Invader Stim Homerpants

Impostor Syndrome

I didn’t realise how much I had it until today, where I’m being pushed by the universe to create a server for my fans.

To tell you the truth, all I’ve been doing away from WordPress is write, and write some more. Just short things like the starts of short stories, and some tributes to characters from my childhood. I also had my birthday, which was nice and quiet.

Today, I needed to confirm with my tarot cards this deep feeling inside me: I’m meant to make a Discord server now or damn soon. It will involve the Evermore Quatrain, of course. It’s my book; why wouldn’t it?

The cards were incredibly encouraging, but I still fear the worst.

I do have an idea for those shorts I wrote down, though. Perhaps I’ll share them, because though incomplete stories, I’m proud of them.

I was on a Break Again

And tonight, I’ve published my first short story.

It took me three hours to write it, with the help of the tarot, and it felt cathartic just letting the story come to me. I don’t like feeling forced to write, and that’s why I’m taking a break from 12M.

In fact, you could say I’ve incorporated the tarot into this latest release. If you buy it, I’ll be grateful for you supporting me.

I Printed My Manuscript

You thought I was kidding about writing 2000 words a day?

This puppy is about 111 pages, bound by my dear dad, and still, I have not reached the ending of this story. See the bind? It’s wire. Dad punched every single hole chunk by chunk.

I would have liked to write for that final seven days, but I hit an entire wall. However, new revelations came up, where a certain location is now deemed important, and it leaves another to be secret. I want to show that now.

Hopefully, that will bring me to the finale, which I have in the back of my mind.

For now, I’m taking a break from writing because I feel weary. I’ll be editing the manuscript a lot, and replanning the whole structure with Mr H.

26,000 Reached + Page Update

Today was particularly tricky. I know I’ve made stuff-ups today, and it’s tempting to print out this draft already, but I promised myself I would finish it.

All my life, I’ve never finished a project 100%. These are my shoes; this is my chance. But I feel like I’m hitting a wall again, as I delve into more unknowns. If I am to finish this in a week, I’m gonna yearn even further for that editing phase.

The tarot deck I used today seems to need more breaking in, but I’ll continue to use it for later drafting.

In other news, I’ve updated the Evermore Quatrain page, as today my Google Partners account was confirmed, and the book is now available on Google Books and also on Dymocks! I know it’s expensive in some countries – that’s all up to conversion rates. Apart from USD, I have no control over the pricing. If you think US$15 is too expensive, please let me know.

24,000 Words Reached

I wrote a character so nasty she drove me to drink.

Boy, did I pick the right soju to realise I make more typos when tipsy. Perhaps, I’ll do it only on occasion.

While I was at it, I started breaking in a tarot deck to use while planning next stages. Going by what I have already, I’ll probably end up with longer than planned. Going by my progress, it’ll take me about eight more days to reach the ultimate goal. Sounds quick, but the process takes hours.

20,000 Words Reached

I’m finally halfway to my goal!

The new planning trick is working well. It has seriously cut my time in half, and has put all these buzzing ideas onto the page. I don’t feel so bad about what I’m writing, and I have less impostor syndrome regarding my style. I’m more likely to just move on to the next scene and figure out how to weave everything together.

Ah, how relaxing.

But I’m still excited to edit and rewrite. I have another book planned out along with 12M, but it’s being kept on the backburner.

Planning Stories with Tarot

So I began planning my books within a notepad, as you saw last post. It’s only recently that I’ve put the plan of tarot into action, and before that, I would get lost without a guide.

I used the tarot today, and found myself with brand new ideas, and a way to integrate my ideas together. Here’s how I’ve sorted everything so far:

Number your chapters.
Shuffle your deck and pull out four cards for each chapter. One card tells something different within the chapter.
Write down each card with a blurb on how the chapter pans out. Make sure each scene can connect with each other.

I reshuffled every four chapters, but you can be flexible with that plan. And as it’s only a plan, you can rearrange to your heart’s content later – two or three chapters may merge into one.

Major Arcana can signify a very important part in the narrative. Minor arcana, I’ve found, are more to do with the character’s action. For instance, the Temperance card may appear, and be a sign that the main character is conflicted, and is coming to terms with, say, a death, if a card such as Death or Five of Cups is beside it.

I do suggest looking up the general meanings of the cards so you can weave it into a story.

How I Plan My Stories

There are two ways I go about planning my stories. I’m talking long-term and short-term. The most important part is, that everything is placed on the page, and that I can use the short term space well.

Short-Term: The Corkboard

Above is my small, yet effective corkboard. With these post-its, I write down short ideas, and brainstorm on the chain of events. I keep this in the office, where I can stop and look at it.

I also use an oracle deck, as you can see. This is the Goddesses and Sirens by Stacey DeMarco, illustrated by Jimmy Manton. When I originally bought this deck, I interviewed it and it told me my stories were fit to work with it (it’s a tarot thing, as you’ll see below).

Long-Term: My 2021 Planner

I have seen other authors use and recommend planners, to track word count and monthly goals. This has been on a two-month-long break, and so, with the tarot, I’m bringing it back into play. This is simply an A4 notepad with blue ruled lines.

I’ve been thinking lately about working with tarot to plan more stories, and I was listening to the Biddy Tarot podcast (Spotify link) tonight. She had an episode where she and a guest discussed using the tarot for writing. It inspired me, and so here I am, letting the cards guide me through each scene and chapter.

I have various decks, but tonight I’m using the Cat Tarot (very niche, yeah? I like it a lot). I won’t get into the specifics, but I will consider teaching how to use the tarot in the planning process.

17,500 Words Reached

Looking back at my novel word goal, I’ve realised I’m almost halfway to the end. *sigh*

This scene has been so hard to write, because I’m giving myself very little to go off and I have never rewritten the point of interest this way. I started using a sticky note planning technique, which has, in fact, helped in some way, and it’s helped me mull over some scenes.

One day, I might show off the technique, but perhaps everyone knows about it already. But perhaps I’ll show it off anyway. It’s easy, and it’s good for scattered ideas.

Mad About Business

I tell you, I love doing business stuff and fixing up an issue I had. I didn’t even realise it was an issue in the first place, but it was an easy fix.

On another note, you will be seeing Evermore Quatrain on Google Play Books soon. And you’ll see other ebooks in the future for sure. This is the one I so wanted EQ on at the start, but I didn’t know where to go lmao

In the meantime, EQ is staying on Amazon. Publishing is a mess, but I love it.