Writing Dare 2001, Week 5

michaeljasper.net

"Another Wrecked Web Site"

April 3, 2001

Somewhat in control...

Today's Quote:

"What is that?" Clint said and was promptly shushed by a little old lady sitting next to a window, reading the weekly Rosecroft paper.

Race heard it too, making him think back to Sunday morning at church. The overblown string sections, the cheesy electric guitar riffs, the synthesizer doing double time. "I believe that would be Yanni."

"What is wrong with these people?" Clint whispered over the piped-in New Age music.

Today's Progress:

Revised ch. 22, notes on chs. 23-25

The Official Dare Page

I'm feeling much better, after a productive yet relaxing day yesterday, and a good start to the day today. I'll probably be crashing soon, probably this afternoon, as I stayed up 'til 11:30 to watch the Dookies win the national championship (I was actually rooting for them). Not a bad game. Duke definitely deserved to win - they wanted it pretty badly. Good for them. I'll hate them again next season.
I found some cool stuff as I was checking out some sites this morning before work. One of them had a review of The Witching Hour, the anthology that my story is in. The reviewer, Chris Welch, said that "Michael J. Jasper’s 'One Night in Rosecroft' is perhaps the scariest story in the anthology." Woo hoo! Very cool. Check out the rest of the review at Deviant Minds #3. That makes my day. I was in some good company, and mine was scariest. It's always nice to find that something I wrote actually worked. It's hard writing something that evokes an emotion in people, particularly fear. I can never really see the story anymore after the 10th or 20th go-round as an editor/reviser/writer. So I'm glad it worked.
Got some good stuff done this morning. These middle chapters are a bit shorter, as the action picks up and we move from one character in on place to another. It's pretty cinematic, which I like. I revised the scene with Clint and Race at their hotel room and on their way to the library, running into some townie kids and their none-too-friendly father. Then the scene in the library with Clint doing all the research while Race checks out the ladies in the house and torments the male librarian.
Then I read over chapters 22-25 and made lots of notes, which I'll add tomorrow. We're getting closer and closer to the Big Action Chapter, chapter 30, which I can't wait to get to. I hope to start on that this weekend.
I also went back to some earlier sections to tweak some references to the bad guy. I have a question about revealing his identity so soon, and I'm not sure it's the right time and place when we do reveal it. I'll have to discuss it with my collaborator, Greg.
I feel like we're getting really, really close. It's pretty exciting.
In other news, I finally finished The Talisman! I think Stephen King needs to keep his books to about 450-500 pages. So many of his books stretch over 600 pages, and there's really no need for it. A lot of the energy is dissipated as I read and forged ahead just to find out how it would end. I guess it'd be different if the language were beautiful and I was getting some wondrous insights into the characters. But mostly it's action scenes and things coming together. I did like the ending, though, don't get me wrong. It makes me wonder how the heck they're gonna do a sequel, with the Talisman disappearing when Jack's mother is saved. But I'm sure these 2 fellas can come up with something. And I'll read it.
mjj

April 2, 2001

"Control, control, you must learn control!"

-- Yoda, Jedi Master

Today's Quote:

"Race," Clint said, his voice tight. "Have a seat."

"I’m fine," Race began.

Liar, Riley thought.

"Sit," Clint said, pulling a bottle of pills from the inner pocket of his jacket.

"Damn," Race said, sinking into his customary spot in the middle of the bench.

Today's Progress:

