Poor Old Michael Finnegan

I feel like I just wrote about this... oh wait, that's because I did... last week.

But this is torturing me!

So I realized I needed to change the beginning of my WIP. Which still doesn't have even a WORKING TITLE. Seriously How difficult can this BE? Why can't I just name the stupid thing!? Even if it's a lame name that I know will change?!

I keep coming up with really lame and corny and completely too long names like: How a Vampire, Faeries, Gnomes, and Zombies Ruined My Summer Vacation


See? Lame. Also too long. Also not really completely accurate.

Naomi said that I should call it A Conglomeration of Beings Imaginary and Otherwise


Which is hilarious but maybe not the best novel title.

But then I think of tragic, dark, also lame names like Hungry. That is even lamer.

And that is why I still call it my Layla story.

End tangent.

so I started doing research and was going to have Layla and Moira start out in a youth hostel in Germany. And I found some pretty cool stuff out. Like the fact that some of the hostels are actually IN CASTLES. Yes, like you sleep IN A CASTLE. How freakin' amazing is that?! And that Germany is where the first youth hostels were. Some dude invented them there. You can tell that I didn't do my research THAT carefully.

So I started with them getting up in the morning at the hostel. But it didn't work. So I moved back to the night before at dinner. Which was a pretty hilarious scene, but didn't work either. See, they have to be kinda far from civilization when they discover the castle, so there would be a couple of days hiking through the woods/hills/etc. before I got to anything exciting. So that seemed boring and too long. Besides which, when I started there it seemed SO far back and it was going to take way too long to get to Erandell and Tavares.

See, I head hop - switching between third person limited perspectives - so spending like 15 pages only in Layla's head (like my professor suggested) would make the jump to Erandell so abrupt and weird (in my opinion).

So I started with them two days out from the hostel, eating lunch and managed to weave in the most important things that everyone said was necessary to know. I think it works better now. I also can do an earlier scene with Erandell which will hopefully explain some of the questions people had about her.

A big complaint people had was that too much happens too quickly. But it's AFTER they get trapped in the castle that we get to know them better. I don't know. I'm feeling very conflicted and I'm stuck again. I've been spending my writing time reading Hyperbole and a Half, which is absolutely hilarious and you all need to read this post about the ALOT like right now.

This is an ALOT and it is drawn by Allie Bosch at Hyperbole and a Half. She rocksocks and so does her blog.

This is not productive, though it is immensely entertaining.

I apologize for the ramblingness of this post.

Are you stuck on a part of your WIP? Is there something you just can't quite get right? Do tell. It will make me feel better. Honest.

PS: did you get my little joke for a title? You know that old kid's song? After "Poor old Michael Finnegan" the song goes "begin again" Yeah. Lame. I told you I have a hard time with titles!

PPS: I just realized that I started about 5 paragraphs with the words, "So I started." I clearly am a failure as a writer and a blogger and an English major. Especially since I am merely coming here to add a long PPS instead of actually fixing the repetitiveness. Lame.