Boom, baby...times three!

I haven't dragged out the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum in a long, long time. However, after a blockbuster weekend of writing, I needed to do it. I hit the hallowed level of "Reggie at the Garden" on three consecutive days, churning out more than 15,200 combined words on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

I'm hoping to finish the first draft of III Crimsonstreak before the end of July. The draft currently stands at about 60,000 words and I'm aiming for 80,000 to 85,000. That does not, of course, include any supplemental materials.

A quick Reggie Miller Writing Continuum Update!

Quick Reggie Miller Writing Continuum update!

I'm working on a new book right now and hoped to be well past the 30,000-word mark by now. I'm just barely over that at the moment...and I needed to rally yesterday to make it happen.

During a quiet night of writing, I pounded out more than 3,000 words, putting me on the lower end of "Sold-Out Conseco" on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum.

Boom, Baby!

A super-productive day today! I banked 5,400 words on my latest book, earning the rare (and distinguished!) position of Reggie at the Garden on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum. To celebrate, I'm having a cookie and reliving my favorite "Garden variety" moment:

Saturday Progress

Saturday isn't over yet, but so far we're at 1,500 words. I'd really like to hit "Reggie at the Garden" this weekend, but that is a very, very tall order. We'll see what happens.

Another Average Night on Crimsonstreak 2

I'm staving off a cold right now, but I still managed to cobble together 1,650 somewhat coherent words of my new book. I like where it's going, although I'm already concerned about the pacing because things are moving just a little too quickly and conveniently.

But the point of a first draft is to get it out there and THEN make it good. So call it another Average Night on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum. My reward: sleep.

Moving right along...

After realizing I've neglected the blog of late, I prepped a few blog posts tonight.

Writing progress was slow, but I finally got into a groove, finishing with 1,700 words and giving me another Average Night on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum.

New Project, Reggie Meter Update

Over the weekend, I sketched out a few ideas for a new writing first--a sequel. After spending a long time revising I, Crimsonstreak, I decided I wanted to return to that world of superheroes and supervillains.

So let's make it official...I'll let Peyton do the honors, since he's not doing much right now:

I, Crimsonstreak 2: (colon subtitle undetermined but suitably snarky) is now moved into the First Draft Queue! What does that mean? Well...it means I'll be working on it for a few months while maybe squeezing in the occasional short story. It also means, being a first draft, that it will completely suck.

I made good progress today, too. My writing shift was split between a morning session and a late night, post-work session. Combined, I ended the day with 2,400 words, good enough for Average Night on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum.

He's heating up!

Pounded out more than 1,700 words on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum in a little more than an hour. If I hadn't spent time tonight making some book covers, who knows where I would've landed?

Superhero story now at more than 4,700 words and has now eclipsed my crime story!

I expect to finish the superhero tale soon. After that, I'll get back to the other one.

Working on a new story!

I'm doing something I normally don't do: I've got two stories going at the same time. One is straight up crime fiction, while the other returns to my love of the superhero fiction genre.

I started the superhero story tonight and churned out more than 1,500 words, which puts me at Average Night on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum.

A Solid Effort

Working on a short story that's straight-up crime fiction, which makes it different from anything I've written before. No superheroes, no extraterrestrials, and no talking animals for this one.

We're at 4,400 words now...1,900 of them written tonight. That's an Average Night on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum. As the story is going right now, it's feeling like it's going to be a bit on the long side. We'll just have to see.

Reggie Meter Update!

I haven't done one of these in a while because I've been busy with revisions and some side projects. But I'm happy to report that I pounded out more than 3,900 words tonight, putting me comfortably in "Sold-Out Conseco" on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum!

New Short Story in the Works!

After revising Crimsonstreak for such a long time and working on some blog posts, inspiration has finally struck for a new short story! I wrote for about an hour tonight, finishing a tick above a thousand words. It's not the best finish ever, but good enough for "Free Throws and Jumpers" on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum.

The new story is called "The Master Will Return." It's about the relationship between an obtuse but loyal robot servant and his caring master. This one may actually tug at the heartstrings when it's finished.

In Defense of Superheroes

My writing output has dwindled in the last few weeks, mostly because I've been working like a dog on some revisions for one of my books. And I also wasted time created book covers (see here and here).

It's a superhero novel.

Speak up, son!

IT'S A SUPERHERO NOVEL.

When I first started writing...and trust me it hasn't been that long ago...I was a little shy to utter that phrase. I gave a more friendly, PC answer: "I write sci-fi and fantasy." Which I do...it's just a lot of that science fiction and fantasy stuff involves people in spandex. With capes.

I still get a little embarrassed about it from time to time. I think people are going to tell me it's immature to like superheroes. They're going to tell me those types of stories are for kids. They're going to smile, nod, and head straight for the door because the guy they just talked to had the immature audacity to pitch a freaking superhero book.

So today I write in defense of superheroes.

Because they can be complex.

They can be real.

They can be flawed.

To me, superheroes reflect ideals. Your super-duper-good vigilante represents the American Dream (Superman). Your masked, shadow-stalking vigilante represents the gray areas of life (Batman). A guy like Captain America stands for liberty and freedom. Captain Marvel symbolizes the latent power of youth and good intentions.

Even the villains have their place. The Joker is an agent of chaos, Lex Luthor stands tall for big business, and Red Skull represents Nazis. And Nazis are bad.