Revised ch. 21

The Official Dare Page

Daylight Savings Time is rough. As you can see, I didn't have an entry for April 1st. No April Fool's there. Just really tired. And busy -- getting up to go to work on Saturday seemed to cut my weekend in half! And losing an hour on Sunday was just a kick while I was already down ("The first kick I took was when I hit the ground, yeah!"). But enough complaining.
I did manage to get up at 5 this morning as usual and revised chapter 21. After thinking about it, though, I think I have some more work to do on that chapter and a couple chapters previous. In 21 we reveal who the bad guy is, or at least one of the bad guys, maybe the bad guy leader, really. I'm wondering if that's the right place for it. It felt a bit rushed. I think I can reveal the bad-guy identity, but I need to slow it down and play it out more. It should connect some dots and answer some questions the reader may have in his or her head by this point. It sort of does that, but I want it to do more. I'll have to think about it.
In other news, I was really hoping to finish The Talisman yesterday, but ran out of time as well. The book is sort of getting boring right now - the train ride across the Blasted Lands reminded me a lot of the train ride through the Waste Lands in King's Dark Tower book, and it lacked the coolness of the chapters in Oakley and those with Wolf. Richard, the son of the bad guy Morgan, is with Jack, the main character, and he's pretty whiny and annoying.
But they're at the Black Hotel now, about to enter, and I think it'll pick up from here on. Got less than 100 pages to go...
I found two first edition Neil Gaiman books at Borders and had to buy them on Saturday after work (as a sort of reward for giving up my morning). The books were. Stardust and Neverwhere. So I'm itching to read them. And I'm looking forward to his new novel, American Gods, which is coming out this summer. Right around my birthday, hint, hint...
Until then I've got plenty to do, both with my writing (finish the horror revision and draft the fantasy novel, and maybe write a story or 2) and at work (get my books out the door for the latest software release and go to San Francisco for almost a week in mid-April). So I'm really going to have to work hard on compartmentalizing and focusing. No more working on my writing at work, even on lunch breaks. Ooh. It's gonna be tough, at first. Later.
mjj

March 31, 2001

Okay, had some time today...

Today's Quote:

I could kill someone for laughing at me like that, he thought after he made it back into the light of day with his friends. But deep down in his heart, Titus Reynolds knew that all he could do - all he had been doing for his entire life - was run away.

Today's Progress:

Finished revising ch. 20!

The Official Dare Page

Hello there. Kind of a crazy day today, as I had to go into work for a couple hours to log some bugs on our software (don't ask!) and kind of earn some brownie points for working on a Saturday. It wasn't too painful, but seemed to cut my weekend in half. Not cool. It's scary how much I've been living for the weekends lately.
So I ended up waking up at 5 anyway, and couldn't get back to sleep, so I goofed around a bit with some stories and submitted an older story that's already been published to an audio site. It'd be cool if that got made into a sort of Audio Book (it's "Mud and Salt"). I'm not sure if they'll accept already-published stories, but I thought I'd give it a shot. They're response time is supposed to be quick, which is a big plus in my book these days, as I'm quite impatient lately.
After work I came home and finished the last scene of chapter 20 while Elizabeth was gone at a job fair - yeah, we both had to work today. It took a couple hours, a nap, and a couple pages of The Talisman to get it done, but I'm happy with it. The last section, with Titus sneaking onto the stage to prop open a door for himself for later, then his run-in with the six boys, required more revising than I'd expected. But what can you do? It's fun doing it - I can see it getting better by the minute.
And now that Elizabeth is home we're going to run some errands and kick back tonight. It just started to rain. Not a bad way to end a busy Saturday. Later.
mjj

March 30, 2001

Got got got got no time...!

Today's Quote:

He was getting ready to dig into his double portion of macaroni and cheese when he saw something in the yellow-orange noodles. Something had moved in there. His mouth fell open as his fork touched the macaroni. It was covered in maggots. One bloated maggot crawled onto his fork. Titus dropped it onto the tray with a clatter.

Today's Progress:

Still revising ch. 20 (it's a really long one!)

