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That clip above is from the movie Watchmen. This is my feeling in a nutshell.
With all of the change going on in the world at the moment, it is hard to tell what is going to happen in the future. People are hoping that in a few weeks, things will go back to normal, and we will all go back to work. People expect this situation will be a distant memory.
The human part of me hopes this will be the case. July will roll around, and the world will be back to normal. Borders will be open, people will go to concerts and sport’s games.
The writer part of me knows this won’t be the case. The writer part of me starts asking questions. Many of which the human part of me knows that’s not going to happen.
(Please note, this is a thought exercise to show how I world build scenarios for my novels.)
The writer in me starts compounding the situation. The scenario. In the United States, ten million people have lost their jobs in a week. Air travel has stopped, and borders are closed. Millions of ex-pats are trapped in foreign countries with no ways to get home. Around the world, tens of thousands have died from the disease and more will before everything is over. Most of those who have passed away are the elderly, but the young have also been affected.
I see things happening in multiple ways. This list is not complete.
One. In response to these events, many places have adopted authoritarian policies to combat this virus. China went even more welding people into their homes. Hungary has taken authoritarian policies. In New Jersey, a guy was arrested for paddleboarding. There was no one within miles of him.
Authoritarian power is given by the people willingly. Those in charge will never voluntarily give that power back. It only is given after violence. This is the start of a dystopian world where everyone is afraid of the virus and stays isolated from each other.
Two. A cure is found and wildly given to societies. People try to go back to the way it was in the hopes they can have normal. It doesn’t come as the world of yesterday is gone and gone for good. The new world is one where people are wary of each other, where people keep a stockpile of food and medicine. Where people pay off the debts and gather together three months of money. The threat of a new disease spreading across the world is too high for people.
Three. Things get worse. Currently, there is an argument over the real death rate of the disease. Accusations of the CCP lying about their numbers is rampant. There are huge gaps between what is happening in New York City and rural Alabama. There are also reports that people are getting re-infected over again.
The disease exemplifies the rifts in society and causes society to crumble. Federal governments become helpless to do anything as their employees refuse to go to work to keep safe their own families. Regional warlords and strongmen pop out of the woodwork.
Are any of these going to happen? Who knows. I am not an oracle. I don’t have the gift of foresight. But I can make educated guesses by studying current events.
If I were to write a novel based on one of those scenarios, then I would spend more time fleshing out the idea.
But as a writer, what do you think is going to happen?
This journey is not something I can do alone. It takes support from many people for it to become a reality. The easiest way is to visit my Amazon Author Page and purchase one of my books. They are available in all countries and for free on Kindle Unlimited. I do have a tip jar set up at Ko-Fe, where you can buy me a coffee. Or you can also visit me on Facebook. Your help and support are much appreciated.
With the ideal of keeping honest and transparent, here is a breakdown of March.
The world has changed as people hide in their houses. I’m not going into much detail, but it’s changed how I live. Not to a great extent, but now I have a reason not to leave my house. Many creatives are hitting the COVID-slump. Me. I’m writing more.
To sum up January, this was the second-best month I have ever done at 57k words. My editing is doing well making the daily editing goals.
2020 GOALS
- Write 600,000 words in publishable story related projects.
- Write every day of at least 500 words making words in a row at 731 days in the road.
- Catch up on editing allowing no more than 2 manuscripts waiting to be edited.
- Edit every day of 1 chapter at a minimum.
- Secure cover art for any book in the editing stage.
- Publish a minimum of 1 book.
- Publish a minimum of 3 books.
- Publish a minimum of 5 books.
- Publish a minimum of 7 books.
- Write one blog post a week.
Write update blogs at the start of every month.
- Write an update blog for the remaining months.
- Clean up Tokyo Tempest #1 with a proofread.
- Write and submit 5 short stories to markets.
- Publish 7 short stories or novellas to amazon.
- Set up a Patreon account.
- Set up proper social media author accounts and a proper newsletter.
- Have 1 paying client of editing services.
- Make 100 dollars one month through publishing.
- Make 500 dollars one month through publishing.
- Make 1000 dollars one month through publishing.
- (Bonus) Get back in shape physically by losing 20 lbs.
