The journey continues

I sat down twice to write today, which is pretty normal for this time of the week. On a normal week. Looks like perhaps this week is a return to normality when it comes to writing.

Stats are a rather large part of my writing process and my motivations for writing. It gives me a sort of road map, and shows me how things are going. So, at this point of the project, probably near about 50% of the way through the novel, lets throw open the hood and see what’s underneath.

I’m just a bit shy of 55,000 words so far. I started the project in September of last year. My words per hour stat has been trending downwards a little, but jumped back up last month to around 1,800 words per hour. Total number of hours actually spent on the novel so far on first draft? 29.5 hours. My first month was my most productive so far, with around 20,000 words written in that month alone.

I figure that the story is heading into it’s second half. I’m aiming at about 100,000 words but not really keeping huge tabs on much else than pacing and making sure that things happen as they should. I know there is stuff that’s going to need addressing once draft one is done, but again, it’s a matter of just getting the words down to start with.

I find that it’s very easy to get oneself down on the process of writing. Your mind (even a published authors mind) continuously fights with you in your endeavor. I can ignore most of the usual ones that pop up on the day to day, but the one that my mind has grabbed onto is around the length of time it’s taken to get this draft complete. I wrote Street Dreams in about 2 and half months, that’s 95,000 words on first draft. Why aren’t I doing as well as that?

I find that stats like these help me at least to look at the positive. They’re cold, hard facts for the positive. My high word count and the time I’ve actually spent in terms of hours paint a bit of a nicer picture. Sure, this hasn’t taken 2 and half months, but I do have the statistics on Street Dreams still. If I challenged my doubting mind to go back and compare stats other than the length of the project, I’m sure I’d be spending about the same man-hours on it.

As always, get your ass on the seat behind the keyboard and write. No matter what it takes.

Review; Sherlock vs Tintin vs Cowboys

During my week off I managed to stuff myself with a number of films. It’s been a while since I’ve seen any, let alone so many back to back to back. So, what remains here is a triple feature of mini reviews. A veritable Battle Royale. Which film will come out tops?

Squaring off in this event are three films that I’ve been meaning to see for a while. Well, I didn’t exactly have a burning desire to see the first, but I was interested to see what it was like. Sherlock Holmes; a Game of Shadows. The Adventures of Tintin. 3:10 to Yuma. Three fairly diverse films.

Firstly, Sherlock Holmes. Love the first film, or hate it, it certainly bought a fairly fresh take on the dusty old hero (it’s been done better since, in my opinion, by the BBC). Hinted at in the first film, this one brings us face to face with Sherlocks arch nemesis, Moriarty. It has the makings of a good film, what with the stylistic choices that made the first film so unique.

Pity it sucked.

If you’re going to put Sherlock up against his equal intellectually, you’d do better by making him a little smarter. Perhaps it says something of the audience that the film is pitched at (really, Sherlocks not that smart in this film, or its predecessor) but if you can’t guess Moriarty’s master scheme in the first 2 minutes then maybe this might be your sort of film. Sherlock pulls Doctor Watson back from his wedding with ‘just one more case’ which is almost as boring as the film itself.

The things that were rather cool in the first film, like Sherlock thinking through his fights are overused here. Even the twist on that idea turns out boring when the fights moving at a snails pace. The bullet time sequences are just as bad. I considered walking out. Staying to its conclusion didn’t do much to improve my outlook on it.

Sherlock does not win this fight.

The Adventures of Tintin are something that I grew up with, along with Asterix. Steven Spielburg and Peter Jackson teamed up for a trip into something that the early trailers made look like Uncanny Valley. Later trailers sold me. This film was going to look good. I shelled out just a little more to watch it in 3D. Instead, it might have sold me off 3D films forever. It added nothing to the experience, perhaps even less than the last 3D film I saw; Thor.

The things that made Tintin a great graphic novel were perhaps just a little stodgy when applied to the big screen. Tintin follows things clue to clue to clue (it’s certainly more fun than watching Sherlock deduct his way through his own mystery). Unfortunately, he spends a large amount of that time initially talking to his dog Snowy, which works fine in the graphic novel, but bordered on annoying here.

