Yes, I'm behind, I admit it. To be precise, I missed 4 complete mornings and am 2h 50min behind. Yes, I will get on it. I'm finally done with classes and am free for break. Though I have a ton of work to do over break, in addition to visiting Purdue, but I should really try to catch up on my writing too. So much to do! I am still at something of a loss as to how to proceed with the story. Ganbaru ze.

Also, after reading this article, "Should I Tweet?" I started to think more about my platform, or lack of one. So far, I've really had no success with building an online presence because in the end, I'm actually shy online too, even if less so than in real life. So I've started and abandoned, or left in various states of neglect, four blogs since high school, not including this one. I guess I never had a theme I could stick to and write consistently about. But thinking about it, and thinking about the kinds of people who might buy my books in the future, maybe I should start a blog with a theme about Japanese history. Well, Japan and culture in general, but history too, since that's my particular area of interest. I think the market for my writing would be people interested in Japan, and people who have been brought over by the soft power of cultural things like anime and manga and video games. That's probably the most promising potential market of any substantial size. Of course I want my writing to be accessible to everyone in general, but it's probably the people who have some degree of established interest in Japan who will be the main kind of reader. Anyways, maybe I should think more about this and start a blog with the new year or something? Maybe with blogspot or wordpress, seeing as those seem to be the most popular for literary types. Livejournal is excellent for fandom, but I get the feeling it might not be the best for what my subject will be. Or maybe I should do more research. I guess because two of the four blogs I've flubbed up have been lj, it would be harder to have that feeling of starting anew, if I did start a new blog there.

Day 17 Progress Report

Day 17 (August 14) - Feeling stuck on how to approach magic. I think it needs a more Japanese approach. Someone mentioned somewhere how with a Japanese approach, magic is in the everyday and mixes with the mundane, whereas with a Western approach, magic is a dimension removed. Something like that. I'm sure I'm remembering very inaccurately. In any case. My head is full of Western magic. *headdesks*

Chapter 6 will explore magic more deeply than before, so I need to do some thinking. Even if I skip drafting all the magic-related parts, I'll need to have something worked out by the second half.

Also, I keep on having information crises on Japanese religion. Since the division between Buddhism and Shinto is so unclear, I keep getting paranoid over whether it's okay to have a shrine to Benzaiten or not. I really don't care who the shrine is for at this point, but I need to decide. It's convenient to have to be to Benzaiten because that's how it was written in the novella version, plus I've already done some research on her. But then I could always make it to Inari or something.

Anyways, skipping over a lot of such details, I managed to get Chapter 6 roughly drafted.

Message to YT: What the...??? Your last line was completely unplanned. You run wild, wild, wild. But on the other hand, it's perfect, in ways that I cannot yet fully fathom. It's exactly what I need to help set up for the second half.

Day 9 Progress Report

Day 9 (August 6) - Started Chapter 5 off with K's POV, so it went quickly. After all the headbanging I went through to develop her character, she's surprising uncomplicated and easy to write for. And somehow, I feel like she gets all the good lines, whether it's dialogue or narration. Sneaky girl.

Alas, my progress did not last for long. K finished her short, one page scene, and then I was back to H. I really don't feel like writing details and trying to visualize new things these days. I just want to skip all those parts and see if my excuse for a plot works. So anyways, I skimmed over writing the next scene, did some research online, and then left it there.

I'm stuck again. I sketched the story progression as a chart of peaks and flats (like a line graph), and Chapters 3 and 4 were mostly small rolling hills and flats. Chapter 5 needs a small, unrelated peak to change it up and bond the characters before my big mid-story peak (mid-story? Possibly. Though I haven't thought about how to move the plot beyond that point yet. It's hard to tell if it's mid-story when you can't see how far away the ending is) coming up in Chapter 6 or 7. I need a good plot device...

The more I think about it, the more I realize what functions I need this plot device to fulfill. It's like having a job opening and knowing what the requirements are; all I need now is a fitting applicant.

stuck

I can't write. I've been stuck on page one of Chapter 3 for weeks. Self-imposed deadline for this chapter is in about two weeks. I expect this chapter to be over 20 pages, double spaced. Page two, come to me~

Oh Plot, where art thou?

Why is it so hard to come up with a plot? You'd think it'd be easy. The plot is what drives the heart of every novel. But here I have great characters, a great setting, and no plot. Plot plot plot plot plot, come to me.

Every day I try to come up with a plot for my novel. I ponder it as I make my 45 minute commute to work, and again as I return home (though my mind wanders often and I ponder many other things as well, and sometimes nothing at all). Sometimes I come up with more details for my characters, and I'm glad because I understand them that much better. And I think, even if I can't come up with a plot right away, understanding my characters will surely lead me to a plot. I am inching closer to an exciting, suitable plot every day.

I try to "sleep on it," as they say, but that's harder than it sounds. Your thoughts inevitably wander as you fall asleep. Even if you can keep your mind on track, the great ideas you come up with often turn out to be absurd once you're lucid. Sometimes they are good though, and you press it deeply into your mind, hoping that it will still be there when you wake up. Often, they are. Some of them are interesting little plot bunnies for other stories. Sometimes, they are interesting possibilities that seem ingenious, perhaps too ingenious. How can I weave such an ingenious idea into my mundane story? You muse over it, fail to come up with an answer, and realize, as ingenious as that idea is, it is still not the exciting, driving force that you're looking for for your story. But perhaps you are one tiny step closer to finding the ever elusive plot.