Well, I finally crossed the finish line and I have completed the Nanowrimo challenge 3 years in a row! Now my goal is to get back to blogging.
Showing posts with label The Write Stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Write Stuff. Show all posts
Nov 30, 2011
Winnah!
I have been really bad at blogging this being the most time I have missed in two years. I really don't know how I did the 365 Days Blog along with Nanowrimo especially considering I did them both my first month!
Well, I finally crossed the finish line and I have completed the Nanowrimo challenge 3 years in a row! Now my goal is to get back to blogging.
Well, I finally crossed the finish line and I have completed the Nanowrimo challenge 3 years in a row! Now my goal is to get back to blogging.
Oct 22, 2011
The Plot Bunny
Today I met with some other Nanowrimo writers at the local Hastings.
I like to meet new people but I do find myself incredibly shy at times. And I honestly don't want to share my stories, I guess I am paranoid in my old age. We have a nice little group of writers and I am looking forward to hearing their experiences with writing. Hopefully it will motivate me when I get behind or when I am at a loss for words.
One of the members of the group gave me a real cute homemade Plot Bunny. A Plot Bunny is the term some groups of writers give to the little ideas that start off big stories. Basically, a Plot Bunny gives you a small idea and it reproduces... ...like a bunny. These little creatures will not rest until you write what they are telling (begging) you to write. Even if has nothing to do with your story, or it goes in a direction you don't think it should go, this bunny will eat at you until you do. Some just come right up and tell you what to write, some just carefully weave its way into your novel.
I like to meet new people but I do find myself incredibly shy at times. And I honestly don't want to share my stories, I guess I am paranoid in my old age. We have a nice little group of writers and I am looking forward to hearing their experiences with writing. Hopefully it will motivate me when I get behind or when I am at a loss for words.
One of the members of the group gave me a real cute homemade Plot Bunny. A Plot Bunny is the term some groups of writers give to the little ideas that start off big stories. Basically, a Plot Bunny gives you a small idea and it reproduces... ...like a bunny. These little creatures will not rest until you write what they are telling (begging) you to write. Even if has nothing to do with your story, or it goes in a direction you don't think it should go, this bunny will eat at you until you do. Some just come right up and tell you what to write, some just carefully weave its way into your novel.
I just need a name for my Plot Bunny. Any ideas?
Apr 5, 2011
I Really Should Be Writing...
ScriptFrenzy started a few days ago and I have not completed one word.
I am in some big trouble here if I wanna complete this writing challenge. I should have written 15 pages of my script already at this point and I have NONE. Not good. I am going to have to get cracking on it to make my goal.
So what should I write about? I have already decided to do some sort of comic because I am more familiar with the scripting since I have done one before. I have a couple of ideas but nothing is sticking until I was going through my old writing blog. And then an idea was born...
Think this:
Mixed with this:
Yeah, I know I am a geek.
I found a fantastic online scripting program that helps you script pretty much any type of entertainment. They assist you the whole way so you don't have to type in every little bit of information. A lot of times it will do it for you. It is called scripped.com and I highly recommend it. I better get going, I have a bunch of pages to crank out today.
Dec 1, 2010
The Write Stuff: NaNoWriMo 2010
HUZZAH!
I have completed my third NaNoWriMo competition. This year I only had the ending figured out (which I have not written yet) and nothing else. I barely had a cast of characters so I thought I would have my work cut out for me. So I just started to write.
And I successfully completed my 50,000 word journey and I still have not completed my story. I am right at the end, at the very exciting conclusion! Who will die? Who will live? Who will have redemption? Who will lose his toe? Just seeing if you are paying attention. No one loses their toe... ...or do they?
I am a little embarrassed that I wrote about vampires. It seems like those little bloodsuckers are everywhere. And I am not a fan of the sparkly lovey-dovey vampires either. My vampires are creatures, they are like animals. They are completely opposite of the sparkly vampires. I got this idea a long time ago. I was going to join this writing contest so I was brainstorming an idea for a horror comic. Unfortunately I totally got the contest wrong. I was writing an ending for a comic that they were publishing instead of creating a new story. So I retooled it into what it is today. It is set in the old west and involves two brothers that see things completely different. An unfortunate incident occurred and split the two of them apart, now they are reunited and face an even greater danger.
