This Writing Report is for the dates from 7th January 2017 to the 15th January 2017, a total of nine days.
A little belated reporting here, but there is nothing much beyond routine here, as routine as living in another country can get.
I have been able to maintain a 2,000-words-a-day writing rate for this entire period. So 9 days X 2,000 words = 18,000 words. It is only in my next writing report that there's some under-performance, but for this period, the worse drop in performance I can give was a few hundred words short of 2,000, which would then be covered the next day - This, if I remember correctly, was actually quite common, happening on half the days probably, but I was able to maintain my favoured pacing.
I had completed my first Batam horror story within this period, and had moved on to a flash fiction about the fall of an ancient civilisation. A post-apocalyptic log obscured by a millennia-old language barrier, translation problems and huge cultural differences. I won't give away the 'catch' there.
Next, I moved on to an idea I've had for a very long time (since secondary school I believe) - a story set during the a run, in this case, an ultramarathon. Imagine running for your life, for 100 kilometres! Bet it'd have you hyperventilating! A more complete overview of my writing of this ultramarathon story will be covered in the next writing report.
One thing I'd like to add though is that I've developed a habit for writing in cafes and restaurants to the point where up to 50% of my writing are coming from public places. It helps that life is slow here in Batam, therefore there's few people in those places, especially when I'm doing it during office hours. It also helps that construction has been going on next door during work hours, so I feel like I'm being pushed (present tense here because it's still going on, and will go on for years, likely) to do this. It's not an entirely bad thing. I might even import this habit back to Singapore, if I can find a good place to do it.
Well, until next time!
About Me
- Brian J. W. Lee
- Brian J. W. Lee is a writer. When he's not writing, he's plotting to plunge the world in a deep chasm of terror, darkness and screams. Sorry, did I get carried away?
Thursday, 19 January 2017
Thursday, 12 January 2017
Why Writers should Travel
Just yesterday, I had finally closed off the first draft of my very first story set in Batam, Indonesia. At a surprising 11,111 words long (I'm not kidding if Microsoft Word isn't), it is the second longest story I've developed for my second book, a horror short stories collection.
Just a little teaser for anyone here who wants to reads anything in my (admitted tiny) bibliography, it's a story that's clinched many 'first' titles. It's my first ghost story - surprising again, I know, because I write horror. But honestly, my stance is that ghost stories are done too many times and it's a saturated genre. It feels as if everything about it has been done, every angle explored. That said, I wrote this one for a very good reason which I will cover later.
It's also, as mentioned on top, my very first story that's set in Batam, Indonesia, and one of the few that isn't set within Singaporean borders.
It's a very personal short story, one that's built on my experiences. It's about a happy-go-lucky type writer (I know XD but come on, I write all kinds of characters) who goes to Batam to work on a crime thriller novel, only to encounter something sinister in the boarding house he is renting a room in - or more accurately, from its dead 'Siamese twin' next door.
Don't worry though, while I haven't encountered anything supernatural yet except for some strange bells ringing around midnight and a few odd tapping at God-knows-where while I'm showering, I'm still alive and well, and I'm not posting this from the netherworld (or am I?).
That leads off to the point I'm trying to make. This story is made possible only because I got off my butt and plopped it down somewhere else on the globe. By doing that and actually living in the locale I travelled to, I've gained so much more to work with. Just the place I live at alone has so much character, even if some of them made me kinda worried for my own safety and sanity.
As writers tend to write what they know - I know I do, to maintain authenticity - This is pretty much one of the best ways to write what you previously don't know; expanding what you know so you can write more interesting things.
What I'm doing is just for starters. I'm just going to be stuck in one new place for a month - most of the fresh new things I experienced would already be experienced in the first few days of my life here in Batam, with my depth of knowledge of the place increasing only marginally with not much new material to be had in the subsequent days.
To gain a whole spectrum of new material, some backpacking would be in order, going from one place to the next after just a few days, absorbing all the new locations, people, sights, sounds, everything. And to make sure you experience everything, you shouldn't be so shy about it either - chin up, chest up, and walk on through. That's what I've been doing so far anyway, without knowing the lingua franca of the area nor their customs, and I've been doing fine so far.
Anyway, a Writing Report is coming up tomorrow.
Just a little teaser for anyone here who wants to reads anything in my (admitted tiny) bibliography, it's a story that's clinched many 'first' titles. It's my first ghost story - surprising again, I know, because I write horror. But honestly, my stance is that ghost stories are done too many times and it's a saturated genre. It feels as if everything about it has been done, every angle explored. That said, I wrote this one for a very good reason which I will cover later.
It's also, as mentioned on top, my very first story that's set in Batam, Indonesia, and one of the few that isn't set within Singaporean borders.
It's a very personal short story, one that's built on my experiences. It's about a happy-go-lucky type writer (I know XD but come on, I write all kinds of characters) who goes to Batam to work on a crime thriller novel, only to encounter something sinister in the boarding house he is renting a room in - or more accurately, from its dead 'Siamese twin' next door.
You should be glad that that's not it, but the Siamese Twin building is only slightly better.
That leads off to the point I'm trying to make. This story is made possible only because I got off my butt and plopped it down somewhere else on the globe. By doing that and actually living in the locale I travelled to, I've gained so much more to work with. Just the place I live at alone has so much character, even if some of them made me kinda worried for my own safety and sanity.
As writers tend to write what they know - I know I do, to maintain authenticity - This is pretty much one of the best ways to write what you previously don't know; expanding what you know so you can write more interesting things.
What I'm doing is just for starters. I'm just going to be stuck in one new place for a month - most of the fresh new things I experienced would already be experienced in the first few days of my life here in Batam, with my depth of knowledge of the place increasing only marginally with not much new material to be had in the subsequent days.
To gain a whole spectrum of new material, some backpacking would be in order, going from one place to the next after just a few days, absorbing all the new locations, people, sights, sounds, everything. And to make sure you experience everything, you shouldn't be so shy about it either - chin up, chest up, and walk on through. That's what I've been doing so far anyway, without knowing the lingua franca of the area nor their customs, and I've been doing fine so far.
Anyway, a Writing Report is coming up tomorrow.
Friday, 6 January 2017
Writing Report S2 #30 (Special Batam Report): A Weekday in Batam
This Writing Report is for the dates from 1st January 2017 to 6th January 2017 (Sunday to Friday).
Ever since landing on the island of Batam, my writing speed has been kicked into high gear. I have been able to put out 2,000 words a day, somethings with an additional 100 or more, no problem. I've only ever strayed on a single day, probably Wednesday, by being short 500 words, but that's made up for on Thursday.
In other words, in 6 days, I've put out slightly more than 12,000 words - This is the standard as prescribed by Stephen King. Now, the only thing is to maintain this, and bring this standard back home. Not sure if it'd be possible if I resume working, but I can try. Video games have become less and less my standard form of entertainment anyway, not so much disappearing but giving even more room to reading and writing.
Back then, it used to be that I'd spend a few hours on computer games, about an hour or two on reading and another two hours on writing. For now in Batam, assuming I'm still writing at the speed of 500 words an hour, that's four hours of writing, perhaps two hours of reading, maybe a mere hour or two of computer games (mostly mobile games and retro oldies) and perhaps an hour or two of television.
What concerns me is a sense of purposelessness that I feel. By right, I should be full of purpose right now. I guess it's just me breaking away from working life.
