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Category: Journey of Writing

Writing

So this blog entry is about a month overdue. Hard to believe that it has taken this long to revisit the blog. I want to give a detailed update of where the Elarra Solstice is and some thoughts on plot and character.

First of all I know that updates and notices of progress have been few and far between lately. I want to reassure you that the project is alive and well. In fact I’ve never been more excited about the project. The outlines and plans I’ve completed for revisions are really going to enrich the story and I’m excited. The biggest frustration is that I can’t wait to get to book 2 and beyond because the whole story builds and builds and right now I’m the only one that knows where it’s going. I can’t wait for readers to experience that! However I know that there will never be a book 2 and beyond if book 1 isn’t exceptional. So my current project is to make book 1 exceptional.

I’ve outlined all the changes and have detailed scene descriptions for book 1. Essentially I’m taking the backstory and making it the first chapter of the saga. I spent too much time in the narrative of what was book 1 (Whispers and Shadows) establishing the backstory that is so critical to the whole thing. Per recommendations that I received from a trusted associate, I’m extracting about 30,000 words from the manuscript as the basis for the new book 1. That leaves 80,000 to start with for what is now book 2. That also leaves me about 80,000 words to write for the new Book 1. While that is a lot of writing to do, my pace is usually about 2000 words per 90 minutes of first draft material. Now that is just the first very rough material that I usually edit about 7-8 times-a process that I really enjoy. I’ve already finished about 10,000 words of new material for book 1 and have gone through the revisions process at least four times since it is the new opening for the brook and that has to be great. So good progress is being made!

My problem right now is protecting my writing time. The last 4-6 weeks have been especially tough but that has only toughened my resolve. I want to finish my first draft of book one by July and then have something submittable by September.

So that’s the plan and I hope you enjoy the updates. They will be more frequent from here on out.

Latest Log Line

OK so I finally had some writing time today and spent some time revising my log line and pitch. While I’ve read many things about how to query a literary agent (i.e., submit to an agent, the first step in the long publication process), the best information I’ve read so far is from The Writer’s Essential Tackle Box by Lynn Price. This book has been an invaluable resource these last several weeks as I’ve revised and prepped Book 1 for submission and (hopefully) publication.

The “log line” is the one or two sentence hook that sets out the main characters, conflict and plot of one’s book. Sort of like what a 15 second movie trailer would show about the full length feature. Here’s my latest attempt that took 2 hours:

The epic science fiction series, The Elarra Solstice, is about a reluctant warrior who returns to unify his ancient homeworld and find the woman in his dreams, the feisty admiral whose dedication is destroying her marriage, and the elusive terrorist who preserves the violence by consistently beating them to his next targets.

Thoughts?

Writing the Trailers

So: Now it’s time to start really submitting Book 1 to agents. As part of the process, I’ve got to whittle down the novel into a pitch (like a movie trailer) and a tag line (like a movie poster). So this got me thinking about what elements go into a good movie trailer and seeing if that translates to a good pitch. I remember some great movie trailers that ended up with even better movies; and some great trailers that far surpassed the movies they previewed.

Here are my top 5 movie trailers that previewed movies that exceeded or at least matched the expectations that the trailers created:

  1. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Awesome movie trailer—accompanied by an incredible soundtrack—that turned out to be an even awesomer movie) (awesomer really needs to be a real word).
  2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (tied with Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King): Being a Lord of the Rings devotee (read the books at least a dozen times), I was filled with anticipation for these movies. I was blown away by the trailer, watched it religiously until the movie came out, and basically experienced spiritual enlightenment when I saw the movie. This occurred with all three movies in the trilogy.
  3. The Dark Knight: I have to admit, I think Christian Bale is Bruce Wayne. I liked the original Tim Burton movie alright (Nicholson was a great Joker); the second one was just weird, though (apologies to my youngest sister). I was impressed with Batman Begins, and had heard of the hype surrounding The Dark Knight. The trailer was good because it established the premise, and created questions in the viewer’s mind that you wanted answered. And the movie? Well, definitely the best movie of the year.
  4. The Matrix: I remember the first time I saw the trailer for The Matrix. Laurence Fishburne’s voiceover. Agent Smith’s declaration that human beings were the disease of our planet. And the question: what is the matrix? Brilliantly posed, but never answered. The trailer showed flashes of what made the movie great without revealing too much. Great trailer for an even greater movie.
  5. Gladiator: Again, a trailer that poses the question and premise in a very succinct and visually impressive way. By 30 seconds in, you know that there is a general who becomes a slave who becomes a gladiator who defies the emperor. And it’s presented in such a way that you want to know how it all happened and how it ends up.

Here are my top 5 awesome trailers that became HUGE disappointments in the movie.

