Christopher Pepper's Blog
July 2, 2014
FIGHT SCENES RARGH!
So I grew up with a healthy pop culture diet of SMASH VIOLENCE. Street FIghter 2, Ninja Scroll, Willow, hell I think I watched the fencing duel between Inigo and Wesley from Princess Bride about a million times. Nothing got young Chris' blood boiling hotter than a good fight scene, especially paired with a suitably epic soundtrack.
Writing, it seems, is no different. I love writing them and, if I can toot my own horn for a second, I think I'm pretty good at writing them. As I work on finishing and polishing Book 2, I've found places where I can add more fight scenes ("MOAR!!" cries inner Chris), and they certainly seem to speed the story along. Although right now my biggest fear is that my writing could descend into being nothing more than fighting linked together with a shorestring plot. While I used to love DBZ, I don't want to be writing a Roman/Steampunk/Fantasy version...er well not exactly. That does sound pretty damn cool.
Guess I'm just hoping that the characters and the decisions they make off the battlefield are as memorable as the ones they make on it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to YouTube to watch Madmartigan vs. General Kael on loop.
Writing, it seems, is no different. I love writing them and, if I can toot my own horn for a second, I think I'm pretty good at writing them. As I work on finishing and polishing Book 2, I've found places where I can add more fight scenes ("MOAR!!" cries inner Chris), and they certainly seem to speed the story along. Although right now my biggest fear is that my writing could descend into being nothing more than fighting linked together with a shorestring plot. While I used to love DBZ, I don't want to be writing a Roman/Steampunk/Fantasy version...er well not exactly. That does sound pretty damn cool.
Guess I'm just hoping that the characters and the decisions they make off the battlefield are as memorable as the ones they make on it. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to YouTube to watch Madmartigan vs. General Kael on loop.
June 13, 2014
The Synergies of Music and Writing
Just a tiny little post about something that has become a big part of my writing.
So I can't speak for any of my fellow authors, but lately I've noticed that music has become a huge source of inspiration for writing specific scenes. For the most part when I write I listen to soundtracks, from both movies and videogames, and it just kinda helps put me in the mood to write. But every now and then I'll hear a piece of music that strikes the creative portion of my brain just right, and the music becomes the core of a certain scene, opening up to me how the scene itself will play out.
Sometimes this musical inspiration helps me revise a chapter I've already written, and other times it creates brand new material in my head that I've yet to think about. I actualy have a few pages of notes listing simple scene names and the musical pairing that impacted it. Then when I write the scene or the chapter, I usually loop the track as I listen to keep the "feel" of it (for lack of a better term) going in my head.
*shrugs* I dunno, just a nifty little thing I thought I'd share. I know I can't be the only writer this happens to.
So I can't speak for any of my fellow authors, but lately I've noticed that music has become a huge source of inspiration for writing specific scenes. For the most part when I write I listen to soundtracks, from both movies and videogames, and it just kinda helps put me in the mood to write. But every now and then I'll hear a piece of music that strikes the creative portion of my brain just right, and the music becomes the core of a certain scene, opening up to me how the scene itself will play out.
Sometimes this musical inspiration helps me revise a chapter I've already written, and other times it creates brand new material in my head that I've yet to think about. I actualy have a few pages of notes listing simple scene names and the musical pairing that impacted it. Then when I write the scene or the chapter, I usually loop the track as I listen to keep the "feel" of it (for lack of a better term) going in my head.
*shrugs* I dunno, just a nifty little thing I thought I'd share. I know I can't be the only writer this happens to.
May 26, 2014
Blog Post The Second
Wherein we discuss the glacial pace of writing the second Outrider Legion book.
One thing that I've felt as a writer is that I am definitely a morning writer. For whatever reason, I can crank out 1800 to 2000 words in a morning with ease. Whats more is that it flows somewhat naturally. Nothing feels forced, if you catch my meaning. If I try and write in the afternoon, however, it is a frustrating slog that rarely accomplishes much.
This posed no problem when I wrote the first Outrider Legion book, as I was on, ah enforced vacation (aka between jobs) at the time. I would wake up when my wife did, see her off to work, and then head down to a local coffee shop and write for three or four hours. It was a wonderful routine, and I felt that being able to write so much consistantly helped me better pace the book as I wrote, as ideas that were fresh were able to be written down soon after I had them. It was a blast to be able to have two months to just write. Aside from the whole "unemployed" bit, I was honestly living the dream. I loved every minute of it.