Anyway, just yesterday, I've concluded the draft 1 of Faceless Angel, which I've renamed to Faceless for the moment, and I've even produced a working draft of my first horror poetry piece - though I'm not sure if I can call it that. I don't quite adhere to metre, or have a definite rhythmic scheme, but I believe a few revisions might bestow those properties at least sparingly.
For my next project, I might either work on a story about someone getting stuck in his own house due to supernatural reasons, or a story set in my current country of residence, Batam. We'll see.
Ever since landing on the island of Batam, my writing speed has been kicked into high gear. I have been able to put out 2,000 words a day, somethings with an additional 100 or more, no problem. I've only ever strayed on a single day, probably Wednesday, by being short 500 words, but that's made up for on Thursday.
In other words, in 6 days, I've put out slightly more than 12,000 words - This is the standard as prescribed by Stephen King. Now, the only thing is to maintain this, and bring this standard back home. Not sure if it'd be possible if I resume working, but I can try. Video games have become less and less my standard form of entertainment anyway, not so much disappearing but giving even more room to reading and writing.
Back then, it used to be that I'd spend a few hours on computer games, about an hour or two on reading and another two hours on writing. For now in Batam, assuming I'm still writing at the speed of 500 words an hour, that's four hours of writing, perhaps two hours of reading, maybe a mere hour or two of computer games (mostly mobile games and retro oldies) and perhaps an hour or two of television.
What concerns me is a sense of purposelessness that I feel. By right, I should be full of purpose right now. I guess it's just me breaking away from working life.
Anyway, just yesterday, I've concluded the draft 1 of Faceless Angel, which I've renamed to Faceless for the moment, and I've even produced a working draft of my first horror poetry piece - though I'm not sure if I can call it that. I don't quite adhere to metre, or have a definite rhythmic scheme, but I believe a few revisions might bestow those properties at least sparingly.
For my next project, I might either work on a story about someone getting stuck in his own house due to supernatural reasons, or a story set in my current country of residence, Batam. We'll see.
Tuesday, 3 January 2017
Writing in an Isolated Locale
So, I've been in Batam for the past three days. There's been some surprises, as well as some disappointments, but let's stick to the writing, shall we?
First of all, the environment is conducive for writing, and the reasons may not be what you expect. But first, let's start with the more predictable factors, shall we?:
- The city is far less dense and urbanised, which means slower pacing, less stress. This allows me to think even when I'm in some of the more 'crowded' places, such as the mall, which is nearly empty compared to the malls of Singapore, which are practically flowing with people. Creativity flows much more freely here.
- Cheaper cost of living removes further stress. I don't have to worry about money as I've come from a richer country. This allows me to focus on my writing, rather than survival. There's a reason why literacy wasn't very popular millennia ago, you know.
- Isolation. Basically, I have no human contact beyond the supermart clerks and cashiers or the receptionist at my boarding house. No one to bother me while I'm writing. Even as I write in a cafe, I find myself sweetly uninterrupted.
- The different environment is also beneficial as a form of inspiration. Instead of always setting my stories in Singapore, I now have an alternative location to write about, and first hand experience on how it is like here!
Now, onto the weirder reasons why Batam, as a less dense, rich and urbanised place is beneficial for writing:
- Lacking facilities and entertainment. By this, I mean access to computer games, the movies, public access books. But this is exactly what I'm looking for - Back in Singapore, I am always distracted, living a rather hedonistic lifestyle (compared to simpler living). I've purposely left all that behind. But won't you wilt away form the lack of cultural consumption, you ask?
Well, I've brought enough with me - my Kindle Paperwhite, my laptop has access to very simple games that I'll only be willing to play in bursts of 10 - 30 minutes (it's a writing laptop, so the specs are modest), and my boarding house room has a television (with a poor selection of channels with low quality visuals). It isn't that restaurants and the cinema are non-existent, just of lesser quality and accessibility (closest mall is over 1km away and has to be reached on foot through inhospitable terrain). All this has the effect of discouraging 'over-consumption' and I feel empowered to write as much for my own entertainment as well as for my professional development.
- Reduction of choice. I've 'trapped' myself in Batam for a month through my commitment of money into this venture and a fixed schedule for my transport. Similar to the above, it means that I have only my writing to worry about, and I'll have to make good on the money invested as well as the effort. All the more serious, by living here for a month, I'm losing a month in which I can spend on finding a job, so I'm investing time and opportunity cost as well. Quite a hefty price to flesh out some stories.
So there you have it! In short, I would recommend travelling overseas for a little writer's retreat, but you have to be ready to sacrifice. You'll need to know what you're getting into, and you'll need to plan a lot to pull it off. I've planned like a month in advance, but started looking into it MONTHS in advance.
It's been productive so far. But you guys will hear more about that in my first writing report on the morrow.
In the meantime, don't worry about me. Contrary to popular perception, 'rural' places aren't populated by nasty inbred cannibals. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to investigate that scream I just heard outside my door...
First of all, the environment is conducive for writing, and the reasons may not be what you expect. But first, let's start with the more predictable factors, shall we?:
- The city is far less dense and urbanised, which means slower pacing, less stress. This allows me to think even when I'm in some of the more 'crowded' places, such as the mall, which is nearly empty compared to the malls of Singapore, which are practically flowing with people. Creativity flows much more freely here.
- Cheaper cost of living removes further stress. I don't have to worry about money as I've come from a richer country. This allows me to focus on my writing, rather than survival. There's a reason why literacy wasn't very popular millennia ago, you know.
- Isolation. Basically, I have no human contact beyond the supermart clerks and cashiers or the receptionist at my boarding house. No one to bother me while I'm writing. Even as I write in a cafe, I find myself sweetly uninterrupted.
- The different environment is also beneficial as a form of inspiration. Instead of always setting my stories in Singapore, I now have an alternative location to write about, and first hand experience on how it is like here!
Now, onto the weirder reasons why Batam, as a less dense, rich and urbanised place is beneficial for writing:
- Lacking facilities and entertainment. By this, I mean access to computer games, the movies, public access books. But this is exactly what I'm looking for - Back in Singapore, I am always distracted, living a rather hedonistic lifestyle (compared to simpler living). I've purposely left all that behind. But won't you wilt away form the lack of cultural consumption, you ask?
Well, I've brought enough with me - my Kindle Paperwhite, my laptop has access to very simple games that I'll only be willing to play in bursts of 10 - 30 minutes (it's a writing laptop, so the specs are modest), and my boarding house room has a television (with a poor selection of channels with low quality visuals). It isn't that restaurants and the cinema are non-existent, just of lesser quality and accessibility (closest mall is over 1km away and has to be reached on foot through inhospitable terrain). All this has the effect of discouraging 'over-consumption' and I feel empowered to write as much for my own entertainment as well as for my professional development.
- Reduction of choice. I've 'trapped' myself in Batam for a month through my commitment of money into this venture and a fixed schedule for my transport. Similar to the above, it means that I have only my writing to worry about, and I'll have to make good on the money invested as well as the effort. All the more serious, by living here for a month, I'm losing a month in which I can spend on finding a job, so I'm investing time and opportunity cost as well. Quite a hefty price to flesh out some stories.
So there you have it! In short, I would recommend travelling overseas for a little writer's retreat, but you have to be ready to sacrifice. You'll need to know what you're getting into, and you'll need to plan a lot to pull it off. I've planned like a month in advance, but started looking into it MONTHS in advance.
