Where Things Are Going

Well, folks, I've come to a fork in the road.  And I'm turning soon.  Actually, that's more of a catchphrase than anything else, and an excuse to post that picture you see.  I already know where things are going. :)

I still have a lot of revising to do.  And that's pretty much a "Duh" for any writer; good books are not written, they're REwritten, right?

However, as I was rereading and formatting The Book of Shaldu this week, I began thinking about book two in the Prophecies Series.  That's the more-or-less official name of the series, by the way.

I really have no idea what is going to happen in that book.  It's a mystery.  I only have a couple of vague ideas and a prophecy.  But events are happening fast, and I'll fill you in.

Yesterday afternoon, I spoke to a friend briefly about Book Two.  That got my imagination juices running, and I realized (not for the first time) that I have no idea what I'm going to do in Book Two.  And since The Book of Shaldu was beginning to shape up, I thought it might be time to begin thinking about it.

That's what I do instead of outlining, see.  I ponder it.  I think about my characters.  I think about the plot.  And I say, "What could go wrong?"  (Which, by the way, is a fantastic question.  Find out what could go wrong, and then do it.)

Well, I didn't sleep very well last night.  That's what these things do to you.  In fact, in "sleeping on it", I might have awoken poor Inspiration again.  He always tunes into thoughts, not actions.  And since my mind was a boiling pot of imagination last night...

Long story short, he threw a bar of soap at me in the shower this morning.  And I realized that the back-story for one of my characters was a LOT more complex than I thought.

The character in question was Elene Silversword, the mother of my main character.   She was a strong character with a sharp wit and a sharp tongue, and she loved the High Lord.  For the longest time I couldn't understand why she was such a strong character.

But anyway, after Inspiration threw the soap at me, he told me all about Elene Silversword.  It was kinda creepy, actually, finding out all I didn't know about my own character.  Apparently she had fled to Kr'ark and married a guy named Jactwo Silversword.  'Course, I had to find out why she fled.  I'm her writer.

I found out a lot about this character called Elene.  For one, Elene isn't her real name.  Major shock there.  And for two, her story has betrayal and death and conspiracy wound up in it.

If you expect me to tell you what exactly her story IS, I won't.  It's my secret.  I promised Inspiration I wouldn't tell.

However, let it be known that her back-story will have a large impact on the course of the Prophecies series. This got me thinking for the rest of the day.  And, besides this, I figured out what this new prophecy means.

Now, if you're wondering what in the world all this has to do with where things are going, let me tell you; because of this rather painful smack from Inspiration, I now have a tentative plot for Book Two simmering in my mind pot.  I have a lot of foreshadowing to rewrite into TBOS, but it's beginning to come together.

To tie it all up, I have a feeling that Book Two is very close to getting to the point where I can begin writing.

And, of course, revising my other novels.  *sigh*  It gets tiring after a while...

Two more quick notes: first, the prophecy's name is also the name of a novel.  I actually "doodled" the prophecy, believe it or not.  I drew a tree, an orb, and a stylized moon, and then wrote a poem above the tree in runes.  This became the prophecy.

So, you want to know the name of the book?

Tentatively, Book Two of the Prophecies is called, "The Prophecy of Terrainian".

The name "Terrainian" is also tentative.  I may need a name-change.  Do you think I should change the name?  If so, what name would you recommend? (It's easily done; I haven't written anything about book two down anywhere but here.)

That's all for now.  Let me know what you think. :)

Edits and Updates

(Not my image.  Cool, though, eh?)

I might not be the greatest blogger on earth, but at least I've been writing, right?  Here's what I've gotten done so far:

• I'm on chapter four out of twelve in my OYAN novel; the word count is 6,629 words.  Roughly 26, 27 pages.  It's not too bad, yet, but I have a lot of brainstorming and researching to do in the next few chapters.
• I rewrote several sections and did one quick edit over the entirety of The Book of Shaldu.  It is now 52,900 words, with an epic new ending chapter.  Like I have said before, I thought the ending too dark and ended up writing just one more chapter in The Book of Shaldu.  I sent it off to some friends to critique as soon as I finished.  (That made me really nervous.  This is the first time in history that Jake of the Sadaar's novels have been read by any mortal.  What?  What's that you say?  Of course I'm immortal.)
• This blog post.  Yeah, I count them.  Judge me not!

Also, I'd like to post several other things: 

First, Michelle Archer at Arrowhead Reviews is having a giveaway of a book called Beyond the Dead Forest.  Don't join. ;) I want a free book! (Who doesn't?)

Second, I recently discovered (more like rediscovered) a Christian blogger who composes music.  His name's Jon Maiocco. I have listened to most everything he has up there, and I can assure you, that guy has some serious talent.  If you have a bit of time and some headphones, I'd encourage you to check out his Celtic song and his Isle of Swords song.  Those are my favorites. :)  Or you could just head to the main page of his blog to browse through them all.

