One detailed synopsis down, one novel to go...

Today I'm proud to announce that I've actually finished something novel-related.

After about three months, and a lot of procrastination, I've finally finished the detailed synopsis for my novel! In case you're wondering, for a while now I've been following a 'how to' guide on writing a novel (because if left to my own devices, I don't get very far...), and in it, it suggests writing a detailed synopsis for your novel, so you can see exactly what's happening in each scene. The idea is that you write your detailed synopsis, then leave it for a couple of weeks and do something completely non-novel related, so you can come back to it with fresh eyes and see what parts of your novel might need fleshed out a little more, whether anything needs to be changed around, or perhaps cut out/changed altogether. That way, when you come to write your first draft, you've already got a solid idea of your novel in your head. Which, trust me, works a lot better for me because it stops me from fizzling out halfway through!

I'm so thrilled that I've actually managed to complete something novel related for a change (even if my original schedule dictated that I finish it in March – but that's a minor detail..) - but my only niggle is that it's only 8,902 words.

Now, I know this sounds like a lot, but the last detailed synopsis I did, it ended up being over 20,000 words...so now of course I'm completely paranoid that there's nothing happening in my novel and I should just give it up. I have no idea how long a detailed synopsis should be, but I'm assuming it's up to the writer, depending on how much, well, detail, they want to put in. But still, I guess 8,000 words is better than nothing!

Anyway, I'm now going to stop worrying now and relax. It's half term next week, so for once I'm going to enjoy the holidays without fretting over whether or not I should be working on my novel, and then come back to it well rested and with fresh eyes in a couple of weeks time.

I've love to hear about your experiences of using a detailed synopsis – do you write one? If so, does it work well for you? Or was it completely pointless? And if you've never written one, would you consider it or not?

P.S. About the book reviews – I definitely still AM writing my book reviews, although I do apologise thatI haven't been able to post any for a couple of weeks. The internet here is horrendous and I hate it. But I am hoping that at least for this Friday and next Friday, I'll be able to post something up for you guys :). Happy writing/reading!

May IWSG: Time for a confession...

Welcome to May's Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG)! IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh (you can check out his blog here) and the official website for IWSG is here – I highly recommend you check it out if you're looking for inspiration/tips about writing!

Me: Hi! My name's Rachel....

Everyone else: Hi Rachel!

Me: My name's Rachel and I'm...a quitter.

There. I said it.

Believe it or not, this is actually quite a difficult thing for me to admit. No one likes to think of themselves in the wrong, or of giving up easily...but I do. I wish I didn't, and it's something I'm trying hard to work on – I don't know if flakiness is something that most people my age have, or if I'm just a dreamer that flits from one thing to the other (in all honesty though, it's more likely the second option).

I could sit here all night and try to justify the things I've given up on - I quit my first proper office job after nine months (although I did hate that job so much it was starting to impact on my mental health, and I'm a strong believer that no job should ever make anyone feel the way I did), I quit my job in China because I couldn't stand the thought of being away form home for Christmas; and I quit my volunteering work this week, telling myself that I didn't have the time for it (I do, I just wasn'tl so enthused by it to give up my spare time to do it...and yes, I'm well aware of how horrible that makes me sound, but I am just trying being honest).

But then equally, I could look at it this way:

Because I quit my office job, I got the opportunity to live in China, meet some amazing people and experience an entirely new culture...

...and because I came home early from China, I was lucky enough to get a job a few weeks after I got back – which surprised me because I went completely blank in the interview, and for one question I just outright told them I didn't know what to say. But I'm so so happy in my job now :) and if I hadn't have come home when I did, I never would've applied for that job or gone to the interview.

...I'm not entirely sure what the positive is of quitting my volunteering work yet, but I'm going to choose to look on the bright side and say that it'll give me more time and (hopefully) more incentive to write.

The reason I'm bringing this up is because just like in my everyday life, I quit a lot of the novels and stories I start to write. And once again I could try and justify why I keep quitting, but the fact is, I just give up. Simple.

But once again, there is a positive side to this. The novel I'm working on now is the one I started during NaNoWriMo last year...and I'm still working on it. By now, I would normally have discarded that novel as well as given up on several other ideas, but just the fact that I wake up willing to work on my novel – whether that's by working on my detailed synopsis (which I wanted to have finished by Easter...whoops), or just by mulling over certain plot points in the car on the way to work – is a huge step forward for me.

So, I guess this month's post isn't just about my insecurities and fear that once again, my current WIP will be doomed to end up just another unfinished file on my computer (because that is the biggest fear that I keep returning to) – it's also about positivity and hope. It's a corny saying, but every cloud DOES have a silver lining :).

If I can sit here and work on a novel six months after I started it, after a lifetime of flakiness and quitting almost everything I've ever started, then you can do it too :).

It's one small step for man, one giant leap towards my dreams of becoming an author ;)

Book Review: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Let me start off by saying that I am a MASSIVE Supernatural fan. I absolutely love love LOVE the Winchesters (well, Dean more than Sam, but anyway...) so when I heard about Anna Dressed in Blood, a story about a teen ghost hunter who moves around America to send the dead back to where they belong, I knew I simply had to read it!

Cas Lowood is no ordinary teenager – he hunts ghosts for a living, a gift he inherited from his late father. Cas moves around America with his mother to send the dead back to where they can rest in peace. When he hears about the famous Anna Dressed in Blood, he knows he'll have to hunt this particularly murderous ghost down too – but what he doesn't expect is to fall in love with the terrifying being that murders everyone who enters her home. Cas is in a race against time, not only to uncover the tragic circumstances that surround Anna's death, but also to find out who (or what) murdered his father, and why they're now after him...

