Thursday, October 28, 2010

One More Story Bites the Dust

Okay, so I finished my second short. This one is concentrated on  the concept of clear establishment of conflict, and defined resolution. While the plot and theme aren't to complex, it was an easy and enjoyable write, and has very interesting action sequences.

It takes place in Kiev, and the antagonists are...Giant Ants! If it gets picked up, I'll make sure to let you guys know!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Sons of Anarchy

Okay, while I'm working on my next short story, I thought I would write about this. Anyone here watch Sons of Anarchy? Its a show about an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang in Northern California. Its got elements of action, but is really centered on the inter-character drama that happens within the gang, and focuses somewhat on the criminal element of the gang.

I love the show, but it reminds me of a quote I read recently. "People read books for company, not for plot." While SoA has a great plot, and could be potentially a great action piece, or great crime bit, in only touches on those issues. In exchange, it focuses on the development of the characters.

I'd love it if it took a more Active bent, but I understand why they made it like it is. After all
, it is high-up there in ratings. However, they could achieve a better mix if they had a higher budget (BattleStar Galactica, after all was a decent mix of an active plot and drama, and was critically acclaimed). But I'm starting to think thats not where Kurt Sutter is wanting to go with this.

Still, I'm addicted.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Happy

I'm about to get a soda from the store, and work on my next short story project. Hopefully have it finished before Monday morning. I think this one will be a good story.

Its focused on the Conflict & Conflict Resolution aspect that I need to develop, it has a really defined concept, and an especially defined conflict. The narrative flows like water, logically so far, and will end in a way that will support the protagonist.

However, I've already written the outline for the third project. And this one may be a bit unusual, but I had to think really hard to get a story with theme in. I came up with a theme, a very deep-seated personal one. Its conflict is not so clear cut, and no violence is involved in the story. Hopefully it will show my depth and breadth as a writer, and some publisher will pick it up.

Really...I hope all of my stories will be picked up. :) I'm confident though, there are a few gems in the rough here and there.

Lastly, on a personal note, I'm happy with life. I've had some personal problems, but I finally feel recovered from them, and that I've moved on successfully. I will soon out-pace anyone who had their chips against me.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Short Story Projects

After thinking this through, I'm going to go ahead and tell you my three Short Story projects, that I have in mind to help me develop my writing. Each one is dedicated to a different aspect that I feel I personally need to work on.

Also, I would like to apologize for not updating this blog often enough, but I will make more attempts now.

Project 1: Voice

Related to my novel concept that I've written, I wrote a short story about a Necromancer who will appear in the novel. Its sort of his Origin story. It's already been written, and submitted, however, I'm doubtful if it will be accepted. I would be delighted if it was, and I shall post the results here, of course.

Project 2: Conflict/Conflict-Resolution

One of the clear things in my novels, is that sometimes I lack a clearly defined conflict for my stories. I've noticed this in at least two of my works, so I will be writing a simple short story, involving ants. I've taken, recently, to outlining the plot elements of a story, to ease in the writing process. In fact, after this blog post, I will begin working on the outline for this Short Story, in the hopes of writing it this weekend.

Project 3: Theme

My stories are generally very one-dimensional, in that they lack any themes beyond what is given directly to the story. I want to develop this very clearly, and though my writing style (and the voice I've started to define) is clearly different from Mr. Liu's; he was my inspiration to consider this.

Boss Battle 1: Combination

You like that title, don't you? Yes. I will be writing a forth short story, combining all those elements I had developed before. No, I have no clue as to the plot yet; or even the setting. But overarching plots and especially settings are my strong points.

After these are completed, I also plan a few more very specific projects, before I can feel assured that I'll do justice to the Plot/Setting that is mind for my novel.

Project 4: Chara Development

I plan to make one story very character-centric. Maybe centric on a few of them; and I shall focus on developing them as characters. As above, I have no idea what this story will be about.

Project 5: Emotional Attachment

A second story, character-centric. This one will be about providing the reader with company, as opposed to providing them with plot. It will still be fully developed, but I will be focusing on making sub-themes for the characters, that hopefully tie-in to a larger theme.

Final Boss Battle:

A last story, hopefully that I will complete and submit by January 1st, 2011; which will combine the elements which I will struggle to obtain through the next two months. After submitting this, I think I will be ready to begin work on my new novel.

While I would like some commercial success with these six works (and hopefully will at least see one published); I am not set upon it. Even if the works aren't picked up in their independent state, I will consider it a victory just to have written with focus on one topic in each project. Thus, I will go on to begin my novel, come hell or high-water. I have no clue when I'll finish the novel, though it should be much more expedient than my 'grinding' on my first zombie novel, as the plot and major conflict (as well as chapter layout) has already been done.

In truth, I expect to write a few short paragraphs for the novel even while I'm working on these smaller projects, if only to break some of the boredom. However, while I'm writing the novel, I shall continue to turn out shorter stories as I enter periods of writer's block.

Thats really all I had to say. I wrote this as much for me as for you guys. I think I'm very creative, and some of you who've read my RPG settings, know this. I want to translate this into literary ability.

Feel free to subscribe here, or subscribe to my Alien Blog. But from now on, this blog will be devoted to my efforts in writing. Hell or High-Water.

Short Stories

So I just finished reading Ken Liu's Literomancer in the Sept/Oct Issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine. Its a very compelling, moving piece, and I thought I would share that with you guys.

Yes, I'm still working on my writing career, and yes I still want to do something in Movies/Television. Currently, I'm studying at GSU, while at the same time taking any spare time I have to network, and write my own short stories.

I've decided to set aside my Zombie Novel, after coming to an impasse in the story. I realized I had no overall plot arch, no theme, and my voice was ill-developed as an author. So, I'm returning to Short Stories as a means to develop my style and my voice.

I'm hoping in time that I come into my own. I have a great concept (including a plot layout and char sourcing sheets) for my first novel work. I plan to make a novel and screen play out of it, but before I attempt to do that, I'm tackling three Short Stories, each dealing with a major issue I want resolved.