Just thought I would let everyone know - I've started editing Peacekeeper. I've moved chapter 1 and it is now a re-written chapter 2. The new chapter 1 introduces the main character and sets the story rolling better. I had to do the re-write to make the actions of the 'bad guys' consistent. I guess it really does help to set a manuscript aside for 6 weeks.
It's late and I'm going to keep this entry very short - until next time...
2013-05-07
05-07-2013: The numbers just didn't add up
My forced absence from Peacekeeper may have resulted in some benefits. Even though I'm not writing or editing I've been constantly going over the entire story line in my head nearly every day. A few days ago, I woke up to find that my subconscious had uncovered a rather major flaw that will require some significant rewriting of the last half of the book. To me, the numbers have to be believable and if anyone bothered to think about it they would have found the error. It must be corrected.
I don't want to give away too many of the details but here is the gist of what happened: A group of humans have left Earth to form a colony of their own. Starting population was set at around 45,000. Zoom ahead 50 years where Peacekeeper takes place and this small population has somehow managed to build a fleet of warships. Now here's where the numbers don't add up. If you take the number of supposed warships and multiply it by the assumed crew-size of each ship and add the number of people required for support you quickly discover that the population must have been rising at an incredible rate. Everything about this from the starting population to the size of the fleet to the conditions on their new planet has to be revised. I've got it worked out and doing the editing shouldn't be too hard.
I will also be altering some of the books events to bring everything into focus. So when can I start editing? Soon! The nuclear plant I work at has experienced a minor setback that will take about 4 days to correct. If all goes well, I will be back to a normal work schedule starting May 13. I won't be able to start editing though until May 17 when I have my first of three days off in a row. If you're an author with a full-time day-job you might be wondering why I don't steal a few minutes here and there at work to work on the book. Several reasons: I barely have enough time to eat my lunch and many times while eating I'm reviewing my next job; What little free time I do have usually happens in the morning and since I eat breakfast these days at the plant I can't eat and type at the same time - so I read; I use Scrivener and running it from a portable hard drive would violate my company's cyber-security rules.
What about editing on my one day off? Sorry, that day belongs to my wife. I could try editing in the morning but that would mean 6 days between editing sessions. Won't do it because the continuity of thought would not be there and it would show in the manuscript. I tried that when writing and you could almost see when each day's writing session began. A break of a few days is okay after 3 or 4 days of writing each day but not one day on, six days off. Peacekeeper will be my priority once I can start editing again and I will stick to it until it's complete and ready for publication.
Thanks for waiting.
I don't want to give away too many of the details but here is the gist of what happened: A group of humans have left Earth to form a colony of their own. Starting population was set at around 45,000. Zoom ahead 50 years where Peacekeeper takes place and this small population has somehow managed to build a fleet of warships. Now here's where the numbers don't add up. If you take the number of supposed warships and multiply it by the assumed crew-size of each ship and add the number of people required for support you quickly discover that the population must have been rising at an incredible rate. Everything about this from the starting population to the size of the fleet to the conditions on their new planet has to be revised. I've got it worked out and doing the editing shouldn't be too hard.
I will also be altering some of the books events to bring everything into focus. So when can I start editing? Soon! The nuclear plant I work at has experienced a minor setback that will take about 4 days to correct. If all goes well, I will be back to a normal work schedule starting May 13. I won't be able to start editing though until May 17 when I have my first of three days off in a row. If you're an author with a full-time day-job you might be wondering why I don't steal a few minutes here and there at work to work on the book. Several reasons: I barely have enough time to eat my lunch and many times while eating I'm reviewing my next job; What little free time I do have usually happens in the morning and since I eat breakfast these days at the plant I can't eat and type at the same time - so I read; I use Scrivener and running it from a portable hard drive would violate my company's cyber-security rules.
What about editing on my one day off? Sorry, that day belongs to my wife. I could try editing in the morning but that would mean 6 days between editing sessions. Won't do it because the continuity of thought would not be there and it would show in the manuscript. I tried that when writing and you could almost see when each day's writing session began. A break of a few days is okay after 3 or 4 days of writing each day but not one day on, six days off. Peacekeeper will be my priority once I can start editing again and I will stick to it until it's complete and ready for publication.
Thanks for waiting.
2013-04-23
4-23-2013: A lot of thinking but no writing
I've been doing a lot of thinking about Peacekeeper, unfortunately, that's all I've been able to do. There is a light starting to form at the end of this long dark tunnel though. I work at a nuclear power plant that has been shutdown for refueling. That means I work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. The plant has historically run way over on their outages but this one actually looks like it might come in fairly close to the original schedule. The reactor is nearly refueled and the rest of the plant that had been taken apart is being put back together. Final testing is being done on many systems and they are predicting plant startup this Saturday. While most of the plant rolls back to their normal schedule, my section will remain on 12's for another week after startup begins. I'm an instrumentation technician and we have to be around to assist the operators as they bring the plant up to full power. I should start having some days off in another couple weeks. I certainly hope so because the itch to write and edit is becoming nearly impossible to resist.
I have had time to think about the story though. One of my characters (Sorbith) who also appears in Chroniech is described as being a Saulquin. Do to an intentional oversight on my part, I've never described what a Saulquin looks like other than saying they are humanoid in appearance. That's because I've never sat down to come up with a description of the race. That is now my next mental priority. I should have a full description of what he looks like and what his culture is like by the time I start writing again. I did manage to up my own knowledge on Rouldian culture. This is the type of information I hope to use in Peacekeeper as well as in future GA books. Getting to know an alien culture is something several people have asked me about. What I don't put into the novels will appear in the GATRM (Galactic Alliance Technical Reference Manual) which is a living document available on my website. I will mention updates here in my blog.
I did try writing and editing the last few weeks while working these long hours - didn't work. That's why I'm writing this blog entry now instead of writing even though I desperately want to lock myself in the room and write all day. I could do that, but then I might not be married much longer.
On a completely unrelated note - Spring has finally established a beachhead and appears to be winning the battle against Winter. A few days ago it hit 85, but Winter rallied its forces and attacked causing the temperature to plunge back down to 27 thirty-six hours later. But Spring called in the reserves and has been steadily gaining ground. Winter is retreating, but it's still putting up a fight.
Have patience - work on Peacekeeper will resume as soon as possible. I will keep you posted.
I have had time to think about the story though. One of my characters (Sorbith) who also appears in Chroniech is described as being a Saulquin. Do to an intentional oversight on my part, I've never described what a Saulquin looks like other than saying they are humanoid in appearance. That's because I've never sat down to come up with a description of the race. That is now my next mental priority. I should have a full description of what he looks like and what his culture is like by the time I start writing again. I did manage to up my own knowledge on Rouldian culture. This is the type of information I hope to use in Peacekeeper as well as in future GA books. Getting to know an alien culture is something several people have asked me about. What I don't put into the novels will appear in the GATRM (Galactic Alliance Technical Reference Manual) which is a living document available on my website. I will mention updates here in my blog.
I did try writing and editing the last few weeks while working these long hours - didn't work. That's why I'm writing this blog entry now instead of writing even though I desperately want to lock myself in the room and write all day. I could do that, but then I might not be married much longer.
On a completely unrelated note - Spring has finally established a beachhead and appears to be winning the battle against Winter. A few days ago it hit 85, but Winter rallied its forces and attacked causing the temperature to plunge back down to 27 thirty-six hours later. But Spring called in the reserves and has been steadily gaining ground. Winter is retreating, but it's still putting up a fight.
Have patience - work on Peacekeeper will resume as soon as possible. I will keep you posted.
2013-04-11
04-11-2013: Quick update
Just a quick update. I'm still working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Writing and editing are on hold because there is simply no time. Thinking, however, can and is being done. I've been doing a ton of thinking about many aspects of Peacekeeper. I have a better understanding of the main character's background and how it should be presented; I have a whole new understanding of Rouldian culture which I will be putting into the book; and I have uncovered a few inconsistencies that will be fixed. So, even though I'm not actually putting words into the computer, I've managed to improve the book.
