Absence & Presence

Well guys, I'll just be straight. Looks like my journal directive didn't quite work out. I forgot the cause of it, but something happened and I wasn't able to keep up with it.

And I've been failing to reach my quote consistently... Again. By now, I've written only about 55,000 words, which is equivalent to about 10,000 words a month... A measly 1/3 of my usual rate. And I haven't posted on this blog for a month and a half. A record if I may say so myself. For that I apologise.

I guess this year is going to be the least productive year of my life, and I won't try to justify it - I believe I've done that before.

I guess we all have our up and downs.

I'll just update you guys on my progress in Phonehead, my next major novel. In the month and a half that I've stopped posting and slowing down, I've managed to bring my new protagonist (with a retreating soldier in tow), who is in an electronic zombie apocalypse, from the highway on the way to find his girlfriend, to where she lived. They met, hugged and kissed, and resolved an argument between the soldier and a new character, a surprisingly rebellious police officer.

And now I'm writing Belinda (the girlfriend) and her story.

I believe the story would be finished by December latest, going by my current rate. However, fingers crossed - maybe I can get myself out of this slump.

I'm gonna brainstorm about what to put in this blog. It's been growing cobwebs and actual spider webs.

Writing Report S3 #5: Rewinding / News

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted much, but these days have been hectic. My tutoring business has boomed once more, and I'm getting used to the fact that there'll never be a day when I get to just stay at home and laze/sit/play games/watch Netflix/write. Anyway, it's not a big deal, as I'm still far from working myself to death like those 'modern heroes' in China.

There's a lot of progress made, though there were a couple of days when I was just burnt out:

On 21 April 2018 (Saturday), I wrote something like 300 words.

Then on the 22nd and 23rd April, I basically stopped. Too tired from work, I suppose.

On 24 April 2018 (Tuesday), I wrote 600 words.

On 25 April 2018 (Wednesday, yesterday), I wrote 650 words.

So far, I am able to bring the hero and his friend forward into the muck, finally combating the electronic zombies that has been plaguing them. They're still trying to get out of the expressway of death, but they're close... Hope nothing happens to them, heh :-)

---

In other news, I have finally something to release after something like half a year of dead silence. However, it's a tricky one as it can't be committed to Kindle Unlimited yet, so I'm unsure of how to proceed. I've thought of doing a pre-order for it, with some lucky folks receiving an ARC copy in exchange of an honest review, but then again, this is one of those when I'm not even expecting a 20% recoup of the initial capital - it will just be a way for me to continue on the road to actual profits.

I see red all the time and I'm tired of it. Red gets scary, I know.

Anyway, this is what I will be releasing very soon, probably within next month (May):

Yep, it's that interquel of The Keeper of Pulau Purba I talked about ages ago, and after a stint in an anthology, with good results, it's now going to strike out on its own, having attended the university equivalent of books.

Can't wait to see the reviews, because I think it's at least a little better than my debut novel.

Writing Report S3 #4: Rest & Write

The last 5 days have been kind of a hit-and-miss. On Saturday and Sunday, I wrote nothing, because I sort of have to take a break due to a certain personal issue, which is largely resolved by now. I couldn't write even if I wanted to. It's funny how it doesn't a natural disaster to suck the energy out of you. It stings whenever I had to skip on the writing - I'm hoping that I can regain the energy to be able to write despite whatever happens.

Anyway, if it is any consolation, Monday (16 April 2018) and Tuesday (17 April 2018) was productive as usual. 600 words per day. That's the rate I'm hoping to maintain for a few weeks before I up the pace again. I like putting myself back into the grinder, and 'normalcy' as people know it just wouldn't cut it. My fingers have to bleed if I am supposed to make any real progress.

And speaking of rates... Yesterday (18 April 2018) was terrible. I fell asleep after 150 words. I'm planning to make up for it today, by writing 1050 words. I hope I can - the reason why my writing had slowed down over the months was that I couldn't.

Anyway, my protagonist and his soldier buddy are now engaging in their first real challenge - working together and trying to get past an even bigger blockage on the Tampines expressway... Filled with the titular antagonists of the book.

At least it's going to be an extra exciting 1050 words this time around.

Writing Report Season 3 #3: Consistency

Well, it looks to me like I've been able to maintain a writing rate of above 500 words. Yesterday, on the 12th of April, I was able to write 600 words again.

The story continues, and my protagonist learns more about the... Phoneheaded situation surrounding him from the perspective of his soldier acquaintance.

I'm hoping to be able to push myself to 700 words a day, but I'm going to do it progressively. It's just like running a marathon. Consistency is key, and if you want to increase your speed, you gotta take your time on it, edge into your new velocity.