The Official Dare Page

Hrm... I just can't get enough time these days. It's frustrating, but in a way it's kind of nice. It shows that I really want to write and revise this novel. I look forward to getting up every morning and chipping away at sentences and forming them into just the right shape. The only problem is that once I really get going on my writing, it's time for me to get going and get ready for work!
Here's a typical weekday for me. Get up at 5 a.m., slip out of bed so I don't wake Elizabeth (luckily she's a pretty deep sleeper, and I can maneuver in semi-darkness pretty well). I drag the dog off his pillow and scoot the cat out of the bedroom so I can close the bedroom off and give Lizzie another hour of sleep. I click on the computer and let it boot up, then I click on the internet and let that connect. Then I give the dog (and sometimes the cat, if he's not hollering) a treat for waking him up and get some water. I read e-mail and look at some journals of friends who update regularly, then by 5:15 I'm working. I grab a CD and play it (hopefully it's at least 60 minutes long, so I don't have to change disks). If things are going well, I'm there until 6:15 or 6:20, when I have to start finishing up. Whit is usually getting antsy to go for a walk by that point. I walk the dog, have breakfast with Elizabeth before she leaves, then shower and leave for work myself around 8 a.m. (unless I'm working out at our little gym at work, in which case I follow Elizabeth out the door). And if the traffic isn't too bad, I get to work by 8:45...
It's not a bad schedule. Like anything, once you adjust to it, it almost becomes second nature. I feel groggy and grumpy on weekdays when I can't follow the schedule. Though lately, I've been dragging a bit at work, because I've been staying up later and reading 'til almost 11. I need about 6 to 6 1/2 hours of sleep to really be functioning well at the Day Job.
Okay, enough about that.
If I have time this weekend, I plan on adding some more data to my goals page. I've been thinking about the rest of the year, and how best to utilize my time. I did a little backtracking on this site, and realized that I've worked (will work) 20 out of 31 days this month on Autumn's Fall! That's pretty amazing, and even more amazing when I look at all the pages I've fixed up: 173, if I get through chapter 21 tomorrow morning, which I fully plan on doing. At that rate, I should have my revisions to the novel done by the end of April. I plan on it. I'm not going to let myself get sidetracking by anything else, unless some editor wants to pay me for a rewrite. So I mapped out the rest of the year with the intention that the horror novel will be mostly done in May, and the fantasy novel will be drafted by the end of June. High hopes, I know, but that's what writing is all about. In July I'm thinking of fixing up a couple stories, then revising the fantasy novel in August. And then I begin something sort of new -- screenplay adaptations! More details to come.
And finally, here's what I actually did today, writing-wise. I'm almost done revising chapter 20. This is a really fun chapter, with lots of weird sub-plots branching off. I'm at the point where the guys hurry out of school, Clint almost running over Mark Saint on the way out, and Titus stops and heads back in. He's the sparkplug right now. Later it becomes Race, but right now Race is sort of in la-la land, as his illness becomes more pronounced. Next chapter we deal more with him, as Clint takes them all to the spot for more info about Race's past. And Titus is not happy to hear that, trust me...
mjj

March 29, 2001

Touring the old new school...

Today's Quote:

Riley glared at Titus. Titus stood, arms crossed, and waited for Race to respond. Race remained sitting with the hint of a grin touching his face. Clint simply shook his head and allowed himself a brief smile. Just like old times, he thought, even though the hint of something more had been in Race’s light blue eyes.

Today's Progress:

Revising ch. 20 (it's a long one!)

The Official Dare Page

I was on a lovely roll this morning with the revision. I think I'm enjoying this section so much because they guys are starting to get to each other, specifically Titus and Race. Titus is still a bit whacked out from hanging with his folks the previous day and his bad phone call to his wife in Chicago, and Race has been getting more and more distant. Race's calmness drives Titus crazy. Then Riley and Clint get involved as well. And once that's over, they're off to school to hang out with the new superintendent and tour the renovated building.
I'm also having fun with this section because there's a lot of description and just plain weird stuff -- Titus and his maggoty mac and cheese, Race and the weird kid in the boys bathroom, Clint and the strangely-subdued students passing by. Riley is doing a slow burn the whole time, almost in shock from all that's been happening. We also get a quick viewing of the basement, which factors into what happens with Titus much later in the book...
That's all I got to say 'bout that!
The revision is cooking along nicely. I guess I needed my time off last weekend to get my energy levels back up. I'm trying not to burn myself out like I did on the last Dare. It's working pretty well. I look forward to getting up at 5 a.m., if you can believe that, and doing as much work as I can before 6:30 rolls around and the dog is dying for his walk. Then I can enjoy the rest of my day, knowing that I've done my creative bit while everyone else was asleep.
In related news, I got to read a big chunk of The Talisman last night. They're outta the Sunlight Home, and Wolf dies. Jack's reaction to Wolf's death (actually, his death ain't shown, as Wolf's body fades away, returning to the other world of the Territories) was really moving, and I felt a teensy lump in my throat. Stephen King really knows how to tweak the emotions. It's all about the details. Jack thinks of all the times he was impatient with Wolf, and all the adventures they had together. It's not rushed, and it unfolds at a nice pace, while Jack is hitching rides west.
I'm impressed. King and Straub tell the overall story in a fairly linear fashion, but the chapters sometimes move through time in a way that I wouldn't have thought of. For instance, one chapter begins after the main event, starting with Jack arriving someplace, then it backfills how he got there, detailing how the driver who picked him up gave Jack his coat. Then it goes further back to show Jack reading a headline from the fire at the Sunlight Home. Most writers would've written a detailed account of Jack's escape from the Home, but in this case it was dismissed in a sentence or two. Why? Because the really important aspect of his escape was the death of Wolf. How he got out didn't matter so much as what it cost him to escape. Very well done. I'm taking mental notes here, folks...
I'm hoping to finish the book this weekend. To be honest, I don't really remember what happens next! I read the book about 15 years ago, and all I can remember is something with trains. So it'll be a fun (re)discovery. I'm thinking about reading China Mieville's King Rat next, then his Perdido Street Station. Both are supposed to be topnotch urban fantasies. Then I may try Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere for the third time. By that time, his new book, American Gods should be out. I've been following his pre-publication process for that novel on his online journal. If you're interested in how a book gets published, you should check it out. Later.
mjj

