I'm starting to realize how difficult it is to get any writing done when you're battling with insomnia. I've been working on two chapters the entire weekend, and haven't gotten much, if anything done at all.
Ok, strike that. I've actually gotten a chapter and a half done, but it's nowhere near where I should be. Not after four days in any case. This has been a very unproductive weekend. And if I can't fix this sleeping problem soon, this is going to take me forever to finish.
Normally I'd think, more time awake means more time to write. Which would be true if anything I was able to write when I'm exhausted as I am was going to be salvageable. I've already had to go over what I've written this weekend a few times to correct and revise parts of it. Trying to write while you're zoning out is definitely not a good idea. I'd like to have something legible down on paper, not some sleep deprived ramblings. That's just a personal preference there. Takes a little bit too long and a little too much work to go and fix everything after the delirium has passed.
Hopefully though I can get all this sorted out before too long. It's been about 2 weeks now as it is, and its making getting and writing done a major chore.
The story itself is progressing, albeit slowly. I can already see a few changes I'm going to need to make when I go back through for the second pass, but for now I have to put that thinking out of my mind so I can concentrate on just getting everything out.
So far there's been a lot of emotion and confusion from Heaven. Only about 50 or so pages in and she's already conflicted by the wrench I threw at her. I know I said I was gonna take it a little easier on her this time around, and give her a little bit of a break, but I still need to do something. so instead of what she's previously been going through, she gets to experience a little emotional issues. Not to much, but it'll be good for her development overall I think.
She thinks her life is going one way, and then this big ol' wrench smacks her in the back of the head and turns it all upside down. I can almost feel her glaring at me up off the page. In my defense, it was going to happen eventually down the line, but I think breaking the whole scenario up into separate parts is going to not only make things easier to write, bit make it easier and more enjoyable to read.
I'll have to see. Something that sounds good when I'm sleep deprived might not sound so good later on. Lot of work left to do.
Independent Novelist of Paranormal/Urban Fantasy
Monday, September 30, 2019
Sunday, September 29, 2019
The Outside World
It's been really slow going as of late. With the outside world continually conspiring to get in my way, I haven't been able to get much work on the new novel done. About two weeks into the whole process, and I'm staring at 40 pages written. That's it. Just 40 lonely little pages. Most days I've just been to exhausted to be able to write coherently. That's not a good sign.
Add onto that, the few moments of peace I have to start writing, I find myself going back over what I've already written to see where exactly I left off, and I end up having to go back and revise a few things here and there before I even get started on new content. Everything just seems to be off for some reason.
It'll pass though. This is just a little rough patch I have to get over. I've got a great story rolling around in my head, I just have to be able to get it out. That may take having the outside world settle down a little before I can fully get into the swing of things, but I'll get there.
The important thing, is to even if its only a few hundred words and not my usual writing amount, is to get something down. To keep writing. Keep trucking along and keep to my writing schedule the best I can. I can't give up, can't let things get in the way. It may take a little while longer than my usual speed, but that's OK. I'll get there in my own time.
Besides, I'm having a lot of fun, and enjoying being able to put my writing out there for the world to see and enjoy. Well, hopefully they like it. I do.
Back to work. Want to get at least a little more down tonight so I can set things up a little more. This is probably going to be a very involved story. We'll see how it goes.
Add onto that, the few moments of peace I have to start writing, I find myself going back over what I've already written to see where exactly I left off, and I end up having to go back and revise a few things here and there before I even get started on new content. Everything just seems to be off for some reason.
It'll pass though. This is just a little rough patch I have to get over. I've got a great story rolling around in my head, I just have to be able to get it out. That may take having the outside world settle down a little before I can fully get into the swing of things, but I'll get there.
The important thing, is to even if its only a few hundred words and not my usual writing amount, is to get something down. To keep writing. Keep trucking along and keep to my writing schedule the best I can. I can't give up, can't let things get in the way. It may take a little while longer than my usual speed, but that's OK. I'll get there in my own time.
Besides, I'm having a lot of fun, and enjoying being able to put my writing out there for the world to see and enjoy. Well, hopefully they like it. I do.
Back to work. Want to get at least a little more down tonight so I can set things up a little more. This is probably going to be a very involved story. We'll see how it goes.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Beginning Again
The first two chapters of the first draft are complete. It took me a little bit to get the rhythm going again, but I think I managed. After I went back and read through both chapters again, I can already see some spots I'm going to have to flesh out a little more at some point. But that's going to have to wait until later when I have a little more of an idea of what I'm working with as far as the story goes.
That being said, I think I'm going to go with a working title of Nemesis. It fits in with what the central theme of the story is going to be about, and it just kinda sounds cool all on its own anyway.It's giving me some cover ideas to go along with it as well. Which I may have to wait on until I'm certain of the overall direction I'll want to cover to go into.
But, two chapters in, and already a fight scene between Sasha and another wolf. That's the scene that I may have to flesh out a little more. Just because there are some elements I'm going to want to be sure to highlight. Not just for the story, but for future reference and world building reasons as well.
