New year, new story...

So I'm back and 403 words into my newest creation....

Let's just say the old one needed a rest.  

So the new story is a Sci-Fi story.  There is plenty of hatred, lots of revenge, dead but not quite dead characters and even a love story.

Should be interesting.  Let's hope I keep with this one.

So the new story...

The new story is most definitely Sci-Fi.  I have the basics in my head and the beginning has taken form in a small notebook.  Hopefully I don't get tired of this one halfway in...

Working on a new story...

Working on a new story concept...  Scrapped the last one for now.  Think I'm going to go back to Sci-Fi where I belong.

Where'd I Go? It's been so long...

Yes...  I am still alive.

No...  I really haven't written anything.

Yes...  I know I missed my goal.

The good news is that this current Quarter ends today and now I can focus for a few weeks...  Maybe...

We will see...

Joe

And I'm back...

So, I finally wrote some more of the actual story tonight!  Thank you *insert random deity here*!!!

Granted I only added 625 words, it's more than I've done in days...

And now I'm stopping...  When I start browsing the web instead of writing, it's time.

Thine Expected Update!
18,400 words in over 66 pages.  Not too shabby.

To quote Mr. Vonnegut, "So it goes."

By the way, read The Sirens of Titan.  Phenomenal book.

Yeah...  And stuff...

Joe

I place this photo here in reverence...

Some Writing, but Not What I Should be Writing...

I just wrote a 1,600+ word Creative Non-Fiction piece for my creative writing class.  This is great for keeping up with word counts for a day, but not so much for the Novel...

The night is young and there is no telling what I will do next.

Joe  ;)

Happy Mother's Day!

So first, Happy Mother's Day!

Okay, on to business.  So, I haven't written any since the 9th.  Sadness.

I have written for school, but not for the novel.  This is not good for my goal.

I did get the music stuff up again and may even write a song or three.

That's about it for now...

Maybe tomorrow we will continue or maybe I will even get it going tonight.  Don't know.

That is all...  I guess...

Joe

Music... Why not?

I just re-activated my reverb nation profile...

Go listen to my creations!!!

Mwahahahah!

http://www.reverbnation.com/chapter37

Joe

Hello Novella!

Well then...  I was procrastinating, when a Goodreads friend asked how the writing was going?  As you can imagine, I went into "Oh crap, I'm caught!" mode and started writing.

And I am glad I did!

We have officially entered Novella territory!!!!
Now I know that there was confusion about the difference between Novelette and Novella and I realized the mistake I was making when I described it so I want to clarify....

Novelette: 7,500–17,500 words

Novella: 17,500–40,000 words

So NOW we are in Novella land and heading toward the land of short novels.  :D

Hey look, it's an Update:
17,775 words over 64 pages.  The first four chapters are still being refined while I add randomness to the middle of the book.

It was a good night for writing.  1,694 words added!

Thank you to Hope for reminding me of what I said I was going to do tonight, to Cari for keeping my head in check and to Carly for constantly reminding me of why I am doing this.

Sometimes we all need a good reminder or kick or someone to understand...

I think I'm lucky when it comes to friends, even if it means that I am not when it comes to anything more...

Orson Scott Card tells us that the life of a true writer is a lonely one.  I hear you buddy...

Goodnight Travelers.

Joe

A Study from Tuesday

So on Tuesday, before the crisis reared its ugly head, I was actually studying the drive from Kingston to Tacoma.  This is kind of critical to me, since the tale I am spinning takes place here in Washington.  Between my memory and some help from the Google Maps road view, I was able to better paint the picture I wanted to in the story.  So, the day wasn't all bad.

Today was nerve wracking at the beginning but was better after the last post.  The night has been calm and I finally watched last week's Hannibal as well as the premier of 24.  And then I wrote....

Not a huge day for writing.  Only added 622 words, but its 622 more than I have added since Sunday's 3,100+ rampage.  Progress is progress.

So the Update:
16,081 words over 59 pages.  Expanded the 2nd chapter a bit.  Added some details to the middle.


On another note, I may have a new angle on a book of short stories as requested by some of my classmates in English-274/5-Creative Writing Prose.  Thank you Melissa, Wesley, Carly, Sharon and Danielle.

Especially Melissa after today's brainstorming before my other classes.  That helped me get through the day!  :D

Word.  Goodnight peoples!

Joe

*Insert Sigh of Relief Here*

Crisis was averted.  Thank every God or Goddess or spoon that humanity has ever worshipped.  Maybe now I can get back to writing...

Joe

Today Sucked...

So Today Sucked Royally.

It's completely possible that life has a soft spot for me when it comes to torture or kicking me in the crotch.  I haven't added to the story since Sunday and today has basically set me into numbness land.  I am hoping to convert that into some writing material, but it's not looking promising right now.

Not going into to detail about my personal misfortunes, so I am just venting around the story.

I have updated a playlist on Spotify for days like today.

We'll see what happens.  Maybe I will get better news tomorrow or maybe I will kick this into the book and get writing.

Here's to hoping.

Joe

Done for the night... Maybe.

