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