Lawyer and Writer

Greetings. It's been a rough two years, but I'm back.

For the past two years, my work schedule has gone from very busy, to very very insanely busy, and basically stayed there. I've dealt with a coworker who flamed out and dumped their entire caseload on me, and also a three month period of absolutely no income while the government body who writes my paycheque "upgraded" their system. During that entire time, I carried a caseload of over 100 clients and worked every one of them as hard as I could.

It didn't leave much time or brainpower left over for writing, and even less time for blogging about writing.

However, I now see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as my work load at the day job. In addition to that, I've had some important boosts to my writing brain, and I believe I'm firmly back in the saddle now, with enough brainpower left over on the side to attend to my social media as well.

In September, I attended the Out of Excuses Retreat. When I got back from that utterly life-changing experience, I went to the Surrey International Writer's Conference, and pitched OtherWhere to an agent, who asked for a full manuscript.

I've decided not to do NaNoWriMo this year, so that I can concentrate on getting my manuscript up to par and getting it out to the agent.

In the meantime, I am committing to updating this blog regularly again. I intend to update on a rotating schedule, every Friday, and it'll probably be more writing and life updates, and writing exercises, rather than reviews. Though I will probably do the odd review, as well.

So thanks for being patient! I hope you enjoy reading what I have to say.

6-day Supreme Court trial (which I totally won), and I still won NaNoWriMo with a day to spare.

I'm pretty much the most badass person I know.

Now to rest.

Yesterday I was travelling and had no internet access, so I was unable to update the blog.

Travelling is fun, and I'm sure a lot of people have travel plans for November, since I have no doubt that a large proportion of Wrimos are American. Personally, that's not the reason I'm not at home - it's my birthday and my wife and I are in Victoria, BC, staying at a bed and breakfast.

But travelling doesn't have to mean no words get done. All it takes is a little planning.

If you don't expect to have any time to write, then plan for that, bank up words by making a special effort to buckle down in the days before your trip, so you create a buffer and don't feel discouraged when you get back. Otherwise, make a specific effort to carve out time during your trip when you can write without neglecting your other responsibilities.

Sure, you might have family time that you can't get out of and that's normal. But there may be times when you're not expected to be doing anything else. I had a ferry ride to get to where I am, and I made a point of writing while on the ferry. Right now I'm sitting at the B&B. Miko is off doing a photoshoot, which is part of the reason we came here, and I'm using that time to get my words in. Tomorrow will be ferry time again. In the end, I expect to have at least as many words done during this trip as I would have done if I were at home, yet I'm still having a great time and getting to enjoy my vacation.

Don't get discouraged by a disruption to your routine. You can still find time, even if it's just half an hour, to get something done. I promise if you do that, the feeling of accomplishment you will feel, knowing you did the right thing and worked towards your goals instead of throwing it out the window, will make the sacrifice worthwhile.

I wrote chapter three, another 1878 words, for a total of 6160 words.

I was struggling with this one a little bit. My outline said that Nyla meets a particular character, and locates a particular place - a gaming store - which will be very important for the series. However, I was having a lot of trouble writing the scene, because while I knew the goals I needed to hit, I didn't have any conflict for the scene.

Thankfully, I managed to push through. I came up with enough of a conflict to carry the scene, wrote some nice conversations, and introduced two characters I hadn't intended to introduce so soon - but it actually works better that way.

It wasn't something I thought of before I sat down to write. When I sat down, I didn't know how I was going to make it through the scene. But I think that's a good lesson. One of the things I often struggle with is the desire to know the shape of a scene before I sit down to write it, and if I don't know how I'm going to fix the problems I see, I hesitate to start.

So today's tip: Even if you feel like you're heading into fog, write your way to a solution. You can always tighten up the scene later, but if you just keep writing, feeling your way through, moving back and forth as you figure out the problems, you will find a solution.

Just start, and don't stop.

Today I started a brand new story, which I've dubbed The Geek Club. It's about a group of geeky females who get powers and become superheros. Also vampires, werewolves, and Lovecraftian horrors.

I completed chapter one, in which my main character, Nyla, and her twin brother Nolan, meet their respective roommates. For some reason, the roommates don't seem to like each other. But Nyla's sorority-obsessed roommate, Kailey, seems really excited to meet them.

