In case you hadn’t noticed, I was away for the weekend. You may not have noticed, as I had posts, such as they were, scheduled to appear on both days of the weekend, since I would otherwise not have had the means by which to post them. On the other hand, if you follow me on Twitter, you may have noticed my absence, since I wasn’t there to tweet anything.

Anyway, I took my computer with me and, while I didn’t have a lot of time to work on things, I did do some work on a website and also my story I’ve been working on. (Here too.)

As far as the story goes, right now I’m still working on the outline. Previously, I’ve essentially just gone ahead and written things as they go. I mean, I had a general direction and certain things in mind, but I would let thing unfold as I wrote them. With this story, I am doing an outline first, so everything is planned in advance. That should save me some amount of tweaking later, as hopefully it will allow me to create a story that makes sense ahead of time so that I won’t have to go in later and fix the inevitable loopholes that seem to come up otherwise.

That being said, I don’t think it is necessary to always have an outline, though you should have a general plot in mind. For example, I have another story in progress (I say “in progress” though I actually haven’t written anything new for it in a couple years) that I wrote as it went. I had a general idea in mind, but I let the characters go and do what felt natural for them to do. And, that worked very well.

So, I think the outline vs. no outline debate comes to whatever works best for you as the author and/or what works best for a particular story. Different writers have different approaches, and I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all method. Go with what works. If what you’re doing isn’t working for you, try something else. Or, if your usually method isn’t working for your current story, try a different one! Don’t let your creativity get bogged down by methodology. Your plan of attack for writing a story should be one that best suits crafting and writing that particular story and not one that chains your creative energies. A story that never gets finished due to poor planning is little different from a story that never gets finished because of too much planning!

At any rate, I think the outline method will work best for this particular story, especially since (a) there is an extensive backstory that I need to keep straight and (b) this is a “prequel” so I have to keep in mind the things that will happen in the “main” story.

My outline is roughly something like this:

Beginning
Middle
End

Naturally, the middle is the bulk of the story and the beginning and the end are the shorter portions. I know the ending; I just need to flesh it out more. But, that’s going to depend on what occurs in the middle, as to how the ending will precisely work out. I’ve spent a lot of the time on the beginning, working out everything that happens there and sets the story in motion. So, with that in mind, this is what my outline really looks like:

Beginning - some stuff happens
Middle - what the frak happens here???
End - stuff happens and the story ends

The middle is the bulk of the story, as I mentioned, yet I don’t know precisely what all will happen there! I know some portions, as I’ve already written them before I started developing an outline, but it’s a matter of figuring out where to fit them in.

The biggest issue is the timeline. Originally, the story was going to cover a period of a few hours. Now, however, I’ve changed that. The beginning takes place years earlier. Then, there’s a portion that would need to take place over a period of a few months, and then a portion and the ending which would take place over a matter of hours. What I need to figure out is how best to transition that. I guess Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade did that, with the opening taking place when he was a kid, and then later following up years later. Maybe I should watch that again or look for a novelization…

As I mentioned the other day, I’ve been taking a look at some of my novels-in-progress. Now, while I should be working on story #2, which is the one I scanned in notes and stuff for, I instead feel myself drawn to story #5.

The other night, I resolved (somewhat) the plot hole that I had with story #5. The problem was that I needed a certain character to live, but there wasn’t a strong enough reason to let him live. A bigger issue is that the villains really didn’t need to be where they were. I’ve resolved that problem. Now, I just need to figure out how they are going to let the character live without having him ruin their plans.

This particular story is actually one of two stories. The part I’m working on is, basically, the prequel. It is the backstory I developed while working on the main story. It just makes sense to do the prequel first. For one thing, the events of the prequel motivate the actions of some of the characters in the main story. The main story has seven main characters.

