300 Prompts: [241 Broken] When Your Mother Breaks Your Soul

Prompt: Broken
Characters: None
World: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 562
Total Words: 20,137/20,000

My mother has never been... encouraging. More often than she's realized, she's been the opposite, and it happened recently that she broke my muse and my confidence with a few simple words. How fitting, then, that I'd cross the finish line because of her.

300 Prompts: [193 Anonymous] Anonymous

Prompt: Anonymous
Characters: None
World: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 156
Total Words: 19,575/20,000

300 Prompts: [058 Moonlight] Moondance

Prompt: Moonlight
Characters: None
World: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 61
Total Words: 19,419/20,000

300 Prompts: [249 Forbidden] Tomorrow Is So Far Away

Prompt: Forbidden
Characters: Tony, Allison
World: None
Rating: NC-17 for explicit graphic sex.
Word Count: 4,139
Total Words: 19,358/20,000

300 Prompts: [082 Secret] Secret Love Note

Prompt: Secret
Characters: None
World: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 75
Total Words: 15,219/20,000

300 Prompts: [263 Pounce] Pounce and Rip His Clothes Off: A Study

Prompt: Pounce
Characters: None, really
World: None
Rating: PG-13 for suggestions
Word Count: 575
Total Words: 15,144/20,000

300 Prompts: [005 Coffee] Carl the Cockatoo has a Silly Name

Prompt: Coffee
Characters: Sophia Avery, Blake Sherman
World: White Wing
Rating: G to PG, I think.
Word Count: 1,387
Total Words: 14,569/20,000

Some quick notes: The Guardians that are mentioned are implanted computers on everyone's brain, basically, that flash a screen across the eyeball that the person wearing them can see, and finger movements control it. It's crazy tech that I invented and may or may not ever work. That's the beauty of sci-fi. Also, this is set in a future world and is part of a much bigger thing that I'll probably never write. They're experimenting and creating mutants in a lab.

Sophia is modeled a bit after Dr. Brennan from Bones in her social awkwardness, but much, much more shy.

This also has probably one of the most ridiculous working titles of anything I've ever written in my life, by the way.

300 Prompts: [049 Monster] Elegant Forest Tour

Prompt: Monster
Characters: Kotryna Rayn, Fisher Hassan [Jorth], Sheila
World: Black Flames
Rating: PG, I think. I can't think of anything too adult about it, really.
Word Count: 4,054
Total Words: 13,182/20,000

This is the biggest thing I've written for this so far, I think, and it took forever and I got so bored of it. But after a certain point I knew I had to just get it finished. So, here it is!

300 Prompts: [002 Peaceful] Sabeen's Rising

Prompt: Peaceful
Characters: Sabeen, Margaret, Judith, Emily, Sharita, Jacob
World: Proportion
Rating: PG-13 for suggestions of adult themes.
Word Count: 1,112
Total Words: 12,766/20,000

300 Prompts: [197 Freedom] Birdcage

Prompt: Freedom
Characters: None
World: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 70
Total Words: 8,010/20,000

300 Prompts: [300 Good Intentions] Let's Have War

Prompt: Good Intentions
Characters: Victoria Martin, Madelyn Hassan
World: Black Flames
Rating: PG, due to mentions of violence.
Word Count: 1225
Total Words: 7,775/20,000

Read Madelyn's journey chronologically:

A New Home » Soldier » Let's Have War

300 Prompts: [083 War] Soldier

Prompt: War
Characters: Victoria Martin, Madelyn Hassan
World: Black Flames
Rating: PG, due to mentions of violence.
Word Count: 989
Total Words: 6,550/20,000

Read Madelyn's journey chronologically:

A New Home » Soldier » Let's Have War

300 Prompts: [14 Candy] Those Fools

Prompt: Candy
Characters: None
World: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 95
Total Words: 5,179/20,000

This is awful... lol. I wrote at at nearly 3am and it sucks, but it's words and it meets the prompt, so...
Don't judge me...

300 Prompts: [165 Joker] Victoria

Prompt: Joker. My first thought was, unsurprisingly, a playing card. I got to thinking how the deck is based off a medieval court. Jokers were actually "jesters," court entertainment. After "Safe," I've been thinking a lot about Victoria and who she is and why, so it turned into this.
Characters: Victoria "Yasmine" Martin, Nasser Husni, Samir
World: None
Rating: Hard R, for violence. It gets pretty twisted.
Word Count: 1,684
Total Words: 5,179/20,000

300 Prompts: [286 Big] Big

Prompt: Big
Characters: Two anonymous friends
World: None
Rating: PG, for insinuations. Yes, it means exactly what you think it means.
Word Count: 42
Total Words: 3,495/20,000

I'm sorry... This is hardly even worth posting. It's Brooke's fault, really, and once it popped into my head, I had to write it. And then I was amused by it so... there you go!

