| THOMAS J. PRESTOPNIK |
| ~ The Author's Official Website ~ |
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| Copyright © Thomas J. Prestopnik 2005 - 2012 All rights reserved. www.TomPresto.com |
Update #9 - December 31, 2011 (previous updates listed below)
The countdown has begun to 2012 and so this will be my last update for the
year. And it has been quite a productive but tiring year as I close in on
completing the last chapters of this literary behemoth. As I mentioned in the
last post, I had planned to leisurely finish writing Chapter 88 sometime in
early December, but I guess I was enjoying my time off and worked too
leisurely as I only just completed it yesterday. But the chapter is done and so
there are only ten left to go. I will use the first two weeks in January to read
the 2000 pages I have written so far just to refamiliarize myself with the story
as a whole and then begin work on Chapter 89. Other than skimming short
parts of the story now and then to refresh my memory or answer a question in
the course of my writing, I haven't read through the entire completed portion
in about two years because it has grown so long. I think it's time to do that
again and see where it all stands.
And since the year is rapidly ending, I thought it would be a good time to tell
you a few things about the beginning of this novel--not the plot, of course
(too early for that), but a part of its origin. I've mentioned before that I first
started developing ideas for this story in the fall of 1978. Most were unrelated
bits of plot and setting and a few vaguely developed characters, all of which
swirled around in my mind for about a year like bits of space debris that
hadn't yet coalesced into a star or a planet, or in my case, a proper story idea.
Finally, and by chance, there was one particularly interesting spark that
started me on the road to laying out a viable storyline which I'll get into in
more detail in a later post when I'm ready to reveal some of the specific plot
points. But during this same time when I was mentally nurturing the first
seeds of this novel at the ripe old age of fifteen, I was also writing another
fantasy novel, without an outline, and made it all the way to Chapter Seven.
I remember writing it (printing, actually) in pen in one of those black and
white speckled composition notebooks, each line single spaced. Even now
when I write by hand I still print, finding it much faster going than cursive.
But somewhere in Chapter Seven of that book I came to a screeching halt,
having no idea where I was going with a flimsy plot and a collection of
characters popping in and out of each chapter. So I set it aside, planning to
tackle it at a later time, but nothing ever came of it. I wish I had kept that
notebook which I must have discarded years later, probably thinking what a
lame idea it had been. I even recall typing up those seven chapters on my
mother's blue metal manual typewriter (I believe one of the Smith-Corona
models), formatting each sheet of paper so that it looked like a page of an
already published book. But, alas, a published story it was not to be.
Still, one idea (a character, or more precisely, a group of characters) from that
early attempt at a novel does survive in a slightly different form in my current
work in progress. So in a way, part of that old story lives on. One day I'll
explain in more detail when this book is done and in the publishing part of
the process. But it just goes to show you that any idea, even the discarded
musings of a fifteen year old, may sprout up again in a stronger, more
substantial literary form--and with a much cooler name, too. But as I said,
more details about that and other topics as 2012 unfolds. Happy New Year!
Update #8 - November 23, 2011
I decided to post my November update this evening, the day before
Thanksgiving, as over the next few days my attention will be focused on more
important matters--leftover turkey sandwiches, pumpkin pie and, if I can
squeeze them in, a few long walks. As usual during this time of year, my
writing starts to wind down as the creative part of my brain eases into a
temporary hibernation. I let my subconscious take over the writing tasks for
the most part until January rolls around when I'm once again refreshed and
eager to attack the computer keyboard.
In my last post, I was about halfway finished writing Chapter 87 in Part Ten
of the book, but as was the case with a few previous chapters, the outline
differed from the finished product. As I worked on this chapter, I realized
that a string of events near the end worked better as a stand-alone episode, so
I divided Chapter 87 into two parts, Chapters 87 and 88. The new Chapter 87
is finished and I'm more or less halfway through Chapter 88. I am now in the
process of leisurely completing this chapter (having abandoned my regular
writing routine for the rest of the year) and hope to have it done sometime in
early December. It will be the last chapter I work on in 2011 since my creative
gas tank is near EMPTY and Thanksgiving and Christmas activities have
taken over. When Chapter 88 is finished, I will have written well over 400
pages this year, easily passing the 2000 page mark for the entire novel. So
when I begin writing again in early January, I will have ten chapters left to
complete--Chapters 89 - 94 in Part Ten and Chapters 95 - 98 in Part Eleven.
Now if I haven't bored you to death with chapter numbers and page counts,
I'll pose a question some of you may have asked yourselves while regularly
following these updates. As I mentioned in my first post last April, I started
developing this book thirty-three years ago in the autumn of 1978 when I was
fifteen years old. I completed the first outline nearly ten years later in July
1988. It wasn't until eleven more years had passed that I began writing the
actual text in June of 1999. So the question is--What took you so long to get this
project off the ground?
The answer is simple really--I just wasn't ready. Even as a teenager, I knew
that writing this book was going to be a massive, multi-year undertaking that
would consume a good chunk of my time, patience and creativity. And
though I had many other story ideas swirling around in my mind and wrote
several novels, plays and short stories in the ensuing years, I knew that this
particular project was the one closest to my heart. Therefore, I wanted to give
it the care and attention it deserved after I was confident that I could write
well enough and could handle such a complex story regarding plot, character
development and the like. And when I finally began writing the first lines of
this book in June 1999, it took me about eight and a half years until January
2008 to finish the prologue and the first twenty chapters.