It's been productive so far. But you guys will hear more about that in my first writing report on the morrow.
In the meantime, don't worry about me. Contrary to popular perception, 'rural' places aren't populated by nasty inbred cannibals. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to investigate that scream I just heard outside my door...
Thursday, 29 December 2016
Let's Talk Writing: Masochism
Well, fie. Me being a horror writer (exclusively for now), I'm bound to stumble on topics like that. Regardless, nothing is sacred in writing.
I have always extolled a certain kind of attitude when it comes to writing. And that attitude is to enjoy it, to write only an amount you're comfortable with, and to write whatever you're comfortable with. That's how I settled on a daily 1,000-words-a-day writing routine, and how sometimes I'll fall a little short when something happens, like Christmas celebrations. That's how I ended up with a horror novel for a debut book, and why I've been writing horror short stories as my second project.
But that doesn't always work, if my falling short of my 1,000-words-a-day goal occasionally is any indication. And it doesn't quite explain away the 100% of how I do things either.
There's this other side of me, a dark side if you will. And I believe it's a dark side that every writer possesses, that hell, most people have. It's more common than you think.
It's the will to step out of your comfort zone, and improve yourself, try new things.
It's how I managed to get through 1,000 words a day to begin with. Just look at my first few posts on this blog:
A New Beginning - An Introduction
Writing Report #1: Exhaustion
Writing Report #2: The Return
So, I went from being barely able to scrape out 300-500 words a day and a wee bit of edits to churning out 1,000 words a day, or 2 chapters (4,000-8,000 words) of edits a day.
But what if I take it one step further?
What if I were to join the dark side and be masochistic? I'm already halfway there, making sacrifices for the delayed pleasure of achieving something. Even in my real life, I used to run half-marathons, and I can tell you that it's gruelling - all for the sake of staying fit and... achieving something. And when I stopped running myself into the ground on a tri-weekly basis, I started recently eating less with a fruitarian bend (but enough) to stop gaining weight - even if it means going to bed hungry sometimes.
Sometimes, I talk about achieving a state of Writing Nirvana, wherein I bring out inhuman results at little cost to myself. For this entire year, I haven't been able to get there at all. And now I think I know why.
The path to Nirvana is supposed to be fraught with pain and suffering. I wrote 4,000 to 5,000 words a day once because of the pressure of meeting a deadline. At first, I was filled with anxiety and dread, but at the end of the day, I was pleased with myself.
Perhaps I should re-enact that on a daily basis? But to be masochistic is to be more than that.
It's to enjoy the whole thing, all the way. Writing as a masochistic demon can't turn out to be a job. It must be something I embody, something that I must gain pleasure from even if my fingers and head aches. It must be to the point of near-sexual or drug-fuelled ecstasy. That's going to require conditioning. Major conditioning.
Huh. Funny how I tend to describe Writing as my Wife and my Book as my Daughter. Tee hee.
Anyway, I'll have a month to figure it out. On the extreme, if this 'Masochism' project works out, I could be looking at anywhere between 90,000 words written at least to, say, 120,000 to 150,000 words. More than enough to finish my short stories collection with room to edit or work on a third book.
Good thing I've been playing around with the concept of a demon character amongst other possible things to write about. She'd serve as something of a shrine to this idea.
Well, time to take out the knives, flogs and clamps! I'll have to draw a pentagram and lie down on it too! Fun times!
Hehe, just kidding! Or am I? 😈
I have always extolled a certain kind of attitude when it comes to writing. And that attitude is to enjoy it, to write only an amount you're comfortable with, and to write whatever you're comfortable with. That's how I settled on a daily 1,000-words-a-day writing routine, and how sometimes I'll fall a little short when something happens, like Christmas celebrations. That's how I ended up with a horror novel for a debut book, and why I've been writing horror short stories as my second project.
But that doesn't always work, if my falling short of my 1,000-words-a-day goal occasionally is any indication. And it doesn't quite explain away the 100% of how I do things either.
There's this other side of me, a dark side if you will. And I believe it's a dark side that every writer possesses, that hell, most people have. It's more common than you think.
It's the will to step out of your comfort zone, and improve yourself, try new things.
It's how I managed to get through 1,000 words a day to begin with. Just look at my first few posts on this blog:
A New Beginning - An Introduction
Writing Report #1: Exhaustion
Writing Report #2: The Return
So, I went from being barely able to scrape out 300-500 words a day and a wee bit of edits to churning out 1,000 words a day, or 2 chapters (4,000-8,000 words) of edits a day.
But what if I take it one step further?
What if I were to join the dark side and be masochistic? I'm already halfway there, making sacrifices for the delayed pleasure of achieving something. Even in my real life, I used to run half-marathons, and I can tell you that it's gruelling - all for the sake of staying fit and... achieving something. And when I stopped running myself into the ground on a tri-weekly basis, I started recently eating less with a fruitarian bend (but enough) to stop gaining weight - even if it means going to bed hungry sometimes.
Sometimes, I talk about achieving a state of Writing Nirvana, wherein I bring out inhuman results at little cost to myself. For this entire year, I haven't been able to get there at all. And now I think I know why.
The path to Nirvana is supposed to be fraught with pain and suffering. I wrote 4,000 to 5,000 words a day once because of the pressure of meeting a deadline. At first, I was filled with anxiety and dread, but at the end of the day, I was pleased with myself.
Perhaps I should re-enact that on a daily basis? But to be masochistic is to be more than that.
It's to enjoy the whole thing, all the way. Writing as a masochistic demon can't turn out to be a job. It must be something I embody, something that I must gain pleasure from even if my fingers and head aches. It must be to the point of near-sexual or drug-fuelled ecstasy. That's going to require conditioning. Major conditioning.
Huh. Funny how I tend to describe Writing as my Wife and my Book as my Daughter. Tee hee.
Anyway, I'll have a month to figure it out. On the extreme, if this 'Masochism' project works out, I could be looking at anywhere between 90,000 words written at least to, say, 120,000 to 150,000 words. More than enough to finish my short stories collection with room to edit or work on a third book.
Good thing I've been playing around with the concept of a demon character amongst other possible things to write about. She'd serve as something of a shrine to this idea.
Well, time to take out the knives, flogs and clamps! I'll have to draw a pentagram and lie down on it too! Fun times!
Hehe, just kidding! Or am I? 😈
Tuesday, 27 December 2016
Writing Report S2 #29: Christmas Slow-Down & Fervour
This writing report is for the days from Last Wednesday to this Tuesday (21 December 2016 - 27 December 2016)
On Wednesday, I remember that I was only able to write about 600 words for Faceless Angel, my first Dark Science Fantasy Horror pet project (whew! What a mouthful!). I remember making up for it the next day with 1,000 words, though I didn't quite make up for the loss the previous day.
Then I stopped. My debut novel, The Keeper of Pulau Purba, was put on promotion starting Wednesday, and I began to feel the need to revise my novel further, because the last 20% chapters hadn't had their editor's suggestions implemented yet.
Thus, I returned to the 2-chapters-a-day editing plan. I remember working on my debut novel everyday except for Sunday. Thus, on Thursday, I cleared 2 chapters, and I did the same on Friday and Saturday. I remember clearing 3 chapters on Monday simply because I felt guilty for Sunday - going out with my friends to an all-day church Christmas celebration cum party doesn't excuse it.
