Daniel Roy Greenfeld's Blog: Daniel Roy Greenfeld, page 2

Commencing Work on Ambria III

Yesterday I started on the third book of the Ambria series. Today I ended with 3658 words written for the book, which isn't as dramatic a start as the first and second book. Part of the reason for that is that while I'm working on the beginning of Ambria III, I'm cleaning up the end of The River Runs Uphill: Ambria II. The same thing happened with the start of Ambria II, where I had to go back and clean and change material in The Darkest Autumn: Ambria I to make the books work together.

Once things are in place, the words will fly faster and faster. Hopefully, I'll get down 5000 words tomorrow.

Another thing that held me up this weekend was getting the formatting right for the ebooks. As I'm not using a standard tool like Scrivener I have to adjust things on my own. I like doing it, so while it's a diversion from writing, at least it's a pleasant one.

One last thing: tomorrow my cover designer will be getting back to me with an update on the covers. The Darkest Autumn: Ambria I will be lightened and The River Runs Uphill: Ambria II will hopefully be finished enough that I can actually list the book on my site.

Writing for the Sequel is Complete!

Years ago on a cold, rainy day, when I was in my college library, I stumbled across a copy of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Having read his Martian Chronicles and Illustrated Man and liked them somewhat, I thought I ought to give it a try. It was a short book and I figured it would be a way to while away the doldrums of a boring day.

Needless to say, Fahrenheit 451 did more than just chase away boredom. I was sucked in and didn't move from my spot until I finished the whole thing. It's a powerful book that to me is by far Bradbury's best work. When I was done reading the story, I consumed the afterward and learned something that stuck with me until today.

Bradbury explained that he sat in the basement of the UCLA library and finished the first draft in nine days. His publisher, upon reading it, told him to double the size of the draft so they could publish it. So Bradbury spent another nine days in the UCLA library and punched out a literary masterpiece. While editing process took weeks, it nevertheless amazes me that he got it done so quickly. I always thought if I could write so well and so fast, then maybe being an author was in the cards for me.

As of today, seventeen days after I started the sequel to The Darkest Autumn, the first draft is done. Certainly, the book needs to be edited and cleaned up, but what's amazing is that I did over 55,066 words in 17 days or about 3,239 words per day. I can claim I wrote faster than Bradbury! While I did have the advantage of a computer over a typewriter, and it's doubtful my work is anywhere as good as Fahrenheit 451, it's nevertheless reassuring to know that I can at least write faster than him.

It was a rush to finish another book this year. Tomorrow the editing process begins. As for the third book in the series, I'm going to take a break for a few days and let my hands rest up.