New Page on my Website

Morning everybody.  (Or all two of the people who might actually read this.)  I just wanted to let everyone know I posted a new page up on my site this morning.  It’s a Q&A with Albert Packard (my alter ego) about Cavern of Babel–that crazy-cool alpaca book that I wrote for Diamond Triple C Ranch.  Swing on over and check out the page, and if there are any other burning questions you feel need to be answered, ask them here, and I’ll make sure no stone is left unturned.

Other than that, I don’t have much to report right now.  I made it through my homework last  night (thank goodness), and today I’m taking care of little tasks this morning before I have to go off to work–and then another chat session for school this evening.  Sigh.  Maybe I’ll use that time to plan more of Ichabod, my latest novel.  It’s coming along nicely–this is definitely going to be the most planned out novel I’ve ever written.  For one thing, it has to be–a large part of it is a murder mystery, and I don’t think I could just write one of those on the fly.  I need to know who what where when and why–and how, of course.  The other reason I’m planning it so much is because I had such a rotten experience writing my last novel, Lesana.  I had to go back and majorly revise at least three times during the first draft, and that’s left the draft with some major issues.  (Issues my writing group lovingly points out to me in great detail each week, bless their meticulous, unsparing little souls.)  The book ended up taking me eight months to write.

Eight months!

Now, that might not seem like too much for some of you, since it clocked in at around 110,000 words (would have been more without some major chunks I excised in the process), but I write about 1,000 words a day.  Eight months is around 243 days.  That means I ought to have emerged from that eight month period with over 200,000 words written.  In other words, if I had done things right, it would have taken me about half as long to write that draft as it did.  To make things worse, it was a painful eight months of writing.  Looking back, I feel like if I had taken only another week or two more to plan out the plot, the whole thing would have been much smoother.  Hence, I’m taking the time this time to make sure I know what’s happening in Ichabod before I merrily traipse off to begin tapping on keys and writing the sucker.  Of course, this all might backfire.  I might end up hating the plot I’ve thought up and then changing it, or I might write it, and the plot may suck.  I don’t know.  I’ve never done it like this, so I’ll just have to wait and see.  But if I never try this route, then I’ll never know.  If it does work, then it’ll save me much time and heartache in my future writing projects.  I’ll make sure to keep you up to date.

Will you look at that?  I’ve squandered my morning time to write more of this blog thing, and now I have to go get ready for work.  Oh well.  It felt good to get that all out of my system.  Have a pleasant Thursday, everybody!

2 thoughts on “New Page on my Website”

  1. Certainly not
    No, please don’t hold back. I’ve said all along that I go to writing group to hear honest opinions, not just what I want to hear. Of course, should you have any suggestions for how to correct a major problem (say . . . unlikable characters), I’m always open to any and all suggestions, as well. I don’t mind as much as Brandon does when people get prescriptive. If I think the idea’s junk, I can always ignore it, but I firmly believe that many people have better ideas than I do.
    Our writing group is not for the faint of heart. I’m honest with my opinions, and I expect people to be honest with me. Of course, I also think that the format we use–while necessary–inevitably results in harsher critiques. Some chapters in a strong book will be weaker than others–that’s life. And our stories naturally have low points and high points. When you read a book through all at once, you’re less inclined to focus on the bad than you are when it’s all you get that week. Unfortunately, I sometimes get down on myself when I have a “bad writing group” week. I know I shouldn’t judge my writing by what people say about it that week, but I do sometimes. I do the same thing when I’m writing–I judge the book by how the piece I’m working on right then is going. So if I’m at a good spot, then the book is a masterpiece. If I’m at a hard spot, it’s all trash.
    Thankfully, that’s why we have a week’s break in between sessions–so that we can all get over any down feelings and come back to hear objective criticism again. And that’s why I write every day–sooner or later, the good times come back, and all is right in the world again.
    And that’s all I have to say about that.

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