Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays

Like the title says: Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays everyone.

This has been a strange month. Normally, I'm much more organized about the holidays. I usually have all the Christmas shopping done by late Oct/early Nov and all of it wrapped by Thanksgiving or early Dec--this year, I bought my last present this morning and just finished wrapping it now. My wife still has my presents to wrap. She thinks she'll wrap them tonight while I'm sleeping. Hopefully she and I will get more sleep tonight -- we found out last night the little girl has an ear infection. She did not sleep well. We did not sleep well. Two hours max for all of us. At least my wife is off now until next Monday. I'm not so lucky -- but at least I'm off Christmas day.

As I mentioned in the previous blog post - time flies. I honestly don't know what happened to this month. November I spent every day writing. December--I've been on the computer and online maybe six or seven times. Hopefully, I strike some sort of compromise or balance come 2009. I have begun to read the NaNo book -- so far, it's not quite as crappy as I thought, but it does need loads of work.

Must run now. Need to help my wife get ready for tomorrow. Christmas Eve we spend the day with my extended family celebrating Christmas -- Christmas day we spend with her family. The day after Christmas is the day we usually spend in our pajamas (unless we head out to brave the cold and snow and look for after-Christmas specials). I'm really looking forward to all three days.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a very prosperous, safe and Happy New Year!

General Ramblings

Time flies.

I can't believe that

a: we're 11 days away from Christmas

b: we're 17 days away from the New Year

c: NaNoWriMo ended two weeks ago.

I've been trying to catch up on missed sleep--sleep I missed while working on the NaNo book--but I really don't think one can 'catch up' on sleep. At least, I can't. I might have a day where I actually sleep 8-9 hours in any given 24 hour period, but it just doesn't feel like 'catching-up'.

Oh wells. What's that saying....I'll sleep when I'm dead?

I've just started reading the NaNo book. I took a couple of weeks off, to put a little distance between myself and the book. Also, I've missed reading...and watching movies...and hanging out with the family. My little guy-the five year old-has discovered PlayStation and loves Super Heroes. With so many super hero movies out over the past few years--the Spider-Man trilogy, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk etc he loves playing the super hero type games for PlayStation. Most recently, he and I have been playing Ultimate Alliance (a game that allows the players to pick a 4 man (or woman) super hero team from twenty or so Marvel super hero characters). My little guy's favorites are Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Captain America. I like Thor and Thing.

Anyway--over the past couple of weeks, I've played video games with my little guy, played dollies with my little girl, and tried to convince my oldest (he's 15) the importance of getting good grades in school (especially in high school) and how he really needs to study for his finals. Hopefully, I've succeeded.

Also over these past two weeks, I've worked on reading a few books. I'm almost done with Stephen King's Cujo (somehow I've lived this long without reading the book or seeing the movie). I've also started Peter David's Sir Apropos of Nothing. I own the entire trilogy so I thought it was probably a good idea to actually read them. I have a few series like that--bought because I like the writer, like the story idea, liked what I read on the outside cover, but never seemingly having the time to actually read the book(s). Early new year's resolution - to read more of the books sitting in my personal library!

Another early new year's resolution - to finish editing my NaNo book by summer.

Another -- to ride 1000 miles on my bike--summer 2009. I used to ride 1-2k miles on my bike every summer when I was younger. I'd ride at least 10 miles every day, often times logging closer to 20-30 miles a night. I was in great shape then--and I'd like to get back into shape for 2009. I've already lost twenty pounds this past summer by exercising more and watching what I eat and I'm only about 5-10 pounds away from my ideal so I'd like to use my bike to achieve that goal. Another benefit of riding--it usually frees my creative mind. When I was younger, I'd jump on my bike whenever I'd need to plot or think about advancing my storyline. The blood would start flowing. The brain would start working, and by the time I was done with my ride, I was ready to write again.

I really am rambling today!

I should finish this up -- I have some Christmas presents to wrap yet today.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas--Happy Holidays--Season's Greetings and a very healthy, prosperous and Happy New Year.

NaNoWriMo

Today marks the end of NaNoWriMo.

I finished my latest book's first draft a couple of days ago, but I added a few scenes and ideas and padded the word count with an exercise to reveal another side of my main character. Doing this allowed me to reach my monthly goal of 60k.

