600 Words

I set a goal last week to begin writing 600 words a night. This was to break the dry spell of not writing for a few weeks.   It doesn't seem like that many words at all. I imagine the reaction to that goal going something like this.

"Six hundred? Why not a thousand? Two thousand?  Surely if you're planning on writing novels, short stories, and keeping people entertained you can put together more words than that?"

When I think like that I can understand why authors like George R.R. Martin and Patrick Rothfuss get annoyed at their fans at times.  I'm not saying that I am in any way comparable to those men, but I happen to enjoy their works.  I love Kvothe, and I think the television series is going to ruin the books for George R. R. Martin.  What I'm saying is that writing is more difficult than most people give them credit for.

Putting together one thousand words and making sure they work takes time.  Making sure your plots that you establish early in the book deliver on the foreshadowing is a pain. If that wasn't bad enough there are days where something is wrong in the story, but when you're up to your elbows in plots it's hard to see what is wrong.  If you've never tried to write long stories, then here is your challenge.

I challenge the casual readers, the people who are out there looking for something more exciting to do than waiting on their favorite authors next book to drop, to write a 600 word story.  It doesn't seem so bad does it?  It's not like I'm asking you to write an eighty thousand word book like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone. In fact there are children's books which have less than one hundred words.  An example is I'll teach my Dog a lot of words by Micheal K. Firth.  The book is one hundred words, and it tells a story.

The reason I'm recommending this is because I gained a new appreciation for the books that I read once I started writing.  Seeing the way they used their words, weaving plot, killing characters, twisting and turning details to keep me guessing, became more satisfying. I looked at the works of other authors as study guides to improve my own writing.  Questions came to my mind: How does R.A. Salvatore plot a fight scene? How does Stephen King plan one of his "Powder Keg" books like Needful Things or Under the Dome? How much research did Orson Scott Card do before he wrote Ender's Game or did he research?  Does Brandon Sanderson plot a single book or an entire series at  one time?

If you don't want to try the challenge, that's okay.  I'm going to keep chipping away at the projects that I have.  I am working on two short stories for different anthologies that I'm hoping to get a spot in. I have a novel I'm rewriting because after two years I've finally realized what is causing the problems in the story.  Then I have the serial update, each of which take 4-5 days at 600 words a day.

Also, if you're counting words this post is 550 words. Seems like I need a few more for tonight.

Learning about other Authors

I love to learn about other authors. I love to listen to them explain where their ideas come from, their methods, and how they bring their books to light.  There is a certain amount of curiosity that comes from trying to figure out where the best selling authors get their ideas, how they plan things, as well as a time table they work on.  I'd like to share a few examples.

This is an interview on CBS where they discuss where Stephen King got the idea for some of his novels.  They mention Cujo, and his new trilogy: Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of the Watch. I really recommend the watch because if you enjoy his work it is fun to see his ideas.
http://www.cbs.com/shows/cbs_this_morning/video/rn6dnT4WIYQ7pm411nZ02EVxbyOczGTT/stephen-king-on-inspiration-behind-end-of-watch-2016-politics/

There are other books where you can learn from other authors about their methods.  In "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy" Orson Scott Card discusses that his ideas come from maps which he likes to doodle.  Others, like the battle room from Ender's Game, came from living during the Vietnam war and wondering how battles in the future might be trained for and fought.  (I paraphrased this one and know it's only part of the idea. If you want to know more read the book, it's only about 100 pages.)

Both of these are great books and show how versatile the mind of an author is.  Ideas are everywhere, the idea for my character Patch from my novella, A Wolf in Patchwork Clothing, came from my reflections on what happened to Frankenstein's monster.  There was also a twist of Sci-fi in my thoughts as I tried to figure out what might happen to someone who lives past the normal old age, someone who begins to see normal peoples lives passing like the seasons while he continues.  There is more to that, and I have more stories involving him in the future for you.

For now know that I'm still working as well as I can.  I'm dealing with some health stuff that makes it hard to sit in front of a computer all day, (which is what I do at work anyway), so coming home I need to move a bit more or deal with discomfort.  Until then if you want more books that shed light on the workings of authors I'll recommend the following, they all have some great insight and thought on writing, as well as showing the differences that exist between three bestselling authors.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
Million Dollar Outlines by David Farland.

Out of Gas

I'm sorry for the lack of updates in the last month. Unfortunately I've had some health problems come up and it has siphoned the last of the gas from my tank.  I've tried to sit and write, but for the last few weeks nothing is coming.

I've taken time to do some reading, some plotting, and realized that I may have to rewrite a 100k word novel first draft from scratch. The thought of doing this brings dread to my heart and makes me want to cry just a little bit.  It isn't what I want to do, but life is all about doing  things which you don't want to do.  The best example of this is dishes, no one likes to wash dishes but every loves to use them.

Understand the next chapter on the serial is coming. Check out Goodreads if you want some reviews or book recommendations for what I've read lately.  A friend of mine is also offering his debut novel free for this week on Kindle so check it out.  I'll post a link below.  While I may not have anything new for you I'll still try to make sure you have plenty of things to read if I'm not providing it.

https://www.amazon.com/Cry-Down-Dark-T-Tranchell/dp/1940247241/