C.S. Robadue's Blog, page 7

New Horizons

SEPTEMBER 2020 – Continuing to pour energy into the new book project. Completed the third draft and have launched into a fourth as it is nearly where I want it before I am ready to share it with any test readers. Very curious to hear some feedback as I’ve read through it so many times that objectivity becomes difficult. As any novelty and mystery of the plot is obviously well passed awareness for me, haha. But general message is that I am very happy with the direction it is going and my enthusiasm for the project remains strong. Which is a great sign towards it being completed in a human timeline, haha.

End of Summer has produced some beautiful weather and opportunities to go hiking and explore. Did manage to take a road trip and do just that. There is something incredibly satisfying about racing up a mountain and reaching the summit and finding a remarkable view awaiting you. The endless horizon and rippling hills and valleys below is just glorious. I’ve read about multi day hikes up mountains where it takes two, three, sometimes even four days of climbing to reach the top. That must be on a whole other level. I would need to do a bit more training before I attempted that, versus my, hiking on a whim, strategy that I got going right now.

Have also found some of my old external hard drives so I decided that I would post a selection of my animation projects from my undergrad years on to the WaveGarden Arts YouTube channel. First one to go live has been my hand-drawn animated short experimental film ‘Calypso’s Song’. It features animals as the characters and an original story and voice acting by my art school classmates, haha. Have a couple more possibly that could be added in to the mix too. We’ll see!

This month I’ve been reading ‘The Good Life’ by Hellen Nearing about her and her husband’s experience homesteading in rural Vermont. Is an interesting piece about being self-reliant and living off the land and leaving the city for the countryside. Felt relevant in today’s age as so many people have left the cities for greener pastures. I’ll have to look it up, but I wonder if you can visit their estate, as it is a work of Non-fiction and though they have since passed away, they built a lot of stone structures on their property.

Well, I best get back to editing. Have a book to finish! Catch you next time!

~ CS

Diving In

AUGUST 2020 – From finishing the first-draft of the new book last month to now kicking off a third round of editing. Completed a cover to cover read through and formatting of the book as my second draft. Turning it from a series of completed chapters to a formatted, cohesive piece. Leaving it in a position where you could fully read the story and grasp all of the pieces clearly, with the third draft being for polishing up the prose and style of the writing. Crafting the word choice and sentence pacing. I still need to get it in the hands of a proper editor to take it to that next level of professionalism and get a second set of eyes on it.

Still debating if I should have some mystery readers go through it, as I’ve been listening to podcasts with main stream authors, and that seems to be a universal practice. As it is true that I am very close to the material and interact with it differently than someone else coming at the material fresh would. Have also read articles about being careful of said practices and edits that can change the meaning and tenor of your book, so there is that too, haha. First step though, getting it to a level of quality that I am happy with. And then I can switch my focus to the illustrations and cover art.

What did I read this month? Drifted my selection to something from the works of Ian Flemming, most known for the James Bond series. Have read several of his books in the past and I had heard that the book ‘Moonraker’ was in particular, very different from the film adaptation, so I was curious to see how different. Turns out, almost completely different, haha. Won’t spoil any elements of the story, but let’s just say for those of you that have seen the film, you will recognize a few of the character names, but that is largely where the similarities end. Reading about rockets seemed quite fitting with all of the awesome work SpaceX has been doing for humanity, of which I have also continued to follow closely this month.

Outside of that, I’ve been taking nearly daily bike rides, getting out on the water, whether paddle boarding or kayaking, and while I haven’t hiked to the top of any mountains, that is certainly on my radar for the Fall. Will keep you all up to date with the writing process, don’t have an approximate release date for the book, as we are likely still somewhere between 3 and 6 months out. And that is coming from an optimist, so take it with a grain of salt, haha.

Stay awesome everyone, thanks for stopping by!

~ CS

Force of Will

JULY 2020 – First draft of my new book is done! Creative journey for this project is far from over, but it feels amazing to have this early version of the story complete(!!). All of the major pieces are in place, the arc, the character development, the ending, it is all there. A lot of polishing of the events needs to take place and there remains a selection of questions I still need to answer, mainly for the names of things and places in the story, as it takes place in a fictional world not unlike our own. I also want to do a series of cover to cover read-throughs to gauge the flow of the book and how it feels from an audience perspective. As the tempo of the writing changes at times as the action rises and falls within the plot.

