Justin Bell's Blog, page 9
January 23, 2016
Read The Fog of Dreams again…for the first time
I mentioned it briefly in a previous post, and I’m taking care to try and handle this correctly, but within the next month or so, I’ll be releasing The Fog of Dreams…
…again.
Because of some invaluable input from a new editor, I’ve gone through my first novel again, made some critical timeline changes and actually have added some significant new content. The second edition of The Fog of Dreams comes in at close to 60 pages longer than the previous edition, and it’s content that will come into play later in the series.
I’m conflicted about how to handle this. First of all, a number of people have bought The Fog of Dreams… it’s unfair for me to release a second edition less than six months afterwards, isn’t it?
I think it kind of is, yeah. And I’m trying to figure out how to best handle that. But as I work that out, trust me that I will find a way to make it right. I think the release of the second edition is a great thing, though. It makes a lot more cohesive sense and introduces some intriguing new characters. I hope if you haven’t bought The Fog of Dreams yet, you will jump on the bandwagon with the Second Edition. And I hope if you have already purchased the first volume, you won’t be too upset about this, and you’ll give me a chance to make it right. Until that all happens, check out the new cover for The Fog of Dreams below. It will be much more cohesive with the ongoing series and looks pretty darn nice as well.
Huge thanks goes out to J Caleb Design for the cover and to KAEditing for the great work further fleshing out my work. More to come!
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January 7, 2016
Knowing when to say when – revising your novel
When I was in the final stages of releasing my first book, I wanted it to be 100% perfect. I read it through countless times and had a few different beta readers, plus my editor check it all out. Got sign off, people seemed happy, I was happy, BOOM published.
That’s the end of it. My revisions were finally over.
Until they weren’t.
For the release of my second novel, I enlisted the aid of a new editor and to my surprise, she caught something in my first novel (which she was reading as research material). Something pretty big. Hesitantly she brought it to my attention, not knowing if I wanted to dive back into revisions in Book 1, but once she showed me the impact of the “whoops” I had no doubts. I had to revise.
So after several months of the book being “done” and in fact being out for sale, I am once again neck deep in revisions for a novel I thought I had washed my hands of. It’s a mixed feeling for me. As I read through it, I have to battle myself not to just rewrite the entire thing, but instead I’m adding some scenes, changing the timing of some other events, and just trying to make it flow a little better. There were apparently some issues with different timelines and events not happening when they logically should, issues that, for whatever reason, neither I nor my beta readers caught the first time around.
Is it too late to go back and revise after the book is “out there”? If you’d asked me that six months ago, I would have said yes, absolutely. Once it’s done, it’s done. There’s no going back. Now, I’ve changed my tune.
I do think once the book has been published, any revisions you make have to be significant. You can’t be tweaking minor dialogue points or slightly altering the trajectory of a character’s path. There has to be a significant reason to do it, especially considering there are many people out there who already paid for book 1. How can you consider revising your novel and expecting people to want to buy the book a second time?
I think I have a way to address that, but that’s a story for a different time.
Until then, get ready for The Fog of Dreams 2nd Edition, hopefully being released around the same time as Loose Strands, Book 2 in the Operation: Harvest series.
They’re on the way!
The post Knowing when to say when – revising your novel appeared first on Justin Bell .
January 1, 2016
Top Ten Writing Inspirations of 2015 – Part 3
This past year has been one of ups, downs, and in-betweens. I lost two people close to me, but published my first novel and submitted several potential works for possible future publication. Throughout this series of events it was often tough to dig out some writing inspirations of 2015.
Throughout the emotional minefield of 2015 I drew writing inspirations from many different areas. Over the past two days I looked at items 10 – 8, and then items 7 – 4. Join me today to see the top 3.
You can also view Part 1 and Part 2 to see the rest of the list.
