Plotting and Plodding Along

Two weeks into ROW80 (Round 3) and I’m still trying to outline the various stories I have for my “Sword & Sorcery” universe.  Either time is racing by too quickly or I’m just a slow writer (maybe both, probably neither).  Actually, I’ve learned some valuable lessons about story-crafting this week.  I’ve learned that outlining is a whole different mindset from idea-creation.  Up until now, I’ve let my Muse run wild in the wilderness so that she can freely create fascinating characters and situations for my story-world.  She has done a wonderful job so far and I thank her for that.  It’s always best to keep my Muse and my Inner-Editor separated from each other if any story-crafting is to get done.  My Inner-Editor doesn’t play nicely with her, so I keep him locked away in a dark cage while she’s frolicking in the sunshine.  But now that I have a few basic characters and story-ideas, I need to take the next step and give them story structure.  That’s where my Inner-Editor comes in.  So out from his cage comes my Inner-Editor and into the shadows hides my Muse.  It’s his job to organize my Muse’s chaotic mess of fragmented ideas and concepts and to try to put them into some sort of coherent story-telling structure.  His analytical-mind gives direction and form to her ethereal creations.  I’m learning that this process takes longer than I had expected it to take.  Whereas my Muse’s creative-mind is agile and fluid, my Inner-Editor’s analytical-mind is slow and methodical.  This probably explains my slow progress right now.  But that's okay.  That’s how it should be, I guess.  After all, outlining is one the most important aspects of story-crafting, so I can't just skim over it.  It’s the spine of my story-skeleton.  Once this outlining process is relatively complete, I will shove my Inner-Editor back into his cold, dank dungeon where he can do little harm to the creative process.  I’ll then coax my Muse out of the shadows again so that she can scamper within the boundaries of the new playground he has built for her.  So that’s where I am right now; hyper-analyzing every story possibility with my Inner-Editor.  I’ve made some good progress towards a couple of my stories this week.  Most of my previously created characters have been just standing around, waiting for their first adventure.  Well, this week, my Inner-Editor has giving one of my main characters purpose.  This hero has been matched with a worthy opponent, both of them having conflicting story-goals.  Knowing the opposition has made structuring his first story easier.  I’m still trying to decide on the main dramatic situation and possible subplots, but I’ve made headway with this particular character.  I’ll detail that progress more in my next post.

His eyes swept the blood-stained ranks, seeking expressions of wrath or jealousy.  He saw none.  The fury was gone from the ebon faces.  He realized that to these men Bêlit was more than a woman; a goddess whose will was unquestioned.  He glanced at the Argus, wallowing in the crimson sea-wash, heeling far over, her decks awash, held up by the grappling-irons.  He glanced at the blue-fringed shore, at the far green hazes of the ocean, at the vibrant figure which stood before him; and his barbaric soul stirred within him.  To quest these shining blue realms with that white-skinned young tiger-cat — to love, laugh, wander and pillage — “I’ll sail with you,” he grunted, shaking the red drops from his blade.
— (Excerpt from, Queen of the Black Coast, by Robert E. Howard)

That’s all for now.  Keep the Fire Burning!
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It's All Coming Together

I’d say that the first week of ROW80 (Round 3) has been relatively productive, as I’ve made a few breakthroughs in previous story-ideas, and I've added a new hero and story-arc to my list of potential works.  So far, within my “sword & sorcery” story-world, I have sixteen different story-ideas that I’ve been working on, each with their own unique characters and conflicts.  Some of these story-ideas are more developed than others, having obvious plot progression and climax resolution, while others are nothing more than scene-ideas or story-fragments; partial aspects of a grander story, possibly with epic trilogy potential.  Within these story-ideas, I have developed over twenty-seven main characters and nearly twenty villains, each with unique personalities based on various heroic (and villainous) archetypes.  The possibilities, thus far, have been endless, which has been both a blessing and burden.  I am thankful to my Muse for these story-ideas and characters, yet pairing the correct character with the correct story has been quite a challenge.  I’m constantly evaluating whether or not the character I have in one story might be better suited for a different story, and vice versa.  And thus, the aforementioned breakthrough.  I had been struggling with a few of my stories because my characters were mismatched for the story I wanted to tell.  By swapping two main characters and splitting-off a third into a new character type, I was able to pair them all up correctly to their proper stories.  Now, these stories feel right.  You may be thinking, “Sixteen stories?  C’mon man, pick a story and write it already.  Focus, dude!”  Yeah, I know, my Inner-Editor says the same thing all the time.  I wish it were that easy.  These stories are still in their discovery phase, meaning all of the “What If” scenarios have yet to be fully explored.  I may eventually combine many of these characters and plots, so I don’t want to commit to any one of them fully right now.  Instead, I will develop these story-threads separately, treating them as character-studies within simple plot-structures that may be woven into a larger story someday.  I’ll have to see where these stories take me.  Some may be origin stories for some of my legendary characters, so I’m also trying to keep that in mind as I write.  For instance, some of the story-ideas have epic trilogy potential.  Those are the ones that I want to develop further.  A few of my characters will reach legendary status within my story-world, accomplishing heroic feats and eventually mentoring some of the future heroes that are yet to follow in their footsteps.  For these legendary characters, I plan on developing their complete character-arcs over three books, showing their skill progression from novice to adept to mastery.  Exciting stuff!  It’s all coming together, albeit, at a slow and steady pace.  So far, I’m happy with the progress.  Each step in my writing journey takes me closer to my authorship destination.

