tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58412552011-04-21T16:35:38.776-07:00Newbie Writes A NovelThrill to the sight a foolish young man attempting to bang his first novel together. It's got con artists, abandoned towers of alien-forged glass, sorcery, skullduggery, lies, treachery, true friendship, unrequited love, puns, several guilds of whores, and sharks! Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comBlogger541100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1084863509521201062004-05-17T23:56:00.000-07:002004-05-17T23:58:29.520-07:00Fucking Blogger!
Another week-long lockout. Apparently, the service has updated; it now looks like Fisher Price's My First Blogger or some damn thing. I'll have to explore before I praise or complain any further; I did at least manage to paste in and post something that's needed to go up for a while.
Nonetheless, these interruptions are intolerable and I'm actively looking into other blog Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1084863299866630882004-05-17T23:07:00.000-07:002004-05-17T23:54:59.866-07:00In Which The Author Shoots His Big Mouth Off On A Promised Topic: "Consolatory Fantasy"
Ursula K. LeGuin once wrote:
"Soon after A Wizard of Earthsea came out in England it received a review in a science-fiction periodical which took the book to task for being "consolatory" and "reassuring". Well, fair enough, I thought, if the consolation is false, if the reassurance is unwarranted; but are Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1083580486527954082004-05-03T03:34:00.000-07:002004-05-03T03:49:21.560-07:00Spring Has Sprung
I got my blog back.
I got my blog back.
I got my blog back.
But you knew that already, because there's an excerpt for you below.
Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1083580504386358782004-05-03T03:21:00.000-07:002004-05-03T11:45:50.296-07:00Excerpt From Chapter 8: Out the Window
(Locke, now an adult, has a delicate deception to perform on behalf of the mysterious Gray King, but has to feign illness to back out of a prior commitment to Capa Barsavi, master of Camorr's underworld. He and Jean are visited by Anjais Barsavi, one of the Capa's sons; Locke has taken a drug to help him convincingly play sick. Anjais is apparently quite Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1082307345740777992004-04-18T09:49:00.000-07:002004-04-18T09:59:47.280-07:00I have my Blog back! Huzzah!
But no real time to post just yet, kids. I have to go fetch a cat from a friend's house and help the amazing Jenny take care of about a zillion aquarium frogs at her school.
Happy birthday to the lovely and insightful Cora Buhlert, whose mastery of English makes me painfully aware of the pitiful remnants of my high school German education! Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1081815573356094292004-04-12T17:01:00.000-07:002004-04-12T17:28:07.530-07:00Wow.
Man, how times change. I was cruising the local used book store this afternoon, scrounging with a self-imposed limit of one solitary book (this month's budget is tight). First it was going to be Hemingway, then Nathanael West, then Conan Doyle... and then I found a trade paperback of K.W. Jeter's Dr. Adder, "FULLY ILLUSTRATED!" By Matt Howarth, of all people. I'd donate bone marrow for Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1081761750402292752004-04-12T01:36:00.000-07:002004-04-12T02:26:23.796-07:00For Gabe, Part One: The Practical Bit
I have heard the voice of Gabe Chouinard crying out in the wilderness of blogdom, and I've got two cents for him. Aren't I a nice guy? No? Shut up. Do read Gabe's last 2-3 posts before continuing, if you haven't already.
I'm working on the "How?", and with luck so are others. (I say "with luck" because I've *seen* nothing...)
I've come to believe that Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1081409423469130162004-04-08T00:26:00.000-07:002004-04-08T00:34:11.093-07:00In Which I Seek to Master Blog Fu
Does anyone out there know how to create some sort of permalink for Blogger posts, so that I could put some links in my sidebar that would go directly to my excerpts, to appease my inner anal-retentive organization freak?
Or is that something only paying customers can do?
Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1081155959519409232004-04-05T02:02:00.000-07:002004-04-05T02:10:46.170-07:00Second Excerpt
The "Brat Masterpieces" interlude below is now finished; the second excerpt is the much longer second part of said interlude. You'll find it after the "*****" in the text.
