Halfway finished with 10% trim of CURSE

I’m at the 51% mark with my trim and have cut 10,000 words. Right on target. And I haven’t cut any story, just flab in the writing. Usually when I revise, I add words. I thought I wrote lean, but that’s clearly not the case.  Strangely enough, I have to say that I’ve enjoyed every hour of this. I’m loving this edit,  improving the flow and immediacy, cutting out redundancies and superflous lines. Who would have thunk?

For those of you who are numbers geeks, here’s a peek at the spreadsheet I’m using to track my trim goals and actuals. “Var” means variance. “CTarget” is the target to cut from the chapter.  

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    Writing update: brainstorming the ending of Curse

    I’ve had a number of people ask me where I am with the second book. I have the progress bars on the side, but they don’t give any details. So I thought I’d start up a semi-regular post that would be something like a writer’s journal. We’ll see how it goes.

    Right now I’m working on the climax of CURSE OF A DARK GOD. For the last two weeks I’ve been struggling trying to figure out the flow. I knew in general what I wanted to have happen. I had some images and the general feel–spectacle, revelation, battle at the fortress–knew I had to fulfill some expectations I’d raised with four characters. But I didn’t know the exact steps of the scene, the back and forth. I also hadn’t figured out the exact details of some of the magic that would be used.

    I outlined the objectives and plans of the two opposing warlords and then the steps of the scene. I listed my objectives for the scene. I do this sketching, sometimes exploratory drafts, to help bring the scene to life in my mind. I find that until a scene is alive in my mind, it’s impossible for me to write. Anyway, over the course of two weeks I went through six takes of the scene, and it still didn’t feel right. I won’t give the details and spoil the ending, but it just wasn’t there and I was getting frustrated. I’m behind on my deadlines and a book’s ending it critical. I talked a few things over with Nellie and made some headway, but it just wasn’t there.

    So I called a brainstorm meeting. I’ve never done this before for my writing work. I mean, I’ve bounced things off individuals (mostly Nellie) many times and found good resolutions, but I’ve never had a group. However, I felt I needed some extra input to get my mind going down new paths. Lenn Johnson, Amy and Alex Lamborn, and Miles and Becky Pinter came over. I borrowed a white board and easel from my church and made gingersnaps. When they arrived, I sat them around our kitchen table with Nellie and had them riff on one question while I captured their answers and ideas on the white board.

    It was incredibly productive. Partly because they came up with some great ideas I’m going to use. But also because it got me thinking in a new way which allowed me to come up with an idea that resolved the main issue I was dealing with. That was last Thursday. The next day I sat down and outlined a scene that did everything I wanted it to, including giving me the “oh, baby” feeling. It feels right. I have the spectacle, the revelation, the fulfillment to the expectations for the characters. I’m excited to write it. Which means I can now move forward. This week and next I hope to finish. After that there are a few small things I need to insert and clean up. Then it’s off to my editor.

    BTW, I did some calculations. For those interested, in this draft, the third, I ripped out 50% of the draft two and completely rewrote it. New problem and situation for two of my three points of view, major changes, etc. I heavily revised above 20% of the remaining 50%. I’ve put in a little over 500 hours working on this draft over the last six months.

    500 hours  (remember, I still have a day job).

    I am a slower writer than many. But it still would have been a huge task even if I could write twice as fast as I do. I think this is a perfect illustration of three things. First, if you don’t fix some things you feel are off when you find them, you might find you have a massive amount of rework later. Second, sometimes you don’t recognize you have those issues until you’re well into it. Third, writing requires the author to make time. I think this is the most important one. And the one that probably kills most aspiring writers. The fact is that if you can’t make time, you ain’t going to write 🙂

    Speaking of making time as a new artist, watch this interesting interview with author Scott Turow.

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  • Map for Servant of a Dark God by Isaac Stewart

    Check it out.  “The Clan Lands of Whitecliff” by Isaac Stewart. I think he’s done a great job.  Here’s the full PDF. BTW, this is not the map that will appear in the book. That one’s being done by another artist selected by Tor. This is one I commissioned when I got my book contract.

    sodg_map_old_v5_isaacstewart

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  • Idaho Librarians

    Just got back from the Idaho Librarian conference in Soda Springs.

