I know I’ve been absent for a while. I’m sorry. The stats for the blog certainly reflect my neglect. If you follow my Twitter feed, you probably know where I’ve been. I have been fighting the chapter from hell. Yes, a month ago when I wrote how I was having a hard time progressing, I …
I was out in the car today with my wife, babbling about The Veil. I told her I’m having serious difficulty writing the final four chapters. Simply put, they need to be planned in an in depth fashion. I’ve been lucky so far, my “Chess” approach has worked well and brought me into novel length …
So last night I crossed 50,000 words in The Veil. Depending on what guidelines you follow, that means I’ve officially crossed into novel length territory. When I launched this blog in April of 2010, I had written 9,000 words. I admit, there’s been times when I wondered if my idea would actually amount to a …
It’s 11:58pm as I write this. I’m sitting in bed, propped with my back against the wall. My laptop is sitting on a breakfast-in-bed tray and my wife is sleeping next to me (she has a cold). I’m wearing headphones which have just finished pumping out My Chemical Romance’s newest album, Danger Days: The True …
The last foundation for a “concept” novel is the Theme. Now, this is going to encompass a larger discussion, because theme isn’t just about how a story starts. It’s an important, if not integral, aspect of virtually every story written. But let’s address the main point of these articles, theme as the genesis point for …
In this, my third article about the genesis of stories, I’m talking about a Concept related start that links between the World Concept, and starting with Characters. That is the Scene Concept. Ever had a dream that you couldn’t shake? One where you watched something unfold between one or more people you didn’t know, but …
I’m looking at how stories begin. Where do they come from? What compels a person to dedicate so much of their time to put words in order, just to tell a story? In my post on Starting with Characters, I talked about how some authors start with an interesting character. Today, I’m going to discuss …
