My laptop broke recently. I just got it replaced yesterday with a new MacBook Pro. They're about a thousand dollars at my campus store, so overall not a terrible deal. Especially when you count in the free printer and photoshop elements 9.
It's taking me a while to get used to Lion, so much has changed since what I'm used to. But it's a pretty sweet machine, here's hoping it lasts a few years.
I got a bit of writing done yesterday, but my productivity suffered from angry birds. Which is stupid because I'm about five hundred words away from breaking the 40K written for one book landmark. Just ten thousand more and I'll have reached the minimum word count for a middlegrade novel. Too bad it isn't halfway done, and it isn't really a middlegrade. But it's nice to know that I could start wrapping up and it would be long enough. It'd just suck.
I've written double what the first draft of this book was, but since it isn't done yet it doesn't feel like an accomplishment. Now that I look back at it, considering the first draft a finished book really didn't count. So I have yet to finish an actual book. This makes me feel like I haven't gotten anything done in the past few years. I've worked on several stories and books, but never finished anything. It will be nice to have finally finished an actual book.
The main thing I've learned from this experience is that the most important part of being able to finish a book is increasing the amount one writes per hour. If you can get more done in a day then your book will get done much faster. Just ask Nathan.
Anyway, today I'm going to break that barrier, after getting some homework done. I might go fishing, I'm not sure, I probably won't have time.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
The Dragon's Flame Goes On
Well, it's been a while since I've updated this blog with something about my actual writing. Since the point of this blog is to separate my reviews from my writing updates, it kind of defeats the purpose if I don't keep people updated about my writing.
That being said, ever since Nathan laid down the law, I have been writing every day, missing only a day or so out of the week. I should be writing every day, but I think that having a day where I don't write be the abnormality, rather than the days I do write, is a step in the right direction. Right now what I need to do is increase my minimum from a thousand words a day to two thousand. I try my best to never be under a thousand words, but sometimes it just happens. The nice thing about a thousand words minimum is that anything below five hundred words just isn't satisfactory and hardly counts as actually writing. And by the time I've reached five hundred words, going to a thousand just isn't a big deal anymore. And once you reach a thousand words, what's to stop you from writing a few hundred more? And then a thousand more?
I'll tell you what stops me, the fact that sometimes I don't start writing until one in the morning. This is a bad habit, I need to stop it.
I should take the time to say that this is all thanks to Nathan, and in part to Jason (who created a nifty excel document that we can all use to keep track of our progress and compare it to the rest of writing group. Makes it much easier to be accountable when you see how much you are sucking), that I've been able to reach this phase where I'm writing pretty much every day. He doesn't have to get on my case, but he does, and I appreciate it, since I'm finally moving to that phase where I will be able to get myself to write so much more easily.
That and it's kind of shameful to have to be forced to do something I love and want to do for a living. My eventual goal is to be known as one of the more prolific writers published. This will take a while to happen.
That being said, I'm currently most likely half way through Dragon's Egg, I have a good chunk of it planned, and once I finish my long form notes for the plot I'm going to start working on planning my next book. I intend to have this book be fifty thousand words, but I imagine it will be a bit longer than that. So I'm either halfway, or three fifths of the way through.
There's a lot that's going to need to be changed up, some major edits that need doing. Since the book is meant to be a middle grade I'm going to need to remove a fair bit of violence (I honestly can't help it, I don't think I'm cut out to be a middlegrade writer, YA might be as young as I go). But since I like the violence, I'm going to make two edits. A middlegrade edit that is meant as a gift for my cousin, and a YA version that I'll actually try to get sold. This depends of course on which version I like better. If I go the YA route I'm going to have to make Melan a good few years older. And once I do that, a lot is going to change. The earlier stuff written when she was still ten, and everything else written when she was twelve. But I think for now I'm going to finish it up, and then start work on my next book after I do the middlegrade edits. This will be the first actual book I've finished (full length that is, I've finished plenty of shorter (sucky) stories, but never a full length book). What I need to do next is start on a new project so that I can actually claim to have a portfolio.
