I Found Number Four!

I knew there was something I was forgetting last entry, and I finally remembered what it was. It was a quick input/output I wanted to do.

As you probably already know, I read a lot. I feel it's as essential for a writer to read as it is to write. Ehem. Sorry. Soapbox. So. As an avid reader, I've read a lot of novelists' first books. I've found that first published novels fall into two categories. One: the book has such a good idea, and there really is something shiny about it, but the writing has some room for improvement. In these cases (even with Stephanie Meyer - please don't throw shoes at me for saying this), the following books are always leaps and bounds better written as the novelist refines his or her style and voice. Practice makes perfect and all.

In the second category: the book is absolutely phenomenal. This story idea has been peculating in the author's mind since birth and has grown and morphed into the best book it can be over the years.

Obviously, I'm hoping that my first novel will fall in the second category. I have a feeling it'll be the first, though. But I think I'm ok with that.

Anyway. I digress.

What I wanted to tell you is that I am reading The Warded Man, by Peter V. Brett right now, and this is a book that blows the second category's mind. It's not like the Cassandra Clare novels that I love because they were the books I wanted to write. This is an epic fantasy so sublime that I could never hope to write anything nearly as amazing. This world is rich and vibrant and extensive. The characters are complex and varied, and very real people. And the writing - oh my goodness the writing - is brilliant: paced just right, with strategically placed world building that makes the backdrop vivid without bogging the story down, it has a fantastic balance of action, narrative, dialog, and backstory; and it is the easiest thing in the world to read, direct entertaining, without the typical flowery, distracting description that most fantasy novels are known for.

What I am saying is, first and foremost, if you like fantasy, you will love this book. It's a series, I believe. It has one sequel out, and it looks like the next one will be out sometime in 2012.

What I am also saying is that books like this discourage the hell out of me. I look at the novels I've partially written and vaguely finished, and I can't even begin to hold a candle to this author's blaze.

But then I read blog posts from my writing group buddy, R.L. Naquin, that remind me It's Not a Competition, and I realize I should stop comparing myself to other writers.

My first novel will be amazing in its own right, regardless of whether it lands in the first or second category.

And besides...sometimes those folks in the second category never write another book, or another book as good as their first. I plan on writing dozens of books, each better than the last. The only person I am in competition with is myself.

More like Slacker September

I've been neglecting my writing blog the past couple of weeks. In my defense, it's partially because when I sit down to write, I've been putting my novel before my blog. I figure that's probably the more important of the two. I wouldn't have much to talk about here if I wasn't writing.

I'll touch on a few miscellaneous things in this entry, just to catch you up.

Bog of Doom

First - L33T September is going well. I am still on track word-wise, and most days when I sit down to write I am still excited about it. This is the longest I've written almost daily on the same project ever, and I have found myself struggling with a whole new batch of problems. First and foremost - it's getting harder to resist the urge to edit. When I write entire scenes of crap, it becomes a pitched battle with myself to leave it how it is and move on to the next scene instead of re-writing it twelve times. My other problem has me bogged down in the middle of the narrative - which sometimes happens during Nanowrimo, but I'm seriously stuck in the Bog of Doom this time. I've heard other writers talk about the middle of the book slump before, so I'm trying not to be discouraged. I'll push through and hopefully get to the good action scenes I've already written soon. Just gotta connect the dots. La la la laa.

Second - my writing group's official blog is getting closer to official kickoff. It's really starting to come together. We'll start writing content over the next couple of months, and we hope to go live December 1st. Once there's something to look at, I'll link you all there. It should be a lot of fun!

Third - I'm starting to get ridiculously excited about Nanowrimo. Even doing Camp Nanowrimo this summer hasn't diminished the feeling that Christmas is almost here. The Christmas for writers. This blog will look a little different during November: it'll have word counts, me complaining and me being elated, yammering flows of consciousness, sometimes all in one day. So, um, maybe not that much different.

Fourth - Um, four went missing. I'll let you know if I find it.

Fifth - Due to the encouragement of my writing group, I am going to be using my Twitter account with much more frequency (although "more frequently" is relative - it was six months between posts before)). I've added my Twitter feed, with a "Follow me on Twitter" link, or you can click here if you want to follow me. I will try to be insightful, witty, and original in all of my tweets.

Haha.

So, as a writer, what social media do you use? Twitter? Facebook? Myspace? Linkedin? Blogs? Scribd?

L33T September

If you've had a chance to look at my Current Writing Projects page, or if you've talked to me since the end of August, you know that I am attempting to continue the novel I started in August for Camp Nanowrimo through September. When I reached 50k (with ten minutes to spare on the 31st, phew!!), I realized that I have a lot more story that needs to be told, and I am excited to tell it. I'm aiming to finish it off in another 40,000 words. The Writing Buddy helped me figure out that if I write 1337 words each day to meet my goal, I will have 40,110 more words by the 30th, and I will be "leet" every day in September!

For those of you who don't speak geek, if you type in 1337 on a calculator and turn it upside down, it looks like "leet" which is geek speak for "elite." Hilarious, I know. I feel like a huge tool explaining it. One of those whole funnier-if-you-don't-have-to-explain-it things. Moving on.

Before this year I've never had much luck at writing without a Nanowrimo to back me up, but with my word counter on the Current Writing Projects page, as well as the progress chart I made in Excel, I'm hopeful that I will be able to keep it up. I've been having a blast writing it, and it keeps getting better. I hope these fun days help me through un-fun days I know are ahead.

Amazingly, this story has continued to grow and evolve in ways I never even expected. Not bad for a random story I decided to write the day before Camp Nanowrimo began, with only a vague idea for a few characters and one dramatic action scene.

So the plan from here, like I mentioned, is to finish out around 90k words by the end of L33T September. I then plan to spend October going through it and figuring out what to keep and watch to ditch, what needs expanding and what needs changing, and get it ready for a rewrite. The rewrite probably won't start until next year, since that will bring me up to November and then I'll be embarking on another writing journey. That will give it some time to sit and simmer on the back burner of my mind. It should be done cooking by next year. I hope it turns out to be a delicious dessert: light and fluffy with absolutely no nutritional value, but irresistible and decadent, leaving you wanting more after taking the last bite.

Damn. Now I want dessert.

Perhaps next year will be the Year of Editing. I have the Sally Prescott story I wrote this summer, the Monsters of Lawrence that I hope to have finished, and whatever story I write Nanowrimo 2011. I have my work cut out for me.

I think I'll just focus on September for now.

And dessert.