Hello, creatures of the internet,
As of today, I have officially completely the first draft of my new book Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence. I may or may not have squealed happily a little bit. To say the least, I'm feeling really good right now! On the 16th, when I decided to challenge myself in completing my novella before the end of the holidays, of which I had 6,512 words total at the time, after that first day I wondered if I would regret it. I was afraid that the pressure of having to write a set amount of words per day might be a bit overwhelming or that I might not be able to find enough time. But in the end, I surprised myself by going over that minimum amount of words almost every day and because of it I was able to finish my book way ahead of schedule. I wrote over 30,000 words in under two weeks, which brought me to my goal of finishing my book at around 40,000 words. The total word count comes out to 39,120 words.
If anyone is interested in seeing how I kept up with my numbers each day, here's a small chart I filled in as I went:
Word Count Before Start of Challenge - 6,512
Goal Words Per Day to Reach 40,000 words by January 6: 1,522
Dec. 16 - 07,999/08,034 (Daily Count: 1,487 - 35 words short. Next day must write minimum 1557)
Dec. 17 - 10,814/09,556 (Daily Count: 2,815 - 1,258 words over. Next day must write minimum 264)
Dec. 18 - 14,124/11,078 (Daily Count: 3,310 - 3,046 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 19 - 18,114/12,600 (Daily Count: 3,957 - 5,514 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 20 - 21,095/14,122 (Daily Count: 2,978 - 6,973 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 21 - 25,026/15,644 (Daily Count: 3,910 - 9,382 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 22 - 27,047/17,166 (Daily Count: 2,033 - 9,881 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 23 - 27,719/18,688 (Daily Count: 669 - 9,031 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 24 - 29,790/20,210 (Daily Count: 2,069 - 9,580 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 25 - 32,234/21,732 (Daily Count: 2,401 - 10,502 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 26 - 36,193/23,254 (Daily Count: 4,008 - 12,939 words over. Next Day must write minimum 0)
Dec. 27 - 39,120/24,776 (Daily Count: 2,850 - 14,344 words over. COMPLETED)
Dec. 28 - ??,???/26,298
Dec. 29 - ??,???/27,829
Dec. 30 - ??,???/29,342
Dec. 31 - ??,???/30,864
Jan. 01 - ??,???/32,386
Jan. 02 - ??,???/33,908
Jan. 03 - ??,???/35,430
Jan. 04 - ??,???/36,952
Jan. 05 - ??,???/38,474
Jan. 06 - ??,???/40,000
So go ahead and check out the dedicated page to Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence to learn more what the book is about and what my plans for it are for the future!
Now I'm going to go relax and enjoy the rest of my holiday!
Your humble writing gremlin,
Scott
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Holiday Challenge: Day 10
Hello, creatures of the internet,
I hope everyone's having a merry Christmas! My family and I are. Especially my daughter, who's received more toys than we can store. I definitely foresee much blocks to pick up and toy babies to switch on/off. But it's great to see her get excited about those things.
Concerning the progress of Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence, I'm way ahead of schedule. So ahead, in fact, that I intend on finishing it this Friday - a whole nine days early. That's only if things go according to plan, of course. I'm just a bit over 31,000 words and I'm trying to wrap it up between 38k - 40k. I hate to hold myself back from writing over 40,000 words but I want this book to be categorized as a novella, so it has to remain under that amount. But I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing. I've also already talked to an editor and starting at the beginning of February I'll begin the process of having it professionally edited.
It's back to writing for me,
Scott
I hope everyone's having a merry Christmas! My family and I are. Especially my daughter, who's received more toys than we can store. I definitely foresee much blocks to pick up and toy babies to switch on/off. But it's great to see her get excited about those things.
Concerning the progress of Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence, I'm way ahead of schedule. So ahead, in fact, that I intend on finishing it this Friday - a whole nine days early. That's only if things go according to plan, of course. I'm just a bit over 31,000 words and I'm trying to wrap it up between 38k - 40k. I hate to hold myself back from writing over 40,000 words but I want this book to be categorized as a novella, so it has to remain under that amount. But I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing. I've also already talked to an editor and starting at the beginning of February I'll begin the process of having it professionally edited.
It's back to writing for me,
Scott
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Holiday Challenge: Day 5
Hello, Creatures of the Internet,
I'm still three days ahead of schedule. Also, I'm about halfway finished and was able to outline the rest of the book chapter by chapter. And after doing a few number crunches, it might not reach to a full 40,000 words. Considering the average amount of words I'm writing per chapter, I'm estimating it'll bring me somewhere between 35,000 - 40,000. Which is still perfectly acceptable for a full length Novella and that's fine with me. So hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from here on out. But I know that's probably not going to be true.
