January 20th, that was the day I said It started.

Yes, It.  That's spelled with a capital I.

I'm not sure how many others have started, or will start in a few days, but I have started.

Day 1's calculation:  872(or so) words.  I had some inspiration last night, and I really got going once I started, but then had to stop. :(

But, I'd love to read all your word count so far (if you've started yet), you can post them in the comments!

As you may have gotten from the title, I will be keeping track of my progress each day and be putting it as a sort of journal.

Now, I'll give a little summary of my short story:
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Written from 1st perspective, Wayne Griphynn sets out to 'conquer' the world... or at least his neighborhood.  That is, conquer it for Christianity.

Wayne met Stephen as soon as school started.  They grew to be friends, but Wayne knew Stephen is not a Christian.  Wayne is now determined to help Stephen become a Christian... but he has more than a mountain's climb to overcome if he will succeed.  God will help him, and he knows it.
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That's basically it!

Happy Short Storying!

The WordWeaver

The Short Story Contest starts in exactly 1 day.

The minimum word count for the contest is 1, and the maximum is 8,000,000,000.  As you can see, I don't really care... just so long as it isn't 9 billion or more. :)

I wish I could do a more full blog post, alas, I need to go write other things, which I should have done quite a while ago.

I am doing some work on the other pages, so if you haven't seen the them you may want to look at them before the reforming officially begins.  Most of which will happen on the 'Sorcers Scrolls' sub page of My Novels.

The Short Story Contest Rules.

As I continue to write, I am beginning to learn things.  Not just how to form a sentence better, nor how to correct grammar (though I need to work on that), I am learning much more.

Each writer is in 1 of 4 main stages.  And each stage is hard fought for, no one can be born one step ahead, nor one step behind.  But they can advance at faster paces.

These 4 steps you ask?  Simple.  They are; Unconscious Incompetence.

We all start here, at level one.  We are unknowing that we are incompetent at writing.     But don't feel bad, I'll say it again EVERYONE, starts at this level.

Secondly, Conscious Incompetence.

This is when we know we are incompetent, yet still can't become competent.  This is a large step up from Unconscious Incompetence.  But not everyone has is up to this level of writing, I'm not trying to belittle them, I am only stating the truth.  I will explain what I mean a little later.

Third, Conscious Competence.

This is where we can do it, we can write, but we have to focus hard and long on it, and really concentrate.

And lastly, Unconscious Competence.

Here, we know how to write so well, we don't even think as we type (or scribble).

Now, I'm going to expand on these things.

These 'levels' are not writing as a whole.  No, I mean in each aspect of writing we go through this process.
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Say there were three people, Bob, John, and Jill.

Bob was really great at coming up with a plot, so much so, in fact, he was in the Unconscious Competent state.  John, however, was at the Unconscious Incompetence level for creating a plot.  However, he was at stage 3 in Character Development.

And lastly, Jill was superb at the flowing of words and the rhythm, yet she too lacked in both Plot and Character Development.
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Did you get the point of that example?  Each of us are better at one thing or another, and we each go through those stages each and every section of writing, Character Development, the Flow of the sentence, Plot, Intrigue, Description, the list is almost endless, but we each have our own specialty.

Do you have any thoughts on this post?  Please, go ahead and comment.

Farewell.

The WordWeaver

I am entering a short story contest.

I don't know which one... but I'm going to enter one.

Why?  Because my dad heard about one on the radio, which got me thinking.  So I looked some things up on the internet and... I didn't find a contest I wanted to enter.

HOWEVER, I did read some inspiring stuff.  One guy said that he entered an excerpt from his novel.  While he didn't achieve first place, though in the top five, he was able to contact publishers.  And, using the bit of 'fame' he got from the contest, he actually got published.

So I don't have hope for something that big, though it would AWESOME to actually win something.  Though I don't have hopes for that either.

Anyway, as most of you may know, I've just killed some WF (Writer's Flu), and in the meanwhile defeated its ally, Procrastination.  Now I'm hunting for some inspiration.

But I don't necessarily need inspiration.  I need a drive.  Something to strive for.

NaNoWriMo was perfect.  I wrote more in one month than I could have ever before.  60,000 words.  Just think, 60,000 words is like... like an army.  An army of words.

Enough of that though.  As I was saying, I need to have a drive to write, a dead line (you know, where you get to it or else you're dead, the most serious kind of dead line), and I also need some hope.

While the May deadline for the NaNoWriMo books is making me anxious, I just can't focus on that.  I've spent a whole month dedicated to writing 2,000  words each day, I need something fresh, and I've found that taking the month of December off didn't help me.

