Post Spam #4: DOB Updates

[talktooloose]

Chapter 15 will mark the end of Book 1 of Days of Becoming. I desperately wanted to post that before I left for India but I strongly (STRONGLY!) doubt that will happen.

Chapter 14 is with the beta readers and, I hope, will be posted next week unless they really send me back to the drawing board.

I doubt I can write much in the next few weeks. There's a lot of planning to do for our trip, work is busy and I took on a big freelance job which will pay for the trip but make my life hell until we go.

Chapter 15 is actually begun because I moved one of my scenes from 14 forward. I am taking my PDA and portable keyboard to India so I think I will do some writing there while waiting in airport lounges.

Following thes posting of 15, I want to take stock of what's been written and figure out some of my writerly goals for Book 2. I'm trying to learn to write through this process and so I want to see what bad habits I am getting into and where I need to push myself harder.

Input will be welcome in this process. In fact, those who are waiting for me to finish the novel before they read it might do me a favour and read Book 1 on its completion so as to be part of the feedback mechanism. Or not. Up to you.

Comments

[lux-apollo.livejournal.com]

It's funny, I've been wondering lately if I can end this 'book' of Spiral soon... or at least get away with putting it on hiatus for a while again.

At any rate... don't feel pushed to rush it. I know this thing has turned into a much huger and longer-term project than you intended, but I think the quality of writing you've been putting out is worth it. I guess there are always these dangers of getting bored with the project and all that... And all those other things you want to start working on, too.

Man. All these balancing acts are complicated.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

I don't really have any desire to stop writing. The taking-stock before I begin book 2 shouldn't take all that long. What keeps me moving is the desire to get to the plot points I'm envisioning in my head and joy of writing itself.

I definitely want to shape book 2 a bit better before I begin it, meaning I will know what goes where. This in the hope of not doubling the size of the story again and also as an exercise in discipline.

I may make the novel 3 books; in fact, this is almost certain. Book 2 will end at Alcatraz and Book 3 will be the action that follows the movies.

That means I want to really begin focussing on core canon and making my decisions for Book 2 based on core canon.

Oh man, there is a Bobby and Scott scene at the start of the X3 period that was so vivid in my head this morning. I keep writing so I can get to these points!

Do you want to put Spiral on hiatus because you're lost, bored or too busy? Or none of the above?

[lux-apollo.livejournal.com]

Moreso because I'm busy and I'm worried that I'm not going to put into it what I should once school gets back into full swing. I really shouldn't make that a consideration at this point. I'm not bored of the project, but I do have a lot of decisions to make soon that could make or break the story.

My big challenge right now is choosing a plot-starter that will allow me to continue to evolve Bobby and John's characters and their relationship without dropping them out of focus... It would be too easy to fade this novel into a more 'general' X story now, and that's not what the story was supposed to be. I have considered a couple different things from Sentinels to Legacy to lab-made mutations for the military. I think I am going to go with the latter, as it gives me a device by which to introduce Piotr's sister into the Mansion as well as gives me a mission that lets the X-men travel beyond North America to 'exotic' locales. The other two are too heavy-handed and would lead to more crisis than I think my characters can handle right yet.

[talktooloose.livejournal.com]

Exotic locales beyond America? Like... Sudbury?