William Argyle

Quantum of Solace

2008-11-17T11:49:00.001-08:00

I hate to agree with all the critics, but they've got a point--the latest Bond chapter (more of an epilogue, really) is very similar to a Jason Bourne movie.

BUT...it's better. One thing that really annoyed me about the latest Bourne offering was the shaky camera. Enough already with the vomit inducing shaky camera! Director Marc Forster, at least, reserves the monkey cam for true action sequences.

I miss Martin Campbell's subtle style (Casino Royale). James Bond was always more about style than strength. Campbell incorporated emotional depth to that style and created something special. Leave the 'high octane' excitement to the brash American (Bourne). Bond doesn't need a bazooka to get the job done--a 7.65 mm suits him just fine.

Quantum of Solace was Casino Royale's placenta. I still enjoyed the movie, believe or not, but I won't be renting it for a second viewing. I am excited about the new direction of the Bond franchise, and Daniel Craig still has a decent shot at dethroning Connery--but Craig hasn't managed it yet. The next movie might push him over the top. Time will tell.

Forster has declined an offer to direct the next Bond installment. This is good news as far as I'm concerned.

I can only hope the next director doesn't use caffeine addled monkeys to shoot the film.

Marketing a novel

2008-11-12T23:22:00.000-08:00

I've just finished a six-page synopsis of Mountain's Mercy. I hate to see a story stripped to its bare bones; a nutshell isn't a fitting repository for much of anything.

But I suppose I understand why agents want them. I would never want the job of an agent's assistant. They must be the most underpaid people in the universe. I'm sure the majority of what they read is crap. How would it be to read garbage all day?

I'm not going use a shotgun during my agent hunt. I'd rather snipe for the ones I really want. If I don't get a bite early on, I'll just get back to writing and see if the agents are interested when two books are on the line (or three, or four).

Stephen King didn't land a contract until he'd written five books.

Another Sale!

2008-08-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

I received an email from Colleen Anderson, the fantasy editor at Aberrant Dreams Speculative Fiction. She said she loved the humanity in "Rhindor's Remission" and accepted it for publication.

What great timing! I'm about to finish my first novel and I get published in a cool magazine like Aberrant Dreams. Things seem to be coming together.

IT"S DONE!!

2008-06-15T04:23:00.000-07:00

Of Mountain's Mercy, Book One of the Rimecoal Chronicles is drafted!

I finished the last chapter while on a long haul flight from Kuwait. I still need to polish the piece, but it's great to have the monster part of the task complete.

It's been almost two years since I began this project.

I'm exhausted. It's 5am and my eyes are filled with sand. I'll post more later.

Will

Last Chapter!

2008-06-03T15:52:00.000-07:00

I decided against writing chapter 21 (Clara). No matter how I wrote it, the chapter had no tension when told from Clara's perspective. Clara's view of Dendril's departure seemed irrelevant to Dendril's story and was anticlimactic to her own.

Instead, I added another scene allowing Dendril to be the witness of his own departure. It worked much better and I was able to strengthen Teanca's conflict with Willan to boot.

I'm working on the last chapter. I've practically written the whole thing in my head--We'll see if I can get it out on paper.

Chapter 20 is done

2008-05-28T14:48:00.001-07:00

Yep. Two days. I took Sunday off. I wrote all of chapter 20 (Dendril's last chapter) in two days. Pretty slick.

Only two more chapters left. A short Clara chapter and a long Riohn chapter.

It's so close.

New productivity Record

2008-05-25T04:44:00.000-07:00

It's 4:45 in the a.m., but oh well. I just wrote 1845 words in a single sitting. I'm so tired I'm crosseyed, and I may find everything illegible tomorrow.

I'm still on target to complete the novel before I head back to work on the 4th.

William

A New Productivity Record

2008-05-05T15:41:00.000-07:00

1537--Not much more than my old record (1511), but it's more--and that's all that matters.

I wrote this stupendous amount of text while completing Riohn's 18th chapter. It's a wild chapter and a great setup to his next, and final, installment.

