(wow it has been ages since i’ve posted here on steeplechase. i apologize for that. school and animation projects and stuff like camp nanowrimo have been keeping me busy.)
(i have 50 followers! should i be doing anything special for that milestone?)
(PO = Project Orion. my wittle novel project that takes up most of my brain RAM these days.)

Camp Recap

March 30th: This Camp, I’m going to go through my 2017 Nano, Project Orion, and edit it into something I can give to beta-readers.

April 6th: Well, this novel is ridiculous. I don’t know why I forgot that it’s spazzy, weirdly-paced, and has the craziest rambly details. (Yeah, three paragraphs about comic book plotlines are not really important to the story.) So let’s just rewrite the stupid thing. What could go wrong?

April 15th: I haven’t progressed in days. And the more I think about it, the more stupid it is. My inciting incident is horrible, there are characters that do nothing for the plot, and my setting is irrelevant. I guess I could write it…but I’m bored. And if I’m bored, what are my readers going to be like?

April 25th: Help. This is going to be the first Nano I’ve ever lost. I need to talk to Madison.

Madison: Change your goal.
Me: What I need to change is my story.
Madison: So why don’t you?
Me: Like…plotting?
Madison: Yep. Change your goal to a plotting goal. Write out stuff about your story. You’ll be better off.

April 30th:

My Project

Goal: 50 pages of planning, notes, character development, or ranting on how horrible PO is. (Well, I didn’t want to rant, but I ended up ranting in some places. Hehe.)

I completed the goal: at 11:45 pm on April 30, 2018.

Translation: I WROTE 50 PAGES IN FIVE DAYS. And 23 of those pages were on the last day. HAHAHAHAHA *psychotic laughter fades into the distance*

Now.

You know what time it is.

It’s time for…

Project Orion ADHD Notes: Snippets

Here we go.

(Snippets that are LIKE THIS (and then like this) are page titles. You can see what I’m talking about in the picture above.

Hurricane Snippets (run for your lives)

How did the flashdrive get into the antique shop anyways? It’s like they found it behind some Hubba Bubba or something…I really don’t need anymore throwbacks to The Winter Soldier in this nano. I ALREADY HAVE A COMPUTER MAN AND A COMPLETELY ALTRUISTICALLY ADORABLE MC.

Before we get any further in, I should probably say that most of this was written past 3:00 in the morning. It gets a little….well, I called it ADHD planning for a reason. (K.M. Weiland would personally kill me.)

Ways to tipoff the tipoff (brainstorming):
– a robbery of something important
– a break-in
…
– a natural disaster
…
– FLYING MANTA RAYSSSSSSS

(“Flying manta rays” is a house term usually describing that-thing-that-you-never-planned-to-put-in-your-novel-but-ended-up-in-there-because-you-were-like-“Hey-wouldn’t-manta-rays-look-cool-as-flying-animals?-Like-seriously-they-could-flap-their-unifinwing-and-be-like-a-living-magic-carpet.”
Or it refers to deus ex machina. Either one.)

And Nero is just hating everyone. XD.

(Nero is the main antagonist.)

Nero has no sympathy for:
– his colleagues
– his fellow Davi-followers
– his friends
– anyone’s feelings
– anyone’s plans
– anyone’s self-esteem
– the lawmakers
– anything.
PERCENT OF HIS BRAIN USED FOR CARING: 0%.

THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION
(whoops, I don’t have one?)

It’s like you accidentally bought a T-rex thinking it was a frilled lizard.

I want to waste paper and do this the fun way.

(Don’t look at me like that. All I wanted to do was draw bubbles and arrows. *pfft* Hypocrite.)

Omw. Is this a good ol’ classic story?
I love it. It’s a familiar story…IN DISGUISE……

DO THEY KNOW OR NOT?
(settling how stupid Leo and his frens are)

Looks like I need to add this to the plotty plot thingie.

