Well, it is actually finished now, at least for the current moment. Manuscript: Alpha has been revised, printed, bound, and sent off to my four lovely, devoted, selfless alpha readers. 176,000 words, plus a glossary, and a crudely drawn map to guide their mental wanderings as they read. Continue reading “Manuscript: Alpha is a Go – and it has a title!”
Tag: writing
Finished*
173,920 words.
That is where my completed first draft sits in its current, non-revised form. I’m spending the entirety of my day off on Tuesday revising and finalizing the draft for Manuscript: Alpha, but damn it this feels good.
Much more work to come, but “Jaed and Aston” now has a beginning, middle, and end. I might be too excited to sleep tonight.
Steve D
Actually Nearing the Finish Line
Ugh. The tying down of plots and characters continues.
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, part of the delay on finishing Manuscript 1 of “Jaed and Aston” has been in trying to parse out the finishing plot points for each of my characters. The biggest difficulty I’ve found in this process has been in fitting the final pieces for each character together concisely, without jamming too much info/action into one section. Continue reading “Actually Nearing the Finish Line”
Writing when Life Gets in the Way
Real-life responsibilities hit me all at once in the last week and have really interfered with my writing. Now, I’m not going to lie, before the events of the past week, I was mostly getting in my own way of finishing the first draft of “Jaed and Aston”. But it feels different when external obligations are pulling you away from something you otherwise should be doing. Continue reading “Writing when Life Gets in the Way”
Don’t Call It a Recap: Writer’s Burnout
I am burned out on writing. There I said it. It would be one thing if I didn’t want to write, or if I simply had no solid ideas. But I have a slew of drafts in my WordPress Dashboard and a pretty good handle on where I want “Jaed and Aston” to go over the final few chapters. I just don’t have the motivation to do any of them. Continue reading “Don’t Call It a Recap: Writer’s Burnout”
Book Review: LIONHEART, by Sharon Kay Penman
Medieval British History is my wheelhouse. I’m not an expert by any means, but learning about the English royalty is actually what first sparked my academic interest in history during high school. Who was the Black Prince and how did he get such an awesome moniker? How accurate were the popular tales about Richard I’s crusade? I just wanted to learn more, and I did throughout college.
Popular History
One oft-lamented aspect of the field of history by academics is the prevalence of popular history, particularly in film, television, and non/fiction. Popular history tends to take a wide, mass-appeal approach to the telling of history. The argument against these forms of history is that they are often more focused on a gripping narrative than on actual historical accuracy or objectivity. This is undeniable in many such works. Continue reading “Book Review: LIONHEART, by Sharon Kay Penman”
Creativity Sessions: Not Seeing the Trees for the Forest
Looking at that picture, most people would hear the water chiming over stones and logs, or imagine the animals that may be hidden behind that line of trees. I look at this picture and imagine the mountain spring that flows down into this river, or the wide expanse of the forest. Continue reading “Creativity Sessions: Not Seeing the Trees for the Forest”
Forming Habits and February Goals
Goals are hard, especially when you don’t meet them. Mainly, I fell short of my January writing goal of 20,000 words on “Jaed and Aston”. The bad news is that I only wrote 10,000 words. The good news is that I freaking wrote 10,000 words. Continue reading “Forming Habits and February Goals”
Creativity Sessions: Thoughts on Storytelling
I’ve been thinking a lot about storytelling recently. Okay, I kind of think about storytelling all the time anyway. But binge-watching Louis on Netflix makes me reflect on the way we tell our own stories. Continue reading “Creativity Sessions: Thoughts on Storytelling”
Creativity Sessions: Inner Monologues and Deductions
I love the concept of the inner monologue in writing, probably because I’m constantly up in my own head with thoughts and ideas that I might not express vocally. In writing, though, I think it has to be used delicately. Continue reading “Creativity Sessions: Inner Monologues and Deductions”
Evening Satellite Publishing 