03 – Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
This is another borderline cheat, as its really the entire Cormoran Strike novel series by Galbraith that has provided true inspiration, and actually motivated me to craft my third novel around a criminal investigation rather than the more military/covert operations tactics of my first two novels. For those who don’t know, Robert Galbraith is a pen name of infamous Harry Potter author JK Rowling, but these novels are quite different from the world of the child wizard. Cormoran Strike is a fascinating and flawed character with many rich and complex layers, and the stories told around that character are fascinating to say the least. The most recent novel, Career of Evil was indeed released in 2015, though the universe as a whole is what has provided my most writing inspirations.
02 – Captain America: Civil War Trailer
A two minute trailer? Really?
Yes, really. If I can see any direct Marvel connections with William Strickland, it would be Captain America, a relatively normal man who wants to serve his country and goes through countless genetic experiments to become a better soldier. Like Captain America himself, Strickland’s world is turned upside down and he suddenly finds himself a man without a family in a world he doesn’t understand, trying to discover his new found abilities as he searches for those that he loves.
If it had been released in 2015, Captain America: Winter Soldier would have been on this list, one of my favorite films of all time with fantastic dialogue, rich character interactions, and some kick ass fight scenes to boot. Every time I see Chris Evans in action as Captain America that’s how I view Strickland in his world, someone with physical abilities north of normal who merges those abilities with an aggressive fighting style. This two minute trailer was an amazing combination of adrenaline pumping battle sequences and character introductions. After watching this two minute trailer, I crafted, no lie, 8,000 words over the following few days, fueled almost completely by the short sequences developed for this trailer. It was an amazing experience.
01 – Runkeeper
In the year 2000 I topped the scales at 325 pounds and decided that it was probably time to make some changes. In the 15 years since then I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym and a lot of time watching what I eat, and I’ve managed to fight and claw my way down to around 185 pounds. But I felt like I hit a stalemate.
In the spring of 2015 I decided I wanted to try outdoor running. I had a new job with a long commute which afforded me much less time to go to the gym, so I decided to start getting up at 4:00am to go for a run while the weather was nice.
Throughout the entirety of 2015, I ran over 350 miles and burned over 50,000 calories, and even more importantly I had a blast doing it. I discovered an activity that I didn’t know I loved, and while recent weather has stopped me from partaking in recent months, I found great sources of inspiration from some of those long runs. The thoughts and feelings just flow with that adreneline running, and I’m pretty sure the majority of book three’s outline was crafted through various 6 – 10 mile runs over the summer. Without a doubt if I hadn’t discovered how much I loved to run, I’m not sure book two or three would be where they are right now.
In truth, 2015 was a year of great emotional challenges. It was a difficult time. But drawing from many sources of inspiration helped put my mind at ease and focus on my writing. I’m extremely excited by what I was able to accomplish in 2015, and I’m really looking forward to what’s still to come in the year ahead. I hope you will all join me.
Check out the previous two installments at the links below:
Part 1 – 10 – 08
Part 2 – 07 – 04
The post Top Ten Writing Inspirations of 2015 – Part 3 appeared first on Justin Bell .
December 31, 2015
Top Ten Writing Inspirations of 2015 – Part 2
Yesterday I ran down the roller coaster that was 2015 and gave some insight into writing inspirations and motivations that I drew from the year that was.
Join me here for Part Two of this look back.
07 – Fellow Kindle Worlds Authors
Along with my own novel work, I’ve been participating in Kindle Worlds since its inception. Amazon’s Kindle Worlds is a licensing agreement with certain license holders that allow authors (almost) free reign to write stories in those licensor’s world. As a lifelong fan of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, I eagerly participated in that corner of Hasbro’s universe, and managed to meet some great fellow authors while doing it. Being able to host a panel at the annual G.I. Joe Convention, participate in a contest, and just interact with several other Kindle Worlds authors drove me to hone my craft and try to be the best writer I could be. Big props to Jim, Bill, and Troy especially for the motivation that they helped provide to me throughout the year.
