A NaNo loss:

Well, I didn't win NaNo this year, but I did double the size of my work in progress while working full time and studying 30+ hours a week. So it's a loss I'm willing to take :)

On the bright side, school is winding down for the semester and that means I will soon have more time to read and write. I also just got back the covers for the two new ebooks I will be releasing this month, and they look fantastic. One will be up tomorrow or the next day, and I'll blog about it at that time.

NaNoWriMo:

For years I have resisted NaNoWriMo.

I learned of the existence of National Novel Writing Month five years ago, back when I was married. My ex-wife was always an 'aspiring writer' who managed to get 30 - 40 thousand words done in November but barely any during the rest of the year. My path was different in that I wrote 3 - 5 thousand words a month consistently with some spurts up to 15 thousand when I wasn't juggling school and full time employment.

To me it is sad when someone with talent (I admit freely she is a talented writer, and I hope she decides to give writing her full attention someday) only puts in effort during a short span and only because someone told them to. After watching my ex-wife say all year how she really wanted to write for a living but only do any real work during November, I figured NaNoWriMo wasn't really all that helpful. If it worked, wouldn't she be finishing all the novels she started in November?

Of course that's not entirely accurate.

The spirit of the individual counts for much. My ex-wife used NaNoWriMo as a sort of crafts project. Sure, she wanted to be a writer but it was in much the same way I wanted to be a fighter pilot when I was in 3rd grade or the way people would love to win the lottery. It's a dream that probably won't come true, but it makes someone feel like they have something big ahead of them.

This year I began to think about things in a different way. Thousands of people have completed NaNoWriMo including authors I think are amazing. Hugh Howey and Brandon Sanderson come to mind immediately and there are many others. Many of these individuals come back to NaNo every year, even after finding success. If these ultra-successful writers find value in NaNoWriMo, what am I not seeing?

So this year I've decided to join. I'm not sure I will write 50,000 words during the month (that would be far and away a new record for me, my biggest month ever is less than half that) but I know I will learn something by the end of it. Strangely enough, I find myself looking forward to shoehorning a massive amount of work into a month where I really don't have any additional time.

If you want to follow the journey my username is VAAndrews. Feel free to send some encouragement!

Ha! Game Developers Know the Darnedest Things:

I've been a huge fan of The Elder Scrolls games since Morrowind, and probably would have been playing Daggerfall and Arena if I owned a computer at that point. Either way, it's hard not to be blown away by how much Bethesda packs into every one of those games. I always knew there were a bunch of cultural influences, but it never occurred to me to check some of the slang in the game.

For example, Dunmer (or Dark Elves) call the player's character, 'Sera' throughout the game. They will say things like, 'Hail Sera!' as the character wanders through towns. It always seemed like a unique word to the world and helped entrench the player in the epic scope of the game.

This morning, for some reason, I decided to Google the word 'Sera' and discovered a link to the Arabian word Seera. Turns out a 'seera' is an Arabic word that describes a biography (i.e. The Seera of Prophet Mohamed) but can also describe the journey through life. And of course, Morrowind is the story of the player's journey to his destiny. What a perfect way to marry a real life word many would not be familiar with to a concept in the game!

Writers tend to do this on a regular basis. A good example of this (as he is with many other interesting writing techniques) is Robert Jordan. An easy example is Jordan giving the Dark One a real name of Shai'tan, which is similar to Shaitan (or the Devil) in Islam. Jordan drew off real figures and names scores of times through the Wheel of Time, including a very interesting homage to General Robert E. Lee in The Great Captain Gareth Bryne.

Either way, I'm even more impressed with Bethesda than I was before, and wonder what other cultural Easter Eggs they've included in their worldbuilding.

Slow going and Fake Excitement:

Over the past couple weeks, it's been slow going on every project I'm working on. The novel isn't moving like it was a couple weeks ago, fixing the short story is taking far more time than I anticipated, and even exercising seems laborious. Work is dreary and draining. School is somewhat better, but not where I need to be. It's almost all just 'blah'.

Generally, when things like this occur it gets to the point where I start to feel resistance in anything I try to do. Ever try to lift something that shouldn't be that heavy, and yet it is? That's where I am.

My martial arts instructor taught me a trick that works well in times like this: Fake excitement.

My first reaction to this was a small amount of skepticism. Only a small amount. Master Park is an amazing person who was one of the catalysts for a dramatic turnaround in my life. So when he talks I listen, even if I'm not sure I believe what he's saying. When I follow the logic eventually I come to the conclusion he's right.

So how does one fake excitement when they don't feel it? It's as easy as it sounds. Approach a project and and decide to be excited about it. "Woo-hoo, I'm cleaning my house!" "I just can't wait to dig into this huge pile of work!"

It sounds cheesy but it works.

For example, over the weekend my to-do list was enormous. Instead of allowing myself to get overwhelmed, I decided to get excited. Not only did I get everything accomplished, I discovered something very interesting about the main character of my novel. Fake excitement when I ask struggling to make progress gave me a new internal conflict, and it's made me genuinely excited to get back to the keyboard.

Speaking of which, it's time to fake some excitement so I can drag myself to the gym.