The main reason for that slow progress, however, was the fact that I had
written and self-published four other novels in the same time period, forcing
me to write this novel in spurts between those other projects (The Timedoor,
The Sword and the Crown, The Saving Light and Gabriel's Journey). Finally,
after writing a short Christmas themed novella in 2008 (A Christmas Castle,
which you can read on this website in its entirety), I decided to complete this
novel during 2009, 2010 and 2011. Okay, let's add 2012 to the mix now,
though I hope that when June rolls around, I'll be wrapping up the first draft
and celebrating. But just a little bit. There'll still be plenty of work afterward
to get it into publishing shape. See you next month. Happy Thanksgiving!
Update #7 - October 27, 2011
Since October is nearly over, it's time that I posted my promised monthly
update. I was working on Chapter 87 earlier today and let loose a pounding,
day-long rainstorm on some of my characters. Coincidentally, a cold, dreary
rain has been falling in my hometown all day, and just now in the fading
daylight, I noticed a scattering of large white snowflakes parachuting among
the raindrops. A preview of wintry things to come, I suppose, but I won't
take out the snow shovel just yet. I hope there'll be plenty of time before I
have to resort to such a drastic step.
In my previous entry, I mentioned that I had a week's worth of writing left to
complete on Chapter 86. Not surprisingly, that turned into three weeks before
yet another monster chapter (53 pages) in my book was completed. I'm about
halfway through Chapter 87 today and it is moving along nicely. My goal is
to write to the end of Chapter 89 by late November/early December and then
take off until sometime in January when I will start work on the final eight
chapters. But enough nuts and bolts. I'd like to give you a little more insight
into the flavor of the story this month, but again, holding back on the plot
points. Too soon to divulge that information.
Many people have asked me where I get my story ideas from, and though I
address that subject briefly in question #2 on the FAQs list, I'll expand upon
it regarding my novel in progress, specifically Part Six (Chapters 48 - 59). The
middle chapters in this section entail a journey to and through a mountain
range that was inspired in part by several hikes I took in the Adirondack
Mountains, a large region of forests and lakes in northeastern New York
State. The southern border of the Adirondacks is about ten miles north of my
hometown in Little Falls, and when walking on the hilly roads just above the
city on a clear day, I can see the distant tips of some of the nearer mountains
while looking to the northeast. Most of the higher peaks (4000 feet or more),
are a few hours' drive north and are bunched together south of Lake Placid. I
climbed six of those high peaks several years ago, including Mount Marcy, the
state's tallest mountain, with my oldest brother serving as guide.
My last climb, and most favorite, was Mount Skylight which I climbed with
my brother on September 10, 1995. Skylight is the fourth highest mountain
in New York and is open and rocky on the summit, providing a spectacular
360 degree view of the Adirondacks. The abundant sunshine that day
highlighted the beautiful colors in the rock which gave the summit an almost
magical look. I've kept in mind this moment and others to use in various ways
when I describe the setting in this section of my book.
The above pre-digital camera snapshot doesn't do justice to the scenery, but
it's still not a bad photograph for the pocket film camera I was using at the
time. I also climbed nearby Gray Peak that same day before ascending
Skylight. As I recall, the top of Gray Peak was covered with trees and didn't
offer much of a view. Below are a few more pictures from this hike and a
couple of earlier ones. Hope you enjoy them. Back next month.
Update #6 - September 26, 2011
We finally made it to autumn, my favorite season of the year, though the
ideal fall weather most imagine lasts for far too short a time. Spring ranks a
close second, and as I get older, I look forward to its arrival more each year. I
guess getting through winter is the real trick here in Central New York. As
for my current book, my characters have just gone through their winter
season, but only for a few chapters. Most of the novel has been set in the
autumn months, and now as spring approaches, a few new developments are
blooming as the book winds down. But as for the writing of the book, here's
where things now stand.
I took some time off from writing to rework my outline as I mentioned in the
previous post, stopping in what I thought was the middle of Part Nine. With
the outline now mostly up to date (more on that shortly), I've decided to end
Part Nine with Chapter 85 and finished editing that section (Chapters 79 - 85)
two weeks ago. Since those seven chapters work together thematically and also
end on a surprising note, I realized they could stand alone as a whole. Part
Ten will now contain the remaining chapters that I had envisioned (and
partially revised) for the second half of Part Nine, and a new Part Eleven will
end the book.
I am currently near the end of writing Chapter 86 and hope to finish that up
this week. And as I have over the past several years, I'll probably keep writing
up to December or thereabouts, and then take a break until early in January.
By mid springtime or so in 2012, I think I finally might have the first draft of
this very long book completed--and it only took a year longer than first
anticipated. Oh well, the heart was willing but the mind had other plans.
Here's what the book's current structure looks like.
Earlier I wrote that the outline was mostly up to date, and while I don't
anticipate any more changes to the number of chapters, I've been playing
around with some of the events in Chapter 91, one of the major chapters of
the book. Though the basics of the plot for that chapter had been outlined
years ago, now that I draw closer to writing it, coupled with some of the other
changes I've made, I'm looking at more interesting ways to handle the events
in terms of both plot and theme. That's the writing process, I guess, and part
of what makes it challenging and fun. So until I write the words THE END,
the book, like the seasons, is ever changing. Talk to you in October.
