The title says it all. I finished editing Basein. It got cut down a little so that it is about 290 pages, and 90,000 words.
I am happy with it. Of course, it still needs a lot of work, but I don't have it in me to go over it again...and I don't think I really have anything else to give it. Not without feedback. So it's feedback time.
Who wants to read it?
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Basein Revision Update
It's been a big push over the last week and I have spent a lot of time revising Basein (while not neglecting work or home in my opinion). I pat myself on the back because I have reached the halfway point. This means the end is a long way off, but I have less to do than I've already done. That's exciting.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Basein Revision Update
Well, lack of a computer does horrible things to someone who wants to write every day. I've been limited to 2 options: 1) Write by hand or 2) Don't write. Guess which one I have been doing?
On the bright side, I now have a computer at home. It is only on a temporary basis, but it has done wonders for my book revision, if not my actual new writing. I hope to work up to that. I have a fairly busy load, and it is cutting out the unnecessary things like television that will allow me to get everything in. So far television is winning. When Anna watches Spongebob I can't help but get sucked in.
Anyway, it has been good for my revision process. I had hoped to be done by the beginning of September. Obviously that didn't happen. I am now setting myself a much more conservative goal of Christmas. It will be my Christmas present to all of you loyal fans (read: Cheapskate).
For actual details though, I am now 1/3 of the way through the revision process and the novel has grown to over 300 pages. I have seen a lot of areas where it needs fleshing out, and have grown to notice my repetitive word choice, and how often I slip in to passive voice. I have also noticed that the characters really exist in my mind. There have been little to know visual descriptions of the characters...a fact driven home to me as I create character profiles along with my revisions and most of them are fairly scarce. I might take a few days to flesh out the profiles alone and then add them back into the story. That will most likely happen between draft two and three though.
How does this affect you? I am going to ask readers for what they thought characters looked like, sounded like, etc. Based on their language and actions, what did you envision? If I get a lot of similar responses I will mold my characters in that direction.
On the bright side, I now have a computer at home. It is only on a temporary basis, but it has done wonders for my book revision, if not my actual new writing. I hope to work up to that. I have a fairly busy load, and it is cutting out the unnecessary things like television that will allow me to get everything in. So far television is winning. When Anna watches Spongebob I can't help but get sucked in.
Anyway, it has been good for my revision process. I had hoped to be done by the beginning of September. Obviously that didn't happen. I am now setting myself a much more conservative goal of Christmas. It will be my Christmas present to all of you loyal fans (read: Cheapskate).
For actual details though, I am now 1/3 of the way through the revision process and the novel has grown to over 300 pages. I have seen a lot of areas where it needs fleshing out, and have grown to notice my repetitive word choice, and how often I slip in to passive voice. I have also noticed that the characters really exist in my mind. There have been little to know visual descriptions of the characters...a fact driven home to me as I create character profiles along with my revisions and most of them are fairly scarce. I might take a few days to flesh out the profiles alone and then add them back into the story. That will most likely happen between draft two and three though.
How does this affect you? I am going to ask readers for what they thought characters looked like, sounded like, etc. Based on their language and actions, what did you envision? If I get a lot of similar responses I will mold my characters in that direction.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Vacation and Moving
I recently went to a family reunion where I had limited computer access (read 'none'). That was followed by returning to Utah with my absent family. We returned with no place to live, but I had my office. So there was computer access, but limited.
Needless to say, with these two events new writing and revising took an instant back seat. It was always on my mind, but with no good way to remedy the lack. Today I took control again. I won't be up to daily for a while, but I can make good progress.
The first novel is now 1/4th of the way through its first minor revision. You won't be seeing it by September 1st, but you will see it before the year is out. Look for it.
Needless to say, with these two events new writing and revising took an instant back seat. It was always on my mind, but with no good way to remedy the lack. Today I took control again. I won't be up to daily for a while, but I can make good progress.