It's amazing how many emotions a person can experience in such a condensed amount of time while writing a book. Yesterday, approximately during the span of 30 minutes, I experienced the happiness of wow-I'm-really-enjoying-this, then I hit a snag in dialogue which brought me to a depressed I-am-way-over-my-head & this-is-so-freaking-hard, then back again to an excited holy-crap-this-is-incredible! Ultimately, I think it's the stress of placing myself under a timer that's getting to me. But if I am determined to finish this before January 6th, then I got to stay focused because I knew it was never going to be easy. Although I have to admit, this might be the most rewarding experience I've had as a writer and this story might be the one I'm most proud of so far.
Your humble writing gremlin,
Scott
I'm still three days ahead of schedule. Also, I'm about halfway finished and was able to outline the rest of the book chapter by chapter. And after doing a few number crunches, it might not reach to a full 40,000 words. Considering the average amount of words I'm writing per chapter, I'm estimating it'll bring me somewhere between 35,000 - 40,000. Which is still perfectly acceptable for a full length Novella and that's fine with me. So hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from here on out. But I know that's probably not going to be true.
It's amazing how many emotions a person can experience in such a condensed amount of time while writing a book. Yesterday, approximately during the span of 30 minutes, I experienced the happiness of wow-I'm-really-enjoying-this, then I hit a snag in dialogue which brought me to a depressed I-am-way-over-my-head & this-is-so-freaking-hard, then back again to an excited holy-crap-this-is-incredible! Ultimately, I think it's the stress of placing myself under a timer that's getting to me. But if I am determined to finish this before January 6th, then I got to stay focused because I knew it was never going to be easy. Although I have to admit, this might be the most rewarding experience I've had as a writer and this story might be the one I'm most proud of so far.
Your humble writing gremlin,
Scott
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Holiday Challenge: Day 4
Hello, creatures of the internet,
I wasn't going to write a blog post today but I wanted to share a good feeling. I love being able to sit at my desk and type away on my keyboard, just to look over to the window and notice it's snowing. I love winter. It's my favorite season. I love the cold weather as the clouded skies release their white flakes of snow. For some reason, this makes me like writing stories even more.
Also, currently I'm 3,811 words ahead of schedule, placing me at 16,441 words out of the 12,600 I was expected to reach by the end of tonight, and I still have the rest of the night to add to it. I doubt I'll be able to keep up this pace during the entire holidays, considering Christmas and other festivities, but so far it's looking good. I just hope the ideas keep coming.
Your humble writing gremlin,
Scott
I wasn't going to write a blog post today but I wanted to share a good feeling. I love being able to sit at my desk and type away on my keyboard, just to look over to the window and notice it's snowing. I love winter. It's my favorite season. I love the cold weather as the clouded skies release their white flakes of snow. For some reason, this makes me like writing stories even more.
Also, currently I'm 3,811 words ahead of schedule, placing me at 16,441 words out of the 12,600 I was expected to reach by the end of tonight, and I still have the rest of the night to add to it. I doubt I'll be able to keep up this pace during the entire holidays, considering Christmas and other festivities, but so far it's looking good. I just hope the ideas keep coming.
Your humble writing gremlin,
Scott
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Holiday Challenge: Day 3
Good morning, creatures of the internet,
or I guess whatever time you're reading this at. But here I am on the third day of my personal challenge and I'm feeling pretty good. Although, I'm a bit tired as of right this moment as I sip away at my coffee (but now that I've come back to proofread my post that coffee really did the trick!), but I'm feeling good about the progress I've been making. This process has been really challenging me to practice discipline. Normally when I write, I usually think of new ideas and plot advances while I lay in bed at night trying to fall asleep. That seems to be the only time where I can clear my mind completely of the rest of the world and focus on new ideas. And usually, at least for my other books, there's no deadline reminding me of a strict schedule. I had weeks and months at my disposal to just let the ideas flow freely on their own time, but now I need to persuade them with chocolates and shiny things so that I can work faster. It's a little stressful wondering if I'll be able to finish it on time, but honestly, I find it just as much an exciting rush!
The reason I say this is because of the feeling I experience when being able to overcome a hurtle. Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence is proving to be the most challenging story I've ever attempted to write yet. It's got to be funny, witty and smart, much more detailed since it's not a Middle Grade book, and be a convincing love story as well. That last point is the reason I often sit and stare at the screen wondering what to type next. I like to consider myself to be at least a little romantic, but trying to create a character who is firing on all cylinders in that department is more difficult that I imagined. At least for the main character, Charlie Cradle, an awkward and shy 24 year old woman who has always lived her life without risk and mainly keeps to herself, is a little easier to write since I actually find myself having a somewhat similar personality. But that's another thing - writing in the perspective of a adult female lead is something I've never done either. I'm just hoping I am doing this right.