I was surprised that these characters took a life of their own. I am also surprised that there were events that I did not see coming until I was actually writing them. This is the part I absolutely love about writing. When things go off on their own direction, when something comes that is not planned, when small characters become important and "write" themselves back into the novel. I just love that!
I am already looking forward to ScriptFrenzy this April. I am not sure what to do for that, I was thinking of continuing my Alpha Flight comic book but I may try a stab at something else. A long, long time ago I had a fun idea for a Seinfeld episode and I have always wanted to write some sort of musical. We'll have to see come April.
Anyone *ahem* Jeremy *cough* that has a desire to write and has always wanted to give it a shot, I cannot recommend doing the NaNoWriMo challenge. It is very rewarding and you will not regret it.
Nov 2, 2010
Random Ramblings
It's Tuesday. My favorite day of the week.
Already it has been a long week. Yesterday my father-in-law came over to help me replace the starter in my car. We have done it before years and years ago but I don't remember it being so difficult. But eventually we got the first bolt off the starter. It only took two hours to accomplish that. Eventually we did get it out and somehow we did get the new one in but I don't think my hands will ever be clean again. Big props to the Miltonator for helping me with it. The car did turn over and it still has some work to do but at least it is running.
I just need to remember that next time my Geo needs the Starter replaced is that it would be easier to just to buy a new car. I woke up this morning sore. The bottom of my back is killing me. Right at the belt loop because I spent hours on my back in the driveway.
I am sure you have noticed some changes with the blog. I thought about renaming the blog but I have followers and people have links to the http://365daysofmatt.blogspot.com/ address and it would be a headache to have everyone switch addresses. And it looks like blogger is not friendly with redirects so I am leaving it be. But I have a new banner and I have a new name for the blog. Bonus points for those that can tell me where the name and font comes from. I also set up a specific page (with link on the side menu) that talks specifically about the old challenge.
It is that time of the year again and I am already behind schedule. But it is one of my favorite times to crank out some writing under the gun. I have decided to write my western in first person perspective. I wanted to get the blog all worked out before I started and I am about 800 words behind. But I am getting this blog out of the way early and then I will be hitting the keyboard this afternoon to get some words out of the way. I am a little nervous about changing perspectives but I am sure I will find my way with it.
Already it has been a long week. Yesterday my father-in-law came over to help me replace the starter in my car. We have done it before years and years ago but I don't remember it being so difficult. But eventually we got the first bolt off the starter. It only took two hours to accomplish that. Eventually we did get it out and somehow we did get the new one in but I don't think my hands will ever be clean again. Big props to the Miltonator for helping me with it. The car did turn over and it still has some work to do but at least it is running.
I just need to remember that next time my Geo needs the Starter replaced is that it would be easier to just to buy a new car. I woke up this morning sore. The bottom of my back is killing me. Right at the belt loop because I spent hours on my back in the driveway.
I am sure you have noticed some changes with the blog. I thought about renaming the blog but I have followers and people have links to the http://365daysofmatt.blogspot.com/ address and it would be a headache to have everyone switch addresses. And it looks like blogger is not friendly with redirects so I am leaving it be. But I have a new banner and I have a new name for the blog. Bonus points for those that can tell me where the name and font comes from. I also set up a specific page (with link on the side menu) that talks specifically about the old challenge.
It is that time of the year again and I am already behind schedule. But it is one of my favorite times to crank out some writing under the gun. I have decided to write my western in first person perspective. I wanted to get the blog all worked out before I started and I am about 800 words behind. But I am getting this blog out of the way early and then I will be hitting the keyboard this afternoon to get some words out of the way. I am a little nervous about changing perspectives but I am sure I will find my way with it.
May 1, 2010
Winning Ain't Easy
Day 182
It is hard to believe that it is May 1st already. I am glad though, May is usually one of my favorite months. Spring is definitely here, lots of cool movies come out, more family activities, Black and White Days (I'll cover that in another blog), Memorial Day and a ton of other fun stuff.
