Boarders Writing a Novel, Draft 7

[TheDanish]

After a crazy fall semester, I decided to kick myself in the butt and commit to writing 500 words a day. So far it's going well. My daily wordcounts have been between 500 and 1000. With any luck I'll have something finished by the end of summer. I am possessed of wild notions of sending drafts out to publishers (agents? Is that how it works?) by next December.

I find 500 words to be a manageable chunk, though most of these "sessions" tend to climb to ~750 words since that seems to be my minimum for writing anything with substance or closure. But committing to 750-1000 words a day puts a bit of weight on my brain, since I sit behind a computer screen for most of the day anyway.

[Derfel Cadarn]

I've made some progress during my 2 weeks off work (still another few days to go). I'm now at 45,000 words. My chapters are ending up longer than I thought they would. I figured chapters 12 and 13 would be between 16 and 20 pages combined, they ended up stretching to a 14th chapter and taking up about 40 pages.

My main character is still pretty undefined. I've been toying with giving him a degree of aspergers, but I'm not sure how well that would work as a POV. I've been toying with it back and forth since I started planning the novel, and kept the character vague enough that I can amend it in the next draft. The 2nd main character is much clearer in my head.

[Datepalm]

I just realized my new wip is a gothic. Why am I writing a gothic? make it stop.

[The Marquis de Leech]

I just realized my new wip is a gothic. Why am I writing a gothic? make it stop.

Gothic as in The Monk, or Gothic as in the Gothic subculture?

[Datepalm]

As in, theres an empty house with suits of armour and noises in the attic and mysterious pasts that will ruin everything. I have no idea where it came from.

[Galactus]

As in, theres an empty house with suits of armour and noises in the attic and mysterious pasts that will ruin everything. I have no idea where it came from.

Awesome.

[The Marquis de Leech]

As in, theres an empty house with suits of armour and noises in the attic and mysterious pasts that will ruin everything. I have no idea where it came from.

As long as you don't have giant feathered helmets descending from the sky and crushing people, you should be fine.

(And yes, murderous giant feathered helmets are a Gothic tradition, dating back to 1764. I am not kidding).

[Jerol]

My dog just did this to the notebook I use to outline chapters in. So I shamed him.

http://jeroljohnson.org/2013/01/15/making-lemons-out-of-lemonade/

[Zoë Sumra]

The perils of having pets.

I've had a great two days. First drafts are so freeing. I know that this scene I'm writing is mis-timed - the pacing of the last 200 or so words is like that at the end of an action chapter, whereas there's actually another tranche of action to come, and everyone including the readers knows this - but I can fix it later. Am being distracted by shiny things, though. New laptop. :s Not that I intend to use it for typing, certainly not large tracts of converting first handwritten draft to first computer draft - I touch-type on a normal keyboard but not on a laptop keyboard - but I can see myself using it for editing. I'm in bed and so comfy. :P

[Jaime's Wench]

As in, theres an empty house with suits of armour and noises in the attic and mysterious pasts that will ruin everything. I have no idea where it came from.

Join the dark side. I have never written outside the classical Gothic genre.

[Galleymac]

I just realized my new wip is a gothic. Why am I writing a gothic? make it stop.

Make it continue!

As long as you don't have giant feathered helmets descending from the sky and crushing people, you should be fine.

(And yes, murderous giant feathered helmets are a Gothic tradition, dating back to 1764. I am not kidding).

Citation! Pleeeeeeease? I must read a novel in which this takes place, I must.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Citation! Pleeeeeeease? I must read a novel in which this takes place, I must.

See the first chapter of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764). You can find the full work at Project Gutenberg, but here's the relevant bit,

Shocked with these lamentable sounds, and dreading he knew not what, he advanced hastily,—but what a sight for a father’s eyes!—he beheld his child dashed to pieces, and almost buried under an enormous helmet, an hundred times more large than any casque ever made for human being, and shaded with a proportionable quantity of black feathers.

People have argued for centuries whether Walpole was taking the piss.

[Durckad]

Managed 4k words on Sunday.

Felt really liberating and surprisingly wasn't all terrible.

[Spockydog]

I’ve got a character dilemna I could use some help with...

Some background...

It’s 2083. You are a Major in the Japanese army. You are female. You are also a scientist, and the commanding officer of a covert military research facility, partly funded by investment from the private sector.

