Jason A. Cheek's Blog, page 17
December 8, 2014
There is nothing like experiencing something for real to enhance your writing and an update on Destiny's book cover
Just recently I’ve been working on a chapter for my main chapters, Startüm Ironwolf, that has him being nursed back to life. When he wakes in the chapter he is being taken care of by a Wild Elf and is burning up with a major fever. I was struggling to get the 100% correct feel for the whole scene, but felt like I was missing something to the depth of the struggle he was going through with being sick. I’d been re-working the chapter back and forth several times to get the right feel, when suddenly I came down with a major flu with a burning fever for two days. Wow, let me tell you, there’s nothing like living the experience to be able to accurately write about it. Although in this situation I could have passed on the realness of the feeling to be honest.
For most of my writing I try to do two very important things. I try to picture each and every scene as if I were either there myself, or I do my best to picture the action as if I were watching it on a big screen at the movies. The reason I do this is twofold. First I want to make sure that the action going on is as accurate and realistic as possible. Even for my characters that are not exactly true to life. Startüm Ironwolf is extremely powerful and dense, so whenever action scenes are going on with I do my best to try to take into consideration the true physics of the real world in retrospect to his unique abilities and powers. The second part to this is that I want whatever rules I come up with for my world to be applied consistently throughout the story.
A good “bad” example of this is in the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Although I loved the visual eye candy and choreographed fight scenes, the main issue I had with the movie was that there was no consistency in the amazing feats that the fighters could do. During the major fight scenes the heroine was able to fly through the air, but when the hero, her lover, is dying. The heroine can only find a horse and take the long ride back to the town to get help. This lack of consistency in the rules of the world just made me really dislike an otherwise awesome movie.
A good “good” example of this is the Matrix, one of my all-time favorite movies. Neo is a hacker and he begins to hack the Matrix with his mind. The fight scenes, the upload of data to his mind the extra-physical skills of how the jumpers can bend everyday rules in the world. They all follow a steady theme that stay consistent with the rules that were defined within the world of the film. All of the “cyber-jackers”, the people that jump back into the Matrix, are able to hack the Matrix to a point. Their ability to “hack” allows them to bend the rules so to speak, but all within the overall rules that had been established within the film itself. For me this consistency of the rules of the world is essential in any story.
Maybe this is so important because so many of us like to try to guess what’s going to happen next. I know that’s what I’m doing whenever I’m reading a story. It’s always fun when the author comes up with a twist in the rules that saves the hero, and once it’s shown to me I’m like, “Wow, that was awesome!” On the flip side few things piss me off more when an author pulls out something from their ass that had nothing to do with the story or follows no established rules to save the hero or kill the villain. Even though I can’t think of any off the top of my head, I have no doubt there are a bunch of writers who are using this to good effect and are making money with their works, but no matter what it still just pisses me off whenever I run into a book that does this.
On another subject, I just sent Leo Black an email about getting Destiny’s cover completed. I’m going to do a whole set of blogs on this and the first cover art that I did for Flight, since I think it’s a good topic to cover, but I’ll save more on that for my next post. For now Leo really likes the concept I have for the book cover and things are moving forward.
For most of my writing I try to do two very important things. I try to picture each and every scene as if I were either there myself, or I do my best to picture the action as if I were watching it on a big screen at the movies. The reason I do this is twofold. First I want to make sure that the action going on is as accurate and realistic as possible. Even for my characters that are not exactly true to life. Startüm Ironwolf is extremely powerful and dense, so whenever action scenes are going on with I do my best to try to take into consideration the true physics of the real world in retrospect to his unique abilities and powers. The second part to this is that I want whatever rules I come up with for my world to be applied consistently throughout the story.
A good “bad” example of this is in the movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Although I loved the visual eye candy and choreographed fight scenes, the main issue I had with the movie was that there was no consistency in the amazing feats that the fighters could do. During the major fight scenes the heroine was able to fly through the air, but when the hero, her lover, is dying. The heroine can only find a horse and take the long ride back to the town to get help. This lack of consistency in the rules of the world just made me really dislike an otherwise awesome movie.
A good “good” example of this is the Matrix, one of my all-time favorite movies. Neo is a hacker and he begins to hack the Matrix with his mind. The fight scenes, the upload of data to his mind the extra-physical skills of how the jumpers can bend everyday rules in the world. They all follow a steady theme that stay consistent with the rules that were defined within the world of the film. All of the “cyber-jackers”, the people that jump back into the Matrix, are able to hack the Matrix to a point. Their ability to “hack” allows them to bend the rules so to speak, but all within the overall rules that had been established within the film itself. For me this consistency of the rules of the world is essential in any story.
Maybe this is so important because so many of us like to try to guess what’s going to happen next. I know that’s what I’m doing whenever I’m reading a story. It’s always fun when the author comes up with a twist in the rules that saves the hero, and once it’s shown to me I’m like, “Wow, that was awesome!” On the flip side few things piss me off more when an author pulls out something from their ass that had nothing to do with the story or follows no established rules to save the hero or kill the villain. Even though I can’t think of any off the top of my head, I have no doubt there are a bunch of writers who are using this to good effect and are making money with their works, but no matter what it still just pisses me off whenever I run into a book that does this.
On another subject, I just sent Leo Black an email about getting Destiny’s cover completed. I’m going to do a whole set of blogs on this and the first cover art that I did for Flight, since I think it’s a good topic to cover, but I’ll save more on that for my next post. For now Leo really likes the concept I have for the book cover and things are moving forward.
December 6, 2014
Coming up with a concept for your story
I’ve had many people ask me about how to write. Many of us are really into our genres and have a huge plethora of our own ideas when it comes to story ideas and concepts. In many ways, we are almost experts on our Fantasy or Sci-Fi. Unfortunately when it comes to writing our own stories, the hardest part is coming up with our own concept and where to begin the story.
An example of some of the amazing concepts out there are things like: Jim Butcher and the Dresden Files, the story is about a Wizard private investigator and moves along in certain ways like a typical detective story, but with cool magical creatures and magic stuff to move the story along. Patricia Briggs and the Mercy Thompson series have the heroine starting out as a mechanic that happens to be a shape shifter. The story takes off from there as all of these other magical creatures come into the story while the heroine tries to make a living being a mechanic. P.S. Powers and his infected series, that has superheroes as infected people with a special power and a terrible personality trait that goes with it. His people work as federal agents for the government helping to protect society from the bad infected humans. Richard Raley whose King Henry series have people with special powers that function as mages in his world. The main hero spends his life trying to make a living by creating magical devices and selling to make a living and free himself from being controlled by others.