World building is really important to me. The modern world with supernaturals introduced to it, and I think I've mentioned this before, would have a lot of changes. Most of the world we'd be able to recognize, but a lot of it would be so dramatically different from what we're used to. Just the introduction of werewolves and other shapeshifters would alter military history and how wars are fought just on its own. Then when you start adding other supernatural elements all out in the open to it, a lot of other things are bound to change.
A lot of it is going to be background stuff. Finding where certain elements are going to be able to naturally and logically fit into the world. Since the series is so far taking place in the United States, it's already been established that until the mid 1800's, people thought that shapeshifters and vampires were more of a European problem, and not something they had to worry about. It helps set up that, unlike in White Wolf type settings, the supernaturals aren't like some shadowy figures manipulating the world from behind the scenes. And there is actually an in world reason for why that doesn't/hasn't happened to any large extent.
I'm actually fiddling around with the prospect of having the supernatural world have some influence, to what extent I'm not sure, over the two World Wars, I'm just not sure how much of an influence. Some factions in real world WW2 were heavily involved in occult and the supernatural, so that would fit. I just need to decided how they would all fit in with a world that not only knows these types of creatures exist, but has been struggling against them for most of recorded history in one form or another.
The good thing about Nemesis, is that a large portion of the backdrop, is about how one particular group of supernaturals fits into the world, and the role they play on the world stage. Well, the supernatural world stage anyway. And it all should tie into the overarching theme of the series as a whole. That's the intent anyway.
For now, everything seems to be going good and moving along smoothly. Let's keep this going shall we.
That being said, I think I'm going to go with a working title of Nemesis. It fits in with what the central theme of the story is going to be about, and it just kinda sounds cool all on its own anyway.It's giving me some cover ideas to go along with it as well. Which I may have to wait on until I'm certain of the overall direction I'll want to cover to go into.
But, two chapters in, and already a fight scene between Sasha and another wolf. That's the scene that I may have to flesh out a little more. Just because there are some elements I'm going to want to be sure to highlight. Not just for the story, but for future reference and world building reasons as well.
World building is really important to me. The modern world with supernaturals introduced to it, and I think I've mentioned this before, would have a lot of changes. Most of the world we'd be able to recognize, but a lot of it would be so dramatically different from what we're used to. Just the introduction of werewolves and other shapeshifters would alter military history and how wars are fought just on its own. Then when you start adding other supernatural elements all out in the open to it, a lot of other things are bound to change.
A lot of it is going to be background stuff. Finding where certain elements are going to be able to naturally and logically fit into the world. Since the series is so far taking place in the United States, it's already been established that until the mid 1800's, people thought that shapeshifters and vampires were more of a European problem, and not something they had to worry about. It helps set up that, unlike in White Wolf type settings, the supernaturals aren't like some shadowy figures manipulating the world from behind the scenes. And there is actually an in world reason for why that doesn't/hasn't happened to any large extent.
I'm actually fiddling around with the prospect of having the supernatural world have some influence, to what extent I'm not sure, over the two World Wars, I'm just not sure how much of an influence. Some factions in real world WW2 were heavily involved in occult and the supernatural, so that would fit. I just need to decided how they would all fit in with a world that not only knows these types of creatures exist, but has been struggling against them for most of recorded history in one form or another.
The good thing about Nemesis, is that a large portion of the backdrop, is about how one particular group of supernaturals fits into the world, and the role they play on the world stage. Well, the supernatural world stage anyway. And it all should tie into the overarching theme of the series as a whole. That's the intent anyway.
For now, everything seems to be going good and moving along smoothly. Let's keep this going shall we.
Friday, September 20, 2019
Back To Work
With Cherubim out for reviews and available on Amazon, Smashwords, and a few other places already, it's time to be getting back into the swing of things and get back to work. Can't let up and slack off. That's one thing I've learned is you got to keep at it and keep continually writing. Got to keep to the same writing schedule.
I did take a few days off just to rest up and take care of a few things for Cherubim, still not happy with how the thumbnail for the Paperback is turning out on Amazon, but now it's time to jump right back in on the next book in the series.
Which actually isn't going to be too difficult to do. I've been steadily working on a plan, and an outline for the next in the City of Angels series. I've even written up the bare bones beginning of the story prologue. So things are well on their way.
The good thing is, I've got so much of the overall arc of the series all planned and mapped out, that all I'm having to do is figure out where to put all the pieces. Plus I've got maybe a trilogy thats going to come up that I've been steadily planning out, and maybe a secondary series set in the same world that might end up being kind of a companion series to City of Angels. Not quite sure yet what I'm going to do or where I'm going to go with that.
It's definitely going to be a smaller scale than what's planned out for City of Angels, at least more contained. But we'll see how it all goes.
For now I have to finish up outlining what I want for the next story. I've got several new characters I have to work out, not to mention the protagonists and the overall goals. So it's going to take a little bit before I'm actually starting the writing process itself and putting the story out on paper. Should be a good one though.
I've been toying around with cover ideas, just to see what looks good and what I want the overall theme to be. I don't think it will be as dark as Cherubim, but there is going to be some violence in there. Plus, there are a few other things I need to touch on relationship wise with some of the characters. Not sure how much in depth that's going to be, but I'll get there when I get there. Some ramifications and consequences need to be addressed here and there. Nothing to major as of yet, but we'll see.
