Okay, you've probably noticed a drop in both the frequency and quality of my blog entries these last couple of months. This is because I've been so obsessed with writing my next book that I've curtailed pretty much all other activities. It was the same way when I was writing Part 1 of the series. I don't know if it's just these particular books or if I've become this type of writer for everything, but I find myself really stewing over every detail and word choice as I type. It takes me a long time to write a relatively short amount of text, and since I try to turn out a full chapter each week, I don't time for many other things. I haven't even been keeping up with The Hobbit lately because I'm so busy working on my own novel. An author who hardly ever reads; ironic, right?
This raises the question of what's more important: writing or editing? Ernest Hemingway once said that "the first draft of anything is shit,"so no matter how good you may think your manuscript is, it's going to need a lot of editing before publication. With that in mind, is it better to write your first draft as quickly as possible knowing that it will need to be fixed up anyway, or should you try to write the best first draft that you can in the hopes that editing will be easier?
I guess there's really no right answer to that question. However, I have been leaving a lot more notes about possible changes in between the paragraphs while writing Part 2. It helps me move along through a chapter a little bit quicker, but I don't see myself beig able to writer by the minute any day soon.
It didn't take me nearly this long to write fanfiction...
Monday, February 11, 2013
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Writing and Selling
I got a bit of feedback yesterday from my cousin who's reading Part 1 of my sci-fi/fantasy series. She said she's 3/4 of the way through the manuscript and she'd been hooked on it from the beginning. She never mentioned being confused by anything in the story, so that's even more good news.
Just the same, I've been going back to Part 1 and making notes to adjust little things here and there. I still think a few aspects of it are confusing, so I'm trying to better explain or simplify the more problematic ones. I'll have to see how Part 2 goes before I know exactly what to do with Part 1 though.
Speaking of Part 2, my writing progress has slowed a bit lately. I'm still getting at least a page done every day, but other matters in my life have been getting in the way this past week. Whether or not I'll get the current chapter done on schedule remains to be seen.
In the meantime, I've already managed to make four sales on Kindle this month. Better yet, those sales include one of each book I've published. I don't know if that's the result of my recent free download day, but it's good to see those numbers on my account regardless.
All in all, good times.
Just the same, I've been going back to Part 1 and making notes to adjust little things here and there. I still think a few aspects of it are confusing, so I'm trying to better explain or simplify the more problematic ones. I'll have to see how Part 2 goes before I know exactly what to do with Part 1 though.
Speaking of Part 2, my writing progress has slowed a bit lately. I'm still getting at least a page done every day, but other matters in my life have been getting in the way this past week. Whether or not I'll get the current chapter done on schedule remains to be seen.
In the meantime, I've already managed to make four sales on Kindle this month. Better yet, those sales include one of each book I've published. I don't know if that's the result of my recent free download day, but it's good to see those numbers on my account regardless.
All in all, good times.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Dinner and Balloon Animals
I decided to hold off for a couple of days since there wasn't much to talk about the day after my free download promo. The total number of downloads for A Very Slagel Christmas was 43. I'll have to ask Jackie how many copies of The Nerdfly were downloaded that day.
In other news, I'm on to Chapter 4 in my next book and I wrote a five-page scene for my college friend's movie. No word back on that yet. I also got an e-mail from someone at Robert Morris University saying that my name was in the credits for a documentary that one of my professors released this week. If it's the documentary I'm thinking of, then I helped to film some of the interviews back when I was a sophomore. It's an Italian piece called La mia Strada.
My parents and I went to dinner at a restaurant called Atria's last night. It's supposed to be sort of a fancy place, but for whatever reason, there was a woman wheeling around a cart full of balloons in our section. She kept stopping to make balloon animals for customers and give them business cards. I would have taken a picture of her on my phone, except it was way too dark in the restaurant for that to work.
That's all the news I have for now. It should be Open Mic Night at Duke's tonight, so I'll be going out in an hour. In the meantime, I've always got more writing to do.
In other news, I'm on to Chapter 4 in my next book and I wrote a five-page scene for my college friend's movie. No word back on that yet. I also got an e-mail from someone at Robert Morris University saying that my name was in the credits for a documentary that one of my professors released this week. If it's the documentary I'm thinking of, then I helped to film some of the interviews back when I was a sophomore. It's an Italian piece called La mia Strada.
My parents and I went to dinner at a restaurant called Atria's last night. It's supposed to be sort of a fancy place, but for whatever reason, there was a woman wheeling around a cart full of balloons in our section. She kept stopping to make balloon animals for customers and give them business cards. I would have taken a picture of her on my phone, except it was way too dark in the restaurant for that to work.
That's all the news I have for now. It should be Open Mic Night at Duke's tonight, so I'll be going out in an hour. In the meantime, I've always got more writing to do.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Downloads and a Birthday
Well, the free download day is in full swing. I'm up to 36 downloads for A Very Slagel Christmas so far. I posted an ad for it on Jackie's "Beginnings Series" page on Facebook the other day, and it's gotten a few likes and comments (including a few from people who say they've downloaded the book). All in all, it looks like this promo really is getting people's attention.