There have been some important developments in my travel plans as well. I will be returning to Laramie Wyoming this year to attend Launchpad once again. In order to fit that trip into my busy schedule I've scaled back my trip to Minnesota and I will not be attending Convergence as originally planned. I am still going to Dragon*con though.
I will also be putting up a short story I wrote some time ago on Amazon for $0.99. One of my award-winning author friends who gets published in magazines on a regular basis called it the most horrifying scifi he'd read in years. I will try to get it up and available very soon. I don't have a cover for it yet and with my time being as limited as it is I'm not sure I will have a proper cover anytime soon. I will, however, give it my best shot at making it available as soon as possible. If you happen to be on my still short notification list, be prepared to receive a free copy!
My time here has run out. Time to show my face so my wife can remember what I look like before getting to bed. Back to work again tomorrow.
(P.S. You can thank my dad for reminding me that even though I have limited time I should write at least a little bit in my blog every so often to remind you that I'm still alive.)
There have been some important developments in my travel plans as well. I will be returning to Laramie Wyoming this year to attend Launchpad once again. In order to fit that trip into my busy schedule I've scaled back my trip to Minnesota and I will not be attending Convergence as originally planned. I am still going to Dragon*con though.
I will also be putting up a short story I wrote some time ago on Amazon for $0.99. One of my award-winning author friends who gets published in magazines on a regular basis called it the most horrifying scifi he'd read in years. I will try to get it up and available very soon. I don't have a cover for it yet and with my time being as limited as it is I'm not sure I will have a proper cover anytime soon. I will, however, give it my best shot at making it available as soon as possible. If you happen to be on my still short notification list, be prepared to receive a free copy!
My time here has run out. Time to show my face so my wife can remember what I look like before getting to bed. Back to work again tomorrow.
(P.S. You can thank my dad for reminding me that even though I have limited time I should write at least a little bit in my blog every so often to remind you that I'm still alive.)
2013-03-16
03-16-2013: Millennicon
Good morning from Cincinnati where I am attending MillenniCon. Day one of the con was fun and educational. The first panel I attended was "So this is your first SciFi convention". Since this is my first it only made sense that I attend. It was well conducted and informative. Next up were the opening ceremonies followed by a get together in the con suite with cake and snakes and a chance to meet the guest of honor (GOH) Erik Flint. During the opening the Miami Valley Fandom for Literacy (MVFL) presented a Cleveland instructor with an award. I learned that he had worked with Geoffry Landis - one of the people I met at Launchpad last year. I also learned that the guest artist, Sarah Clemens, has published several short stories and is a friend of Ellen Datlow, another person I met at Launchpad. Small world.
I made several runs through the small dealer's room and purchased a shoulder dragon. At first, I hesitated to spend the money but the dragon kept looking at me. Eventually, I caved and bought it. Ameentch now sits quietly on my shoulder. To round out the day I attended a panel on "Writing by committee" hosted by Erik Flint, Mike Resnick, Tim Waggoner, and David Burkhead.
I've been carrying my laptop around with me so I can continue to edit and revise Peacekeeper. The novel is coming along nicely. I plan to continue to edit it during the outage even though I have only one day off a week. I should have a few hours in the morning. I have discovered a few major goofs which were easily corrected. Hopefully, by the end of the outage I will be done with the second pass as well as having a finished ending (which I currently do not). This will allow me to do the quick run-through to verify story continuity. Then it's my wife's turn so she can do her proofing magic.
Today, I plan on attending the following panels: GOH reading, Short story snafus, Reading by Mike Resnick, Devil's in the details, and Is the e-reader the death of the library? I have not made any plans to attend any room parties but that could change. I will be heading back home early tomorrow morning and then the long hours and long work-weeks begin.
I made several runs through the small dealer's room and purchased a shoulder dragon. At first, I hesitated to spend the money but the dragon kept looking at me. Eventually, I caved and bought it. Ameentch now sits quietly on my shoulder. To round out the day I attended a panel on "Writing by committee" hosted by Erik Flint, Mike Resnick, Tim Waggoner, and David Burkhead.
I've been carrying my laptop around with me so I can continue to edit and revise Peacekeeper. The novel is coming along nicely. I plan to continue to edit it during the outage even though I have only one day off a week. I should have a few hours in the morning. I have discovered a few major goofs which were easily corrected. Hopefully, by the end of the outage I will be done with the second pass as well as having a finished ending (which I currently do not). This will allow me to do the quick run-through to verify story continuity. Then it's my wife's turn so she can do her proofing magic.
Today, I plan on attending the following panels: GOH reading, Short story snafus, Reading by Mike Resnick, Devil's in the details, and Is the e-reader the death of the library? I have not made any plans to attend any room parties but that could change. I will be heading back home early tomorrow morning and then the long hours and long work-weeks begin.
2013-03-02
03-02-2013: Scrivener correction
This may be my last post for awhile as I will start working 12 hour days on Monday. I will be at Millenicon in a week but between driving and attending the convention I doubt I will have time to blog. I will only have one day off each week during the refueling outage which will leave little time to do much more than play catch-up.
I do have a correction to make concerning Scrivener. I mentioned that one of the small issued I had with it was that it removed the formatting of my scene break asterisks. I've discovered that I was not using the Compile options correctly. I've since gone back through the entire project and created sub-documents for each scene break. The program automatically inserts the correctly formatted line of asterisks between each scene as desired. Plus, this approach also makes it easier to outline the novel. Scrivener is a very powerful program for writers and I highly recommend it. The manual could use updating and enhanced with screen-shots showing and explaining how some of the more hidden features are used. Scrivener combined with Dropbox is an unbeatable combination for writers on the go.
Peacekeeper stands at 82,474 words. I'm still working on the final couple of chapters. Lately, I've sat and stared at the blasted screen for many minutes, writing a sentence, then deleting it, then doing it over and over again. Why has is suddenly become so hard to finish? Perhaps it's because the final chapters bring together everything that's been going on up until now and I know that some of it needs to be seriously edited. Perhaps, I will write a skeleton ending and then fill it all in during the first rewrite.
In other news, I've made a few minor changes to "Glitches" which will be published as part of a Launchpad anthology. I fixed a few technical errors and made a couple of minor enhancements as suggested by Jody Nye.
I do have a correction to make concerning Scrivener. I mentioned that one of the small issued I had with it was that it removed the formatting of my scene break asterisks. I've discovered that I was not using the Compile options correctly. I've since gone back through the entire project and created sub-documents for each scene break. The program automatically inserts the correctly formatted line of asterisks between each scene as desired. Plus, this approach also makes it easier to outline the novel. Scrivener is a very powerful program for writers and I highly recommend it. The manual could use updating and enhanced with screen-shots showing and explaining how some of the more hidden features are used. Scrivener combined with Dropbox is an unbeatable combination for writers on the go.
Peacekeeper stands at 82,474 words. I'm still working on the final couple of chapters. Lately, I've sat and stared at the blasted screen for many minutes, writing a sentence, then deleting it, then doing it over and over again. Why has is suddenly become so hard to finish? Perhaps it's because the final chapters bring together everything that's been going on up until now and I know that some of it needs to be seriously edited. Perhaps, I will write a skeleton ending and then fill it all in during the first rewrite.
In other news, I've made a few minor changes to "Glitches" which will be published as part of a Launchpad anthology. I fixed a few technical errors and made a couple of minor enhancements as suggested by Jody Nye.
2013-02-25
02-24-2013: Peacekeeper update
I'm working on the final battle scene in Peacekeeper. Added about 700 words this weekend. I've been transitioning to night shift so my normal morning writing sessions over the weekend just didn't happen. I still think I will be able to have the first draft of Peacekeeper complete by the time I start working 12-hour days but in order to do so I will have to get my butt in gear.
I was thinking about my up-coming schedule where I'll be working 12-hour days, 6 days a week and I came to an interesting conclusion: I might be able to actually get some writing done. I will be working days which means on my one day off (Tuesday) I will be maintaining my day-shift schedule. This means I will be getting up early (my wife is a bit of a night owl) and I will have a few hours to write. This means I might be able to finish the second draft of Peacekeeper by the time the outage is over.