06 – The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Eventually I had to talk about a book on this list, right? I’ll be honest, while I have read a lot this year, I tried to focus this list on media that was actually released this year, and Girl on the Train was one of the few novels I read that was actually published in 2015. The use of unreliable narration was fascinating, and I ended up very drawn into the complex (and greatly flawed) characters and mystery driving the novel forward. Paula Hawkins crafted a fantastic story, and even though its core is quite different from my own work, I felt quite a bit of writing inspirations from the words she wrote.
05 – Sol Invictus (Faith No More)
One of my favorite bands, who had gone radio silent for many years resurfaced in 2015 with a new album, and I’m happy to say it was a fantastic album to boot. The first single “Motherfucker” set the tone, and the entirety of the album was pretty much what I expected from my favorite band. Like with the novel I mentioned above, while there was plenty of music I drew writing inspirations from, this album was really the only one actually released in 2015 that provided me the emotional resonance I needed to keep writing.
04 – The Martian by Andy Weir
Okay, I’m kind of cheating with this one. I would say Andrew Weir’s original novel The Martian was really one of the most inspiring self publishing stories I’ve heard, and I finally read it this year, though the novel itself I believe was actually published in 2011. My cop out to this, however, is that the film was released in 2015, and it’s a fantastic film to boot, so I suppose I can point to that as my true motivational source.
The story of Andy Weir’s rise to best selling author is the kind of thing that many of us dream of, and he’s a smart, great and modest guy to boot. I can’t think of many folks who deserve more success, and the fact that he leveraged a strong knowledge in science into a multi-million dollar publishing and film venture is really motivating to me. It helps that the characters and story kick a whole lot of ass, too.
Check out Part 1 of this Year in Review
Join me tomorrow for the final Part!
The post Top Ten Writing Inspirations of 2015 – Part 2 appeared first on Justin Bell .
December 30, 2015
Top Ten Writing Inspirations of 2015 – Part 1
Looking back at the year that was, 2015 had its share of ups and downs. Early in the year one of my close friends unexpectedly passed away, and near the end of the year I lost a very close family member, two bookends to a year that many would say was best left forgotten. How can writing inspirations be pulled from a year that was so full of emotional issues?
However, 2015 was also the year where I finally became a published novelist, and while navigating the choppy emotional waters proved to be challenging, I tried to focus on some very specific motivational energies to keep me focused and keep me writing.
Inspiration and motivation can come from very unexpected places, and I think I ran the gamut of different things that drove me emotionally throughout the year and kept my fingers attacking the keyboard.
10 – Daredevil on Netflix
I’m a Marvel Comics junkie, though I’ll admit in recent years my love of Marvel has shifted from the comics to the cinematic universe. Every year I look forward to the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Daredevil is one of my all time favorite characters. His 13 episode Netflix series gave us a very layered version of Matt Murdock. He was a driven and focused man who also happens to have extraordinary abilities. I’d like to think many aspects of Murdock could also be found within William Strickland, and the fight choreography in the series had an impact on my writing.
09 – The 2015 Super Bowl
Motivation to write from a sporting event? Like I said, I pull writing inspirations from everywhere. In my household this year, the Super Bowl was a culmination of many different things emotionally. I’m a huge New England Patriots fan, and during the 2014 season my 10 year old daughter starting showing an interest in football as well. We watched many games together throughout the season. She also happens to be a huge Katy Perry fan, so the fact that Katy Perry was the halftime show only added to this special feeling. We spent the majority of the game cheering together which gave me a healthy helping of emotional motivation fueling me to write. I’d say not a whole lot of what I gained from the game ended up in my Operation: Harvest series, but there are plenty of other things in the hopper that were helped by this amazing four hour spectacle from February.
It’s easy to get drawn into the myopic world of sports fandom, but no matter which team you’re a fan of, the chance to share special moments with your children is what these things are all about (at least to me). No amount of “deflategate” jokes will take that moment away.
08 – NaNoWriMo 2015
I’ve written about NaNoWriMo before and the fact that I try not to save my writing just for a single month. That being said I find writing inspirations in this annual tradition and NaNoWriMo this year helped me narrow my focus on my third book and make great progress.
