Every Other Friday

One of the reasons I created this blog was to "prod" myself into production.  I need someone to keep me on task and on schedule.  That's part of why I have always loved working with producers and editors.  When I was fortunate enough to work on some larger creative projects, "I need a re-write of this script by the 15th" was music to my ears, rather than "get it back to me whenever you can."

I need a taskmaster, and I'm no good at being my own.  There's no shame in it; it's not a character flaw... it's just a personality trait.  I think it's good to know my own weaknesses, and lack of discipline is certainly one of them.  And in order to counter this challenging trait,   I have always had benevolent dictators to help me succeed in my endeavors.

That's where you come in, dear Reader.

I am going to post a chapter every other Friday, beginning on August 5th.

Hopefully, you'll read each chapter eagerly, then breathlessly await the next installment.  But even if you don't... I'll imagine that you are.  I'll tell myself, "my readers are waiting for the next chapter."  In this way, I can drive myself to write, and finish my novel within a year.

I'll also have posts that aren't actual chapters, but they'll be related to the book --  entries about the actual writing of the book.  Those won't have a schedule;  they'll just pop up whenever the inspiration  hits me.

So, I'm making a commitment to you.  Starting August 5th, 2016, I will post a new chapter every other Friday.

And I'll work hard to make sure you'll have something entertaining and engaging to read.  You deserve the best I'm able to create:  you are, after all, my readers.

What Writing Tools Do I Use?

There are all sorts of shiny, high-tech tools and toys for writers today, and I've tried several of these software packages, thinking they might actually make me more creative, or more efficient, or more organized.  Sadly, most of them are complicated enough to require tutorials and classes.  More importantly, they also require a change in writing practices; new software requires a commitment to the program's idiosyncrasies.  I want a software program that adapts to me, one that's powerful and intuitive.

Oh, I also want it to be free.

I'm a thrifty sort of writer (some might translate "thrifty" as "cheap" -- so be it).

So... here's the "suite" of free (but valuable) programs I use for all my writing projects.

For all my planning, organizing, outlining, and pre-writing, I use a wonderful program called Gingko.  For the actual writing, I use Google Docs.  If a particular publisher requires submissions to be in one of the Word formats, I'm able to download any file from Google Docs as a Word .doc file.  You can also download files from Google Docs as OpenOffice files, or as PDF files.  If  I want to add details like headers, footnotes, and page numbers, I use the free OpenOffice word processor, since I sometimes have trouble getting Google Docs to do these things consistently.  And if I need to do any detailed storyboarding or "mind-mapping," for larger projects (like a book series), I use Coggle.

Below, you'll find more detailed descriptions of these free and valuable writer's tools, along with links to the sites where you can download or subscribe to them.

Gingko (yes, I know it's a misspelling of the actual word, but the creator of this program thought the misspelled name would make it memorable) -- this is an incredible, easy-to-use, super-intuitive writing and organizing tool.  The free version lets you create 100 virtual index cards per month.  If you need more than that, you'll get unlimited cards and support for the subscription price of $4.99 per month, or $49 per year.

Google Docs -- You probably use this already, but if you don't, it's well worth a try.  It's a free web-based word processor that has nearly all of the features you will need (headers, footers, and auto-numbering are difficult propositions in this program), and it's a great way to collaborate with co-authors and editors.

Apache OpenOffice -- This is a wonderful free open source software suite, very similar to that "other" commercial office suite.  It is free to download and use, easy to learn, and it has wonderful support.  (Did I mention it's free?)

Coggle -- This is a freeware mind-mapping application that allows you to structure your ideas like a branching tree.  It is easy to use, and you can add collaborators to your projects if you desire.

And now, of course, Blogger has been added to my suite of tools, as I cut text from Google Docs and Gingko to paste into these blog posts.

This combination of tools works for me.  It may sound complicated, but it's really not.  These applications built on my knowledge base; they all adapted to me, not the other way around.

So... what is this novel about?

The novel I'm working on -- and will begin to post chapters from very soon -- is a murder mystery.  Why write a murder mystery?  Well, the most important reason is because I like mysteries; I've always read them, and I've always enjoyed them.  It also doesn't hurt that mystery is the most popular fiction genre, so it should be easier to find and build an audience for a mystery than for other types of novels.

If the novel is a good one, of course.

Which is my plan.

The novel is called Fog Count.

A one-paragraph synopsis of the novel:

Joshua Cardiff, a police chief in a small Louisiana bayou town  -- a town where prison is the only industry -- faces violent jurisdictional disputes from crooked federal agents, black magic curses from a self-styled voodoo priestess, and threats from a variety of unexpected sources as he investigates a bizarre and gruesome murder.

It will, hopefully, be the first book in the Joshua Cardiff series.

The Journey Begins

This blog is an attempt at "blogging a novel," which simply means I will be writing the novel online.  I will regularly post chapters (a chapter a week is my goal), and I will add other content from time to time in an attempt to build an audience for the book.

Until now, all of my writing has been in the form of plays.  Some are stage plays, and some are audio-based comedies and thrillers (to hear some examples of my work, click on some of the links you'll find in the sidebar to the right of this post).  But I have always wanted to write novels.

I've dabbled with novel-writing, of course.  I've started four different novels, but each time I eventually lost steam at somewhere around the hundred-page mark.  Hopefully, this blog -- more specifically, the audience reading this blog -- will motivate me to keep going.

That's the plan.

I believe having an audience will give me a sense of responsibility.  I'll tell myself each week, "my readers are counting on me."

This could really work... or it could end as yet another unfinished novel, the only real difference being that this one would left floating somewhere out in the nearly-infinite digital cloud rather than being hidden away from the light of day in a forgotten box of file folders.

God help me, I really want to write -- and to finish -- a novel.