Shinerdrinker: Blog

Yes, I'm yelling.

NEW CHAPTER!!!!

I have sent in the corrected version of the next chapter for posting. It should either come up this evening or in the morning.

You should be able to read it soon enough.

With all the rewrites I needed for this chapter, I'm proud of it. I think I threw a little wrench in the works, and hopefully, no one saw it coming. I mean the aliens attacking is one thing, but the way that Atlantis comes out to defend the planet... pure beauty.

Tee Hee.

--Shinerdrinker

Just letting y'all know... I finally finished the next chapter. I wrote the thing six times in total. I've saved them all and there is some good and some bad. I'll probably use most of it.

Some of it, I kept and used in the next chapter. It is hard to write a rousing halftime speech when you are not in need of a rousing halftime speech. I spent a week just researching some of the best ones in TV and film history. That was kind of fun, actually.

Okay, so I've sent the chapter out for editing and it takes a few days since they aren't waiting impatiently for the next chapter like I thought they were. Geez, imagine that, they actually claim to have lives and they need to find time for the edit.

I mean... come on!

--Shinerdrinker

Okay. Where have I been?

Right here, writing away. But this chapter kept changing as I tried explaining to someone a few weeks ago. While writing, it was starting to go off my outline. That's okay. There is nothing wrong with that as long as the story eventually returns to the outline.

But that was the problem. The stuff I was writing kept trying to take me onto a tangent that would speed up certain parts of the storyline and take us to somewhere the story might not be ready. I know I could probably fix it, but the trouble is I don't know if I would want to try and fix it.

It's happened to me before. I called it the only thing I could compare to... writer's block. I've always been able to sit at the keyboard and begin writing something. Now it's most likely shit, but it is something. Then again, I might think it's shit, but someone in Hollywood may think it the best idea to ever come across their desk. (By the way, Hollywood, if you're interested, call me.)

My version of writer's block was my thinking everything I've been writing is shit, but someone else reads it and thinks it's pretty good. You end up throwing away chapters of material, thinking it reeks, but you could have added that stuff into the story and kept the barbarians away from the gate.

So, I've written this chapter several times, then started a new one because I don't think it's any good after sleeping on it. I'm not an asshole. I save each version, but that does set up chapter 78, version Epsilon.

But just last night, I stayed up all night in my writing nook, and with the cat from hell safely out of my domain and the small refrigerator appropriately filled, I worked on it.

But it still isn't there.

So, I have to start over once again. But now I know exactly how to do it. And I know exactly how to keep on my outline. But damn, I'm sleepy and ready to jump into the bed. So when I wake up later, I start chapter 78, version Zeta.

But this time... a shitload of cutting and pasting. I have no idea how long it'll take, but I am working on it.

-- Shinerdrinker

I just came across something interesting while surfing through YouTube. It also happens to indirectly affect my story as it is a great way to show how vital High School Football in the state of Texas is.

Now, for those who can't grasp the importance, you can see many videos posted on the internet about the size of stadiums for individual schools with less than 2,500 students. Not to mention the indoor training facilities and the weightlifting rooms akin to colleges and universities built for high schools with less than 5,000 people living in the entire town.

Before an average meeting under the Friday Night Lights, I will show a glimpse into a pep rally.

https://youtube.com/shorts/V_riyeeRhsI?si=s2uwLXuuwSYER3zg

I hope the link works. And watch out for the volume; those kids get a bit loud!

If the link does not work, cut and paste into the YouTube and enjoy!

Sorry about the long wait, but real life jumped up and bit me in the butt-tocks (read Forrest Gump-style). So, I finally got around to correcting an egregious error pointed out to me by several readers that got through all of my editors and myself. My mistake. I took the idea and ran with it, but the rules say it's a no-go. So I've fixed it.

The kicking team cannot advance the ball on a kickoff.

You can't advance the ball on a recovered onside kick. I wrote the scene from memory I had saved on YouTube, and when I rechecked it, I remembered it incorrectly. In the football play I saved, the kicking team did not recover the onside kick. A player on the receiving team recognized it was coming, and when the ball bounced to the ten-yard active line, he ran under on the first bounce. He ran right by a kicking team member who was obviously concentrating on blowing somebody up with a mega-hit to collect the ball. He didn't react as the receiving team snatched the ball on the second hop and ran it in for a touchdown.

My bad.

I've fixed it. And I'm almost done with the next chapter and coming up with an important decision. I will let y'all know what it is when I post the next chapter. Don't worry. The story ain't stopping. I want to find out what happens just like you.

I just wanted to let you know I changed the last chapter a bit... not much. But it still works for me and the overall story.

I'll finish the next chapter now, especially before the NFL starts tomorrow. There's nothing quite like finding a deadline for the writing bug to catch on, huh?!

Tee Hee.

--Shinerdrinker