Update #5 - August 30, 2011
I was going to post this update as soon as I finished writing Chapter 85 of my
book, expecting to have finished it about a week ago. But since it turned into
another grueling chapter (45 pages long, but a good one), I only just finished
it earlier today. Now I can relax a bit and bring you up to date on my
progress. I'm currently writing Part Nine (of ten parts) which was supposed to
contain nine chapters according to my outline (see Update #2). Seven chapters
are now completed (Chapters 79 through 85) with several more, not two, to
go. A few of the completed chapters were split into two as some parts were
long enough and contained their own story arc to serve as chapters by
themselves. These seven chapters alone, which I began in early May, account
for just over 190 pages of the book. Right now the total number of completed
pages in the novel stands at a little over 1900. Can't wait to do my major edit
on that!
Now after completing four more months of constant writing, my brain needs
another rest. I feel like I was writing that last chapter on fumes. My creative
gas tank is definitely low. I'm going to take the rest of this week and all of
next week off to recharge and then continue with Part Nine on September 12.
But I will not be completely pushing aside this project until then. I have some
minor adjustments to make to my outline again. I had already changed a few
things before I began writing Part Nine, but now I've reached a point where I
must add a few items and remove some others. Some of the events that were
originally supposed to have occurred at the ends of Parts Six and Seven were
moved to the beginning of Part Nine. I did this to end those two parts at a
more logical place in both their time lines and plot lines which I think vastly
improve the story. Also, I expanded the beginning of Part Nine, adding a few
events and characters which logically grew from the writing and weren't
anticipated in the outline. I really like some of the scenes I've developed.
Now I'm at a point where I have to reconcile what I've just written with
where the rest of the outline stands. A few proposed scenes I can now get rid
of (and will happily do so) because some are not necessary. Others scenes I can
streamline, having found more interesting and logical ways to present them.
So while I'm taking a short vacation from writing, I will still be writing, only
a different type which will not be as taxing. So when I post my next update,
which I've been doing monthly and will try to continue, I can give you an
exact chapter count for Part Nine. Part Ten, the last section of the book, still
contains four chapters. I don't expect that to change, but then, you never
know. Now it's time to sit back, put my feet up and do a little reading (instead
of writing) for the next few days. Later.
Update #4 - July 26, 2011
I just came back from a three mile walk this evening and decided to post
another update before tackling more of Chapter 84 of my current project. I
used to run years ago, though I prefer walking both now and then, and twice
ran the Utica Boilermaker Road Race in 1993 and 1997. The 15k (9.3 mile)
race takes place in Utica, NY which is about 17 miles west of Little Falls. I
recall the difficulty of the course into the seventh mile during both races as I
ran up Champlin Avenue under the hot sun, wondering at that point why I
ever decided to compete and if I would ever finish. (Enduring a toe blister my
first year and recovering from shin splints the second time didn't help either.)
But I managed to finish both races with respectable times of 85 minutes in
1993 and 81 minutes four years later. I can't even imagine what my time
would have been at this year's event held just over two weeks ago, 14 years
since I last ran the race.
As I'm nearing the 90% completion mark writing this book, I occasionally feel
like I did during that seventh mile of the Boilermaker, wondering how I got
this far and if I'll make it to the end. Of course, in my heart I know I will
finish this tome as I have completed many other books both published and
unpublished over the years. Yet I do admit to a few invisible mental walls I
encountered on occasion and had to write through as this project got longer
and longer. Other times I was just plain exhausted yet managed to keep to my
page quota even if I had to catch up on the weekends. But one of the things
that kept me on course was having a thoroughly written outline to refer to
and change as required.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I completed my first outline in 1988,
written in a 100-page spiral notebook, single-spaced, with several additional
pages stapled in. I just took a look at it and the completion date written on
front reads 7-25-88, twenty-three years ago yesterday. When I finish writing
this book, I'll have to reread it to see just how many changes I've made.
I revised the outline three more times before and during the writing of this
novel, and as I continue to write, I've made many changes to the fourth
outline and so will have a fifth revision when it's all over. I could never have
completed this project without such a detailed outline primarily because I
would have forgotten most of what the story was about with its complicated,
yet I hope enjoyable narrative. I once tried writing a book without an outline,
having a few vague ideas in my mind. I think I got to chapter seven or eight
before giving up to properly plot the book before I continued and eventually
finished. I plan to dig that one up some day and revise it. I admire those who
can write without a road map, but I am definitely not one of those authors. I
may veer from my map from time to time, which I've done here and for the
better, but without the outline (or the accompanying four maps) on a project
this size, I would have gotten lost in a hurry, no doubt. Talk to you again
down the road.
Update #3 - June 30, 2011
I just finished a late night writing session and decided to post another book
update. I've been hard at work for the past two months on Part Nine and am
nearly finished with Chapter 81. That may not sound like much work since
this section begins on Chapter 79, but these three chapters are running just
shy of a hundred pages at the moment. I didn't expect them to be this long,
but that's the writing process. Some of it has been a struggle, but I think my
subconscious was working out some plot points along the way in spite of my
written outline. My last few sessions have been free flowing again, so I guess a
mental logjam was removed somewhere along the way.
