Why Did I Choose Weekly

Journal 83 20-26 Feb. 2023

I had no problem with weekly updates during the first year, nor the second, but now over three years into it I feel like I’m running low on titles.

But all joking aside, the point of these is to force me to put up writing numbers. To hold myself accountable to public opinion. But after three years of waxing and waning reader stats, and only 4 comments ever… four… it does feel like I’m just venting my thoughts into empty space.

I guess that’s still cathartic for myself, but I also wanted to help others. Without the commentary it’s hard gauge if my words have inspired anyone.

I’m not just putting these up to hold myself accountable. I’m also trying to show the struggle so that someone else having similar problems might be inspired.

Content

Over the last three years I completed my thesis novel and my Master’s Degree.

Revised the thesis novel and finished the rough draft of a further novel. I’m currently closing in on the end of a third novel. I’ve mapped out portions of the world in great detail. Written hundreds of thousands of worlds on background, culture, religion

I did a series on sandbox gaming, several in-character journals, reviewed a few movies, TV Series, and talked about comics and novels.

We talked about imposter syndrome, depression, death, and sickness.

I showcased how I hybrid pantsing and plotting. My loose outlines. Character creation, world building, and how the two mesh together (you all know that your world building should be part of your characters right?)

In all of it I have been honest and open. I just sometimes wonder who is reading and if any of these hits and inspires, or entertains. I’ll take your laughing at my struggles.

Words

Oh well, I might skip a week here and there for holidays or my own sanity.

I didn’t get a lot of time in on the keys. Normal life intruded. But the novel did progress.

Chap 26 started off a little slow, and I even thought it would be incredibly short. But so far, it’s shaping up to become something way more interesting than my original one paragraph outline.

I took that short blurb and turned it into an eight-bullet point flow chart, and now the chapter is really fleshed out.

But I digress, I managed a meager 2453 total words for the week. The novel sits at 138,008 total words.

Story

This chapter is the one that ramps up the pace and action for the end act rush.

I have a habit of turning the end of each novel into a fast paced splatter of violence, running, and screaming. This chapter is the one that starts kicking that off.

Though I haven’t reached the kick off in the chapter yet. The B-Story is moving through a city, crossing bridges over a river and they spy a trio of airships. The enemy is also searching the city. With mounting tension, the characters move through the vacant dead city. Their confidence growing as two of the ships sail to the south, landing miles away, and the last ship appears to be in the center of the city.

However, the heroes can’t see the skies as they wander through allies and the rather tall buildings of the island city. They reach a walled section of the city and have the choice of going around the wall or entering the inner city and cutting across. Of course, cutting across is the fastest route through. So, the heroes detour to the gate house and enter the inner city, and the great market square beyond, where they discover that the last ship has landed. Far closer than expected the characters freeze and then try to fall back to the gatehouse before the enemy sees them.

And that is where the chapter sits.

Which is a good bit of advice. I’ve had several other writers tell me that they liked to end each writing session with a cliffhanger. Or barring a good cliffhanger, then ending right before a favorite scene, or something you enjoy writing. The point is you want to create a reason to come back to the writing as soon as possible. Thus, making yourself excited for the next session.

Reading Time

Last week I mentioned that I hadn’t run a novel in over a year. Probably even longer. Most of my reading time is devoted to comics, gaming books, and watching a lot of foreign TV.

So, I made a promise that I would finish my blog and then go to my pile of books and sit down with a novel. I grabbed two from the top of the pile, a new fantasy novel and a box set of historical fiction novels. I then spent too long deciding between them, and in the end, I was more excited about the historical novel (also I had bought that box set maybe 7 or 8 years earlier so it was due).

I grabbed Simon Scarrow’s Under the Eagle. I sat back and cracked open the book late on a Sunday afternoon, and at 1 am I had less than a hundred pages left but I needed to sleep.

First off, I love Roman History, and these novels are about the Second Legion and their conquest of Britain in 43AD under Vespasian. Our main characters are a Centurion named Macro and his Optio Cato. The first book is about a traitor and spy inside the legion, and Cato arriving as a raw recruit and being forced into a command role (Optio) by decree of the Emperor. The legion is currently in Germany, but they’re readying to leave for Britain. Vespasian must uncover the traitor while the legion is on the move. The other plot of the novel is about a chest of gold that Julius Caesar left behind when he fled Britain.

I’m not doing it justice and bouncing around on the plot.

Language Choices

But what I can talk about is that Scarrow does one of the things I struggle with. His characters use a lot of modern language, including very specific English slang. The language is clear, easy to understand, and it does NOT feel wrong as you’re reading it. I mean I did pause and notice it, but that’s also because I debate using modern language in my own books.

Personally, I think it’s meant to convey the proper words to the reader, versus forcing the reader into archaic language.

Ever since I read Matthew Stover, specifically his Barra the Pict duology, where he had ancient characters swearing like modern characters, I have felt that the language should be clear and modern.

I ask your opinions?

Other Hobby (TV, TTRPGs, Etc)

Well, I haven’t been watching much TV at all. I’ve been listening to a ton of Actual Play podcasts while reading or writing, when I haven’t been running around. Mostly just listening to the Glass Cannon Live show, or How We Roll Two Headed Serpent.

I did partake of two movies this week (which is far fewer than my normal amount). The German cult classic Nekromantik and a Japanese live adaption of an anime/manga Zeiram 2.

I think I should say little about either movie.

If you know about Nekromantik than that’s enough… if you don’t… lets say it is a punk made movie about necrophiliacs and the main character’s decent into madness and death when he loses everything. It is some messed up shit.

The other movie… well I saw the original Zeiram movie back in the 90s and barely remembered it, other than the cool monster design. I found the sequel on Amazon Prime and just turned it on.

It literally starts up right where the other movie left off, but I couldn’t remember that until way later. Also, it has no subtitles, you have to turn them on, but it starts with aliens making weird noises. So, it wasn’t until the characters return to Japan and I saw no subtitles that I realized that I needed to go turn them on.

Meaning I missed everything during the first ten or so minutes of the movie.

TTRPGS

There have been a ton of issues with roll20 this week, enough that games for the last three weeks have either been shortened or skipped. That sucks. This Saturday I was forced to download a different web browser just to get the game to work.

My in-person game went fairly well, though it took an abrupt turn, and the DM finished their storyline early and handed the baton to the next DM. (My Thursday game has revolving DMs running characters through different one-shots). The tonal and pacing shift was rather abrupt but I’m interested to see where it goes.

Saturday was the start of a new game, so I’m still feeling out my new character. The game is meant to be “un-serious.” So, our characters are misfits (normal) but with a few twists. I think we’re finding our feet. Though a lot of the story so far feels and looks serious. I hope the humor meshes well.

I say this every time, but I have the chance now, I might do a little in-character journaling with this one as well. We play 2 weeks on and 2 weeks a different game. I’ll think about it. Maybe a once a month journal after the second game, or maybe I’ll just add a few paragraphs to this every week. I don’t know.

IN any case I’ve babbled long enough.

Thank you for reading this far.