Have already begun a second draft of the book that is focused on the structure and making sure that it is saying what I intended. As there are some areas where the language is muddled and confusing. Fixing that, as having everything make sense is kinda important, haha. I had several different ideas of how the book should end, that would drastically change the tone of the story. Went the direction that I thought felt the most authentic. And as I was writing the book from start to finish, I made a deliberate point to make sure that the thinking of all the characters made sense (from their point of view) and that characters weren’t making improbable leaps of logic or acting out of character, just to fuel a plot device or predetermined setup. Which was a little challenging at times as it is so tempting to guide things in a predestined way, but you have to give your story room to breathe, even if you are using a plot outline like I was, that I had written ahead of time.

Very energized by the writing process as you may have guessed, haha. I can’t say enough good things about the sheer force of will and working at something every day and putting in the hours towards your goals. There is no substitute for hard work. It was only by carving out time and writing every single day, that I was able to push this book to where it is now. And I’m going to keep that mentality going as I work on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th drafts. As like this tree, creativity needs room to grow and dedication to flourish. So don’t give up on your art and imagination, even if it feels difficult and hopeless at times. Day by day, you can make cumulative growth, like the rings on a tree, layering more and more depth to your work.

This month I read the book ‘The Good Earth’ by Pearl S. Buck, a classic novel from 1931 about life in a Chinese Village in the early 20th century. Very thought provoking piece about wealth and happiness, is a moving story that reflects on a lot of pain, but also the triumph of being human and persisting. Also to me it sort of highlighted how we often lack perspective of where we are in our lives and would benefit from taking a calm step back at what we are doing, so as to not be doomed to repeat mistakes. An excellent book, I got a lot out of it. And it came along at the right time to help fuel my writing further through the sheer reminder that being tenacious and working hard is the right remedy to reaching your goals.

So keep at it, in all your pursuits, big or small. Good things take time, but are worth it in the end. Stay strong fair readers, until our paths cross again!

~ CS

Philosopher’s Stone

JUNE 2020 – Resiliency, important in life, important in writing. Been cranking with the writing once again this month as the word count is really starting to add up. Was comparing it to other works of fiction to get a sense for how it weighed against other books, as I’m curious how many edited pages it will be. As I haven’t formatted any of the text yet with any page layout or font specs yet. But it is looking to be a similar length as say a ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ aka ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ (of which I like the Philosopher’s Stone title better, I wonder why they changed it for the American/Global audience?).

Defining moments for the characters are happening and I am going off script a bit as I think up other (typically more plausible) solutions for how the characters would act/react to events, now that I know them better. So I branched out a section of the story the other day, in that I backtracked in the story about a chapter and moved the story in a different direction. Keeping the original file saved separately in case I decided to go back to that fork in the plot (thus far I haven’t opted to go back). As I had arks in mind for certain characters, but then you get writing and realize that it wasn’t ‘them’ and that they would handle things differently and that I needed to change the story accordingly.

Making everything fit, all the characters, all the key plot elements, and then have it feel realistic and fresh is a challenge, but incredibly essential. As if something doesn’t fit, no matter how cool an idea, you are probably better off removing it from your story. As hard as that may be to do. Is yet another reason it is important to have a great editor to be able to go through your work and give you feedback and help you when you are unable to make difficult decisions regarding your work. As not every idea necessarily should be crammed into the story and can be sidelined for a future project. I’ve been listening to more interviews with established writers, such as Patrick Rothfuss and it has been interesting to hear how many of them employ beta readers to give them feedback. I am always so secretive with my work, maybe that is not entirely helpful, and I should be getting some feedback from a writing community. Will ponder it for this release! As I also want to be honing my process and getting more professional with each subsequent project.

Picked up the book ‘The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story’ by Michael M. Lewis, who has written some famous and brilliant works such as ‘Money Ball’, ‘The Big Short’, and ‘The Blind Side’ all of which you might recognize and were turned into Hollywood films. ‘The New New Thing’ is about entrepreneurial culture during the dot com era in Silicon Valley, which I find very fascinating. As startups are such unique creatures and the tech space is fascinating in bringing disruptive technology to the marketplace, often due in no small part to the enigmatic visionary figures behind them.