After conferring with a valued someone who knows what's he's talking about, I've decided to post a grand total of five excerpts from the novel here. I hope you all find the new stuff as pleasant as the previousScott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1080822789393991922004-04-01T04:26:00.000-08:002004-04-01T04:36:47.716-08:00Yay! The Babylonian Captivity of my blog has ended! Just a night or to ago, I was talking to Darren (check my links), and he was complaining about a similar problem with his. I hope his works now, too. Do I get cool stuff every time I bitch Gabe out in my comment threads? Not that I need the reward, of course... anyhow...
My first novel excerpt is up below. I know I said I'd do three, but I'm Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1080821960619332032004-04-01T04:09:00.000-08:002004-04-05T02:13:57.873-07:00Interlude: Brat Masterpieces
The summer after Jean came to the Gentlemen Bastards, Father Chains took him and Locke up to the temple roof one night after dinner. The roof was walled on every side but open to the sky; Chains’ “blindness” gave him an excuse for not maintaining the garden it was meant to hold. Here he could sit, unobserved, and smoke a paper-wrapped sheaf of Jeremite tobacco whileScott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1079045127186581082004-03-11T14:43:00.000-08:002004-03-11T14:48:37.013-08:00Bring Me the Head of Gabe Chouinard
Is S1ngularity really dead again? What the hell happened? Who did what to whom, and was Bob's Glock involved? Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1078991782479960552004-03-10T23:55:00.000-08:002004-03-11T14:28:47.810-08:00The Camorr Patois
This week's bright and shiny bonus feature is my in-progress glossary of the slang of Camorr. I made a conscious decision not to tart up any of my dialogue with "dialect" cuteness ("Oy, it warsh a narsty rum' tosh, guv, bort I gort a noice shoiny penny out'er it!"); I've found that the trouble with creating fantasy slang/dialect is that it ultimately tends toward a state of Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1078877828789022562004-03-09T16:14:00.000-08:002004-03-09T16:20:16.420-08:00In Which The Author Achieves Internet Stability, More or Less
I'll be resuming my old posting habits, more or less; online for at least a bit almost every day of the week. And now a reading from the Book of Blog:
"Blessed are the poor in updates, for they shall receive a multitude of make-up posts, and the author shall strive to be at his most amusing, so that they shall not deprive him of hisScott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1078265268077441042004-03-02T13:24:00.000-08:002004-03-02T14:10:46.060-08:00"A map... why does every fantasy have to start with a map?"
Because making maps is a jolly good time, if you're an anal-retentive oddball like me.
After fiddling with Photoshop for a few hours, ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to present a very nearly finished map of Camorr, the city in which I lay my tale.
http://www.geocities.com/thesnarkhunt/camorr.jpg
Camorr is a city-state on the IronScott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1076644506613635972004-02-12T19:31:00.000-08:002004-02-12T19:57:38.903-08:00In Which I Return Again, The Internet Cicada...
Still without good solid 'net access most days. Sorry. Everything else in life is quite swell, though. I just need to finish the hassle-work for this damn Juno account and get my starter package from them.
In other news:
I'm cleanin' up the Hugo Awards, baby-- I'll get 'em all by the end of this year, honest Irishman, even though that means Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1076040590575531502004-02-05T19:16:00.000-08:002004-02-05T20:12:13.046-08:00In Which The Author Lectures Again, Damn Him to Hell
Lo, the girlfriend has commanded an appearance, and I have appeared. I've been mostly offline for a bit; connectivity at home it utter shit and won't be fixed until next week at the earliest. After that, I'll just be on a dial-up, but at least I'll be on something consistently.
Life is good and work proceeds splendidly. I just finished the Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1074498548292886432004-01-18T23:36:00.000-08:002004-01-18T23:51:05.716-08:00A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Cave Troll
Oh, good. My comments have disappeared again. Time to investigate a non-retarded comment solution.
