Challenge Mode: An E-Book By Christmas

Posted on 12 March 2011 | No responses

Oh yes, you read right.  I’m going to kick this thing off.  I’ve been seeing the amazing metamorphosis that self-publishing has been going through and I want a piece of the action.  Therefore, I’m going to challenge myself to outline, write, revise, and publish a novel, all by Christmas 2011.  Quite doable if I’m a professional.  But I’m not yet.  I will be, and the overarching goal is to become one. What better way to become one than to act like one?

This is going to be quite an amazing journey the goals I want to accomplish are these:

1. Write a 60,000-80,000 word young adult novel set in the SW City universe (I co-own this property with friends). I’m shooting for 80,000 words but tend to write terse.
2. Get into the habit and mindset of a professional freelance fiction writer.
3. Publish a salable ebook by Christmas in order to take advantage of the post-Christmas ebook rush.
4. Learn to use Scrivener for Windows.
5. Learn about self-publishing ebooks. (Typesetting, layout, cover design, etc.)

To that end, I have set for myself several milestones.  They are:

March 31: Finish Outline
April 1: Begin Writing
September 31: Finish Writing. Non-negotiable deadline.
October: Beta Readers read novel and submit feedback. Revisions.
November 15: Finish Revisions
November 15-December 20:  Assemble ebook and publish.

To help me reach these milestones, I’ve concluded that I must write at least 437 words per day without having to make up work.  I will shoot for 1000 a day in addition to my dayjob. Worst-case I anticipate writing only 4 days a week.  This means I need to average about 4000 words a week in order to feel like I’m staying ahead of schedule.

If I write 1000 words a day every day from April 1 until I finish the novel, I will finish on June 20.  This is what I’m calling my Perfect Date, and while it’d be nice to hit, I am guessing I will finish around August 19. I would like to finish in July, but we will see.

As you can see, I have built into my schedule plenty of extra writing days in case my life becomes inexplicably complicated. I would like to use these days for revisions, but am putting the focus on the first draft and pushing myself to finish the first draft earlier than my deadline so that I can use those days for revisions and learning about ebook publishing.

As a side note, because I’m writing in a shared universe that’s created by me and my friends, I don’t want anything to get in the way of our friendship.  And they’ve communicated that neither do they.  Going into business with friends often causes those friendships to end.  So during the next few months I’ll also be researching and working out a legal agreement for each of us to sign.  We want it to allow each of us to be able to freely use the concepts and ideas in our universe to develop and own our own commercial properties based off of it, without having to pay the others a licensing fee or royalty.  That way we won’t be going into business with each other. Our joint concern is that one of our commercial properties based on this universe might somehow blow up into a success in such a way that would get in the way of our friendships.  This isn’t something we expect to happen, but we want to cover our bases.

Any advice on my challenge to myself?  Words of encouragement?  :)  Thanks for reading!  I will report back progress updates when I am able.

Categories: SW City, Writing |

Ten Questions To Ask Yourself Before Opining On Wisconsin

Posted on 25 February 2011 | 2 responses

So this is just a stream of consciousness thing going on here, and unless you’ve been on another planet you probably know about the union showdown with the Wisconsin state senate.  Here’s some questions you should ask yourself before picking a side.

I know, I know.  Most of you have already chosen a side.  Well, you may want to rethink your reasons if your answer to any of these is “no”.

1. Do you understand the principle of separation of powers enumerated in the Constitution and know the differences between a federal issue and a state issue?

2.  Is it possible for state legislatures to reflect the will of the people they represent if they pass laws that national polls show the majority of the country’s citizens do not favor?

3. Do you know the differences between public sector and private sector unions and their respective effects on the people they represent and their employers?

4.  Do you know what collective bargaining is?

5. Are you aware of what the current benefit levels for Wisconsin unionized teachers currently are versus the average benefit levels for private workers in Wisconsin and how much the state pays for these benefits with tax dollars?

6.  Have you read from a primary source a summary of the contents of the budget repair bill or read the bill in its entirety?

7.  Do you know what the contents of the budget repair bill actually are? (Hint: It doesn’t force teachers to take 14-20% pay cuts, which is what was liberally retweeted on Twitter the other day, or outlaw unions)

8. Having read the bills’ contents, do you understand what would change from the status quo to what would become Wisconsin state law?