I thought I would update you on Scrivener. I've been using it long enough now to offer a conclusive recommendation to use this product if you are a serious writer. If you have a Mac you will find the version of Scrivener for that platform to be full of cool features. The Windows version (the one I've been using) is behind the Mac in features but is still a handy program. The cost is very reasonable as well. Here are my pros and cons--bear in mind these are for the Windows version:
Pros:
All in all I really like Scrivener and I highly recommend it.
I was thinking about my up-coming schedule where I'll be working 12-hour days, 6 days a week and I came to an interesting conclusion: I might be able to actually get some writing done. I will be working days which means on my one day off (Tuesday) I will be maintaining my day-shift schedule. This means I will be getting up early (my wife is a bit of a night owl) and I will have a few hours to write. This means I might be able to finish the second draft of Peacekeeper by the time the outage is over.
I thought I would update you on Scrivener. I've been using it long enough now to offer a conclusive recommendation to use this product if you are a serious writer. If you have a Mac you will find the version of Scrivener for that platform to be full of cool features. The Windows version (the one I've been using) is behind the Mac in features but is still a handy program. The cost is very reasonable as well. Here are my pros and cons--bear in mind these are for the Windows version:
Pros:
- Returns to the last location you were at when you reopen the project even if you reopen it on another computer.
- Compiles the document into many formats.
- Can automatically generate chapter headings and number them.
- Built-in name generator is handy.
- Split-screen dual editors are a very handy way to keep track of notes, characters, things to do, etc.
- Can be used to outline the entire novel either as you work (if your a SOP writer like me) or before you get moving.
- Works very well with Drop-Box.
- Windows version lacks many of the nicer features found in the Mac version. These are mostly associated with the output formatting options.
- Document generation options are limited but can be overcome by making editing changes in the final output. For example: I have a few places where there is a break in the action or a scene shift and I use a blank line followed by five centered asterisks and then another blank line. Scrivener can easily handle this as a sub-document but cannot automatically generate the centered set of asterisks. I have to resort to putting it in manually but during the outputting process (called Compile) the center formatting of the asterisks is stripped.
- Every once in a long while a huge section of text seems to vanish as I type. This is easily reversed with CTRL+Z but it represents a strange bug in the program.
All in all I really like Scrivener and I highly recommend it.
2013-02-18
02-18-2013: Peacekeeper update
Peacekeeper now at 80,515 words. Closing in on the end. I did do what I said I wouldn't--I went back and revised the story to make the timeline fit. I'm very glad I did it too! If I had kept writing, the story line would have been very hard to fix. I also didn't know what to write since the timeline was all messed up. I created a spreadsheet and laid the major events down. I had to add quite a bit of new material to bring the timeline into alignment with what I was trying to accomplish. It actually made the book much better. There is a lesson to be learned here - take the time to write a lot of notes about your book as you go along and make a timeline of major events.
I've said in the past that I'm not the kind of author who creates an outline and then writes the story. Can't do it. The story unfolds as I write it. But, there's something to be said about having an outline. So here's another lesson to be learned - if you don't start with an outline, take the time to build one as the story is written.
One more lesson, one that I thought I had learned but fell back and didn't follow while I wrote Peacekeeper - Always, always, keep detailed descriptions of your characters, no matter how minor, in another file. I didn't do that with quite a few characters and now I'm regretting it. I did well with the major players but I didn't bother with the minor ones because, well, they're minor. Here's why you should keep those descriptions: Let's say you have a minor character, a waitress for example. She has a brief mention and says two sentences early in the book. You describe her as having red hair and a squeaky voice. Later in the book, you return to the restaurant and the waitress says, "I remember you, how have you been?" You decide at that moment to give her a slightly more prominent role and they have a short conversation. But, during the conversation you mention she runs her hand through her blonde hair and has a deep laugh. You miss this during the first draft because months may have passed. You miss it in the second revision because you have so many things in your head already that the discrepancy is overlooked. You catch it in the third revision because you're reading a lot faster and you remember what she looked like. Now you have to stop and make sure you fix all the references to her especially if she shows up again. What happens if you miss one? You look like a total dolt.
As a reminder - I will be at Millennicon in Cincinnati March 15 to March 17. I'm not going as an author though. If you happen to run into me, stop me and say hi. Immediately thereafter I will be working 12 hour days, 6 days a week for the next couple of months. I most likely will not update this blog during that time. I will also be at Dragon*Con from 8-29 until 9-2.
Back to writing...
I've said in the past that I'm not the kind of author who creates an outline and then writes the story. Can't do it. The story unfolds as I write it. But, there's something to be said about having an outline. So here's another lesson to be learned - if you don't start with an outline, take the time to build one as the story is written.
One more lesson, one that I thought I had learned but fell back and didn't follow while I wrote Peacekeeper - Always, always, keep detailed descriptions of your characters, no matter how minor, in another file. I didn't do that with quite a few characters and now I'm regretting it. I did well with the major players but I didn't bother with the minor ones because, well, they're minor. Here's why you should keep those descriptions: Let's say you have a minor character, a waitress for example. She has a brief mention and says two sentences early in the book. You describe her as having red hair and a squeaky voice. Later in the book, you return to the restaurant and the waitress says, "I remember you, how have you been?" You decide at that moment to give her a slightly more prominent role and they have a short conversation. But, during the conversation you mention she runs her hand through her blonde hair and has a deep laugh. You miss this during the first draft because months may have passed. You miss it in the second revision because you have so many things in your head already that the discrepancy is overlooked. You catch it in the third revision because you're reading a lot faster and you remember what she looked like. Now you have to stop and make sure you fix all the references to her especially if she shows up again. What happens if you miss one? You look like a total dolt.
As a reminder - I will be at Millennicon in Cincinnati March 15 to March 17. I'm not going as an author though. If you happen to run into me, stop me and say hi. Immediately thereafter I will be working 12 hour days, 6 days a week for the next couple of months. I most likely will not update this blog during that time. I will also be at Dragon*Con from 8-29 until 9-2.
Back to writing...
2013-02-09
02-09-13: Peacekeeper update
Peacekeeper is now at 76,000 plus words and I am now working on the final few chapters. Unfortunately, there's a LOT of editing left to do. The problem with trying to write a long novel on weekends only is that the details of the story tend to fade a bit in between times spent on the computer. As things are starting to come together, I've taken to adding to my todo list instead of going back and actually doing the editing. This way, I can actually finish the book and then go back and edit it.
Many of the problems involve character development and a few have to do with the timeline. I recently discovered that a fairly major character suddenly vanished toward the end of the story. Now, I'm a fan of the cult scifi classic "Plan 9 From Outer Space" where Bella Lugosi dies before finishing the movie so the director just drops his character, but that sort of thing won't fly in my books. I think the first editing pass is going to be a lot of work.
One of the other things involves the main character and how I would like the reader to get to know him very well. As I approach the end of the first draft I realize that I have not accomplished my goal. More things to add to the list of corrections.
In other news, I have to admit that I've recently learned a huge lesson about writing. I've read a number of books about writing and the knowledge of how to write a good story is there. I just have to learn how to apply it. Example: I submitted a short story that will be published as part of an anthology. Jody Nye and Mike Brotherton are editing it. Jody is a fantastic editor and she gave me some good tips on how to turn my otherwise good short story into a great story. Everything she said was something I'd read about and thought I had learned. Reading and applying that knowledge are two very different entities. In writing, the only way to apply your knowledge is to write and have someone point out where you didn't apply that knowledge. She has been very patient and the end result is a very good story.
Writers need to learn from each other. The more experienced ones should help those who are starting on that path find the right road. If you are new to writing, find yourself a good writers group with some experienced members and join. Bring what you are working on to the meeting and LISTEN to the advice. If you can't take criticism then you shouldn't be a writer. Anyone who has ever learned how to ski knows you can't learn unless you fall down a few times. Learn from the fall, get back up, and try again. Eventually, you will be writing great stories.