I finish my move on Wednesday night, and will resume hard-core crazy writing on Thursday. Odd as it might sound, I've come to enjoy working myself to the point of physical exhaustion. I live for days where I can just roll out of bed, write for Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1073448019381333562004-01-06T19:25:00.000-08:002004-01-06T20:00:39.140-08:00In Which the Author Won't Stop Reflecting, Dammit
Novel writin' has resumed with a vengeance; the week-long pause helped settle a lot of concerns and cook up a pile of new ideas and approaches. I don't have what I would classify as "structural problems;" the plot is unfolding swimmingly. It's the minute details of stylistic construction and language use that drive me to distraction. I've just Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1072927402443299392003-12-31T19:22:00.000-08:002003-12-31T19:25:38.020-08:00In Which The Author Surveys The Roster of His Fallen Foes
The 78 books I read in 2003, in chronological order, not counting a dozen or so large reference books for the novel. Not the 100 I was shooting for, but not bad all the same. My reading really slacked off in November and early December, but has picked up again quite recently.
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
Swords in the Mist by FritzScott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1072603989464213392003-12-28T01:18:00.000-08:002003-12-28T01:33:26.160-08:00In Which the Author Admires the March of Technology
Novel-writing operations have just been moved over to my brand-new eMac.
And it is beautiful.
A 60 gigabyte hard drive isn't particularly noteworthy nowadays, but it gives me pause. The machine I was previously working on (the one I'm typing on right now) has "only" 10 gigs, of which I never managed to use more than 2.5 at once-- OS and all Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1072158323034732592003-12-22T21:28:00.000-08:002003-12-22T21:54:39.843-08:00The Lord of the Rings: The Return of My Bitching.
Three and a half points of extreme aggravation, plus further praise.
1. "Arwen's life-force is now linked to the Ring."
What the hell is this bullshit? I don't object because it wasn't in the book; I object because it doesn't make any fucking sense. How could her "life force" become "linked" the the Ring? This was transparently a plot device Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1071783115044918302003-12-18T13:15:00.000-08:002003-12-18T13:32:09.433-08:00The Lord of the Rings: The Return of Kicking Your Ass.
Saw it last night with the better half and a friend of hers in tow. The theater lobby was a bit like the steerage scenes in Titanic as the ship starts sinking-- I arrived at 5:30 seeking tickets for 7, but all the shows until 9 were already sold out. So we had a long dinner, and then 9 it was. Fortunately, we arrived an hour early to take Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1071517040344151602003-12-15T11:22:00.000-08:002003-12-15T11:37:33.700-08:00Blogging About Bloggers Blogging Me; Blog the Blog Blog Bloggity Blog.
Ariel, that perfidious Albionite behind the Alien Online, is actually referring folks here as though I have anything worthwhile to say yet. He also blurbs the novel, as he sees it:
"Ethical dilemmas, swashbuckling fight scenes and rogues aplenty, all set in an alternate C16th/C17th quasi-European world, by the sounds of Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1071011445075032182003-12-09T14:51:00.000-08:002003-12-09T15:10:57.263-08:00"Kill Me Sooner!" the supporting character begged...
I've just made substantial progress in "unlocking" the plot of the second half of the novel by moving the hasta la vista, baby scene for Capa Raza's little magician buddy to a much earlier point. My original idea for the climax was to have it all come down to one final night where all hell breaks loose-- Locke and Jean catch the Bondsmage, Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1070915799032919612003-12-08T12:15:00.000-08:002003-12-08T12:39:51.220-08:00Nerd Loves His Booky-Book.
Progress on my five-year reading plan has been updated:
Here be dorkage!
I'm almost finished with The Wanderer; I'll move on to either the Vernor Vinge novels or The Shadow of the Torturer.
Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1070266734773660112003-11-30T23:59:00.000-08:002003-12-01T00:19:04.656-08:00 Absence Makes the Heart Go "Ahhhh! My Valuable Stuff!"
