Category Archives: Life

Life, School, Writing, Changes, Inspiration, General

Week One is Done, on to Week Two!

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This entry is part [part not set] of 73 in the series The Writing Life Blog

My first week of classes went fairly well. I was forced to miss one discussion session thanks to medical appointments but now that I actually know my schedule that is the last such occurrence. All in all, I am satisfied with the classes I have. Given I’m going for a Creative Writing major I have three English classes and only one elective. I was worried at first at the workload from these courses but it ends up being far more manageable than I’d thought. It certainly opens up the possibility for  taking on a little more next semester. Provided I can get a better schedule of course.

Being back at school so much later in my life is a bit strange but it’s also exciting. I find I am more motivated to get the work done than ever I was in my early years. Even if there are other things I’d rather be doing, and there usually are, I don’t have much trouble sitting down and getting on with my homework. I guess that comes with age.

At any rate, it’s time to take on my second week!

General, Life, Changes

Taking a Deep Breath Before the Plunge

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This entry is part [part not set] of 73 in the series The Writing Life Blog

I am officially signed up for my classes. I’ve got four nailed down for sure and I’m wait-listed on one. If I manage to get into that class, and I really hope I do, I’m in for a busy semester. Way back in the day when I was first a full-time student I took six or seven classes my first two semester. Sounds crazy but they were just general education classes for the most part so they weren’t terribly difficult or intensive. They also weren’t terribly interesting. (Definitely a contributing factor for why I dropped out all those years ago.) Now though I’m basically a junior/senior so my classes should be much more involved. Having been gone from college for so long, and also not being familiar with this one, I do wonder just how big of a workload I’ve signed up for.

It’s also been a very long time since I had to deal with homework. Of course the real working world sucks a whole lot more than homework so I think all of the perspective and experience I’ve gathered since my first college try will help it suck a bit less.

Overall I’m feeling super excited, nervous, and anxious to get started. This will be my last weekend before school starts so it’s all about relaxing (if possible) and making sure I have everything ready. I’m in for some busy days.

General, Life, Changes

New Beginnings

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This entry is part [part not set] of 73 in the series The Writing Life Blog

So today is the day. I get to sign up for classes and all that jazz. It’s pretty strange being back at school and knowing I’m here to be a full-time student. It’s been 16 years since the list time I had the opportunity, both financially and with life obligations. Part of me wishes I could give at least some of my experience and perspective to my 19 year old self back then so that maybe I wouldn’t have dropped out. I was disappointed when I did at the time but I really didn’t know what I was going to school for. College as a place holder just didn’t work for me. Now is different though.

Today I start the process of honing my writing skills, and perhaps other skills as well if the second major I want pans out. It’s both exciting and scary to be here but I’m glad I am.

Career, General, Life, Publishing, Writing, Inspiration

A Long and Terrifying Silence

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This entry is part [part not set] of 73 in the series The Writing Life Blog

It’s been over a month since my last post here. It’s been only a little less time since I put any serious time into writing. And yet I think about it every day, multiple times a day. I’m not exactly sure why I stopped writing. I know part of it was being tired. I was tired of the daily posts, status updates, and whatnot. I live with a strange dichotomy within myself in that part of me desperately wants and needs to express myself either through my writing or some other creative means, and an almost equal part of me wants to keep my thoughts and feelings to myself. This is something I have always struggled with. At least I think so. It certainly feels that way.

I’ve got just over 30k words for my NaNo novel. And I’m just kind of stuck. Not because I don’t know what happens next. I do. I’ve been thinking about that a whole lot during this extended break. I’m not sure why I haven’t sat down to keep going then. I know I really don’t like the current scene. It feels off for some reason. I’m tempted to skip ahead and write another part then eventually fill in the missing stuff. Thing is I’ve written both of my full length novels sequentially. I’m not sure how jumping around will turn out for me. But maybe it’s time to give it a shot.

 

Regardless, this kind of lull in my writing has been pretty scary. I question myself daily whether or not I really have the drive and ability to make this my living. There’s no question it’s going to be a long, slow road to even moderate success. Still, this is the hardest I’ve ever been hit by the doubt demons. Here’s hoping I can power through.

Changes, Inspiration, Career, Crowdfunding, General, Life, Patreon, Publishing, Unemployment, Writing

So. Much. Change.

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This entry is part [part not set] of 73 in the series The Writing Life Blog

It’s been a little bit since my last post but I haven’t been idle. Where to begin?

 

The Home Front:

Probably the best news is that my sister has started her chemo treatments and so far that is going well. I know the whole experience has been pretty awful for her but I also know we’re all feeling a little better about the whole situation. The tumor in her neck is already noticeably smaller just three treatments in. Definitely a good sign. We’re not out of the woods yet but the horrible sense of loss and depression have receded. I will be joining her on her next treatment so I’ll get a chance to see firsthand how it is.