    • Had a wonderful time. Got to meet a lot of great people. I just love librarians.
    • Organizer Cindy Erickson was so very gracious. She even promised to take my wife and girls huckleberry hunting. Not only does she reference books, she references the sweet harvest spots!!
    • Drank my first bottle of Hooper Springs sparkling water–naturally carbonated mineral water. It wasn’t too bad at first, but I can still taste the minerals seven hours later 🙂
    • Borders from Logan came up and sold a whole bunch of my books. The sales manager was very positive about the new corporate management. I hope things go well for the bookstore.
    • Locked myself out of my car. But I have a solution now, thanks to one of the librarians (how do they know so much?), that will never ever ever ever fail. I will never be in that situation again. No, I’m not talking about a magnet key box somewhere.
    • Told myself I am getting a camera to take to these things next week. That’s it. I want pictures of all these fine folks.
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  • Servant of a Dark God is a Whitney Award finalist

    Yea! Thanks to those of you who nominated. The judges have chosen Servant of a Dark God as a Whitney Award finalist. Of course, the four other books in the category are great. Here’s the list of finalists in my category:

  • Servant of a Dark God by John Brown
  • The Maze Runner by James Dashner
  • Wings by Aprilynne Pike
  • Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
  • I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells
  • Check out all finalists in all categories here. If you click on the Whitney Academy link on the top of that site, you’ll see all the folks who will be voting on the finalists.

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    News

    Interview with The Man Monday night

    Dungeon Crawlers Radio interviews The Man Monday, March 8th at 10:30 PM MTN. You can listen live or to the archive they’ll post to their site. All brought to you by UtahFM. Malak and Revan are great guys. I had a blast with them.

    Cool facts on breaking in, advances, etc. for writers

    New page on writing facts & figures in the On Writing section.

    Novel update

    CURSE OF A DARK GOD is moving along. You should see the progress bar move along quite a bit this week.

    Initial Schedule for American Fork Arts Council Conference for Writers

    This is a cheap day-long writers conference and looks like it’s going to be another great one.  I’ve highlighted what I’ll be doing in red. I’ll be making adjustments to the HOW TO WRITE A STORY THAT ROCKS presentation for things learned at LTUE.

    Here’s their website. That night I’ll probably be attending the Whitney Awards Gala which is also being held down in Happy Valley, Utah.

    DATE: Saturday April 24 2010

    8-9 a.m. Registration
    9-9:10 Welcome (Plenary)

    KEYNOTES
    9:10-9:40 Keynote #1 Ginger Churchill, “What I Wish I had Known as a Beginning Writer”
    9:40-10:10 Keynote #2 Ally Condie, “My Journey to National Publication”
    10:10-10:40 John D. Brown, “Aiming for National Publication”

    INTRODUCTIONS of editors and authors
    10:40-11:05 EDITORS: Derk Koldewyn, Granite NAME
    AUTHORS: Caleb Warnock, Linda Jefferies, Shannon Guymon

    11:05-11:20 15-minute break

    11:20-noon BREAKOUT ONE
    Upstairs room “Crafting the Novel” with Shannon Guymon, John D. Brown
    Downstairs One “Finding and Working With an Agent” with Ginger Churchill, Ally Condie, Caleb Warnock
    Downstairs Two “Taking Your Questions about Publishing” with Deseret Book and Granite Publishing

    noon-1 LUNCH “Mix and Mingle with Authors and Editors”

    1-1:40 BREAKOUT TWO
    Conference One Derk Koldewyn of Deseret Book “What Deseret Book is looking for now”
    Conference Two Ginger Churchill “How to Write and Publish Picture Books”
    Upstairs room John Brown, “How to Write a Story That Rocks Part 1: First Principles & Story Concept”
    Office room Caleb Warnock “10 Things Every Writer Should Know about Copyright”
    Downstairs One Granite Publishing “What Granite is looking for now”
    Downstairs Two Ally Condie “Writing Young Adult Fiction”

    1:40-1:50 Ten-minute break

    1:50-2:30 BREAKOUT THREE
    Upstairs Room John Brown, “How to Write a Story That Rocks Part 2: Character”
    Conference Two Ginger Churchill “Genres of Children’s Books, from Board Books to YA Novels”
    Conference One Derk Koldewyn of Deseret Book “National Publication with Shadow Mountain”
    Office room Caleb Warnock “How to Write the Query Letter”
    Downstairs One Granite Publishing “Publishing Options with Granite”
    Downstairs Two Shannon Guymon “How to Write Romance”

    2:30-2:40 Ten-minute break

    2:40-3:20 BREAKOUT FOUR
    Upstairs Room John Brown, “How to Write a Story That Rocks Part 3: Plot”
    Conference Two Ginger Churchill “How to be a Writer and a Mother Too”
    Conference One Linda Jefferies “Writing Poetry”
    Office room Caleb Warnock “Write a Synopsis? I’d Rather Gouge My Eyes Out!”
    Downstairs One Ally Condie “Succeeding as an LDS author”
    Downstairs Two Shannon Guymon “Writing Nonfiction”

    3:20-3:30 Ten-minute break

    3:30-4:10 BREAKOUT FIVE
    Upstairs Room John Brown, “Writing Scenes: The Basic Units of a Novel”
    Conference Two Ginger Churchill “Querying Agents and Publishers”
    Conference One Linda Jefferies “Publishing Poetry”
    Office room Caleb Warnock “Okay, You Were Rejected – Why, and What to Do Now”
    Downstairs One “How to form a critique group that works”
    Downstairs Two Shannon Guymon “Succeeding as an LDS Author”

    4:10-4:20 PRIZE GIVEAWAYS, GOODBYE

    REVISED (MAY CHANGE)

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  • ALA conference–wonderful!