There are my goals for 2020. I’ve altered goal 11 to keep me writing these update goals. Cause, just because I’ve failed, doesn’t mean I should stop trying.
As I have so many goals, and many of them build on others, I will be only going over the goals I am dealing with at the moment.
I am getting close to being about to publish some manuscripts. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and it isn’t a train. I hope to get things moving and up. Being on the fourth month, I have yet to publish anything. I need to change that.
This journey is not something I can do alone. It takes support from many people for it to become a reality. The easiest way is to visit my Amazon Author Page and purchase one of my books. They are available in all countries and for free in Kindle Unlimited. I do have a tip jar set up at Ko-Fe, where you can buy me a coffee. Or you can also visit me on Facebook. Your help and support are much appreciated.
After much waiting, my first short story of 2020 has been published! This post-apocalyptic anthology includes my story, “Sailing Vessel Wanderlust: The Delivery.” It also includes 15 other authors.
Adele Reif remembered a time before things changed. In the year 2020, the Yellowstone Super-volcano blew its top, covering most of the United States with feet of hash. In moments, the world changed as weather patters changed and the globe was sent into a decade of cooling.
Fifteen years later, at the age of twenty-six, she runs a crew on the Sailing Vessel
Wanderlust, hunting around the Caribbean looking for artifacts of the old world and fending off pirates. The last job seemed to be almost more than she could handle. Almost.
So if this is something that seems interesting to you. Or you are new to science fiction as a genre, take a look. From the Ashes. You will not be disappointed.
What will you do when the world goes belly up?
Will you enjoy the glorious post-apocalypse – will you gnash your teeth and wail?
Don’t worry, you don’t have to figure it out. We’ve got you covered! Dive right in with 15 great stories where our 16 authors show how things could play out.
As is now tradition, this is the post of the end of November. I’m still putting my money where my mouth is.
This month was the best one ever. The plan for next month is to work on my werewolf story and get my Felix stories edited. I need to get to the third in the trilogy, and I want to be working on it early next year. This means that I must have my edits done by the end of December. This might not happen as things take time. With the semester winding down, I should have more time to get some more things done.
Publishing wise, the significant roadblock is editing, which I’m working on, and covers. Once I get those figured out, things will drop fast. It’s what got me to work faster and harder at this.
There are still problems in my methods, and I have come to realize that I can’t do all of this by myself. With my editing, I need others to help with a final pass. That despite give my books time to rest, I am still too close to them. With covers, I don’t have the time to learn the skills to take what’s in my head and put it on paper. I need help from people to do just that. Publishing is not a single person enterprise, and it will take a team of people to do this.
If you like what you are reading and wish to support me in my endeavours, please sign up for my newsletter, visit my Amazon Author Page and purchase one of my books. Or buy me a coffee. Your help and support are much appreciated.
As is now tradition, this is the post of the end of September. I’m still putting my money where my mouth is.
This month was very difficult. Schoolwork with five classes is hard. I’m keeping up with assignments, my own words, however, not my editing. I need to get going on this and not let it stop me. I also know I need to figure out a better idea for covers. They are my roadblock. If I had covers sitting for my books, then I’d have a very good reason to keep going and to push myself.
Sort plan this report. Write more. Edit more. Get covers. Do assignments.
If you like what you are reading and wish to support me in my endeavors, please sign up to my newsletter, visit my Amazon Author Page and purchase one of my books. Or buy me a coffee. Your help and support are much appreciated.
“You’ve got to be the hardest worker in the room.”- Dwayne Johnson
I find it hard to do all of the things I need to do. I have the awards in the prestigious field of procrastination. I’m an expert on getting things done at the last minute. Usually to my detriment.
This is a problem. A big problem.
By putting things off for later, tasks are compounded into more giant monsters of tasks that will pummel those in its path. Procrastination is the food; the very essence of the task-monster’s life.
To those he works for themselves, procrastination is the enemy. As someone who primarily works for himself, I set my own goals and deadline. I decide what I want to get done each day, and when a project is to get done. There is no one out there dictating when I get something done.