9.  Have you decided on what differentiates a good union from an abusive union?

10. If you consider it fair and ethical that the Wisconsin Senate Democrat minority left the state to stop a vote on the budget bill as a last resort, would you have considered it a fair and ethical tactic if every single Republican in the U.S. Congress had skipped town to vacation in Geneva when the Democrats were trying to pass the national health insurance law in 2009?

The Rundown
Life in General: It’s okay.  Nothing much to report.  Although my pastor is wanting me to run the church’s podcast.  I’m thinking about it.
Last Rebellion Revision: Temporarily on hold while I focus on another writing project.
Short Story: This is that project.  I’m fleshing out what I think will be a pretty good idea.  Should be challenging.  And good practice.
Work: Finished a video.  It was a nice change of pace.
Exercise: Hurt my elbow somehow.  Letting it heal and jogging instead of doing the full workout program for now.
SW City: Not much on this front.
Uhl Eharl Khoehng Dramatization: Don’t expect to see this show up on the list again unless there’s an actual update.  It may not happen after all, given I’ve started getting serious about a writing career and don’t really have time to edit audio.
Voice Acting: Oh, right.  Sorry, Jim…  ;)

Categories: Politics | Tags: budget, Democrats, Republicans, union, Wisconsin

The Publishing Shake-Up And Me

Posted on 5 February 2011 | 6 responses

Over the last three weeks, I’ve put a lot of thought into my writing career, about what it’s going to be like. I have a brief plan outlined on the Writing page on this website.  First I was going to build up a backlog of three novels, and then start podcasting them for free to build up an audience.  But more and more I get the sense that this sort of podcasting-to-build-an-audience shtick is past its prime, and that it was a transitional phase into independent E-Publishing.

E-books are what is hot now.  Established writers are buzzing about getting their backlists online.  Kristine Kathryn Rusch is currently writing a subseries on her business blog about how new writers should approach publishing, and most of the signs seem to be pointing towards independent publishing as the way to build a career and an audience.  Readers now have unprecedented access to the independent publishing market because of the emergence of new megaportals for downloading ebooks, such as Amazon’s Kindle Store and Barnes and Noble, and as a result they are downloading millions and millions of them, a small chunk of that from people who aren’t going through agents or publishers but doing it all themselves.  Indy E-Publishing also seems to work out better for the writer on the long-tail financial side of things as well.

One major Canadian publisher just bought the farm.  Border’s, the second-largest brick-and-mortar bookseller in the United States, is teetering on the knife edge of insolvency (which I hope doesn’t happen because frankly, I don’t want to pay more for my Star Wars books over at Barnes and Nobel which is halfway across town when the nearest Border’s to my apartment is just down the block).  The publishing landscape has entered a portentous period of tectonic uplift.  It’s happening so fast nobody is quite sure where everyone will be when it settles down.  All they seem to know is that in six months to a year, ebooks will be king.

So my new plan?  Play it smart.  React to the changing conditions.  I’m no longer really planning on podcasting my first few novels.  The market is far too enticing to rely merely on traditional publishing, although I’m not about to shut the door on that possibility.  More importantly, I want to try to anticipate the changes ahead, as well as anyone can. As part of that effort, I’ve been paying much more attention to publishing blogs these past few weeks even though I’m nowhere near being ready to publish because I can learn from the authors who are currently publishing and have been in this business for years.

It’s one of those “best of times, worst of times” times.  It’s exciting.  It’s enough excitement to build motivation to continue chipping away at this revision from hell, where I’ve inexplicably left out half of the story because I was too focused on the main character’s journey.  Luckily, I will probably never have to do another revision like what I’m going through again, because this is the revision where I’m taking the time to learn the process of revising and refining that into a one-pass method.