Will

Chapter 17 Complete

2008-03-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

"Masks," Dendril's second to last chapter is complete.

In many ways, the chapter is the climax of Dendril's story line--or at least half of it. His next chapter may feel a bit like a denouement. I don't want it to be a simple denouement--that will be the challenge.

I want he and Riohn's story lines to pull the reader into book two. In the meantime, I've got two more Clara chapters that feel like a wall.

I still want to get the book finished by 4/29/08. To do that, I'll have to write 457 words a day. That doesn't seem too hard...but the impossible days cometh. On good days I'll have to write 750 words to make up for impossible days.

Four chapters in a month is a tall order for me--especially these final chapters in which there are so many loose ends to tie up. I may have to take some time off of work.

Will

Chapter 16 Complete

2008-03-04T18:37:00.001-08:00

Wow. My book is officially over 300 pages long. I just finished chapter 16 "Refuge" (a Riohn chapter).

The last bit of the chapter took forever to write. Would you believe that my pace slowed to 100 words an hour for FIVE hours? That pretty much sucked. But the result is pretty good. Of course, I may read it tomorrow and wonder what I was thinking.

It feels like I was gutting through a bit of writer's block. Technical difficulties aside, I think that I may be trying to keep myself from finishing the book--as the end looms ever closer, so do those painful rejections.

My name in lights

2008-03-02T00:41:00.000-08:00

Instant Message was published in this month's (March '08) edition of Niteblade Fantasy and Horror Magazine.

Here's the link, http://www.niteblade.com/march-2008/instant-message.htm

It was a joy working with Niteblade's editor Rhonda Parrish. She has her own webpage (http://www.rhondaparrish.com/). It's a much better looking webpage than mine. I'm going to have to get my reserved webpage at http://www.williamargyle.com/ up and running one of these days, but for now, Google pages is much easier to manage.

The cover art for Instant Message was pretty good. I had worried that the artist would choose something garish (see my previous post on the matter). I may even chip in the $15 to purchase the original black and white illustration.

I'm still working on chapter 16 "Refuge." As I draw nearer to the flurry of dialogue between Riohn and the Noltic woman--who I've decided to name 'Maglin'--I've found myself hesitating. I want Maglin to be a real person, not just a stock character shoe-horned for this one scene.

I want to get this chapter done by Monday.

Marin's Storyline Complete!

2008-02-24T20:29:00.000-08:00

I finished chapter 15, "Proviso," a week or so ago. It's Marin's final chapter. While I may have some editing to do, I'm satisfied with her story arc. More importantly, It helps set the stage for her role in book two.

Marin's character had a minor role in Mountain's Mercy. Her part in the second book will be much larger.

The working title for book two is "Enhungered Sand," or perhaps "Enhungered Dune," or maybe "Sands Enhungered." I like the word 'dune' better than 'sand,' but I'm afraid Frank Herbert might have eternal claim to the word. Also 'enhungered' is a word, despite what your spell-checker might tell you.

Book three's title comes from the line, "neath water's calm lies the tempest" or "Neath shining water lies the tempest." I'm not sure what title to pull from that: "Neath Water's Calm" "So Lies the Tempest" "Calm's Tempest" "Tempest Calm" "Shine of Waters" "So Shines the Water" "Neath Water's Shine" "Calm Water's Lie" "Neath Shining Waters Deep" even "Lies in Shining Water"-- So, Yeah, I'm pretty undecided at this point. Also, 'Neath' is a word as well. Like 'Enhungered,' 'neath' is an archaic word--but a word, nonetheless.

I love old things.

Book Four? "Cries the Dust" "So Cries the Dust" "From the Dust" "Of Cries and Dust"-- You get the idea.

Book Five? I'd hope to finish the series before book five. I learned while writing Mountain's Mercy, however, that I can't force how quickly the events unfold--I control what events to depict, but the story sets its own pace. I'm content to allow the story's wordcount to sprawl, so long as the story stays within my original blueprint.

