In The Margins...

Revising Violently

2012-01-30T05:00:00.000-08:00

This Saturday I printed out the first arc of The Beginner GM and curled up on the couch to make my first editing pass. It was a massacre. I shed so much red ink that I'm not sure the ME would be able to identify the body. I slashed paragraphs and carved similes into imagery. I ripped the metaphorical throat out of some of those passages, and then I put it back in backwards. In my defense, those pages deserved it. I'm not sorry I did it, and first chance I get, I'm going to do it again!

I've never liked to revise, or even proofread, for most of my life. I'm not sure why. When I clean and think I am done, I take a last look to catch anything I missed. If I'm eating a good meal, you'd better be sure I check the pot before giving up my plate. Revising, however, I hated. I don't know why. Perhaps it was admitting I had been wrong, or that I could have done it better, though you'd think I was used to that. Maybe it just felt like too much work. It could be that I was scared to see how bad it was. Whatever the reason, When I threw down my pen and pages, I was done, for better or worse. I promise you, it was worse.

Revision, as detestable as it might be to some, is critical to good writing. I don't know why it's impossible to do it right the first time, but it is. I've never ever heard of a successful writer that didn't revise. Moreover, every time I recall an author talking about revision, they talked about how MUCH they revise! Many authors are still mentally revising their work after it's been published.

So, I can't tell you why we need to do it, but I can tell you how it helps. The most obvious is basic proofreading. People make mistakes, all the time. Proofing lets you spot and fix those mistakes before someone else does. Revision allows you to see the places in your story that need tightening, or loosening, or more explanation, or less exposition. It lets you follow the voice of your characters, and better recognize when they shift, than when you were writing mad about the wet newspaper and it soaked into your characters.

I think Writing and Reading are two different parts of the brain, perhaps editing is as well. When you take a second look at what you've written, after letting it cool for a time, you see it as a reader instead of the person writing it, and that makes all the difference. Writers have no clue when they have screwed up. Readers can always smell it. Fortunately, the best writers are both.

Switching Gears

2012-01-23T04:44:00.000-08:00

Despite what I said in my last blog post, I'm switching gears. I had planned to finish editing and revising The Beginner GM and then return to work on Hero Games, which I had practically abandoned last summer. However, Fantasy Faction has thrown a metaphorical wrench into my plans.
The wrench they threw into my machine is their new Anthology and the contest for the valued slots for unpublished authors.

Their submission requirements are pretty strict: anything fantasy. I can do that. Targeting about 8,000 words.

So, over the holidays, I had an idea for a story based on the Mayan calendar's end of time. I theorized that maybe the 2012 deadline wasn't predicting the end of the world, but a major change in the world as we know it. (A little quick research lent substantial credibility to such a theory.) So I figure, if the world is going to completely change, why not play with physics? The story I have planned will take the world from science to magic, much like it did ages ago when the pendulum swung the other way. One will slowly fade, and the other will grow in power and awareness.

So, for those who care, that's my new agenda and why. Sometimes, a wrench in the gears just means your machine does something new.

Pretend This is a Creative Blog Post Title

2012-01-09T10:18:00.000-08:00

It is a new year, and with new years come... calories, if we're going to be honest about it.

Over the holidays (and just after), I finished Elven Fire for the Beginner GM, which was my NaNoWriMo project this year. (I did hit my goal, but had some finishing pieces I wanted to add.) Now it's time for that to go into revisions so it can be published this spring. The actual game manual went out last summer. That has been a fun experience, and a new type of project for me.

Once that's done, I'll be going back to work on Hero Games, which I abandoned in the middle. I've decided to try an unusual (for me) approach, though, and writing each character's storyline independently, then weaving them all together. With the plot well mapped, it should be doable, and may help to maintain the continuity of their voice.

One night over the holidays, I had to get up in the middle of the night to write down a couple of story concepts so that I could sleep, and hopefully not lose the ideas. When I shared the ideas with my wife later, she praised the concepts, but commented that she thinks I have enough projects on my plate.

Even ignoring the "real life" commitments of teaching and family, she's right. I have just finished writing one project that requires editing before a deadline for publications; I am still in the midst of a challenging novel with a dozen main characters, each with their own subplot. I have at least three other novels-in-progress awaiting their turn in line. I have a Santa's List of story ideas waiting to become works-in-progress. I have blogging that I try to do weekly, Tweeting that I do whenever I can, which isn't often enough. On Common Ground is gathering dust waiting to be edited. On top of all that, I really should be trying to build my portfolio by entering contests, submitting short stories to magazines, networking within the blogosphere. Oh, I'd completely forgotten that Derek Daniels, my poor Nanite Chaser, is desperately in need of another episode or five.

How does a writer do it? Do we throw some of these wonderful ideas away? Should I start a Writer's Idea Bank and store them there in the hopes that some other author may be able to use one? It makes me wonder, of those amazing authors that are out there, the prolific, and the departed, how many of their stories went unwritten? How many amazing tales have passed unpenned? I hope there's a library in heaven, and I hope Satan's not in charge of the publishing house.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-17T07:18:00.000-08:00

I'm sure Santa's moving my name from one list to the other this month, for I've not posted at all in December. Actually, I think I posted one that I had drafted and saved a while back, but screwed up and dated it sometime in October. A shame, it was a good post, and probably went unnoticed because of that. Ah, well, it's the thought that counts. Or maybe only the thoughts you write down.

So, here's my Christmas gift to all of you: a piece of fiction. First, you must ask yourself are you naughty or are you nice?

For the Naughty Girls and Boys...

"Shame on you! What are you doing reading this filth?" The voice echoed in her ears...

Coming soon,

For the Nice Girls and Boys...

"I'm so proud of you! Santa’s going to have something special in his sack for you, my boy!” He opened the email to read it again...

NaNoWriMo's Last Breath

2011-11-30T05:23:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of 2011's NaNoWriMo. Let's see how it all has turned out, with the understanding that there are still about 16 hours left for things to change.

My 2nd period, who had a word count goal of 60,000 (30 kids x 2k words each) topped out yesterday at 62,058 words with threats from some of bringing more today. (Their class doesn't meet today.) Way to go, kids!

My 4th period came in just short of their 38,000 goal (19 kids x 2k words each) with 35,932 words. Remember, there's still 16 hours left for them to come bursting into my classroom waving sheets of scribbled words and numbers, yelling out their total word count. They aren't too very short. One kid could make it happen for them.

Each student that succeeded in hitting their goal is invited to the Thursday Dec 1 afternoon pizza party NaNoWriMo Celebration! (Wow that's a long name for a party.)

I would like to brag and celebrate my own personal success of winning MY first NaNoWriMo YWP, passing my 25k goal with 26,733 and counting! Woot for me!

My afterschool WriMos trudged in with sad faces yesterday. They were falling far short of their goals, but, I am proud to say, they were still writing. There was one that usually comes later, however. (She's in spelling bee practice the first half after school.) Word in the halls was that this sweet girl with a modest 12k goal, had over 20,000 words in hand. She arrived, and it was true. She had over 170%! Oh, how we celebrated.

Then, I went to validate her words, and she stopped me.

"No, Mister! Don't do it."

I was startled, and tried to explain that I was validating her win, so she would have her little purple Winner bar.

"No, I don't want to do that. I didn't finish the story. I'm only half way done, and there's no way I'll finish it in time. I'm not a winner yet, and I hold to that decision."

How can I not respect such integrity? I searched the FAQs but could find nothing on what to do if you hit (or explode) your word count, but aren't done with the story at the end of the month. For now, she remains unvalidated... but she's a winner in my book.

****************************************************

Update: My wife went and found some information and emailed me to have something to help sway the girl, since she couldn't comment from work. The email is below.

From the FAQs, The Basics, "How do you win?":

"You win NaNoWriMo by writing to your word-count goal by midnight on November 30."

Writing to your word-count goal. Not finishing your novel.

Also, in the CreateSpace talks:

"... you will receive a redemption password when you reach your word-count goal and become an official NaNoWriMo 2011 winner."

When you reach your goal. Not when you finish your book.

I'd say it's pretty clear!

So during my off period, I pulled her out of class and presented this information to her. After assuring her that she could (and should) finish the work and pursue publishing in the spring, she confirmed that she did want to validate now. So we quickly grabbed a computer and got her validated. I am so very proud of her, and excited about the future of her story.

Then, when I got home, I had the following email from the Office of Letters and Light. I think Tim said it quite well.

Hi there,

Wow, she has real grit to go with her drive, it sounds like; that's fantastic. Our official position is basically that, if she hits her word count goal, we consider her a winner. We also encourage young writers to continue writing their novels, and to edit them in later months. I'm going to link a FAQ about it here: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/node/512033

This is also our official position on how to win: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/node/512006

I hope this helps! Thank you for writing in, and please let your student know that we are incredibly proud of her accomplishment, and that she deserves to celebrate!

Tim Kim
Office Captain
The Office of Letters and Light

Missed a week

2011-11-21T08:16:00.000-08:00

Missed a week? I don't know what you're talking about.

Yeah, okay, I admit it. I could blame it on being sick, but I didn't get sick until the middle of last week, so I don't have much of an excuse. I wish I had a really recent update on my students, but I was out sick much of last week, so I don't have their current numbers. The week before that, though, one class had a total of 35,000 words! Fantastic. I'm really excited to see what they have after this week of Thanksgiving break. It'll be the last class period during NaNoWriMo, so really have to be done by that point, and they know it. Crossing my fingers.

I, while still underscoring for the official adult WriMo goal, am having my best NaNo year yet! I currently as of yesterday have just over 15,000 words, which is 60% of my 25k goal. Today and tomorrow are dedicated to writing, with Wednesday as a safety net. I plan to be done by Thanksgiving. It is a marvelous feeling to finish a book like that. To set a momentous goal and achieve it is a sensation that you carry with you. I love seeing it in my students. I love feeling it in me.

Now, on to random-doesn't-actually-matter-just-thoughts-about-me-out-of-my-head stuff. This morning, I spent nearly an hour in Barnes & Noble waiting for the Jewelry store next door to open. I don't usually have the time to just "hang out" in B&N, or any other bookstore, much to my chagrin. Got to tell you, I love it. I imagine finding my name on the shelf. I run my fingers tenderly across the leather spines. (Have you SEEN the new B&N Leatherbound Classics editions? Bibliogasm.) I touch the covers of treasured stories from my past, or of world-changing classics and there's an electric charge that runs through me, connecting me with Captain Ahab, Robert Louis Stevenson, Dorian Gray, Shakespeare, Scheherazade, or HG Wells. It's a world that I love being a part of. The power and joy of the written word, the very feel and pleasure of holding a good book.

I do enjoy having digital books, and I use Shaker (my iPod) to read on, but shopping in iTunes and downloading a pdf just doesn't have that same experience. You can laugh. Apple and the Nook people certainly want you to, and make fun of that sentiment in their commercials, but the reality is it is true. I am not lighting torches and waving pitchforks over the coming of digital publishing; I think it's awesome. Neither, however, am I using my old paperbacks for toilet paper. They can, and will, coexist. And I will indulge in both.

Now it's time for me to get my name on one of them.

Day late and a few words short

2011-11-08T04:27:00.000-08:00

This post is going up a day late because, well, life is just like that.

I had 3366 words at the end of last week, and I was excited about the forward progress. Then the weekend came and I had time to really sit down and talk through the project. I realized that i had made a mistake in my planning. Fixing it meant that I had to toss about 300 words of the labyrinth I had begun. (I saved it for later.) 300 words isn't much, but that meant my word count was going backwards! Plus, I no longer had that planned labyrinth. I had to come up with something new. It was just a setback, not an ending, and I am pushing forward and will be successful.

My students, on the other hand... nearly knocked me over with their word counts! They each have a goal of 2,000 words. Most of them came back after the first week with quite respectable word counts. Some, however, really surprised me. I have two that were within 200 words of 2k, and several that passed the 50% mark! This may not be high word counts for the WriMos that are used to thousands a day, but for a class of Middle School students that may not have chosen the class and had no idea it included a project like this, these are great numbers. The best part is that when I asked if they were almost done with the story itself, I got answers like "No way, I'm still early in the Rising Action." and "I just hit the Inciting Incident!"

Wonderful Time of Year

2011-10-31T06:53:00.000-07:00

I won't say it's the "most wonderful time of the year," but for me it comes pretty close. I get Halloween, when I can wear costumes without people laughing and pointing (except in a good way), and then stepping on the heels of it starts NaNoWriMo! It's non-stop fun! (Yes, that's me painting my daughter's eyes black for her batgirl mask.)

Like last year, my classes are participating in NaNoWriMo, and I'll be giving updates on them throughout the month. This time, I only have two classes of creative writing students, so they are going to target one total anthology.

This past summer, my family published the game manual for a table-top rpg that they've been designing and playing for about two decades called Elven Fire. (This is still on topic, trust me.) Labyrinths for the game, however, are always in constant demand. I've been writing labyrinths for the past year, both for family games, and for my school's after school program. So I decided to use NaNoWriMo to write a set of labyrinths that I can then put out there for other people to use. The creator of the game is also using NaNoWriMo to write a book of labyrinths, so mine will be targeted for the GM-in-training (Game Master), so to speak.

tLike most things, This is more complicated than it sounds. I have to figure out what information inexperienced GMs need, and how to divide the complexities of the game between GM levels. Well, much like governments sometimes, I will drive ahead determinedly, despite being dreadfully uncertain of exactly where I am going!

If you are interested in getting a copy of the manual (labyrinths coming soon!), You can get it from CreateSpace or Amazon.com Check out the game's history and such at www.elven-fire.com.

Gods of Justice Review: Identity Crises

2011-10-24T05:49:00.000-07:00

I won Gods of Justice from Lisa Gail Green. It's an anthology of superhero short stories. Lisa asked if I would write a review of the anthology, but since I like to give more than asked, I decided to do a review of each story, one at a time. In case you didn't know, I really like superheroes, so this was a great prize for me. I'll be reviewing them one story at a time in this "Gods of Justice Review series."

***Warning: Spoilers on this one***

Identity Crises by Lisa Gail Green is the story of identical twin sisters who have more in common than either of them realize. One sister is the classically perfect kid: the best grades (Easily), the social butterfly, the shining extra curriculars, the boyfriends, and, to top it all off, super powers. The other, less fortunate sister, struggles to pass, never gets the guy she likes, feels awkward, and buries herself in video games and books at home.

As the story goes (that sounds so legendary), Leslie, the less-than-perfect, follows Miranda "Mir," the more-than-you-could-ask-for, into the bad side of town at night to catch her doing something she shouldn't. I like names to mean something, without being Pilgrim's Progress level of allegorical. Green uses extremely subtle names for the twins that are not at first obvious. Leslie = less while Miranda, Mir = more. Very clever, though what mean parents they must have!

Naturally, Less catches More changing into her superhero costume in a back alley. Then she, in turn, gets caught in the back alley by More's boyfriend (who Less loved first, of course). The boyfriend and Less leave the safety of the alley to watch the battle between SuperMore and the Big Bad Ugly guy, who is a tech villain. In the course of the battle, Mayhem, the villain, attacks an "innocent bystander" (naturally, he picks Less) and the boyfriend jumps in the way to save her. The boyfriend gets frozen, SuperMore takes a serious hit/injury, and Less shows that she's braver and smarter than she thinks she is. Mayhem takes off with his new popsicle as hostage/collateral, and throws back a meeting time and place.

Less helps More back home, and More insists that Less must take her place and go rescue the boyfriend, as More is temporarily confined to bed until she heals. Less practices all day with the magical stone in the belt (source of powers) and argues with herself about whether or not she can pull this off,and be the hero.

I'm going to leave you in the dark about what happens to the boyfriend and the villain, but she does make a pretty good showing of herself as a hero, and the twins decide to both be SuperMore, as the better sister confesses that she always thought the other one was better, due to her "street smarts" and quick thinking.

Now that you have the summarized storyline, on to my review. In short, the plot/action of this story was very well done. The villain acted reasonably, while still being classically villainous. In fact, there's one part, toward the end, where the villain is talking too much (they do that), and starts whining about how the hero's not acting the way she is supposed to. He studied videos of her moves and style and spent hours fire-proofing his suit. Shut up and take it, whiney-butt, she's taking you down. I loved that moment.

Some of the best foreshadowing in the action was during that initial scene where Less is watching SuperMore's battle. Despite her self-deprecating, she thinks fast when she gets involved, and sees errors the sister is making, tricks the villain is laying, before anyone else does. It's a good setup for her being successful later, and painted well. It makes me "buy-in" to the sister being good at it later, while defusing the bomb of the "instantly amazing superhero" that this could have been. A cape and a mask do not make you invincible. (They just make you look really cool!)

However, reviews, like coins, have two sides. What I didn't like about the story, was in the characterization. Not that the characters aren't good ones. I like the idea of Less-More twins, but the nature of the writing made the characters difficult to bring out. Let me explain. The problem with Flash Fiction (very short stories) is that there is very little in the way of resources to play with. With such limited word count, you have to develop the characters fast, and if you want to make the reader care about them, you don't have much time to do it, because the climax is right around the corner. If you are working with deep, interesting characters, this makes it even harder. Green could have spent her entire word count just developing these twin sisters. Instead, she has to paint their entire lives and relationship as fast as she can in order to move the story forward. Thus, the characterizations come across a little rushed and heavy-handed. I think it would have been nice if they had either tried to show a little less depth, or lengthened the story to allow for smoother development.

The other thing that got me was the first person narrative. I actually have comments on both side for this. First, let me say that I've never been a fan of first person writing. My first impression is almost always "Why are you telling me this?" It hardly ever feels like an actual recounting of the events as experienced by the person telling them. I tend to avoid it myself. However, I did not at first even notice that it was first person, I was just reading. That's a really good thing. Being first person, however, meant Less spent a lot of time telling me how great her sister was, and how pathetic she was. Telling is something said to be avoided in fiction anyway, and this just got a little tiring after a while. I once broke up with a girl for the same reason. Despite that, I did like Less, and really enjoyed her meeting with Mayhem.

In the end, the girls decide to share the identity of the Super Hero. (Is it split personality if you have two people sharing one personality instead of two personalities sharing one person?) Their resolution and disagreement over who is the better sister was a little too easy for me. Perhaps because of the first person narrative, we never got inside More's head. I was rather hoping they would find a way to be super heroes together, but both being the same super hero has some interesting possibilities as well.

My summation: worth reading, I just wanted more of it to read.

You can find more about and from Lisa Gail Green at her website or on her blog. She's also a delightful person to follow on Twitter.

The Rest of the Series:
The Mass Grave of John Johnsons by Micah Urban
Daughter of Nyx by Kelly Wisdom
Going My Own Way by Dayton Ward

My Teaching Materials: The Letter

2011-10-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

The Letter

It was night. It was windy. The girl stood on the roof. A man walked up to her. He gave her a paper. Then the man jumped off. The girl read the paper and cried and threw the paper away.

This I show them on one screen. Even the kids can tell you it's bad. Then I tell them I have another version, and ask them to see if they like it better. Reading the second one has every kid's attention.

The Letter

It was a dark and stormy night. The wind howled around the corners of the street. Above the street, the wind and rain assaulted the rooftops.

On the roof stood a girl, wearing a dark trench coat with a hat pulled low over her eyes. Whether it was meant to keep out the rain, or hide her face wasn’t clear. She seemed to be waiting for someone. It must be an exceedingly serious reason to be out on a rooftop in such blustery wind and biting rain.

Suddenly, the rooftop door opened. The wind slammed it against the wall. The man standing in the doorway had long, stringy hair and a cruel-looking face. His countenance made the scar across one eye look almost cheerful. He stepped out onto the roof, leaving the old wooden door to slam and swing back and forth helplessly in the wind.

As he walked up to the girl in the broad-rimmed hat, he held out his right hand. Clenched in his fist was a paper envelope wrapped in plastic. She hesitated, but accepted the mysterious package. In a flash of lightning, she could just barely make out the address on the outside of the envelope.

She looked up to ask a question just as he stepped up onto the ledge. This was so startling that her question froze unvoiced in her throat. Then the man jumped.

“No!”

She stepped forward, but it was too late. He was gone, even more mysteriously than he came. She ripped open the envelope and held the letter in both hands to keep the wind from ripping it away. As she read, her sudden tears mixed with the pouring rain. She finished the letter and stood, frozen, shocked. Finally, she opened her fingers and let the wind take the hateful letter out of her life.

After reading this, I have to go through 5 minutes of questions about what happened to the two characters and what was in the letter. To which I have to shrug repeatedly, with a knowing smile. Then we discuss what made the two versions different. I go back to the first version and point out how every piece was turned into something larger. Practically every sentence in the first version became a paragraph in the next. "It was night. It was windy." From those two sentences, we get a full paragraph of setting description in the second. The same with the next sentence about the girl, and so on.

At the end, I ask them to choose a piece of their writing that they feel matches the first version, and turn it into the second one. This has been a pretty effective lesson in the past; I look forward to trying it this year.

*********

Other posts in this series:
Land of Xanth
Thief & Chief
Key to Happyness

My Teaching Materials: Key to Happyness

2011-10-17T05:42:00.000-07:00

One of the things I rather enjoy is making pertinent materials for my writing classes. Yes, I probably do way too much myself, and should save energy by finding or buying and using pre-made stuff, but I like it. So, I thought I would share a few of those with you.

This is the companion worksheet to Thief & Chief, which I posted last time. Before giving out either of these, we cover the rules that are included in them.