In the examples I’m using above, these are all Urban Fantasy stories. A concept layered over our current world with a twist, which seems to be quite popular. Not just popular now, but in many ways forever popular. Think of Orson Wells and the Time Machine or Dracula or Frankenstein, it’s all just a twist put over the real world. For me, whether it’s done by science or magic or some pathogen, it’s really all the same. It’s just a twist on reality.
Another part that people make way to complex is coming up with unique abilities for their heroes and heroines. In many ways, this is just as difficult as the coming up with your unique character. Although in many ways it’s one and of the same and most of the stories around us are based off of old Dungeon and Dragons (wizards, clerics, monks, paladins), old mythologies of mythical creatures (vampires, demons, werewolves and such), magic (witches, wizards), superheroes or psychic phenomenon (telepathy, teleportation, telekinesis and such). It still helps to have your own twist to the concept, but if you look at most of the stories around. At their core, the concepts are in many ways the same.
These are some of the main ingredients to creating the world you want for your book, but what makes the story is the characters that you create and their adventure in this world. Hence why it’s so important to know what your character is doing, like in the above examples. It gives your characters a purpose, makes them identifiable to your readers and helps to move along the story.
A good example of this was from a critic complaining that I didn’t turn Startüm into a traveling surfer helping people around the world as he moves to each new location. I figure I can always do that in another series as I discuss Startüm’s early adventures on Earth. It was a great concept and something I can work on in the future. Things like this make a connection to your readers and give a base to tell the story from.
Anyway, I hope this helps in your own writing. Whatever it is that you come up with, go with it even if you don’t have everything figured out. Just starting your basic story opens up your mind to all kinds of things. Connections form just by the need of forming your basic concept and before you know it there is a huge story that almost is created on its own.
An example of some of the amazing concepts out there are things like: Jim Butcher and the Dresden Files, the story is about a Wizard private investigator and moves along in certain ways like a typical detective story, but with cool magical creatures and magic stuff to move the story along. Patricia Briggs and the Mercy Thompson series have the heroine starting out as a mechanic that happens to be a shape shifter. The story takes off from there as all of these other magical creatures come into the story while the heroine tries to make a living being a mechanic. P.S. Powers and his infected series, that has superheroes as infected people with a special power and a terrible personality trait that goes with it. His people work as federal agents for the government helping to protect society from the bad infected humans. Richard Raley whose King Henry series have people with special powers that function as mages in his world. The main hero spends his life trying to make a living by creating magical devices and selling to make a living and free himself from being controlled by others.
In the examples I’m using above, these are all Urban Fantasy stories. A concept layered over our current world with a twist, which seems to be quite popular. Not just popular now, but in many ways forever popular. Think of Orson Wells and the Time Machine or Dracula or Frankenstein, it’s all just a twist put over the real world. For me, whether it’s done by science or magic or some pathogen, it’s really all the same. It’s just a twist on reality.
Another part that people make way to complex is coming up with unique abilities for their heroes and heroines. In many ways, this is just as difficult as the coming up with your unique character. Although in many ways it’s one and of the same and most of the stories around us are based off of old Dungeon and Dragons (wizards, clerics, monks, paladins), old mythologies of mythical creatures (vampires, demons, werewolves and such), magic (witches, wizards), superheroes or psychic phenomenon (telepathy, teleportation, telekinesis and such). It still helps to have your own twist to the concept, but if you look at most of the stories around. At their core, the concepts are in many ways the same.
These are some of the main ingredients to creating the world you want for your book, but what makes the story is the characters that you create and their adventure in this world. Hence why it’s so important to know what your character is doing, like in the above examples. It gives your characters a purpose, makes them identifiable to your readers and helps to move along the story.
A good example of this was from a critic complaining that I didn’t turn Startüm into a traveling surfer helping people around the world as he moves to each new location. I figure I can always do that in another series as I discuss Startüm’s early adventures on Earth. It was a great concept and something I can work on in the future. Things like this make a connection to your readers and give a base to tell the story from.
Anyway, I hope this helps in your own writing. Whatever it is that you come up with, go with it even if you don’t have everything figured out. Just starting your basic story opens up your mind to all kinds of things. Connections form just by the need of forming your basic concept and before you know it there is a huge story that almost is created on its own.
December 2, 2014
Holiday craziness, weihnachtsmarkt's, writing and taking criticism
I wanted to wish everyone a belated Happy Thanksgiving Day, at least for those of you who celebrate it anyways. Now I’m trying to deal with the approaching rush of the holidays, while working and keeping up my writing for Destiny. Also, here in Germany they have Weihnachtsmarkts, which are holiday season open bazars with gluehwein (mulled wine) and “Fair” food. I’m not a big gluehwein fan, but they have this ciderwein that is just awesome. I’ll add in some of the pictures down below with today’s post.
After my first book was published, I’ve had to work with my wife on “when” I’m allowed to write. The plan we came up with is that during the week I am allowed to write at night, but weekends I need to save for the family, including Friday nights usually. Sometimes I sneak in some writing time anyway, but with all of the holiday fun I’ve just been too busy. Also, everyone wants me to bake U.S. style cookies =D I usually do chocolate chips, oatmeal/raisin/cranberry/chocolate chips and peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies throughout the holidays.
I’m still working on that first romance chapter. It’s incredible how hard the whole process is, but it’s starting to sound good. I just find it frustrating that sometimes “regular life” comes into play. With holidays and family time half the week can just be nixed out before you can get back to working on the part you want to finish. Frustrating in one way, but also I’m glad to have the time with the family.
This week I’m going to try to get an email off to Leo Black about working on the cover for book two. Hopefully he can get it done by February or sooner. Last time he really liked the concept and knocked it out much earlier than expected. I just need to see what he thinks of the concept I want to work on for now and see if he thinks it’ll look good or not. He’s a great guy to run ideas past. I think it always helps to be open to suggestions from the artist you’re working with. Just make sure you have a good feel for their work though before going with any artist. Trust is essential to this process.
One of the things I’ve noticed is that it’s very hard for most people to take any criticism. Trust me, I understand how hard it is to hear that something is not as perfect or as good as you thought. Sometimes it can bring you close to tears, but the truth will also set you free … or at least if you listen to it from a good source help to make you into a better writer. You just have to seriously consider what’s being said and be honest with yourself. I say this because sometimes there will be those friends who just simply want to see you fail because for whatever reason they are jealous that you are writing and being successful. It happens, so just be aware of it. Unfortunately that makes it difficult to sometimes know what you need to pay attention too with the feedback you’re getting, henceforth the whole, being honest with yourself. I imagine most writers look at all the feedback they get and then do their best to look into their soul and the quality of their work.
