David Macinnis Gill's Blog: Thunderchikin Reads, page 27
December 1, 2010
Fast Draft Day 1: 3087 Words
Day 1 of the fast draft of Invisible Sun went as expected. It took about two hours of serious butt in chair time to crank out the words. Not a fasdt pace but not slow, either. About what I expected for the first chapter. Even though I know the characters well, having already written a novel that featured three of them, I had to keep new readers in mind as the events of chapter one unfolded. People who read Black Hole Sun are familiar with Durango's past, his symbiarmor, and Mimi, the poetry-quoting AI, but new readers need to have that relationship established for them. Time has passed since the end of Black Hole Sun, so the story had to allude to those events, too.
I almost finished chapter one today. When I noticed the word count, I stopped mid-sentence, a technique I use to keep the story perking in my imagination when the day's writing is done. Tomorrow, the first order of business is to finish this scene and start chapter 2.
The work so far:
Date/Words/Total
12-1/3087/3087
November 30, 2010
Fast Draft Eve
Today, I'm wallowing in the glory that is social networking and the internet because tomorrow, I get busy with the drafting of Invisible Sun, the sequel to Black Hole Sun (scheduled for release Winter/Spring 2012). While the brainstorming and creation of scenes has gone on for six weeks now, I've yet to actually write any prose. All of the work has been in the form of a modified screenplay, which is how I seem to plot novels these days. Most of the story is in place. I know everything until the turning point, and I know the ending. That leaves second part of the second act still fluid so that there's still a chance to surprise myself.
The real work begins tomorrow. I'll be doing a fast draft, with a goal of finishing a first draft of 60k words on December 20th. My daily goal is 3k words. Because I'm easily distracted by checking Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Novelrank, and googling my name, I'm embargoing an internet connection until the daily quota is met. I'll also keep track of the daily output of words to keep myself honest.
If you see me online before, feel free to ask if I've done my homework yet.
November 18, 2010
My NCTE 2010 Schedule
My NCTE schedule filled up really fast! When I first started attending the conference, I envied the folks who seemed to have a full plate of events. Now, I remember the adage, "Be careful what you wish for.."
I will be signing a total of three times–the two listed below, as well as right after my ALAN panel on Tuesday. Both Black Hole Sun and Soul Enchilada will be available at the Harper booth.
My #ncte10 #alan10 events: Signing at Anderson's Bookstore booth in Ex. Hall. Friday, 11/19, 4PM Booth #234. Come say hi!
My #ncte10 #alan10 events: ALAN Breakfast, Saturday, 11/20 at 7AM Coronado Ballroom H. Let's make waffles! 9:01 PM Nov 15th
My #ncte10 #alan10 events: Signing at HarperCollins booth. Saturday 11/20,10:30am – 11:00am. Booth #821. Both BHS & Soul Enchilada pb 9:05 PM Nov 15th
My #ncte10 #alan10 events: CROSSING SPOON RIVER: THE INTERDISCIPLINARY CEMETERIES PROJECT Session: I.38 – 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm 11/20/2010 9:06 PM Nov 15thMy #ncte10 #alan10 events: Fiesta 6 Ballroom / Coronado Springs Resort, 11/21/2010, 5:30pm. Find me! I'll be wearing #SpeakLoudly button. 9:09 PM Nov 15th
My #ncte10 #alan10 events: ALAN Breakout: "The Perks of Being a Wallflower Writer: How Writing Helps Teens and Tweens…" 11/22, 12:30pm . 9:12 PM Nov 15th
My #ncte10 #alan10 events: ALAN Session: "Searching for Self in a World Gone Wrong" 11/23/2010, 8:50am – 9:30am 9:13 PM Nov 15th
November 9, 2010
What the Story Needs to You to Know
Summer 1977. Southgate Twin theatre, Battlefield Parkway, Fort Oglethorpe, GA. A group of teens sits in a sold out theatre munching dollar popcorn and watching for the first time what will become the world's most famous yellow scroll announce that Star Wars has begun. And what is the first thing it tells us? We're watching Episode Four.
Wha–? Episode Four? What happened to the first three episodes? (we found out 20 years later. We can debate as to whether or not it was worth the wait). That question was quickly followed by others. Who's this Darth Vader guy? What's a Jedi? The Force? A seven-foot walking carpet? Despite our questions, the story told us what we needed to know when we needed to know it.