My official NaNoWriMo-2008 word count was: 60, 086.

I've enjoyed this fast-paced writing exercise. I will likely try this again--perhaps before next November. I'm tossing around the idea of doing another attempt on my own in May 2009. We'll see...

For the time being, I'm going to let this draft rest for a few days, catch up on some reading and sleep, and then start editing/rewriting on Draft #2.

Oh -- and I have a tentative working title for this latest book.

...Test of Will...or maybe...A Test of Will...or...A Test of Wills.....or something...I figure it will come to me before I get the final draft done.

Thanks for joining me on this month-long journey.

Take care all -

NaNoWriMo

It's offical.

I copy/pasted the NaNo manuscript into the NaNo's word count computer--they have me at:

54,520.

Just a few hundred shy of what I had on my computer, but what does that matter (though it's odd how different computers count differently, isn't it?)

I'm only about 5k shy of 'the end'. It would be nice to get it done before the big Turkey day, but I've got a lot of projects I need to finish around the house before Thursday....so, I might not reach 'the end' until this weekend.

Either way, I'm amazed I (will) finished the rough draft in approximately one month. I've never written this way before. I'm usually a careful, cautious writer. A plotter. A tweaker. An edit-as-I-go type of writer--but this way of writing has shown me that I 'can' write fast, I 'can' write a couple of thousand words each day for multiple days/weeks in a row even while working and being home with the kids---and even if the first draft is crap (I'm sure most of it is), I at least have the story out of my head and now I have something I can work on.

Time to celebrate a little (with breakfast-I'm hungry). The kids are waking up--gotta run.

Take care all (and to those participating in NaNo - good luck reaching the 50k by Nov 3o. I wish you all the best!).

NaNoWriMo

NaNo Update:

Day 22:

Word count (unofficial count--official word count will come sometime after Nov 25): 51,102.

I did it.

Actually, I passed the 50,000 word mark yesterday, Friday, Nov 21 at about 5:30pm.

Yea!

But, the book's first draft isn't complete yet. I'm near the end. I can see it. I know how it needs to end. I'm just still working out how to actually get to that end point.

I can't wait to write, "The End".

I also can't wait to start rewriting it. Parts are mildly good. Some parts are okay. Large chunks---really, really bad! First draft bad. Don't want anyone else to read it bad. So bad, sometimes I'm afraid to read it because I know it will be cringe-worthy bad.

Did I mention, some of it is bad?

Overall, I like the story. I like the characters. I like the world the book is set in. I know, I know--I'm being vague, but I don't want to talk the book to death here. I want to get a second draft maybe a third draft done before I start talking specifics (or let anyone read it!). I don't even have a title for it yet. I've had a few ideas, but nothing I've fallen in love with yet. When I do think of something, I'll post it here.

I'm tired.

50,000 words in three weeks while working part-time at night and being a stay-at-home dad with two small and wildly energetic children and only getting 3-5 hours of sleep each night has been challenging to say the least. I'll probably still try to keep up with a similar writing routine now that the NaNo challenge is basically done with only a few modifications to allow me an extra hour of sleep each night. (Falling asleep at the computer while writing really doesn't accomplish anything!)

Speaking of children--mine are running around demanding my attention now. Gotta go.

Take care all -

NaNoWriMo Update

Update: Day 16.

To be on schedule with NaNo you should be at 26,667 words. I am currently at 33,724. Yea!

Just past the midway point of writing this month and I'm still doing pretty well. I really like this story--the characters, the wacky storyline and now, I have a fairly good idea how it's all going to end. It came to me in the shower. Most of my better story ideas come to me while I'm standing under the hot water. Hot water on my brain seems to loosen up the thoughts.

Now, if only they had waterproof computers/laptops...

Of course, if they did, my water bill would be astronomically high, and I'd look like a prune, but I just know those stories would sell!

The thing is, by the time I get out of the shower and dry off enough so as to not get water all over the floor and the computer, the best bits of story--especially dialogue--just don't seem to hold up. The dialogue that sparkled in my head when hot water is running all over me seems a little drier when I'm a little drier.

I wonder if it's like singing in the shower. Songs always sound better when they're sung in the shower...

