children of the sun · creative writing · never forget

I finished my WIP!!!! (& a snippet)

Sophie Li

Hello everyone!

YUP. You heard me right. I feel like I’ve been writing Never Forget for the LONGEST time (though, actually, it’s only been 2.5 months which is quick for me) and I am finally done.

DONE.

Phew. That was a tough process. Don’t get me wrong, I loved this novel to bits. I loved the characters, the plot tore me apart, the story was on my mind even though it’s been a few days since I finished it. But… it was tough. I struggled with the last third of the novel, when I completely ran out of ideas about how the good guys were going to beat the bad guys. On reflection, it was really because I didn’t outline the ending enough (which seems to be a recurring pattern for me- I know exactly how the first 2/3 of my novels will pan out, and… then things get vaguer and vaguer haha.) I also ran out of steam especially after the burst of writing that I did during Nanowrimo.

But I did it haha 🙂

Here is my word count graph. As you can see, I got a huge amount of writing done in November, and it kind of petered off in December and January lol.

Oh well, life happens 🙂 I think I gave my best given the circumstances of how December and January played out. Despite the trials and tribulations, Never Forget has a special place in my heart.

Wait… What is Never Forget about again?

It is 2050, ten years after the collapse of the World Wide Web. Virtual reality video games, self-driving transportation pods, and automated military jets have long been taken off the grid. Landline telephones and the post office are back in service. Welcome to the Digital Dark Age.

Remington Wu, a Chinese-Canadian barista who makes a mean morning espresso at the local cafe, hides two secrets: the ability to remember every detail of his mundane life with machine-like accuracy, and a peculiar hobby. In his spare time, he scours pawn shops for remnants of the technological boom of the 2030s, and he is determined to find signals of the lost Internet from his apartment rooftop. When Remy connects an old modem to his phone line and sends a ping, his pen-pal baby sister Chloe shows up on his front doorstep, along with the pastel-haired, axe-wielding Ria who only Remy can see.

A snippet

As Sam drives on, Ria rests her elbows on the window ledge and her chin on her forearms. She gazes up into the sky, where stars shimmer. If she squints her eyes, the little lights blur, and she imagines a city beneath them. She’s always thought that if she were high up enough, their city would look like a blanket of stars in the night. And conversely, maybe the stars in the sky are really just city lights, and all they have to do is to get high up enough.

This is what she tries to tell Sam. “Have you ever thought, if we can fly up there, really up there, close enough to touch the sky, we’ll discover a whole city?”

Ria scrutinizes Sam’s reaction, waiting for her to look at the sky just as she just did, to muse at the ingenuity of the idea. But Sam’s blue eyes stare straight at the road ahead.

“Uh,” Sam says. “First, we need a spaceship to do that. Second, you’ll need to be an astronaut, and you’re studying Communications, remember? That’s kind of the opposite. Third-“

“Ugh, you’re being logical again Sam. Remember our rule? This logical, sciencey part of our brains, it goes off-duty on the weekends.”

“Logical part of your brain,” Sam says with a snort.

It’s an attempt at humour and usually Ria would roll with it. But today Ria doesn’t laugh. She has known Sam for nearly two years, ever since they started university, and since their first Psychology class together they have been inseparable. But sometimes when Ria talks to Sam, she hits a wall. It’s like Sam doesn’t see the world like she does. 

“Hey. I mean,” she says with a sigh, ”don’t you think that there is something else out there, somewhere?”

“Uh, aliens? Ghosts?”

“No. I’m serious. What is out there? What is outside this university, this city, this country, this world? Are we really alone? Are we really just the only thinking, breathing beings that are alive in this big, vast universe?” Ria follows Sam’s unflinching gaze forward at the road ahead. At 3 past midnight, it is pitch black, just the blur of white where the paint marks the pavement ahead and a pale white cone where their headlights illuminate the road. 

What’s next?

I’ve written a LOT in the past year, and I am definitely still passionate about writing. However, given everything that is going on, I’m going to take it slower (at least, writing-wise) in 2019.

My first step is to edit Children of the Sun (remember that one!?) Currently it is in the beta-reader stage. I’m hoping to make draft 3 a super awesome one, and post it on Wattpad (yup. I’m think I’m going to take the leap, but I’ll see how I feel 🙂 )

I am looking forward to taking on a few more beta-readers for Children of the Sun, which is a YA sci-fi, so please do let me know (via comment or email) if you would like to take part! It is a fairly short one (53K words, or 230 pages with generous spacing.) Here is more information about this novel plus a snippet.

I am looking forward to participating in Camp Nanowrimo in April and July (woohoo!!!) and I am also hoping to do Nanowrimo in November again with a new novel idea.

Are you an outliner? What method do you use for outlining your novel? (My favourite is the Snowflake Method!) How is writing going for you? What are your writing plans this year? Last but not least, let me know if you would like to be a beta-reader for Children of the Sun 🙂

Published by Sophie Li

I am a Chinese-Canadian book lover & aspiring author. When not reading, writing, or taking care of an infant, you can find me organizing my life using a spreadsheet while munching on chocolate.

