Update!

So I'd like to give you a little update about what I've been doing with my life lately and where I'm at with my book. Things have definitely felt pretty hectic lately!

As usual, school takes up a lot of my time. What I thought was going to be the 2 easiest courses this semester have ended up being extremely stressful for me! It's just one thing after another with these courses, having a lot of assignments and asking questions that no one seems to know. Like, what do they get payed for?!

Anyhow, I'm sure me ranting about school is pretty boring. I would like to say that I am very pleased with the direction my story is taking. It's still going slower than I would like, but it's hard to focus on it when I'm just stressing over school. As of lately, I've written some very nice bits and pieces - mostly at night when I should be sleeping. It's all good though. I keep thinking up lines that I could use much later on in the book, which prompts me to put in more time for writing so I can get there.

One thing that is a little bit challenging at the moment is the dialect of the characters and the writing style in general. It's very easy for me to write in Middle/Early Modern English and have that "fairy tale quality" as I call it, but sometimes I forget what I'm doing and start writing as if I were speaking. I don't want it to sound completely modern, and I don't want it to sound like Shakespeare wrote it either. I personally love Shakespeare, I just don't think many people would enjoy reading something like that. 

Instead of my writing looking like this:

Hollyhocks didn't answer. Instead she held her arms out and tried to balance herself as she walked on the slippery moss-covered rocks in the river. It was a warm spring day, the gentle breeze carrying with it a sweet fragrance of wildflowers. At the edge of the Forest where the shadows met the river, small drops of sunlight brightly sparkled and glistened on the surface of the still cool clear water...

...it could look like this:

Hollyhocks didn't answereth. Instead she held h'r arms out and tri'd to balance h'rself as she walk'd on the slipp'ry moss-cov'r'd rocks in the riv'r. 'Twas a warm springeth day, the gentle breeze carrying with it a sweet fragrance of wildflow'rs. At the edge of the F'rest whence the shadows met the riv'r, bawbling gouts of sunlight brightly sparkl'd and glisten'd on the surface of the still cool cleareth water...

It's all about finding that perfect balance, still keeping that "fairy tale quality", and using "nay" instead of "no", saying "nor did I" instead of "I didn't", and "I know not" instead of "I don't know". When I sit down to write, I have to place my mind in another world, another time. Like I said before, it can be a little challenging, but it's still an amazing experience and an amazing feeling.

Well, that's about all I've been up to. As always, if you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you! ;)