I packed away 260 of my paperbacks this evening, getting ready for next month's move. I figure a good solid hour of work each day will help get everything in its place and cut down on last-minute craziness. That's about a quarter of my library locked up in cardboard boxes, and it's harder to do than it ever has been before. My library is Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1069595264449039162003-11-23T05:33:00.000-08:002003-11-23T05:48:48.030-08:00In Which the Author Praises Cartoons and Cliffhangers
Anyone who ever wants to learn how to structure a genuinely tense and exciting narrative need only watch any of Pixar's five full-length motion pictures. I own the first four (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc.), and my housemate is currently renting Finding Nemo. I've watched it three times in as many days.
The reasonScott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1069329405357523532003-11-20T03:40:00.000-08:002003-11-20T03:56:51.780-08:00In Which The Author Has No Snappy Title, Sorry.
Some time in the coming months, I'm going to spruce this place up with a fairly detailed treatment about The Lies of Locke Lamora-- some of the novel's background, most of its cast, and a nice long "blurb" about the goings-on, the sort of thing you might read on a back cover or the inside flap, except not written by a gibbering idiot. Ariel, bless Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1069149654559040002003-11-18T01:54:00.000-08:002003-11-18T02:01:21.220-08:00Supporting Sentiments From Beyond the Grave
Well, hot diggity synchronicity, folks. I was paging through my copy of Oliver Twist, and my eyes fell upon the author's preface to the third edition (1841) of the novel:
"The greater part of this Tale was originally published in a magazine. When I completed it, and put it forth in its present form three years ago, I fully expected it would be Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1069067361697663632003-11-17T01:18:00.000-08:002003-11-17T03:21:19.843-08:00In Which The Author Gets His Ethical Underwear in a Twist
The Dead Cities Krewe has been blithering and blathering about the transcripts of the Terry Goodkind chats here and here. We've already had our fun with 'em, but I've been thinking about one statement in particular:
"A thief in the 18th century is the same as a thief in the 20th century is the same as a thief 1,000 years ago. A murder isScott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1068371037914070542003-11-09T01:09:00.000-08:002003-11-09T01:44:01.780-08:00One of the biggest complications I've faced so far in putting this damn thing together is the need for a sufficient amount of the action to be "mental" (that is, for it to be exceedingly clever-- intrigue, counter-intrigues, "gotcha" games, strategems and counter-strategems, and so forth) without losing the hot-blooded, up-close-and-personal nature of the primary struggle. The main character has Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1068014478834219982003-11-04T22:36:00.000-08:002003-11-04T22:41:21.673-08:00In addition to whacking my brains out with d20 stuff, I did manage to get out about 500 words for the novel this afternoon.
I hope everyone returning from WFC gets back to their proper place in space/time.
Tonight's entry brought to you by Boredom, the great leveler of all blogs!
I'm just tired, o my children. Total word count is 51,600 and change. Now to sleeeeeep!Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1067285896155095872003-10-27T12:02:00.000-08:002003-10-27T12:18:17.110-08:00Boggle-- one week zipped by, just like that. Sorry I forgot to update, all six of my loyal readers. Just got rather involved in everything, sadly, little of which was novel-related. Only 5K words last week, bringing my useful total to 45,500+.
National Novel Writing Month is coming up, and although I've never participated in that madness before, I think I'm going to twist it to my advantage thisScott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1066718293178515282003-10-20T23:16:00.000-07:002003-10-20T23:38:12.836-07:00Polishing the brass on the Titanic, kids. That's what I've been doing these past few days. Sanding, priming, re-hinging, and re-painting this crumbling house's weatherbeaten cellar door and frame. Not that it will matter much in a year or two, because once I'm gone this place will spontaneously collapse into a house-sized heap of mildew flakes and soiled underclothes.
