July 12, 2006
A VAGUELY DIFFERENT LOOK
I've decided to give WordPress the boot. I just don't like it. For the near future -- like while I'm on vacation -- this classy, pre-made design will have to suffice. I have an entire new layout already designed, but not enought time to implement it before I leave Friday.
When I do return next week, no longer will I be transferring JBdN and the 'Logue over to TypePad . . .
Because Movable Type 3.3 was just released today, and till the end of August is allowing personal accounts to have unlimited blogs and users. So when I come back I'll upgrade, and make everything fine once more.
JAB
P.S. - If any of you would like to receive an update whenever I update the Novelogue, fire off an email to josh-joshbales-dot-net with "THE 'LOGUE IS MY GOD" in the subject header, and I'll add you.
Posted by Josh at 8:06 PM | Comments (0)
July 6, 2006
KILL YOUR DARLINGS or CHAPTER ONE BETA
The interesting, odd, and occasionally aggravating thing about writing is that your story is ever-changing. You think you know exactly how everything is going to turn out, and then BAM! -- the characters start running the show and then they're carrying the plot in new, unforeseen ways. Or you write a chapter, realize that while it's not bad, certainly not great, but it it doesn't do a goddamn thing to move the story along. And then you have to get rid of it, because if something doesn't move the story along, even if it's a really funny character developing scene, it should go. Hence the title of this post.
I'm chucking most of chapter one. It's rough and boring in spots (I usually add most of my funny and clever dialogue and stuff in the rewrite portion), but it's got a number of things I like: the prologue, the Jesus clock, and the entire end section where the protagonist is driving to the party. As I outlined to Nate earlier, I came up with a much better idea for a chapter one this morning; one that features the parts I liked from the original, more engaging dialogue involving other characters (fanboys at a convention), and is a little shorter. There's more opportunity for humor here, and I can avoid writing a lot of the wife's dialogue, which -- aside from not liking -- came off as boring and wooden in my opinion. (My own damn fault -- I made her sound too much like the other protagonist.)
I debated whether I should mention this, even considered killing the blog, since upon realization that chapter one had to go, I went through a little spell of self-doubt and self-loathing in regards to the whole writing thing. Now a little while later, and much more calmness, I'm still determined to write this thing, and more importantly I think I can pull it off. And if this is a whole recounting of a novel-in-progress like I say it is, there has to be some failure. That's why I present for you here the entirety of the failed chapter one that never will be. I like to call it Chapter One Beta.
Though before you read on, I suggest you go read the Prologue first, as the whole thing will make a bit more sense.
Continue reading "KILL YOUR DARLINGS or CHAPTER ONE BETA"
Posted by Josh at 11:23 PM | Comments (1)
June 30, 2006
CHAPTER ONE ES FINITO
A little more than an hour's work tonight, and Chapter One is now in the bag. I think -- and this may be wrong, because I'm not the most impartial person in the world -- this scene is some of my best writing yet. The pacing is solid, you don't see what's coming directly (literally!), and it's pretty entertaining. Exactly what a book should be, in my opinion. The whole shebang, Prologue and Chapter One, is about 6,700 words. The goal, length-wise, that I set for myself is 75,000 words -- about 330 pages.
I'll go over it all in the next few days, then send it out to some Bringers of Death (note -- see last entry). While they look it over, I'll be starting Chapter Two. And so on, hopefully, throughout the course of the book.
JAB
Posted by Josh at 10:59 PM | Comments (2)
June 29, 2006
LONG AND WINDING ROAD
It's been a couple of weeks since the last post, but I have been writing in the meanwhile. Nearly done Chapter One. One scene left, where the main character dies . . . and then the story starts moving. Trust me: it's not as odd as it sounds, and it's most certainly not lame.
So where's the story stuff I've been promising since the beginning of the Novelogue? Well . . . here's the thing. I could post the stuff in its roughest form and then bear your comments. But like I said, it's rough, and not at its most . . . polished. Henceforth I've decided that before I post stuff, I'll send the finished chapter to a couple of my readers, whom I have decided to lovingly call my Bringers of Death. These bringers can help me get the chapters at least in decent shape, and then I'll post 'em here. So it might take longer for you the reader to get your hands on some Thirty Well Spent, but I think you'll enjoy it better in the long run.
JAB
Posted by Josh at 8:31 PM | Comments (2)
June 16, 2006
I GOT DEM SCENE-WRITING BLUES
Like the accumulation of shit in a cow pasture, work on Thirty Well Spent slowly but surely progresses.
Maybe that's not the most sterling metaphor I could have used, but it works, damn it.
I spent the earlier part of the week going over some short stories and researching several publications to send them to, publications that can and will cheerfully reject them. But regardless I'll cheerfully send them back out again.