The Obligatory Government Shutdown Post:

I feel the need to comment on this, mostly because I'm getting bombarded with messages telling me why one side is wonderful and blameless while the other side wants to kill orphans and kick little old ladies or other such nonsense. Since I'm an American and I have skin in the game, let me pin down how I see it:

First, understand that the various sides to this argument all have some measure of blame. No individual is a saint, let alone any particular group. Everyone contributed to at least some of the issues that lead to the shutdown. Who is at fault? Basically all of our elected officials and the Presidential appointees, both those currently serving and the ones who left during the first term. 

Second, can we agree that the main conservative/liberal parties have irreconcilable differences? I'm sure there is middle ground somewhere but the desire to find it is less than the desire to one up 'the other side' in soundbites. Are we all Americans in the end? At one time I thought so. Now it seems to me that we've devolved into bickering cliques who see no redeeming value in 'the other' who dares to have a different point of view. 

It's also important to note that these guys are all talking a completely different game behind the scenes. Reading books on contemporary politics written from a detached, moderate point of view (yes, there are a few) indicates there is a huge difference between the public persona and the behind closed doors men and women. Sort of like how WWE Superstars are not the same person as the character they portray in the ring. 

The difficulty here is that most ordinary people only listen to the soundbites or read blogs/watch news that portrays their particular ideological slant. The mobs of Rome have no idea what goes on in the Patriarch's home. They only hear rumors and innuendo, along with the flowery speeches in the Capital. 

The million dollar question is: How does this play out in the end? 

In my opinion, the shutdown will have far less impact than what will be reported. (Remember how the sequester cuts were going to destroy the economy? Yeah, not so much.) Will it hurt our credit rating or damage the stock market's run? Maybe. Does that matter? Your guess is as good as mine. 

I see some sort of face saving move in the coming days or weeks. One that would allow both sides to claim some sort of moral victory, but can be easily twisted by pundits on the wings. The President will be the savior who delivered the masses from the grip of the evil Republicans, while the Republicans will show the Despot in Chief and his cronies that the middle class is ready to fight the expanding Federal Government. All of which will be nothing more than theatre and ammo for the upcoming midterm elections. 

And none of which will actually solve a darned thing. 

Browns win and update:

Interesting week to be a Browns fan.

First GM Mike Lombardi trades one of our best players (Trent Richardson, quite possibly our biggest weapon on offense) for a potentially good draft pick but a potentially meh one. Then we hear that Lombardi is probably going to trade one or two of our starting Wide Receivers for a 'significant offer', which means absolutely nothing. And finally we discover a player Lombardi has been drooling over for years (Bryan Hoyer, a guy the rest of the league feels is average on his best day) is named the starting Quarterback.

All the news stories come out that the Browns are tanking the season for a shot at a good Quarterback in the draft. And the fans, myself included, were more than a little irritated. Then the Browns do what nobody expected them to do.

They actually won a game.

It wasn't perfect... in fact, it wasn't pretty. But a win is a win and it was nice to see my guys pull it out in the end.

Between the game, hours at the gym, and a dozen hours of homework, I was way too busy on Sunday/Monday. Even so, I managed to get a bunch of progress done on my two projects and finished reading The Hot Gate by John Ringo. Probably my most productive day in months.

Now to make Tuesday even better!

What I’m up to:

Fall is definitely a busy time of year for me. Between graduate school, my job, and seeing family I am pressed for time pretty much every day. Making time to write is absolutely essential, but I don’t get nearly as much done when I am juggling all my different activities.  The goal is to put in effort every single day. If I do that, I am confident the word count will take care of itself.

Right now I am working on a post-apoc novel and finishing up a short novel. I categorize a short novel as anything over 10,000 words but less than 50,000. This is novella or novelette territory for awards, but I don’t really see any difference between the three terms. Short novel is an easy categorization that perfectly displays what I'm writing, so that’s what I’m going to call it.

In the past I have written quite a few short novels and short stories (10,000 words or less) but little in the 50,000 words plus area. The novel length is something I’d like to explore more of, so I’ll be experimenting a bit with the next few books. It would be awesome to have a few post-apoc novels in a row and I think the world I have created is vast enough for a half dozen or more books. We shall see.

The other thing I am working on is reading more. Some people can blow through novels in a day but honestly I’m not one of them. I get a little OCD about reading and understanding every single word, so I tend to read for pleasure at a very slow pace. It’s easier when I’m reading through current events, work materials, or school books because I’m probably going to read multiple sources and don’t get concerned about things like, say, how the author is structuring their sentences to achieve an effect.

Right now, I’m reading The Hot Gate by John Ringo. I consider this “popcorn reading” because Ringo is one of the few authors I can read through in small chunks spread over time. Read a few paragraphs when I’ve got a couple minutes, go back to the other pressing matter. Small bites of solid entertainment always helps me relax.

As much as I love his books, I can’t do this with an author like Brandon Sanderson. His books are a siren’s call of layered complexity, puzzles, and fun. As awesome as they are, I end up needing to read carefully to try and figure out all the little plots he is weaving together before the big reveal.

Either way, more reading and writing this week. I’ll probably provide you all with an update or two next week.