First, I’d like to apologize for my lack of updates.  Two weeks ago I took a fall, that I’m blaming on my lack of coordination, and injured my right wrist and fore arm along with my left leg.  There were roots involved and some mild swearing that I kept to myself because my six year old was with me.  Needless to say, I wasn’t really up to writing anything that wasn’t mandatory.

That said, one week ago (over Labor Day Weekend 2009), I participated in the 3-Day Novel Contest.  I believe that even had I not been injured and taking several hundred milligrams of ibuprofen for pain, this contest would have been a major challenge.  As it was, I’m just thankful I finished the novel I planned to write and was able to do at least some editing before the deadline Sunday night.

I started the contest at 12:04 am on Saturday, September 5th.  When I sat at my computer in the dead of the night, I felt awake and charged with the desire to write.  Not having felt that desire in awhile, it was a relief.  If nothing else, I’d at least get something down for this novel by the end of the weekend.

Between napping, short breaks for working out stiff muscles and grabbing more food or drinks, I managed to write, all told, 26,000 words in 72 hours.  The final page count was about 101 pages.  That I was amazed I’d done it was an understatement.  I was practically glowing on Tuesday when I was back at work.  Monday was spent regretting I’d done it because I was in so much pain.  I slept most of that day.  And when I wasn’t sleeping,  I was medicated and icing down my injuries.

The contest rules state that you can write an outline before you begin the contest.  I made sure I did because I feared that if I didn’t have a general direction for my novel, I’d never get anywhere with it.  I deviated from the outline in a few places and added a new character when I started the second chapter, but beyond that, I actually used the entire outline.  I do believe that outline, combined with my determination to finish despite my injuries, is what got me to the end.

Though during the entire process I felt the pressure of time, I also realized that 72 hours can also feel like the shortest and longest amount of time all in one.  As the deadline loomed I worried I wouldn’t get to the end in time.  Once I did get to the end, it felt like the hours dragged as I waited for the time to finally expire.  Talk about a surreal 72 hours.

Now, two weeks after I mailed my manuscript, I’m having a hard time believing I actually did it.  Though 26,000 words is technically only a novella, it was still a great deal of work.  The contest gave me a brief glimpse of what it’s like to be an actual writer.  I’ve written thousands and thousands of words  in my life, but never that much for one story or subject.   It was an eye opener.  One I’m thankful for.

I’m proud of the story that I wrote.  Whether it will actually be a blip on the judges raidar, who knows.  I’m certainly hopeful.  I’m also realistic and just a little bit pessimistic.  And if I don’t win, I can always go back, edit and try entering it somewhere else or perhaps even make it a full length novel then find an agent for it.

The one thing, as far as the judging goes, that I’m curious about is the editing of the novels.  Seventy-two hours is a short period of time to write a novel.  If editing is lacking because of this time constraint, is that an automatic disqualification?  I admit to not being as up to snuff on all grammar and punctuation rules.  I tend to just write then hit spell check and let it pick out the things it thinks I’ve done wrong.  Obviously that’s not a very good practice if I want to be a professional author, but for this contest is it more or less important?  I don’t really see anything on the site that tells how the novels are judged.  I suppose I’ll find out once they announce the winners in January.

All in all, I  glad I did this contest.  This contest was an opportunity to get something written and to prove that I could do it in a small amount of time.  If I can write that much in 72 hours, how much can I write, using only an hour a day, in a month? Two months?  Perhaps I should find out.

I won’t commit to anything for next year, but I can see myself doing this again in the future.  Hopefully the next time I decide to enter this contest, I’ll do it and remain healthy at least until after the contest is over.

Punk Art Catalogue front cover: Miller, Ringma & Hoppe, "Smashed Mona," 1978

In a side note, the next post should be about the other “punk” genres and I’ll try to get it posted before next week.  And I hope to begin a weekly schedule of a post each Monday, though I can’t guarantee a specific time.

Tags: contests, submissions, Writing

What a post-industrial dystopia just might look like. Only cleaner.

Cyberpunk seems, to me, to be one of the more widely used science fiction genres.  There are so many books, short stories, comic books and movies that use cyberpunk.  The general setting is usually a post-industrial dystopia.  Basically you have lots of cheap technology (cybernetic implants, etc.) that everyone has access to while the majority of the cities are slums and the majority of people struggle to eat on a regular basis.

So why is this such a popular genre?  Most likely because it’s a situation that so many people fear we’ll find ourselves in very soon.  If technology continues to develop as fast as it has in the last half century, we’ll have cybernetics within a century or less.  And if that happens, what will happen to humans and their happy, shiny lives?  Technology makes things easier, but that tends to go hand in hand with a relaxing of work-ethics and morality.

At least, that’s what many people fear.  It certainly seems to be the case if you compare a farm of today with a farm from fifty years ago.  Then again, farmers still work hard, they just have machines to make things easier and allow them to do 20 or even 50 times the production their forefathers did.

The first cyberpunk story I encountered was Bladerunner.  Yes it’s a movie, but movies still tell stories.  And this movie just happens to be based on a story named Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.  I have yet to read the novel (I know, I’m terrible), but even reading the wiki entry of the novel tells me right away that there’s things lacking from the movie that are important in the novel and to what makes the story uniquely Cyberpunk.  I won’t give spoilers, because I hate spoilers myself.  But I will say that the movie shows a great deal about how humans may and likely will deal with androids if we get that far with technology.  Exploring the difference between a human and a robot who looks human can at times be both fascinating and depressing.  In the end, one has to wonder if we aren’t just squishy robots who learned empathy.