I’ve seen some writers produce a good solid story, but then be unable to accept criticism to get the story cleaned up to be a good end product that people want to read. The worst part is that getting someone to give you “good criticism” is hard as hell. Most people want to not hurt your feelings and even if you beg them to hurt your feelings so that you can improve the story they won’t. Having that friend who is willing to tell you the truth that you need to hear is a rare and wonderful thing to have. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t make it hurt any less to hear the hard truth, but none the less you need to hear it. It’s the only way you’re going to get better. If you fight back or get snippy with this friend who has given you the gift of the truth to help you fix up your writing and story, then next time they are not going to say anything … or they won’t continue telling you what you need to know to get your story ready for production.
So if you’re writing, just remember to cherish these friends who are willing to tell you the truth as they see it. And once you hear it, work to get them to say more and be completely open and supporting. It doesn’t mean you have to change everything, but it’s a good point to work from. Also important is to make sure that if you’re writing a certain genre that the friend is into that type of story. Otherwise, you’re not going to get the criticism you need.
Anyway, I’ll make sure I get two posts in this month at the very least.
After my first book was published, I’ve had to work with my wife on “when” I’m allowed to write. The plan we came up with is that during the week I am allowed to write at night, but weekends I need to save for the family, including Friday nights usually. Sometimes I sneak in some writing time anyway, but with all of the holiday fun I’ve just been too busy. Also, everyone wants me to bake U.S. style cookies =D I usually do chocolate chips, oatmeal/raisin/cranberry/chocolate chips and peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies throughout the holidays.
I’m still working on that first romance chapter. It’s incredible how hard the whole process is, but it’s starting to sound good. I just find it frustrating that sometimes “regular life” comes into play. With holidays and family time half the week can just be nixed out before you can get back to working on the part you want to finish. Frustrating in one way, but also I’m glad to have the time with the family.
This week I’m going to try to get an email off to Leo Black about working on the cover for book two. Hopefully he can get it done by February or sooner. Last time he really liked the concept and knocked it out much earlier than expected. I just need to see what he thinks of the concept I want to work on for now and see if he thinks it’ll look good or not. He’s a great guy to run ideas past. I think it always helps to be open to suggestions from the artist you’re working with. Just make sure you have a good feel for their work though before going with any artist. Trust is essential to this process.
One of the things I’ve noticed is that it’s very hard for most people to take any criticism. Trust me, I understand how hard it is to hear that something is not as perfect or as good as you thought. Sometimes it can bring you close to tears, but the truth will also set you free … or at least if you listen to it from a good source help to make you into a better writer. You just have to seriously consider what’s being said and be honest with yourself. I say this because sometimes there will be those friends who just simply want to see you fail because for whatever reason they are jealous that you are writing and being successful. It happens, so just be aware of it. Unfortunately that makes it difficult to sometimes know what you need to pay attention too with the feedback you’re getting, henceforth the whole, being honest with yourself. I imagine most writers look at all the feedback they get and then do their best to look into their soul and the quality of their work.
I’ve seen some writers produce a good solid story, but then be unable to accept criticism to get the story cleaned up to be a good end product that people want to read. The worst part is that getting someone to give you “good criticism” is hard as hell. Most people want to not hurt your feelings and even if you beg them to hurt your feelings so that you can improve the story they won’t. Having that friend who is willing to tell you the truth that you need to hear is a rare and wonderful thing to have. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t make it hurt any less to hear the hard truth, but none the less you need to hear it. It’s the only way you’re going to get better. If you fight back or get snippy with this friend who has given you the gift of the truth to help you fix up your writing and story, then next time they are not going to say anything … or they won’t continue telling you what you need to know to get your story ready for production.
So if you’re writing, just remember to cherish these friends who are willing to tell you the truth as they see it. And once you hear it, work to get them to say more and be completely open and supporting. It doesn’t mean you have to change everything, but it’s a good point to work from. Also important is to make sure that if you’re writing a certain genre that the friend is into that type of story. Otherwise, you’re not going to get the criticism you need.
Anyway, I’ll make sure I get two posts in this month at the very least.
November 23, 2014
Writing my first romantic scene
Oh crap, did I just say erotica? It’s not what you think, or then again … maybe it is. I guess it depends upon your perspective.
When is a typical relationship scene in a Fantasy or Sci-Fi novel considered romance?
Where is that line?
At what point is the romance line crossed to make a story erotica?
What level of romance/erotica do I want to introduce into my stories?
How does any relationship/romantic/erotic scene add to the overall storyline?
There was never a question of adding relationship/romance/erotica into my stories. Since the stories evolved from dreams that I’ve always had from when I was a young boy, adding romance has always been a part of the plan from day one. While this sounds pretty easy to do, when you start to seriously consider the questions I posted above, this suddenly become something quite difficult to decide where these lines should be drawn. I can’t rely on the horny young boy I was growing up to determine that line, instead I need to re-evaluate how I want to address this subject.
To help with the process I’ve been looking over an email that Elliot Kay gave me on writing romance/erotica tips several months ago. One of his main points was that whenever you stop “fading to black” within your story, anything you write beyond that will always be too much or not enough, depending on who’s reading the story. Another very important point he also made, was how does the sexual scene progress the story and help the plot?
I have been thinking a lot about both of these statements and working on how I want to address my story. The four primary authors I’ve been using to determine how I want to address this have been: Elliot Kay (of course), John Conroe, Jim Butcher and Patricia Briggs. They really do cover quite the spectrum on this subject from the simple “fade to black” technique to the full on erotic wonder that still falls within normal Fantasy/Sci-Fi that is Elliot Kay.
In Destiny, Book two of the Last Paladin Series, I’m introducing the complexity of romantic/sexual relationships with the Main Character, Startüm Ironwolf, and other characters throughout the story. The first thing I had to do when I started to really begin to put this into the story was determine how it helped the plotline. Once I determined how this would help the overall story, I had to work certain building actions within the story itself.
To give out a slight spoiler, this won’t happen until the later part of Book Two, but once I introduce this into the story line, it will be a major part of Books Three and Four.
I’ve spent the last month angling the story to where I want it so that I can have my first romantic/sexual scene, while tweaking other parts of the story to line up some complex relationship issues. Finally I am at the point where I need to put the scene down on paper. This week this aspect of the story will be mainly what I’m writing, with Startüm perspective, which is hard and easy all at the same time. The main problem with Startüm is that presently he is a virgin and a Paladin. So yea, I he’s gonna get his proverbial cherry popped. The scene and the reason why this was going to happen within the story took a lot of work to get everything in place where I wanted it to be. The reasons behind the “why” is very important to me. I guess in this way Elliot Kay has been another good influence to me, but I’m still trying to figure out “how” detailed it will be.
