Day 356 - A New Writing Venture

Let me start by saying I enjoy writing. I also enjoy group support.Previously, there has been no board for LDS writer's on a broad level, except for a obscure one by Orson Scott Card at Nauvoo.com that is a little less focused.So, I took it upon myself today, after a year of contemplation, to do something about it.Behold:http://ldswriters.proboards.com/Confession: I borrowed several ideas, and even topic descriptions from a few other unrelated and semi-related forums. It would be non-sensible to reinvent the wheel when others have come before. I stand on the shoulders of... well.. you get the idea. This is not a replacement for Author's Incognito, which I still read regularly and love dearly. It is simply a different, broader scope, and both can compliment each other. Please tell anyone...

Day 269 - Prepping

I am taking a short blogging break, just for a week, beyond occasional updates like this. I am prepping for a massive writing haul by delving into by outline and previous writing in The Militia. I am trying to get "in the Zone". And sometime this week, I will be locking myself away and writing like a madm...

Day 265 - I forgot a day!

Well, it's true. Not only did I not blog yesterday, but I forgot to write. It wasn't a conscious decision, I just plum forgot! Go figure. It was another busy day, and in between work and family, I didn't have any "me" time. And I am ok with that. I am dedicated to writing, but dedication to family, building memories, is more important. There's room for both, but there will always be more room for family. For today's writing, I actually spent time researching a critical element of my story, being the temperature of a nuclear blast, the fall off in temperature ranges, etc. As it turns out, the epicenter reaches millions of degrees Celsius. There is rapid fall-off in temperature, but even at fifty meters out you are around 6,000 degrees Celsius. For comparison, magma peaks around 1,300 degrees...

Day 263 - So Tired

No regularly scheduled post tonight. I've been up very early for the past two days and working until late into the night. I am beat. I did my writing, but only managed a few ideas and thoughts. I need sleep! Tomorrow should be a lighter work d...

Day 263 - Building Buttresses Again - Self Improvement

In a previous Self Improvement, before my move to Houston, I had written an article about flying buttresses. I mentioned that Author's Incognito, blogs, family, etc were all buttresses I needed to keep me going. Now that I am back into the swing of writing, I realized I need to start building my supports back up. I spent some time late last night and today (but not too much time due to work and family) reading and commenting on other author blogs. I have been reading and posting some in the AI yahoo group. It feels good. And I feel more motivated. In terms of writing updates, I am of course still framing. I am now at 1,672 words in my outline. That translates to a very long story written out. I will have to do some editing after I finish outlining this we...

Day 262 - I Framed the Ending - The Writing Report

My framing continues. IN my 15 minute writing time-box today, I mapped out the final chapter. I always knew roughly how it would go. Mapping it out, while being able to see the rest of the story at once, really helped me add more nuance to it. I've been able to better bring out not only closure for the book but portend problems in the future, thus setting up the next book without leaving loose ends that will frustrate readers (including me!). Now if only I had the rest all done... ...

Day 260 - Plugging Away - The Writing Update

I am no at a week (and a day) of getting back in to regular writing and blogging. I technically missed yesterday, hence the weekend post. Christina found a sitter for Levi, and we went on a date. We ate at one of me favorite fast food restaurants, Culver's. If you haven't been to one, it's amazing. Their deserts are mind blowing (try a concrete shake with hot fudge and Oreo, or give their turtle's a go!), and you can get lots of tasty food outside of the many burgers they have there, such as a pot roast sandwich, Reuben sandwich, etc. Anyway, I digress. The short of it is that I didn't have time in the evening to write. Tonight however I did write, and I really refined a critical juncture in the story that before had just been really lacking. I won't go into it much right now, but the problem...

Day 258 - General update

I don't have any interviews for now, as I am just getting in to the swing of things again. However, I did want to post, both for self-encouragement and the encouragement of others, that I am doing great on keeping my writing commitments! Yesterday, I really fleshed out a key scene with some massive destruction happening. Today? Politics. I wrote a drat of a legislation key to the story. In fact, it came out different (and better) than I thought in its scope. In fact, it seems scarily realistic for something someone would try to pass! I hope no one in DHS with any influence reads the book and gets any ideas... :-) Suffice it to say, readers will be stunned when they read it, partially because it will really hit home. This legislation has major impact on the entire last half of the story, in...

Day 257 - The Art of Research, Part IV - Writing WIsdom

Today I reread all of my "Writing Wisdom" series. It got me very excited. Funny enough, I learned things rereading what I wrote! I realized I couldn't start up where I left off if I wasn't immersed in the previous material. And there is the kicker. Anyone can write something. But what are you going to do? I suggest immersing yourself in the history of what's happened before (which was Part III's point). Maybe it's real history of a period or place or family. Maybe it's fictional. But make sure you have continuity. Why? Because it makes your writing that much better. You can toss in little tidbits and hints of things unseen to the reader, tantalizing allusions to some greater back story. And that gives you prequels, sequels, and a following. Next week we'll discuss researching your audience. -------- Writing...

Day 256 - Time Boxing - Self Improvement

One of the writing time techniques that has been used with Author's Incognito and several other groups is called Sprinting. It's where a timer is set, and everyone works on writing in that time, nothing else. It is pretty effective. During the course of building an office here in Houston, I have also been spending a lot of time with memory and time management, as well as other self-improvement and motivational material. Being the only person in a start-up office means you have to be self-motivated...

Day 255 - Happily Moving Along - The Writing Report

I wrote about another 300 words today, all in outline form. This equates to what will turn in to about 3,000 words more of text (most of my outlines have a 1:100 ratio). I just want to say, I had several brilliant strokes in today's story framing! The "trial" of the POTUS, more details about his kidnapping, etc. Those scenes are not only much more than vague ideas, but are going to be awesome! I can't wait to read the finished product! A few other notes from starting back up: 1) Rereading something I had left alone for several months really helped me bring a fresh set of eyes to it. I saw grammatical mistakes of course and areas to refine, but I also saw areas that may need to be cut. More importantly though... I enjoyed the story. I feel like it's going to be excellent and enjoyed by anyone...

Day 254 - Second Day Back

Yesterday, I wrote about two paragraphs. It doesn't seem like much, but I also re-read about 30 pages of The Militia. Since it had been a while, I needed to make sure I caught the feel for it again. I made some edits along the way, and then added a little more. Today I worked more on framing my story. I already have about 1/8th of The Militia written, but I was having problems filling in the areas in between major scenes to keep the story flowing at a good pace. I transferred my outlines to FreeMind, which helped immensely. It's now much easier for me to get both a bird's eye view as well as drill down when necessary to the nuts and bolts. In addition to transferring the outline, I added a good amount to it and feel like the story is much tighter in my mind now. I know some people are not...

Day 253 - The Return

It has now been officially 253 days since I began on the odyssey that is becoming published. I had hoped to be much further along in my writing at this point in time. However, as has been indicated before, I moved from Provo, Utah to Spring (Houston), Texas to open an office with my property and asset management company, Northpoint Asset Management. It has had many ups and down, but stability is nearly here. While finances are tight, the ball is rolling, things are going smoothly in client acquisition, and Christina, Levi, and I are absolutely loving Houston! It feels so good to be back in the south. Not that we didn't love Utah also, but sometimes you just feel like you belong somewhere. For us, at least for now, that place is north Houston. As I obtain stability, it is tempting to put off...