Consider Leaving It Out?

A status update while Monday morning coffee takes effect. Somewhere in the giant mass of posts about writing, I mentioned that I often lose interest in a series around book 10. After some introspection, I realized that this is usually when the “our intrepid hero” story becomes too broad, complicated, and political. I’m finding thatContinue reading “Consider Leaving It Out?”

Whew! They’re Young!

I’ve been having all sorts of debates with myself about political things, criminal justice, etc… All the things that go horribly sideways after an apocalypse. I just noticed something about my characters’ backstories: They’re all young. This is by-design. It’s also the case in almost all action stories for the same reason I chose it:Continue reading “Whew! They’re Young!”

Who Are These People?

My ensemble cast is growing. I swear I outlined backstories for our four intrepid high school age werewolves (nee football players – an idea stolen from Fire From the Sky and every Army recruiter in the last century). I couldn’t remember who came from where and had what. “Open that backstory file,” I thought toContinue reading “Who Are These People?”

Riverdance

Awesome! Exactly my kind of show: Spectacle, music, humans doing impossible coordinated stuff, and a quiet audience. I’d never seen step-dancing live before. Video doesn’t do it justice. The set was great. I had no idea that The Monument had that nice of a projection/video system. It looked great. There were some small bandstand thingsContinue reading “Riverdance”

Split Infinitives

I’m sure no one cares about the trials and tribulations of swapping two chapters and splitting another one into two. I did it and I don’t care about it. It was tedious and annoying. I need to look into writing tools. That split infinitives are considered an English grammar error is a hold-over from theContinue reading “Split Infinitives”

Frustrating, but I Can’t Help Myself

Chapter 11 got too long, not only in page count but in scene count. I split it. That pushed 12 to 13, etc… Chapter 9 needs more space. Not word count, physical space. This means I need to extend the “loop” they’re making. At least Google Maps makes that easy. I sent them into Montana.Continue reading “Frustrating, but I Can’t Help Myself”