This means I must first understand myself in how do I get things done. This is essential for everyone and forgotten when people give advise. I work every day; I don’t take a day each week, I don’t take days off on my birthday, and Christmas is a workday for me. For me, this is essential because I’m a procrastinator.
I put things off until tomorrow what should be done today. During the month, I sometimes work less than I should cause “I’m tired,” or that “I’ve been working hard.” I am very good at talking myself into an excuse to be lazy and to put things off. Which is why at the end of the month, I get into a panic cause “I’m not going to make my month.”
This month is an example of this. I’m behind on my words, and I will need to write 1900 words today, the 29th, and tomorrow, the 30th. Why am I in this situation? Cause this month I have twelve days where I have written under 1500 words and many of them in the 500-word range. My one great day of 4300 did not make up for the other lacking days. In short, cause I procrastinated.
I find it easy to talk myself into working less or none at all. I find it easy to do less cause I can. This is not beneficial to me in the long run. It only hurts me.
At the start of this post, I quoted Dwayne Johnson. I found this post from a motivational speech he gave to a group of athletes, encouraging them to do better. It is only thirteen minutes long, and I encourage you to go watch it.
“You’ve got to be the hardest worker in the room.”- Dwayne Johnson
For me, this is what I have been doing all year. I’ve been working hard, getting things done cause in my circles of friends, I’m one of the most prolific writers in the group. In the groups at school, I don’t know anyone else that pushes themselves to do as much as I do. I tell them my yearly word count (382k as of today) and either they don’t believe me or think that I’m lying. Which is fine, I honestly don’t care they think of me.
But for the question of procrastination. I’ve managed to get to that goal acknowledging my problem, then combating it with hard work and no excuses. But in many ways, there is more room for improvement. There are many days where I said, “Fuck it.” There are many days where I let procrastination gain the upper hand and win.
I know that I can do better. I know that I will do better.
Knowing the problem is step one. Planing a set of goals is step two. Getting off the couch is step three.
If you like what you are reading and wish to support me in my endeavours, please sign up to my newsletter, visit my Amazon Author Page and purchase one of my books. Or buy me a coffee. Your help and support are much appreciated.
I passed the middle of the year and didn’t notice it. During that time, I have written over 280 thousand words. I have been informed that number is an achievement on its own. I have talked to other authors, and when I talk about some of my goals, the amount of words I have written is high.
But 280k is not my goal; my goal is 500k words. I’m just over halfway there.
During the process of writing a novel; there is a point in the middle of the story. This point is where the main characters have gotten past the first plot point and are slugging away towards the second plot point and the climax.
This point is often called the “Sagging Middle,” “the Dry Desert,” “the Swampy Middle.”
It is often called this because the middle of the story is where the character must go through the try-fail cycles to figure out how to complete what I call, “the story question.” It can be repetitive and monotonous; not very fulfilling.
I’m in the middle of the middle of my goal. I have gone a grand distance by now, but I’m still nowhere near the end of my goal. It has gotten repetitive and monotonous. I spend most of my time, either writing my story or thinking about my story or editing my story.
I know the end of my goal is just around the corner; all I have to do is to keep moving one day at a time. But one part of me wants to call it good. That I have done quite a bit and can call my goal complete.
I mean, 280k words are a lot. It’s an accomplishment on its own right?
But I’m reminded about one of my Mantras:
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.
It means that I have to keep going. Despite the feelings to stop and say enough. Stoping implies failure. Now that I’m going, I have little choice but to keep going.
Cause I will not fail.
As a writer, I am often asked where do I get my ideas from. As you may have read in previous blog posts, I have discussed how I get ideas multiple times, and I won’t be repeating them.
However, to sum up, I pick a few basic ideas, then ask a thousand question about them to form a solid idea and story.
I have it so that I can pull up an idea out of almost anything. In the last week, I have been asked if I wanted to submit a short story with a speedy turnaround. The story would be centered around the Area 51 meme going around.
I’m partway through the short story that I am writing it for the anthology. It’s going well, but that’s not the important part. The important part is that I was able to form a story in a short amount of time. Luckily for me, I’m able to keep it small and compact.
For me, the issue is not that I no story ideas on the go, but that I have too many. For right now, I’m going to give a short recap of some of the story ideas. Some of them are only ideas, while others I am waiting for a cover.
