Drasia Book One: First Draft Begun

Remember Drasia? It was all the rage a year ago.

So last year I finished the first draft of my WIP, The Descendants of the Drasia: The Prequel (working title). The next 2-3 months I did my best to focus on revisions, and failed. Miserably. Or maybe not so much as failed as became overwhelmed. I realized I had many story lines and characters that either didn't contribute much to the story or inhibited it, and when you choose to cut out more than one major character, things become a wee bit tricky.

So what did I do? I began work on the next book in the series. Book One. And no, I can't come up with a working title for it. It's driving me insane.

I began writing the first draft at the beginning of the year…and then scratched it ALL. Every word was burdensome, every page made me want to gag, and basically I was disgusted with how the story was developing. It was one of the worst beginnings to a story I've ever written, in my opinion. I couldn't see a future for the story and so left it alone for a very long time, instead focusing on some other projects. (You could almost say I abandoned it, but deep down I knew I wouldn't be able to forget about the characters.)

Then this summer on the 18-hr drive to Indiana, I pulled out my laptop and began writing. I got the first chapter done, and though I wasn't entirely pleased, it was leaps and bounds beyond the first beginning. I started chapter two, and today I finished it. I'm pleased with how it turned out. I at least feel a lot more grounded with the story, and I can see a pretty clear direction of where to take things.

So what's next?

1. Chapter Three.

2. Sticking with it.

3. Creating a working title.

4. Sticking with it.

5. Creating a detailed map of the world (for my own personal reference, I am NO artist).

6. Second draft/revising the prequel.

7. Did I mention sticking with it?

Where are you with your current WIP? 

Choose the Next Female Characters to Study!

Hello all! Just whipping up a quick note to apologize for not following up on the "strong female characters" post from a month ago. I haven't forgotten about the character studies I promised, but I've had a lot of other things occupying my mind lately that I've had to focus on.

However, while I'm trying to get my life sorted together again, I figured I'd open up the discussion on female characters for participation! Like I said at the end of the last blog post, I want to take some female characters and examine whether or not they should really be seen as "strong."  Remember, we're trying to reach for the core of what makes a character good, not just what is perceived as the stereotypical "strong female character."

If you have a certain female character you love (or hate!), I want you to tell me and I will do a "character examination." These characters can be from books or television (though I can't promise if I'm not familiar with the character already to read a trilogy or watch an entire series at this time, but I'll do my best :~) ).

You can comment below, go my pinterest board and comment on the correlating pin for this post, or go to the Contact Me page and use one of the other ways to message me. Can't wait to hear from you!