It was also my mother's birthday today. We didn't get to do much since it snowed all day, plus I had to go to work. We still made time for ice cream cake and presents though. I also got the movie Big Trouble from Netflix today, which my mother and I watched together.
We've seen it before. It's based on a novel by Dave Barry, a favorite of both of ours, so we figured tonight was a goof time to watch it. I'll talk more about the movie in another entry.
Finally, I finished Chapter 3 of my next book this evening. I'm not 100% thrilled with how one of the scenes in it turned out, but I want to keep moving while I'm on this writing kick. That scene will be one of many things for me to stew over when the editing phase for this book comes around.
That's all for tonight. I'll be back with the final download count tomorrow. Adios!
It was also my mother's birthday today. We didn't get to do much since it snowed all day, plus I had to go to work. We still made time for ice cream cake and presents though. I also got the movie Big Trouble from Netflix today, which my mother and I watched together.
We've seen it before. It's based on a novel by Dave Barry, a favorite of both of ours, so we figured tonight was a goof time to watch it. I'll talk more about the movie in another entry.
Finally, I finished Chapter 3 of my next book this evening. I'm not 100% thrilled with how one of the scenes in it turned out, but I want to keep moving while I'm on this writing kick. That scene will be one of many things for me to stew over when the editing phase for this book comes around.
That's all for tonight. I'll be back with the final download count tomorrow. Adios!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Double Download Day
Get your Kindle apps ready! This Friday, Jan
25, "The Nerdfly" and "A Very Slagel Christmas" will both be available as free downloads all day.
Here's the link to "A Very Slagel Christmas": http://www.amazon.com/
And "The Nerdfly": http://www.amazon.com/
Here's the link to "A Very Slagel Christmas": http://www.amazon.com/
And "The Nerdfly": http://www.amazon.com/
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Writing in the Dungeon
As of today, I'm on to Chapter 3 in my next book. That's not much news for such a long break in between blog entries, but that's pretty much all I have to tell. My life gets severely uneventful whenever I'm writing, because I'll literally spend entire days typing on the computer if I can help it. Today was the first day this week that I even left the house.
I may have found an ideal writing place in the house this time. My dad has a game room with a bar set up in the basement, and except in the evenings, no one else ever goes in there.
I usually have the lights turned off to set the mood when I write there. My parents call it the Dungeon on those days.
Well, so far I've set a good pace for this book. Two chapters in one week is pretty good, considering how long it normally takes me to get that much work done. Seriously, the last few chapters in Part 1 of the series took me almost a month apiece to "crank out." I might have the first draft of this installment done in six months if I can keep up this momentum.
Back to the Dungeon in the meantime.
I may have found an ideal writing place in the house this time. My dad has a game room with a bar set up in the basement, and except in the evenings, no one else ever goes in there.
I usually have the lights turned off to set the mood when I write there. My parents call it the Dungeon on those days.
Well, so far I've set a good pace for this book. Two chapters in one week is pretty good, considering how long it normally takes me to get that much work done. Seriously, the last few chapters in Part 1 of the series took me almost a month apiece to "crank out." I might have the first draft of this installment done in six months if I can keep up this momentum.
Back to the Dungeon in the meantime.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
New "Nerdfly" Cover
Check it out! I designed a new cover for my friend Jackie's book The Nerdfly a little while ago, and now it's up on Kindle:
This book and I go a long way back. I first met Jackie when she came to my school and read an early draft of The Nerdfly to my sixth grade class. I loved it, and when I finally got a paperback copy, I read it on a weekly basis. I even got Jackie to autograph it, since I'd become a member of her local writers group by then.
She also gave me a poster of the cover from one of her book-signings. In exchange, I made a clay replica of the titular Nerdfly for a later book-signing and drew some illustrations for the book's website.
So, it looks like I've come full-circle with The Nerdfly. The original cover is still available on Amazon in paperback, but e-books seem to sell a lot faster these days. Maybe this will be what really gets my name out there. :)
And of course, I highly recommend reading both The Nerdfly and its predecessor, The Peacekeeper. They're technically for young adults, but I think the humor is sharp and satirical enough that older readers can appreciate it quite a bit too. Plus, if you're a zombie fan, you'll probably really crack up at the third act in The Nerdfly.
This book and I go a long way back. I first met Jackie when she came to my school and read an early draft of The Nerdfly to my sixth grade class. I loved it, and when I finally got a paperback copy, I read it on a weekly basis. I even got Jackie to autograph it, since I'd become a member of her local writers group by then.
Original cover
She also gave me a poster of the cover from one of her book-signings. In exchange, I made a clay replica of the titular Nerdfly for a later book-signing and drew some illustrations for the book's website.
So, it looks like I've come full-circle with The Nerdfly. The original cover is still available on Amazon in paperback, but e-books seem to sell a lot faster these days. Maybe this will be what really gets my name out there. :)
And of course, I highly recommend reading both The Nerdfly and its predecessor, The Peacekeeper. They're technically for young adults, but I think the humor is sharp and satirical enough that older readers can appreciate it quite a bit too. Plus, if you're a zombie fan, you'll probably really crack up at the third act in The Nerdfly.
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