Conan did not see what she cast upon the fire, but the wolf whimpered in his dreams, and a green smoke gathered and billowed up into the hut.  And as he watched, the walls and ceilings of the hut seemed to widen, to grow remote and vanish, merging with infinite immensities; the smoke rolled about him, blotting out everything.  And in it, forms moved and faded and stood out in startling clarity.
— (Excerpt from The Hour of the Dragon, by Robert E. Howard)

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

ROW80 "Summer Round" Goals

The “Summer Round” of ROW80 is finally here!  Over these past few weeks, I’ve been looking forward to the resumption of this 80-day writing challenge.  July always gets me fired-up and motivated.  For me, it’s a time for reflection of the past six months and for a commitment to the six months yet to come.  The year is half over, and there is so much that needs doing before the next.  There are stories in my head that need telling.  So many stories and time’s a wasting, right?  Well, not so fast.  These stories need to be told well.  They need to be told properly so they can have the most impact and reach their fullest potential as a story.  Thus is the writer’s dilemma; to write fast and to write well.  As with any new skill, mastery will come with time, effort and patience.  I remind myself that the process is a journey, not a destination.  I just need to be in the present, to realize where I am on that journey, and to learn and grow as I move forward through the wilderness towards my potential horizons. 

Many of you know me from the previous round, but for those new to this round, I think a reintroduction of myself is in order.  I'm a (somewhat-talented) visual artist that has been sketching and drawing ever since I was able to hold a pencil in my hand.  As a boy, I'd draw epic stories in comic-book style, for hours on end, often making gruesome battlefield noises as I drew.  Writing came later in my youth, during my teenage years.  As my drawing skills improved, I wanted better stories for my comics, something other than just cool battle scenes.  So I learned to write my stories first, then draw what I wrote.  The stories were sophomoric by today’s standards, but they gave context to my drawings and added a whole new level of immersion to my art.  I'm grown now, but that boy still remains inside me, and still hopes to create that epic comic someday (or ‘graphic novel’ as they're called today), maybe after I'm financially self-sufficient.  So why have I returned to writing?  Stories, that's why.  I love reading stories, but I also love creating my own stories; stories that I can't find anywhere else; stories that only I can write.  Most profoundly, I'm drawn back to writing (as an art form) because of it's scalability.  The time and effort put into crafting a novel can repeatedly pay-off financially with every sale of that novel, over and over again, throughout one’s lifetime and beyond.  Books are intellectual property assets that can be a steady source of income.  Conversely, the time spend on one art project, let’s say a painting, only results in one financial transaction, the selling of that painting to one buyer.  With scalable income, the time and effort is spent once, but the income generated by that time and effort can continue for many years thereafter.  Hopefully, through writing novels, I can someday have the financial freedom to support my “art habit.”

So, how did I get here?  I rediscovered writing last year.  Ever since my participation in last November’s writing challenge, I have been obsessed with the prospect of becoming a “heroic fantasy” author.  During that time, I successfully wrote fifty-thousand words of story-ideas and world-building content, laying the foundation of my “Sword & Sorcery” fantasy-world.  I had intended to continue writing after the challenge, but struggled to keep the momentum going.  By chance, I discovered the “A Round of Words in 80-Days” writing challenge.  The premise of the challenge intrigued me; four “rounds” a year, each lasting eighty days, with self-set word-counts and goals, posted to a blog twice a week.  Perfect!  It was exactly what I needed; discipline and accountability.  I joined the “Spring Round” of ROW80 in March and successfully participated in it.  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.  Which brings me to the present.

Goals for ROW80 (Round 3)
For the "Summer Round" of ROW80, I plan to write 60,000 words towards my “Sword & Sorcery” story-world.  This will include world-building, character development, and story-crafting.  I have several story-candidates that I want to develop further and plan on taking at least one of those story ideas to completion during that time.  I currently have fifteen 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 this round.  Decisions will be made once I narrow my choices and work out some story issues first.  I’ll elaborate more on that in my mid-week post.  I plan on reading at least one "heroic fantasy" novel (or several short-stories) per month while I’m writing, just to keep my writing fresh and to learn from the works of other authors in my genre.  Of course, I have a lot to learn about writing, and plan to read at least one book a month on the craft of story-telling.  This is an easy goal for me as I am constantly reading about writing more than I am actually writing (which I hope to change here).  Finally, I plan to write two blog posts per week here, publicly sharing the discoveries and adventures of my writing journey. 

Excerpts
As many of you know by now, I love the “Sword and Sorcery” fantasy genre.  Every post, I try to bring to you an excerpt from the master story-tellers of that genre.  Not surprisingly, Robert E. Howard, being the originator and father of that genre, is my favorite author.  One day I hope to emulate and duplicate his story-telling prowess, but in my own style and voice, of course.  As many of you know, I usually start my post with an excerpt on the top of the post, but I’ve decided to move it to the bottom of the post instead.  Two reasons.  First, my blog posts from here show up on Google Plus with only the first few lines visible to entice the reader.  Since I promote myself and ROW80 there, I want the first words that viewers see of my posts to be my own.  Secondly, as much as I want to introduce examples of this genre to the world, I realize that it's importance is secondary to my own writing journey, which is what this blog is all about.  So, yeah, if you like the excerpts, they’ll be at the bottom of each post (see below).

“The going grew rougher, the scenery more rugged, steep grassy slopes pitching up to densely timbered mountainsides.  Here, he knew, he might elude his hunters, but for that hellish bird that squalled incessantly above him.  He could no longer see them in this broken country, but he was certain that they still followed him, guided unerringly by their feathered allies.  That black shape became like a demonic incubus, hounding him through measureless hells.  The stones he hurled with a curse went wide or fell harmless, though in his youth he had felled hawks on the wing.”
— (Excerpt from The Hour of the Dragon, by Robert E. Howard)

This post is long, so I'll end it here.  Keep the Fire Burning!
Please visit the other writers in the ROW80 Community…

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…