The Camp fire is dying down: The Unknown Dangers of Chick Lit

It's getting to the end of another Camp Nanowrimo, and as I limp the last few thousand words to the finish line, I'm struck by how hard it's been this time around. Oh sure, it's had the usual hiccups of Nano - procrastination, things cropping up, my own stupidity of running two big projects side by side - but there's something that has been nagging at me for a while, and only now have I fully realised what it is.

When I was planning out the first five months of the year, and setting myself lots of lovely deadlines to teach myself discipline, I was very careful about Camp Nano. I normally have dilemmas on what to write, normally winding up with two ideas and being unable to pick between them. In this case, I was torn between two of my really old pieces of work, that in the last few years have been pulled out, dusted off and begged to be properly revamped: Shadow Summoners, an Ancient Egypt based Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic that had a pretty solid plot behind it but suffered from terrible writing when I first came up with the idea seven years ago. And So This Is, my first foray into chick lit, which ended up staggering to a halt on fictionpress once I reached university. In this case, the characters were pretty well formed, but the plotline was lacking something.

I started prodding at Shadow Summoners back in 2012 during Nano, and I ended up running both projects side by side. So This Is, ended up being my Camp Nano in July 2013, so in both cases, I would be adding to the word count, rather than starting straight from the beginning. I had plenty of inspiration for both of them, and I was sure that they would both be able to carry me through April with no difficulties. But which to choose?

I looked at all my projects from January to March and realised that, while I loved them all, most of what I was writing was dramatic and full of death. This isn't terribly surprising for me. Anyone who's read my stories is well aware that I have a proclivity for murdering the human race, and even on occasions when I've withheld that particular urge, death is still a constant companion of my stories. Anyone can die and often they do. Even my fanfiction crossover series, which has one of the lowest death counts in my history of writing, features a particular nasty death at the end which reduced me to a steady stream of tears as I typed it out.

So I took all of this in, and realised that it would probably be better for my mental well-being (on tenderhooks these days thanks to my stupid thyroid) if I wrote something a bit more cheerful, and so I naturally pounced on So This Is. It's chick lit, I thought. Plenty of happy teenage problems to blow out of proportion, and fluff so sweet that you develop cavities. Sure, there will probably be a few emotional moments, but most of them will be positive, because that's the kind of genre it is. What's not to be happy about?

I am the world's stupidest author.

Chick lit is a million times more emotionally gruelling than the most nightmarish apocalypse. And I think it's to do with the reality of the chick lit genre. It's knowing as you write that somewhere in real life, someone is being verbally cut down to size by the school's queen bitch until she breaks down into a paranoid, anxiety fuelled mess. Somewhere out there, someone's grandfather is being diagnosed with dementia, and she's miserably wondering if she should have cared enough to notice sooner. Someone's ten year old brother is dying of leukaemia. Someone's mother is contemplating risky behaviour just because she doesn't want to have another baby. This isn't just something happening in a story. These are real problems, that everyone can go through.

It's miserable.

I haven't cried this much over a story since Magic Monsters Dominions and Destiny. And the ten year old brother hasn't even died yet, which I know is going to be the most difficult scene of the lot. Nothing prepares you for the gut wrenching moment when you have to pull these character's lives apart. Every character needs to be pulled apart and built back up in a story - that's how they grow. But there's something about doing it in chick lit, and knowing the reality of these kinds of situations, and the normalcy of the characters that just hurts you a little bit more. Or maybe it's simply that in chick lit the death is more personal because you have to become so intimate with these characters in a different way than you perhaps would in another type of genre. Chick lit has a more personal emotional heart to it, and maybe that's why it hurts more.

All I can say is, once So This Is is over, I will not be writing chick lit again for a while. It takes a stronger author than me to properly do justice to this sort of writing, and I need a proper break from so much death and misery.

Now if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to get on with my magical girl cosplay. At least that's light hearted and cheerful.

Cosplay Spotlight: Miyuki (Lucky Star)

Costume: My third cosplay, made partially because I wanted to wear a sailor fuku (they are unbelievably cute!) and I decided that due to her height, Miyuki was the only one I could reasonably pull off. Her skirt is made from red cotton, with thin white ribbon sewn along the bottom, and box pleats starched and ironed in (thanks Mearle!). The skirt zips half way down on the side (I have put weight on since this cosplay was made, and really should think about adding some extra fabric to avoid pulling the pleats out).

The shirt is made from white cotton, that was roughly sketched and cut out into what we thought was the vague shape. We wanted to make it loose to match the anime (and also to hide the fact that I am flat chested and Miyuki is not). The bottom of the shirt is then tucked into the skirt to get the desired poofy effect. The cuffs were made from red cotton, with thin white ribbon sewn onto them before attaching them to the shirt. The shirt has an opening at the back of the neck to get your head through, which is then buttoned up and covered by the sailor collar.

The sailor collar is made from two layers of red cotton (the cuffs are doubled up too if you were wondering to give stiffness), sewn together, and white ribbon (slightly thicker than the one on the skirt and cuffs) sewn down the edges. The neckerchief is attached to the underside of the collar, and was made from pink fabric. The shirt and the collar have buttons to secure them to each other, and the neckerchief is tied together with an elastic (the fabric does not hang well when tied).