Wordcount so far: 2003/50,000!

Tip of the day: I saw this on tumblr, and used it for the first time today.

Sometimes when you're writing along, you suddenly run across a detail that you need to think about. For example, today I realized that I never actually worked out what school Nyla goes to. It's a pretty important detail that's going to take a lot of research. I might need to pick a real school, or to make up a fake school so I can manipulate the details however I like.

For a second, I pulled up Google, but then I realized that if I wanted to do all this research, it was really going to cut into my writing time, which is pretty precious!

So instead, all I did was call it 'elephant university' and move on.

Any time you come across a detail like that, where figuring it out will interrupt your flow with research or a lot of thinking, just put in the word 'elephant' and keep going. When you're done writing for the day, maybe you can go back and do the research, or wait until your draft is finished and fill it in on the revision.

Either way, the point is to just keep writing for the month of November.

After finishing the month of April, I had a string of busy days. I think I needed a little time away from the blog, but I do feel pretty good about what I accomplished this month.

I finished the A-Z Blog Challenge, while at the same time writing about 15,000 words of a "short" story. The blog posts I plan to compile into a book, so I counted those words towards my Camp NaNoWriMo goal. The story I wrote is another story in the Grim Hunter series, and will be the last, and longest, story in the anthology I plan to release of all the stories to date.

I expect to have another 5000 words or so of the Grim story, and then editing and formatting begins.

The upshot is, I'm pretty pleased with the amount I accomplished this month. For the month of May I want to keep up a regular blogging schedule, finish the Grim story, and continue editing OtherWhere. Wish me luck!

Since it's now less than a week before November 1st, I thought I'd do a post with my tips about how to get ready to win NaNoWriMo. There's certainly no turn-key method that'll guarantee you succeed - the only way to ensure that is to wage an epic battle between procrastination and stubbornness within your own soul, and come out on top. But there are a few things that can maximize your chances.

This is a post for people who have some seriousness about their writing. If you just want to write something down and don't have any ambition to publish the novel at some point in the future, that's great! This post may not be for you, though.

1. Prepare your plot

Many people sit down on November 1st with little idea of what they're doing. Maybe they have a general idea of the plot, maybe a few characters rattling around in their brain, and some clue of the ending. When they get stuck, they go to the forums and get a prompt, maybe add ninjas, and just keep writing something whether it makes sense or not.

If that's what works for you, then great. It certainly doesn't work for me, and I think if you want to really maximize your chances of getting to 50,000 words (and having something coherent and possibly one day publishable at the end) I really recommend doing some legwork up front.

Before November 1st, I like to have an outline. It doesn't have to be exhaustive. What I like to have is a list of all of the scenes I expect to have in the novel, with just a couple of sentences to remind me of the important things that need to happen in that scene to further the plot.

The outline isn't a rigid cage that constrains your writing from then on. What it is, is a roadmap - just a series of signposts that will get you from the beginning to the end. You may get to the end of a scene and realize that you need another scene in between there and the next one to get where you're going, or you may end up completely reworking the whole thing on November 15th because you just had a fantastic idea that completely changes the ending, but that's okay.

To me, having these guideposts is vital. Rather than wasting time trying to think of where you need to go next, you have a clear map to follow, which has gotten me through some difficult writing nights. It also allows you to skip ahead (something I've never done, but I hear many people do) if you hit a difficult spot and need to come back to it later.

2. Create your mental space

There's nothing more difficult than trying to focus on some intensive writing in a location that is rife with distractions. If you can't get away from your roommates and find a quiet corner, consider going to a coffee shop or library for a couple of hours to get in your words.

Write-ins are great, as well. Though not completely free of distractions, everyone there generally does want to get writing done, and the energy at an event like that can give your productivity a real boost. It's really worth getting on the mailing list for your area and trying to get out to a write-in or two if you can, or finding a buddy to write with.

Turn off the internet, turn on some music, and focus on writing. If you have to set a timer for 15 minutes at a time to get yourself that focus, do it. The more you can create the conditions to maximize your ability to write without distractions or other pressures, the more words you can pump out in a shorter period of time, making it easier for you to get your words in before the world intrudes.