Anyway. I'm rambling. I should be writing. I need some food. Something to drink. And eventually a nap--running on too few hours of sleep these past two weeks (also fighting off a lingering cold - bad cold, go away!).

To all of you working on a NaNo book - good luck! I wish you all the best on this amazing endeavor.

Take care -

NaNoWriMo Update

The first week of NaNo ended yesterday.

I've heard the second week is the 'hard' one. Well, I've reached a bit of a tight spot on my NaNo novel, but I wouldn't consider it 'hard' to get through - it just requires a bit more thinking/plotting/planning to make sure the details all fit. Perhaps that's why 'they' say that week two is the hard one. Week one is a lot of set-up, introducing new characters, getting the story moving, throwing a lot of balls in the air - but by week two, you have to start making connections with the story, you have to have some sort of reveal, some sort of revelation, something to hook the reader again to get them moving into the 'middle' of the book, something 'big' to get you into week three...and beyond...

I have a fairly good 'a-ha' moment coming--and since I don't want to make a complete mess of it, I've found myself slowed from my earlier speedy pace. Last week I was averaging between 800-1500 words an hour. Now -- not quite that.

Current Word Count: 18,421.

Well - since I don't want to fall behind, and this upcoming week is filling up fast (I have two writer's meetings this week - Wednesday and Thursday evening), I'd better get back to writing.

(Just Say NO to Procrastination!....today, not tomorrow!)

Take care all -

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo Update
Day 4:

Still writing ahead of schedule, but sleep is suffering. Word Count: 7705.

I might be able to break the 8k mark before the end of the day, but I almost fell asleep on the computer after lunch. (No, no drool landed on the keyboard!)

And in keeping with the title of this blog, I have actually composed a good one third of this NaNo book with an ink pen and paper. Someday I hope to have an actual notebook (computer), but right now, I'm carrying around a green 70-sheet, 1 subject, college rule (paper) notebook and whenever I have any free time, even if it's only five or ten minutes, I'm scribbling away.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post (I think--it's funny the tricks the mind plays on you when you're tired), I've noticed that this NaNo book is surprising me. I only had a rough idea what I was going to do with it and at the last moment, I decided to write it in first person rather than third. I knew I wanted to write some sort of fantasy -- perhaps urban fantasy -- and have some sort of bizarre murder investigation -- and I knew the main character fairly well and some of the secondary characters but only a shadow of the villain(s). I'd have to say that this is the least planned I've ever approached writing a book, and while at times I wonder if I'm crazy to write this way--it's quite a freeing experience. Large chunks of it may be complete and utter crap--but then I've always enjoyed the rewriting process. Soooo, I'm going to keep charging forward this month...keep pushing toward 50k by Nov 30th...and with any luck, I'll have a good chunk (if not all) of the crappy first draft done so I can start rewriting it in December.

Good luck to all you fellow Wrimos (I believe this is right)!

NaNoWriMo

NaNo Update: Day 2.

Things are going well, relatively speaking. Most of yesterday I spent in a writer's meeting (which I thoroughly enjoyed), but obviously it limited the time I could write. Today, I spent the morning hanging out with the family, but got to the computer around lunch time. Hmmm...now that I'm done writing, I realize I'm hungry. Must get something to eat soon. Stomach isn't feeling well from yesterday's diet coke incident. Long story mildly shortened - artificial sweeteners and me do not agree, at all! I get very sick if I ingest any of it. Diet sodas, sugar-free gum, a lot of energy drinks....I just can't have any of them. Anyway, yesterday, on accident, a waitress gave me the wrong drink at lunch. After a couple of swallows I realized the coke didn't taste right. It was diet.

Sooooo....though I'm not feeling 100% today, I did manage to write for a couple of hours and my NaNo word total is now:

3254.

Okay, okay. I know it's not 'impressive!' but at least it's on target. One must average about 1667 words a day, every day to reach 50k by Nov 30. I'm a little shy of that daily average goal, but I'll reach it later before I go to bed.

To those of you doing NaNoWriMo-2008 -- good luck! Keep at it! From what I hear, it's week 2 that's going to be the hard one! Don't quit!

Take care (and keep writing!)