(I just called my plot a “plotty plot thingie.” SAY THAT AGAIN, IN SLOW MOTION.)

Kablam – Project Orion!

In the words of a wise man:
“This is legitness!”

And then poor Dav-Davs kicked the bucket, because cancer.

(Prehistory. No one dies of cancer in PO.)

Meet Mystical Hipster Who Now Looks Like A Hipster Raisin Because Hipstering Is So 2018.

(Post history. I wanted to think about a sequel so that I’d know how to end PO. So I made up a new character…accidentally…and she’s weird. Oh boy.)

*crickets*
What was I talking about?

MJ GETS TRIGGERED
(and other stories)

GOOD THINGS ABOUT PO
(i want to feel good right now)
Leo Cordova.
Never mind, all the charries.
But Nero in particular.
AND SYRE SHANKHOR. LEMME HUG DAT BOI.
…
Heterochromia.
STUFF. ACTUALLY. HAPPENS.
It’s so sequelable.
…
Wide variety of MBTI.
Diverse charries
and………………………………………
THE FACT THAT I MADE ALL OF IT UP.

Thus endeth the snippets. *dies*

What next?

Wow. I didn’t expect you to survive that. But here you are, ready to be barraged with…

MORE INFORMATION.

PO is a long way from being done. I mean a distance-from-the-Sun-to-Pluto long way. But it is started, and I have something like a game plan for it. Yay.

Tess’ Tentative Schedule For Completing Project Orion

(okay half the reason I named it Project Orion is so that when people ask me what I’m doing, I can be like, “Oh, I’m working on….” *mysterious toss of head* “…Project Orion.”)

By May 13th: Finish planning. Write out a little guide sheet so I can remember where I need to foreshadow my ridiculous plot.

May 14th – June 30th: Write it. Yeah, just like that. This is Draft #2. (Draft #1 is the aforementioned piece of trash that meanders around and uses weird metaphors.)

July 1st – July 30th: Take a break from PO and write something totally different for July camp. I can’t go burning myself out…

August 1st: Release PO to my hungry beta-readers…

…that I need to have a definitive list of.

I know several of you have raised your hands when I’ve asked you if you want to beta read. But I don’t have a list list.

If you want to beta read PO, you must sign up below. It is MANDATORY. If you do not fill in the simple form below, then you will not be on the list of beta readers and that first chapter will not show up in your inbox on August 1st. Even if you’ve told me in person, or through the camp message board, or anywhere else – YOU. MUST. SIGN. UP. WITH. THIS. FORM.

Click me to sign up for beta reading!

(Look, I even made it a Typeform, so it would be fun. Link opens in a new tab.)

How I know I’m excited about PO

• I think about my charries like they’re real.
• When I’m doing something, I muse about how each of my charries would do it.
• I make references to it, laugh hysterically, and then stare at everyone around me like not getting my personal jokes is a social crime.
• I write about it in my journal once a night.
• My next animation will feature PO charries (because my people drawing skills have gotten wayyy better)
• I made virtual Funko Pops of all of them.

Ahahahaha! You want to see the Project Orion Funko Pop collection, don’t you? Time for another round of…

Secrets

(shhhh…)

Steps to complete secret mission and unlock the PO Pops:

1. In one of the pictures in this post, I shared my last name. Find my last name and write it down.
2. Go to the Secrets page (located on the top, next to the trophy shelf. It’s hard to miss.)
3. Enter my last name as the password in all lowercase.
4. See the Pops. I also provided a link to the tool I used to make them. But I’m not going to give you that link here….you’ll just have to go unlock the Secrets page. >:)
5. Leave a comment, if you want.

Did you sign up for beta reading? Which snippet was your favorite? How was your Camp Nanowrimo?

(I’ll respond to whatever you comment below – probably in all caps/no caps/complete disregard of grammar and punctuation, which is awful in writing but somehow okay in commenting? I never understood that, but I do it anyways. :))

Sayonara for now,

{Tess}