Since I'm apparently racing Katie to a new goal of 150k (it's being fun :D) I had to make up a whole new plan to reach that new goal, 150k. So I'll spend 15 days on this novel and write 75k on it. Then I'll spend 15 days more on my backup novel if it comes to that and write 75k---unless, of course, I like where the first novel is going, and decide to stick with it.

Then, after NaNo, I'm editing The Shadow. No more novel-writing to distract me from my future. I need to get published! I will!

Just some quick warnings...during NaNo, I might not comment on your blogs as often, and I might not update my own, either. I swear I'll try. But it just isn't really up to me. *shrugs weakly*

My current word count is 14k out of 150k, but after I post this I'm definitely going to write more.

GAH. It's finally getting cold! My fingers are freezing! Help :(

I stole this button from Facebook, a piece of flair Savannah put up:

On Halloween, two minutes before midnight, I'm going to be panicking. A hundred thousand words in one month! Thank goodness I can space them out into more than one novel. That should make things easier. I know what I'm going to write for NaNo, and I've got much of it plotted...I'll let the rest of it creep up and surprise me while writing. With this insane word count, I'm going to need surprises. >.>

I'm reading Frankenstein...and I like it! I mean, the first few pages were kinda boring (not to mention the thirty-page introduction...) but by page fifteen of the actual story I could hardly put it down! Of course, later I had to, because of some things still awaiting me on the computer. I already read like five chapters more than school required me to read today. Haha!

I really need to start drafting my blog from the beginning of the day till the end...then, I can really update well.

Anyway...we colored some pumpkins. I'll put pics up tomorrow. :)

That's about it for now...this was just a short, really quick update...I'm still alive! :)

~Mariella

I suppose that I have a habit of going on-and-off as far as blogging activity goes. When there's something to blog about, I can prolly pound out more than one post per day. However, when there's nothing about which to talk, I'll either disappear for long periods of time, or steal silly tags, or...that's about it. But thank goodness I have good friends who won't let me take a break---Cherise prodded me into posting again. And I have stuff to say now! :D Yay!

Firstly, today, the twenty-fifth, I finished book two of my vampire series. I suppose that it could be longer...and better...but I blame NaNoWriMo for any mistakes I might have made on it. A story with only 81,000 words doesn't really look like a story written by...well, by me. I could do much better. This book definitely isn't as much of a masterpiece (:P) as my first one was. NaNo made me nervous. I know as a fact that I would be unable to do NaNoWriMo in peace knowing that a novel I'm absolutely in love with is sitting on my desktop waiting to be updated. That...that just can't be. So I needed to finish it before NaNo...even if it turned out badly (because that's what editing is for.) And, with much prodding from my writing buddy Christi, I did get it finished. Whoo! Now Eric won't distract me when I'm trying to pound out 100,000 words in one month!! And it's not my best work, this I know, but I'll worry about that when the first book is published off and the time to edit this one comes.
I want the vampire craze to die NOW, just because I want to publish THIS series. But if you go to like Target or something, and look at the Young Adult book section, ALL THE SHELVES ARE FULL OF VAMPIRE NOVELS. Ugh! I think that it was when I saw this, that I finally got irritated. I don't hate Edward because he's Edward from Twilight (I like Twilight. Deal with it.) I hate Edward because he's sprung all these dumb smaller vampire novels that are taking over teenage girls' brains, and THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME. None of the titles appear remotely interesting to me. I won't throw out any names, but I'm definitely not reading them. If you want to read a good vampire story (in my opinion,) pick up The Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce. And then the two sequels to it. Last year I bought The Darkangel for my birthday (yes, I finally remembered what I got for my birthday...) and I loved it so much that I had the two sequels to it ordered the very next day. It's a good series, but the ending disappoints me...oh well...
But READ THE DARKANGEL. NOW.
The Darkangel=good.
My vampire novel=good, but I dunno if it can live up to The Darkangel. :P SO READ THE DARKANGEL.