Many of the problems involve character development and a few have to do with the timeline. I recently discovered that a fairly major character suddenly vanished toward the end of the story. Now, I'm a fan of the cult scifi classic "Plan 9 From Outer Space" where Bella Lugosi dies before finishing the movie so the director just drops his character, but that sort of thing won't fly in my books. I think the first editing pass is going to be a lot of work.
One of the other things involves the main character and how I would like the reader to get to know him very well. As I approach the end of the first draft I realize that I have not accomplished my goal. More things to add to the list of corrections.
In other news, I have to admit that I've recently learned a huge lesson about writing. I've read a number of books about writing and the knowledge of how to write a good story is there. I just have to learn how to apply it. Example: I submitted a short story that will be published as part of an anthology. Jody Nye and Mike Brotherton are editing it. Jody is a fantastic editor and she gave me some good tips on how to turn my otherwise good short story into a great story. Everything she said was something I'd read about and thought I had learned. Reading and applying that knowledge are two very different entities. In writing, the only way to apply your knowledge is to write and have someone point out where you didn't apply that knowledge. She has been very patient and the end result is a very good story.
Writers need to learn from each other. The more experienced ones should help those who are starting on that path find the right road. If you are new to writing, find yourself a good writers group with some experienced members and join. Bring what you are working on to the meeting and LISTEN to the advice. If you can't take criticism then you shouldn't be a writer. Anyone who has ever learned how to ski knows you can't learn unless you fall down a few times. Learn from the fall, get back up, and try again. Eventually, you will be writing great stories.
2013-01-28
2013-01-28: Time
I have tried to write a blog entry at least once every week, typically on Sunday morning. For those who follow me, I missed last week. My apologies. Peacekeeper now stands at 72,600 words. Bear in mind, this is the first draft and the second will be adding more material as well as doing a great deal of editing. The goal for Peacekeeper currently sits at around 80,000 words and it's beginning to look like it will actually hit 85,000 by the time it's ready to publish. Unfortunately, that will be much later this year.
My short story 'Glitches' has been provisionally accepted to be published as part of an anthology of stories from past Launchpad attendees. If you're inclined to follow the link you will notice that the site has not been updated in quite some time and does not include the list of Launchpad attendees from 2012. I've been asked to make some changes to the story which I have completed but not yet submitted back to the editor (Jody Nye). We had a good phone discussion and I've learned a lot about how to turn a good short story into a better one. Problem is, it's the same advice I would give to a new author only I didn't apply it to my own short story. Felt like a real beginner--but that's how one learns.
I have not been writing much at all the past week due to being on 12 hour days at the plant. I work at a nuclear power station and the plant came down last week due to an electrical problem. It's on the way back up now but I'm still working 12 hour nights next week. Doesn't leave any time at all for writing. My wife and I were at the bookstore on Saturday and I managed to throw another 1,300 words into the story. I will be working on it tonight provided I can stay awake (it's 0205 right now).
My schedule is not going to be kind to my desire to write this year. I have until March 15th to get my first and hopefully second draft of Peacekeeper done. On March 15th, I will be attending Millennicon in Cincinnati, OH. When I return on March 18 I will be working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day for the next two or three months. Prior to that, I will most likely be working longer hours as we prepare for the refueling outage. From June 28 until July 14 I will be in Minnesota attending Convergence as well as visiting friends and family. From August 27 to Sept 8 I will be in Atlanta attending Dragoncon as well as visiting family. Summer weekends this year will also be taken up by a multi-week project to replace the fence around my property.
I do have Tuesdays off during the refueling outage and I may be able to get in some writing in the morning before my wife wakes up. But once she's up the writing is put away and she becomes my priority; failing to do so could jeopardize my marriage. If I do manage to finish Peacekeeper and publish it this year, I plan on taking a short break from writing in order to catch up on a backlog of things that I've kept on hold for too long. I don't have enough time to do everything I want to do so priorities have been set. I am a writer though and the itch can't remained unscratched for too long.
What's after Peacekeeper? At this point in time I really don't know but I'm sure it will be fun.
My short story 'Glitches' has been provisionally accepted to be published as part of an anthology of stories from past Launchpad attendees. If you're inclined to follow the link you will notice that the site has not been updated in quite some time and does not include the list of Launchpad attendees from 2012. I've been asked to make some changes to the story which I have completed but not yet submitted back to the editor (Jody Nye). We had a good phone discussion and I've learned a lot about how to turn a good short story into a better one. Problem is, it's the same advice I would give to a new author only I didn't apply it to my own short story. Felt like a real beginner--but that's how one learns.
I have not been writing much at all the past week due to being on 12 hour days at the plant. I work at a nuclear power station and the plant came down last week due to an electrical problem. It's on the way back up now but I'm still working 12 hour nights next week. Doesn't leave any time at all for writing. My wife and I were at the bookstore on Saturday and I managed to throw another 1,300 words into the story. I will be working on it tonight provided I can stay awake (it's 0205 right now).
My schedule is not going to be kind to my desire to write this year. I have until March 15th to get my first and hopefully second draft of Peacekeeper done. On March 15th, I will be attending Millennicon in Cincinnati, OH. When I return on March 18 I will be working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day for the next two or three months. Prior to that, I will most likely be working longer hours as we prepare for the refueling outage. From June 28 until July 14 I will be in Minnesota attending Convergence as well as visiting friends and family. From August 27 to Sept 8 I will be in Atlanta attending Dragoncon as well as visiting family. Summer weekends this year will also be taken up by a multi-week project to replace the fence around my property.
I do have Tuesdays off during the refueling outage and I may be able to get in some writing in the morning before my wife wakes up. But once she's up the writing is put away and she becomes my priority; failing to do so could jeopardize my marriage. If I do manage to finish Peacekeeper and publish it this year, I plan on taking a short break from writing in order to catch up on a backlog of things that I've kept on hold for too long. I don't have enough time to do everything I want to do so priorities have been set. I am a writer though and the itch can't remained unscratched for too long.
What's after Peacekeeper? At this point in time I really don't know but I'm sure it will be fun.
2013-01-13
01-13-2013: Peacekeeper update
Just a quick note to let everyone know that Peacekeeper has passed 70,500 words. It's looking like I will actually get to finish my first and possibly second draft before having to start working 12 hour days. We are working some extended hours now but I have been able to get a good amount of writing done each morning over the weekend. For example - I managed to transfer 1,380 words from the aging brain to the computer just this morning. The battles are beginning to take place and I've come up with a surprising twist that should make the ending interesting.
I just sent off an ad that will appear in the program booklet for Millennicon. I don't know why more authors don't do this - the advertising space is inexpensive and it get's your name out there among the type of people who would most appreciate your work. As I mentioned before, I'm not going to Millennicon as an author - just a plain old fan. I will report on my experience when I get back. After that - don't expect to hear much from me for awhile because I will be working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.
Back to writing!
I just sent off an ad that will appear in the program booklet for Millennicon. I don't know why more authors don't do this - the advertising space is inexpensive and it get's your name out there among the type of people who would most appreciate your work. As I mentioned before, I'm not going to Millennicon as an author - just a plain old fan. I will report on my experience when I get back. After that - don't expect to hear much from me for awhile because I will be working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.
Back to writing!
2013-01-05
01-05-2013: A plot twist and unexpected editing
Hello to 2013! 12-21-12 turned out to be a bust (the world is still here) and I failed to meet my self-imposed goal of having the first draft of Peacekeeper done by 1-1-13. My new goal is to have a good draft complete before I have to go on 12 hour days for 6 days a week when the nuke plant I work at shuts down for their refueling outage. We've been put on extended hours to prepare for the outage which now puts even that target in jeopardy. But, I'm going to give it my best effort. I'm now limited to writing on weekends which sure doesn't leave me much time.