I did take a few days off just to rest up and take care of a few things for Cherubim, still not happy with how the thumbnail for the Paperback is turning out on Amazon, but now it's time to jump right back in on the next book in the series.
Which actually isn't going to be too difficult to do. I've been steadily working on a plan, and an outline for the next in the City of Angels series. I've even written up the bare bones beginning of the story prologue. So things are well on their way.
The good thing is, I've got so much of the overall arc of the series all planned and mapped out, that all I'm having to do is figure out where to put all the pieces. Plus I've got maybe a trilogy thats going to come up that I've been steadily planning out, and maybe a secondary series set in the same world that might end up being kind of a companion series to City of Angels. Not quite sure yet what I'm going to do or where I'm going to go with that.
It's definitely going to be a smaller scale than what's planned out for City of Angels, at least more contained. But we'll see how it all goes.
For now I have to finish up outlining what I want for the next story. I've got several new characters I have to work out, not to mention the protagonists and the overall goals. So it's going to take a little bit before I'm actually starting the writing process itself and putting the story out on paper. Should be a good one though.
I've been toying around with cover ideas, just to see what looks good and what I want the overall theme to be. I don't think it will be as dark as Cherubim, but there is going to be some violence in there. Plus, there are a few other things I need to touch on relationship wise with some of the characters. Not sure how much in depth that's going to be, but I'll get there when I get there. Some ramifications and consequences need to be addressed here and there. Nothing to major as of yet, but we'll see.
Monday, September 16, 2019
Sneak Preview
Ok, outside of another quality pass through, the edits and revisions for Cherubim are finally completed. I actually stayed up all night to finish out the last few chapters, but I got it done.
As I expected though, the last few chapters had to be heavily revised to change how a certain character was presented and finally dealt with in the end. It took a lot of work, and the scenes actually left me feeling a bit drained in the end. It was a tough scene to properly write out, let alone get it where I wanted it to be. I think it worked out well, but we'll have to see how it all turns out when all is said and done.
That being said, apparently I didn't completely mess up the cover file, was just a collapsed frame that was making it look like all the layers were all smooshed together. That was a relief. I still had to redo it, because Cherubim clocks out at 370 Pages, and over 105k words. That's quite a bit larger than Nightwalker was. Granted Nightwalker has a larger format, so the page count is going to be higher in Cherubim. But it's still over 30k longer just in story regardless.
I think Nightwalker was just over 71k, so with this next installment it's like I added a whole other half to the word count. But, the story required it, and it's actually not that much in the grand scheme of things. A lot went on in this story. And now it's time to do all the behind the scenes work that goes into publishing.
That may take a little while longer. But we'll see how it goes. For now, here is a look at the new and improved cover.
As I expected though, the last few chapters had to be heavily revised to change how a certain character was presented and finally dealt with in the end. It took a lot of work, and the scenes actually left me feeling a bit drained in the end. It was a tough scene to properly write out, let alone get it where I wanted it to be. I think it worked out well, but we'll have to see how it all turns out when all is said and done.
That being said, apparently I didn't completely mess up the cover file, was just a collapsed frame that was making it look like all the layers were all smooshed together. That was a relief. I still had to redo it, because Cherubim clocks out at 370 Pages, and over 105k words. That's quite a bit larger than Nightwalker was. Granted Nightwalker has a larger format, so the page count is going to be higher in Cherubim. But it's still over 30k longer just in story regardless.
I think Nightwalker was just over 71k, so with this next installment it's like I added a whole other half to the word count. But, the story required it, and it's actually not that much in the grand scheme of things. A lot went on in this story. And now it's time to do all the behind the scenes work that goes into publishing.
That may take a little while longer. But we'll see how it goes. For now, here is a look at the new and improved cover.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Almost There
It was a busy night tonight. I got almost eight chapters of editing and revisions done and I'm that much closer to being finished with this phase of work. Problem is, the next chapters are going to be a bit more involved, and are going to take quite a bit of work to get through.
These last chapters are the ones that are going to need the most revising as far as some of the characters are concerned.I think I've gotten the previous chapters fixed up so that it's all going to lead up to where I want it character-wise, but I'll have to do another once over afterward just to make sure.
But, everything is getting really close. Unfortunately I'm going to have to go back and redo the cover. Somehow I messed some things up (flattened the entire image for some reason and saved it) and it might not be suitable for how many pages Cherubim is now anyway. It's at well over 85k words and 357 pages. So I may need to adjust some things.
Shouldn't take too long to redo the cover, I already have a good starting point with how I want it. Maybe a few tweaks and adjustments are going to be necessary, but overall I already know how it should look so it's not going to be too much of a problem.
That's a bit far into the future though. For now, I just have to keep grinding along with this phase of the project and finish this part up before I can move on to anything else. It's looking good so far though, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
These last chapters are the ones that are going to need the most revising as far as some of the characters are concerned.I think I've gotten the previous chapters fixed up so that it's all going to lead up to where I want it character-wise, but I'll have to do another once over afterward just to make sure.
