A Little Cheese with My Whine…

This morning is a little hard.  However I decided to fall asleep last night, I managed to wake up with a crick in my neck.  So as much as I try, I can’t quite look all the way to my left.  A hot shower and a self-applied neck rub has helped a bit.  On the bright side, the chair at work swivels.  I can turn my chair instead of my neck.

Within the next week I will be starting my new position at the new store.  For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently a shipping/receiving clerk for a car dealership.  The owner has built a new dealership in the northwest part of town and I’m moving there to be the shipping/receiving manager.  The warehouse alone is four times the size of where I’m currently at.

So I’m a bit excited.  For one, I’ll be in charge.  Two, there’ll be more money in it.  And three, I won’t have to work with certain unpleasant people any more.

I’m also worried.  First, I will be spending more time away from home.  The commute alone adds an extra hour by itself.  Then, I’ll be in charge.  If something goes wrong, I get to hear about it.  And third, I’m afraid my writing will suffer.  I already feel guilty every time I leave the house to write.  Now that I will be spending more time away from my family, I won’t want to miss what moments I can glean.  I want to be the father that’s around.  I will be at every birthday party.  Anniversaries will always be remembered and celebrated.

So I feel this internal tug-o-war.  On one side is the ability to provide for my family.  On the other, my family and personal goals.  In the perfect world I could sell my stories to make a living.  It’s a hard road to walk right now, but I will continue on it.  In a few years, I have a feeling things will work out for the better.  A little later than I would have liked to have started, but at least I will have the opportunity.

That’s when I will be given the green light to quit my day job for a year to see if I can make novel writing profitable.  I don’t plan to wait until then to try.  That’s only when I can dedicate one hundred percent of my energies towards it.  Who knows.  It could happen earlier.  If what I’m writing right now is a hit, maybe that life could be right around the corner.

Current Progress

Alright!  After putting in nearly eight hundred words, chapter twenty is finally finished.  It happened almost exactly how I planned it.  Granted there were characters I hadn’t expected and an intro action scene I didn’t quite expect, but I made it through.  I know that these last two chapters I wrote are going to need major over hauls.  I forced my way through them so I could get them out and done with.  I still struggle with the notion that it doesn’t have to be perfect the first time I write it.

Next up, I only have one chapter left.  I plan to denouement it up and call it a wrap.  If I had more time last night, I probably would have wrote all the way through.  As it is, I’ve had this next chapter mentally written for the last four months or so.  Maybe even longer than that.  I find that my writing takes leaps and bounds after I discover the “perfect” ending.  There’s that moment of insight that manifests in goose bumps up and down my arms.  My hair stands on end and like antennae, I receive this absolutely brilliant idea that brings the whole project into focus.

I guess you could say my arm hair is my barometer on how well my story is.  If when I read my story and get that same arm-hair-raising effect, then I’ll know I got it right.

So if all goes as planned, this weekend should mark the completion of my first novel.  Granted it might be a couple of days after my initial deadline, but I think I can look past that.  I will have completed my novel and that’s reward enough for me… for now.

Current word count:

44,610 words and one more chapter to go.

Rainy Monday

It rained all day yesterday.  I’m not sure if it’ll continue today.  As much as I love the rain, I have to work outside in the morning, and it would make it inconvenient for me.  Really I’d rather stay at home, build a fire in the fire place, and write all day.  I’m so close to being finished, I don’t want to stop writing.

I wrote another 633 words last night.  I added a small scene that chapter nineteen was missing.  Typically I would wait until revisions to add anything else, but it seemed pretty crucial to what is to happen later.  Truthfully I know the chapter will need to be beefed up even more.  It’s only a measly 1,200 words or so.

Chapter twenty is coming along.  I’m in the height of the action now.  I’ve built and built and built to this critical moment.  The tension is high… and I have no idea what’s going to happen.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  I know what the outcome will be.  I even know how to wrap up the whole novel.  This one little spot, however, I haven’t figured out.

I should just let the characters do their thing.  They sometimes know the story better than I do.  There have been a number of surprises for me throughout this entire novel.  I should just trust in them to finish their own story.

So here’s my current word count.  Not much different from last time, but here it is anyway:

43,814 words (and still counting)

After two more days of good writing time, I should have this all wrapped up.  I can’t wait.