I’ll be writing more on this process as I write it, but thought it was a good topic to address on the blog.
On a personal note work is still crazy as hell. Doing a double HQ move means that, while I’m at work I am so completely overwhelmed there is nothing else I can think about until I’m heading out at the end of the day. I’ve been focusing on leaving “work” at work. I go to the gym for my lunch and then I head home at the end of the day to begin my writing and don’t look back. Mostly I’ve been doing a good job with doing that, but like everything else there is always room for improvement.
Weekends I focus on spending time with the family, cooking, catching up on my shows like: Grimm, Covert Affairs, Forever, The Flash and Arrow. There are a few more that get added to the mix on and off, but for now that’s what I’m watching. Lastly, I like to spend some time with my boys Rowen and Kanchin.
When is a typical relationship scene in a Fantasy or Sci-Fi novel considered romance?
Where is that line?
At what point is the romance line crossed to make a story erotica?
What level of romance/erotica do I want to introduce into my stories?
How does any relationship/romantic/erotic scene add to the overall storyline?
There was never a question of adding relationship/romance/erotica into my stories. Since the stories evolved from dreams that I’ve always had from when I was a young boy, adding romance has always been a part of the plan from day one. While this sounds pretty easy to do, when you start to seriously consider the questions I posted above, this suddenly become something quite difficult to decide where these lines should be drawn. I can’t rely on the horny young boy I was growing up to determine that line, instead I need to re-evaluate how I want to address this subject.
To help with the process I’ve been looking over an email that Elliot Kay gave me on writing romance/erotica tips several months ago. One of his main points was that whenever you stop “fading to black” within your story, anything you write beyond that will always be too much or not enough, depending on who’s reading the story. Another very important point he also made, was how does the sexual scene progress the story and help the plot?
I have been thinking a lot about both of these statements and working on how I want to address my story. The four primary authors I’ve been using to determine how I want to address this have been: Elliot Kay (of course), John Conroe, Jim Butcher and Patricia Briggs. They really do cover quite the spectrum on this subject from the simple “fade to black” technique to the full on erotic wonder that still falls within normal Fantasy/Sci-Fi that is Elliot Kay.
In Destiny, Book two of the Last Paladin Series, I’m introducing the complexity of romantic/sexual relationships with the Main Character, Startüm Ironwolf, and other characters throughout the story. The first thing I had to do when I started to really begin to put this into the story was determine how it helped the plotline. Once I determined how this would help the overall story, I had to work certain building actions within the story itself.
To give out a slight spoiler, this won’t happen until the later part of Book Two, but once I introduce this into the story line, it will be a major part of Books Three and Four.
I’ve spent the last month angling the story to where I want it so that I can have my first romantic/sexual scene, while tweaking other parts of the story to line up some complex relationship issues. Finally I am at the point where I need to put the scene down on paper. This week this aspect of the story will be mainly what I’m writing, with Startüm perspective, which is hard and easy all at the same time. The main problem with Startüm is that presently he is a virgin and a Paladin. So yea, I he’s gonna get his proverbial cherry popped. The scene and the reason why this was going to happen within the story took a lot of work to get everything in place where I wanted it to be. The reasons behind the “why” is very important to me. I guess in this way Elliot Kay has been another good influence to me, but I’m still trying to figure out “how” detailed it will be.
I’ll be writing more on this process as I write it, but thought it was a good topic to address on the blog.
On a personal note work is still crazy as hell. Doing a double HQ move means that, while I’m at work I am so completely overwhelmed there is nothing else I can think about until I’m heading out at the end of the day. I’ve been focusing on leaving “work” at work. I go to the gym for my lunch and then I head home at the end of the day to begin my writing and don’t look back. Mostly I’ve been doing a good job with doing that, but like everything else there is always room for improvement.
Weekends I focus on spending time with the family, cooking, catching up on my shows like: Grimm, Covert Affairs, Forever, The Flash and Arrow. There are a few more that get added to the mix on and off, but for now that’s what I’m watching. Lastly, I like to spend some time with my boys Rowen and Kanchin.
November 17, 2014
The difference between telling a story and explaining a story
I just finished up “King Henry Series” by Richard Raley and was once again reminded the importance of telling a story instead of explaining it to your readers. I’ve been accused of sometimes falling into the category of “explaining”, so it’s something I try to keep an eye on to improve in my own quality of writing. Reading Richard Raley, I was impressed with how good of a job he does with this; definitely someone to get some great ideas to spice up your own writing style with.
The ability to make the reader aware of the traveling that’s taking place, while not having it overtake the story is an art. Richard does this by staying focused on the character’s thoughts and ideas, or even the interaction of the two characters in the car during the drive to the stories new location. Sounds easy until you try writing doing it with your own story, and then suddenly the difficulty sets in. How much time do you focus on the road, the environment, the characters interaction, the car or even the drive itself … finding that balance can be tough for any writer.
This is the same idea for describing your environments or the places your characters find themselves in during the progression of the story. Too much and you have your readers wanting to gouge their eyes out from the boring monotony of every scene within your story, not enough and no one truly understands what’s happening and there is not enough depth to hold the reader’s interest.
My own writing style follows along the path that I create this movie that is running in my head, and my writing focuses on trying to share that experience with you, the reader, as I try to share my impressions in words as to what I’m seeing. The first good example of this that comes to mind is the movie Avatar. Imagine yourself as being the writer as you try to put the movie’s world into words for someone else as you watch the film. How would you explain the incredible unique details of the world? How would you describe the alienness of the creature and characters, while not having it overwhelm your readers in details?
Let me throw another bone at you … Imagine that you are the writer who has been focused on creating this amazing story and have planned and thought out your world into such incredible detail that it lives in your mind. You have a story to tell, but at the same time you want … almost need to give your readers this incredible vision of your world. Unfortunately, many of the details you have so laboriously created doesn’t actually add anything relevant to the actual plotline of the story.
So the question turns into how do you share this with your readers? You do this by talking about the character’s thoughts and feelings, while sharing bits and pieces about the wonders the character sees and experiences … as long as it is relevant to overall story line. That’s the kicker. You actually need to make it relevant to your characters and the story you’re telling. Sometimes there are small parts that you can fit into the story by switching between the known and unknown. You can talk about how the land or what the character sees makes your character feels that helps you share that character’s internal struggle or growth. You can have them think about how odd or different or familiar it is to where they grew up at. You can even have the environment interact with your character in an important way that adds to the overall plotline. However you end up fitting these details into your story, just make sure it’s not too much of a good thing.