But, everything is getting really close. Unfortunately I'm going to have to go back and redo the cover. Somehow I messed some things up (flattened the entire image for some reason and saved it) and it might not be suitable for how many pages Cherubim is now anyway. It's at well over 85k words and 357 pages. So I may need to adjust some things.
Shouldn't take too long to redo the cover, I already have a good starting point with how I want it. Maybe a few tweaks and adjustments are going to be necessary, but overall I already know how it should look so it's not going to be too much of a problem.
That's a bit far into the future though. For now, I just have to keep grinding along with this phase of the project and finish this part up before I can move on to anything else. It's looking good so far though, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
Revision Weekend
Four chapters down, twelve more to go.
Now that it's the weekend, I'm able to spend more time going through Cherubim with the edits and revisions it needs. I just passed the halfway mark as far as chapter count goes, so I do have a little more to go in getting all of this reworked and up to as high of a standard as I can reasonably get it. It's going slowly, but it's getting there.
I'm hoping that by the end of this weekend I'm going to have a big chunk of it carved out and finished. Hopefully sometime next week, all 353 pages are going to be completed and I'll be able to start the line by line check just to be sure there aren't any errors I've missed. I really don't want to have to go back after everything is all said and done, and I'm working on the next project, and fix errors I missed after the fact like I've had to do with Nightwalker. That's just a pain is what that is.
As far as what I've got ahead of me, I have several big sections that I'm going to need to flesh out a bit more and revise to include things that have changed since I wrote it initially. I know one of the protagonists is going to have to be altered a bit more, which will change a few scenes going forward, but it needs to be done. The way the ending changed from what I initially had in mind necessitates going back and doing quite a bit of tweaking. Trying to get this character to be a little more sympathetic even if they are going against the main characters.
Good villains always have good reasons for doing what they do.
I've actually been adding a few lines here and there during the revisions to add to the world building. I have a lot of things in mind for it, because quite frankly, a world that is inhabited by supernatural creatures like vampires and shapeshifters, while on the whole it may be similar, and have similar events throughout history, its going to have some changes to it.
I don't want to go the White Wolf route and have vampires be behind the scenes responsible for all the bad stuff in the world, that just doesn't seem to fit with whats already been established anyways. But there are a few things in history, especially US history that can be altered slightly to have certain supernatural influences ADDED to them. Not being the cause of whatever portion of history I'm talking about, but being enhanced by it so to speak. Certain incidents may have actually been shortened by the presence of supernaturals, other things might have been made longer.
I'm going to have to go with a case by case basis in all of that. I know certain things in history and the modern world have/are going to change, just because certain characters are effected by it. I may leave it at that sort of thing. Don't know yet.
It's going good so far though.
Now that it's the weekend, I'm able to spend more time going through Cherubim with the edits and revisions it needs. I just passed the halfway mark as far as chapter count goes, so I do have a little more to go in getting all of this reworked and up to as high of a standard as I can reasonably get it. It's going slowly, but it's getting there.
I'm hoping that by the end of this weekend I'm going to have a big chunk of it carved out and finished. Hopefully sometime next week, all 353 pages are going to be completed and I'll be able to start the line by line check just to be sure there aren't any errors I've missed. I really don't want to have to go back after everything is all said and done, and I'm working on the next project, and fix errors I missed after the fact like I've had to do with Nightwalker. That's just a pain is what that is.
As far as what I've got ahead of me, I have several big sections that I'm going to need to flesh out a bit more and revise to include things that have changed since I wrote it initially. I know one of the protagonists is going to have to be altered a bit more, which will change a few scenes going forward, but it needs to be done. The way the ending changed from what I initially had in mind necessitates going back and doing quite a bit of tweaking. Trying to get this character to be a little more sympathetic even if they are going against the main characters.
Good villains always have good reasons for doing what they do.
I've actually been adding a few lines here and there during the revisions to add to the world building. I have a lot of things in mind for it, because quite frankly, a world that is inhabited by supernatural creatures like vampires and shapeshifters, while on the whole it may be similar, and have similar events throughout history, its going to have some changes to it.
I don't want to go the White Wolf route and have vampires be behind the scenes responsible for all the bad stuff in the world, that just doesn't seem to fit with whats already been established anyways. But there are a few things in history, especially US history that can be altered slightly to have certain supernatural influences ADDED to them. Not being the cause of whatever portion of history I'm talking about, but being enhanced by it so to speak. Certain incidents may have actually been shortened by the presence of supernaturals, other things might have been made longer.
I'm going to have to go with a case by case basis in all of that. I know certain things in history and the modern world have/are going to change, just because certain characters are effected by it. I may leave it at that sort of thing. Don't know yet.
It's going good so far though.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Slow going
It's been pretty slow going as of late. I have managed to get a lot of work done, but other things keep getting in the way.
I had to go back and review Nightwalker, there were a few issues that had to be fixed, which took some time. But I think I got them all sorted out. At least until the next time I notice something wrong and have to go through the whole process all over again.
Unfortunately that means it had to be re-uploaded to Amazon for them to go back through and review, which for the Kindle version shouldn't take to long, but the print copy is going to take a little bit of time.
