Four-part structure and the writing process

Over the course of writing Gunslinger to the Stars, I’ve learned some interesting new things about my writing process, as well as being reminded of some of the basic lessons I learned back when I was getting started. These lessons have helped me to have some fantastic writing days, like today, where I hit 2200 WPH… Continue reading Four-part structure and the writing process

Trope Tuesday: Character Alignment

I love personality tests.  There’s something immensely satisfying about putting yourself on a grid that tells you something new and insightful about yourself and the people around you.  My personal favorite is the Meyers-Briggs test (I’m an ENTP), but I like playing around with others as well. Character alignment is what you get when you… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Character Alignment

Climbing the 10k mountain

I recently read an amazing blog post by Rachel Aaron, in which she explains how she went from writing about 2k words per day (about what I’m doing) to routinely breaking 10k. This is something I really want to do with my own writing.  As I noted a couple of weeks ago, I need to… Continue reading Climbing the 10k mountain

Soundtrack for an untitled book

I’ve got this great idea for a novel, with a rough plot outline, an awesome ending, setting and characters all worked out, even the soundtrack–but no title. I enjoy making soundtracks for my novels, but this is the first time I’ve made one before writing the first draft.  Usually, my first drafts are so all over the… Continue reading Soundtrack for an untitled book

Fighting for a Homeland

For the past few weeks, I’ve been brainstorming ideas for my next big novel project.  One of the ways I’ve been doing this is to by trawling tvtropes and putting together a mashup of the story tropes I’d like to play with. By far, the one that’s struck me the most is Fighting for a Homeland.… Continue reading Fighting for a Homeland

Deciding on the next project

First, you know how I said I’d raise the price of Genesis Earth as an experiment?  Well, after thinking it through a little more, I figured that it’s more important at this point to build a following, and to do that I should probably have at least one novel at the $2.99 price point.  Since Genesis… Continue reading Deciding on the next project

Thoughts on outlining

I’m on track to finish my fifth novel in a couple days, and surprisingly, the writing has been going very smoothly. Usually by this point, my eyes are bleeding and I feel as if I have a hundred caltrops in my pants.  Finishing a rough draft is still the hardest part for me, since by… Continue reading Thoughts on outlining

Just another update

A few updates, in case you’re interested in what’s going on with me: I’m getting ready to post a new story to Amazon.  This is going to be the one that won first place in the 2009 Mayhew short story contest at BYU.  It’s also an excerpt for Genesis Earth, which is currently in the… Continue reading Just another update

Q4 report, 2010

For those of you who don’t know, I do a report on my blog at the end of each quarter, giving a progress update on my writing.  I like to think it helps me keep things professional.  Whether or not it does, it’s certainly helpful to look back on how I did. So anyhow, here’s… Continue reading Q4 report, 2010

Getting back into things

So yesterday, I wrote through 4k words in WAFH 2.0 without even realizing it.  I didn’t feel very productive, because I only did about 500 words at a time before something came up and I got distracted, but by the end of the day, ended up accomplishing a lot.  That was a pleasant surprise. In… Continue reading Getting back into things