As far as the school stuff goes I did manage to get all of the required items to the school just under the wire. I didn’t really think that was going to happen since I was waiting for one transcript that took three months the last time I ordered it. I ordered the new one as soon as we finished moving to Madison but that left less than two months. Surprisingly though it arrived just in time and now I await the school’s decision. I’ll probably be coming in as a junior so that will be nice. I might have one or two lame general requirements left but that’ll be it. I should be able to concentrate on my English – Creative Writing major. I’m actually really excited to have the chance to go back to college full-time. I never thought I’d have another chance when I dropped out back in ’99. I’ll definitely be one of the oldest students in my classes but I don’t mind that. It’ll be fun watching all of the kids run around doing their thing. Here’s hoping I get in next semester.

This Year So Far:

In other news I’ve invested a great deal of time and effort into my writing career over the past month. The print edition of Induction was finalized and is available on Amazon. This is crazy exciting for me. Despite growing up with a just-blossoming Internet I guess I still have a pretty strong connection to the physical world. So when I held a physical proof version of my first book, for the first time, it felt more special and real than when I published the e-book version back in February. I know at times I’m disappointed with my progress so far. I definitely had high hopes and set a very high bar for myself last year. I wanted to have this first trilogy done by December 2014 as well as at least 5 short stories, published individually and as a collection. For a long time it looked like that wasn’t going to happen. Between moving twice, applying to one college and getting in, then having to apply to another as well as the rough time my family and I have all been going through it’s been a crazy busy year. Actually, now that I think about it I guess the progress I have made so far is decent. Plus National Novel Writing Month will be here in just a couple of weeks. Topic change!

NaNoWriMo (Huh?):

National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo (nanowrimo.org) is a yearly contest, sort of, to get people to write a 50k word novel in just one month. Specifically, in November. So people who participate have 30 days to finish the novel. Anyone who manages to finish within the 30 day period wins. It’s free to participate and there are a bunch of groups around the country, and probably in other countries, participating. I found out about it last year but I was already writing my first book and working a day job full-time. I wasn’t about to try a second novel when I wasn’t even sure I could finish the one I was working on. This year is different though. I am currently unemployed and writing full-time. College doesn’t start (as long as I’m accepted) until January and I will hopefully have a little income coming in from my writing in the near future. Enough to get by and still eat at any rate. Hopefully. Maybe.

Anyway, the point is I have the time and strong desire to participate this year. I’ve already signed up and am looking at getting with my local group here in Madison. They already have some tentative events planned and I’m very psyched to get the chance to meet other writers. I know writing is a solitary profession in many ways but just in my short time doing that I have already realized that my writing and my experience writing is better when I can share it with other people. That’s been limited to friends and family so far which means I’m very eager to talk and work with other writers to get their perspectives on writing, the writing life, and life in general.

As for what I will be writing next month, that is still undecided. I was hoping to get some feedback from my Patrons via Patreon regarding which of the ideas I’ve had so far they’d like to see, but that requires having Patrons. (More in the next section.) At this point I’ve got four ideas, two related to my Shrouded world, two not. The third book of the trilogy is out as a possibility because it won’t fit within any reasonable distance of 50k words. Both of the first books ran almost 100k and I’ve got plenty more story to cover. There is another Shrouded World book that’s been on the back burner for almost a year now and that definitely has possibilities. We shall see.

Patreon:

So Patreon is a thing now. I first stumbled across it when I was going through some artwork on an unrelated site. They mentioned I could support them through something called Patreon. I was curious at the time but had other things going on and forgot about it for a couple of weeks. Once I came back to it though I discovered that Patreon is basically ongoing crowd-funding for artists. The amounts pledged, either per month or per fixed unit of work completed, are much smaller than what you see on Kickstarter or Indiegogo. Most start at $1. Looking through the site I found some artists I already followed on YouTube. (Peter Hollins comes to mind immediately. Amazing a cappella music videos.) I loved the idea right then and there. Have someone creating something you love and enjoy? Give a buck a month or whatever and help them pay their bills and eat so they can focus on creating! I’m learning first-hand just how hard it is to concentrate on creating when you’re worried about paying for rent and food. So I decided to join in as well and started my own Patreon page.

It’s been up for less than a week and I don’t have any Patrons yet but I’m hopeful this will be the answer for transitioning from regular 9 to 5 jobs to writing full-time. I will say this though: I am far more motivated every day to keep writing, publishing, reading, researching, and learning. My main passions in life so far have been book and gaming. Now writing has usurped both of those as number one. Not something I could have predicted but it’s something I’m enjoying immensely. Whether or not I’m successful I am definitely enjoying the ride.