I'm currently working on Chaper 16 "Refuge" (Riohn). It's Riohn's second to last chapter. It's also very long. I don't mind the length, however; Riohn is definitely the star of Mountain's Mercy, so I want to make sure I nail his ending.

The end in sight

2008-01-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

I've drawn detailed summaries of my final seven chapters. Book one of the Rimecoal Chronicles, "Mountain's Mercy," will come in at 22 chapters. It will likely be a hair over 100k words (I'd bet the final count would be about 105k).

The projected length is good news. I didn't want the book to fall outside the recommended length averages for a new author of fantasy. I just had to reorder the chapters to smooth out the timeline. I can't wait to get the characters farther away from each other! When they are all bunched up, it makes it harder to manage the timeline.

The order of characters for the final chapters are: 15 Marin, 16 Riohn, 17 Dendril, 18 Riohn, 19 Clara, 20 Dendril, 21 Clara, 22 Riohn. I anticipate that each chapter will be about 5k words (19 might be a bit shorter, and 22 will likely be much longer).

I just might be able to finish the rough draft by my 37th birthday. I want book two completed by my 39th. Despite the learning curve, I'm enjoying the journey.

1511 Words; A Banner Day

2008-01-21T02:54:00.000-08:00

I bested my former personal production record 0f 1356 words tonight. My new record is 1511. I did it while drafting Dendril's latest chapter (14 "Rites").

I'd write more, but it's 3am and I'm tired.

William

The aspirational writing method

2008-01-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

I have a new method of keeping my daily totals up, I call it "The Aspirational Method."

Some time back, I decided that, if I were to get anywhere, I should write 500 words a day. The problem with this seemingly simple idea is that life is not simple. Cars break down, kids get sick, and some other third thing happens. In the real world, the quota became an anti-motivator, I actually wrote less. On days when I knew I didn't have time to reach this word count, I didn't write at all. Eventually, long strings of wordless days ground my writing to a halt.

Then I decided that I should lower my word count to 250. That helped, but it was also depressing. Since all I had to write was 250, I always stopped at 250; I want to write novels--long sprawling epics. At 250 a day, my novels would take too long to produce.

So neither of these methods worked for me. The 500 count didn't work because it was discouraging in the short term, and the 250 count didn't work because it was depressing in the long term.

Enter the Aspirational Method.

On a daily basis, I can aspire to win a bronze, a silver, a gold, or even go for the world record. Bronze is 250 words, it's my daily minimum. Silver is my old 500 count, for days when I have a bit more time or when the juices are flowing. Gold is 1000 words. Gold is a rare thing for me and something worthy of celebration. The world record is currently 1354 words. On a day when I have the whole day to spend, I might challenge myself to improve this total.

Call me corny, but it's really helped get my head back in the 'game.' Some days I barely have the energy to pound out a bronze. On others, I feel excited to go for the gold. I want set a new world record.

When I approach my daily writing, I first get a word count for my current chapter, say it's 1736. I put the number in brackets, then I add 250, 500, 1000, and 1354 to it.

Like this: [1736] 1986 2236 2736 3090. Its motivational for me to see the numbers.

I can't explain the psychology of it, but it's really working.

Cruising

2008-01-12T00:58:00.000-08:00

Chapter 14 "Rites" is birthing much less painfully than 13 "Promise." Perhaps it was all the dialogue, perhaps it was all the female characters. Sadly, I've found that even fictional women are difficult to predict.

I just sent my revised bio into Niteblade. Rhonda Parrish, the editor, seems to have a healthy sense of humor. She laughed, then apologised, for killing some of my darlings. I teased her about her cruelty and she took it in stride.

She said my story was going to the illustrator. I hope the drawing isn't lame. I hope for something subtle, like giant robots with lasers on their heads--you know, something tasteful.

Out of my rut

2007-12-12T21:41:00.000-08:00

I've been having a hard time writing since the three weeks I went out of town in November. I had my first good day of writing since then. Last time I went for a dry stretch, I let it discourage me to the point that I quit writing for nearly four months.