I enjoyed Blade Runner, but that intro of the technical marvel of the future made me want to poke my eyes out before the movie ever started. Once it started I loved the plotline and the message, but you had to make it through that freaking almost ten minute intro to enjoy the movie, way too much camera panning for most of us to enjoy. Another good example of this is JRR Tolkien. I loved the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, but sometimes the man could get lost in songs and languages of the different creatures that inhabited his world. Yes I know he was a language professor. Yes I know he actually created fully functional languages for the various species within his world, but honestly I have no desire to learn the languages. Kind of like how I enjoy Star Trek, but have no desire to learn Klingon.
Anyway, things to think about as you’re writing your amazing novels.
The ability to make the reader aware of the traveling that’s taking place, while not having it overtake the story is an art. Richard does this by staying focused on the character’s thoughts and ideas, or even the interaction of the two characters in the car during the drive to the stories new location. Sounds easy until you try writing doing it with your own story, and then suddenly the difficulty sets in. How much time do you focus on the road, the environment, the characters interaction, the car or even the drive itself … finding that balance can be tough for any writer.
This is the same idea for describing your environments or the places your characters find themselves in during the progression of the story. Too much and you have your readers wanting to gouge their eyes out from the boring monotony of every scene within your story, not enough and no one truly understands what’s happening and there is not enough depth to hold the reader’s interest.
My own writing style follows along the path that I create this movie that is running in my head, and my writing focuses on trying to share that experience with you, the reader, as I try to share my impressions in words as to what I’m seeing. The first good example of this that comes to mind is the movie Avatar. Imagine yourself as being the writer as you try to put the movie’s world into words for someone else as you watch the film. How would you explain the incredible unique details of the world? How would you describe the alienness of the creature and characters, while not having it overwhelm your readers in details?
Let me throw another bone at you … Imagine that you are the writer who has been focused on creating this amazing story and have planned and thought out your world into such incredible detail that it lives in your mind. You have a story to tell, but at the same time you want … almost need to give your readers this incredible vision of your world. Unfortunately, many of the details you have so laboriously created doesn’t actually add anything relevant to the actual plotline of the story.
So the question turns into how do you share this with your readers? You do this by talking about the character’s thoughts and feelings, while sharing bits and pieces about the wonders the character sees and experiences … as long as it is relevant to overall story line. That’s the kicker. You actually need to make it relevant to your characters and the story you’re telling. Sometimes there are small parts that you can fit into the story by switching between the known and unknown. You can talk about how the land or what the character sees makes your character feels that helps you share that character’s internal struggle or growth. You can have them think about how odd or different or familiar it is to where they grew up at. You can even have the environment interact with your character in an important way that adds to the overall plotline. However you end up fitting these details into your story, just make sure it’s not too much of a good thing.
I enjoyed Blade Runner, but that intro of the technical marvel of the future made me want to poke my eyes out before the movie ever started. Once it started I loved the plotline and the message, but you had to make it through that freaking almost ten minute intro to enjoy the movie, way too much camera panning for most of us to enjoy. Another good example of this is JRR Tolkien. I loved the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, but sometimes the man could get lost in songs and languages of the different creatures that inhabited his world. Yes I know he was a language professor. Yes I know he actually created fully functional languages for the various species within his world, but honestly I have no desire to learn the languages. Kind of like how I enjoy Star Trek, but have no desire to learn Klingon.
Anyway, things to think about as you’re writing your amazing novels.
November 11, 2014
A quick update on book two and stuff, always extra stuff with me
For those of you who have been asking, book two is coming along great. I believe I’ll have the story written out before the end of this year, but then we are talking Christmas Holidays, my wife’s family visiting and all that other fun. I’m hoping that the editing will only take a month or two, so that puts release sometime in February or early March. I wish it could be sooner, but sometimes that’s how it goes.
I just realized I’ll be sending an email to Leo Black to see if he can start working on the cover art now for book two. It’s on the complex side, so I want the time to tweak the specifics out with him and hopefully give him enough time to have the cover finished for my production date. The good thing is that I’ve done the whole “Amazon Publishing” before, so that should move along pretty fast. It’s just the editing that is my major concern, since it’s all volunteer help from the English teachers at my job who have offered to help.
One of the things I try to focus on is being centered and present every day. Normally this works out pretty good for me, but sometimes life’s issues can pull you down. At those times I unfortunately bring my “shit” home with me, which is bad all around. Stress is a mind fuck. Luckily, I’m pretty good at getting myself back on track. Work needs to be left at work, no matter how much there is to do.
I’ve been reading the “Foul Mouth” series from Richard Raley, super cool story and incredible writing. Don’t let the horrible cover work throw you off from picking the story up to check it out. It’s really worth the read. My Australian mate, Richard, told me about the series, and although he has great taste in books, the damn covers kept throwing me off. I finally read the series … or I’m reading the series, a new book every day. Yea they are that good.
I’m not sure if anyone from the blog has joined the Winter Gaming group I posted about earlier. So far it’s been going well. I’ve been playing Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. I have a Paladin, of course, and a Death Knight on the server. Pally’s low level, the DK is mid level … names are Darknovia or Darkdealer, the Server is Hyjal. I’m still not the gamer I was before. I guess I have too much life I’m busy living. I remember how cool it was to explore the digital worlds I would play in and to see the areas many people never made it to and thinking how cool that was, why would I want to travel IRL? Yet now after traveling around the world, I have to say traveling IRL is pretty awesome. Either way I’ve been enjoying hanging out some within the digital world.
For those of you who have it, I hope you enjoy your day off for Veteran’s Day. Although this is an American Holiday, it’s really a day for those of us living to remember the sacrifices of those that laid their lives down so that the world could be a better place. Being ex-military and also with my current job, this day hits close to home for me, but I’m sure most of us have lost a loved one to war. It is a good of day to remember your loved ones and their sacrifice.
One last thing I wanted to leave with you. My bud sent me this link: Patrick Rothfuss’ response to academic snobbery. For those of you who keep up with my blog you know how much I hate “academic snobbery” overall, just another type of bullying. Hope you enjoy. Now back to writing and listening to my Halo sound tracks =D
I just realized I’ll be sending an email to Leo Black to see if he can start working on the cover art now for book two. It’s on the complex side, so I want the time to tweak the specifics out with him and hopefully give him enough time to have the cover finished for my production date. The good thing is that I’ve done the whole “Amazon Publishing” before, so that should move along pretty fast. It’s just the editing that is my major concern, since it’s all volunteer help from the English teachers at my job who have offered to help.
