Categories
book writing

The Best Kind Of Stress

The most beautiful thing about the Internet is the ability to search for, investigate, and learn new stuff. Everything from an analysis of the most up-to-date theories of how the Earth formed to how to tie a bow tie can be found online, and in incredible detail – videos, scientific papers, walkthroughs, even the ridiculousness of WikiHow can be poured over to learn whatever it is you would like to learn.

Why this is important to me, and why it’s important to me right now, is because I’ve started investigating and learning to achieve a specific goal, and thereby achieving a goal I’ve set for my life: selling the book I’ve spent the past three years writing. And the process is why I’ve only so far sent two proper submissions over the past four days.

And I’m freaking out about it.

Categories
big questions book writing

Lost in the Lot

Last night, I had a dream that I couldn’t find my car in the world’s most complex, fourth-dimensional parking lot and garage. Every time I exited the door of the mall, at the very center of the lot, I would open up at another location that looked familiar, but was obviously a different place. And through the dream I ran around the lot, searching for my parking space number, but I just couldn’t reach my car. Everyone else seemed to get home just fine, but the vehicles in the lot wouldn’t diminish; it reached closing time, and I woke up just as I was about to be locked out of the building, leaving me in that labyrinth of parking hell.

I know people’s dreams are mostly just random neurons building a scenario in one’s head without true rhyme or reason, but the overarching sensation created by the scenario – in this case, the combination of being lost and confused – is real, and when it’s strong enough it’s not something to simply be ignored. And that’s about how I feel even now… a bit lost, sort of confused.

Categories
articles book writing

November Eight: “Progress” Report

Word Count: 21,411

Also known as, NO PROGRESS WHATSOEVER. Because I am a big ball of suck.

I could make an “excuse” for this lack of development, for example working on a couple game reviews (one of which is up, one of which should be finished and published soon). I COULD SAY that working through these games for review, as well as performing stand-up last Tuesday and preparing a few jokes for my upcoming stand-up at Rooster T. Feathers on Wednesday the 11th (/shameless-plug), has taken up enough of my time that I simply haven’t been able to properly focus on my manuscript as I’ve meant to through the month of November.

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Accurate hoodie is accurate.

I COULD do those things. Or, I could also acknowledge that I’ve been reading – finished The Accidental Billionaires on the first and have plugged a bit between two other books – and that YouTube has all kinds of interesting content to peruse. Meaning, I’ve been both busy AND lazy. If nothing else, that should be an achievement in and of itself.

But Mondays are my day for catching up, so as this is being published in the wee hours of Monday morning, I will make an effort to get some time in writing fiction instead of just criticism, and… yeah. I’ll stop being such a busy-lazy ball of suck.

Stand Tall, and if you know any good insults for being lazy I can write on Post-Its and stick to my bathroom mirror, let me know ‘em yeah?

Categories
book life writing

Origin of an Aspiring Novelist

Dang, as often as I’m not writing here I’m writing somewhere else. So far this month I’ve written six pieces for Game Revolution (three reviews, two previews, and a news piece), worked on the manuscript, done a few press events, read through a few books (the goal for the month was two, so far I’ve gone through this one and this one and this one), and with a regular work schedule that’s just enough to monopolize my time the past few weeks. Definitely distracted, but plenty of points in the Points System notebook.

But we’re starting to approach something close to my heart, something to which I owe a lot of my drive in writing… anything. Anything and everything. Because it was nearly eleven years ago that I started a yearly tradition, and I may be re-directing some of my efforts toward something else this year, but still in the spirit of the challenge.

I am, of course, talking about NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month. (Yeah, don’t care too much about Halloween, the candy does more damage to me as an adult than it used to in my youth.)

Categories
book writing

Writing Made My Life

OK seriously, I do enjoy the mohawk sensations. On a hot day, sitting near an AC unit or duct pointed at my head is AMAZING.

I thought I should update because it’s been a few weeks, but even after a few days of on-and-off thinking I haven’t come up with what to talk about. I’ve been planning a project that I originally intended to take root in October (but may be pushed to November, if done at all) centered on a specific theme woven through multiple games, but it isn’t making the progress that would be best for such an undertaking. Work on the manuscript has been spotty, but it is coming along, even though I might owe a friend some money at the end of the year. There’s a game for review in my hands, so I’ve been plugging away at that so it’s ready for review time, and the occasional stand-up event going on.

Thinking about it now, maybe I should take a trip down memory lane to see how I reached the point I’m at today: thinking about the blog over three years of (mostly) consistent writing. It’s amazing what can be learned when teaching yourself.