Writing Update

I’ve been writing a ton.

I’ve now got my rough draft for my half of the first Mr. Nightcrawler novel done. The tentative title for this book is Dead Six. Mike is writing as fast as he can, and we’ll have the whole thing done before he ships out. I think you guys are going to be really pleased with this one. It is an awesome story.

To be kind of silly, I can say that this story was RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES! Well, not really, but it is a great story.

I’m currently revamping MHI:2 the 2nd draft. I’m making a lot of changes, tweaking a bunch of scenes. I should have it wrapped up soon.

I got an e-mail the other day. A fan of MHI had written a short story set in the MHI universe, and wanted to know if I wanted to read it. I was a little nervous, as most FanFic absolutely sucks. You’ve all heard the horror stories. So with some trepidation, I sat down to read it, and surprisingly enough it was really good. Well written, creative, and overall I really enjoyed reading it.

Sea gulls on welfare
Caught Mojo Philter's first gig last night

12 thoughts on “Writing Update”

  1. How in the world do you manage to finish books so quickly?? I’ve been working on my first for a year and a half and I still don’t have it finished….

    Can I borrow some talent please?

  2. Wasn’t Deep Six the name of the book that McGee writes on NCIS where he writes about his co-workers? Just a funny tidbit.

  3. Farmgirl, the secret to being able to write this much is simple. Unemployment. 🙂 I’m trying to find another job, but in the meantime, since the economy sucks and nobody’s hiring, I spend my whole day writing.

    Deep Six was also the underwater GI Joe.

    In the book, Dead Six is the name of a mercenary organization that is on a secret mission in a small middle eastern country, working for some very shady characters. We borrow liberally from Mike’s time spent in small middle eastern country, only with lots of extra intrigue and explosions.

    Of the two POV characters, Mike’s works for Dead Six, while mine is trying to track them down and kill them. So basically I write half, he writes half, and it goes back and forth between the two antagonists.

  4. Larry, I think you need a test reader… 😀 Kidding, kidding.

    My main problem is that I’m a harsh critic on myself… it takes forever for me to be satisfied with a scene… thus it takes forever for me to write.

    Well, no, actually I write pretty fast. It just takes forever for me to stop going “NO! Don’t look, it’s hideous!!!”

  5. I write fast. I rewrite slow. I understand the feeling, but trust me, there will be a point of diminishing returns. Eventually you’ve just got to say, oh well, and put it out there.

  6. That’s why I put pieces up on the blog. That way I’ve got people asking me for the next chapter, to help me let go, so to speak.

    Gonna have to change that, but I don’t know where I’m gonna get that impetus to let it be if not from the blog readers…

  7. You know I had forgotten about the frogman GI Joe. But I am looking forward to it. I REALLY enjoyed when you two did the Nightcrawler stuff on THR.

  8. Farmgirl, I too tend to over-criticize and over-edit. I waste a lot of production time trying to get each scene perfect as I write it.

    Honestly? That hurdle doesn’t mean you’re untalented. It just means you have to convince yourself that you ARE talented so you don’t worry about every detail as much.

    In any case there’s always time for post-production cleanup. Don’t stress too much in the pre-alpha build (i.e., before it’s even finished) of your story. Write the story, then go from there. The most important thing is that you tell your story.

    Although I don’t have too much free time these days, I’d be happy to take a look at what you’ve written (and get Larry’s input) if you want some pointers. It’s a constant learning process for all of us, after all.

    Anyway, DEAD SIX is going to be a novel unlike anything most people have read.

  9. NC, I’m always up for other writers to read my stuff.

    I got spoiled during my creative writing class in school… people actually told me what was wrong/awkward about a certain spot, so I could fix it!

    Don’t you just hate those phrases that sound just fine in your head, until someone points out that they don’t read well and then it’s like a glaring neon sign??

  10. Ah, yes. Lines that sound great when you write them at 0245, but sound, um, less great, when you read them at noon, wide awake.

    Larry and I could share a few tidbits like that. Oh yes.

    It’s okay to be cheesy sometimes. Just remember, there’s cheesy good, cheesy bad, and cheesy AWESOME. (In other words, if it’s played right, there’s nothing wrong with a little camp.)

    Email sent.

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