It has only been May for 12 hours and already May is starting out on a good step. Last month I participated in ScriptFrenzy. It was a writing challenge where I write a 100 page script (movie, TV, musical, comic) in a month.
It was a lot of fun, much more fun than I thought it would be. I have never written a script before, I tried one time and found the whole thing intimidating. It was a lot more work than I thought but this time I used an online script program than made the whole thing painless. The more I worked with the program the easier and then the more fun it became.
It was a total vanity project. I wrote a Marvel comic book based on the return of my favorite character Banshee and it dealt with the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight set during the events of Dark Reign. Like I said, pure vanity.
I did learn a couple of things. I had plotted most of this comic months before and that really helped out a lot. And the times it became difficult was when I had no idea where the story was going to go. But once I figured out how to end it, it was just a fun matter of getting from Point A to Point B. Next time I do this I will make sure that I have all of it plotted out in advance. I also appreciate those writers that write with a large cast of characters. It was hard making sure that they all had some face time and there were a few times where I totally forgot them completely.
What I enjoyed the most was reading up on these characters and doing some research. All of the characters I used had some sort of history together and it was a hoot reconnecting some of them. And some of the characters I used were long forgotten people and it was a lot of fun bringing them back and making themselves useful.
I am glad that it is over. Doing this and my blog really zapped a lot of my time but I felt it was important for me to learn. I would love to be a writer and it is these exercises that help out a lot. You do learn quickly what you are capable of and what you do rather well along with what your weaknesses are.
I HIGHLY encourage anyone that has a story to say or wants to try their writing skills to do this challenge next year. You won't regret it and you will feel that you accomplished something. Also keep in mind that the next NaNoWrMo is coming up this November. Get thinking about a story and get it ready for a month of hard work, pulling your hair out and writing! Seriously folks, if you have always wanted to write, try these out. You will not regret it!
It is hard to believe that it is May 1st already. I am glad though, May is usually one of my favorite months. Spring is definitely here, lots of cool movies come out, more family activities, Black and White Days (I'll cover that in another blog), Memorial Day and a ton of other fun stuff.
It has only been May for 12 hours and already May is starting out on a good step. Last month I participated in ScriptFrenzy. It was a writing challenge where I write a 100 page script (movie, TV, musical, comic) in a month.
And yesterday I crossed the finish line at 102 pages so that means I won!
It was a lot of fun, much more fun than I thought it would be. I have never written a script before, I tried one time and found the whole thing intimidating. It was a lot more work than I thought but this time I used an online script program than made the whole thing painless. The more I worked with the program the easier and then the more fun it became.
It was a total vanity project. I wrote a Marvel comic book based on the return of my favorite character Banshee and it dealt with the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight set during the events of Dark Reign. Like I said, pure vanity.
What I enjoyed the most was reading up on these characters and doing some research. All of the characters I used had some sort of history together and it was a hoot reconnecting some of them. And some of the characters I used were long forgotten people and it was a lot of fun bringing them back and making themselves useful.
I am glad that it is over. Doing this and my blog really zapped a lot of my time but I felt it was important for me to learn. I would love to be a writer and it is these exercises that help out a lot. You do learn quickly what you are capable of and what you do rather well along with what your weaknesses are.
I HIGHLY encourage anyone that has a story to say or wants to try their writing skills to do this challenge next year. You won't regret it and you will feel that you accomplished something. Also keep in mind that the next NaNoWrMo is coming up this November. Get thinking about a story and get it ready for a month of hard work, pulling your hair out and writing! Seriously folks, if you have always wanted to write, try these out. You will not regret it!
Mar 22, 2010
The Write Stuff: Script Frenzy
Day 142
Who is up for another writing challenge?
Last year I participated in NaNoWrMo, a novel-writing challenge where you write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Well, those crazy folks are at it again and I have been invited to do another month-long writing session. But this time I am really going to be challenged.
For the month of April, I will participating in Script Frenzy. This challenge is where you write a 100-page script in 30 days. I have never written a script before and it looks intimidating. I tried one years ago using Word and I eventually gave up because the formatting confused me. But if I want to become a writer, I need to become familiar with scripting.
