This blog post is a game plan for writing. I am posting it
online because if I just kept it on my computer I would call it something
stupid and generic like List or just hit some random keys like adafd and then I
would delete in a month or so when I couldn't remember what it was anymore. So
you might find this boring but I am going to refer back to it frequently.
See, the problem is that whenever I finish something, I just
start a new project and ignore the huge pile of half-finished novels sitting in
a folder on my desktop, on flash drives, and on my wife's computer. So I am
going to go around find all of my partially finished novels and set up a game
plan and some achievable goals for getting everything done. So I'll be back in
just a sec…
Okay, so I'm done. I have to say I am surprised at just how
much stuff I found. Anyway here are the projects, the current word count, and a
one sentence description. The stuff I found that I can't give a one sentence
description of is going in the recycle bin right now.
1.
Blood Plague War- Set in a fantasy land this is
the story of a group of plague survivors who have to learn how to survive once
civilization collapses. I didn't shelve this one, I actually finished it, but
going back through on my first reread I decided that I needed to rewrite the
last 30,000 or so words. The story does not end the way it should. Word count:
About 50,000
2.
YA Superhero novel- The story of earth's last
superheroes dealing with an alien occupation of the planet. Originally a YA
nanowrimo novel I lost the flash drive with this one on it. Like BPW above I
have about 30,000 words or so left, and a very clear outline. Word Count:
36,437
3.
History of Blood- The first person diary of a
vampire, following his life from prehistoric times to the present. This one
took so much time to research, I kept feeling bogged down. And I was starting
to think it might actually work better as a series of short stories each set in
a different time period. Current Word
Count: 23,590
4.
Godswar- As the gods war in heaven a god his
struck down and falls to earth, forgetting who he is, his power, and the secret
that will stop the war in the heavens. I
got stuck on this one, there is no other way to put it. It was really hard to
find a conflict worthy of the protagonist. I mean what could really pose a
danger to a god except another god? And who many times can you play out that scenario
before it gets stale? About 40,000 words left to write. Current Word Count:
45,694
5.
The Rising Dark: The story of living darkness
swallowing a fantasy land, and the people trying to stop it. I stopped writing
this one when I watched a movie and read a novel with same plot, within two
weeks of starting it. Sigh, I thought it was such an original idea too. Current
Word Count: 12,489
6.
Veil of Embers: Set in a fantasy world, the story of a volcano
threatening to erupt and the people trying to stop it, who soon discover that
the eruption might not be altogether natural.
I started writing this because I had created a fantasy world for a short
story that I loved and watched a documentary on Pompei in the same week. It
didn't take long to realize that the characters were too weak and one dimensional
to carry the story. Current Word Count: 8,490
7.
The Well: Set in a fantasy world the story of a
necromancer who must keep a magical artifact from the hands of the invading
barbarians, he soon discovers that the uncivilized tribesmen are not the only
threat to the kingdom. Another attempt
at setting a story in that fantasy world I loved. This one got so confusing
that after just three chapters I couldn't keep track of everything, a reader would
just throw it away in frustration. Current Word Count: 9,890
8.
Empire's End: The story of various people
effected by a warlord's desire to create an empire. I just kept going down the
wrong path with this one and then gave up. I have a folder of material I cut,
and altogether there is about 30,000 words of stuff I think I will just have to
throw away. Current Word Count: 15,890
9.
Everdawn Chronicles: My newest project, just
started last week. It is a little too new to summarize in a sentence. Okay, I
lied it isn’t going in the trash. But two other ones did. Current Word Count:
7698
Okay there they are nine different
novels that are partially done. Didn't think there would be so many when I
started writing this. I had totally forgotten about a couple of those. Also,
though it is barely started (less than 1000 words in) I want to write an adult
choose your own adventure zombie novel, just for the heck of it. By adult I
mean written for an adult audience not sexy time with zombies (gross).
TO DO LIST
Finish Blood Plague: I plotted out
how it should end, just never got around to writing it.
Finish the YA superhero novel: It
is a really fun story, and I got to use some of the characters I made for my
Marvel Super Heroes role playing game back in the day. It will be a nice change
of pace, plus again I know what needs to be written. I can probably do some of
the plot stuff below while I am writing it.
Reread History of Blood decide if
it should be short stories or a novel. If it is short stories write a few as I
go through the stuff below.
Reread Godswar: Try to figure out
where to go next, I wrote this almost three years ago and the details are a
little hazy.
Take the characters from The Well
and put them in Veil of Embers. It should be an almost seamless switch over. Delete
what I have written for both of them.
Look over Rising Dark and see if
there is a way I can make it more unique. If I can't it needs to go in the
recycle bin.
Write Empire's End
Write a CYOA zombie novel
Write Everdawn Chronicles
Wow. That should to keep me busy
for a few years, plus I know I am going to get at least a few new ideas here
and there that I will have to fit in there somewhere. I am going to set my new
writing goal at…hmmm…how about 5000 words a week? That should not be too hard
to keep up and will give me something novel length in about 16 weeks. If I
don't keep up with my goals and my to do list you have full permission to mock
me horribly. After all, ridicule is a great motivator.
.
