Chapter 6: Call to Arms - Status Update 5

So, my back went out two Sundays ago and then I had family in from out of state.  I didn't get any writing while my back was out (hard to write if you have to hold your laptop above you while lying in bed).  I got in some writing time today, so this chapter is progressing again.  I'm past the scenes that were giving me a lot of static and my pace has picked up.  Family is still in town and tomorrow night is our weekly Pathfinder game, so Wednesday will be my next writing night.  Conveniently, this has become my regular writing night, so that will dove-tail nicely.

Current word count: 41,196 words

Chapter 6: Call to Arms - Status Update 4

Last week I was able to get another day of writing in and pushed into a set of scenes that is difficult to write for two reasons: 1) it wasn't part of the original outline so I have a one sentence bullet point to go off of and 2) people are going to die, several of whom happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  That last point is as obstructive (I may have created a new word there) as the first point.  People dying is something that is happening in the story, but it's not what the story is about and I don't really want to go any deeper than I need to, but it needs to happen.  I think I'm going to wimp out and have the thing happen of stage between a shift in perspectives.  I may be just thinking out loud here at the moment.

This week, writing will be thin as my back went out this past Sunday and I've spent most of the week so far on my back.  By the time this posts, I'll be back at work for the first time this week and hope to make it the whole day without needing too much pain medicine.  I do have to drive 45 minutes there and back, so I'm sticking to the over the counter stuff.  It's been doing the job so far - as long as I work within my current health limits.  My mom is flying in next week for Memorial Day weekend and it has been nearly a year since last time I saw her.  I'd like to be as near to healthy then as I can get.

Current word count: 38,757 words

After the current scene, I have the beginnings of revelations on who is behind the uprisings.  Clues are discovered and links are made.  Chapter 7 will be the turning of the tide and things will start happening quick there.

I currently have one scene in my list of "Scenes I Need to Add After the First Draft Is Done".  I have no doubt there will be more, but I'm pushing on to complete the first draft before going back to insert new material.

That's it for now.  Later!

Chapter 6: Call to Arms - Status Update 3

On my lunch time, so I have to be quick.  Most of the way through a long military scene and my writing is picking up some steam.  This weekend is busy with two games and helping a friend pack his deceased mother's belongings.

Word Count: 37,497 words

How much detail should be in a scene where the nominal protagonists have to attack an enemy supply depot?  Should the killing happen off screen, on screen, or both?

I'm currently favoring off screen as the actual killing is not critical to the story itself.  I find using Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising to be a good touchstone for things like this.  What are your thoughts?


Also, Happy Star Wars Day!

Chapter 6: Call to Arms - Status Update 2

The last two weeks have been busy, but not as busy in a writing sense as I'd like.  I'm still working through the "new" material for Chapter 6 and have just about got the "slogging" part done.  Next are some additional scenes where I know what I want to show, but don't have the details all laid out yet.  After that, I'm back to things I've planned out more fully and then Chapter 7.

Current word count: 35,210 words

That's about it for now.
   

Chapter 6: Call to Arms - Status Update 1

So, I'm swinging away at the beginning of Chapter 6.  This part is being difficult and I'm really having to work to get it written.  Not because it is difficult, but because it is something I've added as part of the Chapter 5 re-org and isn't as well thought out yet.  Mostly I have a bunch of bullet points of things happening and I've been wrestling with how to present them in ways that enhance the story and aren't boring.  I think I've worked it out, but I'm still slowly hacking through it.

The current word count is only 32, 494 words.

Once I get past this tar pit, the rest of the chapter is better laid out and should flow more quickly.  Well, sort of.  After this part, I get into the weeds of some police investigation needed to convey story and a bit of military action to keep story bits moving along.  Then I can finally get to the significant plot points for this chapter and those are pretty well outlined.