That's ok, it's going to give me more time to work on Cherubim and get this all sorted out. I'm on Chapter Thirteen, editing and revising twenty something more chapters is going to take a bit to do, especially with my work schedule, but I can handle it. Slowly but surely.
On another note, I've been jotting down notes for the next book, thinking of things I want to add, little conversation pieces and the like. I think I'm starting to formulate a pretty good idea of what I want the story to be and how to get to the ending I want.Problem is going to come in with the fact that this isn't a story I've written down before. Least not in its entirety. Certain elements are going to be gleaned from previous handwritten notebooks, but not to much. So this is pretty much uncharted territory.
I've also got some other ideas percolating here and there in my head. I'm thinking a spin-off trilogy that's going to take place in another part of the country, that has to wait until another book is out to set the scene for it. That's going to take a while. I think it might be a good idea to show Vampire society from within, and from the perspective of a single house, rather than how other characters are viewing it from the outside. Probably going to be something very political in that regard. Not sure yet.
The second spin-off I can actually do anytime. And this one I'm probably going to work on at some point. Just have to get a good jumping off point to go from. This one will involve how humanity reacts to and perceives the supernaturals from a law enforcement kind of perspective. Not sure how that's going to go, but it's already filling my head with lots of ideas. Probably going to be mystery/supernatural crime driven sort of thing. But I won't know fully until I get there.
Until then, lots more work on editing and revising Cherubim to go before I can get started on anything else. I am really enjoying the whole process though. As aggravating as it can be.
I had to go back and review Nightwalker, there were a few issues that had to be fixed, which took some time. But I think I got them all sorted out. At least until the next time I notice something wrong and have to go through the whole process all over again.
Unfortunately that means it had to be re-uploaded to Amazon for them to go back through and review, which for the Kindle version shouldn't take to long, but the print copy is going to take a little bit of time.
That's ok, it's going to give me more time to work on Cherubim and get this all sorted out. I'm on Chapter Thirteen, editing and revising twenty something more chapters is going to take a bit to do, especially with my work schedule, but I can handle it. Slowly but surely.
On another note, I've been jotting down notes for the next book, thinking of things I want to add, little conversation pieces and the like. I think I'm starting to formulate a pretty good idea of what I want the story to be and how to get to the ending I want.Problem is going to come in with the fact that this isn't a story I've written down before. Least not in its entirety. Certain elements are going to be gleaned from previous handwritten notebooks, but not to much. So this is pretty much uncharted territory.
I've also got some other ideas percolating here and there in my head. I'm thinking a spin-off trilogy that's going to take place in another part of the country, that has to wait until another book is out to set the scene for it. That's going to take a while. I think it might be a good idea to show Vampire society from within, and from the perspective of a single house, rather than how other characters are viewing it from the outside. Probably going to be something very political in that regard. Not sure yet.
The second spin-off I can actually do anytime. And this one I'm probably going to work on at some point. Just have to get a good jumping off point to go from. This one will involve how humanity reacts to and perceives the supernaturals from a law enforcement kind of perspective. Not sure how that's going to go, but it's already filling my head with lots of ideas. Probably going to be mystery/supernatural crime driven sort of thing. But I won't know fully until I get there.
Until then, lots more work on editing and revising Cherubim to go before I can get started on anything else. I am really enjoying the whole process though. As aggravating as it can be.
Saturday, September 7, 2019
Seven down, twenty five to go.
Three chapters done today. I started with chapter 5, then figured, well the next two chapters all kind of tie in together and I don't want to start working on one or two of them, lose my train of thought and end up editing chapter 7 with a different mindset going into it. Plus, well it kind of ties up the first few incidents in Cherubim. They were relatively simple edits and revisions anyways. Mostly to do with clarifications and the flow of the chapters.
Is good to get them out of the way because I glanced over Chapter 8, and that alone is going to take some time. Looking over my little list of notes, there is a lot of work I'm going to have to do on this chapter. I have to add a few things, change how certain events, characters are portrayed, and maybe plant a few seeds for later use here and there.
Chapters 9 and 10 are, probably going to be a pain in the ass as well. Again, things happening later have an impact so some small revisions are going to be needed, but at the same time its two chapters of internal conflicts and in a few spots I'm going to have to shift the tone a little. A few parts have to be softened, a few others need to be hardened. I have to make sure it all fits in with what I'm going for in those scenes.
All three of the next chapters are probably going to be somewhat draining to get through, but I'm sure I can handle it. May have to only do one chapter at a time, take a break and maybe work on the next. Not sure yet. At worst its going to take a few days to get through this next section. At best, maybe I can get most of it done in a single session.
Will have to see when I get there.
Is good to get them out of the way because I glanced over Chapter 8, and that alone is going to take some time. Looking over my little list of notes, there is a lot of work I'm going to have to do on this chapter. I have to add a few things, change how certain events, characters are portrayed, and maybe plant a few seeds for later use here and there.
Chapters 9 and 10 are, probably going to be a pain in the ass as well. Again, things happening later have an impact so some small revisions are going to be needed, but at the same time its two chapters of internal conflicts and in a few spots I'm going to have to shift the tone a little. A few parts have to be softened, a few others need to be hardened. I have to make sure it all fits in with what I'm going for in those scenes.