For a few months, one partScott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1066271056583694532003-10-15T19:23:00.000-07:002003-10-15T19:24:16.486-07:009,144 words! Argh. So close. I blame the Chicago Cubs, local gravitational fluctuations, Gabe Chouinard, society, my mom, and the sun in my eyes, not necessarily in that order.
G'night, all.Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1066236854331950552003-10-15T09:52:00.000-07:002003-10-15T09:54:14.180-07:0012 hours of uninterrupted work time looming.
2 playoff games, one to decide the NLCS, and one to possibly clinch the ALCS.
New Paul van Dyk remix CD.
Lunch with the girlfriend.
Idiot housemate twenty-odd miles away.
Today will be sweet. I am a creature of ridiculously simple pleasures. 10,000 words. Can I do it?
Oh, yeah--
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3
Heh.Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1066179481023859222003-10-14T17:55:00.000-07:002003-10-14T17:58:00.430-07:007,000 words on the roleplaying project; quota met for the second day in a row. Not bad-- just gotta keep it up and do it Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, too. I'm finding that I can get that stuff banged out (even with the baseball playoffs distracting me) early enough in the day to leave me 4-6 additional writing hours in the evening; that's good news for the novel. Two hours remaining to work Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1066105407943851432003-10-13T21:21:00.000-07:002003-10-13T21:23:27.783-07:00Although no novel work got done today, I did 6,000 words on my latest d20 roleplaying project. While this meets my quota for the day (now I get to repeat it four more times this week), I still feel tired and stupid. The significant other and I are both grumpy and sick to our stomachs; we seem to have picked some microscopic hitchhiker up this weekend. I'm miffed because if not for naps and Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1065862746304624402003-10-11T01:57:00.000-07:002003-10-11T01:59:06.516-07:00Terribly zonked on lack of sleep. It's been an eventful few days, despite my idiot housemate wandering around like some sort of group-therapy zombie, determined to pry me away from work so I can entertain his pathetic carcass (and failing, and whining because of it). 53-year-old men should be capable of entertaining themselves. When I escape this place, there will be much rejoicing.
Bleedin' Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1065589751514182482003-10-07T21:56:00.000-07:002003-10-07T22:09:11.546-07:00Just over 700 words today. Not a huge burst of prose, but an important one. I've gone back and re-done the prologue. Now, rather than setting the tone and atmosphere of the "contemporary" city of Camorr, it offers a peek into the nature of the main character right off the bat. Better, better, better all the time...
I picked up a copy of Ian Fleming's Thrilling Cities, a book I've been looking Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1065504616695272822003-10-06T22:15:00.000-07:002003-10-06T22:30:16.450-07:00In addition to writing, I've been building a concordance of all novel-related material, archiving and cross-referencing it in one location so I can haul it around with me anywhere and access it quickly. It's about 200 sheets of material at the moment-- handwritten notes, photocopies, maps, 'net printouts, etc. I bet that's just the most exciting thing ever.
Also, I've got a burning urge to writeScott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1065330318466938672003-10-04T22:00:00.000-07:002003-10-04T22:05:18.556-07:00Things got better tonight in novel-land. Still not quite right, but the situation has been agreeably unfucked. It's a bit strange trying to preserve a somewhat swash-buckly feel when one of your main characters is a big fat guy with a pair of hatchets rather than your standard-issue svelte hero with a rapier. Still, we're here to broaden our horizons, aren't we?
Tomorrow I'm going to fiddle Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1065247347385350572003-10-03T23:01:00.000-07:002003-10-03T23:02:27.523-07:00Today was a real shitsucker and I'd rather not talk about it. Doubleplusgood work on my d20 roleplaying work and nothing but fucking pretzel-brained misery on the fiction front. I award myself zero useful words. We'll see what I can fix tomorrow.
Congrats to the Chicago Cubs, by the way. One more to go...Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1065158887087927132003-10-02T22:25:00.000-07:002003-10-02T22:28:06.983-07:00Situation Report...
