Two years

Two years have passed since I started working at Union Jack Fish & Chips. I am manager.

My writing hasn't fared too well in that time. I didn't get much done in the last two NaNoWriMos or the rest of the year, really.

I hope to be able to change that for this year. I've been doing what I can to get some kind of serious writing routine set up for my weekends. I like the act of typing out the story, but I also find myself doing more planning for parts which I want to make sure fit the plot.

I'm getting more productive with my writing when I make the opportunity to do so. Usually that's during the times my wife watches The Walking Dead, WWE Raw, and WWE Smackdown. That's roughly seven hours a week over the course of three days.

Some weeks, I managed to get a bit more in by making my notes I can't really count those to word count just yet as they are in a notebook and I don't cherish the thought of counting those words just yet as they aren't actually part of the first rough draft. Maybe once I'm done the story I'll do it.

Inspiration comes from anywhere.

Inspiration comes from anywhere.


Brioni Faith - Human - Industrial Mix // Attack of the Cyborgs // Industrial Dance Video
https://youtu.be/Z1hSkYDJRyE

Brioni Faith - Skyscrapers Industrial Mix // Industrial Dance
https://youtu.be/F9MngLFG0Is

These two songs have a bit of a story in them. Venomex, a not so futuristic company which produces cyborgs as weapons. some of the cyborgs starts to break their programming and show signs of becoming uncontrolled individuals again. An agent is sent in to stop this from happening and eliminate any signs of humanity and individuality. The mission fails and those cyborgs break free, destroying the Venomex facility.

But, some time later, Venomex rises from the ashes. Damaged but not destroyed, a new leader rebuilds the company and starts producing androids which are practically indistinguishable from humans. The plan is to insert them into all aspects of security then activate them to take over.

They cyborgs return and finally put an end to the plan, and hopefully Venomex.

A different kind of year gone by.

Well, today is another year passed. Again.

This time, it is a year of life.

I celebrate my 46th year, which quietly slipped past as I slept in.

I've caught myself pondering on what I have accomplished so far in my 46 years. I have not accomplished much of what I had hoped to do so far, but there is still time for getting some of it done.

I need to get off the fence about getting in touch with an editor then a publisher about getting my one completed novel done up. Yes, this major step is daunting and just a little more than nerve wracking to actually do, but it will help me improve as a writer.

I just need to do it.

A new year has come and gone.

It's been a while since my last post. Quite a while.

I'd agree that it's been a bit too long between posts.

Life has a way of side-tracking people and I guess that's what may have happened here. I had to focus on work and such responsibilities which being an adult requires.

I still get the occasional moment to write, though it's not as frequent as I would like it to occur.

I am planning more and more stories though. I think I now have 24 or so ideas which are in various stages of being worked on. Some of these may see the light of day, some of them might not. One or two of them are what I call 'junkers'. Stories which I'm working on just to try to keep my flow going. Just being written so I can keep in the habit of writing frequently.

I haven't done much with my most complete novel in a while. I probably should take it to an editor soon if I want to get it published.

Remeber the CYOA

Does anyone remember the Chose Your Own Adventure books? I'm sure there's someone out there who does.

Lately, I've seen things similar to that cropping up online. They're called CYOA. Yeah, the acronym for the original, but this is slightly different.

It's more along the lines of Create Your Own Adventure.

You're given (in some cases) a point system to use. Advantages cost points, while disadvantages gain points.

Many times, they're a good help for a struggling writer. More often than not, the theme of the CYOA is given and sometimes it's more general.

I thought I could do something like that for myself as I sometimes get stuck for story ideas. Once I get it complete, I'll share a copy here. It'll be a simple textual post so begin with as I don't have much time to search out suitable images for it. Work is good, but it sucks as I don't get much time for long duration image searches any more.

About work though. I'm getting closer to being location manager for where I work. I've been given a key so I can get in and open the place, then close up at night. I like that he trusts me enough to be able to let me do this.

Time passes as it always does

So, I've been working for about three months now and I am getting close to being manager of the restaurant location which I work at. I got the key so I can do open and closes without having to worry about anyone else being late.  I'm loving the new job and am glad that I went to Employment Hamilton for help.  They did a great job at helping me get this job.

Work is good. Writing is better.

Even though I do wish to one day be a published author, I know that right now, bills need to get paid.

For the last month, I have been working at Union Jack Fish and Chips (iloveunionjack.com) in Stoney Creek, Ontario. After not working since July 6 of last year, it is good to be working again. I feel as if I am contributing to the household and feeling a sense of accomplishment for doing a great job at work.