All three of the next chapters are probably going to be somewhat draining to get through, but I'm sure I can handle it. May have to only do one chapter at a time, take a break and maybe work on the next. Not sure yet. At worst its going to take a few days to get through this next section. At best, maybe I can get most of it done in a single session.
Will have to see when I get there.
Editing/Revision in full swing.
It's been a few days, but I have managed to actually get some work done in spite of a minor injury that took me out of things for a few days. Editing from the prologue all the way through Chapter Four of Cherubim is now complete. Only twenty-eight more to go.
I actually somewhat enjoy this part of the process. Not the going line by line to make sure that there aren't words there that aren't supposed to be. It's actually kind of aggravating how often all the spelling and grammar checks I use will skip over a word that is spelled correctly, but isn't the one that is supposed to be there. Quite often the S from she gets removed or just not put there in the first place, when it's supposed to have been there, and it gets a pass because it's a technically correctly spelled word.
Really hammers in the point of going line by line in a manuscript to check for those sorts of things.
Plus, when I read everything back, it gives me the opportunity to change a word here and there, remove or alter phrasing I've used, and even to completely delete or add whole paragraphs to flesh things out or make them more concise.
This is actually an important part of the whole process. Reading everything back gives me the opportunity to make sure how a passage reads, is how I intended it to read when I wrote it. Often enough I find a spot or two that while I may have known what I meant when I was writing it, it wasn't really clear about what the intent was to someone reading it who isn't inside my deranged imagination. So I have to go back and make sure anyone else reading it is going to be able to understand what I was going for.
That's the theory anyway.
It is moving along smoothly though, and at a good enough pace for me to be satisfied with my progress in this phase. I figure it I can go through 2-3 chapters a day, and I may have to make sure I limit myself to that just to give my poor addled brain a rest, I should make pretty good time getting through this phase of the writing process.
On another note, the next book that I initially had in mind, a story that when I was still writing everything down in notebooks went next, may have to wait a little while before I can get to it. As is usual for me, when I let my mind wander a little bit the other day, a few random scenes popped into my head and planted the seeds of another story that will actually do a lot of world building, while at the same time move the overarching story forward in a bit of a different direction.
So, as I've got it planned out right now we've got Nightwalker and Flavius' arrival (kind of setting up the whole scene so to speak), then Cherubim and which is planting a lot of plot seeds. The next one was supposed to involve a bit of history coming back to haunt the Supernatural community, and take place outside of Los Angeles (which may or may not spawn its own spinoff trilogy, haven't decided yet). That story is what was supposed to go next in the series. It's not going to anymore. That will probably be Number 4
In its place, I think I'm going to write something that I haven't actually all plotted out years ago and add a bit of a backstory to why certain things in the world are the way they are. Plus introduce a character a little early for a one shot before they are fully introduced some time later. I have a tentative title in mind, just not sure if I'm going to keep it or not. We'll see how it goes.
For now, still got lots of work on Cherubim to go through. Yay me.
I actually somewhat enjoy this part of the process. Not the going line by line to make sure that there aren't words there that aren't supposed to be. It's actually kind of aggravating how often all the spelling and grammar checks I use will skip over a word that is spelled correctly, but isn't the one that is supposed to be there. Quite often the S from she gets removed or just not put there in the first place, when it's supposed to have been there, and it gets a pass because it's a technically correctly spelled word.
Really hammers in the point of going line by line in a manuscript to check for those sorts of things.
Plus, when I read everything back, it gives me the opportunity to change a word here and there, remove or alter phrasing I've used, and even to completely delete or add whole paragraphs to flesh things out or make them more concise.
This is actually an important part of the whole process. Reading everything back gives me the opportunity to make sure how a passage reads, is how I intended it to read when I wrote it. Often enough I find a spot or two that while I may have known what I meant when I was writing it, it wasn't really clear about what the intent was to someone reading it who isn't inside my deranged imagination. So I have to go back and make sure anyone else reading it is going to be able to understand what I was going for.
That's the theory anyway.
It is moving along smoothly though, and at a good enough pace for me to be satisfied with my progress in this phase. I figure it I can go through 2-3 chapters a day, and I may have to make sure I limit myself to that just to give my poor addled brain a rest, I should make pretty good time getting through this phase of the writing process.
On another note, the next book that I initially had in mind, a story that when I was still writing everything down in notebooks went next, may have to wait a little while before I can get to it. As is usual for me, when I let my mind wander a little bit the other day, a few random scenes popped into my head and planted the seeds of another story that will actually do a lot of world building, while at the same time move the overarching story forward in a bit of a different direction.
So, as I've got it planned out right now we've got Nightwalker and Flavius' arrival (kind of setting up the whole scene so to speak), then Cherubim and which is planting a lot of plot seeds. The next one was supposed to involve a bit of history coming back to haunt the Supernatural community, and take place outside of Los Angeles (which may or may not spawn its own spinoff trilogy, haven't decided yet). That story is what was supposed to go next in the series. It's not going to anymore. That will probably be Number 4
In its place, I think I'm going to write something that I haven't actually all plotted out years ago and add a bit of a backstory to why certain things in the world are the way they are. Plus introduce a character a little early for a one shot before they are fully introduced some time later. I have a tentative title in mind, just not sure if I'm going to keep it or not. We'll see how it goes.