So... I am going to 'host' my own Short Story Contest.  Why?  Just for fun.  But, if you do write a short story, send it to me using my email -> scoutofdunnwood[AT]gmail.com <- And I'll give you a badge.  (:D)  (If you don't want to send it to me, it's just fine, I'll give it to you anyway).


A second post coming later today... or early tomorrow.

"Thy word is thy weapon.  Use it with caution." -Me

The WordWeaver

That title is what I have, (and I know other writers have) gone through.

Inspiration just doesn't always come.  You can't just summon it with a snap of your fingers, or the stomp of a foot.

No, your going to have to go after it, ready for a fight.  And I have to admit I didn't do that these past few days.

I get an idea, I write for an hour or less, then suddenly, I feel no longer inspired and drop my ideas, and leave.  That, in part, was because I wasn't hunting the right inspiration.  I was taking anything that came to me.  I was desperate to write, but not desperate enough to stick with it.

My proof?  I've started 2 books that, likely, will never go beyond ten pages.  Nothing is extremely wrong with that, but it shows that I'm not focused, and that those two books are pieces of worthless trash.

Now don't try to convince me otherwise, I bet you, that while I'll possibly take a few elements from those two stories, I will never, never complete them.

And that's the hole that I have fell into this December.  Writing a novel isn't easy.  On the contrary, it's one of the hardest things a 12 year old like me could do.  But I was making it up to myself that it was easy.  Biggest mistake so far I've made of 2013 (not like we are far into it...).

(Cuts off rabbit-trail)  Back to the point.

Inspiration is a fleeting glimpse you'll see everywhere.  Especially when you are lost and  don't know what to write.  But Do Not fall into the trap I did; going after goose trails and expecting to win something from it.  Those bits of 'inspiration' will eventually stab you in the back by abandoning you ten pages in.

So I tell you now to go after the real inspiration, and before anything at all is written down.  Test your story.

It must be like a trampoline.  Bounce you up when you need help, but not keep you stuck and confined to the rules, by lifting you up... did I just make any sense?  I hope so.

Then, test the story's originality.  Is it a copy of Narnia?  The Lord of the Rings?  Star Wars?

Next, you must assure the amount of material you have for it.  How many scenes do you have?  How many characters, events, places?  It helps this entire process if you have an outline, outlines are a MUST (but that is for another post).

So to finish this post up, I'll say this last thing.  Know your story.  Will it hold you up?  Because those times when you fall... well, you're going to have something strong to hold you up.

May thy Pen rush with the ink of true inspiration, thy pencil flow with alacrity, and thy keyboard blaze with words of fire.

The WordWeaver

I haven't posted anything really about Christmas or the New Year.  So I'll quickly fill you in before getting on with post.

Christmas was very good, exponentially exhilarating.  Yeah.

New Years Eve night I didn't sleep.  Not at least until the first morning of 2013 - if you get my logic.

Anyway, onto writing.

I've had a mix of Writer's Block (or Writer's Flu as I call it) and Procrastination.  Therefore, whenever I finally began to kill the Writer's Flu the cruel little goblins from the land of Procrastination came hobbling along, chatter-choking themselves off.

So I guess you get the idea.  Whenever Writer's Flu wasn't there to plague me, scrounging in and around me, killing my writing spirit, the minions from the Empire of Procrastination come out to attack me.

Yep - no writing done then.

Thankfully I have an ally, and I think every writer has one too.  And often it may change, then again it could stay the same for a very long time.  Mine was the Lord of the Rings soundtrack.

I was aggravated with myself for not writing in several days.  Not only that, but when I did write I didn't do it before in a long span of time.

It's one of the worst-

scratch that.

Procrastination is the worst nightmare a writer can have.

Writer's Block is not an almost daily, constant nagging.  It strikes at times... but eventually will scatter back to its hole.

Procrastination, however, takes a bit of a harder punch - a more potent tonic.

Determination.

Yes, well, it's quite easy to say you're going to go write.  But then to actually get up from your comfortable, cozy lazy-boy chair, take a few agonizing steps that feel like lead weights are tied to your feet, and finally, sit down on your designated chair for writing.

But it isn't over.

No, not by a longbow's shot.  (Hm... maybe trying to avoid that cliche didn't quite work out...)

Anyway, there's more.  Like me, earlier today, you have to turn on your computer.

Meanwhile those feisty little goblins are pricking you in the back, nudging you, whispering with their wheezy little - yet very convincing - voices, to get up, go play outside in the inch-deep snow, talk to some random person you see in your house... even play a video game!