Christi lent me The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. We did a book exchange, see. I lent her The Darkangel and East by Edith Pattou (also an amazing book that I could never live up to. I wish I had these ladies' ability to write fantasy. Meredith Ann Pierce, Edith Pattou, and Nancy Farmer---whose novel, The Sea Of Trolls, will always be in my top three favorites.) I'ma try to finish reading it (The Book Thief) before NaNo. :D

I'm entering this. I'm using the first 250 words of How To Find a Vampire (I haven't changed its title yet, because I'm lazy, and because I don't really want to...oh well. That can be thought about later. Wait...for this contest I need to put up the name of the story...:/) I'm asking all my friends to help me edit 250 words---because editing 250 words is sooo hard. :P

Now I will speak about faith matters.
Today at Youth Group we did Eucharistic Adoration.
>.>
WHAT IS WRONG WITH SOME OF THE TEENAGERS WHO GO TO MY YOUTH GROUP?!
When singing praises/doing Eucharistic Adoration:
-You do NOT act like a boombox. *GLARE* I don't know who it is that was doing that, but I don't think I even need to explain WHY you do NOT act like a boombox at church! During praise songs! UGH
-When people give talks about something, you pay attention.

And when they bring out the Host in its monstrance...
-You realize that you are IN THE PRESENCE OF YOUR KING. UNDERSTAND? GOOD. I dunno why, but I decided to see it fit to let people know that they're not just staring at a little wafer inside a golden case...you are looking at your King!!! That's JESUS!!!! Do you realize that? No? Well, I put it down quite flatly. So now, if you were thinking of acting like a boombox when the Host is out for Adoration...remember Whose Presence you are in. >.> That's the KING. It's The Boss!
Now, I don't know about YOU, but when I am in the Presence of the King, I get filled with an...abnormal? respect. I know I'm not just staring at a wafer in a gold case. Jesus is right there in front of you, in the flesh, and He is watching you.
This is just such exciting knowledge to me. I couldn't tell you enough times. I couldn't tell myself enough times. It's wonderful! So I decided to write a rant about that.

Over this week, I have also discovered that when the Spirit is moving, I---and I suspect that other people as well---tremble. (And a friend of mine confirmed this. :]) It's happened to me twice now. First, when I was looking through the Bible, looking for a verse suitable for a project I was working on at that moment---and found it. Second, when I was talking to my mom about something that was bothering me that I had kept bottled up for a long time. (It wasn't even cold in the room, but I was apparently trembling for no reason. It was weird. That was the Spirit saying "CONFESSION TIME.")
So the next time you're doing something important to you and you start to tremble, either for excitement or no apparent reason, know that it's probably the Holy Spirit. :) You need to pray about it to know for sure, though. And maybe talk to somebody who tends to recognize these things a lot of the time. (But remember---ALWAYS PRAY FIRST! Even the most gifted person in recognizing these things doesn't know as much as GOD does! ;])

Also, I've told my Youth Group leaders that I want to be a Eucharistic Minister! Yay! If they decide that I can do it ('cause I'm not sixteen yet, though my birthday is on December, not that far off) I can't wait for training to start (even if I had to wait till after my birthday on December, I'd probably still be doing this training.) 'Cause I'll finally get to help my church in a way other than attending, and ranting at teenagers who misbehave during Adoration. :P And I don't even know if the latter helps me at all, since I don't think that many kids from Youth Group really read my blog...:/
Visit Jesus again!!
[/rant]

Let's see...what else do I feel like blogging about?
Hmmm...not much. I'm all blogged out. I need to plot my NaNoWriMo novel, and read The Book Thief. :D
YAY FOR THERE NOT BEING A NOVEL FOR ME TO WRITE IN *checks* six days.
...
...
...
...?!
OH NO.
NANO IS IN SIX DAYS.
NOFLIPPINWAY.
*runs off to plot some more*

~Mariella

The Basics
    What kind of shoes do you usually wear?: Whatever I have available.
    What size shoe do you wear?: 7 1/2 to 8
    What ring size are... you?: 8, I believe?
    Do you wear tank tops?: Yep.
    Do you wear turtle necks?: Yeah, if they're colorful. :D

My Favorites
    kind of pants?: Jeans    
    pair of shoes?: Whatever I have available. I'm not a shoe person. :P
    magazine?: InStyle
    News website?: Whenever I'm interested in the news (raaaaaare) I consult Fox News.
    way to eat pasta?: Um...I don't know?

