Archive for the ‘Progress Report’ Category

Looks Like Someone Got The Message

Posted: December 16, 2012 in Living and Life, Politics and Leadership, Progress Report, Reflections, Social Activism
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This morning I wrote a post calling for everyone reading this blog to contact every politician they can think of and ask them to work for stricter measures against gun violence. Afterwards I saw an article on HuffPost.com on how a man in Indiana threatened to kill his wife and then go into a local elementary school and shoot them up. Thankfully yesterday he was arrested and is being held on felony intimidation charges, but it still had me spooked. I mean, it’s enough to make you think this coming Friday really is the end of the world!

But when I got back home from my meditation class, I saw an article that said on the first day of the new Congress, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California plans to introduce a bill that’ll stop the sale of assault weapons to civilians. As she said on her campaign website, “Who needs these military-style assault weapons? Who needs an ammunition feeding device capable of holding 100 rounds? These weapons are not for hunting deer — they’re for hunting people.”

So true, Senator Feinstein. So true.

So at least someone in Washington has the guts to step up and speak out on the gun problem in the United States. I hope soon we can see some progress, and I wish Senator Feinstein the best of luck in getting this bill through Congress.

However this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep emailing our elected officials. On the contrary, we should email them more, because if a bill like this is going to get through Congress, it’s going to need all the popular support it can get, and I’m hoping you’ll help support it. So email away; I’ve got to email the senator herself and thank her for saying she’ll introduce this bill, because as you can tell it means a lot to me.

Snake: Part VI Done!

Posted: December 14, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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I’M ON A ROLL!

Today, at around a quarter to four in the afternoon, I finished writing Part VI of Snake, two days after I finished the previous part! I had to cut out one chapter and combine two chapters as I was doing the writing, but that’s okay, because this part is awesome! I had an idea for a regular fight between the main antagonist and the Snake, but I changed it so that they fight not in an office or across the city, but in a controlled environment like in The Hunger Games. How did I do that? You’ll have to read the novel when I put it out to find that one out.

So now I have only four chapters in the Epilogue left, and then the first draft of this novel will be finished. Can I get a whoop-whoop?! Anyway, time to do a count-up (my favorite part of reporting the Parts are done). Remember, I write my drafts double-spaced, with 12-point Times New Roman font. When I finally publish this and Reborn City, they’ll probably be much smaller in terms of page count. Probably.

So, Part VI of Snake ends up being 28 pages and 7,095 words. Adding it to the rest of the Parts: the Prologue was 14 pages and 3,979 words; Part I was 41 pages and 10,177 words; Part II was 96 pages and 23,801 words; Part III was 126 pages and 30,733 words; Part IV was 86 pages and 22,288 words; and Part V was 29 pages and 7,576 words. Add it all up, and you get a staggering amount of 420 pages and 105,649 words. Does anyone want to place a bet on how long the first draft will be after I add the Epilogue?

Well, I’ll take a break till tomorrow. Tonight, I just want to spend time with my family and read some good books too.

Wish me luck.

Snake: Part V Done

Posted: December 12, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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Awww, isn’t it cute?

Well, that last chapter took me a while because I got distracted so many times. But I did it! I finished Part V of Snake, and I feel like partying! I only have eleven chapters of Snake left now! I just got to finish up the climax, and then I have to write the epilogue. I’m almost done!

You know, I can’t believe how quickly I’ve written Snake; when I was writing Reborn City in high school, it took me two fricking years to write the first chapter. That was partly because I believed that a novel needed to be written in years, partly because I took breaks during writing RC for homework/working part-time/Israel/writing short stories/other stuff. In any case, it took a long time to write RC, but I’ve managed to write Snake in almost six months. I feel almost like James Patterson! If given the time and the motivation and the equipment and the inspiration, I can get a novel done in a year, something I didn’t think possible for me.

So I’m going to take a short little break, veg out in front of my computer, and then I’ll see about starting Part VI.  I’m going to make the rest of this first draft simply frightening, disturbing, and slightly romantic. Wish me luck, mi compadres!

I hope that was some resemblance of Spanish. I should’ve stuck with Hebrew: Wish me luck, haverim sheli!

Oh, and before I forget, here’s the page and word count up! Part V was 29 pages total (keep in mind, double-spaced, twelve-point Times New Roman font) and the word count was 7,368 words. Now let’s add it all up: we get 392 pages and 98,346 words! Jeez louise, I’ve been busy these past six months! But it might become bestselling busywork someday.

On to Part VI, haverim sheli!

Snake: A Diagnosis

Posted: December 11, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Reflections, Writing
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Or lack of one, to be more precise.