300 Prompts: [151 Safe] A New Home

Prompt: Safe
Characters: Madelyn Hassan, Victoria Martin
World: Black Flames
Rating: PG/PG13, for off-screen violence.
Word Count: 820
Total Words: 3,453/20,000

Read Madelyn's journey chronologically:

A New Home » Soldier » Let's Have War

300 Prompts: [107 Awake] Prayers

Prompt: Awake
Characters: Kotryna Rayn, Carl
World: Black Flames
Rating: R, for language and sexual things. No explicit sex.
Word Count: 2,633
Total Words: 2,633/20,000

300 Prompts: [The Prompt Table]

I briefly introduced the concept of Camp Nano in this post. This will be the prompt table I will be working from this April. I apologize if it looks weird due to HTML. It looks great on livejournal and insanejournal with even rows and all, but those are things I just can't make perfect due to blog limitations.

By the way, you hover over any finished, linked prompt, and the original prompt name will appear.

001 Whipped Cream.	002 "Sabeen's Rising"	003 First.	004 Last.	005 "Carl the Cockatoo has a Silly Name"
006 Pirates.	007 Rose.	008 Hide and Seek.	009 Code.	010 Ring.
011 Chocolate.	012 Cookie.	013 Cake.	014 "Those Fools"	015 Ice Cream.
016 Storytime.	017 Hell.	018 Frame.	019 Dust.	020 Erection.
021 Shadows.	022 Sword.	023 New Year.	024 Sunset.	025 Dawn.
026 First Sight.	027 First Kiss.	028 First Date.	029 Beginning.	030 End.
031 Quest.	032 Rainbow.	033 Love.	034 Lust.	035 Travel.
036 Dark Alley.	037 Genetics.	038 Jump Rope.	039 Body.	040 Poker.
041 Money.	042 Poetry.	043 Cigarettes.	044 Arrest.	045 Drown.
046 Dare.	047 Werewolf.	048 Vampire.	049 "Elegant Forest Tour"	050 Valentine.
051 Knife.	052 Ball.	053 Pillow Fight.	054 Disappearance.	055 Law.
056 Horse.	057 Hat.	058 "Moondance"	059 Scream.	060 Kinky.
061 Silk.	062 Priest.	063 Firelight.	064 Map.	065 Toys.
066 Drag.	067 Tattoo.	068 Candlelight.	069 Blindfold.	070 Piercing.
071 Touch.	072 Taste.	073 Smell.	074 Sight.	075 Hearing.
076 Ritual.	077 Computer.	078 Bondage.	079 One Night Stand.	080 Mirror.
081 Dance.	082 "Secret Love Note"	083 "Soldier"	084 Moon.	085 Sun.
086 Stars.	087 Fire.	088 Earth.	089 Water.	090 Air.
091 Exotic.	092 Innocent.	093 Grudge.	094 Evil.	095 Perfect.
096 Promise.	097 Forever.	098 Duel.	099 Reservation.	100 Campfire.

101 Gloves.	102 Woods.	103 Angry.	104 Watching the Clock.	105 Glory.
106 Sleeping In.	107 "Prayers"	108 Claim.	109 Pet.	110 Gift.
111 Winter.	112 Spring.	113 Autumn.	114 Summer.	115 Change.
116 Gold.	117 Silver.	118 White.	119 Black.	120 Red.
121 Green.	122 Blue.	123 Purple.	124 Yellow.	125 Pink.
126 Paint.	127 Blind.	128 Deaf.	129 Mute.	130 Mountains.
131 Work.	132 Alone.	133 Babble.	134 Content.	135 Devious.
136 Hairbrush.	137 Incense.	138 Leather.	139 Eternity.	140 Afterlife.
141 Wish.	142 Storm.	143 Candles.	144 Miracle.	145 Slut.
146 Future.	147 Masturbate.	148 Ecstasy.	149 Chart.	150 Patience.
151 "A New Home"	152 Superpowers.	153 Nightmare.	154 Dream.	155 Accident.
156 Escape.	157 Victim.	158 Oil.	159 Beach.	160 Snowed In.
161 Diamond.	162 Heart.	163 Spade.	164 Club.	165 "Victoria"
166 Sick.	167 Belief.	168 Deception.	169 Teddy Bear.	170 Imagination.
171 Kitten.	172 Christmas.	173 Virgin.	174 Lost.	175 Found.
176 Exploration.	177 Costumes.	178 Puppy.	179 Balance.	180 Energetic.
181 Cranky.	182 Fight.	183 Nature.	184 Exhausted.	185 Embarrassed.
186 Intimidated.	187 Confused.	188 Frustrated.	189 Nostalgic.	190 Hot.
191 Snow.	192 Rain.	193 "Anonymous"	194 Playful.	195 Cold.
196 Sky.	197 "Birdcage"	198 Thankful.	199 Vulnerable.	200 Ghost.