March 28, 2001

Full steam ahead... as soon as I get some caffeine...

Today's Quote:

“Four Lithium a day,” Race had said Thursday morning, on the phone. Thinking about Race’s restlessness during the service that morning, Clint put the bottle back on the floor where he’d found it.

I’ll talk to him about it later, he promised himself, settling back onto his bed.

Today's Progress:

Finished revising chs. 14-19

The Official Dare Page

Okay, so I didn't actually do all the revising to the chapters I listed yesterday. I'd marked up the hardcopies for those chapters, and then I spent this morning entering them and tweaking the text some more. So today I'm truly done with chapter 19. Okay, not truly. I plan on finishing it today, at work, on my lunch break and whenever I have free time. But I'll be diving into chapter 20 soon (the tour of the school I mentioned yesterday).
I really liked the sections I'm working on right now, with Titus and his mother and Clint's nightmare about Peter in his coffin. Great opportunities to flesh out the characters more and show more of the town.
I was also reading in Tim's journal about the music he listens to when he writes. I thought it'd be interesting to make a list of what I've been listening to while I write and see if there's any kind of pattern. And I'm interested in what others write. Basically, what is the soundtrack to a particular story or novel (or novel chapter?)
For Autumn's Fall, the music is more hard rock, with a nice mix of techno thrown in. I should look into getting a player from the Net where I can "rip" tracks from my CDs and make my own mixes. I think I can do that. I don't want to get into the great time-suck that Napster and MP3s can be - I just want to be able to listen to the music I want to hear, when I want to hear it. Even flipping CDs every hour can get to be a pain - just let me hit play and forget about the music so I can write.
Just off the top of my head, the Autumn's Fall playlist would include: "The Fight Club" soundtrack, Pearl Jam's "Yield," "Binaural," and "Live: Charlotte NC"; the soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou?"; and a bunch of songs from the '80s. The Last of the Hand playlist would include: Everyclear's "Songs from an American Movie, Part 1," Aimee Mann's "Whatever" and "Bachelor No. 1" and the "Magnolia" soundtrack. I'm sure there's a lot more I'm leaving out, but I can't come up with them right now. I'll keep you posted.
In any case, before I get totally distracted, I did have some good reading time to get back into The Talisman. I think this is my least favorite part of the book - when Jack and Wolf are caught at the Sunlight Gardener Home for Wayward Boys. This is where the story flounders a bit, and King/Straub try to make their points vs. evangelical types (as if there's any arguing for them, in my opinion - it's a pretty easy case to make, and it's been done before). But it gets better, especially when they flip to the Territories (the other world) and see the Territories equivalent of the Gardener Home (think of devils and pitchforks and Sisyphus, and you've got a pretty good idea...). And they're almost out of there and back on the road. This is such a fun read. Later.