The prequel has a story, but it doesn’t really have any main characters. There are two characters that were my main characters, but, in analyzing the story, I don’t know if they can really stay as the main characters for the purposes of moving the story along. The one is outside the sphere of activity. That is, he is not directly involved in the primary plot of the story. If he knew what was going on, he’d be able to do something about it. Instead, he doesn’t find out until later how involved he was. With the other character, he’s perhaps too good at what he does. He’s not going to be going through the personal struggles that are necessary to move the story along. There is no growth for either one of these characters.

Of course, the story could be restructured to show their earlier struggles and mistakes and the events that led them to what will be their big moment. That would be a possibility.

Another possibility is to focus more on the character-who-must-live. That’s the one I mentioned earlier as being the one I needed to keep alive though the villains (previously) didn’t have a strong reason to do so. This character is one of the seven main characters in the main story. So, drawing him out here might take away from his development in the main story. Still, it’s workable, except for one small factor: he needs to fail. I don’t think people would want to read a story about a character, only to see someone else swoop in at the end and save the day. Could work in a comedy, but I don’t think it would be doable here.

Through the midst of this, however, another character has risen to the top of the pack. There is a character that was an important part of the story, but wasn’t necessarily a major character. A while back, I had an idea for a character’s background, and I had two characters that it would have been workable for. One was in the prequel (this character) and the other was in the main story. I opted for this character, because I knew the resolution of his personal conflict, and that worked better with the plot of the prequel than of the main story. It wasn’t going to be a major plotline. It was only going to be a subplot, a B storyline. However, the more I think about it, the more I think that it might be workable to have this character be the main character.

So, I am currently tossing around ideas in my head as to whether this will work and how to make it work. It’s interesting that it isn’t the type of character or story I set out to write, but somewhat of a natural progression over time.

Maybe, just maybe, sometimes procrastination pays off.

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned some of my writing projects and choosing which one to work on.

On many of them, it’s been quite a while since I worked on them. Of course, there are the usual reasons like time and other priorities, but I also realized there was the additional problem of an obstacle I put in my own way.

I keep my writing projects in a fire-proof cabinet in the basement. I have file after file of things I’ve done, things I’ve had done for me, and things that are works in progress.

While I would have a copy of a particular story on the computer, any hand-written notes were stored in the cabinet. So, if I wanted to write something, I’d have to get it out. This became a hassle. As such, it became an obstacle to working on a writing project. I might have time to write something, but then by the time I’d dig it out, well, I wouldn’t have as much time left. Better to just work on something else instead, right?

Well, I picked one of the stories I mentioned (can you guess which one?), and got out all my hand-written notes and scanned them. I put them all together in a PDF file. So, now I have my notes handy whenever I have the time to work on the story. Now, to just figure out the resolution to the cliffhanger I left off on. Too bad I didn’t write that bit down…

What obstacles are you throwing in the way of your own success?

Coming home from work the other night, there was what appeared to be a bright star in the sky. Rather than being a star, I suspected it was Venus.

Later that evening, when I got on the computer, I checked my astronomy program and, sure enough, it was Venus that I saw.

Did you know that when Venus is bright in the sky like that, it is frequently reported as a UFO?

Seriously.

The thing is, it doesn’t move at all. It’s just there. Sure, if you stand there watching it for hours, it will slowly move, but it’s hardly a flying saucer.

I suppose that maybe, if you’re driving through a wooded area or something, you might see a bright light poking through the trunks and leaves here and there, which may give the illusion of movement, but then wouldn’t people be reporting phone towers and the moon too?

Well, they probably do that too.

How should a story end?

The answer is going to depend largely on what type of story it was. In most cases, the end should wrap up the storyline. The exceptions would be if you have a two-part story or a trilogy planned. But, what of the final ending? Whether it’s a single story or a series of stories, how should the last one end?

Here again, you still need to wrap up the storyline. If you have a series of stories or novels with a story arc that spans them all, the last story or book in the series should conclude that arc.

