Smiling Monday

I had some great things happen this past weekend!

For one, my kids watched The Terminator with me, one of my all-time favorite movies! (Bad time travel theory, though. *Sigh*)

Second, I had another FANTASTIC writing weekend!

Warning!

If you’re not a writer, this is going to be boring and long, so you might want to jump ship now before your head explodes, or whatever happens to people who are uninterested in a topic but keep forcing it down for some reason.

So, my great event was: I got another story outline hammered into rough shape over the weekend!

Friday…Finally!

I didn’t think I’d make it!

I did though. And even though the week was a short one for me, I’m glad it”s over. I have no idea why, because next week will be just like this one only more pressured. I have to try and get so much done, and I don’t seem to make very good progress when I need to.

But the programming projects are progressing. I have no idea whether they’re going to work in production or not, so there’s another bit of annoyance. But I’ll find out soon enough! I have so much still to learn.

I spent a lot of last night creating a new template in Bryce Beattie’s awesome outliner Text Tree. It combines the new Dramatica theory elements I’ve been learning about with the Hero’s Journey outline I’ve fallen in love with recently. With that created and the points mapped, I think I can move the template into Scrivener and be all set to create new projects directly in Scrivener. (As much as I love that program, I also have to admit I reach for Text Tree first when outlining. It’s SOOOO much faster and easier, and I can work without being committed to the project first, which is a major weakness in Scrivener IMO.)

Once it’s in there, every new project will get a brand, spankin’-new outline and have all the important story elements mapped. I’ll even have a plot summary so I can keep myself on track. Then I write the scenes which go in each part according to my outline and sort of ignore the labels on the parts except for when I initially create the actual scene object in the software. When I compile it, none of those things will be included in the manuscript; only the chapters and scenes.

Sounds easy. Everything does when you just say it. I mean, how hard is “brain surgery”, really? It’s easy to say. Should be easy to do, right?

Have a good weekend, y’all.

Updates!

Work

Things are going better! My broken program seems fixed! I can go forward with my work projects – if ever I have the TIME to go forward with them. Seems there’s always something in the way.

But I’m STOKED! I’ve spent SOOOO much time finding solutions and now I can actually try implementing some of them! Woo!

Writing

I’m re-doing my first completed manuscript (not really my first, but whatever), and trying to apply good story structure principles to it. Guess what? It’s really hard to do. My story has a lot of weaknesses and I can’t seem to *POOF!* any quick fixes for it. So I’m stewing about that. Meanwhile, I’ve outlined one book, and maybe I have another one I can get into Scrivener before long.

Now, the sequel to the aforementioned book needs story structure too. I have better bones to work with there, and didn’t get nearly as far down the line on it. Cut the stupid, online-serial insertions and the “I’ll put my deviantART followers in my story to endear them to me” crap out, and it’s actually a good beginning. So I’m able to do that one. But what good’s a sequel without the opener?

Also have yet another ghost story I want to get into software, and I have more or less the whole story outlined. I just need to add the markers, apply the Dramatica stuff, stuff it into the Hero’s Journey and start writing. Easy-peasy mac-‘n’-cheesy, matey.

But Tuesday was my daughter’s birthday and nothing else matters. And besides, I got so log-jammed on trying to finish my 2007 baby, I didn’t get anything else done, so I guess I’ll either stew until that pops loose or I get so annoyed I move on.

I love Scrivener. Together with Bryce’s Text Tree program, I don’t know if I need anything else. Ever.

Life

Life is good right now. I’m still struggling to get my diet figured out, but I fee confident I’ll nail it eventually. Until then, the weight coming off in baby steps is better than not at all.

What’s up with all you out there?

-JDT-

No Monday Blues for Me

I’m off work today, because tomorrow is my lovely daughter’s birthday. But rather than take the Tuesday, I just made a three-day weekend out of it.

So nothing to provide today. I started some video training for programming at work, but it’s not doing as much as I hoped for me. And I got some on my own to supplement too. It’s not helping much either, at least, not yet. So pray it starts to stick. I have a tendency to watch too many of them at once, too, and that’s not helping. Hopefully they’ll start to stick anyway.

So, I’ll have something more interesting and/or entertaining later in the week, I hope, but for now, I haven’t done much of anything. How was your weekend?

-JDT-

So, about Interesting or Entertaining…

Well, I got both right now. Just not here.

Over at my fiction blog, you’ll find a post by author and bud Bryce Beattie of StoryHack.com. If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time you’ll know Bryce and I met over my story Ghost Hunters (which has been retitled to avoid copyright infringement lawsuits and such), and we’ve been buds ever since. He’s a fun author with a great, punchy style. You can check out his book Oasis on Amazon, or its sequel The Journey of St. Laurent on his blog.

So go! Get over to my fiction blog and ready his guest fiction! You’ll be glad you did.

OH! And while you’re at it, you can check out MY guest-fiction entry over on HIS blog at http://storyhack.com/ and see what I did for my shot in his spotlight.

Have a great weekend, y’all!

-JDT-