Your latest orders come directly from the infamous General Hardassimo himself. Hardassimo has a buddy, a potential Platinum Investor, and is sending that buddy down to your research facility, so that you can give him the guided tour. Despite the fact he has no security clearance, you are to do everything within your power to ensure the dude is impressed. The whole thing is as clear a breach of protocol as you’ve ever seen. But orders are orders....

Anyway, Hardassimo’s buddy turns up, and, after viewing a nice, shiny holovid from Investor Relations, starts asking questions about a top, top, top secret project. Initially, you’re evasive. For this is no ordinary project. Highly-compartmentalized, the number of people who know about it can be counted in two-digits. Yet you are shocked to hear that the General has already told him quite a bit, promising him (in exchange for a significant investment) viewing access to the project materials.

By merely acknowledging the existence of this project to an individual without the necessarry security clearance leaves you open to court martial. On the other hand, disobeying a direct order from General Hardassimo is likely to see you shipped out to the Antarctic, or worse...

What are you more concerned about?

ETA: I should point out that by granting him viewing access to the project

materials

, things could go south on so many levels....

[Narwhal]

Most likely, my primary concern would be Hardassimo because his disapproval has more immediate consequences. The court martial would be secondary because, since the project is secret, its less likely that the breach of security protocol will reach the ears of any investigators. That said, if I didn't like Hardassimo, I might view the breach in protocol as an opportunity to be a whistleblower..

Is Hardassimo Japanese as well? The 'r' without a vowel after it makes him seem like a foreigner.

[Starkess]

As someone in the military, I'd say most people are going to be more concerned with their immediate superiors and more likely consequences than the nebulous "maybe" that could happen. And while it's a shitty defense, at least "I was following orders" is some sort of defense. But then again, there are always people who wouldn't think like that. Depends on the personality you've established for your Major.

[Datepalm]

I think it also depends on a. the project and b. my personality. Ie, what are the possible consequences of Project Top Secret getting out? Is it like a global threat, terrorists-get-the-bomb type thing, or more like wacky-hijinks-ensue? If it's the former, my alarm bells would be going off that something deeply fishy is going on with General Har(a)dassimo and this might be time to go to his superiors or the press or on the run with the secret codes, etc.

Otherwise, my military experience mirrors Starkess' - unless one is basically willing to break all rules at that point, you fall back inline. Obedience/disobedience to orders from a direct superior is kind of a binary condition.

[Spockydog]

Thanks, guys, for taking the time to comment.

This is chapter one, and we’re meeting Yoshi for the first time. Respectful of chain-of-command, she likes to do things by the book. She’s also a pragmatist.

The project is Gilgamesh, its

materials

a man known only as Hiroki. According to the files, Hiroki spent the best part of a century working as an enforcer for a series of Yakuza bosses. Handed down from generation to generation, he became one of the most feared figures in the Japanese underworld, until his boss sold him out in order to avoid prosecution for his part in an illegal body-part farming operation.

In the fifty-three years they’ve been holding him, Hiroki hasn’t aged a day. As far as they can tell, he cannot die. Although that’s not to say he cannot get sick. Over the years, they’ve infected him with countless killer diseases. Each time, the disease would run its course, bringing Hiroki close to death. But he always recovered...

Despite the efforts of some of Japan’s brightest minds, millions of research dollars, Hiroki’s secret remains hidden. Physiologically, genetically, he appears no different from anybody else. Except... All attempts to transplant or clone his tissue have resulted in rejection or necrosis.

The subject is dangerous. During an interrogation by Japanese intelligence officers, he killed two men with his bare hands. And now the General’s buddy wants to meet him, face to face...

[TheDanish]

That's sounds like a really awesome thing you have going there, Spocky. If it's published I'll be the first to line up at B&N for a copy :D

[Lord Syv Aldlark]

Hi all, someone in chat pointed this thread out to me. I am working on a fantasy novel when my procrastination lets me. If you want to check it out I post it in drafts here:

http://www.wattpad.com/story/3796918-immortal-saga-rise-of-the-lost-prince-1st-draft

Any feed back would be appreciated. I need work on verb usage and grammar but I do my best in my own rereads. If anyone wants to share with me their stuff I am an avid reader and will tell you honestly what I think.

Thanks.