I'm happy to report that I worked through this dry patch in less than half that time. I'd like to think I'm getting better at dealing with writer's block. I don't know why it happens. It usually comes on due to a few missed days of writing in a row. I lose the momentum. I lose my 'feel' for the story and my characters.

In his camouflaged autobiography, "On Writing," Stephen King advises writers not to take more than one day off from writing. I see, now, why he proscribes this; the story can go cold. More than that, it gets heavy and hard to write.

I'm still working on chapter 13 "Promise," but at least the chapter is beginning to snap into focus. More importantly a newly introduced character is coming into focus. The character, Marin's stepmother Venia Suthermont, is not a POV character but is important to the storyline.

I will have the chapter complete by Sunday.

November: a bad month for writing

2007-11-25T20:11:00.000-08:00

What can I say? Nothing. An entire month with nearly no production. I had an unexpected death in my wife's family. It was the eight year old son of my wife's brother. It was a terrible thing to even contemplate. We drove twelve hours to attend the funeral, then ended up staying a week. Right after we returned, we went on a two week Mexican vacation that had been planned for two years.

Bottom line: Chapter 13 is still in progress.

More soon

No more Wal-Mart for me

2007-11-03T01:08:00.000-07:00

I've decided that I will never go to Wal-Mart again. I've noticed that I'm always in a bad mood by the time I leave the place. Not just this time. Not just sometimes. Every time.

I always feel claustrophobic in the place, a feeling that is magnified by the useless shit they stack in the already overcrowded aisles. I don't like all the blaring TVs and loud displays. I despise how cheap everything looks and feels. I don't like how I feel towards others at Wal-Mart--Perhaps that's the worst thing; I begin to see my fellow shoppers as locusts and the employees as prison guards. I begin to hate everyone around me.

I went to Wal-Mart tonight. I went to replace a crappy dish scrubber that broke. I was hoping to find a better one. I went to Wal-Mart and found that they only had one model of bristled "soap in the brush" scrubber. It was the kind I was replacing. The price was low; just a couple of bucks. I couldn't help but wonder how razor thin the profit margin must be for the manufacturer of the brush. I was tempted not to get it because I didn't want to replace a piece of crap with another piece of crap, but urgency prevailed and I put it in the cart with all the other useless crap that I didn't know I needed. It was about 9:30p, so that means the angry-looking people hauling pallets of more cheap shit were clogging the aisles. The fodder was stacked between the encroaching displays, making it even more difficult to navigate the store.

The lines looked like photographs I've seen of Ellis Island in the 1920's. Since all the lines were equally long (no "ten items or less aisle here"), I was forced to choose based on the appearance of the check stand attendant. It's like a bizarre game show: Should I go with A) the obese woman with the pained look on her face? B) the confused Asian with coke bottle glasses? C) the green haired chick with the infected lip ring? or perhaps D) the kindly old lady who can't determine where she's standing or why?

I chose the kindly old lady. Forty three minutes later I rued the decision. I'm a Secret Service Agent! I can pick dangerous people out of a crowd the way the green grocer picks a melon, but choosing a good checker is impossible for me. The longer I stood in line, the more irritable I became. I would have walked out, but Myra had opened a pack of gum she'd swiped from one of the many strategically located endcaps. Everyone around me wanted out as bad as I did.

So hallelujah! The befuddled checker had bleeped my three items and I'm about to make my escape. But wait, there's another line. This time, a haggard looking security guard is checking off the items in everyone's cart. He doesn't actually check anything, he just stops people, makes them fish for their receipt, then scribbles a line down the middle with a highlighter. I debate walking around him and then challenging his right to stop me. Does he suspect I've stolen something? On what does he base his suspicion? I mused the idea of demanding that he call the police and get a warrant to search my person. Or better yet, dare him to stop me at all, and then sue Wal-Mart for battery if he lays a finger on me.