Yesterday, which is a Tuesday, I cleared almost 2 chapters. The last chapter I edited was twice the length of the average chapter, and I had to edit while I'm outside.
But I'm very close to concluding the edit for my debut novel. I've reached the final climax of TKoPP. I have about 4 chapters left to edit, just in time before I set sail for Batam on a Writer's Retreat. Once I've fully edited The Keeper of Pulau Purba this time, any further edits would be for an official 2nd Edition, which I believe will be far away.
I guess that's all for now. My writing reports will probably be spicier once I'm in Batam. See you guys!
On Wednesday, I remember that I was only able to write about 600 words for Faceless Angel, my first Dark Science Fantasy Horror pet project (whew! What a mouthful!). I remember making up for it the next day with 1,000 words, though I didn't quite make up for the loss the previous day.
Then I stopped. My debut novel, The Keeper of Pulau Purba, was put on promotion starting Wednesday, and I began to feel the need to revise my novel further, because the last 20% chapters hadn't had their editor's suggestions implemented yet.
Thus, I returned to the 2-chapters-a-day editing plan. I remember working on my debut novel everyday except for Sunday. Thus, on Thursday, I cleared 2 chapters, and I did the same on Friday and Saturday. I remember clearing 3 chapters on Monday simply because I felt guilty for Sunday - going out with my friends to an all-day church Christmas celebration cum party doesn't excuse it.
Yesterday, which is a Tuesday, I cleared almost 2 chapters. The last chapter I edited was twice the length of the average chapter, and I had to edit while I'm outside.
But I'm very close to concluding the edit for my debut novel. I've reached the final climax of TKoPP. I have about 4 chapters left to edit, just in time before I set sail for Batam on a Writer's Retreat. Once I've fully edited The Keeper of Pulau Purba this time, any further edits would be for an official 2nd Edition, which I believe will be far away.
I guess that's all for now. My writing reports will probably be spicier once I'm in Batam. See you guys!
Friday, 23 December 2016
Thoughts on the Brink of Christmas
Before I move on with my little opinion piece, I'd like to inform you guys, my dear readers, that my book is on a Christmas sale...
$0.99 after 75% discount!!!
---
Now, onto business.
Basically, this is coming from a little online chat I have with some acquaintances regarding Christmas. In short, one of my new friends and his family/relatives don't really celebrate it, and they believe that the spirit of Christmas should be spread throughout the year, and then magnified some. In other words, be a good person both in and out of Christmas.
In short, I agree. Since I hail from Singapore and am of Chinese and Agnostic background, Christmas doesn't quite come naturally to me. It is more of a cerebral thing to me, a representation of certain values that we must and should embody: kindness, generosity, charity, empathy. Christmas is thus a celebration of virtues for me, and not quite of the Judeo-Christian meanings it originally encompass.
But that's no reason not to celebrate Christmas. Being a writer, chances are, I'm certainly no prude. Just yesterday, an old childhood friend of mine pretty much calls me the YOLO-man when we met for a little catching up. He notes that I'm exceptionally liberal and risk-taking, and all for human rights and all that is fun and good. While I tend to be very disciplined in some ways, I guess he's mostly right. He knows me well, anyway.
Back to Christmas. It's still on the table even if it's not a native custom and something I don't 'get in the programme' fully and 100%. It's great as a reminder, and besides, it's a good time to catch-up with friends (if my earlier story is any indication) and just let loose a little. Sometimes, we need a little time-out.
---
Personally though, this Christmas hasn't been kind to me. Let's see...
1) Owing to my lousy job with poor benefits and poor pay, I have little opportunity to enjoy. Celebration is an occasion for the good times. The economy sure did lend a hand to this.
2) So my family's overseas in Malaysia while I'm stuck here. This one's a blessing in disguise though. There's an uncle there that I really dislike for his abysmal social skills that partially stems from an ageist-related superiority complex.
3) I attended a party where I don't quite fit in. Basically, everyone's friends with each other there, and I'm the third wheel. It's also no coincidence that it's a party in a publishing house I used to intern in, and everyone there is of a trade publishing affiliation while I am the only indie author there (and indeed, probably one of few in Singapore). But it's mostly because I haven't quite made an impression of myself. My internship lasted only 2 months, I didn't do much in that time, and I haven't contributed much at all on a voluntary basis, haven't worked with them much on a professional level. I am not published with them either, but I tried.
4) Let's just say that my Christmas promotional campaign hasn't been going as planned... (psst... You can fix that by buying my book! /shameless plug)
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But Christmas is more than a celebration of virtues. It is a time for miracles. While I don't believe in miracles, only in human agency and action resulting in some interesting results, coincidences and consequences, I'm no less grateful for whatever goodness has counteracted the bad things:
1) I get to meet an old friend. We've been so busy.
2) I will be meeting another, and we'll probably be discussing our literary pursuits as well.
3) I'm getting out of this chicken-shit outfit. (I've resigned from my job. I'm FWEEEEEE!)
4) I've made arrangements for a writing retreat in Batam, and it will be for a month. Y'all will hear from me soon enough from that country.
Yeah, I would much rather stay positive, even if I have to drag myself to it. For whatever darkness there is in the world, even if it's in the northern or southern pole, there will always be light somewhere, sometime.
Wednesday, 21 December 2016
Writing Report S2 #28: Epiphany
This Writing Report is for Monday and Tuesday (19 December 2016 - 20 December 2016).
Things have been going great so far. On Monday, I worked up 1,000 words, and on Tuesday, 1,100 words I believe. I'm back in business, yee-ha! And I didn't have to torture myself that much this time!
Basically, I think my stab at the Science Fantasy genre seems to be working. I'm enjoying myself with the writing, and the story is unwrapping by itself too - It's character driven, so I feel more like a chronicler rather than an author this time. My job is just to render what I see in my head with as much clarity as possible, appealing to my six senses.
I believe it's going to be my longest short story yet, in the tradition of fantasy works being longer than their other-genre counterparts. 3,500 words in, and my main character hasn't even left his village to go on his quest yet. My projection for now is 15,000 words. It could explode to 20,000, but I'll try to make that number the maximum blast radius.
If I haven't talked about the plot yet, it's this: A young man's father returns from being lost in a forest for 4 days, packing a seemingly terminal disease. No one could cure him. Young man decides to find out what happened and see if there's a cure from where his father came from.
Simple plot, really, but it's expanding in terms of narrative and content. The antagonist, I feel, is going to be quite unique for a science fantasy-ish setting. They won't be straight-up villains - I don't like doing straight-up villains. Even the titular Keeper of Pulau Purba may not be a villain-villain, if you read the book closely enough.
Anyway, I'll end off here. Good days! Perfect for leading up to my Batam Writing Retreat, where I'll kick into high gear and try to write 1,500 - 2,000 words a day. Maybe aim to achieve a state of Writing Nirvana.
Alright, see you guys!
Things have been going great so far. On Monday, I worked up 1,000 words, and on Tuesday, 1,100 words I believe. I'm back in business, yee-ha! And I didn't have to torture myself that much this time!
Basically, I think my stab at the Science Fantasy genre seems to be working. I'm enjoying myself with the writing, and the story is unwrapping by itself too - It's character driven, so I feel more like a chronicler rather than an author this time. My job is just to render what I see in my head with as much clarity as possible, appealing to my six senses.