Name: _________________
Period:___ Date: _________

Please correct the following paragraph. These mistakes focus on the following rules: Changing Y to I, and Doubling the Final Consonant. Previously covered spelling rules may also be present. Each of the 25 errors is worth 4 points.

Their was one key to happyness in Jane’s life: she partyed. Parting was everything to her. It occupyed all of her free time and deli ghtted her and her freinds. There favorite place to party was a club that admited them even though they had not agged to 18 yet. They had made copyes of they’re driver‘s licenses and handded them over, smileing. The IDs claimmed the girls were 21. They had tryed to get into other clubs, but the bouncers stoped them at the door. One threatenned to call there parents! Jane finaly was geting to have a good time, when suddennly, she heard a bad sound: “Police. Everyone stay where you are!" They were takeing everyone’s IDs and puting them under arrest! When her parents came to get her, she was ashammed of what she had done.

*********

The first post in this series was Land of Xanth.
The second was Thief & Chief.

My Teaching Materials: Thief & Chief

2011-10-03T07:39:00.000-07:00

The Theif was rideing a stolen bicycle he had gotten from the Clown Cheif. The fameous Cheif had said that it was absolutly the safest ride in town. The clowns had decieved the theif, however. The bike was not the safest ride at all; it was a hopeless peice of junk. There idea of a joke was going to leave the theif sitting they’re on the side of the road. Although the theif beleived that it was a well-mad bike, the wheels were becomeing a problem. The rubber was wasteing away as he rode. Soon, he was sitting in the gutter, hopeing to recieve a bit of timly luck. Fortunatly, a nieghbor was driveing by at that very moment. They threw the bike into the trash and went looking for thier freinds the clowns.

You can find the first post in this series here. And no cheating!

My Teaching Materials: Xanth

2011-09-26T05:16:00.000-07:00

One of the things I rather enjoy is making pertinent materials for my writing classes. Yes, I probably do way too much myself, and should save energy by finding or buying and using pre-made stuff, but I like it. So, I thought I would share a few of those with you.

This first one I usually give out the first week, and they mostly get credit for trying. However, it's a fun way to judge how well they edit, their "wordsmith" level, and give them a peek at what is in store for them. I didn't write this one, I borrowed the passage from Piers Anthony's Xanth series, credited at the bottom.

Let's see how many errors you can find! Leave your count in the comments. ;)

Name: ________________
Period:________________

Dor is a student in a land called Xanth, which is next door to a place called Mundania. His teacher asked him to write an essay about Xanth. Dor isn’t a good speller, so he got a “spelling bee” to help him. Thanks to the bee, nothing in his essay is misspelled, but he still didn’t get a very good grade. Can you do better than Dor? Find and correct all of Dor’s spelling mistakes. Here’s a hint: there are 52 of them!

The Land of Xanth
buy Door

Eye live inn the Land of Xanth, witch is dis-stinked from Mundania inn that their is magic inn Xanth and nun inn Mundania. Every won inn Xanth has his own magic talent; know to are the same. Sum khan conjure things, and others khan make a whole ore illusions ore khan sore threw the heir. Butt inn Mundania know won does magic, sew its very dull. They’re are knot any dragons their. Instead their are bare and hoarse and a grate many other monsters. Hour ruler is King Trent, whoo has rained four seventeen years. He transforms people two other creatures. Know won gets chaste hear; oui fair inn peace. My tail is dun.

From Centaur Aisle by Piers Anthony, p. 14

Writer's Update

2011-09-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

School is back in, and I now have a schedule of writing on Saturday mornings for 3 hours. My goal is Hero Games. That project has been mostly stalled since the beginning of the summer. Every time I start to attack it, something else comes up. Just this week, I got an email from Cliffhanger Books about another publisher, Damnation Books, that had put out a call for submissions for a corrupted superhero anthology.

Naturally, it caught my attention. I even happen to have an unfinished corrupted hero story buried in my archives. But, I told myself, I am supposed to be working on Hero Games. I know that story would need dusting off and polishing, at the very least. So, I took a glimpse at it, and it could certainly use some work. It also, however, is a pretty good story.

Thus, I get caught by this little dilemma: novel-in-progress, or anthology submission? Not to mention trying to maintain this blog, keep up with Twitter, read my blogroll, etc. etc. At least NaNoWriMo isn't really until November, and I have time to plan for that during NaNoWriMo after school. (I have three students ready to write, so far!)

NaNo is November, the anthology due date is December, and Hero Games has no schedule but mine. So, for now, I go back to Hero Games until I can get it figured out.

I leave you this week with one thought: With so many irons in the fire, how does one find enough fuel?

Back to the Books

2011-08-28T15:22:00.000-07:00

School has started again. Summer's lazy (ha!) days are at an end, and pencils and papers once more begin. This, of course, means I'm suddenly swamped with all kinds of stuff, as I teach middle school Creative Writing and Theatre, sponsor after school programs (three, this year), and have to organize for the school plays, as well as NaNoWriMo.

I do intend to maintain my regular posts, but there are likely to be some teaching ones added in as well. We've only been back in school a week, but my students have already edited a passage of writing, made their first, basic character, and written a short piece of fiction.

The short piece of fiction was my favorite thus far. Here was the assignment: They were to write a short (half-page) bio about themselves for homework, due the next class day. The catch? Everything in it had to be lies, except their name. (Had to know to whom to give the grade!)

It was awesome. Their initial reaction to having to write a short bio was predictable: groans and disappointed expressions. The news that it was required to be packed full of lies, however, was met with a mixture of disbelief and delight.

The results were even better. In my classes, I have a popstar that hangs out with Nikki Manaje and Selena Gomez, a top secret rocket-maker (can't tell you his name, it's classified), a kid that got into a fight with Justin Bieber, a successful 32-yr old writer (25 books to his name, but not sure why he's still in middle school!), and a Hollywood director.

All in all, this looks like it will be a fun year.

Gods of Justice Review: Going My Own Way

2011-08-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

Tessa's HateFest

2011-08-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

Today is the Day of Hate, declared so by Tessa's current blogfest: I Hate You Blogfest. Below is my own offering to the maelstrom of hate that she is building on the web today. Be warned: it's longer than many of the others, at 2600 words, but I hope you find it worth the read.

The stipulations of the HateFest are as follows:

1. Sign up by the end of August 12th. The time is 4:22 PM Central Standard Time. I have hours until the cutoff!

2. On August 12th, post a story, an excerpt of your work or a poem you've written that shows HATE of some form or another - your character hates someone, someone hates your character, or maybe you hate someone/something? Total check. Hate doesn't get much hotter than this. (There's a pun in there.)

3. Once you've posted, go check out the other entries and share some comment love! I've already read and commented on Donna Hole and Word+Stuff.

4. Don't forget to link back to [Tessa's] blog when you post so people can find the other entries. I've now linked back twice.
Thanks, Tessa, for this really fun blogfest!

Oh, I suppose I should mention that this is a story placed in the world of On Common Ground that isn't in the actual novel. Also, it happens afterward, so try to forget you read this if you get your hands on the actual novel!

* * *

He tightened the Palm Colors around his palms. Originally, they were the red rags dipped in the blood of his first kill that symbolized his acceptance and rank in the gang. The fact that his first kill hadn’t actually died was a separate issue. He looked up as a demon walked by and nodded hello before going back to his thoughts. He’d moved up to a completely different type of gang now, but he had kept his palm colors. They reminded him of the grudge he held for the one that got away, and the angel that had helped her.

He clenched his fist suddenly, thinking of that trio, and flames engulfed his hand. He flicked his wrist and opened his fist and the emotional fireball shot into the already scorched wall opposite him. He flicked his middle finger at the wall, sending a small jet for each of them. The cop. Hiss. The angel. Scorch. And that goody two-shoes demon. Blast. Though if it weren’t for that pansy demon kid going to the other side, his dad Nezbit wouldn’t have taken Rayne in, so that one was good luck for him.

Now, instead of being an average kid in a street gang, he was the adopted son of the hottest demon around and learning to use his new powers. That thought brought him back to reality. He had a trial to get ready for. Nezbit had said he would have three to choose from, but he wouldn’t know what they were until he walked into the trial chamber. He had to be ready for anything. Behind his shaggy bangs, his chocolate brown eyes glittered with demonic firelight as he tried to imagine what would be waiting for him.

The door to his right opened and an ugly demon stuck his horned face into the room.
“Rayne,” Belgard grunted, “they’re ready for you.”

Rayne nodded his head and stood up. He kicked a dusty rock with his leather boots and held his jaw firm. Must show strength. He walked through the door beside Belgard and took in the trial chamber.

The room was a giant triangle. The ceiling rose high above them, coming to a point at the top, from which hung what was probably a giant bowl full of fire. At this distance, it was hard to tell. Each of the room’s three corners was a cage. Against the left wall were six stone chairs, in which sat the various demons and supernaturals that would judge his trial.

Three of them were regular demons. Two, a male and a female, had the standard red skin, horns, and tail that mortals see in pictures. The female flicked her forked tongue at him. The other was mostly normal, except for the 6 inches bone spikes rising out of his shoulders and the fact that his left arm ended in a big crab pincher. The other three were mixed supernaturals. One was a werewolf with shaggy fur, long nose, ears, and teeth. Another appeared to be a witch, technically mortal, but probably a high enough ranking witch that she’d been around a couple hundred years or so. The last one matched the description of an earth elemental. He hadn’t seen an elemental in person before. The creature was living rock, dirt, and lava. His features were better described as aspects of landscape than as parts of a body. A fissure in its face opened and it belched noxious gas. The werewolf growled and tried to cover its nose, annoyed. This was not a good start to the trial, Rayne thought.

He glanced at the right hand wall as he walked slowly forward to the center of the triangular room, where he was expected to stand. Seated among a few of his new demon friends and his trainers, was his adoptive father Nezbit. He made no sign that he even recognized Rayne. It was his way. The demon way. You had to be strong enough to stand on your own. Nezbit had black hair with a red tinge to it, and looked handsomely mortal. Handsome enough to charm mortals to their doom. Nezbit may not show it here, at the trial, but he knew he would be pleased by a decisive victory, and much displeased by a defeat. Rayne didn’t want to think about a defeat. He’d narrowly passed the last test, and he knew what three failures would mean.

Rayne reached the small, raised dais in the center of the room and stood facing the six judges, waiting to be addressed. One of his friends had advised him to not even look in the cages until they were brought to his attention. It would signal that he was worried about the test. He wasn’t sure if he agreed with Garthos about that, but better safe than sorry. Better to appear strong, confident.

“Rayne, adoptive demon, today you face the Trial of Decision.” The male horned demon spoke. He must be the Head Judge.

“In this room are three cages.” The female red demon addressed him. “You will choose to enter one of them, and will not emerge until that challenge has been met to our satisfaction. Which
cage you enter is up to you. Choose well.”

“In the cage to our left,” snarled the werewolf, “is a pair of mortals. If you choose this challenge, you must turn them against each other until one is dead.”

Rayne looked at the cage for the first time. Under a blanket at the far corner of the cage were two people, clutched close together. He could see blonde hair spilling out from under the blanket. They appeared to be asleep, but were almost certainly a couple. Rayne sneered at the sleeping duo. Such an event would not even be a test, but a pleasure. His expression shifted through various states of amusement as he pondered the various ways of screwing with their minds and turning them against each other. Convincing the man to kill the girl would be almost too easy. Managing to get her to kill the man would be more of a challenge. He liked challenges.

“In the cage to our right,” cackled the high witch, “is a hellhound. Your challenge there is to master it. Subdue the beast and make it docile to you. If you succeed in this particular challenge, the beast will be allowed to remain with you.”

Rayne’s eyes lit up for that fraction of a moment before he reined his face under control. To have a pet hellhound would be quite a bonus for passing this test! He looked to his left at the hellhound’s cage. The beast was staring back at him. It was a dog in only a very general sense. Its short fur was a deep, blood red on black skin. The glowing red eyes didn’t blink and the center of them gave him a slight shiver. Its teeth curled out around its lower lip and the sliver smoked as it dripped from one tooth onto the floor. On its forehead were two horns that curved inward like deadly scimitars. It’s onyx colored claws were out, and the tips of them were stained with blood. The barbed tail whipped back and forth behind it. It barked once at him, as though showing off, and a spout of flame spat forth. Truly this was a creature to respect- and to own. With that beast by his side, and the powers he was learning, no one would stand in his way. They needn’t go on with the third cage, he’d made his decision.

The earth elemental brought his attention back. Its voice was like rocks being ground into dust, punctuated by boulders being split by dynamite.

“Your third option is not mastery or deception, but pure battle. In the cage behind you is an angel.” Rayne whirled, the hellhound all but forgotten. It was true. Standing in the center of the last cage was a glowing angel. Her wings, white with a fluorescent hint of silver, were curled around her, hiding her body. Above the wings, he could see straight, dark blond hair flowing from under a silver crested helmet. Her bright, gold eyes glared out at him. He glared back.

One of the demons spoke up. Rayne kept his eyes on the angel. “Which challenge will you accept for your trial, Rayne?”

“The winged doll is mine.” Without waiting for confirmation, he started walking toward the cage. His eyes never left the angel, who returned the confident stare motionlessly. Somewhere on the edge of his consciousness, he could hear the trial instructions from the panel of judges.

“You must defeat the angel in battle. She must either surrender or be unable to do so. You may use whatever abilities are at your command, but no outside help will be permitted.”

“I don’t need help to pluck her feathers,” He snarled under his breath. He flicked the fingers of his right hand and flames licked across his knuckles. He reached the locked gates of the cage and snapped his head around at the guard. “Unlock it,” he snapped. The outer gate had the lock built into it. The inner gate, closer to the angel, was chained shut, with the padlock that secured the chain hanging on the outside of the cage.

The lock of the outer gate had barely clicked free before Rayne kicked the metal door open and stepped inside. The guard closed the door behind him and he heard the lock click shut. His eyes were still on the angel, cowering behind her own wings.

“Say your prayers, corpse.”

The angel slowly took a step back, withdrawing into the cage. Just as slowly, she spread her wings and revealed the rest of her body, as well as the long, glowing sword she wielded expertly in one hand. She was clothed in a silver breast plate and a tapered loincloth of white leather straps that hung nearly to her knees in the middle, but was cut almost to her hips at the sides. It was an armor that afforded maximum freedom of movement with a minimum of protection. It also showed a significant amount of her very well-formed body, but all he saw was enemy. She switched the deadly glowing sword from one hand to the other, her knees flexed; her body poised for action.

Rayne smiled, standing between the inner and outer gates. He pushed back the left hand sleeve of his leather jacket. Three large, black spikes rose from the top of forearm and three matching spikes slid down toward the ground from underneath. The sets of spikes grew and curved, meeting at the apex of their arches. A red membrane grew between the spikes, creating a shield on his left arm. He juggled two fireballs in his right.

“Open it.”

The guard turned the key in the padlock and Rayne threw one of the fireballs forward as he kicked the door. The chain rattled through the bars as he rushed forward. The fireball flew through the opening as the gate swung wide, straight for the angel. Rayne was right behind it.
The angel was a seasoned fighter. Long before the fireball reached her, she had taken to the air. It passed harmlessly beneath her and scorched a black mark on the back wall. The cage wasn’t big enough to allow her to fly completely freely, but it did give her enough space to make vertical moves an option.

Rayne had been expecting that. The second fireball went up, and was only a split second behind the first one. The angel dodged to the right and the fireball narrowly missed her wing. Rayne veered to match her and leaped for her legs, intending to ground her. He grabbed one ankle and flared the fingers against her skin. Fire smoked where their flesh touched and the angel howled in rage and pain.

She swung the holy sword in a powerful strike for his arm, but he raised his left arm in defense, and the angelic sword met the demonic shield. He poured on more heat, determined to hobble her. She angled her sword straight down at him and dropped out of the air. They hit the ground hard, with her standing on top of him. Her feet hit his chest and shook his grip loose. He flung his shield into her way just in time to catch the point of the sword driving toward his face. The tip penetrated, which forced him to give up his own howl of pain and anger.

He punched her knee and jerked the shield, with the sword still jammed in to it, to the left. The combination pulled her off balance and she fell to the side. The sword whipped free and clattered across the floor of the cage. Dimly, from far away, he heard cheering. He didn’t care. He rolled to his feet and jumped for the winged angel. She was on her back, wings spread wide. He flung a fireball into the feathers of the wing on the right and landed with one knee on her chest. He grabbed her throat in one hand and found her fingers wrapped around his own throat. She was strong. Stronger than he was.

He tried to force his weight down on her throat, to use the advantage of being on top. She used one wing to knock him sideways and rolled them as a pair, putting herself on top. Now she was the one with the advantage of gravity. He turned on the fire as he tried to tighten his grip on her throat. She shrieked as he burned her skin, but her grip didn’t loosen. He began to struggle for air. The fire between his fingers, without oxygen to support it, began to flicker. He tried to scream at her, but he couldn’t get any sound past her own throttling grip. His vision began to grow dark, and the bars of the cage above them started to glimmer with demon magic. The cage, and the rock walls beyond it, faded from view. There was only the warrior angel at the end of a dark tunnel, his hands around her throat.

Suddenly, Rayne ‘s hand was burning. He jerked it away and opened his eyes, ready to attack the angel with renewed vigor. Instead, he saw the hellhound returning his leg to the ground and walking away from the cage bars. His hand was dripping in burning hot liquid.

“Serves you right.” Standing over him, shaking his head pitifully, was Belgard. “You fought well, but you chose stupid. Never expect to win a fight when you’re fighting yourself.”

Rayne slowly got to his feet. His head felt like a road under heavy construction. “I wasn’t fighting myself. Did you not see that angel chick?”

“You were fighting yourself. You didn’t pick the angel. You picked your own emotions to fight. That’s a losing battle. You should have picked the hellhound. I think he likes you.”

Rayne glanced into the cage and the hellhound growled back at him. Yeah, right. Over Belgard’s shoulder, he could see Nezbit walking out of the Trial Chamber. Rayne didn’t need a demon nanny to tell him he was disappointed.

Rayne glanced at the other cage, the angel’s cage. She was sitting at the back, tending to her injuries. There were black burn marks around her throat. One wing was scorched, maybe useless, but certainly not as effective as it was. One of her legs, exposed from under the wounded wing, was burned badly, too.

“Next time, she dies.”

Writer's Toolbox: Novel Stats, Part 2

2011-08-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

We're skipping over the Weekly Projection tab to look at Chapters. Chapters is really pretty clear-cut, I think.

You can click on these images for a larger version or, if you would like your own copy of this document to play with as you read this post, it is available here. It'll start blank, waiting for you to fill in the information. The columns are labeled Chapter (this is for the chapter #), Title (The title of your chapter, if you do that- it's an optional thing.), Words is where you put in the number of words in that chapter, and finally the Planner is a very simple Notes section to help you break down your story into chapter-segments.

As you enter word counts into this sheet, the first sheet (Novel Stats) calculates your words/chapter, progress, and such. When you complete a chapter, put the total word count for that chapter in the Words column, and zero out the count in the box at the bottom, "Words completed so far in current chapter." Repeat until published. Or at least until you are done.

Now let's get back to the Weekly Projection tab.

Don't type anything on this page. This is purely information gleaned from the other pages and provided here for your own scheduling information. This page lays out each week of your WIP and lets you know how many words and chapters you should have written at each stage. It also lets you know where you stand and whether or not you are behind.

It also has this awesome little meter to show how far you are ahead or behind your schedule.

On the far right of the tabs, we find the Chapter Scratchpad. This page is virtually empty. It's just a place to help sketch out the flow of the chapter. What events need to happen within the chapter or scene, and make note of details such as POV or characters present. Remember when you took tests in school and were allowed one sheet of scratch paper? That's what this is. There are certainly much more involved plotting techniques and tools. This, like so many things, is only the beginning.

Earlier posts in this series:
Writer's Toolbox: Google Docs
Writer's Toolbox: Novel Stats, Part 1

Hero Games Contest Results

2011-07-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

Over the course of the last month, I've been running a contest on the blog for my current Work-In-Progress, Hero Games. The idea behind the contest was to use the wonderful tool Hero Machine to create a hero much like the ones for my main characters that I would then cameo in the story.

It turned out that making the hero, capturing them, and sending them to me was more work than I had realized when I set it up. (I'd have known that if I had taken the time to ask any supervillain about capturing a superhero alive.) So, despite some fantastic promotion from other bloggers (Thank you, Donna) and positive feedback from interested readers, I actually received very few submissions. Even with so few entries, it was difficult to choose from among them.

One entrant even created a nude superhero! Well, almost nude; she was wearing a very nice leather jacket. Perhaps I'll save her for a different genre all together!

I have decided, however, to write a scene for each of the heroes I received and put one or two in the novel, posting the remainder as bonus material. Posted here in this blog entry are the top finalists for the Hero Games Contest. Thank you, one and all, for your willingness to have some fun!

Obviously, the heroes' promotional photos aren't the only thing you need to know to like the hero, but feel free to offer your opinion of the heroes here in the comments, or even to suggest character ideas to include in the scenes! You can click on the images for larger versions

Gods of Justice Review: The Daughter of Nyx

2011-07-25T02:41:00.000-07:00

Writer's Toolbox: Novel Stats, Part 1

2011-07-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

Every writer needs tools to get the job done. (Yes, pen and paper or laptop, I heard you. Please sit back down, peanut gallery.) I'm not talking about a word processor, or even a thesaurus. Plotting, organizing, scheduling, pacing... our tasks are many and guidelines few. My wife and I have developed and discovered some tools that I use, and I thought I would share what I am using and how I use it. To that end, this is the Writer's Toolbox series.