 

(EDIT)

So I spazzed out and completely forgot to include links for all of the stuff I’ve been working on. Here they are in no particular order:

Patreon (Seriously, this site is awesome. If I had the money there’s a bunch of artists I would already be supporting.): http://www.patreon.com

My Patreon Page: http://www.patreon.com/fuzzynerd

My new Tumblr blog where I post my free work: http://fuzzynerdcorner.tumblr.com/

I am now also on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FuzzyNerdCorner

National Novel Writing Month Site: http://nanowrimo.org

General, Life, Publishing, Writing

When Bad News Strikes

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This entry is part [part not set] of 73 in the series The Writing Life Blog

I’ve been out of the game for some time now but I’m finally getting back into the swing of things. I know I don’t have many readers but for those who were wondering my long silence was due to finding out my sister has cancer. It was more than a bit of a shock to us all especially considering just how fast it developed. We have all been dealing with the fallout from that diagnosis for the past month or so. The silver lining here is that it could have been much worse and they caught it early enough the doctors are talking about fully curing her, not just remission.

The funny thing about news like this is how it alters how you think of things. This was the first time someone close to me was diagnosed with something as serious as cancer. My family has its fair share of ailments but cancer really wasn’t one of them. I suppose that made me feel like we’d dodged the bullet. After all we grew up just a block away from a park that harbored a dangerous carcinogen just under the surface but we seemed to be fine. Not to much now. Still, things are not nearly as bad as they could be and we are very hopeful at this point that she will make a fully recovery.

As for my writing the whole cancer thing definitely derailed that for a time. This week was the first time I managed to concentrate enough to finalize the formatting for Induction. As of today the print proofs have shipped and I am very excited to hold my first book in my hands. In a case of interesting timing I finished my second book on the same day I found out about my sister. I haven’t done much with that beyond a quick first edit but I do have it out for a more thorough round of editing and I hope to get it back shortly. Funny enough thanks to all of these delays I was able to include a sample of book 2 in the print and updated digital copies of book 1.

In other news I am working on my application to attend the university here. I am very eager to have access to their Creative Writing curriculum. The community here in town is also very artist, and writer, friendly. All in all college this time around should be a much more rewarding experience.

Writing, Balance, Changes, Imagination, Inspiration, Method, Career, Gaming, General, Life, Unemployment

Done and Done

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This entry is part [part not set] of 73 in the series The Writing Life Blog

It’s been a couple of quiet weeks as far as posts here go. That was mostly due to being ill. Picked up a nasty little bacteria that took up residence in my sinuses and chest. It was a lot like a mild flu mixed with a head cold. Got the fever, cough, congestion, and sore throat combo going so that was a lot of fun. Probably could have cut my sick time in half with a little antibiotic love but that requires expensive doctor visits and medicine so no joy there. Future illnesses like this shouldn’t be a problem if the VA comes through though so here’s hoping on that front.

As far as writing goes I didn’t let a little thing like being sick stop me from writing. I certainly slowed down but I’m very happy to report that book 2 was finished early today. I was working on Chapter 21 when I realized I was just dragging out the story and could easily cut it at the end of Chapter 20 plus a short epilogue. So that’s what I did. My second novel ever clocks in at just over 92k words and took an unfortunate 5 months to write. Book 1 was 4k words longer and took 3 months all while I was working 40 hours a week. Funny how it’s been harder to write when I have so much more free time. Of course moving threw a big monkey wrench into my writing time/energy so there’s a good month lost to that. The real problem was making the time and space for it. For the first book I was in a lull as far as my gaming went so it was no big deal to devote an hour a night to getting some writing done. Still, done is done.

This second book was much harder to write for me. I think part of it was just the amount of world-building that went into this one. For the first book I could get away with vague references and hints until the big reveal at the end. Book two though is all about getting down and dirty with this new world. It’s a first for the protagonist, the reader, and me. 🙂  Fun fact: I used a short story that I wrote to build a lot of the details in book two. The short story takes place in the same world and focuses on a day in the life of a secret agency office worker. I ended up going through the short story again to jot down all of the details and filled an entire legal pad with notes. I will definitely be writing more of these kinds of stories to help flesh out my world. I think it takes the huge task of world-building and breaks it down into smaller, more manageable chunks. I’m actually itching to get going on another short story. It’s nice to know that I can start a project and get it done in a week or less. Finishing a novel feels great but the slog getting there can be rough.