I liked this film, though. It certainly isn’t going to win Oscars for best film, but it was an enjoyable ride that lingered almost on the Indiana Jones at points. It could have done with a little more spoken comedy to balance the drunken slapstick antics of Haddock, which weren’t all that funny. But the visuals more than made up for a bit of a muddled plot that hashed together about three or so of the novels. The ending was just strangely placed. Pity they had to set up for more adventures.

All in all, easily better than Sherlock Holmes.

Which brings us to the final film, 3:10 to Yuma, a film that I’ve been told to see any number of times. It’s a pity that I played Red Dead Redemption before it, because there’s a bit in common between the two at key points. At it’s heart, a fairly tightly plotted and well paced western about a farmer who happens across one of the territories most notorious outlaws busy doing what he does best. Christian Bale plays the farmer with a past, opposite Russell Crowe as the restrained outlaw.

Both actors are excellent in what is a by the books film of its genre. Plenty of everything we need in a good western too. Guns, men with dry expressions and even drier words. Throw in Pinkerton agents, a few horseback chases and a true western ending you can see a mile off, and you have a great film. I wouldn’t say that it stands too close to something like True Grit, but it comes close.

So out of these three films, it would be 3:10 to Yuma that comes out on top. I’d say that the degrees of difference in these three were fairly wide too, from poor, to fine, to good. Now if only I’d gotten to see the Muppets as well, it would have been fun to throw that one into the mix.

A lack of resolutions

Last week was my first time off in a while. I figure that I needed the downtime given my Christmas/New Years period, and even then, it was a shade of how much time I should have taken. I came close to recharging. Probably enough to keep me going until the next time I have time off. And that won’t be all that far away.

Writing suffered during my downtime though, and I didn’t get a word down at all. I have been involved in a few other things, putting together answers for an interview with Bold Strokes, my publisher, and now weening 300 words that best represents my novel for an excerpt.

Tuhere and his journey across the One Nation is a trip that feels almost as long as the Lord of the Rings trilogy at the moment. At around 50,000 words in, and probably four months spent writing, it’s been a hell of a slog. It’s also one that’s been interrupted with a promotion to a more taxing position at work, as well as other writing commitments.

As January slides on I’m rather aware of the many New Years Resolutions posts that have gone out. I used to believe in them, and then I began to peg them back to things far more attainable. This year I’m all for throwing them out entirely. Although the mind is a powerful tool, especially when equipped with goals, I’d rather stick with more short term ones. I have no idea what I’ll be doing in 6 months time when it comes to writing. In the very least, done with draft one of this novel.

Right now, Tuhere is stuck on a hill with his companions behind him, sword in hand, ready to deal with yet another assault. Time to get him off this hill and onto the next.

Status report

I’ve been heavily ensconced in proofing, the final task for me in my path to getting Street Dreams published. And now that’s done, all I have to do is sit around and wait for March. January is the month that it goes to print, so I’ve turned in a list of corrections that need to be made and approved the cover and such.

Am I excited yet? More nervous, to tell the truth. My mind it filled with too many other thoughts that ‘you’re now a published novelist!’. The all too reasonable part of my mind replies ‘yes, I already know that’.

There’s a distinct lack of New Years posts here. I haven’t thought about goals for this year, and every year that passes they become more and more modest. Other than writing and getting published again, there’s not a lot of goals on my mind. Having worked through Christmas / New Years, there’s not a lot on my mind, full stop.

I’ve been hacking away at my new novel, the progress of which has been decidedly haphazard. December is not a good month to write, when you’re working through. Neither’s January, by that extension.

Skyrim has lost it’s grip on me. It had after about two weeks when I got it. I’ll go back there again one day. It’s a fun place to go to.

Minecraft continues to hold it’s grip on me, I’m still waiting for an official update to the game that releases something cool.

I’ve started watching Star Trek: Enterprise. In lack of any new Star Trek series even rumored, this is the best I have. Certainly so far, it’s better than Voyager. I have a very hard time imagining that this came before the original series. It sort of exists in a null space for me.