But, what of series with standalone stories? Should you wrap up the main characters’ lives in the last story, or should you leave it open?

A more common example these days–since more people watch TV than read books–would be TV series. When they know the end is coming (as opposed to series that get cancelled before the writers have a chance to wrap up the story), how should it end?

For me, if it’s something that I’ve enjoyed watching, I have a tendency for the non-ending ending. In other words, the main story lines or arcs are wrapped up, but the final fate of the characters isn’t shown. By that I don’t mean that it ends on a cliffhanger, only that it doesn’t conclude with the characters’ funerals; it just ends in their present day, with room for more adventures the next day.

SPOILER WARNING: I am going to discuss the endings of some shows. They are old enough that most people probably already know them, but if you’re just getting started watching them on DVD or something and have not seen them before, you might want to skip ahead. I’ll bold the series’ name so you can skip to the next section if you want.

CHEERS

I think Cheers had a good ending. It wrapped up the some of the dangling storylines for some of the characters, but left things largely to continue on. It ended with a customer trying the locked door, and Sam Malone saying “We’re closed.” Of course, in its fictional world, the bar would be open again the next day, but it was a nice way to close out the show without really making it a finale. The bar didn’t close permanently. All the characters didn’t die. And, in your own imagination, you know that they’ll all be hanging out at Cheers the next day.

On top of that, when you watch reruns, except for unfortunate cases where the actors have passed away, you’re not sitting there thinking “Oh, he was hit by a car and died in the finale” or something.

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION

Star Trek: The Next Generation had a good ending with “All Good Things.” It concluded with Captain Picard (finally) playing poker with the rest of the crew. It’s unfortunate that the movies sort of undid that kind of camaraderie, but at least it was a good way to close out the series.

THE LONE GUNMEN

I didn’t like the ending to The Lone Gunmen (which wrapped up in an episode of The X-Files, as The Lone Gunmen series was cancelled). At the end, the three main characters–the “Lone Gunmen”–all die. I would have rather imagined them still being out there.

END OF POSSIBLE SPOILERS.

Another factor is whether a series is ending on a bark or a whimper. If it’s going out good, the ending is much more important to leave the reader or viewer with a positive impression. If it’s going out badly (i.e., Andromeda), it’s a chance to redeem the series somewhat but there’s not as much pressure because few people care at that point. Of course, you’ve got to assume that people are enjoying your work (especially if it’s going to be a single story where you’re not going to have any feedback before the end is nigh) and try to make a strong ending.

So, what are some of your favorite and least favorite endings?

Yesterday, I mentioned trying to fit working on my stories into my schedule–just setting aside so much time each day to work on that.

It’s easier than it sounds!

I’ll briefly go over the story selections mentioned the other day and hopefully show you why it’s so difficult to pick one.

Story #2 “family search”: This one is actually kind of fun. Each “chapter” ends on a cliffhanger of sorts. My initial idea was to make a serialized story, but then I just got so wrapped up in it that it really needs to be novel length. At one point, I thought I could get two novels out of it, but the first novel would end on a cliffhanger, and I’m not sure many readers appreciate that, so it’s probably best just to make it one novel. This story is a little time-sensitive. I started writing it in 2004, and it’s supposed to take place in 2012.

Story #5 “old conflict new era”: This is actually two stories. In developing the main story, a backstory developed out of it. Now, I could do the main story first, and then do the backstory as a prequel, but I think it makes more sense to start with the prequel first! Otherwise, you know what happens which, in and of itself isn’t necessarily a big deal, as you don’t know how it happens, but, in this case, I think it works best just to not know what happens beforehand. I started this story in 2000 (maybe earlier, but 2000 are the oldest notes I have handy) and some of the things I have in the story have actually happened to an extent in either real life or movies/TV. (And, by the same token, some real life events have helped shape the story too.) So, by the time I finish this, it may look like I copied other ideas, when that’s not actually the case. Yesterday, I also did some 3D modeling for the ship that appears in the story. (It’s easier for me to write sometimes if I can actually see what I’m writing about. I can sometimes see it in my head, but if I can get that onscreen, so much the better.) I had a design for the ship that I did in Adobe Illustrator back in 2000, which are just 2D of course, so I did some work to make 3D models of it. I have one part modeled, and did a test render, and it looks pretty wicked cool.

