| A short introduction to this writing journal |
|
|
| 12:00am 01/01/2010 |
| |
mood:  welcoming
|
Greetings, new readers!
This is a back-dated post (yes, LiveJournal allows one to back-date to the future! No paradoxe is too strong for LJ!) for anyone coming by and wondering what this journal is about.
Simply put, what you will find here is writing. I write two serials, and participate every year in National Novel Writing Month. Almost everything I write finds its way here eventually.
If you're interested in reading my work (and I assume you are, since you're here), you may wish to start at the beginning instead of reading the posts in reverse chronological order, which is also an order that makes very little sense as stories (especially the serials) are not always posted as discrete entities unto themselves.
I have therefore linked all the serial instalments and book chapters in the Memories section of this journal. The URL for the whole shebang is this: http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=secret_history
( Individual URLs can be found behind this cut-tag ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| "Before I kill you, Mr. Bond..." |
|
|
| 03:28am 24/08/2008 |
| |
mood:  bored
|
This was the trouble with charismatic leaders, Jasper Tingley thought with with something akin to desperation. This was the trouble with ignoring all of one's twinges of conscience because, well, the new science was so exciting. It was a privilege to be there for the ground-breaking discoveries, or so he told himself. Science oughtn't to be held back by nebulous moral concerns that were always open to interpretation anyway. Right?
It was all a pretty cold comfort now, he thought as his legs gave way to fear and collapsed beneath him. His charismatic leader was away and safe in his gyrocopter, leaving behind trusty henchman Jasper to deal with the unnameable horror.
Jasper Tingley's last thought before he died was a fervent wish for his charismatic leader to die a poetically ironic death at the hands of the plucky group of heroes who, even now, were on their way to save the world. If only they'd come one day sooner, it might not have been too late for him. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| August Writing: Day 1 |
|
|
| 11:02pm 02/08/2008 |
| |
mood:  accomplished
|
Here I am, a day late, but with over 1,000 words to my name. So, yay! This is in response to [info]curtana's recommendation that I write something based on Incarnate (a RPG), but I think it stands on its own without needing too much explanation. I could be mistaken, of course. Her suggestion reminded me of this scene (unrelated to our game) that was rattling around in my head for a while. I finally decided to write it down.
( The baby was crying. ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| The return of NaNoWriMo! |
|
|
| 08:15am 06/11/2007 |
| |
mood:  sick
|
Has it really been three months since I last updated? Yikes!
I am, once again, participating in NaNoWriMo this year. I haven't been doing the daily updates I did last November, and I'm not sure that I'll be posting my novel here either. It's not about zombies, for one thing, so I doubt there would be much reader interest locally. ;)
However, I have been plugging away steadily at the novel, although today I appear to have been felled by the Death Plague™ that afflicted both ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) baronscartop and ai731 last week, which I fear will not help word count today. Also, I have cleaning to do in this apartment, and it ain't going to do itself.
In any event, I think it's time I resurrected Ye Olde Wordcounte Meter:
::Edit:::
Nope, wordcount meter is down for the count this NaNo, and while they helpfully provided the code for it, I am not internet-savvy enough to be able to use it. Oh well.
Current wordcount: 31,627 |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Return of the wordcount meter, redux! |
|
|
| 12:10am 18/09/2007 |
| |
mood: accomplished
|
Had a lovely, productive writing jam this morning with owldaughter. Got more writing done in one day than I have in the last four weeks combined. She and I have set up an informal semi-regular writing jam date, since we both seem to get a lot of writing done while in each other's presence. It's all to the good.
So, today's results are:
ALoS: New words today: 2,615
Total wordcount:
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Beyond the Pale —Part 123 |
|
|
| 01:36pm 09/08/2007 |
| |
mood:  rushed
|
Hola, faithful readers!
I have finished Part 123, but not Part 124. If I'm feeling up to it, then I may post when I get home tonight. Otherwise, it will have to go to tomorrow. With any luck, I'll be able to catch up further then, and moreso over the weekend. If this were NaNoWriMo, I'd be in a little bit of trouble, although nothing that's not fixable, but since it's not NaNo, I'm not worried. :)
*****
( What's a Western without cows? ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Beyond the Pale —Part 122 |
|
|
| 10:47am 09/08/2007 |
| |
mood:  productive
|
Hola, faithful readers!
I have finished transcribing Part 122, so here it is for your enjoyment. I have a few more hours this morning that I plan on devoting to getting part 123 and hopefully part 124 done, and once they are written I shall post them as well.
I think I'm getting back into the swing of things with BTP. I'm having to make alterations to the original story as it played out in RPG format, and the purist in me is shrieking "But that's not how it happened!" while the writer in me knows that what I'm doing is better for the purposes of the narrative. RPGs, while wonderful to play, don't always make for a tight, cohesive and gripping narrative once put on paper. Player Characters, while awesome, tend to bicker a whole lot, don't necessarily cooperate, and often wander off on their own and get into trouble, thus derailing the plot a whole lot. So that means that, as a writer, I have to pick and choose which plots I use, which plots I change, and which plots get tossed out of the window on their ear. Anyway, bear with me. I hope you'll enjoy the end result. :)
*****
( Just when you thought the nightmares were over... ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Beyond the Pale —Part 121 |
|
|
| 12:26am 07/08/2007 |
| |
mood:  sleepy
|
And here is Part 121. Yay palindromes!
*****
( It's hard, being a MiB ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Beyond the Pale —Part 120 |
|
|
| 12:22am 07/08/2007 |
| |
mood: sleepy
|
Good evening, loyal readers!