This post, I'd like to share the first tab of what we call the Novel Stats sheet. This is a dynamic spreadsheet that my wife and I worked up to help me with scheduling my writing time and tracking my progress. If you would like your own copy of this document to play with as you read this post, it is available here. Check my first post in this series, on Google Docs, for information about how to Save a Copy.

The embedded document above is the template. All the numbers are blank. The images I'm going to show you come from a sample document that I made up, using the same Template shown here. This document is great for keeping me on track with my writing. It lets me know when I am behind schedule and how far I have to go to get on schedule. It's also packed with neat little facts that help me figure out other things, like how long my chapters are, and what kind of deadline I can afford to set for myself. It also has some minimal plotting features worked into it, though I'll show you some more involved and complicated methods later.

I start by hiding that big, yellow banner with the page instructions.

Who needs instructions, right? I do, but I also don't want them in the way when I am trying to work. You hide a row by right clicking the row and choosing Hide row. I just don't want to confuse you when you get the yellow bar on the Template, and it isn't in my Samples.

To begin with, the Novel Stats page is pretty blank. It needs information from you. The only typing you do on this tab is in the green section. (Remember those big, yellow instructions at the top? You didn't read them, did you? This is what they were talking about. Shame, shame.)

We'll talk about the neat gadget on the side in a minute. Focus on the numbers in green, please. The three items in green are "Target Words in Novel," "Target Weeks to Completion," and "Start Date." Under Column B of Target Words is where you put your word count goal. NaNoWriMo's is 50k, so I filled that in for my Sample Novel sheet. It's summer, so I decided to claim 3 months (12 weeks) to write my novel. Then I put in a start date of June 15th.

Once I've filled in those numbers, notice that some of the other areas on the page have magically generated some values. Down at the bottom, the first red arrow I've drawn in the picture, you see that the sheet now knows what week it is. It has calculated based on the deadlines I gave it, what week of writing I should be on and what percentage of the novel I should have written at this point. As you can see by the rest of the document, I haven't written anything in this novel yet, so I'm horribly behind schedule. So far in fact, that it can't yet tell me how far behind I am! The next arrow points out a piece of information for me to use in my time management: I should be averaging 4,167 words/week to hit my goal.

However, with more information, the sheet becomes even more useful! I'll just take a break and go write a little. It said I needed 4k words, right?

OK, *phew!* that was some fast writing. I've plugged my updated word counts into the 'Chapters' tab of the spreadsheet (more on that in the next post). I got 4,062 written; let's see how that compares. You can now see that I finished the first chapter at 3,500 words, and wrote another 562 in the second chapter. The average words per chapter, obviously, is 3,500 because I've only done one chapter. However, using that average, it now tells me how many chapters it expects me to have in the novel. Also, I now know what my percentage complete is, not only for the novel, but also how deep I am in Chapter 2, using the numbers I've given it! These are the numbers reflected in those nifty gadgets on the right hand side of the page. The top one is Novel Completion, which shows how close you are to your total goal, and the lower one is chapter completion, based on your words per chapter average, how close you are to finishing the current chapter. Also, at the bottom of the sheet, you can now see how many chapters (Average word count) you need to write to stay on schedule.

Let's get one more week's worth of writing in before leaving this tab. Let's see, how many times do I turn this stupid time necklace again? ...

... Whoa, sorry I took so long, had a little writer's block. OK, so now I've got over 8,000 words logged into the Novel Stats (again, that's done over on the 'Chapters' tab.) The biggest difference at this point is that I have passed one week's worth of writing being tracked. Thus, it can now tell me how far ahead or behind I am! According to line 24, I am perfectly On Schedule, which shows up in blue.

If you work really hard, you can get Ahead, which reads in green, because you are GO-ing somewhere. (OK, bad pun.)

However, if you don't work hard, and goof off instead, you can get Behind, which glares at you in an angry, neglected, red letters. You shouldn't neglect your word count. You wouldn't like your word count when it gets angry. (No, wait, he turned green when angry. Ok, scratch that whole reference.) Anyways, when I am actively working on a project, this is how I keep myself on schedule. Stay tuned for more from the Writer's Toolbox!

Contest Deadline this week!

2011-07-18T05:21:00.000-07:00

I'll have my regularly schedule post in the Writer's Toolbox Series up later today, but first I wanted to remind all of you that the deadline for the Hero Games contest is THIS FRIDAY!

If you are having trouble with it, I posted a "how to" on my blog, also. Go on over and give it a whirl! Everyone who has gone over has reported having fun, so what do you have to lose? Plus, you have something to win!

Gods of Justice Review: The Mass Grave of John Johnsons

2011-07-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

Writer's Toolbox: Google Docs

2011-07-04T06:11:00.000-07:00

Every writer needs tools to get the job done. (Yes, pen and paper or laptop, I heard you. Please sit back down, peanut gallery.) I'm not talking about a word processor, or even a thesaurus. Plotting, organizing, scheduling, pacing... our tasks are many and guidelines few. My wife and I have developed and discovered some tools that I use, and I thought I would share what I am using and how I use it. To that end, this is the Writer's Toolbox series.

There are some great programs out there that I can't yet afford, Scrivener being one I've heard much about and am currently looking into. In the lack of luxury, necessity can breed creativity. (Not sure what that means, but it sounds pretty intelligent and philosophical, right?) Over the past few years, seeing my struggles with organization and planning, my wife has stepped in and helped me find ways to get organized. Utilizing the amazing (and collaborative) free features of Google Docs, we created tools to track and predict word counts for chapters, schedule word count goals based on a deadline, to chart and pace the plot of a novel in progress, and other things. Very little of this is ground-breaking stuff, but I've found it extremely helpful. Since it is free, it's very easy to share what we have made with you.

For this first post, let's talk a little about Google Docs. You'll need that basic understanding to follow many of the other tools in the series, and it's a wonderful resource on its own. I love Google Docs. If you haven't heard of them, they are basically a completely free, online version of Microsoft Office. Spreadsheets and documents and more, I do the vast majority of my work there. I have access to it from any internet connection; I can download it to hard drives, print to pdf, even view it on my iPod. They're great. So, let's look at Google Docs.

Start by going to Docs.Google.Com.

You can also get there by going to Google's homepage, and choosing Documents in the list at the top. If you have Gmail, or use any other Google application, you probably already have a Google account. If not, sign up for one now, it's totally free. Upon signing into Docs, you reach the home screen, which will have a list of all of your documents, and folders(Collections) on the left to help you organize them.

There's a button at the left, under the Google Docs logo, that says "Create new". To start your own work, use that button to Create a new document, spreadsheet, Collection, whatever you want to work in. Once you give it a title, they save automatically, so you don't have to worry much about losing what you've written.

Another great tool in Google Docs, conveniently placed under "Tools," oddly enough, is the Word Counter. So many free-standing word counters on the internet, and this one is built right in. Bonus, it tells you a lot more than just word count for the total piece AND a selection as well! Words, characters, paragraphs, even readability stats!

Now to teach you about copying someone else's work, which is not something I allow in my classroom, but am highly encouraging in this blog series.

In a Google Document, click on File at the top, and choose "Make a copy..." (I know that isn't very intuitive, but work with me here!)

A box will pop up asking you if you want to make a copy of the document and what you'd like to title your copy, and warning you about copying collaborators and such. (It may also pop up without asking you for a new title, in which case the title will default to "Copy of [whatever it was called]." You can do this on any open document (like the templates I'll be giving you) and thus have your own version to use. Isn't Google great? I didn't create Google, I'm just a user. Next post, we'll get to the stuff I not only used, but I also helped design!

Motivations

2011-06-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, I understand that I am dashingly handsome, rich, and a fierce fighter, bent on protection of the weak and striking fear into the hearts of the wicked, but what is my motivation? ~Bruce W.

According to some psychologists, everything we do and are and want has its motivation buried deep within our subconcious. I don't care. I don't like horror movies, and I don't need to know why I don't like them; I'm not watching them. What I do need to know, is why my character doesn't like pizza. Or why my character is a loner. Or why my character is greedy.

There are some traits that you can get away with not having a "reason" for, like being shy, or having blue eyes, but the vast majority of characterization must have a motivation. I'm not saying to include that motivation in your story. Not even the reader deserves to know everything about your characters; let them have a little dignity and privacy. You, however, their author, need to know.

One of the characters in my current WIP is the villain. I know, you never saw that coming, did you? Well, while looking over my notes with my wife, she happened to ask why he steals. I was taken by surprise. What do you mean 'why does he steal?'! He's the bad guy; he's greedy and wants some money!

Stop right there. We have both a problem and a solution in that statement. First, 'He's the bad guy' is NEVER your answer for motivation. That's called a Disney Complex (Sorry, Walt.) The early Disney villains were notoriously flat characters. No depth, no change, no motivation. They were just bad. Those aren't bad characters; that's bad writing. Every character must have depth and motivation. Stock characters (the Hero, the Villain) are no longer good enough.

Second, we have something good from that statement: 'He's greedy & he wants some money.' This is by no means good enough, but it is a start. He's greedy = character trait. He wants money. He doesn't want to save his family from poverty. He doesn't have a drug issue. He isn't trying to steal bread to survive. His top-level motivation isn't survival or necessity, it's money. This is important because you will write him differently based on his motivation. He will behave differently based on his motivation. A thief that is trying to survive by stealing apples and bread is a very different character than one who steals for the kicks of getting away with it. For them, the money or goods aren't even that important. Very different than my character, who wants the money itself. Why he wants, not needs, money (greedy little punk) is where he needed work.

On the one hand, I was a little miffed. What do you mean he needs justification for being greedy and wanting money?? Would you like to drive down to a prison and go ask the offenders about their motivation? Then I realized, it doesn't matter. They don't need to know their motivation; they just need to know how many years they have left on their sentence, or how not to get caught alone with Joey the Shank. I, however, am a writer, and I need to know why my characters do what they do. I need to know why the villain wants money. I need to know why the hero wants to save people. I need to know why the girl dies. I need to know why he's an arrogant SOB, why he stays aloof, and why she's suicidal.

UPDATE: Thanks to @LisaGailGreen on Twitter, I ran across a very interesting site this week that plays right into this post on Motivations! The Character Therapist is an actual, licensed therapist that will take your character and psychoanalyze them to break down their motivations. Isn't that awesome?!

Blogfest...Interrupted!

2011-06-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

I'm not the only one running contests and competitions! Over on Sash's Secrets, she's running her first BlogFest today. Following is what she asked for, and my entry. I took my entry from On Common Ground. This scene happens shortly after the excerpt that is posted on my site. Enjoy!

On Sunday, June 26th, post a 500-1000 word scene of your characters being interrupted - doesn't matter what they're doing, doesn't matter what's interrupting them (end of the world, knock on the door, little voice in their head...), they just need to be interrupted.

She halted her footsteps as four men wearing blue and black stepped out of that corridor, their eyes locked directly on her. She stole a quick glance back and confirmed her sudden suspicion. There were more men now standing behind her. She had walked right into a trap. She could already see a shotgun as well as a couple of handguns and assorted chains and baseball bats. Grace knew she was in trouble. She lunged for the closest back door, praying it would be unlocked, that she could get through and have a chance at making it to the open street where there would be other people. The gang wouldn't attack like this out there. With one foot extended to her right, hand outstretched for the doorway, other hand clutching her revolver for dear life, she froze. The short, dark skinned man swinging the chain also froze, including the chain. The baseball bat stopped in midair, an inch before slapping into a palm. The leader's finger was already pulling the trigger, but it didn't move.

One thing in the alley did move. A head of wavy, shoulder-length blond hair lifted up and looked around, confused. The stormy blue eyes took in the scene and then looked past it at the auburn-haired man walking toward him. The blond stepped away from the door he had just unlocked and spoke.

“Micheal, what are you doing?”

Micheal shook his wings and smiled gently at the tall golden-skinned blond.

“It's her Time, Gabe. Relock the door." Gabe didn't move. "You've done a good job with her. But it's her Time. Time for you to take another charge. For her to go on to her reward.” Gabe stared at Micheal, still not moving toward the door.

Gabe knew this was not some cruel joke. It was Grace's time to die. The work she had been destined to do had been done. It was over. But it couldn't be over for him. He couldn't accept it this time. He had never argued a Time before.He had never hesitated to let other charges accept their fate and move on to their destiny. But he couldn't let Grace go. He wouldn't.

“Gabe, look at me.” Gabe turned his stormy eyes to the ground. They were even stormier than usual. “We know that she is special to you. We have overlooked your indiscretions. We haven't reassigned you because you were doing a good job. You didn't let temptation get to you. You didn't shirk your duties. You kept a watchful eye and- Gabe look at me!” Gabe looked up solemnly. Micheal stepped closer to him. “You kept a watchful eye and this is good. You did a good job and we haven't faulted you for what happened. But now it is time for it to end. It is her time to die and you must let it happen. “ Micheal reached past Gabe and locked the door. “It is no sin to love, Gabe, but we have a responsibility to the order of life. We have a job to do. That's the way it is, the way it has been, the way it must be. You know this! You're an excellent angel, Gabe. One of our best, if truth be known. Let the woman go.” Micheal reached back and pushed the revolver from Grace's unmoving hand.

As the deadly weapon clattered on the pavement, Gabe looked up, his pale blue eyes taking on a steel tint. His jaw was hard and his fists clenched. “I won't let her go, Micheal. She will do much good. And I do love her.”

Micheal sighed and shook his head. He held his hand out and set it against Gabe's chest. Gabe stiffened and his wide eyes stared in horror and anger at Micheal. Gabe's muscles tensed, but could not move. “You don't have any choice, Gabe. She will die. And yes, you do love her.” Micheal looked at Gabe sadly as he stretched his other hand slowly toward the group of mortals behind him. “I'm very sorry, old friend. But you have been removed from the guardianship of Grace Rayne. You are no longer allowed to give her aid." Micheal turned his eyes away and mumbled under his breath, "And she can never be allowed to have your heart.” Micheal stretched out his fingers and waved his hand to the right, freeing the action of the mortals.

The shotgun exploded as momentum returned to the alley. Grace lunged for the door and screamed as her leg burned and gave way underneath her. Her jeans were soaked in blood almost instantly. The shotgun issued a lazy trail of smoke in the hands of the grinning Highway. “Get her, boys. Teach her not to mess with us.” Grace screamed again as a chain whipped across her back, tearing the fabric of her shirt as well as her skin. Highway knelt beside her and smiled, brushing her hair away from her face so she could look at him. “Remember that kid you sent to jail when he was robbing the convenience store? All he wanted was a lousy fifty bucks and you try to send him up the creek for murder. That was my little brother.” Highway stepped back and crossed his arms as someone else stepped up. Grace looked up and saw brown eyes and a mass of curly hair. His cheeks were smudged with dirt and there was a scrape against one jaw. It was the boy that had dodged through traffic to get to her. The boy that had led her into this trap. The boy whose life she had saved less than an hour before. “This is my other brother. Normally, I'd say he's too young to go for full membership, but, I figure rules are made to be broken, just like bones.” He grinned at the youth holding the baseball bat and the bat came whistling down on top of Grace's shoulder and the side of her head. The audience laughed.

Help for the Hero Machine & the Contest

2011-06-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

I heard some people were having trouble navigating the Hero Machine while trying to design their entry into the Hero Games Contest. So, below is a short tutorial. Also, I apparently neglected to set an end date for the contest. Your entries must be emailed to me by Friday, July 22nd. Email entries to Contests@davidjace.com.

Guide to creating and submitting entries for the contest:

Go to the HeroMachine website. Under the banner, you'll see the Hero Machine 2.5, which consists of a blue box on the left with the Hero Machine logo, and various buttons and images on the right.

Choose one of the hero body-type sketches by clicking on it. A little box will pop up that offers three loading options.

Unless you have a slow connection, choose the top one, marked 'Complete.' If you do have a slow connection, click the middle one, marked 'Partial.'

Once all the parts have loaded, you have many tools to work with. Let's look at one tool at a time.

Under the number 1, which originally said Pose, is now the word Hair. Click on the arrow beside the attribute Hair, and you get a dropdown menu of all the available attributes. Whichever one you choose, the selection window will populate with those choices. Choose hair, and you get lots of hairstyles; choose Belt, you gets lots of different kinds of belts. You get the idea.
Directly under the Attribute Selection (Hair, Skin, Belts, etc) is the Genre drop down. By default, it shows Standard, but you can see other options (fantasy, capes, monsters, etc) by clicking the arrow.

Choose a style from the various choices available (the little slider bar under the pictures shows you more options). Each time you click one of the pictures, your hero will be updated. You can also switch between hero attributes by clicking on the hero in the blue box at the left.

That attribute will light up in green when you do so.

As you add attributes to your hero, you will most likely want to color them. The color box at the bottom is your tool for this. Clicking the left hand box under 3. Color Items will color your highlights. The right-hand box will add the main color. Not all items will use both colors.

Explore the various options. This creator has a ton of them. Once you've got your hero the way you want them to look, click in the box at the bottom that says Character Name and give them a cool Super Hero name.

Now, this is the part that gets a little tricky. You can't just click Save. It won't actually do you any good. It'll give you a code that you can save in a text file, and return to this site to Load in. Do save the code, just in case. What I want you to do, however, is use your Print Screen button on your computer. It might read 'Print Screen' or 'PrntScrn' or even 'prt sc'. It is usually close to the home and delete buttons right around backspace and beside the F-keys. When you use that button, it won't actually tell you that you've done it right. Annoying, I know. Open a simple program like Paint (It's in accessories, if you've never used it.) and press Ctrl + V on your keyboard. That will paste the image into the paint program.

If you'll look in that black box I've outlined at the top of that image, you'll see the only two tools you need to use. Select, which is turned on by default, and then Crop, right beside it. Click on Select to start a new selection, then click and drag on the image to put a box around the section you want to keep (just your Hero's image in the blue box, including the name), and then click Crop. Save the file at the very top, and then email it to me at Contests@davidjace.com. (If this is absolutely too much for you, you can click the Save button on the Hero Machine and send me the code. I promise not to be mad. ;) )

I hope you have fun with this, and I can't wait to see your entries! If you have heroes you don't want to enter, but would like to share, feel free to paste them (or the code) into the comments of the Contest post. If you do have any other questions, please feel free to comment them here, or ask me on Twitter.

Contest!

2011-06-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

OK, so I've decided to hold a little contest. My current work, if you haven't been following along (Shaame!), is Hero Games.

The main cast of characters are beta testers for an online rpg superhero game. I used the website Hero Machine, with permission, to create several of the players' heroes. However, you can never have too many heroes, right?

So, here's the contest: Go to Hero Machine and create a hero. Name your hero, and send him/her/it to me. I'll pick the best and announce the contest winner. Winner gets... wait for it... real super powers! No, wait, that can't be right. *Shuffles through his notes.* Ah, here it is! Winner's hero gets included as a cameo role in the novel! That's much more practical. (Though, admittedly, less fun. We'll have to check into that powers thing. Maybe that can be for the honorable mention.)

Anyways, hop over to the Hero Machine and have fun! If you have any trouble, I've posted a guide here. Once you have created and named your hero, you will need to screenshot it to send it to me. Submit entries to contest@davidjace.com

Socially Networked

2011-06-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

Sometime earlier this year, I created a Facebook account for David Jace, with a Facebook Page for my work & writing persona. That has been going fairly well. I have about 63 "Likes" on the page, and not all of them are friends or family! If you've been reading this blog on the blogger page, you may have noticed the Facebook badge on the side of the page.

Last week, I read this post from Bookends, LLC comparing the relative effectiveness of Twitter vs Facebook. She basically asserted that your fans will find you on Facebook; your Twitter will find you fans.

I have previously blogged about what I think of Twitter. I'm still not in love with the concept, but I decided to give it a try. So, a few days ago, I created a Twitter account under @DavidJace and began tweeting. I followed perhaps a dozen other authors, services, friends. After just a couple of days, I have 5 people following me. Only one of these people do I even know. This, to me, is wonderful. So far, Twitter is making a good show if itself for me. On the other hand, one of the authors I am following tweets quite often, some of which are intriguing concepts, and some are updates regarding his work/appearances. I also, however, know what time he went to bed Friday night, and that he took his dogs for a walk in a thunderstorm.

Also, I updated the website With Facebook and Twitter widgets. There are Like and Follow buttons at the top of the main page, and a widget and a badge at the bottom.

I wait to see where this social networking experiment takes me.

Prewriting?? ugh.

2011-06-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

Most of my students think prewriting is a dirty word, or a punishment. So did I. That is, until I learned to call it strategizing. Prewriting is, forgive the reference, elementary. Writers don't Prewrite... prewriting is what you do when you have an essay and don't know what to write about. Prewriting is organizing your ideas before you begin a two-page paper for the teacher...

So, let's no more to do with Prewriting. Ugh. Let's talk Strategizing! Strategy is a plan of action. Strategy is what generals do for war. Strategy is what nerds do when they play chess. Strategy, in writing, is profiling the characters, finding their backgrounds and motivations and internal conflicts; laying out the plot lines, tracking with which characters they involve and how they intermingle; choosing the settings that will best complement the mood you're trying to create.