The other thing I'm working with is my gamer ADD.  I've stopped running games so I can concentrate on writing this novel.  I have to be fairly ruthless with adventure ideas and campaign concepts that try to derail my writing.  I'm playing in a (mostly) regular weekly Pathfinder game.  My Hero System group is getting together again to run a Pulp Hero game during the summer.  The GM is a high school English teacher and her work schedule is fairly grueling.  I at least get to leave work at work - she has to bring it home so it can get half of it done.  Papers won't grade themselves while she's teaching classes all day.  Ungrateful papers...

I've also got an interesting idea for automating the project documentation we do at work for every project.  I think I can see how to put a HTML front end on a database so all the necessary paperwork has all the necessary information without hand entering it in to each document.  Still scribbling out design specs in spare moments at work when I need a break from whatever I'm working on.  It's a cool problem to solve and engages many of the same mental muscles as writing does, so I have to keep the two things in separate mental boxes.

The document database is cool and all, but the novel will get published.

Later!
  

Chapter 5: Cincinnatus - Draft Complete

This past weekend, I finally completed the draft of Chapter 5 and I am now in Chapter 6.

Current Word Count: 30,498 words

Saturday my wife had a Women's Day Out and Slumber Party, so I hung out with a friend at his place and played Space Empires 5, an old turn-based Civ-type game.  It is just the right mix of complicated and easy to play that hits a sweet spot for us.  Plus it can be networked so we can play against computer opponents.  Assuming your laptop does not have a corporate firewall blocking all attempts to network.  Like mine did.


So I went and bought a new laptop.


Now this isn't as crazy as it seems.  While I did buy a laptop to play an old computer game, I had been planning on buying one anyway with my tax refund, which had been sitting in my savings account for a couple of weeks.  This was just the spark that pushed me into buying the thing.  Also, it came in under budget, so big win there.


Once we got it back, I had to run updates, load the anti-virus software, run updates, load MS Office, load updates, load the game, and then load the patch.  Somewhere in there we took a break for dinner.  After all THAT was done, we finally got to playing at about 8:00 PM and played until 3:00 AM.  We would have kept on playing (or at least taken a nap and played all the next day), but we had a Pathfinder game we both are players in to make at 11:00 AM on Sunday.  Needless to say, we were both slightly zombified, but caffeine helped tremendously.

Monday I spent loading and copying over a bunch of stuff (mostly my music) from my old laptop to my new one and running a backup.  That took most of the day, mostly due to moving large amounts of data through a USB port.  Plus, the cable TV went out and we had to wait for the repair guy to do his thing.  He got to the house at 3:00 PM and was there until 8:00 PM, replaced everything (even running a new cable) and still no TV.  Data was running fine, just no TV.  We said goodbye and expected to see him again later in the week.


Yesterday was our wedding anniversary and my wife and I spent the day on adventures across the city.  We had a really good time and greatly enjoyed the day out.  When we got home, the cable TV was running again.  Don't know how or why, but I'm not asking either.


That's it for now.  Later!


 

Chapter 5: Cincinnatus - Update 3

The visit by my in-laws is mostly over and I should be able to get back to a normal writing schedule again.  I like seeing my in-laws as they are great people, but being social cuts into writing time and I've cut out most television, books, and just about everything else to focus on writing.  House chores, grocery shopping, and helping fix dinner (or fixing it when it is my turn) are things that can't be cut, nor are visits from my in-laws.

But, man, do I want to get back to my writing.

Word count is now 28,542 words.

This is 4341 words over last week, so pretty good all things considered.  It represents mostly one full afternoon of writing while my wife and her mom hit the stores and my FIL read, napped, and walked.

I'm at a point where I'd like to take a sabbatical from work for a couple of weeks or three and do my flat out best to finish, but I'm saving my vacation days for an anniversary trip late in the year.  Plus, work would freak if I just said "Hey, I want to take a month off."  I know this, because they are still freaking from when a coworker did just that last year.

That's it for now.  Later!