If you have somehow managed to miss my nearly constant references, am currently gearing up to write my first full length novel. I have erected several tent posts in my mind that I believe will unleash my inner savantitude (yep, I did just make that word up, but it's what I do, make stuff up).
I had decided to keep alot of this stuff to myself, mainly because I either did not know how effective these ideas would be, or if people would look at me more strangely than they already do (seriously, cut it out. I can see you through your webcam).
I then realized that it doesn't matter if these things work. I might as well be honest, I'm still finding my way as a writer, and still experimenting with my process. The way I outline (currently I write out a list of events in the story in the form of a bullet-list and write above it, deleting events or changing the color of the text as I check them off), where I find my inspiration (this one changes all the time, and I will get to it in a second), and also when I make time to write (anyone that checks the times on my blog updates can answer this one) are all possibly informative to someone else.
Not because I am some writing god that has ideas that are that much better than anyone else's, but because I want to contribute whatever I can to the writing community. Some people have the expertise to pen full length, incredibly informative works (I am currently reading Confessions of a Freelance Penmokey), and some write blog posts or software that helps the beginning writer (Yes, Erin, you and your husbands post regarding createspace).
I am none of that. I AM a beginning writer. No one trusts a bald barber, and no one wants to get writing advise from someone whose only self-published two short ebooks (so far ;-)).
So what can I contribute? I can contribute my honesty regarding my own limitations, my failures as a writer, the things that didn't work for me, knowledge regarding the things I try to help me along my way, because I like to think of myself as "open source". I have no problem exposing my faults, and anyone that knows me will vouch that I have absolutely NO problem laughing at myself when I screw up.
So I have decided to blog my progress on this novel. I will not be giving daily updates of word counts produced that day, and document every inane thought. Hell, no. I wouldn't do that to you.
My goal is to show my process, and when I have something interesting or potentially helpful to add, I will add it. The updates will undoubtedly come more regularly now, and they will hopefully give you all a break from the ,"Hey, lookie what I wrote/made and put up for sale" stuff I've been posting. Sorry about all that, I was simply devoting everything I had into finishing Judgment Cove.
Now, it's out the door, and I am on to the novel.
As everyone probably knows, it is going to be titled "pre://d.o.mai.n/theSagaof/MilesTorvalds".
It involves computer crime, and I recently came across a non-fiction book that I feel compelled to read before I start writing in earnest. It is called "Ghost in the Wires", and it is the autobiography of Kevin Mitnick. I don't have the space here to explain who he is or what he was able to do, but here's a little help- Wikipedia page for Kevin Mitnick .
Needless to say, he accomplished a lot of what I have tasked my protagonist with. I'm not necessarily interested in the exact events of his life of hacking and running from the police, I'm more so looking for the feel of what it is like to be in that position. I'm not looking to copy those events directly (they wouldn't be applicable in my story anyways), but some of the ways he manipulated people will become part of the focus of my novel, Miles Torvalds.
I want to know the fear, the arrogance. I want to sense the tension during and after each move he made. And I want to bend those emotions to my purpose with Miles. I am not copying Kevin's story, I am stealing his soul.
Often, when I am contemplating a story (at least it has worked this way so far) certain things jump out at me, and I instantly feel that it is important for me to experience them in order to infuse their essence into said story. Much the same, If I come across something that I think will help me with the way I go about writing, I feel compelled to check that out as well.
I am currently about 15% through another book that I felt compelled to check out in this way as well. It is the aforementioned, "Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey", by Chuck Wendig. I am currently 136 pages in, and if you want to seriously write fiction, you NEED to read this book. It's not dry at all ( he swears like a sailor, and the references.....the references will haunt me...lol), it's great fun and I feel like I am getting a healthy dose of what I need right now. Not necessarily the X's and O's of writing, but the semantics, the between the lines thinking that will unlock what I can only feel the beginnings of now.
And PS-the section about never date a writer? Yeah, that all totally fits me, lol.
I am also planning on collecting a selection of DVD's that have heavy themes of totalitarian rule set in a alternate future, I am currently cataloging different Pandora stations that I believe represent different emotions (so that I can listen to them while I am writing, and change them as I finish and start new scenes), and will be staying in my families camp for a little over a week in September (mostly by myself) to cultivate a feeling of isolation, which I believe I will be able to draw from in my writing in this specific instance, given my plotline.
I guess you could call it a weak level of "Method writing", but I'm looking to create an atmosphere that is conducive to the emotions that I want to incorporate. I already have Miles' story outlined. I know the beginning, middle, and end. I need the emotions to fill in the gaps, I have multiple ancillary storylines that I have held separate from the main story line because I want to go with the ones that feel right at the time, and not simply shoehorn them all in to hit a word count.
I even came up with an idealistic goal to keep in mind as I write.
I am going to attempt to write the "Great American Science Fiction Novel".
This is obviously a riff on the common aspiration to write the "Great American Novel"
The thing is, I already know I will fail at that..
Of course, that's not the point. The point is to eliminate expectations, eliminate any level of earthly satisfaction, and write something on an entirely different level than anything I've written before.
I don't want to look at the novel and say, "That's pretty good".
I want to look at it and be slightly afraid of it, like I'm not entirely certain where it came from.
Hey, I'm an optimist, sue me, lol.