When I penned the first words of this book in June 1999 (though I had been
planning it since 1978), I quickly realized that I needed to construct some
maps in order to follow the progress of my characters and the several story
lines. So putting my limited artistic skills to use for the next three months, I
created a series of four maps to guide me on this literary journey. Without
giving any specifics away just yet, I'll briefly describe them.
The first map depicts a large region of the world I created, including
numerous mountain ranges, river systems, forests and the like. There are also
several kingdoms scattered throughout. The second map focuses on the
principal kingdom in the story, again illustrating various geographical
features and highlighting the different county regions in that kingdom. The
third map is of one of those particular counties and map four is a drawing of a
small village in that county where the story begins and later comes into play
in other parts of the book. That's all I'll say for now.
I did create maps for two other books of mine, namely The Saving Light
(Book 3 in the Endora trilogy) and Gabriel's Journey, but the maps for this
current book are much more detailed. I drew them by hand in 1999 (more
times than I care to count), but after I bought a computer in 2003, I was able
to scan the maps and can now manipulate them when I need to add or change
a few details as the story develops. It's pretty neat to be able to move
mountains, grow a forest or change the course of a river with a few clicks of a
mouse. If only the rest of the book were so easy to create. Until next time.
Update # 2 - May 18, 2011
On May 2, after a two-week writing break, I started pounding the keyboard
again (and occasionally put pen to paper during my lunch hour at work) and
began Part Nine of my latest project. As I mentioned in my previous entry,
this book is divided into ten sections, so I'll give a brief breakdown of the
novel's structure now that I'm nearing the end of the first draft.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for further updates. Take care.
Update #1 - April 17, 2011
I am currently working on a huge epic fantasy novel that I first began to
develop in the autumn of 1978, nearly thirty-three years ago. As the outline
now stands, the book consists of a short prologue and ninety-one chapters.
I've divided the ninety-one chapters into ten parts based on the different plot
and character threads in the story. Two days ago I finished the last chapter of
Part Eight which takes me through Chapter Seventy-Eight. The total number
of finished typed pages now stands around 1700 with thirteen more chapters
to go. I'd been working on Part Eight since mid January and will now take a
week or so off before moving on to Part Nine.
I've written an extensive outline for the book which I revised several times,
though the first version was completed in 1988. I also created four detailed
maps and other related material to help keep me on track as I write. The first
words of this book were penned in June 1999, and by late January 2008 I had
completed the prologue and the first twenty chapters, working on the book
whenever I had some free time between my other writing projects. Since this
is my dream novel, I've felt guilty for neglecting it for long periods at a time,
so after completing A Christmas Castle in 2008, I decided to dedicate 2009,
2010 and 2011 to work on this project alone. I plan to finish the first draft of
the book by late summer or early fall. Keep your fingers crossed.
Since I'm seeing the light at the end of the literary tunnel regarding this
book, I will provide a few more details about the project--except for the plot!
It is an epic fantasy geared for teen and adult readers, though some preteens
may enjoy it too. I was inspired to write the book a few years after reading
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien which I discovered in the spring of
1975 when I was twelve years old. Besides the interesting characters and events
in Tolkien's story, I was greatly impressed by the grand narrative sweep of the
work, so much so that I reread it several times in my youth (along with The
Hobbit) and a few more times since. After reading the three volumes the first
time, I felt as if I had taken the journey myself, often thinking back to
particular sections of the book and consulting his maps as if they represented a
real place. It wasn't long after my first couple of readings that I began to
imagine snippets of my own narrative, some more developed than others, and
many not even connected to one another in a proper storyline. But I knew
then that I wanted to write my own grand narrative someday. And nearly
thirty-three years later, I'm almost there.
I hope to finish Part Nine (which currently contains nine chapters) some time
this summer. I'll provide another update when I finish, though perhaps from
time to time I'll add some more recollections about how I went about tackling
this writing project from its earlier days to the present. Until then, all the best.
The countdown has begun to 2012 and so this will be my last update for the
year. And it has been quite a productive but tiring year as I close in on
completing the last chapters of this literary behemoth. As I mentioned in the
last post, I had planned to leisurely finish writing Chapter 88 sometime in
early December, but I guess I was enjoying my time off and worked too
leisurely as I only just completed it yesterday. But the chapter is done and so
there are only ten left to go. I will use the first two weeks in January to read
the 2000 pages I have written so far just to refamiliarize myself with the story
as a whole and then begin work on Chapter 89. Other than skimming short
parts of the story now and then to refresh my memory or answer a question in
the course of my writing, I haven't read through the entire completed portion
in about two years because it has grown so long. I think it's time to do that
again and see where it all stands.
And since the year is rapidly ending, I thought it would be a good time to tell
you a few things about the beginning of this novel--not the plot, of course
(too early for that), but a part of its origin. I've mentioned before that I first
started developing ideas for this story in the fall of 1978. Most were unrelated
bits of plot and setting and a few vaguely developed characters, all of which
swirled around in my mind for about a year like bits of space debris that
hadn't yet coalesced into a star or a planet, or in my case, a proper story idea.