The job has helped me get out of a depressive slump which I had slowly started slipping into and I feel that I can now work a bit more on my novels on my days off (when I'm not doing house chores, that is).

Been a while.

It has been a while since I posted here. I've been busy with life and all the things which come with it. Work almost drove me to the hospital due to stress. But the last few months have given me the chance I needed to get some editing and revising done on my main story. Now to find an ending for it and get it done before I have to go back to work.

End of NaNo 2015

Okay so, NaNoWriMo is over...I didn't hit the 50k mark, but I did pass 21,000 words with a final tally of 21,002.

I ended up not finishing the story I had started the previous years, but it will be finished and the whole story will be told at some point.

Augh! Two weeks!

Well, it is officially two weeks before NaNo starts up.

30 days of furiously writing a 50,000 word novel. That's 1,667 words a day. Some people manage to scratch by, others don't come close, but some...they blow that goal out of the water.

I have a story to finish. I hope to get another 50k into it. But if the story finishes before the end of the month, I'll have to start a new one.

Room for improvement

Okay, so, my blogging isn't all that consistent right now. That will improve, as will making time to actually sit and write.

See, blogging is a form of writing. One writes about their day, what they have planned or what they plan to do. They write about their interests and other things they want to share with others.

That's part of why I stared this blog.

Almost that time of year again

Every year for the last few years, I've been participating in a thing called NaNoWriMo (the National Novel Writing Month). It's actually an international thing, but the name is cool.

Every year, during the month of November,  participants are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel of any genre they wish.  Writing the story starts November first and finishes November 30. Only words written during that one month period are counted towards the 50,000 tally. A participant may plan out the story beforehand, but to have the word count accepted, only words written after the first are considered acceptable.

Last two years, I've worked on one story. This year, I plan to finish it.

In 2013, I hit the 50k mark with the encouragement of Gale, a Municipal Liaison (ML). Last year, though I did not hit the mark, I came close. (Work got in the way of reaching the daily word count of 1,667 words.) Last year, I also lacked Gale's presence and encouragement as she was battling cancer. A battle which she sadly lost.

This year, I am determined to finish the story and get it published. In her memory. And, in her honour, I plan to pass that 50k mark.

Finding time to write

It's not really about 'finding' time to write, it's more like 'making' time to write. I usually do my writing in the evenings when I get home from work. Lately though, that has become more difficult. I think that I'll start using my time before work to try to get some writing done. I usually carry writing supplies with me, so I may as well put it to good use, especially since I show up at work about two hours before I really need to be there. I'm having ideas for some of my stories so that means that I really should start working on them.

Must remember to take paper and pen to work with me so I can make notes. I also have a few stories to complete soon. Taking that time before work should help me finish things.

There are also ways for me to be able to write in text documents through electronic means. That's fine with me. I can do that as well, I just have to remember which copy is the most recent one or find a way to have that centralized manuscript to access and edit.

Getting best possible story.

Writing isn't an easy thing. Even more so when one is writing a collaborative story with someone else or a group of others. If there isn't enough communication going in the background, someone may want to take the story off on a completely different track from what the prime author is intending. We've seen it happen on another site with a story with the same characters you'll be seeing here. Someone didn't check how Amanda wanted the story to go and started to take it in a direction it wasn't supposed to go. We tried working with the others to get it back on track, but it seemed as if they wanted to follow the other storyline instead. When Amanda and I talked to the one who derailed the story, well, things didn't end on a happy note and the story was abandoned.

It takes work and communication of everyone involved in a project like this for it flow properly to produce a quality story. As we add others here, we can only hope that they will work with us to get the best possible story without much inter-author conflict.

If you're invited to join, then it means that you're are quite possibly one of the few who we have written with in the past and had good results with.

Remember, we both have lives away from this project so our postings (and approval of other posts) will be delayed slightly as we tend to work and such.

A Beginning

Welcome to my first blog...of sorts. It's set up to allow a friend of mine, a select few, and myself to collaborate on a role-play style story. Please be patient as the story is a work in progress. Anyone who decides that they wish to try to take over the story from Amanda's plot idea and thoughts will find that they risk losing posting privileges, or at least have them severely restricted.

It is her story we're working on here. If you have an idea, message us with it and let us discuss the possibility of working it into the story. Do not just force it into the postings. If we try to turn the story back to what she wants, it will go that way and any posts which try to force things to a different path will be removed.