I have watched a number of movies. I should get back to ranting about movies again on my blog.

Oh, and having read through Street Dreams again, this time I have noted down every mention of music in it. It’s a more comprehensive list that I suspected, but it’s one I think I can easily put together. Watch for that in an upcoming post.

For now though. Coffee.

Update from the trenches

I’d like to say that I’ve been on holiday, but alas, I’ve been working through the Christmas and New Years. Work at the moment is putting somewhat of a downer on the novel project. I have at least broken the doldrums of the 40,000′s. For a while there, I was making excellent progress.

Still, at the moment that’s on pause for final proofs of Street Dreams. It’s curious to be revisiting the novel again, and a process that just cements in my mind that I want to go the traditional route, rather than self publishing.

Sure, I’ve written the novel, but reading through the final proof makes me realize that many hands have got it into the form that it is in today. My editor, the proof readers. Those that have put it into the final proof. The cover artist. A whole team of people besides myself to bring the book to its published state. All those people are invaluable, people that would be lacking in self publishing.

Final proofs also gives me a chance to pull out all the music that featured in the book so that I can make a post on that subject. Music was always a strong theme of the book. It is one that sort of places it on a local timeline in terms of when that music was released, but it’s also probably one of the strongest periods of local hip hop.

Two days downtime, back to work again on Wednesday. Starting to feel a little like Tyson at the moment. Let’s hope I get some leave sometime soon.

Writers block

I’ve come to believe that writers block is hardly ever as dramatic as the films might make you think. Sitting at a typewriter trying to peck out your first line, only to tear it up and write a variation. Doesn’t happen. Well, at least, it’s not happened to me. That situation to me seems like what would happen to someone who actually had no idea what to write in the first place.

Writers block is something a little more sinister in my mind. It’s not even the little birds that people talk about, that sit on your shoulder and whisper doubtful words in your ears. I’m passed that. Another thing that comes with having written most of your life. Even that isn’t the block.

No. Writers block is merely the inability to get ass on seat, words on page. For me it’s the excuses that whisper in my head now, not the birds of doubt. It’s the things I can identify, and it’s the things I can’t. It’s the over thinking of the reasons why my word count might not be where it should be. It’s delaying to lunchtime what I can’t be assed doing now. It’s delaying till tomorrow what I can’t be assed doing at lunchtime. It’s justifying that no, I’ll start again tomorrow. I’ll recommit tomorrow to a new plan that might get my ass into gear.

It’s just plain laziness.

There’s a sure fire way to cure writers block, I find. Write. Get back into a pattern of writing on a regular basis. Get back to thinking about writing because you’re writing enough that it’s on your mind all the time. Then you know exactly what needs to be done when you sit down next.

But some days it’s a breeze, and some days it’s a slog. And some days drag into weeks. As much as you tell yourself otherwise.

It puts the writing in the basket

I’ve decided that for this writing week I’ll write until I die. Write every available moment. Put the writing in the basket (else it gets the hose again). Whatever you’d like to call it, it generally means I’ll write my ass off. So realistically, how’s that working out?

I have about twice the available time now, writing both before work and during lunch times. Technically, I’d also be writing after work, something I should be doing now.

Part of my consternation is my perceived lack of progress on this project. Three months down and I’m sitting at about 45,000 words. For someone whose kicked out novels in half the time, this is something of a stumbling block. Something that might be getting in my way of kicking through the midway doldrums of the novel.

The hardest bit is the first few days. I think that I’ve been sitting on the first few days of a decent run for a while now. When it comes to situations like this, I find the best thing to do is trick the mind with whatever works. And sometimes that requires a few different stabs and a few different strategies.

On music

Music is a big part of my life, although it’s a bit of a sticking point with me at the moment. In the 90′s, a time when I was probably doing the most of my growing and going to university, music was a huge part of my life. It helped define me I think. I spend more of my music time now lamenting how nothing urban matches up with the 90s.