Wednesday I finally finished a tough scene in chapter one. It was one of those that I didn't really want to write, not because it's a shitty scene, but because it's a bridge to a scene that I really want to write. What's written might not be the greatest thing I've ever crafted, but at least it's down on paper . . . er, the computer. I can always go back and rewrite it if I feel like it. Then on Thursday I polished the prologue, making it flow a lot better, and adding in a description of one of the main characters. That's one of those stupid things I can't believe I forgot to put in. I was so focused on getting the two characters' dialogue and interaction down that I left it out. Speaking of the prologue, I think I might just rename it Chapter One. It's sort of gotten away from what a prologue usually is thought of. You'll see what I'm talking about when I post it, probably sometime next week, the same time that the new layout will (hopefully) debut.
JAB
Posted by Josh at 8:57 PM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2006
SUBMITTED
One "The Last Echo of Humanity" to the fine folks at Strange Horizons. Here's hoping someone actually buys something I've written . . . though I doubt it.
Even though I spent the last hour revising and formatting "LEoH," I still was able to produce 1200 words in Thirty Well Spent earlier. (Thank God for nice weather.) At this pace, I should have chapter one finished in a few days.
Now it's time to eat some pie.
JAB
Posted by Josh at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2006
GOINGS ONS
Been busy the last few days. After rereading the prologue yesterday, I decided that it didn't work written in third person. The rest of the book is in first person, and it's jarring going from third to first, especially so early in the book. My original intent was to have the prologue and epilogue bookend the story, and not just because they're at the beginning and the end. They were both going to be written in the third person, and be set 20 Years Ago and 20 Years Later, respectively. What makes it more interesting is the fact that nearly 1,000 years passes from page 1 to the very last. But as it stands now, I think the entire thing should be in the same tense. Since we had a spot of nice weather today, I took lappy out back and rewrote the prologue in short order. Rereading it again, the transition from prologue to chapter 1 is much better.
I also spent the last day or two tinkering with a layout for the Novelogue. I want something spartan and kinda catchy to the eye. This is what I have so far. Whadja think?
The weatherman predicts sunny and upper-seventies for the rest of the week. Even though my aunt's coming out to sat for the week, I hope to get a fair bit of writing accomplished. I'll probably be posting the prologue by the end of the week. I should also probably tell some people that this little sideblog exists, too.
JAB
Posted by Josh at 7:00 PM | Comments (3)
June 10, 2006
NOTHING WRONG WITH A LITTLE EXPERIMENTATION
Hello, all. Welcome to Joshua Bales's Novelogue!
"What the hell is a novelogue?" might be your first question.
"Why the hell should I care?" is probably your second.
Both are excellent questions. I'll begin with the first. The Novelogue serves two purpose, in my mind. One is for me to get my feet wet in regards to using WordPress. That's right -- I'm one of those Movable Type refugees. I'll be honest: I like MT. Been using it for going on four years now. I'd still be using it with great enthusiasm if it weren't for the fact that my other blog gets, on average, about four hundred pieces of spam a day. I could upgrade to MT 3.2, which supposedly possesses much-improved spam-fighting plug-ins . . . but that would cost money. I can easily afford it; I just don't want to spend the money. Instead, I've been hearing good things about WordPress: It's free, easy to install, fights spam quite well. I didn't want to completely jump ship with my other blog -- yet -- so using WP to create the Novelogue seemed liked a good idea.
The other purpose of le Novelogue is for me to document the creation of a novel. I began, like a billion other schlubs in the world, working on a book two weeks ago. It's a science fiction tale called Thirty Well Spent, a sort of light-hearted time travel story. I intend for it to be somewhere in the range of 70 to 80,000 words when finished. I'm not a terribly fast writer. I mostly work in fits and starts, so it'll probably take me a while to finish it. Once finished chapters reach a point where I don't necessarily hate them, I'll post them here for your reading pleasure and feedback. I've read a number of accounts where sci-fi first-time novelists posted their novels on their web sites, which were then bought my editors and published for realsie (John Scalzi and Cory Doctorow come to mind). That's not my main purpose for doing this, but hey, if it were to happen -- I wouldn't complain.
As for the second question, the one about you, the reader, giving a shit . . . well, if you'd like to read about the travails of a first-time novelist churning out his bilge like so many monkeys, then stick around. Feel free to also stay if you're only interested in giving me shit. Be aware, though, I respond in kind. If you're an asshole to me, I'll be an asshole right back.
That's about it. Most posts won't usually be this long. I also have no idea how frequent they'll be, either. Guess we'll all just have to wait and see.
JAB
Posted by Josh at 11:20 AM | Comments (3)