One Final Excerpt

Hurray!  I made it to the end of Round 2 of ROW80; the first of many yet to come.  I'll see you all in eleven days.  So, until then, here is one final excerpt from my favorite author (yeah, you guessed it). 

“Quick!  Into this door!” the girl cried desperately, running across the corridor and throwing open the door of a chamber.
Conan followed her through, and then threw the gold catch behind them.  They stood in an ornately furnished chamber, empty but for themselves, and she drew him to a gold-barred window, through which he saw trees and shrubbery.
“You are strong,” she panted.  “If you can tear these bars away, you may yet escape.  The garden is full of guards, but the shrubs are thick, and you may avoid them.  The southern wall is also the outer wall of the city.  Once over that, you have a chance to get away.  A horse is hidden for you in a thicket beside the road that runs westward, a few hundred paces to the south of the fountain of Thrallos.  You know where it is?”
“Aye!  But what of you? I had meant to take you with me.” 
A flood of joy lighted her beautiful face. 
“Then my cup of happiness is brimming!  But I will hamper your escape.  Burdened with me you would fail.  Nay, do not fear for me.  They will never suspect that I aided you willingly.  Go!  What you have said will glorify my life throughout the long years.” 
He caught her up in his iron arms, crushed her slim, vibrant figure to him and kissed her fiercely on eyes, cheeks, throat and lips, until she lay panting in his embrace; gusty and tempestuous as a storm-wind, even his love-making was violent. 
“I’ll go,” he muttered.  “But by Crom, I’ll come for you some day!”
— (Excerpt from The Hour of the Dragon, by Robert E. Howard)

Keep the Fire Burning!
Please visit the other writers in the ROW80 Community…

Spring into Summer

“Instantly the brute saw him; its great yellow tusks gleamed in the shadows, but it made no sound.  Creatures of night and the silence, the gray apes of Vilayet were voiceless.  But in its dim, hideous features, which were a bestial travesty of a human face, showed ghastly exultation.  Conan stood poised, watching the oncoming monster without a quiver.  He knew he must stake his life on one thrust; there would be no chance for another; nor would there be time to strike and spring away.  The first blow must kill, and kill instantly, if he hoped to survive that awful grapple.  He swept his gaze over the short, squat throat, the hairy swagbelly, and the mighty breast, swelling in giant arches like twin shields.  It must be the heart; better to risk the blade being deflected by the heavy ribs than to strike in where a stroke was not instantly fatal.  With full realization of the odds, Conan matched his speed of eye and hand and his muscular power against the brute might and ferocity of the man-eater.  He must meet the brute breast to breast, strike a deathblow, and then thrust to the ruggedness of his frame to survive the instant of manhandling that was certain to be his.”
— (Excerpt from The Hour of the Dragon, by Robert E. Howard)


Spring into Summer
Wow, it’s hard to believe that Spring has already given way to Summer.  Every year, it seems like these seasons pass ever more swiftly.  Time for me to give my assessment of the “Spring Round” of ROW80 and to share my goals for the upcoming “Summer Round.”  For the past few months, my writing journey has been exciting, at times arduous, but always encouraging.  This being my first attempt at this 80-day challenge, I went into it with nothing more than an adventurous spirit, a disciplined mindset, and a passion for writing.  Nothing more.  Sure, I set some achievable, albeit ambitious, goals for myself, hoping to write to these arbitrary word-count numbers that I had designated for myself, but that wasn’t my standard for success or failure this time around.  For the “Spring Round”, I just wanted to serendipitously experience it, to see for myself what I was capable of achieving, and to establish a baseline for future rounds.  By going this route, I assured my success so long as I wrote consistently each day and publicly reported my progress each week.   Best to keep it simple, lest I get discouraged by the magnitude of the journey. 

