Last year did not go the way I wanted it to. I was hoping to have a publishing deal by now, but I'm still on my second edit.
I made a little bit of headway in 2014. I feel I'm able to ground the story now and the minor details are filling themselves in. There is still the "oh man this sucks" thought that comes to me every now and then. The writing/grammar is where I'm feeling the burn, but I think as long as its bearable a publisher/editor will be able to help.
I'd say the biggest change from last year was that it has a new title. I changed it in part because the original title was part of a series of titles and I don't think I'd be able to make it work for all seven novels. This new title is also part of a series, but at times I think its a bit corny. I'm going to withhold the new title for now in case I change my mind. I don't think I will though.
Anyway, I'd love to finish with this novel before I turn 31. I think I have a shot, but its going to require a lot of effort. I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to buy any more video games til this book is done. Gaming, family time, work... these are all I have time for. I'm hoping to put gaming on the back burner as long as possible so I can make time for editing. We'll see.
I'm about 10,000 words into hopefully 80,000+. The first draft ended somewhere in the 52k realm. The first edit was hand-written, so I have no idea where the first edit word count ended up. I'll check back in at the end of the month to gauge how long this will take.
If I can finish by July, I should have enough time to prepare an outline for novel two before Nanowrimo in November :)
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Sunday, January 5, 2014
2014: The Year of the First Novel?
Well its 2014 and I suppose that means I need to provide a novel update.
Not too much has happened since we last left each other in September. Back then I claimed success over the first revision of the novel, a once-over of the plot. I have that revision sitting on the table next to me.
The next course of action is to revise the story for grammar. It has to come up from first grade reading level to hopefully sixth grade. That's probably as good as I'll ever be at writing, and I don't care to grind out better grammar skills at this point in my life. Maybe if this novel actually becomes a commercial success.
Anyway, I'm on the third chapter. The first revision was done on paper, so in addition to making grammar edits to my digital copy I'm incorporating all of the first pass' changes.
My goals for 2014 are as follows:
Those are some lofty goals, especially considering the outline for novel one began in... 2010? It has been a long road. I am weary from the journey, and I am ready for the journey to end, if only so I can begin a new journey with the second novel. I know this first book inside and out. I'm ready for the excitement of not knowing exactly what will happen to my characters to flow through me once again.
Not too much has happened since we last left each other in September. Back then I claimed success over the first revision of the novel, a once-over of the plot. I have that revision sitting on the table next to me.
The next course of action is to revise the story for grammar. It has to come up from first grade reading level to hopefully sixth grade. That's probably as good as I'll ever be at writing, and I don't care to grind out better grammar skills at this point in my life. Maybe if this novel actually becomes a commercial success.
Anyway, I'm on the third chapter. The first revision was done on paper, so in addition to making grammar edits to my digital copy I'm incorporating all of the first pass' changes.
My goals for 2014 are as follows:
- Work on the first novel for 15 minutes a day... every day... until the second revision is complete
- I aim to have the second revision completed no later than June
- By July, I'd like to hand out the novel to some beta readers and get some outside feedback
- Hopefully this will be complete by September
- Beginning in July, while the first novel is being beta-read, I want to begin outlining the second novel
- In November, I want to attempt NaNoWriMo and complete a rough draft for the second novel
- Between October and December, I want to incorporate the beta feedback for novel one and get it ready to send to an agent
Those are some lofty goals, especially considering the outline for novel one began in... 2010? It has been a long road. I am weary from the journey, and I am ready for the journey to end, if only so I can begin a new journey with the second novel. I know this first book inside and out. I'm ready for the excitement of not knowing exactly what will happen to my characters to flow through me once again.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Deconstruction
Its been about five months since my last post, but I'm happy to say that I've finished the first edit of my book :)
The first edit was a content calibration. A lot of plot details at the beginning didn't match with the ones at the end. I went through and put a big X through a few chapters, and rewrote a couple others.
There was some grammar editing involved but for the most part I stayed away from that. Grammar, sentence structure, word selection... I'll be concentrating on all of those in the second edit.
The second edit is going to take a long time, so please be patient. And excited.
"Bars closed, boys. I'm an artist!"
The first edit was a content calibration. A lot of plot details at the beginning didn't match with the ones at the end. I went through and put a big X through a few chapters, and rewrote a couple others.
There was some grammar editing involved but for the most part I stayed away from that. Grammar, sentence structure, word selection... I'll be concentrating on all of those in the second edit.
