Most of this blog is about writing, so most of the posts will be categorized, ‘Writing’. You can select this if you don’t care about anything that’s not writing.
Well, NaNoWriMo is proceeding apace. The story is outlined in Scrivener, with 25 scenes planned out and named. That means I’ll need to average about 2,000 words per scene in order to hit the 50k total. So far, I’m averaging 1k per scene. This suggests that I need either another subplot or another fairly major […]
Having tentatively decided to do this YA novel for NaNoWriMo (I’m registered as jpmurphy, by the way if you’re looking for writing buddies) I decided that I should firm up a bit of the setting. Actual writing is not allowed until November 1st, but outlining is, and research definitely is. So I am doing both. […]
No, not me (the thought!) but the ever-talented Jesca Hoop: Once you manage to decipher the lyrics, it’s a very nice description of the creative process. And if (like me the first few times I heard it) you can’t figure out what she’s singing, it’s still a very pretty song! 🙂 Why is it, do […]
… and my 3,000 word short fantasy story is out the door! I’m a big fan of the market I submitted it to, so I’d be thrilled if they take it. Pride is useful, since at 5 cents a word I’m looking at like $150 for the story. Considering that I’ve sworn not to buy […]
I’ve gotten plenty of fantastic feedback from my friends, VP classmates, and crit partner. I think this bird is ready to fly. I’m a little nervous about the last change — I’d been thinking long and hard about the feedback I got on Wednesday, that the Moby Dick references were just getting over the top. […]
I’ve been working, on and off, on a mystery novel through the summer, as I’ve posted before. It’s coming along (about 5,000 words written that I haven’t thrown out already), but the writing is slow because, ultimately, I’m kind of unhappy with my outline, etc. etc. It’s stalled. I had been thinking about doing NaNoWriMo, […]
I am home. I am at my desk with a view of the neighbor’s tree and its green leaves turned to gold. I have had my moment of wondering whether the last week really happened. (Do not worry, the size of my unread inbox quickly disabused me of that cliche) There is a lot to […]
Had a nice writing session this evening. Not the thousand words I was looking for (*Jedi wave*) but a respectable 700 or so. I wrote one scene I’m particularly happy-for-a-first-draft with, and thought I’d post it, just for fun: “It’s like…” Larrimer trailed off, then shook his head and sat back. He watched Crandall drink. […]
The post title is a direct quote of a friend’s 3-year old, who asked her mother the above question when told she was having chicken for dinner. (I like this kid) But it turns out to not just be funny but I think good advice for me when I’m writing science fiction. See, one of […]
A quick update, as I haven’t posted in a while: I’ve been outlining, and (finally) writing, working on that work-in-progress novel. Sure enough, that means that my brain has been feverishly coming up with other awesome ideas that would be a ton of fun to work on. Endnote has been useful for this, as has […]
John P. Murphy 