Writing Environment

I find myself wondering lately what conditions most people write in. I’m sure they vary greatly. I, myself, need to leave the house altogether in order to get in a decent bout of writing done. It’s actually more than that. Let me explain.

I write to my moods. It’s really as simple as that. When I’m working on a short story, all it usually takes is one day to work out the gist of the story. Therefore, whatever mood I’m in pretty much dictates what style of story I create. Don’t get me wrong, the story is nowhere near being finished at that point. Only the original concept. Then comes the issue of recreating that mood when it’s time to revisit that story, or at least as close as I want to come to it. The last stage of revisions I’m usually detached enough from the mood it isn’t necessary to be anything other than in edit mode.

Now that I’m working on this novel, the rules are still somewhat the same. It helps me a great deal to get the feel of my main character when I’m in the right mind set. How do I do that, you ask? Simple.

Music.

I create a playlist of songs that I feel best describes the attitude of my main character. It also needs to have a similar feel to the overall story. Raven’s Mark is a fast paced ride with an anti-hero as the protagonist. Therefore, the playlist I’ve been listening to consists of hard rock, heavy metal, a dash of “Cookie Monster” rock, and always with a good-size helping of Blue Man Group. In a few scenes the mood is slightly altered so I threw in some instrumentals to help even out those times.

If I ever put on the tunes, and I just can’t listen to it, I have to do something else.  Maybe work on another story, write a blog post, or read other blogs or stories.  I find when I force myself to write when I’m not in the proper mind set, the writing suffers.

So how do you do it?  Do you set up a sound barrier from the rest of the world, or am I completely alone in the way I go about it?  Even if I am, I don’t think I’ll change any time soon.

Slowly but Surely

Last night I was able to pound out another 700 words.  I’m right in the thick of the climactic event.  So far it has not been at all what I thought it would be.  I don’t take that as a bad thing.  I feel my characters are acting out in their own manner and doing things I hadn’t expected, but it feels right.  There were a few characters that appeared that I had no idea were going to show up again, but there they were.  Really it was all rather exciting.

Blocking action scenes can be quite tricky.  Some times it flows out like magic.  Most times I need to beat it out with a wooden club.  I think the trick is, if I can clearly see it happening in my head, I can translate it to the page.  If I only have a vague notion of what I want to happen, it flounders.  My sentence structure tends to be shorter.  The exception would be if there were several things going on at once.  Then I would string them together in a run on.  So far it seems to be working for me.  Any other tips out there?

Alright.  Drum roll please…

**silent anticipation**

Midway through chapter twenty brings my current word count to 43,181.

**Oooo, Aaahh**

Thank you.  It’s been a long road.  I’m on track to be finished by the end of the month.  Please wish me luck.  That’s when the real work begins… Revisions.

Chapter Blue

I meant to write this a week ago. As most things go, I never quite had (made) the time. So where should I start? Ah, yes.

Last week I went to the Blue Man Group concer, How to be a Megastar 2.1 Tour. My parents bought my brother and me tickets for Christmas. I couldn’t have asked for better seats: fifth row, center-stage. From our vantage-point it was easier to see the performers themselves than watch the big screens.

If you have never seen a Blue Man Group show, you must. It is one of the most invigorating shows I have ever seen. The entertainment levels are through the roof. Their antics could force a smile from the grumpiest of people. At the same time, they also make you think. They have that new-alien-to-earth-trying-to-fit-in-to-the-culture thing going on. There’s quite a bit of audience participation as well. Several times they pulled people on stage to either use their credit cards to place a phone order, spit paint on them, regurgitate marshmallows on, or introduce the band.

Here’s the down side. Last spring I went to Vegas and caught the Blue Man Group show there at the Venetian. It was almost identical to the traveling tour, except better. The show there was longer and the stage setup was more elaborate. The slight difference between the two shows were minute, but the Vegas show offered more skits and crazy Blue Man antics. All in all, here’s the bottom line:

See them.

If they’re coming to your town, buy a ticket. If you can manage to be in one of the five cities that have a Blue Man Group, see that instead. It’s well worth the price of a ticket, be it front or back row.

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My story is coming along a bit slower than I would like. I just finished chapter nineteen, and I can’t believe how short it is. It’s like Dan Brown short. I had originally planned for more to happen in this chapter, but something told me to end it where I did before moving on. Which makes me wonder, when should you do a chapter break versus a double space break?