I do none of these things, of course. Wal-Mart is wired up with more camera's than big brother ever dreamed possible. One false move, and my SAIC will be watching "The Crazed Agent" show by Monday morning.

After leaving the security line I must brave the parking lot. It feels like I'm on safari: I'm armed, prowling the lot, searching for my nondescript grey minivan while trying to avoid other predators. The natives creep about, deep sonorous drums sound in the distance from a low slung Caprice with $10k spinner rims and green neon underlighting. My pistol feels inadequate; I want a shotgun--no, a machine gun, and perhaps a few flash-bangs....

Needless to say, I made it back with everything intact save my desire to step foot in Wal-Mart ever again. I don't need anything they sell THAT badly.

A Smile In Every Aisle -- my ass.

Progress Report

2007-10-29T00:56:00.000-07:00

I finished chapter 12 "Lost Blood" (Dendril) on the 14th. I'm halfway through Chapter 13 "Promise" (Marin).

Work is hectic lately and it's made it hard to find time to write. Still, I've been able to average about 500 words a day. I find that I feel okay if I just get 250 down. I've had a few bigger production days to help fill in the gaps.

I got a review of Chapter 11 "Orders" (Riohn). He really didn't say anything too insightful. He pointed out that I used too many adjectives in one sentence; big whoop. Tomorrow will be another hard day to get any writing in. I'll be out running routes and doing paperwork.

I hope to take some time off from work before I go to Puerto Vallarta in November. I want to get through Chapter 15 before I go. Chapter 15 is the official halfway mark (I figure the book will be 30 chapters).

Exciting.

Will

Another great productivity day

2007-10-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

I took a half day off of work and stayed home to write. I wrote another 1200 words or so. I had hoped to finish chapter twelve, but that was too much to ask.

As it stands, I like the chapter (Lost Blood) very much. I like the dialogue between Dendril and Teanca. Their relationship is gaining an implied history that suggests much more than the words on the printed page.

Man I want to get this book done!

1354 words: A Banner Day

2007-10-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

A new productivity record. I know it's madness to record this kind of thing--no good could come of it. Still, I like to know when I've done well. I also feel like I write better when I do it in sizable chunks. I wish I could have every day off. Even with the production high, I was able to jog and go surfing.

The book is coming into focus. I worry that the story is taking too long to make itself known. That's the problem with my book: there's no Sauron. No bad guy who makes an entrance during the initial scene. They're all bad guys, they're all goods guys. I wonder if editors will appreciate this?

I wonder if I'm writing a book for a market that doesn't exist.

Chapter 11 Complete

2007-10-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

Things are rolling along. I finished Chapter 11 "Orders" (Riohn) a week or so ago. I'm currently working on Dendril's next chapter "Lost Blood." I'm a couple thousand words in so far. The chapter is much more interesting than it was in summary.

Including the words in chapter twelve, my book has officially surpassed the 50k barrier. It is now a novel sized manuscript. I'm going to print it up soon so I have a visual idea about the length of the book.

Chapter 10 "Morning" Complete

2007-09-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

Marin's second chapter is complete. It didn't move her story as far along as I'd hoped, but I had to stop where I did; the chapter was getting too long and had already introduced two major characters--I didn't want the chapter to get too crowded.

So now I'm in the double digit chapters. It now stands at 43117 words. That's about 165 hard back pages. That's about 1/3 the length of the total manuscript.

I went though the chapter master summary today and updated a few things and solidified the chapter summaries for chapters 11-21. I think this will be my method: I plan the whole book roughly, then come up with a broad master chapter list, then I get more specific on the next ten chapters. I don't want to make any detailed chapter descriptions too far out--things change. Ten chapters is far enough ahead that I know where I'm going, but not so far that the story loses it's spontaneity.

This could be a terrible method. How would I know any better?

I'm a professional!

2007-09-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

It's finally happened: Some dern fool went and paid me cash money for a story!

I've officially gone from "unpaid schmuck" to "underpaid professional."