So I have added 3,164 words to the story in total today.  Most in a single day thus far.  I think I just made up for my two slacking days.  I think it's time to relax and watch some shows.

:)

And the Update:
15,459 words over 56 pages.  Still a lot of disconnected parts of the story line, but they moving ever closer.

As long as I actually sleep, this should be it for the night.   I have class tomorrow so here's to hoping.

Goodnight Peoples...

Joe

Star Wars Day

So I didn't write last night.  I was a bad boy and jumped all over Spotify.  However, I have written today.  I wrote a 793 word Flash Story called Alone With You about a deep freezer with a body in it.  Then I added around 1,600 words to the book.  So there...

I'm about to go back to it.

May the 4th be with you!

Joe  

Progress After 1 a.m. while Listening to Coheed and Cambria

So it's after 1 a.m. and my medications have kicked in...  The good news is that I added about 700 or so words to the story, which is now really starting to come together.  I had two slacker days...  It happens.

On a different note, I started reading Orson Scott Card's "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy" today.  Even though he focuses on two genres, the lessons of character and world development are excellent.  I will probably read for awhile if I have trouble sleeping.  If it leads to me writing, then there will be coffee!

My amazing moment in Twitter has passed.  Norm MacDonald has made my night...  

The Update that is to be expected here:
12,295 word in about 45 pages.  I have made it about 2 pages into Chapter 4, but have about 20 pages of "stuff" that happens after that.

So that's about it for updates...  Off to read or something.

By the way, Spotify is amazing...  Thank you Kelsey.  (I say that a lot.)

Goodnight Peoples?  We'll see.

Joe  :P

Retweet by Norm MacDonald!

The Norm MacDonald retweeted me.  Life is good. 

Slacker...

So I haven't added much since my 1,100 words the other night.  Maybe 2-300.  Got caught up with college homework.

With me slacking, I have decided to set a goal.  As today is May 1st, I have decided that I will add 40,000 words by the end of this month.  My goal is to hit 52,000 on May 31st.  So there it is...

Challenge hath been given and accepted!

Joe

And We're Back!

So I got to writing tonight!  Had some new ideas from class tonight and some interesting things I forgot about.  I find it funny that we often forget little incidents in our lives that pop up at strange times to help us with something.  I needed some inspiration to write.  I got part one in class.  Part two was due to a friend from the class named Carly making a comment that reminded me of my Grandfather.  The last came after I was already writing tonight.  All in all, I cranked out 1,100-ish words tonight.

:D

Update:
11,126 words in.  42 pages of disjointed but getting ever closer confusion.  Still have 4 Chapters connected as well as quite a bit for the end.  Overall, a good night for writing.

By the way, Spotify is amazing...  Thank you Kelsey.

Goodnight people.

Joe

Lull

Didn't write last night.  At least not for the novel.  Wrote a 470 word poem for a class.

Not going to force it...  That would make for a horrible book.

Anyway.  I should be back on it tonight.

Joe

10K!!!

Just broke 10,000 words.  Very happy.  May need a break for a bit.

Think reading is in order.  May write more later, may not.

10,041!  5 digits of awesome.

Joe

Still Awake

So I am still awake.  It is 2 am and I have no idea why.

I have been writing though, so that's good.

Update:
9,074 words into the novel.  34 pages worth of confusion.  4 Chapters still connected.

I stopped yesterday at 7,078...  This means I have literally added 1,996 words today.  That is the highest since I started the Bradbury challenge.  Won't be doing that tomorrow since I have homework due, but who knows?

By the way...  I made a mistake when I said I was in Novella land...  It is actually Novelette land.  Novella doesn't happen until we hit 17,500.

I either need sleep or coffee....  I will try sleep...

Goodnight peoples.

Joe

The Next Rung on the Ladder

So I am Officially in Novella land.  This morning's writing binge has brought me above 7,500 words and has connected Chapters 1-4.  And to think, it's only 1:21 p.m.   :)

I may try to do some reading today or catch up on some shows, but there will probably be more writing tonight.

Made an amazing new friend on Goodreads/Twitter/here.  Her name is Jessica Brister.  She writes a gaming blog which is pretty freaking Epic!  Check her out:  http://jessicabrister.blogspot.com/

Also, made an excellent new friend on Goodreads in author Lee J. Mavin.  He is an Australian born English teacher living in Shanghai.  What strikes me about Mr. Mavin is that he immediately offered advice about writing to me, the amateur, just because he wants to help!  It's rare in our world for a published author to just offer their help to a hopeful author.  To check out Lee's work go to to his web site:  http://leejmavin.com/

Things are working out in the weirdest way right now.  Twitter is blowing up ever since I mentioned this blog and there seems to be an influx of support in my life.

Maybe this time around it is meant to happen.

We will see.

Joe

From Nothing to Something...

So I started with no drive to write today.  And then, a few hours ago, it just started.  So progress has been made.  The best part of this progress is the connection of the first three chapters.  There is now a logical flow for about 17 1/2 pages.  Nice...

I think it's time for me to read and relax and maybe sleep.  Maybe...

Update:
I am now 7,078 words in.  (That's about 422 shy of breaking into Novella land.)
There are now 27 disjointed pages of craziness.
Chapter's 1 through 3 connect.  (Of course they are first draft, unedited chapters, but they connect.)

