11/11/13

i have had a chore of building the middle part of the rising climax of the book, so as it does not get boring and think i have finally pulled the proverbial sword from the stone so that i might slay the dragon of writers block.

indeed, i hand-wrote a two page outline that spells out most big things until the climax...

thinking that it might still be too slow, i called my wife and started asking her questions about speech to action ratios in some of the better books she read.

and it's like a 75% to 25% ratio in the better ones that are in my genre, so i am adding more complications and things to keep things fluid and not lose interest...

when a writer DOES lose their audience, it often occurs in the middle... but the trick is to ramp up the struggle between the protagonist and his quest, build on what is already going on, and push the fight onward.

so this is what i did today.

it looks pretty good.

i even had to change some things on my reference maps and charts that i have been working with.

it's just that good.

i look forward to finishing even more than you look forward to reading!

Possible Cover Art

this is a quick mock up of what i want it to feel like

10/17/13

topic: word cheat counting and conversations

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went thru and added up all the extra text that i can't use now, but will use later (is this cheating?) and it came up to 42,000 words. great start.

the story is shaping up pretty well. much to add. much to go back over. things to look at. people to kill.

i have found myself explaining things better the second time than the first time in several instances. i will re-read and say: "gee! didn't i explain this before?" and go thru and delete the first part or add the second part into the first. on one occasion, i called it "just a more in-depth look" and kept both parts.

conversations are now easier to write than before. as in the case of screenplay writing, where you have -

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jim - dang it (hits hand with hammer)
alphonse - i know! (shows bandaged thumb of his own)
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you now have -

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"dang it" jim said angrily as the hammer struck his thumb.

surprised and relieved that he was not the only idiot in the room, alphonse held up his thumb to show jim. "i know!"
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which is much easier now that i have been away from screenplays for a while.

that's all for now!

-pauly

p.s. "Proper Capitalization" appears in my book. blogs are a different story.

10/13/13

working late at night at the old steak n shake.

37,121 words.

i have entered in to a pact with my protagonist.

i do not want him to die and he does not want to die, but he is in a book where he may very well be forced to die.

i hope this turns out to be a false need and he finds a way of escape.

i am rooting for him!

10/10/13

34,645 words.

going for 100,000 words based upon new research.

1/3 of the way there.

looking good.

plot points built inside of dynamic rising action.

looking good.

at steak 'n shake.

they have a power outlet that i can plug my lap-top into.

ihop does not.

lennys (dennys) does not.

long live steak 'n shake... where they bring you a water with your coffee.

10/3/13

put in three hours on the book text.

two days ago i put in 12 hours of research.

things are looking good.

9/16/13

spent this morning typing on the book at http://www.sgreclaimed.com/.

27,580 words down. a quarter of the way (or so) down... several more to go.

the protagonist has come to understand several problems but has yet to discover the biggest problem (the premise) of the book. this will come as a shock and a surprise to him and will unhinge his belief that his own problems are anything at all.

so the tiny problems that are solved are met with even larger problems.

jennifer, my wife, is my chief editor as well as my number one critic and has told me that there is not enough action in the book yet... well, it's not a jason bourne novel so it's not action packed from beginning to end.

so discoveries will lead to more discoveries with a climax at the action packed ending.

so far we have had mostly setup and introduction, as this is a very different type of novel than most that i have read. which is good.

i don't want to write what others have written, but i know it will be enjoyable to the:

1) avid reader
2) sci-fi fan
2.5) fantasy fan
3) scientist
4) conspiracy nut
5) nut

i don't aim to please... i aim to create, and create well.

wordsmithing! it's a fun thing!