I'm posting this so my account doesn't get deleted from inactivity

I'm posting this so my account doesn't get deleted from inactivity.

working update post that turns into an anti-note rant

Hi Everyone.

Just wanted to post that I'm still busy working on COTD. I'm pretty excited about the work. Lately I don't like blogging or even talking about the work. Quite counter to years previous. I used to draw elaborate maps, character sketches and scenes. Hell with CMBO ( a WWII war game ) I recreated battalion-size battles for Dunes of the East to see if my battle rhythm was realistic.

Those practices had faded away over the years I suspect, because ultimately its not writing the novel, it's not refining the craft and that's what I need the most work on. In hindsight I suspect the volumes of notes and drawings were counter productive. For a hobbyist writer, for that is what I was at the time, its helped flesh out a world and story. But for writing geared towards getting published, such pre-planning tied me down. I believe because I had invested so much time, it became harder to make those editorial decisions, such has cutting a character or even the fundamentals of the work to achieve a stronger story.

COTD was been completely rewritten 3 times. After the first draft (that i admit had maps for..., just a few castles, honest) I changed the world completely. Second draft saw the deletion of half the characters. Third draft saw only 3 characters stay, if only in name, and features a vastly different voice.

So I'd warn against making too many notes. For me its important I grow the story organically. But to each, his or her own.

100 Hundred Days

My wife Beth is doing a 100 days challenge. Do something artistic everyday for 100 days and blog about it. The current form of her art is paper cutting and I encourage everyone to take a look at her blog and all the other participators. A great source of inspiration. (Though I dare not attempt such a writing challenge until robotic hands and wrists are affordable.)

http://100papercuts.blogspot.com/

Interviews with other writers: Bettielee

My second interview in this series is with Bettielee, who besides residing in the Enchanted Forest and is rumored to be in possession of the The One Ring, has been extremely influential with budding writers on Absolute Write. Besides starting the Fantasy Enablers Anonymous group, she's been actively promoting the awareness of other writer's blogs.

First of all Bettielee, thank you for agreeing to the interview. Hence forth, my comments will be in bold.

Q1) Unfortunately not all our time behind a keyboard is creatively spent - how goes the life of a farm cube inmate?

Well, Dan, I work in the plumbing industry... so as you can imagine, I spend a lot of time daydreaming. Everything at work is about being on the computer, being a data entry/graphic artist inmate. There is always an excuse for that surreptitious Word document being open! When I am struck in the bonnet by the muse-bee, I might dash off a word or two. Unfortunately, I have been turned in by a passive-aggressive-grunting-co-worker for writing at work, and must be extra super careful. I can only dream that she will one day rue getting in my way for world domination.

Q2) I'll agree disturbing a busy writer can be akin to poking a sleeping lion. Is it because of adult (cube) life that made you seriously start writing in your 30’s?

The funny thing is, I always wanted to write, but I didn't have the work ethic or the self-confidence to do it. They say the first step of a thousand mile journey is the hardest, and I think the first word of the first story can also be the same: it's representative of so much and the pressure you put on it can crush it to powder. I didn't think I'd ever be good enough, I didn't think I had a story to tell that would stand up to what was out there. Then I took a look around at the cube, realized it was just me in there (the cube here being a metaphor for my entire life) and no one that was going to tell on me if I sucked.

Shortly after I decided I needed to write, Stephen King published On Writing. I felt like that was the universe (and Stephen King) giving me the go-ahead. I still tell people I write because Stephen King told me I could.

Similarly some of the most liberating advice I got as a young writer was from a friend who said I didn't have to write a bestseller. That comment made me feel like a weight was off my shoulders and I was free to experiment (meaning fail ten times before getting it right, or at least better).

Q3) If Stephen King gave you the encouragement to write, have other writers similarly affected your voice or style of writing? My spies tell me you are fan of Tolkien.

Massive, massive fan of Tolkien. I am still collecting writers to be influenced by. I just read "All the Wind Wracked Stars" by Elizabeth Bear and was blown back in my chair! The thought of trying to approach these people in voice or style is very daunting. I think the people that have had the most influence on me are Stephen King, JK Rowling, Mercedes Lackey. Not that their writing is less powerful or worthy of being read because they have a straightforward, easy to read style. That's how I want my prose to be - straight to the punch, with shades of Tolkien and Kinsella in the corners.

