Day's of Summer: Title 1, Physicals and Outlines

My cluttered desk and laptop.

Today will mark the first day of summer break that didn't involve me having to work.  Monday was supposed to be my first day, but I had to attend a Title 1 training.  Yesterday, I had to finish an essay for the IPT Masters program to which I have applied.

So how do I get to spend my first day off? I am going to get poked and prodded for Part 2 of my annual physical exam. I don't know why I do this to myself every year.  I have about two weeks between the time school ends for the summer and when the debate institute I work at begins.  For those two weeks, I try to cram in all the doctor visits I have put off.  I sprinkle in a few honey-do's and the two weeks are done.

I hope to spend the last half of the day outlining part of the story for the book I am finishing this summer.  I might even spend some time developing some character back stories to help them come alive for me. Both of these will be new approaches for me as I normally just sit down and start writing. 

Stacey will tell you the worst part of my writing process is that I can labor over a sentence or even a word choice for hours.  In all my years of writing for school, work or pleasure, I have never started with an outline.  In fact, when I was required to turn in an outline in school, I would write the paper and then fabricate an outline to go with it.  I also don't do too much rewriting (in the traditional sense) because I spend a great deal of time editing as I go. This slows me down.

This summer I am going to scrap my old way of writing and try a few new things.  First, I am going to try using some minor outlining in my process.  Secondly, I am going to set a daily goal word count (2,500/day) and not worry about editing until later.

I figure the old ways have not led to a complete novel so change is in order.  Wasn't it Einstein who said doing the same thing over and over again and expecting new results is insanity?  

Summer Book Project

So the results are in from the poll I posted on this blog to help me decide which book project to finish this summer.  The winner is...(drum roll)...Lights Out!

While I have no intention of placing a page limit on the book, I do believe it must be at least 400 pages long. This means I will have to write an average of 2,500-3,000 words a day for the time I have available to write full-time this summer.

My hope is to make this book project interactive.  I will post excerpts from the book as I go along and I may even post difficulties with character development or plot sequences. We'll see.

Poll: Finish Writing the Book!?!

I relaunched this blog a few months ago with the idea I would focus on my writing craft.  The aim was to drum up some freelancing gigs and perhaps get to work on finishing one of my book projects.

I've got three unfinished books I have been writing on and off for a few years (I am too embarrassed to admit how long) now.  I am counting on the increased traffic prompted by the Blogathon to solicit some input on which of the three I should set out to finish by the summer.  Below, I will set out the working titles and a brief summary of the book.  I am asking for you to vote on the one you think I should work on finishing now.

Adventures in Orguland

This started as a bed time story I told my little brother Matthew. The story follows the adventures of twelve children who have been drawn into the secret world of Orguland where they must help its residents fight off the evil witch Rodama. The witch has recently turned most of the children into crickets and set her Tyrannosaurus Turkey to eat them. Each of the children is led by a guide called the Gribber who must help them learn to use their special ability. 

Letters from the Dead
This story began as a joke when I was writing letters back and forth with my girl friend when I was serving in the Army.  The story is told through a series of (electronic) letters sent by a man serving in a special Army Unit - Z Force - and his pregnant wife who he has left behind in New Dallas under the protected environment.  The main character, Captain Mike Hernandez leads a special unit sent to eradicate zombies in the outskirts of the city and to find a lost Z-Force unit led by Captain Moons.  Hernandez and his team discover that there are humans still living in the Outer Zone and that there may be something worse than the zombies to deal with.

Lights Out! 
I got this idea from my brother Tony.  When he was little boy he somehow got the idea in his head that when a street light went out someone died. The story is primarily about Tony Salinas, a recent Harvard law school graduate who has landed a job in one of Dallas' top law firms. The partners have assigned him to research a key procedural issue in a case in which the firm represents a lead smelting plant accused of causing all sorts of health issues in Tony's old neighborhood. Based on Tony's research, the firm is able to have the class action lawsuit dismissed. As Tony and the team of attorney's are leaving the courthouse, an old curandera grabs his arm and curses at him and yells, paga la luz! (lights out!) Tony's meteorite rise in the law firm is about to be short circuited as he begins to discover that he is prematurely aging.

Which book should I finish?