Nano Complete

I have completed my first NanoWrimo. I did it! I wish my word counts could have been higher, but I am satisfied with the accomplishment.

 

Nanowrimo

I have decided to take the plunge this year and try my hand at this phenomena called Nanowrimo. While the intent is to write an entire novel in a month, I do not share that objective. I am starting small, with a 10K word count goal. Hopefully I can overshoot that, but — errr well — NHL playoffs start very soon, and Pillars of Eternity released last week! Those are both HUGE distractions for me. I probably shouldn’t have signed up, but a goal that size should be manageable, regardless of what else is happening in life. Am I right?

As of today, I am almost at 4K words, so it seems that I should be able to manage staying on track – that’s the plan, anyway. How are all of you doing?

 

 

Movies

Now that I have started writing again, I am starting to view movies differently that I use to. After all, a lot of talented writers create the words behind these visual and audio masterpieces.

My wife, daughter, and I went to see the movie “Chapie” recently. We ended up leaving half way through it. I wouldn’t have left, personally, because I wanted to see the twists and turns that I was certain would present themselves, but the level of violence, profanity, and darkness/evil was just too much for the two of them to handle. No regrets; I am just left wondering. I must say, though, that the themes were appropriate for the setting, so I can’t really fault it from that perspective.

In contrast, later that same evening, my daughter and her friends went to Insurgent, and since it was an 11pm showing and quite a way from our home, I decided to watch it as well (I didn’t sit with them, in case you’re wondering :p ). That movie, too, was pretty violent in places, but not in the same way. Even though you mostly knew where it was headed, there were sufficient twists and turns along the way, and enough suspense to make it what I felt was a very good movie.

I truly hope that I can become a good enough writer to put together the characters, plots, conflicts, twists and settings that will give people something to enjoy from my mind to theirs!

Weekend Warriors … NOT! (but maybe?)

In many ways, one would think that the weekends would be a great time to get some writing done.  Am I right?

In reality, I find that weekends are almost the worst as far as available time. Being a husband and a parent is my first priority at this stage of the game. As such, my time is pretty much never my own. So does that mean I don’t get any writing done on weekends? Usually I don’t, it’s true, but I have been thinking about ways to change that.  I have a few thoughts:

1. Sprints – I use Write Or Die 2 to try and force myself to get words on a page in a set time frame.
2. Headphones – Strap them on your head, put on some music, ignore the noise, and try and get a good 5-10 minute sprint done.
3. Bathroom Breaks – Seriously no, but maybe it would work for someone. Mobile devices being as they are, perhaps a little writing could happen whilst one is … never mind. Use this method at your own discretion.
4. Bed time – Grab 10 minutes just before bed. A laptop in bed works so long as your significant other doesn’t object to the tapping and the light.

Anyone else have suggestions?

 

First Draft

I finished the first draft of a short story last week. For some people, that’s no big deal, but for me, it’s actually a first. The last time I started into the craft of writing, I tried my hand at a novel length work, but I didn’t finish. This time I decided to do something shorter so I could start and finish and see the entire process. Step one is now complete, and after giving it a short break, I will go back and look at revising.

The story itself covers a character that I intend to put into a novel that I am planning to write as part of my writing course. It’s not planned to be a main character, but who knows; I kind of like the guy, so his role will certainly be more prominent than I originally thought.

During my break I plan to try my hand as some 500 word Flash Fiction. Let me know if it’s something you are interested in reading, and/or if you want a link to a great free course where you can learn a process for such thing!

Make it a great day!

I’m Back Update

I thought I would combine the explanation of my latest “weird” post with an explanation of my absence, so here goes.

I have been absent from most everything “casual” for just over 18 months due to some pretty demanding work commitments that are only now starting to wrap up. Being an Accounting type in real life sometimes means you get pulled into “transactions” and the ones I have been working on since late 2013 were massive in scale. I am glad that this is coming to an end, and I hope to have some down time before the inevitable next one arrives.

Now that my spare time is something I can devote to something other than work, my eyes have turned back to writing. As such, I have re-invested some time into getting back into my writing course (Holly Lisle’s How to Think Sideways). I am also active with other writers on her forums again. It is a real encouragement to have folks along side you as you embark on the creative process.

As to my weird post, it relates to my return to Holly’s site.  I broke my account badly, and she gave me a “Green Knee” achievement (they are call PIPS on her site) for having an account with the most broken issues within a single week.  I posted the picture of the PIP here so I could link it there for my signature! Weird, yeah, but I was in a hurry 🙂

Incidentally, if any of you are interested in Writing, you really should check out Holly’s site.  All of her courses are extremely practical and detailed.  There are a lot of resources available about “How to write”, but I hadn’t ever seen one that gives practical, detailed, and specific instructions, tasks, assignments, and other motivators to get  you from starting to finishing. If nothing else, just try out the three week, FREE Flash Fiction course.  What you learn from that alone will help you in any other format of writing you plan to attempt (Short Story to Novel to Series)

Anyway, that’s enough for today. As usual, I intend to be more consistent in my postings here on this blog.  As usual, I make no promises since I do not yet have control of my time.

Hope you are all well! Drop me a note with what you are doing these days!

 

 

 

 

 

Weird Post

I have not posted in forever. More on that later. This is a weird post, I know, but I will also explain that later!