Anyway, just as a heads up, I would have forego writing today (just when I talked about consistency!), because I slept only 2 hours last night... Due to a rather embarassing thing I would rather not talk about.

Writing Report Season 3 #2: Progress

Hi guys, it's your resident monster maker again. This writing report is going to be for yesterday and the day before.

I think I've made some good progress on the speed of my writing. On 10 April (the day before), I wrote about 600 words. Yesterday, I wrote something like 750. I think 750 is a good rate to maintain for now, but I'm hoping to eventually hit 1,000 again.

Anyway, my auditor protagonist has finally found himself a car, a Mercedes-Benz no less - hey, if you're gonna brave the dangers of a recently post-apocalyptic world, you might as well do it in style and luxury, right?

Other than that, he's learnt some truths from his soldier acquaintance.

It's all good fun, can't wait to continue again. I'm not sure how long the novel would be though. I think it could end by 90,000 words? That would mean I'm almost half-way there. It's conceived as a different take on the zombie horror genre, so it's not exactly the most 'profound' thing I can write, and thus doesn't need so many words to cover, so...

Anyway, I'll catch you guys again! Gotta get back to writing. Wouldn't want to lose progress again, right?

Writing Report Season 3 #1: Dry Season

Hi guys,

As you may well know, I haven't been posting much on my blog. Basically, I've been suffering a dry season of writing. It's a lot of things walloping me at once, that I'm not sure how I'm supposed to rationalise.

So I won't. I'm just going to make it very simple for myself. I'm going to do what I always did to defeat a dry season. By punching it head on.

That's how season 3 of my writing report series started. I've decided that accountability helps, just like how it did before, and from today onwards, you guys will get a daily report on how much I've written, and what I'm writing. For today's installment, I'm going to start with yesterday...

In today, I've written about maybe 750 words. 500 of them were supposed to be done the day before yesterday. Yeah, it's that bad, which means the real progress I've made was just 250 words.

I'm in the middle of the 'Phonehead' novel I told you guys about. In an unexpected twist to even me, my protagonist met a new character who saved his life. A soldier, who seems to be keeping something from him as they abandoned their car to a vehicle pile-up on an expressway and walked on in search of another.

I'm hoping to be able to at least write 750 words today, but my eventual target is to reclaim what I lost - the 1,000 words a day daily goal.

I'll keep you guys posted.

Roleplaying

It's been a long time. I wish I could say that I have a novel well-baked and ready, but it's still far from it. Jake (the tentative name of my protagonist, which I feel is actually a little cheesy) is still prepping to rescue his girlfriend, and the world hasn't really gone to hell yet.

Anyway, I'm going to talk about something different today - a hobby related to writing that I've decided to return from retirement.

Roleplaying.

It's the direct application of writing for entertainment, pleasure. However, I'm nothing if not a little practical. So, I just have to ask myself: Is roleplaying useful in any way? Conversely, is it actually detrimental to professional writing?

By roleplaying, I meant over the internet, in a play-by-post forum. Basically, you create a character, and 'play' that character in a setting, usually in the same capacity as a writer who have control over the character, though some would directly take the place of the character (though this is far less common, and even actively discouraged). Your character interacts with others from your peers, and that's where most of the fun is.

Personally, my opinion of it is that roleplaying is generally detrimental to writing... But that's initially. However, I feel that the answer to this is far more complicated than a black-and-white thing, a yes-or-no question.

Let's break it down, shall we? We'll start with the negative impressions I have of roleplaying

Cons:

- Lack of control. You can't control your character entirely, and you don't control the story, even if you're the GM (Game Master).

- Exposure and vulnerability to other egos. It is entirely common for other roleplayers to 'ghost' - disappear from RPs. Many will create problems and make a big hoo-hah for one reason or another. Others will seek to exert pressure on you, to alter your character, the story (If you're GM) or anything else.

- Lack of professionalism. You're among people who aren't necessarily writers, nor would they embody the traditions, virtues and discipline that published/self-published writers have. Hence all the above.

- Drain on time and energy. Some RP will take up time and energy that would have otherwise been used for writing professionally. However, if roleplaying is done alongside writing, it may still affect your writing.

- Roleplays don't commonly last long due to the above problems, and even fewer would be finished at all.

Pros:

- It's good practice. You pump out words, and you might realise some truths because of it.

- It gives you access to an incredible resource. You get to read what others have written, and you might gain inspiration from them. You can compare notes, and improve yourself that way.

- Roleplaying is an excellent testing facility for characters you have in mind. You can 'test' to see how your characters would react to certain situations and other characters.