201 Naughty.	202 Need.	203 Justice.	204 Riddle.	205 Flight.
206 Curse.	207 Champagne.	208 Ice Cube.	209 Beans.	210 Jail.
211 Wolf.	212 Hawk.	213 Whiskey.	214 Beer.	215 Wine.
216 Clue.	217 Blackmail.	218 Slow.	219 School.	220 Haunting.
221 Court.	222 Trade.	223 Heartache.	224 Stolen Moments.	225 Betrayal.
226 Spy.	227 Vodka.	228 Imagination.	229 Balloons.	230 Daydream.
231 Sleepover.	232 Book.	233 Lovers.	234 Strangers.	235 Friends.
236 Blood.	237 Burn.	238 Slow.	239 Family.	240 Enemies.
241 "When Your Mother Breaks Your Soul"	242 Murder.	243 Reunited.	244 Fur.	245 Castle.
246 Battle.	247 Picnic.	248 Wedding.	249 "Tomorrow Is So Far Away"	250 Rebellion.
251 Letter.	252 Forgiveness.	253 Gag.	254 Dancing.	255 Kidnap.
256 Surprise.	257 Desert.	258 Suspect.	259 Birth.	260 Death.
261 Choice.	262 Silence.	263 "Pounce and Rip His Clothes Off: A Study"	264 Interest.	265 Discovery.
266 Dinner.	267 Music.	268 Temper.	269 Decisions.	270 Giggly.
271 Skating.	272 Midnight.	273 Fireflies.	274 Pain.	275 Dark.
276 Hours.	277 Days.	278 Weeks.	279 Months.	280 Years.
281 Interrogation.	282 Poison.	283 Adultery.	284 Conspiracy.	285 Youth.
286 "Big"	287 Small.	288 Round.	289 Beaten.	290 Practice.
291 Space.	292 Cemetery.	293 Amused.	294 Razor.	295 Cuddle.
296 Drunk.	297 Greed.	298 Revenge.	299 Research.	300 "Let's Have War"

Now, I would love for anyone to use this, whether for a competition/challenge or just for fun. If you want to bookmark the page or even use the HTML, you can do/get both right here. I recommend using random.org to make it extra fun. I will probably be doing so at many points in this challenge. Wish me luck, everyone!

Fast Food Poisoning and Three Hundred Prompts

So, guys, it's been a while. I really appreciate the kind words I got on that last blog post as well as the words I got off the actual post. I let Erik read it and he was absolutely amazing. Have I pulled myself out of that rut? Well, no, not really, but I'm feeling a lot better most of the time. The house is in great shape and we're doing a good job keeping it that way, too. I applied again for Medicaid and I missed the appointment, but I called them and left a message so maybe I can get back on meds soon. Evers' coverage lapsed and I have to get her back on, so it's not something I can put off this time.

Oh, also, Ev has become more clingy toward me. She wants me now, instead of being a total Daddy's girl. Sometimes, this is not always a blessing after all... haha.

In other news, but slightly related because I mentioned food in that post, I recently got horribly, unbelievably sick after eating at our closest McDonald's and it ruined yet another St. Patrick's Day (two years ago, I was about two weeks shy still of my twenty-first birthday, and last year I was pregnant). Later, I learned that my dad was briefly ill, and I think maybe someone in Erik's family, too, so it probably wasn't the McDonald's, but I still feel a repulsion toward it and I'm super excited to say that for almost two weeks now (since the fifteenth) I haven't had one bite of fast food. I think I've only had soda once (the other day at Costco with my mom) I think, not including the gingerale we bought to settle my stomach and I only drank maybe a liter of that total. I have not craved fast food since and have no desire to return. You should all be super proud of me (and of Erik, especially). Of course, that means we had a lot of Hot Pockets, Pizza Rolls, and Eggo so far, but it's progress! Baby steps!

Moving on to something else. Some of you may know about NaNoWriMo. It stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50,000 words in a month (November) and it's a huge international thing. I participate each year since 09, although I've never "won." Well, there's also sometimes a "Camp NaNo" in the spring or summer. Last year I think it was August it was June, this year it's April. I decided about an hour ago that I'm going to go for it. As I've never done it, I don't know all the details, but I know you sign up and get assigned a cabin if you want and can pick your own word count. I'm going for 25k. I'll up it to 30k depending on where I get through the month.

My plan is not to write a novel, but just to write. I will be using 300 writing prompts I once created while I did play-by-post RPGs. I will write short stories, scenes, and poetry, based off each one and how I interpret it. I will be posting them here, too, to help get motivation and keep myself accountable. Please, keep in mind that these will all be very rough first drafts, there will be typos, and I'm self-conscious. I will put that actual table in a separate post because of the amount of coding and the fact that I will probably need to tweak it because of the blog settings. Also to keep things looking clean.