Story #3 “eclectic explorers”: I think I started this one in 2005 (don’t have my notes handy). It started out being a lot simpler than it has turned out to be. But, once I got into it, I started developing a backstory, an overall plot, all the characters, etc. This was going to be a group project, where other writers would write “episodes” in the story series. The main holdups on this project have been (a) me finishing the initial story to get things moving and (b) having enough funds to pay the writers. And, with the economy in the toilet, (b) is pretty much a stalling point.

So, really, I guess it comes down to Story #2 or Story #5. The logical choice would be Story #2. It’s more time-sensitive and I also have more writing done on it. (10,554 words versus 2,907 words.) Plus, Story #5 has this plot hole I haven’t figured out a way to fix yet. (I need a certain character to live, yet there isn’t a strong enough reason for the villains to let him live and, if he escapes, that pretty much spoils the villains’ plans.)

Yet, Story #5 keeps calling me…

Sunday night, I did some cleaning up on my computer. Still have a mess of stuff on my desktop, but I’ve been working on cleaning that up!

I wanted to post about “The Schedule” but I have been unable to find the piece of paper I wanted to photograph, show you and talk about. So, that’s a post for another day, as soon as I figure out where I put “The Schedule” so that I would be sure not to lose it.

Anyway, I’ve discussed before my problem of having lots of ideas of things I want to work on. I generally think of these things when I cannot do them, such as when I’m at work or in bed trying to fall asleep. Then, when I sit down in front of the computer, my mind goes to mush.

Fortunately (maybe), Sunday night I discovered Stickies. I’ve known of them for many moons, but never realized they were also on my newer computer. I’ve decided to give them a try. I entered four or five things to do. Already on Monday, I knocked that down to three things today. Yeah, not a lot of progress, but (a) these aren’t the only things I had to do–just the things I wanted to remember to do and (b) writing this blog post is one of those three remaining things.

On a related note, I’ve been spending a lot of time on Twitter too. I’m even one of those people with my own personalized Twitter URL. Here’s mine: dcrTweets. Cool, eh? Anyway, much of the time has been learning Twitter, gaining followers, interacting with people and generally getting a feel for how it works. I think I’m nearing the point where I’ll settle into a routine with Twitter, and be able to spend less time on it, but that time would be more productive while I’m using it.

That will free up time for me to work on other projects. My two main projects at the moment are my eBook and my eCommerce site. In fact, the other two items on my Stickies list are a project for each of those projects.

At any rate, none of that is what I really wanted to write about tonight. No, that was all background filler.

You see, what I discovered in cleaning up my computer is all those writing projects I’m always working on. I’m always thinking of them, and working out stories and characters and everything, so it seems I am always working on them. And, I would be remiss in saying that I have not been working on them at all, since I do work on them in non-writing ways. For example, there is one story I would really like to do as animation (actually, film, but unless hundreds of millions of dollars fall land at my door, I don’t see that happening soon), so I would count the modeling, even the learning modeling and animation exercises, that I do as working on them, as it is a form of work on the story.

But, it’s not writing.

You all may remember this post with survey results where I mentioned the stories I was working on. Well, here is my progress, in terms of words written…

• Story #2 “family search” - I have 10,554 words on this story. Last time I wrote anything on it? May 13, 2004
• Unlisted Story - This story wasn’t on that poll, but I have 1,245 words written on it. Last time I wrote anything on it was July 29, 2004. Oops. Scratch that. I have 1,423 words written on it, and the last time I worked on it was August 11, 2008. So, yay! I have done something recently…
• Story #4 “teenage killer” - I have 1,265 words written on this. Last time I worked on it was February 20, 2005.
• Story #5 “old conflict new era” - I have 2,907 words written on this. Last time I wrote anything on it was May 2, 2005.
• Story #3 “eclectic explorers” - I have 1,772 and 771 words written on this. (Two separate stories.) Last time I worked on this was July 23, 2006.

