13th Feb2011

Rinse & Repeat

by Aaron

Writing seems to be a cycle that repeats itself: brainstorm, outline, write, edit, beta, edit, edit, submit. While waiting on edits and submissions other works begin their lives and today is no exception. I’m beginning work on a new book.

Spirit Hackers took me over two years to write and this time I’m determined to finish this one in record (for me) time: 6-months maximum. Can this be done? Perhaps. Life always gets in the way along with a drive that isn’t consistently there but I think setting a goal is always helpful. For the past four or five months I’ve thrown around the idea of writing a time travel story, which in itself is difficult. Only a handful of books and movies have done it well and it’s a minefield of plot holes. I consider myself a student of time travel (Back to the Future being my favorite movie of all time) and it’s a challenge I’m up for. Hell, I may even write a great book in the genre!

This past week I broke out my good ‘ol lefty notebook and began outlining & brainstorming this time travel beast. It’s coming together pretty well but there’s still plot points and world-building that needs to be done before I get behind my keyboard. This is the most exciting time with a new WIP. It’s the most creative and the world is my oyster.

So with that said, I welcome into my writing universe my new time travel book: Loopback. Let the games begin.

07th Feb2011

Beta Blocker

by Aaron

Last week I completed the edits to Spirit Hackers which brought my long and inconsistent writing process with this WIP to another milestone: Second Draft. I’ve talked a lot lately about how long it’s taken me to get to this point but boy am I glad I got here! Any time I complete a stage of this project I am filled with a huge sense of accomplishment and confidence. If you include my Robert book, I have now written two full-length novels.

So what do I do now? Continue the process of course. In the months leading up to the completion of my initial draft, I began lining up some beta readers. I’m not an active member of the Absolute Write forums (haven’t even visited the site in years) and so it was a little tougher of a process finding people I was comfortable in approaching. In the end, I think I made some good choices. My first beta and I tossed a few preliminary e-mails around setting the stage for what I was looking for and in just a few hours my baby, my sacred story, was shuttled through the internet at light speed hurdling towards an inbox. Now the hard part for me: I wait for the impending feedback. Patience has never been my strong suit so I’m doing my best to not tweet or e-mail this person so I’m not a pest. I think I’ll be fine.

With Spirit Hackers off my plate (for now) I can turn my attention to another project. “Another project?! What other project?” you may be asking yourself. Stay tuned to Copious Notes to find out soon.