This or That
    Sudafed or Nyquil?: Don't know.
    Shower or Bath?: Shower.
    Soap or Body Wash?: Soap.
    Ecards or Hallmark?: Hallmark.
    Email or Snail Mail?: Booooooooooth! :D :D :D

Do You?
    like the people you work with?: You mean my characters? I like most of 'em. Doesn't mean they'll all get happy endings, though. :P
    like your neighbors?: I don't really see my neighbors much.
    spend a lot of money on ridiculous things?: Um...yes. >.>
    watch tv every night?: I only watch TV on Saturday nights. Bio Channel has lots of good ghost shows on then. :D
    shower in the morning or evening?: Why does it even matter? =.=

Have You Ever
    taken a dance class?: Yeah. I wasn't very good.
    lost a pet and made posters?: Nope.
    lived next door to dogs that barked all the time?: Yes.
    ridden in the back of a pickup truck?: Nope.

Misc.
    Do you think you are strong?: Um no. 
    Would you ever bungee jump off of a bridge?: ...No.
    If you were a crayon, what color would you be?: Orange.
    If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?: I don't want to be an animal. :P
    How do you feel about President Obama?: ...eh.

Personal
    What is the best thing that has ever happened to you?: Oh, too many to count. :)
    What are you passionate about?: Writing.
    What is something that really bothers you?: Too many to choose one. As of right now, though...when it's nice and sunny out but NOT WARM.
    Do you treat your pet like a human?: She makes herself be treated like a human o.o
    What religion are you?: Roman Catholic

Firsts
    What was your first job?: Hmm...I helped at a day care once for about a day.
    What is your first name?: Mariella.
    Have you ever won first place at something?: Nope.

As of Now
    Have you driven a car today?: NO. *flees from the thought of driving a car*
    How long have you been sitting?: ...you want to time me?
    Are you wearing shoes?: Yes.
    Are you wearing pants or shorts?: Jeans.
    Do you need to shave?: ...

Last night I had a lot of fun writing that really long blog post, with pictures and everything. I'll give it a try again today, but start it a bit earlier. :P

I'm going to learn to draw people, if it is the absolute last thing I do. What's that? It takes time? Soooo? I've got plenty of time. I will try it and log each attempt. My attempt today wasn't very amazing but it was certainly better than I expected:

 

 

 

 

Lastly, I need to rename my vampire series. Sophie Collins has published a book called How To Date A Vampire.
...
Really? Really? I thought I was dreaming when I first saw the announcement on my Facebook news feed. Really?!  How the heck am I ever going to get my vampire novels published if this one came out first?! Well, this sucks. It absolutely sucks. Of course, Collins didn't know that I was planning to name my books similarly, since as of yet I don't get many readers on my blog to spread the word.
But it still sucks.
Now I need to rename my novels so it won't sound like a copy of her title. That's...really...really sad. I actually teared up at the thought of it. I have grown so attached to my own title...How To Save A Vampire! I adored that title! But now I have to change it so I won't sound like another crazed Twilight fan and/or name copycat.
:(
It isn't Ms. Collins' fault, of course. But...but still.
Please pray that I will find a new name for this series, and manage to let go of the other one, and that it won't be so painful. Because it's going to be.

I guess it's true that vampires are becoming way too popular. Extremely popular, to the point where all the good names are taken...and not for good, since dating a vampire is a stupid idea to me in the first place. (Sorry, Ms. Collins, but I don't think I'll be reading this book...I'm not interested in dating vampires, and it would be too painful, considering its title. :/)
I know that my vampire novel is way above that, but seeing how it's going, it is absolutely not going to be my debut novel. And it won't have the title I had grown to love so much.
I'm sure that passersby will be going who does she think she is? and what's the big deal?
Well...I'm just an aspiring author deeply injured by the fact that I have to rename my novel. That's all. I mean no offense to anybody. But I am very unhappy. No author would like to rename their book, if they had grown to love the title so much...published or not.

