Word Sprints, NaNoWriMo and a WIP

So, a few weeks ago I started doing some sprints with a group on Fb.  The best part about the sprints, I think, is the themes they give us.  We're supposed to incorporate the theme, or the word, into the story.

We meet up online when someone posts a 'Wanna sprint?' to the group.  Its often with a good 20-30 minutes before we'll actually sprint, enough time to get something to drink, set the mood and lock out the family.  Or whatever you have to do to get ready.

Then, its a 30 min 'write' sprint.

Ideally, you're not supposed to edit while you sprint.  Its about getting the words out, not the quality of the words.  Some people dislike that, as they have to go back and edit over everything later.  Personally, I've found the more often you do the sprints, the better you get at self editing on the fly.  But, that could also be just me.

Once the 30 min is up, we return to post our word count, plus either the best bit, or the bit with the prompt.  :D

Sometimes I look through a book of prompts, and add in another one to 'sweeten' the inspiration.  This is just for myself.  Other times, the song playing on my Spotify playlist will spark what I need to start something.

Then, my muse struck without me looking.

Our theme was Garbage Can and my theme was four sealed boxes.  Add to that, Familiar Taste of Poison and you get the start of something interesting.


In fact, that something was so interesting, its just over 9k in words and I think about half done.  Not to mention that I've gotta plot out sme things and needed a world map, and a mind map program.

Yeah, something that simple became much more.

From what I can tell, the story [The Fairy Tale Murders] is a novella of sorts, most likely a little too weird to be a Cozy Mystery, but something for me to explore.  My brains been in a dark place lately, and this story might be what I need to move through it.  I hope to have it finished by the end of the month, so I can start NaNoWriMo with something new.

I don't wanna share too much of the story, but I'm going to show the small start below.  Not too many words, just a hint of what its about.  And remember, this is first draft only.  So its kinda Raw.  If you listen to the song at the same time, could be cool.

Kristy C

He looked down at the body before him, eyes staring blankly back.  Even in death, she was stunning.  Black hair splayed out around her head in a sort of halo.  The kind you can’t get without someone’s carefully combing it out.  Hands had been crossed over her chest, with an apple resting above them. 

Cause of death hadn’t yet been determined, but he’d have bet money it was poison.  A glass lay next to the body, tipped over with what had been left of the wine only a few drips in the glass, and a puddle on the floor. 

It fit with the other killings they’d had lately.   Three others, each killed by poison and each laid out to represent a fairy tale princess.  His analysts were having a field day working out a profile, as well as who would be next.  Best they could tell, before this one, only Snow White and Cinderella were left.  Although he’d pointed out the others had been princesses, while she’d only married a prince. 

Taking a deep breath, he looked at the rest of the room.  Four sealed boxes had been arranged around an old metal garbage can.  X-Ray machines were being brought in to see if they could figure out what was in each, before they opened them. 

Each one had a marking on it, and he had a feeling to what was in the last one.  It bothered him to no end, because it meant the reasons would never be known.  Killers like this didn’t tend to leave notebooks laying around with their reasons. 

He just hoped, it wasn’t who he suspected.  Stepping toward them, he saw the markings more clearly.  A rose, a wave, a braid and a swan. 

“They called her Cinderella, because they made her sleep in the ashes by the fireplace and she was always covered in the cinders.”  He mumbled, opening the lid as others yelled at him to stop. 

Staring up with a blank face was a lovely woman with golden hair.  Her body had been bent and twisted to fit into the can, before the ashes had been dumped in.  Looking back at the woman on the floor, he swore. 

They had an accomplice to look for.

The First....

I know... Over the last week or so, I've managed to sink into a micro depression.  I think, its starting to hit me as to why....


Last years holiday season, wasn't wonderful and spectacular, but... There were four of us.  The family was whole.


This year, there are three of us.  Yes, mom died in April... But, nothing stops the pain of knowing she's not here.  Mixed in with... Everything else, right now I just don't have the energy to put time or effort into something.  And, I know I have to.  I need to work on school and I need to write and... I need to make jewelry.  But, I just feel broke and useless... My jewelry isn't selling, in person or online.  I'm only half enjoying my classes... And I love my book, but right now... I can't focus on it.  I both, need to get out and at the same time, don't have a desire to go any place.


Perhaps... I should still, get out.  Shower, get dressed and made up... Go get myself some hot chocolate/coffee... And at the very least, be not home for twenty minutes.




