Thursday, April 21, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Not enough time in a day
This is the main problem I've been having lately. Hell, I've always had this issue. Not that I really am but I always just try to be effecient with my time. This usually means things like reading, playing Ds or writing are usually reserved for my bus rides to and from work, as well as on break. It really isn't efficient to say the least. This wasn't so bad when I was heavily focused on my writing like I was back in Nov/Dec. It's not to say that I'm not motivated but sometimes I just don't have the drive to put thoughts on paper. Notepad. Whatever. At least I'm actually writing right now, whatever it is.
It only really bothers me because I know a huge deterrant for me lately is my phones internet access. Hell, throw in having to primarily type on a phone as a main issue too. It's SUCH a pain, but it works. Stupid Internet addiction. I've been a bit better lately (wrote a fair bit yesterday, writing this right now), but who knows how long that'll last.
There's also the issue of non-story related ideas cropping up, but that's become less of an issue as it was in the past. I used to be quite 'flavor of the month' with what I worked on. At least now if I get an 'OMG greatest idea everrrs' idea I'm realistic about it. That awesome groundbreaking game idea I have wont come to fruition, nor will my new take on mecha anime idea come to fruition. This novel IS possible, so it takes precidence. That's what I keep telling myself anyways.
I think I just need to get a crappy old laptop with no Internet connection and set aside 45m a day period on top on my bus/break writing to write. That would solve like... All my problems. I need to look into this.
Word count: 15000some. Haven't updated my yWriter file in a bit. I'll find out later
"You know, who's to say there's even going to be an attack?"
"Could just be another trick."
"I'd rather be ready for an attack and have a quiet night then be caught unawares!"
"Yeah!"
Frustration showed blatantly on Arnval's face as he rubbed his temples. With a raised voice he spoke above the conversation, "Thank the Fae that we can trust lady Deflorin not to spread this rumor and incite panic."
Everyone else was suddenly silent in embarassment.
"It's ok captain. Most here just think of me as one of the guys because I can keep up with any of them in the bar or battlefield. Not their fault that their manlyness pales to my own," I said with a provoking grin and a sip of my ale. "In all seriousness though, is the rumor true?"
It only really bothers me because I know a huge deterrant for me lately is my phones internet access. Hell, throw in having to primarily type on a phone as a main issue too. It's SUCH a pain, but it works. Stupid Internet addiction. I've been a bit better lately (wrote a fair bit yesterday, writing this right now), but who knows how long that'll last.
There's also the issue of non-story related ideas cropping up, but that's become less of an issue as it was in the past. I used to be quite 'flavor of the month' with what I worked on. At least now if I get an 'OMG greatest idea everrrs' idea I'm realistic about it. That awesome groundbreaking game idea I have wont come to fruition, nor will my new take on mecha anime idea come to fruition. This novel IS possible, so it takes precidence. That's what I keep telling myself anyways.
I think I just need to get a crappy old laptop with no Internet connection and set aside 45m a day period on top on my bus/break writing to write. That would solve like... All my problems. I need to look into this.
Word count: 15000some. Haven't updated my yWriter file in a bit. I'll find out later
"You know, who's to say there's even going to be an attack?"
"Could just be another trick."
"I'd rather be ready for an attack and have a quiet night then be caught unawares!"
"Yeah!"
Frustration showed blatantly on Arnval's face as he rubbed his temples. With a raised voice he spoke above the conversation, "Thank the Fae that we can trust lady Deflorin not to spread this rumor and incite panic."
Everyone else was suddenly silent in embarassment.
"It's ok captain. Most here just think of me as one of the guys because I can keep up with any of them in the bar or battlefield. Not their fault that their manlyness pales to my own," I said with a provoking grin and a sip of my ale. "In all seriousness though, is the rumor true?"
Friday, April 1, 2011
Where to begin?
I've always found first posts to be awkward and weird to write. I'm assuming that this one is going to end up like that so let's just get it out of the way so we can move on~
As long as I can remember I've wanted to write for a living. I've wanted to making something that people yearned to know and read more about. I've spent over a decade forming this world/universe/setting that I've come to refer to as 'Demongate'. It's had many incarnations, branches, changes and retcons over the years until it's become what it is now. Seriously. It's been everything from a little world for my own 'character of the month' characters I've made up over the years to a crappy little game, to a full on RPG adventure, to short stories, to a board game, to attempts at a novel. Though some have been long abandoned, some put on hold and some just stashed away to harvest ideas from later they've all shaped Demongate into what it is today, which is a high-fantasy, demonic apocalyptic war. Sure, there's still lots more work that can be done to it, but it's stable enough that I can comfortably work from it and expand as needed as I write.
So why am I here? Because I feel like it's finally time to do something with the worlds I've crafted. I've written before but it was always a sort of casual "Oh man I sooo am gonna write a novel in my spare time for fun" way. It rarely went well. Actually, that's not totally true. "The Falling Shadows", my first solid attempt at a novel, actually lasted for quite a while. I had around 10 chapters written. It was great, everyone who read it said it was the bomb. I was king of the world.
Then I let my girlfriend at the time (who I'm now married to) have a go at editing it. That was the single most devastating and helpful thing I'd ever done for my writing. She was absolutely blunt, brutal, tore it apart, but every part of it was constructive. It helped me learn a lot about myself as a writer, and pushed me to better myself. So I had the great idea of going back and power-rewriting everything I had done for the story already to make it better. Then I burned out and haven't touched it in years. I have looked back at it and sort of looked at it just to kind of see how I'd progressed and good lord what a train wreck TFS was. Seriously. I mean... not that I'm claiming to be an awesome pro writer now, but I was really not that great. I had a lot of decent ideas but it was executed worse than a heretic with a dull axe. Time passes and I write, plot, plan and get better at writing.