I will make my debut with another novel, and once I've made a name for myself I'll publish these vampire novels. But I don't want it to end up among the heaps of...um...bad vampire novels that are being published daily today. I'm personally fed up with vampires, not necessarily Twilight. (Twilight was practically the original teen vamp novel, so I can accept it, but it's the other ones that branched after it that I dislike.) The world isn't ready for my masterpiece, anyway. :) (Yeah....I'm aspiring high again.)
I'm not calling Ms. Collins' novel bad, however, because I haven't read it, and probably won't. I'm sure Twilight fans will love it. Congratulations on getting it published. :)

I'm sorry, but I just needed to rant about this. No offense to anybody. I'm the one hurting. :/

It’s on the spine of The Daily Writer, a book sitting right in front of me. Too pretty and simple, how could I not attempt to draw one?? And I am satisfied with the results. :)

I know that the year looks like an ‘07, it’s just that my handwriting is really…well, awful. It is a nine though, if you look closely. :D

~Mariella

P.S. Expect a real update later. :P Maybe. “Later” could mean “tomorrow.”

I can’t send you a letter yet. I’m bad at digital art. I would write you a story but a certain other story is dominating my attention at this moment, so I’m afraid it wouldn’t be very good. This is the best I can do for now. :) Have a lovely day full of inspiration and cheer! (I had to make you something—you’re a great friend. ^^)

Hugs,
~Mariella♥

I drew a hairless cat. At least...it was supposed to be a hairless cat. I'm glad, frankly, that it wound up looking nothing like the model on the computer. :P
Meet Frito!!
 

 
No stealing!! (Ha--as if there was much to steal. :P)

Miranda Lambert has the prettiest voice ever. Period.
<3

Everyone who reads this blog HAS to listen to "Fireflies" by Owl City. NOW. Go. Then come back.

Did you listen to it? Good.

Well, now that you've listened, I'll tell you why I drew a cat: Because Squid said that I can't write anything until I draw something. And I had fun! So I thank her for that. :D

1. I chopped book one out of the vampire novel document. Nevertheless, Book 1 is still (I believe) 159,000 words or so. Definitely not going to be my first novel, definitely a nightmare to edit, but still my favorite series. :) It is titled as of yet How To Find a Vampire. I’m working on How To Tame a Vampire. 29,000 words! Yay! …T_T Word count, pleeeeease grow…?! (It’s not fun to have your total WC drop from 190k to 28k in like…ten seconds. Grr.)
2. CHRISTI FINISHED HER NOVEL!!!!! *throws confetti* Now it’s time for her to start a blog (so I can link to her >_<) and get ready for another novel!!! (Because NaNo is coming up very soon. :D) *dances*
3. I’m reviewing Katie’s novel, and like it, especially the characters. (For now all I can do is link on her name, but when I get a blogroll on here she’s going on it. :])
4. I’ve also been reading the rest of Cherise’s novel, even if I haven’t gotten around to critiquing it yet. I will, though, don’t worry. ^^
5. My muse is demanding a break. I’m not giving her entire days off though. Just less hours of writing. I can’t stop writing just before NaNo, just like I can’t finish How To Tame a Vampire before NaNo either. The latter would wear me out, but if I did the first, my skills would be way too rusty by the time I started writing again. Unacceptable!
6. I am going to start planning my NaNovel. I feel like I’ve already settled on which I’m going to write, but it still needs a lot of planning, mulling over, daydreaming on, outlining, so that I will know what I’m doing with it. That’ll be fun. (It really will, I’m not being sarcastic. :])
7. I’m still editing/rewriting The Shadow. It’s going slowly, but it’s going nonetheless. Rewriting and changing big plot elements isn’t easy, you know. *sigh*
8. I’m reading Teresa of Avila by Shirley du Boulay. See?! When I said I would try to read more, I meant it! :D

I know I could get a lot more done if there wasn’t school. Oh well, good enough. :)

This is just a quick, speedy update…I don’t really have much to blog about at the moment. I haven’t done any work today (except homework, of course,) and don’t know how much I’ll manage to get done since I have an essay to write. Ah well, there’s still weekends…also, I’m a night owl. *nods* I get things done past midnight very often.

Expect the possibility of another update before tonight. *shrugs* If not, tomorrow.