The second edit is going to take a long time, so please be patient. And excited.
"Bars closed, boys. I'm an artist!"
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
You Can't Fight A War Without Losing Blood
Another update on edits!
After about a month, I'm one third of the way through the manuscript. That's pretty intense, considering the amount of time it took to write the whole thing.
Two chapters have suffered the big X of death so far, but I don't anticipate anymore casualties. As mentioned in my previous post, the first chapter to die is being re-purposed for a future novel and the important bits for this novel have been moved elsewhere in the story.
The other chapter, though. Yikes. It was practically all fluff. It served as a way to introduce a character before her main appearance. However, having finished the first draft, I came to discover her role was not nearly as big as I had initially intended it to be. In the end I didn't need the introductory chapter at all. She will still be an important character, to an extent, but her bigger role in the series as a whole has been drastically reduced.
In other news, as part of the editing process, I put to paper all of the behind-the-scenes story that serves as the series plot. A majority of it will not be revealed until future novels, but there will be hints, and it has major effects on the contained plot of this first book. Writing it all down gave me some cool ideas that I can incorporate during this first edit. When the entire series is complete it'd be cool to show off how I knew all this stuff from the beginning. Lost-style. WE HAVE TO GO BACK!
So pumped! Lots of cool things on the horizon, including a surprise proclamation. Going to save that for later, but it will be proclaimed sometime in the next few months.
Until next time...
After about a month, I'm one third of the way through the manuscript. That's pretty intense, considering the amount of time it took to write the whole thing.
Two chapters have suffered the big X of death so far, but I don't anticipate anymore casualties. As mentioned in my previous post, the first chapter to die is being re-purposed for a future novel and the important bits for this novel have been moved elsewhere in the story.
The other chapter, though. Yikes. It was practically all fluff. It served as a way to introduce a character before her main appearance. However, having finished the first draft, I came to discover her role was not nearly as big as I had initially intended it to be. In the end I didn't need the introductory chapter at all. She will still be an important character, to an extent, but her bigger role in the series as a whole has been drastically reduced.
In other news, as part of the editing process, I put to paper all of the behind-the-scenes story that serves as the series plot. A majority of it will not be revealed until future novels, but there will be hints, and it has major effects on the contained plot of this first book. Writing it all down gave me some cool ideas that I can incorporate during this first edit. When the entire series is complete it'd be cool to show off how I knew all this stuff from the beginning. Lost-style. WE HAVE TO GO BACK!
So pumped! Lots of cool things on the horizon, including a surprise proclamation. Going to save that for later, but it will be proclaimed sometime in the next few months.
Until next time...
Monday, May 20, 2013
Omoide wa Okkusenman!
The first round of edits continues.
I got up to the fourth chapter when I realized it was completely out of place. It was practically all exposition/background story, save for a short action sequence at the beginning, and it disrupted the flow of the novel. By this point in the book, the MC has already received his call to adventure, so I couldn't do a flashback.
What to do, what to do?
I tried moving the chapter up in line, but it just didn't make sense to do a flashback so early. The chapter explained a lot of things about the universe in which the story resides, but the MC hadn't yet been solidly introduced to the audience. It was a hard decision, but I had to slash the whole chapter. I guess thats a sign of mature writing, but it doesn't hurt any less.
I did comb through it, however, and pick out the vital pieces of background information to be worked into conversations in other chapters. The actual event that happened in that chapter... by the time its relevant to the story for this first book we'll be ready for Act 2. And I'm not slowing the pace of the middle part of the story for a flashback. It will likely be recycled for Book 2, as I planned on having a very similar scene to kick that book off anyway.
Something else that recently came up... apparently there's bias in the writing industry towards prologues. Unbeknownst to me. It puts me in a rough spot, because the "prologue" that I have is vital to the entire series. It has to be the first scene, but it takes place outside of the main story, so I'm not sure if I can recategorize it as "Chapter One." Either way, it will be the first scene in the book. It can't be helped.
Decisions.
UPDATE: Rowling's Chapter One of Harry Potter Numero Uno is essentially a prologue. But its her Chapter One. I guess I know what I'm doing, then. Now, about the epilogue...
I got up to the fourth chapter when I realized it was completely out of place. It was practically all exposition/background story, save for a short action sequence at the beginning, and it disrupted the flow of the novel. By this point in the book, the MC has already received his call to adventure, so I couldn't do a flashback.
What to do, what to do?
