Well, I'm back

So, I've been neglecting my written blog in favor of my Vlog on another account. I suppose its time to come back to the world of writing. Still, multimedia is great stuff! I love it when authors and other artists take the effort and time to make their work a multimedia explosion of goodness rather than just one medium. Don't get me wrong, operating in one specialized medium is still great! I just like being immersed in the art that I take in sometimes so its cool to see different forms of the same stuff.

In any event, I'm back and I'm having a dilemma. There are two plots/ideas buzzing around inside my skull for my first NaNoWriMo novel in November. Its coming down to the wire here with November about a week away, so I need to make a decision. Anyone with an idea or suggestion please comment!

OK, so I was going to do my novel in the fantasy world I've been building for almost 10 years. I've designed a new nation, culture, and even their language as part of the planning process for the book. However, just yesterday I had a flash of inspiration for a wicked badass SciFi plot. So, my question is this:

Which idea should I go with? The primitive rainforest dwelling tribes being invaded and annexed by the Empire in a High Fantasy medeival sort of environment? Or the futuristic SciFi novel where we've all nearly become cyborgs and there are only three massive empires to serve as political bodies in the world? OR, the dangerous option, BOTH?

Now, I'm already going back-to-back with novels in October and November. I also feel like I might be gearing up for 6 back-to-back month novels, possibly even a whole year of books. Still, my first book was done in 10 days! So its entirely plausible I could complete two novels in a month. What do you all think?

I have a sneaking suspicion I'll end up doing both, but I'm unsure. I did say I'd take my second novel at a more sane pace to try and get it really right. This new plot is just so delicious though.

Ah, the Sweet Relief!

My first novel is complete.

It's very rough and in a definite first draft form. Still, the moment I pecked out that last word I breathed in a deep sigh of relief. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast writing the book! Writing 52,332 words in ten days (most of that total in the last four days) can really take it out of you though! I'm glad it's all on (digital) paper now. I can relax now and just wait.

I'm still planning on doing the official NaNoWriMo in November. Next time, though, I think I'll pace myself a little better. I am proud of myself for cranking out those 119 pages in less than two weeks, but geez is it tiring. A more sane pacing, I think, is necessary for the next novel.

The next agonizing part about my first novel, though, is waiting for the rewrite. I want to set it aside for a good solid month or so before I touch it again. Stephen King recommends putting one's work in a drawer and forgetting about it for a while to move onto new things in his book On Writing and I find this to be sound advice. It allows one to get fresh eyes on it and be brutally merciless in the rewrite. When the book/story is so fresh out of one's mind it still feels like one's child. If you abandon it to the dust bunnies in your bottom drawer then come back to it weeks or months later there is less of an affectionate feeling there. I can see that.

Still, I'm a very impatient person, so if I'm back in a few days talking about rewriting don't be shocked. It's a character defect, I know, I'm working on it among others! At least I didn't procrastinate with the novel. It felt good to pound it out so furiously. It was almost like that feeling you get after vomiting profusely where everything feels so much better and there's that relief. Or when you poke yourself repeatedly with a thumbtack because it feels so good when you stop. It's cathartic.

One thing that really started to spook me as I got further in the book was this:
I didn't feel like I was writing it. It felt as though the characters had actually come to life and begun to tell their story their way. When I wrote the novel I was barely present. I was just moving my fingers and the words came from someone else reading it to me straight from their own fictional memories. That blew me away. I'd never had that feeling before. It felt simultaneously very cool and very frightening! It's one of those out-of-control feelings where you don't feel like you have any say in what happens. Disconcerting to say the least.

Still, I think it makes the world all that much more real. Someone told me when I explained this sensation "It's your book, but it's their world." That about summed it up for me. It's exactly like that. The characters demanded that the story be told the way it was told. My fingers on the keys just followed their instructions. The weirdest thing was how quickly I could phase in and out of that mindset. I'd be completely immersed in my own novel for an hour then in a flash be texting my fiancee and have no trouble going right back to the novel a moment later. Like I said, really cool and really spooky.

Anyway, I'll be back to post an excerpt soon! Keep your eyeballs peeled! (This assumes people are actually reading this bullshit, lol.)

In Earnest,

-Adam - AKA Lykeios -

Nearly Halfway Done

Its been a crazy week.

I'm now about 22,000 words into my first novel. I've been trying to write at least a few thousand words each day but missed a couple days. Its really too bad because I could be a lot farther along. Still, I guess its good not to rush things.

Two of the days I didn't get any writing in were awesome in other ways. I got to stay with my fiancee at her house. Her parents were out of town as well as her sister and brother-in-law. It was fun as all hell. Her sister dropped her kids off on Saturday for Sammi to watch them. I was there too so I got to help her (some) babysit them. We had a great weekend. Unfortunately I had to work most of the time and was so tired I slept through a lot of the time we had, but it was great anyway.

Now, though, its back to writing every day! I have almost an entire week off from week which means that only school will get in the way of this novel being finished. My goal is now to have it completely finished by next Tuesday. Well, to have 50,000 words by then at least. The NaNoWriMo requirement for word count is a little low for a novel really. My book might go longer. In fact, I'm almost certain it will, the climax still hasn't been reached and that's usually around the middle of the book. I just hope the first 20,000 words aren't hopelessly dull. Its mostly introduction as this is likely going to wind up being a series. I just can't see this being finished in one book. Well, unless its a very long book. While I enjoy monstrous tomes like Stephen King's The Stand not everyone does so I'm trying to keep it to around 60,000 words or less.

In any case, I'm overjoyed to be writing again! My "hiatus" so to speak was far too long. I'd forgotten how great it feels to just make shit up and call it fiction. I can't wait to see what happens next myself every day. Sure, there are some vague plans buzzing around my skull, but nothing is set in stone. Even when I write it its subject to change during the rewrite later on. So, we'll see. When I'm over halfway done officially I may post an excerpt from the first few pages so keep your eyeballs peeled!

In Earnest,

Adam King - AKA Lykeios

P.S. To all my fellow NaNoWriMoers: Good luck with your books! Just keep writing! Even if it sucks, keep writing!

Into the Void

So, I decided I definitely could not wait even another day to start this novel.

The idea was rattling around in my head so much I just had to open a Word doc and start. Man did it flow! It felt good too. After such a long break from writing anything new it was like coming home again. I was more ready than I thought. All it takes is a good idea I guess. I'm at almost 5,000 words and paused for now. I was hoping to reach 5,000 so I may take one more trip into novel-world before the day is officially over.

I titled this post the way I did for a reason. The way I write, it really is like throwing yourself into some chasm with no visible bottom. You dive in and you don't reach the bottom and head back up to surface until you're completely done with what you went in for. Or until you're genuinely suffocating. That's called failure though, and I don't want to talk about that just now.

So, I'm in the void now. Its coming along so far. The inspiration is all there at my fingertips. I can feel the creativity flowing. We'll see how I feel in a week or so, but I can't see how I'll be unable to write less than half of what I did earlier every day from now on. My pacing is fast because I read in No Plot? No Problem! that the second week is the hardest. I want to get ahead early so if I do hit that wall, the caffeine and cojones will get me through.

For now, though, its all flowing. Here's to the present, its all we have!

In Earnest,

- Adam King -