Chapter One (Otherwise Known As the Zombie Chapter)
If you’ve been following along as I wade through revisions, you might have heard me talking about how I keep going back to Chapter One. Well, I went back to it again. And again. And again. Why? When I re-read the chapter, I felt like I was puking information on the page instead of telling [...]
What’s in a Memory?
If you’ve read part of the first draft for ARGENTUM, you know that the book is structured in a chapter and chapter break format. In between the main storyline, you’ll read one of Serafina’s memories. As part of my revisions, I’m incorporating the memories a little bit more into the story when it’s appropriate. Not [...]
Goodbye Chapter One, I’ll Miss You
I feel like I turned a corner this past weekend, because the last two weeks have been…painful. I knew I needed to change the verb tense of my exposition from present to past, but I wasn’t sure how that was going to work for the beginning of the story. Instead of opening the novel with [...]
Knee-Deep in the Second Draft
So part of what I talked about before, when I mentioned a little bit about the revision process for Argentum, was the idea that I should change the story’s verb tense. Writing in first person with a present tense is somewhat challenging because the main character can have that “deer in headlights” perspective. At some [...]
Was Posting my First Draft a Bad idea? One Reader Didn’t Think So…
I’m working on my revisions to the second draft of Argentum, but I wanted to share with you a comment I received in email this past week. I’m sorry to see that you feel the experiment failed. I disagree. I found it very interesting. I never got around to finishing the whole thing so if [...]
First Drafts and the Evolution of Argentum
So if you’ve been following how Argentum has been developing, you’ve probably read a post or two where I describe a little bit about my writing process. Well, this past weekend at OddCon, there were a lot of conversations that I had with other writers about their writing process. When I mentioned I was offering [...]
What Do I Have Planned for Revisions?
One of the things that’s a lot of fun writing for Argentum, is that I can offer you my first draft before any revisions are made. Some writers might find this a bit scary, but I don’t. You see, I really enjoy reading how a script or book evolves, and I’m happy I can share [...]
Hooray for Progress!
Hi everyone, I am very happy to share with you that I’ve made great progress on Book One of the Violet War this weekend. Not only did I map out the entire book and all remaining chapters and chapter breaks, I was able to get Chapter Eleven reworked and published. (Click here to read Chapter [...]
What’s Going on Behind-the-Scenes at Violet War?
Dear Reader, My psychic powers tell me that this page is important to you, so I’d like to update you with more current news than what was on this page originally. To keep things straightforward, I’m going to date the updates so you’re aware of the chronology. September 2010 Since I last updated this page, [...]
Why I’m Providing my First Draft and New Chapters!
A friend of mine told me the other day that I was very brave. When I asked “Why?” he had mentioned that it was because I was posting my rough draft of Argentum. There are a lot of things that are scary: fires, accidents, hurricanes, death. Is my posting of a draft scary? Well, sure [...]