As the Snow Flies

A few days ago, we saw our first snow fall of the year.  I love snow.  I hate snow.

Needless to say, the picture to the left isn’t what I am seeing right now, but I know it’s coming.  Along with the snow comes memories of playing hockey on frozen ponds, snowmobiling through forests (and grabbing snow-laden pine branches as we drove by so the snow would fall on the guy behind us!).  Rosy cheeks, runny noses, frozen ears and snow forts.  These childhood memories bring joy and delight that seems to have disappeared as an adult.

At my age, snow means scary, icy roads, shoveling,  slushy parking lots, and bone chilling walks between your car and wherever you are trying to go to get out of the cold!  But it also means arena’s, hockey, Christmas time with family, and the World Junior Hockey Championships, so it’s not all bad.

So, why am I talking about this?  I guess I am trying to make an excuse for the fact that I haven’t written anything in almost a month.  I have been working, in the background, on some fundamentals of the story I ran off to write this past summer and fall.  At 60K words in, I figured I better make sure I am at least on a track that makes a certain amount of sense.  After spending some time working through the How to think Sideways (HTTS) course from Holly Lisle, I see that there are good things, and bad things.  I am not going to revise anything until after I am done with the first draft, but I am hoping that this exercise will at least set my path a little more clearly as I move through the middle and into the ending of the book.  I need to stay focused, however, and I seem to be allowing more distractions these past few weeks.  NHL hockey is back, my son’s hockey is back, my own hockey is back, and work is busier than normal.  I know, I know … excuses!!

I need you all to help me stay accountable.  Writing is something I have always wanted to do, but it takes real effort to keep it a priority when life gets otherwise busy.  Virtual kicks in the pants, words of encouragement, cookies, whatever it is you can offer as incentive would be appreciated!

Are there other ways that you folks keep yourselves motivated?

Thanks in advance for reading and your ecouragement!

Fall Update and Missing my Friends

Between an insanely busy work schedule during the day, and continuing the work on my Novel at night, I have had very little time to post, of late.

To all my gaming friends, I seriously miss spending time chatting and following what you are all doing.  To all my Twitter friends, gaming or not, I need to spend more time keeping in touch!  Sorry!

By the way, what are the big games that I need to follow these days?  I’ve seen a bit of press about Final Fantasy.  Is that game still all the rage?  What kind of subscription model does it use?

I have had some serious urges to get back into some of my old favourites, notably, TSW, SWTOR, and Guild Wars 2, but I dare not, at least not until I fully add writing as a Habit, and not just a passing fancy.  I fear that gaming will suck me back in too far, and I will lose my drive to continue writing.  That would be sad because, for the first time in my life, I feel that I truly might actually finish something substantial.  My plan is to get something published in 2014.  Wish me luck!

Once I am finished the first draft of my Novel, I am going to reward myself with some time catching up on some games.  There are a few games that will absolutely pull me back.  First of all, Thief (Feb 2014).  I have been waiting a very long time for that!  Dragon Age Inquisition is a no brainier as well, but that’s a year away still so it’s hard to ramp up the hype meter!  I think I might have a more serious look at Elder Scrolls Online and Wildstar as well.  It’s been a long time since I got into a good MMO!

As for the new friends I am meeting with my writing, how are things?  I have to say that the Holly Lisle How to think Sideways course, and the people I have met inside her community have been an amazing support to me throughout this past summer and fall.  I would not be where I am in this journey without all of you!  To any people who have ever considered writing, I highly recommend checking out Holly’s site.  She even has a free “Flash Fiction” course that is really fun and very informative.  When my Novel’s first draft is complete, I’ll be taking some time to work through that course more thoroughly.  My intent is to self-publish some flash fiction; maybe as an anthology.  I’ll need Beta readers, by the way.  Let me know if you are interested!

The Novel Continues

Over the past weeks, I have continued in my progress on the Novel.  (Look to the right sidebar and you will see the progress meter is now over 34,000 words.  According to Scrivener, that’s 98 pages in a paperback!).

It is amazing to me, but I look forward to writing now as much as I use to look forward to gaming on a daily basis.  If you told me that would happen when I was playing Dishonored, Tomb Raider, and Bioshock a while back, I would have probably laughed at you.  As life goes, however, in my many years, I have learned that one of the only things I can count on is the fact that things are always changing.

My creative “Muse” (whom I have named Bob) has been feeding me a lot of great ideas.  Sometimes he even works in the background without my knowledge.  This happened yesterday, and I was delighted when I realized what he had done.  You see, I went to FanExpo in Toronto with a buddy, and in addition to having a great time, when I arrived home and looked at the two pictures I had purchased, I realized that Bob had actually helped me to pick ones that were relevant to what I am writing.  It was both creepy and invigorating simultaneously!

It’s not the best picture as I took it with my phone, but when I had a close look at this girl, I realized to my amazement that Bob had found a realistic image of the younger version of my main character.   More than that, the heart she is drawing is both relevant and appropriate.  The next picture is also incredibly suitable for one of the characters of my book.

So, in summary, I have to admit that writing again has shown me that my non-Accountant, non-LeftBrained, Muse side is a very capable source of surprise, stimulation, inspiration, and creativity.  I am thankful that I have been allowing Bob to come out and play again!