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I take it that my muse didn't care for being called the 'b' word. I haven't had a story idea in days and I've literally sat at my computer, 'old' story in front of me and been unable to type a single word (well, I typed the words - but they made no sense and I had to get rid of them; granted, I usually leave that job for an editor, but...). I'm hoping she comes back (I am really, really, REALLY sorry!!) because when I can't write I start getting depressed.
My family is going on vacation and decided to let me join them; I'm pretty sure the only reason I'm allowed to go is because I'm paying for it. Anyway, this means that, while we will be extremely busy, I'm hoping to find time to pound out a few pages in any lulls I might encounter - that's always assuming my muse decides to join me for vacation (did I mention I'm really, really, REALLY sorry?).
I have a story, leading to more stories, that I think is one of the best pieces of erotic writing I've ever done. I referred to this a few posts ago as my NBS (Next Big Story). It is, according to the Microsoft Word document (Office 365 edition - I write in Microsoft Word and make notes in Microsoft OneNote), currently 462 pages/269,769 words long and I'm only working on Chapter 19 of the 26 chapters planned (and I think that's what it's going to turn out to be - the chapters are all very well planned).
As I mention, my muse is a fickle woman (she wasn't very pleased with me calling her the 'b' word). I've been writing chapter 19 for about 2 months now - maybe 3. I know everything that MUST happen here to move the story along - but whenever I open the document and start to type, she starts shooting more new story ideas at me. It's aggravating.
As such, I'm revising my time-table. My NBS is currently scheduled to premier in September, 2015. Before then, I'll need to finish the damn thing (maybe during my upcoming vacation) and hopefully find some brave soul who is willing to wade into the random letters I've been throwing on paper in the hopes that a story will appear. Seriously, I'm not sure some of the letters I've got on this page are actually even words...
Yes, I write. I joined this site, however, as a reader and that is still my principal activity when I come here. I enjoy stories that deal with young love, especially those that deal with unrequited love that is finally realized after some trouble and travails. I'm certainly not against there being sex in the stories - I can always skip over the salacious parts if I so choose - but I prefer stories that have a STORY and not just 'he fucked her', 'she fucked him', 'they fucked each other', the end. Flash sex stories are generally not my cup of tea though they do have a place.
My primary complaint, honestly, is that no thought is given to WHY a person behaves as they do. I hate the stories where a person will just jump up and decide, for no apparent reason, to screw someone else. I like the build-up, the romance - I like the anticipation of what is coming. There are other stories where the person just changes in mid-story for no apparent reason and no explanation is ever given; if a person is a dick and then suddenly comes to Jesus for no apparent reason - it's not that good of a story. Another example are the typical ice queen stories where she just, for some inexplicable reason, decides to jump into bed with the hero of the story; I mean, come on, there MUST be a reason why she hasn't decided to engage in sex before so at least give some reason why she suddenly decided to give it up!!
My muse is a fickle bitch. She leads me in directions that I don't really want to go.
I've wanted to finish 'Traveller' for at least a year now. I've wanted to finish my next story (which, I admit, I was first writing under a different pseudonym - what? You didn't know I had two pseudonyms on here? Well, I do. I won't reveal it to you, though...gotta keep people guessing...) for nearly 3 years now.
Yes, you read that correctly. When I first started writing my 'Next Big Story' (NBS) it was early 2012. I know this because I still have a few files with the original time-stamp on them; also, I write nearly all of my stories in 'the future' by a year or two so that I can 'catch up' as I'm writing and NBS is written to occur in 2013. I went along for a while and then hit a road block (story block? Mind block?) because my muse came up with a DIFFERENT story that had me excited (which turned out to be the beginnings of 'Traveller', but I digress). As the years have passed, I've written a part of the story here and there as it's come to me; I've changed some aspects and tightened others - I think it's called tinkering. I want to be clear: my muse and I set this story up from beginning to end; we outlined the entire first story (of a four story quadrology that may end up being a quintology) chapter by chapter with key points and cross-indexed different sub-plots to make sure I didn't miss anything. That first blush was 21 chapters. Since then, the NBS has grown some - 26 chapters, but they're firm. I didn't start posting it because I learned my lesson from 'Traveller' - the lesson of which is 'my muse is a fickle bitch'. I started posting 'Traveller' sure that I would sit and complete it before moving on. My muse decided otherwise.
I tried to give myself a break with the 'Speed Demon' series. I figured I could write the entire story as a series of shorts. That way, I could complete the story and come back to it as I wish. Again, the 'complete' story/series IS blocked out but...
So, there you have it. I fully intended on working on NBS and/or 'Traveller' this morning when I woke up with another excellent story idea that I just HAVE to get on paper so I don't lose it. I'd fire my muse but she already knows I can't live without her...
I am 17.5 chapters into a book. I'd like to say I'm 18 chapters in, but after writing chapter 18 I had an epiphany and had to re-write most of it. As of this exact moment, I have 290 pages (in Microsoft Word 2013) and 260,146 words. The outline indicates there are 6 chapters remaining - and they are FIRM and documented. MOST of the chapters come in at about 20 or so pages (again in Microsoft Word 2013); mostly more than that, all single spaced (double between paragraphs) in a reasonable font. Unless something dastardly occurs, I'm hoping to have those 6 chapters COMPLETE within 6 to 8 weeks. 12 weeks on the outside.
When the book is complete AND NOT BEFORE I'm going to be looking for two editors, one to do continuity work (the story is fairly complex - I've got upwards of 60 pages of notes on it) and one to be a grammar nazi who is willing to argue with me. Actually, I'm hoping that both of the editors will argue with me; while I admit to taking some creative license to make a point, I am horrible with homonyms (both homophones and homographs), occasionally mis-spell a word - and not on purpose, and can be a little lax on punctuation.
So, if you don't mind...look to your calendars and see if you'll be free in 2 or 3 months. Don't send me an e-mail now, please, because I don't want to even try to make a commitment before this book is absolutely complete. Be warned, however, that there is at least 3 more books after this one before the story is finished. I won't expect the same editors to work on the remaining books (mostly because I don't know how long it will take me to write them but also because I don't know if there will be any interest in the story) but it is something to think about.
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