My personal answer to that is creative intuition. I’ve read authors such as Terry Pratchett who doesn’t use chapters at all, only double space breaks. Vice-versa, authors like Jacqueline Carey don’t utilize double space breaks, only chapter breaks.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I plan on beefing up that chapter a little more. Ultimately though, it’s going to remain short. All that I have left is the climactic battle scene and denouement my way out. Tomorrow night I’ll get the chance to do that. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Novel Note

I started work on chapter nineteen last night. I got about 450 words in. I almost got trapped in the “research mode” cycle. It was such a minor point too. So I just put some place holders there and continued on with the story. I can do the research later during the revisions. That way I know what I want the story to do and could possibly cut down on the amount of time I spend researching since I should know exactly what I want.

So here I am doing my best to avoid the pitfalls of writing avoidance. I’m so close to the end I can taste it. Kind of paper-like and inky.

Winter Woes

I took a three day weekend.  I needed to take my new car to get the extra accessories put on.  They wouldn’t do it on a Saturday, so I took Monday off.  For five hours I walked around the mall that was close by and watched I Am Legend.  Maybe I’ll write about that some other time.

I felt I wasted the day.  I should have toted along my laptop, found a cozy (or at least semi-quiet) spot, and wrote.  But I didn’t.  My own fault, I know.  In any case, when I get my car back I notice a huge scrap along the passenger side of the car.  I’m more than positive it wasn’t there before I dropped off the car.  The good news is that after I pointed out the scrap, they took full responsibility and will fix it.  The bad news is that now I need to find a way to get my car there again.  This time without taking a day off.

So here I am, waiting to take Hailey to school, saying good-bye to Shanalee and Atticus as they head off to school as well, and all I want to do is keep my skinny butt planted here on the couch and write.  I might not be fond of my work, but understand that I have to go.  Maybe I want a vacation.  I know I can’t take one until this summer.  In a way, I am feeling a bit envious of everyone else’s school breaks.  A couple weeks off in the winter and spring.  Almost three months off in the summer.  Sprinkle days off for holidays and conferences, and I’m left wanting that schedule.

Really I would rather stay at home writing.  For the sake of my family, I know that has to wait if it’s going to happen at all.  More and more I’m starting to doubt that’s going to be the case.  Woe is me.

Well, even if that is the case, I’m not going to stop writing.  Most of the writers I admire had to work a day job to support themselves in the beginning.  Since I’m not afraid to walk away from my job for a promising writing career, I think I’ll be okay.  Now the trick is getting that promising writing career.  Any suggestions?

Oh, well.  It’s time to head off to work.  Tonight I will be getting back to Jake in Raven’s Mark.  Almost done there.

Hard Good-byes

Have you ever gotten so into a book that when it came to an end, you were upset or at least mildly disappointed that you had to find a new book?

I have done this plenty of times. If I’m lucky, it will be part of a series, and I can pick the next book. Not so lucky if it’s a stand alone novel. Also, it’s disgruntling if the series is still currently being written. I’m almost a little envious of people who are just now picking up the Harry Potter series. They won’t have to wait and can read right through all seven books. One of my favorite authors, Jim Butcher, is in the middle of two series. Both are outstanding, but the Codex Alera just released book four of six. The Harry Dresden novels is waiting on book ten. Jim has claimed to have a twenty-book series in mind ending with and apocalyptic trilogy. Although I am happy for these authors and their successes, waiting sucks.

Now I’m facing something similar.  The end of my novel.  I just have a few more chapters to go, and I’m having the hardest time letting go of these characters.  It’s silly I know, but there it is.  Even though the majority of the story has been written in the last year, it’s been with me for almost three years.  That’s a long time.  There’s a slight temptation to leave it unfinished.  In some weird way it might make it feel like the story’s still going.  I know that’s not true.  It would just be a really lame excuse not to finish what I started.

I also know that this isn’t the only book in this world.  I have a rough outline for three books altogether.  So I wouldn’t be walking away.  More like walking on.   I also would need to revise the story.  It is the rare person who can pop out a book on the first draft.  We already discussed how we tend not to like these people.

So the only wait I have is the getting my butt in gear and finishing the story.  So without further ado, I have a manuscript to finish.