I wondered if it would come up. It did. There is no plot in the first half of the book. This is not exactly by-design, but it’s not accidental, either. There is a “theme”, but that’s not the same thing. Our intrepid heroes don’t have a goal. They’re not intrepid heroes, yet. They’re just twoContinue reading “No Plot”
Tag Archives: Writing
Axis Orientation
I’ve found it useful to envision human behavior as set of rotated normal curves. Pick some attribute and incorrectly assume a normal distribution of it. Now spin that curve around its peak. You get a normal “mound”. Each individual attribute is its own curve. The mound is all of them together. We’re each a pointContinue reading “Axis Orientation”
Chapter 18 Shall Submit
That’s the weekend goal. It need four scenes. Updated with what actually happened. And some back-edits to put in things I forgot. I’m tired of being stuck on this chapter. 19, 20, and 21 are done. 22 is getting there. 23 is building up. 18 shall fall before me! Why, yes, this post is entirelyContinue reading “Chapter 18 Shall Submit”
LitRPG and Omniscient Narrator
Research time! My narrator talks. I _think_ this is genre standard, but I need to do some checking on when and where. The fight scenes are all 3rd person. One does not see the fights from our intrepid hero’s perspective. The narrator speaks during fights. This is standard. Bloody but unbowed, our intrepid hero doveContinue reading “LitRPG and Omniscient Narrator”
AI Slop and Buggy Whips
This one is my introspection, not my characters. The great and powerful YouTube algorithm presented LughDJ to me. I’m not a huge fan of club music, but it’s high energy. I like having the fake shirtless men dancing on the side of my screen when I look away from the text I’m writing. This isContinue reading “AI Slop and Buggy Whips”
Introspection
I swear that I have some sort of sleep disorder. I was tired last night, so I went to bed an hour early. I’m now awake; two and a half hours early. Anyway, this is not about my introspection. It’s about character introspection. Our intrepid squad (although they’re not known as that, yet) has beenContinue reading “Introspection”
Publishing Schedule
Chapters 16 and 17 are “done”. 18, 19, 20 are half-ish. The rest are a paragraph, at most. However, fighting with fonts made me wonder: When could I get this published? My plan is to have the first and second ready-to-upload done before pressing the button on #1. The third will be written before theContinue reading “Publishing Schedule”
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?”
Marked Up 