Category: Blog Post

Back in the Saddle…

By , December 12, 2011 4:45 pm

Back in the writing saddle, that is.

Hearing Matt Forbeck’s goal of writing 12 books in 12 months is both scary and inspiring. Basically, Matt is shooting to do a NaNoWriMo-length novel of 50,000 words every month in 2012. It’s made me sit down and start calculating what it would take to hit a million words in 2012. The number is surprisingly small – 1000000 – four NaNoWriMo projects (200,000), minus the shorts I’ve already written for MPF (just north of another 52,000) = about 750,000. Divide by the number of writing days I’ll have in 2012 (313) and I come up with 2,400 words a day. Wolfram Alpha puts it at 2396.16. But what’s 3.84 words among friends?

Keeping the Worlds Straight

By , December 5, 2011 9:44 am

This morning, I started counting up the universes that I’ve got planned out and am currently writing in, or that I have stories that I plan on coming back to – recurring universes, as it were. So far, here they are:

  1. The Sinner – my two weird west stories- High Moon and The Devil’s Due.
  2. Sparks and Spells (that’s a tentative name) – the alt history fantasy/manapunk pre-WWI universe – Battle of Wildspitze and Finding the Fire. (This is the universe that Scott Roche and I are sharing / writing in.) New stories coming from both of us soon.

GSG NaNo Gaiden #23

By , November 23, 2011 4:16 pm

Cross-posted at Geek Survival Guide.

You’ve got a first draft coming together. And that’s great! But please, please don’t think that it’s a finished book. You’ve made batter. But is it a waffle? A pancake? A Chocolate Cake? Tempura? Maybe it’s bread dough, and it needs to be kneaded, allowed to rise, kneaded again, put in a greased bread pan, and left in an oven to come out and be slathered in soft butter and raspberry huckleberry jam just like mom makes. (Yeah, my mom makes homemade raspberry huckleberry jam. You may now be jealous.)

GSG NaNoGaiden Ep #16

By , November 16, 2011 11:57 pm

Four minutes to midnight… and cross posted at www.geeksurvivalguide.org


Competition. You’re competing with yourself, yeah, sure. But it’s much more fun to compete with other people! And beat them! Maybe.

Anyway, if you’re stuck, throw down a gauntlet and challenge someone else to a word war (or sprint). Time it, and see how many words you can write than your competitors!

And have fun. Remember, this is just a first draft.

GSG NaNo Gaiden #8

By , November 8, 2011 6:34 pm

Cross posted at www.geeksurvivalguide.org.

OBSTACLES!

We hates them, precious. But sometimes things just get in the way of your writing.

Muscle past them. Grab a keyboard and your headphones, and write in your righteous fury! Or… you know… whatever. So long as the writing happens.

Enjoy!

Download GSG NaNo Gaiden 8

GSG NaNo Gaiden #7

By , November 7, 2011 1:24 pm

Cross posted at geeksurvivalguide.org.

Ever feel like you have to justify your writing?

Screw that. You write because you want to, and you write what you want to write. Absolutely, without hesitation. That’s what this month is all about.

So go write!

Or, you know, you could listen to this episode first.

Enjoy!

Download GSG NaNo Gaiden #7

GSG NaNo Gaiden #5

By , November 5, 2011 6:49 pm

Better late than never. Had a five-hour write in today, which is a totally new thing for me. I’ve never done write-ins before. Took a rather sizable break in there, where I started reading some more Darths and Droids… anyway…

Here’s ep 5! Enjoy!

Download GSG NaNo Gaiden #5

GSG NaNo Gaiden Ep 4

By , November 4, 2011 12:44 pm

This Ep brought to you by… here, and flyingislandpress.com.

Everyone has conflicts. You have ‘em. I have ‘em. Your bus driver, boss, kid, significant other, and even your lunch lady has ‘em. So if you’re wondering what to do with a scene, or something feels lifeless, take out a card and decide on a good conflict for one of your characters. Remember, you’re still in act 1, and this is where you’re laying the groundwork for everything to come.

Now, go write!

Download GSG NaNo Gaiden #4

GSG NaNo Gaiden #3

By , November 3, 2011 12:58 pm

The FATEFUL DECISION (bum bum baaaaaaah!).

You’re 10% into your novel. Or at least you’re at 10% of your time. Here’s where your main character makes a decision to have a story! Red pill or blue pill?

Enjoy!

Download GSG NaNo Gaiden #3

GSG NaNo Gaiden #2

By , November 2, 2011 2:18 pm

Day 2 of NaNo, and already some people are starting to freak out. Don’t do that. Trust your instincts, know that you do have something to say, sit down, and start moving those fingers over the keys.

There is always something in the box. Trust that there is always something in the box.

And enjoy Day 2.

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