One of the things I try to focus on is being centered and present every day. Normally this works out pretty good for me, but sometimes life’s issues can pull you down. At those times I unfortunately bring my “shit” home with me, which is bad all around. Stress is a mind fuck. Luckily, I’m pretty good at getting myself back on track. Work needs to be left at work, no matter how much there is to do.
I’ve been reading the “Foul Mouth” series from Richard Raley, super cool story and incredible writing. Don’t let the horrible cover work throw you off from picking the story up to check it out. It’s really worth the read. My Australian mate, Richard, told me about the series, and although he has great taste in books, the damn covers kept throwing me off. I finally read the series … or I’m reading the series, a new book every day. Yea they are that good.
I’m not sure if anyone from the blog has joined the Winter Gaming group I posted about earlier. So far it’s been going well. I’ve been playing Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. I have a Paladin, of course, and a Death Knight on the server. Pally’s low level, the DK is mid level … names are Darknovia or Darkdealer, the Server is Hyjal. I’m still not the gamer I was before. I guess I have too much life I’m busy living. I remember how cool it was to explore the digital worlds I would play in and to see the areas many people never made it to and thinking how cool that was, why would I want to travel IRL? Yet now after traveling around the world, I have to say traveling IRL is pretty awesome. Either way I’ve been enjoying hanging out some within the digital world.
For those of you who have it, I hope you enjoy your day off for Veteran’s Day. Although this is an American Holiday, it’s really a day for those of us living to remember the sacrifices of those that laid their lives down so that the world could be a better place. Being ex-military and also with my current job, this day hits close to home for me, but I’m sure most of us have lost a loved one to war. It is a good of day to remember your loved ones and their sacrifice.
One last thing I wanted to leave with you. My bud sent me this link: Patrick Rothfuss’ response to academic snobbery. For those of you who keep up with my blog you know how much I hate “academic snobbery” overall, just another type of bullying. Hope you enjoy. Now back to writing and listening to my Halo sound tracks =D
November 5, 2014
For some of us grammar / editing will always be an issue
No matter hard you try there are those of us that are great with catching grammar mistakes, and those of us that suck at catching grammar mistakes. For those of you new to my blog, I’m of the later group. Given enough time and resources I can do okay at corrections. Although practice helps, it doesn’t make those of us without the grammar correction gene perfect.
As a friend of my recently pointed out, I’m especially bad on nights where I wait to the last minute to write out my blog and post just before I crash past my bedtime. That’s just bad juju all around, which is why I’m starting to prepare my post a day early. Being tired and posting on your blog is almost as bad as drunken texting.
It helps to have friends that can go back over and read the stuff you’re writing, but even then things are missed. For my book I use http://ed.grammarly.com/editor/view and lots of friends help. For book two I have a couple English teachers that have offered to give me a hand with the editing. Think about your high school English teacher and her red marker pen. I’ll be thankful but feel like I’m sixteen all over again. I always find it interesting when reviewers question why a professional editor wasn’t used for a new Indy Writer’s work. Not that I don’t understand the question. It seems like an easy enough fix, but the price tag associated with a professional editor for an Indy Writer makes it very difficult to be able to afford in the beginning … or at all if your stories doesn’t attract enough readers.
I should probably use grammarly.com before I post to my blog. There free sample page is easy enough to use, I just need to start making the time to use it. I find myself more motivated to make the time after being called out by my friend yesterday though.
For now it seems like my weak point in my writing. I’ve had enough good reviews to feel confident enough in my writing skills and my general story creation abilities. Book two is coming alone great, and I feel like I have a good plan of action for the editing side. English Teachers red markers for the win =D
For those fellow writers just starting out, you can do the majority of this clean-up on your own with tools like grammarly.com and the blood, sweat and tears of going over your own work again and again with a fine tooth comb. You will re-read your story a good twenty to thirty times just trying to smooth out all of the rough edges and grammar issues, and then do it again after your friends help you with the mistakes that they find. Even then you’ll miss a bunch of stuff, that’s just the way it is. Hell, I’ve seen enough professional works with grammar issues through the novel. It’s just the way it is.
No matter how annoying and aggravating this part of publishing your own novel is, don’t skimp on this part. You’ll hate yourself once the negative grammar reviews start coming in. especially if your story is good, but you’re getting bashed for not having a professionally edited product.
As a friend of my recently pointed out, I’m especially bad on nights where I wait to the last minute to write out my blog and post just before I crash past my bedtime. That’s just bad juju all around, which is why I’m starting to prepare my post a day early. Being tired and posting on your blog is almost as bad as drunken texting.
It helps to have friends that can go back over and read the stuff you’re writing, but even then things are missed. For my book I use http://ed.grammarly.com/editor/view and lots of friends help. For book two I have a couple English teachers that have offered to give me a hand with the editing. Think about your high school English teacher and her red marker pen. I’ll be thankful but feel like I’m sixteen all over again. I always find it interesting when reviewers question why a professional editor wasn’t used for a new Indy Writer’s work. Not that I don’t understand the question. It seems like an easy enough fix, but the price tag associated with a professional editor for an Indy Writer makes it very difficult to be able to afford in the beginning … or at all if your stories doesn’t attract enough readers.
I should probably use grammarly.com before I post to my blog. There free sample page is easy enough to use, I just need to start making the time to use it. I find myself more motivated to make the time after being called out by my friend yesterday though.
For now it seems like my weak point in my writing. I’ve had enough good reviews to feel confident enough in my writing skills and my general story creation abilities. Book two is coming alone great, and I feel like I have a good plan of action for the editing side. English Teachers red markers for the win =D
For those fellow writers just starting out, you can do the majority of this clean-up on your own with tools like grammarly.com and the blood, sweat and tears of going over your own work again and again with a fine tooth comb. You will re-read your story a good twenty to thirty times just trying to smooth out all of the rough edges and grammar issues, and then do it again after your friends help you with the mistakes that they find. Even then you’ll miss a bunch of stuff, that’s just the way it is. Hell, I’ve seen enough professional works with grammar issues through the novel. It’s just the way it is.
No matter how annoying and aggravating this part of publishing your own novel is, don’t skimp on this part. You’ll hate yourself once the negative grammar reviews start coming in. especially if your story is good, but you’re getting bashed for not having a professionally edited product.