Yep, Niteblade Fantasy and Horror Magazine purchased rights to my short story "Instant Message." It is slated to appear in their March 2008 issue. I just finished the publishing contract (it was all of one paragraph).

I also had the pleasure of contacting several magazines to whom I'd sent simultaneous submissions. I found it gratifying to withdraw my work from their consideration; it felt like I was firing them. I like to imagine that when they learn they missed my story, they will rend their clothing and shout curses. More likely, however, they will delete my submission unread and toss it gratefully from the slushpile.

Oddly enough, I'd begun a massive revision of "Instant Message" when I got the offer. I'd decided to carry the story forward to a different conclusion. It's not really a revision so much as a continuation of the story. I'm calling the longer version "Instant Message 2.0"

So this brings me to an issue: If I complete the longer version of the story, is it a new story [with fresh publishing rights]? Would the story be half owned by Niteblade? Or would they own the new story despite having paid for only half of it? Hmmm.

I've reached "Phase II" at any rate; I'm a paid author.

William

40k

2007-08-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last tallied the total word count. Today I discovered that the Rimecoal Chronicles quietly surpassed the 40,000 word mark at the conclusion of my last chapter.

40k is a weird mark that doesn't signify much. The 10k mark went by in a flash, the 20k mark is where I began to feel a bit weary. My first big writing break occurred at the 30k mark. Perhaps the 40k mark signifies something after all: That I am more than a recreational writer.

50k will feel important because it is the official word limit of a novel. Anything under 50k isn't a novel, it's something else. At 50k I'll be able to look in the mirror and say that I've written a single work that is at least as long as many (short) novels. Of course, my story will not have a beginning, middle and end yet, so it's not a novel either.

My story is long and involved. I'm still transitioning from the first to the second act. I had hoped to have the entire novel completed by this September. I'll obviously fall short of that lofty goal, but at least my manuscript will be novel length by then. Perhaps I've not fallen too short of my goal after all.

William

Jason Bourne, motion sickness inducer

2007-08-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, I liked the latest Bourne installment. Everyone seemed to. But am I the only guy getting sick of the whole "jittery camera movement" that Hollywood seems to have embraced? I understand the director's desire to evoke a feeling of confusion and scene tension, but I feel that it gets overused by directors who try to imbue hohum scenes with manipulative tension. In one scene, the camera jittered around while Jason dialed the phone--why? In another scene, the monkey holding the handycam went wild when some cars slowly pulled to the curb--zoomie!

Here's my rule of thumb: If the protagonist is running from the KGB a little camera shake can add to the tension, fine. But if the protagonist is ordering chicken from the KFC, leave the handycam at home.

A good day

2007-08-04T22:42:00.000-07:00

I've been zinging along on the newest Clara chapter. She's gotten in a fight. It seems that I write fights and conversations fairly quickly. I'm concerned that the plot isn't being moved quickly enough, or that the story has degenerated into a series of "danger! danger!" moments.

This is my last life threatening scene for a while. The reader should be familiar enough with the characters at this point to begin caring about less adrenaline packed concerns. The coming phase of my story will focus more on intrigue and long range tension.

I recently read "On Writing" a memoir which Stephen King sneakily disguised as a book on writing. I enjoyed the book, so I don't mind being tricked so much. The most shocking revelation of the book isn't that King did drugs or never knew his father--blah blah blah. Nope, the most shocking revelation was that King writes while listening to hard rock music. I'm listening to hard rock right now, and I can hardly concentrate enough to write complete sentences--let alone craft a narrative. That man must be able to write in his sleep. Amazing.

I'm still languishing in phase one of my writing career. I've written about the phases of my career in my handwritten journal. Here's a summary:

Phase One: Nobody knows me, nobody cares. I'm writing, but unplublished in any paid market. In this phase I'll continue working for the man. In fact, very little changes beyond losing most of my freetime to this hobby.

Phase Two: Somebody knows me, nobody cares much. Some fool purchased one of my short stories. This could be a very looong stage. Since short stories don't pay enough to pay for a dinner date, I'll still be sweating for the man.