For now, still got lots of work on Cherubim to go through. Yay me.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Revisions Day One
The First Draft of Cherubim is finally finished. It took me a bit longer than I expected, but then again it is about thirty or so thousand words longer than Nightwalker was when it was finished. And now its time to start thinking about revisions and editing. Which is going to take quite a while I'm thinking. Not as long as the original draft, but a fair amount of time is going to be needed.
The ending changed significantly from what I had in mind originally. So, that's going to mean having to go back and re-thread certain elements into a whole lot of the earlier parts of the story just to make everything fit nicely together. The most significant part is going to be having to revise how one of the character is portrayed. The new ending changed the character just enough to require going back over the parts she is in and tweaking how she's represented.
I think it's going to make for a better character, and may end up changing two other characters as well. There's already some ground work for at least one of them all laid out already, so that won't take as much work. But enough that it's going to present some challenges.
And it all starts with the prologue. the prologue, which I've heard some people don't like for some reason or another, is where the character at the end is kind of introduced. It sets the theme up so to speak, so i have to be careful with the revisions so that I don't' disrupt how I want the whole thing to feel.
Thankfully, the prologue spills kinda roundabout into the first chapter. So I can make the fixes to the character early on. It makes the list of changes I need to make a little easier to manage.
That's one of the things I've noticed about how I write. The further along in the story I get, the more things need to be altered slightly here and there to previous chapters to fit in with the idea I'm going for. It means the story is almost constantly evolving, and until the very end, I'm never really sure how the whole thing is going to completely turn out. Oh I have a general idea, but its the little details that tend to change more often than not.
A conversation in a later chapter will often cause me to go back to re-evaluated or change/expand on something in the earlier chapters. Which can lead to going back to where i was originally and altering that a little bit here and there etc, etc. Problem I run into from time to time is getting into a never ending loop. So I have to force myself to back off or I'll be editing and revising forever and the book will never get done.
Got to avoid that just one more syndrome.
Tonight was a productive night in the editing and revising. Going through the prologue and the first chapter, I caught a few mistakes I'd missed previously, and managed to hit on the character interactions I needed to tinker with at the same time. So far so good.
Got a lot more to go. Thirty Two chapters in fact. It's going to take me a while I'm guessing. But I have the weekend coming up so I should be able to get a nice chunk finished over the weekend. Maybe.
We'll see.
The ending changed significantly from what I had in mind originally. So, that's going to mean having to go back and re-thread certain elements into a whole lot of the earlier parts of the story just to make everything fit nicely together. The most significant part is going to be having to revise how one of the character is portrayed. The new ending changed the character just enough to require going back over the parts she is in and tweaking how she's represented.
I think it's going to make for a better character, and may end up changing two other characters as well. There's already some ground work for at least one of them all laid out already, so that won't take as much work. But enough that it's going to present some challenges.
And it all starts with the prologue. the prologue, which I've heard some people don't like for some reason or another, is where the character at the end is kind of introduced. It sets the theme up so to speak, so i have to be careful with the revisions so that I don't' disrupt how I want the whole thing to feel.
Thankfully, the prologue spills kinda roundabout into the first chapter. So I can make the fixes to the character early on. It makes the list of changes I need to make a little easier to manage.
That's one of the things I've noticed about how I write. The further along in the story I get, the more things need to be altered slightly here and there to previous chapters to fit in with the idea I'm going for. It means the story is almost constantly evolving, and until the very end, I'm never really sure how the whole thing is going to completely turn out. Oh I have a general idea, but its the little details that tend to change more often than not.
A conversation in a later chapter will often cause me to go back to re-evaluated or change/expand on something in the earlier chapters. Which can lead to going back to where i was originally and altering that a little bit here and there etc, etc. Problem I run into from time to time is getting into a never ending loop. So I have to force myself to back off or I'll be editing and revising forever and the book will never get done.
Got to avoid that just one more syndrome.
Tonight was a productive night in the editing and revising. Going through the prologue and the first chapter, I caught a few mistakes I'd missed previously, and managed to hit on the character interactions I needed to tinker with at the same time. So far so good.
Got a lot more to go. Thirty Two chapters in fact. It's going to take me a while I'm guessing. But I have the weekend coming up so I should be able to get a nice chunk finished over the weekend. Maybe.
We'll see.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Coming to the End.
It's been a long road so far, but I'm coming up on the last few chapters of CHERUBIM. The ending has taken a turn I really wasn't expecting, but for the most part it's all falling into place how I want it. The fun part is going to come after the first draft is all written out and I get to go back and start tinkering with things here and there while I go through the editing and revision phase.
There are quite a few things I'm going to have to go back and touch up once I'm done here. Most of which have to do with the fact that developments later in the book, that I wasn't aware of or didn't think of when I started writing, have to be matched up with previous chapters so that everything is going to be nice and cohesive. I have a few notes to work off of, and a few things I want to clarify here and there as well.
