Raven's View

Further along with my NaNoWriMo outlining - with a variety of tools. Still trying to use Index Cards on iPad - not convinced. Did some more within Evernote - using the web clipper to add some research notes. Also did some more handwritten notes while sitting in the sun - still have to transcribe those. I can scan them into Evernote too - their OCR will supposedly index the words for searches. Tried it, but my writing is a little too messy for a high hit rate. I'll try Index Cards tomorrow too, but need to choose soon, as there's a NaNoWriMo kickoff this Friday. Clocks are a tickin'. 

• writing
  • Another story today, for Flash Fiction Fridays. Stuck in a cave, guide is gone, you hear a noise that sends a chill up your spine. 
  • NaNoWriMo - more outlining. I figured out my Turning Points, some rising/falling action in between, the antagonist, goals and conflicts at a few levels, setting - looking good.  
  • I bailed on a couple of recommended library books, look ok but not good enough to give them time right now. Did pick up another writing one, Writing the Breakout Novel, by Maass. Was recommended to me, will scan the start and decide if for now or later. Right now my focus is on writing the quick and dirty 50,000 word first draft. 
• health - Still doing that walking stuff - nice fall days.
• other
  • Been watching more episodes of Doc Watson. Well written, but is mostly for entertainment.
  • Did a grandsons visit today, went over later on so could greet Noah as he got off the bus. Back home to play Little Big Planet with him - frustrating for me as I've poor hand-eye coordination. We still did have a lot of fun.

This week's challenge from Flash Fiction Friday was to imagine ourselves in a cave, far underground, and alone. We hear a sound that sends a chill down our spine. Horror ensues - hopefully.

We were given a picture too, for inspiration. This is the information from the site: 

All your life, you have wanted to explore underground caves.  An odd activity, but not unheard of.  Several of your buddies have gone cave diving and brought back photographs that turned you green with jealousy. But you have a bigger goal.  You want to pack some gear and take a hike deep down below the surface to see what lies beneath.  You want to take the path that others fear that you know will show you sights others only dream of.  And, once you’ve reached your underground paradise, it still won’t be enough unless you spend one night there.  The perfect weekend getaway, and now it’s actually going to happen.

You’ve got the time, and you’ve got the money.  You purchase all the necessary supplies and hire a guide.  You are warned that this is not a trek for the faint of heart –lots of twists and turns, overs and throughs, ups and more downs than most can handle, but you are ready, and down you, and your guide, go.

Prompt:  Use the picture above as your inspiration.  This is the view as you and your guide close your eyes for the night.  When you wake up however, you’re alone.  Your guide’s gear is there, but he is nowhere to be found.  You hear a sound that sends a chill down your spine.  Is there someone, or something, down there with you?  What do you do now?  And, what happened to your guide?

Genre:  Horror. Word Count:  1,500.

Here's mine. Not one of my best, and a little short at 630 words, but I didn't want to skip a week, just for something silly like NaNoWriMo prep ;-)

Yay! Plot looks good so far. Have my characters and an idea of where the story will go. I did decide to work with my Fairy Tale Folk and do a detective story with my protagonist also looking for some meaning to her life. Working on setting for my characters, and their limited bios. Limited because they didn't grow and mature into who they are, they just became, fully formed, with the appropriate ideas and attitudes they would need as a character of their individual age and description. This is one of the issues they will be dealing with in the story - should be fun.

Also spent some time on logistics - more details after this summary:

• writing
  • Wrote a very brief - three sentence - Flash Fiction for Terrible Minds.
  • NaNoWriMo - like I said, have a plot idea, characters, and an outline 'template'. Template is one I had for a three act "W" type structure, with detail added from the videos on the Master Edit site. Some interesting writing tips there - just a little wordy. Also have some good NaNoWriMo buddies - some from ROW80, some from last year's competition. 
  • We had our sci-fi book club meeting, on Mindscan. Always interesting to see different views on the same book, and talk the ideas further. 
  • Joined another book club - why not? Ladies from my neighbourhood, met most on the patio of my local in the summer. First book is Perfect Match.
• health - I'm walking more, eating less. The end of patio weather will help too!
• other - Actually, not a lot of distractions, into pre-NaNoWriMo mode now. Oh, except for Doc Martin - the BBC series. Have a few seasons to watch in my spare time. And Forbrydelsen every week. 

This weeks challenge from Terrible Minds was for us to write a scary story in three sentences. Chuck added: 

We posted our stories in the comments, but I've added mine in here. Do check out the others - a few were verrrry long sentences, a few were many mopre than three, but most are quite entertaining. 

A Scary Three

Allison had finally managed to sneak away from the party, escaping from her creepy ex.

She'd rushed through the dark streets, glancing behind, hearing only the echo of her footsteps.

Her front light was out again, but she finally managed to jam in the key and turn the lock - just as she felt a hot breath on her neck.