The second book, however, has hit a bit of a snag. Namely me being employed (doh?) while trying to write on the side. By the time I'm home and unpacked, my brain is shot. I still scribble a bit down here or there, but the volume of work has just fallen off. Am I making excuses? Probably, but it's the truth. I've tried to make up for it by devoting my weekend mornings to writing, and I'm quite successful, but the situation is that I only get solid writing done twice a week instead of five or six days.
All that said, the second book IS chugging along as fast as it can go. As of this blog post, it's at something around 66,000 words, which is a little over halfway done (they are kind of quick reads on purpose).
So long story short (too late!) I'm a lazy, slow part-time writer, please have patience with me!
http://chrismpepper.wix.com/theoutrid...
One thing that I've felt as a writer is that I am definitely a morning writer. For whatever reason, I can crank out 1800 to 2000 words in a morning with ease. Whats more is that it flows somewhat naturally. Nothing feels forced, if you catch my meaning. If I try and write in the afternoon, however, it is a frustrating slog that rarely accomplishes much.
This posed no problem when I wrote the first Outrider Legion book, as I was on, ah enforced vacation (aka between jobs) at the time. I would wake up when my wife did, see her off to work, and then head down to a local coffee shop and write for three or four hours. It was a wonderful routine, and I felt that being able to write so much consistantly helped me better pace the book as I wrote, as ideas that were fresh were able to be written down soon after I had them. It was a blast to be able to have two months to just write. Aside from the whole "unemployed" bit, I was honestly living the dream. I loved every minute of it.
The second book, however, has hit a bit of a snag. Namely me being employed (doh?) while trying to write on the side. By the time I'm home and unpacked, my brain is shot. I still scribble a bit down here or there, but the volume of work has just fallen off. Am I making excuses? Probably, but it's the truth. I've tried to make up for it by devoting my weekend mornings to writing, and I'm quite successful, but the situation is that I only get solid writing done twice a week instead of five or six days.
All that said, the second book IS chugging along as fast as it can go. As of this blog post, it's at something around 66,000 words, which is a little over halfway done (they are kind of quick reads on purpose).
So long story short (too late!) I'm a lazy, slow part-time writer, please have patience with me!
http://chrismpepper.wix.com/theoutrid...
May 19, 2014
So This Is A Blog
It has been pointed out to me by quite a few people that I should have a blog up and running now that I'm a quasi-aspiring writer. So, erm, this is it. Welcome? Yes, that is what I'll say. Welcome!
I can't say that this will be updated daily or anything. One of the main reasons I've held off on writing a blog for so long was I never felt like I had something to say that was worth harping about online. Which is ironic since in person, I almost never shut up. Go figure. But I will certainly be on here often, taking about writing, my battle to keep the pool clean (henceforth known as "The Great Pool War"), and anything random that pops into my head that I have the wherewithal to scribble down here. It is my sincere hope that whatever it is I'm blabbing about is entertaining in some fashion to you. Even if it's funny, but not "ha ha" funny.
Regarding the 'ol bookwritin', it's going steadily but slowly. In an ideal world, I would be about halfway through writing the second book in The Outrider Legion series. However, revisions and edits will of course rear their heads, so who knows how long it will take. Hopefully before 2015.
So...erm, that's it for now! Oh, you're still here? Do I have to say goodbye after each post or something? That sounds horrible. I refuse to do that.
I can't say that this will be updated daily or anything. One of the main reasons I've held off on writing a blog for so long was I never felt like I had something to say that was worth harping about online. Which is ironic since in person, I almost never shut up. Go figure. But I will certainly be on here often, taking about writing, my battle to keep the pool clean (henceforth known as "The Great Pool War"), and anything random that pops into my head that I have the wherewithal to scribble down here. It is my sincere hope that whatever it is I'm blabbing about is entertaining in some fashion to you. Even if it's funny, but not "ha ha" funny.
Regarding the 'ol bookwritin', it's going steadily but slowly. In an ideal world, I would be about halfway through writing the second book in The Outrider Legion series. However, revisions and edits will of course rear their heads, so who knows how long it will take. Hopefully before 2015.
So...erm, that's it for now! Oh, you're still here? Do I have to say goodbye after each post or something? That sounds horrible. I refuse to do that.
