Hello, fellow campaigners of the writing world! Aggie is BACK after another hiatus. I am still working on my science fantasy comedy, but I am calling it Project Scope in case I don’t call the first book the Uncitizen’s Ship, though that is still the plan at the moment.
As you can see, my blog has had a rebrand which was long overdue, and decided to go with something brighter to match my tastes more. I like crazy graphics so I decided to try something new and mess around in Photoshop.
But all that aside, I am here to talk about writing.
Things That Are New This Draft
TITLE: As I said earlier, I am calling it Project Scope until I decide on a title to publish under.
POVs: Pretty much the same, though a new POV will be added about 1/2 way through the book. Jekkh and Camrun are the main ones, though I plan on adding more as the series persists.
STYLE: I am doing something different with how I write the book. I am adding footnotes and some commentary as if it is a ‘historical piece’ written after the events in the book. I also have the freedom to get goofy and have fun with facts and world-building. I really enjoy writing this way.
TIMELINE: I keep shifting the timeline of the book. It used to be set in 2695, but it is now set in 2844. I did a bunch of math regarding the guesses of when Mars is closest to Earth so that a certain number of Earth’s expeditions would get lost in the “vortex” between Earth and Mars to get to Jekkh’s galaxy. This isn’t important for the main book I am writing, but it is crucial to finding the age of some characters shown in it and for the prequels. I want it to be as clear as possible before I publish anything so I don’t regret it later and write myself into a corner.
Things I Am Struggling With
Day versus Chapter. Both? Keeping an eye on info-dumping
CHAPTERS: I am not sure how I am going to format chapters since I am writing by “days” in the book, though I do want to find a way since I love naming the chapters something funny. But that means things are broken up between three things: Days, Chapters, and POVs. I’ll play around with it later, I guess.
INFO-DUMPING: I have a lot of names and locations and facts in the beginning so I want to do better in explaining without dumping it on the reader. That’s something to look out for. It is a complicated world that makes sense in my head, but translating it onto the page is a lot harder than I thought.
The Writing Log
Sunday, June 2nd, 2024
Last week, I ended up writing the outline of my book, leaving me with a direction for my book. It is currently at 15,575 words after I finished writing Day 01 (A.K.A. Day 08 since the destruction of Jjjeeerrroooaaaa).
Word(s): 206 words.
POV(s): Camrun Kaence
Setting(s): Camrun’s living room, Essanto City, Persyth.
Scene(s): I wrote a little bit regarding him applying for a job. So fun, I know. But much needed!
Song(s): The Book of Boba Fett – Ludwig Goransson
Monday, June 3rd, 2024
I ended up finishing the scene with Camrun applying for the job. I really wanted to deepen his character because I feel like I get his worry and anxiety well, but I don’t get to show his nerdy and excitable side. I’m trying to keep that in mind. So, I extended the scene to the outskirts of the Caretto District’s warehouses and got to get Camrun excited about seeing a plant for the first time. Living in a floating city makes it hard to see greenery. Real plants, that is.
Word(s): 526 words.
POV(s): Camrun Kaence
Setting(s): Camrun’s living room, Essanto City, Persyth. Streets of the Caretto District.
Scene(s): Finished the scene!
Song(s): Crystal Glacier – Carolina Eyck
Tuesday, June 4th, 2024
Wrote back and forth between Jekkh’s POV and Camrun’s to figure out where I’m going to put stuff. I don’t know how long I want to make Day 09 (Day 02) yet. I just know I want it to be even if I can. So, now I have two scenes for Jekkh’s (worked on a third today), and have one scene for Camrun (worked on a second). I just need to lengthen it a bit and make it more cohesive. I think I might have to do a couple of Jekkh’s POVs before I introduce the next Camrun one. But, even though I like cohesive-ness, I also don’t know how I am going to incorporate chapters yet if I do (I’d like to cuz I like naming chapter titles).
Word(s): 1,427 words.
POV(s): Camrun Kaence, Jekkh Miles
Setting(s): Camrun’s work. The Caretto Docks. Jekkh’s flat at the Grand Palace.