I am about to dig back into Hero Games (I just finished Slave Princess), and I'm going to start with a day or so of strategizing before I begin. You might ask why, since I already have some written. Sometimes, a quarter of the way into the work is the best time to strategize. Some writers need to get some of the idea on paper before trying to figure out where it's going to go. Knowing beforehand spoils it for them.

That's fine. That isn't my problem. A good amount of my planning was lost when I changed computers. I did quite a bit of prep- ahem, strategizing about a year ago using the wonderful FreeMind program, which I'll be using again. However, I only had the file stored on my hard drive, so when that was gone, so was the information.

I digress. Strategizing is your plan of action. Figuring out what you are going to do, and where you are going to go isn't punishment, it's smart. Yes, I suppose you can wake up on a Saturday morning, yank your kid out of bed and say "Let's go to Mexico! Grab your tennis shoes." However, a carefully planned trip yields far better results. Booking flights, or outlining road maps, packing the things you'll need. Repacking, with the things you forgot to list, making reservations for good restaurants, finding lodging. These strategies can turn a random trip to a little town across the border to a nice vacation, that hits the highlights and makes memories.

That's what you want your novel to be, too. A vacation from the real world that leaves behind memories of places you've never been, people you've never met, and a story to tell your friends. Strategizing is how you get there.

If you want details on what I am strategizing in Hero Games, go read that old post I linked above. I've got war paint to put on and a story to plan!

Mad-Eye Moody's Naturally Unnatural Eye

2011-06-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

Flipping a switch to turn on a light is so ridiculously commonplace that it escapes notice and mention. For example, my ten year old usually isn't aware that he has flipped every light switch in the house and not turned them back off. To a toddler, or someone from the past, or a visitor from an undeveloped area, it is nothing short of magic. Magic that is within their power to control. That's why they'll flip that switch enough to give you a seizure if you let them.

To one unfamiliar with it, it's magic and extraordinary. To those who use it daily, it is commonplace. This should be true with actual (fictional) magic as well. To one who uses magic on a daily basis, it should be part of the ordinary, not the ordinary. Some things should be as simple as... well, as flipping a light switch. Other things should be used in such a way that it makes them seem inordinately comfortable with it, which they should be. We flip open our cellphone in a dark room to get a little light. We use screwdrivers to open paint cans. When you are completely comfortable and confident with the intended use of something, you start applying it to other purposes.

Some who have done this well? J. K. Rowling, for one, with Mad-Eye Moody. Mad-Eye's magical eye (to replace the real one he lost at some point) can look through anything. There's a part where they are trying to clean out an old house of all kinds of stuff, some of which are dangerous. Mad-Eye Moody shows up and is asked to look into a cabinet upstairs to see what's there before taking care of it. Does he walk up the stairs and open the door to peek in? Of course not, why would he? He has a magical eye! It doesn't just look through the cabinet, it can look through the very floor. So right there, on the spot, he looks up, checks around, spots the cabinet, looks in it, and tells her what she needs to know. Too simple. And to Moody, it would be that simple indeed. He wears that eye all the time; he's so used to it, he uses it without even blinking (pun intended).

Another that did it well, in a different medium, was Dreamworks's The Incredibles. They didn't have to wait for that special moment to use their powers. Violet vanished when she got shy at school. ElastiMom reaches around and under the table to grab at the fighting kids. (She also reaches around and under Mr. Incredible, at times, to grab a kiss!) Mr. Incredible has more trouble controlling his power than using it. If you don't believe me, ask the car repair shop about that deformed door!

They use their abilities almost without thinking about them. That's how it should be. We don't think about moving our arm to reach for a glass of soda/water/wine. We don't make a conscious decision to move each leg as we walk. It's an everyday thing. So are their abilities. To them, it's just natural. A good sf writer will be able to make the unnatural natural, for it is in the nature of his characters to be so.

The Mysterious Hystory of Cache (Real Name Unknown)

2011-05-16T04:31:00.000-07:00

It was late afternoon, and the tavern held only the usual crowd. There were only three logs in the fire, enough to keep it going, but not the roaring blaze they would keep in the evenings. The curtains were open, letting in the gentle spring breeze. The barmaid, Corinna, was clearing the dishes from the adventurers’ table. They were in each week, rejoicing and nursing wounds from their weekend excursions into the old goblin runs and such. They were a pleasant group, if a bit loud.

The batling, Shadowflight, was the quiet leader of the group. Then there was Desdra, a pixie that occasionally wasn’t. Romba, the loud-mouthed, boastful human had his feet on the table, as usual. Liveria, the lizard-centaur crossbreed, was leaning in through the window.

The door opened to a welcome visitor. The broad-brimmed, high-peaked hat and dark leather cloak of the traveler were barely hung on the pegs at the door before he was sitting at the table by the fire with a mug of ale in his hand.

“News you wouldn’t receive, stories you’ll barely believe! Ten silvers a tale, a song for some ale, I promise I’ll never deceive!” His trademark limerick wasn’t really necessary, as everyone knew his business, and everyone wanted his trade. The normally quiet afternoon hours were suddenly busy and crowded. The entire town was eager for news and entertainment. The old minstrel was only too happy to provide, one mug at a time.

“I ought to charge double for this tasty bit,” he laughed and took another long swig of his ale. The crowd pushed forward, silvers clattering at his feet. He laughed and set his mug on the table beside him. “Last time I was here, I told you about some unrest in Tontves. There was a dark elf mage taking more than his fair share…”

The dark elf called himself Magewind and no creature in their right mind said no to him. Those that did say no, it was usually followed with ‘please, don’t hurt me.’ He took anything he wanted, and he wanted anything worth having. If an archivist in a library discovered an old spellbook, Magewind would be there to check it out, permanently. If an armorer crafted a special weapon or shield, it would quickly find its way into Magewind’s hands. The most beautiful castle in the realm was renamed Windgate and added to his holdings. Enchanted artifacts, unusual potions, gold, jewels, beasts, women, all were his if he desired them. Yes, there were those that tried to stand in his way. But he had his way, and they stand no more.

Finally, a group of men met quietly in the middle of the night, hoping to escape his notice. One of them had the ability of Vision, and he shrouded the room from sight. Another knew the acts of Creation, and he weaved Shadow throughout the chamber, such that not even the men who met could say who had spoken which ideas. Some had special affinity with the creatures of nature, and set a guard around them on land and in air. Some with a knack for Locks and some with a skill for Creating walls together secured even the entrances by which they came. One with an aptitude for Stealth crept around and watched for suspicious signs. Finally, a tall man with a long, frosty white beard waved his arms in the air and around the house wailed an Ice Storm that would slow any who approached, as well as cover any sound that escaped the other enchantments. Working together, they secured their meeting from detection and dubbed themselves the Wizard Defenders.

All the long night, that ice storm raged around the shadowed house while they debated methods by which they might defeat the dark elf mage. Before the dawn woke, the ice storm calmed, the shadow faded, and the house stood empty. Its occupants had left by way of Teleportation, Beacons, Stealth, Speed, Insubstantiality, and Flight.

Over the next week, the Wizard Defenders searched out various reputed heroes. Some found that the reputation was the hero’s strongest ability. Some found little more than broken skeletons where heroes used to be. The brilliant plan that had so secretively been conceived looked as though it would come to naught.

Then, one of the talented men found him: A warrior who wielded an electrified broadsword with a green jewel set in the hilt. The hero, going by the name Shandar, was spirited to the shadow house. The following night, the Wizard Defenders brought Shandar to Windgate.

Illusion was useless against Magewind; he knew the true form of anyone in his sight. A moving ball of shadow would only gather his attention instead of avoid it. Regardless of the objections, Shandar, a man of honor, declared he would not enter the man’s home (stolen though it may have been) in a deceptive manner. Shandar, to the Defenders’ dismay, pounded the gate and demanded audience with the mage.

The golem guards, confused by this unusual request, allowed him through. Magewind, intrigued by the hero’s evident foolishness or bravery, met him openly in his center court to find out which it was. Never one to underestimate his opponent, Magewind had done his research.

“You are Shandar, an adventurer who earns his meals with your excellent broadsword. You are honorable, because your parents were not. You are foolish, because you demand entrance to my home for an audience with me. You are a valiant and worthy adventurer, but you are no match for me. Why do you come here?”

“I came here to stop your evil works, and break the stranglehold you have on this kingdom. You may know my history, and even of some of my weapons, but you do not know everything about me, nor can you see the future that exists without you.”

This angered the mage, and he threw a fireball at the hero. Shandar didn’t even flinch. The fireball engulfed him and burned fiercely before flickering out, leaving Shandar standing unharmed. He had an Amulet of protection. Magewind snarled and a held up one hand. Three balls of ice, each bigger than his fist formed in midair, circling his hand. He figured if Shandar’s world wouldn’t end in fire, it would end in ice. The iceballs flew at Shandar. One struck his shield; one struck his armor; the last hit him in the head. As they struck, however, instead of iceballs, they became snowballs, and Shandar shook off the attack easily. With snowflakes in his hair, he stepped forward and drew his sword.

Magewind realized this hero would not be as easy to dispatch as he had thought. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and seemed to blur, making it hard to tell exactly where he was standing. Magewind made a blurred motion and suddenly a dragon stood behind Shandar.

Shandar spun and attacked the dragon. Dragons, though formidable, hold fewer tricks for such an experienced adventurer. The dragon did not stand against Shandar long. Magewind, however, had not stood idle while they fought. Shandar turned, sword at the ready, and a glass bottle soared from one corner of the room and shattered against his chest. The acrid liquid inside spread out on his armor and began to smoke and sizzle. His armor wouldn’t stand up against the acid too long. He pulled a dirk from his belt and threw it, targeting the section of wall that was less clearly defined than the rest. His aim was true, and he heard Magewind cry out in pain and fury. He charged the sound, blood welling out from midair, sword raised high.

The dirk, though painful, had not actually done that much damage. Magewind brought his palm to his lips and blew a gray dust into the air. The dust swept toward Shandar and caught him in the face. He stumbled, and stopped. His head bowed, shoulders slumped, and, with acid eating away his armor, Shandar lightly began to snore.

Magewind threw back the hood of his Cloak, and boldly walked up to the hero. He snatched the jeweled sword from his slack hand with a haughty laugh, and pulled a dagger from Shandar’s belt. He dipped it into a vial of deadly poison and took fine, slow pleasure in slitting the warrior’s unprotected throat.

As Magewind’s laughter and Shandar’s dying gurgles filled the air, the Wizard Defenders stepped into view. They had snuck in while Magewind was distracted with the hero, and now he was distracted completely, absorbed in the murder of an honorable man.

They raised their arms, readied their Rods, turned their Rings, whispered their incantations, and as one launched their attack on Magewind. Light, darkness, fire, ice, and a myriad of other forces lanced across the room toward Magewind as he let the hero fall to the stone floor. Despite the force of their attack, he did not so easily fall. Some missives rebounded back on their caster, often plastering their bodies to the wall. Other attacks he deflected, or took minor damage from. Even so, it was powerful enough to bring him to his knees, from which he launched a counter attack, just as powerful as the rest. Several minutes of heated attacks and returns followed, ending in a deafening explosion of power that could be heard from far outside the walls of Windgate.

The roof of the castle was merely embers, floating on the winds. The walls were scorched, iced, broken, and crumbling. The stone floors were cracked and discolored. Of the dozen or more member of the Wizard Defenders, three remain.

One is now blind, with his tongue in a permanent knot, making serious spellcasting impossibly dangerous, if possible at all. He stumbled his way back to the village, and reported the garbled tale.

Another is a tree, rooted in the center of the cavity of destruction that is left of the dark elf's fortress. Through the veins and pulp of this tree runs neither blood nor sap, but a lethal poison. His family and friends attempt to guard the tree from those who would steal his bloodsap to use on weapons, one of the deadliest poisons known.

The last of the Wizard Defenders is little more than legend. Supposedly, a misty, vaporous cloud floats seemingly randomly along the river that flows near the site of the battle. Legend says that if you can find the vapor, it will communicate with you, and can heal grave injuries or grant wishes. Few can say that they have stood within the Magician's Mist, but many claim to know those who have.

“But what of Magewind?” whispered the little, wide-eyed girl in front of the fire in the tavern. The story was long in telling, and darkness has fallen, yet no one had moved.

“Ah, Magewind. The place where he made his stand, where the body of the hero had fallen, was little more than scorched earth when all was said and done. The hero’s corroded armor remained, but nothing else. The kingdom has celebrated his downfall, but there are those that say he is not dead, but only gone, and will one day return for his vengeance.”
The old storyteller sat back and picked up his mug of ale.

Corinna wrapped her shawl around her. Despite the crowd that night, most of the tips had gone to the news-bringer. Not that he’d helped clear the tables or bring the food, she’d noticed. With all of the extra work from the crowd, she’d hardly heard the story at all. She locked the door and headed for home.

In a clearing near the edge of town, an elf lay unconscious in the grass, a broadsword in his hand. A scream brought life to his eyes. He opened them slowly, looking confused. A second scream brought him quickly to his feet. He moved quickly toward the sound as a cry for help echoed through the woods. Breaking through some shrubbery onto a dark road, he found a barmaid being roughly handled by a couple of goblins. He threw himself on the first, driving the blade of the heavy broadsword into its chest. He jumped up to confront the second goblin, and the act of pulling the sword from the first one parried the second goblin’s strike. They circled, and the goblin leaped forward, weapon swinging. The elf’s shoulder stung as it took a glancing blow, but the broadsword scored true in a return thrust, killing the second goblin.

“Oh, thank you! I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t showed up!” The girl threw herself on him in a fit of gratitude. “My name is Corinna. Who are you?”

“I am-“ he stopped, startled, for no name rose to his lips. He had no idea what his name was, or where he’d come from, or how he’d gotten here. He looked down at the broadsword in his hand. A crackle of energy whispered up the blade and across the green jewel in the hilt. Strange, bright blue letters etched across the stone. “Cache,” he read in a whisper.

“Well, it is very nice to meet you, Cache. Let me show you into town. I’m a barmaid in the tavern there, if you need a room for the night.”

He followed her, and accepted her kindness in silence, for he had not a penny on him. She promised to introduce him to other heroes in the morning, who could help him find work.

Oh to be a poet...

2011-05-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

My students have started working on poetry. It amazes me that despite the uniform dismay that an announcement of poetry brings, there is so much engaged interest once you begin. It does help to remember that poetry is still alive and kicking in the form of music and rap.

Along that line, I thought I would share a piece of my own poetry that isn't posted on the website:

The Silent Hunter

Over the hill,
Silent and still,
Stalked the lonely hunter.

"Pale-faced skin,"
Said the Indian,
As he laid his eyes upon her.

Her mind heaven-sent,
Her heart innocent,
She bathed in the pool by the falls.

The knife in his hand
Was stayed by the man,
Who lived inside his heart walls.

His mission to kill
Had left his will;
No longer burned the fire.

He turned his back,
And walked the track,
Alone, through the woods of desire.

A Writer... in theory

2011-04-26T04:58:00.000-07:00

I'm supposed to be a writer, but I haven't posted much about writing, either the craft or any actual writings. Part of that has been the press of work this year; my "free" time has been quite limited, and usually stolen in secret. It occurred to me this past week, however, that as a writer, my blog should have some writing in it. Since fiction comes easier than reality anyway, at least for me, I have decided that I want to have more writing on the blog. So, you can now look forward to reading some writings here. Some may be extra stories from novels that won't appear in the actual work, such as character backgrounds, cut chapters, or extra scenes. Others will be random short pieces that were just something I felt like playing with that week. I do hope you enjoy them, and as always, I welcome commentary!

Miracle Johnson sighed and slumped lower in her desk. She wrinkled her nose as her knee encountered someone's long forgotten chewing gum. It may actually be hers from first semester, she realized, and chose to ignore it. She curled a lock of purple hair around her finger. It wasn't all purple. Most of it was jet black. The right side had streaks of purple; the left had streaks of bright green.

Her eyes flicked up as the teacher called her name. He wanted an answer to something on the board. He had erased most of the board and started over since she last was paying attention. She shrugged and waited for him to give up hope on getting an answer from her. Eventually, he moved on.

She fingered the edge of the old textbook. Every page had some sort of doodle or writing on it. She'd checked. She'd found a few that had escaped notice, but she'd fixed those herself. The cover of the text was faded and scarred, but even if it had been new, it would have been boring. The children smiling up from the hard cover looked foolish. One of them now sported horns. The other two had blacked out teeth and goatees.

Miracle looked out the window near her desk. Outside looked so much nicer than in this dusty, old, boring classroom. A dungeon would look nicer than this classroom. At least more interesting, anyway, she thought. The wall clock clicked as the teacher continued to ramble on. There was a stain high on the wall above the chalkboard. She often fantasized that it was a bloodstain. That some student had finally had enough and decided to end class early. A flicker of a smile crossed her face. Maybe this guy was actually a zombie. That might even make him halfway cool.

"Remember, everyone, test tomorrow on levitation." The class groaned as expected; Miracle didn't waste her breath. "Also, your projects on magical jinxes are due on Friday."

She sighed again. She hadn't even started hers yet. Why did she have to suffer these boring classes when the real world was just right outside?

Workaholic: disease or superpower?

2011-04-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

Today, I find myself home sick, and, curiously, feeling guilty at not being super productive with my time. After taking care of the kids this morning, and getting them to their proper places, I came home and fell back into bed, sleeping until a little before noon. Clearly I needed it; that isn't a usual practice of mine. Nevertheless, I feel guilty that I have not used this "free time" effectively. I should be lesson planning, writing a test, preparing materials, organizing last minute details for the show in a couple of weeks, working on Slave Princess, or at the very least doing housework! (I did just unload and reload the dishwasher, for the record.)

My wife made a point about that feeling: what would I tell her if it were reversed? Naturally, I replied with the correct answer.

"But you are a princess; you are supposed to be pampered!"

Despite her royal condition, she made me think. Were she feeling ill and home, and doped up on NyQuil, would I encourage her to telecommute and work anyway? Or insist that she relax and take it easy, in order to get well? Certainly, I would insist she relax. When I try to tell myself that, though, I hear a host of complaints in my head. There is so MUCH work to do! I am always feeling short on time; how dare I throw away this discovered full day of opportunity when I could get work done?

I have always considered my brother a workaholic. He always keeps himself busy. I have usually admired that about him. I feel that it has been part of the key to his success. So, I lie here on the couch, tissues at the ready, wrapped in blankets and thoughts and guilt. Work? Not work? Work on writings? Work on school (the paying gig)? Housework, to help take care of my family? Watch a movie? Plan next year's shows? Read a book? Sleep more? Lazily analyze grades? Go through old emails?

Through all these musings, I end up here, writing my weekly blogpost, and thus accomplishing something afterall.While it is good to be productive, it is also good to relax. There must be a balance. But where is my next step?

Twitter hater

2011-04-04T05:29:00.000-07:00

I have a Twitter account. I don't follow anyone. (Technically my wife is marked to follow, but she doesn't post, so it doesn't really count.) I don't sign in, and I don't "tweet." The very thought of Twitter is just distasteful to me. I'm very aware that this is not a popular opinion. Twits all over the interworld tweet their day away, follow their four thousand Facebook friends, and know exactly what their five favorite celebrities are doing every ten minutes.

Without being a twit myself, I feel a little presumptuous talking about it. Maybe it isn't really fair to criticize something you haven't tried, but if I really believed that, I wouldn't be able to advise you not to set yourself on fire, and how dare I refuse to do drugs.
I base my dislike of Twitter on two things. One, the vast majority of "tweets" that get tweeted are inane, pointless trash. I love Nickelback's music, but I don't know them personally, and I don't care what time they go to bed, what they ate for breakfast, or which if them is fighting over some groupie chick. I definitely don't want to know about Ozzy Osborne's stomach flu. (Got to lay off the bats, man.) However, at least part of that is our society's obsession with celebrities, which I also don't grok.

My other problem with tweeting is that this service is encouraging our society to communicate in 160 character messages. We already have problems teaching people to communicate in complete sentences. This is only going to compound the problem. There have been numerous studies about tv watching and how it impairs the development of people's attention spans. The same thing is happening with language. Twitter is contributing to the degradation of our ability to communicate well.

I do realize that not every Twit falls into these traps, but so many do, that I don't get the appeal.

The Writer's Ideas

2011-03-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

As a writer, ideas come from everywhere, all the time. Ideas for plots, world creations, characters, phrases, settings, you name it. It's a natural trait for writers, I think, to have their mind constantly trying to tell stories, looking for new stories, and putting together the pieces.

Earlier this week, I watched The Time Traveler's Wife with my wife, who has read the book. (great movie, and apparently, an even better book. I highly recommend them.) The moment the movie was finished, my mind was figuring out how to write a sequel to it called The Time Traveler's Daughter. (Ms. Neffenegger, if you read this and are interested in my ideas, let me know! :) ) Earlier today, my wife and I were talking about some random something, and she quoted a verse that got my brain kicking and out comes a wonderful concept for a multi-world creation that will be really fun to play with, when I get around to it.

That particular idea is what brings me to this post. Sitting at the table, laughing and discussing the idea over a pizza, she recommends I make notes, as we talk, on my iPod Touch, as I often do with ideas that I might be interested in dealing with, but don't have time for right now. (That would be pretty much all of them.) I delayed, concerned of getting pizza grease on my device, but regretted it later, when I was trying to make the notes and having to ask her what she recalled. I don't think I lost much, but it is an excellent illustration of how important it is to write things like this down. You never know when you will be able to go back and use something.

