The Devil in the Details

I'm wanna of those people who likes to watch the "behind the scenes" footage on blu rays. I'm interested in how writers and directors think about characters, plot, story etc.

I'm a TREMENDOUS fan of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. Most of all because in my humble opinion he gets the concept of Batman right. As wonderful as the bad guys are (Cat woman, Bane, and the Joker of course) Batman still is Nolan's greatest achievement.

My favorite of many favorite scenes in the series is when Batman fetches the Chinese bad guy who is handling the mobs money in the DARK KNIGHT. After Batman whips several of the other guy's henchman, he literally drags the guy to the open window. Now that is who Batman is. Basically he is saying without uttering a word...I'm tired, bring your ass here.

Anyway I brought Nolan up because he says in one of the many documentaries in The DARK KNIGHT RISES how he and his crew made the characters Nolan's characters.

In other words, no matter how an author has portrayed a character, plot, or story, what makes it different than it's ever been portrayed before is that it is my way of doing things.

Powerful stuff indeed.       

you learn something new everyday.

Look, I consider myself as computer literate as the next guy, but I just used a spreadsheet for the first time today. Man, this thing is great for tracking characters and any other information you may want to write down and update as you move along.

I highly recommend using it to anybody out there.   

just speakin...

Just speakin. I try to post at least once per day on my blog.

I had some unexpected personal issues to deal with today and probably tomorrow.

Sometimes real life gets in the way...

Pray for those in Boston

No one knows the exact cause of the explosions that occurred near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, but some people have been reported to been severely injured, perhaps even killed.

Coming together

I don't have a ton to talk about today. The JOB has been a bit** this weekend. I haven't been able to get as much done as I would have liked, but oh well.

 Anyone I will try to nail some things down tonight. A few days off coming, need to knock off a few errands, cut the yard, and try to get some REAL work (writing done) in the next day or so.

more later...

some of my favorite write to music

In case you ever wanted to know...

Bear McCreary:
Battlestar Sonatica
Refugees Return
Two Funerals

Hans Zimmer:
Corynorhinus
Necessary Evil
A Small Measure of Peace

Clint Mansell:
Together We Will Live Forever

Dennis McCarthy:
One Last Visit

Howard Shore:
Journey's End
Twilight and Shadow

Craig Armstrong:
Reunion

Hans Zimmer with Lisa Gerrard:
Gortoz A Ran-J'Attends

Each on these tracks is a beautiful and poignant recording that manages to bring me to the brink tears and put a smile on my face at the same time. If you need something serene to write or listen to and appreciate soundtrack music, I suggest giving these talented artist a try.  

Template

Got some templating work done on JOB last night. I felt good about some of what I accomplished. I even worked on a scene while I had a little extra time.

I'll try to get some more done tonight.

More later...

Star Trek

For any of you Star Trek fans (like me), the Best of Both Worlds Movie will have a one day release in select theatres next Thursday across the county.

The Best of Both Worlds, featuring the Borg, is some of the finest Star Trek in my opinion. Seeing it on the big screen, with hi def and improved graphics and sound should be a treat.

I'll be buying season 3 of STNG sometimes this spring as the price drops.  

Today's schedule

I've got one errand to run.

Afterwards, it's writing one or maybe two scenes of a Sinful Fear.

I need to be at work by 6pm with a 13 hour shift ahead of me. The good part of that is if I have a smooth sun, It leaves me plenty of time to muse. I want to decide how I'm going to keep up with all of the characters, places and situations that I use in my 12 world universe. I imagine a spreadsheet would be the most logical, but I've never done a spreadsheet before. I need something that I can constantly update.

More later...gotta run.    

12 Worlds

I honestly didn't think I'd make it back to 12 worlds but I have. I have 9 different stories to tell this year, and they can be told in this place I call 12 worlds. (Or Fear as the Known Galaxy is sometimes called.)

 Most of the 12 worlds weren't mentioned in my short story Waiting. The ideas do work however. I'll just use these locales as the story lines fit them.  The story I'm working on right now: Sinful Fear, will be on Centauri Prime or the Centauri Home world as some may choose to refer to it as. Centauri was only mentioned in Waiting.

The Belt moons of Saturn and Juipter will also be seen this year.

Long day

I've been finalizing all of my templates and work details with very little break in between.

It was worth it though. I got it ALL done.

There is nothing left but the actual writing to do, starting tomorrow morning.

I'll work to finish the second draft of a scene then.

Work tomorrow tonight.

I'm off and running.

More later...

Something Done

Good Morning

I'm up at back at it.

I have three different items I'm trying to get done today.

Once they are done I will commence with the second draft of my newly renamed story that I will keep to myself for the moment. (lol)

It's been a long time since I felt this positive about my writing.

It's going to be a good morning. . . a good day today.

More later...
 

I'm going to bed

I almost finished the template I was working on.

Tomorrow I have one more to do/

I need to print a couple of items, then it's writing time.

Put up or shut up. Stand or fall.

Good luck to me.

I'm going to need it...  

I'm UP! I'm UP!

I'm finalizing some things:

I Know...I know, a lot smaller royalty from Amazon. Make up by volume of work available.

These Novellas will be at about 17500 words.

They all will be titled similarly so readers will recognize my work easily.

I will publish in whatever genre the story tells me.

That means some will be in ScFi, others in Suspense, others in Urban Fantasy.

More Later..I could be up all night working through some final details.

Smashwords

Interesting. After my stories showed no movement for days, I see a hand full more downloads in the past 12 hours. I'm not sure what stirred it, but I would like to see it continue.