Phase Three: I'm known, but few care. I've sold a novel. It won't matter for how much, as long as it's not some vanity press scam. I'm a novelist. I won't make enough to support the family, but I may change jobs in order to have more time to write.

Phase Four: Everyone knows me, I have fanatical fans who dress up like my characters and go to conventions. I've sold several novels and I make enough to comfortably live on my writing alone. I go to conventions and try not to act nervous.

So there it is.

Will

Editing at the OWW

2007-08-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

I'm a member of the online writer's workshop. It allows me to post submissions and receive the impressions of other members of the group. Sounds good? It's beginning to feel like a colossal waste of time. I have to review four stories for every posting I make, and I've found that most of the reviewers put far less time into their reviews than I feel like I put into mine.

That's not to say their aren't some good writers on the workshop. I've enjoyed several very entertaining stories. Ruv Draba is a particularly good writer. But for every interesting story I've read, I eaten twelve bowls of manure.

Oh well.

My novel is coming along at a stately pace. I've done some more work on Clara's new chapter. The dialogue feels good, but I worry that the pacing is slow. I may have to cut a lot on rewrite.

Will

Dendril's Latest Chapter Complete

2007-07-26T17:22:00.000-07:00

I completed Dendril's latest chapter, Ch 9 "Mercy," a few days ago. I'm currently working on Chapter 8 "Daughter" (a Clara chapter). I changed the order to some of the chapters to better balance the action and smooth out the timeline. I'm eager to complete Chapter 8 and get moving on chapter 10. It's a Marin chapter. I really like writing Marin's story. I like her age, I like her attitude and story. I also really like to write the Colnakis chapters.

I worry that I might throw too much action in the beginning chapters, but I figure I can pace it out more once the story lines mature. We'll see. I look forward to the editing process.

I just wrote 250 words. Not a great addition, but at least I'm moving forward.

Back in business

2007-07-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

I'm back in the saddle. Yesterday I wrote 400 words on the next Clara chapter and it felt really good to get back to it. I let the odds begin to trouble me, ie: the odds against publishing, the odds against making any money, the odds against getting famous, etc ad nauseum.

I've realized that my dreams of notoriety and wealth were sapping me of the will to write. I like to write. It'd be nice to be rich and famous--but that's not why I write. I've been miserable not writing. I keep wondering about my storyline and my characters. I need to finish the story.

And so I will.

Chapter Seven Complete

2007-02-05T23:33:00.000-08:00

I just completed the clean rough draft of chapter 7. I took a 2 week hiatus from the novel to pen a fantasy short story entitled "Rhindor's Remission." Both the chapter and the short story were 6k words each. All in all, not a bad month for a guy who only gets to write sporadically.

A new short story

2007-01-22T23:20:00.000-08:00

I was getting the blahs from the novel slog, so I took a break to write a new short story that had been rolling around in my head. The story is called "Rhindor's Remission."

The story came in a respectable 5500 words. It's the first fantasy short story I've written since high school. I only have a rough draft so far. I'll let it mellow a week before I go after it with my dreaded blue pencil.

Meanwhile, I got back to the novel today. I'm about halfway through the 7th chapter, "Chains." It's a Riohn chapter, I'm eager to get him in his first fight.

The Flu Bug Cometh

2007-01-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with my head in the toilet--and not in a good way. I caught a particularly ugly strain of the flu. I couldn't even look at a keyboard without gagging.

So I got no writing done any of those days. I got a 1,000 words written today, which helps out a little bit. I added some padding to Dendril's "rash" chapter. I think it strengthened the chapter, but I didn't feel drawn in while I wrote it. I'll have to see what I can do on re-write.

So, how'd I do?

2007-01-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

Did I succeed in writing two chapters in two days?

In a word, nope.

I stuck with the original goal word count: 500 words a day. I just have too much stuff to do, even on my days off.

