Almost two weeks ago, I announced that I’d completed the first draft of the novel I’d been working on over the past year. I had a few folks query me about the download for the complete PDF. To those: Thanks! To everyone else, here’s the first 503 words: The fires in the Port Calvert Asylum […]
Well, 74,716 words later (that’s about 315 pages) and I’m willing to pull the zipper on this bag and call it a draft. As of about (say…) 15 minutes ago I hit “Save” on the last chapter of the first draft of the novel I’ve been working on for the past year or so. It […]
I wrote tonight for the first time in what was probably about a month. It wasn’t a lot. But it was good. Some revisions and new material. Again, not a lot. But good. I felt guilty and I felt tired. By the end of writing I wanted to cry. That was a drag. Writing feels […]
At just under 300 pages, I keep asking myself: “How much longer until I finish out the rough draft of this damnable novel?” I’m convinced that every would-be novelist hits this point sooner or later. Especially if s/he is working a full time job to pick up what non-publication leaves behind. I’m convinced that it’s […]
Oh! How I love the writing process. I’ve committed myself to finishing my first draft before making major edits and already (“nearing the end”) I’ve identified all these changes I feel must be made. And I want so badly to go back and make them that I’m “this” close to abandoning my finish just to […]
Quite a week! Seemed as though there was some major calendar event every one of the past seven days… “What’s next?” seemed to be the catch-phrase of the week. That said, much of it was pretty damn exhilirating for better and/or for worse. Had a “15 minutes” moment with my 7 Days publication – – […]
60,107 / 80,000 (75.1%) Looking at the 60k-word mark and thinking about how close I am to wrapping up feels like this impossible contradiction. Another 20 pages could do it, right? (I ask myself.) What’s 20 pages? (I guess about 20,000 words.) There’s so much discipline involved in this endeavor. It’s difficult sometimes to image […]
Since a couple of folks asked, here is the “book jacket” edition synopsis of the project to which I’ve alluded a couple times now. So: After the Soy Wars, the world is a patchwork of wastelands and closely guarded communities managing their individual recoveries through a confederacy called the Sovereignties Parliament. Scattered along the borders […]
57,856 / 80,000 (72.3%) I’d originally had today set as my 80,000 word finish-that-first-draft deadline. I doubt I’ll hit that by bedtime but I’ve already put a lot of energy into the project this weekend. That said, I just finished one of the climactic chapters (plot-wise) and am taking a lunch break. Hot damn but […]
Grabbed verbatim from Neil Gaiman‘s blog: I’m not sure. There’s definitely something that tells you whether an idea has legs or not — but for me, it’s still, often as not, trial and error. My two favourite stories of the last few years, “A Study In Emerald” and “How to Talk to Girls at Parties” […]