  1. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: You must have lived under a rock if you weren’t spiritually, emotionally, and just plain holistically moved by this trailer. The Star Wars theme, the shots of Liam Neeson as a Jedi and Ewan McGregor as Obi Wan Kenobi…even the kid Anakin didn’t seem all that bad. Then I saw the movie. Enough said.
  2. The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions: What can I say? The trailer for Revolutions upped the ante and returned a glimmer of hope to me that Revolutions would rise from the ashes of Reloaded. Nope. Such potential wasted. What made it worse was that the sequels took away everything mystical that gave gravitas to the first one. All of a sudden the faith of Morpheus is ruined and instead of a deeply spiritual man who believes in something greater that can’t be explained by the machines, the oracle is just a program, and the Matrix is god. What a letdown. And then Trinity and Neo die. While I appreciate dark, gritty reality, and heroic sacrifice, I am a bit of a sucker for happy endings. I prefer that the hero comes away having learned from their sacrifice, a better person preferably still alive [the notable exception being Gladiator, which was happy because Maximus is reunited with his family]. This was just over the top.
  3. Alien 3: not much to say about this one. Again, a trailer with loads of promise and potential. Especially since one of the main questions that the trailer doesn’t answer is what happened to Newt and Hicks? Oh. They’re gone before the opening credits finish rolling. In my world, this movie never happened and Ripley’s story ends after Aliens. Just like The Matrix trilogy really is just one movie for me. (As a side note, Alien Resurrection was worse than Alien 3. But I could tell that was coming with the trailer. How in the world do stories like these get told? Don’t the writers/studios realize that what made Alien and Aliens great wasn’t just the aliens scaring and eating people? The characters and triumph of the first two is what made them great. Man: if those movies can get made, my books can get published. Why am I wasting more of my life on these movies?)
  4. Mission to Mars: Speaking of life wasting, perhaps the trailer/movie disappointment list should be topped with this movie. The trailer was so visually compelling that I dragged my other sister to this movie. I had read some disappointing reviews but then I’d watch the trailer again and think that there was no way the movie could be that bad. Compelling, engrossing trailer, all star cast…it had to be great! As my sister reminded me over the holidays, “Do you realize that I can never reclaim those wasted 2 hours of my life? And it’s your fault!”
  5. I can’t go on after #4.

So my goal with the pitch for The Elarra Solstice Book 1 is to make a trailer so compelling that you (and a literary agent :)) want to read it. And then have the book deliver on that promise (which I think it does; I promise that this isn’t the Mission to Mars of epic sci fi novels).

So what do you think? What makes a good pitch? I’ll be posting samples over the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

Invitation for Beta Readers to Read Manuscript for Book 1

So, The Elarra Solstice Book 1: Whispers and Shadows manuscript is at a point where I am really pleased with it. I still will have my editor, Andrew Howe, edit it one last time (this is the third draft she’ll get). But I’m ready to have some beta readers read through the entire manuscript. Let’s put it this way: this is the story that I’ll be submitting to agents and publishers starting next week. So, right now I’d like to give 5-10 people the chance to read the pre-publication manuscript.

Here’s what I need from a potential beta reader:

  • A promise to not copy or print any portion of the manuscript.
  • An effort to read through the manuscript by February 28, 2010.
  • When you’re done, send me a simple email giving me your general thoughts on what you liked/disliked. Nothing too complicated, lengthy, or time-consuming. Just needs to be done by February 28, 2010.

As a reward for being a beta reader, I will provide you with a signed copy of the published novel by the end of the year (2010). If I haven’t nailed down a publishing contract for the book by 12/31/10, I’ll use an online independent publishing company to print a book for you to have. If publishing is in the works and it’s just not ready yet, then I’ll ask you to wait for me to get my copies from the publisher.

In order to be a beta reader, I need your help in spreading the word. So, if you want to become a beta reader, please do the following:

  • Don’t be related to me. If you are related to me, email me and we’ll work something out :).
  • Have 10 (or more) of your Facebook friends go to the Elarra Solstice web site and/or Elarra Solstice Facebook Page and become fans of the page and/or followers of me on Twitter (who aren’t already doing so).
  • If you’re not on Facebook but you are on Twitter, then talk to 10 (or more) of your Twitter friends and direct them to the Elarra Solstice web site and have them to follow me (who aren’t already doing so).
  • I promise that I’ll do my best to ensure that they don’t hate you for becoming fans and/or followers, but that they’ll like what’s there and what’s coming.
  • If you’re not on Facebook or Twitter, email me and we’ll figure something out.
  • Once completed, email me at ben@elarrasolstice.com with the list of the 10 (or more) Facebook fans or Twitter followers that you helped add, and I’ll send you a PDF version of the manuscript.

Take advantage of this reading opportunity through January 29! (I want you to have an entire month to read through the manuscript before I’ll need your thoughts/comments.)

