Merrilee Faber is running a Creativity Workshop that will run from now ’til August. It involves writing lots of short stories.

Even though I’m in the middle of a novel edit, I joined because I’m still not done with my novel, and I’m feeling quite bad about that. In the long run, I’ll benefit if I give this workshop my all; it should help me complete works in a more timely manner.

Our first assignment is to assess our weak-points or other things we’d like to work on during the workshop when it comes to writing short stories.

So without further ado…

I usually bill myself as a high fantasy author on the web. More specifically, an ‘aspiring author of the high-fantasy kind’. By the time I’d plotted the final book of my trilogy, I realized I probably had an epic high fantasy on my hands.

Some people say the terms epic fantasy and high fantasy are interchangeable. And I can understand that; it’s tricky to pin them down and define them. The meanings evolve on a daily basis.

At this current juncture, I’d define a high fantasy as a story that features a world with different rule-sets from our own that is threatened by a malevolent evil.

And an epic fantasy, in my opinion, has everything to do with scope (although the classic definition has to do with cycles). So what is scope, exactly, when it comes to writing novels? Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve had a serious case of  blogger’s block lately. I’d take blogger’s block over writer’s block any day. … But not necessarily every day.  

Today the doctor let us know my son is officially free of his heart and apnea monitor.

Here he is on Easter Sunday:

And here’s him being his usual cheerful self:

You may have noticed those little black and white cords. No worries; they’ve officially gone bye-bye and the next chapter can begin.

I finished reading A Game of Thrones. Finally. I had no idea just how much story laid between the covers, like I just read five very good novels rolled into one.

Then I started in on The Path of Daggers. I figure if I’ve read seven WoT books, I can read the rest. It’s been kind of nice settling back into Jordan’s familiar world, as good as George R.R. Martin’s was. I’m heavily invested in the characters of WoT and am excited to see the story through to the end.

My editing’s been going very well despite getting knocked out of my own NPI. My paragraphs have gotten … noticably larger lately– without feeling too info-dumpy. I feel like I don’t have to trim everything as much as I used to because the flow still seems to be there. But please. If it’s not, knock me off my high horse.

Maybe I should introduce you to Cirellio sometime. Maybe a passage from a chapter? He is the main character, after all.

And maybe I should change the way the site looks, something bright instead of dark? A change around here might be just the inspiration I need.

Welcome to the March 2010 Novel Push Initiative!

(It’s actually 11 days in but shhh….)

Very interesting outcome for the first 10 days. A lot of the veterans aren’t doing so hot while the newcomers are carving us a new one. There’s some serious writing going on here. People are hitting personal milestones left and right. In fact, I think we might have a lot of records set by the end of this month. We shall see!

• The break-down:

1. A “Knock-out” is 0-249 words. (After the Days of Reprieve are exhausted)
2. An “Update” is 250-999 words.
3. A  “Session” is 1,000-1,667 words.  (And earns you an extra Day of Reprieve)
4. A “Tougher-than-NaNo” is anything greater than 1,667.
5. A “THE END!” is when you’ve completed a WIP and type ‘THE END’.

  Read the rest of this entry »

I have become like ocean waves to a pebble; I write and rewrite and rewrite to try and make my story as smooth as possible.

This requires the patience of a wave.

Maybe three or four novels later I’ll be able to do this quick.

Maybe a first novel should have a clean, simple story structure. Perhaps writing a self-contained novel or a few more short stories would’ve saved me from writing so many worthless scenes and entire chapters that weren’t needed.

Sometimes I regret the difficulty of this project. There are too many layered events and abstract ideas for anyone as ill-experienced as me to tackle without stumbling. A lot.

I’m bleeding for this book. They say all writers do. Which makes me wonder how there are so many books.

Just like my son, day by day, my book’s growing and developing. I guess that’s all that matters.

 Well well well, 2/3rds of the way through the month, are we? I applaud you! 

For those that aren’t innit, think of all the words you could be writing by switching to NPI. And that’s not such a bad thing, is it? Like … free fish n’ chips or something. Only they’re not free, but they’re easy. As easy as standing up, some blokes might say. Or sitting down and typing, as it were. Others might even say ‘laid back’.

The break-down:

1. A “Knock-out” is 0-249 words. (After the three Days of Reprieve are exhausted!)
2. An “Update” is 250-999 words.
3. A “Session” is 1,000-1,667 words.
4. A “Tougher-than-NaNo” is anything greater than 1,667.
5. A “THE END!” is when you’ve completed your WIP and type ‘THE END’.

1st: Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome back. It’s impressive you’ve made it this far. But I must warn you– the month’s only a third of the way through. And, outside in the wintery winter,  it grows ever colder.

/begin out-of-sync lips/

Your laid-back-fu is good.

But mine is better.

/end out-of-sync lips/

• 10 days in, guys! Grats!!
  Let’s see how we did…
• The break-down:

1. A “Knock-out” is 0-249 words. (After the three Days of Reprieve are exhausted!)
2. An “Update” is 250-999 words.
3. A  “Session” is 1,000-1,667 words.
4. A “Tougher-than-NaNo” is anything greater than 1,667.
5. A “THE END!” is when you’ve completed your WIP and type ‘THE END’.

1st:

These past five days have been some of the most writerly days I’ve ever experienced. And– Holy gravy, I’m first?!? And you know what? It wasn’t too bad. I didn’t feel too stretched out; still worked each day, and still spent lots of time at the hospital with Max.

Yep, NPI Laid-back Edition: So easy, even a caveman can do it. ;)

2nd: Read the rest of this entry »