Z Minus 11 days

So it looks like that I am still on track for the timing of the release date of the novel. I know I said it was going to be early in September, but editing is just taking time. My research into various self editing techniques has led me to a great concept that I have been using.

Reading backwards.

No, not sdrawkcab gnidaeR literally.

By starting from the end of each chapter and reading the paragraphs in reverse order, I have found it stops me getting absorbed with the continuity of the story. It is enough to be able to then focus on the more technical aspects of the prose. And - it really works. That, and reading out aloud.

Of course, my wife still finds silly mistakes that only staggers the mind how I could have missed them. It is point in case why self-editing is never not enough for the indie writer who wants to stand out as professional. You have to have another pair of discerning eyes reviewing your work.

Anyway. Less than two weeks to go..... woo hoo.

Z minus 17 Days

Getting close now.

I just got through the final artwork and I must say that I'm impressed. It's the first piece of commissioned work that I have ever had done; it won't be the last. There is so much talent out there and if you want something in particular I would highly recommend finding an artist to do it for you. I'm even thinking of commissioning some illustrations of my children. Not only can you get a great artistic rendition done of your child, but you can put them in a surreal environment for a bit of fun. It's more than comparable to the cost of getting a photographer to take some shots in a studio. If you've ever gone through that process then you will know how heart clutching the experience is as soon as you hear how much they want to charge! Yeeeeouch. I can buy my own digital SLR for that. A really good digital SLR with all the bells and whistles. It might take a thousand shots, but one is going to be close enough to what the professional can give me. Plus I get to keep the camera.

My beautiful wife is slowly progressing through the editing. She has so much on her plate; tutoring at the Uni, marking essays, research assistant work, PhD to write... then there is the children ... and there is... me.

She is the voice of temperance. She says, I have to get it right. I don't want to have people complaining that there are errors and typos that should have been corrected. Quality is essential. I have to stand out from the masses that are throwing up $0.99 unedited drivel.

So, still a couple of weeks.

In case you were wondering, I've started on book two. Outlining the chapters and scenes. Working on the end first. Sounds strange doesn't it, but if you don't have the end worked out then how can you have a beginning? 

"Just start writing and see where it goes...."

Pfft - yeah right. That sounds like a perfect formula for wasting time. Mine and yours.

You see, I know what you want. You want a story. A good story with characters that you feel for and engage you throughout the time you spend with them. An escape that inspires you to think, dream ... and wonder.

I know this to be true, so that's what I am going to keep giving you.

109 views and counting

Here's something funny.

I started this blog as a bit of a journal to document how I went about writing my first novel. I have only told a handful of people, but I have now had over one hundred views.

An interesting social experiment, because more than half of my traffic comes from outside of Australia.

The U.S, U.K, Russia, Germany are the main points of origins although there are views from some other European countries and Asian ones too.

It is hard to know if you stumble here and immediately surf away or that you stop and actually read my words. Either way it's interesting that my blog is found among the masses.

The genre of my novel is defined by Amazon as - Contemporary Urban Fantasy.

When I publish in two weeks, my novel will be 1 of 36,000+ in that genre alone. That's a small needle in a big haystack to be sure. However, 109 views and counting tells me that even without advertising or publicity, I can still be found. Then, hopefully, when people begin reading my story I will get noticed and then the organic nature of the internet will take over.

We'll see I guess. I'll let you know how it goes.

Z minus 28 days

Final draft completed! At about five fifteen this morning I finished the novel. Word count - 139,308.

Fortunately I have been editing along the way so the final manuscript won't change much in length. Two weeks of fixing corrections that I am sure my wife will find, even though I have read it a dozen times and I anticipate a soft launch in September.

I have been communicating with my artist in Finland and have been sent the preliminary artwork. I am very happy with the result.  I'll post the sequence when I get closer to the launch date.

Not long now....

Z minus 41 days

I have just commissioned an artist to begin work on the cover of the novel. A very talented young man who's work I discovered on the Deviant Art website. It's a site where artist are able to showcase their abilities and pimp their considerable talents to those that can find them. Don't you love the international community that is the internet. I mean, who would have thought I would engage an artist from —Finland! Twenty years ago, improbable. Yesterday, a few clicks, some emails, a transfer of funds and its on.

You must be getting excited. I know I am. So close now.

My wife (doing a PhD in Literature) has commenced her final run through and I expect edits to continue over the coming few weeks. It's important that it is polished. As a debut novelist, publishing on the Amazon Kindle store and trying to be noticed among the thousands of others, I can't allow simple errors to get through. It has to be professional and free from any distractions.

Is their anythng more annoying then sloppy i editing?

Z Minus 50 Days

Guess what? The title of the blog entry says it all. Conservative estimate. 50 Days. I have one more chapter to write and then the epilogue which is quarter of a chapter at best to wrap it all up. 

I want to spend 3 full weeks on the re-read and final editing - and its done. I finished. It actually happened. My first novel will be completed and uploaded onto KDP for the world to see. 120,000 words. Then straight on to number two in the series.