As the Microsoft Windows little icon pops up, you here your brother's voice begin to jabber off.  It's distracting you.

Or at least it was to me.

Well, those pesky little goblins are still there, beckoning... promising... almost begging... though not quite.  You even begin to name them.  Crouch-nose... Measle-feet... Wart-head... Pink-eye...

The little ring of your computer, signaling it has finally turned on, dances through the air, snapping most of your attention back.  And just in time, those goblins might have gotten you.

There sits the document on your computer screen.  Your cursor flows over to the title, and a little explanation thingy-jig pops up, telling the troubling tale you haven't updated it since November 30.  You told yourself you'd continue after NaNoWriMo... it just wasn't coming.

Here 22 days had passed and yet... 0 words were written.

ZERO


You sigh, discouraged, and maybe even disgruntled.  You feel as though writing betrayed you.  Something wrong!...

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The above account was dramatically dramatized for dramatic effect.  But hey, I'm sure we've all gotten somewhere close to that before.  So here's how to kill Procrastination.  It won't kill it forever, mind you, it's got so many masks, disguises, and tricks up its sleeve we'll all be cringing, but it doesn't mean we should give up as writers.  No.  Not while we still have breath in our lungs and blood in our veins.

There are a lot of good authors that were never published, or had been published, yet never gained their due sales they should have attained.  Yet, we cannot give up, and Procrastination, nor any of its kin will be able to stop us.

The one way to kill the Writer's Enemy (Procrastination), is to fight fire with fire.

No, don't turn into a pyromaniac.  Turn into a flame.

Just sit down and write.

Just do it.

The world depends on it.

Nothing else can stop the destruction of the world.

And only you, yes YOU can save it.

So write.

Just do it.

No excuses, no restraints, and kick those little goblins out of your mind, I'm sure Crouch-nose, Measle-feet, Wart-head, Pink-eye, Wolf-heart, Fur-back, and the rest of the gang will understand.

So just go write.  I'm telling you, that's the only thing that will help.  Force yourself, the world won't wait, and neither will Procrastination ease off, it's you who has to take the first action, granted, you may take breaks, but when Procrastination sets in, the only break that you need is a Jaw-Breaker (.... or something like that.  Candy helps).

Farewell, and my thy pencils stay sharp, thy pens flowing with ink, and let thy words fly true.

The Kid Author.

(Borrowed from Jag Swiftstorm: http://jagswiftstorm.blogspot.com/)
"Should a 'series' be one story, or several?

What I am meaning is, are the books totally separate stories, or do they just all meld into one story?

Using the fantasy genre, an example of books that are more disjointed would be the DragonKeeper Chronicles, by Donita K. Paul. The main characters stay the same throughout the series (with the main exceptions of some dropping out in book 4, and more characters being introduced in book 2), and some of the antagonists are the same, but the storylines are separate.

An example of stories that are joined are The Wormling series, by Jerry B. Jenkins and Chris Fabry. The books are merged into one story, and even after reading them three? times, I still can't mentally say exactly where each book starts and begins, apart from the gap between books 1 and 2.

So which is right? And which is wrong? I would say that there is no right and wrong. It is simply a matter of style and preference.

However, I would suggest against being too extreme, as with anything (or just about anything).


If a series is very disjointed, then readers may not feel drawn to read the second book. If the plot has been totally finished, then continuations may be received as pointless attempts to make money.

On the other hand, if the series is totally in one part, then it may be better to advertise it as one book, rather than as a series. The Lord of the Rings is an example of a long work that is advertised and thought of as one book, but can be and is sold in three volumes, as well as in one volume. With Kindle publishing, it will be quite simple to sell the whole series as one unit.

Even if you try to write your series as separate novels, it may, and likely will, merge into one story in the later books. Examples of fantasy book series that did this are easy to name; Oracles of Fire, Binding of the Blade. I can foresee my series, The Arboreal Shadow, doing this, as the first three books are clearly delineated, but then the last three, and especially the last two, will merge into one storyline and one unit as the story builds up to the climax.

And yeah, I really should be working on The Rise of the Shadow now. But I'm just waiting for my current readers to get back to me. (You know who you are...)

So, I would say that the jointed-ness of books is really a matter of opinion and personal taste, as long as it doesn't get too extreme."

This, readers, was borrowed from one of my online friends (Blog: http://jagswiftstorm.blogspot.com/, by the way, if you are there Jag, thanks for letting me use your post.)

I especially like this because not so long ago I was thinking of the same thing.

My first example to clear up my half of this post.  Harry Potter.