This was all somewhat shocking to me. I think about it so much that it just feels like it hasn’t been that long since I wrote anything on them.

I’ve just spent so much time working on things to try to earn money, as I’m sure many people are doing these days. But, I’ve got to figure out a way to work some writing into my schedule so I can get these things done.

Of course, I also admit that I’ve been a bit torn as well. I mean, I’d really rather see these things on-screen rather than in book form. And, while writing can get me a book, getting something on-screen requires either a boatload of money, or me figuring out how to do all the animation on my own. And, thus my efforts have largely been spent on trying to make boatloads of money rather than working on the writing of these stories.

Commenting on last Sunday’s post, Awake in Rochester commented: “You’ve mentioned Sci - Fi I like it too. My favorite is Star Trek the original, the 2nd generation is good too. Anyways…Do you have a Sci - Fi blog? Maybe have a Sci - Fi store in the blog? The economy sucks so I would keep the price of the merchandise low. But it’s a good nitch!”

I did (do) have a SciFi site. It’s one that’s been long-neglected. I ran it pretty full steam ahead for about a year, and it’s been on life-support for about two years now. I keep hoping to get back to it at some point and give it another go, but things that pay the bills–or have a higher likelihood to do so–are the ones that take priority.

Without looking up any actual figures, I spent at least several hundred dollars on the site (probably more), as well as a lot of time. I put a good amount of effort into promoting the site, and even set up a MySpace page for myself where I tried to steer SciFi fans toward my SciFi site, inasmuch as you could on MySpace at the time. I got a fair amount of traffic from all sources, but that was generally not traffic that converted into anything.

I had ads from Google AdSense on the site, but never got much out of that. I ran affiliate programs for related merchandise, but no sales at all from there. I did direct some traffic to my rubber stamps site where I have some SciFi related stamps. Had a few sales, but cannot be sure how much of that were a direct result of people coming in from the SciFi site, as I didn’t have sophisticated tracking running on the site. I had some items on CafePress, from which I “earned” $3.98, which is still sitting in the CafePress account because it doesn’t meet the payout minimum.

So, that was my attempt at earning something from SciFi.

Today, on GateWorld, I read their interview with Michelle Morgan, who guest starred in a couple episodes of Stargate: Atlantis.

You know what impressed me?

The lack of cursing.

Seriously, I’ve read a number of different interviews, and it just seems these days as though everyone throws the f-word around. It just slips in, as though it’s just another word to be used in your everyday vocabulary. F-this, f-that. Are you upset? F-yes. Are you happy? F-yes. Are you sad? F-yes. It just gets tossed around often for no reason whatsoever.

It’s become that word that can mean anything. As a result, it really means nothing anymore. It’s as though you don’t have the vocabulary to express what you really feel, so you just f-it.

And, it’s not just men. Used to be that it was always the men that swore, and women would just mutter under their breath if they did something like hit their fingernail with a hammer. But, nowadays, everyone seems to be eager to toss around the f-word like they were tossing a salad. And, it’s not limited to times when you’ve hurt yourself or when you’re angry. Nope, it can be used in any circumstance.

It wouldn’t be difficult to believe that a couple, or multiple couples, have gotten married to the declaration of “F— yes!” rather than “I do.” Such is the state of things these days.

So, it’s impressive when you see someone that isn’t dropping the word every time you turn around.

And, that’s sad.

Sometimes, I just take pictures of fluffy white clouds.

For more photos, visit Wordless Wednesday.