NaNoWriMo

It's official. I actually signed up on the NaNoWriMo.org website. I added the Nano badge to my blog as proof. I'm actually going to attempt it this year. I'm so crazy busy in November, but I thought, what the hell, I'll give it a shot. It's only 50,000 words...right?

LOL.

I talked a fellow writing friend into doing NaNoWriMo this year too. He's crazy busy as well, but perhaps this will be a good way for both of us to kick start our writing habits (again?). I tend to want to edit too much as I write, so I'm hoping Nano will free me of that desire--at least for a little while. I also used to write EVERY day, and lately, with work, and the kids, I've started to miss days here and there. I don't like missing writing days -- so hopefully with Nano in mind, I'll get back into the habit of writing daily.

To all of you who may be participating in NaNoWriMo 2008, good luck!! I wish you all the best.

Please...wish me luck too! I'm sure I'm going to need it.

Take care all -- and of course, Happy Halloween!!!

NaNoWriMo

I think I'm going to work my new writing project idea into an attempt at NaNoWriMo this year. I have been working on a new book these past few months, but it just wasn't coming out right. Something seemed missing. I think I may have figured out what it was...I believe I was trying to tell too much story for one book. Or at least, I had perhaps two fairly good ideas for a book, whereas what I really needed was one very good idea. (or at least something resembling a very good idea).

Or maybe I'm just an idiot and I like to torture myself with my writing...

LOL.

Anyway - now that I've sorted out my writing problem (hopefully), and because November is amazingly almost upon us (where the hell did 2008 go? It wasn't a great year, but geez, it seems like we just celebrated New Years--(this is a sign I'm getting old, isn't it?) ), I thought it might be a good way to really stretch the writing muscle by attempting 50,000 words in Nov. Now, the problem with Novemeber is....both my little ones' birthdays are in Nov, TurkeyDay is HUGE with both my family and my wife's family, I've planned a date with my wife on one of the Saturdays, and the weekend after Turkey Day my extended family all gathers together for our traditional Christmas Tree-cutting down event/another family member's birthday party. Soooooo....basically at least some part of every weekend in November is devoted to some sort of family event/outing, which means I need to push a lot of those 50k words into Mon-Fri.

Now, the thing with that is....my wife is going back to work next Monday. She was laid off early in the year (along with hundreds of thousands of other people in 2008). Fortunately, she was able to find another job after an extensive search. I've been working nights mostly the entire time she's been off. So, when she goes back to work, I'll be returning to my Stay-At-Home Dad role (which I love)--then sleeping when she gets home, and working part-time at night.

Long story made not entirely any shorter...(LOL)...I'm going to really have to cram my writing into some brief periods of time. Speed writing. Stream of conscious writing perhaps....

I'm planning on posting updates on this mad-dash writing attempt here. Hopefully, I won't fail tooooooo miserably! Maybe, with some luck, I'll actually succeed! Here's hoping.

:)

Take care all - have a great day!

The Legend and the Dark

I took a mini-break from working on my current project and did some minor edits on The Legend and the Dark recently. I've shared this book with both of my writer's groups. One has finished it already, and the other is nearing the end. Obviously, sharing only a chapter or two with them each month meant they've been 'reading' this book over the span of a couple of years (pretty much the entire time I've been writing it). The edits received on these chapters were mostly of the smaller kind - the occasional typo, perhaps a grammatical suggestion, and sometimes a request for more details in certain sections. A few of my writer friends have read it straight through and were able to give me suggestions and comments about the entire story arc, character growth and critiques pertaining to the bulk of the story. For me, both types of comments were helpful. It allowed me to focus not only on the big picture, but also on some of the tiny details. I have a few readers/fellow writers still in the process of reading the book, and I look forward to their comments as well. One I've been told has an extremely keen editor's eye, so I'm curious to hear/read her comments/critique. I've been warned already about her 'red pen'.

Thank you all who have read The Legend and the Dark and have helped me to improve this manuscript.

Take care all -

Sleeping and writing

For most of the summer I've been working nights. Basically 9 to 5 overnight. I try to sleep during the day, but it's not easy. Neighbors mow their yards. Or play music. Or kids are in their yards playing... I don't fault them for their normal routines, but obviously, it makes sleeping difficult. Also, it's just hard to sleep during those wonderful summer days when the temps in the 70s or low 80s and there's a nice breeze. It's easier to sleep on those dark, rainy days -- except that means my little kids are in the house. To my wife's credit, she was wonderful in keeping them as quiet as she did all summer long. I know that wasn't easy!