Anyway, classes have started again, which means the real challenge starts now. Now we see if I can make myself write even though I have homework, and if I can juggle it all along with keeping up to date on my blog.
Pray for me, people. Pray for me.
That being said, ever since Nathan laid down the law, I have been writing every day, missing only a day or so out of the week. I should be writing every day, but I think that having a day where I don't write be the abnormality, rather than the days I do write, is a step in the right direction. Right now what I need to do is increase my minimum from a thousand words a day to two thousand. I try my best to never be under a thousand words, but sometimes it just happens. The nice thing about a thousand words minimum is that anything below five hundred words just isn't satisfactory and hardly counts as actually writing. And by the time I've reached five hundred words, going to a thousand just isn't a big deal anymore. And once you reach a thousand words, what's to stop you from writing a few hundred more? And then a thousand more?
I'll tell you what stops me, the fact that sometimes I don't start writing until one in the morning. This is a bad habit, I need to stop it.
I should take the time to say that this is all thanks to Nathan, and in part to Jason (who created a nifty excel document that we can all use to keep track of our progress and compare it to the rest of writing group. Makes it much easier to be accountable when you see how much you are sucking), that I've been able to reach this phase where I'm writing pretty much every day. He doesn't have to get on my case, but he does, and I appreciate it, since I'm finally moving to that phase where I will be able to get myself to write so much more easily.
That and it's kind of shameful to have to be forced to do something I love and want to do for a living. My eventual goal is to be known as one of the more prolific writers published. This will take a while to happen.
That being said, I'm currently most likely half way through Dragon's Egg, I have a good chunk of it planned, and once I finish my long form notes for the plot I'm going to start working on planning my next book. I intend to have this book be fifty thousand words, but I imagine it will be a bit longer than that. So I'm either halfway, or three fifths of the way through.
There's a lot that's going to need to be changed up, some major edits that need doing. Since the book is meant to be a middle grade I'm going to need to remove a fair bit of violence (I honestly can't help it, I don't think I'm cut out to be a middlegrade writer, YA might be as young as I go). But since I like the violence, I'm going to make two edits. A middlegrade edit that is meant as a gift for my cousin, and a YA version that I'll actually try to get sold. This depends of course on which version I like better. If I go the YA route I'm going to have to make Melan a good few years older. And once I do that, a lot is going to change. The earlier stuff written when she was still ten, and everything else written when she was twelve. But I think for now I'm going to finish it up, and then start work on my next book after I do the middlegrade edits. This will be the first actual book I've finished (full length that is, I've finished plenty of shorter (sucky) stories, but never a full length book). What I need to do next is start on a new project so that I can actually claim to have a portfolio.
Anyway, classes have started again, which means the real challenge starts now. Now we see if I can make myself write even though I have homework, and if I can juggle it all along with keeping up to date on my blog.
Pray for me, people. Pray for me.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Worldcon: Recap and What I've Learned
I won't make this recap an events recap, since if you've read my other posts you know full well what happened. Instead I'll just summarize what I've learned from this experience. Hopefully other people will find this short list useful.
You'll be doing a lot of walking, so proper footwear is essential. Also consider doing some stretches, or light exercise each evening after you get back to your hotel room.
If you try to do too much you'll exhaust yourself mentally. Know your limits, take some time to sit back and relax before you break down from exhaustion. You're there to make a good impression, don't make a bad one because you can't think straight.
If you're the kind of con attender me and my friends are, you're there to make contacts that will help you sell your book. Who you know is most important, so get to know as many people as possible, and make a good first impression. Find out what they're working on, what kind of books they're interested in. Don't try selling your book to every agent or editor you meet. They have an entire con full of people trying to do that. Be the person they remember as a pleasant conversation, they'll be much more sympathetic towards your work if you send it to them.