Home

mjj

	michaeljasper.net *"Another Wrecked Web Site"*
April 3, 2001 Somewhat in control... *Today's Quote:* "What is that?" Clint said and was promptly shushed by a little old lady sitting next to a window, reading the weekly Rosecroft paper. Race heard it too, making him think back to Sunday morning at church. The overblown string sections, the cheesy electric guitar riffs, the synthesizer doing double time. "I believe that would be Yanni." "What is wrong with these people?" Clint whispered over the piped-in New Age music. *Today's Progress:* Revised ch. 22, notes on chs. 23-25 The Official Dare Page	I'm feeling much better, after a productive yet relaxing day yesterday, and a good start to the day today. I'll probably be crashing soon, probably this afternoon, as I stayed up 'til 11:30 to watch the Dookies win the national championship (I was actually rooting for them). Not a bad game. Duke definitely deserved to win - they wanted it pretty badly. Good for them. I'll hate them again next season. I found some cool stuff as I was checking out some sites this morning before work. One of them had a review of The Witching Hour, the anthology that my story is in. The reviewer, Chris Welch, said that "Michael J. Jasper’s 'One Night in Rosecroft' is perhaps the scariest story in the anthology." Woo hoo! Very cool. Check out the rest of the review at Deviant Minds #3. That makes my day. I was in some good company, and mine was scariest. It's always nice to find that something I wrote actually worked. It's hard writing something that evokes an emotion in people, particularly fear. I can never really see the story anymore after the 10th or 20th go-round as an editor/reviser/writer. So I'm glad it worked. Got some good stuff done this morning. These middle chapters are a bit shorter, as the action picks up and we move from one character in on place to another. It's pretty cinematic, which I like. I revised the scene with Clint and Race at their hotel room and on their way to the library, running into some townie kids and their none-too-friendly father. Then the scene in the library with Clint doing all the research while Race checks out the ladies in the house and torments the male librarian. Then I read over chapters 22-25 and made lots of notes, which I'll add tomorrow. We're getting closer and closer to the Big Action Chapter, chapter 30, which I can't wait to get to. I hope to start on that this weekend. I also went back to some earlier sections to tweak some references to the bad guy. I have a question about revealing his identity so soon, and I'm not sure it's the right time and place when we do reveal it. I'll have to discuss it with my collaborator, Greg. I feel like we're getting really, really close. It's pretty exciting. In other news, I finally finished The Talisman! I think Stephen King needs to keep his books to about 450-500 pages. So many of his books stretch over 600 pages, and there's really no need for it. A lot of the energy is dissipated as I read and forged ahead just to find out how it would end. I guess it'd be different if the language were beautiful and I was getting some wondrous insights into the characters. But mostly it's action scenes and things coming together. I did like the ending, though, don't get me wrong. It makes me wonder how the heck they're gonna do a sequel, with the Talisman disappearing when Jack's mother is saved. But I'm sure these 2 fellas can come up with something. And I'll read it. mjj
April 2, 2001 "Control, control, you must learn control!" -- Yoda, Jedi Master *Today's Quote:* "Race," Clint said, his voice tight. "Have a seat." "I’m fine," Race began. Liar, Riley thought. "Sit," Clint said, pulling a bottle of pills from the inner pocket of his jacket. "Damn," Race said, sinking into his customary spot in the middle of the bench. *Today's Progress:* Revised ch. 21 The Official Dare Page	Daylight Savings Time is rough. As you can see, I didn't have an entry for April 1st. No April Fool's there. Just really tired. And busy -- getting up to go to work on Saturday seemed to cut my weekend in half! And losing an hour on Sunday was just a kick while I was already down ("The first kick I took was when I hit the ground, yeah!"). But enough complaining. I did manage to get up at 5 this morning as usual and revised chapter 21. After thinking about it, though, I think I have some more work to do on that chapter and a couple chapters previous. In 21 we reveal who the bad guy is, or at least one of the bad guys, maybe the bad guy leader, really. I'm wondering if that's the right place for it. It felt a bit rushed. I think I can reveal the bad-guy identity, but I need to slow it down and play it out more. It should connect some dots and answer some questions the reader may have in his or her head by this point. It sort of does that, but I want it to do