One of my unfinished novels, Thassodar Jax, which should be next in line after Hero Games (which should be back under way as soon as I finish Slave Princess, which is only a short story), was based almost completely from an image I had of the Texas highway system. I was driving home from class about sunset, and the way the roads lifted and twisted among each other made me think of them as almost organic creations, linear lovers entwined before the setting sun. This, in turn, became the way my protagonist saw the roads, being a stranger and seeing our world in a different way.

Children (my wife says like any man), will repeat behaviors that are validated and praised. Similarly, your mind will continue to search for ideas if you validate the ideas by writing them down for later use. Also, as I tell me students, having a list of ideas of interesting facts can be a life-saver when you're dealing with Writers' Block.

Play Ball!

2011-03-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

I've spent every other night this week freezing my butt off at baseball games. My son (10) is playing little league, so we've been attending his preseason tournament. (Game is starting; he's on the bench as I write this. Go Pirates!) This is about the only way you'll catch me watching a baseball game.

I also watched the World Series this year- no wait, wrong sport- we watched the Super Bowl this year, at my in-laws' house. (What in the world were they wearing at half-time? It was cool to see Slash rising up onto the stage, though.) It was a very momentous occasion, for it was the first ever, and probably the last, Superbowl I've watched.

I don't dislike sports. (Oh no, my son just missed a long fly to left field, and the other team, the Nationals, scored two runs.) I played in the student-vs-faculty softball game last year, and in the student-vs-faculty volleyball game this past fall. I've got the scar on my nose to prove it! I like to play sports; I just don't like to watch them.

(Bottom of the 1st: 3-0 'Nats' in the lead.) I've never comprehended the appeal of watching someone else have fun. Let's compare: the fan is sitting on a hard, wooden/metal bench, often in less-than-ideal temperatures. (Yes! First run of the game for the Pirates! Way to go, kids.) The Player, on the other hand, is running around, part of a team, enjoying the sunshine if warm, warming up through activity if cool, confronting and surmounting challenges. It just seems like that's a better deal to me. I don't see the fun in sitting on an uncomfortable bench for a couple of hours watching other people run around and play.

(Top of the 2nd inning done: 3-2 Nats in the lead.) Think about this: when you were a little kid and had recess, one of the most horrible punishments available was sitting on the bench beside the teacher watching the other kids play. That was absolutely cruel and inhumane torture. (No! NO! Argh! Nationals just turned a single into homerun through a series of Pirate errors!) How dare they prevent your from playing with your friends! Can you even imagine a kid sitting on the bench beside the teacher, watching recess: "Come on, Bobby, go for the jungle gym. Yeah, yeah! Swing, Susie, Swing! Run for it, Johnny! Oh no, Smelly Johnson tagged him! It's ok, next time, Johnny. Way to go, 4th grade, way to go! Whoop, whoop! Hey Teach, can you get me a Dodger Dog?" He'd be in the counselor's office for the rest of the day.

And yet, (9-2 Nats, Pirates are up to bat.) we grow up and not only do we sit on the bench and cheer for the ones playing, but we PAY for the privilege to do so! (Oh, the umpire reversed a call. Score is 8-2 Nationals.) To top that off, we don't even know the people playing. They aren't our friends, or coworkers, or family. (My boy's up to bat!
-Ouch, he struck out. He's having a rough night.) So we pay to watch people we don't even know play a game. When did this go from being punishment to a national past-time? What is the appeal of being a spectator? You get none of the glory, none of the exercise, none of the team camaraderie, although that one apparently, people grab onto anyway, despite not being on the team. (Phew! Pirates are fighting back! Top of the third: 8-7, Nats only leading by one run!)

Looking at our society, sports are a major part of it. Mostly, however, watching it, not playing it. We have a culture of spectators instead of players. (Wow! Pirates back at bat, and no runs for the Nats! Great job, boys!) Why do we prefer to sit on our collective backsides and cheer on other people being alive? Why do so many choose to pay big bucks to eat hot dogs and peanuts watching a game instead of playing one of their own? (My son just got walked to 1st base. Good eye, son! Now the bases are loaded, no outs, score is 8-9 and the Pirates are in the lead!)

Then, on top of that, we have people making their living telling the spectators what they are watching! Sports Commentators have become huge. I'm not talking about the size of their very useful rear ends. The public is sitting on the bench, watching the game. They aren't doing anything else, and they are fans of the game, presumably, so why do they need someone to explain the action? (Top of the 4th, 8-12 Pirates!)

Apparently, the public is in too poor shape to play, and too stupid to understand what they are watching. Thus we need professional players for people to live vicariously, and announcers to help explain who is winning. Whatever happened to the simple, childhood joy of just playing ball? Of getting out in the sun and being active, of playing for yourself and the joy of the game?

Game over! 10-12 Pirates WIN! Time to go home and celebrate the exciting game I just watched. I don't object to the joys of spectators; I just don't understand them. Maybe I'll try to work a sports fan into my writing, just for the challenge. And maybe my character will teach me something.

When Labyrinths Go Wrong (Part 2)

2011-02-28T06:30:00.000-08:00

PART 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last week I detailed the creation and exploitation of a supposedly challenging labyrinth for the in-development game Elven Fire. When we last saw our band of dragon-marauders, they had just finished robbing cradles and interrupting battling practice. Those poor, young dragons.

Time for round two! This time, welcoming a suggestion to let an experienced GM test out the written labyrinth, I handed the power over to the old batling (who had designed most of the game, anyway). I happily took my place in the marching order as one of the heroes.

The next challenge was the Food storage area, where the dragons kept their live snacks. The contents of the room included three separate pens of creatures: lions, elephants, and bears (oh my!) and two attendants, armed with something like a pitchfork and a large axe. Written into the plan was the idea that if the attendants saw the battle going south, they would unlock the nearest paddock and give the heroes more to deal with. It was a fun plan in theory. With the new aforementioned "recruits" added to our already large group of characters, there wasn't enough space in the room to fit everything as planned, so the new GM had to condense all those animals to one paddock. (We just assumed the various carnivores were all friends.) Sure enough, it only took the first round before the attendants decided they were outclassed and lifted the lock on the cage door. Aha, here comes the stampede of wild beasts! No, one of the attacking party stepped into the doorway, blocking any stampede and only having to attack and defend against the single animal in the doorway. The other characters happen to notice that the paddock is actually a low wall (otherwise how could they see the animals inside?) and the team lines up along the wall for potshots at the corralled animals. Might as well have put blindfolds on the poor creatures and offered them cigarettes. I suppose they did get one last meal, though. My son dropped a giant imaginary snake (illusion) on top of them, and they did manage to at least kill that as they were being slaughtered like fish in a barrel. Anyone need any healing? Yeah right, they made steaks out of the lions and moved on.

They chose to go to the Dragon Baths next. It was set up as a kind of Roman Bath for dragons, complete with priestesses to serve them as they enjoyed the hot spring rising from the Water Dungeons far below (into which no one had yet unsuspectingly fallen). There was also a water drain (another opportunity to throw someone into the Water Dungeons) and the two priestesses had mental powers. The mental powers kind of fizzled, and the 9-hex dragon of 70 strength (our players run about 10-20 strength on average) got turned into a dragonskin handbag with a couple of super-lucky, massively powerful rolls of the dice. (If I recall correctly, the second hit on the dragon did more damage than the dragon had strength to start with!) But hey, it was a pretty room!

Finally, we come to the Dragon Cella, the centerpiece of the Temple of the Dragons. Remember pictures of ancient Greek temples, where there was a statue of the god standing 50 feet tall and looking ready to step on you? This is that place. Other than the big dragon statue, there was only a girl in an orange tunic chained to the feet of the statue. This statue, however, was special. Not only could it turn into a live dragon (did anyone not see that one coming?), but this dragon, being the special, magical dragon that it is, could alter its type in a single turn. Most dragons in this game are one type or another and cannot change what type they are. Red dragons breathe fire, blue dragons breathe ice, brown dragons spit boulders, and other dragons do things even more insidious like spitting acid or lightning bolts, or breathing ammonia gas or shadows. This one can be whichever it wants, given a turn to change. Since the dragon doesn't wake up until the kid is freed, the party stood around the kid and planned first. Then, it all happened pretty fast. Snatch the kid, throw her on the lizard-taur's flying carpet (the "little" one) and send her zooming down the hall to be protected by some of the crew that wouldn't fit in the Cella, namely the young dragons and Ringwart the goblin slave (We've started calling him Target, after his ability to get hit against the odds). Then, everyone else takes on the Statue Dragon. These guys do a lot of fire power, and they did enough the first round to make the dragon hesitate. You don't hesitate in this game, it doesn't go well for you. So, in like two turns, there's dragon-rock pieces strewn around the temple floor and the principal warriors are heading for the dragon treasury at the back of the Cella. They open the treasure chests, grab the booty, and head back down to the nursery for "free" dragon eggs.

At this point I, the writer of this abysmal failure of a challenge, have pretty much given up hope of anything challenging happening. So I missed the conversation where the horse-lizard argued that half the eggs had hatched and been carried off away from the nursery. So, instead of a dozen hatched young dragons and two golems to fight, all we found were the two clay dolls and some expensive eggs. You know, I never did get my share of those dragon egg sales!

Despite my feelings of failure, they all claim to have had a very good time, and come away with good memories (And some extra fire-power and treasure!). Back to the drawing board.

When Labyrinths Go Wrong

2011-02-21T17:46:00.000-08:00

I've been busy recently writing content for a game that is in pre-release development called Elven Fire. It is a table-top rpg game, similar to the popular Dungeons & Dragons game, but more family friendly. One problem they've been encountering is that they know the game so well that they have designed characters with such clever features and abilities, exploiting loopholes and such, that challenging them can be difficult. Other that just assassinating them, maybe. I suspect Desdra's player would find a way through even that.

So, with this in mind, I set out to design a fun labyrinth that would challenge these "Masters of the Game". Let me tell you how well that worked out. In the game, a dragon is a pretty strong opponent, even the small ones. Sizes in the game are measured in hexes, and dragons run from one hex up above 20. It is generally assumed that the biggest of the dragons could just step on the whole party and then wipe them off on the grass and complain about litterers. Plus, dragonskin is valuable for armor and, the creatures are just plain fun. So I decided to make them the focus of the labyrinth.

Welcome to the Temple of the Dragons. Plot/motivation: two little kids have gone missing and were last seen playing in that general direction. The party follows the path and reaches a meadow at the base of a mountain. In the meadow stands a large (7 hex) statue of a dragon with a welcome sign that basically reads "Show respect or run away."

Let me stop here and explain something about this crowd. Respect is not an ability any of them have invested points in. Historically, their first response to finding a statue that is likely to be special is to pee on it. This particular statue, if one is disrespectful, turns into a real dragon and starts spitting boulders. So I was expecting, counting on, a fun little battle with one character's RPG pants down! Instead, I get "Hello, honored dragon, may we respectfully pass?" Then, just to be safe, they toss him some gold coins. Nix the expected pissing match; room one: fail.

That's ok, I think, I have more surprises. They decide to take the low road into the caves instead of the higher road along the outer edge of the cliff face. A short distance in, the cave path becomes an unsteady-looking stone bridge crossing a great chasm the bottom of which slopes away out of sight. Hanging from the roof are sleeping bats. This room is just full of fun. In this game, there is a Movement Phase where everyone takes what steps they may or like, and then an Action Phase, when characters do things other than walk, like fight. After each Movement Phase, I would roll to see which piece of the bridge would crumble and fall. If someone happened to be standing on that spot, well, physics takes over. Also, any bats near the falling bridge piece would wake from the sound and attack the party. Any damage from bat bites would come with a roll to see if the bat also knocked them off the bridge. Now, I'm not as mean as it sounds. Everyone would scramble to save them from certain death, but if they did fall, I had a surprise set of rooms hidden down below, though their party would assume them dead until later. That was the plan.

This crew? Of course not. One of them had not long ago discovered a giant flying carpet big enough to carry the entire team. So of course, the team just floats on into the cave.
•Crumbling bridge? Who cares; we're on a flying carpet.
•Bottomless pit? Wow, guys, look at this view! Anyone got a camera?
•And the bats? Without the falling bridge, they just hang asleep from the ceiling. Think carnival shooting gallery. I think the old batling won the cupie doll. Room 2: fail. But I banned the carpet for the rest of the labyrinth.

Well, the next room should be really fun. No way they'll get through that without a fight! The next room on this path is the Nursery. I created the concept of dragon eggs (where do YOU think all those big dragons came from?). Dragon eggs are worth loads of money, but hatch into baby dragons that don't like you. Baby Dragons just being the smallest of the available dragons in the game. Still nothing to sneeze at. So, this room has 6 clutches of dragon eggs (about 5 eggs each), guarded by two golems. Touching the eggs would result in a roll to see if they hatch, and missed shots were opportunities for hatching eggs, too. In addition, if you nabbed an egg and it didn't hatch on the spot, but you wanted to take it to market, every room we enter, there'd be a roll that might have a baby dragon hatching in your backpack. This one was going to be chaos. Greed may be one the Seven Deadly Sins, but in this game, it's a character trait! 15k in silver multiplied by 30 eggs would be better than Vegas.

Unless you're playing with these loophole-exploiters. They open the door, look in the room, look at each other and say "Let's come back when we're done and take these to market." Then they close the door, and walk away. With this strategy, they don't have the risk of little dragons popping up as they fight through the other rooms. They'll have one shot risk and then safely carry the rest to market, at 15k each.

Let's recap the first few rooms of the labyrinth.
Room 1, they walk past the statue, smile and wave.
Room 2, they float right over the bridge and the abyss, taking target practice on the conveniently hanging bats.
Room 3, they quietly close the door and move on.

So far, this is going great! :) *cheesy, sarcastic smile with a double-thumbs up* But those were all traps and sneaks. The next room should be straight up battle. Let's see them ignore half a dozen young (3-4 hex) dragons and two lizardwomen attendants!

They walk in the room, and as is their custom, they take quick stock of the opposition. Against the 8 occupants of the room, the party consists of 5 warrior-players, one of whom also has a trained octopus and a goblin slave, by virtue of various Amulets of Control. (Watch for Ringwart the Goblin Slave's Web comic, coming soon!) Once they have assessed their enemy, they take stock of their own weapons and abilities. Kind of a 'which weapon will be most effective against these guys,' thing. Then the pixie-sorceress looks up across the table and exclaims "I've got an Amulet of Control Dragon!" The old batling across the table looks up and replies "me too!" and I just lay my head in my hands with a sigh. They proceed to capture/enslave two of the 6 dragons (both happened to be green dragons, which breath poison gas). So now the battle stands 9 to 6, with two of the dragons ready to fight on our side. The odds are now vastly in our favor. The two newly acquired dragons don't even fight. The group mops up the rest of the room, collects their treasure and moves on, a much larger dinner party than before.

With the added dragonic firepower, the three-hex octopus, and the two hex centaur-lizard-girl, plus the other five characters, our band of warriors can barely fit in the next room, nevermind the several 5-6 hex dragons that were working on target practice. In addition to the regular treasure in this room, they find one of the two kids they were looking for. A successful room for the group, complete failure for the training dragons.

It is about this time that we break for the night and plan to return to the labyrinth a few days later, with the more experienced GM taking over the labyrinth I wrote, to test playability and let me focus on my own character.

Tune in next week to read how THAT turned out.

From Real Life to Real Good

2011-02-14T00:21:00.000-08:00

It has been said that Art imitates Reality, or perhaps it was the other way around. Regardless, it's true. We borrow from real life to create our art. Even those of us writing in science fiction and fantasy. Everything we do is based in the mundane world we are trying so hard to escape.

Early science fiction didn't happen until science began to take a foothold in the world, giving us a basis on which to question and explore concepts, many of which later became reality in their own right: Jules Verne's submarine, Star Trek's Communicators/cell phones, H.G. Wells's Time Machine... oh, maybe not that one yet.

What comes most from our reality, is not the laws of nature, but the nature of humanity. Critics often claim that the best works of literature are ones that we as human beings can relate to, works where the characters feel the things we feel, react the way we would react, and even come from the kind of background that we ourselves carry in our backpack of id. Our stories are pieces of our history blended together and dyed with new colors, hidden among the worlds we create, that are, in turn, based on the one we live in.

The old adage advises us to "write what you know." Yet how could we do anything else? Martians are described as "little green men," we take our own bodies and alter them slightly to make something we claim is new. In fantasy, we have horses with horns, big lizards with bad breath, and men that become not something unknown, but merely a variant of what is familiar: bats, or wolves. Elves, goblins, giants, fairies, leprechauns, and dwarves, they are all variants on humanity's natural form. Even our ghosts and gods take human or familiar forms. The Greeks were all human forms, the Egyptians blended human bodies with animal heads, the Native American spirits were mostly animal forms that they knew.

Where then, is the fantastic that is not grounded in our reality? It is all borrowed from what we know. Shakespeare may have said that "there is nothing new under the sun" because he was frustrated with his inability to concoct something completely alien to our existence.

However, knowing this, I advise you not to frustrate yourself trying to figure out what hasn't been thought of, but to look around and figure out what you could borrow to enrich your story. If you are sick, make notes on how it feels to be sick, what you think of while sick, how your voice sounds. Be a people watcher, that observes the weird things people do, for we, truly, are likely some of the most fantastic beings in our world. How muich weirder can you get than us, really?

Superheroes=gods?

2011-02-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

This book, Our Gods Wear Spandex by Christopher Knowles, has been on my wishlist for some time. This past Christmas, I unwrapped it. Over the next month (I'm not a slow reader, just busy!), I read it, and enjoyed it.

The premise is that in ancient times, people created gods, not just to explain their world, but to help them feel safer, taken care of, protected. Now, in our modern day, "gods" have fallen out of fashion, and superheroes, of various types, have replaced them for the purpose of psychological/emotional protection of the masses. Truly, an interesting assertion.

Overall, I very much enjoyed reading the text, particularly the histories of the Comics industry/culture and the analysis of a varied array of major and minor heroes and their particular backgrounds/origins. I learned of some heroes that I'd never heard of, despite being major players in their time, and heroes that were forerunners and inspirations for modern-day big-hitters. I also relished the comparisons between individual modern superheroes and particular ancient gods. The artwork, by Joseph Michael Linsner, was absolutely riotous. Wolverine roasting marshmallows on his claws over a campfire comes to mind (Knowles 156).

There were some areas, however, that I felt the book failed in my expectations. The greatest of these was its thin disguise as propaganda for the occult. I certainly don't mind discussing the occult, and I expected to read about ancient religions in comparison to modern fantasies. That, after all, was part of the premise of the book. However, it was not long into the book before ancient gods were only referenced in relation to the occult, and every assertion the book made was from the occult, as opposed to just ancient gods, or even of basic psychology of humanity. Chapters 6, 7, and 8, in fact are titled Secret Sects, The Victorian Occult Explosion, and Occult Superstars. These talk none about superheroes, or ancient gods, but merely the societies and individuals that were big in the occult over periods of recent history. In comparison, chapter 4 handles the deities of Sumer, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Hebrews, and Vikings all in those few pages.

I also felt that many of the connections the book tried to make between ancient gods and super heroes were stretched, and in some cases, almost manufactured. Take as example, in chapter 4, on page 28:

Many Theologians [he never names any of them] have pointed out the essentially solar nature of heroes like Elijah and Samson, both of whom are thought to derive from stories of Hercules. Like Hercules, Samson (whose name means "of the sun") was betrayed by a woman. Hercules cerated the two pillars named for him by smashing through a mountain that sealed the Mediterranean at Gibraltar. Samson destroyed the Temple of Dragon by knocking down two pillars. Like Hercules, Elijah wore animal skins. Hercules was often identified with the sun, and Elijah ascended to heaven in a flaming chariot identical to that of Helios, god of the sun.

First of all, he confuses this paragraph by trying to compare multiple heroes at the same time (nevermind that all of these are classical myth/theology, not modern superheroes). He argues that Samson and Elijah are both taken from Hercules. Samson, because his name means "of the sun" and supposedly Hercules is often associated to the sun (Did I miss that lesson in Bible school?). Also, one created two pillars, the other knocked two down. And they were both betrayed by a woman. Well, frankly, get in line, guys. The list of men who have been betrayed by women is a LONG one. As for Hercules being in some way related to the sun, a Google search brings up several hits, most of which mention Apollo or Helios when talking about the sun. The only one I could find that talked about Hercules and the sun was also piled with random "connections' between Hercules, Atlantis, the 9-11 terrorists and the number 11. The Hercules=Samson connection seems pretty weak to me.

As for Elijah, guess they shopped at the same tailor, probably the one frequented by the likes of Daniel Boone, Tarzan, and most primitive cultures past and present. The passage seems to connect him more to Helios, through their dual flaming chariots, than Hercules, fitting since it is supposed to be about how these were "sun gods" anyway. This is just an example of some of the very stretched connections the book tries to make to prove its point of... well, I guess of occultism in comic books, as that seems to be more the focus of the text.

