My blogging has been on a hiatus. My writing has very nearly been on one. The word hiatus, only slightly recombobulated (and with a bit of “e”), says “I hate us.” That makes me sad, because I don’t hate us at all really.
I love this writing and blogging thing, and this sense of community. I’ve missed it. A lot.
Now that I’ve fallen off the writing wagon (due to work mostly, baby rearing partly, minecraft possibly also…) there’s only one thing to do: get my arse back in the saddle/office chair.
I’ve started by picking a new task, namely writing a long synopsis for Last Resort. I think it will strengthen the story and show me what to cut. Here’s why:
– I’m setting it all out in alternating scenes and sequels. A scene is where the character goes for their goal, there’s conflict, and then some sort of cataclysm. A sequel is them reacting to what’s happened, seeing how bad things are when the dust clears, and making a decision. This leads back into another scene, and so on…
– Anything that isn’t an essential part of a scene or a sequel gets cut, not just in the synopsis but in the final manuscript.
Sounds easy right! Once this is done I’m going to have the whole book summarised in about 20 pages, and I should be able to think more about how well it flows and what to add or change.
What else have I been up to? Finished some books (reviews coming soon) and sent the first quarter of my MS to my alpha reader (mum).
Exciting stuff! I’m also holidaying in sunny Cairns for Christmas, so poolside beers ahoy.
Stay safe this holidays, mein humans.
Best regards,
D.R.Sylvester
D.R.SYLVESTER FICTION 
Have a wonderful first Christmas with your little one!
Thank you! Hope your Christmas is excellent also 🙂
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! Is the truck covered in tinsel? 🙂
No, but there’s a gingerbread man on the front!
I was wondering where you were! Enjoy your holiday and I hope your synopsis idea helps. It sounds like a good approach.
Thanks mate. Hope you’re having a good one too 🙂 I think any approach will help me at this point, as long as I stick at it…
Definitely a smart thing you’re doing. That’s probably why I binge watch each “game of thrones” season until its over (and page-turning is like binge-watching for books). Anyway, merry christmas and happy new year!
Merry Christmas! And yes indeed, that whole page-turner thing is just about the holy grail of writing. Need to watch me some Game of Thrones, because it will be a heck of a lot less time consuming than re-reading the whole Song of Ice and Fire series before the next book comes out!
Looks like you’re already back XD I had to take a four month hiatus. Over the past six years I’ve taken several, two of them lasting about a year. I don’t feel guilty or regret it. 2013 was the year I consulted like 12 hip surgeons and spent every free moment I had doing something to distract me from the physical and emotional pain. I was scared I would never be able to work or have kids because my hip would never get fixed. Then the other one in 2011 was due to fandom drama. It really disgusted me and I wanted nothing to do with my fandom for a long time. It wasn’t about me, but I was friends of several popular writers who were fighting, and it was an ugly fight.
Anyway, sometimes it happens. My favorite fanfic writer, who is also a friend, doesn’t write currently. She is so talented! My god, she has a gift with words. I’ve gone back to read her stuff, and it’s still better than I remember. She isn’t writing now and doesn’t know if she will in the future D: It just isn’t in her heart anymore, and as sad as I was, I also understood. I think I told her how big of an influence she was on me in my early days of writing.
It’s okay, we’re all human and sometimes we need a break 🙂 I enjoy the writing community on WordPress too. I kind of miss it. Trying to get on once a week to blog and use the rest of my time to write.
I think once a week is a minimum that I have to hold myself to, or this blog is going to go the way of the dodo. I want to get it back up to every second day by mid year, depending on work. Go Go Go!
You don’t give up either, y’hear? 🙂