The Rundown
Life in General: I’m doing better than when I posted last.  Super Bowl is tomorrow and am looking forward to spending that event with my church.
Last Rebellion Revision: This, like I mentioned above, is the revision from hell.  But things have developed that should ensure a sense of desperation to finish this thing before my birthday and ConCarolinas in June.  That is the goal.
Work: Continues forward.  Had trouble maintaining focus on the user manuals this week because I’ve got so many in play that its hard to keep track of all the details.  Slowing down on them for a bit while the approvals process cranks through the ones I’ve finished.
Exercise: Yes, I did join that YMCA.  I participated in my first official workout.  I’m more concerned about the gas money getting there than the monthly fee.
SW City: I created this landing page for SW City as part of a new promotional campaign we’re launching to market to the Minecraft audience.
Uhl Eharl Khoehng Dramatization: Still where it was.  Probably putting this on hold.  We’ll see.
Video Games: Haven’t touched one since Epic Mickey.  Now if only I could spend that extra time on revising instead…
Voice Acting: Dropped the ball again.  Jim still hasn’t received his voice parts.  Oy vey.   A bit disappointed that I didn’t get any parts in Firefly Between the Lines, but am sure it will be a great production.  There were a LOT of people who auditioned and I’m sure every single one of them deserves the part they received. Still, this must be what it feels like to have a manuscript rejected. I have a nagging doubt that I wasn’t talented enough, but its more likely that my voice just didn’t fit what they were looking for.  Oh well.  On to the next!

Categories: Writing | Tags: E-books, ebooks, independent publishing, indy publishing, kindle, podcasting

What Shall I Write About?

Posted on 15 January 2011 | No responses

There’s a lesson to be learned about a sock falling behind the washing machine; one of aging, getting older, and realizing your body can no longer do what it once could do.

I thought I would have at least ten more years before this started happening.

The apartment I live in in Vancouver has a built-in washer and dryer.  The nook they are in is just a little bit too large for them both.  There’s about half a foot of clearance on each side and behind the machines. Putting dirty clothes in the washing machine too quickly often leads to a sock falling through those cracks.

The first time it happened I ended up pulling a neck muscle as I stretched my arm down the 3.5 feet or so to where the errant sock had fallen.  Today, I gingerly crawled up on top of both machines–taking care not to pull the muscles in my leg, and laid myself down across the top of both machines.  Then I carefully reached my right hand down into the crack between the side of the washing machine and the wall and snatched my sock.  And then I carefully repeated the steps in reverse.

I’m thinking about getting one of those plastic grabber arms you see in the stores.  The sort you get for people who are turning 40.

The lesson, it turns out, happens to be about time management; that magical, dreaded phrase people who think they want to be writers try and repeatedly fail to master.

I’m getting older.  I’ve spent ten plus years toying about with the idea of becoming a writer.  This last year I committed, but still have not mastered the art of time management.  I’m beginning to think nobody does, really.

But the specific aspect that I need to master, at least for me, is focus.  What do I focus on?  I have lots of things I want to do; Writing, Active Worlds, reading, apologetics, video games, exercise…

I need to narrow my interests.  Which ones of these am I going to actively work for?  And which ones shall be relegated to the “fun” category?  Writing needs to go first on the Active list.

And then there’s this blog.  What do I write about?  I write about all of the above.  But I’ve been thinking about building an audience, and I wonder who the hell would want to read about this blog?  It’s all over the place.  Do I want to read this blog?  Depends on my mood.

So how do I make this a blog that I’d enjoy reading no matter what mood I’m in?  Come to think of it, what are the elements about the blogs I read that attract me to them?  Why do I like to read those blogs?

This is what I’ll be thinking about this week.  Time is running out.

The Rundown
Life in General: I miss my home climate.  It dawned on me that I shall never get a chance to see a decent thunderstorm as long as I’m out here.  It doesn’t storm here, it just sneezes.
Last Rebellion Revision: Not much done this week, but plenty done last week.  It seems that every time I get on a roll I hit a snag.
Work: Continues forward.  I’m writing user manuals.
Exercise: Three one mile runs this week.  Doing another as soon as this publishes.  Considering joining the YMCA.  I hate gyms, but I need to do something.
Uhl Eharl Khoehng dramatization: Stuck in the mud.  Re-reading the story to learn more about the characters.
Video games: Finished Epic Mickey.  Probably should have been revising.
Voice Acting: Egads, I still have a bit part for Indiana Jim to finish up!  Auditioned for Firefly Between the Lines.  Cast list will post at the end of January.