As promised, here are two more instalments of BTP for your enjoyment. After this, I hope to produce maybe one a day, hopefully several a week if nothing else. I'd like to be all caught up by the time BTP's third anniversary comes up in September. It's been three years already, isn't that something? How the time does fly. :)
Happy Trails!
*****
( Yeah, but is she lying? ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Beyond the Pale —Part 119 |
|
|
| 12:08am 06/08/2007 |
| |
mood: accomplished
|
And here, gentle readers, is the second instalment I promised you for tonight!
Until next time, happy trails to you!
*****
( The plot thickens... ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Beyond the Pale —Part 118 |
|
|
| 12:04am 06/08/2007 |
| |
mood: accomplished
|
Hola, faithful readers!
Tonight is a special night, for there are two instalments ready to be posted for your reading pleasure! Are you excited? I know I am.
Onward!
*****
( I hate surprises ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| A very good writing day indeed |
|
|
| 11:49pm 05/08/2007 |
| |
Well, ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) august_writing is off to a good start. I was a little worried, because by last night I was already running two days late on my writing. However, a good afternoon's worth of writing today has me mostly back on track.
The really good news: Beyond the Pale has officially reached the 200,000 word mark today! To celebrate, here is a gold-coloured word meter:
Today's wordcount on BTP: 3,844 words
Two instalments will be going up tonight (after I post this), and with any luck two more will go up tomorrow. After that, we shall see.
I also wrote a little under 1,000 words for forthright's prompt in my regular LJ a couple of weeks ago. It currently stands at 3,072 words, and I think I'm about halfway done. I'm having a lot of trouble with it, unfortunately (sorry for the delay, forthright!), because I'd like it to be self-contained, by which I mean I'd like anyone to be able to read it and derive enjoyment out of it without needing a giant infodump. Unfortunately, there's an entire campaign's worth of background information that needs to be explained (maybe even two campaigns) and encapsulated for anything to make sense. I'm also still struggling with my focal character, because he was an NPC and I don't really get what makes him tick. Gah. All very frustrating. I may end up starting over again, simply because I'm really not happy with how it's turning out.
It's not too late to provide me with a prompt, by the way! Just go to this entry and post your very own prompt! I will get to it eventually, I promise. Or you could even post the prompt here. I will receive it either way.
So nearly 5,000 words today. Reminds me of last year's NaNo. Good times all around. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Beyond the Pale —Part 117 |
|
|
| 12:02am 03/08/2007 |
| |
mood: tired music: The Doors —The End
|
Hola, gentle readers!
So far so good. I have written a new instalment for you enjoyment. What new misfortunes await our beleaguered posse? Read on to find out!
*****
( I don't want to be lunch! ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Beyond the Pale —Part 116 |
|
|
| 09:14am 01/08/2007 |
| |
mood: accomplished
|
Hola, faithful readers!
It's august_writing time once again (my, how the time flies!), and in light of this I have decided to celebrate by posting a new instalment of BTP. I will post as many as I can in the next month, and perhaps some instalments of Conflation as well, if I can figure out where my plot is going. ;)
There will likely be other, non-serial writing as well, so stay tuned!
N.B.: Alas, there will be no updates on Crisse, des zombies! for a good long while. I'm waiting on my beta readers, and after that I will have to do some serious revising for my second draft.
Happy Trails!
*****
( The Mojave Desert ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Wow. I have a first draft. |
|
|
| 03:30pm 15/05/2007 |
| |
mood: pleased
|
Ladies and Gentlemen, the first draft of Crisse, des Zombies! is done!
Readers who have been following the story as it unfolded here must be warned that I won't be posting the end in this LJ. In fact, much of the end has changed, and a few parts that are in this LJ have been mercilessly hacked out of the final edit.
I have had to change the structure of the novel somewhat as well, and there were numerous cosmetic and language changes that took place. I had to kill many of my darlings, but such is the price one has to pay for one's art.
Total number of words:
Total number of words hacked away in the end: 5,682
It had to be done, but it wasn't pretty.
So tonight I will pat myself on the back, save the document in a format that I hope people can read, and leave it in the hands of my brilliant beta readers. Then I will make a stir-fry and celebrate with liquor.
Also: I need a new title, one that isn't tongue-in-cheek. I love my titles, I do, but they don't fit the tone of the book at all.
Suggestions? |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Return of the wordcount meter |
|
|
| 12:14pm 04/04/2007 |
| |
mood: accomplished
|
Got writing done today. Go me!
New wordcount for A Lamentation of Swans: 31,389
I mercilessly tossed out the 700 words I hated, and replaced them with nearly 2,000 words of text I liked much better.
I'm starting to get back into the story, which is a nice feeling. I missed this book. :) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Beyond the Pale —Part 115 |
|
|
| 09:44am 21/03/2007 |
| |
mood: accomplished
|
Greetings, faithful readers!
Here's another instalment of your favourite horror Western, umm, thingie. I will be transcribing the next one from my notebook over the course of today and posting it later. Stay tuned!
*****
( Resurrections are overrated anyway ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Beyond the Pale —Part 114 |
|
|
| 12:30pm 16/03/2007 |
| |
mood: writing
|
Greetings, faithful readers!
I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. I have an outline for the next seventeen instalments or so, so all I have to do is, well, write them. I shall do my best to post at least one new instalment a day until I'm caught up. Then, as I said, I'll move on to Conflation until that's caught up, and then we'll return to the regular posting schedule.
I shall also, with any luck, be posting at least semi-regular updates of Crisse, des Zombies! until my first draft is complete.
*****
( Onwards! ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| Thirty minutes earlier. |
|
|
| 01:01pm 15/03/2007 |
| |
mood: busy
|
( Section 68 ) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
