Continue reading »]]> 9,480 words is my current word count at NaNoWriMo for the month. So far I am ahead of schedule. Things are looking pretty good at this point.

What is surprising to me is that I’m finding that the words are coming fairly easily. I’ve been able to write about 1,600 to 2,000 words in about two hours. One thing that helps is the notion that this is a first draft and that the immediate goal of NaNo is to finish. Edit later but finish now. The future revisions will take care of any dangling chads (notice the Election Day reference there).

Another thing that I am currently pleased with is the word count per chapter. For my ‘test’ NaNo that I was working on for October, a novel that has taken a back seat for the moment, I was frustrated to see that I was writing Chapter 6 of the book but I was on Chapter 10 of my outline. This didn’t bode well for the future of the novel. For my ‘official’ NaNo, however, I am in much better shape with each chapter averaging around 4,000 words. For those of you who are keeping track, that means I just started Chapter 3 last night.

I am finding myself quite tired in the mornings so I should endeavour to start writing earler to save time for sleep. But if push comes to shove I do have some vacation days in November that should allow me to catch up if I were to miss any daily deadlines.

All in all, so far so good.

Only 24 more days to go.

Continue reading »]]> Those of us who play video games are probably already aware of the awesomeness of the Humble Bundle. For the uninitiated, the Humble Bundle usually offers a rather impressive lineup of indie games offered at a ‘pay-what-you-want’ price. Paying more than the average usually garners some additional games or some other kind of reward. The proceeds are then split between the developers, the Humble Bundle people themselves, and charity. The usual charity is Child’s Play, one of my favorites and certainly worth your time and money.

However, after the most recent Humble Bundle of games, they announced a Humble eBook Bundle of, if you didn’t catch the change in title, eBooks. This batch includes titles by Mercedes Lackey as well as John Scalzi, a personal favorite of mine.

So, if you are looking for some great sci-fi/fantasy and would like to give to charity at the same time, I strongly suggest that you point your browsers to the Humble Bundle.

Oh, and now, if you pay more than the average, you get two comic collections from the guys at Penny Arcade. These fellows are the founders of the now famous and rather huge PAX game expo as well as the founders of the incredible Child’s Play charity. So, yeah. A prolific pair of gentlemen.

Continue reading »]]> Well, my NaNoWriMo test month of October is not going well. I’m discovering that it is hard to find the time to really settle in and write for prolonged periods of time. This is required, of course, to establish the much sought after ‘zone’ wherein one can reside and become incredibly productive.

Late-night sessions don’t seem to be working since all I can focus on is the whispering allure of my bed and early morning sessions are defeated by the same piece of comfortable bedroom furniture. The elusive lunch hour might be an option but sometimes a mere hour is not enough to attain the aforementioned zone.

There are other options that I haven’t yet explored. One of the writers over at Writing Excuses said he had to give up video games in order to become a professional writer. I don’t know if that option is right for me since it is a source or relaxation and therapy. And on more than one occasion, ideas that form while playing games have often found their way into my writings. So there’s that.

My other obligations are just as integral to my life as the necessity to breathe. My kids, my wife, and music all form up the essential DNA of my daily life. I don’t think I can cut back on any of that, either.

If only I could sluff off this hassle called ‘work’ perhaps then I could find the time to write like I mean it. I need to work on ridding myself of my reliance on these paychecks. Challenge accepted.

Continue reading »]]> I started my personal NaNoWriMo month last night and I think it was a sucess. I ended up with about 1,900 words before I decided to call it a night (a late night, too). I actually had to bring my efforts to an end at a less than ideal place in the story but I think that might not be a bad situation since it will give me incentive to finish the thought, so to speak.

I’m using an outline for this novel while my first few attempts at writing a book’s worth of material was more off-the-cuff, or as the folks over at Writing Excuses call it: “Pantsing”. I think that outlining is a much better approach for me since my mind tends to wander and I fear that things can go off the rails rather quickly.

Tonight will be #2 in my NaNoWriMo practice. We’ll see how it goes.

p.s. I won’t post word counts everyday. That would just be boring.

Continue reading »]]> Today is October 1st and I am going to take another stab at a NaNoWriMo month again. The goal: 1,500 words a day for one month (or whenever the novel is finished, I guess). I get to cheat a little since I tried this before in September so I have already have a start on the thing. I’ll try to post updates on my word-count and the overall success of the effort.

Maybe this will help.

Continue reading »]]> NaNoWriMo is approaching fast! NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month event. The idea is to write an entire novel in one month. NaNoWriMo is held every November and this will be my first attempt. I’ve been trying to prepare even going so far to attempt my own NaNoWriMo month this September. However, it didn’t go as planned.

The idea is to write roughly 1,500 words a day. No small task once you actually sit down in front of the keyboard. I had written a few novel ideas down as outlines and the wife dutifully helped me narrow them down to two top selections. The second choice is the one I attempted this month and the top choice I have reserved for the official NaNoWriMo. I may re-attempt the first one in October. I’ll try to whip my persistence into shape in the meanwhile.

I’ll try to share updates on my progress both for my test run in October and my official NaNoWriMo effort in November so look for those in the coming weeks.

Continue reading »]]> “Battle on the Plains” is another piece I created with the intention that it would be used in game development. It is short and is capable of being played on a loop.

The piece is an aggressive march perfect for a battle scene or other high-action setting.

It was created in Ableton Live 8 and uses the Edirol Orchestral VST.

Continue reading »]]> “Little Ghost” is a short piece that was inspired by the Bastion soundtrack.

It was made with Ableton Live 8, Edirol Orchestral VST and an Ovation nylon-string classical-electric guitar using a Line6 Toneport GX input and Pod Farm for amp modeling.

Anyone who is a fan of video game soundtracks, or video games in general, needs to go out and buy Bastion and it’s soundtrack. It is a truly unique musical experience.

Continue reading »]]> “Stonebrook Village” is a playful piece inspired by ‘Concerning Hobbits’ by Howard Shore. You can find that on the Fellowship of the Rings soundtrack.

It was made with Ableton Live 8 and the Edirol Orchestral VST.

Again, this piece was made with game-development in mind so it is set up to be playable as a looping piece of background music. It would be perfectly suited for a pleasant village or settlement.