Having said that, I do want the next round to be more disciplined and structured.  I haven’t yet finalized any goals for the “Summer Round” of ROW80, but I do know that I want to work to a weekly word-count goal, not a daily one, this time around.  I think this is a better approach.  If I miss one day due to life’s demands or if I fall behind, I can always make them up later in the week with a weekly word-count goal.  I also hope to do some serious story-crafting next round as well.  I will attempt, for the first time, to have a completed first-draft story, from beginning to end, hopefully ready for revisions by this autumn, even if it’s just a novella with a simple plot.  I haven’t decided yet what story I will be working on, but thanks to my Muse, I have over fifteen story-candidates with potential from which to choose (some more developed than others).  I’ve already narrowed it down to a few story-candidates and will make a decision soon.  During the next few weeks, I will organize all my story content and  prepare myself for the beginning of the next round.  I’ll report on that later once I know more.

I’m looking forward to doing some artwork during this two-week break between rounds.  I’ve been wanting to do some drawings all week, and have some ideas that I want to explore.  I like to get a visual feel for my characters and their surroundings, and I get my best ideas while I’m drawing.  There’s just something about being in that drawing-zone that really ignites my imagination.  My Muse loves it when I draw.  I can usually invoke her by picking up a pencil and a piece of paper, brainstorming and sketching-out my ideas so that I can visually “see” them and build upon them.  Nothing too detailed, just loose sketches and scribblings of the basic shapes for now.  Detail will come later.  I have a few characters that I want to draw and a few book cover ideas that I want to develop in between rounds as well.  Gotta keep those creative energies flowing!


That’s all for now.  Keep the Fire Burning!
Please visit the other writers in the ROW80 Community…

The Serenity of Silence

“The Cimmerian did not curse, scream, weep or rave as a civilized man might have done.  But the pain and turmoil in his bosom were none the less fierce.  His great limbs quivered with the intensity of his emotions.  Somewhere, far to the westward, the Nemedian host was slashing and burning its way through the heart of his kingdom.  The small host of Poitanians could not stand before them.  Prospero might be able to hold Tarantia for weeks, or months; but eventually, if not relieved, he must surrender to greater numbers.  Surely the barons would rally to him against the invaders.  But in the meanwhile he, Conan, must lie helpless in a darkened cell, while others led his spears and fought for his kingdom.  The king ground his powerful teeth in red rage.”
— (Excerpt from The Hour of the Dragon, by Robert E. Howard)


Preparing for Round 3
Ten more days left in the Second Round of ROW80.  At this point, I’m just trying to stay consistent with my writing, attempting to finish this round strong.  Although I am nowhere near my 60,000 word writing goal for this round, I am happy with the quality of the words I was able to write.  My goal right now is to organize my work and prepare for Round 3.  I have a lot of story content that I want to develop during the next 80-day challenge, and I'm enthusiastically excited and optimistic about my writing prospects for the "Summer Round".  My goal for this round (the "Spring Round") was just to experience it, to get my feet wet and my hands muddy, to hunker-down in the foxhole, and to bravely do my tour-of-duty with all you writing veterans.  Hopefully, by Round 3, I can shake-off this “rookie” label that I've attached to myself and get some serious novel writing done like y'all.  That’s the plan.