But on the bright side, Script Frenzy has tons of valuable resources. They even offer some scripting software that you can try out and use. I decided to go with scripped.com because it is FREE and it is web-based. So I don't have to download or install any programs and I can connect to my script from any internet connection.
The one thing that really excites me about this challenge is you get to chose what type of script you want to pursue. You may write screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, comic book and graphic novel scripts, adaptations of novels, or any other type of script your heart desires.
So you guessed it. I am going to write a comic book! I already have one plotted out and I cannot wait to get into the swing of it. And yes, it does involve Banshee. How could I write a comic that doesn't have him in it?
Script Frenzy has all the info. They really know how to put it all in words so I am just going to rip off their site. So here is all the info you need:
WHO: You and everyone you know. No experience required.
WHAT: 100 pages of original scripted material in 30 days. (Screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, and graphic novels are all welcome.)
WHEN: April 1 - 30. Every year. Mark your calendars.
WHERE: Online and in person (if you want!). Hang out in the forums, join your fellow participants at write-ins, and make friends by adding writing buddies online.
WHY: Because you have a story to tell. Because you want a creative challenge. Because you’ll be disappointed if you missed out on the adventure. Because you need to make time for you.
HOW: Sign up. Tell everyone that you are in the Frenzy. Clear your calendar. (US participants: Get your taxes done now!) Start some wrist exercises. Have fun!
So I highly encourage anyone to challenge yourself and do some creative writing!
On an unrelated note, I would like wish a Happy Belated Birthday to fellow blogger Andrea who celebrated her birthday yesterday. And I would like wish the best and congratulations to fellow blogger Sarah who had a healthy baby boy (Riley Connor White) a week ago today.
Who is up for another writing challenge?
Last year I participated in NaNoWrMo, a novel-writing challenge where you write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Well, those crazy folks are at it again and I have been invited to do another month-long writing session. But this time I am really going to be challenged.
For the month of April, I will participating in Script Frenzy. This challenge is where you write a 100-page script in 30 days. I have never written a script before and it looks intimidating. I tried one years ago using Word and I eventually gave up because the formatting confused me. But if I want to become a writer, I need to become familiar with scripting. But on the bright side, Script Frenzy has tons of valuable resources. They even offer some scripting software that you can try out and use. I decided to go with scripped.com because it is FREE and it is web-based. So I don't have to download or install any programs and I can connect to my script from any internet connection.
The one thing that really excites me about this challenge is you get to chose what type of script you want to pursue. You may write screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, comic book and graphic novel scripts, adaptations of novels, or any other type of script your heart desires.
So you guessed it. I am going to write a comic book! I already have one plotted out and I cannot wait to get into the swing of it. And yes, it does involve Banshee. How could I write a comic that doesn't have him in it?Script Frenzy has all the info. They really know how to put it all in words so I am just going to rip off their site. So here is all the info you need:
WHO: You and everyone you know. No experience required.
WHAT: 100 pages of original scripted material in 30 days. (Screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, and graphic novels are all welcome.)
WHEN: April 1 - 30. Every year. Mark your calendars.
WHERE: Online and in person (if you want!). Hang out in the forums, join your fellow participants at write-ins, and make friends by adding writing buddies online.
WHY: Because you have a story to tell. Because you want a creative challenge. Because you’ll be disappointed if you missed out on the adventure. Because you need to make time for you.
HOW: Sign up. Tell everyone that you are in the Frenzy. Clear your calendar. (US participants: Get your taxes done now!) Start some wrist exercises. Have fun!
So I highly encourage anyone to challenge yourself and do some creative writing!
On an unrelated note, I would like wish a Happy Belated Birthday to fellow blogger Andrea who celebrated her birthday yesterday. And I would like wish the best and congratulations to fellow blogger Sarah who had a healthy baby boy (Riley Connor White) a week ago today.
Dec 30, 2009
New Year's Resolutions Part I
Day 60
Every year I make New Year's Resolutions and every year I forget them and I get just plain lazy and I don't accomplish them. And every year I claim that 'this year will be different' and we know how that ends.