I appreciate your support!

How I Use Scrivener (Now)

I've never finished a single novel I've ever attempted. I get these brilliant ideas, start scribbling, and get burnt out. A lot of the times it's because I've only thought through a few scenes and then I get writer's blocked and I totally crap out and give up. Sure, I could probably go back and outline and plot and get it going again, but I get sick of it and throw it in a corner and I'm done with it. And even with Scrivener, I've never been very good at planning. I never was one for the notecards and corkboards and outlines and any of that. I always winged it (wung it? wang it? hehe, wang...) and wrote til my heart gave out.

I've got a new idea and I think I have a plot and I've got multiple characters I'm fleshing out largely before writing. I'm outlining and culture-building before writing. I plan to have this nailed out and "finished" before I even write. I'm so proud of myself right now lol.

At risk of spoilering everyone (on the off-chance I finish and publish this), I wanted to show off my system. I learned how to ditch the rounded edges and turn the corner labels into "pins" and it is so much more appealing, visually, and it really feels like index cards now. You can change the background, too, but I like the illusion provided by the corkboard image. I changed the font so it looks like I hand-wrote the cards. I added three new pin categories (Labels on yours, but I've changed mine to the word "Pin" in the edit menu where you add new Labels and you can see how it actually changed it in the Inspector), changing the "Scene" one to "Drina," following a character's separate line. I didn't like having them all blue for scene and then having to look more closely when I was just trying to see how they wove in and out. There will be a third line to follow, probably, besides Zvi/Agnes and Drina. That one has a pinkish pin and I think the three colors (plus the blue-black scraps/bonuses pile for anything I feel the need to scribble) complement each other very well. I still use the green for Chapters, but may change that.

I used the pre-made pins for "Idea," "Notes," and "Character Notes." I was going to just use the cute little round white pins (they change to push pins when you designate a colored label) and steal these colors for use in the Manuscript, but I love the way they coordinated lol.

I'm going to actually stop talking about Scrivener for a minute, but first I want to point out that PDF file (which will still lead me away from talking about Scrivener). I made that in gDrive and then from gDrive you can save as a PDF. I imported the PDF to Scrivener. I have made several other spreadsheets taking hours of my time because I wrote all sorts of weird math and am really obsessive like that. I still have those in Excel. I love Excel. I rarely use Word anymore, unless Erik's gotta write up a technical thing for school and uses my computer instead of his for some reason because Scrivener confuses him. I also use it for short easy things because Word does have much prettier formatting and effects, but Scrivener is my general go-to now for anything fictional.

Loooook at meeee, I'm OhhhhhCDeeee!

This won't make one bit of sense.

Anyway, use Excel. Excel is beautiful (except I have the ugly Starter pane on mine). I have had to make 2394792347987 versions of that PDF as I keep tweaking things in the gDoc and try to keep my Scrivener version updated. Having Excel open with Scrivener at the time is really the way to go until Scrivener creates a functional way to also have working spreadsheets that are as effective as Excel. Which will probably be never. Sorry, Scrivener. I still love you first. Excel is just my mistress.

Here's where I'll actually divert away from Scrivener. You all need to go to Holly Lisle's How to Think Sideways. You need to buy her Culture Clinic (if you write anything that isn't modern day shiznit) and her Character Clinic (if you write anything). They're around ten bucks each. Some are less, I don't think anything's more. Anyway, buy it, no tax or shipping, download it, and revel in the awesomeness. I got the Culture Clinic first, years ago, and it's incredible. I've barely used any of it, but what I have fleshed out in a day led to several scenes, a plotline I wouldn't have thought of (at least not for a while, without it), and two new main characters.

The Character Clinic is new to me, but has so far proved to be very fascinating. It also stemmed new plotlines as I figured out the aforementioned Drina and her motives. (My bad ass actually used to be a nice girl.) The two have already helped me on the way to a much richer, more believable, and interesting novel than I've ever written and I've only written half a scene, two scraps, and a bonus backstory thing. Brooke loves the Plot Clinic as well, but I haven't gotten much use out of it yet myself.

I reccomend buying these from her site, but they are available on Amazon for the Kindle. I know if you've bought it from her site, there's a link to download it in Kindle format, too, but I haven't tried it. I recommend downloading the PDF (and maybe the mp3 to go along with it) so you can copy and paste questions and exercises into your Scrivener. That's what I've been doing.

That's all I got right now, kids! It's almost 4am! (I did fall asleep around 8, though, and then woke up at midnight.) So this is my Scrivener. What's yours? Got any more tips for me?