I tried moving the chapter up in line, but it just didn't make sense to do a flashback so early. The chapter explained a lot of things about the universe in which the story resides, but the MC hadn't yet been solidly introduced to the audience. It was a hard decision, but I had to slash the whole chapter. I guess thats a sign of mature writing, but it doesn't hurt any less.
I did comb through it, however, and pick out the vital pieces of background information to be worked into conversations in other chapters. The actual event that happened in that chapter... by the time its relevant to the story for this first book we'll be ready for Act 2. And I'm not slowing the pace of the middle part of the story for a flashback. It will likely be recycled for Book 2, as I planned on having a very similar scene to kick that book off anyway.
Something else that recently came up... apparently there's bias in the writing industry towards prologues. Unbeknownst to me. It puts me in a rough spot, because the "prologue" that I have is vital to the entire series. It has to be the first scene, but it takes place outside of the main story, so I'm not sure if I can recategorize it as "Chapter One." Either way, it will be the first scene in the book. It can't be helped.
Decisions.
UPDATE: Rowling's Chapter One of Harry Potter Numero Uno is essentially a prologue. But its her Chapter One. I guess I know what I'm doing, then. Now, about the epilogue...
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Setting Sail the Prairie
After a couple weeks off, I have begun molding my novel into a second draft. I am using Holly Lisle's One-Pass Manuscript Revision as my guide. I honestly don't anticipate finishing the novel after just one pass, but I hope to have everything related to how the characters should act, plot, etc. finalized after this go round. The only things that (I hope) will remain will be grammar and sentence structure improvement.
The prologue's first edit has been completed. It was a very quick process, but the chapter itself is relatively short and it has already received many unofficial edits over the generation of the novel's first draft.
But I'm on my way! :)
The prologue's first edit has been completed. It was a very quick process, but the chapter itself is relatively short and it has already received many unofficial edits over the generation of the novel's first draft.
But I'm on my way! :)
Thursday, April 4, 2013
I WROTE A BOOK
As of today, April 4th, 2013, I am officially an author. Not a published author. And not even an author of a publish-ready piece. But I have completed the first draft of my first novel, and in my mind that makes me an author.
HOLY CRAP I ACTUALLY DID IT!!
I'm about to reminisce; if you want to know more about the novel scroll down to the bottom.
This all started back in high school. Specifically, my sophomore year. There was an online contest for an AOL forum called Antagonist, INC. (ANT for short). For the contest, you had to submit a short story fiction. I submitted a story about a man working on a space station and, to my surprise, I actually won! (The prize was virtual tokens used to buy random things - I bought a custom-made drawing of Gohan from Dragonball Z.).
A few weeks or so later after winning the contest, my English teacher gave us an assignment to write a two-page piece of fiction. I happily turned in my contest submission as my paper. When he handed them back graded the next week, he looked me in the eye and said if he ever found that I had plagiarized my homework, that he would ensure I get suspended. He handed me back a paper with a big fat 100 on it.
That is the single most-cherished compliment I have ever received, and it stuck with me.
It was then I realized my creativity was badass. I began writing more short stories for fun. Eventually I decided I wanted to put my writing to use. Back then I wanted to be a game designer; specifically, the creative story designer. So I set out to write a story that I could later turn into the world for a videogame.
It was this "game" story that would eventually evolve into the universe which spawned this first novel. As I went into college, I realized my story needed backstory. I then set off to create another story, a prequel novel. I made a full outline and wrote about 8 or 9 chapters before the fatigue of writing brought everything to a halt.
Jump to November 2009. National Novel Writing Month. I was eager to write a novel again. Looking at what I had written, though, I realized I needed even MORE backstory. So that month I began writing yet another prequel. I only got a few chapters in before writing fatigue hit and I again gave up.
Summer 2010. That itch returned. Only this time I sat down and looked at the universe I was creating with a mature eye. Not only did I need even more backstory, but I needed an entire trilogy's worth. And so I set out to outline what eventually became the novel I finished drafting tonight. If you do the math, that's six novels worth of story, with the original idea being the sixth in the series.
From November 2010 to today, I have been writing the first entry in the series: How They Got Their Wings. It was a long and hard road, mostly because I really don't like to write. I like to fantasize. To create. Writing is the easiest outlet for me, albeit a boring one, but one in which I can fully realize my fictional universe without thousands of hours of digital media effort (we'll save that for Hollywood, yeah?)