~Mariella♥

Allen Guthrie, an acquisition editor for Point Blank Press, wrote up a 'white paper' three years ago called 'Hunting Down the Pleonasms' that has become a cult classic. Guthrie gave Adventure Books of Seattle permission to reprint this document wherever we liked. I think every writer should post this on the wall near their computer.
'Hunting Down the Pleonasms' I can’t stress strongly enough that writing is subjective. We all strive for different goals. Consequently, we all need our own set of rules—and some of us don’t need rules at all! Personally, I like rules. If nothing else, it’s fun breaking them.
1: Avoid pleonasms. A pleonasm is a word or phrase which can be removed from a sentence without changing its meaning. For example, in “Hunting Down The Pleonasm”, ‘down’ is pleonastic. Cut it and the meaning of the sentence does not alter. Many words are used pleonastically: ‘just’, ‘that’ and ‘actually’ are three frequently-seen culprits (I actually just know that he’s the killer can be trimmed to I know he’s the killer), and phrases like ‘more or less’ and ‘in any shape or form’ are redundant.
2: Use oblique dialogue. Try to generate conflict at all times in your writing. Attempt the following experiment at home or work: spend the day refusing to answer your family and colleagues’ questions directly. Did you generate conflict? I bet you did. Apply that principle to your writing and your characters will respond likewise.
3: Use strong verbs in preference to adverbs. I won’t say avoid adverbs, period, because about once every fifty pages they’re okay! What’s not okay is to use an adverb as an excuse for failing to find the correct verb. To ‘walk slowly’ is much less effective than to ‘plod’ or ‘trudge’. To ‘connect strongly’ is much less effective than to ‘forge a connection’.
4: Cut adjectives where possible. See rule 3 (for ‘verb’ read ‘noun’).
5: Pairs of adjectives are exponentially worse than single adjectives. The ‘big, old’ man walked slowly towards the ‘tall, beautiful’ girl. When I read a sentence like that, I’m hoping he dies before he arrives at his destination. Mind you, that’s probably a cue for a ‘noisy, white’ ambulance to arrive. Wailingly, perhaps!
6: Keep speeches short. Any speech of more than three sentences should be broken up. Force your character to do something. Make him take note of his surroundings. Ground the reader. Create a sense of place.
7: If you find you’ve said the same thing more than once, choose the best and cut the rest. Frequently, I see the same idea presented several ways. It’s as if the writer is saying, “The first couple of images might not work, but the third one should do it. If not, maybe all three together will swing it.” The writer is repeating himself. Like this. This is a subtle form of pleonasm.
8: Show, don’t tell. Much vaunted advice, yet rarely heeded. An example: expressing emotion indirectly. Is your preferred reader intelligent? Yes? Then treat them accordingly. Tears were streaming down Lila’s face. She was very sad. Can the second sentence be inferred from the first? In context, let’s hope so. So cut it. If you want to engage your readers, don’t explain everything to them. Show them what’s happening and allow their intelligence to do the rest. And there’s a bonus to this approach. Because movies, of necessity, show rather than tell, this approach to your writing will help when it’s time to begin work on the screenplay adaptation of your novel!
9: Describe the environment in ways that are pertinent to the story. And try to make such descriptions active. Instead of describing a book lying on a table, have your psycho-killer protagonist pick it up, glance at it and move it to the arm of the sofa. He needs something to do to break up those long speeches, right?
10: Don’t be cute. In the above example, your protagonist should not be named Si Coe.
11: Avoid sounding ‘writerly.' Better to dirty up your prose. When you sound like a writer, your voice has crept in and authorial intrusion is always unwelcome. In the best writing, the author is invisible.
12: Fix your Point Of View (POV). Make it clear whose head you’re in as early as possible. And stay there for the duration of the scene. Unless you’re already a highly successful published novelist, in which case you can do what you like. The reality is that although most readers aren’t necessarily clued up on the finer points of POV, they know what’s confusing and what isn’t.
13: Don’t confuse the reader. If you write something you think might be unclear, it is. Big time. Change it or cut it.
14: Use ‘said’ to carry dialogue. Sid Fleischman calls ‘said’, “the invisible word.”
15: Whilst it’s good to assume your reader is intelligent, never assume they’re psychic
16: Start scenes late and leave them early.
17: When writing a novel, start with your characters in action. Fill in any necessary backstory as you go along.
18: Give your characters clear goals. Always. Every scene. And provide obstacles to those goals. Always. Every scene. If the POV character in a scene does not have a goal, provide one or cut the scene. If there is no obstacle, add one or cut the scene.
19: Torture your protagonist. It’s not enough for him to be stuck up a tree. You must throw rocks at him while he figures out how to get down.
20: Use all five senses in your descriptions. Smell and touch are too often neglected.
21: Vary your sentence lengths. I tend to write short, and it’s amazing what a difference combing a couple of sentences can make.
22: Don’t allow your fictional characters to speak in sentences. Unless you want them to sound fictional.
23: Cut out filtering devices, wherever possible. ‘He felt’, ‘he thought’, ‘he observed’ are all filters. They distance the reader from the character.
24: Avoid unnecessary repetition of tense. For example: I’d gone to the hospital. They’d kept me waiting for hours. Eventually, I’d seen a doctor. Usually, the first sentence is sufficient to establish tense. I’d gone to the hospital. They kept me waiting for hours. Eventually, I saw a doctor.
25: When you finish your book, pinpoint the weakest scene and cut it. If necessary, replace it with a sentence or paragraph.
26: Don’t plant information. How is Donald, your son? I’m quite sure Donald’s father doesn’t need reminding who Donald is. Their relationship is mentioned purely to provide the reader with information.
27: If an opinion expressed through dialogue makes your POV character look like a jerk, allow him to think it rather than say it. He’ll express the same opinion, but seem like a lot less of a jerk.
28: Characters who smile and grin a lot come across as deranged fools. Sighing and shrugging are also actions to avoid. Eliminating smiles, sighs and shrugs is almost always an improvement. Smiling sadly is a capital offence.
29: Pronouns are big trouble for such little words. The most useful piece of information I ever encountered on the little blighters was this: pronouns refer to the nearest matching noun backwards. For example: John took the knife out of its sheath and stabbed Paul with it. Well, that’s good news for Paul. If you travel backwards from ‘it’, you’ll see that John has stabbed Paul with the sheath! Observing this rule leads to much clearer writing.
30: Spot the moment of maximum tension and hold it for as long as possible. Or as John D. MacDonald put it: “Freeze the action and shoot him later.”
31: If something works, forget about the rule that says it shouldn’t.

