I was actually asked a few times about the writing process in general. I make absolutely no claim that anything I do in terms of writing this book is "correct," or even any semblance of "right," but this is just my personal process. I know my friend, who is probably a far more serious writer than myself, has a completely different way of approaching things. For instance, she likes to seclude herself from anything positive and write in the most depressing environment that she can think of. She ca...

Well, I actually followed through with my own mandate to myself today and finished up the fourth chapter of my beloved Paradise today. I probably started at about 2:00pm and by 5:30pm I had written a solid seven pages of content and brought the lengthy chapter to a close at about fourteen pages (with 1.5 line spacing). Now, by the time I considered the first full draft of the chapter "finished," I think I honestly felt like my brain was just going to be set to "Gone Fishing" status for the res...

Since I got the majority of my work done for my fulltime job of a summer class that they call Intensive Second-Year Spanish, I figured I'd pretty much just go ahead and enjoy the day fully. And oh, let me tell you, it's been an enjoyable day. Between EG and I going to a hole-in-the-wall Chinese place which felt the need to not just serve up food but, rather, serve up some food to also going to Border's and picking up a couple of Philip K. Dick books ( Flow My Tears... and A Scanner Dar...

I had a nice, mildly lengthy entry dedicated to the "end of the year," which is to say the end of the school year. Which it is for me. But the entry… Well, to be honest, it was pretty horrendous. I actually deleted it after I had posted it because I felt that it didn't live up to the standards which I, myself, have established for entries on this site. And I'm not going to lie to you: the bar is pretty low. So when I say that an entry is bad I mean that it's really bad . I'll give it another ...

After spending a couple of fairly long, enjoyable nights editing I think I can consider the second chapter of Paradise in a state of completion limbo — not "done" by any means, but done well enough to the point where I can not worry about it and move on to the next chapter. Which I think I'll probably start work on at the end of the month. Chapter 2, though, is fairly different than the first chapter in that there was no longer the need to be incredibly detailed in environment descriptions ...

Depending on how involved I get in Red Orchestra or Ubik tonight, I may make a general post later. Though if that's what you're looking for at this particular moment, you may want to look elsewhere. This itty-bitty post has nothing to do with anything save Paradise -- which, for the unfamiliar, is what I'm currently calling my dystopian, post-nuclear, romantic, darkly comedic, dramatic psychological thriller of a book. If the idea of a book like this entices you in all the right places t...

Last night I finished what I recently decided would be the full first draft of Paradise and I'm surprised at how well it's turning out. I have a nice majority of the content I want for the first chapter written in, but it's still very rough around the edges. Last night I made an initial editing run of the first ten pages of the 1.5-line spaced draft (which stands at thirteen pages right now) and added a few large sections of entirely new content that have yet to be proofread. And tonight I spe...

I woke up three times that day. And, like every other day, I woke up to screaming -- a screaming which slowly escalated and transformed into an electric pulse. Groaning as I rolled over onto my back, I tried to open my eyes; I failed, and threw my arm back against the vibrant pulsating clock behind my head. Silence. Not even a second later, the omnipresent noise started up again, more powerful, increased in its anger from a forced silence. I denied its voice for a second time. And once ...