Language, man! Language! It's a shame that beautiful language is looked down on now. Someone will shout "Purple!!" at you if you linger too long on a sunset or a tree.

Part of the skill to write simply, I think, is to deliver the description without ceremony. You hear general advice like, "don't info dump" but to those writer's that create worlds in a few lines, it can be daunting task to repeat yourself.

So true...

Q4) That being said, you participated in NaNoWriMo a few years back. (For those who don't know it is a pledge to write an entire novel in the month of November!) I have to ask was it worth it? Any regrets or lessons learned?

No regrets at all. NaNoWriMo was a vaulting point for me. I finished my NaNo novel and wrote two more the next year. I learned that writing 2k a day is do-able, and that there is nothing better for a writer than writing. Not staring at the window, waiting for inspiration, not research, not talking about writing. As Ahnold said... "Do eet!" 2k a day and you have a novel in 2 months... well, more like 6 weeks. I wish I could say I slavishly adhere to this -but when I fall off the writing wagon, it is my own fault. Life gets in the way. Worry gets in the way. Insomnia gets in the way. But I am the master of my destiny and the only way to finish a novel... is to write it. You can't sit around and wait for something to happen.

I hope this year will be the year of EDITING for me. I suck at submission. I wish there was a NoNoSubMo. The doubts and fears I overcome to write gain new strength when it comes time to sub. I'm having a new sword forged to destroy them....

I think they should make a tee-shirt that says “I participated in NaNoWriMo and all I got was carpal tunnel.” Back in my unemployed days, I wrote a 120K'er in 30 days. Wrists haven't been the same since.

*bows in submission*

Q5) Okay last question. This is the big one: Any who knows you on the net can see you have an obvious fascination with fairies, what about these creatures interests you?

The simplest reason is that I've always seen my muse as a fairy! But it's much more than that. A writer should always be ashamed when they can't put a feeling or a reason into words, but it's hard for me to put the nail on the head of what it is about fairies for me. I think they are the root of story and magic. Some people paint them with the modern brush: the beauty of artists like Selene Fenech and Jessica Galbreath. Pretty little flutterbies to look at. I think there is more to them than that. They can be dark and mischievous, selfish and vengeful, close to the secrets of the earth. Who knows what damage they would do if they were bigger? Luckily for us, they are more interested in themselves than we are. I think we're safe from their machinations as long as that attitude continues.

I will agree with you on that point; pretty little things are often very boring things in stories. For me I think their appeal is they can be contradictions. They can be good, evil, and/or tricksters... they can be ugly or beautiful... they can be outside of this world and yet they can be a part of this world. A race without unified form. There is a richness to that mysterious dynamic that is fascinating to me as a storyteller.

Who wants a Mary Jane, right?! Each generation redefines magical beings anyway. Look at Vampires. Sometimes at night, I imagine Bram Stoker rolling over in his grave. But even Bram's Dracula wasn't your typical vampire.

That's the inherent magic of being a storyteller. You can reshape the world, all with a little idea.

Thank you for sharing your insights and good luck editing! More more insights and laughter, please visit Bettielee's blog: Farseeing Fairy Tales

The fun of steampunk (part 1)

I've been reading Stephen Hunt's "Court of the Air" and if you've not read it, I kindly suggest running out to your nearest Borders before it closes and snatching up a copy.

After reading so much medieval based fantasy Steampunk is as refreshing as a cold ice tea on the hot day. The vibrancy of the world in part, for me, is in the language. What Hunt does in CotA is give real things new names, but never describes them. Reading the book you'll come across what he calls a 'Sleeping Henry', which is a billy stick or cudgel of sorts, but he never tells you that. Instead he use an in-universe style of narration, forcing you to work it out on your own without bogging the story down with description.

This advantage comes, in part, that unlike many other sub-genres, Steampunk has an established visual aesthetic. Google : Steampunk : images, and you'll see copper painted conversions of modern day devices, clothing, and images of a world blended between Victorian-era, sci-fi, and fantasy.