A trilogy set in my Agersolum universe. It’s about a thief who becomes a master mage and seeks to save all of Magic. The first book can be found here.
A trilogy where a high school kid has to somehow survive in Tokyo after Yellowstone blows up. The first book can be found here.
A trilogy set in my Beyond Terra Continuum universe. Where a high schooler is forced into the world of espionage. The first book can be found here.
Those three trilogies aren’t complete yet. They have other books on the go and will be published when they can. Some of my other trilogies:
Set in my Beyond Terra Continuum universe where the Jovian Marines are left for dead on an enemy-occupied planet. So far a trilogy is planned.
Mech Warrior is a working title for a trilogy. Set in my Beyond Terra Continuum universe where it is a mix of lost in space and Mech Warrior.
This story I had been puzzling with for a while before I decided to start writing. I wanted a stand-alone novel, but it is going to be a trilogy. Trapped in a VR game where a players death would mean their real death.
Set in a world where gods, demons, demi-gods, and angels walk among the people. The heir to a dead clan must find a way to get revenge for the death of his people. All while risking slavery, and death.
Set in my Beyond Terra Continuum universe. It can be called the origin story of the story-verse. Alien beings kidnap a million people to fight to the death in a game for nefarious means. I want it to be a trilogy; however, it will end up much longer.
Set in my Agersolum world about a young serf being thrust into the army to fight for a noble lord he had never met. This will be a trilogy.
Another set in my A\gersolum world about the heir to a noble house. He is betrayed by his older brother and cast out into the world one step ahead of his brother’s assassins.
These are only small samples of the ideas and the plot of the story. I’m hoping to get through some of the first trilogies to get to the later ones. Cause they are all calling my name and want attention. Some of them are getting pretty shrill.
If you like what you are reading and wish to support me in my endeavors, please sign up to my newsletter, visit my Amazon Author Page and purchase one of my books. Or buy me a coffee. Your help and support are much appreciated.
As the title of this post may suggest, I have a problem. It’s a bad problem for an author to have in many ways.
As you may know, I have a set list of projects that I wish to get done this year. Many of which are first drafted and ready to be edited. My major problem in that regard is that I need to get more editing done and move some of those first drafted stories down the production line.
But that is only one problem that I have. Above my desk is a two-foot by four-foot cork board filled with cards of the different novels and worlds that I am working on.
Here is an image of the cork board:
Each column is a story world, each card is a novel or short story. You can see the number of different stories that I want to write. It is a little overwhelming at times. The problem is that this week I have added three more cards onto the board. That is three more stories that I want to tell.
As my wife says, “There is no cure for idea cancer.”
The novel ideas that form in my head multiple like rabbits, grow like dandelions or mutate like cancer. It is a difficult thing to deal with Idea Cancer. Each novel idea wants attention, and its story told. However, I only have so much time in the day.
What do you do when you discover you have idea cancer?
The first thing is not to ignore the idea. Damning the ideas is not a good thing. It leads to an idea drought that will hurt an author more.
The best thing I do is to recognize that I’m not going to change projects. (Unless it has been years without being complete, but that is a different problem.) The project that I’m working on needs to be completed. Getting distracted by a new idea is not the way to do it.
I take a few minutes and write down the idea. I don’t elaborate, but write notes. I will stick the idea someplace to keep track of it and remind myself of the idea for later.
The idea is not to let it distract me too much.
Right now the idea I had is a story where the players of a VRMMO get stuck in the video game. It is like an earworm. No matter how long I shout, “Get out of my head foul beast!” It won’t go away.
I have written some of the world building for the story, and I’m happy with what I have created so far. It’s a Siren, calling out to me from the waves. I will resist this and not change projects. I have a list of stories I wish to get to and I will.
Now, this is not to downplay those with Real Cancer. Cancer is a horrible disease, and I wish the best to any that get it. The imagery on the issue is a strong metaphor that seems to work. And it’s bloody funny.
If you like what you are reading and wish to support me in my endeavours, please sign up to my newsletter, visit my Amazon Author Page and purchase one of my books. Or buy me a coffee. Your help and support are much appreciated.
Atomic Slingshot Press 