Why does a later edit, where you attempt to finesse and polish a story, take so long? Because a sentence isn’t just a brick. In school, aged four and up, we start the process of building. Bricks are functional; they carry information:
Frontier Developments found itself at the centre of a storm of controversy this morning as another internet pressure group stepped up its campaign to ‘clean up the gaming industry and make it safe for our children’ as Anole Biddy (‘I think I look 21, don’t you?’) of No Irresponsible Playing with Plastic Leisure Entertainment Systems (NIPPLES) was heard to say to reporters, before telling them to remove their boots from her ‘immaculately manicured lawn’.
This is a frustrating blog post to type, and one that’s overdue as I didn’t post anything last month. Despite the project eating my available free-time, progress editing Out of the Darkness has been slower than I’d hoped. Assuming the rest of this edit goes at the same pace, the book will be out later than I stated in the Kickstarter (March, 2014). It’s most likely going to be summer before this draft is complete and ready for Frontier to review. For that, I apologise.
Submit! Quotation rumoured to be from an internal Frontier draft memo, ‘Maintaining Correct Relations with the Minions’, Chapter Two, ‘How the Writers MUST See Us’: ‘Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic… regarded this earth us with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.’ H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds. As other Elite: Dangerous writers finish with editing and prepare to face Frontier’s vast and cool and unsympathetic intellects, the forums echo with the sounds of rejoicing. Yet, the reverberations are falsely hearty, covering the drip, drip, drip of insidious fear and slight loss of bladder control.
Just a short to post to wish all my backers and prospective readers a very Merry Christmas.
A white charger he bestrode; The Gallant Hero: Allen Stroud. To rescue a novel, From its literary hovel, He took the Editors’ Road.
What does a writer do to avoid going loco during editing? Find a friendly human face to talk to. Marko Susimetsä, an avid gamer and bearer of an awesome hat, invited me over to the Hooked Gamers’ website this week to answer a few questions. We talk Elite, ships, writing, problems, and the upcoming novel, Out of the Darkness. Thanks for having me, Marko and your round, pointy-handed friends. We’re at: Just click the piccy to come and join us. ‘Hooked Gamers’ name and logo don’t belong to you, so don’t steal them. (I’m not a lawyer, but I know you don’t want to meet one. Copyright is a tricky beastie—stay safe.)
Is it the multi-media event of the decade? Probably not, but it is the first time I talk about my novel, Elite: Dangerous the game, and the upcoming fiction. WRITER’S INTERVIEW 009 – T. JAMES Just click the piccy (You can download it from the playback screen. Right-click in a PC browser, or do the equivalent on Mac/mobile.) ∞ Many thanks to John Stabler for hosting and editing the podcast. ∞ Image Credit: I don’t know if ‘Lave Radio‘ is copyrighted, trademarked, or anything else legal, but don’t be a scum-bucket and use it without a credit. Audio Credit: As a creation of Lave Radio, this podcast is automatically copyrighted under UK law. Just be glad they are nice people and let you download it if you want to.
The never-ending story ENDS! Yep, after over 116,000 words and half-a-million characters, I’m done, ecstatic, and done-in. Today was a marathon writing session. I set a new personal record of over 3000 words. The rough first draft is roughly finished. The ending summary has been provisionally OK’ed by Frontier today, which is great because it’s epic, or at least I think so. I’m nervously awaiting the reaction of my first readers. It should all be there: action, adventure, mystery, romance, twists, turns, memorable characters, familiar aspects of the Elite universe, new takes on the same. If you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it then I think you’ll be Happy-Backers. I don’t know if there will be Elite literary awards, but if there were then I may stand a chance in the ‘Most Improved’ section. From a promised 25-30K, it’s (pre-edits) at around four times that. That’s … Continue reading
How long is a piece of string? Does my bum look big in this? The answer to the question, ‘What makes a good ending?’ is as nebulous and subjective as they come. For some, an ending is only ‘good’ if the heroes win. For others, such an ending will always be trite and formulaic. Some writers will even avoid the question altogether, writing an ‘ending’ that is either so open or ambivalent that a reader has no hope of closure. Well, after five months of drafting, it’s now my turn to decide which ending will best suit this story.
'Elite: Out of the Darkness is available now to buy - just click on the picture. :)
23-09-2013 The first draft was finished today. MOOD: BIG CHESSY GRIN.
Successfully funded on Kickstarter: possibly the greatest game ever made, re-made (March, 2014).