That’s the latest. Work continues, hope to have more good news for you next month! Cheers everyone!

~ CS

Worth the Wait

MAY 2020 – Page by page, word after word, a new book is coming together, and I’m really looking forward to sharing it with everyone! Haha, that won’t be until next year, but I have kept going and written every day again this month. Somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3rds through the first draft I would say, is hard to know exactly, but I’m roughly that far into my story outline. As per my way, I can’t really share any details of the story with you, but I will say that it is a High Adventure Philosophical Thriller. Not exactly a big section in the library or at Barnes & Noble, but I think this one is going to resonate with readers that do end up picking it up. The characters have really come into their own and their fates have unfolded before me as I went.

Have found that I should try and do my writing first thing in the morning, as frequently my mind has done some subconscious homework for me overnight, to carry into the work. The other optimal time is late in the evening, if it is quiet and I can focus in, that has proven a very effective time as well. The applicability of these two time slots varies depending on my work schedule and environmental factors, but I find that if I make myself write every single day I can keep the momentum going. Not all of it is the best writing I’ve ever done, but it feels good to get something down and I know I will be doing an extra critical second pass over the material in the future.

Have I continued with the Brandon Sanderson writing course videos? Yes! I have seen almost all of them now, definitely recommended to any other aspiring authors and writers out there. Will be taking some of his suggestions with me when I go for that second pass on the writing that I’m doing for the new book. He also says it is good to leave a book for six months and then come back to it after you write the first draft. Don’t see myself doing that with this project, but there is usually a window nearly that large during the editing process and while I’m doing the illustrations, so that could be a chance to get a fresh look at the material and help to determine if it ‘works’ or not.

Did manage to get a hold of some more books to read for this month, after I ran out of other material on hand to pick up. Reading some high adventure classics, currently that would be ‘The Return of Tarzan’ by Edgar Rice Burroughs, who has created one of the most celebrated (and most filmed) characters in literary history. It is the second in the series of Tarzan books, which I believe reaches out an incredible twenty five titles for the series. There are some incredibly prolific writers out there, Brandon Sanderson (a very industrious writer in my opinion himself!) was talking about how some writers are able to put out a new book every month practically(!!). Do you think that is all done with writing partners? Or are they just writing machines who can type endlessly and know their craft so well that they just think creatively in publication format? Haha.

At any rate, I tip my hat to those folks! And to you fair reader! Thanks for stopping by, will keep at it with my third book and see if I can’t complete it for release in the not-too-crazy-distant future!

Will be worth the wait!

~ CS

Green & Growing

APRIL 2020 – Is interesting how your whole world can be turned upside down in such a short amount of time. Very much hope that everyone out there reading this is doing well! Been another off month, but have thrown myself into my writing, with prolific results. Have sat down to write every single day this month and am starting to get a nice headwind going into this new project. I very much like the characters and the as of yet unnamed universe in which they are inhabiting. I find myself getting carried away at times in tangents and have to reel myself back in towards the main story line, but largely because I find their lives so interesting. Which I think is a very good problem to have!

This story takes place over an extensive period of time, which is a new challenge to write and I’m still figuring out smart ways to transition and jump from time period to time period. I’ve also been doing some research for this project, which while a work of fiction, operates in a realistic manner that I want to ensure has credibility. Will be consulting those more in the know on this subject matter as well once I have the more technical passages ironed out stylistically, to make sure! I’d be curious to hear from other writers as to how they handle this portion of the creative process. There is a certain amount of creative license that is at play when it comes to fiction, so I do have that going for me as well, haha.

Taming the jungle in the house here is always a fun job, in this case just watering and ensuring the ultimate victory of the ivy over all in it’s path, haha. Really need to get some more planters to start thinning some of the plants I have out a bit. I have had good luck with various ivy species, what are some of your favored house plants?

As noted last month, I started reading Brandon Sanderson’s book ‘Skyward’ which I completed this month, such a fun read! Definitely recommended for those of you looking for a fun, page turning, bit of science fiction. It is also the first in a trilogy (will be ordering the second one soon!) and fed my imagination quite nicely. Was on Brandon Sanderson’s website and he has an incredible work ethic, you can tell, most impressive. I started watching one of his writing course videos and think I am going to take the whole series of classes, they look like a great bit of writing insight that should only help fuel my current process. Was getting dangerously low on reading material, but had a delivery today, so I’m back flush again, whew!

