Tuesday, July 24, 2007

PWP Chapter Descriptions Updated



I've been working at a slower pace, enjoying the beautiful summer weather. Summer tends to be my least-productive season, and I'm willing to accept that. I'm still diligently working on other projects, but my writing projects have slowed noticeably.

I appreciate the feedback that Susan and Suresh provided regarding the chapter descriptions for the hypothetical novel for the PWP. I incorporated their feedback and added another new twist, revising the descriptions. I have put them online for Susan and Suresh to review at their convenience.

Presently I'm working (still) on the actual challenges, and hope to have them done this week, since I didn't finish them last week.

I continue to reflect on my novel, and its sequel. I'll be getting back to work on the final push for the completion of THE REFLECTING STONE as soon as I'm ready to buckle down again. Right now, the summer beckons....

Adrian

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Some Articles Worth Checking Out



Gabriele has posted an article about writing battle scenes ("How To Make A Battle Come Alive on the Page 1"). I am always amazed by her site and this new article is really helpful for historical fiction or fantasy writers. There will be another article to follow it in the coming days.

Scott Marlowe posted a link on his blog (see sidebar) to an article on scene writing at Paperback Writer's site. It is also a helpful article, stressing the need to make scenes count.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Keeping Busy



Just a short note to let folks know I'm still keeping busy, even if I haven't blogged much the past week. I finished reading the 2nd draft of THE REFLECTING STONE and am currently reflecting on what to do to finish the story. The second half got a bit looser since I tried some new things out. They were very intriguing, but I might want to tone some of it down, or cut some of it out altogether. Not sure yet. Otherwise, the various scenes did work well individually for the most part, and some very intriguing new leitmotifs came out of this 2nd draft, things I'll definitely keep. I'm taking more time to reflect, since this next "push" should be the final one that involves any substantial writing -- I may just rewrite some chapters, rather than the whole draft, or I may yet do a 3rd complete draft, not sure yet. After this next "push" though I do expect the story to be within a short distance of "complete" and to require only some editing. This 2nd draft is already so much farther along than any of the previous work on this same story and it suggests the final novel already. There is certainly light at the end of the tunnel and it's within sight.

Apart from this, I'm reading a lot and working on some other projects, but nothing to comment on here.

I'm taking a break from the PWP until I get feedback from the registered writers about the story description (email me at your convenience, no rush). I am thinking of launching that in late summer or early autumn, which might be a better time for that than during the height of the summer. Also, I want at least 6 writers signed up before starting, as I think that would be a minimum number that would make it interesting and foster meaningful feedback.

Okay, so "short" is long, but that's the way it is when I sit down to write -- the words just flow....

HAPPY (& SAFE) 4TH OF JULY,

Adrian