Michell Plested's Blog, page 11

Switching into Edit Mode

For some, editing their own book is a joyous thing. For others, sawing off your own arm might be more enjoyable. I’m somewhere in the middle. There are times when I really have fun editing and other times when it is painful and grueling. In both cases it is necessary so I do it (sometime reluctantly) to the best of my ability. That is where I am now. I have two books that need editing so I can send them off to the publishers. I am digging into Jack Kane first. If you are wondering whether you missed the announcement that the first draft is complete, don’t worry. That hasn’t happened because the book is still one chapter shy of […]

I Miss Reading

I have had to sacrifice many things for my writing. Television is one of those. Unfortunately, so is reading. You will have heard from established authors that reading is essential. I don’t dispute that; reading helps me to see what other writers use for techniques in their story telling. The difference is, the established authors are typically writing as their sole job. For me, working full time plus my volunteer activities, family activities and writing, reading has taken a back seat. And yes, I miss it. I’m also afraid I’m starting to lose the ability to sit for long periods of time to actually read. When I am able to open a book, it’s usually a session no longer than […]

I Dared to Take a Night Off

Last night I decided to treat myself with a night off from writing. I did a tiny bit during the day and thought, since I did finish the first draft of Scouts 3, I could afford to spend some time with my family. I won’t lie, it felt odd to not be pushing everything else aside for one night, but it also felt good. I just have to be sure not to make a habit of it. I will be starting edits on Jack Kane tonight. We aren’t quite finished it, but it is time to get that project back underway. Editing it from the beginning will also help me to give it the right ending.

Let Me Tell You About My Character – Mik Murdoch

I’ve been asked recently (a few times) how many books I’ve written. The easy answer is “Lots”. That’s the easy one because, unless I sit down and start working my way through the books I have written (both published and not), I can’t give a quick answer. That leads to a question no one ever asks but is maybe more important. How many characters have I created in my books? I have no chance of answering that one without lots of research so instead, I thought I would tell you about some of my more key characters. I decided to begin with the boy who started my entire published author journey – Mik Murdoch. Let me start by saying, Mik […]

I Just Typed “The End” on Scouts 3

I just typed the words, “The End”, on Scouts of the Apocalypse: Zombie Masters. Let me just savour that for a moment. “The End” normally means something is finished. For we writers, it only signifies the beginning. There are still edit passes (both developmental and line), a cover, layout, getting the book to the printers, promotion and so on. Clearly, there is lots left to do. But, it means I wrote my novel from start to finish in 36 days. Is it perfect? Hardly, but a first draft (and I feel confident saying this) never is. But there is something there for me to edit now. And this series, this trilogy, is now one giant step closer to being finished. As […]

So Close I Can Almost Taste It

One of my personal writing issues is I sometimes gloss over scenes. Usually that happens when I’m in a hurry to move onto the next scene or I am struggling to find the right way to put my vision into words. My editors, without fail, call me on it and force me to put in the time a scene needs to flesh it out. I’m working very hard not to do that right now with the ending of Scouts 3. I am so very close to being done, I can almost taste it. I know that I could skimp on the ending and fix it when I revise it, but I don’t want to take that shortcut. I want to […]

I’m Almost Finished my First Series

When I first started writing, the idea of having a finished series under my belt never occurred to me. My thought process was, I should actually have a published book (or at least a contracted one) before I started working on book 2. When I got that first book under contract, it was with the verbal understanding that the series would almost certainly go six books. That’s a long time to wait for the series to be finished so I didn’t give it much thought. And then I had the idea for Scouts of the Apocalypse. Initially conceived as a single book, I quickly discovered I had more story than that. And so, I decided it would be a trilogy […]

Starting a New Month

NaNoWriMo is over for another year and that could mean time to relax. It certainly has in past years. But I’ve made a decision to keep going after NaNo was complete. That decision was made  because I am so close to finishing three books I can almost taste it. My NaNo novel (Scouts of the Apocalypse 3) is less than 10,000 words away from first draft completion. In fact, I wrote another 1,400 words on it yesterday and I think I might even be within 5,000 words of completion. That alone is enough to keep me going but I’m also within 2,000 words of completing Jack Kane and the Kaiser. GalaxyBillies, is also within about 15,000 words of being finished. Enough […]

NaNo 2017 – Day 30 – It’s All Over

NaNoWriMo 2017 can be considered a big win for me. I didn’t have a single day where I wrote less than 2,000 words, I hit an all-time word count high of 66,518 words and I managed to almost finish two books and I made great headway on a third. The two books that were almost finished will be done in December. This I vow! Day 30 was easily the hardest writing day I had of them all. I think that was mostly because I was tired, but that’s just an excuse. I felt like quitting part-way through the words several times but I kept reminding myself that I wanted to finish strong. So, I kept writing and I finished. Maybe […]

NaNo 2017 – Day 29 – Just Keeps Going

I think my family is purposely trying to kill me. Or, at the very least, get me to participate in family activities rather than simply write all month long. The appointment we had last night was only going to take an hour, my wife assured me over an over. Three hours later, we were home.