Categories: Personal, Writing |

A New Years Realization

Posted on 1 January 2011 | 1 response

Why does each human being have to rediscover the human condition for himself?  The things about us that make us tick?  Why are we here?  What is our purpose?  Where did we come from?  Where are we going?

Why can’t we just be told the answer?  It’s something I’ve thought about off and on over the last year.

Several weeks ago, Andrew, a good friend of mine, posted an update on Facebook in which he enthusiastically explained some theological insight he thought he had come across about the Christmas Star.

“What if,” he opined, “the Christmas Star never really went away?  What if it followed Jesus around as he walked the earth? After all, the Bible never really said it disappeared.”

He didn’t say it exactly in those words, but that was the content of his thought.  I quickly explained to him that it couldn’t be possible.  After all, Jesus was a wanted man for a few weeks before his trial and crucifixion.  Why wouldn’t the guards just follow the star around and arrest him when they first started looking for him?

His wife Sarah came to his defense, posting something to the tune of “Not everything has to be an argument, Chris.”  Then she quickly deleted the comment before I could read it and replaced it with one that explained why I shouldn’t have been so quick to correct Andrew with what I thought was the right answer.  He wasn’t looking for the right answer, she said.  Or a debate.  Instead he wanted to share something neat.  And the last few times he’d done that he’d gotten slapped down for it by friends who told him he was wrong.  I apologized.  They accepted.  We made up.

But I found her first comment later in my email inbox with a bunch of other Facebook post notifications.  It stung.  Not because of its brutal summation, but because it told me something that I knew was true.  I do like a good argument.

And I like to be right.  And I vigorously defend my beliefs by correcting others when I think they’re wrong.  And this I did not realize; that I do it to the annoyance of others.

Huh. I never said anything about it, but I wondered at the time, why is pursuing truth annoying?

Fast-forward to just a few moments ago.  I was reading through Terry Brooks’ writing memoir Sometimes the Magic Works.  In it he tells the story of the time he was playing make believe with his grandson.  They were playing Pirates with a Playmobile set and the pirates were visiting the zoo.  And the kid opens the gate of the big cats pen and lets them “visit” with the antelope and zebra in their pen.  Brooks was quick to correct his grandson, telling him that the cats would eat the antelope and zebra and that they shouldn’t be visiting each other.

His grandson said, “Papa! We’re pretending!”

Oh.

Sorry, I forgot.

Or maybe I didn’t ever really realize it.  Not about the pretending part.  Because Andrew wasn’t.  But about what Brooks writes next.  ”On remembering, I was struck anew by the immensity of this pronouncement and its far-reaching implications. I know enough about the world to appreciate that the one constant in life is change. But change does not happen without imagination.  Progress occurs not because we remain satisfied with what is, but because we hunger for what might be.”

I had told Andrew what reality was.  And in doing so I had unwittingly taken something precious away from him; his drive to imagine the possibilities of what can be, and along with that a piece of his passion for finding the truth, that thing from which all real progress derives.

Now, as I go forward, I have learned something new.  That there are often more things about the search for truth that one needs to be aware of than just the right answer.  Sometimes the discoveries one makes along path to finding it are just as important, if not more so.  And sometimes one’s imagination, which bucks the popular notion of what reality is, may in turn yield a deeper reality still.

And that’s why God made discovering the human experience such an intensely personal journey that each person must retread for himself.  If we’re paying attention, we all come to remarkably similar conclusions, but that’s not all that matters. It’s also about how we get there.

In 2011, I’ll try to remember that.  I don’t think I will ever stop my love of having a good back-and-forth discussion. But I now realize that hey, not everyone shares that love, and that sometimes its enough to be a signpost on their path instead of driving them the entire way to the destination. Have a Happy New Year, everyone.  And may you be richer for whatever insights you have gained during 2010.

*Note:  Andrew has released episodes five and six of his Star Wars: Marvels audio dramas this morning.  If you like pulp sci-fi and/or Star Wars, you will love these. Download em here.