The tights were bought from Accessorize, and I have one backup pair. The glasses are Harry Potter glasses, and work very well for Miyuki.

Make up: Once again, Miyuki is kept light.

Hair: Miyuki’s wig is a curly light pink one, which matches her very well. Due to its weight, it has a clip at the back to secure it onto the head, and I recommend hairpins for a wig of this heaviness too.

Amecon 2010, taking photos in a field (as you do) 

Amecon 2010. The lovely obliging firemen let us sit on their fire truck for photos (though they were a little flummoxed as to what exactly this whole thing was about).

Amecon 2012. This Konata cosplayer squeed at the sight of me, and I immediately squeed back. Ah the language of fangirls...

Amecon 2012. Due to poor vision this day, I had to use my real glasses instead of the round ones.

And of course, when Amecon 2010 hands you the Lucky Star dance...

New Years Resolutions (yes they're late, but screw you, I've been busy!)

Those of you who were bullied into reading this blog back when I first started it, might remember me popping up my New Years Resolutions right at the start of 2013. And since I have thus far failed to post anything significant this year, I thought this would be a good chance to review them and how successful I was. So just pop a party hat on your head, consume your body weight in alcohol, and pretend that it’s still New Year and not Easter.

1.       Complete and finish posting Magic Monsters Dominions and Destiny.

Failed – well I sort of failed at this one. Sort of, because it is so very close to being complete (I’m missing one kiss scene, and two duels), and is six chapters away from being completely posted. This isn’t tasting the ending, but I’m sticking my tongue out and starting to catch a few drops of sweetness on the end.

2.       Choreograph and perform a belly dance solo.

Failed – simply because we didn’t actually go to Jersey in 2013 (we went in April 2014 instead and I failed to perform a solo there purely because we only knew two months in advance and I had no time to prepare anything).

3.       Start a blog for writing, rambling, taking photographs and watching the world go by.

Check – though the amount I use the blog could definitely use some improving.

4.       Start the second draft of The Wolf Pack.

Check – I did half of the second draft for Camp Nano in April.

5.       Make a new cosplay.

Check – I made Kisara and a kimono plus quite a lot of steampunk stuff.

6.       Run the Race for Life in under 35 minutes.

Failed – but only just. 37 minutes 38 seconds, which considering in 2012 I was 42 minutes, isn’t bad at all!

So three out of six isn’t bad, and two of those weren’t so much failures as much as I just fell short of the mark. And since I’m doing this now, I suppose it’s a good chance to outline my plans and goals for this year. Only this year, I have to admit, they are a bit more serious than last year.

1.       Be sending out to literary agents by the end of the year.

This is the big one. If I do none of the others, succeeding at this one would make failing everything else worthwhile. Notable because I have actually set myself a proper deadline for this. By the 31^st October I want to have my current project (The God Relic) finished and in a position where I think it’s a good representation for me when I throw myself at the feet of literary agents. October might sound like a while away, but there is a reason for me choosing this month – it means I’ve got time to whip the second draft into shape whilst ironing out the truck-sized plotholes that cropped up in the first, and also because my second resolution is...

2.       Enter Bridport Literary Festival.

Entering Bridport was an idea I had at the beginning of the year, and I am currently roughly on schedule for it. I’m entering the short story and the novel competitions. My short story entry is in the editing stage, while The God Relic will be my novel entry. Since The God Relic only needs to be submitted in chunks depending on whether you are long listed or short listed, this gives me three nicely spaced deadlines to have different stages of the story done. The results are announced in October, which means that by then I will a) have a completed novel, and b) if I haven’t won, then I’m free to start flinging the manuscript at other agents. And if I do win, I score myself editing assistance and a possible contract. I call this plan solid.

3.       Finish Magic Monsters Dominions and Destiny.

It’s up here purely because it needs to be. I have got to finish it this year and close the chapter on this story series. It’s time, and there are a lot of other fanfictions doing a sexy fan dance in my sight.

4.       Make a new cosplay.

I’ve already got a few lined up, so I don’t know if this is cheating. I’ve got a magical girl cosplay that I’m doing for my birthday party, plus a few steampunk ones that I want to put together.

5.       Run the Race for Life in under 35 minutes.

Needs no explanation. I just have to train a little bit before the race so that I can shave off those last two minutes.

6.       Organise either a Steampunk Photoshoot with friends or a Cosplay Picnic.

I’ve wanted to do this for a little while. Basically I love dressing up and wandering around in public places. And if we can get a camera out there, even better. Plus I have the most awesome friends, who are always up for a bit of dressing up.

7.       GM an RPG.

We have a new game shop in Guernsey with a room dedicated to running roleplaying games. I haven’t GMed in so long, and I have a few ideas knocking around.

8.       Get Craig to come live in Guernsey.

I’ve spent the last few months crying, despairing, panicking and generally making myself ill over this matter, to the point where the doctor has actually told me to stop before I damage something irreparable. I want a mature and dedicated relationship where I don’t have to be a slave to the will of Skype and an unwieldy internet provider that has nothing but scorn for me and my boyfriend. And what it boils down to, is I want to spend the rest of my life with this obnoxious nerdy American, and for reasons I cannot fathom, he wants to spend the rest of his life with this snarky British genki girl. So together we shall be.

So, that's the targets for 2014, slightly ambitious considering that we're already four months in. >.< Better get to work then!