Posts exploring the process of writing.
This week I’ve been working on the second draft of an early chapter of the The Kingdom of Fief where Aliyah jousts with Skippy at Merrymount Middle School’s annual Med Faire. This is when Aliyah snaps — meaning she becomes, in her mind, a knight-errant. “Prrrfffft,” the trumpets screeched once more.Aliyah and Skippy ducked under … Read more
I got this idea for a little side project — a Wimpy Kid-style retelling of Oliver Stone & Brian De Palma’s version of Scarface (1983). One of the constraints I’ll be putting on myself is to see if I can finish a rough draft in a weekend — this weekend. So to prepare, last weekend … Read more
I’ve been exploring this idea of motivation again as it relates to the kinds of tasks I’ve tasked myself with doing on any given day. There’s a new feeling that is starting to supplant the more familiar resistance. This new feeling still feels kind of nascent and amorphous, but it’s this idea that the tasks … Read more
I’ve been revising what is now the Prologue, as well as Chapters 1 & 2. As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m doing what I can to keep the Delay bugbear at bay. I shared the most recent Prologue with my Discord writers’ group. I was planning to share it with Scott Dikkers and … Read more
For the past couple weeks, I’ve been working on a second draft. It’s going slower than hoped. Part of it is that the first draft — which I dictated and transcribed — is a mess. I can live with that. I’m just glad the first draft exists. It took me only two weekends to produce. … Read more
The old frame Dearest friends, brave souls all, please lend…umm…an ear. For I sing to you the song of Sir Aliyah, Knight-Errant.First Among Equals in the Order of the Frilly Garter.Most Cherished Champion of Her Royal Highness, the fairest and most kindly Queen Gwennifer.And who am I who presumes to be worthy enough to tell … Read more
What follows is a raw version of fairly recent thinking on how to settle on the best narrative frame for the story. Maybe have Lester be a motormouth — who admits that he “talks a lot” when he gets nervous. Right there, I have the seeds of a running joke. Whenever he starts monologuing, the … Read more
I just got back from a two-week hiatus. My crappy first draft has been marinating in a series of mp3 files. I dictated the entire first draft using a Sony voice recorder. Now I’m transcribing the audio files using a nifty piece of software called MacWhisper. Once the transcriptions are done, I’ll copy and paste … Read more
I write in Google Docs & Scrivener. Google Docs is where I brainstorm and journal. When an idea grows into a premise, I move it to Scrivener. Here are a couple screenshots for the Scrivener “Project” I’m using for the medieval comedy fantasy. The working title is Sir Aliyah, Knight-Errant. As you may know, the … Read more
The editor I hired on Reedsy choose the following 3 as the most promising of the 10 middle-grade novel premises I shared with him: Premise #6: Four Square Premise #9: Parental Abduction Premise #10: The Sad But 100% Completely True Tale of Lester, Court Jester, as told by his Faithful Cousin Sir Aliyah, Knight Errant … Read more
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