Make friends with everyone, not just editors and agents, but other authors as well. These people talk to each other, and if they all have something good to say about you the word will eventually spread. Also, if you don't act like an ass you won't suddenly find someone warning the editor or agent you're trying to work with that you're an unpleasant person.
While you're there, dress appropriately. If you're trying to break into the field, dress in nice, conservative clothing. If you're there to have a good time and dress up in costumes you can't wear in public other times, then have a blast and enjoy yourself. Just don't try to do both at the same time.
As a part of that, and everyone says that in their con advice articles, but be sure to be well groomed. This means showering every day and using sufficient amounts of deodorant.
Finally:
The Corolla is a damn fine car. We only spent a hundred dollars there and back. Go out and buy yourself one today, your gas spending will be phenomenally low.
Keep your physical health in mind:
You'll be doing a lot of walking, so proper footwear is essential. Also consider doing some stretches, or light exercise each evening after you get back to your hotel room.
Keep your mental health in mind:
If you try to do too much you'll exhaust yourself mentally. Know your limits, take some time to sit back and relax before you break down from exhaustion. You're there to make a good impression, don't make a bad one because you can't think straight.
You're there to work:
If you're the kind of con attender me and my friends are, you're there to make contacts that will help you sell your book. Who you know is most important, so get to know as many people as possible, and make a good first impression. Find out what they're working on, what kind of books they're interested in. Don't try selling your book to every agent or editor you meet. They have an entire con full of people trying to do that. Be the person they remember as a pleasant conversation, they'll be much more sympathetic towards your work if you send it to them.
Make friends with everyone, not just editors and agents, but other authors as well. These people talk to each other, and if they all have something good to say about you the word will eventually spread. Also, if you don't act like an ass you won't suddenly find someone warning the editor or agent you're trying to work with that you're an unpleasant person.
The most important rule: Don't be an asshole.
As a part of that, and everyone says that in their con advice articles, but be sure to be well groomed. This means showering every day and using sufficient amounts of deodorant.
Finally:
The Corolla is a damn fine car. We only spent a hundred dollars there and back. Go out and buy yourself one today, your gas spending will be phenomenally low.
Worldcon: Day 4 - Saturday
I don't remember much about today, besides going to more panels, and doing our best to talk to people. By this point we all knew we were conned out, and ready to be done. We kept going out and meeting people though, since that's what we came for. But due to a combination of mental fatigue and being way too absorbed by the latest Dresden Files I can't remember much of what happened.
Oh yeah, we tried to sign up for the Patrick Rothfuss Kaffeklatsch, but that filled up way too fast. And for those interested, Kaffeeklatsch is german for Coffee Get-Together. Basically the german version of tea time. Klatsch is slang for chat, so you get together, drink coffee, and talk.
The hugos were a lot of fun to go to. It was the first time I've been to an awards service like this. Unfortunately Utah got pwned, and pwned hard. I think only one thing I voted for got the Hugo, Girl Genius, but considering they've won for their category every year, that wasn't much of a stretch.
After the awards came the parties, and those were pretty fun. Our nifty SFWA guest stickers got us in the doors there, where we had some good conversations. Dan Willis was kind enough to take some time and give us aspiring authors some advice on breaking in to the field. Though mostly it was, "This is what I did, it won't work again, so try something else."
I think we've made some progress getting to know the Utah authors at least. As long as I feel a part of the community, then I can feel like I need to work harder to deserve to be among them.
Oh yeah, we tried to sign up for the Patrick Rothfuss Kaffeklatsch, but that filled up way too fast. And for those interested, Kaffeeklatsch is german for Coffee Get-Together. Basically the german version of tea time. Klatsch is slang for chat, so you get together, drink coffee, and talk.
The hugos were a lot of fun to go to. It was the first time I've been to an awards service like this. Unfortunately Utah got pwned, and pwned hard. I think only one thing I voted for got the Hugo, Girl Genius, but considering they've won for their category every year, that wasn't much of a stretch.
