Howdy, everybody! How is it already August?!
Last month I feel like I got a lot of stuff done. I played Wolfenstein: The New Order. I read Sword of Destiny from The Witcher series (and totally loved it). I bought a new car. I picked up learning Spanish again. I started running again, in preparation for a 10K I’m doing in a few weeks. I had the flu for awhile, which made me a total couch potato for a week playing Persona 5 with my Kleenex next to me. (By the way, Persona 5 = best game ever when you’re home sick!) I also went to the movies more than usual, and saw Spider-Man: Homecoming, Dunkirk, and Valerian.
The only thing I didn’t do much of is writing, which was sort of my goal for the month of July. I had a Camp NaNoWriMo goal of writing for 30 hours over the course of the month, but I didn’t make it to my goal. I prioritized other things, which makes me feel a little disappointed in myself — but I did write a little, and I am on schedule to finish my book this year. I definitely feel good about where my sci-fi novel is at right now, I just have to make writing more of a habit. Ideally a daily one.
In August, I’ll be continuing to write — lots. I’m also going to a music festival, running my 10K, and hopefully making some time for Spanish practice.
I’ll also be more dedicated to my blog here! I know I took a little time off, which was totally unintentional. I guess I got a little writer’s block, and I was busy. But I’ll admit it was nice to take some time to just enjoy things without writing about all of them, playing Persona 5 for hours a day and going to the movies with my boyfriend. Sometimes you just need a break, and then you come back refreshed with ideas again! I love my blog and certainly have no plans to stop writing it, vacations aside. =)
What I’m Playing: Right now I’m finishing up Mass Effect Andromeda and continuing my Persona 5 obsession. I was really on the fence about whether to play Persona or Final Fantasy XII on PS4, but I decided to go with a new game. I like to play new stuff while people are still talking about it, because… what can I say, I’m easily swayed by hype! Although now I know a ton of people who have finished Persona 5 and are playing Final Fantasy XII, so… yeah.
What I’m Reading: I’m currently working my way through The Witcher series of novels. I’m halfway through Blood of Elves. I am also reading The Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, but I’m taking a break from it to focus on The Witcher for now.
What I’m Watching: Game of Thrones! I am a huge fan of Game of Thrones, so I’ve been eagerly awaiting this season. So far, it’s more action-packed than I expected, which I love. All I want in the world is to see Sam happy, Jon die heroically, Arya kill Cersei, and Dany take the Iron throne. That’s my wishlist. Let’s see what happens.
— Ashley
Robo♥beat 
As noted on my own blog, I have returned to working on my fiction on a regular basis. I’m hoping I’ll be able to keep the momentum going on that. Did some short stories for the first week, but soon I’ll have to start work on rewrites of book one and two. Not really looking forward to that; I don’t like rewrites. But it needs to be done.
It’s not sci-fi, but I’ve finally gotten around to reading the final Dexter book, Dexter Is Dead. So far the series seems to be ending on a high note; I’ve been enjoying it. Maybe a little closer to a traditional crime novel right now (he hasn’t even killed anyone yet), but it’s entertaining.
Gaming-wise, I think WoW will continue to occupy most of my attention, but I may pursue a few other things here or there. I definitely want to check out the open beta for Destiny 2, though that’s not until very late in the month. Guild Wars 2 is also doing a free preview of its next expansion soon (which is actually a very unusual thing to do, especially so far out from the launch date), so I might check that out. Haven’t played GW2 in forever, and I don’t think this will bring me back, but I admit to a mild curiosity.
What do you do for rewrites? Is it edits or pretty much a full rewrite of scenes? Good luck with your fiction, I hope it goes well! Definitely helps to have that momentum when you are used to writing frequently. That’s what I’m looking for now, making writing a habit again. (Well, I’m not looking for it — I just gotta do it!)
That’s awesome you’re checking out Destiny 2! I’m curious to hear what you think of it. I never played Guild Wars 2, but I have heard so many good things… I just kind of assumed it had died out for some reason. I am definitely interested in it. But I already have my character in ESO, so if I explore any MMOs soon, it’ll be that one. I just have so much on my gaming plate right now, it’s getting out of control!
So, I have kind of an unusual process compared to most writers. Most people just write the first draft quickly and then clean it up in editing. I’m more meticulous. I try to get it as right as possible the first time. It’s a lot slower, but it means “editing” to me is usually just proofreading and small tweaks. Actual rewrites are rare enough that I don’t really have a procedure for them. I think it’ll be a mix of rebuilding scenes from scratch, adding new scenes, and making more minor adjustments. And large sections probably won’t change at all. Mostly I just want to flesh things out with more depth/detail, and redo a few things that weren’t working well. I need to soften the characterization of one protagonist a bit; I made him a bit too much of a jerk the first time around.
GW2 is a weird case. I was so massively passionate about it after launch, but then I lost interest really quickly, and I’ve hardly played since. Partly it’s that the developers strayed so far from their original vision, to the point where there’s now this huge gulf between the game it is and the game it was sold as, and partly it’s that story is so important to me, and GW2’s story is, frankly, terrible. Just totally incoherent and cheesy, but not even the fun kind of cheesy. And it’s mostly time-limited content, so if you’re not playing regularly, you just end up hopelessly lost as to what’s going on and why.
It definitely hasn’t died off, though. It has naturally diminished from its launch hype, but by all appearances it maintains a healthy population. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that — despite what the comment section might say — MMOs are quite difficult to kill. I mean, EverQuest is still getting regular expansion packs, and that game’s ancient now.
I don’t think Arya is going to kill Cersei mores the pity. That will be Jaime’s destiny 😉
Really?! I had not thought of that before. I’m curious to see what happens!
Yup! Cersie’s whole MO has to do with a prophecy she received when she was a girl that she’s arguably made self-fulfilling. Like if you’re told not to think of a white elephant, it’s the first thing that’s going to pop into your head. Everything she’s done to try to avoid it has led her closer to it!