NaNo Approaches

it's almost that time of year again. the ultimate challenge of writing a novel in a month is soon upon us, and while i've heard about this competition for years now, this is the first time i will be taking part in it. and i am pretty excited about it.

it will certainly be a challenge for me, as Six Flags (where i work) will be open every day that month, and i'll most likely be picking up plenty of hours. so as of right now, i am doing all i can to have everything planned going into november, because i can't be wasting any time on trying to find a direction for my plot.

at this point, i have more of a character outline than i do a plot. i do have an opening though, and a semi-closing. i'm still trying to decide if i would want to try and turn the novel into a series or not. i always struggle with that whenever i'm writing something, because i usually fall in love with the characters and think "hey, i could totally write more of this." i also have an ending that could be very good when patched along with a series, so we'll see.

i would like to have the first draft of my other work, Wrath of Love, finished by november, so that project doesn't get lost. i could simply work on the other one during november, allowing me some time to forget about Wrath of Love and everything that comes with it, and then in December i could come back to it and fix whatever i thought was wrong and just edit it up, having a second draft hopefully finished and ready to be shown at the beginning of 2012.

i think i'm ready for you NaNo, but i won't know until you're knocking at the door.

the introduction thing

so, despite no one following my blog quite yet, with it just being started and me not having told anyone about it yet, i guess the first part should really have some detailed sense of an introduction, and announce some of the projects that will be filling your blog over the next few months. let's get that done then, shall we?

my life and stuff
i am a 22 year old living in los angeles, california. i was raised in landisville, PA, right by the amish folk and relatively close to philadelphia. i attended hempfield high school, graduated, and shipped myself off to orlando, florida, to attend full sail university. full sail was a media arts school, with a 24/7 schedule and a year-round program. while i attended the school for 21 months, i received the same amount of hours as someone attending one of those regular schedule colleges with the long spring breaks where people get drunk and do inappropriate things.

i got a bacehlor's degree in film, and went back home to work on my writing, spend time with family, and see familiar faces that were hopefully still attached to their respective familiar bodies. after about a year of that, i moved with my old college roommate to los angeles, california, to pursue the life and the dream and shiny things and everything else that was supposed to come with all of that. well, not entirely, but thats the gist of it, so we're good.

what i'm doing and stuff
i have a normal job, because bills need paying and writing isn't exactly a primary form of income yet, more just a way of a life and a passion. i work at six flags magic mountain in the food service department. in my free time, i'm either reading, writing, watching great television and great movies, playing video games, or enjoying alcoholic beverages with some really great neighbors.

projects and stuff
i have a couple of ongoing projects that will be taking up most of the space in this blog, which i will be talking heavily about, so i thought i'd just give out some details before i get into the specifics and the everyday running of these projects.

The Film Bros - this is something me and my roommate started, just a fun thing in our spare time to do some film projects we came up with. the ultimate goal is to eventually have a full crew that can put out a short film or two a month, but for now, it's just a two man team. we shot a short film in August, "Sexy Time," and another one in September, "The Men Without Pants." you can find "Sexy Time" on www.youtube.com/thefilmbros1, and the other one will be out soon as well.

Romance & Brimstone - my first attempt at a novel. this was my main piece of work when i went back home from college. it's a supernatural comedy about a guy who dates the devil's daughter and after breaking her heart, is forced to take up a task in his name and stop an upcoming assassination attempt. i finished the first draft before i went to LA, but as is a first novel, it's pretty much a mess (despite already being edited), and i could use some story re-working, and extra polishing. so that will be done in the near future.

Wrath of Love - the current novel i am writing. its a young adult noir about a boy who comes back home to the Dale (a fictional town), intent on finding out what really happened to his former lover (the girl he left), who was pronounced dead as act of suicide. i am about 30,000 words in, and i'm already adding some things in the beginning such as another POV character. i'm hoping to have it officially completed and ready to query by the end of the year.

Untitled Young Adult Action Project - this is the story idea i am planning for the NaNo event that takes place in september. i don't really want to say anything too detailed about it as it's not all planned out, but i am hoping to get the first draft of the novel done inside this month. yes, that means a lot of stress and a lot of sleepless nights!

Prison Area - i've come up with the idea of a screenplay, and given it this tentative title. it is still very early on in the planning process, but it is something i would like to get started working on by the beginning of 2012.

It's Meant to Be - this isn't really much of my project, although it once was. i finished a short story earlier this year (or even the end of 2010, i can't even remember), and i posted it up on a site where people share  their work, a writing community. i queried it several times to no avail, and actually forgot about it for a couple months. then i got a call from a corporate video producer in new jersey, and he asked for the permission adapt my story to a screenplay for a short film. excitedly, i accepted, and i shall be getting the option agreement sometime in the next two weeks.

in conclusion and stuff
well, that pretty much sums it all up. it's a pretty hefty post so i'll just end it now. looking forward to adding more!