Archive for the ‘writing update’ Category

Preparing To Write

Posted: June 25, 2009 in writing update
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My desk at the moment is rather a mess, covered with the scattered detritus of living – books, letters, bills, notes, loose change, whatever I find in my pockets and throw down on it at the end of the day.

Toss a couple of computers into the mix and it is rather cluttered. A lot cluttered actually. I am sure that all that mess is not really conducive to a good writing frame of mind. It is on the To Do list to clean up, but that list never seems to get much progress made on it.

Getting in the right frame of mind to write certainly helps the progress. Somewhere without clutter and without distractions – no loud music or other loud noises and the like.

I know for myself that at times I find that hard and is something I need to work on. To limit my usage of email/twitter/forums/etc while writing. To not need to get up every few minutes to find something.

One thing I do do is have small snacks at hand – keeps the energy up and gives you something you can reward yourself with; chips, biscuits, chocolates or the like, plus drinks.

Anyway, I’m writing this instead of writing something else, so should get back to it…

1000 True Fans

Posted: June 23, 2009 in writing update
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Just came across a very interesting article, titled 1000 True Fans. A very interesting read.

The short version of it goes thus; You don’t need to produce a mega-blockbuster to be successful and make a living. It would be nice, but they are in the tiny minority.

If you can just garner 1000 True Fans, then you can make a living. By True Fans, they mean the type who will travel long distances to hear your next song, buy all your books, all the caps and mugs and calenders that are merchandise. Seek out autographed copies of your work. The type of people who will spend a day’s wage per year on you.

Of course, if you do the maths, you can see 1000 is more than you would need – and that doesn’t count lesser fans who buy the occasional item.

This is certainly something I’d like to aim for, though I’m currently about, oh, 1000 True Fans short. I’d be quite happy with a couple of hundred in reality

I visit a few communities where the 1000 True Fans effect is a reality – webcomics for the most part – and though I didn’t have a name to give the phenomenon, they certainly gave me the inspiration to give it a go myself.

Of course, my art skills are rather on the mediocre side, so I had to fall back on the written word. My hope is, eventually, to make more and more stories available, to expand on the website, maybe get some forums going – to hopefully be a good enough writer to attract a small community of True Fans to interact with. In this day and age, with the ‘net and all the resources now available, it is much easier to do.

It may just be a pipe dream in the end, but a nice one, and one that I think is at least worth pursuing. But there is a lot of work ahead before that day…

The Art Of Procrastinating

Posted: June 23, 2009 in writing update
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When it comes to procrastinating, I think I’ve mastered it. I want to be writing, I need to be writing – when I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing.

But when I sit down to write I find far too many distractions. It is not that I’m meaning too, it just sort of happens. Probably that pessimistic negative voice deep down that the effort isn’t going to be worth it to write…

Do you think you may be a procrastinator too? This post lists signs to tell you if you are, and what you can do to end it. I need to start trying to follow those rules…

Fourth Down

Posted: June 19, 2009 in Pure Escapism, writing update
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Sat down and wrote the fourth short story, The Duel, for the collection yesterday. Its only 2000 words in length, but I think it succeeds in what I wanted from it.

Don’t want to say too much about it without giving away the story.

Now comes the next stage, getting all the stories compiled together into the next volume of Pure Escapism and making it presentable enough.

Week In Review: Week Twenty Four 2009

Posted: June 18, 2009 in writing update
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Had the best week of writing I’ve had for quite a long time. Churned out over 15,000 words in total, so easily made my 2K a day mark for the last week. I’m still a bit behind for the monthly total though, at 26K in the first 17 days.

6200 words of that were in the last two days. With everything else going on, left me feeling drained by days end, but rather happy as well.

So far three of the stories for Pure Escapism Volume Two are done – just need the fourth done, which will hopefully be today or tomorrow. Barring emergencies, I’d like to have it out by week’s end.

Change Of Plans

Posted: June 15, 2009 in Pure Escapism, writing update
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I’m changing the content of the upcoming second volume of Pure Escapism slightly. One of the short stories, namely The Village, hasn’t worked out as well as I would like, so I am pulling it out for now and, once it is fixed, it will appear in a later issue.

Replacing it is a short story that is perhaps the oldest one I’ve got that is worth reading – it dates back to ’91 or ’92, when I was still a teenager. To have something from my teenage years actually decent enough to read is a rarity.

The story was one I wrote for Writers Workshop class. I may actually have the original one around somewhere, but it would be hard to find, tough I remember the plot quite well. The story itself came from an exercise where we were shown a painting and had to write a story from it. The painting was of an old, slightly sad looking man, wearing a Spanish Conquistador style helmet with a red plume. The story itself is a bit different, which lends itself well to the more experimental feel of the second volume.

The story is called The Duel, and I look forward to it being available soon, once volume two is finally finished.

Progress Report

Posted: June 14, 2009 in Pure Escapism, writing update
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I’ve finished the edit/rewrite of the second of the short stories and have commenced on the third, and longest, of the four. Hopefully by next weekend I’ll be done and have volume two ready to go.

The edits, beside fixing spelling and grammar issues, also seem to add about 20% to the length of the stories from the rough drafts as parts get improved and expanded on.

Yesterday was a bit lacklustre. Had plenty of chances to do some writing but didn’t start until 8:15 at night. Waste of much of a day really. Still, I got a solid hour and a half in. Hopefully today is better.

Progress Report

Posted: June 6, 2009 in Pure Escapism, writing update
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Failed to make the quota yesterday sadly.  Didn’t even make 1K words.  Overall for the first five days I’ve managed 9075 words, so need to put in a good day today to catch up.

The goods news is the drafts for all four stories for the second volume fo Pure Escapism are now done, ready for editting, though in the case of The Village I think it will take some major editting.

Still, hopefully by the end of next week, it will be ready to go.

Week In Review: Week Twenty Two 2009

Posted: June 4, 2009 in writing update
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Time for another review of the last week’s writing efforts.

I’m making good progress, having hit the 2K mark for all the first three days of the month to date, and a total of 6200 words all up. All of that has been towards the second volume of Pure Escapism, and it is getting closer to being finished. Rough drafts if two of the four articles are complete and a third is very close, and will be finished today. The forth may be done today as well, but we will see. After that will need to come some extensive editting.

It feels good to be writing a decent amount again, making goals and progress. I guess it is like a drug at times – when I’m not writing I’m thinking about it and get moody and irritable, but when I make those writing goals I get on a it of a high. Now if I could only get over this habit of not writing when I sit down to write – to concentrate on it and ignore everything else.

Progress Report

Posted: June 3, 2009 in writing update
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First two days of the June Challenge have gone well – around 4100 words written.  All of that so far is working towards the second volume of Pure Escapism.

Most of the work has been on The Hall of Black Trees, which to date is around 7300 words long and the first draft not yet completed.  It appears as if it will be the main piece for the volume, as the other stories aren’t going to turn out anywhere near its length.

Should have the rough drafts finished by weeks end at this rate, ready for editing.

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