August 23, 2012

• The Next Eight Months

  I thought I would outline what I will be up to for the next eight months. That will take me from this Saturday, when my brother leaves for his junior year of college, to next April, when he gets back. Perhaps it’s just a quirk but with his work and friend schedule so unpredictable I simply cannot plan out my writing schedule. But he’ll be gone for most of the next eight months and so I can finally plan things out.

  1. August. Starting next Monday I will reread and revise the Prologue and six chapters of my book that I have so far. At the same time I will write notes in the front part of my next notebook(the first complete notebook was orange while the next is green). I haven’t taken notes up to this point simply because I LOVE making it up as I go along. But between coming up with about 100 or so names to be used for characters and the fact that there are so many ideas I want to put on paper and I’m too impatient to wait a couple years to get to them, I figure it’s time to jot down some notes. I’m actually not counting this month in the 8 month plan.

  2. September. I should be able to finish two chapters by the end of September. The only thing is there might be another vacation(or staycation?) in there which might throw off my schedule. Yes I love to make it up as I go along, but I need to be on a disciplined schedule in order to truly be creative. Also starting next month I will try to make at least one song a month using Acid Pro 7.0. Most people know I bought it a few weeks ago, but up to this point I have only partially completed two projects. I have another 20 song names listed down that I look forward to using.

  3. October. Two more chapters and one more song. It takes about 7 weekdays to complete a chapter so that leaves me with about three days over two weeks to refresh myself(not counting weekends). During this time my regular journaling will seriously level off, but I should be able to use those three days to write about whatever else is on my mind. Also, October 18-21 may be spent at my Dad’s depending on a couple of things. Have to see about that last part.

  4. November. One chapter and one song. Last year I was working on Finding Bigfoot(short story) all during Thanksgiving and it was a major hassle. Yes my Mom enjoyed her birthday present, but the unpredictability of the schedule around that time means that I will concentrate solely on regular journal entries and perhaps taking down some notes for when I pick things up again in December. Also, November 10th is my 31st birthday! . I will gladly accept any nudie pics as birthday presents!

  5. December. One chapter and one song. Duh. Christmas. Also my Mom’s birthday is at the beginning of the month and she likes to take a few days off. Also, my brother will be home after the first week so most of this month will be spent on regular journal entries and making music. Maybe I will ask for some music loops for Christmas so that I’m not spending tons of money getting new productions done. They range from 20-40 dollars though so I would only ask for one from each family member. I would LOVE to have the Bill Laswell collection as he makes quality stuff. But that’s a few months away and hopefully the world doesn’t end on 12/21/12 so that everything up to this point isn’t wasted. lol

  6. January. One, maybe two chapters and one song. On or around the 10th of January my brother will head back for his second semester. After this point it will be a free for all of work on the book. Very few holidays and no vacations really from this point through April.

  7. February. Two chapters and one song. The music will seriously depend on whether I receive any new loops, synths, pads, etc for Christmas.

  8. March. Two chapers and one song.

  9. April. Two chapters and one song.

  Obviously I have no idea what to expect next year and just about anything could occur to knock me out of rhythm. This is just a plan. Also, I figure that what I am writing now is really just an outline for what is to come. The outline alone will hit the 60,000 word mark by next April and I will still have a year or so to go. There is certainly a risk of burnout, but those of you who remember the game this book is based upon will know that this is what gets my juices flowing. Yes Xanga is fun. Yes making music will be fun. But writing this book may very well be the defining moment, for me at least, in my life. I figure it will take me from age 30(January of 2012) through age 35(November of 2016) to get the outline finished and into a ‘real’ book form.

  So thank you for reading all of this. Now the question I have for you! What is your passion? What gets your juices flowing? What will be your life’s work?

  • 2:51 pm
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