Finally, and by chance, there was one particularly interesting spark that
started me on the road to laying out a viable storyline which I'll get into in
more detail in a later post when I'm ready to reveal some of the specific plot
points. But during this same time when I was mentally nurturing the first
seeds of this novel at the ripe old age of fifteen, I was also writing another
fantasy novel, without an outline, and made it all the way to Chapter Seven.
I remember writing it (printing, actually) in pen in one of those black and
white speckled composition notebooks, each line single spaced. Even now
when I write by hand I still print, finding it much faster going than cursive.
But somewhere in Chapter Seven of that book I came to a screeching halt,
having no idea where I was going with a flimsy plot and a collection of
characters popping in and out of each chapter. So I set it aside, planning to
tackle it at a later time, but nothing ever came of it. I wish I had kept that
notebook which I must have discarded years later, probably thinking what a
lame idea it had been. I even recall typing up those seven chapters on my
mother's blue metal manual typewriter (I believe one of the Smith-Corona
models), formatting each sheet of paper so that it looked like a page of an
already published book. But, alas, a published story it was not to be.
Still, one idea (a character, or more precisely, a group of characters) from that
early attempt at a novel does survive in a slightly different form in my current
work in progress. So in a way, part of that old story lives on. One day I'll
explain in more detail when this book is done and in the publishing part of
the process. But it just goes to show you that any idea, even the discarded
musings of a fifteen year old, may sprout up again in a stronger, more
substantial literary form--and with a much cooler name, too. But as I said,
more details about that and other topics as 2012 unfolds. Happy New Year!
Update #8 - November 23, 2011
I decided to post my November update this evening, the day before
Thanksgiving, as over the next few days my attention will be focused on more
important matters--leftover turkey sandwiches, pumpkin pie and, if I can
squeeze them in, a few long walks. As usual during this time of year, my
writing starts to wind down as the creative part of my brain eases into a
temporary hibernation. I let my subconscious take over the writing tasks for
the most part until January rolls around when I'm once again refreshed and
eager to attack the computer keyboard.
In my last post, I was about halfway finished writing Chapter 87 in Part Ten
of the book, but as was the case with a few previous chapters, the outline
differed from the finished product. As I worked on this chapter, I realized
that a string of events near the end worked better as a stand-alone episode, so
I divided Chapter 87 into two parts, Chapters 87 and 88. The new Chapter 87
is finished and I'm more or less halfway through Chapter 88. I am now in the
process of leisurely completing this chapter (having abandoned my regular
writing routine for the rest of the year) and hope to have it done sometime in
early December. It will be the last chapter I work on in 2011 since my creative
gas tank is near EMPTY and Thanksgiving and Christmas activities have
taken over. When Chapter 88 is finished, I will have written well over 400
pages this year, easily passing the 2000 page mark for the entire novel. So
when I begin writing again in early January, I will have ten chapters left to
complete--Chapters 89 - 94 in Part Ten and Chapters 95 - 98 in Part Eleven.
Now if I haven't bored you to death with chapter numbers and page counts,
I'll pose a question some of you may have asked yourselves while regularly
following these updates. As I mentioned in my first post last April, I started
developing this book thirty-three years ago in the autumn of 1978 when I was
fifteen years old. I completed the first outline nearly ten years later in July
1988. It wasn't until eleven more years had passed that I began writing the
actual text in June of 1999. So the question is--What took you so long to get this
project off the ground?
The answer is simple really--I just wasn't ready. Even as a teenager, I knew
that writing this book was going to be a massive, multi-year undertaking that
would consume a good chunk of my time, patience and creativity. And
though I had many other story ideas swirling around in my mind and wrote
several novels, plays and short stories in the ensuing years, I knew that this
particular project was the one closest to my heart. Therefore, I wanted to give
it the care and attention it deserved after I was confident that I could write
well enough and could handle such a complex story regarding plot, character
development and the like. And when I finally began writing the first lines of
this book in June 1999, it took me about eight and a half years until January
2008 to finish the prologue and the first twenty chapters.
The main reason for that slow progress, however, was the fact that I had
written and self-published four other novels in the same time period, forcing
me to write this novel in spurts between those other projects (The Timedoor,
The Sword and the Crown, The Saving Light and Gabriel's Journey). Finally,
after writing a short Christmas themed novella in 2008 (A Christmas Castle,
which you can read on this website in its entirety), I decided to complete this
novel during 2009, 2010 and 2011. Okay, let's add 2012 to the mix now,
though I hope that when June rolls around, I'll be wrapping up the first draft
and celebrating. But just a little bit. There'll still be plenty of work afterward
to get it into publishing shape. See you next month. Happy Thanksgiving!
Update #7 - October 27, 2011
Since October is nearly over, it's time that I posted my promised monthly
update. I was working on Chapter 87 earlier today and let loose a pounding,
day-long rainstorm on some of my characters. Coincidentally, a cold, dreary
rain has been falling in my hometown all day, and just now in the fading
daylight, I noticed a scattering of large white snowflakes parachuting among
the raindrops. A preview of wintry things to come, I suppose, but I won't
take out the snow shovel just yet. I hope there'll be plenty of time before I
have to resort to such a drastic step.