51 thoughts on “I finished my WIP!!!! (& a snippet)”

  5. AHH congratulations Sophie! I’m so happy and proud of you, you wrote so much and I’m so proud of everything you’ve done with this fantastic WIP. I really, really like your snippet, I can’t wait to read more. ❤ Best of luck for Children of the Sun, I'll be looking forward to hearing more about it and best of luck for drafting!! ❤ ❤

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      1. It’s… well to be completely honest it’s not coming along at all 😂 I haven’t worked on it or done anything since December started. I need to finish these edits someday, life got in the way and I haven’t taken time to get back to it either. Oh, I will eventually I guess…. I hope 😂

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  6. Oh congratulations on finishing your WIP Sophie. 🙂 ❤️ You feel like 2.5 months is a long time I’ve been working on my current WIP for little over a year now (I’m determined to get it done this year though, before November NaNoWriMo too!)
    When it comes to outlining I do something similar to what you seem to do; plan the beginning to death but start writing before planning the end and then never get around to planning the end. Maybe if I actually plan the end I’ll get further writing than I have in the past!
    Good luck with your writing goals this year. I’ll be looking forwards to hearing more about Children of the Sun if you’re going back and editing it now. Great post, brilliant snippet, and again congrats on finishing this WIP. 🙂 ❤️

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    1. Thank you Beth! Haha yes i know 2.5 months is actually quick for finishing a novel but it just felt subjectively long this time around. I think it’s because I was feeling burnt out after Nano haha 🙂
      For me I feel that it is hard to visualize the ending because it seems so far away haha. Also I don’t plan things out too in depth in the outline, so some plot elements might’ve changed by the ending, and I also don’t get a feel for the characters until I actually start writing.
      Thank you Beth!! Good luck to you as well. I’m looking forward to hearing more about Death Born 🙂

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      1. That’s all right, and yeah I suppose with a writing goal of 50k words in one month for NaNo it’s natural to feel a little burnt out afterwards. 🙂
        I think I can see the ending, like I know where all the characters end up by the last page, it’s more the getting them there that I struggle with. I see the beginning really quickly but I get stuck on the second half of my WIP. Well what you’re doing definitely seems to work for you if you’ve managed to finish this WIP in 2.5 months!
        Thanks Sophie. 🙂 ❤️

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  7. Hey I like that in your snippet, the setting description evoked a specific mood, so it wasn’t just description for the sake of description.

    I look forward to beta reading Children of the Sun! 😊

    LOL I never outline anything. Even if I try, I find that 99.9999% of the time, the plan/outline is completely scrapped when I get down to actually writing the story. So why bother?

    Ah, my story is… Lots of things are happening in the plot, I’m writing very slowly, but my story is chugging along!

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    1. Yay I’m glad that the snippet evokes a mood for you 🙂 descriptions tend to not be my forte but glad that you liked this one.
      Lots of successful writers don’t outline so I’d say whatever float your boat! I like to have an outline so I don’t have to worry about what happens next and instead focus on the scene 🙂 outlining helps me hone in on the structure of the novel. However it sounds like you and other pantsers out there have an intuitive sense of structure which is good 🙂
      Glad to hear that your story is coming along. Looking forward to hearing more about it! I’m definitely excited that we’re swapping novels!

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    1. Aw thanks for the encouraging words Stefanie. I am looking for beta readers for my earlier book Children of the Sun if you are interested! Otherwise I can let you know when I need betas for this one 🙂

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  9. Congratulations on finishing!! You did amazing!! I hope you give yourself a much deserve treat!! 😊
    Persevering through the tough bits of writing takes a lot of effort– well done!! *sends round of applause and your favourite edible treat* 💛

    I loved reading your snippet– I liked Sam’s logical thinking and how Ria knew that. You can see that they are close yet still have their differences. I really like the feel for their relationship in this scene. And how Ria is thinking about something serious to her– you could really get that feel from the scene.

    My outlining method is to have a timeline of events. Then give a few bullet points for each chapter I plan to write. And probably add more detail as I go along.

    Good luck with your writing goals– excited to see when Children of the Sun goes. 💛 My writing goal is to finish the book I just started writing with my sister. 😊

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    1. Aww thank you for the sweet and encouraging comment, and the treats haha 🙂 I am so glad that you enjoyed the snippet!
      Using a timeline sounds like a great way to outline. I like to assign specific dates to each scene (or at least approximate time frames) when I do the outline, but it sounds like a good idea to start off with a timeline as well 🙂 maybe I will give this a try one day since sometimes I struggle with dates!
      Thank you!! That is amazing that you are writing a novel with your sister! Keep me posted about how it goes! I’m curious as to how you co-write a book. Do you guys each write a different POV?

