My laptop doesn't like me any longer. More to thew point, it doesn't like AC any longer, which makes using it a bit difficult. The remaining battery I have left in it will have to be saved for a final backup.
Oh well, that's life. Not really what I needed for my editing.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Rich from SFF?
Plan to get rich from writing SFF? Just have a look at the reality of one who's made it.
Back in normality
From the relative strangeness of Japan back to a snowy Sweden. Time is still playing merry hell with my sleeping habits, but the jetlag is slowly loosening its grip over me.
Editing has been slow. So, back to work.
Editing has been slow. So, back to work.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Japan in February
Another picture from my relatives'. Taken with the old bell tower and a neighbor's house as a backdrop.
Bonsai are trees that will never grow to full size. I guess there could be natural reasons...
... and man-made.
A modern but traditional Japanese room. A showcase from a local museum.
Setting a table 101.
The small island of Takeshima giving it's name to the onsen we visited.
Monday, February 19, 2007
On chairs and tables
This old style Japanese house is a killer for anyone wanting to write on a computer. No chairs to speak of and definitely nothing even remotely looking like a proper desk.
I have to resort to sitting with my laptop in my knee, back against a wall, and for a Swede that's murder. Still, a little bit of editing has been possible, but I'm far behind my schedule.
At least some scenery can be converted into something usable for my world.
I have to resort to sitting with my laptop in my knee, back against a wall, and for a Swede that's murder. Still, a little bit of editing has been possible, but I'm far behind my schedule.
At least some scenery can be converted into something usable for my world.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Arrived
Head's mushy and my sense of time is shot to kingdom come. Give me another day or two and I'll wake when the sun says it's morning.
Kansai in mid February isn't much warmer than the Gothenburg I'm used to, but I had been warned beforehand. At least it isn't raining.
Wireless router set up, which this should be proof of, and I'm ready to go. This way I'll be able to do some work from the temple stairs should the weather allow.
Kansai in mid February isn't much warmer than the Gothenburg I'm used to, but I had been warned beforehand. At least it isn't raining.
Wireless router set up, which this should be proof of, and I'm ready to go. This way I'll be able to do some work from the temple stairs should the weather allow.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Japan
Tomorrow I'm off for a week. Not off as in off from the web, but I'll leave wintry Sweden behind and arrive at an equally wintry Japan. With some luck I'll find myself with details and themes to help me along with my editing. With some luck I'll find myself editing.
Oh well, I'll take a change of scenery for what it is -- a change of scenery.
Oh well, I'll take a change of scenery for what it is -- a change of scenery.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Editing and outlining
I never thought that editing an outlining would get in the way of each other, but here I stand.
The current book needs to be a self contained story with only minor problems left unsolved. I'd prefer the next one to take off where this one ends in a natural way. That requires that those minor problems grow into the main conflict that needs to be solved.
Timing.
How do I allow the current story to run its course to a satisfying end that still lends itself to a continuation in the form of another book?
Timing.
It's a matter of lying to the reader without lying to the reader. A contradiction in terms it may seem, but that's really not the case. I need to create an end where the reader feels that one story has come to its logical end, or at least to a perceived satisfying end. I also need to leave it open to a potential continuation that would essentially be a new story, or, in reality, a perceived new story.
It's a little bit like creating one story where Napoleon is victorious and then writing another where the French fights a losing war. Two stories and yet one. Lying to the reader without lying to the reader. All in all it's a matter of timing.
The task has turned out more difficult than I had imagined, but it is still but a task, and those are to be done.
Eventually.
When I understand where the magic moment in mine can be found.
Timing.
The current book needs to be a self contained story with only minor problems left unsolved. I'd prefer the next one to take off where this one ends in a natural way. That requires that those minor problems grow into the main conflict that needs to be solved.
Timing.
How do I allow the current story to run its course to a satisfying end that still lends itself to a continuation in the form of another book?
Timing.
It's a matter of lying to the reader without lying to the reader. A contradiction in terms it may seem, but that's really not the case. I need to create an end where the reader feels that one story has come to its logical end, or at least to a perceived satisfying end. I also need to leave it open to a potential continuation that would essentially be a new story, or, in reality, a perceived new story.
It's a little bit like creating one story where Napoleon is victorious and then writing another where the French fights a losing war. Two stories and yet one. Lying to the reader without lying to the reader. All in all it's a matter of timing.
The task has turned out more difficult than I had imagined, but it is still but a task, and those are to be done.
Eventually.
When I understand where the magic moment in mine can be found.
Timing.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Tournament February
Went so so.
Brought my slightly polished !Ventrue bleed/vote -deck.
Made final round without too much problems but the final itself was a dead end.
It's definitely time to start developing a few new decks.
Brought my slightly polished !Ventrue bleed/vote -deck.
Made final round without too much problems but the final itself was a dead end.
It's definitely time to start developing a few new decks.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Critting
The main crit circle I'm a member of is stacking up on members.
Crit circle?
It's basically a number of people who submit texts and read other submitters' text. Said reading done with a critical eye.
In my case this is done on the net, but a circle could be people meeting weekly in a coffee shop. The form is less important than the purpose.
We help each other, or at least aim to help each other, to become better writers. The method is reading and commenting read text. I ways it looks like text analyses done as part of an education, but in this case it's a matter of reading texts that are unfinished.