The book also tried to classify heroes of being of a certain type, born from ancient mythos. This was not only expected but essential. However, in some cases, I was left thinking I had skipped an entire section, for the classifications didn't make any sense. Take, for instance, the classification of golem. Wikipedia defines golem like most other sources: "In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter." Thus, I can easily see classifying Ironman as golem, possibly even a hero like The Thing. However, Knowles declares that "the archetypal golem character [is] Batman..." Batman, created entirely from inanimate matter? He spends most of the chapter talking about Batman, but never explains this seemingly nonsensical classification. He ends the chapter with short mentions for the Thing and Hulk, even Robocop is certainly arguable as a golem. However, according to Knowles, Daredevil and Punisher are also golems, again, with no explanation as to why he believes so. Last mentioned in the chapter, Wolverine's adamantium skeleton could be up for discussion of a golem status, the precedent set by the cyborg status of Robocop or the robotic suit of Ironman, but Knowles doesn't discuss this at all, instead contenting himself with offering a short bio on Marvel's wonderboy.

As I closed the covers, I felt a little cheated, having expected a thought-provoking treatise on human race psychology and an exploration of superheroes as modern deities, and instead getting a weakly supported and loosely connected advertisement for undying, secret occultism. I don't buy most of the arguments that comics are occultic. I certainly don't deny that magic, legends, and ancient religions have influenced our superhero culture (Have you noticed that Thor has his own title?). I did, however, very much enjoy the superhero history, both of the genre and industry, as well as the fictions behind them. I also welcomed that few fruits hidden in the pages that actually argue the rise of superheroes to protect our culture's collective id.

Nanites!!!

2011-01-31T18:27:00.000-08:00

This week's is a short post, but a very happy one: Derek Daniels is BACK!! There is a new Nanite Chaser story posted on the website! This is the first one in months, due to various life obstacles. It's called Susan's Book Club, and yes it was one of the ones I was working on during NaNoWriMo.

I resolve too late...

2010-12-31T20:08:00.000-08:00

Well, it's only half-way through January, and here I am writing my first blog post of the year. Even assuming that I took most of December off for holidays, this is a little late in coming. The really sad thing is that I intended my original post to be a resolution to be more consistent and attentive to this blog, and my writings in general. Guess it is safe to say I blew that one. I'm still planning to try.

I also haven't updated the website in quite some time. I suppose it is time that you are due an explanation for that, at least in part. Back before Thanksgiving, my laptop was stolen. Fortunately, I didn't lose too much, because I keep most of my work "in the cloud" and on a flash drive, which was not stolen. (Let's not talk about how that same flash drive recently did a backwards somersault is now in traction. I don't think he'll recover.) I did lose the marvelous mindmapping program called FreeMind, where I had quite a bit of the characterization and plot details for Hero Games.

In the wake of this disaster, we evaluated our situation: we had lost two laptops and a Wii gaming system, complete with a dozen games and various controllers, etc. These were significant losses, though we were, of course, thankful that this was all we had lost. It was only (mostly) property, afterall, and even most of our documents were safely in Google Docs, or otherwise kept online. However, this was a lot to replace all at once. My wife needs a computer. She's a computer engineer and not having a computer at hand is like holding her breath... under water... with man-eating, hungry sharks swimming around... watching one of her fins floating down, into the murky depths of the ocean, never to be seen again... while the glistening, bobbing surface above her darkens with the arrival of ten-mile wide spaceships, full of aliens bent on galactic domination who have spoken with an ancient cult of star-charters that have chosen her as the key element in the coming war between... -you get the picture: my wife needs to have a computer. We could really only afford to replace one of the three major items. We put off the Wii, and I elected to wait to get a computer, allowing my wife to get a fairly nice model that will keep her happy until the next time we upgrade computers.

My district is wonderful enough to allow me to take my school laptop home and use it for casual personal purposes. So, I have a computer of my own, at home, too. Mostly. The district has also been sending out lots of little messages and subtle hints about "misuse and abuse of district equipment." The bloody-horsehead-in-the-bed screensaver was a bit much, guys. So, while I am content surfing the web and doing my writing in the cloud through my school laptop, downloading programs or storing lots of personal files (like website pages) made me a little nervous. So, I haven't been updating or working on the website, and I haven't touched Hero Games, though I did continue to write the short stories I was working on for NaNoWriMo.

However, I now have a nice flash drive from the school, so I can use that for school things, and my wonderful wife was given a flash drive as part of a conference she went to that she doesn't need, so is giving that to me, and I have decided to make that one be for writing. It will be a backup copy of the writings, and a way to work on the website through the school computer, without actually loading anything onto it. Happy medium discovered. :)

And yeah, I'm trying to trim the waistline, lose weight, and get in shape. All that standard January 1st stuff. The Wii Fit says I'm doing a good job! (Her parents got us a new Wii for Christmas, and part of my parents' gift to me was the Wii Fit Plus game to replace the one that was stolen.)

So, look forward to a new Nanite Chaser story on the site, as soon as I get everything set up and organized! Happy New Year everyone, a little late.

Setting Up for a Giant Leap

2010-12-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

So, in preparation for my students to focus on setting, I went looking for great setting descriptions from great novels. I did find a few descriptions that really focused on the setting, but most had the characters and/or plot so worked into it, that I couldn't separate them for my students to look at setting alone. I was getting a little frustrated before finally finding clear setting-focused descriptions in Dracula, Wuthering Heights, and The Call of the Wild, among others.

However, in the midst of this search, I ran into a couple of articles that got me thinking in a certain direction. One I really enjoyed was Nathan Bransford's What Makes a Great Setting . He talks there of how the setting has been left out of the efforts to develop plot and characters. "The best settings," he says, "are not static, unchanging places... Great settings are dynamic." He has quite a bit more to say about setting, which is well worth reading.

However, the one I'd really like to talk more about is called Writing Descriptions: Setting the Scene by Kaye Dacus. She has very good advice about how to describe a setting, which I completely agree with (there are always exceptions). One thing she warns against is stopping the story to describe the setting. Instead, she encourages the writer to "have the characters interact with the setting." This is good advice. Unless you are trying to teach 7th graders, who have barely been taught the parts of speech and didn't want to be in this stupid, boring class to begin with, how to write good setting. They need to grasp what setting is and how completely it can be incorporated, through the 5 senses, and maybe even a 6th if you like; the way it can be described using figurative language and well-chosen descriptors and verbs; how a mere setting description can set the tone of an entire story before nary a character even graces the stage. They have to get what this is before they can begin lacing it into the action of the plot, or the experience of the characters.

I'm sure no one denies that this is the basic level of teaching setting and that Nathan and Kaye were both trying to get writers to move past this most basic level. Once they get what setting is, they shouldn't stop there. As Nathan and Kaye pointed out, they need to learn to make the setting an active part of the story, not just the boards their characters stand on. Writers must weave setting into the story the way plot is woven among the characters, taking all to become one, to make it something to experience as a whole.

What concerns me, is that in our public school system, the students are taught the basics, exactly what I am teaching them now, but never told that what they are learning is only the very most elementary aspects of life, so they graduate and proceed, thinking they have learned it all, many never realizing that they stand on the brink of a vast expanse of knowledge and are only staring at the edge of it between their toes. My wife excelled in writing tests in school, aceing it every time, until she followed the pattern they gave her to pass and she scored lower. The average public school student (or graduate) can probably list off the three branches of government if you ask them, but how many can explain the difference even between Republican and Democrat? Or name their local representatives? Gravity is expressed as a "constant" of 9.8 m/s2. You have to get into astrophysics before any professor will admit that it's wrong. Gravity isn't constant, it changes based on mass and distance from the center of the mass, and other things. The old concept that a bowling ball and a feather fall at the same rate in a vacuum is a myth. We just can't see the difference because of relative mass (thank you Einstein) and so 9.8 is deemed "good enough."

Why do we accept the least of standards when greater is within our reach? Granted, I have to get these students to identify setting and be able to write setting instead of ignoring it, and isolating it is the first step, but why do we stop at the first step? First steps are necessary, and they are for babies. The moon is a giant leap above us, but we can reach it.

Winners!

2010-12-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

We've got NaNoWriMo Winners!! (Yeah, I'm not one of them!)

First period (once adjusted for students that left during the month), won with 49,756 words. 8th period hit just over their goal, coming in at 62,514 words. 6th period took the collaborative cake with 69,168 words. The top writer in the creative writing classes was Gilbert with over 6,000 words of short story.

The afterschool program had a lower success rate, but I'm still very proud of not only the winners, but the ones who accepted the challenge and threw themselves at the wall. Two hit their word counts of 12,000 and won. (One had me scared, but slid into home plate literally in the eleventh hour.) I am especially proud of the student we call Poizon Ivy. Her goal was 15,000. She just barely succeeded last year, struggling for those last few words, but never got the complete manuscript typed up to be published. This year, she not only hit her goal of 15k, she DOUBLED it! Her final count? 31,426 words. (She complained that she ran out of time and had to cut the ending short.) This year, I intend to see this girl's name in print!

I hit the collaborative goals for my classroom stories, but fell short of the final for my after school piece, Slave Princess. Thursday afternoon is coke and cookies for all my writers to help celebrate their struggle and accomplishments.

Maybe now, after a short break, I can finish the short story and return to work on my Work-In-Progress, Hero Games. Watch for the Nanite Chaser stories to show up soon on the Frontpage of DavidJace.com. The other short story was taken from the world of On Common Ground. You can read an excerpt of that by clicking on the title link there.

Completions

2010-11-23T09:02:00.000-08:00

I have more to write about than is appropriate for this blog. Thus, trying to focus on the writing-oriented topics is tough.

First, let's talk about my students, which have been a focus this month. I'm so very proud of them. (Yeah, I've said this, but they keep giving me more to be proud of!)

6th period, holding steady in second place most of the month, surged forward and not only passed 8th period by percentage and word count, but hit their own goal last Tuesday! (Round of Woot for 6th period!) Then, since that wasn't good enough, they kept writing and passed 8th period's goal, too! They currently have 64,020; their goal was set at 58k.

8th period made a good effort, but weren't able to meet the class goal this week; they are 58.8k out of 62k. Not much left, and I think they'll hit it. Many of them are already done, so most of the strongest writers are no longer adding to the collective word count.

1st period isn't done either, but wow did they put up a fight this last week! They were further behind than anyone, and needing about 14,000 words on Friday to even catch up. They didn't make it, but in that 90 minutes of class time on Friday, they churned out over 10,000 words! They now stand at 49,272 words. A mere 2,728 words from their class goal! I was amazed that they brought that much gain in only one class period!

They don't have class at all this week, being off for Thanksgiving break, but I sure hope they write like I encouraged them to. The game is over next week with only one class each.

Now, as for my own contributions and efforts for NaNoWriMo: I have completed two out of the three class anthology pieces. I'm working on the third class piece now, and then to tackle the afterschool one, which is significantly bigger than the three for class.

Susan's Book Club, which is for the Nanite Chaser series, is complete at 4,297 words. There's a little of the tech fun for those that really enjoy that aspect, but mostly, this one is for the romance and plot fanatics! It's too short to spill any beans, but let's just say Susan plays a much bigger role in this one than usual. Watch for this, and other, Nanite Chaser stories on DavidJace.com

The other Nanite story, Shocking Rescue, currently has 1,308 words, but at least I can tell you a little more about that one! Derek gets an assignment to rescue workers from a major fire: in a power plant! So, let's see, in one big building, we have technicians to rescue, lots of fire, lots of water, and lots of electricity. Derek and the nanites are in for quite the challenge this time!

The last class story is from the world of On Common Ground. This one I hesitate to tell too much about, because it takes place after On Common Ground so has some spoilers built in. However, I will tell you that there's a big fight in a demon trial and the pretty little angel in the picture there was in it! (Notice the wing.) [Image by Boris Vallejo]

The last project for NaNoWriMo is Slave Princess. This one is a new piece, and most likely a stand alone story. The general idea? Kingdom is attacked by goblins. Royal Family is murdered, except for the young children, who are rescued by a knight and caretaker. Unfortunately, little Princess Gemma is captured by the goblins, her knight brought down before her eyes. She becomes a slave in the goblin camp, and grows up in that camp. Her brother may or may not have made it out alive.

After many years, a prisoner is brought in to the goblin camp that recognizes the slave girl. So begins the adventure.

From Whiners to Writers

2010-11-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

Is it bad when your "slothful" students are kicking your literary butt?

Friday night was the first Write-In for our school. We advertised it as "YWP Hosts DFW NaNoWriMos." As far as I know, it is the first time in the history of the Young Writers Program that the two groups have mingled. I count it as a success, though I was a little disappointed by the grown-up attendance. (I think the weather threats kept many away.) Our wonderful DFW Municipal Liason was in attendance, however, and was kind enough to bring goody bags for all of my kids (nearly 20 sacrificed their Friday Night for writing, fun, food, and extra credit). The biggest hit of the goody bags were the little googly-eyed "fuzzies". One of my students bartered and begged and acquired a small army of fuzzies with which she will no doubt take over the world.

We had a couple of word wars, and lots of fun and laughter. Overheard throughout the night, however, were conversations like this:

"How many words do you have so far?"
"Two thousand, but I'm still only in the Rising Action!"

I am so proud of these kids. So many of them, only six weeks ago, tried everything they could do to escape the writing class they had been shoved into and hated to write. Now they groan in defeat when their class count is only 39-thousand words and they missed beating the other class by 1.5 percent! Hearing 7th and 8th graders use words like Rising Action, Protagonist, Conflict, and Subplot in casual conversation just warms my heart.

Not every NaNoNovel is a success story, unfortunately. I do have some that are not only behind, but not gaining much ground. Curiously, it isn't that they don't care, they just don't care enough to put in the extra effort, I guess. One girl lied when charting word counts. She claimed to have 200 words, but only had 190. I called her on it, and she pounded the desk. "I want that little green bar!"

Now if only I can catch up to some of my little super-stars! For those following my work, I'm writing 4 total stories: two Nanite Chasers, a supplemental scene based in the world of On Common Ground, and a new short story called Slave Princess. In the Nanite stories, Derek has once again met up with Taryn, but only briefly before off to "serve and protect." Let's hope he hasn't bitten off more than he (and the nanites) can chew! In the other story, we're getting to see a whole new side of Susan. Those watching and guessing on that story arc are going to LOVE it! The Common Ground bonus story centers on Rayne. I don't want to spill many beans on that, but let's just say he hasn't gotten any less arrogant, but has become a much bigger danger! Slave Princess has only penned the exposition thus far, but little Gemma knows how to make quite the entrance! If I don't miss my bet, she'll grab your heart and squeeze out a tear before you've even hit the real story!

Full Pages!

2010-11-08T05:57:00.000-08:00

Wow, I am so impressed with my students. They have really rocked the house and brought it to the game this first week of NaNoWriMo. To recap in case you didn't read the last couple of weeks' blog posts: I have three Creative Writing classes of 25-30 inner city 7th-graders. The class happened at the last minute, so none of them got to choose to be in there, they were just put in there because they needed electives. I am doing NaNoWriMo with all three classes, each class creating a themed anthology of stories equal to 2,000 words for every student. (I am also writing a 2k story for each class to help encourage them and be a part of it.) I'm also running the afterschool NaNoWriMo, whose kids are writing 10-15 thousand words each, and is voluntary particpation.

Well, alot of the kids in these classes don't want to be in the class, but this week, you'd never have known it.

My 1st period class, which met twice this week (Tues & Thurs), is writing a work titled "Won't Back Down" along the theme of "Evil vs Good." They logged 15,602 words this week.

My 6th period class got to meet three times, (Mon, Wed, & Fri) and their theme is "Never betray a friend." They are calling their novel BFNFL: Best Friend NOT For Life. This class turned out an amazing 27,239 words this week!

Finally, my 8th period class, which also met three times, chose "Don't pick a fight you can't win" as their theme and "Fighting with Demons" as their title. These students brought 28,427 words to the table this week! Outstanding!

I am so proud of all of them! Some on Friday had even hit their goal of 2,000 words! We gave them a big round of applause. Then I asked each of them one question: Are you done yet? *grin* Nope! They've still got pages of story to write!

In comparison, these are the same classes wherein earlier this year I asked them to write 500 words and they acted as though I had shot them and took two weeks to get it turned in. Now, they churn out 500 words in a class period without blinking twice, and go home promising to double their word count. I can't wait for Monday.

My afterschooler NaNoWriMos have also been hard at work, but many of them didn't get their word counts updated this week, so I don't have a total count for them. There are about 25 of them, though, and several have logged over 2-3 thousand words each.

This coming Friday night, November 12th is going to be really exciting, though. My students will be hosting a Write-In for the adult NaNoWriMo program here in Dallas-Ft. Worth. If you are in the area and doing NaNoWriMo, you're invited! If you haven't seen the information out there yet, send me a message and I'll get you what you need to know. There's going to be games, prizes, food, and drink. Hope to see you there!

Blank Pages

2010-11-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

It's here, that magical time of year that fills so many with such joy, and such dread. Yes, I'm talking about NaNoWriMo. One of my students last Friday told me she was scared of Midnight Sunday night, when NaNoWriMo starts. She's going to love it.

Well, in my last post (which was much too long ago; I'm falling down on the job), I talked about how my classroom students are writing anthologies to be part of NaNoWriMo. We discussed and voted and here are the results:

1st period is writing about "Evil vs Good" and are calling their anthology Won't Back Down.
6th period's theme is "Never betray a friend" and they are calling their anthology BFNFL (Best Friends NOT for Life).
8th period chose "Don't pick a fight you can't win" and is calling their anthology Fighting with Demons.

I'm so excited to see what all they come up with. They've shown some real promise and growth all the way around. This 2,000-word assignment/challenge for NaNoWriMo will be their longest work yet (for most of them).

As for myself, yes, I am contributing to each of their anthologies and writing with my afterschool WriMos. For the afterschool bunch, I committed to 12,000 words. That puts my total word count for NaNoWriMo this year at 18,000. It's a great defense against student complaints about writing a mere 2k. My 12k work will be called Slave Princess and is an idea sprung from chatting with a Facebook friend. Bit of a fairytale style story, but it should be fun. As for what I will be writing for the anthologies, I'm not sure yet! I've been so busy getting them prepared and ready I forgot to prewrite my own! So, I need to come up with short story ideas for each of the above classes. I am planning to borrow some characters from the world of On Common Ground for one of them, but that could fit in two out of the three.

So, I need to figure out what to write for the other two. Any suggestions?

NaNoWriMo in site, er, sight!

2010-10-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

Friday was October 1st, which is the day that NaNoWriMo unleashes the reigns for this each year's event. While I do exist on the grown up NaNoWriMo.org site, I mostly operate on the Young Writers' Program site, because I lead middle school participants in the program.

Well, this year, the staff at the Office of Letters and Light really outdid themselves on the YWP this year! They've created a Virtual Classroom area to help Educators stay organized and in touch with their students. It's wonderful! I'm so very excited. Tomorrow is when most of my WriMos will see it for the first time, when we meet after school.

The afterschool WriMos aren't the only ones that will be writing this year, though. My three Creative Writing classes will also be participating, making class anthologies of themed stories, about 2,000 words per student. I told my afterschool wrimos that I wouldn't be writing a full story this year, but would be writing as part of the class anthologies. I'm rethinking that idea, though, and considering setting a low target, like 12k, and writing one of the concepts that is swimming around my bowl of ideas, waiting to be written.

Regardless of what ends up happening, I am excited about this year's event. In fact, I'm in the beginning of organizing a NaNoWriMo Night at our school. Student writers writing right alongside the adults, and other students (for extra credit) serving drinks and maybe a bake sale. How inspiring! (I hope.)

Teaching

2010-09-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

Well, now that school is back in, maybe I should pull my posts back a bit. I'd love to hear my readers' thoughts on that. Supposedly, there are recommendations out there that say that to have a successful blog, you need to post 3-4 times a day! I don't have the time to read that many posts a day on a single blog, nevermind writing them! I am, however, open to your thoughts on this.

As I mentioned, school is back in. I am lucky enough this year to be teaching a handful of Creative Writing courses. Sadly, not all of the unlucky children who were stuck with my class actually wanted it. Many of my students are interested in writing, or at least entertained enough by my antics that they don't mind. Several others are merely biding their time, hoping to be rescued. With that in mind, and characterization on my lesson plans, I developed a "polyhedral character generator." Wow, doesn't that sound nice and science-fictiony? The average 13 year old should be able to take over a planet with one of my "polyhedral character generators." Fortunately, they can't take over a planet, they can only create people.

Borrowing polyhedral dice from the math department, I sketched out a set of charts that would allow the students to roll character traits. Polyhedral dice are dice with more or less than 6 sides.

From Adventures in Elvenfire

Technically, six-sided dice are also polyhedral, but the rest of them are more interesting! Once the kids rolled out about 20 traits (I didn't make them roll every chart.), they had to flip their paper over and flesh out their character, making all those random facts make sense.

No surprise, the kids loved it. Every one of them. They rolled traits the entire period and begged to do it again. My fast-rollers asked if they could make a second character that same day, if they had the time. In short, it was a success. Much of the fun was in the odd combinations that developed. One student ended up with a werewolf who had been bitten by a vampire (that would explain why he was scared of the dark). To make things even more interesting, this same werewolf's favorite food was roast chicken, and he was a vegetarian! Quite the story behind that one. Another students rolled a character who was claustrophobic and afraid of open spaces. With a little more luck, he could have been afraid of milk and we'd have an award winning detective show on our hands!

It was loads of fun and I decided to share it with all of you, in case you too, want a vegetarian werewolf, or a man that's afraid of both large and small spaces. Currently, it's hosted here in Google Docs.

Special Thanks to H. G. Wells

2010-09-06T07:14:00.001-07:00

This weekend I finished reading The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Loved it. Great story. Well told. I don't want to spoil the ending for any who haven't read it, but it ends with a bit of a question, though I think Wells left it clear enough for an observant reader to figure out the general idea.

