New Short Story

Just started a new short story called The House Next Door. It is about a guy who starts noticing some strange things going on in the house next to his. I will post a full synopsis when it's done.

I took a little more time than I usually do outlining and writing notes for this one. Im developing a lot of character and story that will probably not make it into the actual short story, but I think the fact that I know specific details about the plot will effect what I write.

Story Update: Click You're Dead

I received my first response on one of the two short stories I have written and submitted to be published (so far).

My story (Click You're Dead) was rejected, but I am oddly excited. It took less than a month to get this response and I was lucky enough to get a personal response with some compliments was well as some constructive criticism.

My plan is not to go back and rewrite any of my rejected stories (unless requested) until I have written at least ten. I think that with ten good stories under my belt I will be better equipped to make the needed changes. Hopefully I will have learned a thing or two by that point.

I am nearly finished with my current story, The Pool Boy, and will post an update as well as a synopsis when it is finished.

Writing Update

I'm currently working on yet another draft of Click You're Dead. I've got feedback on an earlier draft and making a few changes.
I've hit a few unforeseen roadblocks, however. I did an outline for the story but left a few things out in the open that I thought I could fill in along the way. This was a big mistake! I've decided to sweep these problems under the rug for now and try to take this as a learning experience. I'm definitely an outline writer, I need those little guide points along the way or the story starts to fall apart.
I still think its a good story, even better than the last one. I'm writing fiction too, and I think I have the right to take a little creative license.
Anywho, the final draft should be done soon. Then off to the next project.

Writing Update

I'm currently working on the third draft of Click You're Dead. A short story about a photographer.

New Short Story

I just completed the first draft on a new horror short story called Click You're Dead about a photographer who has a streak of bad luck and people around him start dying.

I'm looking forward to getting started on the second draft and fleshing it out a bit.

Great site for writers

Just found this great website for writers called Writing Excuses. The podcasts covers a lot of subjects new writers like myself need to hear.

Writing Excuses is hosted by writers Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells.

Check it out www.writingexcuses.com

Submitted My first Short Story!

Big news!

I finished my first short story Closed for the Season and submitted to be published. I don't want to give too much info away at this point. All I can say is Closed for the Season is a suspense story about a camping trip gone wrong.

I will post more info when I can.

Cross you fingers (and hairy-toes) for me.

Travis

First Published Article at Associated Content

I just got my first article published at Associated Content.

Check out it out and let me know what you think.

A Beginner's Guide to Successful Blogging

Quick and easy tips on how to get started blogging!

On Writing: Book Review

I'm one of the people that would read Stephen King's grocery list if he published it. A "constant reader," if you will. I haven't read a Stephen King book I did'nt like.

On Writing is an great read even if you have no interest in becoming a author. I've read it twice and wouldn't hesitate to read it again. King is such a pro, he writes in a way that feels conversational. Reading one of his books is like listening to an old friend tell you a real whopper of a story.

On Writing reads like an extended introduction in one of his novels. Less than half of the book is dedicated to the real nuts and bolts of writing, most of it is about his childhood and how he got into writing as well as the time when he got a few of his first books published up to his accident when he was hit by a car. If you ask me On Writing could serve as the framework for a movie about Stephen King.

I highly recommend this book. 5/5 Stars

*Photo from Amazon.com

English Grammar for Dummies

I must be more of a "dummy" than I thought. I Found this great reference book English Grammar for Dummies. All the "For Dummies" books that I have read have really impressed me. When I was first getting into photography, most of what I learned was from Digital Photography All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies.

These books are written very simply. Just about anyone can pick them up and understand what they are reading without getting confused.

My one beef with this book is the examples the author gives. She goes though the trouble of breaking down complicated information about punctuation and sentence structure so it's easy to read and understand and then gives these terrible examples.

Here is one:

"Lochness snatched the atomic secret and quickly stashed it in his navel."

Come again...? Almost all of the examples are like this. They have characters with bizarre names doing bizarre things. Im sure this is intentional to be funny and entertaining, but it is distracting.

Other than the crazy examples I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get a refresher on English grammar.

*Photo from Amazon.com

Breaking News: The Gathering Storm

I just read that the next installment in the Wheel of Time series The Gathering Storm will be released earlier than expected.

Here is the announcement from brandonsanderson.com:

"This afternoon I got word from Tor that the release date of THE GATHERING STORM has officially been moved up one week. The new on-sale date in the U.S. and Canada will be October 27, 2009, so mark your calendars. We don't yet know if other markets will be following suit; as more information comes in I'll keep you posted.

Jason Denzel at Dragonmount is one of the lucky few who has had the opportunity to read the finished book, and he posted his review of THE GATHERING STORM at the end of July. The review does include some very minor spoilers that he's marked off so you can skip them if you want the book to be completely fresh when you open it up in October. Also over at Dragonmount today Jason posted my comments on the situation with the outriggers and prequels. Short version: A MEMORY OF LIGHT is what Harriet and I are focused on right now.

I got home late last night from Worldcon, where Howard Tayler was beaten to the Best Graphic Story Hugo Award by the much-deserving Phil and Kaja Foglio with Girl Genius. Congratulations!

In this week's Writing Excuses episode Howard, Dan, and I talk about trimming—tightening your prose and reducing word count without changing your story. And while at Worldcon we recorded three episodes with the puppeteer and Campbell-winning writer Mary Robinette Kowal, so that's something to look forward to in upcoming podcasts.

And since it's Tuesday, a new MISTBORN 3 annotation has gone up and I have three links to give you: Part One Wrap-Up, Chapter Fourteen, and Chapter Fifteen. The beginning of Part Two is when Spook shows up, so these are chapters I particularly like. It's more setup, but with a more epic scope like HERO OF AGES has, more setup is necessary."

Ghost Story

I just started reading Ghost Story by Peter Straub. Good so far, but im not really sure where it's going.

Progress Report

I started on a third draft of a short story I'm working on today. I took a little break between drafts to brush up on some grammar and punctuation basics. The story is about a family that goes camping in a remote area of the Pacific Northwest and run into some trouble with another camper.

In this draft I'm hoping to get the word count down from 6,500 to around 5,000 or less. I also need to come up with a title. I'm currently using "Bad Camper" as a place holder, but I need something better. Other than that I'm just going to try and apply some of what I learned from reading "The Elements of Style" and really strip down everything that isn't important to the story and polish everything that is.

First Post

I just had a (great) idea to start a writers blog where I can post updates on my attempts to become a published writer. I have been writing stories for as long as I can remember and I have finally gotten to a point where I want to take it to the next level and try to get something published. My goal is to write several new stories all short fiction (3,000-5,000 words) and start submitting them to magazines.

I have written a rough draft of my first story and have set it aside to spend a little time brushing up on the basics of writing and grammar. I feel so rusty on this stuff. I have been reading through a text book of my wife's "Essentials of College English" and it feels more like reading a foreign language. Luckily when rereading Stephen King's "On writing" he recommended "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White and I have been learning a lot from it.

Hopefully someone will stumble across this blog and get a laugh at my expense at my trial and errors, and maybe someone will find this and learn something. I will be happy either way.

Please feel free to leave comments, questions, or words of wisdom.