The other thing I've noticed about sleeping during the day is -- people just assume that your sleep schedule is 'flexible'. Just sleep in the morning and do this or that in the afternoon. Or, stay up after work and do this or that in the morning and sleep in the afternoon or evening before going back to work. Now I ask you - do most people do that when they work during the day and sleep at night? How often have you gone straight to bed after work (say 6pm) and woke up at 1 or 2am to attend some function and then stayed up until the following night?

No, I'm not ranting. In fact, I did that to myself many times too. I enjoy walking with my little guy to the bus stop in the morning. I enjoy having dinner with my family. I've rarely slept the same exact hours during the day multiple days in a row. Sometimes, I'd take two or three two-or-three hour naps in a day. Of course, those nights at work, I'd be hurting.

What's the point of all this? Well, lately I've felt like a zombie. If I'm not at work, it feels like I'm trying to sleep. Or write. And as I mentioned in a comment to another post, writing while feeling like a zombie only makes that first rough draft even crappier. And then, inevitably, when I go back to look at what I've written on those rare days when I'm less zombie-like, I am discouraged by what I read. My wife tells me I'm just being overly critical of my writing (and she's usually right, I often am), but that doesn't make it any less crappy.

Or maybe I'm just overly tired, and cranky and truly being overly critical...

Perhaps it would be better (and wiser) to simply write the first draft and worry about making it better in rewrites. I know, it sounds so simple, and I have done that before on my other books, but I have a hard time putting that critical, perfectionist-driven editing voice aside at times (especially when I'm tired). If you're a writer, you probably know about this little voice, right? You shouldn't listen to that voice when you're working on the first draft. I know this, you know this--but as I've said, it's so much harder to push that voice aside and quiet it when you're tired.

Fortunately, it looks as if life might be returning to some sort of normalcy soon. A routine of sorts may be returning to our lives here and hopefully with that routine will come a set sleeping cycle for me-which in turn will provide me with a set (relatively speaking) writing schedule.

At least, despite all the turmoil of the summer, I have managed to add significantly to my current WIP, I've done some minor edits to both of my novels, I've polished off my query letter for The Legend and the Dark (again) and I have written the first drafts of a couple of short stories--probably not much compared to some, and perhaps more than others.

Oh - and I started this blog and dabbled into learning a bit about twitter.

Thanks for listening. It's almost time for me to get ready for work now. Take care.

Writing

Well...with no more baseball to watch--okay, okay, I'll probably still catch some of the World Series, I do love baseball even if the Cubs aren't playing--I 'should' have more time for writing now. Ah. There it is. The silver lining. I knew I could find it if I looked for it.

Okay - no more procrastination! Back to writing!

The Chicago Cubs

It's over. Finished. Swept..again. 8 straight playoff losses...

I really was hoping I wouldn't have to say...'wait 'til next year' again this year.

.....'wait 'til next year'....

The Chicago Cubs

Ouch! It's not looking good for the Cubs! Down two games to none. Down 3-0 and entering the 7th inning of the do-or-die Game 3 in LA....unless the team wakes up and plays like they did when they won 97 in the regular season, tonight is going to be the end of the line for 2008.

I'd hate to think we'll have to say 'wait 'til next year' again...

This was supposed to be their year.

100 years...and waiting.

I'm not giving up, yet. They still have 9 outs to work with...they've come from behind and won so many games over the season...

DeRosa out...8 outs left.

Theriot singles. Let's get something going!

Fukudome at the plate. I hope he finds his swing--if not at the plate tonight--hopefully over the off season. He's a great defensive player, has a great arm. I'd love to see him return next year and hit like he did in the early part of the season. Lately, he looks lost at the plate.

Oh my! Fukudome just got a hit! Yes!!

Soriano at the plate now. 2 on. Only 1 out. Pitching change. The Dodger fans are giving their pitcher a standing ovation. Gotta give it to him--he had some good stuff tonight. Hopefully the Cubs can jump all over the bullpen and score 4...5...runs or more. If I recall correctly, they led the league this year with scoring 5 or more runs in an inning...