I have read the books, but I have watched all the movies, and therefore I have at least a brief understanding of them.  Each book has it's own plot and conclusion.  In 'The Sorcerer's Stone' Harry Potter achieves victory over Voldemort.  The second book, Harry Potter defeats Voldemort again (though not as directly as the first time).

And it goes on.

I like the idea of each book having its own story, otherwise the ending will never really be satisfying.  Then again it could be a sharp cliffhanger.  Another danger would be to have the books so far apart in general the general story line, that they seem like a 'series' of random books, possibly not even with all the same characters.

However, if the whole of the story is combined and smoothly polished so it is nearly transparent to the reader (though still staying in the bounds of a clear, explained plot), I, for one, would enjoy it much more.


Doing this is often hard, and many series don't.  For example, Wayne Thomas Batson's The Door Within Trilogy is, to some extent, disjointed, especially noticeable for me between book 2 and 3.


Even Christopher Poalini's Inheritance Cycle was somewhat jagged in that area.


Now, I'm not trying to pick these books apart.  Instead, I am pointing out some of their faults so that you may steer clear of them.


To the average reader, these areas may not pop up in a reader's mind, but subconsciously it wears down at the series' likability, which is never a good thing (unless you don't like selling books...).


But back to the meat of this post (I'm trying to cut off my rabbit-trails as it's nearly tomorrow O.O).

Is it 'allowed' to write in a broken up series, or not?  And is it 'allowed' to write a series in one flowing storyline without a more final (though not necessarily the final) ending?


First off, you are the creator, it is allowed, and you have complete control over that.  As a writer, I enjoy the freedom of just creating.  No restrictions, no logic (well...) and absolutely no math.  Thus, I can do whatever I want with my story, and I like that.


(Rabbit-trail cut-off)


So, yes; of course it is allowed.  Now we go deeper in.


I think a mix of the two questions is the best (which I believe I have stated before).  A good stirring helps the story brew (as I have always said... always since a few seconds ago).


An Example:


Book 1 started off with two main characters.  Jack and Jill.  The book ended with Jack falling down a well, eventually being rescued, though.  So the whole town has one, big, happy feast.


Book 2 started out with two new characters, John and Joe.  They were Jack and Jill's little brother and sister, and once Jack and Jill were older, John and Joe went up the hill on their own first little adventure.  Suddenly, they were set upon by wild, savage wolves and John's arm was brutally scarred.  Joe ran back, her little red hair flying and wolves nipping at it in the wind.  But she made it back to the village, and there, she told the village elders of John's plight, for even then he hung dangling from a hemlock tree.  But the village elders could do nothing!  (I can't think about this plot bunny to the left right now, I'll straighten it out later).  So Silly Sally is preparing to leave with Joe, but before that!  Dun dun dun!  Book 2 ends.


Book 3 starts out with Silly Sally and Joe getting to the tree the wolves had once surrounded.  They see blood on the tree, but no John.  All they see left of him is a small trickle of blood, going from the tree off to the Magician's cave to the north.  The wolves are gone, trampled grass where the blood trickle was gave their trail away.  So Silly Sally and Joe set out to the Magician's cave.  There, the wolves under the Magician's rule turn on Sally and Joe.  They take them prisoner, binding them in hard, cruel chains.


Book 3 ends.  But Book 4 picks up the story.  Jack and Jill were warned by the village elders of the trouble, so they immediately set out for the tree.  They do the same as Silly Sally and Joe, until at last coming to the Magician's cave.  There, they demanded the Magician hand Silly Sally and Joe over.  The Magician refuses, yet begins a bargain.  If Jack gave him 50 gold coins, he would hand over both Silly Sally and Joe.  Jack and Jill accept, and the four set back to the village, wary of the wolves behind them.  At last they come back to the village, where Joe feels something is missing in the village, but can't remember what from all the excitement.  And then she remembers it was John.  He was still back with the Magician!  Then, BAM!  Book 4 ends.


And here, the epic conclusion of... the epic (or saga, call it what you wish).  Book 5.  Jack, Jill, Joe, Silly Sally, along with over half the village, set out for the Magician's cave to retrieve John.  When they reach the cave, they speak with the Magician.  The Magician claims John escaped, but the villagers don't believe him so they look through the cave, coming to the cell in which John was once kept.  But he wasn't there!  After some scrounging, they find a little tunnel.  They go through the tunnel and at last find John, hurt badly and nearly dead, for the tunnel had caved in.  And thus, they took John back to the village to be fixed up.  And then they had a feast.