We left the theatre having enjoyed ourselves, our brains popping with unanswered questions. Like all fan boys, we huddled together, using our collective grey matter to puzzle out possibilities. I still remember reading a fan magazine where the writer suggested that Vader could be Luke's father. Nah. Couldn't be—Obi Wan said he was dead, and Jedi never lie. Right? Right?
Maybe George Lucas read the same magazine. Maybe he had the idea that Star Wars was always Darth Vader's story. Maybe it was still cooking like story soup in the back of Lucas' mind. Either way, I'm glad he didn't tell us everything in Episode Four. Maybe it's just me, but a story is more enjoyable when the movie or book asks me to bring my imagination to the experience.
That's why you won't find much exposition in Black Hole Sun and probably not much more in Invisible Sun. I want the reader to bring her/his imagination along.
Still…
From the fan mail I've gotten, there details of Durango's Mars that some readers are just "dying—do you hear me, DYING!!" to read about. Here's your chance. I'm right this minute working on the first draft of INVISIBLE SUN. The story is still fluid enough to insert some story elements, which is a perfect way to answer those questions. To submit them, just reply to this post, and I'll pick a few at random. Who knows, your questions may inspire the story to move in a totally unimagined direction the way that fan mag moved the story of Star Wars for me.
One thing I can promise: Vader is not Durango's father. Or his mother.
November 3, 2010
School Library Journal Interview
This month's Under Cover section of School Library Journal features an interview with me. It must've been a slow news at SLJ for the editor to pick up the phone and talk to me about Black Hole Sun, samurai, Monty Python, and cursing in seven different languages, but he did, and the world is a better place for it, don't you think? You don't? Me niether. jk. Here's the link to the interview.
The really fun part of the interview as the photo shoot for the photo they always run with the article. In the past people have dressed up as characters from their books. When the photographer, Brownie Harris (who has taken pictures of both JFK Jr and King Kong), suggested I dressed up like Durango, I nixed the idea. Even if I had a suit of symbiarmor lying about, it would not be a good idea to squeeze me into it. Elvis tried that look, and look where it led.
So instead, we went with this:
Photo by Brownie Harris
November 1, 2010
Film Rights for Black Hole Sun Packaged by Transformers' Lorenzo di Bonaventura Pictures
Today brought a ton of great news that's been building for awhile! Publishers Weekly published the announcement that film rights for Black Hole Sun are being packaged by Lorenzo di Bonaventura Pictures! Lorenzo di Bonaventura has produced several huge hits in the last few years, including STARDUST, RED, SALT, and TRANSFORMERS. Their first film was one of my favorites, CONSTANTINE. There's more info about the company on their IMDB profile.
So does that mean that a Black Hole Sun movie is coming soon to a theatre near you? Not that I want to be a wet blanket, but no. The process is in its infancy with almost every detail still to be worked out. If this were a relationship, it would be at the hand-holding stage. Engagement and marriage are still a long way off.
Still, it's fun to think about what the story would look like on the screen. How would Mars be depicted? What do the Draeu look like? Who would play Durango? Vienne? The Queen? Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
Di Bonaventura Pictures
October 26, 2010
Fresh Hints of Life on Mars
For scientists hunting for life on Mars, the new buzzword is methane. In 2003 a group studying the Red Planet saw the spectral signal of methane gas, often a sign of biological activity on Earth. Since then, Michael Mumma, director of NASA's Goddard Center for Astrobiology, has monitored Mars closely. In January he announced his results: Broad plumes of methane emanate from the planet's surface, "fundamentally changing our understanding of Mars."
#21: Fresh Hints of Life on Mars | Extraterrestrial Life | DISCOVER Magazine.
October 16, 2010
Wearable Artificial Intelligence Could Help Astronauts Troll Mars for Signs of Life | Popular Science
Wearable Artificial Intelligence Could Help Astronauts Troll Mars for Signs of Life | Popular Science.
First Mars Landers Might Have Found Organic Material In 1976, and Destroyed It By Accident | Popular Science
First Mars Landers Might Have Found Organic Material In 1976, and Destroyed It By Accident | Popular Science.
Future Mars Colonists Could Learn To Terraform By Studying Darwin's Methods | Popular Science
Future Mars Colonists Could Learn To Terraform By Studying Darwin's Methods | Popular Science.
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