I believe it's going to be my longest short story yet, in the tradition of fantasy works being longer than their other-genre counterparts. 3,500 words in, and my main character hasn't even left his village to go on his quest yet. My projection for now is 15,000 words. It could explode to 20,000, but I'll try to make that number the maximum blast radius.
If I haven't talked about the plot yet, it's this: A young man's father returns from being lost in a forest for 4 days, packing a seemingly terminal disease. No one could cure him. Young man decides to find out what happened and see if there's a cure from where his father came from.
Simple plot, really, but it's expanding in terms of narrative and content. The antagonist, I feel, is going to be quite unique for a science fantasy-ish setting. They won't be straight-up villains - I don't like doing straight-up villains. Even the titular Keeper of Pulau Purba may not be a villain-villain, if you read the book closely enough.
Anyway, I'll end off here. Good days! Perfect for leading up to my Batam Writing Retreat, where I'll kick into high gear and try to write 1,500 - 2,000 words a day. Maybe aim to achieve a state of Writing Nirvana.
Alright, see you guys!
Sunday, 18 December 2016
Writing Report S2 #27: Disruptions
This writing report is for the dates from Wednesday to Sunday (14 December 2016 - 18 December 2016)
This has been a slow week because of the adjustments I have to make based on the stories I write. I guess I've pretty much found out the downside to writing a slew of short stories, and that is the adjustment period. Now, I'm sure not all authors suffer this, so I'm chalking it down to my inexperience with the short form.
It is also at this period that I started wondering where I should be going. To be blunt, I'm not sure what I ought to be writing next. It took me a while to figure it out and remember that I want to put my main universe in this collection somewhere. So I did.
On Wednesday, I completed about 800 words of a flash fiction piece set in the world of The Keeper of Pulau Purba. I was still adjusting to it, as I haven't immersed myself in that world for a while.
On Thursday, I wrote 400 words. This is where I got worried about my performance. My explanation here, though, is that I was worried that this flash fic might turn out to be a short story after all.
Friday. I wrote 300 words. I figured out a way to make it short. But still, the ToPP flash fic came up to almost 1,500 words long, which makes it a stretch to call it a flash fiction piece. That's like 6 pages long on a standard 250 words per page average. Still, I think the terminology is sound - It's still extremely short, short enough to be a flash fic, just that it's right at the edge.
Saturday. I had to figure out what to write next. I eventually settled on a short story with a science fantasy setting, but still intended to be horror. This is a huge change from what I'm used to writing - I've always written horror set in the contemporary and urban world, with at most a sub-genre or secondary genre to spice things up.
Faceless Angel, as I am tentatively calling it, seems to be science fantasy first and horror second. Either that, or I'm falling for my own slow-reveal story structure.
On Sunday, my belief in my writing is still shaky, so I only managed to eke out about 520 words.
Yep, I officially really need another personal writer's residence. Good thing I've set aside a month in Batam for that purpose. No distractions - Just me and my writing. And a new environment. A new neighbourhood to explore. Great food to try. Yeah, it's going to be fine, just like the last time.
This has been a slow week because of the adjustments I have to make based on the stories I write. I guess I've pretty much found out the downside to writing a slew of short stories, and that is the adjustment period. Now, I'm sure not all authors suffer this, so I'm chalking it down to my inexperience with the short form.
It is also at this period that I started wondering where I should be going. To be blunt, I'm not sure what I ought to be writing next. It took me a while to figure it out and remember that I want to put my main universe in this collection somewhere. So I did.
On Wednesday, I completed about 800 words of a flash fiction piece set in the world of The Keeper of Pulau Purba. I was still adjusting to it, as I haven't immersed myself in that world for a while.
On Thursday, I wrote 400 words. This is where I got worried about my performance. My explanation here, though, is that I was worried that this flash fic might turn out to be a short story after all.
Friday. I wrote 300 words. I figured out a way to make it short. But still, the ToPP flash fic came up to almost 1,500 words long, which makes it a stretch to call it a flash fiction piece. That's like 6 pages long on a standard 250 words per page average. Still, I think the terminology is sound - It's still extremely short, short enough to be a flash fic, just that it's right at the edge.
Saturday. I had to figure out what to write next. I eventually settled on a short story with a science fantasy setting, but still intended to be horror. This is a huge change from what I'm used to writing - I've always written horror set in the contemporary and urban world, with at most a sub-genre or secondary genre to spice things up.
Faceless Angel, as I am tentatively calling it, seems to be science fantasy first and horror second. Either that, or I'm falling for my own slow-reveal story structure.
On Sunday, my belief in my writing is still shaky, so I only managed to eke out about 520 words.
Yep, I officially really need another personal writer's residence. Good thing I've set aside a month in Batam for that purpose. No distractions - Just me and my writing. And a new environment. A new neighbourhood to explore. Great food to try. Yeah, it's going to be fine, just like the last time.
Thursday, 15 December 2016
Brian Reviews #2: From a Buick 8 by Stephen King
Disclaimer: There's going to be a whole glut of spoilers. You have been warned!
It's a Stephen King book, so of course the car's gonna eat cha!
Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
The first time I heard about this book wasn't quite of an auditory nature at all. I found it nestling deep in Stephen King's bibliography. For many years, it lingered, despite my near-ignorance to its contents. See, I saw the synopsis, and thought it was great - a Stephen King book, that of course, would never fail to impress.
It'd been something like 5 years before I finally got around to purchasing it through a homegrown online mega-bookstore, opentrolley.com.sg. It'd been one of my Stephen King moments. I bought three books in a bundle, and this is the first book of the three that I read, owing to its history with me.
Needless to say, I am slightly disappointed. But it isn't an entirely wasted effort. The potential is there, and I believe Stephen King did his best with it. Only problem is, he couldn't quite see it through to the end.
The specific book cover I had received, which is exactly like the one above, tells me everything I need to know. It's about a car, and in retrospect, it's about a young man who'd lost his father to the Buick (notice it behind the shadowy figure?). But scratch that bit about losing the father to the Buick though, because that's not quite what happened, but that's the impression.
So the packaging is good, now let's move on the to meaty bits of this guy. Let's dissect him, shall we!?
The novel starts with the death of Curtis Wilcox (nice name, by the way, he's the kind of state trooper who will comply, I bet), and his son visiting the barracks of a Pennsylvanian State Trooper unit as a way to grieve his loss. That's how it begins. I think the initial chapters hooked me well and good, I continued reading with no difficulty from there.
And from thereon, the novel sure took a ride to the top of the bell curve (with the Buick, hee-hee). The overall frame structure of the novel is amazing. With a frame story set in the present, encapsulating a series of accounts from members of the State Troopers, the form of the story never fails to satisfy. It shakes things up with different personalities and backstory each time as the story shifts perspectives.
That said, the characters, as is usual of Stephen King, who have been said to be the Charles Dickens of the 21st century, are very, very well defined. They are life-like, larger than life even. But they are written to be human, very believable.
Each character, even the minor ones, have a detailed backstory of their own, and most of the time, the story doesn't use an info-dump to flesh them out. That's some premium writing right there - good writing isn't just about putting intricate descriptions on a page, as much as physically and literately possible, it's also about engaging the reader's imagination, and getting them to fill in the blanks frequently. Even the local janitor, gas pump attendant and punk-girl, minor characters all, are better defined than some main characters I've seen elsewere. They are amazingly described right down to their personal twitches and secrets - good stuff. A lesson to all writers, no doubt.