After the awards came the parties, and those were pretty fun. Our nifty SFWA guest stickers got us in the doors there, where we had some good conversations. Dan Willis was kind enough to take some time and give us aspiring authors some advice on breaking in to the field. Though mostly it was, "This is what I did, it won't work again, so try something else."
I think we've made some progress getting to know the Utah authors at least. As long as I feel a part of the community, then I can feel like I need to work harder to deserve to be among them.
Worldcon: Day 3 - Friday
I'm a little late with this, so I'll be brief. I can't promise that I'll remember everything that happened.
In fact, I really can't. The entire week kind of blurred together. So much happened that by the time we realized we didn't have anything planned for the evening every one of us decided that we should all just go back to our hotel room and rest.
And by rest I mean write, and by write I mean the rest of us wrote while Jason took a nap. By which I mean Jason, and possibly Adam were diligent, and I goofed off on the internet while Jason took a nap. Still, it was a good, relaxing evening, and very necessary for our sanity.
I have learned, though, that while panels can be fun, they do get tiresome after a while. And since the main purpose of these conventions is to make contacts, I think the only panels anyone should be going to are the ones that have people you want to talk to on them. Take that with a grain of salt of course.
Also, flip flops may be comfy, but for goodness sake, bring proper shoes. Even if your room is close to the convention, you're going to be doing a lot of walking. So wear proper shoes.
In fact, I really can't. The entire week kind of blurred together. So much happened that by the time we realized we didn't have anything planned for the evening every one of us decided that we should all just go back to our hotel room and rest.
And by rest I mean write, and by write I mean the rest of us wrote while Jason took a nap. By which I mean Jason, and possibly Adam were diligent, and I goofed off on the internet while Jason took a nap. Still, it was a good, relaxing evening, and very necessary for our sanity.
I have learned, though, that while panels can be fun, they do get tiresome after a while. And since the main purpose of these conventions is to make contacts, I think the only panels anyone should be going to are the ones that have people you want to talk to on them. Take that with a grain of salt of course.
Also, flip flops may be comfy, but for goodness sake, bring proper shoes. Even if your room is close to the convention, you're going to be doing a lot of walking. So wear proper shoes.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Worldcon: Day 2 - Thursday
Good day today, we went to several panels, the most entertaining of which was Patrick Rothfuss' reading. The man knows how to entertain an audience. Really so far I've noticed that the panels are more something to do in between finding people to talk to.
We went to a Kaffeeklatsch, where we talked to an editor at Tor, and got to know some other people who we went to dinner with. After dinner, we had pizza, we went and got ready to go to the Tor party. At first it was really packed, but we met up with Brad Torgeson who hooked us up with some guest stickers for the SFWA party. After hanging around there for a bit, we headed back down to the Tor party, where we kind of mingled with our own little group.
Up until Brandon Sanderson found us and told us to split up and go talk to people. I'm guessing that since we're the students of his that bothered to come to Worldcon, he's considering us as worth his time to help out. He pointed us in the direction of people to talk to, but we're starting to think that "Brandon's Students" is becoming a dirty word among the editors and agents, since they keep getting flooded by us.
Anyway, we talked to a few editors, even found some time to talk to Tom Doherty. Oh yes, during dinner L.E. Modesitt showed up and talked to us for a while. Turns out his wife got ill right after they landed in Reno, so she's in the hospital right now. She should be released soon, but keep a prayer in mind for her folks.
Kind of hard to summarize everything after such a long day, I'm not the best at these kind of journal entry blog posts.
We went to a Kaffeeklatsch, where we talked to an editor at Tor, and got to know some other people who we went to dinner with. After dinner, we had pizza, we went and got ready to go to the Tor party. At first it was really packed, but we met up with Brad Torgeson who hooked us up with some guest stickers for the SFWA party. After hanging around there for a bit, we headed back down to the Tor party, where we kind of mingled with our own little group.
