Doc Coleman's Blog, page 23

Writing update

Progress continues on Perils. Last night I sat down and managed to pound out another 2200 words while listening to Christmas music. What started out as my NaNoWriMo project for this year has now grown to over 55,000 words. Right now I'm thinking that it will probably run up around 75 thousand words for the first draft. I've slacked off on the writing since the end of November, but other projects are waiting for me to finish this draft, so I've set myself a new deadline of New Year's Eve to get my butt in motion again.

I'm also working on getting the blog machine working again. That means new reviews for The Nifty Tech Blog, new episodes of the Shrinking Man Project, and making time to crank up the Wayback Machine over here. So I'm not exactly lacking for writing projects. I'm more concerned with managing these products so that they keep me refreshed and engaged, not confused and tangled up as I have been in the past. I want to give some kind of writing update each week, both to keep me moving forward and to keep folks interested and informed on what I've got coming down the pike.

One of the projects that has been waiting for the first draft of Perils to complete is the e-book version of my short story Welcome to Paradox. This shouldn't take long, as it should just be a matter of  doing the page layout for the Smashwords and Kindle versions. I have considered going ahead and working on it, but I don't want to delay finishing the first draft of Perils and risk getting it sidetracked (again) and not finishing it. I had planned on doing a read-through and first level of editing on Perils before getting to the Paradox e-book, but at this point I need to get things moving again.

Hope everyone has a great Christmas, Channukah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Wintereen-mas, or whatever it is that you celebrate at this time of the year. Talk to you next time.

Sneak Peek at New Cover Art!

I recently got a hold of the cover art for my next short story release. At first I thought I'd hold onto it until the actual release, but now I'm thinking that I'd like to share it with folks. The story is my short story Welcome to Paradox, which I wrote for the Every Photo Tells… podcast and which first aired back in October of 2010. I've been polishing up the text a bit and hope to have the e-book ready to go in the next few months, but before I can do that, I still need to wrap up the writing for Perils. But until the official release, here is a quick peek at the great cover created for me by Starla Hutchton.

Hold onto your hats, folks.

Welcome to Paradox will be another 99-cent short story release. Keep an eye out for updates to the Writing page over on www.DocColeman.com, and watch out here for more info on the release.

#NaNoWriMo, Day 29 – Still writing…

So… I'm done,right? Well, not quite. I may have won NaNoWriMo, but I'm not done writing my story. So after taking yesterday off, I'm back to writing today. I added in another 1552 words today, bringing my grand total up to 51,785 words according to Scrivener. If you're thinking that the math doesn't add up with last Sunday's post, well, you're right. Last Sundays numbers were according to the official validation by NaNoWriMo, which shorted me 33 words for some reason. If you've enjoyed reading my account of my NaNoWriMo journey, please consider sponsoring my novel. There is only one day left to donate to the folks that make NaNoWriMo possible. If you'd like to help out, please check out my donations page.

51785 / 50000

(103.57%)

Today's writing was the big conflict with the villain. Of course, it didn't turn out quite the way the heroes planned. And now there's another death trap to diffuse. Fun, fun, fun!

More to add another night. Later, folk.

Would you sponsor my #NaNoWriMo novel?

Ok. I know this is doing things sort of backwards. Very much so like trying to get sponsors AFTER one has won the race instead of before. But I'm hoping that this will actually work. Here's why.

If you've been reading this blog at all this month, you know that I've been engaged in National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo. While this has proven to be an excellent exercise for me in managing my time and keeping my writing production up, it could mean more still. NaNoWriMo is put on every year by NaNoWriMo's parent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Office of Letters and Light, to raise funds to pay for the Young Writers Program and adult main programs throughout the rest of the year. A lot of the money raised comes from donations from the NaNoWriMo participants, but some of us have had better years than others. This past year has been a tight one for me, so I am asking folks to help me out by sponsoring my novel. If you'd like to sponsor me, just visit my sponsorship page and make a donation. If you're not sure yet, read on…Your donations to the Office of Letters and Light help them bring free creative writing programs for kids and adults in over 500 cities and towns, 3,000 classrooms, and 200 libraries every year.