I’ve mentioned it a couple times before, but I’ve been working with a forensic psychologist who’s been helping me with the police reports in Snake. I send him a description of the Snake’s latest murder, he takes a look at it and based on the information I give him uses it to try and guess things about the Snake, such as motive and who he might be. I use that information he gives me so that my FBI profiler character can give an accurate assessment of the Snake.

Now, I promisedmy friend/consultant that when the profiler character figured out the Snake’s identity, so would he. Granted, the profiler character figured it out using evidence that can’t be used in a warrant, much less a courtroom, but she figured it out, so I sent the identity of the Snake to my consultant, giving him a detailed history of the Snake, his personality, and why he became a killer. I also asked what sort of diagnosis the Snake would be given. This is the reply I got:

“He doesn’t have a diagnosis.   Certainly, he has some psychiatric traits – like psychopathy, etc. – but nothing diagnosable.   A diagnosis signifies that either some impairment is occurring, or there is clinically significant distress present.   I don’t see either in his case.   It’s clear that he’s not truly a psychopath, and it’s evident that he’s done what he’s done in order to seek revenge and ***********.   While extreme in his methods, he’s quite noble in his cause.   I wouldn’t burden him with a diagnosis.”
By the way, the ************ means there’s something in that paragraph I don’t want revealed yet, so I had to cut it out and replace it with something else.
Bottom line though is that I set out to create a unique serial killer the literary world had never seen before, and it looks like it worked, becuase I’ve never heard of a serial killer without a psychological diagnosis. Psychopaths, schizophrenics, mood disorders, paranoids, even a few conditions that cause mental retardation and facial dysmorphia, I’ve seen them all used with serial killers in movies and books. This is a first for me though, so I’m kind of happy that my own work is where I’m introduced to it.
Anyway, thought I’d share that with you. Have a good evening, I’m off to dinner.

Snake: Reducing Chapters

Posted: December 11, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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Look out! It’s going to bite you!

As I’ve gone about writing chapters of Snake, I’ve sometimes combined two chapters in the outline in order to make the story move along more smoothly. Last night I finished Chapter 86, and today I’m about to start Chapter 87. However as I was reading the description I put in the outline for this chapter, I thought it seemed a little short, like something was missing from it. So I went over the next chapter; that too seemed shorter than what a chapter required. So did the next one, and the one after that. After looking at all four though, I realized that together they would make an awesome chapter. So I did what any sensible writer who wants what’s best for his work would do, and I combined Chapters 87-90 into one big Chapter 87. Already it’s looking like an awesome chapter, so I can’t wait to start writing it. It may be a litle longer than some of the other chapters in this story, but I still think it’s going to be awesome.

Also, this reduces the number of chapters I have left down to thirteen, meaning I’ll have less than 100 chapters when I finish Snake. But hey, I think it’ll end up being an awesome novel when it’s done, so what’s a few less chapters? Besides, I already combined several other chapters together at various points of writing this novel, although I’ve never combined four together at the same time. So really, it’s no big deal.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ve got to get on Chapter 87 and write it up. I’m definitely finishing this book by the end of December! Woo-hoo!

Snake: Starting Part V

Posted: December 9, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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I’m definitely becoming the sort of person who just isn’t comfortable unless he’s done some writing during the day. In fact, I had a little free time before my meditation class today, so I ended up starting Part V: “Coiled” of Snake, just because I had the time and I felt tlike writing. I didn’t finish the chapter, but I’m going to do that right now, if only to just get it out of the way. Afterwards I’ll study for my final on Wednesday, which somehow through luck or random chance or God’s decision-making process, is my only final. After that, I might work out or go for a long walk. And after that…maybe I’ll start the next chapter. Depends on my mood.

Okay, now that I’ve talked about my day, I’ll get to Snake and what goes on in Part V. This section of the novel features a huge fight scene, where the Snake and his allies take on some of the worst of the family the Snake has been hunting. The Snake goes up against Frissora, the nasty mercenary I mentioned a few posts back, and after that, some crazy stuff happens that gets resolved in Part VI.

After I’m done with this part though, I’ll be in the home stretch to finishing the first draft of Snake. After that, I’ll leave it alone a while so that when I go to edit it, I’ll be looking at it with fresh eyes. And in between getting my critiques on individual chapters of Reborn City, I’ll work on short stories, which I may or may not turn into a collection of short stories.

But for now, I’ve just got to keep writing, one chapter at a time. Thankfully I won’t have to write any more sex scenes or anything like that; that would be awkward!