November 3, 2014
The Fun of updating my printed edition with amazon part two
So after going through the whole process of making the numerous corrections needed on my printed edition of Flight. I uploaded the new file to Amazon, which is where this current blog post beings. Unlike ebooks, I found out you can’t just update your current printed book copy that’s being distributed on Amazon. Instead you have to relist the new printed revision as if you were doing a newly published book.
After going through this process, in my opinion you might as well consider it a new book, whether or not it’s the same edition or not. The reason I say this is because of these things: First, you have to get a new ISBN or ASIN. Second, you have to completely re-create a new profile for the book as if it was a new novel. Third, the book now shows up on Amazon as a separate book. Fourth, even though the new book edition has the same name as your original book and it’s listed as the next edition, this doesn’t mean Amazon automatically removes the old version and just puts this book in its place. No, you have to ask Amazon to remove the first edition and make it no longer published. Lastly, you have to go through the process of getting all your reviews and listing properly setup once again.
This last part is tricky and much more complicated then I would have initially thought. The reviews for the first edition of your book are actually tied to the book itself. When Amazon unpublished the previous edition, all of the reviews that people left for that version of your novel are removed too. You have to ask Amazon to put back the reviews for your book, relist your new printed edition as the current paperback book and link it back with your ebook and audio book.
I learned this the hard way directly from Amazon when I realized my new edition wasn’t listed. Upon discussing this with their Service Desk the representative explained that I would have to have the first edition unpublished and said they would assist me with this process. Unfortunately this didn’t mean all of these little things were caught by the representative. I would have thought this would have been a built in process for setting up a new edition, but obviously this is not the case. Instead, I learned each of these parts while working with the Service Desk over the next two days.
Even now, four days later, I still only have 31 out of my 44 reviews being listed. I can’t even begin to tell you how frustrating that is. For those of you who don’t know, getting any reviews are hard and getting positive reviews are even harder. Most people who like a story buy the book and then say “Hey that was awesome, can’t wait for book two.” and then go on to the next book. A handful of people say, “Hey that book sucked and write a scathing review.”, while a very small handful say, “Hey that book was great, I’m going to let people know how much I enjoyed reading it.” So for us writers, these reviews, especially the good ones, are priceless. These reviews are not just priceless for the fact that it helps improve our writing and lets us know how we are doing. It also helps more people get interested in our books and encourages more readers to check us out, which in the end means more books get written =D
While for many of us Indie Writers, the printed edition might not mean much, because we tend to sell so few in comparison to our ebooks and audio books. It does become an issue if we need to share our story with a news paper, professional reviewer or a friend that wants to buy our book as a gift for a friend or family member. Suddenly, that bad grammar edition that you fixed up six months ago is being share out in all of its unfinished and embarrassing glory. I discovered this firsthand when a couple friends said they wanted to buy my book as a gift for their husband or wife. All of a sudden that forgotten printed book takes on a whole new level of importance. Thankfully I had just received my second edition prints when a reporter from the Stars and Stripes asked for a copy of my novel for a story they were working on for local writers that support the troops.
Anyway, it’s very late and way past my bed time. Although before I call it a night I’ll share some pictures my wife took on Sunday.
After going through this process, in my opinion you might as well consider it a new book, whether or not it’s the same edition or not. The reason I say this is because of these things: First, you have to get a new ISBN or ASIN. Second, you have to completely re-create a new profile for the book as if it was a new novel. Third, the book now shows up on Amazon as a separate book. Fourth, even though the new book edition has the same name as your original book and it’s listed as the next edition, this doesn’t mean Amazon automatically removes the old version and just puts this book in its place. No, you have to ask Amazon to remove the first edition and make it no longer published. Lastly, you have to go through the process of getting all your reviews and listing properly setup once again.
This last part is tricky and much more complicated then I would have initially thought. The reviews for the first edition of your book are actually tied to the book itself. When Amazon unpublished the previous edition, all of the reviews that people left for that version of your novel are removed too. You have to ask Amazon to put back the reviews for your book, relist your new printed edition as the current paperback book and link it back with your ebook and audio book.
I learned this the hard way directly from Amazon when I realized my new edition wasn’t listed. Upon discussing this with their Service Desk the representative explained that I would have to have the first edition unpublished and said they would assist me with this process. Unfortunately this didn’t mean all of these little things were caught by the representative. I would have thought this would have been a built in process for setting up a new edition, but obviously this is not the case. Instead, I learned each of these parts while working with the Service Desk over the next two days.
Even now, four days later, I still only have 31 out of my 44 reviews being listed. I can’t even begin to tell you how frustrating that is. For those of you who don’t know, getting any reviews are hard and getting positive reviews are even harder. Most people who like a story buy the book and then say “Hey that was awesome, can’t wait for book two.” and then go on to the next book. A handful of people say, “Hey that book sucked and write a scathing review.”, while a very small handful say, “Hey that book was great, I’m going to let people know how much I enjoyed reading it.” So for us writers, these reviews, especially the good ones, are priceless. These reviews are not just priceless for the fact that it helps improve our writing and lets us know how we are doing. It also helps more people get interested in our books and encourages more readers to check us out, which in the end means more books get written =D
While for many of us Indie Writers, the printed edition might not mean much, because we tend to sell so few in comparison to our ebooks and audio books. It does become an issue if we need to share our story with a news paper, professional reviewer or a friend that wants to buy our book as a gift for a friend or family member. Suddenly, that bad grammar edition that you fixed up six months ago is being share out in all of its unfinished and embarrassing glory. I discovered this firsthand when a couple friends said they wanted to buy my book as a gift for their husband or wife. All of a sudden that forgotten printed book takes on a whole new level of importance. Thankfully I had just received my second edition prints when a reporter from the Stars and Stripes asked for a copy of my novel for a story they were working on for local writers that support the troops.
Anyway, it’s very late and way past my bed time. Although before I call it a night I’ll share some pictures my wife took on Sunday.
November 1, 2014
Interesting research for writing the last quarter of book two, destiny
This week I spent a lot of time catching up to speed on military tactics and deployment for the United States and NATO so that the ending of Book 2 would be that much more accurate for the part of the story I’m writing about earth. I don’t want to list any spoilers here, but I can say that I’ve been studying the make-up and deployment of US carrier strike groups, the make-up and deployment of the US Six Fleet, the various current carriers and other ships being deployed around the world, the carrier wings strike groups and their equipment, Seal Teams organization and deployment and the US Rangers. All of these things will be a part of the final story in book two and will precede through books three and four.
