So, for those who care about the novel I’m working on, I’ve managed to decide on a title; “Valkyrie in Progress”. Now, naming a book is no small feat and I’m pretty pleased with how this one’s come out. To be honest, I didn’t think I’d have one this soon, but inspiration struck me while walking back to my dorm from class late last week. I tossed it around in my head a while and then finally settled on it. The thing is, I figured I couldn’t really name the thing until I’d actually finished writing it, like I’ve had to do with my short stories.
Category: Upcoming Novel
Well, I’m pretty proud of myself now. I got another chapter done on the novel. I feel like I’ve got a good pace going for once and might actually get this thing done someday. I’m really starting to see the characters shape out and see how they work with each other, and it’s really an exciting process. It’s been a good while since I wrote a complete story where I was writing all the characters (I’ve been writing collaborative works with others of late, mostly involved in online roleplaying communities and fanfiction type of things, rather than doing my short stories which I was known for years ago), and getting into the practice of it is something new.
Well, I actually sat down and hammered out a rough draft of the alternate version of the prologue to put the reader in the middle of the action of the story. I’m not sure how it clicks, and to be honest, I’m probably going to stick to the original prologue unless the feedback for the alternate is overwhelmingly positive and the majority prefers the new prologue.
Well, the reviews so far for the prologue are all very popular. Several came back with nothing negative to say, and the few who did say something negative all said something different, so I know they can’t be big problems, though I’m still likely to tweak those problems down. But one of the criticisms kind of shook me a bit and brought back something that I consider even more pernicious and problematic than the dreaded “Writers Block”; Writer’s Doubt. What Writer’s Doubt does, quite simply, is inject into your mind the voice of the “Little hater” as described by Jay Smooth of Ill Doctrine: View full article »
After a long brainstorming period, I’ve finally begun work on a novel that’s been some time in the making. The hardest part for me about writing something like this, even with my short stories, has always been to get started. Once I get rolling, it’s generally pretty easy, provided that I manage to start the process and finish a good first couple parts. The story seems to write itself from there, so I always agonize over the beginning. Last night, after consulting with my literature-loving friends about the issue of whether to include a prologue, or to just jump in to the first chapter without any backstory and just have it revealed during the course of the story, I decided to write up a prologue. View full article »