So I’ve edited 15,000 words of The Shadow as of yet. I don’t know how many total will be edited by the time I’m done (someday.) But I’m happy.

I’ve discovered that by removing a few chapters from this story I can get it more strong to the point, and the story will be bolder. So maybe tonight I’ll open all the chapters and see which ones can go, or which ones can be rewritten. This is going to be a masterpiece when I’m done.

I changed my blog theme to something green AND purple—what could be better than that?! *loves both those colors* I want to add someday a blogroll, a c-box, and a place where I can put stats—word count stats, etc. Maybe that’ll be sooner than later. I have time today to get a lot done. I will write my essay over the weekend, but I’m just too busy right now. :P

Now I want to read Cherise’s story. *bounces* I still have chapter two to go…and then…then there won’t be any left! *weeps* Oh well. I’ll just have to…make this one last…T_T

I’ll update my reading status when I decide what book to read now. I have a bookcase full of untouched novels. It’s not like I don’t have a lot to choose from.

I’m testing out a program called Windows Live Writer. It’s where I can write drafts directly from a program on my computer, and when I click “Publish” it’ll go straight to LiveJournal. Obviously it does work, so I’m happy. I’ve been wanting to try this program for a long time.

My stats:
Words: 185,436
Pages: 388

Everyone who knows me well knows that I’m trying my hardest to get this book done before NaNo. And you know what? I think I just might achieve that. Maybe this story is deceiving me. Maybe it really isn’t as long as it originally made me believe it might be. Maybe it’ll be merciful and be over before it hits 400,000 words.
…Maybe.
But I’m not getting my hopes up. I’m just going to write. I wrote enough for today (I reached my 5k goal with 185k words) so now I need to edit. I’m still on chapter three, see…I haven’t finished it yet. Vampire story swallowed me again. But tonight I’m not going to bed until I have at least a few more pages of this chapter edited. I need to have it at least rewritten once before January.