The Air: Crisp and mild
The Stars: Cold and bright
The Minnesota Twins: Defeated
The Author: Butt-sore, going for a walk
Words Today: 750 so far
Words Total: 25,000+Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1064988279087228522003-09-30T22:59:00.000-07:002003-09-30T23:04:39.213-07:00Ah, I see my comment feature has sucked all of the accumulated comments into some electronic memory hole, never to be seen again. Perhaps it was some sort of comment-vampire, weaving a web of deception to draw innocent comments into its lair before snatching them and draining them dry?
Well, as they say-- "when you use a free service on the internet, you can expect to bend over and take a big Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1064821164766074692003-09-29T00:20:00.000-07:002003-09-29T00:39:46.423-07:00Odd day today... rampaging insomnia kept me up for 36 hours before I was finally able to take a nap. I did, at least, manage to find what is possibly the world's finest apple fritter at a little donut shop within walking distance of my house, so it wasn't a total loss. Donuts are clearly the universe's intended fuel for the fires of the human soul.
Gabe's "Why I Hate Publishers" spiel has me Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1064736368964374532003-09-28T00:58:00.000-07:002003-09-28T01:06:09.096-07:00
Today's Word Count: 1500+
Useful Words So Far: 19,200+
I definitely need to pick the pace up on this sucker. Pity I have to actually make money while I'm writing it... and eat... and clothe myself... and sleep... etcetera. I think the ideal physical form for a first-time novelist would be a disembodied pure-energy consciousness. Not only would you save a fortune on food and clothing, you'd be Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1064513922957301032003-09-25T10:59:00.000-07:002003-09-28T01:07:41.140-07:00My better half and I watched last year's adaptation ofThe Count of Monte Cristo last night, and I was pleasantly surprised. The shitty trailer I saw last year left my hopes in the gutter, but the film was beuatifully shot, the fights were excellently choreographed, and the cast was universally good. It was a classic matinee swashbuckler shot with all the benefits of modern set design and a decentScott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1064447915397525192003-09-24T16:55:00.000-07:002003-09-24T16:58:34.763-07:00Switched my schedule around rather significantly... I was getting up at 6 PM yesterday; this morning I started getting up at 7 AM. I Only managed to sleep for two hours, so today was a big fat wash in many respects. Bleargh.
Useful word total: Approx. 500
Total so far: 14,270+Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1064384956503356202003-09-23T22:50:00.005-07:002003-09-23T23:33:54.800-07:00Today's useful word count: 1, 110
Total so far: 13,770+
The Wentworth Community Library in West St. Paul, Minnesota has a discard shelf right out of a Twilight Zone episode; generally speaking, a book on my to-read list, or one peripherally related to it, shows up there every week. It's getting spooky. The quality and rarity of some of the stuff they discard for fifty cents or a buck is Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1064239003905426072003-09-22T06:02:00.000-07:002003-09-22T06:56:44.123-07:00Today's useful word count: 1,763
Total thusfar: 12,660+
I've been tinkering with my opening chapter for about six hours; profitably, I think. I can't overemphasize how important it is to me or how seriously I take it. In my unhumble opinion, one of the shittiest things an author can do is waste good page space getting things off to an uninteresting start. That doesn't mean immediate slam-bang Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1064149809683155452003-09-21T06:09:00.000-07:002003-09-21T06:10:09.726-07:00Tonight (this morning, more accurately): 810 useful words.
Useful word count so far: 10,890+Scott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5841255.post-1064141131687495812003-09-21T03:43:00.000-07:002003-09-21T06:11:08.536-07:00
Welcome to the Stupid Newbie Blog, where I'll be attempting to describe the process of writing a first novel in excruciating and embarrassing detail.
I'm a scruffy, long-haired 25-year-old geek living in St. Paul, Minnesota. I've done freelance writing, freelance editing, and even a bit of ghostwriting, but most of my writing income currently derives from my surprisingly lucrative roleplayingScott Lynchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03174960629558710978noreply@blogger.com