Soriano is the tying run now....no double play. No double play. No double play....

Soriano pops out to right field on the first pitch. 0-4 for the day...

2 outs.

Fontenot is up now. For a little guy he sure has some power. A home run would be awesome, but a hit would be nice...

Wild pitch. Theriot advances to 3rd. Fukudome stayed at 1st.

3-2 on Fontenot. 2 outs. 2 on. D-Lee on deck...

Line drive to center field......caught.

6 outs left.

I'll suffer the rest of this alone now....

Take care all -

The Legend and the Dark

The Legend and the Dark is the novel I'm currently submitting to agents. It is a fantasy novel of approximately 125,000 words and while it is a completely stand alone novel, it has the potential to become the first book of a series.

Mallandor is dead. At least, that's what the king hopes. He masterminded a genocidal massacre that wiped out all the Fallerians thirty years ago, but the Overlord's youngest son was never found. For years, the king searched for the missing heir, but to no avail. Finally, he decides--Mallandor is dead.

He was wrong.

Infiltrating the new society using a number of aliases, Mallandor, now 'Mallor' becomes a legendary thief while pursuing his revenge. He learns that the insurgent king did not act alone and thus his list of targets and his retaliatory plan grows. However, thirty-six hours before the culmination of his life-long quest, Mallor learns from his lover that he has a daughter, and that she is being held hostage by a sadistic, magic-abusing sorcerer. The price for her release is the Armilleae, a cursed holy relic desired by everyone for its restorative powers, including the ailing goddess to whom it belongs.

If Mallor recovers the missing Armilleae and uses it to buy Zoelle’s freedom, his goddess will die, the souls of the dead Fallerians will remain unredeemed, and his home city of Sepeccare and all of its inhabitants including Zoelle will be dragged into a watery hell. If he returns the relic to his goddess, she will survive, but his daughter will die. With Zoelle doomed regardless of his decision, Mallor searches for a third option while being hunted by three people: an officer in the insurgent king's secret police who claims to have killed him once before, his own deadly duplicate, created by the cursed holy relic and loyal to the ruler of hell, and his ex-wife, a manipulative, shape-changing sorceress, and keeper of a secret darker than Mallor's own history.

It is during this search that Mallor confronts his destiny and realizes the true purpose of his existence.

I'll keep you posted on the progress of this book.

Take care, my friends...

Writing Life

Work on the current WIP has been slowed due to illness (both my little ones got sick last week and I inevitably caught a bad cold too), but, I have continued to push forward on it. My oldest son is anxiously waiting to read more, and I made a deal with him--improve your grades and lower your cross-country running times and I'll let you read more. He liked that idea. I'm taking him out to the city park in a couple of hours when the sun comes up so he can get some training in. I'll be on my bike. He'll run. Then, it's off to bed for me. Working the midnight shift has been an adjustment for me, my family and my creativity.

I finished a short story, Confined Transgressions, for one of my writer's groups. A couple of times a year we work on creative pieces based on random themes. The latest theme is 'Boundaries.' For those of you who belong to writer's groups - do you do similar writing exercises?

Be well, my friends (because being sick is just darn miserable!)

The Chicago Cubs

Yes, I am a die-hard Cubs fan. Yes, I have been disappointed by them many times over the years. Yes, they may disappoint again this year, but maybe, just maybe, this will be their year, and we won't have to say, 'wait 'til next year'. After 100 years, I think it's time.

'Go Cubs, Go....'

Writing

What's that saying about the best laid plans of mice and men? They often go a stray...

My lofty (okay, they really aren't that lofty) writing goals this past week were not exactly met. However, I did manage to add more words to my current untitled WIP, I did write the first draft of my children's picture book, and I did some editing on my first novel, The Rush of Betrayal, for my upcoming writer's group meeting, so I am moving forward on multiple fronts. I know, I know, I mentioned how I dislike working on many projects simultaneously, but...but...what can I say--I'm human. I change my mind from time to time. Besides, the muse decided to nudge me into writing the children's book and now I have to polish that a bit more so I can bring it to my other writer's group meeting next week.

Yes, I belong to two different writer's groups. I'll talk about them more in an upcoming entry.