The first novel is now 1/4th of the way through its first minor revision. You won't be seeing it by September 1st, but you will see it before the year is out. Look for it.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Progression Status Update 1
I have had to rethink my post title. Now you will see the name of the work being updated in the post title. All previously unnamed updates refer to Basein.
As you can see from this posts title I am updating a book called Progression (working title of course).
I will need a sequel to Basein which I have been planning diligently. However, I have another book that I want to write first, and so that is taking precedence.
Anyway, since I started editing Basein I let my 600 words a day slip to the way side and was not writing anything new (shame on me). I mean, I have been busy and a lot more things have priority, but I can always find some time to type a little. I was being lazy. Today I decided to rectify that. I have not finished the 600 words for the day yet, but I do have the short prologue written. Unlike the prologue for Basein I don't see this one getting too much longer. Of course, time will tell. Lets see if I still like it six months from now.
Anyway, I have decided to post the new prologue for the new book here. Hope you enjoy.
The following piece is Copyrighted 2009 by Brendan Rowlands
PROLOGUE
Men think that the gods are omniscient. This is not, strictly speaking, the truth. There are major gaps in their knowledge. However, they know so much more than mortals that the difference between non-omniscience and true omniscience is negligible. Besides that fact, mortals are predictable enough that most gods learned how to fake omniscience millennia ago, and this was enough to fool the lesser beings.
Appearing omniscient with your intellectual equals is far harder to achieve, especially considering that not all gods have the same mental capacity. No matter what their mental capacity all have room to learn a few more things.
People also make the mistake of believing that the gods are somehow superior in personality. They do not share the same weaknesses and foibles that plague humankind. If anything, the opposite is true. They have the exact same shortcomings, but on a much grander scale. These are often balanced out by their admirable attributes, which are on the same grand scale.
The cold reality is that people would be embarrassed to watch their gods interacting with other gods. It has an eerie resemblance to teenagers and children squabbling. Even when they are playing nice there is an underlying tension that shows how fragile the peace is. It is not unusual to hear the phrase, ‘you’re not my friend anymore’ screamed in the divine tongue as the gods argue and the unavoidable rebuttal ‘I don’t want to be your friend anyway,’ followed by the gods stalking off to different corners of the cosmos.
None of the gods were immune to this. You might think that what mortals would consider gods of ‘good’ would be above this, but you would be wrong. They are some of the worst offenders, whining and sniveling when the other gods did not follow the same code of ethics as the other gods look on disgustedly.
Of course, there are exceptions and some gods are definitely more...divine...than others. However, they do not draw much attention to themselves, and are not much fun to watch. That is why this story is not about them.
As you can see from this posts title I am updating a book called Progression (working title of course).
I will need a sequel to Basein which I have been planning diligently. However, I have another book that I want to write first, and so that is taking precedence.
Anyway, since I started editing Basein I let my 600 words a day slip to the way side and was not writing anything new (shame on me). I mean, I have been busy and a lot more things have priority, but I can always find some time to type a little. I was being lazy. Today I decided to rectify that. I have not finished the 600 words for the day yet, but I do have the short prologue written. Unlike the prologue for Basein I don't see this one getting too much longer. Of course, time will tell. Lets see if I still like it six months from now.
Anyway, I have decided to post the new prologue for the new book here. Hope you enjoy.
The following piece is Copyrighted 2009 by Brendan Rowlands
PROLOGUE
Men think that the gods are omniscient. This is not, strictly speaking, the truth. There are major gaps in their knowledge. However, they know so much more than mortals that the difference between non-omniscience and true omniscience is negligible. Besides that fact, mortals are predictable enough that most gods learned how to fake omniscience millennia ago, and this was enough to fool the lesser beings.
Appearing omniscient with your intellectual equals is far harder to achieve, especially considering that not all gods have the same mental capacity. No matter what their mental capacity all have room to learn a few more things.