But this year WILL be different because I am going to use this blog as a way to motivate and more importantly, hold myself responsible and accountable for these New Year's Resolutions. Over the next few days I will cover all that I want to change. For this column, I am going to concentrate on how I am going to challenge myself when it comes to my hobbies. As you already know, I like to read and write and this is what I am going to blog about today.
WRITING
1) Last November I participated in the NaNoWriMo event and finished my novel well over 50,000 words. Because I passed that mark, I was given a special coupon code to use to get my book published in book form and to help me market my book. But I only have six months to use this coupon code. So my first New Year's Resolution is to finish my novel. I recently started writing a new beginning to the book that I need to complete. I have another chapter based on the Deacon character that I need to write and then I need to rewrite and edit. To assist me I am giving this book to my sister and my cousin Jeremy to assist in editing. I don't have a lot of time left to accomplish this so I need to get cracking on it. The plan is to at least spend an hour on it a day.
2) While I am editing my novel I am also going to plot out my next book for next November's NaNoWriMo competition. I can do this when I am bored of my novel.
3) There is another writing competition called Script Frenzy that I might try as well. Basically it is the same things as NaNoWriMo except this time you develop a script. You get to choose whether to write a screenplay, stage play, TV script, or comic book script and you get to choose whether to write with a partner or on your own.
This starts in April.
4) And of course I will continue to write this blog. That should be an easy one. I also want to keep updating my other geeky blog, The Banshee Blog at least monthly.
READING
I love comics and I will continue to read them, I really don't need a New Year's Resolution to do this. But for this year I want to do something a little different.
5) I don't read books/novels as much as I should and this is what I am going to change. With the help of my friends from the Bad Genious Board I am going to try to read a book/novel every month. And I will post a review of the book on this blog too.
I already have January's book lined up. My friend Jon recommended 'Beat the Reaper' by Josh Bazell. A couple of other books I have planned to read is Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis and Bret Hart's autobiography Hitman.
Later this week I will go over some other New Year's Resolutions. Some other hobbies and the dreaded EXERCISE resolution will make his dreaded appearance.
Every year I make New Year's Resolutions and every year I forget them and I get just plain lazy and I don't accomplish them. And every year I claim that 'this year will be different' and we know how that ends.
But this year WILL be different because I am going to use this blog as a way to motivate and more importantly, hold myself responsible and accountable for these New Year's Resolutions. Over the next few days I will cover all that I want to change. For this column, I am going to concentrate on how I am going to challenge myself when it comes to my hobbies. As you already know, I like to read and write and this is what I am going to blog about today.
WRITING
1) Last November I participated in the NaNoWriMo event and finished my novel well over 50,000 words. Because I passed that mark, I was given a special coupon code to use to get my book published in book form and to help me market my book. But I only have six months to use this coupon code. So my first New Year's Resolution is to finish my novel. I recently started writing a new beginning to the book that I need to complete. I have another chapter based on the Deacon character that I need to write and then I need to rewrite and edit. To assist me I am giving this book to my sister and my cousin Jeremy to assist in editing. I don't have a lot of time left to accomplish this so I need to get cracking on it. The plan is to at least spend an hour on it a day.
2) While I am editing my novel I am also going to plot out my next book for next November's NaNoWriMo competition. I can do this when I am bored of my novel.
3) There is another writing competition called Script Frenzy that I might try as well. Basically it is the same things as NaNoWriMo except this time you develop a script. You get to choose whether to write a screenplay, stage play, TV script, or comic book script and you get to choose whether to write with a partner or on your own.
This starts in April.
4) And of course I will continue to write this blog. That should be an easy one. I also want to keep updating my other geeky blog, The Banshee Blog at least monthly.
READING
I love comics and I will continue to read them, I really don't need a New Year's Resolution to do this. But for this year I want to do something a little different.
5) I don't read books/novels as much as I should and this is what I am going to change. With the help of my friends from the Bad Genious Board I am going to try to read a book/novel every month. And I will post a review of the book on this blog too.