Stay well everyone, take care!

~ CS

Oceanward

MARCH 2020 – Recognize that this month for planet Earth has been anything but typical for so much of the population. Has been weeks now that I have also been keeping a low profile, very much hope you are all well as you read this and that the hardships of today have given way to a healthier tomorrow. In the midst of social isolation I have used the time to really focus on my writing and have been working on my new book every single day. I have a story outline that includes only the major flow of the arc of the characters, that I am going through as I write. New material has come in and changed a lot of the details as I get to know the characters better, which is one of the exciting parts of the creative process, as it really comes to life before your eyes.

Will keep growing the story, I have added new characters that weren’t in my journal process and I’m not sure how they are going to affect the outcome of the story. Guess even I will have to wait and see, haha. Haven’t shared the plot with anyone yet, as it is still early to do that, I want the first draft to be completed before I open it up to feedback. This may or may not be a good tactic, as if I was making a big mistake with the plot, sure would be easier to fix it now, haha. But that has never been my style. To all the writers out there, do you find writers groups helpful? I have never seriously considered joining one, as it doesn’t appeal to me. Would still be curious to know how it works for others.

Photo from a trip to the ocean before the pandemic reached these shores. Since then I have mainly been laying low and watching movies and reading when I can make time for it. Right now I’m reading ‘Skyward’ by Brandon Sanderson, is a lengthy title and I’m only about a third through it at the moment. Was a recommendation from one of my buddies and I am glad he suggested it. Almost always in the mood for a good sci-fi read and Sanderson rarely disappoints. Will write about it more when I complete it in the coming weeks.

Stay safe everyone!

~ CS

Meditations On Art

FEBRUARY 2020 – Art to me has long been synonymous with excellence. The taking of something, even that which could largely be considered mundane and elevating it to the highest level to me could be seen as artistry. Whether painter, chef, composer, animator, writer, athlete, programmer, etc, I believe there is a place and rationale to continue to push yourself to the highest limits of capacity, and discover the art within you. Whatever your gifts, talents, or skills, the pursuit of mastery and your unique vision is not a wasted venture. As the world will always need more excellence and capacity for inspiration, so keep dreaming, training, and inventing!

One such group of artists who are consistently elevating their art form is Makoto Shinkai and his team of animators. Their latest work, an animated feature film titled ‘Weathering With You’, which was released internationally recently, is one such gorgeous masterpiece. Happily I found a local theatre in my area with which to go see it, my first ever opportunity to watch a Shinkai-san film on the big screen.

‘Weathering With You’ is a beautiful story that takes place in Tokyo, Japan featuring a runaway boy who heads to the Japanese mega-city in search of a new life. Befriending a girl who has the ability to manipulate the weather, opens up a flood of emotion and enchants what is surely a magically poetic film. Delightful artistry of the highest order is a hallmark of yet another Shinkai film that is a visual spectacle of gorgeous hand-drawn animation and computer generated images.

I really loved it, though be prepared for an emotional experience, as what Shinkai is known for with his take on romance and love is loss and heartache. Every shot in this movie could be turned into a framed still image, it has that level of care and composition to it. Was a nice reminder to watch more anime, haha.

How is my writing going? I’m glad you asked, yes actually glad, as this month I have committed myself to working on the new book and it is starting to take shape.I have gone through my creative journal and I’m just diving in to the content with perhaps less spec’d out of an outline than I normally would, but seeing what my imagination delivers. Is a new approach for me (although I do have the entire plot worked out, it is more a matter of being less descriptive in my outline than usual, but not going full Stephen King with it, where I would just write and see where the story takes me. He is such a master! An artist you could say, haha), we’ll see how it goes, enjoying being back at it with creating new work.

Re-read one of my favorite books of all-time (Yes of course it’s allowed to re-read books, haha. If I had more time, I’d do it more frequently too) this month after being reminded of it during a lecture I was listening to. And thinking, you know, I want to pick that up again as there are different times in your life when certain messages are very important to hear, and I guess this was one of those times for me.