Categories: Better Arguments, Christianity, Personal, Star Wars, Writing | Tags: 2011, New Years, Purpose, Star Wars Marvels, Terry Brooks

Story-Telling Role Model

Posted on 19 December 2010 | No responses

I need to actually update this site more with more personal happenings.  But I seem to keep missing my self-imposed Monday deadline and consequently putting it off another week.  I’ll try to do better.  In the meantime, I discovered an innovative film company that reminded me of a lot of the kinds of things IMS Productions, the production company I used to work for did; engaging videos rich with storytelling potential that told a deep, meaningful story.

As the director Brandon McCormick himself explained it, they focus three things; going back to the myths that govern the world from the beginning of time, inspiring those who view their films to become great, and using story, the method by which we all learn from, to tie everything together.

I hope to emulate their philosophy as I continue revising my first draft of Vergence 1 and as I write other stories.  Everything on their website is worth watching, but I would recommend the video I’m embedding below, Heartless: The Story of the Tin Man, and The Candy Shop, A Fairy Tale About The Sexual Exploitation Of Children (hosted on thedoorpost.com as part of a film contest and starring Doug Jones from Hellboy fame).

Heartless: The Story of the Tin Man from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.

Categories: Personal, Writing | Tags: Heartless: The Story of the Tin Man, Stop The Candy Shop, Whitestone Motion Pictures

Boise

Posted on 30 October 2010 | No responses

So I got a late start to the day today, leaving around 11:30am.  And that was basically due to me staying up so late the previous night trying to get my blog to work.  But I’ve harped about that enough the previous evening.

Very nearby Rock Springs is the third and final Castle Rock on my journey.  It was pretty impressive to drive underneath it.

It’s Utah.  It’s pretty.

And… a fourth Castle Rock?  Good grief people, start getting creative about what you’re naming your rocks.

Like this place.  This is creative.  You should call that fourth Castle Rock the Devil’s Rock.  Or something.  But honestly, this is a cool geographic feature.

After driving through Ogden and witnessing their beautiful autumn which is currently in full-swing, I hit Idaho and saw… nothing.  No trees.  Nothing really interesting to look at.  Just a lot of sagebrush, some wild juniper groves, and mountains way off in the distance.  That is until you get to the Twin Falls region.

Then you run into this beautiful sight.  I got off the Interstate at Twin Falls to take a break.  You have to travel some distance, and you don’t even see this gorge until you’re on the bridge crossing it.  It took me completely by surprise, so I circled around back to the scenic overlook and took a couple of photos.  Because of the time of day my poor camera wasn’t able to get a better shot, but what you can see here looks awesome.  If you are traveling along I-84 past Twin Falls, I highly recommend getting off, driving towards town, and stopping here.  You won’t regret it.

This sunset doesn’t do what I saw justice, as the mountains are actually a lot closer.  I snapped this shot about an hour outside of Boise, where I’m staying the night.  I’m looking forward to finally reaching my destination tomorrow!

On the Oregon Trail game front… both Nintendo and Novel broke a leg.  I forded a bunch of rivers and almost ended up in California.  :X  Nintendo got lost for a few days and then broke his arm.  Twice.  Then we camped for the night at Fort Boise.

Categories: Personal | Tags: Oregon Trail 2010

Rock Springs

Posted on 29 October 2010 | No responses

(insert picture here that I can’t e-mail to myself to upload to this site because Best Western’s Internet sucks.  Caption:  Mountains, Gandalf! Mountains!)

I woke up this morning feeling great and excited to begin the journey.

I passed the second Castle Rock on my journey north of Colorado Springs. (The first was near Quinter, KS and I neglected to mention this yesterday because I couldn’t see it as I passed it).  I also made it to Denver in record time.  Passing through the city was a little daunting because of the reduced visibility out of my vehicle’s rear and passenger side windows.  I basically restricted myself to one lane and made it through alright.

Wyoming came up a lot sooner than I expected, and then I discovered something about it.  It looked a lot like Colorado, but…

…it was filled with wind generators!  There is barely a point along I-80 in Wyoming where one of these babies is not visible.

I stopped briefly at Ames Monument and then a longer stay to hike along one of the trails at Vedauwoo.  The monument was made in honor of two brothers who financed the Union Pacific trans-continental railroad and was built at the site of its highest point.  At least where the original track was laid.  It no longer exists, so this place stands forgotten by time and the people who travel the Interstate just north of it.

