tagged!

~Nightsong

 

 

Creating Fictional Animals

If, like me, you love to create new creatures for your fantasy land there are a few tips that I have picked up that have really helped me with the creative process.

Now don’t get me wrong, I still love the original and well-known fantasy creatures like the dragon, gryphon, and unicorns, but sometimes I want to add an original flair to my fantasy novels.

1) Use existing creatures for inspiration.

When I think about creating new creatures, I will many times look at animals that exist today.  It is fascinating how many unique animals are around right now.  For instance, take the common hummingbird.  The hummingbirds brilliant throat color is not caused by feather pigmentation.  Instead, it is caused by iridescence arranged in the feathers. Light level, moisture, and angle of viewing influence just how bright and colorful the throat may appear.  And, although the average hummingbird weighs only 3 grams, (less than a nickel) their maximum forward speed is 30 miles per hour (60 MPH) in a dive.  And most amazing of all, a hummingbird’s wings beat between 50 to 200 flaps per second.  Now, I’m not writing this post just to talk about hummingbirds.  NO, I’m just giving you an idea of different attributes of a creature that you can use for your own unique creations.  Think about it, let’s say you want a unique flying creature.  Well, using the hummingbird as inspiration, you could have your winged creature have iridescent feathers.

2) Visualize the creature that you are describing.  Try to sketch it.

Sometimes when creating new creatures, we can get a bit carried away.  We can give our creatures ridiculous characteristics that sound fine when we are writing, but look very humorous and odd once properly visualized.

One way to avoid this is by sketching the creature.  And don’t worry if it’s not perfect.  Nobody will see it but you.  Sketching the creature just gives you an idea of what you want your creature to look like.

3) Decide what type of creature that you want to create.

Is your creature social or solitary?  Are they able to be domesticated?  What is the creature’s temperament?  Does it have special abilities?  If so, what are they?  Did they always have those abilities or did they come after some event?  Where does it live?  What kind of fur does it have?  Is your creature a herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore?  How big is it?

4) Decide on the color of your creature.

When doing this, take the function of your creature into consideration.  Is it an ambush hunter?  If so, you should probably consider giving your creature a color that would blend into its environment.  Consider the lion.  They live on the savannas and like to ambush their prey.  Their tan color gives them the ability to hide in the grass without being spotted by the prey.

Is your creature poisonous?  A poisonous creature can stand out.  In fact, a lot of poisonous animals today (like the Poison Dart Frog) are vibrant in color.  It warns other animals and humans to stay away.

So these are just some of the tips and tricks that I use when creating my fantasy creatures.  I plan to be doing a Part Two later.  Till next time.

~Nightsong

Friday Quote (23)

“Tears are words that need to be written.”

-Paulo Coelho

~Nightsong

The High School Book Tag

Hey everyone!  I’ve been tagged by the awesome Angelica over at The Book Cover Girls! If you haven’t checked out her blog yet, you should.  Don’t worry, I’ll still be here when you come back.

Are you back?  Good!  Let’s get started.

The Rules:

• Thank the creators: Namitha and Jasmine.
• Answer the questions.
• Add pictures! (If you want to, of course)
• Tag (about) five people.

 

A+ on the test: A book or character that makes you smile?

Percy Jackson from the Percy Jackson series, and the Heroes of Olympus series.  He is just so funny and witty.  But he’s also nice, brave, and loyal.  He’s just great.

Also, the book Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon. 

Sports team: A fictional family that you want to be a part of?

I would have to say the Rampion crew from The Lunar Chronicles.  Even though they are not a “real” family, they care about each other.  They also have good dynamic and they would do anything to protect each other.

Class president: A book that tries to make a difference?

For this, I’m going to have to say The Chronicles of Narnia series.  This series was so influential and well-done.  It was written to teach people about the Bible through a whole different perspective.  The symbolism in this series was just incredible.

High school sweetheart: A book character you have a crush on?

Um, Percy Jackson or Peeta from The Hunger Games.  Peeta is just so nice and he never gives up on Katniss, even after he is brainwashed.  He is loyal to the end.

Prom night: A book with a beautiful cover?

Flame in the Mist! I haven’t read the book yet, but I am in love with the cover!

Spring break: A book you can always turn to when you need an escape?

I don’t really re-read books so I don’t have an answer for this question.

School lunch: A book character(s) you want to have lunch with?

Cinder from The Lunar Chronicles.  Or Percy Jackson.

Halloween party: A book character you would like to be for one day?

I’ll be honest, I don’t know.  Haha!

School bully: A villain you don’t want to go to school with?

The Collector from the new book The Valiant.  This guy is seriously creepy even though he is not even mentioned much.  Or Commander Natasha Jameson from the Legend series.

Graduation: A book with a bittersweet conclusion?

The Legend series has such a bittersweet ending.

*Spoiler Alert*

It’s so sad that Day forgets about June and that they don’t get to see each other until years afterwords.

 

 

I Tag: 

Tiana

Shadow Summit

Akaluv

 

~Nightsong

 

 

 

 

Tips for Avoiding “Telling” When Writing

1. Name things.

Instead of just saying hat, you should say baseball cap or cowboy hat.  It will give the reader a better picture.

2. Instead of using adjectives that tell, you should use verbs that show.

Instead of old wood, you could say the wood crumbled beneath my fingers.  This shows the reader that the wood is old instead of telling them.

3. Eliminate the word VERY.

Instead of saying it was a very cold evening, say it was a frigid evening.  Better yet: The night was still, empty, as if even the animals knew to hide from the frigid weather that had numbed the world.

So this was just a short post.  There will be a part two later.

~Nightsong

Friday Quote (19)

“You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel as if you have lost a friend.”

-Paul Sweeney

~Nightsong

Friday Quote (16)

“The only writer to whom you should compare yourself is the writer you were yesterday.”

-David Schlosser 

~Nightsong