Then there's the main antagonist itself, the titular Buick 8, and the creatures that emerge from it. Despite being a car (at least as it appears to the characters) and sitting around in a garage most of the time, its presence is felt, and the threat it presents is constant. The frequent descent into the uncanny valley that both the Buick and the creatures, from the 'man' who apparently drives it into our world to even the leaves, 'bird' and finally, the three-handed 'alien', are quite effective, putting me on the edge of my seat.
But it is from the near-mid-point of the novel that this book starts slipping off the bell curve, said creatures notwithstanding. It's where the novel's strength turns into its weakness. Basically, it's as if he's missing a few tools in his literary toolbox, and he kept using the same ones over and over. When first used, his tropes of an unknown horror from a neighbouring dimension works, but then he kept doing it over and over. Even as he fleshes it out, and made the consequences of inter-dimensional visitation felt, it eventually got old. This is only revitalised slightly at the end of the novel, when something more substantial came through the Buick, and we get a glimpse of the other side.
That said, there's a sense of 'antagonistic threat elitism' going on in the novel. Only the Buick itself was dangerous. Sure, the King threw a bat-thing and some leaves at us to scare us with the potential of great hazard for our beloved Troopers, but he didn't quite follow it up with any real danger. The final (barely) humanoid being that came through the Buick-portal device is supposed to be it, but it is emphasised that it is just as afraid of people as the people are afraid of it, maybe more so since it is outnumbered. It tried to run, and killed a dog by accident. I know what Stephen King is trying to do here, but it doesn't quite work out in terms of the horror part of the book, in the terms of the cosmic horror he's trying to evoke.
That said, remember when I say that Stephen King is regarded as this century's Charles Dickens? Yeah, I think that part of his writing kind of overshadowed the darker half of the novel, and when two parts of a novel clashes to gain the attention of the reader, the result isn't quite pretty. This time, as it usually happens, there's only one victor, and I think it's the Charles Dickenesque portrayal of the Pennsylvanian State Troopers that won out. It feels as if the horror aspect was just thrown in there to shake things up. And when it's done so blatantly, it loses much of its effect after the shock.
All in all, it's still enjoyable for what it is. Just that the horror in this book has been shooed off by the ghost of Charles Dickens.
Tuesday, 13 December 2016
Writing Report S2 #26: Pre- & Post-Military
This Writing Report is for the first week of December (1st Dec 2016 - 4th Dec 2016) and this week, Sunday to Tuesday (11th Dec 2016 - 13th Dec 2016).
By now, my statistics for the first week of December is a bit blurry. Makes me wish that I have an advanced writing software that records my exact statistics day by day. But I can roughly reconstruct what happened from my emails to myself and more recent statistics.
Basically, I finished up the short story, 'Agoraphobe' by the end of November, and I started 'The Hatch' on the first day of December, that much I remember.
According to my email with 'The Hatch' attached, I wrote 489 words on Thursday, 1st December 2016.
On Friday, I wrote about 800+ words in my office, bringing the word count up to 1,300+, and between that time and Sunday night last week, I wrote about 3,000 words. 1,000 of that can be attributed to Sunday, so I must have written 2,000 words from Friday night to Sunday (2nd Dec 2016 - 4th Dec 2016).
Knowing myself, I probably did 1,000 total on Friday and Saturday each, and spent Sunday demoralised and despairing over my impending military service.
Before I go ahead and write on about my writing exploits for the past 3 days, I'll state on record that I have done nothing for 6 days last week due to my return to military service.
Anyway, the days after the conclusion of my momentary service in the Singapore Armed Forces have been very fruitful.
On Sunday, I clocked in 1,000 words. A good start.
On Monday, I overclocked at 1,100+ words. I was really into the story, which is about a mechanic who found a weird rectangular hole in the last stall of a deserted restroom.
And I finished it up on Tuesday, which is yesterday, Nearly 500 words. I wrote nothing else that day, because I promised a friend to hear a a friend's friend's business proposal (a mouthful, I know). But the reason why I stopped at that number is because 'The Hatch', as the story is titled, was concluded yesterday. I am still deciding what to write next.
From the looks of things, I might be behind schedule by 1,000 words minimum, but it shouldn't be a disaster by the scale of my grand plan. To write professionally is all about the long game. The grand plan. I am not disconcerted by my setbacks, but I will definitely work to make up for them.
Until next time!
By now, my statistics for the first week of December is a bit blurry. Makes me wish that I have an advanced writing software that records my exact statistics day by day. But I can roughly reconstruct what happened from my emails to myself and more recent statistics.
Basically, I finished up the short story, 'Agoraphobe' by the end of November, and I started 'The Hatch' on the first day of December, that much I remember.
According to my email with 'The Hatch' attached, I wrote 489 words on Thursday, 1st December 2016.
On Friday, I wrote about 800+ words in my office, bringing the word count up to 1,300+, and between that time and Sunday night last week, I wrote about 3,000 words. 1,000 of that can be attributed to Sunday, so I must have written 2,000 words from Friday night to Sunday (2nd Dec 2016 - 4th Dec 2016).
Knowing myself, I probably did 1,000 total on Friday and Saturday each, and spent Sunday demoralised and despairing over my impending military service.
Before I go ahead and write on about my writing exploits for the past 3 days, I'll state on record that I have done nothing for 6 days last week due to my return to military service.
Anyway, the days after the conclusion of my momentary service in the Singapore Armed Forces have been very fruitful.
On Sunday, I clocked in 1,000 words. A good start.
On Monday, I overclocked at 1,100+ words. I was really into the story, which is about a mechanic who found a weird rectangular hole in the last stall of a deserted restroom.
And I finished it up on Tuesday, which is yesterday, Nearly 500 words. I wrote nothing else that day, because I promised a friend to hear a a friend's friend's business proposal (a mouthful, I know). But the reason why I stopped at that number is because 'The Hatch', as the story is titled, was concluded yesterday. I am still deciding what to write next.
From the looks of things, I might be behind schedule by 1,000 words minimum, but it shouldn't be a disaster by the scale of my grand plan. To write professionally is all about the long game. The grand plan. I am not disconcerted by my setbacks, but I will definitely work to make up for them.
Until next time!
Sunday, 11 December 2016
On the Army & Writing
Some of you might have realised that there has been an awful lack of posts lately on my blog. Some of you might have hallucinated a choir of singing crickets when you viewed my blog for the umpteenth time only to see nothing.
Well, don't worry. I haven't sworn off blogging, I've just been busy with this:
Basically, I'd been called up to return to military service for a week. It's a fucking tiring, soulless and thankless job. It's especially bad for me since I have additional responsibilities (just look at all those chevrons!) and none of the pride, way nor will to do it. But hey, at least I'd returned in one piece on Friday.
Some of you may know that I have a rather... dim view of the military. I'm always bashing on it quite a lot and for good reason. It pretty much clashes with my lifestyle of artistic ambitions. Every single day is a major struggle even when I'm not fully occupied in camp, and it'd be far worse when I am.
Despite my CO being kind and allowing my unit to return home each day, I was too tired each time to think about writing. All my time at home was instead used to maintain myself. Cleaning myself up after a filthy day, resting, preparing for the morrow as there's usually more gear to bring to camp, and sleeping early because I had to reach camp early.