I already have January's book lined up. My friend Jon recommended 'Beat the Reaper' by Josh Bazell. A couple of other books I have planned to read is Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis and Bret Hart's autobiography Hitman.
Later this week I will go over some other New Year's Resolutions. Some other hobbies and the dreaded EXERCISE resolution will make his dreaded appearance.
Dec 1, 2009
The Write Stuff: The Epilogue
Day 31
The month of November flew right on by, I cannot believe that it is December already. I hate to sound cliche but time flies when you are having fun.
This has been a fun month. I didn't ruin Thanksgiving this year and my creative juices have been at an all time high. This blog has been very rewarding, it is hard to believe that this is my 31st official entry. This challenge has been not only so much fun to write but also to read. I am following quite a few other people that have taken the challenge and it has been neat to get to know them and see how creative they have been so far. I appreciate the ideas I have stolen.
As I have blogged about many, many times already, this month was also NaNoWrMo. And not only did I complete the 50,000 word challenge, I also have completed my novel.
Yes, I got to write the words The End. I named my novel, "THE VESSEL" and the final word count is 65,817.
I am pretty proud of this achievement. Here is a short sypnosis of the novel:
A young girl holds the key to saving a parallel universe. Only she doesn't know it yet and every one is out to get her. The only person that is trying to save her is her basketball coach. Or was he the janitor at the hospital when she was born? Or perhaps the fellow church-goer when she was in elementary school? There seems to be more to her coach than it seems.
But this is not the reason for today's column. I wanted to take some time to write about some of my favorite comic book authors and how they influenced me. Each of the writers I have chosen have something that I think they are the best at and something that I try to emulate. I have included links to Amazon at the end so you can check out other reviews. I suggest if you are trying comics out for the first time, you should check out Orbiter or Brian K. Vaughan's Y-The Last Man.
WARREN ELLIS:
Master of the Imaginative Details
My favorite writer is Warren Ellis. Ellis does the small things that make things more memorable. With one written line of dialouge he can breathe life and create a memorable character. It is the attention to detail that makes Ellis a favorite of mine. He also has a crazy imagination that really inspires me to rethink things and think beyond the box. He can do it all too, he has written superhero books that are inspiring, horror comics that creep into your mind when it is dark, comics about crime that make you feel helpless and science fiction that makes you think of what lies beyond the stars. He is one of the few comic authors that I will follow anywhere.
FAVORITE WORKS: Orbiter, Scars, Planetary
GEOFF JOHNS:
Master of Continuity
He is known for his superhero work. Comic book writers either love him or hate him, I fall into the "love" camp more than anything. What I appreciate about this writer is his obvious love for continuity. He can take any storyline from the past, no matter how good or bad it is and rework it. He does not ignore continuity, he embraces it. His run on the comic Green Lantern is the best example. I hated that the original Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, was being brought back and I was against reading it but after years and years have gone by, I tried it out. And he made it work, he didn't ignore what had gone on before with Hal Jordan, he used it to further his story.
FAVORITE WORKS: JSA, Green Lantern
CHRIS CLAREMONT:
Master of the Subplots
When I was a kid I had read a ton of comics but none of the impacted me as much as Claremont's work on the Uncanny X-Men did. His first run on that title remains my all-time favorite run. A lot of readers do not care for his work, claiming that it is outdated and has too many subplots. It seems like today's audience wants stories that are told and ended, no various plotlines but I am not like that. I love subplots, it is what keeps me buying the books. I love subplots and I think he is the best at it. His later work is not as strong as his older stuff but I will still check his stuff out.
FAVORITE WORKS: Uncanny X-Men, WildC.A.T.S/Cyberforce, Wolverine
BRIAN K. VAUGHAN:
Master of the Cliffhanger
I like comics because I like the monthly serial. You can read Vaughan's stuff when they are collected but I think you miss out a bit with his monthly cliffhangers. BKV is a fantastic writer, his dialogue is very belivable and his stories are full of imagination. But his cliffhangers are the best. The first issues of Ex Machina and Y-The Last Man are perfect cliffhangers.
FAVORITE WORKS: Y-The Last Man, Ex Machina, Pride of Baghdad
There are other comic book writers that I like too. Alan Moore, Christos Gage, Jeff Smith and Alan Davis come to mind. But these are the ones that stick out to me the most.
