Writer Senses

Current Word Count: ~73,500 in the manuscript, ~88,500 with later material that is already written. Listening To: Flow Like Water by James Newton Howard from The Last Airbender soundtrack. ____ My last update was written from my vantage point at my grandparents' kitchen table in North Carolina. Despite having traveled from Tampa, to Alabama, to South Carolina, to North Carolina, to Virginia to Ft. Lauderdale and finally back to Tampa, I managed to get a significant amount of writing done. My last update had us somewhere in "chapter 13/14 land." We are now staked knee-deep in the middle of chapter 17, bracing for the upcoming moment when the dual plot lines will collide. I find myself at a difficult juncture, because as Jerome K. Jerome wrote, "Idleness, to be sweet, like kisses must be stolen." Now, I don't want to say that writing is idleness. Writing is not idleness, and if you want to tell me writing is idleness, I will print out all 287 pages of my ma...

Current Word Count: ~54,700 in the manuscript, ~70,000 with later material that is already written. Listening To: Final Fantasy VIII Soundtrack: Martial Law ____ After an exhausting first year of seminary, chapters 1-10 of the novel are down on paper, with 6,500 words going strong in chapter 11. The story has taken numerous twists and turns - many of which I myself did not foresee or intend - but I have to say that I am pleased with progress, all things considered, as well as the unfolding of the plot. Thus far, the vast majority of readers seem very intrigued by the story, and some of the biggest critiques are, "Write more!" While this is both flattering and encouraging, the fact remains the chapters 4-10 are in need of significant editing and proofreading. Due to the escalating busy-ness of their lives, my first two (favorite!) readers have been too occupied to provided consistent feedback of late. That, coupled with my need for a wider range of opinions and my momentous ...

Current Word Count: ~37,000 in the manuscript, ~45,000 with later material that is already written. Listening To: The Great Eatlon from "Lady in the Water" composed by James Newton Howard ____ After two months of work, (not to mention those three heinous weeks of busy-ness prior to Spring Break) I have finally completed chapter 5. The length is ~15,700, which amounts to about 40-45% of the whole book thus far, not counting later chapters I've already written. I feel like the original marathon guy, the one the legend is made up after. He ran 26 miles and then died. That is me right now. On the plus side, I am very excited about how things are progressing. The end of chapter 5 could probably use some polishing before I'm really okay with it, but overall I like how it worked out. We get a good look into the history, culture and mythology of the people in the world of ARK. At the same time, we also learn a lot about the past events that have been nagging at Tru for th...

Currently listening to: Silence and Motion from Final Fantasy VIII composed by Nobuo Uematsu Current word count: 24,000 ____ A few days ago I had a great night of inspiration for the story. I figured out a pretty good way to put two of the characters, Laro Sadoleto and Jek Tahng, to great use. While I had planned on employing the Jek character from a very early stage in my thoughts, the Laro character was invented "on-the-fly" as part of chapter 3, Woods of the Wildlands. After considering Laro's purpose at this early stage in the story, I realized that it would be possible to use him later, and decided to do so. Several days ago, though, I devised a way where the character could experience a significant arc. As it currently stands, I plan on following this track for Laro. Surprisingly, I am very excited about him, especially since his initial function was minor. I cannot wait to see what this character will be able to accomplish for the plot of Ark . I also invented a...

Currently listening to: Balamb Garden theme (Orchestral)from Final Fantasy VIII composed by Nobuo Uematsu. ____ I am excited to officially announce my first novel, Ark : A sci-fi/fantasy tale. I conceived of the idea 7 years ago, during my senior year in high school. The tale was initially to be a Star Wars fan-fiction, but after watching the entire series of Avatar: The Last Airbender this summer, I realized that for my story to be taken seriously, I needed to spend the time and effort to construct my own world and mythology, rather than stealing George Lucas.' (Another plus: I don't have to pay royalties to his real-life Empire.) I thus began in July to work on background-related issues, which I did until October. In late October, I began working on the first draft of the first chapter, which was submitted to Scribophile.com on November 5th. I received numerous encouraging reviews on the chapter (and, most recently, 2nd place in a NaNoWriMo contest) and have been w...