Thought-Drive

The author information page is going out today. The initial edits on the associated novel are mostly done, as well. I'm 99% sure that I'm no longer sick. It's looking like I might just land this thing this year. Yesterday I got around to having a sit down with one of my beta readers, and we talked about my style, if it could be called that. A different reader coined one of several phrases to describe elements of my stories, and I wanted to hash out if any of those things were noticeable to him. It was a bit like going to the doctor, getting that confirmation. Waking up, feeling weird, sore, or weak, then going to a medical professional who can provide a name for whatever malaise. Oh, scurvy? Really? Hm, that's unfortunate. Narrative Impatience is what the second reader calls one of the aforementioned elements. I paraphrase his explanation of the term: when proceeding through the story, I am too quick to move to the next scene, to the next moment without giving the ...

I really might have to update the tag for this thing. Weekly? Well, I wonder how accurate it could be if I have the thoughts, but don't write them down here. Once, I wrote about the concept of the consensus of thinking people determining objective reality. At least, it was one of the concepts I was toying around with in this story . I guess primarily it was about time travel. But I digress. Recently, I was hired on to a project as an editor, and that function turned into more of a ghost writing capacity. It's a strange position, with no contract or officially capacity. I'm compensated, but really, it's more of a gig than a job. Either way, I'm learning a lot about other writers, and other writing. For the first time, I'm able to use some of my own experiences in anecdotes. Not to say that they're overly helpful, but at least I'm using them. Like novelty cutlery. I submitted the contract for the fourth book, and got soft confirmation that the release...

Been awhile. I can't lie and say that my absence indicated some increase in productivity. I wrote recently, but it was an uncommon session. During the week, in the middle of doing something else, the words almost literally burst out of me. I had opened a word processor and started typing almost before I fully understood what was going on. I've yet to even save the file. It's still open, declaring itself Chapter 14. The cursor blinks like the afterthought hazard lights glowing and shading a car collission scene. It'll be awhile before anyone can come to grips about what just happened. The book came out. Feburary 1st. I did the online release event, like usual, and here is an interview where I talk about my process and the book in question. Even the book currently in progress, which just now reached what I imagine to be its half-way mark. But I haven't quite come around to getting down on myself. So long as the chapters keep coming, however slow, I'll keep p...

The one productive thing that I have been working on is interview questions for a promotional piece to coincide with the book release. There were some fifty questions, and the host was nice enough to let me choose which I wanted to answer. It occurred to me sometime later that the questions one chose to answer could tell a story, or that their selection would at least be somewhat telling. One question that didn’t make the cut because I didn’t have the answer was “what is your favorite quote?” I seem to have week to week favorites, but there is no grand, all-time thought. But if you’re curious, this week, this month, it’s “There is nothing that won’t shine if you  polish it enough.” I like it because it’s structure is eccentric. It was translated from Japanese. And in regards to that, things have been quite dull with the writing recently. That’s changing this weekend. The next chapter will be written. Thankfully, I’m getting more and more excited about it as I forcefully comm...

An old friend from high school asked for my help. He was assembling a basketball goal for his son, and was stumped in the process. When I thought about what was being asked of me, it made me ponder on high school again, and all those holiday seasons before that. I had spent most of my time indoors, going outside only to play with toys. Not build them. But the fresh experiences did not stop there. I never realized it consciously, but whenever I'm confronted with a pile of parts, and the picture of a finished product, I constantly examine how each bit forms into that whole. Basketball goals are made from an unexpected number of mysterious shaped pieces. While working, and sometimes cursing, I thought about my next story. It's about time to start taking down notes lest I lose ideas I've worked on. I claim to be a character-driven writer, yet this story, just like the last one , seems to have artifice as a main part also. It'll be another future telling, as many of my sh...

This was the first weekend in a while that I could really look forward to writing. It made me realize that while I may have a third book out at the beginning of the new year, what I was most excited about was the work that ran up to it. Not that the editing experience was not enriching, or that it did not produce an objectively better book. But nor could I really say what it was, either. For those of you who aren't aware of  my facebook page , the cover is done. For those of you who are, the edits are also complete. I didn't win, or place, or garner an honorable mention once again in the sci-fi short story competition that I attempt yearly these days. It would be a lie to say that yet another flop isn't a repeated blow to my ego. On the other hand, I really believe I had assumed the dual posture of someone who both thought he would do exceptionally well and someone who would not be surprised to get the rejection letter. As always, the form letter came along with it l...

The first round is done. I can't be sure, but I think I'm much closer to understanding the difference between good and bad editors. Not that the previous ones were bad, but the current person I'm working with feels better. Things are developing into what I could only describe as a working relationship. In the beginning of the manuscript, when she saw that I was going about something in a confusingly convoluted manner (for instance, using adverbs too much and/or not using strong enough verbs) she would say that things could be, or needed to be, tighter. Towards the end, the only comment was "tighter" and the arrow pointed to a highlighted sentence in track changes. I knew what she meant and went about things accordingly. She was explicit in that I didn't have to change things, but I needed to provide explanation. She wanted the back and forth. And I can admit that at points it was frustrating, but that's mostly because part of me wanted to be lazy, and all...