I’ve also have been bending my co-workers ear. Allen is an ex-tanker during the Afghanistan war who has been discussing different military slang and terminology. I have a bunch of this myself from my own time in the service, but it’s always good to catch up on the newest slang. Allen is recently out, while I’ve been out of the Army for quite a while. I need to give one other buddy of mine a call. He is ex-special forces, an incredible man that worked his way up from the lower ranks to retire as a Lieutenant Colonel. Looking at him you would never think he could kill you in fifty different ways and is a walking weapon. I haven’t Okayed it with him, but I’m stealing his character for book two…or at least my made up character that has been spiced up that is using his name. Hopefully he’ll say yes and let me use his name for the character. Otherwise I’ll just come up with another name, but still base it off of him.
I was also looking up some of the different gaming stories for some of the military interaction, but as I was checking out how the various popular video games have done their story lines, I was somewhat disappointed with the quality of the stories based on real military life. I’m shooting for somewhere in-between this idea of what people expect and the reality of military service.
Either way I’ve finally got all of the pieces mentally in place, the unit structures and organizations to make the military aspect sound believable and the main characters ready to go in my mind. All of this part of the Larissa Evan’s story line. One slight spoiler about this part of the story is … think of the movie “Stargate”.
Anyway, I’m really excited about writing this part of the story line and it’s been really interesting going over all of the information in regards to IRL fleet and unit deployments and movements. It just makes me that much more excited to write the story.
Once again I apologize for the late post. I have a good month left of work hell to deal with the specifics of the move of my organization. The good thing is that I’m gaining two hours back to my day due to not having to drive so long, but it seems like I have no time during the day to think of anything else until I walk out the door to head home.
I’ve also have been bending my co-workers ear. Allen is an ex-tanker during the Afghanistan war who has been discussing different military slang and terminology. I have a bunch of this myself from my own time in the service, but it’s always good to catch up on the newest slang. Allen is recently out, while I’ve been out of the Army for quite a while. I need to give one other buddy of mine a call. He is ex-special forces, an incredible man that worked his way up from the lower ranks to retire as a Lieutenant Colonel. Looking at him you would never think he could kill you in fifty different ways and is a walking weapon. I haven’t Okayed it with him, but I’m stealing his character for book two…or at least my made up character that has been spiced up that is using his name. Hopefully he’ll say yes and let me use his name for the character. Otherwise I’ll just come up with another name, but still base it off of him.
I was also looking up some of the different gaming stories for some of the military interaction, but as I was checking out how the various popular video games have done their story lines, I was somewhat disappointed with the quality of the stories based on real military life. I’m shooting for somewhere in-between this idea of what people expect and the reality of military service.
Either way I’ve finally got all of the pieces mentally in place, the unit structures and organizations to make the military aspect sound believable and the main characters ready to go in my mind. All of this part of the Larissa Evan’s story line. One slight spoiler about this part of the story is … think of the movie “Stargate”.
Anyway, I’m really excited about writing this part of the story line and it’s been really interesting going over all of the information in regards to IRL fleet and unit deployments and movements. It just makes me that much more excited to write the story.
Once again I apologize for the late post. I have a good month left of work hell to deal with the specifics of the move of my organization. The good thing is that I’m gaining two hours back to my day due to not having to drive so long, but it seems like I have no time during the day to think of anything else until I walk out the door to head home.
October 28, 2014
One Important way to improve your writing
This was recently a point that came to mind when my day job kicked into overdrive and I found myself putting in long hours every night for the last two weeks. Normally I write a little bit every night without fail, but this last two weeks it simply wasn’t possible to write when I came home. Mostly I just did a couple things to prepare for bed and then passed out. You’d think that two weeks of not writing wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but as I found out Monday night when I finally sat back to write I could feel the difference.
Similar to the three months I took to correct the grammar and editing issues of book one, Flight. In-between finishing up book one and beginning book two I had a hard time sitting down to begin the story up again. I kind of wished I hadn’t put so much focus on making the corrections to book one. It would have been better if I balanced my time between correcting the mistakes on book one and still writing a little bit every night on book two. Making corrections and tweaking paragraphs are not the same as creating new content. Another important point I wish I’d heard ahead of time, which is why I’m pointing that out here.
If you read any of the writers’ forums or many writer blogs you will hear 300 as being the magic number of words you should write every night. It might sound like a lot, but normally once you get into the groove that is an easy number to surpass. At least on most nights it is. Some nights I’ll be working on a specifically tough piece which takes me longer to put down on paper, but in many ways it’s a good measurement of what you should aim to do nightly. Generally if you follow the advice you’ll have your story finished one way or another.
Even though I spend a lot of time making sure I work on various aspects of the story line in my head while I’m driving, or stuck in traffic like I was yesterday for an extra hour on the way home. Everything you do ahead of time to plan out where you want the story to be going helps to keep in sync so that when you sit down you’re ready to actually put some words down on paper.
Tuesdays are supposed to be my World of Warcraft night. Although the Winter Gaming Group isn’t supposed to officially start up until November 17th or so, some of us from my work were playing ahead of time. After the last two weeks, to be honest all that I want to do is curl up with a cup of coffee, my furry blanket and a cup of coffee to get some good writing time in.
Similar to the three months I took to correct the grammar and editing issues of book one, Flight. In-between finishing up book one and beginning book two I had a hard time sitting down to begin the story up again. I kind of wished I hadn’t put so much focus on making the corrections to book one. It would have been better if I balanced my time between correcting the mistakes on book one and still writing a little bit every night on book two. Making corrections and tweaking paragraphs are not the same as creating new content. Another important point I wish I’d heard ahead of time, which is why I’m pointing that out here.
If you read any of the writers’ forums or many writer blogs you will hear 300 as being the magic number of words you should write every night. It might sound like a lot, but normally once you get into the groove that is an easy number to surpass. At least on most nights it is. Some nights I’ll be working on a specifically tough piece which takes me longer to put down on paper, but in many ways it’s a good measurement of what you should aim to do nightly. Generally if you follow the advice you’ll have your story finished one way or another.
Even though I spend a lot of time making sure I work on various aspects of the story line in my head while I’m driving, or stuck in traffic like I was yesterday for an extra hour on the way home. Everything you do ahead of time to plan out where you want the story to be going helps to keep in sync so that when you sit down you’re ready to actually put some words down on paper.
Tuesdays are supposed to be my World of Warcraft night. Although the Winter Gaming Group isn’t supposed to officially start up until November 17th or so, some of us from my work were playing ahead of time. After the last two weeks, to be honest all that I want to do is curl up with a cup of coffee, my furry blanket and a cup of coffee to get some good writing time in.