In the NaNoWriMo main program, your donation gives aspiring writers…

Membership to a community-based website, including an individual writer profile where participants can track their writerly progress (and that of their friends!), post novel excerpts, and exchange NaNoMail messages with other writers.
Access to the NaNoWriMo forums, where participants can swap advice and guidance about genre, plot, character, technology, rewriting, and reaching the 50K goal-line.
An invitation to join one of the more than 500 Municipal Liaison-led NaNoWriMo writing chapters at kick-off events, write-ins, and end-of-month parties. At these events, participants receive free stickers and other motivational novel-writing goodies sent from NaNoWriMo headquarters.
A place to write! Look for "Come Write In!" stickers at your local library. Using resources created with your donations, libraries around the world are transforming their spaces into November noveling zones.
Weekly pep talks and other encouragement from staff, Municipal Liaisons, and beloved authors.
Winner certificates and web badges for triumphant victors.
Post-event advice on revision, and other ideas on taking a manuscript to the next level.

The same donation also gives participants in the Young Writers Program…

Free profile/membership to an award-winning and community-based website specifically designed to appeal to and inspire young writers and educators: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org
Access to site forums and NaNoMail, which enable students to communicate about books, writing, and reading with other young authors worldwide.
Pep talks from staff and Young Adult authors that excite and inspire participants.
Writing incentives such as participant badges for posting on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, and—at the end of each challenge—winner badges and certificates for every child and teen who meets their word-count goal.
Free and exciting writerly tools, including three tracks of workbooks designed specifically for elementary school, middle school, and high school students. These workbooks teach all elements of novel-writing in a fun but effective manner and have become so popular that many adults use them too!
Post-event advice for young authors with revision overviews and information about youth writing contests, creative writing centers, and other online creative writing events.

Finally, your donation gives teachers and educators who are leading NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program classrooms…

Eight weeks of exciting creative writing curriculum that has been mapped to Common Core Language Arts standards.
A Virtual Classroom on the YWP website, where teachers can more easily inspire students and track their writerly progress.
Access to special educator-only forums where teachers can exchange encouragement, advice, and lesson plans before, during, and after each event.
Helpful "how-to's" on hosting a successful month-long, deadline-driven writing event in a classroom from beginning to end. This advice has been complied from educators who have facilitated our events in their own classrooms and not only lived to tell about it, but keep coming back for more!
NaNoWriMo kits for their students that include posters and progress charts with buttons and stickers. More than 3,000 of these kits will be mailed out in 2011.
An opportunity to participate in our AlphaSmart NEO Loaner Program. For each event, we lend up to 100 NEOS to participating classrooms in need of word processors. This is done completely free of charge, including shipping.
Teacher-only lesson plans that expand upon concepts taught to students in the Young Writer workbooks.

But you'll also be doing something else that is special and very personal. By sponsoring my novel, you'll be telling one writer, me, that you believe in my work and that you want to see me continue with my writing and storytelling, and someday aspire to be a published author. Please give your support.

Thank you.

#NaNoWriMo, Day 27 – Winner, but not done yet.

And today… the finish line is crossed! Just one little problem. I'm not done. Yes, I've written over 50,000 words in my story, but I've barely started scratching the surface of act three. I've got at least four chapters to go, and I have the feeling that when I do the first revision of this story quite a lot of my chapters are going to split into multiple lesser chapters. But I did manage to write 2765 words today, and that was good enough to put me over the edge of the NaNoWriMo 50,000 word finish line!

50200 / 50000

(100.4%)

And, of course, there is character torture. Lost in the darkness, battle, wandering in the heart of the enemy stronghold, and the shocking discover that your enemy is… well… that would be telling. ;D

Hang in there, fans. There is still more to this story. But not tonight. Later!

#NaNoWriMo, Day 26 – Approaching the Finish Line

Another good day of dedicated writing. Slept in today, so I got started late after getting in a good, brisk walk and a filling lunch. So… a late start to my writing, but a good day at the keyboard. I got in 2000 words before I decided to break for dinner, then came back afterwards and racked up another 2000 words. Total word count for today is 4,355. Not quite as good as yesterday's run, but a good chunk of writing towards my big finish! I am now two days ahead of schedule and have less than 1000 words to being three days ahead. This story will definitely take more than 50,000 words, but I hope to cross that finish line tomorrow. For today, my total number of words written in this, my first NaNoWriMo, is 47,435! That is over 94% completed! Woot!