I hope you come along with me on the journey, and in the end experience something that I hope will be a very enjoyable read, at the very least.
As always, thanks for taking the time to visit my site.
I had decided to keep alot of this stuff to myself, mainly because I either did not know how effective these ideas would be, or if people would look at me more strangely than they already do (seriously, cut it out. I can see you through your webcam).
I then realized that it doesn't matter if these things work. I might as well be honest, I'm still finding my way as a writer, and still experimenting with my process. The way I outline (currently I write out a list of events in the story in the form of a bullet-list and write above it, deleting events or changing the color of the text as I check them off), where I find my inspiration (this one changes all the time, and I will get to it in a second), and also when I make time to write (anyone that checks the times on my blog updates can answer this one) are all possibly informative to someone else.
Not because I am some writing god that has ideas that are that much better than anyone else's, but because I want to contribute whatever I can to the writing community. Some people have the expertise to pen full length, incredibly informative works (I am currently reading Confessions of a Freelance Penmokey), and some write blog posts or software that helps the beginning writer (Yes, Erin, you and your husbands post regarding createspace).
I am none of that. I AM a beginning writer. No one trusts a bald barber, and no one wants to get writing advise from someone whose only self-published two short ebooks (so far ;-)).
So what can I contribute? I can contribute my honesty regarding my own limitations, my failures as a writer, the things that didn't work for me, knowledge regarding the things I try to help me along my way, because I like to think of myself as "open source". I have no problem exposing my faults, and anyone that knows me will vouch that I have absolutely NO problem laughing at myself when I screw up.
So I have decided to blog my progress on this novel. I will not be giving daily updates of word counts produced that day, and document every inane thought. Hell, no. I wouldn't do that to you.
My goal is to show my process, and when I have something interesting or potentially helpful to add, I will add it. The updates will undoubtedly come more regularly now, and they will hopefully give you all a break from the ,"Hey, lookie what I wrote/made and put up for sale" stuff I've been posting. Sorry about all that, I was simply devoting everything I had into finishing Judgment Cove.
Now, it's out the door, and I am on to the novel.
As everyone probably knows, it is going to be titled "pre://d.o.mai.n/theSagaof/MilesTorvalds".
It involves computer crime, and I recently came across a non-fiction book that I feel compelled to read before I start writing in earnest. It is called "Ghost in the Wires", and it is the autobiography of Kevin Mitnick. I don't have the space here to explain who he is or what he was able to do, but here's a little help- Wikipedia page for Kevin Mitnick .
Needless to say, he accomplished a lot of what I have tasked my protagonist with. I'm not necessarily interested in the exact events of his life of hacking and running from the police, I'm more so looking for the feel of what it is like to be in that position. I'm not looking to copy those events directly (they wouldn't be applicable in my story anyways), but some of the ways he manipulated people will become part of the focus of my novel, Miles Torvalds.
I want to know the fear, the arrogance. I want to sense the tension during and after each move he made. And I want to bend those emotions to my purpose with Miles. I am not copying Kevin's story, I am stealing his soul.
Often, when I am contemplating a story (at least it has worked this way so far) certain things jump out at me, and I instantly feel that it is important for me to experience them in order to infuse their essence into said story. Much the same, If I come across something that I think will help me with the way I go about writing, I feel compelled to check that out as well.
I am currently about 15% through another book that I felt compelled to check out in this way as well. It is the aforementioned, "Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey", by Chuck Wendig. I am currently 136 pages in, and if you want to seriously write fiction, you NEED to read this book. It's not dry at all ( he swears like a sailor, and the references.....the references will haunt me...lol), it's great fun and I feel like I am getting a healthy dose of what I need right now. Not necessarily the X's and O's of writing, but the semantics, the between the lines thinking that will unlock what I can only feel the beginnings of now.
And PS-the section about never date a writer? Yeah, that all totally fits me, lol.
I am also planning on collecting a selection of DVD's that have heavy themes of totalitarian rule set in a alternate future, I am currently cataloging different Pandora stations that I believe represent different emotions (so that I can listen to them while I am writing, and change them as I finish and start new scenes), and will be staying in my families camp for a little over a week in September (mostly by myself) to cultivate a feeling of isolation, which I believe I will be able to draw from in my writing in this specific instance, given my plotline.
I guess you could call it a weak level of "Method writing", but I'm looking to create an atmosphere that is conducive to the emotions that I want to incorporate. I already have Miles' story outlined. I know the beginning, middle, and end. I need the emotions to fill in the gaps, I have multiple ancillary storylines that I have held separate from the main story line because I want to go with the ones that feel right at the time, and not simply shoehorn them all in to hit a word count.
I even came up with an idealistic goal to keep in mind as I write.
I am going to attempt to write the "Great American Science Fiction Novel".
This is obviously a riff on the common aspiration to write the "Great American Novel"
The thing is, I already know I will fail at that..
Of course, that's not the point. The point is to eliminate expectations, eliminate any level of earthly satisfaction, and write something on an entirely different level than anything I've written before.
I don't want to look at the novel and say, "That's pretty good".
I want to look at it and be slightly afraid of it, like I'm not entirely certain where it came from.
Hey, I'm an optimist, sue me, lol.
I hope you come along with me on the journey, and in the end experience something that I hope will be a very enjoyable read, at the very least.
As always, thanks for taking the time to visit my site.
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