Part of my writing process usually involves writing out a chapter, and then sometime later while I'm doing other things, adaptations and revisions will often pop into my head sometimes days after i wrote the original. A lot of times these are little bits of conversation, or details that I then have to make sure I go back and add into things.
Last night for example, after i finished up the chapter I was working on and headed off to work, I started thinking about how everything in the story was going to effect certain characters in the long run. Add that with there are a few shattered preconceptions certain characters had about others and a few ideas hit me. But since I wasn't at home, I had to jot them down as little notes that I could use later on when I was home.
If the events in this book are going to have a lasting effect on the characters, which, if I want character growth long term they have to, I figured I would need something that could serve as a callback to previous book int he future. Something that can bring back a memory and evoke some emotion later on down the road.
That's the plan anyways. It's going to take a little bit more tinkering to fit my idea in with the rest of what's already written, but even though it's probably going to be somewhat time consuming, it is a relatively minor and innocuous change. One that will hopefully have some payout in the future.
I'll have to wait and see for that though. I think it'll turn out nicely, and CHERUBIM already has some future threads being spun out there anyways. Lots of things to work with.
Two, maybe three more chapters to go and I should be good to go.
There are quite a few things I'm going to have to go back and touch up once I'm done here. Most of which have to do with the fact that developments later in the book, that I wasn't aware of or didn't think of when I started writing, have to be matched up with previous chapters so that everything is going to be nice and cohesive. I have a few notes to work off of, and a few things I want to clarify here and there as well.
Part of my writing process usually involves writing out a chapter, and then sometime later while I'm doing other things, adaptations and revisions will often pop into my head sometimes days after i wrote the original. A lot of times these are little bits of conversation, or details that I then have to make sure I go back and add into things.
Last night for example, after i finished up the chapter I was working on and headed off to work, I started thinking about how everything in the story was going to effect certain characters in the long run. Add that with there are a few shattered preconceptions certain characters had about others and a few ideas hit me. But since I wasn't at home, I had to jot them down as little notes that I could use later on when I was home.
If the events in this book are going to have a lasting effect on the characters, which, if I want character growth long term they have to, I figured I would need something that could serve as a callback to previous book int he future. Something that can bring back a memory and evoke some emotion later on down the road.
That's the plan anyways. It's going to take a little bit more tinkering to fit my idea in with the rest of what's already written, but even though it's probably going to be somewhat time consuming, it is a relatively minor and innocuous change. One that will hopefully have some payout in the future.
I'll have to wait and see for that though. I think it'll turn out nicely, and CHERUBIM already has some future threads being spun out there anyways. Lots of things to work with.
Two, maybe three more chapters to go and I should be good to go.
Monday, September 2, 2019
The Endgame
I'm very close to the endgame here now. I just finished Chapter Twenty Nine of CHERUBIM, and it's already topping out almost 20k words longer than NIGHTWALKER. I'm not sure how much longer this is going to take though. I'm at the end of my weekend writing schedule with the workweek coming up, and I'm figuring maybe 4-5 more chapters are going to be necessary to finish up the story. Maybe one more than that to wrap things up a little, I'm not sure yet.
But it's in the final phase of the first draft, and that's a good thing. I may take a few days after I get finished with this first phase to just let everything sit so that I can tackle the editing and revision phase all fresh and bright eyed so to speak.
Besides that, I'm waiting on the review copies I sent out to come back so I can see how well NIGHTWALKER is being received. I put a lot of work into it, and I'm curious to see if I should have kept it all to myself like I've done with all my previous writing. Have only sold a handful of copies, but that's ok. As long as I can say I sold at least one I get to keep the title of Author. I think that's how that works. I might be wrong on that.
According to Booksprout, I have til next Sunday to get at least 3 reviews. Good or bad I'll take them as long as they're honest and aren't troll reviews. It would kind of suck to have the only reviews I get be along the lines of "you suck!"
I mean lets be honest, I already think that about my writing, so other people telling me that isn't really going to bother me all that much, but it will aggravate the hell out of me knowing that's the only thing that came to mind after they read it.
Oh well, can only wait and see.
But it's in the final phase of the first draft, and that's a good thing. I may take a few days after I get finished with this first phase to just let everything sit so that I can tackle the editing and revision phase all fresh and bright eyed so to speak.
Besides that, I'm waiting on the review copies I sent out to come back so I can see how well NIGHTWALKER is being received. I put a lot of work into it, and I'm curious to see if I should have kept it all to myself like I've done with all my previous writing. Have only sold a handful of copies, but that's ok. As long as I can say I sold at least one I get to keep the title of Author. I think that's how that works. I might be wrong on that.
According to Booksprout, I have til next Sunday to get at least 3 reviews. Good or bad I'll take them as long as they're honest and aren't troll reviews. It would kind of suck to have the only reviews I get be along the lines of "you suck!"
I mean lets be honest, I already think that about my writing, so other people telling me that isn't really going to bother me all that much, but it will aggravate the hell out of me knowing that's the only thing that came to mind after they read it.
Oh well, can only wait and see.
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