But what I am going to say next is probably going to cause a Richter 10.0 Earthquake in Singapore (not that Singapore suffers from any form of natural disaster):
It's not entirely bad.
Yeah. It's not entirely bad. Well, in a masochistic sort of way. The army is a prominent topic to write about. Heck, I mean, my debut novel, The Keeper of Pulau Purba (available in Amazon now!), has the army as a major theme. In other words, I've spent a week walking in the shoes of my own characters. It's a good refresher on what it means to be in the army, willing or not. If it's good for a conversation in the coffee shop or a bar, it's good for a novel.
Then, I get to hang out with my wife:
Well, don't worry. I haven't sworn off blogging, I've just been busy with this:
If any of you need a boot camp in writing, lemme know :)
Some of you may know that I have a rather... dim view of the military. I'm always bashing on it quite a lot and for good reason. It pretty much clashes with my lifestyle of artistic ambitions. Every single day is a major struggle even when I'm not fully occupied in camp, and it'd be far worse when I am.
Despite my CO being kind and allowing my unit to return home each day, I was too tired each time to think about writing. All my time at home was instead used to maintain myself. Cleaning myself up after a filthy day, resting, preparing for the morrow as there's usually more gear to bring to camp, and sleeping early because I had to reach camp early.
But what I am going to say next is probably going to cause a Richter 10.0 Earthquake in Singapore (not that Singapore suffers from any form of natural disaster):
It's not entirely bad.
Yeah. It's not entirely bad. Well, in a masochistic sort of way. The army is a prominent topic to write about. Heck, I mean, my debut novel, The Keeper of Pulau Purba (available in Amazon now!), has the army as a major theme. In other words, I've spent a week walking in the shoes of my own characters. It's a good refresher on what it means to be in the army, willing or not. If it's good for a conversation in the coffee shop or a bar, it's good for a novel.
Then, I get to hang out with my wife:
I love the smell of gun smoke in the morning.
This time around, we get to brush up on our marksmanship. I get to shoot on the range. It's one of the few things I like about the army. So, the story goes that I get to team up with my storemen and drivers for the shoot. It's a team thing, which means all our scores are averaged out for the final decision as to whether we are marksmen or not.
We're driven to a simulation building the day before. It's the day I found out that there's a guy in my detail who couldn't shoot at all and he's in the twilight years of his tenure as a reservist. The final year, I might add. To tell you the truth, just like I told him, I couldn't be bothered with the marksmanship status and prize money that has been offered to us. I just wanted, then, to be done with the army and get out. The shooting bit was just an arcade sideshow for me. Therefore, my teammate's poor shooting didn't bother me in the slightest. The only problem was that everyone else were all thinking very differently.
I also found out that I was the second worst shooter. So I guess it pays to be humble (more on that later. Oh boy, a lot more, I tell you). Mainly, my excuses include the simulation screen, which was dark as hell, and my sports spectacles, which tends to fog up in the air-conditioned simulation room. Both problems were solved the next day, just in time for the big finale.
As if I'm in a novel myself (for all you know, we could all be figments of one person's imagination), the table was turned the next day. Everyone else started screwing up, and I became the team's best marksman.
By the second time we did a reshoot, I've only missed one or two shots out of 15... every time, except maybe the first time, when we had to do a night shoot, in which I forgot to reload when I'm out of bullets, and I did crossfires to hit the smaller targets to help my poor, retiring storeman, only to find out that it's not allowed. In the meantime, my guys continued to break the rules by cross-firing and hitting illegal targets (unwittingly, to their credit) or outright missing the target - Until they got it right the last time. I had to be on my toes all the while, performing at top capacity while they get their shit together. My hands were shaking by the end.
The story ended the next day for me, when we finally leave the camp and our uniforms behind, at least for another year, but with a cruel twist - The brass seemed to be impressed with me for some reason, and wants to make me a Company Sergeant Major. Oh, cruel fate! An idealistic writer who hates the army for a CSM. What the frickin'-!
Anyway, my point is that no matter how bad things get, there's always a silver lining. Here, it's that I get to mine this experience for writing and story material. Let's just say that the sequel to The Keeper of Pulau Purba is going to be even more awesome, the more I suffer. But don't worry, I'll happily bleed on the page for you guys! That's why we have blood donation drives, folks!
So for the rest of you who might be experiencing worse or something similar, when the going gets tough, and tears start dripping, remember that if you survive, you can look back and think to yourself, 'hey, now that's something I can use.' Whether be it to write a book, or just be all the wiser, it's something, even if it's evil.
Wednesday, 30 November 2016
Writing Report S2 #25: Good Days
This Writing Report is for the dates 28th November 2016 to 30th November 2016, which is Monday to Wednesday.
It's been good so far this week. I've managed 700 words on Monday, 650 on Tuesday, and a whooping 1,350 on Wednesday. The reason for this is a sudden drop-off in workload at the office. With my duties quickly finished, I was able to concentrate on my writing.
The result is another short story finished. It's about time. It was in development since long before my novel was out, so that means it's been hanging around in limbo for 4 months when its length requires only about a week to complete. The reason for its developmental hell is because I kinda dropped it to work on editing my novel before publishing it - As some of you may know, I had to keep editing my debut novel even after it was published.
Well, it's all history now. Agoraphobe is now officially a Draft 1! As such, I think I should celebrate by telling you guys about it:
It's basically a short story set in a 22nd century Singapore, in which the government there has been continuing on its policies unabated for over a century. The result is a severely overcrowded world. Every infrastructure a metropolis needs, be it transportation, housing, policing and the law, are coping but with quality of life suffering. We see this world from the perspective of a downtrodden waitress going about her daily routine, which takes a turn for the worse.
It turned out to be almost 7877 words long. I projected it to be 7000. Can't complain. That's about 32 pages long. It feels just about right. Length is no indication of quality, that's for sure.
Can't wait to work on the next story. I have a few ideas bouncing around in my head, looking to breach through my skull and land on a page. I'll keep you guys updated on what I'm working on next.
It's been good so far this week. I've managed 700 words on Monday, 650 on Tuesday, and a whooping 1,350 on Wednesday. The reason for this is a sudden drop-off in workload at the office. With my duties quickly finished, I was able to concentrate on my writing.
The result is another short story finished. It's about time. It was in development since long before my novel was out, so that means it's been hanging around in limbo for 4 months when its length requires only about a week to complete. The reason for its developmental hell is because I kinda dropped it to work on editing my novel before publishing it - As some of you may know, I had to keep editing my debut novel even after it was published.
Well, it's all history now. Agoraphobe is now officially a Draft 1! As such, I think I should celebrate by telling you guys about it:
It's basically a short story set in a 22nd century Singapore, in which the government there has been continuing on its policies unabated for over a century. The result is a severely overcrowded world. Every infrastructure a metropolis needs, be it transportation, housing, policing and the law, are coping but with quality of life suffering. We see this world from the perspective of a downtrodden waitress going about her daily routine, which takes a turn for the worse.
It turned out to be almost 7877 words long. I projected it to be 7000. Can't complain. That's about 32 pages long. It feels just about right. Length is no indication of quality, that's for sure.
Can't wait to work on the next story. I have a few ideas bouncing around in my head, looking to breach through my skull and land on a page. I'll keep you guys updated on what I'm working on next.
Sunday, 27 November 2016
Writing Report S2 #24: Slow Climb
This Writing Report is for the dates ranging from 23rd of November to 27th of November (Wednesday to Sunday).