That was a long example, and I should shorten it probably, but I wont.  Here's why I even wrote this:  'Book' 1 is in a series, yet by the end the crisis is over and there is no continuation that could be seen.  So this is in Class 1.  Class 1 is (by my own made-up definition) when a book is in a story, yet there is a definite and sure ending to that plot.


'Books' 2 and 3 were in Class 2.  Class 2 would be the plain series, the books ending abruptly and with little conclusion to the plot, which can be good, but is usually best for comic books or a TV series.

Books 4 and 5, however, were different than either Class 1 or 2.  But the thing is, they were different because they were the same.

Black and white are opposites.  They go against each other, they clash.   Pretty much the same with Classes 1 and 2.  However, if you change the Classes just a bit, you can get something really good.  Take colors, again.  Black will not co-exist with white.  Think of them as two warring kings, they'll fight and fight until they run dry.  BUT, if you mix black with white, you have a product of grey.

And grey is what you are looking for.

While book 4 of my example ended as a cliffhanger, it also had a conclusion to its own plot.  Silly Sally and Joe were rescued!  Which, if you would remember, was indeed the point of book 4, it was only that the Magician had tricked them.

Book 5 ended the saga with a roaring boom and a thunderous exclamation of happiness and awesomeness (okay, well maybe not).

But book 4 and 5 were the same.  No, 5 didn't have a cliffhanger as 4 did, but considering that the original setting out of 4's plot didn't have anything to do with John, the plot did come to a close... until they remembered.

But the similarities are that 5 was a continuation of 4, which had the ending to its own plot, but 5 had more to continue on.  Therefore, books 4 and 5 were alike, for they were a blend of black and white.  Previously, in the other books, there hadn't been that blend, it was either black, or white, which can be rather annoying in some cases.

Well, I guess that wraps this super-mega-long post up.

Farewell, and may your pen stay sharp and your pencil sharper.

The Kid Author

THE CONSEQUENCES OF EVERYONE BEING THE SAME AS ME.

1.  There would be no electronic devices.

2.  No video Games nor Movies.

3.  No cars, busses, trucks, or any other motorized vehicle.

4.  There would be no weapon other than Medieval technology... possibly not even that.

5.  No one would ever land on the moon.

6.  Neither Communism or Capitalism would exist, only dictatorships, monarchies, or anarchy.

7.  Mathematics would be a dreaded subject, if it was even comprehended.

8.  Everyone would be an author of at least several fantasy books.

9.  There would be to many fantasy books for man-kinds good.

10.  Only people with the right moods at certain times would like mystery fiction.

11.  Everyone likes history.

12.  No body likes horror novels.

13.  Paintings and other pictures would be of the poorest quality, though the people would like to draw.

14.  There would only be a 25% chance that humans would advance beyond Medieval or Dark Age technology.

15.  Cats would, most likely, be extinct.

16.  Everyone would dream of being a good artist.

17.  Everyone would think that their brothers (even though they are the same as him/her) were very odd.

18.  Only a certain measure of politics would surface in the busy, and befuddle minds of the nobles.

19.  Everyone would hate swimming pools or anything water related (i.e. showers).

20.  Hiawian Punch would never have been invented.

21.  Henry Ford would have spent his time dreaming up things he called a "Model T", not actually making it.

22.  Pink would be outlawed.

24.  Buildings would be sloppily constructed.

25.  The likelihood of bread being discovered by growing wheat and grinding it would be very, VERY, slim.

26.  Everyone would be saying "Politics equals, disguised lies."

27.  Leonardo DVinci would have finished most of what he started, unfortunately, that would only be a series of fantasy books.

28.  Kids as old as 12 would have an interest in politics.

29.  Kids 12 and older would be attempting to take over the world...

30.  Hand pumps would have never come into the mind of it creator.

31.  Everyone would hate Legos (though... I must say myself that that wouldn't be such a bad thing...)

32.  It would have taken a genius of his era to invent the bow and arrow.

33.  A genius 33 times that would be required to invent ballistas or catapults.

34.  If boats were built, no one would be able to comprehend how they floated, let alone sailed against the wind.

35.  Markus Perrson, the creator of Minecraft, would have written a fantasy book called, Minecraft, rather than making a video game.

36.  Everyone would eat butterbread for lunch, breakfast, and super.

37.  Macaroni and Cheese would be one of the top three favorite foods of every one, along with Pizza and Chicken Cordon Bleu.  (I don't see a consequence here though...)

38.  When someone said "genetically reverse engineered it" the other person would run away screaming.

39.  Everyone would be inventing a slew of new words weekly.

40.  The bill that says "The right to bear arms" would be abolished for its silly wording.

More to come probably, those are just the ones I thought up real quick.  :)