Scene(s): Camrun meets some pilots. Jekkh dealing with doubt in her faith.
Song(s): Define Dancing – Thomas Newman
Wednesday, June 5th, 2024
I spent today at work, working on getting blog stuff prepped, getting video editing stuff prepped, and running errands.
For Camrun’s POV, I just fleshed out yesterday’s dialogue sprint (when I only wrote the dialogue). I am excited to see where it goes because the pilot, H. E. Giggs is one of my favorite characters I’ve written. Lovingly known as “Giggles,” this pilot is so SWEET and FUNNY and INNOCENT. And left in charge of the eternally grumpy Rivvic and know-it-all Byrns.
For Jekkh’s POV, I finished writing the Serbol scene to give a little insight as to what her religion is so that when the Scope pops up later, it won’t be super confusing. I wasn’t planning on writing any Jekkh today, but I needed a break from Camrun, finished the Jekkh scene and added one more line to the Camrun scene to finish it up.
A feature I liked to add in the book is with their “bibles,” aka “Scrolls.” They each are decorated differently. The books (yes, no longer actual scrolls) are wrapped with leather and then bound with ribbons, strings, and other bands with an annual memento attached to signify the importance of the year.
Word(s): 1,579
POV(s): Camrun & Jekkh
Setting(s): Rhett’s Diner in Essanto City, Jekkh’s suite.
Scene(s): Camrun meets the pilot and his crew at the bar.
Song(s): dé/nouement – Jeff Roy, without you i’m lost – The Field Tapes & ili mel.
Thursday, June 6th, 2024
I did a five-minute writing sprint and got around 200 words, which is exciting. I did do some copying from another document, though I retyped and restructured some sentences. To clarify, I read from another document of mine and rewrote it into a new one. That is one of the features I really love from Scrivener.
With Camrun, I am excited to revisit the scene between his older brother Cahlun and him on call. Their dynamic is an interesting one, not really something I can pull from my life or relate to, but it is cool to step into Camrun’s shoes who is constantly under the shadow of his brother, but can’t help but love him, too. I listened to my TUS Dump playlist () and the Cahlun Kaence one, since I always listen to the Camrun one while writing. It gives me a fresh perspective while writing with new music, especially when it is from the playlist of a secondary character in the scene.
I had time to work on it before my lunch shift, but after was a lot of errands and cleaning and music practice. Hopefully tomorrow I can get more done, but I have a hair appt. as well as need to run one more errand before going to the horse races with my mama.
Word(s): 837
POV(s): Camrun
Setting(s): Kaence Household
Scene(s): Camrun and Cahlun have a call to catch up.
Song(s): A Lifetime Rolls By – annasara rework – BPMoore & annasara
Summary
Word(s): 4,575 words this week
Day(s)/Chapter(s): Day 09 for Jekkh and Camrun. Part of Camrun Day 10.
Favorite Scene(s): I loved writing Camrun seeing a plant for the first time. I got to tap into the excitement and nerdiness that Camrun has but doesn’t show often.
Favorite Setting(s): I, of course, love the Grand Palace on Riirii X’Eaa, so I enjoyed writing a lil of that this week.
Quote of the Week:
Byrns wiggled in his seat as if excited. “Jjjeeerrroooaaaa is a planet—well, was a planet—from the Orssa System.” He blinked. “It went boom.”
Next Week’s Plan
I want to work on writing, DUH, but I am excited for what the future holds regarding the book. I have my own paper I made with the plot on it, so I can look over what is there. I’ve had ideas for prequel scenes and stuff, so I am writing those on the side, though trying not to get attached. I need to finish the main series before I expand on the world.
I also got some beta-reading feedback from the first 15k words so I plan on implementing fixes for some of the issues raised. Mostly sentence structure needs more variety and I don’t get into Jekkh’s head enough. And a lil too much info-dumping.
Thank you guys for reading! Let me know what you have all been up to!
Salutations fellow adventurers!
Respectfully,
afkoppauthor.com 