I had a pretty good run this lunch time, managed to clear up a couple of nagging issues in my story and write three pages, snippets from various scenes. The issues I managed to clear up were will sappers - those problems that suck the enjoyment out of writing and eventually stop you dead by congealing around you into a block.

The first problem was a physical story issue, how can a human visible sub-people, that have to stay out of sight, travel internationally and at speed without been seen, or teleporting, in some way? And no, not a frikking Griffin, we’re all out of buckbeak clones here.

The other problem I had was more fundamental but I hadn’t really put much thought into it. In fact I hadn’t acknowledged that the problem existed until I’d solved it. Me and my subconscious are going to have serious words about that. Damn stupid thing needs to let me know about these things.

I wasn’t enjoying writing this story anymore.

This wasn’t only the above will sappers, I don’t write stories for kids. I write stuff with with cool weaponry, technology, lots of blood and sex. Which got me thinking. Why don’t I add cool weaponry, technology, lots of blood and hint at sex. I’ve got to baulk the latter or the odds of getting published decline from 0.1% to 0%.

So if I allow myself a greater leeway in the first draft I can enjoy writing it more. The hard work is shifted even more onto the second draft, but hey, that’s assuming I ever finish.

Edit: I’m also way behind schedule. Way behind. So far behind it’s like I just heard about the FSM.

Read this at the time, through some random linking from Wired I came across this thread again today. It’s from June 2004 I think - Will Wheaton on writing.

(Link has vanished - not the first time a link has randomly gone from Wordpress either - sorry folks)

Found it again - you wouldn’t believe the effort it took.

slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=154023&threshold=1&commentsort=0&tid=97&mode=thread&cid=12935813

Just to prove that I’m sometimes still writing it, this is from Chapter Four:

“You would, but I warn you, I’m testing these myself. Anyway, you wouldn’t want me to come back here, poking my nose into your little schemes, you know how I like to gossip, Spud.” Spoog blanched to a lighter green. Anna looked up and grinned.
“Spud?”
“Ere,” Spoog pointed a shaking finger at Ethel, “No need for that!”
“Why Spud?” Anna asked Ethel.
“His real name, such a sweetie, named after a vegetable.” Anna giggle, Spoog wasn’t amused in the slightest, his body almost vibrated as he stood grinding his teeth.
“Not very … manly, is it?” Anna asked. Ethel, smiled, an evil glint in her eyes, she was obviously enjoying herself.
“You see, that’s where his mam and dad did the …” Anna clapped her hands over her ears and muttered “Too much detail.” The personal details of Orcs wasn’t something she wanted to hear. It was good timing as it turned out, Spoog began to curse loudly in Orcish. A language that had elevated cursing to artistic levels, Orc cursing could create a living embodiment of the cursing. It could scuttle off and independently live its own depressing life. A legendry Orc curse artist called Emtwentyfive had once cursed so fluidly and effectually that his curse creature ate him to shut him up. The monumentally depressing creature promptly left, the rumour was it became an estate agent in Liverpool.

So anyway, he says ignoring the previous post that said topics other than writing would be cropping up, I now have 59 days to write a novel.

The shortest a novel can possibly be is approximately 50,000 words. Under this and you are in the murky world of the short story (up to 6000 words), extended short story (6000-20,000), novella (20,000-50,000)*. Lets assume then that out of the next 59 days that 9 taken already by pre-booked events. Such as long distance driving, relatives or just having a day off.

That leaves us with 50 days, not an unreasonable figure. So If I’m to write a novel in 50 days that’s a thousand words a day - a rate that professional authors would be very happy with. Neil Stephenson, for example, is pleased if he cranks out that much and has said so on his blog. Terry Pratchett would be ecstatic, in an interview he claimed to write about 350 words a day. Stephen King manages 2000 words a day, working from 11am until whenever.

So how on earth am I supposed to be able to write that much? I’ve not got the luxury of time that these guys now enjoy.

In the dim and misty past, inhabited by terrible lizards, I had a writing tally that I stuck to, it was the now modest sounding 200 words a day. Though unofficially this was set to 450 words a day. If, that is, you can possible set a goal for yourself, then set an unofficial goal alongside it. Welcome to my mind, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. That was back in the annuls of PB (pre-baby), and just into YB (young baby). In each of these time periods I had more free time than I currently have as I’m now living through LB (loud baby), which leads into TH (toddler hell).

I’ve worked out I can write for 3 hours a day, as long as I write during lunch at work and only spend half an hour a night with my wife. For two months. This should be fun, in the ironic non fun meaning of the word, after all a thousand words isn’t to ne sniffed at. You’ve suffered though this and it is only 400 words long.

*No figures on this are hard and precise, these are ‘accepted’ norms taken from a variety of sources on writing.

The end result was 8300 words, 900 of which was the synopsis. So in six days, invented a novel, written 7200 words of it, then wrote the synopsis (inventing like crazy as I’d not got much further than the initial three chapters) and made the deadline by about 32 minutes.

You might get different blog posts now, you lucky lot.

Edit: I never got a receipt for handing an entry in, so I have no idea if the branch of Waterstones that had my entry did anything with it.

They could have binned it. If it was any good, which is unlikely, they could have taken the entire concept and pimped it as there own. Who knows. It is all slightly concerning. In the end only two people, other than myself and my wife, got to read the completed three chapters. They enjoyed it, perhaps they were clinically insane though.

Running out of time.

This was the Worst. Idea. Ever.

More later.

6200 words done, one scene to write, then I have to rewrite. Then proof/edit. Sigh. I should be able to get this in for the deadline now but it won’t be up to anything like the standard I would have liked. Goes to show, never invent a story and write the first three chapters in under a week!

Finished the rough drafts of chapter one and three, collectivly weighing in at 4000+ words. Now today I have to write chapter two; which I’ve been avoiding.

Chapter two is the introduction of the main protagonist, on which the whole story turns. Get your centre point wrong and the wheel won’t turn.

Hi, sorry about this but this page has been moved to http://www.creationrobot.com/top-100-os-x-applications/

Thanks!

A quarter of the list has changed, I’m happy with 97 out of the hundred, only three to go.

I’ve added a few extra comments, more ‘almost made it’ applications and a new layout. Some of the removals were due to Spotlight and Dashboard taking over the functionality of other applications. I’m writing this from Tiger and the assumption that people are moving to it.

Man, putting this whole thing together is a mammoth project. I’m hoping to get this out sometime in the next week, txt, pdf and probably Open Office. Perhaps Word too.

The project that wouldn’t die.