Updated Excerpts Section

After going through The Elarra Solstice Book 1: Whispers and Shadows for a thorough revision and editing, I’ve finally updated the excerpts that are available for download. I’m really excited about the subtle and refining changes that strengthen both the manuscript and the story. Here are some quick administrative notes about the changes:

  • First of all, I changed the chapter structure slightly. The Prelude chapter was long and critical to the rest of the story. In reality, the prelude was chapters 1-3 to begin with. It sets everything in motion and nothing really has as much meaning afterward if the reader skips what I was calling a prologue. So: no more prologue.
  • You may be thinking, so how come you split the prelude into the first 3 chapters, and yet there is actually less to download and read now? Well, I really considered putting the revised chapters up there so that readers who downloaded the previous versions of the chapters could download just as much and get more of the story. I even thought about adding another chapter. Then I realized I was really putting about 25% of the story up for download (26000 words). That’s like watching a 30 minute trailer for a 2 hour movie. Doesn’t make a lot of sense. Besides, the excerpts really are to capture your interest and give you a sense of what is going on and excited to read the rest. I’m satisfied at this point that the existing excerpts do that. If you’re a fan who has read the previous samples and want more…email me and we’ll work something out.
  • In addition, I’m in the process of querying agents and publishers about publishing The Elarra Solstice Book 1: Whispers and Shadows. I want to be extra sure that I’m not doing anything that could possibly infringe on publishing rights and copyright. So, I needed to password protect the downloads. It’s quick and painless: just enter your email address and click the send button to have the password sent to you. Don’t worry: your email address isn’t stored anywhere on our servers. You’ll never get any automated emails besides the one that send you the password.

All in all, I’m really pleased with the revisions and looking forward to the next several weeks as I work on the other manuscripts while querying this one to agents and publishers.

Background Thoughts on Lindallin Snowfall

So I’ve spend a lot of time the last few weeks pouring through The Elarra Solstice Book 1: Whispers and Shadows. I’ve made several tweaks, edits, and minor revisions that have strengthened the story and I’m really pleased with how it’s coming along. I can’t wait to finish and upload the new sample chapters (with some additional content for those who have already downloaded and read the chapters). I’ll start querying and submitting again in earnest once this latest edit is done and that’s another process that excites me.

Along the way, however, I checked the Forgotten Annals story about Thoran: Lindallin Snowfall, for consistency and to make sure I was getting some allusions to that story right. Having not read the story for a few months, I got swept up in reading the whole thing and ended up making some editorial changes that strengthened that story as well. Not any story changes, per se, just refining the writing and making it better (plus I fixed some pesky grammar errors that I hadn’t caught prior to uploading it). I spent my allotted writing time yesterday and today fixing that up and decided to write some background info in the Author’s blog. To sum it all up, I realized how much I like this story and wanted to share some thoughts.

Lindallin Snowfall started out as a short story that I wrote in high school, probably somewhere during my junior and senior years. About 2 years ago, during a visit to my parents’ home, I dug out an old folder containing some of my writing projects from high school. I found the printed and marked up then-final draft of Lindallin Snowfall (which had no title at the time). I remembered having written the story and liking the structure. Skimming through it, I realized that it was a story worth telling and fit right in as a good background piece about the Allorynn and Thoran in particular. What turned out to be a blessing in disguise was that I couldn’t find a digital copy of the story anywhere. So I ended up essentially re-writing it, using very little of the actual original writing. The outline remained basically the same—although I did add in the sections told from Kydri’s point of view—and the theme became much better developed in this latest (and final) incarnation. I changed things around to better match the developments in the overall story that I’ve made in recent years, and ended up with what I think is a great addition to the Elarra Solstice canon.

What I like about the story are the characters and the themes. Jen asked me after she read it for the first time why I spent so much time developing Ellanora when she never appears in the actual Elarra Solstice series. I replied that she was an important person through whom the readers can better understand the Allorynn. I loved the idea of her character: the normal, everyday person who saw the Allorynn once when she was a little girl, and to whom the Allorynn and the “great human kings” are faraway, larger than life characters; super heroes, if you will, of her fairy tale imagination. And then, all of a sudden, Thoran—the greatest of these legendary Allorynn—appears in front of her in her village, nearly beaten to death, collapsing in front of her. I tried to build up this perception of the war and the Allorynn and the Enemy being distant from her village; kind of like the Shire in the Lord of the Rings being this innocent land untouched by Sauron on the power of the Ring. And then Thoran’s arrival—which should be something exciting and wondrous—is the herald that brings the war straight to Ellanora’s doorstep. How do you react to that? How do you deal with the worst kind of adversity when it comes to you, on the heels of something great and unexpected?

I also like the themes of self-sacrifice and honor and the value of dreams of different scope. I thought this story deals with those themes well. What kind of sacrifice should we be willing to make for others? Thoran is a leader of nations and peoples, the Ancient Enemy’s most feared enemy. Is it logical for him to fight for an out of the way backwoods village? From a strictly strategic perspective, no; and that’s what I wanted Thoran to learn about himself. Despite the fact that the Ancient Enemy took that light from him, those noble, honorable attributes that make him who he is cannot be taken away.

I’ve often also thought about dreams and vision. What dreams do we have as people for our lives? What do we want to accomplish? Is the dream of someone who only wants to provide a simple life for their family less noble or grand than the person who dreams of leading communities, cities, or even nations? Different, yes, but neither is more “valuable” than the other. Thoran’s conversation with Ellanora toward the end elucidates his perspective on that, and what I believe makes honorable leaders honorable.

[Update 3/1/11]

So….as I’ve been re-writing The Elarra Solstice thanks to some great feedback from Mike Sirota over the last several months, I’ve actually incorporated Lindallin Snowfall into Book 1, which I’m retitling Echoes of Elarra (at least for now). I’ve got to get a blog entry up! It’s been too long.

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