Oh a Distraction!

Update 37 Feb 15-21, 2021

Well, last week we got off to a good start on the next novel. And by we, I mean me… ha ha.

I worked on character motivation and the villain’s plans and actions over thousands of years of history. It was a great start. At the beginning of this week, I set out to flesh out the characters more, determine my povs, and get the individual story arcs figured out.

I accomplished none of this… mostly.

What got done:

I did figure out some of the povs for the book. There are far too many characters to allow all of them to have pov chapters. As is, the book is lining up to be told in 10 povs over five stories. Which is a bit much. But I could also be over thinking things.

In good news, I was originally scheduled to start all of the outlining in March, so I’m still technically ahead of my own arbitrary goals. To be honest, I’m only holding myself accountable to you dear Readers. Afterall, I put up these weekly posts and promise that I’ll deliver. When I don’t deliver, I feel like a failure, and thus these posts keep me motivated to keep moving forward.

Also, I hope they make YOU want to write more or read more.

Distractions… What did I get done?

The week wasn’t a total loss. What happened was we got hit with a bunch of snow and my mother also ended up in the hospital. So, I was emotionally mixed up at the end of previous week and the beginning of this (Feb15) week. Mom is back home and we have a road to go down. This is not the place to talk about that, though there might be future stand alone posts about that topic as it will be impacting my writing.

Now, I DID accomplish something this week.

Chaosium, the publisher of the Call of Cthulhu RPG, finally released a book I ordered last year. The Malleus Monstrorum. I LOVE monster books and I have been thinking of running a CoC game for the last 4 years. Well, looking through the monster book I suddenly had an idea for a pulp adventure… and one thing led to another.

Game Outlining and Research:

So, I now have a notebook with over 10 pages of notes exploring a storyline in Call of Cthulhu. Using the Pulp version of the rules I started to think of a story of WW2 veterans trying to get their lives back together in 1947 Boston, and stumbling across cultists and Nazi sorcerers.

The thing with CoC is that the game requires tons of research. Looking up maps of Boston in the 40s, looking up various cults in the gaming world, looking up travel between states and countries. What cars were new in 1947? My favorite Harley Knuckleheads were made in this era. Looking up the Thule Society that was part of the SS. All sorts of research and historical data to fill up endless hours of time.

Research Procrastination:

Yup… it is an alternate form of “World Builders Syndrome.”

I mentioned WBS in some of my world building posts on the site, and if you read last weeks Diary Entry, then you’ll find links to those blogs there. Basically, it’s when you spend so much time working on the details and outline of the work that you don’t actually write the novel.

In this case, it is when another idea sparks interest and I feel the need to work on the outline for the game (which I might never run) instead of working on the notes for the novel. Now, in my defense, if I DO run the game, I will be taking enough notes that I can then start another gaming journal here on the site.

So that will lead to more posts and content here. So, in a way, I’m still working on something important.

This Week:

The plan for this week is to spend equal time on both outlines. I will try to finish the basic outline for the first adventure for the game I might never run. I will also get the arcs figured out for the novel. I have a lot of reading to do this week as well.

Also, today (as of this post) is my first day back in classes. I am on week 1 of my final 10 weeks in college. Meaning I have two class loads of work to deal with as well. Expect me to have a few paragraphs devoted to these classes as well.

Especially as one of them is Copy and Content, and understanding my Brand. Meaning that there might be changes to this website. Perhaps even to the style of my posts. I’m already iffy with SEO and I’m trying to talk to you all like a friend.

These posts are meant to look behind the screen and show my struggles with work and writing. But perhaps I’m not doing as well as I could be? Perhaps these posts need a change? We’ll see how things progress.

Short week. I’ll see you in the next.