The month of November flew right on by, I cannot believe that it is December already. I hate to sound cliche but time flies when you are having fun.
This has been a fun month. I didn't ruin Thanksgiving this year and my creative juices have been at an all time high. This blog has been very rewarding, it is hard to believe that this is my 31st official entry. This challenge has been not only so much fun to write but also to read. I am following quite a few other people that have taken the challenge and it has been neat to get to know them and see how creative they have been so far. I appreciate the ideas I have stolen.
As I have blogged about many, many times already, this month was also NaNoWrMo. And not only did I complete the 50,000 word challenge, I also have completed my novel.
Yes, I got to write the words The End. I named my novel, "THE VESSEL" and the final word count is 65,817.
I am pretty proud of this achievement. Here is a short sypnosis of the novel:
A young girl holds the key to saving a parallel universe. Only she doesn't know it yet and every one is out to get her. The only person that is trying to save her is her basketball coach. Or was he the janitor at the hospital when she was born? Or perhaps the fellow church-goer when she was in elementary school? There seems to be more to her coach than it seems.
But this is not the reason for today's column. I wanted to take some time to write about some of my favorite comic book authors and how they influenced me. Each of the writers I have chosen have something that I think they are the best at and something that I try to emulate. I have included links to Amazon at the end so you can check out other reviews. I suggest if you are trying comics out for the first time, you should check out Orbiter or Brian K. Vaughan's Y-The Last Man.
WARREN ELLIS:
Master of the Imaginative Details
My favorite writer is Warren Ellis. Ellis does the small things that make things more memorable. With one written line of dialouge he can breathe life and create a memorable character. It is the attention to detail that makes Ellis a favorite of mine. He also has a crazy imagination that really inspires me to rethink things and think beyond the box. He can do it all too, he has written superhero books that are inspiring, horror comics that creep into your mind when it is dark, comics about crime that make you feel helpless and science fiction that makes you think of what lies beyond the stars. He is one of the few comic authors that I will follow anywhere.
FAVORITE WORKS: Orbiter, Scars, Planetary
GEOFF JOHNS:
Master of Continuity
He is known for his superhero work. Comic book writers either love him or hate him, I fall into the "love" camp more than anything. What I appreciate about this writer is his obvious love for continuity. He can take any storyline from the past, no matter how good or bad it is and rework it. He does not ignore continuity, he embraces it. His run on the comic Green Lantern is the best example. I hated that the original Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, was being brought back and I was against reading it but after years and years have gone by, I tried it out. And he made it work, he didn't ignore what had gone on before with Hal Jordan, he used it to further his story.
FAVORITE WORKS: JSA, Green Lantern
CHRIS CLAREMONT:
Master of the Subplots
When I was a kid I had read a ton of comics but none of the impacted me as much as Claremont's work on the Uncanny X-Men did. His first run on that title remains my all-time favorite run. A lot of readers do not care for his work, claiming that it is outdated and has too many subplots. It seems like today's audience wants stories that are told and ended, no various plotlines but I am not like that. I love subplots, it is what keeps me buying the books. I love subplots and I think he is the best at it. His later work is not as strong as his older stuff but I will still check his stuff out.
FAVORITE WORKS: Uncanny X-Men, WildC.A.T.S/Cyberforce, Wolverine
BRIAN K. VAUGHAN:
Master of the Cliffhanger
I like comics because I like the monthly serial. You can read Vaughan's stuff when they are collected but I think you miss out a bit with his monthly cliffhangers. BKV is a fantastic writer, his dialogue is very belivable and his stories are full of imagination. But his cliffhangers are the best. The first issues of Ex Machina and Y-The Last Man are perfect cliffhangers.
FAVORITE WORKS: Y-The Last Man, Ex Machina, Pride of Baghdad
There are other comic book writers that I like too. Alan Moore, Christos Gage, Jeff Smith and Alan Davis come to mind. But these are the ones that stick out to me the most.
Nov 25, 2009
The Write Stuff: Completing the Trilogy
Day 25
I officially did it.