Which title was it? ‘Meditations’ by Marcus Aurelius, one of the absolute finest pieces of philosophy ever recorded in my opinion. He may have never intended for it to be published, but wow, does it feel perfectly relevant, even nearly 2,000 years after it was recorded. Originally written in Greek, I tried a second version of the work, with a translation by a different scholar this time around. I would say I prefer the initial version I read, yet the weight and knowledge of this new translation still carried a favorable reaction with me. Is easy to understand the reverence for this brilliant mind and why Marcus Aurelius’ ‘Meditations’ is lauded for being such an important work. Highly recommended read.

Take good care everyone!

~ CS

Yadda Yadda

JANUARY 2020 – Writing, often feels like a neglected corner of my creative pursuits, as I am disciplined in many things in my life, but not with my writing. As my expectation is always for it to stand on it’s own and to command space in life naturally, but that never seems to work out as planned, as it doesn’t shout very loud against the coming chaos of everyday life. Does things operate similarly for you? Do your creative pursuits quickly get pushed out of sight in favor of the everyday? Or is it part of your everyday, maybe that is the answer? Not here to make a bold declaration of how 2020 is going to be different, yadda yadda, that never plays well with me.

Have been trying to convince myself, on a continual basis, to push forward the dial on things that I enjoy doing, and this has been a terribly failed agenda for quite some time, haha. Have made some progress though and I did play a tiny bit of video games this month which was fun, glad to have friends that are all on board for such ventures! Reading has long been my tried and true escape for an enjoyable activity, regardless of the season, or wherever I am.

Visited the Meyer May House in Grand Rapids, Michigan, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, for a prominent department store owner. Built in 1909, it is a beautiful example of his prairie style and has stood the test of time, with the help of a full-restoration in 1987. Toured the interior of the historic property, to see first-hand all of the unique details and period design features. The open floor plan on the main level really felt very modern and live-able, was quite impressive.

Definitely gives me a lot of ideas for future designs! I’ve become really sold on indoor/outdoor living built into the design of one’s home. As natural light, flow, and multi-purpose spaces are so vital to how one lives in and relates to their made environment. Gardens, plant-life, construction materials that will stand the test of time, all key.

In the spirit of fun, I snagged a copy of Clive Cussler’s ‘Black Wind’ from a little free library to dive into for a fast-paced action read, didn’t disappoint. Pacific Ocean intrigue meets geo-politics, with the usual rough and ready adventures that Dirk Pitt delivers, haha. Nice to feather in a page turning paperback into one’s reading lineup.

That’s all from me this month, keep at it everyone, take care!

~ CS

Snowbound Pondering

DECEMBER 2019 – Been scribbling notes in a journal for the new book project for two years now, decided, you know, I think I’ll just start writing it, even if I don’t have the complete story mapped out. I have the major arc lined up and written out with the primary characters and their involvement, but typically I have more specifics already committed to paper before I begin writing it in word. So I’m taking a bit of a Stephen King approach here, where I am taking my characters, putting them into circumstances and seeing what they do. With a little help and guidance though from my notes, haha, so not exactly the King approach.

Still, if that much of a nudge gets me writing, I’ll take it! Have started the first chapter and it is now typed out, so away we go. This book is completely different from my previous two books, so the approach and research for it has been an entirely new experience. Think it will really surprise people, in a good way though, haha, have to include that caveat!

Holiday season has been wonderful, more than a hint of snow fell this month (though not enough to go snow shoeing or cross country skiing yet, still waiting on that!), tried to capture the precipitation in this photo. Been continuing to get in nature hikes when I can, as you all know how much that fuels the creative process for me. Have spent a lot of time on work projects, but did get a chance to take some time off around Christmas to relax and venture into realms of personal interest and do some local travel.

What worked its way to the top of my reading list this month? Dabbled with a bit more Non-Fiction (and raided my parent’s bookshelf for the pick) in December and read ‘Genius Foods’ by Max Lugavere and Paul Grewal. Book is a very accessible read on nutrition and macro requirements for your brain to become happier, more productive, and even smarter. Found I was on-boarding a lot of the life lessons from previous research, though it did give me stuff to ponder about my own vegetable oil intake, going to research that more.

Pondering seems to be my primary past time these days, haha. One plus side of the cold winter weather is the easy opportunities for getting lost in thought (not that I need any excuse to do that!), it at least comes with less assumed missed opportunity cost. The rest of my creative ventures has been focused around the culinary world with tweaking instant pot recipes and having a great time of it.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year all!

~ CS