In my previous entry, I mentioned that I had a week's worth of writing left to
complete on Chapter 86. Not surprisingly, that turned into three weeks before
yet another monster chapter (53 pages) in my book was completed. I'm about
halfway through Chapter 87 today and it is moving along nicely. My goal is
to write to the end of Chapter 89 by late November/early December and then
take off until sometime in January when I will start work on the final eight
chapters. But enough nuts and bolts. I'd like to give you a little more insight
into the flavor of the story this month, but again, holding back on the plot
points. Too soon to divulge that information.
Many people have asked me where I get my story ideas from, and though I
address that subject briefly in question #2 on the FAQs list, I'll expand upon
it regarding my novel in progress, specifically Part Six (Chapters 48 - 59). The
middle chapters in this section entail a journey to and through a mountain
range that was inspired in part by several hikes I took in the Adirondack
Mountains, a large region of forests and lakes in northeastern New York
State. The southern border of the Adirondacks is about ten miles north of my
hometown in Little Falls, and when walking on the hilly roads just above the
city on a clear day, I can see the distant tips of some of the nearer mountains
while looking to the northeast. Most of the higher peaks (4000 feet or more),
are a few hours' drive north and are bunched together south of Lake Placid. I
climbed six of those high peaks several years ago, including Mount Marcy, the
state's tallest mountain, with my oldest brother serving as guide.
My last climb, and most favorite, was Mount Skylight which I climbed with
my brother on September 10, 1995. Skylight is the fourth highest mountain
in New York and is open and rocky on the summit, providing a spectacular
360 degree view of the Adirondacks. The abundant sunshine that day
highlighted the beautiful colors in the rock which gave the summit an almost
magical look. I've kept in mind this moment and others to use in various ways
when I describe the setting in this section of my book.
The above pre-digital camera snapshot doesn't do justice to the scenery, but
it's still not a bad photograph for the pocket film camera I was using at the
time. I also climbed nearby Gray Peak that same day before ascending
Skylight. As I recall, the top of Gray Peak was covered with trees and didn't
offer much of a view. Below are a few more pictures from this hike and a
couple of earlier ones. Hope you enjoy them. Back next month.
Update #6 - September 26, 2011
We finally made it to autumn, my favorite season of the year, though the
ideal fall weather most imagine lasts for far too short a time. Spring ranks a
close second, and as I get older, I look forward to its arrival more each year. I
guess getting through winter is the real trick here in Central New York. As
for my current book, my characters have just gone through their winter
season, but only for a few chapters. Most of the novel has been set in the
autumn months, and now as spring approaches, a few new developments are
blooming as the book winds down. But as for the writing of the book, here's
where things now stand.
I took some time off from writing to rework my outline as I mentioned in the
previous post, stopping in what I thought was the middle of Part Nine. With
the outline now mostly up to date (more on that shortly), I've decided to end
Part Nine with Chapter 85 and finished editing that section (Chapters 79 - 85)
two weeks ago. Since those seven chapters work together thematically and also
end on a surprising note, I realized they could stand alone as a whole. Part
Ten will now contain the remaining chapters that I had envisioned (and
partially revised) for the second half of Part Nine, and a new Part Eleven will
end the book.
I am currently near the end of writing Chapter 86 and hope to finish that up
this week. And as I have over the past several years, I'll probably keep writing
up to December or thereabouts, and then take a break until early in January.
By mid springtime or so in 2012, I think I finally might have the first draft of
this very long book completed--and it only took a year longer than first
anticipated. Oh well, the heart was willing but the mind had other plans.
Here's what the book's current structure looks like.
- Prologue (finished)
- Part One - Chapters 1 - 10 (finished)
- Part Two - Chapters 11 - 20 (finished)
- Part Three - Chapters 21 - 27 (finished)
- Part Four - Chapters 28 - 39 (finished)
- Part Five - Chapters 40 - 47 (finished)
- Part Six - Chapters 48 - 59 (finished)
- Part Seven - Chapters 60 - 70 (finished)
- Part Eight - Chapters 71 - 78 (finished)
- Part Nine - Chapters 79 - 85 (finished)
- Part Ten - (eight outlined chapters, 86 - 93)
- Part Eleven - (four outlined chapters, 94 - 97)
Earlier I wrote that the outline was mostly up to date, and while I don't
anticipate any more changes to the number of chapters, I've been playing
around with some of the events in Chapter 91, one of the major chapters of
the book. Though the basics of the plot for that chapter had been outlined
years ago, now that I draw closer to writing it, coupled with some of the other
changes I've made, I'm looking at more interesting ways to handle the events
in terms of both plot and theme. That's the writing process, I guess, and part
of what makes it challenging and fun. So until I write the words THE END,
the book, like the seasons, is ever changing. Talk to you in October.
Update #5 - August 30, 2011
I was going to post this update as soon as I finished writing Chapter 85 of my
book, expecting to have finished it about a week ago. But since it turned into
another grueling chapter (45 pages long, but a good one), I only just finished
it earlier today. Now I can relax a bit and bring you up to date on my
progress. I'm currently writing Part Nine (of ten parts) which was supposed to
contain nine chapters according to my outline (see Update #2). Seven chapters
are now completed (Chapters 79 through 85) with several more, not two, to
go. A few of the completed chapters were split into two as some parts were
long enough and contained their own story arc to serve as chapters by
themselves. These seven chapters alone, which I began in early May, account
for just over 190 pages of the book. Right now the total number of completed
pages in the novel stands at a little over 1900. Can't wait to do my major edit
on that!
