Sunday, October 16, 2011

Writing Projects

On the Seventh day, God rested, but not me, oh no, I'm not lazy like God. Sunday is now going to be my blog-writin' day. That's right, weekly blog posts are going to be coming every Sunday for your reading pleasure or displeasure. At least, that's the plan, anyways. Whenever I make a plan like this, a deadline, a regularly-scheduled bout of writing, I tend not to follow through. This time, though, I'm going to do it! (I say that everytime). I've got a sweet new to-do application for chrome though, all fancy-lookin', with regular reminders and everything. Apparently it's a social app too, so if you have friends who use it, you can give 'helpful' reminders to them, and stuff like that. I'm not really sure, as I don't have any friends who use it. It's called Astrid, if you would like to check it out.

So let's see, another blog post. What to talk about? How about the fact that nobody comments on my posts? I know you're here, looking! I can see the (very) few page views my blog gets! Leave a message, a note, a quibble, a lyric, anything! Yes, I am selfish, I want to know someone is reading these useless ramblings. A comment suddenly makes blogging more interesting. It gives me something to read, something to think about, to respond to. It suddenly turns this blogging into more of a conversation and less of long-winded monologue. So if you read this, (is there anybody out there....)just leave something. Anything. It would make me feel better about myself.

But regardless, onwards. I thought maybe I'd talk about of the few writing projects I have going or are circulating in my head, at least.

Interestingly enough, both of my brothers have pitched ideas to me.

The oldest had an idea for a setting, basically, in a sentence (which was about as much as he gave me), post-apocalypse earth with aliens, aliens who came to earth for resources, but because of the apocalypse and all, basically they're screwed. They can't even leave earth, and so they struggle to survive just as the humans do.  That was the basic idea, he thinks it would be cool for a graphic novel or something, so I've been mulling it over, and have actually started a short story about it. There's so many questions about this setting though, so many variables. What caused the apocalypse (disaster/nuclear/virus/etc.) What are the aliens and what are they like? Etc.

I have a few answers to these questions, as I have let them swirl around in my blender of a mind for awhile now. I must say I am very interested in the post-apocalyptic setting, in the question of What happens after? Lately, I've been thinking less of a viral or nuclear or zombie apocalypse, as those have been done and redone quite often. No, recently I have been thinking of an apocalypse brought about by mother nature herself. It's probably not surprising, after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the earthquake in DC, the storm that hit the East Coast, etc. What if these things kept happening, getting stronger and stronger, all at once, destroying entire cities, killing billions, and plundering the world into chaos. Yeah, that sounds interesting to me, and one apocalypse that hasn't really been tried, at least not that I know of.

So I've got the apocalypse figured out I guess, though I'm still playing around with how long it's been since it happened, enough for people to have gotten back on their feet somewhat, but not so long it's not fresh in their minds. As for the aliens, I got humanoid creatures with black scales, red eyes, and completely hostile to humans. As for why they came to earth, or what they want, that's still something I'm working on as well.

My other brother pitched a zombie apocalypse idea. He said we just have to figure out the location and how far along the zombie apocalypse has progressed. I said that's not exactly alot to go on, but I'd give it some thought. So far, it's percolating in my mind but that's about it.

As for other things, I've been thinking about my novel for National Novel Writing Month. I'm thinking of going with a fantasy story, with a setting that's been in my head and written in random word documents sporadically. I will tell you something, it is mighty difficult to create an entire world in your head, not to mention with the other great fantasy worlds out there, Lord of the Rings, Song of Ice and fire, the Kingkiller Chronicles, DeathGate, etc, you have to really make the world believable, with cultures, languages, geographies and everything, or else the reader will feel cheated. That's alot to come up with, and sometimes feels like too much. I'm trying to start small though, and work up. You also don't want it to feel cliche or contrived, or fake. It has to work, and it has to have rules. The geography has to make sense, the land, the people, everything, just like the real world. It's a pretty heavy undertaking, but it's fun too. Creating an entire world is quite different than anything else.

Meanwhile I've got half a dozen other ideas, novels, and half-started stories, either in my head or half-written down somewhere. A thriller where an ex-marine is hunted by a killer who has deep pockets, heavy resources, and loves a challenge. A zombie detective who solves supernatural cases has to find his old friend's son. A western where the lone cowboy comes into town and faces a sociopathic sheriff. A vampire hunter and his mentor find out an Elder has come to town which is very bad news. A group struggling to live after the apocalypse are beset upon by a gang of ruthless thugs. An ex-cover ops agent finds himself the target of a serial killer and chased by his old agency. Etc. Some of these are Nanowrimo attempts, others simply ideas I've had for awhile. The thing about being a writer, is I'm constantly thinking about things I could write, a setting, a scene, a character, ideas are always there, inspired by anything I see.

So there it is, some of my 'projects', ideas, and other stuff. Be nice and leave a comment or something.                                                          










4 comments:

  1. Well, you have inspired me Ben, I've started a "project" of my own. I'll send you something to read when i get a little farther into it.

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  2. Awesome! I look forward to it. I really think more people should get into writing, just for the fun of it. Anyone who has an idea or a story they'd like to read, but can't find it, they should write it themselves. There really is no requirement to be a 'writer'.

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  3. That's why i said we should do a zombie story, cause i have yet to find a decent zombie apocalypse novel!

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  4. Good writing and good discipline Ben! Most successful writers say to write about what you know. If you are creating something, like a new fantasy world, you may have to do some research so that things are believable.Keep it up.

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