Oh yea, My Amazon freebies should be ready to go as soon as I publish my next story this month. I'll put the notice here first.

Rules

I retyped my writing rules last night, putting more emphasis on some things more than I have in the past. I  feel positive about where I'm heading.

More later... 

Me and my keyboard

Trying to get together with my keyboard tonight. I have quite a bit of running around to do today.

New Pic

I've GOT to put up a new pic. I'm not the prettiest boy in the room but alot more friendly looking that that picture gives off.

Lots and lots of post

Like I said, I'm working a shift. And may volunteer to work a shift tomorrow. Again, I take good care of family needs. I'm way ahead of my monthly bill schedule, and my son needs a new dresser for his room.

Anyway, the JOB is excellent for thinking, plotting. I'm probably going to be running off at the blog today though the post won't come through till I get back to the laptop tonight. It's the one drawback to using the blogger app, unless I'm doing something wrong which is entirely possible.

What I do want to figure out is how many quality stories or books can I conceivably produce in a calendar year? And what type?

I want to figure this out soon.

Breakthrough

It's early. And I've got to work a shift today but I feel like I've made a breakthrough with the inner voice problem. I haven't felt this positive in weeks.

I did some reading yesterday. James Clavell (RIP) of Shogun fame. C J Cherryh who is an award winning SCFI writer. I even went over to her blog, and remembered some advice I'd written down about prose and active voice. It all made sense. She says this alot: Follow no rule off a cliff. It's so true. I'm guilty of this. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

UGH!! That inner voice

I'm struggling with it as usual.

Think about this readers: I have a full first draft of a novel (over 144000 words)
                                         I have the first draft of a short story (over 6000 words)

And yet, I've been stuck on finishing a second draft because of this dreaded inner voice. Here is an example of what mine says to me:

Your an idiot: No one wants to reader this garbage.

You are a one hit wonder. Waiting is an average short story and you won't ever tell a better story.

What?! You are doing this for free! What are you thinking?

There are dozens of ways to better spend your time. Why don't you give one of them a whirl.

Wow

I'm continuing to move downloads on four of the big five (sony, itunes, kobo, and barnes and noble). I especially seem to be doing well on the first three.

I know that many people make the argument that many people who take advantge of free downloads are not true readers but downloaders. I won't argue that point either way. I just know that downloads of my two works are moving a bit and I'm happy with that. 

Series

Always difficult to write prose with family here. So when they are, I try to accomplish other things: Plotting or in case of today world building.

The Novella titles are going to be either one of two things:

A very near future detective series wrapped around a SCFI theme, or if you will, a SC FI series wrapped around a detective theme.

In this near future crime is so prevalent in a place known as The City that when a murder occurs in the city limits, it's investigation is brokered out to investigative firms. Our firm is called Crime and Punishment and it's lead investigator is named Roland.

He has a number of allies and adversaries that will appear often in the series. I'm working on  these people as well as the backdrop of the City as well, which will be very important to the overall feel of the series.

Each title will mirror the other. Example: Necessary Fear. Constant Fear. Abandoning Fear.

What's to fear? Residents of the City often refer to it as Fear. But the main reason is that Roland suffers from genetic condition that causes him to suffer from phobias. His condition worsens as he stresses. These Phobias evolve every 30 days. There is no cure. And yet he goes about his work as professionally as he can.

Digital Donna

Oh yea. I'm also strongly considering paying someone to do the covers for Children and my Novellas. Anyone who may need this service should consider using Digital Donna. Check out her blog. I haven't used her but she is highly recommended by Smashwords and her work featured on her site is wonderful.

A Decision

These three novelettes will probably be the final three works that I do at no charge.

I believe it will be a fair showcase of my talents (or lack thereof) for anyone to judge if they choose to pay to read my longer work.

My 2014 novellas and beyond will be $2.99 a piece.

I know that some people are selling novels for that or even less. I think it's a fair price. Ultimately, the consumer will make that decision.

I'm going to sit and think long and hard about Where are our Children. This full length novel will either be sold at $3.99 or I will allow it to be free. Why you may ask?

If my novellas are to be a long term source of income then Children could be a gateway to readers trusting me with the shorter work. Children is not going to be liked by everyone. And yet, It is a powerful premise that I believe I can pull off effectively.

My Unnamed Novellas

I will pursue one of two ideas for the Novellas.

These stories will be about 36000 words a piece.

They allow me to publish, but not be overrun by work. I have to remind myself that I have a full time job. A job that I just worked 64 hours this week. I have family obligations. I do get tired. I do get distracted.

And yet I think the writing schedule is feasible. It allows me to be productive but not feel rushed or overrun. I want to keep this process fun.

Projects?

I'm leaning heavily towards writing three more novelettes:

Shadow of the Watchtower in April.

Dead Mexicans in May

And probably Hard Rain in June.

July through September would allow me to finally start and finish the second draft of my novel Where are our Children?

And then starting in 2014 four novella sized works a year until the mind or body won't let me anymore.

more coming...

Reunion

I'm listening to "Reunion". It is a song on the Incredible Hulk Soundtrack. I love beautiful, poignant  instrumental music, especially when I'm writing. This is one of the nicest pieces I've heard in years. I will be adding this to my favorites. If any of you care for this type of music give it a listen to on Itunes or wherever you buy your music. 

Still Here

the JOB has been keeping me busy over the past week, but I'm still here.

Still brainstorming. Still plotting. I will have three days off next week and (hopefully) will get a second draft of Shadow of the Watchtower written.