I can see it in the distance. I really can. It’s getting closer everyday and it’s starting to feel strange. I don’t mean strange in the sense that I don’t want to get there. Maybe by ‘strange’ I really mean ‘new and exiting’. When I self-published the first one-third of the book (so that I could actually see my own work in print and have something to share with my family) I was almost giddy. To hold my own work in my hands made me feel like a real writer for the first time ever. What I’m feeling now as I quickly approach the finish line is very similar.
I haven’t had much luck with trying to write in the evenings because I tend to need much more time than that to focus. It’s starting to get easier, though. Maybe it’s the momentum of knowing that I’m almost done. Who knows? At any rate, I’ve already made some progress this week before the weekend arrives. Hooray for me! I’m hoping I’ll have a big pile of chapters to upload on Sunday. Wish me luck!
For now, I’m off to go and prepare for that thing that sucks up so much valuable writing time (AKA my day job).
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Story Update - 'Family Secrets'
I made some key decisions lately regarding Family Secrets and I thought that sharing them might help make sense of a few things. So here goes.
I wrote the first 13 chapters back in 1996. I tinkered with it here and there, but didn’t do any serious work on it until last year. After so many years, I was unsure about the time frame. I originally wanted to continue setting the story in 1996 and use an epilogue to bring the characters into the present day. That was because I did not foresee any additional Charlee Hudson stories. Now that I’ve changed my mind about that, I’ve had to change my approach to the time frame. It’s one thing to write one story in a different time period. It’s quite another to write several.
So, I have decided to bring Charlee, Carter and the others into the present day. Yes, Regis, this is my final answer. You will notice in the most recent uploads that Charlee suddenly has a cell phone. That's the sort of thing that I still need to 'polish up' in the previous chapters.
Aside from grammar and spelling, I’m not a fan of editing while I’m in the middle of a story. I will go back later and make the necessary revisions – give them cell phones and laptops, etc. None of this will alter the basic storyline.
FYI – I’m probably about 60 pages away from the juicy ending! The completed novel will be smallish – around 250 pages. Don’t worry though; I already have an idea brewing for Charlee’s next adventure!
I wrote the first 13 chapters back in 1996. I tinkered with it here and there, but didn’t do any serious work on it until last year. After so many years, I was unsure about the time frame. I originally wanted to continue setting the story in 1996 and use an epilogue to bring the characters into the present day. That was because I did not foresee any additional Charlee Hudson stories. Now that I’ve changed my mind about that, I’ve had to change my approach to the time frame. It’s one thing to write one story in a different time period. It’s quite another to write several.
So, I have decided to bring Charlee, Carter and the others into the present day. Yes, Regis, this is my final answer. You will notice in the most recent uploads that Charlee suddenly has a cell phone. That's the sort of thing that I still need to 'polish up' in the previous chapters.
Aside from grammar and spelling, I’m not a fan of editing while I’m in the middle of a story. I will go back later and make the necessary revisions – give them cell phones and laptops, etc. None of this will alter the basic storyline.
FYI – I’m probably about 60 pages away from the juicy ending! The completed novel will be smallish – around 250 pages. Don’t worry though; I already have an idea brewing for Charlee’s next adventure!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Broken
It's official. The new blog for 'Broken' is up and running. There is a link to your left. I posted a brief summary of the story yesterday. From here on out, I'll start with an idea (for a scene, a character, whatever) and just dabble with it until we see where it goes. It should be fun!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
New Energy
Anyone following ‘Family Secrets’ has surely noticed that it’s been a little neglected over the past couple of weeks. Sorry about that. I guess I needed to recharge a little. At any rate, I’m feeling much more focused now and am anxiously awaiting the weekend so that I can crank out a few more chapters. I feel like the action is really picking up and moving towards some sort of resolution. I’m getting excited again!
I’ve also given some more thought to what happens after this little adventure is over for Charlee and Carter. Someone asked me a while back about the next installment of their story. My response was that I didn’t think there would be a next installment – that my second book would be something different. Charlee’s situation is a unique one and it didn’t make sense to me that it would carry on into another story. I think I’ve changed my mind, though. I really do like these characters and I’ve become much more interested in what happens to them after 'Family Secrets'. I had originally thought of using an epilogue at the end of this book, but I’ve pretty much decided against that. With my new plan, Charlee and Carter can live on in other books. I think it would be much more fun to see what happens to them along the way instead of having it thrown at you in a quick summary. What do you think?
On a different note, ‘Broken’ (the other story that I mentioned in my last post) has really taken hold of my brain. It’s not something I can crank out quickly because it’s a much more complicated story than ‘Family Secrets’. I also can’t ignore it. The solution? A new experiment! Since I don’t have the required 10,000 words (or a coherent storyline) Authonomy isn’t an option right now. So . . . . . . I will start a new blog dedicated solely to ‘Broken’. It will consist of character descriptions and random scenes. The beginning of that story is really the end. It starts in the present but keeps taking us back to different points in the past to tell the story of the main characters’ lives. Eventually, I hope to be able to string all the snippits together into an actual book. In the meantime, getting bits and pieces of it written down should satisfy that annoying nagging going on in the back of my brain.
I’ve also given some more thought to what happens after this little adventure is over for Charlee and Carter. Someone asked me a while back about the next installment of their story. My response was that I didn’t think there would be a next installment – that my second book would be something different. Charlee’s situation is a unique one and it didn’t make sense to me that it would carry on into another story. I think I’ve changed my mind, though. I really do like these characters and I’ve become much more interested in what happens to them after 'Family Secrets'. I had originally thought of using an epilogue at the end of this book, but I’ve pretty much decided against that. With my new plan, Charlee and Carter can live on in other books. I think it would be much more fun to see what happens to them along the way instead of having it thrown at you in a quick summary. What do you think?
On a different note, ‘Broken’ (the other story that I mentioned in my last post) has really taken hold of my brain. It’s not something I can crank out quickly because it’s a much more complicated story than ‘Family Secrets’. I also can’t ignore it. The solution? A new experiment! Since I don’t have the required 10,000 words (or a coherent storyline) Authonomy isn’t an option right now. So . . . . . . I will start a new blog dedicated solely to ‘Broken’. It will consist of character descriptions and random scenes. The beginning of that story is really the end. It starts in the present but keeps taking us back to different points in the past to tell the story of the main characters’ lives. Eventually, I hope to be able to string all the snippits together into an actual book. In the meantime, getting bits and pieces of it written down should satisfy that annoying nagging going on in the back of my brain.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Completely Distracted
I’ve been completely distracted for the past several days with some new software that I’ve found. It’s called Writer’s Café and it’s a database designed to help writers get themselves organized and develop their storylines. I have downloaded the trial package and will probably make the purchase once the freebie is over. I think that once I get really comfortable using the database, it will seriously come in handy.
For example, there are lots of times when I just work on character development. Until now, I’ve done that on notebook paper. In case you’re wondering, that gets really messy. With Writer’s Café I can keep all those notes in one place – sort of like an electronic corkboard with sticky notes all over it. It’s wonderful! I can do the same thing with different scenes without having to worry about trying to string them together. When I’m ready to do that, I just drag and drop them into whatever order I want. How awesome is that?
I tried using Family Secrets as my trial project for WC – to try and learn my way around. That didn’t work out very well. I guess I’m just too far into Family Secrets at this point. There is another story, though, that’s been tugging at my brain recently. Right now I’m calling it Broken. It’s quite a bit different from Family Secrets, but that’s turned out to be a good thing. It has forced my brain to think about writing from a different perspective.
I’ve spent the past few days working on some character development and a few random scenes for Broken. At first, I felt a bit guilty. I really do need to finish Family Secrets before I jump head first into another project. Broken just wouldn’t leave me alone, though. I think being distracted with that for a few days has actually helped. Now I’ve got Family Secrets nudging me again. It’s like a little kid going “mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy” while you are on the phone with someone.
Maybe toggling back and forth is the secret to finally getting Family Secrets finished and ‘out there’. We’ll see . . . . . . .
For example, there are lots of times when I just work on character development. Until now, I’ve done that on notebook paper. In case you’re wondering, that gets really messy. With Writer’s Café I can keep all those notes in one place – sort of like an electronic corkboard with sticky notes all over it. It’s wonderful! I can do the same thing with different scenes without having to worry about trying to string them together. When I’m ready to do that, I just drag and drop them into whatever order I want. How awesome is that?
I tried using Family Secrets as my trial project for WC – to try and learn my way around. That didn’t work out very well. I guess I’m just too far into Family Secrets at this point. There is another story, though, that’s been tugging at my brain recently. Right now I’m calling it Broken. It’s quite a bit different from Family Secrets, but that’s turned out to be a good thing. It has forced my brain to think about writing from a different perspective.
I’ve spent the past few days working on some character development and a few random scenes for Broken. At first, I felt a bit guilty. I really do need to finish Family Secrets before I jump head first into another project. Broken just wouldn’t leave me alone, though. I think being distracted with that for a few days has actually helped. Now I’ve got Family Secrets nudging me again. It’s like a little kid going “mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy” while you are on the phone with someone.
Maybe toggling back and forth is the secret to finally getting Family Secrets finished and ‘out there’. We’ll see . . . . . . .
Monday, April 6, 2009
Silence
This has not been a productive week for me as a writer. My real job was overly demanding which made writing in the evenings impossible. I was really looking forward to a productive weekend, though, and that didn’t happen either. All I can tell you is that the story simply wouldn’t talk to me.
Given that I pretty much know how the whole thing plays out from this point forward, you would think that it would be a piece of cake to just sit down and write it. It may be that easy for some, but not for me. It’s about so much more than just knowing what happens. It’s about finding the right words, revealing the juicy stuff at just the right moment and making sure the characters stay true to themselves. The story has to cooperate with me in order for me to do those things. That just didn’t happen this weekend.
I’m definitely disappointed. I am in such a hurry to finish this story. I’ve been working on this forever and I can’t wait to hold the finished product in my hand! I also need to know if I have other stories to tell. The only way to focus on a new story is to finish this one. Maybe I just need to relax. I’m going to try not to think about it this week and then see what happens over the long weekend.
Given that I pretty much know how the whole thing plays out from this point forward, you would think that it would be a piece of cake to just sit down and write it. It may be that easy for some, but not for me. It’s about so much more than just knowing what happens. It’s about finding the right words, revealing the juicy stuff at just the right moment and making sure the characters stay true to themselves. The story has to cooperate with me in order for me to do those things. That just didn’t happen this weekend.
I’m definitely disappointed. I am in such a hurry to finish this story. I’ve been working on this forever and I can’t wait to hold the finished product in my hand! I also need to know if I have other stories to tell. The only way to focus on a new story is to finish this one. Maybe I just need to relax. I’m going to try not to think about it this week and then see what happens over the long weekend.
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