Anna Dressed in Blood starts off well – we met Cas as he's winding up a case before he and his mother move to a new town on the other side of the country. The descriptions in this book were at times, frankly, terrifying. When we first met Anna, I could imagine every detail of her perfectly – something which didn't help me to sleep, I can tell you! The other ghosts and ghouls in this book were no less scary – especially the spirit that pops up near the end. Kendare Blake has a great, punchy, to-the-point writing style which fits this fast-moving story perfectly.

However, although I wanted to find out what happened to Anna, I found the book getting a bit...repetitive towards the end. While the descriptions in the book were great, I didn't think Cas sounded like a teenage boy – Kendare did a good job (way better than the protagonist in Beautiful Creatures at any rate!) but there were times, especially when Cas suffers from the dreadful insta-love disease, that he sounded more like a teenage girl writing in her diary than a bad-ass ghost hunter. I did like the twist of him falling for the ghost though, rather than the typical beautiful ex-cheerleader who befriends him (and yes, that really does happen).

Overall though, I really did enjoy this book. The plot was pretty tight, the writing was good, and the characters all had their own distinct voices. When we find out what happened to Anna, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her, and the ending had me feverishly flipping through the pages to see what happened next. I'll definitely be picking up the sequel, Girl of Nightmares, soon.

Final comments: A good, solid book that's a must read for any fellow Supernatural fans!

4/5 cupcakes

Book Review: Perfect Ruin by Lauren Destefano

*Guys, just wanted to say sorry for being a bit late with this review - I went to see Divergent last night at the cinema (and it was AWESOME!) and by the time we got home, I just rolled into bed. On the plus side, I'll probably be doing a movie review on Divergent soon, so at least that's something else for you to read :)*

I downloaded Perfect Ruin on my Kindle after reading the description – a floating city in the clouds?! As a massive Studio Ghibli fan, all I could say was, sign me up!

Perfect Ruin tells the story of Morgan Stockhour and her life on Internment – a floating city in the sky. Although citizens are told never to get too close to the edge, in fear that they become 'Jumpers' (i.e. they try to jump off the edge and go a bit crazy for their efforts), life is otherwise pretty peachy. Until someone commits a murder – the first murder in a generation, and one which rocks the city to it's core. Morgan is drawn deeper and deeper into the mystery behind the crime, especially when she meets Judas – the boy accused of the murder, the victim of which also happened to be his 'betrothed'. Can Morgan uncover the dark secrets that lie at the heart of Internment, before they claim the lives of those she loves the most?

I thought Perfect Ruin was beautifully written – the descriptions of the city were simply fantastic, and I could really imagine how it would look – especially how the sunlight would fall on it during the sunrise/sunset (don't ask why this particular image stuck with me – I have no idea!). Lauren Destefano paints a vivid picture of life on Internment – from how life in the sky would work, to their annual Festival of Stars celebration – I almost wanted to run over to the window just to see if there really was an island in the sky that I could go to!

The characters in Perfect Ruin were well written and relatable – I really liked Morgan's best friend Pen and her attitude to life - she really made me smile, and I felt bad for her when some of her more troublesome demons were revealed. Although I can see why some people might think that Morgan steps back a little bit too much and maybe doesn't do as much as she could, I can understand her reasons for being so reserved, given her background (which I won't reveal here!). I also found this book refreshing due to the lack of insta-love/love triangle – Morgan stays true to her own betrothed, though I was initially a little bit suspicious of the chemistry between her and Judas. Thankfully, their relationship didn't develop in that sense – I'm just hoping it'll stay that way for the rest of the series.

Final Comments: Overall, Perfect Ruin was a fantastic read and I would definitely recommend it (I've already read it twice!) - I can't wait for the sequel to come out next year!

5/5 cupcakes

April IWSG - Catch up time!

IWSG is upon us again! If you've missed my previous IWSG posts, here's a quick overview:

On the first Wednesday of every month, authors from across the interweb post up their fears and insecurities about their writing, and we all provide support/tea/cake/virtual hugs to encourage all your lovely authors to keep writing (because, believe me, you are all awesome and so is your writing!).

IWSG was set up by Alex J. Cavanaugh (you can check out his blog here) and there's now an official IWSG website, which is full of helpful tips, tricks and encouraging posts – you can check out that awesome site here.

I'm afraid I haven't got much to post about this month - I could make excuses for why I haven't written much during the past four weeks, but tbh, it's just sheer procrastination...

So I thought that instead of me re-hashing the IWSG posts I've done before (because that's literally all my post would be, seeing as how I've only done a minimal amount of writing this month), I'd instead take this opporutnity to go make a cup of tea, put my feet up and instead go on a blog hop around other ISWG blogs. It's been far too long since I've seen what everyone else is up to and seeing as how everyone is normally full of lovely cosy advice and steaming mugs of comfort whenever I have a moan/rant/complete breakdown, I thought I'd properly return the favour this month and cheer all YOU lovely authors up instead!

So that's it from me! Kettle - on. Toast - buttered. I'm ready to go!

Oh, but before I leave, here's a few words of comfort for you, just in case I don't manage to get round to your blog ;)....

YOU ARE AWESOME AND YOU CAN DO IT!! KEEP WRITING!! WOO, GO YOU!!*



*Ahem...I'm well aware that this post may seem a little, well, odder that usual - I'm blaming the cold medicine I'm currently dosed up on...