more. I'll have to think about it. In other news, I was really hoping to finish The Talisman yesterday, but ran out of time as well. The book is sort of getting boring right now - the train ride across the Blasted Lands reminded me a lot of the train ride through the Waste Lands in King's Dark Tower book, and it lacked the coolness of the chapters in Oakley and those with Wolf. Richard, the son of the bad guy Morgan, is with Jack, the main character, and he's pretty whiny and annoying. But they're at the Black Hotel now, about to enter, and I think it'll pick up from here on. Got less than 100 pages to go... I found two first edition Neil Gaiman books at Borders and had to buy them on Saturday after work (as a sort of reward for giving up my morning). The books were. Stardust and Neverwhere. So I'm itching to read them. And I'm looking forward to his new novel, American Gods, which is coming out this summer. Right around my birthday, hint, hint... Until then I've got plenty to do, both with my writing (finish the horror revision and draft the fantasy novel, and maybe write a story or 2) and at work (get my books out the door for the latest software release and go to San Francisco for almost a week in mid-April). So I'm really going to have to work hard on compartmentalizing and focusing. No more working on my writing at work, even on lunch breaks. Ooh. It's gonna be tough, at first. Later. mjj
March 31, 2001 Okay, had some time today... *Today's Quote:* I could kill someone for laughing at me like that, he thought after he made it back into the light of day with his friends. But deep down in his heart, Titus Reynolds knew that all he could do - all he had been doing for his entire life - was run away. *Today's Progress:* Finished revising ch. 20! The Official Dare Page	Hello there. Kind of a crazy day today, as I had to go into work for a couple hours to log some bugs on our software (don't ask!) and kind of earn some brownie points for working on a Saturday. It wasn't too painful, but seemed to cut my weekend in half. Not cool. It's scary how much I've been living for the weekends lately. So I ended up waking up at 5 anyway, and couldn't get back to sleep, so I goofed around a bit with some stories and submitted an older story that's already been published to an audio site. It'd be cool if that got made into a sort of Audio Book (it's "Mud and Salt"). I'm not sure if they'll accept already-published stories, but I thought I'd give it a shot. They're response time is supposed to be quick, which is a big plus in my book these days, as I'm quite impatient lately. After work I came home and finished the last scene of chapter 20 while Elizabeth was gone at a job fair - yeah, we both had to work today. It took a couple hours, a nap, and a couple pages of The Talisman to get it done, but I'm happy with it. The last section, with Titus sneaking onto the stage to prop open a door for himself for later, then his run-in with the six boys, required more revising than I'd expected. But what can you do? It's fun doing it - I can see it getting better by the minute. And now that Elizabeth is home we're going to run some errands and kick back tonight. It just started to rain. Not a bad way to end a busy Saturday. Later. mjj
March 30, 2001 Got got got got no time...! *Today's Quote:* He was getting ready to dig into his double portion of macaroni and cheese when he saw something in the yellow-orange noodles. Something had moved in there. His mouth fell open as his fork touched the macaroni. It was covered in maggots. One bloated maggot crawled onto his fork. Titus dropped it onto the tray with a clatter. *Today's Progress:* Still revising ch. 20 (it's a really long one!) The Official Dare Page	Hrm... I just can't get enough time these days. It's frustrating, but in a way it's kind of nice. It shows that I really want to write and revise this novel. I look forward to getting up every morning and chipping away at sentences and forming them into just the right shape. The only problem is that once I really get going on my writing, it's time for me to get going and get ready for work! Here's a typical weekday for me. Get up at 5 a.m., slip out of bed so I don't wake Elizabeth (luckily she's a pretty deep sleeper, and I can maneuver in semi-darkness pretty well). I drag the dog off his pillow and scoot the cat out of the bedroom so I can close the bedroom off and give Lizzie another hour of sleep. I click on the computer and let it boot up, then I click on the internet and let that connect. Then I give the dog (and sometimes the cat, if he's not hollering) a treat for waking him up and get some water. I read e-mail and look at some journals of friends who update regularly, then by 5:15 I'm working. I grab a CD and play it (hopefully it's at least 60 minutes long, so I don't have to change disks). If things are going