Only 73,000 more words over 34 more chapters to go!  :)

Goodnight Peoples!

Joe

Poetry

I never realized exactly how much poetry I have written until tonight.  I just found 92 pages of it to go with the other 8 that I have written recently...  Wow...

Haven't written any today.  Don't know why.  I have been reading about writing, but not actually writing.

I wonder if I will ever try to publish the poetry...  Maybe.

Back to reading...

Joe

Oh, and a Big Thank you to Emily from my Goodreads Family for joining the insanity here!

The Muse hath Struck...

So today was a good day.  Even though the power was out until after 1, I got an email from a friend that has read some of my writing.  All I will say here about that is that this particular person made my whole day better!

With that email, I blasted into writing, went to my Thursday Night class, came home and wrote more.  It has been a good day for writing and all because of one person.

I also went to the library in Bremerton (Sylvan Way) and picked up 5 books on writing.  I figure researching what other authors and even the publishers or editors have to say on the subject is always something that can only be helpful.  I mean, hell, Bradbury sent me running right into writing.  I know not every book will be as good as Bradbury's, but even if I only get one thing that makes a difference, then it was worth it.

Totals for the night:
I believe Chapter 1 is "First Draft" complete.
I am at 6,092 words and 23 disjointed, but slowly finding each other, pages.
That means I hacked out 1,619 total words towards my goal.  Excellent...

1,619 words...  And you wonder why I called you my Muse.

Thank you Kelsey.

Goodnight people.

Joe

YAY!!! POWER!!!

Power is back on!  The internet and cable just came back up!  I HAVE COFFEE!!!!

Already typing away...  4,600 + and counting...

More to follow later.

XD

Joe

Power Outage

Well the power is out.  Apparently a tree fell across the road.  No coffee. No writing.  Sadness.  

Inching Forward...

Time to quit for tonight.  I may mess with the blog format a little, but then it is reading and off to bed.

As it stands, I am at 4,473 words in 18 pages of disjointed story line.

More to follow...

Joe

The Climb to Novelization

So I was doing some research and found a general guide for how many words a novel should be.  This is the general consensus:

Flash Story: Under ~1,000 words

Short Story: 1,000–7,500 words

Novelette: 7,500–17,500 words

Novella: 17,500–40,000 words

Novel: Over 40,000 words

Now, keeping in mind a standard rule, which states that any novel under 80,000 and above 110,000 words is probably getting kicked back, then we can easily assume that my goal is...  between 80-110K words.

Judging by the above info, my "novel" is currently still in Short Story land.  In other words, I have a lot of writing to do.

Let's just say that I'm off by about 76,000-ish words...

Back to work then...

Joe

Ideas Hit at the Weirdest Times...

I was driving to class today, when a conversation that needs to be in the book came into my brain.  It basically intruded.  So I thought it through and then kept repeating it.  Well, it turned into three separate parts.  So, for 45 minutes I talking to myself until I finally got to the Olympic College parking lot.  I had 15 minutes to kill, so I wrote all of it down.  (Actually I wrote a little in one of my classes as well.)

On the way home, the same thing happened.

Most times, I am in the shower when these ideas strike...  This is why I always have a notebook of some sort on me at all times.  I even woke up at 2:30 and wrote something before falling back onto the pillow.

Anyway, just thought that was weird...  Maybe it's just me.

Update: 16 total pages of disjointed blather and a total of 3,909 words.  No progress on the first Chapter.  Most of the ideas are from later in the story...

Joe

One Thousand a Night...

So, it has become a habit over the last week or so to write at least One Thousand words a night.  I picked this up from Ray Bradbury's "Zen in the Art of Fiction".  It's a lot harder than it may sound.  In his world you literally pick a word from a running list of nouns and then blast off for One Thousand or so words...  I have gotten close on most days, with yesterday being my best by far when I added 1,500 or so to the book.

(I like book better than novel...  Don't know why, I just do.)

Which brings me to my nightly update:

The Book is now at 3,160 words.  The first 6-ish pages are done.  (Pre-editing)  I now have a total of 12 pages of disjointed thoughts that will eventually form this book.

I added 988 tonight.  Close enough to One Thousand for me...

Time to sleep.  Good night world.

Joe

Well then...

Well then, this ought to be interesting.  I'm trying for 3rd or 12th time to write (and finish) a novel.  The first attempt at this was about two years ago.  It was a steaming mess.  I could probably save it if I tried, but that ship has sailed for now...

So, that brings us to right now.  After almost a year of not wanting to write, or do much of anything, I am back and blasting full steam into this!

I guess that means we need to know where I stand right now on the "novel"...

Fair enough...  Currently I am 4 pages into the first chapter with 9 total pages of disjointed craziness that is somewhat in order but needs to be connected for a total of 2,172 words.  I have the story line in my head...  But I have a feeling if I continue to follow the Ray Bradbury school of logic, the story line will change and I will need to accept that.

Well, I don't know if anyone will pay attention to this at all or if I'll even finish the book, but here I am and here I go!

Joe