I've been making a slow climb back to my previous rate of writing and editing. Last week, I was either writing or editing, not both, and I haven't hit the 1000 words/day (writing) or 2 chapters/day (editing) standard I've set for myself yet, but I've got a feeling that this week is going to be different.
The excitement at my workplace has died down, and my physical exertions are going to be minimal as next week would be the army channel (heh). I've just written about 700 words in office today as I waited for my duties to surface.
I will probably edit one chapter today, which would mean exceeding the minimum I've set for myself. Editing-wise though, I will never exceed a chapter a day. Let's just say my editor's a little busy with Thanksgiving and Christmas. She'd be engaging in a different craft than editing. A nativity play (heh).
Anyway, let's hope this is the start of my return to my writing norm.
But I know I'll do more than that soon, because I've got news. I'll soon be relieved of my job, it's only a matter of when. Either end of next month or the month after that, depending on a crucial decision I must make.
Once I've been freed from wage slavery (at least momentarily), I'll be going for a second writer's trip, which will probably last for a month. It will be for my second book, a collection of short stories (and flash fiction, and poetry, yes, right, maybe). I predict that I will be able to finish much of the book in that span of time, given that I managed 1000 words a day with some bonus once in a while in my last 2-months-long writing trip.
Now that I'm seasoned with a 'lighter' project to work on, I think I can manage 1500 - 2000 a day. Even if I managed only the former, it would mean 45,000 words. Adding to the stuff I'd already completed and will finish in December, that'd pretty much add up to a completed draft 1. I'm aiming for 100,000 words this time, and this is what I've accomplished thus far:
Sesame Seeds: 7000 words about why you shouldn't sleep in an ant-infested house.
Window's Shadow: 800 words all dripping with children's blood.
Agoraphobe (Working Title): 6000 words filled with circuitry and implants. Projected to reach 7000 words.
University FYP (Forgot the Title): 13000 words on why you should treat your girlfriend or boyfriend well. Knowing myself, it could be edited towards something like 15000 words, but we won't count that.
Total: 27800 words.
If I write at 1000 words a day from tomorrow onwards (1 week will be expended on military service), it will give me about 26000 words.
Grand Total: 53800 words.
With Writing Trip Lower Estimate: 98800 words.
In other words, just a little nudge, and I'll reach my target.
The future seems to look a little brighter (heh).
I've been making a slow climb back to my previous rate of writing and editing. Last week, I was either writing or editing, not both, and I haven't hit the 1000 words/day (writing) or 2 chapters/day (editing) standard I've set for myself yet, but I've got a feeling that this week is going to be different.
The excitement at my workplace has died down, and my physical exertions are going to be minimal as next week would be the army channel (heh). I've just written about 700 words in office today as I waited for my duties to surface.
I will probably edit one chapter today, which would mean exceeding the minimum I've set for myself. Editing-wise though, I will never exceed a chapter a day. Let's just say my editor's a little busy with Thanksgiving and Christmas. She'd be engaging in a different craft than editing. A nativity play (heh).
Anyway, let's hope this is the start of my return to my writing norm.
But I know I'll do more than that soon, because I've got news. I'll soon be relieved of my job, it's only a matter of when. Either end of next month or the month after that, depending on a crucial decision I must make.
Once I've been freed from wage slavery (at least momentarily), I'll be going for a second writer's trip, which will probably last for a month. It will be for my second book, a collection of short stories (and flash fiction, and poetry, yes, right, maybe). I predict that I will be able to finish much of the book in that span of time, given that I managed 1000 words a day with some bonus once in a while in my last 2-months-long writing trip.
Now that I'm seasoned with a 'lighter' project to work on, I think I can manage 1500 - 2000 a day. Even if I managed only the former, it would mean 45,000 words. Adding to the stuff I'd already completed and will finish in December, that'd pretty much add up to a completed draft 1. I'm aiming for 100,000 words this time, and this is what I've accomplished thus far:
Sesame Seeds: 7000 words about why you shouldn't sleep in an ant-infested house.
Window's Shadow: 800 words all dripping with children's blood.
Agoraphobe (Working Title): 6000 words filled with circuitry and implants. Projected to reach 7000 words.
University FYP (Forgot the Title): 13000 words on why you should treat your girlfriend or boyfriend well. Knowing myself, it could be edited towards something like 15000 words, but we won't count that.
Total: 27800 words.
If I write at 1000 words a day from tomorrow onwards (1 week will be expended on military service), it will give me about 26000 words.
Grand Total: 53800 words.
With Writing Trip Lower Estimate: 98800 words.
In other words, just a little nudge, and I'll reach my target.
The future seems to look a little brighter (heh).
Friday, 25 November 2016
Post-Publication Realisation
Just decided to post about a little something I realised about the condition of being a newly published author (though it's a stretch to call myself that, considering that I haven't even sold books by the thousands yet).
Back then, books were something magical to me. Every time I open one up (provided that it's good), I feel myself transported into a world, and it's ever so vibrant and colourful. Even a horror novel was vibrant and colourful in its own way.
Sure, it's the same as it had always been now, after launching my own about a month ago. But my eyes are no longer virgin, so to speak. I find myself scrutinising the writing of every author I read, regardless of fame. I find myself comparing to him or her, and sometimes I enter review mode. What's good and bad about the writing? I'd keep asking myself that.
Thinking back, I estimate that the 'corruption' began soon after I've finished my novel. I started being this way when I first began editing my book. Hyper-awareness, I suppose, for the hyper-real world.
This is both good and bad. On one hand, I believe I'll learn much faster than before when it comes to the craft of writing, due to my hyper-awareness and hyper-sensitivity to writing. On the other, books are no longer (as) fantastical, as mystical as something that seemed to have been produced by the hands of Demi-God/desses.
Back when I was a kid who'd scribbled his first few story paragraphs outside the prompting of a teacher, that was my impression when I looked at my writing and looked at Daniel Defoe's.
Now, I realised that we are all human beings, equally full of potential, equally capable of accomplishing great things... And also equally flawed. Daniel Defoe's second and third Robinson Crusoe novels didn't exactly fly like the first one did.
Back then, books were something magical to me. Every time I open one up (provided that it's good), I feel myself transported into a world, and it's ever so vibrant and colourful. Even a horror novel was vibrant and colourful in its own way.
Sure, it's the same as it had always been now, after launching my own about a month ago. But my eyes are no longer virgin, so to speak. I find myself scrutinising the writing of every author I read, regardless of fame. I find myself comparing to him or her, and sometimes I enter review mode. What's good and bad about the writing? I'd keep asking myself that.
Thinking back, I estimate that the 'corruption' began soon after I've finished my novel. I started being this way when I first began editing my book. Hyper-awareness, I suppose, for the hyper-real world.
This is both good and bad. On one hand, I believe I'll learn much faster than before when it comes to the craft of writing, due to my hyper-awareness and hyper-sensitivity to writing. On the other, books are no longer (as) fantastical, as mystical as something that seemed to have been produced by the hands of Demi-God/desses.
Back when I was a kid who'd scribbled his first few story paragraphs outside the prompting of a teacher, that was my impression when I looked at my writing and looked at Daniel Defoe's.
Now, I realised that we are all human beings, equally full of potential, equally capable of accomplishing great things... And also equally flawed. Daniel Defoe's second and third Robinson Crusoe novels didn't exactly fly like the first one did.
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