One of the things about B-Boy Blues, a book by James Earl Hardy was the fact that here was a bunch of colored gay characters doing every day things that I did. Including listening to the music I did at the time.

Music is just as big a part of my novel Street Dreams as well, something I was very conscious about when writing. Tyson was growing up like I was growing up. Dealing with his sexuality but also aware of the music of the period around him. It serves as a soundtrack to ones life, putting memories on a timeline.

I’m busy putting together a list of all the tracks that Tyson listened to over the length of the book. It’s an interesting exercise. I’m also rather acutely aware of the fact that if I go back to Tyson I have to face the question of what he’s listening to these days. Like the fact urban music today isn’t up to the scratch of 90′s music, local hip hop is almost non existant next to the music of Tyson’s life during Street Dreams. That’s a question I’ll have to face if I go back to him. It’s one that might have an interesting answer.

The age of music is something that I’m probably becoming more acutely aware of as I get older. I was listening to the radio today and while the Game was rapping about it never raining in Southern California, I instantly thought of Albert Hammond before I thought of Tony! Toni! Tone!. The earlier of those two tracks is probably older than I am.

During his darkest time in Street Dreams Tyson was listening to Nina Simone (the original, rather than the version that turned up on the Kill Bill soundtrack, which has it’s own kick ass charms), one of two tracks that weren’t New Zealand related. Like where Tyson was dipping into his fathers collection, I’m rather aware of the music of my parents generation, which I grew up with as well. At the same time, I’m disarmed with the age of it. ELO released this track when I was 1.

Urban music recently at least hasn’t left me with many defining memories or impressions as the music of Tyson’s time (early 00′s local hip hop) growing up, or my own (90′s urban). I wonder if in 20 or 30 years I’ll look back and wonder at the music of the period as much as I do with those of my past. By then, the music I remember from my childhood will be pushing way passed half a decade old.

Back to writing. Which at the moment is a fairly silent affair.

On writing

As I mentioned briefly in my last point, my novel is up on Amazon. It’s also up on Goodreads as well, where it’s got itself two rather positive reviews. Becoming a sold novelist is something that’s hitting me somewhat in stages. Getting the acceptance email, signing the contract, seeing it up on Amazon, and now, reading reviews for it.

This is maybe one thing that’s hit me hardest about it all. Tyson’s very real in my own mind, that’s just the process of writing. I spent more months than I know with him, writing, editing. A year or two while he found a home. I know him and he’s very real.

It’s another thing seeing peoples reaction to him, caring for him like I care for him. Worried for him, rooting for him. It’s one thing for something you’ve created to be real for yourself, its entirely another when it’s real for someone else as well. Or more than a few someones. That’s a kind of magic in my mind. The stuff of dreams made real.

Does make me rather miss Tyson and his crew.

I’ve climbed the employment ladder another rung at work, something that’s seen a shift in my work hours, and a permanency in my days. I thrive on regularity, and so does my writing. Starting a little later in the day may see me writing before work, rather than during lunchtime. I’m hoping that this might see my writing productivity going up, given that it will be in the morning, rather than part way through what are usually fairly full on days.

Last count, I think I was around 37,000 or 38,000 words. The end is no where in sight, but at least things will get a little more spicy from here on in.  Off to create some more magic.

Poirot and the Doctor?

I generally need next to no reason at all to pimp Ruzkin on this blog. But here’s a few good reasons, starting with that cover right there. Never judge a book by it’s cover? Yeah, right. This one pretty much sums up perfectly what makes this particular Ruzkin short so interesting.

Poirot and the Doctor is just one of a whole number of short stories that Christopher Ruz is releasing on the Kindle at the moment. I won’t talk about the plot behind it. I’ve dropped my review of it over on the Amazon entry for the short story, and the full description is up over there as well.

And speaking of reviews, I’ve read two advance reviews of Street Dreams, my novel which drops next March. Wow. Not only am I somewhat lost for words, but it’s given me a few realisations as a writer, but I might save that for another post.

In the meanwhile get over to Amazon and check out some Ruzkin goodness! And while you’re there, I’m on Amazon too!