well, I'm there until 6:15 or 6:20, when I have to start finishing up. Whit is usually getting antsy to go for a walk by that point. I walk the dog, have breakfast with Elizabeth before she leaves, then shower and leave for work myself around 8 a.m. (unless I'm working out at our little gym at work, in which case I follow Elizabeth out the door). And if the traffic isn't too bad, I get to work by 8:45... It's not a bad schedule. Like anything, once you adjust to it, it almost becomes second nature. I feel groggy and grumpy on weekdays when I can't follow the schedule. Though lately, I've been dragging a bit at work, because I've been staying up later and reading 'til almost 11. I need about 6 to 6 1/2 hours of sleep to really be functioning well at the Day Job. Okay, enough about that. If I have time this weekend, I plan on adding some more data to my goals page. I've been thinking about the rest of the year, and how best to utilize my time. I did a little backtracking on this site, and realized that I've worked (will work) 20 out of 31 days this month on Autumn's Fall! That's pretty amazing, and even more amazing when I look at all the pages I've fixed up: 173, if I get through chapter 21 tomorrow morning, which I fully plan on doing. At that rate, I should have my revisions to the novel done by the end of April. I plan on it. I'm not going to let myself get sidetracking by anything else, unless some editor wants to pay me for a rewrite. So I mapped out the rest of the year with the intention that the horror novel will be mostly done in May, and the fantasy novel will be drafted by the end of June. High hopes, I know, but that's what writing is all about. In July I'm thinking of fixing up a couple stories, then revising the fantasy novel in August. And then I begin something sort of new -- screenplay adaptations! More details to come. And finally, here's what I actually did today, writing-wise. I'm almost done revising chapter 20. This is a really fun chapter, with lots of weird sub-plots branching off. I'm at the point where the guys hurry out of school, Clint almost running over Mark Saint on the way out, and Titus stops and heads back in. He's the sparkplug right now. Later it becomes Race, but right now Race is sort of in la-la land, as his illness becomes more pronounced. Next chapter we deal more with him, as Clint takes them all to the spot for more info about Race's past. And Titus is not happy to hear that, trust me... mjj
March 29, 2001 Touring the old new school... *Today's Quote:* Riley glared at Titus. Titus stood, arms crossed, and waited for Race to respond. Race remained sitting with the hint of a grin touching his face. Clint simply shook his head and allowed himself a brief smile. Just like old times, he thought, even though the hint of something more had been in Race’s light blue eyes. *Today's Progress:* Revising ch. 20 (it's a long one!) The Official Dare Page	I was on a lovely roll this morning with the revision. I think I'm enjoying this section so much because they guys are starting to get to each other, specifically Titus and Race. Titus is still a bit whacked out from hanging with his folks the previous day and his bad phone call to his wife in Chicago, and Race has been getting more and more distant. Race's calmness drives Titus crazy. Then Riley and Clint get involved as well. And once that's over, they're off to school to hang out with the new superintendent and tour the renovated building. I'm also having fun with this section because there's a lot of description and just plain weird stuff -- Titus and his maggoty mac and cheese, Race and the weird kid in the boys bathroom, Clint and the strangely-subdued students passing by. Riley is doing a slow burn the whole time, almost in shock from all that's been happening. We also get a quick viewing of the basement, which factors into what happens with Titus much later in the book... That's all I got to say 'bout that! The revision is cooking along nicely. I guess I needed my time off last weekend to get my energy levels back up. I'm trying not to burn myself out like I did on the last Dare. It's working pretty well. I look forward to getting up at 5 a.m., if you can believe that, and doing as much work as I can before 6:30 rolls around and the dog is dying for his walk. Then I can enjoy the rest of my day, knowing that I've done my creative bit while everyone else was asleep. In related news, I got to read a big chunk of The Talisman last night. They're outta the Sunlight Home, and Wolf dies. Jack's reaction to Wolf's death (actually, his death ain't shown, as Wolf's body fades away, returning to the other world of the Territories) was really moving, and I felt a teensy lump in my throat. Stephen King really knows how to tweak the emotions. It's all about the details. Jack thinks of all the times he was impatient