New Plans for 2013-2014

I revised my writing schedule.  Following the example of Chris Bauer, I write one page a day of new material.  I'll be doing this Monday through Thursday.  The piece I'm currently working on is Straits of Magellan.  I keep doing this for the rest of 2013 and all of 2014.  By December 30, 2014, I should have at least 50,000 word rough draft for the novel. 

The second part of my writing is editing and revising.  I've been doing this with all my works.  I got done reediting Price of Command.  I'll go back and work on Kepler Falling next week.  Last month saw me edit short stories.  I revise about 2-3 chapters a day.  Whenever I get done with a novel or short story, I move onto another piece.  I'm hoping this will improve my editing skills and get my works polished up.  I'm due for WUTA Big Books in April 2014.  I'll have Kepler Falling ready to go by then.  I'll get some real feedback on that novel. 

At the time of this posting.  I have about nine short stories, one novella, and a novel complete.  I'm looking at completing a second novel by the end of 2014.  I have plans for a three novel related series of sci-fi books.  I also have the beginnings of a prequel for Price of Command.  But that work needs to be fleshed out and broadened before I can do anything with it...

Blake 

Should have posted sooner....

It's been over a month since I've posted.  I should have written something sooner.  However, I've been busy dealing with family issues such as parent's having back and eye surgery.  So my apologies in advance...

I did get Price of Command revised.  The manuscript is in need of another go before being set off to an editor.  I also revised Kepler Falling.  Those were my two biggest projects this summer.  I've also been writing a new novel.  The goal is to write at least one page a day.  I'm 85 pages into Strait of Magellan.  I need to write more Chapter summaries this week.  I'll do that tomorrow. 

I've also been revising my collection of short stories.  I haven't been able to read at Writers Under the Arch on Tuesday evenings at the Focal Point.  I miss the feedback.  I'm still doing Big Books.  I attended the monthly meeting session last Thursday evening.  I just had a chance to read the story and give a quick critique.  I'm finding more time to read electronically on my Nook.  I've officially ran out of room on my bookshelves for any new books.  Though I do have a backlog of books to read on the weekends.  I'm reading an electronic book called Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land.  It's a retrospective on the conflict in Vietnam.  But there are other books to read as time permits...

Editing Price of Command

I'm writing to say I'm in the middle of editing Price of Command again.  The comments I received from WUTA Big Books last month have been helpful.  But, it's been slow going with the editing.  I need to do more of it.  And more writing on the rough draft my second novel, Straits of Magellan...

Later,
Blake

Feedback on Price of Command

I meet with my fellow writers on Thursday, July 12th at the Hartford Coffee House in St. Louis, MO to discuss my novella, Price of Command.  I got a lot of feedback.  There were some good points and bad points. 

People liked my man character.  My dialogue is solid and natural.  But it makes up 85% of the story.  The story flowed well. 

However, my readers felt there were too many characters.  Many of my dialogue tags didn't work.  Because there so many characters, people often got lost in the dialogue.  I needed more description.  A few people suggested going back and adding more back story to the novella.  Many of my chapters felt more like an outline.  And they felt the story ended too abruptly.  It was felt I needed to add more emotional reactions to my characters.  Violent things happened and my characters just went along for the ride. 

That's something I'm guilty of.  However, I don't know when I'll be able to go back and rework Price of Command.  I'm hoping to do it in September.  Right now, I've been working on Straits of Magellan trying to write a chapter a week.  I'll see how it goes.  My goal is to have the rough draft done by New Years Day, 2014. 

But I do need to rewrite and revise Price of Command. 

Grammar, Punctuation, and Proper English

I spent the weekend reading two books on proper English and punctuation.  I am also taking a four week course on grammar and punctuation from a local community college in St. Louis, MO. 

For my troubles, I did finish editing Kepler Falling last week.  I have three different short stories I need to look over.  I started a short story for Writers Under the Arch two weeks ago.  I'm not sure if I should continue with it.  I'm trying to incorporate some of what I've learned into my writing.  It's an ongoing process.  I have yet to sit down with a critical eye for punctuation and grammar with one of my stories or novellas. 

The short story I submitted to WUTA Big Books got turned down with the comments it was too long for a short story and would be better as a novel.  I won't work on "Matter of Honor" for a while.  I am too involved with Straits of Magellan.  The one good thing I did was outline a couple chapters for the novel.  I have a better idea what to write until I get to the end of where I stopped.  I then outline some more chapters until I have the novel complete.  I know how Straits of Magellan will end and how it will lead into the third book of the Kepler cycle called Redemption of Eden...  

Week of editing

All I've been doing this week is editing different short stories.  I also went through half of Kepler Falling this morning entering electronic corrections. 

I also started a continuing edition course at a local community college on writing basics.  I took notes last night in class.  I also had to print out 25 copies of a recent work for the class to edit next Wednesday.  I also made copies for Writers Under the Arch Meeting on Monday nights of a new short story I wrote back in February called Among Strangers.  I also have more editing to do on Kepler Falling.  And I also have short stories of friends to line edit for WUTA Big Books next Thursday evening at SLAG at Oak Knoll Park in Clayton, MO. 

I should be editing tonight.  I wanted a break from it.  I also wanted to update some of the blogs before the weekend, too.  Anyway, good writings and may your muse be gracious to you....

Blake

Back to editing and revising

I've been spending my free time editing and revising.  I try and get two chapters of Kepler Falling edited each weekday.  I also have some short stories to line edit for the June Big Books meeting next week.  But there are only three short stories to go through. 

I spent the other day getting hard copies of Price of Command ready for some readers.  I don't think I'll need anymore copies.  But I could be wrong.  And I'm still writing about 250 words a day for Straits of Magellan.  It's not move as fast as I'd like.  But it's going.  I'm also starting to read a new novella for my WUTA group this Monday evening at The St. Louis Artist Guild, too.

Those are some of the things I'm up to...