- It's habit-forming. It comes with the bit about roleplaying being good practice.

The Cons may seem to outweigh the Pros. However, this does not take into account the quality and real impact of each point. The truth is, it really depends on the individual. Personally, I find that it is actually good for new writers, since it's practice. Otherwise, I'm just doing it intermittently - and continue with the cycle of returning to roleplaying and then retiring once more.

A Brush With Mortality...

Hi guys! Sorry about the lack of activity here. In my Facebook page, I promised to reveal another writing spot that I've adopted but I haven't gotten around to it yet. The reason? You want the reason? Well, I've been feeling far too human for the past couple of weeks. It all started... When I was born.

But seriously, I have been sick for the past two weeks, and it began the worst way possible, with a killer fever/flu/cold/cough/headache combination that basically shackled me to my bed. The fever took a sleepless day or two to abate, the cold not long after, but the headache lingered on and off, and I've only just begun to leave behind my flu and coughing fits. And now, I've been having severe pains in my neck, probably from carrying my bag on the same shoulder for uncountable months.

In other words, I haven't been very productive as of late. I'm surprised that I can even write at all.

However, that's not what I'm here to talk about.

Let's just say that a brush with my mortality, as painful as the experience was, is actually inspiring in its own way. I'd even go on to say that you haven't really lived unless you've suffered a little. Yep, I might cry, scream, curse and swear at the bad days I've had and will have in the coming years, but looking back, it contrasted pretty well with the successes I've had. There's no happiness without sadness. Since the bad days are unavoidable, and most of them are past and cannot be changed, you might as well make the most of it!

Anyway, I feel that this feeds into my writing, and it's nothing new either. For my first novel, I've used the pain and suffering I've gathered from my army days to make the experience in it as authentic and twisted and enjoyable as possible.

I've never been this sick before in my entire life, but at least I know how it feels like. It's going into my writings one way or another.

Phonehead

Yes, I shit you not. That's what I'm working on now.

So far my first month of 2018 in writing has been a little slow, but so long as I'm making progress, I'm good. Anyway, yes, I'm working on something slightly different from what I usually write. The working title of the novel is literally called 'Phonehead', and its about a new app that completely entraps the user, such that their attention will be stuck on it. It gets worse from there, much, much worse.

I see it as a chance for me to take a breath of fresh air and work on something different - It's both horror and sci-fi in equal accord, with a little slap of the weird fiction juice. For this, I admit to have drawn some inspiration from Junji Ito - though it won't change my style profoundly because I found that we have a lot in common (except in terms of fame and wealth and skill :D).

Anyway, I am hoping that my inspiration for this book does not falter.

Progress on New Books & 2018's Good Start

It seems that joining the 2017-2018 new year countdown has given me an auspicious new start to a whole new year.

As I've reflected last year (probably... Must be the alcohol), I have completed the next installment to The Keeper of Pulau Purba close to the end of 2017, or at least the first draft.

What's interesting though is that in the last few hours before the new year countdown, I was able to sit down during a lull in the celebrations (yeah, I'm a bit of a party pooper) to actually do an outline for a book that I feel I should write. It covers about 75% of the plot and story, and is about 700 words long. It will serve as a guide to writing my next work.

It's going to be a science fiction, but with generous streaks of horror painted on it. I just love to make matters complicated. I can't really write pure genre fictions at all, it seems.

Anyway, this year is off to a good start. I'm starting to go back to my usual speed again. On the first two days of 2018, I was able to average at 500 words a day. Not too good, but better than 200 or 300. Yesterday, I wrote about 750. Nearly there. I'm going to try to return to 1,000 words. It helps a lot that I'm breaking new grounds here. No matter how much I'm in love with Pulau Purba, I guess I just need to sate my curiosity and desire for new lands.

To give a quick summary of this new book, it's basically about a new app that came out mysteriously, forcing users to stay glued to their phones, with both their eyes and hands. It gets worse from there, much, much worse... The story follows a 38-year-old accountant who's sick of the life and work he couldn't get out of. But there's going to be something he'll hate much worst. A primarily Sci-Fi novel, it will be set in the near-future.

Project Shadolure (The installment to TKoPP), as per my plan, will be put on developmental hold until after the second installment is completed, which will involve a foreign young girl (American) visiting Pulau Purba with her priest uncle to surprise her aunt, who is a very familiar USMC observer there.

Outside of writing (which is just as important), my career as a professional tutor has taken off. My early fears of abandonment by the parents who retained me proves to be self-torture. Most of them have resumed my service, and I'm back up to regular pay again, and more. I believe my monthly salary will even total $3000 with less effort than last year. I just need to keep it that way.