Writing My Novel: Day One (Again)

New novels in a Berlin Bookshop (Dussmann, das...
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If I took the time to print my Project Folders, I’d have a whole Dresser full of half-done trunk novels. I’m good at starting, horrible at finishing. No, Strike that. I’m horrible at sticking with an Idea.

But something’s happened recently. I don’t know if it was recent health issues, recent family issues, or my daughter going to school, but my whole outlook has changed recently.

I’ve finally put away a lot of the “Juvenalia”: the old ideas that have been floating around since high school that I know I’ll never work on. I got a new idea, something that I was excited about, but needed to do some research on.

And You Know What? The research was fun. Fun and Enlightening. I discovered that one of my problems was Characters: I’m horrible at characters. I get good images, good scenes in my head, but my characters stink on ice. No motivation. Cardboard. Boring.

But this is a historical novel, with historical characters who can’t help but live and breathe. they’re a blast to read about. To twist to my own ends. And they come alive. And now I’ve got ideas, scenes and characters.

It doesn’t feel like work, even though I’ve done more research than ever on it. It doesn’t feel like a dead end, or a “Trunk Novel.” It just feels like I might finally have a handle on this whole writing thing.

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Working my Novel- Day 20: Plugging into the Gestalt

Bill Hinzman as the cemetery zombie from Night...
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Ok, So I’m Still behind and still Plugging away. Way, Way Behind. Had a minor elective surgery ( I’m Forty and have a daughter going away to college. You’re smart. I’m sure you can figure it out).

So I’m about two weeks behind where I want to be. My two month Deadline is looking more and more like a one month deadline. Luckily, I’ve got the Book in a month things to keep me honest.

But I’ve got a problem. I’ve got two new ideas  hogging my brain.

One is pretty much a direct lift from a podcast I listen to. Sputnik at Tank Riot was talking about how much he loves submarine movies, and mentioned that since he liked zombie movies too, he wanted someone to make a zombie on a sub movie because, “Where would you go?” Ding! Why Not? Modern Nuclear or WWII Action? Pre or Post Apocalypse? Hmm, wheels are turning.

The second one came out of the ether- it’s not directly related to anything. I was just turning over a steampunk Idea and came up with something I’m really excited about. Because this is a lot more personal, and a lot less like “Theft” if I go forward with it, I’m not telling what it is. But it’s pretty cool. A quick google search shows that I don’t think anyone else has had this idea- at least not in this form.

I see on forums all the time the question “Where do you get your ideas?” and I’m always flabbergasted by it. Ideas are all over the place. You can get them from news stories, other writers, or just pull them right out of the air if you concentrate.

Some ideas are stupid: the world doesn’t need anymore vampires or werewolves, thank you very much. But if you keep an eye out, maybe you can catch a few good ones.

Then, of course, there’s a big difference between an idea and the execution. I can guarantee that i am not the only person this week to jot down “Submarine Zombies” in my notebook. Whether I’m the first to execute that idea or the best or even the most popular is as random and up to chance as pulling that idea out of the gestalt in the first place.

Hopefully, I can turn these ideas into something exciting. If not, I’m sure there’ll be more ideas my antenna will pick up on.

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Working My Novel Day Something or Other

Oh No. I Don’t Know Whether to be Happy or Pissed.

There’s a new website that’s making the rounds today: I Write Like.

Just paste a selection of your writing in the box, hit the button and the program does a statistical analysis on your writing.

Sure, it’s only as good as the algorithm. And sure, it’s probably on a par with palm reading or numerology. But Still, I don’t know what to make of the results on my first chapter:

Seriously? I Write like Dan Brown?

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Seven Link Challenge

Summer Festival of the Arts Kilcawley Fountain
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Where did the week go? I promise I’ll get caught up with the Working the Novel this weekend.

In the meantime, from ProBlogger comes the following challenge: Post links to the following Posts:

The First Byzantine Roads Post ( OOH, Uck. I am not afraid to say I was learning on the fly)

The Post I Enjoyed Writing the Most: The Best Writing Advice I Never Listened to

A Post with a great Discussion: Seriously? Lots o’ Pingbacks, not so many Comments:20 Themes for Writers.

A Post on someone else’s Blog I Wish I’d Written: John Scalzi’s Being Poor turned me onto his writing and blog.

My Most Helpful Post: So Nice I turned it into a page: My First Podcast has lots of YouTube Hits

The Title I am Most Proud Of : Well, You’re just gonna have to click. Hint: Cthulhu

A Post I Wish More People Had Read: Awww, Sometimes, it’s not about the Junk

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Working My Novel Day 11: And the Wall Looms

Some chicken, pork and corn in the barbeque
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And…. The Fourth Crushed me. Just wasn’t able to log on . Wasn’t able to concentrate when I was on. Hot, Tired, Sweaty. Filled with BBQ and beer. Not a good weekend for writing.

A Good weekend for family. A good weekend overall, just not where I wanted to be today.

So, it’s back to the novel. I can’t let a little setback like “real life” get me down.  Can’t let the wall get to me.

I did  some plot work, did look a Smashwords for a bit. Really thinking that I might be able to get this done after all. Just need to plan for the unexpected setbacks.

So, let me know what you think. What do you do to get ahead and push through the obstacles life throws you when you’re writing. Any Tips or techniques that help you maintain your writing pace? Any hints on developing the inertia to pull you through?

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Encrypt Your Data like the Pros: Use Free Steganography Software.

Psst… Boris?  You Vanna know a secret? See using the process of Steganography, you can encrypt your data files right out there in plain sight.

How Effective is it? Well, apparently the Manhattan Russian spies were using Steganography. And they would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for those rotten kids at the the FBI.

See, Steganography encrypts your data files and embeds them in a data image. That way, you don’t have a bunch of  suspicious looking files on your hard drive.  Just the usual porn. Then you can transfer the data image, carry it around, and no one’s the wiser.

Try it out now. Google Steganography software or use a free program like  QuickStego.

Now, If only I had an innocuous picture to use. Something no one would suspect.

Unicorn Guy

Perfectly Innocent

Good. Now go.

Tell no one we met.

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