I’ve been working on the beats for A Ghast in the Machine since at least May 2018. My last update in October boasted that I’d finished the beats for about 12 chapters. Guess how many I have now? Sixteen. That’s about two a month. Clearly, I need to make some changes! I started thinking about why […]
Novel Pre-Production
Does Finishing a Novel’s Beats Qualify for a Celebration?
Remember back in January when I said I hoped to have the beats for Divinity Ascending finished soon? Guess what? As of 6:30PM on Sunday, March 11, 2018, the beats for Divinity Ascending are done! Does finishing the beats/outline quality for a celebration? I don’t know for sure, so maybe I’ll only have a Bud […]
Characters in Rebellion!
My characters are assuming control of the first novel. This is actually a good thing. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself. This is what happened: As I was pushing to finish the last 20% of the beats, the Ghast and Mel Conrad conspired to dramatically change the direction of the plot. First, not content […]
The “Whole Audience Thing” through the Lens of Star Trek Discovery
I’m trying to be a student of Sterling & Stone’s Smarter Artist approach to indie writing. One of their core concepts, just after “Know your why,” is to know your audience and to write material they’d want to read. Not sell yourself out by writing junk you think might sell, but by finding your audience, […]
A Ghast in Melchizedek’s Backstory
You know how when you’re really into writing — when you forget there’s a keyboard and the words flow unfettered from mind to screen? It’s like establishing a warp field. Until something pierces the field, your creativity’s flowing — but even then, you’re only mostly in control. Case in point: I’m working on a scene […]