Saturday, February 27, 2010

Getting to the exciting parts of the story

Hey, it's been a long road over the past year. The story is almost to the point where I remember in my dream. January 2009, I dreamed of the middle and end of a fantastic story. The skill lies in finding a character upon which to base the story, because I dreamed my dream in first-person, and my life is certainly not interesting enough!

Maybe that will change, when I become a published author?

Anyway, chapter 22 is now drafted, and there are only about 4 more chapters to write. I'm getting excited about finishing this first draft. Can't wait to read it end-to-end!

These last 4 chapters will be great. Fashion, travel, excitement, and a nice conclusion to my tale.

It's been so fun writing a book that I would want to read. It's fun, it's clean, and it makes me appreciate my values.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Two-thirds through the book

Hey, another day to celebrate! Just finished writing chapter 17 and I only have eight more chapters planned. So, doing some quick math, my almost-12,000 words mean that the first draft is two-thirds complete.

Sad, that I'm only at 12,000 words and a I need at least 50,000 words to call it a novel? I'm not. There's still a lot of dialog, flashbacks, and backstory missing. As I re-write, this will be added.

Have you ever noticed how your writing style changes depending on what other books you've read recently? I'm currently reading "Jane Eyre" for about the 4th or 5th time in my life. It's an amazing piece of literature because the descriptions are so vivid and, in places, the narrative actually addresses the reader directly, which is just soo cool!

My batteries are charged, and I'm ready to be in the home-stretch with this book. Still to be written are some discoveries, some sci-fi action-adventure, and of course, a nice resolution or end to my tale. I can't wait to read the rest of my book, and so I hope that when it's finished, many more people feel that way, too!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Chapter 15 - Celebrating 10,000 Words

Changing verb tenses must have been the key that unlocked the door to my brain, because I just passed the 10,000-word mark!

OK, teachers and professors, I'm sorry that I complained every time I had to write a 500-word essay or a 10-page paper. Truly, I am.

Thinking back on history, my papers were written on notebook paper, then laboriously typed onto a computer that looked like it was stored in a sewing-machine case, with a 5-1/4-inch floppy drive.

In college, either the papers were typed on this same old PC, or coded in TeX on a mainframe, or formatted on the early MAC PCs.

In my professional career, most e-mails run as short as possible, and white-papers are only occasionally drafted.

This books is something new and special to me. It will take a rewrite or two to get to the level needed to send it out for queries. Still a mystery to me where I will send this book, or if I should even try to send short stories to magazines to get published first? The good news is that I know a published author or two and maybe can get some advice, when I'm ready.

In the meantime, I'll be writing away. Only about 9 chapters left to write in the fist draft. Counting down!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Verb 'tensory' experiences

OK, so I'm writing my book in the first-person, as instructed in the guidebook. Suddenly, I come to the realization that maybe the verb-tense that I've chosen doesn't flow quite right. And I'm on CHAPTER 11!!!

I've been writing in first-person, present-tense, which goes something like this:
"I walk into the room and pick up the book. Opening the book, I quickly turn to page 10 and begin to read."

When all along, I probably should have been writing like this:
"I walked into the room and picked up the book. Opening the book, I quickly turned to page 10 and began to read."

Which version feels better to you, I ask? Well, I checked two of my favorite books, "My Side of the Mountain" and the "Twilight" series, and discovered these authors work with the second method.

So, in the middle of Chapter 11, I'll be making the switch on verb tenses, and will see how it feels to me.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Chapter 9 - I know a secret

"I know a secret and I'm not telling!"

Did you ever hear this when you were growing up? I know that I did. The sounds eminated from my own mouth, more often than not.

One secret has been revealed and more are still hiding. The mystery is building.

Wonder what will happen as I pick back up with the "book writing channel" tomorrow?

Stay tuned...!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Chapter 8

Tonight I'm celebrating!!! Just passed the 5,000-word mark. Whoop!!!!

My book is at its unofficial 1/2-way point of the first draft. I just wrote a party scene with some dragons in it. (Bet you're curious how I managed to work dragons into the book!)

We're about to enter another key revelation chapter, or is it the creation of a major problem? Stay tuned and I'll find out tomorrow as I come back to write yet another chapter.

My new and very selfish goal is to complete the first rough draft prior to Spring Break, so that my two biggest fans can read and comment before I re-write.

In other notes, attended my first diabetes support group meeting tonight. Was diagnosed in January. Glad to not be alone as I learn new ways to live. The best parts about my new life are that I get to eat carbs! Yay! And I get to snack before I exercise, and I can use my glucose meter to figure out if I'm really hungry or just stressing.