I’m busy tonight. I’m also trying to actually get to work and remodel my blog. I changed my userpic! That’s all I’ve done so far. I want to put up a nice green template and put my word count stats and goal stats on a sidebar. I’ve been falling behind on my summer project, so I have decided that when I want to talk about church, I don’t need another blog. I don’t want to hide what I believe, just for the sake of keeping things organized…I’m not deleting that other blog, though. It’s still floating around out there.

I need to figure out how to put tags on posts with this program, if I can. If I can’t, I’ll just have to go back to the actual website when I have time and edit it so that it’ll have those tags. Tags will make things so much easier.

I love my LJ blog. (Is this the first time I’ve come out and said that? Maybe. Hmm.)

Anyway this is all I can manage update-wise tonight. I got that program installed so I’m happy. I got something done. :) HEY I FOUND A PLACE TO INSERT TAGS! I’m happier now. :D

So I’m off. Take care, all! :)
~Mariella

Let’s see if this awesome program works…

I've reached the scenes of the novel that I have been planning since February. The scenes where I introduce the vampire's house, where the action I've looked forward to begins, etc. I'm really excited about this. It means that if I had to split this novel into more than one, I would be on the second book. 

I can promise you, I am absolutely CERTAIN, that this annoying fly followed me out of the bedroom to the living room. I was in there for 3 hours doing homework, see, and kept trying to scare it out of the room. Noooo, it stayed there and kept "peering" over my shoulder...or trying to sit on me. I wouldn't mind this as much if had helped me with my math homework. NOOOO. I just had an audience. A really loud, annoying one. GRR.
Then I finished homework and fled the room to write in the living room, assuming that if the fly hasn't been able to get out in three hours, it won't be able to get out now. I even turned off the light. NOOOO. It follows me all the way to THIS FRIGGIN' COUCH and STARTS TO FLY AROUND MY HEAD.
And I know that it isn't going to help my Writers' Block.
ANNOYING FLY.

I am currently listening to Katy Perry's album! Yeah, probably not expected, but I actually like it---mostly the songs that aren't well-known. It's addictive. :/

Now I have to decide between writing or editing. Hmm. Maybe both. I did some reading earlier, before I went to finish homework and the fly incident began. *tries to swat fly but misses* I'll probably try to finish editing/rewriting Chapter Three...fifteen pages, but I daresay only half of it needs work. And I'm on page two!! :D :D

In starting editing yesterday I realized that in writing two novels since The Shadow, my writing style HAS changed---it's improved DRASTICALLY. So I'm trying to rewrite things to make them sound more like me NOW than me BACK THEN. It's actually being fun. A perk of going back to my fantasy world is that I don't have to be so accurate with everything (duh, fantasy, I can make some things up...) I can have a writing style that's more of a storyteller, with descriptions of things, etc....which is something that for some reason I can not do in HTSaV. Don't ask why. I guess I'm bad at writing novels that supposedly take place in 2009. *shrug* I'm therefore going to rewrite much of this novel, but to try to keep it short...I really don't want it to reach 100k. Mainly because I want to prove that I *CAN* keep a novel short if I want to.
So...here goes.
If I finish editing Chapter 3 tonight, I will start writing; otherwise, I will save most of my writing for the weekend.

I'm less in a hurry to get editing done than I am writing. January is a lot farther away than November is....
NANOOO!!! :D *can't wait* But I can't write a NaNovel with a vampire novel on my back. It has to be done.
But I won't stop Vampire from getting too long. If it wants to be more than one book, who am I to stop it? It IS going to be a high point in my career...trying to give it restrictions is probably a bad idea.
I'll let this novel do whatever the heck it wants. But The Shadow is already done. It just needs some chapters to be rewritten. The plot is going to stay the same, and the word count hopefully will, too.

Hey...the fly is gone. Oh---wait. There it is. *tries to swat but misses again*
Oh well. While it's here I may as well be friendly. I'll name it...Charlie.
Fly: Buzzzz. ...... *takes off and crashes into the wall*
Charlie had better be careful.
(No, I haven't lost my mind.)