Now after completing four more months of constant writing, my brain needs
another rest. I feel like I was writing that last chapter on fumes. My creative
gas tank is definitely low. I'm going to take the rest of this week and all of
next week off to recharge and then continue with Part Nine on September 12.
But I will not be completely pushing aside this project until then. I have some
minor adjustments to make to my outline again. I had already changed a few
things before I began writing Part Nine, but now I've reached a point where I
must add a few items and remove some others. Some of the events that were
originally supposed to have occurred at the ends of Parts Six and Seven were
moved to the beginning of Part Nine. I did this to end those two parts at a
more logical place in both their time lines and plot lines which I think vastly
improve the story. Also, I expanded the beginning of Part Nine, adding a few
events and characters which logically grew from the writing and weren't
anticipated in the outline. I really like some of the scenes I've developed.
Now I'm at a point where I have to reconcile what I've just written with
where the rest of the outline stands. A few proposed scenes I can now get rid
of (and will happily do so) because some are not necessary. Others scenes I can
streamline, having found more interesting and logical ways to present them.
So while I'm taking a short vacation from writing, I will still be writing, only
a different type which will not be as taxing. So when I post my next update,
which I've been doing monthly and will try to continue, I can give you an
exact chapter count for Part Nine. Part Ten, the last section of the book, still
contains four chapters. I don't expect that to change, but then, you never
know. Now it's time to sit back, put my feet up and do a little reading (instead
of writing) for the next few days. Later.
Update #4 - July 26, 2011
I just came back from a three mile walk this evening and decided to post
another update before tackling more of Chapter 84 of my current project. I
used to run years ago, though I prefer walking both now and then, and twice
ran the Utica Boilermaker Road Race in 1993 and 1997. The 15k (9.3 mile)
race takes place in Utica, NY which is about 17 miles west of Little Falls. I
recall the difficulty of the course into the seventh mile during both races as I
ran up Champlin Avenue under the hot sun, wondering at that point why I
ever decided to compete and if I would ever finish. (Enduring a toe blister my
first year and recovering from shin splints the second time didn't help either.)
But I managed to finish both races with respectable times of 85 minutes in
1993 and 81 minutes four years later. I can't even imagine what my time
would have been at this year's event held just over two weeks ago, 14 years
since I last ran the race.
As I'm nearing the 90% completion mark writing this book, I occasionally feel
like I did during that seventh mile of the Boilermaker, wondering how I got
this far and if I'll make it to the end. Of course, in my heart I know I will
finish this tome as I have completed many other books both published and
unpublished over the years. Yet I do admit to a few invisible mental walls I
encountered on occasion and had to write through as this project got longer
and longer. Other times I was just plain exhausted yet managed to keep to my
page quota even if I had to catch up on the weekends. But one of the things
that kept me on course was having a thoroughly written outline to refer to
and change as required.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I completed my first outline in 1988,
written in a 100-page spiral notebook, single-spaced, with several additional
pages stapled in. I just took a look at it and the completion date written on
front reads 7-25-88, twenty-three years ago yesterday. When I finish writing
this book, I'll have to reread it to see just how many changes I've made.
I revised the outline three more times before and during the writing of this
novel, and as I continue to write, I've made many changes to the fourth
outline and so will have a fifth revision when it's all over. I could never have
completed this project without such a detailed outline primarily because I
would have forgotten most of what the story was about with its complicated,
yet I hope enjoyable narrative. I once tried writing a book without an outline,
having a few vague ideas in my mind. I think I got to chapter seven or eight
before giving up to properly plot the book before I continued and eventually
finished. I plan to dig that one up some day and revise it. I admire those who
can write without a road map, but I am definitely not one of those authors. I
may veer from my map from time to time, which I've done here and for the
better, but without the outline (or the accompanying four maps) on a project
this size, I would have gotten lost in a hurry, no doubt. Talk to you again
down the road.
Update #3 - June 30, 2011
I just finished a late night writing session and decided to post another book
update. I've been hard at work for the past two months on Part Nine and am
nearly finished with Chapter 81. That may not sound like much work since
this section begins on Chapter 79, but these three chapters are running just
shy of a hundred pages at the moment. I didn't expect them to be this long,
but that's the writing process. Some of it has been a struggle, but I think my
subconscious was working out some plot points along the way in spite of my
written outline. My last few sessions have been free flowing again, so I guess a
mental logjam was removed somewhere along the way.
When I penned the first words of this book in June 1999 (though I had been
planning it since 1978), I quickly realized that I needed to construct some
maps in order to follow the progress of my characters and the several story
lines. So putting my limited artistic skills to use for the next three months, I
created a series of four maps to guide me on this literary journey. Without
giving any specifics away just yet, I'll briefly describe them.
The first map depicts a large region of the world I created, including
numerous mountain ranges, river systems, forests and the like. There are also
several kingdoms scattered throughout. The second map focuses on the
principal kingdom in the story, again illustrating various geographical
features and highlighting the different county regions in that kingdom. The
third map is of one of those particular counties and map four is a drawing of a
small village in that county where the story begins and later comes into play
in other parts of the book. That's all I'll say for now.