Cyberpunk has always struck me as uniquely depressing because of the dystopia element that is almost always present.  But people (I include myself among that catch all word), tend to enjoy depressing settings for the stories they read or the movies they watch, but only if the ending is satisfying.  Let’s take the Matrix as another example.  The reality of what humans had become was monstrous and shocking.  And yet, Neo, the protagonist, was still willing to fight and in the end he prevailed.  His reality outside of the Matrix wasn’t the best, but at least he was free.  So the end was satisfying in that there was hope things would improve for Neo and the other free humans.

Humans, while generally pessimistic, still have that sliver of hope inside that tells them to fight no matter how bad things seem.  And to read (or watch) such a struggle is fascinating to us.  Obviously we don’t want to experience such a thing first hand, but we certainly like the entertain the idea that if we were in that same position we’d do the same thing.  Or maybe that’s just me.

Psion - The first of Three Cat Stories

The first book I read in regards to cyberpunk was Psion (1985) by Joan D. Vinge.  That book was one I couldn’t put down, I was simply fascinated by it.  The story is about a vagrant boy who gets taken into an institution and shown how to use his telepathic powers.  Of course said institution wants him to do their dirty work and he does because of his affection for a particular woman who took him under wing.  I was in high school when I read that book.  It didn’t occur to me at the time that the story was cyberpunk because the main focus wasn’t on the technology, but on the extra abilities of “Cat” (the main protagonist) and the others at the institute.  And yet, it still had the same kinds of themes as the other cyberpunk movies and books.

While sci-fi isn’t my first love, I do have a “world” and a character who is uniquely cyberpunk.  The character is a genetic mutation with extra powers at her disposal, though she tends to rely more on guns and explosives to do her mercenary work.  I have to say that my attachment to her is in part because I created her first as a roleplaying character on a roleplaying forum and I have fond memories of the people I played her against.  The rest of my attachment simply stems from this cyberpunk character being such a unique character to me.  She’s my one indulgence in pure science fiction.

This entry was more rambling than I would have liked, but I thought I’d try a more stream of consciousness style for this entry.  Cyberpunk is one of the many reasons that I love science fiction.  And while I rarely delve into the deeper meanings, it’s still interesting to take a peek into them now and then.  Cyberpunk is one way for us to examine our humanity in a world grounded in reality.

My next entry will focus on the sprinkling of off-shoots the “punk” movement has caused.  Dieselpunk, biopunk, even elfpunk!

"Or my tigers will eat your brains!"

Oh and as a side note I received an e-mail confirmation of my registration with the 3-Day Novel Contest.  So it’s official, I’m dedicated to do this Labor Day Weekend.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.  I need to find someone around here who’d be willing to be my witness for the contest.  Perhaps I’ll ask one of my writer friends or a co-worker.

Along with the e-mail confirmation they sent this nifty little graphic.  I like the caption.  They should add “Or my tigers will eat your brains.”

Never mind, I added it for them.  Ha!

Tags: contests, Cyberpunk, Research, Sci-fi, Writing

So what do you do when you just can’t find the motivation to write?  That’s not a rhetorical question either.  I’m honestly curious to know what other people do.  That is, if writing is your passion.  If not, what do you do to find motivation for something else that you love, but that has turned into a chore?

I’ve found in the past that I do oddly well when I’m under pressure.  It forces me to focus I suppose.  I can’t think of much more pressure than being charged with writing a 100 page novel in the span of 3 days.

That’s right ladies and gents, I am biting the bullet and entering the 3-Day Novel Contest.  And the story I’ll be writing is Little Washue’s adventure.  I’ll have to choose a new beginning because I can’t use something already started.  Luckily I can always use that opening for her next adventure.

So what should Washue’s adventure be?  I’m taking suggestions until the last day in August, so feel free to toss out as many as you like.  If I use yours I’ll be sure to make a note of it somewhere.  And, if by sheer, dumb luck, my story wins; I’ll see about putting your name on the dedications page.

For those of you who don’t know Washue as well as others might, see prior entries I have in regards to Washue and her faithful wolf, Squirrel.  Basically she’s a happy-go-lucky young girl who is a genius at taming animals and making mechanical creations.  Though the animals and machines occasionally explode for unknown reasons.

Wish me luck.

Oh, and if I don’t win, I’ll still repolish the novella and see about getting it published anyway.  Or maybe I’ll self-publish.  Who knows?

Tags: contests, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Steampunk, submissions, Writing

I came across an NPR story contest they are naming Three Minute Fiction.  The contest is to submit a work of fiction that can be read in three minutes and can be no longer than six hundred words.  I came across it via a twitter post from a fellow WoW player, who also has a blog about writing and wow.

I submitted a story that I’d originally written for a very good friend of mine in WoW whose character, a orc warrior, has been like a big brother to my tauren hunter.  He expressed concerns about my character changing because she was suddenly interested in a boy.  I wrote the story to assure him that even when she’s old and gray with many children and grand children that she’ll still be the same person.

Obviously I can’t submit a story with World of Warcraft elements and claim it as my own so I edited it to remove any reference to WoW proprietary story elements.  What surprised me by doing such is that it reads a bit like a steampunk story.  Perhaps I can write Washue stories after all and simply create a steampunk world for her to live and thrive in.  The idea appeals to me a great deal and I just may continue in that vein of thought as I move forward with developing my writing.

Tags: contests, Fantasy, submissions, Writing