ZERO WORDS LEFT! I've done it!

Today I am a novelist.

I did it... I actually did it. No one more surprised than me.

Now, I've got to actually see if its any good. ;-)

So, next week... editing the damn thing!

In the words of Princess Leah, its not over yet...

2415 words remaining...

Its getting close. I am stoked. Still chugging along.

Soon... I can taste the finish line... and all that editing.

I really need a lot of editing... a lot...

Once more into the breach, dear friends...

The Final Push - 4195 words left.

Okay... I have just over 4000 words left and 48 hours in which to write them. 


Its fine... I can do this. Move quickly, don't stop and think... rely on the plan... wait! Where's my plan!! 


Oh, no... wait... whew! Got it... 


I have a free day to do this. And I will. You heard it here first... I will finish the NaNoWriMo BEFORE.... er, 8pm tonight... um, 9pm tonight... hmm... well, lets say before midnight tonight. Yes. By midnight tonight I will finish the NaNoWriMo.


I'll be blogging thought the day... if you want to encourage me, please do!

Here they are, spinning out of the turn... 45,805 words

Day 28... 4,195 words remaining...


Wow! I think I'm going to make it, guys. When I am done, I will not be anywhere near being done with this novel, but I will be an official author. Then, maybe after the 1st of the year, I will be a PUBLISHED author... thank you Amazon. ;-)


This project has been an amazing thing. I've known about this project, NaNoWriMo, for about 4 years. I JUST started on the project this month, and I have been able to do it. My one reaction to the project is WHY THE FRAK DID I NOT DO THIS BEFORE. 


The one thing I've learned from this project is not to wait for November. If you have an idea start writing it. Now! Don't wait for a certain time or place, or your perfect writing environment. Write. Just write.


I was so not the guy to say this... write. Just write. Sit down in front of the computer and write. 


I thought you had to workout your writing so that you wrote it once and that was it. Boy, that was a total piece of crap. Writing is always rewriting. Any good thing (book, movie, game) is not released, it escapes. ;-)


So, I'll  be back. 


Live long and write well... 

Day 24 - 37,094 words... TURKEY DAY Edition

Happy Thanksgiving, United States People... Have a leg for me, eh?

I am finally very happy. Last week LIFE decided to break into my life.
Suffice to say that there was a computer crash of epic proportions (Not my laptop that I'm writing on, but still), a presentation at the Local Lightwave 3D Users group, and a slight car accident.

Not my best days. But, I am please to say that I am back on track and am a little over 3k words behind to be right on schedule. I am stoked, people. I can almost see the goal markers.

This is a little bit epic, to be honest. I mean, I'd never done this before and now I've nearly done it. What a difference a month can make.

I maybe getting ahead of myself, but thinking what to do with the book. I might publish the novel, then do a reading of it to be released in podcast format. That is, free.

I also might give it away for free. Or I might charge $25k per book. It would make the marketing of the book a bit tricky, but it would limit the amount I'd have to sell... like 4 books and I'm good. ;-)

This is where my "free is better" theory hits the road, counting the rubber being the idea of 'free'. Many people have told me, "Ah, but when you own a copyright, your will change your tune." Maybe. I totally hold my right to be a total wiener and change my principals at a moments notice, but I don't think I will. A dozen or so people have been trying to convince me that I don't have to own my book in the same way. Cory Doctorow on Car Pool and Scott Sigler on Triangulation have both made statements that you can hit and hit very, very large... not huge or Steven King huge, but you can live quite nicely on what you can earn from writing.

I would really like that.  Yes I would. And this novel might help me get there...

Day 16 - 27,203 words written

Another 2k of words. Split the work of in the morning and afternoon. Well, really night. But, I'll be done with everything before midnight.

Good day. Things are coming along, but I'm not sure how I'm going to tell this story. I might push the opening back a bit... let some more of the girls on the boat thing happen. As it is, the ship part basically happens at the end of the book. I was, am and maybe thinking too much like a screen story and not a book story. You know, action action in a screen story, a bit less in a book... more explanation and exposition in the book. I'm not sure.

Also I want to have a grand tour of the galaxy. I'm not sure how that will work.

And I'm struggling in my head. Is this a Young Adult book (if it is, where are the sparkly vampires) or is it a harder SF book. The only thing I can explain it is like is a story by Leiji Matsumoto. The guy did stories like Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Space Battleship Yamato, and Galaxy Express 999. These were amazing tales, but with Captain Harlock clearly violating the laws of physics. (I mean, where did they get a cape to flap in the wind? On the open flying bridge of the ship?! What?!) GE999 really is the one that breaks, tears down and totally jumps up and down on the science of SciFi.

The GE999 is a space railroad. That is, a railroad that flies on... no tracks... across space. There is the graveyard on Pluto that guards people in suspended animation. Also, on the train, if you stick your head out of the window, you are hit by the AIR PUSHING YOU BACK! (Also, there is Matel, and a computer that wants to rule the universe... a lot of other stuff..)

