This week has been very busy so far. Hopefully I can manage to take a week off from work in November to work on my next novel project. Right now I'm planning that project, cleaning up last year's novel and preparing for Halloween.
While I generally read history books while at the gym the last few weeks before turning in for the night I've been reading books on writing.... or how not to write to be more accurate. Currently I'm reading Thanks, But This Isn't For Us by Jessica Page Morrell. Books on how to write usually aren't useful to me, but this book is a book on what not to write. Knowing what not to do can be much more useful than what to do. I hope that what I'm learning now will be of great benefit over the next month or so.
26 October 2009
19 October 2009
Preparing for NaNoWriMo 2009
I have a couple of ideas for novels for the upcoming National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). While I'm still trying to finish the draft of my first novel, which I wrote in June 2008, I want to make sure I participate in NaNoWriMo this year.
I've finally decided on a sort of retro-science fiction story set about 95 years ago. I had some other ideas, but the storylines of those would have been very bizarre with story structures unlike any other books I'm familiar with. It is probably best that I stick with a regular story structure for my first few books.
With the topic of my story determined, I am now preparing an outline so that I'm ready to start writing on November 1st. My current method of outlining a large story is with index cards. By using colored 3x5 cards I can organize the various scenes, characters, and backstory. Different colored cards are used for each category of information. This system has worked quite well for me in the past.
I'll be sure to give regular updates as I continue work on this new novel.
I've finally decided on a sort of retro-science fiction story set about 95 years ago. I had some other ideas, but the storylines of those would have been very bizarre with story structures unlike any other books I'm familiar with. It is probably best that I stick with a regular story structure for my first few books.
With the topic of my story determined, I am now preparing an outline so that I'm ready to start writing on November 1st. My current method of outlining a large story is with index cards. By using colored 3x5 cards I can organize the various scenes, characters, and backstory. Different colored cards are used for each category of information. This system has worked quite well for me in the past.
I'll be sure to give regular updates as I continue work on this new novel.
18 October 2009
Welcome!
Welcome to Mental Sprawl. This is where I'll be blogging about a multitude of random topics about things happening in my life.
Some major topics will include my journey trying to get some novels I'm working on finished and published. I will try to give hints and advice based on what I learn to hopefully help other writers. November 2009 will have many posts on my participation in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).
There will also be links to my other blogs, blogs of friends, and other sites that I like.
I have numerous other hobbies and things that I do. I'll try to write about them as well. As this blog evolves I'll make changes based on what is popular and what is not.
Some major topics will include my journey trying to get some novels I'm working on finished and published. I will try to give hints and advice based on what I learn to hopefully help other writers. November 2009 will have many posts on my participation in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).
There will also be links to my other blogs, blogs of friends, and other sites that I like.
I have numerous other hobbies and things that I do. I'll try to write about them as well. As this blog evolves I'll make changes based on what is popular and what is not.
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