General, Life, Writing, Inspiration, Method

Of Endings and Loose Threads

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This entry is part [part not set] of 73 in the series The Writing Life Blog

The past couple of days have been more about getting stuff done around the house than writing but I’ve still managed to finish editing 13 chapters of book 1. I noticed a tendency to use italics too much so I’m taking this opportunity to trim those out a bit. Started chapter 19 in book 2 as well. Only got about two pages down before I realized some things had to change. First off, the book is pretty much done as far as the story is concerned. Some elements will have to wait for book three. This will be good though since it means I can spend quite a bit more time developing them in the next book. What I’ve put down for chapter 19 will probably end up being the epilogue and chapter 18 will be greatly expanded and split. What I realized is that the confrontation in chapter 18 is really part of the climax of this book. I hadn’t planned it that way but it’s how it worked out. There’s about one to two more chapters worth of story that will come out from this change and then book 2 will be done. Pretty damn excited about that as this book seemed to drag a lot more than my first.

Wrote out the basic bits of these last two chapters. Sometimes it really helps me to brain storm with a pen and paper. I also keep all of my notes on paper as well. As much as I love computers and modern technology the ease of having a notebook I can quickly flip through for reference when I’m working on my laptop can’t be beat.

The last bit that is exciting is that my office is just about done. I managed to put up five coats of the white board paint so I’ll have a huge area to work with. It takes three days to cure which means tomorrow I can technically start using it. I’ll wait until Sunday just to be sure though. Plus I need to get some light in there. Something a little less glaring than the overhead light anyway. The rest of the house is really coming along as well. It’s a relief to finally see so much progress in so many places. As for book 2, I may end up pushing these last two chapters out pretty quickly since I’m super excited and I want to be done with it. Time will tell.

Career, General, Life, Writing, Inspiration, Method

(Re) Editing Turns Out to be Fun. For Realsies.

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This entry is part [part not set] of 73 in the series The Writing Life Blog

I’ve definitely been dreading this whole re-editing process because it means a whole lot of tedious work. So today I put it off as long as I could until about 30 minutes ago. Yet I’m already done with three more chapters and I’m kinda speed reading my book at the same time. Unexpectedly, I like it too. I’m enjoying my own book. Who knew? I definitely didn’t want to see it for awhile after I got it published back in January mostly because I was super sick of it. You can only spend so much time on the same thing before it gets boring and annoying after all. Now though I’m seeing it with fresh eyes. And I like it. I still don’t think it’s the best thing ever. Far from it, but I like it again. That’s definitely heartening. I can also see where my second book is better than this one. That’s a real boost to my motivation. Book one was definitely the prototype. No better than a beta. Now I’m extra anxious to finish this first trilogy so I can make the first book free.

Career, General, Life, Publishing, Writing, Method

Fun with (Re) Editing

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This entry is part [part not set] of 73 in the series The Writing Life Blog

Managed to finish up the formatting for POD with Induction. It was looking damn sexy. I’d always thought the font used in most print fiction was Times New Roman but it turns out to be Garamond. At least that’s what the templates I’ve received from various sites use and it looks very nice indeed. Had some fun (not really) setting up my Table of Contents in Word. The best part of that is that it’s tied to the chapter headings so even if future edits cause page numbers to change I can just update the TOC and it will automatically fix the numbers. This was my first time setting that up but it was pretty easy. Much like computer programming it takes more work up front but the end result is greatly increased efficiency and accuracy. Things I’ve always appreciated.

So I’m done right? Ready to upload the file and get on with the printing process! Woot! I did one last quick look over the whole thing and realized something was missing. A lot of somethings. It turns out that at some point my Google Docs master copy of the book lost ALL of its italics formatting. This is a huge deal for the book since I used italics to denote thoughts for the main character and a few others. Just re-reading the prologue was confusing because the thoughts are written like dialog but are placed within the paragraphs at the exact point the character is thinking them. Without the italics formatting they are horribly out of place and confusing. The worst part is this is the version currently on sale in electronic format. Yikes! So my main focus now is to re-apply all of the missing formatting in the print version and then make a copy to re-format back to ebook. Le sigh.

I looked at the revision history hoping to find a recent copy with the italics but nope, it’s been this way for months and I just didn’t notice. That’ll teach me to have just one master copy. I’ll check some of the downloaded ones before I get too far with the re-formatting to make sure I don’t have a local backup, but I’m not holding my breath. Ah well. Live and learn.

In the meantime I’m taking a break from the editing spree to slap on the last two coats of whiteboard paint on my office wall. Super excited about that. The first two coats are already on and it looks very promising. Once these last two are done it’s a three day wait for the stuff to cure. Then I get to see if the time and money I’ve put into this was even worth it. This paint has very mixed reviews after all. Here’s hoping!