3. Carve out time

It can often be hard to set aside a couple of hours each night, with all the pressures of life trying to get in the way. Try writing for fifteen minutes before work, and spend part of your lunch break getting some words out as well. If you get home from work or school with 500 words under your belt, it's a great boost to know that you only need another thousand or so that day!

Everyone's schedule is different, so look at where you can fit in a few extra short writing stints here and there in your own life. It's not as hard as you might think when you really sit down to think about it. If there's a time of day when you write best, that doesn't mean you can't get a few words here and there, at other times.

Bring a notebook with you wherever you go so you can take advantage of any unexpected time you might have during the day, too. Got a doctor's appointment? Don't read a magazine or play on your phone while in the waiting room, jot down some words.

4. Do more than you have to

The biggest thing that has helped me in the past has been front-loading the words. On November 1st, you've turned off your phone, your family knows to leave you alone, and you're excited and fresh. Don't waste that energy! There will be days, maybe even whole weeks, when you aren't able to write at all, or can only get in a few words. If you know that you've got more words than you need, those bad days are less of a hit to your confidence.

I always start with the goal of writing a minimum 2000 words a day, not 1667, which is the bare minimum you need to reach 50,000 words. I highly recommend doing the same.

I'd love to hear any other tips you guys might have.

No sooner are Kendra and Sam bedding down in the creepy laboratory castle in Zhen, but someone on a gryphon comes flying down to Sam's balcony and snatches him away. Kendra tries to stop him, but the kidnapper does something to knock him out, and off they go.

Thankfully, Kendra is no damsel in distress. While Damien makes his way into the castle to try to rescue her, Kendra engages in a magical battle with the centaur. Though Blaise is stronger on his home turf, Damien helps Kendra overcome a sound-based magical attack that nearly knocks her out, and Kendra recovers her broomstick. They head off to rescue Sam.

Meanwhile, Sam wakes up again. At first, he thinks he's back in the hospital, but it's a different sort of prison cell - and a much comfier one. Within minutes, the King of Gen finally shows himself.

He's Landon. No one is likely surprised at this point.

Landon tells Sam that he needs his help, and takes him on a tour of Gen, to show him what a wonderful place he's built. The tour is marred by an incident of mob justice, as a vampire is dragged bodily from her house and ejected from the city. Landon explains that while vampires are probably nice people in general, they are considered 'undesirables', because they prey on other citizens. He wants to keep his people safe, so vampires aren't allowed in his country.

Sam finally loses patience and demands to know what Landon wants from him. Landon admits that he wants Sam to perform a spell that will allow Landon to become the King of Kun. He wants, ultimately, for the entire world to be united under his rule, and claims that this will make everyone happier and safer.

Sam is horrified by the murderous and power-grasping behaviour of someone who looks like his best friend, and flatly refuses to help. Landon isn't happy.

--

I just finished Chapter 13, and I'm now just over 42,000 words into NaNoWriMo. Sitting on November 25th, with 5 days left to go, I'm feeling really good about winning this year. In fact, I'm going to see if I can polish off the last 8000 words this weekend.

While I'm feeling accomplished and excited about my success, 2000 words a day is a pretty difficult pace to sustain, and I'm looking forward to backing right down in December, though I intend to keep moving forward, just with time to work on other things.

I'm thinking of giving myself a goal of 500 words a day here on out. I've always had a daily goal of 1000 words, but on days when I don't set aside at least an hour to write, it's difficult to meet. I wind up writing nothing unless I have a good chunk of time to devote to it.

It also gives me little time to devote to things like research or editing. I have to do one or the other, so there are many days I don't get any words at all.

I have been struggling for months to figure out how to sustain working on my current draft - Dreaming - and also work on editing The Sleeping Death so I can start querying it. Ideally, I need time to work on researching Sengoku Era Japan for my next book series as well! Somehow, there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to do it all.

So instead, I'm thinking that if I have a goal of only 500, then even on days when I go out and don't get home until late, I could still meet the goal. In a 15 minute stint, I could easily hit that goal, and that means that if I got home at 10:00 after a movie or something, I could still take 15 measly minutes and get my words in.

It's an experiment. I'll let you know how it goes!