So these were three sources of writing inspirations I found through 2015 that kept me writing and kept me motivated.
Please join me tomorrow for Part 2.
The post Top Ten Writing Inspirations of 2015 – Part 1 appeared first on Justin Bell .
December 17, 2015
What does Star Wars tell us about writing?
If you’re a nerd like me, this week has pretty special meaning. It’s not just that there’s a new Star Wars film coming, I mean after all, we’ve been more or less inundated with Star Wars related media non-stop for the past 20 years.
It’s more the fact that this is the first film sequel that connects directly to the original trilogy, featuring many of the same characters made infamous by those three unique films that captured our imaginations in the late 70s and early 80s.
The Hollywood premier for Episode 7 – The Force Awakens was this week, and already social media is lighting up with positive buzz, a fact that sends a flutter through the hearts of science fiction fanboys and fangirls everywhere.
There are many mixed opinions out there of Star Wars’ effectiveness as a film franchise, but I don’t think anyone can overstate how it impacting both merchandising and the structure of Hollywood film making. The original series of films was far from the first trilogy in cinema, but it became the first series that was actually developed as a trilogy, which made an effort to tell a singular story broken up over three separate films.
So how does this translate into being a writer?
Stephen King is infamous for saying that he never outlines, he pretty much writes by the seat of his pants.
Yeah, that doesn’t work for me. As someone who is in the midst of developing a trilogy, I can’t even fathom of a way to build that story without an outline. I must have a beginning and an end in mind in order to connect the dots, and while I admire guys like Stephen King, it’s just not something I’m mentally capable of. When I first developed the Operation: Harvest trilogy (with Part One on Amazon now and Part Two coming in January) I simply had to know how the story began and ended. I didn’t feel like I could adequately explore the character of William Strickland without knowing the ultimate end game. Is that disingenuous? Does that take away from the character if I know how his entire adventure unfolds? Remove some semblance of spontaneity?
Not in any way, shape or form, in my opinion. Just because I have an outline doesn’t mean I’m strictly regulated to follow it lock, stock, and barrel. I’ve already shifted a lot of things around, even though the core thread of the story remains intact.
I feel like the characters in the trilogy have room to grow, evolve, and change. Just because I know their beginning and end doesn’t somehow remove the trials and tribulations of the middle.
I see Star Wars the same way. It’s evident (to me at least) that not even Lucas himself knew what every adventure in his little corner of Hollywood was going to touch upon. Do you really think he thought Luke and Leia were related when he had them deep kissing in A New Hope? I certainly hope not.
But he knew their beginning, and I’d like to think he knew the ultimate end, and somehow, even with that already decided, there was room for some fun along the way. I only hope the same can eventually be said of my own work.
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December 5, 2015
NanoWriMo 2015 Hangover – what I’m working on
Since I first started working on The Fog of Dreams during NanoWriMo 2013, I’ve been writing almost non-stop. Whether it’s G.I. Joe work for Kindle Worlds, blog posts, short stories or novels, I’ve been writing, writing, and writing some more. I took NanoWriMo 2015 as an opportunity to focus my attention a bit, and I think it worked. I put down a nice amount of work into book 3 of the Operation: Harvest trilogy, as well as plowing through a handful of short stories that are now out for submission.
In my mind, NanoWriMo is a great place to refine attention and a fantastic method for honing your ability to focus on a more goal-oriented mission. But by no means should November be the only month you write. In fact, I think I’ve written more per day in the five days since NanoWriMo ended than I did during the event itself. Go figure.
My current goal is to wrap the first draft of Book 2 of Operation: Harvest – Loose Strands. I’m hoping to get that book out in time for Q1, 2016. I’ve also been working a bit with KAEditing, and it’s possible there may be some rewrites coming for a “2nd edition” of Book One. Some things that could be buttoned up a bit better.
After that, it’s full steam ahead on Book 3, and I still kind of can’t believe I’m 15,000 words into the final installment of Operation: Harvest already. My real problem at this point is that I’ve got three more novel ideas swarming around in my brain and I need to figure out which to focus on next. I suppose that’s a good problem to have.