Back to Hunt's work; the power of renaming of things by combining preexisting words (ex: aerostat for airship) for me paints the world better than making up new ones. Very different from books full of long, made up names (that I never remember anyway) so common in fantasy. With that said, I'm going to pour myself another ice tea, or maybe call it a Tall Sweet.

Interviews with other writers: Justin

I figure you all might be bored by now of me droning on about my process. So for your pleasure, I'm going to be starting a new series of posts focusing on interviews with other writers.

I'd like to do the first interview with Justin Aiello, a good friend since high school and the person who inspired and challenged me to not only start writing a novel, but also to finish it.

Justin, thank you for agreeing to my interview. And not charging me for the wisdom.

Q1) We'll start off with the basics. What genres do you write in?

I like writing in a lot of different genres as well as mixing them to keep things interesting. I do a lot in Fantasy, Sci-fi, mystery, and adventure. My novel is an attempt to mix all of those.

Q2) Seeing you writing a novel inspired me to write a novel so I wonder, what made you start writing in the first place?

I remember always enjoying stories from as early as I could remember. I would make up adventures and imaginary worlds to keep myself occupied, and it drove this desire to eventually want to be a legitimate story-teller.

Q3) In the same vein of the previous question, have you inspired others to write as well?

It honestly is an honor for you to say I inspired you to write, considering you have managed to write so much and so well. Your stories have so much life and interesting things in them (from which I've learned a lot from) that if I only inspired you to write I'd feel pretty good about myself. Others, somewhat, my sister has seemed to kind of jump on board wanting to write but suffers from the all too common problem of "I can write the first 5 pages and then nothing"

Q4) I admired your dedication to your current project, I know you've rewritten it several times. I attempting a rewrite myself now. What knowledge have you gained from the numerous rewrites?

It's cliche but rewriting will really...REALLY make it better. I can't tell you how many times I've rewritten something and had a moment where there was an idea or a scene or a line where I smile to myself because I know I nailed it, I know I got it right. It's funny how little tweaking here and there can change a story, improve it ten fold sometimes, and the scenes that really do this more often than not come around in the re-writing. Since I finished the book to where it is now it's improved 50 times.

Q5) Between each new edition, what changed the most? (i.e.: stronger characterization, more detailed descriptions, etc.)

This will obviously differ for the writer, for me it was increased and improved details, changing everything that was clunky about the original and didn't really flow well. A couple plot changes really made the mystery of the story exciting for me. One of the best scenes at the climax of the book, a scene that is absolutely necessary for the story now that I think about it, did not come around until after the first draft.

Q6) What is your "typical" writing day consist of?

Focus on one scene or an idea. Bouncing around never really works all that well (though it might for some writers) For me, personally, when I sit down to write I'm going to focus on a section and do what I can to improve it, change it, delete it even. It isn't the fastest process, but by the end of it you have covered every section in your book and did what you can to improve it.

Q7) Could you describe your writing process? Where do you start?

It is all in the ideas, you really want to have a lot of frame work in my opinion before starting your story. Know your point, where you're going, and how you're going to get there. Who are your characters? What purpose will they each serve? What is all of their relations to one another? I am very big on small details and I hate...HATE loopholes, so I want to have as clear a picture of where I'm going before I go there. I feel then the actual writing comes easier when you know where you're going. Now an important disclaimer, I'm not saying that by the time you finish that this will not all have changed, My book is very different now than where it was supposed to go when I started, but step 1 is getting the end of the first draft, so you have to make it as easy as possible for you to get there.

Q8) What was an "ah ha!" moment in your writing? When everything seemed to click.

During the rewriting process. If you do enough planning you start realizing that ideas you have NOW are supported by things you already wrote in the past, as if you were setting yourself up, looking ahead without realizing it. I find myself sometimes going, "That adds up!!" almost as if I'm reading someone else's story. I want to say "good job" to "Two years ago Justin"

Sometimes I feel like working on my project...

Dare I say two blog posts within a week??

But this is too funny and sadly true:

http://www.youtube.com/AgentXPQ

Look for the project clip.