At the time I am writing this I am currently over my goal word count from yesterday. Today I could write a minimum of 264 words and still be on track since I wrote an excess of 1,258 words over yesterday's goal count. But I'm definitely not settling with 264 words for today. The more I write with the time that I have, then the less stress to deal with on each following day. That will also give me more time to brainstorm ideas when I fall into a rut. Now, I must be back to writing and try to avoid wasting time on Facebook at all cost.
Your humble writing gremlin,
Scott
or I guess whatever time you're reading this at. But here I am on the third day of my personal challenge and I'm feeling pretty good. Although, I'm a bit tired as of right this moment as I sip away at my coffee (but now that I've come back to proofread my post that coffee really did the trick!), but I'm feeling good about the progress I've been making. This process has been really challenging me to practice discipline. Normally when I write, I usually think of new ideas and plot advances while I lay in bed at night trying to fall asleep. That seems to be the only time where I can clear my mind completely of the rest of the world and focus on new ideas. And usually, at least for my other books, there's no deadline reminding me of a strict schedule. I had weeks and months at my disposal to just let the ideas flow freely on their own time, but now I need to persuade them with chocolates and shiny things so that I can work faster. It's a little stressful wondering if I'll be able to finish it on time, but honestly, I find it just as much an exciting rush!
The reason I say this is because of the feeling I experience when being able to overcome a hurtle. Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence is proving to be the most challenging story I've ever attempted to write yet. It's got to be funny, witty and smart, much more detailed since it's not a Middle Grade book, and be a convincing love story as well. That last point is the reason I often sit and stare at the screen wondering what to type next. I like to consider myself to be at least a little romantic, but trying to create a character who is firing on all cylinders in that department is more difficult that I imagined. At least for the main character, Charlie Cradle, an awkward and shy 24 year old woman who has always lived her life without risk and mainly keeps to herself, is a little easier to write since I actually find myself having a somewhat similar personality. But that's another thing - writing in the perspective of a adult female lead is something I've never done either. I'm just hoping I am doing this right.
At the time I am writing this I am currently over my goal word count from yesterday. Today I could write a minimum of 264 words and still be on track since I wrote an excess of 1,258 words over yesterday's goal count. But I'm definitely not settling with 264 words for today. The more I write with the time that I have, then the less stress to deal with on each following day. That will also give me more time to brainstorm ideas when I fall into a rut. Now, I must be back to writing and try to avoid wasting time on Facebook at all cost.
Your humble writing gremlin,
Scott
Sunday, December 16, 2012
First Draft of Second Book & Holiday Challenge
Ahoy thar, creatures of the internet,
I'm extremely excited to announce that I have officially completed the first draft of The Genesis Traveler, the second book in my Sky Caller series. I still don't know what I should called the series; i.e. The Sky Caller Chronicles, The Sky Caller Trilogy, Tales of Ordica... That is still up in the air. Even though I've unofficially released The Sky Caller for purchase through Lulu.com (unofficial because I'm still working on getting it professionally edited), I'll wait until I publish it through a different publishing company before I attach one of those titles. But as of right now, I'm just incredible excited that I was able to finish writing the story for my second book.
The Genesis Traveler takes place years after the events of The Sky Caller, which follows the story of two characters who are going to be important in the next and last book. This book is just about the same length as the first, being a little more than 1,200 words over, totaling at approximately 63,000 words. I'm going to hold off making edits and corrections for a while though, because I'm in no hurry to publish it yet. I'd like The Sky Caller to get a little more recognition first. So, in the meantime, I've decided to challenge myself this Christmas break with a new project!
During the next 22 days (December 16 - January 6), I'm going to attempt finishing a novella I'm writing for my wife, Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence. Check out the page above to learn some about it!
My goal is to make this book total at approximately 40,000 words. As of right now I have 6,512 words, so if I subtract that from my set total and then divide it by 22, to reach my goal I will need to write a total of approximately 1,522 words a day until my end date. I chose not to participate in NaNoWriMo last month because of my college workload, but now that I have the rest of the holiday to be stress free of school, I can focus a lot more time and energy into writing. Will I be able to achieve my goal? Honestly, I have no idea. Writing about love, comedy and a female main character is going to be challenging, especially for me. But I will never know unless I try.
Every couple of days or so during this time, I'm going to post about my progress and things that randomly pop into my head concerning the challenge.