The first draft clocks in at 21 chapters plus a Prologue/Epilogue. The word count is only at 52,581 words, which is 20K shy of the first Harry Potter novel (which, by the way, was the smallest novel in that series). The word count will go up with revision. There were lots of scenes that I rushed through without providing much detail. The chapter count is very likely to increase as well.
And before anyone asks, no, you can't read it (yet). My wife hasn't even read it, and I'm not letting her until I at least complete the first revision (because a lot of it is pretty unreadable). I have no idea how long that's going to take. It may be another few years before I'm ready to publish. But hey, I'm 50K+ words farther along than I was 3 years ago :)
As for what its about? Well, it is a supernatural fantasy set in a modern world with some sci-fi elements. And its called How They Got Their Wings. It would be safe to say that I want this story to do for angels what Harry Potter did for wizards or Twilight did for vampires. Only it will be more mature than Harry Potter and it won't suck (pun intended) like Twilight. As for anything specific about the story, you'll have to wait a little while longer. But know that this story/universe has been building in my mind for 13 years. This isn't something just slapped together. It's going to blow. your. minds.
The road to taking over the world continues...
HOLY CRAP I ACTUALLY DID IT!!
I'm about to reminisce; if you want to know more about the novel scroll down to the bottom.
This all started back in high school. Specifically, my sophomore year. There was an online contest for an AOL forum called Antagonist, INC. (ANT for short). For the contest, you had to submit a short story fiction. I submitted a story about a man working on a space station and, to my surprise, I actually won! (The prize was virtual tokens used to buy random things - I bought a custom-made drawing of Gohan from Dragonball Z.).
A few weeks or so later after winning the contest, my English teacher gave us an assignment to write a two-page piece of fiction. I happily turned in my contest submission as my paper. When he handed them back graded the next week, he looked me in the eye and said if he ever found that I had plagiarized my homework, that he would ensure I get suspended. He handed me back a paper with a big fat 100 on it.
That is the single most-cherished compliment I have ever received, and it stuck with me.
It was then I realized my creativity was badass. I began writing more short stories for fun. Eventually I decided I wanted to put my writing to use. Back then I wanted to be a game designer; specifically, the creative story designer. So I set out to write a story that I could later turn into the world for a videogame.
It was this "game" story that would eventually evolve into the universe which spawned this first novel. As I went into college, I realized my story needed backstory. I then set off to create another story, a prequel novel. I made a full outline and wrote about 8 or 9 chapters before the fatigue of writing brought everything to a halt.
Jump to November 2009. National Novel Writing Month. I was eager to write a novel again. Looking at what I had written, though, I realized I needed even MORE backstory. So that month I began writing yet another prequel. I only got a few chapters in before writing fatigue hit and I again gave up.
Summer 2010. That itch returned. Only this time I sat down and looked at the universe I was creating with a mature eye. Not only did I need even more backstory, but I needed an entire trilogy's worth. And so I set out to outline what eventually became the novel I finished drafting tonight. If you do the math, that's six novels worth of story, with the original idea being the sixth in the series.
From November 2010 to today, I have been writing the first entry in the series: How They Got Their Wings. It was a long and hard road, mostly because I really don't like to write. I like to fantasize. To create. Writing is the easiest outlet for me, albeit a boring one, but one in which I can fully realize my fictional universe without thousands of hours of digital media effort (we'll save that for Hollywood, yeah?)
The first draft clocks in at 21 chapters plus a Prologue/Epilogue. The word count is only at 52,581 words, which is 20K shy of the first Harry Potter novel (which, by the way, was the smallest novel in that series). The word count will go up with revision. There were lots of scenes that I rushed through without providing much detail. The chapter count is very likely to increase as well.
And before anyone asks, no, you can't read it (yet). My wife hasn't even read it, and I'm not letting her until I at least complete the first revision (because a lot of it is pretty unreadable). I have no idea how long that's going to take. It may be another few years before I'm ready to publish. But hey, I'm 50K+ words farther along than I was 3 years ago :)
As for what its about? Well, it is a supernatural fantasy set in a modern world with some sci-fi elements. And its called How They Got Their Wings. It would be safe to say that I want this story to do for angels what Harry Potter did for wizards or Twilight did for vampires. Only it will be more mature than Harry Potter and it won't suck (pun intended) like Twilight. As for anything specific about the story, you'll have to wait a little while longer. But know that this story/universe has been building in my mind for 13 years. This isn't something just slapped together. It's going to blow. your. minds.
The road to taking over the world continues...
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