Now, you might think that Leiji doesn't really know things about space. You would be wrong about that. He is a fanatic for details, and he does a lot of research and he is the president of an astrological society in Japan. So, why would he get all that simple stuff plain wrong?

I believe that Mr Matsumoto is trying to tell a whimsical story in a whimsical way. He, like most Japanese storytellers and heck, a lot of American and English... well, lets just say ALL storytellers use metaphor to tell their stories. Took me a while to realize this. He is using beautiful stories with "correct" visualizations (blowing capes, kids looking out of trains with their hair blown back, etc) to tell a story about oppression and dehumanization in post WWII Japan.

While, I want a full story with whimsy and some sense of realism. In the story ::SPOILER ALERT:: there is no artificial gravity in Molly's ship, "The Luck of the Irish". She and her mother float around the ship. But, Molly is growing. This leads me to say in the story that if Molly stays in that environment, she will have growth issues.

This is part of the story, a pretty big one. So, now I want to go past a few of the galaxy's sights. Now, I've got to plot a path past some bug nebulas and things, avoiding some of the local stars I think will be colonisable (cus I've said I want them on a frontier).

And to top that off, I want the story to be about Molly but it seems to be trying to actually be about Wendy, Molly's mom.

Some questions. Hope I dig up some of the answers...

day 15 - 25,141 pages

Achievement Unlocked

15th of the month - written 25,141 words.

Wow, that felt good. I am so happy, I'm feeling a bit smug about it. ;-)

Had a conversation between two characters who I didn't think would ever meet. They talked about life, and how Molly and the other characters will be affected by this. It was a good days work.

Now... let's get ready for the second half.

Day 13 - 20,490 words

Going full steam. 2,500 words yesterday, today, tomorrow and Tuesday. That will bring me right where I should be, 25,000 words on the 15th. Half way through at the half way point.

Coolness.

More plan goodness...

Will officially stop writing in the night. That way, if I get finished on the 30th, I will miss it cause my day is officially ending at 4am. ;-\

Notes;

Today, as my sister pointed out to me today, is my late father's birthday.

In the story, I had a dream sequence that featured Wendy's late dad Henry. (Which is my dad's middle name) So, even as I mist up a little, I find that my father, and dads in general, will always be a part of my fiction.

Once, my dad said that I'd get to tell his story to the world. To make up anything I wanted. I said no, I wouldn't be able to do that.

"I'll be working it out for years!" I told him.

I think, at the time, my dad would've thought that I'd make the dad, him, the meanie, the bad guy.
I can't do that. I have evil people in my stories, of course. And one or two may had children. But those evil guys aren't my Dad.

My Dad is someone I love. I'd never do that to him.

On your birthday, I say "Cheers, Dad."

His favorite toast was one that I've used to eulogize him, but it is just so right;

Here's to those who wish us well. All the rest can go to Hell.

Happy Birthday, Dad...

Day 11 - 15,418 words

Coming up to the mid point. Tuesday the WriMo will be half over. Will I be able to do this mad stupidly simple thing?

I think so. The only part is it can take so much effort to get to writing. Once I am here, actually writing, you do the work. It is really running out of my fingers and on to the page.. I really hope it is okay. ;-)

Its like watching the worst tv show or movie. It is bad, but how bad? Most of the worst movies have some of the best productions available. Hey, every frame was in focus, the color was good, and you could hear what they said. What else do you want from a movie? (I know... a good story, but I digress.)

I've been listening to a few podcasts, one in particular is Merlin Mann's Back To Work. He puts a great point on the idea of writing. The answer is that you don't need to be reminded to do something that is fun. There are a million toys given to writers (distraction free writing environments, pens, paper, keyboards, etc) so they can write. Merlin says that the answer, that elusive thing, is to write. Just frakking write.

Write, then write some more. And when you've got that to done... Hey, guess what? Coffee? Lunch? No, just go and write some more damn words.

My journey from the words, then BACK to the words is one that is filled with starts and stops. I'm also working on two animated films (Molly and The Geek, read the Geek screenplay, will you?) I learned animation, actual film making. But that was only a way to tell a story. Stories, written down, were what I was doing. I had some nice stories written down. But I stopped with that... wish I could tell you why, but I just did.

So, now I'm back. I'm not saying that I'm ready, or I've done anything correctly. But really I'm ready to do this because I'm sick and tired of not doing it. I've been a wannabee for so long that I'm up to the plate.

I'm so sick of not making it, of not being where I want to be, of sitting on the sidelines. I want a shot. No one is going to give me that shot, I know that. I've got to make my shots, build my own future.

I know as I say the words that this is the obvious part of the program. Its like Merlin says, you have to do what you need to do. If you do it, you don't need anyone else to tell you why you need to be doing it. It should be the greatest thing in your life.  It isn't, Brussels Sprouts again, but you can make it part of the story. Through doing it, doing it, and doing it again... through rote, you can do get it done. You do this because, when you do it, you get beauty from the operation.