It's now day 12. I think last update I was on day 9 and had just started Chapter 10. It's now day 12 of NaNoWriMo and I just finished it. It was longer than Chapter 9. Sob.

--

Kendra, Sam and Damien succeed in eluding the Thief King in the dark and head West towards the country of Kun, which is supposed to be peaceful. Little do they know that the Queen is already dead.

They pause to get supplies in a city in Li, and while Damien goes to get food and money, both of which were stolen by the bandits, though they thankfully do have the rest of their belongings, Kendra and Sam browse at the market. A gang of cat-headed thugs try to surround and capture them, and they manage to elude them, meeting up with Damien and flying away before the thugs can catch them. Damien has heard rumours that the King of Gen has offered a reward to anyone who brings them to him, hence the near-capture.

Then they reach Kun. Or at least, the border. They can't get into Kun, because the entire country is encased in a magical, fluctuating storm. Kendra explains that the Kings and Queens aren't just died to their country in certain magical ways. The country shapes itself according to the personality and desires of its monarch. If there is no monarch, there's nothing to tell the country how to be, and that seems to be the situation with Kun. They can't explain how it's possible that a monarch could have died without passing their Queenship on to a successor, but that's a question for later. They have to turn back.

Instead, they go north, to a lake that dominates the central part of the whole world. The lake is dark and foul, and is apparently inhabited by something called a Shiketh, which makes it impassable.

They see a lonely cart drive up to the very edge of the lake, and begin pitching bodies in. When Sam stops to watch this, horrified, he sees the bodies attacked by some kind of enormous monster. All he can see are the claws of the monster, which can cut a corpse in two with ease. Then a claw attacks him, and his broom is destroyed, though thankfully he isn't eaten.

Damien decides that things have gotten far too dangerous for him, following around with these two, and leaves. Kendra can't blame him, and she and Sam head on towards a country called Zhen, which is apparently not much better than what they've just left behind.

--

I've had some days of major productivity - as much as 4000 words in a day - and some days of nothing, but I definitely can't say that week 2 has been difficult. I'm almost through it, and I hope I can keep up the pace in week 3. I'm at about 23k right now and considering trying to push forward to 25k by the end of the night. We'll see how it goes after I've gotten some dinner in me!

This is the longest chapter in the universe.

The last two days I've been working on Chapter 9. Still. It's still not done.

--

When we last left our intrepid heroes, Sam and Kendra had reached the desert country of Li. They were attacked by a band of raiders, who brought them down off their broomsticks and took them prisoner.

The leader of the raiders is the King of Li, a fearsome creature with one eye and eight legs. His lower body is like a spider, but with a human torso. He turns out to look exactly like one of the partners at Sam's firm, Anju Singh, who is a woman. Sam is convinced this means the 'King' is actually a lady, though what this means is unknown.

Anju plans to either sell her prisoners into slavery, or sell them to their enemy, the King of Gen, for whatever reward he will give her. They place an amulet around Kendra's neck that makes it impossible to use magic, and tie them up.

Meanwhile, the King of Gen attacks Kun, the country where Sam and Kendra were headed. He murders the defenceless Queen of Kun in cold blood, and carves a large gem out of her body. It had previously been revealed that each of the Kings and Queens has a similar gem somewhere on their body and it gives them great power as part of their position.

Things look bleak for Sam and Kendra, but then a dog enters their tent. The dog turns out to be a werewolf, who looks exactly like their son in the real world, Damien. Damien offers help in escaping, in return for taking him to Kun. Why he needs to escape from the raiders, and what he's doing there, disguised as a mutt, is currently unknown.

--

I got a LOT of writing done on the weekend - over 6000 words. Tonight I stopped at around 1800 words, because it was a natural stopping point, but after the hard work I did on the weekend, I think I deserve it XD Also I didn't get to start working on writing today until past 8:00, so it's getting late now. I'm excited to get going on the Grand Escape, though! I have some fun ideas about how they'll pull it off.

I've passed 15,000 words, so this year's NaNoWriMo is looking really doable at this point. My toughest part is always week 2, which is why I've been working so hard at giving myself a healthy margin to work from, but if I can keep up some momentum, I'm sure I'll be fine.