NaNoWrMo opened up their official word counter and I plugged in my novel and I won. The word count for my little novel is currently at 59,624. And I am VERY close to the end and I am pretty pumped.
So what happens next? My next goal is to have it completely ended by the month's end and then it goes to some serious editing. The goal after that is to get it ready to publish. I confirmed on NaNoWrMo's site that everything I heard from Tyler is correct. So now I am doubly pumped!
So what are my influences? I'll be honest, I am not a big book reader. I own few novels. Comic books has been the biggest influence of my writing. And for those that think comic books are just juvenile because they contain muscular men and women with big boobs you are mistaken. Sure, there are some books like that but that is merely a stereotype and not always the norm. But comics have not been the only thing, just the majority. This column will just cover the novels. I will write a comic book one sometime in the near future with some recommendations.
One of the first novels I read really made an impact on me. It was back in the 5th grade we read "The White Mountains" By John Christopher. I remember this book rather fondly, it made me appreciate science fiction and made me want to create a world and write. Christopher followed this up with two other books in the "Tripod Trilogy". The middle book, "They City of Gold and Lead" was my favorite. In this book we are introduced to the aliens behind the Tripods. And this is what caught my eye, these villains were not straight bad guys, they had their own personality. That stuck with me quite a bit. I'll have to dig these books out and re-read them sometime.
But my all-time favorite novel is Dracula by Bram Stroker. I try to read this novel every Halloween. There is so much that I love about this book. What made it a unique read was that it was not just a novel but more of a historical record. It is mainly composed of journal and diaries writings and letters written by the main characters. It certainly made it more believable to me. But what got me was Dracula himself. He was so charming, so controlling of a villain. When I write villains, I try to bring those qualities to my characters.
Other books that have influenced me in some way are the Collected Works of Edgar Allen Poe and the Collected Works of Washington Irving. Whenever I want to get a shot of creative juice, I usually will read one of Poe's stories or poems.
I could go into comic book writers that have influenced me but I would also like to take the time to make some recommendations too. So that will be a separate column.
I officially did it.
NaNoWrMo opened up their official word counter and I plugged in my novel and I won. The word count for my little novel is currently at 59,624. And I am VERY close to the end and I am pretty pumped.
So what happens next? My next goal is to have it completely ended by the month's end and then it goes to some serious editing. The goal after that is to get it ready to publish. I confirmed on NaNoWrMo's site that everything I heard from Tyler is correct. So now I am doubly pumped!
So what are my influences? I'll be honest, I am not a big book reader. I own few novels. Comic books has been the biggest influence of my writing. And for those that think comic books are just juvenile because they contain muscular men and women with big boobs you are mistaken. Sure, there are some books like that but that is merely a stereotype and not always the norm. But comics have not been the only thing, just the majority. This column will just cover the novels. I will write a comic book one sometime in the near future with some recommendations.
One of the first novels I read really made an impact on me. It was back in the 5th grade we read "The White Mountains" By John Christopher. I remember this book rather fondly, it made me appreciate science fiction and made me want to create a world and write. Christopher followed this up with two other books in the "Tripod Trilogy". The middle book, "They City of Gold and Lead" was my favorite. In this book we are introduced to the aliens behind the Tripods. And this is what caught my eye, these villains were not straight bad guys, they had their own personality. That stuck with me quite a bit. I'll have to dig these books out and re-read them sometime.
But my all-time favorite novel is Dracula by Bram Stroker. I try to read this novel every Halloween. There is so much that I love about this book. What made it a unique read was that it was not just a novel but more of a historical record. It is mainly composed of journal and diaries writings and letters written by the main characters. It certainly made it more believable to me. But what got me was Dracula himself. He was so charming, so controlling of a villain. When I write villains, I try to bring those qualities to my characters.
Other books that have influenced me in some way are the Collected Works of Edgar Allen Poe and the Collected Works of Washington Irving. Whenever I want to get a shot of creative juice, I usually will read one of Poe's stories or poems.
I could go into comic book writers that have influenced me but I would also like to take the time to make some recommendations too. So that will be a separate column.
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