This is nothing you haven't heard before. People far more eloquent than me have covered this topic in greater depth and detail. But I'm explaining why I'm not embarrassed to like and write about superheroes.

Superheroes give us something to aspire to. The real world is full of heroes, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it. In broad terms, superheroes clearly define themselves. The guy in the cape is there to save the day...and you know it because he's wearing a friggin' cape. If we were all so selfless, just imagine how much we could accomplish.

They're just like us...except, you know, they can fly and stuff. Ye Olde Spider-Man is probably the best example here. Poor Peter Parker can't do anything right, gets paid peanuts for taking pictures, and saves the day on the side. Sure, some multi-billionaires are hard to relate to (*cough* Bruce Wayne *cough*), but a great superhero story has a character in there who's relatable. Many have families to protect.

From a storytelling perspective, they're flexible. This is a wide-open genre full of diverse opportunities. You can go supernatural (Ghost Rider), humorous and nigh-invulnerable (The Tick), dark and brooding (I'm not even going to mention his name), intergalactic (Silver Surfer), high-tech (Iron Man), vampiric (Blade), paramilitary (The Punisher), godlike (Thor), and much, much more.

There's lot of "in between." Not every hero dons red, white, and blue. Sometimes they don't wear the white hat...sometimes the hat is gray. Maybe the "hero" kills people. Maybe he/she has to make an impossible choice to prevent some terrible catastrophe. Maybe they have to choose the lesser of two evils. Maybe they have to make a deal with the bad guy. Maybe they are the bad guy.

We can paint in broad strokes. Superheroes certainly have their own shorthand. We know who the guy with the huge biceps and chin that doubles as a nutcracker is supposed to be. We understand the multi-trillionaire with the cowl has all the gadgets. The genre definitely has its tropes...and those easily-accessible ones help set up a world...and then allow authors to flip it upside down.

Grandeur and wonder already included. People can fly, run faster than sound, move things with their minds, and walk through walls. These are not normal abilities (except in comics, of course). Sure, these things can become mundane, but writers who step back and awe at these superhuman acts can share the experience with their readers.

You want stakes? I got your stakes right here. Every story needs high stakes, something big on the line. The stakes don't get any "higher" than superhero stories. I mean, come on, the world's going to blow up. An alien invasion is imminent. A mad scientist plans to unleash a super ray turning everyone into Christopher Walken (yeah...it sounds like the perfect world...but when everyone is Walken, there is no Walken).

What do you think? What draws you to the genre? What pushes you away? Is this just "kid stuff?"

New short story, Sold-Out Conseco!

I started a new short story today and made quite a bit of headway, finishing with more than 3,500 words...good enough for "Sold-Out Conseco" on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum!

The "Other Days" Category

Had a terrific idea for a short story in a shared world anthology, but I'm struggling for output. Some days, you blink and produce 2,000 words by magic. Other days, three hours pass and you've mustered a paltry 1,000 words.

Today falls into the "other days" category. That's "Free Throws and Jumpers" on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum.

Word Count update

I hit "Average Night" on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum, finishing with more than 2,300 words.

My current work in progress is at 19,000 words. I'm shooting for about 80,000 words for this one, which means I'm about 23% "finished."

I put quotation marks around finished because we all know that percentage is bupkis.

He's on fire!

I have done it a few times, but today I hit the fabled heights of "Reggie at the Garden" on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum. In just a few hours of writing today, I produced more than 5,400 words, bringing the word count on my new work in progress to 16,691 words. Considering I started it just last week, I'm really motoring along on this thing.

It will break my heart when I start revisions and realize the plot makes no sense!

Time for a Star Wars quote:

Han: You know, sometimes I amaze even myself.

Leia: That doesn't sound too hard.

Sold-Out Conseco, baby!

I started a new novel earlier this week...and I can tell I'm excited about it. Four days of writing have produced more than 10,000 words! That's a tremendous amount of output. I have a very clear idea where this one is going and feel like I have a real sense of the characters I'm writing about. That's helped move things along...it also means I've hit "Sold-Out Conseco" for the first time in a long time on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum. It's on the low end, 3,500 words, but it's still pretty good!

I shouldn't say this because I know it will jinx me...but if I put my mind to it Saturday or Sunday, I may be able to hit the fabled, lofty heights of "Reggie at the Garden." I don't expect to keep up this torrid pace (if I do, I won't complain), but a few more days like today and this book will be finished in no time (I'm not crossing my fingers, however).

New story now in "Audibles" stage

Another Average Night on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum. I busted out about 2,000 words this afternoon to wrap up a short story. It hit slightly under the target of 6,500 words. I don't get too concerned with word count goals; it just felt by the pacing of this story that it would end up in the 6,500 to 7,000 word range. Finishing under that isn't a bad thing at all.

I'm going right into revisions on this short story, because I noticed a few misspellings and structural things I wanted to change. After the initial revisions are complete, I'll put the story aside for a week and work on finalizing the piece. The story may end up in flux on the Peytonometer...while I'm entering the "Audibles" stage, I may also go to the "Beta Reader Handoff" phase simultaneously.

But the best part is that I had a decent idea for a story, outlined and conceptualized it, and completed the first draft fairly quickly. I haven't settled on a title yet.

Another Average Night

Another productive night netted about 2,000 words, giving me an Average Night on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum. I'm still working on the short story I referred to last night, which is about an immortal warrior who fights battles through several different time periods. I have a feeling Death will eventually catch up with him!