The Serenity of Silence
I tried to get some writing done yesterday, including an attempt to write this post, but I was easily annoyed and distracted.  For me, Saturdays are usually a great day to make progress on my writing, as I have large blocks of uninterrupted time that I can dedicate towards writing my stories.  With a little self-reflection and quiet meditation, I can usually get myself into the proper state of mind that invites my Muse.  Once in that state, I can attune my frequency to that of my Muse, and while in that trance-like state, transcribe the story as it flashes in my mind.  When I’m in that zone, the words start flowing.  But not yesterday.  I don’t know about you, but for me, that fragile writing-trance can be easily broken by loud outside distractions.  You see, my neighbors had a big birthday party for their young daughter yesterday, with at least twenty-or-so of the girl’s classmates and friends attending.  Adorable kids, and bless them all; they were having a wonderful time playing and singing and all, but my ability to concentrate was all shot to hell.  Normally, I can tune-out normal neighborhood murmurings and traffic bustling noises, but my ears just aren’t used to the high-pitched squealing and screeching of twenty happy children playing outside my window.  The pitch of their screaming was so uncomfortably piercing, that at one point, I briefly thought about puncturing my eardrums with my pencil just to alleviate the pain (okay, a bit extreme, I know, but it crossed my mind).  The noise was painful and I was too frustrated to write (my Muse recedes into the shadows when I’m frustrated).  Then I remembered that I had a box of ear-plugs that someone had given me years ago while they were doing construction, and I rummaged through my junk until I found it.  Oh, sweet treasure!  I turned my radio on, tuned it to a white-noise non-station, and turned the volume up a bit.  I then put the ear-plugs in and basked in the ever-glorious serenity of silence.  No more screaming brats darlings.  It was like floating underwater in a sensory-deprivation chamber.  I could, once again, go into that altered state.  I could write.  Do you need absolute quiet while you write?  Are you able to write in a crowded place, like a coffee shop?  Or is it too distracting?   What conditions do you need to do your best writing? 


That’s all for now.  Keep the Fire Burning!
Please visit the other writers in the ROW80 Community…

My Assessment So Far

“Then the blacks had lifted Conan, for so loaded with chains was he that he could not walk, and carried him from the chamber.  A glance back, before the heavy, gold-bound teak door was closed, showed him Xaltotun leaning back in his throne-like chair, his arms folded, while a thin wisp of smoke curled up from the brazier.  Conan’s scalp prickled.  In Stygia, the ancient and evil kingdom that lay far to the south, he had seen such black dust before.  It was the pollen of the black lotus, which creates death-like sleep and monstrous dreams; and he knew that only the grisly wizards of the Black Ring, which is the nadir of evil, voluntarily seek the scarlet nightmares of the black lotus, to revive their necromantic powers.  The Black Ring was a fable and a lie to most folk of the western world, but Conan knew of its ghastly reality, and its grim votaries who practice their abominable sorceries amid the black vaults of Stygia and the nighted domes of accursed Sabatea.  He glanced back at the cryptic, gold-bound door, shuddering at what it hid.”
— (Excerpt from The Hour of the Dragon, by Robert E. Howard)

My Assessment So Far
With seventeen days left in the second round of ROW80, I thought it would be a good idea to make an honest assessment of my writing progress so far.  Looking back at the beginning of the round, I had planned on writing 60,000 words towards my story-world during the 80-day challenge.  As it looks now, my word-count will only be about one-third of what I had expected to do.  Truthfully, I’m okay with that.  Consistency in my writing routine has been far more important to me this round than meeting my arbitrary word-count goal.  I prefer to have quality words over quantity at this point, especially since I’m still developing these story-ideas and don’t need excessive verbiage cluttering my files.  During the beginning of the round, I had planned to develop and outline three novella-size story-candidates during Camp NaNoWriMo, and I dutifully met my word-count during the first three weeks, but I was disappointed by the output (here’s my Camper Profile), and longed for a more leisurely pace towards story-crafting (that’s why I gravitate towards ROW80).  After May, I chose to approach the rest of the round with a more serendipitous attitude, with more emphasis on discovery and less emphasis on structure or daily word-counts.  I wanted to experience my first attempt at ROW80 as if I were one of the characters in my “sword & sorcery” universe, trekking off on an adventurous journey into the unknown wilderness, discovering my world as I went along.  And, for the most part, that has been my best use of this round.  This approach has sparked my imagination and has kept my creative-wells replenished.  As a result, my story-world has been slowly coming alive.  I now have fourteen story-ideas that I’m working on, each with their own characters and villains, and I’m setting-up and organizing each one so that I can work on them during ROW80 Round 3, this time with more structure and discipline.  Stay tuned for that...

Well, that’s all for now.  Keep the Fire Burning!
Please visit the other writers in the ROW80 Community…