My oldest son is anxious to read more of my current WIP. He'll turn 15 later this month, and over the weekend he was pestering me to let him read the new pages. I must say, it's very strange listening to him talk about my characters and the problems they're facing. We spent a good hour in the car just discussing various aspects of the story. I got a kick out of seeing how enthusiastic he was--and that alone is quite a writing boost. I have a fan. (And considering how picky he is about what he likes to read, I'm happy).

My youngest son (he'll turn 5 in November) listened to the rough draft of my picture book (obviously, it had no illustrations). After I was done reading, he bluntly said, "Daddy, I liked the story, this much." He spread his index finger and thumb open almost as far as they would go. "And I didn't like it, this much." He held those same fingers about a half an inch a part.

"I'm glad you liked it, but what didn't you like about the story?"

"It didn't have any pictures..."

So there you go.

My little girl (she'll turn 2 in November) waited until he was done talking, and then walked over and gave me a hug. I don't know if that meant she liked the story, or that she felt sorry for me for the harsh criticism I'd just received from her brother, but honestly the reason really didn't matter. Hugs from her are just sweet.

Take care, my friends. Be well, and write often.

Writer Friends

I just added a few links to some of my writer friends' websites. Check them out. I'll continue to add more links once my brain is fully functioning, and I've had a chance to sleep.

Writing update: I added a few hundred words to my WIP (work-in-progress) last night before work, and I hope to write more later this afternoon when I'm awake again.

Sleep beckons. Be well, my friends. :)

Writing Update

This entry will be short and sweet--and a way for me to track my forward movement on my current work-in-progress.

I added just over 1000 words to my (still untitled) novel tonight. I would have liked to have written more, but such is life. I'll take it. I'd like to continue adding between 500-1000 words everyday, and between 1000-2000 on my one day off each week. At that pace, I 'should' be able to finish the first draft some time in early November (ahead of my 'end of the year' goal).

Sleep beckons. Goodnight.

Writing Query Letters

Writing a good query letter is a necessary evil in the writing business. It's not enough to write a novel (hopefully, a good novel), you have to also be able to condense that novel into a couple of sentences, a paragraph at most, and you have to write those few lines in such a way as to peak the interest of very busy agents and/or editors so that they want to read more of your work. Thousands of hours, months, years even of your time spent hunched over a computer composing and editing your novel--and its fate typically rests in those few sentences and perhaps at most 30 seconds of an agent's/editor's time.

Talk about pressure, eh?

You know, it might just be easier to write a query letter first, and then write the book to match it afterwards...(though I don't recommend submitting any query letter without having written and polished your book--and no, I honestly did not learn that from first-hand experience).

I wonder how many good books have never been published because an author has difficulties writing a good query letter. I know some people will say, "If you can't write a good query letter, then you obviously can't write a good novel..."

"I disagree."

"You would, you're not very good at writing query letters."

"Wow. You're being harsh tonight."

"Get used to it. You need thick skin to be a writer."

"I know, but writing a novel and writing a query letter are two very different beasts."

"No, no, no! They both are made up of words. Words are your tools. Either you know how to use them properly or not."

"But, for me, when I write a novel, I am creating a new world, new people, revealing their story, their problems, the words I use are put together in such a way as to evoke feelings, to entertain, and a query letter..."

"Yeah?"

"A query letter is all about selling that book and me. It's a sales pitch. It's an entirely different style of writing."

"So?"

"Well, it's not that I'm incapable of writing creatively--I'm just not certain that I'm very talented at selling myself."

"That's too bad. You'll probably continue to fail until you overcome that problem and learn how to write in that style too."

"Yeah..."

So, that's the bottom line, I think. There's more to writing than just writing. You have to be able to sell yourself too. You need to be able to put that artistic hat aside and wear the salesman (salesperson) hat equally well. Because if you cannot be that multi-faceted writer, agents and editors will pass you by and spend their limited time on writers who can.

Additional writing goal: become a better salesman...write better queries.

Take care all -

Writing

I'm definitely not the first writer to debate the - to blog or not to blog - issue and I won't be the last. On one hand, blogging is writing, but on the other, these words don't get me any closer to 'the end' on my current work-in-progress. To justify the time I spend here, and not on my current writing project (or with my family) I feel the need to use this blog (in part) as a motivational tool. By declaring my writing goals here for any and all to see, I hope to be reminded in the months and years to come of them, and to push myself onward to achieve these goals.