As I closed the cover, the idea struck me to write a sequel. The narrator of the story dated it three years after the close of the action. I could quite reasonably open a new story, from the same narrator's perspective, five or ten years after the close of the initial action. It is, after all, about a time machine.

While the idea appeals to me, I currently have far too many open projects to try to pick up such a challenge. I say a challenge, because I would not want to write a sequel if I could not write it the way that Wells did. When a writer tries to write a continuation of another writer's work, and completely fails to copy the style of writing, or the mode of speech, or the format of the entries, or other such subtleties, then they fail at writing the sequel, and instead, partly ruin the world the writer has so carefully crafted.

This happened with one of my own favorite series, Phule's Company by Robert Asprin. Asprin, sadly, passed away not long ago, and in his last years, he had begun sharing his writings with other authors. Eventually, the other authors took over. Some, like Jody Lyn Nye who took over the excellent Myth series, have done a wonderful job. Unfortunately, the Phule series did not meet as sweet a fate. The author who took the series has not kept Asprin's voice, nor even, apparently, read the previous novels! If he did, he did not pay much attention to the characterizations or even the format the books were written in. He has trashed all of it, warped the characters, and ruined the series (for me).

If I choose to write a sequel to the classic story by H.G. Wells, I would make every possible effort not to make that mistake. Like the friend of the time traveler, you'll just have to wait to see if I succeed.

The Next Nanite Episode: Under the River!

2010-08-23T06:37:00.000-07:00

It's that time again. Time for Derek Daniels to save the day! Once again, the newest episode will be listed on the front page of DavidJace.com under Short Stories. The previous episodes, in case you missed one, will be in the drop down box.

Give it a read, and remember that you can let me know what you think about it by clicking on the Comment link at the bottom of the story.

Story Train

2010-08-16T14:35:00.000-07:00

Every Boy Scout troop has done it. Most summer camps have done it. Countless English classrooms have done it. "Let's all tell a story together, one line at a time!" Well, a discussion between myself and another writer recently yielded an expansion idea, based on that, which I would like to share.

First let me tell you the 'train' part of it. My wife does some couponing. I don't mean she clips a couple of coupons out of the Sunday paper to use at the store. I mean she plans deals and exploits sales with multiple types of coupons, stacking one on top of another until the store ends up paying her to take home a basket of goodies! Anyways, enough bragging. She is a member of a couponing site where other members, from all over the country, all do these deals and trade coupons with each other. "I don't need dog food, but I'll give you this dog food coupon for that pizza coupon." Once in awhile, she joins what is called a "train." Listen up, this is the important part. On a coupon train, several people sign up and the coupons go from one person to another, switching and adding coupons and everyone benefits. They have gotten really creative with the way the trains run and what gets on and off them, so to speak.

So, now that you understand "trains" and "stories," let's put them together and talk about this idea. What if several authors signed up (maybe even on a website made for this... hmm... more ideas!) to write a collaborative story. Say, just for the sake of explaining it, that we get 7 authors on this particular train. Perhaps we have not laid down a plot framework, but have limited it to a genre, perhaps Western? (Yee-haw!) and the going rule is that you have to work with whatever text you get. (You can't trash the main character halfway into the book and start telling the story of the cashier that got a cameo in Chapter 3.) At midnight on Sunday, the first author gets to start. He has 24 hours to write as much of the beginning of this novel as he can before handing it off to the next author. She, at midnight, takes what he wrote and moves forward with it. She has 24 hours to write all that she can before handing it off to the next author, and so on. The last author in the train is the caboose. This author has to get his caboose in gear and finish the novel! He, like the others, has 24 hours to do his work, but his job is to wind up the details, tie up the loose ends, and provide a satisfactory conclusion to the work. Voila, we've ridden a wild Story Train and written a novel in only a week! NaNoWriMo would be impressed!

Naturally, this probably wouldn't result in the next Great American Novel, but it could result in a lot of fun, and an interesting challenge for some writers. Naturally, like my wife's coupon trains, there could be all kinds of interesting rules and setups and designs of trains like this. There might need to be some artistic license questions to answer, but I'm sure we could find a reasonable method.

What do you think? Writers, would this be a fun challenge for you? Readers, do you think you'd enjoy reading something written by several authors all at once? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I'm jealous.

2010-08-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Actually, I'm envious. Despite popular use, jealous doesn't accurately describe what I'm feeling. Last week, the movie Kick-Ass was released on DVD, and I got it and watched it and enjoyed it. (I wasn't thrilled with the particular treatment, but I loved the concept and story behind it.) I'm envious of Kick-Ass because it's such an obviously wonderful plot. As the main character says in the opening scenes: "I always wondered why nobody did it before me...at some point in our lives, we all wanted to be a superhero." It then goes on to follow the story of a guy who did it. He dressed up, he jumped around, he went out looking for trouble, and found it.

Two years ago, I was even more envious of the movie Hancock with Will Smith. I won't spoil that one if you haven't seen it, but what an incredible, brilliant, creative plot/characterization. It starts with a superhero that has amnesia and doesn't know who he is or where he comes from, and just gets better from there on in.

Since I'm currently working on a project that involves full immersion virtual reality, I'm also a little nervous of stealing from someone I can't help but be envious of: Piers Anthony. His novel Killobyte is one of my favorites.

I do occasionally feel a little down when thinking of, discovering, or watching what I consider creative brilliance, but mostly I am nervous of stealing the ideas. Shakespeare said there is nothing new under the sun. Considering the recent technological developments of the last century and a half, I'm not convinced he was in a good position to make this judgement. Nevertheless, even something as "recent" as superheros may not necessarily be "new."

"Gods. Angels. Different cultures call us by different names. Now all of a sudden it's 'superhero.'" -Hancock

There is even a book called Our Gods Wear Spandex by Christopher Knowles that discusses this concept of superheroes being a new incarnation of an ancient human concept.

I don't mind running along side creative brilliance in a similar, imaginative footrace, but I don't want to steal someone else's shoes trying to leave my own footprints. In the end, I guess it comes down to this:

Yes, I'm envious, but instead of standing in awe, or matching their footsteps, I'm trying to run my own race and, just maybe, I'll meet them at the finish line.

Excellent Post on Breaking the Rules!

2010-08-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

Recently (July 24th), over on magicalwords.net (a website I have recently discovered and been loving, by the way), Edmund Schubert posted an article about the value of stylistic rules and advice. More importantly, the value of using those guidelines weighed against the value of breaking them!

This is excellent advice to any writer, whether a beginning novelist, or an 8th-grade, class-ditching, English-is-for-nerds essayist! Rules can be broken, but only if you know the rule to begin with, and then know when to break it!

Also (bonus!), imbedded within the article are some excellent clarifying ideas regarding grammar and punctuation. Among that part of the discussion, a few examples were dropped that invited widespread, rousing rioting in the comments section! Yes, I was part of it, but it was Edmund wielding the "very large dictionary!"

I NEED that!

2010-07-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

So, one afternoon last week I get a call from one of my friends. She says that she has a friend that likes to read and pointed her to my website, where I have excerpts from much of my work. Now the friend wanted to ask me something. She hands the phone to the friend and the friend says:

"I NEED to read the rest of that book!"

Now, I'm still unpublished. In fact, she's lucky that the one she was interested in is even finished; not all of them are! So I arranged to get her email and email it to her, because it isn't currently under consideration by anyone.

So I have two thoughts on this situation, both of them very positive, and maybe they are just related.

1. How awesome a friend I have that apparently does regular word-of-mouth marketing for me? She claims it has nothing to do with being my friend, but hey, it feels pretty cool, either way.

2. What an amazing feeling to hear someone say "I NEED to read more!" I've had people read my stuff over the years, I'm not one that's shy about that, but very rarely have I had someone, especially someone I have never met, be that excited about my work.

So, this post isn't a deep insight into the mind of a writer, nor an exciting update as to what is happening with my work, but merely a very heartfelt thank you to my friend. Thank you, for bringing me that huge feel-good moment. Every fledgling writer could use more of those.

Stormy Weather

2010-07-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

It's that NanoTime again! Time for the next of Derek Daniels's ongoing adventures as a Nanite Chaser. Stormy Weather is now available to read on the DavidJace website. If you haven't read the previous adventures, they can be found on the main page of the site, under Short Stories, along with the current episode.

I particularly liked this episode for a couple of reasons. One, the girl he meets; I love the dancing in the rain image. Two, the little hints that are embedded in the story. I'm not saying any more about that, though.

At the bottom of the story, as usual, is a Comment link. Please let me know what you think of it. Especially if you catch an inconsistency with previous episodes, or if you think the voice is not staying true throughout. Or if, heaven help us, you just happen to like it!

If it weren't for this thing called Life...

2010-07-12T08:53:00.001-07:00

Yes, I'm posting late today. It isn't my fault! I did it! Someone must have snuck in and deleted it just to get me in trouble! (I must have been hanging out with my kids alot. They're rubbing off on me.)

Ah, Life. If it weren't for that silly millstone around our necks, we'd be able to get so much more done! I have been determined to get some writing down now that summer is here, and yet, *sigh* not a word. I feel like a horrible failure.

"The Microcosmic God" by Theodore Sturgeon is about a scientist that invents an entire race of little creatures to which he is, effectively, god. It's a wonderful little story with a lot more to it than I have described here. Highly recommended. However, at one point, he invents a drug that completely removes the need for sleep, so that he can spend 24 hrs a day with his little creatures! It has come to that. I must either invent a sleep-removing drug or become undead if I want to get anything done. This ridiculous Life thing is just too in the way.

Drastic as this decision is, I have decided to put it off and try one more thing first. Hero Games is my current, stalled, project. Instead of trying to finish the planning on it, I'm going to jump into it, and start writing. I'll use the plans I've developed so far, and see where the rest of it goes. When I'm done, I'll tear back through it, change it all up, and write it again. Let's see how this plan works for me. I'm aware that other authors do it like this all the time!! And if it doesn't work out, I've always got that undead thing to try.

Thyme Four Ace Mile

2010-07-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

This week, I wanted to do something with a little less "deep thought." OK, I admit it, I was having too much fun with kids, summer camps, swim lessons, and Elvenfire marathons to manage a proper list. My dad sent me this list of puns and quips and I decided to share a few smiles with my readers. I hope you enjoy them.

1. How Do You Catch a Unique Rabbit?
Unique up on It.

2. How Do You Catch a Tame Rabbit?
Tame Way.

3. How Do Crazy People Go Through The Forest?
They Take The Psychopath.

4. How Do You Get Holy Water?
You Boil The Hell Out of It.

5. What Do Fish Say When They Hit a Concrete Wall?
Dam!

6. What Do Eskimos get from sitting on the Ice too long?
Polaroids.

7. What Do You Call a Boomerang That Doesn't Work?
A Stick.

8. What Do You Call Cheese That Isn't Yours?
Nacho Cheese.

9. What Do You Call Santa's Helpers?
Subordinate Clauses.

10. What Do You Call Four Bullfighters In Quicksand?
Quatro Cinco.

11. What Do You Get From a Pampered Cow?
Spoiled Milk.

12. What Do You Get When You Cross a Snowman With a Vampire?
Frostbite.

13. What Lies At The Bottom Of The Ocean And Twitches?
A Nervous Wreck.

14. What's The Difference Between Roast Beef And Pea Soup?
Anyone Can Roast Beef.

15. Where Do You Find a Dog With No Legs?
Right Where You Left Him.

16. Why Do Gorillas Have Big Nostrils?
Because They Have Big Fingers.

17. Why Don't Blind People Like To Sky Dive?
Because it scares the Dog.

18. What Kind of Coffee Was Served on The Titanic?
Sanka.

19. What is The Difference Between a Harley And a Hoover?
The Location of the Dirt Bag.

20. Why Did Pilgrims' Pants Always Fall Down?
Because They Wore Their Belt Buckles on Their Hats.

21. What's The Difference Between a Bad Golfer And a Bad Skydiver?
A Bad Golfer Goes, Whack, Dang!
A Bad Skydiver Goes Dang! Whack.

22. How Are a Texas Tornado And a Tennessee Divorce The Same?
Somebody's Gonna Lose a Trailer.

200 Word Challenge, Easy & Expert

2010-06-28T06:00:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I posted the 200-Word Challenge. However, as my sharp-eyed students and Donna Hole pointed out, I'm clearly not ready for that level of challenge! So this week, I would like to introduce the Easy and Expert levels of the 200-Word Challenge.

The Easy Level: Write a 200 word passage, without repeating a single noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. You may re-use articles, conjunctions, and even prepositions. The passage has to be cohesive, but may be about anything you like. It may be a descriptive vignette, or a short character profile, or even flash fiction.

The Expert Level: Again, write a 200 word passage, of any nature, but without repeating a single word. No repeating articles, prepositions, adverbs, verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, not even gerunds nor predicate nominatives! If you succeed on this one, I definitely want you to post it, because I at least know that it is theoretically possible...

The standard challenge is linked at the top of the page, so feel free to revisit that as well, if you like. I'd love to see your various efforts posted here. Good luck!

Memory: A Nanite Chaser Story

2010-06-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

The new episode of The Nanite Chaser series is up! Along with the new episode, Derek Daniels got a snazzy new logo image for the series. (Look to the left. *wink*) I think he looks rather dashing, don't you?

The new episode has replaced the first one on the DavidJace.com home page, so you'll now see Memory listed there instead of The Nanite Chaser. To get to the first episode, I've put in a dropbox under the new story to find Earlier Episodes. Just pick the one you need to read and click Go. Memory will go into this dropbox when Stormy Weather goes up next month. Oops, I said too much!

To me, Memory is a fun one because you get to see a little bit of the early days for Derek Daniels, when he was still learning some of the tricks that are more familiar to him later on. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

The Motivations of the Meanies

2010-06-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Last month, on Magical Words, Faith Hunter began posting a series about the requirements of a successful modern antagonist in several different genres. She calls the series The Great Satan, and has so far posted three parts. I looked forward to the continuance after ConCarolinas is over.

The primary thrust of her articles is that, in most genres, antagonists need character development and motivation as much as the protagonist. They are, after all, equal and opposite.

This aligns very well with what I have been trying to be more conscious of: making sure all of my major characters have a reason to be there. This idea also echoes my acting training very well. When on stage (or camera), every single movement or action or expression means something. Thus, you cannot do anything on stage (or camera) without a reason for doing it. Too many beginning actors make this mistake, moving across the stage because "they felt like it" or, worse, because "I need to be there when Erick enters the scene 5 minutes from now." Your character doesn't know Erick will be entering the scene in 5 minutes, or that he needs to be standing there to catch Erick when he falls in, drunk! So, the actor needs to be there, and the actor needs to find the character a reason to be there, too.

So now we see that this is a mistake a writer can make as well. Why does the dragon destroy the land? Why does the queen kill any pretty girl in the kingdom? Why does the magic tower of smoke drag people down the hole? It might be a dragon, a government employee, or a magic tower of smoke, but it has to have a reason for doing whatever it is that it's doing.

Faith Hunter asks four questions as she addresses the common antagonist in each genre:

1. What makes them work?
2. How do we keep them from becoming formulaic? (The pseudo-Satan.)
3.What mistakes do we writers make that allow them to become formulaic? (Just another way of looking at number two above, with a different perspective.)
4. And how do we as readers contribute to the success or failure of the BBU? (Culture and the reader.)

Based on the first posts, and my own experience, I would say that generally, the answer to #4 is "expectation of the genre" and "suspension of disbelief." The reader knows if they pick up a mystery, that there's going to be a murder and the guy's going to try to get away with it. If they pick up a fantasy, there's going to be magic involved, especially from the "Big Bad Ugly."

The other three questions, however, are what we writers need to pay attention to in this realm. Much of the answer falls into the idea of developing the antagonist the way one would (should) develop their protagonist: make them believable, give them proper motivation, paint them with both weaknesses and strengths, etc. In other words, make your "villains" into "characters" instead. Give them a reason to be in your book other than what you need from them.

Missing the Bricks

2010-06-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

I've re-initiated work on Hero Games and realized that there really wasn't enough pre-planning done for this work. There was a good conflict laid out, most of the main plot was in place, and I had a whole double-handful of characters. However, those characters had almost no depth to them. I had images, which I had gotten from HeroMachine (thanks for the permission, Jeff), and I had a couple of character bases, borrowed from people I know. Mostly, I had a great world concept with lots of possibilities in it.

That, my friend, does not a novel make! I had already written the first few chapters, and I had done a fair amount of planning, using spreadsheets, on the game design which was part of the world concept. Fortunate, because that was what most of the first few chapters were about, introducing the reader to the game itself. Those first few chapters, by the way, were lots of fun, because they were delved from the body of research and planning that I had already done: the game design, and a few character bases/game-character concepts.

What I realized when I dove back in to the work, was that I was missing two things crucial to any good novel: subplots and characterization! I had an over-arcing, main plot that involved everybody, but nothing personal to the characters. There was no individualized subplot to give the characters drive, purpose, motivation. Without that sub-plotting, characters become flat and static. So I decided that I needed each character to have their own, personal subplot. Have I mentioned that this novel's characters include 11 player-characters, who each have 1-2 game-characters? A total of 23 main characters?! Quite a daunting task! Well, I did some thinking on it. For most of the game-characters, they are just an alter-ego of the player-characters. For instance, Paul is a person playing the game. He creates a game-character called Peacekeeper. Paul and Peacekeeper are the same person, with a different look, in different situations. I realized that the game-characters, like Peacekeeper, already have their plot: the main plot that drives the total story, and the general sub-plot of leveling up and advancing their character within the game. Thus, the game-characters don't need a separate plot; they are an extension of their player-characters. Ha! Cut my work load nearly in half with that one!

However, I still have some characterization to do, and I don't think I can cut that down by much. The game-characters still have a particular style, a way of doing things, a feel about them. Also, they will still have a backstory, but the player has to write it! That becomes a fun challenge, as well. I'm having characters create the backstory for other characters. Thus, the 12 game-characters have characterization to be done. Naturally, the player-characters can't get left out of that! They need their own style, way of doing things, opinions, morals, backstory, motivations, desires, oh-the-list-goes-on!

So I found myself with the daunting task of weaving 11 sub-plots around a main plot, in a clever world, with 24 well-fleshed, intriguing characters! Phew! Standing on that precipice, I went to the net to see what other authors might have to say about such things. Most helpful as yet, has been Simon Haynes, author of the Hal Spacejock series. On his website, he has a series of articles that begin with How to Plot Your Novel. In this article, Haynes describes a piece of free software that he uses to plot his novels, as well as To Do lists, and many other things. This software is called FreeMind. I decided to try it, and I have to tell you I LOVE it! I started with the title of the novel in the center, branched out to each of the player-characters, who branched out to their game-character, their subplot, their real-character, and went on from there to fill in plot details, physical descriptions, backstory, power information, etc.

I'm nowhere near done, but I'm really enjoying this tool; which is helping me get organized. Thanks to Simon Haynes and FreeMind. I suppose now that I've talked all about it, I should go work on it!

Issue with IE fixed.

2010-06-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you that were having trouble viewing the new excerpts in Internet Explorer, that issue has hopefully been resolved. :)

Please, let me know if you find more problems.

200 Word Challenge

2010-05-31T06:08:00.000-07:00

My students are swearing to me that it can't be done. Care to prove them wrong? Post your efforts in the comments below!

The 200-Word Challenge: Write 200 words, without repeating a single one, save for articles, conjunctions, and helping verbs.

Thus, you can have "We have seen that statue before. I have known this woman." but you cannot have "I have a grape. You have an apple."

Topic unlimited, but it must be cohesive. You cannot jump from topic to topic every 20 words.

Below is my own attempt. Written using Dr. Wicked's Write or Die lab as a handy word-counter and cattle-prod, I managed to almost succeed. I believe that the only word outside of the rules that I did not manage to eliminate at the start was 'of.' However, with a little help from my brilliant wife, I found the keys and succeeded! Also, a very cool little legend has spawned from the challenge! (It ended up at 209 words, instead of 215.)

Sure enough, once I showed my effort to my students, they found four more words I had doubled! Proof that editing is a good thing, right? I said I would give them credit for finding those errors, so:
Henry found "that"
Maria found "any"
Chris found "at"
Andrew found "could"

Accolades to my students for being good editors!

The slumbering dragon snorted hot flame and we saw the cavern around us. The towering mounds adorned with glittering gold and roughly cut jewels sparkled amid the flickering light, the beast's sleeping breath. Lord Charles Overcault sheathed his sword and clambered atop the nearest treasure pile for a better view. Sir Calreth O'dell moved around the edge, blade held ready. They were truly best friends; no two warriors could be closer even if born brothers. Suddenly, a sparkle caught their eyes. Above the heaped emeralds and scattered rubies, a single gem sat in the moon's lone ray that entered the cave through a hole at the top. It was the Princess's Heart, stolen from the vaults under Aramathus and thought lost these many past ages. The legend said the artifact would carve jealousy, greed, and doubt upon any man's soul. The curse echoed the stone's origin. Supposedly, an ancient king's daughter, who loved a commoner, denied her father's wish to marry. Instead, she and the unapproved lover eloped. The parents, upon capturing them, killed the boy and encased the girl within a lump of coal. The filthy charcoal instantly became perfectly clear and beautiful as the royal child had been, though now harder than the rock.