with Wolf, and all the adventures they had together. It's not rushed, and it unfolds at a nice pace, while Jack is hitching rides west. I'm impressed. King and Straub tell the overall story in a fairly linear fashion, but the chapters sometimes move through time in a way that I wouldn't have thought of. For instance, one chapter begins after the main event, starting with Jack arriving someplace, then it backfills how he got there, detailing how the driver who picked him up gave Jack his coat. Then it goes further back to show Jack reading a headline from the fire at the Sunlight Home. Most writers would've written a detailed account of Jack's escape from the Home, but in this case it was dismissed in a sentence or two. Why? Because the really important aspect of his escape was the death of Wolf. How he got out didn't matter so much as what it cost him to escape. Very well done. I'm taking mental notes here, folks... I'm hoping to finish the book this weekend. To be honest, I don't really remember what happens next! I read the book about 15 years ago, and all I can remember is something with trains. So it'll be a fun (re)discovery. I'm thinking about reading China Mieville's King Rat next, then his Perdido Street Station. Both are supposed to be topnotch urban fantasies. Then I may try Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere for the third time. By that time, his new book, American Gods should be out. I've been following his pre-publication process for that novel on his online journal. If you're interested in how a book gets published, you should check it out. Later. mjj
March 28, 2001 Full steam ahead... as soon as I get some caffeine... *Today's Quote:* “Four Lithium a day,” Race had said Thursday morning, on the phone. Thinking about Race’s restlessness during the service that morning, Clint put the bottle back on the floor where he’d found it. I’ll talk to him about it later, he promised himself, settling back onto his bed. *Today's Progress:* Finished revising chs. 14-19 The Official Dare Page	Okay, so I didn't actually do all the revising to the chapters I listed yesterday. I'd marked up the hardcopies for those chapters, and then I spent this morning entering them and tweaking the text some more. So today I'm truly done with chapter 19. Okay, not truly. I plan on finishing it today, at work, on my lunch break and whenever I have free time. But I'll be diving into chapter 20 soon (the tour of the school I mentioned yesterday). I really liked the sections I'm working on right now, with Titus and his mother and Clint's nightmare about Peter in his coffin. Great opportunities to flesh out the characters more and show more of the town. I was also reading in Tim's journal about the music he listens to when he writes. I thought it'd be interesting to make a list of what I've been listening to while I write and see if there's any kind of pattern. And I'm interested in what others write. Basically, what is the soundtrack to a particular story or novel (or novel chapter?) For Autumn's Fall, the music is more hard rock, with a nice mix of techno thrown in. I should look into getting a player from the Net where I can "rip" tracks from my CDs and make my own mixes. I think I can do that. I don't want to get into the great time-suck that Napster and MP3s can be - I just want to be able to listen to the music I want to hear, when I want to hear it. Even flipping CDs every hour can get to be a pain - just let me hit play and forget about the music so I can write. Just off the top of my head, the Autumn's Fall playlist would include: "The Fight Club" soundtrack, Pearl Jam's "Yield," "Binaural," and "Live: Charlotte NC"; the soundtrack to "O Brother Where Art Thou?"; and a bunch of songs from the '80s. The Last of the Hand playlist would include: Everyclear's "Songs from an American Movie, Part 1," Aimee Mann's "Whatever" and "Bachelor No. 1" and the "Magnolia" soundtrack. I'm sure there's a lot more I'm leaving out, but I can't come up with them right now. I'll keep you posted. In any case, before I get totally distracted, I did have some good reading time to get back into The Talisman. I think this is my least favorite part of the book - when Jack and Wolf are caught at the Sunlight Gardener Home for Wayward Boys. This is where the story flounders a bit, and King/Straub try to make their points vs. evangelical types (as if there's any arguing for them, in my opinion - it's a pretty easy case to make, and it's been done before). But it gets better, especially when they flip to the Territories (the other world) and see the Territories equivalent of the Gardener Home (think of devils and pitchforks and Sisyphus, and you've got a pretty good idea...). And they're almost out of there and back on the road. This is such a fun read. Later.
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