Also, I've been going over the ending of Peacekeeper in my head now for 3 days and it just doesn't have the zing I want. This morning, I came up with a cool plot twist that my brain seems to have been secretly working on for weeks. I wish my brain would share some of its thoughts with me so I could plan ahead! Anyway, the new ending will require some minor editing of parts of the story that have already been written. I could just move on and leave myself a large to-do list of things that need fixed to make it all merge together but that might end up creating a very uncoordinated mess if I can't finish it before the outage. So, today I'm going back and doing some editing. My word count is going to suck but it's got to be done.
Matthew Kressel (a Launchpad acquaintance) has a story published in Lightspeed magazine. It's a VERY cool short story. You can read it by clicking here. I wish I could write short stories like he does.
I will be attending Millennicon which runs from 03-15 to 03-17 this year. It's being held in Cincinatti - about a 5 hour drive from my house. This will be my first 'con' and I'm going as a fan, not an author. The experience of going as a fan will determine if I announce the fact that I'm an author when I go to Convergence-con in Bloomington, Minnesota and Dragoncon in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm a little nervous about doing so because I am an indie and I do not have any degrees or awards other than the fact that my books have been selling well for nearly a year now. I have family and friends in Minnesota and Atlanta so picking these two cons was a no-brainer. If my wife can stand it I might try for Readercon but that will depend on many factors. Readercon is not a high priority this year.
Time to get to writing - um, I mean, editing then writing.
Also, I've been going over the ending of Peacekeeper in my head now for 3 days and it just doesn't have the zing I want. This morning, I came up with a cool plot twist that my brain seems to have been secretly working on for weeks. I wish my brain would share some of its thoughts with me so I could plan ahead! Anyway, the new ending will require some minor editing of parts of the story that have already been written. I could just move on and leave myself a large to-do list of things that need fixed to make it all merge together but that might end up creating a very uncoordinated mess if I can't finish it before the outage. So, today I'm going back and doing some editing. My word count is going to suck but it's got to be done.
Matthew Kressel (a Launchpad acquaintance) has a story published in Lightspeed magazine. It's a VERY cool short story. You can read it by clicking here. I wish I could write short stories like he does.
I will be attending Millennicon which runs from 03-15 to 03-17 this year. It's being held in Cincinatti - about a 5 hour drive from my house. This will be my first 'con' and I'm going as a fan, not an author. The experience of going as a fan will determine if I announce the fact that I'm an author when I go to Convergence-con in Bloomington, Minnesota and Dragoncon in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm a little nervous about doing so because I am an indie and I do not have any degrees or awards other than the fact that my books have been selling well for nearly a year now. I have family and friends in Minnesota and Atlanta so picking these two cons was a no-brainer. If my wife can stand it I might try for Readercon but that will depend on many factors. Readercon is not a high priority this year.
Time to get to writing - um, I mean, editing then writing.
2012-12-30
12-30-2012: Getting the math right
I have to agree with a fellow writer whom I got to know while attending Launchpad earlier this year - the holiday time sure puts a major crimp in productivity. (You can see his post here: http://www.matthewsrotundo.com/blog/) I thought I would get some writing done this weekend but only managed less than 1,000 words. This morning I unexpectedly slept in later than I thought possible and then encountered problems when we got to the bookstore. Problems? Like what, you might ask. Well, since you asked, let me explain.
I prefer to keep the numbers I use in my books as realistic as possible. For example, if I say I want to be traveling past a certain point at a speed of 15 Km/sec then I had better be correct when I say how much acceleration I will have to apply and for how long to achieve that velocity. I have a spreadsheet that I rely on to do the math. Today, I found an error in it and it took me most of an hour to figure out which one of the equations I was using was wrong. Instead of writing, I spent time fixing the spreadsheet. Still curious? Okay - here's how it all went down...
A fleet is poised to attack a planet. They are stationed 50 million kilometers away. I first dumped in some numbers wondering how long it would take them to get there at 300G's acceleration. Simple - divide the distance in half (for acceleration and deceleration time), punch in 300 in my magic spreadsheet, and BINGO, the answer appeared - 3.6 hours. Multiply that by two for total travel time. The maximum velocity attained by this calculation was something on the order of 12% light speed. Too fast for me. So, I decided to just let them boost at 300G's for an hour and then coast for awhile and then decelerate at 300G's at the other end. I have a different set of equations for that. Total travel time turned out to be 1.3 hours - What? How can using less acceleration get me there faster? Red alert - red alert - red alert. Error - Error - Error. Must analyze.
It took a long time to find the problem and a longer time to run the numbers against several websites to ensure they were correct. The spreadsheet is now fixed. If you're interested in the spreadsheet I plan on putting it up on my web page in a few days.
Speaking of my web page. I will be uploading the new Galactic Alliance covers there as well as my spreadsheet. I've not had the time to update it recently (the darned holiday again). Check back in a few days if you're curious.
Happy new year! I hope 2013 treats everyone well.
I prefer to keep the numbers I use in my books as realistic as possible. For example, if I say I want to be traveling past a certain point at a speed of 15 Km/sec then I had better be correct when I say how much acceleration I will have to apply and for how long to achieve that velocity. I have a spreadsheet that I rely on to do the math. Today, I found an error in it and it took me most of an hour to figure out which one of the equations I was using was wrong. Instead of writing, I spent time fixing the spreadsheet. Still curious? Okay - here's how it all went down...
A fleet is poised to attack a planet. They are stationed 50 million kilometers away. I first dumped in some numbers wondering how long it would take them to get there at 300G's acceleration. Simple - divide the distance in half (for acceleration and deceleration time), punch in 300 in my magic spreadsheet, and BINGO, the answer appeared - 3.6 hours. Multiply that by two for total travel time. The maximum velocity attained by this calculation was something on the order of 12% light speed. Too fast for me. So, I decided to just let them boost at 300G's for an hour and then coast for awhile and then decelerate at 300G's at the other end. I have a different set of equations for that. Total travel time turned out to be 1.3 hours - What? How can using less acceleration get me there faster? Red alert - red alert - red alert. Error - Error - Error. Must analyze.
It took a long time to find the problem and a longer time to run the numbers against several websites to ensure they were correct. The spreadsheet is now fixed. If you're interested in the spreadsheet I plan on putting it up on my web page in a few days.
Speaking of my web page. I will be uploading the new Galactic Alliance covers there as well as my spreadsheet. I've not had the time to update it recently (the darned holiday again). Check back in a few days if you're curious.
Happy new year! I hope 2013 treats everyone well.
2012-12-17
12-17-12: New covers are out
Today I uploaded all new covers as well as minor updates to all 3 Galactic Alliance books (Translight, Chroniech, Honor Thy Enemy). The updates take care of a few additional grammatical errors discovered by a few readers as well as myself. The new covers are available now on Amazon.com (U.S.) and should be available on Amazon's foreign sites in a few days. I've also done the same with all the other distributors via Smashwords. It generally takes them a bit longer to upload changes so if you're a Nook or iPad user you won't see the new covers for a few weeks.
I keep a list of words I have a tendency to screw up; words such as: border vs boarder, ore vs oar, loose vs lose, its vs it's, accept vs except, and their vs they're. For some unknown reason, I like to mix those up. I've also been guilty of over using the dash - you know - the little line you can use to break up a sentence - like this. Not to mention the fact that I don't quite use it right--you're not supposed to to have a space surrounding it. Another blunder I tend to make is to always put 's after the name of an alien species when referring to them. "Tholtaran's are an interesting species." I cleaned up a few of these hanging errors in the new release.
I want to thank Heather Zak, wife of my very good friend AJ (Arnold J. Zak) whom I've known since high school for doing the new covers. Her artistic skills with a computer are very good. If you want her to do a cover for you let me know and I'll put you in touch with her. Price is VERY reasonable.
In other news, Peacekeeper has passed 60K words. I've ironed out the last minor wrinkle in the story and it's smooth sailing from here. All I need do now is to finish putting the words down. Then it's back to the beginning for a second run through. I hope to have that done before the new year hits although it's going to be very close. Of course, I'm not sure why I'm working so hard on this since everyone knows the world is going to end on 12-21-12 anyway. Anyone know of someone who's throwing an end of the world party?