I hope everyone who participated in NaNoWriMo 2015 had their own share of success, but I also hope anyone who didn’t reach that 50,000 word goal doesn’t consider themselves a failure and doesn’t think their life as an author is now over. Keep at it!
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December 3, 2015
Batman and Superman vs. the Legion of Gloom
So the new Batman vs. Superman trailer hit late last night and where I felt exhilerated and inspired after the Captain America: Civil War trailer, I just felt underwhelmed and “blah” after seeing a couple minutes of footage from Batman vs. Superman.
Keep in mind, I’m one of those folks who actually enjoyed Man of Steel, and who generally enjoys Zach Snyder’s work. There’s a sense of motion and impact with his work, a type of kinetic energy which I usually find pretty exciting. For Batman vs. Superman, though, it just feels grim, gritty, and dirty for no reason.
Batman and Superman are supposed to present two opposite sides of the same coin. Two different ideals in direct contrast, which is why they naturally conflict with each other. In the DC film world, they really aren’t. Superman, just like Batman, is a brooding loner who has been emotionally wounded and isn’t quite sure how to handle his place. In many ways he simply resembles a more powerful version of the same guy Batman is, which makes me wonder why wouldn’t they get along? The conflict seems to come much more from the fact that Superman is powerful and alien rather than he’s a “blue boy scout” who feels somewhat above reproach.
Add that to the fact that Lex Luther’s smarmy chatterbox doesn’t feel like the distinguished, ruthless elder statesman that he’s always been. Doomsday looks to be some weird malformed Zod clone and the entire movie looks as if it’s been filmed under a strange filter of gray. This all adds up to something that feels like it’s taking itself way too seriously and isn’t having nearly enough fun playing with comic book super heroes.
Marvel seems able to balance the fun and the serious nature of the source material. Heck, even the Greg Berlanti helmed DC television shows do it. I’m not sure why the films can’t follow suit.
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November 28, 2015
River – Netflix’s new BBC transplant is a sublime surprise
With Jessica Jones hitting Netflix on November 20th, I figured my binging hit its max, but then when surfing Netflix to look for a decent movie this long weekend, I came across River. It was a surprise, not a series I’d even heard an inkling for, but as a manic fan of most BBC’s police procedurals, I decided I needed to check it out.
River stars Stellan Skarsgard which Marvel Studios fans will recognize as Dr. Erik Selvig from both Thor films and The Avengers. On the surface, this series feels like so many others – emotionally troubled cop trying to solve a murder and struggling with personal demons along the way.
Rest easy, though, River is so much more than that. The titular detective is completely mentally unstable, and the series embraces his fact mincing no words. The cop’s main mental issues seem to stem from hearing the voices (and seeing the faces) of the dead, a fact that plagues him throughout the entire six episode first season and is handled with expertise.
In spite of this, the character of River comes across as immensely likable and approachable, a character you sympathize for and desperately want to see succeed. One minute he’s screaming at thin air, the next minute he’s throwing chairs at some unseen assailant, but all the while you feel for him. Skarsgard’s acting is impeccable, as is all of the surrounding cast. The murder mystery is nicely crafted with a believable solution, and the last ten minutes of this first season were an emotional masterpiece.
Once again the BBC manages to craft a fantastic police story, and I’m thrilled that Netflix continues to port these over and give us all the chance to wallow in their greatness. It’s been a terrific couple of weeks for Netflix, in my mind.
Check out River right here, and prepare yourself for the six episode binge. It’s worth it.
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November 25, 2015
One hundred and fifty seconds of inspiration
Where do I find the inspiration to write?
It changes every day. Today it was this!
Winter Soldier was one of my favorite films of all times (and heavily influenced my fight scene choreography in the upcoming Book Two of my Operation: Harvest series). Civil War looks to be picking up right where it left off!
Great stuff from Marvel Studios.