As an aside, I'd love some feedback on what I'm about to post.  I'm just depressed enough, that I see I have over 100 followers, but receive no comments on anything.. Except contests...Which, I might just stop doing for a little while.



The true story of a Mr. Diggory and a Miss. Perdita Tapio


Diggory and Perdita were twins, who, at a the young age of 23, graduated with doctorates in NeoTechnology.  Thought to be prodigy's in the technologies, they set up a sort of laboratory for study into a few programs that might advance the use of a few of the more space-oriented programs.


Let us explain the technologies of the time.  The two most prominent branches where NeoTechnology and NanoTechnology.  Both were said to be on the cusp of a break through.  Nanotechnology used small machines to create larger ones, that worked as one piece as a whole.  Despite assumptions, this made it easier to figure out when something was broken, by just looking up which Nanite was no longer running properly.  You then shut down for a short amount of time and allowed the Nanites to disassemble, before releasing the new on in to join the machine.  While on the rise, this technology ran into the same snag that Air Ship designs ran into, with the lack of proper processors to run advanced machines.


NeoTechnology has a different approach to everything.  It looks toward making things bigger, but all in one.  The ideas come closer to that of a living machine.  By building a machine as one giant living thing, then creating the program to run it all, machines can work as one whole, instead of millions of minds.  Finding something broken is simple, as the machines program simply searches for the problem and alters those running to, to the problem.  It however ran into the problem of finding a power source to run such a massive, living machine.


Very few people ever worked in both sciences, as they tended to work toward different goals along the way, despite the end result being the same.


Our twins had started to work on a new program that would allow Nanites to work as a team in harmony, better then they currently were. Along the way, they had also created a different way of programming.  They actually used the newly created HoloTechnology to literally enter a program and work on it from the inside out.  Few others used the HoloTech as they did, which made their programs far more advanced than any other on the market.


After working on the code normally, they would then go into the code and watch how it worked to try and solve any problems in the code.  They always left a trail to get out.  After working on the code for several months, they set up the holo-cam to start working from the inside out.


Heading inside the code, they found themselves in a forest of the ones and zeros that filled their little world.  Triggering the holo-computer to start the trail, they worked their way deeper into the program.  Time moves differently in the holo-world, and neither was actually sure how long they walked along, before the house came into view.  It wasn't like anything they'd seen before in a program, and both were very sure it was actually a virus of some sort.  As they got closer to it, the whole program started to skip and ump, causing them to wonder on how to back out, but not finding the trail.


"I guess we're stuck going in."  Diggory told his sister, as they stopped before the house.


Perdita leaned in and frowned at the house, "It's... It's made of... Candy." She said, frowning as she looked back at her brother.  "A house of candy?  We've seen virus' in programs before, but never like this."


"Makes me think of Alice in Wonderland..." He commented, running his hand along the candy cane pillar.  "I keep waiting for a big... Eat Me sign to appear."


"Yeah... Let's look inside, maybe something will show us how to destroy this thing..."


"Never should have let the others share our lab... You know those NanoTech people want us to fail."


Taking her bothers hand, Perdita shook her head.  "You know better than to think like that.  They have helped us keep the costs down, by sharing our lab, it's barely costing us half the rent."


Something that sounded almost like a mechanical laugh erupted behind them.  Something dropped and the two blinked at the licorice bars of a cage.


"See how you enjoy this, NeoTech.  We'll let you out when we show up in the morning... NANOTECH!!!"


Diggory looked back at his sister, "They don't understand Holo's, do they?"

Hmmm...

As you may known, per my last post, my NaNo this year is a modern retelling of Fairy Tales.  What you might not know, is that I love and adore fairy tales.  Always have, always will.  There's just something about them.  I might enjoy Mystery's, Super Hero's and Fantasy.... But I'll drop them all for a fairy tale.  So seeing from another blog, You Are The Unicorn Of My Dreams, posted about the new Snow White movie, I jumped at it.  I'm far from a Kristen Stewart, in fact I don't think she can act at all.  BUT, I'll still go and see it, most likely in the theater.

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Tuesday I'll post another teaser from my Current NaNo.  So far, I've written Snow White, Jack and the Bean Stalk, Little Red RidingHood and am working on Cinderella right now.  Of those, post in a comment which one you'd like to have a blurb from!!

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If your looking for the November Blog hop, it's here

Thanks for stopping by!!!!!