[Guest Post]: Writing “Starfighter Rising” by Daniel Seegmiller

Today on my blog, I’m hosting a science fiction author, Daniel Seegmiller.

Daniel is talking about his debut novel “Starfighter Rising” and the important lessons he’s learned, writing it.

Guest Post

“Hey Babe,” I said to my wife four years ago. “I’m going to write a book called ‘Starfighter’.”

Thus started an adventure which culminated in my self-publishing Starfighter Rising last month, my first novel.

While Starfighter Rising wasn’t the first book I began writing, it was the first book I finished. Like so many authors, I have bits and pieces of many books already written, just waiting to be finished.

With Starfighter Rising, I committed I would finish it no matter how long it took. This is Lesson 1: Commit.

I utterly love the ideation part of writing. I can ride the excitement of initial ideation to 30,000 words for almost any book. It just flows.

Then reality hits.

What comes next? How do I make this into a complete story?

My first attempt at novel writing was a fantasy novel. I woke up with a vivid image in my mind—the full moon shining through the trees upon a woodsman, an ethereal king poised to strike the killing blow above him. That morning, I took a half day off work and rewrote that scene until I was satisfied. Full of passion for the story, I kept writing until I hit 30,000 words. The reality of “oh my goodness, how many words am I planning to write for this book?” set in, and I stopped. I tried to start again multiple times, but the weight of the work to be done was too heavy.

Then Starfighter Rising struck me. Learning from my past experience, I planned in advance. I worked out details. I crafted plots. I thought through my characters.

Once again, right around 30,000 words, I got stuck. Good thing I had committed.

Lesson 2: Write 500 words every day. I realized I couldn’t consistently fit 2,000 words into every day. But if I compiled enough 500 word days, I was guaranteed to have a novel someday. Then I learned this: consistency breeds the compound effect. As momentum built, I averaged more and more words per day until I pounded out more than 12,000 in a few days. And boom—Starfighter Rising was done.

Lesson 3: Storyboard. I write 10 times faster if I slow down and storyboard first. I divide a piece of paper into a 3 x 4 grid of boxes and fill in the boxes with chronological scene sketches. My storyboard lets my focus on writing rather than creating.

Lesson 4: Find something external that inspires your book. For Starfighter Rising, a song by my brother-in-law’s old band painted the story for me. I listened to that song hundreds of times, closing my eyes and envisioning the emotion, the action, the feeling. I turned to that song every time I needed a boost of inspiration. Starfighter Rising’s climatic scene maps directly to the song’s final verses. I have many more stories to write, and all of these are connected to something external—something that keeps the inspiration fresh.

About the Book

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Genre: Science Fiction

Date Published:  17th September 2020 

The enemy wanted him. The galaxy needed him.

Sixty years ago Nolvarics nearly conquered the solar system. They were defeated by starfighters.

Konran dreamed of becoming a starfighter, but he blew his one shot five years ago. Now his life is stuck in neutral as a glorified rock hauler.

He didn’t expect to find Nolvarics lurking within the solar system. They didn’t expect him to survive the confrontation.

Now all eyes are on Konran as he is plunged into a whirlwind of space battles, peril, and conspiracy. The Nolvarics will stop at nothing to catch him, dead or alive.

Can Konran rise up and claim his destiny, or will the galaxy fall?

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About the Author

Daniel Seegmiller grew up loving Star Wars, Mech Warriors, and all things sports. He started out as an English major before switching to his other love, science. He has an MS in mechanical engineering and has worked on everything from biomechanics, to machine learning, to defense technology. 

Daniel loves dreaming up awesome adventures…like, literally, he wakes up in the middle of the night with the best ideas. Most of the stories he writes are for his kids. Starfighter Rising is his debut novel.

He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife and three squirrelly children.  

Contact Links

Website: www.danielseegmiller.com

Facebook: Daniel Seegmiller Author

Twitter: @DanSeegWrites

Goodreads: Daniel Seegmiller

Purchase Link

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2ZkVwJU

Giveaway

Amazon gift card: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/408264011187/