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      1. You’re very welcome!! 💛 Yes I really did. 😊

        Yes I find it useful– I try and fit it all on to an A3 piece of paper so I can see the whole story (obviously brief notes) and add post it notes for more detail. Yes it helps to see how much time had passed and if a certain thing should happen before or after something. 😊

        You’re welcome!! I will do 💕 We are just outlining at the minute but we don’t write different POV because it mostly follows one POV. But we have a feel for her voice and have a similar mind to each other which should help with the flow of the writing. I think we will split the chapters up and then edit to help with a consistent voice. But as we have just started our methods may change if we noticed some faults with it so we will see haha. 😂

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  10. CONGRATS ON FINISHING!!! That’s so exciting – what an accomplishment! I hope you’re doing something fun to celebrate! 🙂
    I’m actually also so close to finishing my WIP from NaNoWriMo? As in, I might actually finish it tonight?? Woah.
    And omg that scene was so wonderful! I love the dynamic between Ria and Sam 😀
    Good luck with your upcoming writing, and congrats once again! ❤

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    1. Thank you Margaret!!! Wow that is exciting that you are almost done writing your novel as well!! Isn’t it the greatest feeling to be on the final stretch?! Looking forward to hearing more about your novel 🙂
      Thanks again Margaret!!! Sending you lots of good writing energy for the last few scenes!

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  12. I already am reading six books and I just signed up to review another one for a blog tour, but I want to support your achievements.
    AKA
    Yes I would like to beta read Children of the Sun, I am just reading a lot.

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    1. Oh that’s awesome that you want to be a beta-reader for Children of the Sun! I do hope to begin editing this novel by March, so I ask my beta-readers to finish by the end of February. If you are still up for it, please let me know 🙂

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      2. I probably should have asked for beta readers earlier haha 🙂 in any case thank you! Let me know your email. I can send you the novel in PDF or google doc format, let me know which you prefer. I’ll send you part 1 first (about 50 pgs) you can let me know when you are done, then I’ll send you the next part 🙂

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    1. Thank you! I’m so glad that you like the synopsis. Yes it is nice to take a break from writing and to come back to it with a fresh mind. How is writing going for you? 🙂

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  14. Aaaah this is so exciting! I think this is the only WIP of yours where I’ve followed your journey from your announcement post to now — all your other WIPs I discovered after you’ve starting writing about them. I’m inspired by how much you wrote in 2018 as well, and you totally deserve a break with writing (though, to be honest, that “break” equates to writing less. I don’t think it’s possible for most writers to completely abandon writing for a long period of time 😇). I can’t wait for more news about your Children of the Sun novel!

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    1. Hello Zoie 🙂
      Thank you for your kind words! Haha you are right that it is hard to take a super long break from writing. I am already feeling so excited about editing Children of the Sun (although right now time is the limiting factor haha.) It is refreshing to have a short break but I’m sure I will soon feel restless about not writing. Do you have a writing project at the moment, or are you thinking about starting something? 🙂

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  15. Oh my gosh, congrats!! I read “2.5 months” at the top of your post and my eyes nearly bugged out of my head. Your writing skills are I M P R E S S I V E and I aspire to be more like that, tbh. I can’t wait to hear more about what’s coming next! 😀

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    1. Thank you Alex!!! Yes 2.5 months is pretty quick to be able to finish a novel and I’m definitely happy about it. I think I was trying to say that the process felt long although it wasn’t really haha 🙂 Thank you for your kind words! Are you working on a writing project at the moment as well?

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      1. I’m trying to, but school and life have been kicking my butt recently, so it hasn’t been going too well! I even had to step away from blogging for a while. But something about the new year starting is making me feel super refreshed (which I know is a cliche new year thing, but I often don’t feel like anything has changed so hey, I’ll ride with it!) and I’m really motivated to get back into things. I recently pulled out an old project that’s still in the planning stages, and I’ve been playing around with it recently to see if it’s worth pursuing. We’ll see how things go 🙂 even if that one doesn’t pan out, however, I’m determined to get a first draft of some project done by the end of the year!

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      2. Hey Alex 🙂 Yes sometimes life gets in the way doesn’t it? That’s awesome that you’re feeling refreshed and that you feel ready to go back to writing. Let me know if you’ll be doing Camp Nano in April/July or Nanowrimo! I find that those events are great for getting me motivated to write!

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      3. I’m considering doing Camp NaNo in April, but it depends on how busy I am with school and stuff — I’ve never had much success with trying to balance all of that. I’m definitely planning on doing it in July, though, because you’re right, those events are always super motivating! How about you? 🙂

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      4. Yeah it’s tough with other commitments like school. I’m going to try my best to do Camp Nano in April and July, but we will see how it goes! Let me know if you’re up for Camp Nano, we can be cabin buddies 🙂

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  16. Pingback: January Wrap-Up and February Goals! – Sophie's Corner

    1. Thank you Haidan!!! This one was a toughie for me since it was about an area of science that I didn’t know much about (technology and artificial intelligence). I definitely had to do a lot of research haha 🙂

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  18. Pingback: 2019 Writing Achievements & Lessons Learned – Sophie's Corner

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