June 21, 2009
So, it seems I haven’t even been to my own site in nearly a year (well, nine months). Since last year’s 3-Day Novel Contest (and my utter failure to complete an entry), I’ve written very little – a few poems, perhaps one or two stories that failed to impress even myself, and not much else. Writer’s block can be devastating, but it can also be an excuse not to try again.
Well, here I am, trying again. My inspiration has returned, my writer’s block is gone, and as such I’ve been heavily indulged in writing once again. So, I have been working on a few things:
- Starting at the end and working backwards, I’ve decided to try the 3-Day Novel contest again. It’s a lot of work, but I have some ideas that I think I have a better chance of cultivating than the silly idea I had last year. And I have the entire summer to think of a better idea – the contest begins and ends on Labor Day Weekend.
- I’ve been working on some poetry and have posted some new stuff on Facebook that I will be also adding here in the next day or two. And I’m working on more.
- Mostly, though, I’ve been working on some Interactive Fiction (IF) – something I will discuss in more depth in a future post. Essentially, IF is text-only game design (though the minimal use of sound and graphics is permitted, though seemingly unusual). Those familiar with Zork will know what “IF” is. It’s fun, but slow going as it requires me to learn a new programming language from scratch. I hope to enter a few contests, though, the first of which has a final submission date of September 30th.
So that is what I’ve been doing and what I plan to do in the near future. Hopefully my muse will stay with me a bit longer this time.
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September 1, 2008
With only seven hours left, I am nowhere near completing this project I embarked on two and a half days ago.
Unlike 2006, though, I really like the idea I’ve been working on, so I plan on cultivating it in the weeks to come.
Honestly, I don’t know how people do this legitimately. Writing a book in 72 hours is, I think, an amazing feat. Writing a publishable book in that length of time – well, I would call it impossible, but I guess it isn’t as the contest apparently has thousands of submissions a year, and at least some of them must be written legitimately.
I think I spent too much time away from the rigors of writing for this contest. I have this painful throb in my head now, probably from staring at the screen for too long, so it’s time to call it quits for now. But all is not lost: This contest is an exercise and while I didn’t finish the race, it has helped get my wheels spinning again and has kickstarted what could turn into something good. I’ll keep you posted.
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August 30, 2008
The contest has officially begun.
Here goes.
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August 27, 2008
Ah, I love this thing. It doesn’t have as much functionality as, say, the iPhone, but it has a nice, big screen for reading eBooks and free access to Sprint’s EVDO cell network, which is a definite benefit over the iPhone. I’ll have a techish write-up of it on my other site soon, but for now, back to reading Choke.
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August 27, 2008
It may seem crazy, but I’m going to surrender my Labor Day Weekend once again to the 3-Day Novel Contest.
The contest can be grueling: You are tasked to write an entire novel, start to finish, within the 72 hours of labor day weekend, starting at midnight on Saturday morning to midnight on Tuesday morning. You cannot prewrite at all and though I’d have to check, I believe you have to send a signed witness statement along with your manuscript (if you submit one) attesting to the fact that you wrote it entirely within the 72-hour period.
You are, of course, allowed to bring ideas to the table. I wouldn’t even dream of attempting this if I didn’t already have a number of ideas floating around in my head.
The winner gets their book published. It’s a well-established contest that has been going on for years. Needless to say, it is the kind of contest that can either discourage or inspire, and it is not for the faint of heart. So I may not be around this weekend, but wish me luck! I’ll need it…
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August 27, 2008
Some of you may remember this site from 2007 and 2008…well, I’m back in business.
To make a long story short, I was just too busy to keep up with the site. Writing is hard. Any creative process is, especially when your objective is nothing more than “hey, I have this idea, let me turn it into a poem/story/book” and when writer’s block can come randomly, for any reason, like wind direction.
Okay, I may be exaggerating that last bit, but I did experience a severe bout of writer’s block for most of 2008. So there was nothing much to write about here anyway.
But that’s over and I’m back in business. There is already a bunch of content pulled over from the last time this site was running, so head over to http://plotwhole.com/poetry/ and http://plotwhole.com/stories/ to chew on that for awhile. I’m also working on the http://raisingthespacebar.com, for any gamers or technophiles that might be reading this.
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