I know that sometime in December I will have my manuscript ready to go to Amazon for distribution on the Kindle platform. I wonder if I will be able to push the button.

I think I will. Because Molly will get out. It will, as all great art does, escape. Leave the confines of my mind.

And that will be a great and terrifying day.

Day 7 - 13,436 words

End of week one. Dead on to finish within November. Feeling good!

The story is coming along nicely. I've never written something like this before. Its an adventure story, its a family story and it's hero is a little girl... a bit out of my league, really. But I like my family, I love my hero and I really like her mother. The story I have for them seems to be going right along, I think I need to make it a little less pointed.

Of course, this story started out as a film, so I see places where it should go more adventure, more timed like a Hollywood story. It maybe a different story by the time it gets to film.

See you tomorrow!

Day 6 - 10859 words

You know, I'm going to get sick of saying this one day, but THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!

I need to get 4k of words tomorrow, Monday. That will help me stay ahead of the goal.

okay... sleep now, type later.

Day 4 Part 2 - 6,729 words

There you go. A thousand more words. But another day, so I'm going to finish on Dec 7th! ARGH! Maybe if I do another 2k words this afternoon. Maybe then I'll be on track!

Good nite!

Day 4, part 1 - 5,636 words

Okay, here's the deal...

I wrote about 600 words yesterday... pathetic I know.

My current count is about 5.6K, I will be done by about the 5th of December. This is not acceptable. I need to get myself going. Whoot!

Oh, and I figured out how to add numbers to my NaNoWriMo account. Well, I learned it from Victoria... I mean, Veronica Belmont on TWiT this afternoon. She was kind enough to respond, even if it was to comment on the Victoria mix up. Say thanks on Twitter, @Veronica. Hear she's doing a new (video) game show with Brian Brushwood. Game on, people... ;-) Good luck!

Anyway, I need to get another 1000 words this night. That SHOULD get me on to finishing by Nov 30. So. I'm going to do that.

Talk to you later.

Day 2 - 3,675 words

What? 3k+ words?! In two days?! What the heck is happening?!

This is a fun thing. A really fun thing.

So, where to start...

Okay, I can't figure out how to get my story up to the site for counting. That could be a problem, me thinks. I could figure it out, I guess, but when I'm working on the laptop, I'm either writing or I'm doing this blog. So... a problem for later I feel.

In chapter 2; a bit of the world, a little backstory. I was going past some of the bigger things without terms. A little concerned about this, but not too badly concerned. I mean, I can get a star chart and figure these things out later, right? ;-)

Bringing in another character in chapter 2. Thinking about him (dad to Molly, ex-husband to Wendy) originally was thinking about making him a dick, Might still have to, but he loves Molly... Wendy too, I think. Thinking he is going to be a bigger deal than originally thought.

What else...

Whitechaple is VERY good, I recommend it. Actually, all of the BBC Dramaville stories have been very good, The Hour and Luther, Whitechaple is no exception. If you don't have BBC America, I'm sure you could find it... on video of course. And they're probably on iTunes as well. Take a look.

Finally, I was sent an email today saying that there are NaNoWriMo gatherings in the San Diego area, even at Panera. They should try and get Panera as a sponsor of the NaNoWriMo event. I mean, I've done so much writing/computer/various at Panera I think they owe me something. (Hmm... maybe I should buy lunch instead of stealing the bread bits and buying one ice tea... naaaaa... they are frakking expensive) ;-)

More writing. More stuff! Tomorrow...

Onward, dear friends!

Day 1; 1794 words

Oh, my GOWDS that was fun!!

• Exceeded the daily goal on my first day. 
• Got a pretty good first chapter out of it. 
• Didn't take too much effort to go back and revise, revise, revise which is good.

I've never written this story with these characters before, but its like I know them already. I'm really pumped and excited.

Call me in a week and see if I'm still excited to do this... but I think I will be!

Writing tool at this time: Scrivener NaNoWriMo Edition.

I've had this edition on my MacBook Pro for about 30 hours and I am already in love with the program. Let me say this, it is a Word PROCESSOR. Not like Word and Libre Writer... no, this isn't a thing that moves words on paper, it is a word PROCESSOR. No, not a WORD processor, but an IDEA processor.

It is the only program that allows you to actually write down and then manipulate ideas as they fall from your head. It is simply amazing. If you are in the NaNoWriMo "competition" (with yourself) you can get a version of the program that runs until a week after November is over. I'm doing this, and probably am going to spring for the code when I'm done. This is really an amazing program.

Gush time over. Plans, plans, plans...

A goal is to use Scrivener to get some plot points into the program (on paper? Not sure what to use for that term), so I can flesh them out and use them in the story. And another 1,600 words. And other stuff...

Wow... can this actually be done? ;-)