Vedauwoo is an interesting set of rock outcroppings north if I-80 at the same exit Ames Monument is found along.   I spent probably an hour and a half wondering along one of the trails taking photos and exploring the various rock formations. This site also has an interesting geographic feature called hoodoos, which are pillar-shaped rocks.  You can see one in the lower-left corner of the photo I’ve linked. It also is home to a massive rock outcropping called Turtle Rock. I wonder if Princess Zelda is trapped inside…

After that stopover I drove the rest of the wayto Rock Springs.  I would post a photo of the awesome sunset I saw, but because of the sorry state of the Internet here at the Best Western where I am staying, I can’t get the picture onto my website.  So it’s going to have to stay like this until tomorrow.  Oh well.  Hopefully the connection at the hotel I’m staying at in Boise tomorrow night is better.

Just for fun I started playing Oregon Trail on my iPod to mirror my journey west. Also for fun, since I don’t have anyone traveling with me, I named my family in the game after items I brought with me. Since I’m married to it, more or less, I named my wife Novel, after the novel I’m writing. The kids names are Books, Nintendo, and Laptop. Laptop broke his arm. Twice. That gets expensive to repair. An eagle stole Nintendo and my Books but I managed to get them back safe and sound.

Nintendo also caught a bout of cholera, but recovered well. Those Nintendo consoles always were hardy buggers. You could put them through a house fire or a washing machine and they would still work. We’re currently stopped at Sweetwater Junction, which is about the point in the journey that I’m at.

Categories: Personal |

Colorado Springs

Posted on 28 October 2010 | 1 response

My old stomping grounds, Colorado Springs.  I left here about six months ago.  But now it’s my first stop to my new life.

I started out with a cheese-eating grin on my face (which my mother subsequently e-mailed a photo of to all of my relatives, har har), leaving home for what seemed like the last time.

And I really miss my doggies, too.

I made good time through the field of windmills that the environmentalists ruined our horizon with.  On the plus side, if you squint hard enough, it’s almost like passing between the Argonath.  Assuming the road was a river and the windmills were giant statues of dead kings… which it’s not, but it’s better to look at it that way.

I made it to the Colorado border!  Yay!  I would also show you the mountains as they appeared for the first time on the horizon, but my iPod’s camera couldn’t resolve them even though their hazy purple visages practically loomed up out of nowhere at me as you come over this one rise a few miles east of Limon.

I drove to my friends’ Ferruccio’s house and got my stuff into his room.  We then went to Fat Burger for dinner, caught up on Active Worlds and other things, and then stopped over at Jordyn’s for some three-player Mario Kart.

She played as Peach, I played as Koopa Troopa, and Fer played as Yoshi.  I used to dominate this game.  She won two series of races in a row, proving that she is now better than me.  This is entertaining on a couple of levels.  Almost a year ago she said she would never be able to beat me.  She was wrong.  I was right.  (Come on, I have to figure out a way to spin this in MY favor. )

Anyway, after Mario Kart we talked about more things, then Fer and I went back to his place, talked briefly to his mom and complimented her on her ability to make finger cookies in the shape of dismembered fingers (It’s a Halloween thing around here apparently).  Fer then showed me a new building technique in Active Worlds that lets you create custom-defined geometric meshes.

This building technique should help make my mission to build this landscape in Active Worlds a lot easier.  And it’s pretty late here.  So I’m off to bed again.  Goodnight!

Categories: Personal | Tags: Oregon Trail 2010

Oregon Trail 2010

Posted on 27 October 2010 | No responses

My trip west has finally come.  My Hyundai Santa Fe is packed to the gills with my life and in just a few short hours I will be leaving my home town and driving all the way to Vancouver, WA, roughly following the Oregon Trail and no less than three locations called “Castle Rock.”  The one in the Oregon Trail video game is the last one I’ll pass–or more to the point–actually be driving under, since somebody had the bright idea of building the Interstate right through this unique landmark.

Hopefully I will update this blog each night with photos of the trip west and a small update as well as to what things I did and was able to see.  Until then, goodnight.

Categories: Personal | Tags: Oregon Trail 2010

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