Chapter 24

I haven't updated in such a long time.  This is probably because I hadn't written anymore of Shadow in such a long time.  School got in the way, then NaNoWriMo did too.  As much as I want to finish the novel/novella I started for NaNoWriMo, Shadow and its sequels take precedence.

Here's what has happened:

• The series went from a trilogy to a quartet.  It's sort of begging to be a quintet now, but I think I can rearrange some of the events to keep it a quartet.  I'd rather not drag out this series for too long.
• The question of how to solve a particular problem had been plaguing me for awhile and I finally had an epiphany about it.
• I've realized that some characters who seemed inconsequential are actual indispensable.
• I wrote Chapters 20-23.
• I plan to finish the first draft in the next couple of days.

It's wonderful how, even when a story is planned out and you have an idea of where it's going and who it's getting there, something can happen to surprise you.  Your story may end up taking a completely different path, but is better for it. 

DONE with Chapter Nineteen!

I think this chapter was especially hard for me to write for many reasons. My first isn't writing-related. I had to prepare to get back to school. Other than, however, this was the first chapter in Part Three and I had such a clear image of Chapter Nineteen that actually getting it out the way I had imagined was extremely difficult. I didn't get it out exactly the way I'd imagined either - I had to do some tweaking. I managed to get it out, however, and since I had vaguely planned out how Part Three is going to be, I need to finish plotting that out.

I'm shaking now, though, with the realization that I'm really almost done with this story. I can't believe it. Now that I'm so close, I really want to plunge into it and just finish. I have to study, of course. That is kind of important. But I'm going to make sure I write at least five pages everyday - more if I'm inspired.

I'm going to finish a novel.

This will honestly be the second full-length story I've ever finished in my life. The first one was when I was a freshman in high school. I'm not kidding.

Okay, maybe instead of writing about this story, I should actually go and write it!

I Don't Know Why I Avoided Reading Memoirs of a Geisha

It's a fantastic book in every way - there's a reason why it's so famous and why it was included on the BBC's Top 100 Book List (of which they believe the average person has only read 6.  As I very random side note, I've read 34 and am on my way to 35).

More than anything, it made me remember that writing is an art.  All his descriptions, similes, metaphors...everything was beautifully written and unique.  There was such life to this book that in the late nights I spent devouring every word on every page, I began to imagine I was actually Sayuri.

It's good - it makes me want to go back and comb through Shadow to make it just as alive as Memoirs of a Geisha.

Updated Reading List

• The Wallflower Vol. 1
• The Wallflower Vol. 2
• The Wallflower Vol. 3
• The Wallflower Vol. 4
• Sayonara, Zetzubou-Sensei Vol. 1
• The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
• Being Nikki - Meg Cabot
• The Pact - Jodi Picoult
• Choke - Chuck Palanhuik
• Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
• Life of Pi - Yann Martel
• Gone - Michael Grant
• Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
• Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
• Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 14
• Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 15
• Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 16
• X/1999 Vol. 5
• X/1999 Vol. 6
• xxxHolic Vol. 1
• xxxHolic Vol. 2
• xxxHolic Vol. 3
• xxxHolic Vol. 4
• xxxHolic Vol. 5
• Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 1
• Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 2
• Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 3
• Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 4
• Fruits Basket Vol. 23
• The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton

The Reading List

• The Wallflower Vol. 1
• The Wallflower Vol. 2
• The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
• Being Nikki - Meg Cabot
• The Pact - Jodi Picoult
• Choke - Chuck Palanhuik
• Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
• X/1999 Vol. 5
• X/1999 Vol. 6
• Life of Pi - Yann Martel
• xxxHolic Vol. 1
• Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 1
• Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 2
• Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 3
• Fruits Basket Vol. 23
• The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton

Finished Chapter 17 AND 18!!!

I had just been aiming to finish Chapter Seventeen last night, but I managed to finish Chapter Eighteen as well!  Of course it isn't all that much of a feat since I sliced off part of what was originally supposed to be Chapter Seventeen and made it into the next chapter.  It was just getting so ridiculously long - over 50 pages.

I'm excited to start the main story again - get from the past to the present and into the thick of things.

Chapter Nineteen, here I come!

Reading List

• The Wallflower Vol. 1
• The Wallflower Vol. 2
• The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
• Being Nikki - Meg Cabot
• The Pact - Jodi Picoult
• Choke - Chuck Palanhuik
• Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
• X/1999 Vol. 5
• X/1999 Vol. 6
• Life of Pi - Yann Martel
• xxxHolic Vol. 1
• Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 1
• Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 2
• Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Vol. 3
• Fruits Basket Vol. 23
• The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton