I've been working on a series of short stories recently. More correctly, I've resumed writing on a series of short stories. I wrote the first short story and half the second in 2009 as part of NaNoWriMo that year and set it aside when I got to a point where I didn't know where the plot went next. It was a good writing experiment, starting with the characters and a setting and seeing where things went as I wrote, but around 32,000 words I lost plot focus and never came back to it. In the intervening time, I wrote a full sci-fi novel [which needs a revision so it is a story and not a sequence of events] and I started writing this blog, which kept the writing juices flowing.
A friend of mine [who was also a reader on my sci-fi novel] reads a lot of material online that is sold through Amazon Prime Reading. Last month, he asked when I was going to finish my novel as it was as good if not better than what he was reading there, even without revisions. That was going to take some time [plus the source files died in a hard drive crash, so I'd have to rebuild it from a PDF], so I showed him the first chapter of my 2009 short story. He liked it and had to share it with his wife who was curious what had him laughing so much. Now he's clamoring for chapter 2, so I'm working on that because a series of short stories feels less daunting than a re-write of a full novel.
The tricksey part is that the short stories are set in someone else's IP [not Shadowrun, because I know someone will wonder]. Today I used their online system to ask "Hey, I'd like to do this cool thing that is set in your IP, how can I get this to happen without receiving a Cease and Desist or stripping out the cool background?" Now I have to wait to see if they respond and if they respond with anything more than "No." I'm hoping they'll at least ask to see a writing sample as I think I can make a case from that. The writing is good, but some spots need to be tightened up/built out to smooth some plot points out. We'll see. In the mean time, I'm nervous.
The Shadowrun game is still running. One of the players asked to take a crack at running and put together the current run. She's piling on a ton of complications and we're pretty sure the Johnson lied to us about a few important things, but we are still a "Go!" for the mission. I'm not certain how I'm going to write it up as there has been tons of planning, which is boring, but this is one of the toughest nuts we've had to crack.
Later!
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Status Updates of Various Projects
So, I was ill for a week and then the DayJob got intensely busy for a week, making me remiss in my postings. Therefore, I’m going to cover several projects here to get everyone up to date.
Blood, Gold, and Lizards
My new Fantasy Hero campaign will kick-off this month. Characters have been built for everyone but one player and we will be building his character this Friday. Both groups have five players with one player floating between groups as his work schedule permits, for a total of eleven players active in the campaign.
The first Saturday session will be May 18th. This group of adventurers is starting in the rough and tumble town of Lucan’s Clock. Beyond town are hills and dry valleys leading up to the Draken Spire Mountains.
The first Friday session on May 31st. This group starts in the more settled New Zwicke. Beyond town here is a dichotomy of sorts: heavily forested adventure to the west and a sea of grassy plains to the east.
I’ll post details on the characters in both groups in later postings, one for each group.
The Speedwell War
Not a lot to report here. I’ve put the novel work on hold so I can get the campaign up and running. I finally received the last of the feedback this past weekend – two pads of paper worth. My next step is to compile all the comments into a spreadsheet so I can track them as I address them.
The odd part is that most of them will go by the wayside as Draft 3 is going to be a major re-write. The majority of the feedback boiled down to “I like the story, but it is very difficult to keep track of all the characters.” This stems from two things:
1) Draft 2 lays out all the action that happens during the story arc, but doesn’t go deep on the characterization.
2) There are a LOT of characters, some of which only show up for a scene late in the book.
So, to address this, I’m re-working the story to follow 6-7 characters and getting the readers deeper into their heads. I’ll be adding why the things happening are significant for the character in question and what their reactions and thoughts are. My goal is to resume serious work on the novel the first week in June (if not a bit sooner) and finish Draft 3 by the end of the year. I feel this is do-able as I have the story arc written out already, what I need to do is show the readers that the events are personal for the characters.
That’s it for now. More next week.
Blood, Gold, and Lizards
My new Fantasy Hero campaign will kick-off this month. Characters have been built for everyone but one player and we will be building his character this Friday. Both groups have five players with one player floating between groups as his work schedule permits, for a total of eleven players active in the campaign.
The first Saturday session will be May 18th. This group of adventurers is starting in the rough and tumble town of Lucan’s Clock. Beyond town are hills and dry valleys leading up to the Draken Spire Mountains.
The first Friday session on May 31st. This group starts in the more settled New Zwicke. Beyond town here is a dichotomy of sorts: heavily forested adventure to the west and a sea of grassy plains to the east.
I’ll post details on the characters in both groups in later postings, one for each group.
The Speedwell War
Not a lot to report here. I’ve put the novel work on hold so I can get the campaign up and running. I finally received the last of the feedback this past weekend – two pads of paper worth. My next step is to compile all the comments into a spreadsheet so I can track them as I address them.
The odd part is that most of them will go by the wayside as Draft 3 is going to be a major re-write. The majority of the feedback boiled down to “I like the story, but it is very difficult to keep track of all the characters.” This stems from two things:
1) Draft 2 lays out all the action that happens during the story arc, but doesn’t go deep on the characterization.
2) There are a LOT of characters, some of which only show up for a scene late in the book.
So, to address this, I’m re-working the story to follow 6-7 characters and getting the readers deeper into their heads. I’ll be adding why the things happening are significant for the character in question and what their reactions and thoughts are. My goal is to resume serious work on the novel the first week in June (if not a bit sooner) and finish Draft 3 by the end of the year. I feel this is do-able as I have the story arc written out already, what I need to do is show the readers that the events are personal for the characters.
That’s it for now. More next week.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Quick Update
Sorry for the radio silence, busy with a side of drama llama the last couple of weeks. I'm starting to get back on my feet and on something approximating a steady schedule...just in time for my in-laws to visit, my 14th wedding anniversary to roll around, and then my mom to visit. So while I'll be taking two weeks of vacation over the next five weeks, I'm still going to be busy.
On the novel front, I've got feedback from all but one couple and have set aside large chunks of this weekend to organize the feedback and start applying it. I'll deal with the grammar issues first, because it is the smaller component. Then I'll break things apart, pull out scenes that do not involve the focus characters, and see what's left. Then I'll write back in the removed content, but as seen or experienced by the focus characters. This should address two common issues - too many characters to easily keep things straight and not enough insight into why things happening are significant to the characters. That will become Draft 3.0 and it'll go out for a reading again. That probably won't happen until closer to the end of the year unless my schedule shifts and tons more writing time becomes available.
Why would I need tons more writing time? Because I'm also starting up a RPG campaign in April. This will be a West Marches-style campaign with two groups of adventurers adventuring in the same world. I have 14-15 interested players, which is too many to run at once, so I'll run two sessions a month, each session with a different group. There is the possibility of some overlap as there are 5 reserved seats at each session and floater seats to bring each session to 8 players maximum. I think the totals will be smaller due to player availability, but we'll see how it plays out.
In the meantime, I'm creating and populating the play area and setting up encounter areas. I'll provide more details as I get things nailed down. Next week I'll post the color text I sent out to the players introducing the two potential starting areas they have to choose from. They are quite different and have strengths and weaknesses that I believe balance them out.
Later!
On the novel front, I've got feedback from all but one couple and have set aside large chunks of this weekend to organize the feedback and start applying it. I'll deal with the grammar issues first, because it is the smaller component. Then I'll break things apart, pull out scenes that do not involve the focus characters, and see what's left. Then I'll write back in the removed content, but as seen or experienced by the focus characters. This should address two common issues - too many characters to easily keep things straight and not enough insight into why things happening are significant to the characters. That will become Draft 3.0 and it'll go out for a reading again. That probably won't happen until closer to the end of the year unless my schedule shifts and tons more writing time becomes available.
Why would I need tons more writing time? Because I'm also starting up a RPG campaign in April. This will be a West Marches-style campaign with two groups of adventurers adventuring in the same world. I have 14-15 interested players, which is too many to run at once, so I'll run two sessions a month, each session with a different group. There is the possibility of some overlap as there are 5 reserved seats at each session and floater seats to bring each session to 8 players maximum. I think the totals will be smaller due to player availability, but we'll see how it plays out.
In the meantime, I'm creating and populating the play area and setting up encounter areas. I'll provide more details as I get things nailed down. Next week I'll post the color text I sent out to the players introducing the two potential starting areas they have to choose from. They are quite different and have strengths and weaknesses that I believe balance them out.
Later!
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
The Speedwell War - Draft 2 - Status Update 5
Sorry for the radio silence - I've been busy and sick, in that order. Now I'm on vacation. I wanted this to be a reading vacation, but I also want to finish writing my novel by the end of the year, so I'm doing some writing instead or reading.
I'm down to eight scenes to write and one scene to re-write to match the current draft better. That number may shrink due to combining scenes as I write - in fact I know for a fact it will happen at least once. I'll mention that when the appropriate scenes get written.
Current Word Count: 67,146 words
Now, what I really want to talk about is a small observation that I've heard before but saw in action recently. The observation is this:
If you want to write, read a lot of material that is the type of writing you want to do.
So, for instance, if you want to write science fiction, READ a lot of science fiction. It gives you a grounding in what you are trying to write and provides the mental equipment to write. It should also give you a clue is the brilliant story twist is actually a trope that everyone knows about already and will spot early on or even what tropes are appropriate. It also gives you better mental space to work in.
I saw this in action on Face Off, the movie make-up/special effects show on 'The Channel Previously Known as The Sci-Fi Channel". My wife and I were watching Season 3, where one of the contestants had a strict Mennonite upbringing. She had strong skills in make-up and prosthetics, but limited experience with pop culture. She had no idea what sort of mind space 'zombies' might or might not inhabit, and the only cyborg experience she had was with Terminator and Terminator 2, which she saw ~20 years earlier, which knocked her out of the running when a cyborg challenge happened. This lack of cultural experience left her at a severe disadvantage in a special effects competition where design was just as important as technical competency. In real life it would (and probably does) inhibit her job opportunities.
Writing is the same way. If you do not have experience at what you want to write about, then your ability to envision (design) what you are writing about is hampered and it will show. The ability to string words together is limited by your ability to imagine what you are writing about. If you want to write scripts for TV shows, read scripts and watch the shows to see how things are done. Expand your mental drafting table/sandbox and your writing will be able to go farther and present more interesting things.
And that's all I have for today. Later!
I'm down to eight scenes to write and one scene to re-write to match the current draft better. That number may shrink due to combining scenes as I write - in fact I know for a fact it will happen at least once. I'll mention that when the appropriate scenes get written.
Current Word Count: 67,146 words
Now, what I really want to talk about is a small observation that I've heard before but saw in action recently. The observation is this:
If you want to write, read a lot of material that is the type of writing you want to do.
So, for instance, if you want to write science fiction, READ a lot of science fiction. It gives you a grounding in what you are trying to write and provides the mental equipment to write. It should also give you a clue is the brilliant story twist is actually a trope that everyone knows about already and will spot early on or even what tropes are appropriate. It also gives you better mental space to work in.
I saw this in action on Face Off, the movie make-up/special effects show on 'The Channel Previously Known as The Sci-Fi Channel". My wife and I were watching Season 3, where one of the contestants had a strict Mennonite upbringing. She had strong skills in make-up and prosthetics, but limited experience with pop culture. She had no idea what sort of mind space 'zombies' might or might not inhabit, and the only cyborg experience she had was with Terminator and Terminator 2, which she saw ~20 years earlier, which knocked her out of the running when a cyborg challenge happened. This lack of cultural experience left her at a severe disadvantage in a special effects competition where design was just as important as technical competency. In real life it would (and probably does) inhibit her job opportunities.
Writing is the same way. If you do not have experience at what you want to write about, then your ability to envision (design) what you are writing about is hampered and it will show. The ability to string words together is limited by your ability to imagine what you are writing about. If you want to write scripts for TV shows, read scripts and watch the shows to see how things are done. Expand your mental drafting table/sandbox and your writing will be able to go farther and present more interesting things.
And that's all I have for today. Later!
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