Comments on the new covers compared to the old ones are welcome.
I keep a list of words I have a tendency to screw up; words such as: border vs boarder, ore vs oar, loose vs lose, its vs it's, accept vs except, and their vs they're. For some unknown reason, I like to mix those up. I've also been guilty of over using the dash - you know - the little line you can use to break up a sentence - like this. Not to mention the fact that I don't quite use it right--you're not supposed to to have a space surrounding it. Another blunder I tend to make is to always put 's after the name of an alien species when referring to them. "Tholtaran's are an interesting species." I cleaned up a few of these hanging errors in the new release.
I want to thank Heather Zak, wife of my very good friend AJ (Arnold J. Zak) whom I've known since high school for doing the new covers. Her artistic skills with a computer are very good. If you want her to do a cover for you let me know and I'll put you in touch with her. Price is VERY reasonable.
In other news, Peacekeeper has passed 60K words. I've ironed out the last minor wrinkle in the story and it's smooth sailing from here. All I need do now is to finish putting the words down. Then it's back to the beginning for a second run through. I hope to have that done before the new year hits although it's going to be very close. Of course, I'm not sure why I'm working so hard on this since everyone knows the world is going to end on 12-21-12 anyway. Anyone know of someone who's throwing an end of the world party?
Comments on the new covers compared to the old ones are welcome.
2012-12-12
12-12-12: Peacekeeper update
It's the middle of the week and I just remembered I had not provided an update for some time. Current word count is 57,900. Looks like I'm on target for finishing the first draft by the end of the year.
I've started doing something I never thought would work out for me - I've been carrying a notebook around with me so I can write a few paragraphs when I have some idle time. My job often has periods of idle time. In the past, I've used this time to work on problems of my current project in my head. Recently, I decided to start carrying a notebook around with me. Yesterday was a particularly slow day and I managed to write nearly 900 words! All I had to do was to type them into the computer. Now that's a good use of time, so guess what I'll be carrying around with me from now on.
Last night, I visited a mentally challenged individual who lives in an adult care facility around the corner. He had seen the article in the newspaper about me and wanted to see me. A nurse at the nursing home where my mother-in-law stays also works at this other place. She talked to my wife and the arrangements were made. I presented him with two books and we sat and chatted for about an hour. He has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic with complications. He seemed very intelligent and well-versed in science fiction. He seemed pleased to see me and this morning I learned that he talked about the visit for hours after we left. It's good to do something like that for others.
Today I received two packages that have made my day. I am now the proud owner of every episode of FarScape as well as Star Trek The Next Generation. Lots of things to watch when I decide to take a break.
Finally, I thought I would include the new covers for the first two books of the Galactic Alliance series. Heather Zak, the wife of my best friend from high school, has been working very had at creating new covers for the entire series. She is working on the last one now and I hope to have them all out by early next year. So, here they are:
I've started doing something I never thought would work out for me - I've been carrying a notebook around with me so I can write a few paragraphs when I have some idle time. My job often has periods of idle time. In the past, I've used this time to work on problems of my current project in my head. Recently, I decided to start carrying a notebook around with me. Yesterday was a particularly slow day and I managed to write nearly 900 words! All I had to do was to type them into the computer. Now that's a good use of time, so guess what I'll be carrying around with me from now on.
Last night, I visited a mentally challenged individual who lives in an adult care facility around the corner. He had seen the article in the newspaper about me and wanted to see me. A nurse at the nursing home where my mother-in-law stays also works at this other place. She talked to my wife and the arrangements were made. I presented him with two books and we sat and chatted for about an hour. He has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic with complications. He seemed very intelligent and well-versed in science fiction. He seemed pleased to see me and this morning I learned that he talked about the visit for hours after we left. It's good to do something like that for others.
Today I received two packages that have made my day. I am now the proud owner of every episode of FarScape as well as Star Trek The Next Generation. Lots of things to watch when I decide to take a break.
Finally, I thought I would include the new covers for the first two books of the Galactic Alliance series. Heather Zak, the wife of my best friend from high school, has been working very had at creating new covers for the entire series. She is working on the last one now and I hope to have them all out by early next year. So, here they are:
2012-12-02
12-02-12: 50,000 words and counting
I am making good progress on Peacekeeper with 50,000 first-draft words complete. This morning, I was up at 0430 so I could get some writing done in the morning. Later today we are going to the bookstore where I should be able to throw more words into the electronic box. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be able to publish the novel until around May of 2013. Before you start screaming at me, let me explain how this works.
The hardest part of writing a novel is getting the first draft done. Once that's complete, you have an entire story written. I hope to finish this part by the end of the year. Next comes the rewrite. For me, this is a very important stage because it allows me to go back and fix parts of what I wrote earlier to better conform to what was written later. I have a to do (todo?) list of things I need to enhance, change, and fix. The entire rewrite can take a month or longer depending on how much time I have to work on it. Let's assume the best and it takes me a month - now we're into February.
At this point I have a fairly complete, well-structured novel. Since changes have been made, I will read it again and make more editorial changes. That usually doesn't take more than two weeks. Next, I read it yet again but this time at high speed to ensure that the entire storyline holds together. Once that process is done the book is pretty much complete. Two final steps remain. My wife (who is also my copy-editor) does her magic on my sometimes terrible grammar. I am getting better though and she finds fewer and fewer mistakes to fix. She is not a science fiction fan and her detailed look at the book will take a month. This puts us at the middle of March.
In March, the nuclear plant I work at shuts down for a refueling outage. I shift into 12 hour days, 6 days a week, for about 2 months. During that time I will not get any writing or proof-reading done. Immediately after the outage, I will incorporate my wife's changes and make a final pass through the book checking with her before any other changes are made. Then it can be published. Oh - hopefully by then I will have a cover for it as well. The wife of my best friend from high school days is redoing all my Galactic Alliance covers and she will also be doing the cover for Peacekeeper. I'm sure she will have it ready by the time I'm ready to publish in May.
Sorry - but that's just how things are turning out.
One more item before I go back to writing. One of the unique advantages of being an indie publisher is I can count daily book sales as well as monthly totals for each book. I used to use an Excel spreadsheet to track these and generate graphs. As the number of books I tracked rose, the spreadsheet became more of a pain and I shifted over to using an Access database. Graphing from Access wasn't working out and so I looked for alternatives. Since I use Quicken to track the financial end of writing I thought I could use it to track book sales. I created two accounts, one for Amazon and one for Smashwords. At the end of each month, I simply make an entry for each book (Translight, Chroniech, Dragonverse, etc.) in the appropriate account and put down one dollar for each book sold. Quicken graphing can now show me graphs of monthly sales by book or by seller. When tax time comes, I hide the accounts. I still use the Excel spreadsheet to track daily sales.
Okay - enough blogging. Back to writing...
The hardest part of writing a novel is getting the first draft done. Once that's complete, you have an entire story written. I hope to finish this part by the end of the year. Next comes the rewrite. For me, this is a very important stage because it allows me to go back and fix parts of what I wrote earlier to better conform to what was written later. I have a to do (todo?) list of things I need to enhance, change, and fix. The entire rewrite can take a month or longer depending on how much time I have to work on it. Let's assume the best and it takes me a month - now we're into February.
At this point I have a fairly complete, well-structured novel. Since changes have been made, I will read it again and make more editorial changes. That usually doesn't take more than two weeks. Next, I read it yet again but this time at high speed to ensure that the entire storyline holds together. Once that process is done the book is pretty much complete. Two final steps remain. My wife (who is also my copy-editor) does her magic on my sometimes terrible grammar. I am getting better though and she finds fewer and fewer mistakes to fix. She is not a science fiction fan and her detailed look at the book will take a month. This puts us at the middle of March.
In March, the nuclear plant I work at shuts down for a refueling outage. I shift into 12 hour days, 6 days a week, for about 2 months. During that time I will not get any writing or proof-reading done. Immediately after the outage, I will incorporate my wife's changes and make a final pass through the book checking with her before any other changes are made. Then it can be published. Oh - hopefully by then I will have a cover for it as well. The wife of my best friend from high school days is redoing all my Galactic Alliance covers and she will also be doing the cover for Peacekeeper. I'm sure she will have it ready by the time I'm ready to publish in May.