It's the 1am starts 5 days a week that has done it. Sure I have to go to bed by 7pm each night but it hasn't been too bad. It has given me 5 to 6 hours each morning (before the children start the days of the thousand daddy's), plus my full day on Saturdays and I have smashed through the last chapters. I am really happy with the results.

Another amazing turn for me was the use of — get this — writing chapter plans and scenes in long hand. I know, can you believe it? Me. Keyboard boy. Of course I have to block print everything because otherwise I can't read my own hand writing (it starts looking like a MD's prescription after about three lines) but I have been able to do it. And its worked! Hah!

Z Minus 50 days. It's on. I'll give you an update when I have done the final draft.

Habit

Recently I discovered a word that I really like. It is not real word; well not in the sense that it has been universally accepted and put into a dictionary somewhere or recognised as a functional antonym.

Pronoia

-the suspicion the Universe is collaborating on your behalf.

I like to think thats the way I feel most of the time. I have plently of anecdotal evidence that proves beyond conincidece that pronoia is real. It is actually happening.

But.

Sometimes I also feel like the universe is working against me. Do you ever feel that? It conspires with malicious intent to put blocks in your way. Subtle, insidious. Like it's watching your progress. Laughing at how you react to the next obsticle; it's single focus to quash your dreams and hopes.

Hmm. That antonyn I was talking about - Paranoia.

Nah. You're right. I'm not buying it either. Maybe I'm just not on the right drugs. I'll stick with Pronoia. The universe may well be making it hard for me, but I'm still at optimist at heart. I always try and switch it around and look to intellectual anaylsis. There is always a reason. What does it want from me?

Then I have an epiphany - Habits. Namely good habits. I believe they are to be approached like learning a new skill.

So this is what I have been thinking about since the last time you bothered to listen to my rantings. The thing I realized about good habits is that it takes conscious thought and self control; you really need to think about them before you get the result and always it seems that good habits take time. But just like learning any new skill they eventually become a subconscious action; like a muscle getting memory of a particular movement and finally getting used to it. You dont have to think about it any more, it just sort of happens.

Bad habits are easy to fall into to because they revolve around instant gratification and satiating desires of the flesh. Think about it for a few moments.

Every.single.one.

Inaction is also a bad habit because your body will always opt out for relaxation. Doing stuff is too hard. Lets just sit here and do something passive. Nothing sounds good.

Bad habits come easily because they require no thought. Like falling, you just step off and let gravity do the rest for you.

However, to break bad habits you have to really think about it.

To create good habits you have to focus your will. You have to build them upon reinforced foundations. Making them sturdy enough so you cannot fall again. Good habits let you reach heights that let you see that its much better up here than down there.

But it's subjective. No one can really for you to do it. You have to come the great realisation yourself.

Bad habits are an enemy, but like winning any war, victory is based upon a success in the smaller battles. Take on one at a time. Defeat it, and move on. Clear the path for your good habits. Allow them to become focused obsession. Powerful. Unyielding. To become better than you were. No excuses. If it's going to be, then it's up to me.

I want to write for a living dammit. Not copy writing for small businesses or blogging and hoping for advertisement dollars - I want to create worlds, characters and stories. I want people to immerse themselves in my novels. To escape, enjoy and enchant.  I am determined.

Three a.m starts, in fact 02:45 am is my alarm. It gives me time to have a shower and throw down two espresso coffees ready for keyboard time. Children are asleep. Peace.

Oh no. The internet! Talk about a bad habit. It's a freaking mind trap. It's been likened to a slot machine. You search for something or haunt particular websites hoping for new information. You don't know what the information will be so that keeps your interest. Like a surprise. Oh, what fun!

You press the button, your brain gets a stimulus... ahhh feels good, but it's useless for you to the point of being bad.

Gotta smash that one into dust.

On goes the internet blocker. I had to find a good one. Hell I use two, just to make sure. I'm one of those computer people that know enough to be dangerous and I can work around some of the more simpler ones. Some just insult my intelligence. One I found forces you to restart your computer to get internet access again.

Oh, what a hassle. Moving my mouse to click on this reset button is killing me. The computer is going to take a good thirty seconds to reboot. What an incredible productivity tool! I'll have to tell all my writing friends about this one. I'll even put up a testimonial. Ten dollars is a cheap price to pay for such freedom.

Pfft.  

Nope, no me. Until I break the habit its forced cut off. No work arounds. Zip, zero. Cold turkey (actually the name of the software.) with a touch of temptation blocker.

Sure I need to research. But I set aside time to do that. Thats called detail, worry about that at say edit two or three.

So it begins with 3 a.m starts. And writing. Novel, blog, journal. Write. In twenty one days, it will seem that I have been doing it for a lifetime. It will seem easy. A massive hurdle to overcome. I will do this.

Then all that is left is be good at it. But I'll need to take the plunge and let you decide that one.

You're the reader. That's your habit.