Read and give an opinion, or several. How did I like it? Did the language appeal to me? Did I approve of how a character came through. Did I happen to notice that a technical application doesn't work the way it was described because I happen to work as a rocket engineer? And so on and so forth.
My personal experience is that it's recommended for most anyone writing. There are numerous dangers inherent though.
Read, think and decide.
Google is a good place to search for information.
Crit circle?
It's basically a number of people who submit texts and read other submitters' text. Said reading done with a critical eye.
In my case this is done on the net, but a circle could be people meeting weekly in a coffee shop. The form is less important than the purpose.
We help each other, or at least aim to help each other, to become better writers. The method is reading and commenting read text. I ways it looks like text analyses done as part of an education, but in this case it's a matter of reading texts that are unfinished.
Read and give an opinion, or several. How did I like it? Did the language appeal to me? Did I approve of how a character came through. Did I happen to notice that a technical application doesn't work the way it was described because I happen to work as a rocket engineer? And so on and so forth.
My personal experience is that it's recommended for most anyone writing. There are numerous dangers inherent though.
Read, think and decide.
Google is a good place to search for information.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Learning the tools
Phonetics.
Is that a foul word or merely the term for a field of linguistics?
I sometimes wonder.
Well, end of rant.
Is that a foul word or merely the term for a field of linguistics?
I sometimes wonder.
Well, end of rant.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
A cold in the warmth
Temperature has bounced up and down the last weeks, and with it so has our inner juices. It seems most everyone has caught a cold.
When your head feels like it's padded with cotton from the inside and all you want to do is to sleep, and then sleep some more, neither writing nor editing is the first that comes to your mind.
I've spent more time over my nose than over my manuscript.
Hopefully this spell will pass soon. I really, really dislike being sick.
Still, it's given me some time to think of the changes that I need to do. The more I think of it the better an idea it seems to allow for a location to become a character in its own right. No, not by adding sentience to it, but to treat a place, in as much as it's possible, as a person.
One major weakness my writing suffers from is the lack of world come alive to the reader. This way I'll be forced to rectify that.
When your head feels like it's padded with cotton from the inside and all you want to do is to sleep, and then sleep some more, neither writing nor editing is the first that comes to your mind.
I've spent more time over my nose than over my manuscript.
Hopefully this spell will pass soon. I really, really dislike being sick.
Still, it's given me some time to think of the changes that I need to do. The more I think of it the better an idea it seems to allow for a location to become a character in its own right. No, not by adding sentience to it, but to treat a place, in as much as it's possible, as a person.
One major weakness my writing suffers from is the lack of world come alive to the reader. This way I'll be forced to rectify that.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Edit running
Well, I survived that first day, which is more than my first chapter did.
Prologue and Prelude saw only minor changes. There wasn't really all that much to do as neither of them belonged to the eternal exposition kind of pre stories that are all too usual.
But chapter one. Oh dear. Well it gave me the momentum I needed to start once upon a time, and now it gives me the momentum needed to start fixing up what needs fixing up right from the beginning.
In that sense I suspect I ought to be grateful.
A new main character will be added as well. If writing world is my current main weakness then what better way than to give world a character of its own. Or maybe I should say of her own. I have, after all, decided to make her female in my book.
More ramblings later.
Prologue and Prelude saw only minor changes. There wasn't really all that much to do as neither of them belonged to the eternal exposition kind of pre stories that are all too usual.
But chapter one. Oh dear. Well it gave me the momentum I needed to start once upon a time, and now it gives me the momentum needed to start fixing up what needs fixing up right from the beginning.
In that sense I suspect I ought to be grateful.
A new main character will be added as well. If writing world is my current main weakness then what better way than to give world a character of its own. Or maybe I should say of her own. I have, after all, decided to make her female in my book.
More ramblings later.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Scalpel time
February.
I'm cutting and shredding, mangling and saving. I am, in short, editing.
Chunks of text ripped out and discarded, other chunks ripped out and reused and some simply left where they are as I deem them good enough.
Editing.
The beginning of the book, or rather the beginning of chapter one had to go. I'll reuse most of it, but not as a beginning. In fact chapters 1, 3 and 4 need rewriting. A lot I can salvage, but even the parts I reuse need polishing.
Editing.
Changing the words, throwing some out and inserting new ones create changes to the entire story. I can see repercussions rippling ahead of me, and I'm not entirely certain I like it, but it has to be done.
Editing.
What I had planned as a two and a half month's worth of work will more likely take four full months to complete. After that? Beta readers. After that? More editing.
At least I have started this part of the process. I'll feel more familiar with it as the days pass by. Ripping and shredding will take a routine of its own. I know that, but I'm not there yet.
I'm cutting and shredding, mangling and saving. I am, in short, editing.
Chunks of text ripped out and discarded, other chunks ripped out and reused and some simply left where they are as I deem them good enough.
Editing.
The beginning of the book, or rather the beginning of chapter one had to go. I'll reuse most of it, but not as a beginning. In fact chapters 1, 3 and 4 need rewriting. A lot I can salvage, but even the parts I reuse need polishing.
Editing.
Changing the words, throwing some out and inserting new ones create changes to the entire story. I can see repercussions rippling ahead of me, and I'm not entirely certain I like it, but it has to be done.
Editing.
What I had planned as a two and a half month's worth of work will more likely take four full months to complete. After that? Beta readers. After that? More editing.
At least I have started this part of the process. I'll feel more familiar with it as the days pass by. Ripping and shredding will take a routine of its own. I know that, but I'm not there yet.
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