Sorry - but that's just how things are turning out.
One more item before I go back to writing. One of the unique advantages of being an indie publisher is I can count daily book sales as well as monthly totals for each book. I used to use an Excel spreadsheet to track these and generate graphs. As the number of books I tracked rose, the spreadsheet became more of a pain and I shifted over to using an Access database. Graphing from Access wasn't working out and so I looked for alternatives. Since I use Quicken to track the financial end of writing I thought I could use it to track book sales. I created two accounts, one for Amazon and one for Smashwords. At the end of each month, I simply make an entry for each book (Translight, Chroniech, Dragonverse, etc.) in the appropriate account and put down one dollar for each book sold. Quicken graphing can now show me graphs of monthly sales by book or by seller. When tax time comes, I hide the accounts. I still use the Excel spreadsheet to track daily sales.
Okay - enough blogging. Back to writing...
2012-11-25
11-25-2012: I made the newspaper
This morning was a day I've been waiting for all week. The local newspaper (The Ashtabula Star Beacon) decided to make me their feature in today's Neighborhood section. I ran down to the local gas station to pick up some copies and received a very nice surprise - my picture was on the front page of the paper! I did not expect that. The newspaper has an online presence and here is a link to the article if you would like to read it: http://tinyurl.com/c924oph
Peacekeeper is moving along quite well with over 47,000 words written. I've passed through a lot of the hard stuff and all the rest is just waiting to be written. It's getting late in the year and I don't think I will be able to have it done, edited, proofed, and ready to publish by the holidays as I had originally hoped. I must, however, at least finish the first draft by March. I am planning on attending Millencon in Cincinnati on March 15 and 16 (as a fan, not a writer). On March 18 I begin working six days a week, 12 hours a day as the power plant I work at shuts down for refueling. This will last for at least two months and I will not have any time to write, edit, or proof. My writing gets put on hold.
I've been on vacation this week and I've managed to get a significant amount of writing done. Thanksgiving is behind us but Christmas is looming ahead. Lucky for me, my wife is a master at buying Christmas gifts all year long and most of our shopping was complete a long time ago. Unfortunately, since I spend my time either working, writing, or spending time with family, I have not yet purchased a gift for my wife. I really don't like malls especially this time of year but I will have to endure them to go on my quest for the perfect gift. Wish me luck.
Peacekeeper is moving along quite well with over 47,000 words written. I've passed through a lot of the hard stuff and all the rest is just waiting to be written. It's getting late in the year and I don't think I will be able to have it done, edited, proofed, and ready to publish by the holidays as I had originally hoped. I must, however, at least finish the first draft by March. I am planning on attending Millencon in Cincinnati on March 15 and 16 (as a fan, not a writer). On March 18 I begin working six days a week, 12 hours a day as the power plant I work at shuts down for refueling. This will last for at least two months and I will not have any time to write, edit, or proof. My writing gets put on hold.
I've been on vacation this week and I've managed to get a significant amount of writing done. Thanksgiving is behind us but Christmas is looming ahead. Lucky for me, my wife is a master at buying Christmas gifts all year long and most of our shopping was complete a long time ago. Unfortunately, since I spend my time either working, writing, or spending time with family, I have not yet purchased a gift for my wife. I really don't like malls especially this time of year but I will have to endure them to go on my quest for the perfect gift. Wish me luck.
2012-11-19
11-19-2012: 42.5K Words and counting
Writer's block is extremely frustrating! I sit at the keyboard knowing exactly where the story needs to be. There are piles of words that are just waiting to hit the keyboard. But those words can't happen until I get past the point I'm at now. I write a sentence, pause, then delete it. I stare at the screen then rapidly bang out 3 more sentences. My fingers hover over the keyboard then those sentences hit the trash as well. If I had been using a typewriter there would be a pile of wadded up paper on the floor next to me. In situations like this, I've found it's best to just walk away and do something else.
This is what happened to me a few days ago. I wrote many sentences and all of them ended up in the bit bucket. Frustrated, I closed down Scrivener and fired up the latest Star Trek movie. My wife was out and I had the house to myself which made the whole situation even more frustrating. I had lots of time to write and I was spending it watching a movie. Poor use of time. But the movie was what I needed to allow my brain to work on the problem behind the scenes. As the Enterprise sailed off with Kirk in command I had my answer. Scrivener reappeared and the word gates opened. By the time my wife came home I had written 3,200 words with plenty more ready to roll. All in all, a great day's worth of writing.
Peacekeeper is moving along quite well now. I have a clear vision of how it will progress from this point forward. I have notes of things that need added earlier on as well as things I will have to revise but I'm not going back now to fix things. I will press forward until the novel is finished. Only then will I go back and fix what needs fixing. After that, it's second pass editing time.
I do have one bit of exciting news to report. Last week, I received an email from a reporter at a local newspaper, The Ashtabula Star Beacon. Apparently, the paper wants me to be the feature story of the neighborhood section of this coming Sunday's edition. I've already done the phone interview and sent some more details answers to the reporter via email. A photographer will be showing up at the house today. I'm quite excited, especially since I did not solicit this interview. The paper contacted me.
One more piece of information and I will get back to writing. Sales have been slowly slipping for months. I do expect sales during the holiday season to drop as people focus on buying presents for their families. It was the slow slide up to this point that had me concerned. Well, not really concerned, they're not my primary source of income. I've always been a bit skeptical of how much advertising affected sales - until now. My wife sent off 250 cards using VistaPrint. Two weeks later, there was a small, but statistically noticeable increase. Was it the cards? I think so. Did I get a good return on investment? Maybe. Sometimes advertising works, sometimes not. I'm still on the fence.
This is what happened to me a few days ago. I wrote many sentences and all of them ended up in the bit bucket. Frustrated, I closed down Scrivener and fired up the latest Star Trek movie. My wife was out and I had the house to myself which made the whole situation even more frustrating. I had lots of time to write and I was spending it watching a movie. Poor use of time. But the movie was what I needed to allow my brain to work on the problem behind the scenes. As the Enterprise sailed off with Kirk in command I had my answer. Scrivener reappeared and the word gates opened. By the time my wife came home I had written 3,200 words with plenty more ready to roll. All in all, a great day's worth of writing.
Peacekeeper is moving along quite well now. I have a clear vision of how it will progress from this point forward. I have notes of things that need added earlier on as well as things I will have to revise but I'm not going back now to fix things. I will press forward until the novel is finished. Only then will I go back and fix what needs fixing. After that, it's second pass editing time.
I do have one bit of exciting news to report. Last week, I received an email from a reporter at a local newspaper, The Ashtabula Star Beacon. Apparently, the paper wants me to be the feature story of the neighborhood section of this coming Sunday's edition. I've already done the phone interview and sent some more details answers to the reporter via email. A photographer will be showing up at the house today. I'm quite excited, especially since I did not solicit this interview. The paper contacted me.
One more piece of information and I will get back to writing. Sales have been slowly slipping for months. I do expect sales during the holiday season to drop as people focus on buying presents for their families. It was the slow slide up to this point that had me concerned. Well, not really concerned, they're not my primary source of income. I've always been a bit skeptical of how much advertising affected sales - until now. My wife sent off 250 cards using VistaPrint. Two weeks later, there was a small, but statistically noticeable increase. Was it the cards? I think so. Did I get a good return on investment? Maybe. Sometimes advertising works, sometimes not. I'm still on the fence.
2012-11-11
11-11-12: Peacekeeper on a roll
Last week I was working 12 hour days and was unable to write even a single word. But, that did not stop me from at least working on Peacekeeper. During idle moments at work, while taking a shower before bed, and while trying to get to sleep, I was thinking about the book. Consequently, I made significant progress this weekend. I get my best writing done early in the morning. As long as I can stay away from all the other things I could be doing in the morning I can get a lot of writing done. Saturday and Sunday I was up at 0500 and made good progress on Peacekeeper.
