Creativity Update

For both of my fans out there ...

... the second Endless Wars novel has been shelved indefinitely.

Why?

Most of it goes back to the rampant alcohol consumption that was coinciding with that book's writing. Some of it is because I'm just not in that headspace right now. To write an Endless Wars book, I have to be in a very, very dark place, and I'm just not there right now.

If you haven't read the first book (now available in the iBookstore), do so, and you'll understand what I mean.

For those who don't know, I'm an alcoholic, now six months sober, and that darkness is something that has sloughed away, along with the need to make booze the focal point of my non-work hours.

If the first EW novel, written in 2000, was mildly supplemented by booze, the second novel, half-written last year, was rocket-powered by it.

There's some damn good material in there, but much of it reads like a sugar-high Michael Bay script. The parts that don't are filled with arguments between Taran and Nigel, which I found particularly revealing. What's interesting is that much of the book is devoted to Taran completely falling apart while becoming more powerful, which is an interesting choice.

I don't know. I'm still sifting through my feelings on the book, which is a moot point, because almost all of it was lost.

Yup. I was so fucking drunk so much of the time that I managed to format and write new operating systems onto each of the hard drives it was stored on.

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, since I have all my PCs sync their 'My Documents' folders all the time, but I managed to have HDD failures in exactly the right order, so that the only left of the book is the first draft of the first couple chapters.

Like I said, I'm still sifting through my feelings about all this.

However, I have two tidbits for you that have me particularly pumped.

First, the second edition of the first book will be hitting Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and the iBookstore in the next month or so (the first edition is still available via iBookstore for a limited time now.) It's on Lulu now, and once we all sign off on it, it'll hit the larger retailers shortly thereafter.

Second, I'm working on a brand-new series, and I'm glad to say that I've FINALLY found a science-fiction idea that works for me.

SciFi has always been my favorite genre, but I've never had a workable idea of my own before. My stories usually straddle the horror/fantasy genre, but this is something that's slowly pieced itself together over the last few years, and after letting it germinate for the last few months, it all clicked into place during E3, and I started banging it out then.

I'm toying with several ideas in terms of novel structure and what makes a novel, and may do something new with this series.

I'm a big fan of HBO & Showtime original series, and when they tackle novels, they tend to treat each novel as a season.

I'm thinking about turning that on its ear, and after writing this novel, I'm thinking about either publishing lots of sequential short stories that would be 'episodes' of a 'season,' or writing sequels as short story collections that carry a common thread through them, like a TV season.

We'll see. Let me know what you think of the idea.

Anyway, I'm about to kick it with an old friend, so I'm gonna jet.

Just let me assure you that it feels great to be writing about robots and spaceships.

-Blaine

The Filthy Writer Blog Relaunch

So, I've been meaning, for weeks now, to get back to posting nearly every weekday, but I've been too busy with all kindsa bullshit, but that's trickled down to a nearly-manageable level now.

Things have finally quieted down somewhat @ work, and I think I'm now ready to resume the blog. Thank the maker. I actually like posting here.

Announcements

- Untitled Podcast: Tony and I will be recording shows on 9/26 & 10/3. On 9/26, we'll be talking all things TGS, as well as catching up on our usual bullshit. On 10/3, it'll be our Holiday Preview, and we need YOU to tell us what YOU want to hear about! Comment on our 1UP blog with the games you want us to talk about, and we'll be sure to include most of them! Those shows will be hit the feeds, iTunes & otherwise, by 9/28 & 10/5, respectively.

- Also, I'm adding themes to each day on here. The goal is to post M-F on here, with the following themes: 'Manly Mondays,' 'Tech Tuesdays,' 'Writing Wednesday,' 'Topical Thursdays,' and 'Fuck Off Fridays.' Here's the breakdown:

Manly Mondays - This will be a short post, consisting of relationship advice for manly men. It's my opinion that modern men have lost their way, and turned into a generation of whiny bitches that don't grasp basic things like being consistent rocks for their families to rely on. I will singlehandedly save MAN-kind with this weekly entry. I will also answer any reader questions that I have pertaining to this topic.

Tech Tuesdays - This will be a little longer, and will be a rundown of cool tech stuff I've been playing with, and an explanation of the various crazy configurations I use for stuff, from Ubuntu customizations, to paring down your Vista startup, to Firefox configs, etc, as well as cool gaming stuff.

Writing Wednesdays - Another short post in which I rap for a while about writing, or answer reader questions.

Topical Thursdays - A longer post in which I pick a current topic, and break it down for everyone.

Fuck Off Fridays - This could go several ways.

- Writing: Online writing! I've started an interesting experiment. I'm writing an entire novel on Google Docs, and slowly sharing it with more and more people, the further in I get. Right now, it's only shared with three unlucky souls, but I plan on it expanding it further. If you have any interest in seeing my new book get written, lemme know, and I'll add you in at some point. It's somewhat of a chronicle of my years being a poor writer in dirty-ass Chicago.

- Writing: Don't forget, my new book is still for sale! LET YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY KNOW HOW SMART AND SEXY YOU ARE BY BUYING MY BOOK! E-Book is only $1.25, and dead tree version is $15.42!

- Writing: Also, if you've been kind enough to buy and read my book, I really, really need some reviews posted on Lulu. If you've read it, and can spare a few minutes, that would be a huge help.

Since it's Wednesday, let's get this thing started...

On Writing
Since this is my first 'Writing Wednesday' post, let's talk about the most important part of your story, the beginning. This is where 99% of all stories die.

Why?

I think it's because of confidence and commitment. If you don't believe in yourself, believe in your story, and make a commitment to that story, then you may as well just visit the Story Abortion Clinic, sign in, and take a seat.

Being a writer means putting yourself and your ego second. When working on a story, everything you do must serve the story. It doesn't matter if you're peppering the description in a scene in a book, storyboarding FX scenes in a film, or fluffing the lead in Bobby Batters Becky's Bottom. Everything must serve the story, or be exorcised. If your main goal is deliver a message, then write a fucking pamphlet. If you wanna see shit blow up, join the Army. The only thing that matters when constructing a narrative that you intend to deliver is serving the story. Put all agendas aside, and just write.

When I write, I'm not actually doing anything other than acting as a conduit. I just relax, re-read the previous day's work, touch it up a little, then free my mind, and let the words take control.

Also, I don't overthink it until I'm done with a section. Don't think until it's time to edit.

When you sit down to write something new, that blank page is scary. It's like looking over a great distance, and realizing that you can't even see where you're supposed to go, because it's so far away.

How do I overcome it? Easy. Alcohol.

I'm not saying 'get wasted,' but pour yourself a drink, whether it be a Merlot, or rum n' coke, or a beer, or whatever. Have a drink without looking at that page, think about what you wanna write, get yourself pumped, then, on the second drink, put on some music, and start hammering those keyboard keys. Start writing the thing. You may pleasantly surprise yourself.

Quick note, though - never write drunk. You may produce the best stuff of your life a handful of times, but you run into two dangers. One, you're training your mind to only function that way when it's inebriated, and two, you might come to believe that you can only write while under the influence.

Like I said, if ya have jitters, give yourself some liquid courage, but be smart about it.

Next week, we'll talk about how to keep that book going, how to actually come back to it.

Also, please let me know if you have any questions about anything! Oh, and if you're a writer, what are your greatest challenges?

Thanks!

-Blaine