    Holy cow, ALA was simply wonderful. The summary is below. You can find my speech here: http://johndbrown.com/2009/07/gateway-drugs-and-fiction/

    Got to go to dinner, ride in cabs, and chat at length with:

    1. A bunch of librarians who were complete characters. One guy named Milton Wolf who has written a lot on SFF and has been known to ski cross-country naked. Another gal named Diana Herald who had over 40 foster kids (official and non), and lives in a tire house. Then another named Edith Helbert, with whom I literally shared my meal (she had a fab pork burger, I had bbq beef brisket: I got half of her burger, she got half of my bbq). She is also in the Society of Creative Anacronism and was telling me about some war between two kingdoms she attended where the archers shot tennis ball/tube arrows at each other. Finally, Christy Donaldson introduced me in the meeting. Later she and I talked and I found out that not only is she a librarian in Happy Valley, but she loves the Sundance film festival. I’ve never gone, thinking it was probably going to be too artsy-fartsy for me, Mr. beef and bologna man. But she said I had to go and offered to go with me. So Nellie and I will probably be watching a Sundance documentary in the near future.
    2. Kathleen Doherty (One of Tom’s daughters) who runs the children’s division. Very smart. But the thing that stood out most was how warm and personable she was. She showed great affection for her librarian friends. Respects her dad immensley. Forgives new authors their fau paux. And is, among other things, a true blue capitalist. She made an argument for capitalism I hadn’t heard before, but rang true the moment she said it–there will always be corruption, but capitalism is the only structure that allows you to mitigate it because it spreads the power around. There was more, but I found it compelling.
    3. Jim Frenkel, editor who did Goodkind etc. He’s a total crack up. And seems to always get caught speeding by the cops. He threatened to tweet on me when I ordered a Shirley Temple to drink.
    4. David and Joelle Lubar, very nice folks. David tried to lead us on a goose chase, but was ultimately prevented.
    5. Ken Scholes. We love Ken.
    6. Robert Charles Wilson. Very, very nice guy. Humble. And so freaking accomplished. He’s won just about every award out there. I loved his Darwinia. Need to read his latest.
    7. Margaret Weis. Here’s someone who has written so much. It was interesting hearing about how she and Tracy go about their projects.
    8. A cabbie from Haiti who told me all sorts of nifty things about how it used to be down there. Like how cell phones are like chocolate because land lines were so bad and rare that you’d often have to call a phone station (where the phones were), have someone run down to your house and tell your family you’d call back. Then they’d have to come back on time and hopefully be there for your appointed call. Then sit in a phone box with no AC and sweat, sweat, sweat.

    Saw Alethea Kontis briefly, which is always a lovely thing.

    Then I got to be one of five speakers to a huge crowd. There were 300 seats, people were sitting and standing in the back. There was a lot of energy in that group and I just ate it up.

    Tor made up 200 bags with a book from each author and handed them out. Of course, we ran out. And, no, I had no book, but Tor printed up ARCs. And so SERVANT OF A DARK GOD was in there with all the grown up books.

    Then I got to sign. Now, I’m just a new guy. A few people had read my stuff, but most hadn’t. Nevertheless, it was simply wonderful to be inbetween Ken and Margaret putting the old John Handcock on books for a line that queued up from the table at the front of the large room to the doors in the back.

    This was my first signing. How sweet was that? Being the clueless man that I am, I didn’t bring a pen. I thought they would be provided. So one of the organizers found one. It was pink. It’s going in my book of remembrance.

    I should have brought all the nifty bookmarks I have printed up and am sending to various cons. Next time.

    What a great experience.

    Oh, and we were in this Omni hotel (on Michigan ave). I totally lucked out and got a sweet room in the 17 floor in a corner. So my bedroom had two windows out of which I could gaze at the lake, two blocks away, and all the fabulous architecture. I’ve never really spent any time in downtown Chicago. What a fantastic place.

    People everywhere. Brown people, black people, white people–so many interesting people. I’m telling you, after living with a huge population of cattle, it’s nice to see a variety of homo sapiens.

    And I found a blue Eddie Bauer shirt for 20 bucks.

    Like I said–fabulous.

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3 Comments

  1. Interesting numbers. If I may ask, what kind of “flab” are you cutting: extra adverbs? descriptive passages? superfluous dialogue? Or is it a combination?

  2. It’s not adverbs. I’m cutting redundant lines. And reworking lines where instead of being immediate “Birds sang”, I have things like “Talen heard birds singing.” There are some dialoge exchanges that don’t really add anything. And some inner thoughts. And there are some action sequences where I have just a bit too much back and forth and it doesn’t add and even makes it confusing. And some convoluted sentences that need to be reworked.

    Stuff like that.

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