Up until Brandon Sanderson found us and told us to split up and go talk to people. I'm guessing that since we're the students of his that bothered to come to Worldcon, he's considering us as worth his time to help out. He pointed us in the direction of people to talk to, but we're starting to think that "Brandon's Students" is becoming a dirty word among the editors and agents, since they keep getting flooded by us.
Anyway, we talked to a few editors, even found some time to talk to Tom Doherty. Oh yes, during dinner L.E. Modesitt showed up and talked to us for a while. Turns out his wife got ill right after they landed in Reno, so she's in the hospital right now. She should be released soon, but keep a prayer in mind for her folks.
Kind of hard to summarize everything after such a long day, I'm not the best at these kind of journal entry blog posts.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Worldcon: Day 1 - Wednesday
For just being the first day of Worldcon, we were surprisingly productive. The panels were interesting, but nothing particularly worth writing home about.
While on our way down to registration, we passed an older gentleman, who looked very familiar. Then I noticed that his badge read: George R. R. Martin. It was at this point that I realized this was going to be a good convention. This realization was confirmed when we saw Patrick Rothfuss in line ahead of us at registration. After getting registered we stopped him and talked for a bit, I got my copy of Name of the Wind signed by him. He's a really friendly, sociable guy, and with how well he writes I highly doubt he's going to be disappearing anywhere after finishing his current series.
Though what I consider the most important spot is that I spotted Moshe Feder, Brandon Sanderson's Editor, as we were leaving the ceremonial opening to the con. He was talking to someone, so we followed after him for a bit, till he left, and then walked up to him and talked for a good forty five minutes to an hour. He's a very sociable kind of guy, and when he found out that we are Brandon's students he was even more open.
We made an important contact today, and with this we should be able to get to know some more editors at Tor. With any luck at least one of us will come away from this day with an editor asking for a sample submission. If it happens to me then I'm going to have to finish what I'm writing likety-split.
Anyway, I'm pretty tired now, so I'm going to do some writing, relax for a bit, and then go to bed. Tomorrow we're hoping to track Brandon down and see if we can get him to go to dinner with us. Moshe already agreed that he'd like to go to lunch with us and Brandon, so that would be great. We're also going to see if Larry Correia isn't filled up for his Kaffeeklatsch tomorrow.
While on our way down to registration, we passed an older gentleman, who looked very familiar. Then I noticed that his badge read: George R. R. Martin. It was at this point that I realized this was going to be a good convention. This realization was confirmed when we saw Patrick Rothfuss in line ahead of us at registration. After getting registered we stopped him and talked for a bit, I got my copy of Name of the Wind signed by him. He's a really friendly, sociable guy, and with how well he writes I highly doubt he's going to be disappearing anywhere after finishing his current series.
Though what I consider the most important spot is that I spotted Moshe Feder, Brandon Sanderson's Editor, as we were leaving the ceremonial opening to the con. He was talking to someone, so we followed after him for a bit, till he left, and then walked up to him and talked for a good forty five minutes to an hour. He's a very sociable kind of guy, and when he found out that we are Brandon's students he was even more open.
We made an important contact today, and with this we should be able to get to know some more editors at Tor. With any luck at least one of us will come away from this day with an editor asking for a sample submission. If it happens to me then I'm going to have to finish what I'm writing likety-split.
Anyway, I'm pretty tired now, so I'm going to do some writing, relax for a bit, and then go to bed. Tomorrow we're hoping to track Brandon down and see if we can get him to go to dinner with us. Moshe already agreed that he'd like to go to lunch with us and Brandon, so that would be great. We're also going to see if Larry Correia isn't filled up for his Kaffeeklatsch tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Heading Out To Worldcon
Well, I'm just about packed, and waiting for the rest of my group to get to my place so we can carpool down to Reno. We're going to be picking Adam up in Salt Lake, and then we're going to drive for about eight or so hours until we find a hotel to stay in, and then drive the rest of the way tomorrow.