47435 / 50000

(94.87%)

Character torture continues today. Wandering in tunnels in the bowels of the earth, deafening machines of destruction, shattering blades, electrocution, pits into the deep darkness, and risking life and limb only to be captured by the villains! Another good day for screwing characters over.

I can't believe I've been up so late writing tonight, but some things just won't let go until they're done. Good night, folks. See you tomorrow.

#NaNoWriMo, Day 25 – Black Friday, Writing Friday

While some folks ventured out today and fought the crowds at Black Friday sales about the country, I stayed home today, thus avoiding shootings, pepper spray, and smelly crowds. Not necessarily in that order. Oh, I ventured out of the house. Took a good walk around the block to get in my exercise for the day. Also to help get the old creative juices flowing. A good, brisk walk, a shower, and a healthy lunch, and I was all ready to begin writing. I managed to crank out 3,419 words before taking a break for dinner. It might have been the boost to the creative side from the exercise, or the fact that I was writing action scenes, but the words seemed to pour out of me this afternoon. I went from being behind in my word count to being slightly ahead. After dinner I decided to resume writing for a bit more and managed to produce another 1000 words, ending the day with 4,440 words written, bringing my total word count for my novel up to 43,080!

43080 / 50000

(86.16%)

Today the character tortures resumed. Not wanting to spoil things for future readers, I'll just say that death is defied several times, and its icy grip is felt before the chapter is done! Death calls in the cold and the dark, but do the characters surrender to it? You'll have to read the story to find out!

If I can write like this for the next two days, I'll hit my goal before the end of the weekend! Woot!

But now, I'm heading off to bed. Need to be rested for another day of writing!

#NaNoWriMo, Day 24 – Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving holiday. And those of you who don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you've at least had something that made you feel grateful for the day. We got together with a bunch of friends for a pot luck dinner and game night. We had a real good time, and that is part of the reason that this is being posted so late. I was busy for most of the day, but I did manage to squeeze in a little writing, adding 622 words to bring the total up to 38,640 words. The rest of this weekend will be dedicated to the push to reach that 50,000 word finish line!

38640 / 50000

(77.28%)

Today's character torture? The joy of dropping out of an airship and into a hole in the ground at night from about 1000 feet over the rooftops. Whoosh!

Yeah, not much torture, but hey, only 600 some words. What do you expect?

More writing tomorrow. Good night, all!

#NaNoWriMo, Day 23 – Slipping!

Another busy day today, but somehow between 6 and 7 PM this evening, I managed to get in a great writing sprint. I wasn't expecting it, but the words flowed so easily. Figures that it was a bit of scene that wasn't plot important, but was important for establishing character and motivation. It was emotionally important, so it was easy to write. That little sprint netted me 1183 words for today. Still about 300 some words short of where I should be, but I should be able to catch up with that. I am now over 75% done, having written over 38,000 words in this novel. I expect that I won't be writing tomorrow, due to the Thanksgiving holiday, but I'll be dedicating Friday, Saturday and Sunday to trying to reach that 50,000 finish line!

38018 / 50000

(76.04%)

Character torture was fun today. He got smacked around by a bunch of toughs, although he managed to show up one of them in the end. And now he's getting ready to go off into the unknown, unprepared and ill informed. What could go wrong? (insert evil laughter here)

Ok. I'm done. I go sleep now.

#NaNoWriMo, Day 22 – A new Title!

Another day at work, today. Then home through horrid traffic, and then going out to exercise in the rain. After getting cleaned up and grabbing dinner, I barely had an hour to work on writing before it became time to record today's Galley Table. But I managed to get some words written during the show and afterwards. It wasn't much, but another 1254 words will keep me ahead of the curve to finish on time. Now I'm over 70% to the 50,000 word goal with 36,835 words written. And I think I'm finally through the tough middle section of the book. Now things should get interesting!

Oh, and I've come up with a new working title. The Adventures of Crackle & Bang had always pretty much referred to the entire series, but now I've finally come up with a working title that I like. So, until I come up with something better, my novel will be known as The Perils of Prauge: A Crackle & Bang Adventure.

36835 / 50000

(73.67%)

Today's character torture involved the reveal of the name of the big villain of the series. No personal danger yet, but setting the stage for dangers to come. Oh, and another fateful decision to continue on with the plot. You give these characters all these chances to play it safe and they just won't take them!

Right. Off to bed. More tomorrow.