People also make the mistake of believing that the gods are somehow superior in personality. They do not share the same weaknesses and foibles that plague humankind. If anything, the opposite is true. They have the exact same shortcomings, but on a much grander scale. These are often balanced out by their admirable attributes, which are on the same grand scale.
The cold reality is that people would be embarrassed to watch their gods interacting with other gods. It has an eerie resemblance to teenagers and children squabbling. Even when they are playing nice there is an underlying tension that shows how fragile the peace is. It is not unusual to hear the phrase, ‘you’re not my friend anymore’ screamed in the divine tongue as the gods argue and the unavoidable rebuttal ‘I don’t want to be your friend anyway,’ followed by the gods stalking off to different corners of the cosmos.
None of the gods were immune to this. You might think that what mortals would consider gods of ‘good’ would be above this, but you would be wrong. They are some of the worst offenders, whining and sniveling when the other gods did not follow the same code of ethics as the other gods look on disgustedly.
Of course, there are exceptions and some gods are definitely more...divine...than others. However, they do not draw much attention to themselves, and are not much fun to watch. That is why this story is not about them.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Prologue on Google Docs
I have placed my new prologue on google docs while I continue editing the rest of the work. If you are interested in reading this work please send me the e-mail address you would use to access google docs and I will send you an invitation.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Status Update 5
So as of my last post I was supposed to begin revision on my book, Basein (working title--I'll be accepting title suggestions after I get the second draft finished). It has been a week since then and I have and have not begun revisions.
1) I have started revisions because I have been reworking the prologue.
2) I have not started revisions because I did not look at the old prologue, I just wrote a new one.
I am much happier with my new prologue, although it is still very rough. I am going to let it sit while I rework the rest of the book. Then I'll edit it. I had considered printing in on the blog like I did the original prologue. I might do so in a couple of days, I am still undecided.
Just for a comparison. My original prologue was 258 words. Short and concise like I like it, but it just seemed not enough (and this is where I'll be a hypocrite and do what I complain about others doing--making my writing too long). The new prologue is 5,634 words. For those who don't have a calculator handy that is 21.8 times larger than the first prologue. It is 17 pages long, which is one of the main reasons I am hesitant to post it on here. I might post it on Google docs and if I do I shall let people know how to access it via this blog and e-mail.
Also being done in conjunction with the prologue is a written time line of events, description of important places, and character profiles. This should help with the consistency of my work immensely, but it will also slow down the revision process as I am updating four documents as I work instead of just one. :P Oh well, this is what I get for not making these documents as I wrote in the first place.
EDIT 7/19/2009: I just reread my post. I have gotten so into the groove of just writing without editing that I never scan through my blog to make sure it sounds good. I'm glad I came back and changed this one. :D
1) I have started revisions because I have been reworking the prologue.
2) I have not started revisions because I did not look at the old prologue, I just wrote a new one.
I am much happier with my new prologue, although it is still very rough. I am going to let it sit while I rework the rest of the book. Then I'll edit it. I had considered printing in on the blog like I did the original prologue. I might do so in a couple of days, I am still undecided.
Just for a comparison. My original prologue was 258 words. Short and concise like I like it, but it just seemed not enough (and this is where I'll be a hypocrite and do what I complain about others doing--making my writing too long). The new prologue is 5,634 words. For those who don't have a calculator handy that is 21.8 times larger than the first prologue. It is 17 pages long, which is one of the main reasons I am hesitant to post it on here. I might post it on Google docs and if I do I shall let people know how to access it via this blog and e-mail.
Also being done in conjunction with the prologue is a written time line of events, description of important places, and character profiles. This should help with the consistency of my work immensely, but it will also slow down the revision process as I am updating four documents as I work instead of just one. :P Oh well, this is what I get for not making these documents as I wrote in the first place.
EDIT 7/19/2009: I just reread my post. I have gotten so into the groove of just writing without editing that I never scan through my blog to make sure it sounds good. I'm glad I came back and changed this one. :D
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