This is my first major convention, so I'm really excited. I'll try not to be a bum, and give a daily update of what happens during the convention. So hopefully I make some good contacts and get to know some awesome people.
This is my first major convention, so I'm really excited. I'll try not to be a bum, and give a daily update of what happens during the convention. So hopefully I make some good contacts and get to know some awesome people.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Threshold
There is a point during the writing process where everything start flowing smoothly. New ideas flow into your head, and the words to express them spill right onto the page. I refer to that point as the Threshold. It's the point at where writing switches from being a drag to being a true delight. Since everyone works differently the threshold is never in the same place, even for the same person. The more practice one gets, the sooner they can reach the threshold.
For example, the past few months my threshold has been far too high. It would take me several hundred, sometimes a thousand, words to reach it. Sometimes I never reached it at all. Recently, however, I've been able to reach the threshold in just a hundred words or so. I partially atribute this to this being my third day in a row of writing every day. I know this isn't a big accomplishment, but for me it's something. I've also been writing more frequently overall, so I can only assume that the practice is having an affect.
Practice alone does not decrease the threshold, however. What really breaks it down is pure enthusiasm. If you can reach the point where writing a book is as good as reading one, because you're discovering a new story, then you know you're where you want to be. It goes without say that you need to be enthusiastic about books to be able to reach this point in the first place.
For a good chunk of this book it's been a drag just because I was trying to get it done just so I could say I finished a book. But recently I've been able to think of a few new ideas, expanded on some characters, fleshed out the plot, and prepared some plot twists, that have me thinking this really is going to be a good book. I'm looking forward to finishing it because I know it's going to be good and people will enjoy it. Without that driving force I don't think I could finish this book.
I think every book needs a few ideas like that, something that makes you excited to write it. That's why it's important to always have your ending in mind. Start with a rough idea for the ending at least, and then start building the plot towards it. The ending will change as you think of new ideas, brought on by expanding the plot and characters. It's hard to write a plot twist for a character that doesn't even really exist yet.
And I guess you probably want to create your characters before plotting. My characters kinda pop into existence as I expand on the plot. They usually start out as something to fill in plot holes, and then grow to take on their own lives.
Anyway, I'll try to update this blog more often, but right now my book and other blog take priority.
For example, the past few months my threshold has been far too high. It would take me several hundred, sometimes a thousand, words to reach it. Sometimes I never reached it at all. Recently, however, I've been able to reach the threshold in just a hundred words or so. I partially atribute this to this being my third day in a row of writing every day. I know this isn't a big accomplishment, but for me it's something. I've also been writing more frequently overall, so I can only assume that the practice is having an affect.
Practice alone does not decrease the threshold, however. What really breaks it down is pure enthusiasm. If you can reach the point where writing a book is as good as reading one, because you're discovering a new story, then you know you're where you want to be. It goes without say that you need to be enthusiastic about books to be able to reach this point in the first place.
For a good chunk of this book it's been a drag just because I was trying to get it done just so I could say I finished a book. But recently I've been able to think of a few new ideas, expanded on some characters, fleshed out the plot, and prepared some plot twists, that have me thinking this really is going to be a good book. I'm looking forward to finishing it because I know it's going to be good and people will enjoy it. Without that driving force I don't think I could finish this book.
I think every book needs a few ideas like that, something that makes you excited to write it. That's why it's important to always have your ending in mind. Start with a rough idea for the ending at least, and then start building the plot towards it. The ending will change as you think of new ideas, brought on by expanding the plot and characters. It's hard to write a plot twist for a character that doesn't even really exist yet.
And I guess you probably want to create your characters before plotting. My characters kinda pop into existence as I expand on the plot. They usually start out as something to fill in plot holes, and then grow to take on their own lives.
Anyway, I'll try to update this blog more often, but right now my book and other blog take priority.
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