I did create maps for two other books of mine, namely The Saving Light
(Book 3 in the Endora trilogy) and Gabriel's Journey, but the maps for this
current book are much more detailed. I drew them by hand in 1999 (more
times than I care to count), but after I bought a computer in 2003, I was able
to scan the maps and can now manipulate them when I need to add or change
a few details as the story develops. It's pretty neat to be able to move
mountains, grow a forest or change the course of a river with a few clicks of a
mouse. If only the rest of the book were so easy to create. Until next time.
Update # 2 - May 18, 2011
On May 2, after a two-week writing break, I started pounding the keyboard
again (and occasionally put pen to paper during my lunch hour at work) and
began Part Nine of my latest project. As I mentioned in my previous entry,
this book is divided into ten sections, so I'll give a brief breakdown of the
novel's structure now that I'm nearing the end of the first draft.
- Prologue (finished)
- Part One - Chapters 1 - 10 (finished)
- Part Two - Chapters 11 - 20 (finished)
- Part Three - Chapters 21 - 27 (finished)
- Part Four - Chapters 28 - 39 (finished)
- Part Five - Chapters 40 - 47 (finished)
- Part Six - Chapters 48 - 59 (finished)
- Part Seven - Chapters 60 - 70 (finished)
- Part Eight - Chapters 71 - 78 (finished)
- Part Nine - In progress (nine outlined chapters, though that may change)
- Part Ten - (four outlined chapters)
That's all for now. Stay tuned for further updates. Take care.
Update #1 - April 17, 2011
I am currently working on a huge epic fantasy novel that I first began to
develop in the autumn of 1978, nearly thirty-three years ago. As the outline
now stands, the book consists of a short prologue and ninety-one chapters.
I've divided the ninety-one chapters into ten parts based on the different plot
and character threads in the story. Two days ago I finished the last chapter of
Part Eight which takes me through Chapter Seventy-Eight. The total number
of finished typed pages now stands around 1700 with thirteen more chapters
to go. I'd been working on Part Eight since mid January and will now take a
week or so off before moving on to Part Nine.
I've written an extensive outline for the book which I revised several times,
though the first version was completed in 1988. I also created four detailed
maps and other related material to help keep me on track as I write. The first
words of this book were penned in June 1999, and by late January 2008 I had
completed the prologue and the first twenty chapters, working on the book
whenever I had some free time between my other writing projects. Since this
is my dream novel, I've felt guilty for neglecting it for long periods at a time,
so after completing A Christmas Castle in 2008, I decided to dedicate 2009,
2010 and 2011 to work on this project alone. I plan to finish the first draft of
the book by late summer or early fall. Keep your fingers crossed.
Since I'm seeing the light at the end of the literary tunnel regarding this
book, I will provide a few more details about the project--except for the plot!
It is an epic fantasy geared for teen and adult readers, though some preteens
may enjoy it too. I was inspired to write the book a few years after reading
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien which I discovered in the spring of
1975 when I was twelve years old. Besides the interesting characters and events
in Tolkien's story, I was greatly impressed by the grand narrative sweep of the
work, so much so that I reread it several times in my youth (along with The
Hobbit) and a few more times since. After reading the three volumes the first
time, I felt as if I had taken the journey myself, often thinking back to
particular sections of the book and consulting his maps as if they represented a
real place. It wasn't long after my first couple of readings that I began to
imagine snippets of my own narrative, some more developed than others, and
many not even connected to one another in a proper storyline. But I knew
then that I wanted to write my own grand narrative someday. And nearly
thirty-three years later, I'm almost there.
I hope to finish Part Nine (which currently contains nine chapters) some time
this summer. I'll provide another update when I finish, though perhaps from
time to time I'll add some more recollections about how I went about tackling
this writing project from its earlier days to the present. Until then, all the best.
| MY NEXT BOOK |
| View from the summit of Mount Skylight in the Adirondacks. Photo taken on September 10, 1995. |
| Another view from the summit of Mount Skylight in the Adirondacks. Photo taken on September 10, 1995. |
| A view from early on the trail up to Mount Skylight. Photo taken on September 10, 1995. |
| Here I am standing next to one of two cairns on top of Mount Skylight. To ensure good weather, hikers are supposed to carry a stone up the mountain and add it to the pile. My brother and I did and the weather was great all day. But look at some of the larger rocks that were left there. Some people certainly had a workout on the way up. Photo taken on September 10, 1995. |
| These two images are from my first hike ever in the Adirondacks up Snowy Mountain which I took with my oldest brother and several other family members. About 100 feet shy of being considered a high peak, Snowy Mountain is in the southern Adirondacks. Indian Lake is visible in the picture on the right. Photos taken on August 30, 1983. |
| These two images are both taken while climbing Mount Marcy, the highest peak in New York. This was my second climb. Photos taken on September 22, 1984. |
| A monthly update on my current work in progress. |
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| These are my two Boilermaker 15k Road Race finishing pins from 1993 and 1997 that I received when crossing the finish line. What a sense of accomplishment (and relief) I had on both occasions when I felt them placed in my hand. |