In the past four years or so, I have finished two and a half novels. I have also written a handful of poems, and at least a half-dozen short stories. Prior to 2004, I began many novels but rarely finished any of them because 1) life intruded on my writing time, 2) I hadn't done any plotting up front and I didn't know how to finish the novel, or 3) I'd lose interest in the story and start up something new only to repeat that cycle midway through the next project.

In regards to those numbered issues:
1) As of 2004, I promised myself that I wouldn't accept that excuse any more and for the most part I've kept that promise. Certainly, there have been events in my life that have been difficult and I have taken brief periods of time away from writing, but I've always returned and have pushed ever onward toward 'the end'. I have realized that if I wanted to be taken seriously as a writer, I first had to take writing seriously. To that end, I feel like I have succeeded (and hope to continue to succeed in the years to come).

2) Some writers write without plots. For now, I'm not one of them. At least, not yet. Perhaps never. I like having an idea where I'm going. I don't need a detailed plot written in stone, but I at least need to have an end destination in mind. I look at it like taking a driving trip across the country. The map is spread out before me and I have a handful of pushpins. I know where I'm starting. I figure out roughly where I'd like to go and then I start picking out places along the way I'd like to visit. I may not know the EXACT road I'll follow to get from one location to the next, that's all part of the fun of discovery, but at least I don't get stuck heading in the wrong direction. So far, it's worked for me.

3) I try to work on only one project at a time--or at least one novel at a time. I might occasionally dabble with a short story, poem or even lately a picture book idea while working on a novel, but I simply cannot write two different novels at the same time. I can edit one novel while writing another, but as of right now, I'll refrain from attempting the crazy stunt of composing two (or more) novels simultaneously.

My goals:

1) To finish the first draft of my third novel (a still untitled future fantasy) by the end of the year. Currently, I have 45k words done with a final goal of 90k in mind.

2) To continue submitting my second novel - The Legend and the Dark (a stand-alone fantasy novel about a man seeking revenge and redemption) to agents. I'll talk about this book and the submitting process for it in later blog entries.

3) To read/revise my first novel - The Rush of Betrayal (the first book of a planned trilogy about a man framed for regicide and his fight to regain everything he's lost). I'll talk about this book in later blog entries too.

4) To continue submitting my short stories (all primarily fantasy shorts ranging from 1500-5000 words) to magazines.

5) To explore an idea for a picture book further and to finish that manuscript by the end of the year.

My children beckon-I must go. :)

Take care all -

Welcome

Hi. Welcome to The Ink-Competent Writer. The pen may indeed be mightier than the sword, but it seems that technology trumps them both. Typing on a wireless keyboard and using Word 2007 has generally replaced the ink pen and legal pad-or in my case the Mead 5-star, 5 subject, college ruled notebook. And while I still love to write with my trusty Pilot G-2 07 'black' with its cushioned finger-grip and silky glide across the page, I've grown accustomed to the ease of composing on my computer. Not that the actual writing of a novel or short story is 'easy'--far from it--but at least it's easier to hit that backspace and correct an error, or press the 'delete' button than it is to break out the old-fashioned white-out (or if you were a perfectionist, you insisted on rewriting that entire page....sometimes twice....three times even if you were having an especially bad spelling day...).

Anyway, before I ramble on much longer about the past, let me simply say, I am an aspiring author and this will be (in part) my record of the journey, the challenge really, to turn the 'aspiring' into 'published'. Since the age of seven, when I first began writing stories (mostly about dogs rescuing the world from alien invaders), I've wanted to be an author. Over the years, I've walked into libraries and local bookstores and savored their smell (strange, I know, but other writers and readers will understand--hopefully) and thought, I want to be a part of this world. I've walked up and down the aisles, searching for new adventures to explore, and thought, I really want to be a part of this world. Silly it may be, but at times I've even found the spot on the shelves where my books would sit, if they existed, and imaged them there. Blame the creative mind, I suppose, but hopefully someday, with a lot of work and determination (and perhaps just a little bit of luck), I won't have to use my imagination for that anymore.

I am the Ink-Competent Writer - welcome to my world.