I'll update stats tomorrow. :3
Take care,
~Mariella

• Edit The Shadow. This is going to be my first novel, my debut, and for that it needs to be made publishable. If it really is as good as some of my friends say it is, I can definitely make it better. Fear it.
• Read more books. Reading makes your writing better. I haven't been reading much but am attempting to mend that. I'll try to set aside at least half an hour for reading per day. Something will rub off on me.
• Research. Haunt websites that tell about publication, so that I'll know what I'm up against when I pursue my career next year. And it's a tough business so I'll need all the research I can get.
• Pray. Because all the editing and reading and researching in the world won't get me anywhere if God isn't with me. And it is all up to Him in the end, too.
• Get friends to pray for me. I need it. Ten words per day is enough, if you can't muster more. Not necessarily for the fame and success, but for me to be able to put up with this---if it actually happens. I'm not even asking you to pray for it to actually happen when I want it to. More than an agent or a publishing house, or a fan base or an acceptance letter, I need people to pray for me so that I can survive whatever I get---or have the patience to wait for it. Lately patience is what I have been lacking terribly. I need a prayer team more than I need a writing kit. I will be eternally grateful to whoever reads this and prays for me---even if they don't tell. Even if I don't know, Someone else will. :)
• Pray. Enough said.

• Reading. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire. It's being worth the read, I tell you. I have a favorite author now, I'm afraid.
• Studying. School is still important. Currently I have a science project waiting to be finished tomorrow. So don't think that I'm ditching school to pursue a crazy dream---I'm not. My days are packed.
• Writing. I'm writing How To Save a Vampire, which will probably result in a trilogy or quartet, because of how long it is turning. But I haven't started splitting it up yet. I'm just writing it all into a single document right now. When it's done I will split it up and...maybe tackle the absolute nightmare that is called editing. But this novel is going to be a high point in my career, which is why it wants to be written so badly.
• Researching. Technically I'm researching how to write right now. I bought a book called What Would Your Character Do? by Maisel (I don't remember the first name.) And I can't wait to use it. It has quizzes where you put your charrie in a situation and answer questions about what they would probably do, and you get to know them better. It is definitely going to help with character development. I want to go back to B&N and pick up one of those books that are guides for preparing for publication...those might be helpful for perfecting The Shadow.
• Rereading my own work, in preparation for NaNoWriMo; since my vampire novel is set in Romania, I've been "in Romania" for way too long, and forgotten what my fantasy world is like. So I need to read previous novels and try to be more in-between---because I'm still writing HTSaV. Hopefully it won't be too confusing.
• Plotting my NaNo Novel. Because I'm still doing NaNo. It will be a refreshing break in which I will abandon all other projects for one blessed month and only work on one. It'll sort of feel like a triumph, really...I'll look back at my progress for th past year and smile and start working on something new. But...I think this will be easier if HTSaV is done by then. So...TO SPEED-TYPE!
• Breathing.

1. I'm really shooting for publication this time, and I need the prayers of all of my friends. I can't do it without you.
2. I'm taking the steps necessary to make my career less of a daydream and more of an imminent reality. *wonders if she used that word correctly...imminent...* Which basically means I'm very, very busy. And I'm not daydreaming.
3. The time on my watch means nothing to me. At all.
4. I'm trying to be a better writer, a better person, and to shoot for my dreams with God by my side. This isn't too much for me to handle---it wasn't inspired by me. Tonight it was inspired by a sudden excitement that I feel doesn't come from here in my head, but from Up Above. It's time to get to work. If something changes in this plan, I'll slow down. But right now I am capable of all this.

Of one thing you must be thinking, I am already aware. I aspire really high. But I know I can do it.
I'm literally bouncing on my seat. And no, it's not because of the fact that it is 3:30 AM---I'm not even tired.
I don't want to go to bed.
So.....
Time for work!!!

And I promise I'm not trying to be a show-off. I'm trying to get some things straight for myself. And I may as well try to keep you updated on what I'm up to. Right now I have a sudden confidence though. Abnormal confidence. I love it.
And it isn't coming from my head.
:)

I love being homeschooled.


I'll just add one more thing before finishing this. In the word of my character Desi whenever she finishes a journal entry...
Help.


*bows after this long speech and slinks off*
~Mariella