NOLA STARs

Hello everyone, this is Dennis Clarkston coming to you live from Natchitoches.  This week I have chosen as the theme: "Something New and Something Old."  What I would like you to think about are what new and/or old things or events have occurred and/or have resurfaced within the last three to five weeks.

The new thing I had discovered within the last five weeks is something called "writing sprints."  A group of writers meet via Internet and Instant Messaging to take on writing challenges.  The one I have participated in involves two authors who put on a presentation at our conference this year: Delilah Devlin and Elle James.  We writers are then challenged to sprint for 45 minutes and then discuss your progress using AOL instant message program.

I amazed myself at how much work I put into my computer pertaining to my various projects.  Having people cheering me on helps encourage me to write on my stuff as well.  At the end of the 45 minutes, you enter your progress.  Whether that is a word count, pages edited, pages revised, or other measures of accomplishments, the process does seem to help push me to get some work done.

On the something old, I talked with Jennifer Blake about one of my old projects that I started years ago.  Due to her encouraging words, I resurrected this old project I started back in November 2001.  With ten books in this series already started, I have to complete this one first.  This particular book is the linchpin of all of them.  So I really need to complete this book before I can even look at my other books.

Now, since I combined both of them together -- my old book and writing sprints, I have found myself reaching further along in my book progress.  Last year, I started writing one-paragraph descriptions of each scene of my book.  Yet, I never could get past 15 to 20 scenes before I set it aside.  Yet, this past week, I completed 51 paragraphs that describe 51 different scenes and they are in order of the book progression.  Though I may need to do some minor adjustments, I see the book progressing to the end at this point.

What I am aiming for are to write anywhere from 75 to 100 scenes with each scene being anywhere from 500 words to 1200 words in length.  If I keep up the work I have started this past week, I should have my basic outline of descriptive paragraphs complete sometime by Thursday or Friday.

At that time, I will take it to the next level and expand on these descriptions to build small outlines.  After that, I plan to just write my book.  How long will this take?  I am not sure.  I have set a self-imposed deadline of July 15. 

Well, I guess it is time to relinquish my position on my soapbox.  Have you come across something new or something old that has gotten you excited?

Dennis