Brian Van Norman's Blog
November 30, 2020
Writing SciFI
So for those reading this... hah! I'm going to keep it up for a while.
I've finished Keay's History of India finally. A massive history loaded with fine details but with an added treat. I now know how my scifi world will turn from the standard existence we know now, to the future dystopia I am trying to create.
Writing this is as hard as historical fiction, as I said, with loads of notes and research. I'm just finishing the first four chapters which intro the major characters in their separate situations and now I'm starting to fill in their lives with the next set of chapters.
Sorry to be so generalized but I don't want to offer a spoiler in this. Right now, I've written myself into a corner but through last night came up with a way to use that corner fruitfully.
Snow is coming. Keep me inside. I really want to get a first draft of this done by spring.
I've finished Keay's History of India finally. A massive history loaded with fine details but with an added treat. I now know how my scifi world will turn from the standard existence we know now, to the future dystopia I am trying to create.
Writing this is as hard as historical fiction, as I said, with loads of notes and research. I'm just finishing the first four chapters which intro the major characters in their separate situations and now I'm starting to fill in their lives with the next set of chapters.
Sorry to be so generalized but I don't want to offer a spoiler in this. Right now, I've written myself into a corner but through last night came up with a way to use that corner fruitfully.
Snow is coming. Keep me inside. I really want to get a first draft of this done by spring.
November 14, 2020
Sequel Writing
For all of my won, that is onederful followers, I'm going to keep going and hope to attract more.
This post is really about the elements of writing which one never expects until publishing. Currently I'm spending my days divided into three parts, or sometimes I'll divide a week into three parts.
Part one... selling! With Christmas coming and a new novel out, I spend considerable time either working with the publisher to create ads for AGAINST THE MACHINE: LUDDITESS or I go to book venues to read. Yet I also have two other books which I want to continue selling: IMMORTAL WATER and THE BETRAYAL PATH. This isn't about the money, I just want more of my novels out there being read!
Part two... preparing for the editor. I have finished writing the sequel to LUDDITES and have sent it off to Michael Mirolla, my editor and a man who just makes my novels better without harsh criticism and huge cuts. He is an accomplished author himself but I want my MS to be in the best shape it can be before it gets to him.
Part three... writing. So I've completed months and months of research and lots of late nights waking up and just thinking and I've begun the first pages of the third part of the AGAINST THE MACHINE trilogy.
I have to use two computers now. With different windows open in each as I begin to write and create a new world. One window is for the actual writing and the others contain references to research, the list of characters and unfinished plot lines weaving in and out of each other. Writing is like solving a puzzle and it's intense.
This post is really about the elements of writing which one never expects until publishing. Currently I'm spending my days divided into three parts, or sometimes I'll divide a week into three parts.
Part one... selling! With Christmas coming and a new novel out, I spend considerable time either working with the publisher to create ads for AGAINST THE MACHINE: LUDDITESS or I go to book venues to read. Yet I also have two other books which I want to continue selling: IMMORTAL WATER and THE BETRAYAL PATH. This isn't about the money, I just want more of my novels out there being read!
Part two... preparing for the editor. I have finished writing the sequel to LUDDITES and have sent it off to Michael Mirolla, my editor and a man who just makes my novels better without harsh criticism and huge cuts. He is an accomplished author himself but I want my MS to be in the best shape it can be before it gets to him.
Part three... writing. So I've completed months and months of research and lots of late nights waking up and just thinking and I've begun the first pages of the third part of the AGAINST THE MACHINE trilogy.
I have to use two computers now. With different windows open in each as I begin to write and create a new world. One window is for the actual writing and the others contain references to research, the list of characters and unfinished plot lines weaving in and out of each other. Writing is like solving a puzzle and it's intense.
November 6, 2020
Sequel Writing
With Against the Machine: Luddites out now in public I'm currently finishing up the sequel to that novel with Against the Machine: Manifesto.
It's been an interesting journey which, of course, was terminated by covid at the moment of release. At any rate, I tried to write Luddites in a pseudo 19th century style having read Charlotte Bronte's 1849 novel "Shirley".
For the sequel, Manifesto,I have completely altered the style, though I hope not the imagery, with a more contemporary technique. After all, though the sequel can stand alone, it actually follows through on Luddites by featuring the descendants of certain characters (no spoilers here!).
Soon the editing will begin with Guernica. I actually look forward to this part due to my Michael Mirolla, my editor's acute and creative method. He always offers ways to improve the work.
It's been an interesting journey which, of course, was terminated by covid at the moment of release. At any rate, I tried to write Luddites in a pseudo 19th century style having read Charlotte Bronte's 1849 novel "Shirley".
For the sequel, Manifesto,I have completely altered the style, though I hope not the imagery, with a more contemporary technique. After all, though the sequel can stand alone, it actually follows through on Luddites by featuring the descendants of certain characters (no spoilers here!).
Soon the editing will begin with Guernica. I actually look forward to this part due to my Michael Mirolla, my editor's acute and creative method. He always offers ways to improve the work.
Sequel
With Against the Machine: Luddites out now in public I'm currently finishing up the sequel to that novel with Against the Machine: Manifesto.
It's been an interesting journey which, of course, was terminated by covid at the moment of release. At any rate, I tried to write Luddites in a pseudo 19th century style having read Charlotte Bronte's 1849 novel "Shirley".
For the sequel, Manifesto,I have completely altered the style, though I hope not the imagery, with a more contemporary technique. After all, though the sequel can stand alone, it actually follows through on Luddites by featuring the descendants of certain characters (no spoilers here!).
Soon the editing will begin with Guernica. I actually look forward to this part due to my Michael Mirolla, my editor's acute and creative method. He always offers ways to improve the work.
It's been an interesting journey which, of course, was terminated by covid at the moment of release. At any rate, I tried to write Luddites in a pseudo 19th century style having read Charlotte Bronte's 1849 novel "Shirley".
For the sequel, Manifesto,I have completely altered the style, though I hope not the imagery, with a more contemporary technique. After all, though the sequel can stand alone, it actually follows through on Luddites by featuring the descendants of certain characters (no spoilers here!).
Soon the editing will begin with Guernica. I actually look forward to this part due to my Michael Mirolla, my editor's acute and creative method. He always offers ways to improve the work.
