Coming right along

I’m making good progress on The Sword Keeper, but I keep having to push it back to help a friend remodel his basement. His wife is having a baby in a couple of weeks, and he needs to get things finished before his mother-in-law comes over. There have been a ton of setbacks and delays, mostly… Continue reading Coming right along

Breaking down the elephant

I came to a realization about productivity just recently. It’s one that I’ve known for a while now, but never really applied to my own quirks and strengths. In order to accomplish a massive, multi-stage task (like writing a novel), you have to break it down into manageable chunks first. Otherwise, you’ll just get overwhelmed.… Continue reading Breaking down the elephant

The timelessness of novels

Every few months, an article about the “death of the novel” makes the rounds on the internet. This subject, the impending doom of one of literature’s most enduring forms, is a perennial favorite for bookish handwringers everywhere. If it isn’t ebooks that’s going to kill the novel, it’s millennials, the internet, our dwindling attention spans, or… Continue reading The timelessness of novels

Recalibrating

One of the things about being a creative person is that it’s very hard to keep an organized daily routine for very long. Usually you’ll have one that works out well for a couple of weeks before something happens to make it fall apart completely, and then you have to recalibrate and start over. Nothing necessarily… Continue reading Recalibrating

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

Still alive (though it may not seem like it)

Sorry for not posting to the blog in a while. I seem to be chronically disorganized, and updating the blog is unfortunately rather low on the priority list. But I’m still alive, and still writing. Gunslinger to the Stars is coming along well, though it’s not been without its hiccups. I’m about halfway through right… Continue reading Still alive (though it may not seem like it)

Gunslinger to the Stars: Sam introduces us to his guns

I was going to write another trope post for this Monday, but I got a little carried away with family history research (on the Texas Czech lines, no less), so instead I’m going to share another excerpt from my current WIP: Gunslinger to the Stars. I’m happy to report that it’s coming along fantastically well and the… Continue reading Gunslinger to the Stars: Sam introduces us to his guns

On the way to 10k

631 words in 30 minutes, 1250 WPH. 2404 so far today. Taking a break to make dinner. #amwriting — Joe Vasicek (@onelowerlight) January 8, 2016 #amwriting through a rough spot. 216 words in 30 minutes, only 400 WPH. Hopefully next session is better. — Joe Vasicek (@onelowerlight) January 11, 2016 First session of the day:… Continue reading On the way to 10k

WIP excerpt: Gunslinger to the Stars

Here’s the first thousand words from my current WIP, Gunslinger to the Stars. It’s a departure from my usual stuff: a shoot-em-up adventure in the vein of Firefly and Guardians of the Galaxy. TONS of fun to write, and the ending is going to be absolutely spectacular. This may turn out to be the most entertaining book I’ve written to… Continue reading WIP excerpt: Gunslinger to the Stars

State of the Vasicek 2015

I recently read a post over on Brandon Sanderson’s blog where he did an exhaustive recap on his writing and update on all of his WIPs, and called it State of the Sanderson. Since it’s the end of the year and I’m already looking back in order to make some new resolutions for 2016, it seems like… Continue reading State of the Vasicek 2015