That brings us to where I am now: attempting to write my first real I'm being super serious this time guys novel 'Demongate: Return of the Dragonslayer'.
So why am I here? Because I not only want to get better at writing, but I also want to meet other writers who're in the same boat as I. I figured starting a writing blog would be a good way to do so. Not that I actually know anything about writing blogs, what they're for, or what goes in them. I figure at the very least it'll be a way to drum up some interest in the story so if I ever do finish it there'll be some people who'll want to buy it. I guess in the end it doesn't matter what a proper writing blog is, what matters is what doing this does for me. I want this blog to be a place where I can gush about the story, post exerts, talk about things I'm trying, things I'm learning, information about the Demongate universe, characters, etc and get feedback.
So we'll see how it goes.
I feel like I've rambled enough, so I guess I'll leave you with a little bit from the opening scene in RotDS. If anything it'll probably be confusing since you have no idea at all anything about the story or world, but you have to start somewhere. Plus it's nice and actiony, so that's a plus.
'I sailed as best I could through the sea of on looking patrons. Among them was my young co-worker Juel staring like a demon caught in Holy light. It was an almost comedic tableau seeing her gape helplessly mid serving, and it was so very her. With little hesitation I took advantage of her frozen panic, grabbing her serving tray and pitcher with an avoiding twirl around her. A less experienced server would have spilled ale with such a bold move, but I've been doing this sort of thing since before some of my younger clients had even been born. Time was slipping away while I closed the gap and the crowd became more hectic towards the nexus. The mercenaries were poised to attack the defenseless farmhand as he tried his best to scramble away. I had to act now. My teeth ground together in determination and with a blink my concentration and focus swelled. I felt like a literal haze of rage was bleeding into my vision but I could now see everything in absolute detail. My grip tightened around the pitcher's handle and let it fly.
Now let me tell you, maybe I'm just morbid but the sound of Dwarven ceramics crunching bone is incredibly satisfying.'
Until the next time~
As long as I can remember I've wanted to write for a living. I've wanted to making something that people yearned to know and read more about. I've spent over a decade forming this world/universe/setting that I've come to refer to as 'Demongate'. It's had many incarnations, branches, changes and retcons over the years until it's become what it is now. Seriously. It's been everything from a little world for my own 'character of the month' characters I've made up over the years to a crappy little game, to a full on RPG adventure, to short stories, to a board game, to attempts at a novel. Though some have been long abandoned, some put on hold and some just stashed away to harvest ideas from later they've all shaped Demongate into what it is today, which is a high-fantasy, demonic apocalyptic war. Sure, there's still lots more work that can be done to it, but it's stable enough that I can comfortably work from it and expand as needed as I write.
So why am I here? Because I feel like it's finally time to do something with the worlds I've crafted. I've written before but it was always a sort of casual "Oh man I sooo am gonna write a novel in my spare time for fun" way. It rarely went well. Actually, that's not totally true. "The Falling Shadows", my first solid attempt at a novel, actually lasted for quite a while. I had around 10 chapters written. It was great, everyone who read it said it was the bomb. I was king of the world.
Then I let my girlfriend at the time (who I'm now married to) have a go at editing it. That was the single most devastating and helpful thing I'd ever done for my writing. She was absolutely blunt, brutal, tore it apart, but every part of it was constructive. It helped me learn a lot about myself as a writer, and pushed me to better myself. So I had the great idea of going back and power-rewriting everything I had done for the story already to make it better. Then I burned out and haven't touched it in years. I have looked back at it and sort of looked at it just to kind of see how I'd progressed and good lord what a train wreck TFS was. Seriously. I mean... not that I'm claiming to be an awesome pro writer now, but I was really not that great. I had a lot of decent ideas but it was executed worse than a heretic with a dull axe. Time passes and I write, plot, plan and get better at writing.
That brings us to where I am now: attempting to write my first real I'm being super serious this time guys novel 'Demongate: Return of the Dragonslayer'.
So why am I here? Because I not only want to get better at writing, but I also want to meet other writers who're in the same boat as I. I figured starting a writing blog would be a good way to do so. Not that I actually know anything about writing blogs, what they're for, or what goes in them. I figure at the very least it'll be a way to drum up some interest in the story so if I ever do finish it there'll be some people who'll want to buy it. I guess in the end it doesn't matter what a proper writing blog is, what matters is what doing this does for me. I want this blog to be a place where I can gush about the story, post exerts, talk about things I'm trying, things I'm learning, information about the Demongate universe, characters, etc and get feedback.
So we'll see how it goes.
I feel like I've rambled enough, so I guess I'll leave you with a little bit from the opening scene in RotDS. If anything it'll probably be confusing since you have no idea at all anything about the story or world, but you have to start somewhere. Plus it's nice and actiony, so that's a plus.
'I sailed as best I could through the sea of on looking patrons. Among them was my young co-worker Juel staring like a demon caught in Holy light. It was an almost comedic tableau seeing her gape helplessly mid serving, and it was so very her. With little hesitation I took advantage of her frozen panic, grabbing her serving tray and pitcher with an avoiding twirl around her. A less experienced server would have spilled ale with such a bold move, but I've been doing this sort of thing since before some of my younger clients had even been born. Time was slipping away while I closed the gap and the crowd became more hectic towards the nexus. The mercenaries were poised to attack the defenseless farmhand as he tried his best to scramble away. I had to act now. My teeth ground together in determination and with a blink my concentration and focus swelled. I felt like a literal haze of rage was bleeding into my vision but I could now see everything in absolute detail. My grip tightened around the pitcher's handle and let it fly.
Now let me tell you, maybe I'm just morbid but the sound of Dwarven ceramics crunching bone is incredibly satisfying.'
Until the next time~
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