Got Goals?

Well, June has dawned over the fields of Kansas, and it brings with it news: Mathe is dead, and school is almost finished.  (Technically, the last of my school is finishing a novel.)

But there's unseen news drifting in on the wind: Jake of the Sadaar has brought some goals with him into June.

I like to call summer the Season of Writing.  Made that up just now; clever, huh?

And I have some incentive for writing, too.  For instance, consider this: if you had 26 days until a writing conference, wouldn't you write?  But it's more complicated than that.  Because it's the OYAN [One Year Adventure Novel] conference: and that means you have to have an OYAN novel.  One I *ahem* haven't quite written one yet.  Yup, that's incentive.  Poor Procrastination doesn't stand a chance.

So here's some goals I have for this month of June, things I'd like to get done.  And it's a list!  Huzzah for lists!  Lists and bullets!  Double combination.

This list is in order of priority.

• Write the OYAN novel.  This is pretty much a must.  Either that, or I'm showing up to the Conference with a blank novel to share.  (Yup, I'm going to be sharing my novel at that conference.  Now you ALL want to go, eh?)
• Rewrite the Book of Shaldu.  This probably won't happen, since I need to have it formatted and edited and stuff for a proof copy from CreateSpace.  Believe it or not, I still haven't gotten my free proof copy from all the way back to NaNoWriMo.  Oh, and did I mention the free copy expires June 31st? ;)
• Write the last section of A Battle Fought at Midday.  This is farther down the list, since my above works have an "expiration date".
• Write in Revolution.  Probably won't happen, but there's a slim chance I'll have some time.  I'll probably pick it up next month

That's about it.  See you all next time.

(Postscript: Contact me if you want to do a rough-and-ready Word War.  I'm craving those right now; I gotta finish a novel before the 28th, right?)

Where in the Name of Cheez-Its has Jake Gone?

Greetings and Hallucinations, Elves, Dwarves, Readers, and other strange characters!

It's been a while since I've been here.  Things have been hectic here in Kansas.  Between schoolwork and lots of other activities, I've barely had any time to write.  (And I assure you, for once, it's not Procrastination's fault.  This time it's Mathe.)

But a few new things are coming my way in the direction of writing.  If all goes well, most of my school will be finished on Friday.  But I have to do triple schoolwork everyday to do that. (OO)

Right now, I'm working on my One Year Adventure Novel.  It must be done before the middle of June (my goal), due to the fact that I am hopefully going to the OYAN Workshop at the end of June.  The famed EaglesWings will also be there.  Right now, I'm at 2,675 words, with a goal of at least 25K.  It's my first 'historical novel', but it's really very similar to my fantasy novels, taking place in 1100s England.  Some legends are being used, and I'm excited about it. :)

For those of you waiting with bated breath for the next segment of A Battle Fought at Midday, breathe.  It's coming sometime soon.  If not this week, then next weekend.

Some non-writing stuff has been happening as well.  Though the world didn't end yesterday, it got awfully close.  We were under a tornado warning for a while last night, and a bad thunderstorm.  No tornadoes touched down, but sirens were going off.

Also, my mom is having me read the Kansas Driving Handbook.  Beware, Kansas drivers, beware....

That's all I have time to write. :)  More posts coming within the week! (I think.  If I don't post, Mathe has eaten me.)

Tip for June 9, 2010; The Gift of Goals, Part One

There are two kinds of goals; time goals, and word goals. At least, that's what I call them. Word goals are a certain word count that writers want their novels/stories to have. Time goals are how long until you feel you have to finish your novel/story.

In this post (there will be more!), I'm going to write about time goals.

Lately I have set a goal for my current novel, Sadaar; I want to finish it by the end of summer. To some, such goals are impossible. "What?" they might say. "There is NO way I could do that."

Perhaps. Perhaps not. Here's the way I actually do my goals;

1) Ask God to help you make the goal. It works. No kidding.

2) I force myself to write. Writer's block? Sit down and think about what's blocking you, and then remedy the situation. If my creative juices are gone, I keep writing, no matter how dry the stuff I'm typing out is. That's what editing is for! Also, ignoring the internet helps.

3) Do not, whatever you do, don't start editing before the novel is done, unless it affects the plot. This one may differ from each person, but as for me, there are so many mistakes out there, I will never get my novel perfect before going on to write the next piece. I keep on writing and never look back at what I wrote until the novel is done and in front of me. Then I edit like mad. :)

And for those who don't have goals, you might want to think of making one. This, too, may differ from each person, but for me, I find that my productivity goes up a level by having a certain self-imposed date that I want to finish my novel or reach a certain part.

All in all, I think that time goals are a good thing to have, especially if you want to write a lot.