Peacekeeper is turning out to be a very different sort of science fiction for me. It is more of a mystery than a knock-down drag out space-warfare novel. There will be battle scenes but there's a lot of stuff leading up to it. I've been trying to develop my characters a bit more as well as explaining the cultures of some of the races who are members of the Alliance. It's difficult to develop a whole new culture because we tend to always think that all alien cultures will be like our own. But how can they? They're aliens!
I have also mentioned a planet that could easily get me in trouble. My coworkers have jokingly been trying to get me to write a book titled 'Porn Planet'. Of course, they want it to be an adult XXX style novel with all sorts of imaginative futuristic ways for adults to have fun. I have graciously declined. But, the possibility of such a planet intrigues me and so I have mentioned it in Peacekeeper. I've not yet decided if my main character will actually go there or not in this novel but it at least opens the door for a future adventure with a more adult theme - something I've tried to avoid. Science fiction, however, can often be pretty racy and now I've opened the door a bit to let some of it appear in my writing. Peacekeeper has a bit more adult situations in it than my other novels and might not be appropriate for the very young.
In more personal news, I am now back in touch with another of my best friends from high school. This guy is totally off the grid. He does not own a cell phone, does not use banks, and only drives trucks that are older than 1986 because they have distributors and no computers. He lives in Washington State up in the mountains. He was one of 3 best friends I had in high school. The other one still lives in Minnesota and I video chat with him at least once a month. The last was not doing so well last I heard and I haven't spoken to him in 6 years.
Peacekeeper is turning out to be a very different sort of science fiction for me. It is more of a mystery than a knock-down drag out space-warfare novel. There will be battle scenes but there's a lot of stuff leading up to it. I've been trying to develop my characters a bit more as well as explaining the cultures of some of the races who are members of the Alliance. It's difficult to develop a whole new culture because we tend to always think that all alien cultures will be like our own. But how can they? They're aliens!
I have also mentioned a planet that could easily get me in trouble. My coworkers have jokingly been trying to get me to write a book titled 'Porn Planet'. Of course, they want it to be an adult XXX style novel with all sorts of imaginative futuristic ways for adults to have fun. I have graciously declined. But, the possibility of such a planet intrigues me and so I have mentioned it in Peacekeeper. I've not yet decided if my main character will actually go there or not in this novel but it at least opens the door for a future adventure with a more adult theme - something I've tried to avoid. Science fiction, however, can often be pretty racy and now I've opened the door a bit to let some of it appear in my writing. Peacekeeper has a bit more adult situations in it than my other novels and might not be appropriate for the very young.
In more personal news, I am now back in touch with another of my best friends from high school. This guy is totally off the grid. He does not own a cell phone, does not use banks, and only drives trucks that are older than 1986 because they have distributors and no computers. He lives in Washington State up in the mountains. He was one of 3 best friends I had in high school. The other one still lives in Minnesota and I video chat with him at least once a month. The last was not doing so well last I heard and I haven't spoken to him in 6 years.
2012-10-29
10-29-2012: The Perils of Not Outlining
Last week, I spent a great deal of time thinking about a tiny piece of my current work in progress. It revolves around how a potential enemy could gain access to an unsecured link into the military's communication network. Because of my work schedule, I didn't get any writing done - just a lot of thinking. By the time Saturday rolled around I still had not solved the problem but while thinking about it my subconscious had been busy revising what I had previously written. Saturday is the day we usually go to the bookstore. I write and drink wonderful coffee while my wife reads. I fired up the laptop, opened up Scrivener, and started re-reading the last few paragraphs to get the creative juices flowing. That's when my brain informed me that the plot needed a bit of action and I would have to throw out most of what I had written last weekend. Even though I've ended up rewriting the last two chapters, my subconscious was right and the story is better with the new material.
Peacekeeper is starting to solidify into a respectable novel. I have a whole list of things I need to go back and fix but I won't work on those until the rest of the story is complete. With my work schedule of late and the holiday season upon us, it's going to be a challenge to finish the first draft before I start working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day for the refuel outage. I will do my best. As for retirement - I seriously doubt I will be retiring any time soon so slow writing will just have to continue.
I've said this before, I don't do outlines. The story pretty much comes to life as I sit at the computer. Often, this way of writing can result in the destruction of previously written material to make the story better. I've tried outlining, it doesn't work for me. The human brain is a marvelous hunk of complexity and it works in mysterious ways. I've come to trust that little voice I hear every so often because more often than not it's right. I also know that when I'm 'in the groove' and the words are flowing off my fingers as fast as I can type, I might, at times, discover that I'm writing something I never planned. Instead of stopping to figure out what the heck is going on, I just keep writing. I love it when I can surprise myself.
Yesterday, I dropped by Createspace to change the cover on "Off Course". I discovered two things: 1) Createspace has a new distribution channel which I did not know about - I signed on. 2) My prices were way too high. I went through every single book and dropped the prices as low as I could while still making a tiny profit. I'm surprised someone hadn't said something about such high prices. I think Createspace must have lowered their production cost allowing me to sell the books at a much lower price. If you want to buy a printed copy - check out the new prices.
In other news, we have taken over custody of two very lovable outdoor cats. They're brother and sister. I love cats but I'm also allergic to them which means that even though they are allowed in the house they will be spending the majority of their time outdoors. For the summer, we bought them each a small cat house where they can sleep during the night. For the winter, I built them a house. I took a child's playhouse, set it on a platform, sealed up the openings with plexiglass, insulated it, put up a shelf for them to sit and look out the window, installed a small thermostatically controlled heater, and gave them a heated pad to sleep on. It took some training but they now use the cat door without any problems. Late last night I discovered a flaw in my design - I forgot to caulk the edge. The carpet inside the house is soaking wet because of all the rain we've had. It wicked in from around the edges. A dry floor was installed and caulking will be done first thing in the morning before I head to work (I'm on second shift this week).
Peacekeeper is starting to solidify into a respectable novel. I have a whole list of things I need to go back and fix but I won't work on those until the rest of the story is complete. With my work schedule of late and the holiday season upon us, it's going to be a challenge to finish the first draft before I start working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day for the refuel outage. I will do my best. As for retirement - I seriously doubt I will be retiring any time soon so slow writing will just have to continue.
I've said this before, I don't do outlines. The story pretty much comes to life as I sit at the computer. Often, this way of writing can result in the destruction of previously written material to make the story better. I've tried outlining, it doesn't work for me. The human brain is a marvelous hunk of complexity and it works in mysterious ways. I've come to trust that little voice I hear every so often because more often than not it's right. I also know that when I'm 'in the groove' and the words are flowing off my fingers as fast as I can type, I might, at times, discover that I'm writing something I never planned. Instead of stopping to figure out what the heck is going on, I just keep writing. I love it when I can surprise myself.
Yesterday, I dropped by Createspace to change the cover on "Off Course". I discovered two things: 1) Createspace has a new distribution channel which I did not know about - I signed on. 2) My prices were way too high. I went through every single book and dropped the prices as low as I could while still making a tiny profit. I'm surprised someone hadn't said something about such high prices. I think Createspace must have lowered their production cost allowing me to sell the books at a much lower price. If you want to buy a printed copy - check out the new prices.
In other news, we have taken over custody of two very lovable outdoor cats. They're brother and sister. I love cats but I'm also allergic to them which means that even though they are allowed in the house they will be spending the majority of their time outdoors. For the summer, we bought them each a small cat house where they can sleep during the night. For the winter, I built them a house. I took a child's playhouse, set it on a platform, sealed up the openings with plexiglass, insulated it, put up a shelf for them to sit and look out the window, installed a small thermostatically controlled heater, and gave them a heated pad to sleep on. It took some training but they now use the cat door without any problems. Late last night I discovered a flaw in my design - I forgot to caulk the edge. The carpet inside the house is soaking wet because of all the rain we've had. It wicked in from around the edges. A dry floor was installed and caulking will be done first thing in the morning before I head to work (I'm on second shift this week).
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