Yrae Chronicles

It's amazing* how quickly writing happens when I have a solid plan and outline and when I know what's happening. Chapter in a week, woo! I have less of a chapter-by-chapter outline now and more of just a lump of plot points, arranged in such a way that would be nice if they happen that way. Now that I have a laptop with a battery that charges again, I'd love to do the oh-so-cliché coffee shop writing thing some day. I feel like it'd have to be either a really crappy, wintry day where you curl up in the corner of the bench seat, or a really gorgeous day to sit outside with an iced coffee. At this stage it'll proooobably be more the crappy weather day. It's very suddenly autumn now, cool nights and nice-to-meh days. But I'm getting sidetracked.

Whenever I come back to writing after a massive, usually involuntary break, I feel like I'm giving my old friends a big hug. I've missed these people so much! It's been 11 months since I wrote anything, but the last time I wrote Nol was in October 2015, and he wasn't even the POV character for that chapter. Previous Nol chapter was a few weeks before that. That is a LONG time between drinks. Don't lose the knack for him, though. He's still in my head as one of the three strongest voices. God I love 'im :< I hope things work out for him somehow, I really do. He needs a hug. Maybe I should make Assili hug him in the next chapter. That'd really confuse him.

I theoretically have about nine chapters left, and there are nine months left in the year. Never that simple, of course, but wouldn't it be nice? If no other characters throw spanners in the works and make me replot this thing again. I swear this is why Gold has been taking so long. The other two books didn't require such heavy replotting halfway through. There were some minor adjustments, but no bombshells I didn't see coming from the beginning. I keep saying it, but I can't wait until I've finished and can start on the rewrite. SO MUCH will suddenly make sense. I'll be able to cut swathes of useless threads away that end up going nowhere or contradicting things. Slip in foreshadowing and details about upcoming people and things and events. Make things make sense as they happen. Everything feels like such a clusterfuck right now--I started this current iteration in 2007 after three false starts, and if I knew how this thing was going to end I probably would've restarted a dozen more times before now, too. But I need to get to the end before I know what it is.

Am I weird for not knowing how it ends? I have ideas and theories, I know a few things that are going likely to come into play, but I mean geeze, the plot of Gold has changed so drastically since I first wrote the outline that I'm loathe to plan anything so far down the track as the end. When I get started on Steel, then I'll know where the end is. I just want Gold DONE so I can finally get to it. This is the year. I'll make damn sure of it.



* it's not

Random writing thoughts, cos I'm not bloody WRITING and haven't managed a goddamn chapter all year:

Make a character who is a pigment hunter. I'm doing that some time. Maybe a NaNo or something? Idk if it could go for a full novel(la) but I want one.

How lovely would it be to make the prose actually sound like the language? Get rid of as many S-es as possible during the Raykinian bits and shove even more into Kazin. Would anyone notice? Probably not because the possessive 's is impossible to eliminate, but... I still want to keep it in mind for the rewrite.

Frig I had a third one. Dangit. It was a really good one, too. Oh well. OH WAIT I remember, it had nothing to do with writing and that's why I forgot. But like. The Pokémonathon and adapt them to Tsyllaes. No way it'd ever happen because there's a frigging thousand of them now, but I still have dreams.

I want to draw. I'mma put a movie on and do just that.

That moment when you get to a Pivotal Moment in the writing, and it's bed time.

You just know that, whether you write it or not, you're not getting to sleep for three hours.

Also Nimay's (as yet) irrational anger is making me angry. Damnit.

I have sent through an email to the Government to see about getting money for my unpaid leave I was owed from Flinders Street, so we'll see where that goes. The website was spectacularly unhelpful and just said to call/email if I wanted to find out more about making a claim. I was expecting a form to fill out. Governments like forms. Still, we'll see where that goes. I have zero hopes of getting anything out of the administrators so let's try for the Government. They also mention getting paid out in lieu of having been given notice, so that'd be another two weeks on top of the two weeks' leave, so almost a month's worth of pay in some way shape or form that I'd really like back. It could pay for my lighting! That'd be nice.

Still haven't had a word from the winning bidder on my camera =/ I've left a message saying if I still don't hear anything from you by tomorrow evening, I'm contacting ebay. Ebay gives the buyer 4 days to pay up and then I can give the next bidder down the chance to buy it instead. All this for $16, ugh .-.

What's next on the list? Format Rust and Tarnish, yes. That's tonight's project, then. I can at least get Rust done, if not the two of them.

EDIT Found a form, yaaaaay.

EDIT2 Balls, they want me to scan a million documents. FINE. Guess I won't be doing all that formatting tonight then.

EDIT3 Oh frigging piss balls I have to get certified proof of citizenship meaning getting a scan of my passport signed by a JP. FRIGGING HELL. That is Not Fun. I'm going to bed.