Snake: Part IV Done

Posted: December 8, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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Ladies and gentlemen, I am making progress! I just finished Part IV after finishing my last paper for the semester, and let me tell you, I really enjoyed working on this part. Not only did I get it done much faster than the other parts–about 2 weeks after finishing Part III–but I noticed some fundamental differences between Part IV and previous parts, the most glaring of which is that the chapters in this part were longer and had less action than those of previous parts. This was a part where relationships were forged and explored, and even a few new characters were introduced. Oh, and there was a sex scene as well, that was pretty long too (once again, pun intended).

So, now for the count-up of pages and words, and let me remind you that when I type out drafts, it’s on 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper, double spaced, and with 12-point Times New Roman font. So in total, the number of pages in Part IV is 86 pages, and the word count is 22,288. Let’s add that to the totals of all the other parts now. For the record, the Prologue is 14 pages and 3,979 words; Part I is 41 pages and 10,177 words; Part II is 96 pages and 23,801 pages; Part III (the longest so far) is 126 pages and 30,733 words. This brings the total now to (drum roll please)…363 pages and 90,978. It’s close to Reborn City‘s length now. And it’ll probably be longer, too.

Wow. Did not expect Snake to exceed RC. That’s something else.

Well, next I’ll be working on Parts V and VI, followed by the Epilogue. The last two Parts will have the climax of the story, and the Epilogue will tie up the loose ends. Looks like I’ll be making my New Year’s deadline with this one, ladies and gentlemen. Wish me luck.

An Update on Frissora

Posted: December 6, 2012 in Novel, Progress Report, Writing
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For those of you who might have been wondering, I went over the chapter wehre I introduced my character Frissora, a hitman from the pits of Hell…or maybe North Africa. I don’t really have a character history for the guy yet, only that he’s a scary bastard with facial scars and he’s going to give the Snake all sorts of trouble.

As I was saying, I went over the chapter where I introduce Frissora and I actually didn’t have to change as much as I thought I would have to change. I just added a few lines and changed how the chapter ended. I still think Frissora is scary as hell, adn I plan to keep that up in later chapters. I may even give some hints as to how Frissora came to be, thsoe sort of obscure hints where the reader gets a small idea of what created Frissora but still has a lot to imagine because those hints are vague and probably only make sense to Frissora…and me.

Well, I’ve made my update. If I have anything else, I’ll let you know.

Onto Chapter 79!

Submitting the Succubus Story

Posted: December 4, 2012 in Progress Report, short story, Writing
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So a friend of mine who looks at my short stories as an unbiased third party just got back to me and said he enjoyed reading my succubus story and he thought my writing had improved (thanks, Marc!). So before I started the next chapter of Snake, I went over the story one last time, made some minor adjustments, and now I think I’m ready to send it off. I don’t know any magazines off the top of my head that might publish this sort of story, but hopefully I can find a publication that will be interested and maybe they’ll publish it.

That’s the hope, anyway.

Now that that’s over and done with, I’m going to start working on the next chapter of Snake. It’s a sex scene though, so I have a feeling that my writing will be slowed down my sheer awkwardness and embarassment! Wish me luck.

I Can’t Wait To Self-Publish

Posted: December 2, 2012 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Reflections, Writing
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My dad called me last night and told me to get my hands on a copy of the latest issue of TIME magazine, saying there was an article that ran 5-6 pages on the ever-growing industry of self-publishing. I asked a friend of mine in my dorm if I could borrow his copy, and this evening I sat down to read it. What I saw encouraged me; there were so many stories of authors who had found success in the self-publishing industry, and even those who’d sold only a few hundred copies or less were finding ways to increase sales. It made me think: I hope that when Reborn City comes out, it’s a success.

Of course, I’m a bit far away from that at this point. I’ve only gotten three chapters finalized, and I’m waiting for the next one. At this rate I’ll probably be finished sometime between March and June. But I’m already gedtting ready, spreading the word as much as I can. Soon I’ll start up my own Facebook page as a writer, and see about creating a fan page for RC. I’m also getting a lot of work on Snake done and I hope to have that done by the end of the year, God-willing, and then I’ll start planning publishing that (and seeing if there’s someone who can look at it and give me an opinion before I put it out). And if I have the energy, I may just put out a small collection of horror short stories. With the power of e-publishing and the author as the marketer, the possibilites are endless.

So let’s hope I can get RC soon. If I can sell 1000 copies of RC, I’ll consider this all a success.

By the way, question for the other self-publishers who read this blog: how are your books doing? And what’re you doing to increase your sales and exposure (besides blogging a lot, of course).

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