Your humble writing gremlin,
Scott
I'm extremely excited to announce that I have officially completed the first draft of The Genesis Traveler, the second book in my Sky Caller series. I still don't know what I should called the series; i.e. The Sky Caller Chronicles, The Sky Caller Trilogy, Tales of Ordica... That is still up in the air. Even though I've unofficially released The Sky Caller for purchase through Lulu.com (unofficial because I'm still working on getting it professionally edited), I'll wait until I publish it through a different publishing company before I attach one of those titles. But as of right now, I'm just incredible excited that I was able to finish writing the story for my second book.
The Genesis Traveler takes place years after the events of The Sky Caller, which follows the story of two characters who are going to be important in the next and last book. This book is just about the same length as the first, being a little more than 1,200 words over, totaling at approximately 63,000 words. I'm going to hold off making edits and corrections for a while though, because I'm in no hurry to publish it yet. I'd like The Sky Caller to get a little more recognition first. So, in the meantime, I've decided to challenge myself this Christmas break with a new project!
During the next 22 days (December 16 - January 6), I'm going to attempt finishing a novella I'm writing for my wife, Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence. Check out the page above to learn some about it!
My goal is to make this book total at approximately 40,000 words. As of right now I have 6,512 words, so if I subtract that from my set total and then divide it by 22, to reach my goal I will need to write a total of approximately 1,522 words a day until my end date. I chose not to participate in NaNoWriMo last month because of my college workload, but now that I have the rest of the holiday to be stress free of school, I can focus a lot more time and energy into writing. Will I be able to achieve my goal? Honestly, I have no idea. Writing about love, comedy and a female main character is going to be challenging, especially for me. But I will never know unless I try.
Every couple of days or so during this time, I'm going to post about my progress and things that randomly pop into my head concerning the challenge.
Your humble writing gremlin,
Scott
Sunday, December 02, 2012
Sequels & Chocolate Gremlins
Ahoy thar, creatures of the internet,
It's currently 11:40 pm and I'm taking a short break from writing so that I can write a blog post. As mentioned the other day, I'm working on a sequel to The Sky Caller. As of this moment, I'm currently 89 words away from having written 35,000. My progress this time around is coming along much faster than it did when writing my first book - which took me approximately 3 years! I believe I've passed the halfway mark, unless my story decides there's more to tell, and I'm feeling really good about it. It's a bit more challenging though, since I'm focusing on two different character perspectives this time around. But it's still as fun and hard as ever!
I'm hoping that by the end of Christmas break I will have finished my first draft. The three weeks off I'm getting from college is going to be a welcomed break, and I can't wait to use up that spare time to write. Next to witnessing my daughter being birthed into the world before my very eyes, watching a story unfold before me is the best feeling ever. It just feels so good to watch your story take a life of its own and even surprise you. Even if no one ever likes my work, I'll always feel good knowing I built such an elaborate universe that at least captivates me. After I finish the second book, I have one more to go to finish the series.
But besides writing, Christmas is near! However, I'm excited and nervous about this. I'm excited because of the time I'll get to spend with family and the meals we'll share together. But I'm nervous because of the weight I'm going to put on because of it! Since September I've gone from weighing 260 lbs to right now weighing 224 lbs through exercise and healthier eating. But what the heck! Tis' the season! I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope the damage isn't too extensive. I'll blame it on the chocolate gremlins spreading mischief.
Now I must return to writing.
Au revoir!
It's currently 11:40 pm and I'm taking a short break from writing so that I can write a blog post. As mentioned the other day, I'm working on a sequel to The Sky Caller. As of this moment, I'm currently 89 words away from having written 35,000. My progress this time around is coming along much faster than it did when writing my first book - which took me approximately 3 years! I believe I've passed the halfway mark, unless my story decides there's more to tell, and I'm feeling really good about it. It's a bit more challenging though, since I'm focusing on two different character perspectives this time around. But it's still as fun and hard as ever!
I'm hoping that by the end of Christmas break I will have finished my first draft. The three weeks off I'm getting from college is going to be a welcomed break, and I can't wait to use up that spare time to write. Next to witnessing my daughter being birthed into the world before my very eyes, watching a story unfold before me is the best feeling ever. It just feels so good to watch your story take a life of its own and even surprise you. Even if no one ever likes my work, I'll always feel good knowing I built such an elaborate universe that at least captivates me. After I finish the second book, I have one more to go to finish the series.
But besides writing, Christmas is near! However, I'm excited and nervous about this. I'm excited because of the time I'll get to spend with family and the meals we'll share together. But I'm nervous because of the weight I'm going to put on because of it! Since September I've gone from weighing 260 lbs to right now weighing 224 lbs through exercise and healthier eating. But what the heck! Tis' the season! I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope the damage isn't too extensive. I'll blame it on the chocolate gremlins spreading mischief.
Now I must return to writing.
Au revoir!
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