Tag: titles

Beginnings and title woes

Today, I came off my writing break and started my next novel.  The makings of the first scene have been kicking around in my head for the past couple of days, but today I actually sat down and started it.  I’m not sure how strong of a beginning it is, but at least it’s a start.

I would have started yesterday, but I had a horrible time trying to format the file.  No matter how many times and ways I tried to fix the pagination in openoffice, whenever I reopened the file, it came out wrong.  Finally, I switched the file from .doc to .odt, and that did the trick.

Turns out, that may be for the best.  Because of the proliferation of Microsoft Word, everyone seems to use .doc or .docx, but there are several good reasons why ODF (Open Document Format) is better.  In fact, several international governments have made it a matter of public policy to make the switch.  After all the headaches .doc files have given me in openoffice, I certainly have.  We’ll see how that goes.

As for the novel, it really, really needs a new title.  The old one, Hero in Exile, just doesn’t work for me.  It’s too…cliche, in a generic, meaningless way.  Blegh.

And thus begins another search for a good title.  Do you have any ideas?  The story is about a boy raised by desert nomads in search of his true origins, whose world completely falls apart when he falls in love with a girl who wants him to stay.  I suppose it’s kind of a cross between The Jungle Book and Great Expectations…in spaaace!

Mainly, though, it’s about an upright, noble-hearted boy trying to come to terms with the moral corruption and decay of the world around him.  When he finds that corruption inside himself, it almost destroys him, but before the end…no, better not give it away.

I don’t know–I just know it needs a better title.  Any ideas?

Oh, and before I go to bed, you might find this interesting.  It’s an original arrangement of one of the most memorable songs from the Xenogears soundtrack.  It even has lyrics, written in the language of one of the races of the game.

Wow–talk about a super fan!  I wonder if any of my stories will ever inspire something as amazingly creative as this?  If so, it would be pretty cool–pretty dang cool.

Anyways, night.

Quick post from Provo

This is going to be quick, because it’s late at night and I want to get some sleep.

I made it to Provo.  I’m currently staying with an old roommate, sleeping on his couch.  To do: find a job and a place to live.  Fortunately, I’ve just about got the second one secured.

I talked with the editors at Leading Edge today, and they told me they’ve been having problems with the buy function on their website.  If you tried to buy a copy of issue 58 (the one with my story) before this month, they probably lost your address.  Don’t worry, they voided the purchase, but if you want a copy you’ll have to go through the process again.  Sorry for the hassle.

Wrote the last academic paper of my undergraduate college career today.  The last freaking paper. Hooray!

I dropped in to English 318 tonight, and a couple of Sanderson fans got engaged in front of the whole class.  It was pretty cool, not the least because they were cosplaying at the same time.  Good luck, Mi’chelle!  May you and your future husband have a wonderful life together!

Thanks for all the feedback on the new title.  I think I’m going to stick with it.  It’s weird to call the book by a different name after working on it for so long under the other title, but I think Mercenary Savior works much better.

Looked up Westercon today and found out it’s only $60.  Thinking seriously about going.  Should I?  Is anyone else planning on going?

To do tomorrow: get cap and gown, complete and file taxes, sign a spring/summer contract, meet up with old supervisors/professors in pursuit of a job, go to a bonfire and have a good time.

My mom always got depressed with to do lists; she always felt daunted when she saw all the tasks she needed to accomplish.  To counteract this, she made a “tasks accomplished” list at the end of the day to make her feel better.  So, on that note:

Accomplished: finished all Washington Seminar coursework, attended English 318 and obtained leads for Mormon Artist article, attended Leading Edge and caught up with the slushies, got a date for next Friday (totally unrelated), submitted Genesis Earth to an agent, wrote +2.2k in Mercenary Savior.

Not bad.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to crash for the night.

Newsvomit

Alright, before I collapse from exhaustion and call it a night, here’s what’s up.

Today, I wrote more than 3k words in the revision of Bringing Stella Home (I’m going to change that title soon–I’ve got a new working title, but I don’t know what I think about it).  The whole time, though, it felt as if I was pulling teeth.  I was constantly distracted with one thing or another, and didn’t feel productive at all.  Blegh.

Tomorrow, all that momentum I built up today will probably start to kick in. Unfortunately, I’ve got so much other crap to do instead.  I’m flying out to Utah early Wednesday morning, so I’ve got to pack, do laundry, get a father’s blessing, finish as much schoolwork from Washington Seminar as possible (aka finish the portfolio)…the list keeps going.  It’s going to be a hectic day.

Anyways.  In unrelated news, Duke beat Butler by a measly two points.  The game was so epic even my parents watched it.  Somewhere in an alternate universe, Butler made the half-point shot as the clock ran out.  I’m thinking life must be a lot more exciting in that alternate universe.

In news unrelated to the unrelated news, I found something awesome on the internets last night: the end theme from Jurassic Park for the game gear!!  

Ah, the memories. The beautiful, 16-bit memories.

In other, somewhat related news (related to the writing, that is), I have a new working title for my novel: Mercenary Savior. What do you think? I kind of like it, but it feels like something is missing–something like Mercenary Savior to a ______, or Mercenary Savior in a _____ universe. I dunno.

My dear, trusted alpha readers, what do you think?

Dinner with friends

I had dinner tonight with one of my classmates from English 318 last year, who is a frequent commenter on this blog.  He and his wife were kind enough to invite me over to their apartment, where we ate, talked, hung out, and had a general good time.

It was great to see an old friend from Sanderson’s class!  We talked a lot about writing, and that was way cool–I haven’t been around people who can talk writing since I left Provo (not counting the IM conversations I have with Chuck every other day).  At one point, his wife had to stop and say “wait, let’s put this conversation on pause and let me get to know this guy”!

He showed me this interesting online compendium of Wheel of Time characters, which blew me away; I haven’t read the Wheel of Time series yet, but just looking at how many characters are in the books, I have no idea how anyone could write something like that.  I guess that’s the direction Fantasy is going in–enormous worlds, long books, dozens and even hundreds of characters.

We talked about all kinds of other things, too–school and work, career decisions, future plans, social pressures, life in general, etc.  It was great being with interesting people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say.  I tend to be a little self-conscious about the fact that I talk too much, but they got me to talk a lot–about how I decided to be a writer, how I wrote Genesis Earth from story idea to the latest draft, my future goals as a writer, etc etc.  It was a lot of fun.

We also talked about my current project (working title: Bringing Stella Home), and I shared the 30 second story blurb.  I then asked them what they think the title should be, and together we came up with an interesting title idea: Saving Ben and Stella.

What do you think of it?  I kindof think it has a nice ring to it.  Mentions Ben and Stella, which shows that Ben’s storyline is important as well as Stella’s. Then again, it’s not much of a change from the previous one.

In any case, I had an awesome time with Stephen and his wife.  It’s great to have friends wherever you travel, and meet up with old classmates after graduating from college.  Thanks guys!

Need new title

I need a new title for Bringing Stella Home.  As you can probably tell, the current one just isn’t quite good enough.  Got any suggestions?

I was thinking of something that combines the words “fire” and “salvation,” but I haven’t come up with anything cool yet.

If you’ve got any better ideas, please let me know.