Poetry Commentary

2010-05-23T11:47:00.001-07:00

It has been brought to my attention that there needs to be a place for commentary or discussion of the works that have now been posted on the site. Until I can arrange something on-site, this thread can be for commentary/discussion of the Poetry that is posted on DavidJace.com.

Short Story Comments

2010-05-23T11:46:00.001-07:00

Novel Discussion

2010-05-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

Website Relaunch!

2010-05-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

DavidJace.com has just undergone some improvements and additions! Of course, it isn't a huge change visually, but there's a lot more content now and I am hoping everyone will like the changes.

To start with, I've added excerpts of most of the novels, whether they are completed or in progress. You can reach the excerpts by clicking on the titles. For the novels, I've also added word-counters, so you can see the progress being made on the novels and in what stage of completion they might be in. (Those nifty word-counters are courtesy of Writertopia. Thanks, Bill!)

You may notice that there are some cute little "Bonus Material" signs in the novel section. Those now take you to the pages that were up for Hero Games and On Common Ground, where you can meet some of the characters. I hope/plan to add more bonus content as time goes on, so keep watching for those signs!

In the Short Stories section, I've now posted the short stories free to read! :) Hope you enjoy them. I've also added another short story that wasn't there previously. On The Nanite Chaser, you'll see a little sign that reads "First in Series!" That one should be pretty clear. That particular story is a series, of which "The Nanite Chaser" is the first installment. Three other installments are currently written, and I plan to be writing more. I intend to post a new installment of this series about once a month or so. You'll have to keep checking back to keep reading the story.

Finally, in the Poetry section, I've added a couple of new (old) poems.

Now that my first year of teaching is nearly done, I expect to be getting back to writing. You'll have to look carefully to figure out which novel is currently 'under construction,' but I did leave you a hint on the site!

I don't yet have a system for comments on the works, but feel free to leave comments here for now if you have them. Comments welcome!

NaNoWriMo 1 Failure; 7 Successes

2009-12-13T07:16:00.000-08:00

NaNoWriMo is over and I failed miserably. Sort of. My students, I am proud to say, succeeded! I had 7 winners, with a cumulative word count around 100,000!! Incredible! I am so proud of them!

I managed over 10,000 words myself, and really like the character, the world, and the story. So, worry not, it will be continued. As well as Hero Games, which I started in the summer and still need to finish.

For now, Merry Christmas, readers!

Yellow Light-Red Light-Green Light!

2009-11-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

So, in my last post at the end of the summer, I talked about how life had rather thrown me a yellow light and my writing had slowed considerably. Well, then I started my new job teaching English to 8th graders and that pretty much threw down the red light on my writing... and reading... and pretty much anything that wasn't planning, grading, or sleeping!

Well, NaNoWriMo is here!! I've been able to offer this opportunity to the students at school and I have 13 middle school students competing in the Young Writers' Program of NaNoWriMo, plus me! So, I'm writing, but it isn't Hero Games, since I started that previously.

I'm currently working on a new sci fi called Thassodar Jax: Terra Ranger. It is about an alien living on Earth as a representative of the galactic government, protecting the still undeveloped species on this planet. He's like a forest ranger for the whole planet. Everything's going fine. He's dealing with standard tourists who must visit incognito and with heavily restricted import/export agencies. Then he starts noticing a suspicious trend of missing elderly. Elderly citizens of a protected species are NOT approved for exporting!

It's just rather sad that some of my students are leaving my word count in the dust! My only defense is that they don't have papers to grade!

Quiet Summer

2009-09-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

Well, life is busy. If you haven't realized that, let me know when you are scheduled to be born; I'll send you a birthday card. The summer was packed full of kid-time, and I felt guilty even thinking of "stealing" time to write. So summer is now over and kids are back at school, so the writing should be on full steam, right? Wrong.

The kids aren't the only ones back in school. I've accepted a teaching position locally and find myself buried in lesson plans, grading, and professional development, all held together by red tape. Don't get me wrong, though, I love it. My students are awesome. With a little luck, a group of them will be doing NaNoWriMo with me this year!

So the writing is on a slow at the moment. However, I did finish Chapter 2 (see last post) and made some progress into Chapter 3 before the slowdown. More writing soon, I hope!

Just got to figure out what I want to work on for NaNoWriMo!

Hero Games

2009-07-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

Well, my next writing project is underway and the initial reviews are quite positive. I'm immersed in Chapter 2 of Hero Games and being begged for more to read by my preliminary readers. Quotes from one of them is below.

This is incredible! haha I love it all...great story Jace plz send me more I will not want to wait to see how this story turns out... 10/10! ~Nick

Thus far, midway in chapter two, we've met five different main characters. The novel looks like it may end up with as many as eleven primary characters!! yes, I said ELEVEN! Phew! It's quite a challenge, but I'm really enjoying it. Also, through some playing around on GIMP and the generous help from HeroMachine, I've drawn up a concept cover for this project, and I've only barely started writing it!

Anyways, here's the concept art, and Hero Games has a page of information (not much, I know, but more coming) on my site: www.davidjace.com

Returned

2009-06-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

Well, we've already received a response from the Nelson Agency regarding the first 30 pages of On Common Ground and they decided it wasn't right for them. Certainly, I'm disappointed, but not at all despairing, nor derisive! The rejection hasn't changed my opinion of the agency; I still think they are good people. I just have to keep looking.

I wonder, sometimes, if perhaps "rejection" is a poor choice of words for this process. Yes, the process is nominally called submission, because you are throwing yourself to the mercy of the agents and publishers, much like a slave casts his eyes to the floor and silently hopes that he receives a pat on the head instead of a sword to the throat. However, back to the term rejection, in many cases, the agent or editor isn't saying the work is no good, nor even saying they don't want it. They may just already have signed with half a dozen novels about Shapeshifting Teacher-Monkeys Taking Over the School and so, even though my Shapeshifting Teacher-Monkeys are the best ones, they need something different. (Self-note: write a great novel about Shapeshifting Teacher-Monkeys.)

I think a better term might be "Returned." A manuscript can be "Returned with Respect" or "Returned with Love" or "Returned with a Bag of Garbage that Smells Better than this Prose!" Thus we know why it was Returned, or at least the general impression of it, and there isn't the automatically negative connotation of it being rejected.

So, in summation, I say thank you, Kristin and Sara, for being interested enough to request the partial, and thank you for taking the time to read 30 pages that I wrote.

(Let's hope it was Returned with something other than garbage, though they didn't actually specify!)

Partial!!

2009-06-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

So, last week, I sent On Common Ground to The Nelson Agency which publishes a blog called Pub Rants that I follow. This week, I received and email reply from them, requesting the first 30 pages!!

(Yes, I am struggling to contain my hopeful excitement, but don't tell anyone. I'm trying to stay dignified for the kids' sake!)

So, with a little luck, they will decide to help Gabe, Luke, Grace, and crew to find a good home. Cross your fingers!

Fun!

2009-06-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

I've been having fun! This week, through some click-throughs, I discovered a blog that I quickly joined and have been actively participating in. Come In Character, run by BunnyGirl and Mira, is a blog that regularly posts discussions or topics or questions, and the commentors are expected to respond in the voice of one of their characters. So far, Gabe and Nezbit from On Common Ground; Derek Daniels, The Nanite Chaser; and Jeff Turnage from ANTHRO have all posted already and are having a grand time interacting with the other characters, you should totally check it out!

Advice to Young Writers

2009-06-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

I just finished a writing project with several classes and I was very pleased to see the length and quality of many of the short stories that were turned in. (Yes, I was also disappointed by the half-page, scrawled before class versions.) Each student was assigned a plotline to write, but told they could, if they chose, write a second story, for a bonus grade, using whatever plot they liked. I had several to choose that option. The Friday they were due, the longest story turned in was 16 pages of good writing. I was thrilled! Then on Monday, another student turned in her bonus story. 35 handwritten pages of bonus story! Wow. On top of the length, the quality is excellent. She's an undiscovered diamond just waiting to shine. Since this is the last week of school, I don't have time to work her as much as I would like, so I wrote her a nice long letter offering some general advice and a few sources for more information. I decided it might be good to have that information here as well, for any of my other students that happen to take the time to check it out. The non personal excerpt from the letter is below:

Most English teachers will be happy to help you with your writing if you can ask a specific question, or even give a general direction for discussion, such as asking about subplots, or how to use a semicolon properly. Unfortunately, they will rarely have time to proof or edit a full manuscript for you. Fortunately, there are some alternatives. First of all, even your friends can read and give feedback for you. They know what they like and don’t like, even if they can’t express why. You just need to know what questions to ask them. Otherwise, they will most likely just say “It’s great.” and that won’t help you hone your skill. Try asking them specific questions like “Did you get lost anywhere?”, “Was there any part where you got bored?” or “Do you believe the characters?” This is called a ‘Wise Reader’ and can be very helpful in getting a good reaction to your work. However, you needn’t create a Wise Reader from scratch if you don’t have one handy.

There are Writers Groups all over the country, and many in the metroplex area that you can be a part of. You would be able to associate and read with established authors as well as hopeful writers. Depending on the genre you want to focus your work in, there is the North Texas Speculative Fiction Writers (you can find them on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ntsfw and at http://www.ntsfw.com/) or DFW Writers Workshop (http://www.dfwrite.org/). Groups like this may have a small annual membership fee that helps cover their organizational expenses. There are also online sites/groups that are similar to these. One of the biggest (and free) is NaNoWriMo.org, which celebrates National Novel Writing Month in November. They have a Young Writers Program you can join if you choose, or go for the big, grownup version! (Either way, don’t forget to look me up if you join NaNoWriMo.) You can also check out critters.org and sfwa.org (Sci-Fi Writers of America).

In addition, there are loads of books that you can find in the library on the skill/art/business of writing. I could personally recommend Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft by Janet Burroway, Fiction Writer’s Handbook by Hallie and Whit Burnett, and How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card. There are many more than just those, however. Some high schools have creative writing classes, which you would do quite well in and can be very helpful, depending on the teacher. When you get to college, there will certainly be opportunities for writing classes. While in college, I took two creative writing classes and an Intro to Fiction Writing course. I didn’t manage to take many of the others that were offered, including poetry writing, script writing, and novel writing.

I do want to caution you, however. There are just as many people out there happy to scam writers as there are people happy to help writers. For the most part, you should not have to pay someone for your writing. If you are talking to an agent, and they want you to pay them upfront, get another agent. Agents get their money after they sell your book, not before. Don’t let some scam artist try to tell you differently.

There are some exceptions to the pay upfront thing, though. If you self-publish, you’ll have to pay them to print your book, and then you’ll have to do the marketing for it yourself. So Print-On-Demand publishers are an exception, but be careful, some charge way too much for what they provide. There are workshops and classes that you’d have to pay for, and getting inside a conference of writers, agents, or editors will cost you the price of the ticket at the very least.

There are also many contests and events that pretend to be legitimate but are only out for your money. The best thing to do is check out any event, service, or agency before giving them your money. You can check out evil monsters of the writing world online at places such as Preditors and Editors (http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/ ) and WriterBeware.org (a watchdog group founded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America). Both of these sites report scams and keep track of reputable agencies and publishers.

This is just some base-line information to get you started. If you want to talk more about this, or any other part of writing, I’ll be happy to try to help. There’s a Contact Me link on the front page of my website (www.davidjace.com) that I check frequently, and I promise to respond quickly if you want to send me questions.

Positive Rejection?

2009-05-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

Well, Derek Daniels came back with superficially sad news. Writers of the Future didn't want him. Poor fellow; but we'll send him back out again soon with hopes for better luck.

However, there's a silvery lining! When Nixie came back, all we got was the rejection. If I am not mistaken, it was even through email. This time, however, we got the lovely bookmark pictured here to the left and below. One side is printed vertically, the other horizontally.

So, freebies are always a nice consolation for ~~failure~~ rejections. However, even nicer is a message of hope! First, the letter was a form letter, even starting out "Dear Contestant," but in ink, the "Contestant" is marked out and my first name written in! I got individual attention! Then, below, is written the message "Submit Again Soon!" and a signature. This strikes me as a message of hope, something that says I almost made it. Then again, maybe it's a trick to make me feel good so I'll keep submitting to them. I choose to believe the former, but either way, it means they still want me to submit again! Guess I should get writing!

Writing as a God

2009-05-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

I started writing novels before I was in high school. The problem with that sentence is, I started, but never finished them. Until now. In April of 2008 I finally finished writing a novel. Now that I’m counting the years, I realize that I spent over half my life, nearly two-thirds, failing to complete novel projects. I spent plenty of time writing. I would reread and rewrite those first few chapters countless times, and then do the same with the next idea that came to mind. They may have gotten better, but they never got finished. What changed is that I realized a couple of things about myself and then acquired a couple of tools to apply to my work. And now I would like to share them with those who might benefit from it.

I recognized that I am an explorer. I want to go see the sights never before seen and discover what lies over that next hill. This is great for keeping an open mind, which I value. However, whatever lies beyond that next hill… hasn’t been written yet. That’s my job. I can’t discover what’s out there, I have to decide what’s out there. When I eagerly wait to see what the character is going to do in the next scene, the story stalls and he never makes it there. If I can’t wait to find out “whodunnit,” then no one did.

In effect, I have realized that in order to succeed, Writers Must Be Gods. We have created a world. We have populated it with animals (or machines). And we have formed people, characters, from the dust of our minds. And if you’re doing NaNoWriMo, you’d better do it in less than 7 days! This sequence of events sound familiar to anyone? We are the one and only god of our creation and it is up to us to write the future. We must decide the End days, and what the signs are that lead up to it.

Every one of my characters gets to the end of the scene, turns around and says “Hey, big guy, what now?” It’s my job to decide on a course of action and give him an answer. I’m not saying I have to have every detail ironed out in advance. (Even if I did, it would probably change along the way.) I am saying that if you don’t know where your story is going, it’ll never get there. It might be a mystery to you at first how Elena, the beautiful seamstress, ends up in love with Timmy the Robot, but you know they’re fated to be together. You may not know how you’re going to kill Jefferson MacGregor, but you know he’s gotta die.

So, realize this. Recognize and revel in the inherent power of being a god. Characters are born, live, die, cry, and celebrate at your whim. The entire world is your playground, and you can do anything you want within it. When you are writing, you have to be a Creator first, and then you can discover the details.

The Once and Future Author

2009-05-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Well, in the fading lamplight of hope for On Common Ground being published with Mundania Press, I remind myself that I have at least been published, once. Then it occurred to me that I started this blog after that publication, so I decided to share it retroactively.

I was honored to be chosen as a guest blogger on PoeWar.com about a year ago. I submitted an article called "Writing as a God" and got some nice comments and attention. (Some of them were even from people I'm not related to! Can you believe it?!)

Anyways, since it has been a year, I hope John won't mind me reposting that article here on my own blog. It'll go up in a few minutes.

Enjoy!

"Great News!" said my wife.

2009-05-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

She said "It's good news; we are now free to submit On Common Ground to new agents/publishers, because Mundania Press turned it down! OK, granted, it wasn't quite the great news we were hoping to hear from them." And she has a point. Two of them.

Each rejection of a work can/should be viewed as a new opportunity to find it a home with someone who really appreciates it. If an editor or publisher offers a contract, but doesn't really believe in the work, they aren't going to be giving it their best shot while simultaneously tying up its possibilities elsewhere. So, it should soon be venturing out again on missives with the mission of finding its rightful place in the publishing world.

Yes, naturally, I'm a little a disappointed, but I am trying to look at the bright sides: Mundania doesn't pay advances, and many other publishers do. Perhaps, in addition to landing a publishing contract, On Common Ground will also bring home a nice pretty advance check. (Always welcome.) Also, though I don't have any actual issue with the printing format, I'm not quite as fond of the larger-sized paperbacks so now perhaps it'll be in the more common trade paperback style.

However, when you boil it all down, it got rejected and that never feels quite as nice as a chocolate-covered banana split with sprinkles. In the words of one of my 8th grade students, "Well, they're just stupid-heads and they should have bought it!" [Specific terminology changed to protect the less-than-innocent.]

What Dreams May Come... and go?

2009-04-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I wake up with a story in my head. Played out in a dream and beautifully original and fresh, it's all mapped out and ready to be written, or at the very least, the big ideas are lined up and I can make notes for writing later before I roll back over to sleep.

Samual Taylor Coleridge wrote on this concept regarding the poem "Kubla Khan." He woke from a dream *cough*opium*cough* with a gorgeous poem in his head and started writing, only to be interrupted by a neighbor asking for sugar. This neighbor stayed so long that when Coleridge returned to his writing, the remains of the poem were lost, and thus we only have 54 lines of the amazing epic.

Well, I normally keep a notepad by my bed with a pen or pencil to prevent such losses, but last night it wasn't there or I didn't think about it, or, for whatever reason, I rolled over on a dream for a short story.

It was something about a couple in a large house who had this business of selling dogs. And they were wonderful dogs, about any breed you could think of. Well, they go on vacation and this guy, Elsie (possibly Tovar was his last name?), is asked to watch the house. Turns out they make the dogs magically or something. Shrug, as I said, I lost the rest. The most notable things in my mind now are the image of the office/waiting area where they bring in the dogs to meet the buyers, and the fellow's name, Elsie Tovar(?). Yes, his name was Elsie, but I like it. I may end up using it anyway.

And if I do, you readers will be the only ones to know that Elsie didn't start as whatever he might end up being, but as a babysitter for dogs in a dream.

Redesign and Expansion of Site

2009-04-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

Well, the past few days have been a lot of fun and energy poured into retooling the DavidJace.com website. I think it looks great, thanks to my web-designer/agent/wife! Not only is there a new look to the site overall, but we've also added a new section of literature, as well as deeper pages of information on certain writings!

The new lit section is Poetry, which currently holds just a few poems, but clicking them will take you to the poem, so there's a little more actual content on the site now, which is nice.
The more exciting part to me, however, is in the novel section! Certain titles are now links, taking you to pages with more information and even character photos/bios! (I'd like to thank the developers of HeroMachine for allowing us to use their technology to help create some of characters shots.) More changes and developments will be coming down the pipe, and I'm very excited about the future of the site.

Just to keep you updated, we've not heard from Asimov's on Derek Daniels, nor Mundania regarding On Common Ground yet.

Coming down the mountain like a fountain...

2009-02-24T06:37:00.000-08:00

So, after my last post, we got Derek Daniels: The Nanite Chaser readied and sent off to Asimov's Writers of the Future. Yes, it's true, we sent Nixie there and she came back sad, but we are hoping Derek Daniels finds better fortune.

And, you may be asking, where is all my writing? Why am I not (hmm there isn't a contraction for am not. Interesting. Perhaps "ain't" fills that gap?) blogging on my current writing project? Well, the answer dear readers (yes, I have the vain hope that there is more than one reader to my blog.) is that I have other non-writing projects clouding my plate currently.

I am taking the last two classes to finish my degree and trying to keep all the degree and certification and licensure programs on track so that I can be teaching in the fall. I am also working with two different schools and districts during the week, limiting my "@home" time to evenings and weekends, which is when I am trying to study and do assignments, etc.

And, please, let's not forget. I also have a life! (A second one, certainly, but a life!) And so, all of these things have combined to slow my writing at the moment. However, they have not slowed my imagination, nor the projects themselves. I may not be writing, but the ideas have continued to come, and I have been secretly squirreling away the nuggets and letting them grow and develop and plan until they will eventually blossom into World Domination!! I mean, blossom into wonderful stories that will pour forth from my keyboard like a literary fountain.

back burners

2009-02-14T21:45:00.000-08:00

So, I currently have a ridiculous number of projects on the back burners and nothing boiling on the front. And, of course, I've got two different versions of back burner, too: Finished pieces not in submission and works that need to get finished.

Among those are the novels that have been started, but not finished:
ANTHRO, a novel about a DNA-altering virus.
Wanted: A Few Good Men, a story of hand-picked and created super heroes.

And Novels that have been conceived but not begun, like:
Hero Games, a novel surrounding the Beta testers of a unique full-immersion VR computer game, a MUDD of player-designed super heroes, until they discover just how uniquely realistic the game is!
Metal Heart, the story of a robot house manager who is in love with his owner.
And an untitled Murdering Werewolf mystery where a detective is trying to find a killer among a world that has accepted and embraced the ostracized mythic and legendary races and creatures of the past, with a few limitations and requirements.

As well as some Short Stories, such as:
Full Moon Rising, a story about a werewolf born to werewolf-hunter parents.
And more from the world of Derek Daniels: The Nanite Chaser

And, of course, there are the projects completed but not currently being submitted anywhere:
Derek Daniels:The Nanite Chaser
Nixie
Childish Beliefs
As Life Goes By

So, I am confronted by the question of what to do about this. I do have my day job and my studies to consider, as well as getting certified to teach. But neither do I want my writing to subside. So, I guess the question remains, for now, unanswered.

David Jace hits the web...

2009-02-11T19:09:00.000-08:00

Well, here I come into the digital age.

For my first blog post, I'm a little tired and mostly just getting things setup.

Nixie was submitted to Asimov's Writers of the Future contest for the fourth quarter of 2008.
~She lost.

Derek Daniels: The Nanite Chaser was submitted to Fantasy & Science Fiction.
~And got rejected.

On Common Ground was submitted to Mundania Press on Halloween '08.
~And is currently still under consideration, awaiting response.

So, cross your fingers for Gabe, Grace, & Luke!

Hopefully Nixie and Derek Daniels will also soon be once more out there looking for a home.