However, I have noticed that I am beginning to write more quickly. I don't know whether to attribute this to increased skill or increased familiarity with the characters. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle. I may increase my daily word count. I'm not going to rush to that decision--I think it is important that I have a manageable number so I don't become discouraged and quit altogether. That said, I don't think 500 words is a professional-level word count. I hope to be up to 1000 words a day by the end of the year.

I am currently writing the third Riohn chapter (chapter 7: Chains). I'm getting some eager feedback from readers at the Online Writer's Workshop. It's nice to have someone enjoy what I write.

Will

Chapter 6 complete

2006-12-31T02:25:00.000-08:00

Chapter 6: Rash (Dendril) is complete.

It's a bit of a mini-chapter (only 2500 words). It took a long time to churn out because of the holidays. I'm glad that I'll be beginning the new year with a Riohn Chapter.

I've written more Dendril chapters than any other character (Chapter 4: Repast, 6: Rash, and 9: Mercy). You know what's strange? 'Mercy' was the second chapter I wrote, and it ends up chapter 9.

I gonna try something new this next week: big time fast writing. I'm going to try and write chapter's 7 and 8 in two days. Even if the initial drafts suck. I want to get the beginning, middle, and end of these chapters in the computer by COB on Tuesday. That'll be about 4k words a day. We'll see.

If I can do that, I plan to take some time away from the novel to write another short story. I hate that all the magazines demand 'no simultaneous submissions.' It's taking too long to get some credits--so I need more stories to get out there.

'Repast' at last!

2006-12-17T21:17:00.000-08:00

The intro chapter for Dendril is complete. Entitled 'Repast' it is my longest chapter to date, weighing in at a hefty 6k words. The final draft will likely be longer since I skimped on descriptive language in order to get the storyline on paper (well, pixels).

The chapter didn't cover as much ground as I had planned. Rather than have the chapter drag on, I opted to write a mini-chapter that would cover the rest of what I had intended to write.

The novel is now over 25k words--half of the minimum number of words that a work needs to be to qualify as a novel (rather than a novella). These days, it seems that nothing is that short anymore. I hope to limit my novel to about 140k words. We'll see.

A slow chapter

2006-12-15T23:26:00.000-08:00

I've been working on chapter 5 'Repast' for a couple of weeks now. I'm happy to report that the end is in sight. It will be my longest chapter so far (5k), about a thousand words larger than my target.

This chapter has been the most difficult so far. The reason: lack of movement. I don't like 'talking head' chapters. The rough draft will likely need some significant rewrite, but at least I can move on to chapter 6 and 8 (chapter 7, 'Mercy' is written).

This chapter puts my manuscript at a solid 25k. Where am I mentally? I've got to admit, it's been hard to face the keyboard lately. I've found myself checking the daily wordcount at the end of every sentence. But, at the end of the day, I love reading what I've written. I hope that others will feel the same. If they don't...perhaps I will enjoy the product so much it won't matter if others do. Okay, that last sentence was bullshit.

937 words: a banner day

2006-12-05T20:39:00.000-08:00

937 Words. A good day by any measure. It is especially gratifying because I have been experiencing some writer's block on this chapter (Repast). I've had a difficult time getting into Dendril's head. It's been a long time since I was twelve. Due to the groove I fell into today, I stayed late at work to write.

I may not get much done until Sunday night. My day job is going to require most of my time for the next few days. I hope to have this troublesome chapter completed on Sunday.

William

Welcome to the Blog of author William Argyle

2006-12-04T22:51:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I am creating this blog to track my progress as I endevor to write a multi-book fantasy series. I will also create short stories from time to time in an attempt to gain some credibility.

I began this journel in September of 2006. I've since written 20k words of "Summer's Repose" book one of the Rimecoal Chronicles. I've also written two short stories, "Tinder" and "Instant Message."

I have a webpage, located at www.williamargyle.com. The page links to the Rimecoal Chronicle website and a "pace page." I may dump the pace page in favor of this blog, I also may cease updating my Rimecoal Chronicle page.

Wish me luck,

William