# An Update.



## Rojack79 (Jul 6, 2019)

So I have up to my sixth chapter outlined so far which is great! Not to much detail given just a few sentences to get a rough Idea of what the chapter is about and the character's in it. So far so good. Can't wait to hit that last chapter at 27! What milestones have you'll hit recently?


----------



## Ralph Rotten (Jul 6, 2019)

I'm in editing phase right now. I'll be back to writing in a few days. Just tweaking a small 52k book.
Then I am back to working on 2 books at a time.
When those are done, I can go back to a book I shelved because I finally figured out how to write it.


----------



## luckyscars (Jul 6, 2019)

Rojack79 said:


> So I have up to my sixth chapter outlined so far which is great! Not to much detail given just a few sentences to get a rough Idea of what the chapter is about and the character's in it. So far so good. Can't wait to hit that last chapter at 27! What milestones have you'll hit recently?



Congrats, Rojack!

No milestones for me right now, I'm just waiting for my anthologies to come out.


----------



## Sir-KP (Jul 6, 2019)

I finished the draft in May. That's the milestone and it's quite wonderful to see it ever get finished.

Currently sweeping over for edits. Then to add Preface, Table of Contents, Glossary, About Author.


----------



## Rojack79 (Jul 24, 2019)

An update, so far I'm on chapter 12. I have to admit I'm a little scared at finally getting this story done but at the same time I'm excited! I've got 15 more chapters to go and that's a wrap on this story. I need to have a chart plotting out the next course for this series so I can have a roadmap as I go along.


----------



## Megan Pearson (Jul 27, 2019)

Ralph Rotten said:


> ...When those are done, I can go back to a book I shelved because I finally figured out how to write it.



Isn't that a great feeling?

My major milestone is similar to Ralph's. A little backstory, first. These past two months have found me skimming over a manuscript I shelved (in '06? '07?) and thinking about how to solve the problems I created for myself that are in it. Hence, why I shelved it. At the time I finished it, all of my attempts to edit it just made it worse. But, I have written a lot since then. So now I'm thinking that I am ready to tackle it with the intent of publishing it. With this in mind, last week I rewrote the introduction, the first chapter, and part of chapter two. It's like I have this picture in my head of how to divide it (I originally wrote it without chapters) and how to navigate around some of those pitfalls that really hung me up all those years ago. But, that's not the milestone. 

The milestone is, I have this amazing voice coming out of this rewrite and I have no idea where it came from. Now, setting something aside to incubate for 10+ years is not the most productive way to approach anything, so I'm not suggesting anyone should follow my lead in this! It's just, I have never produced anything with such a strong and clear voice as this. Sure, this is how I _would like to_ write, but it's not _how_ I write. I feel like I have _a real person_ on the page, a person who is more sure of herself and more competent at story-telling than I will ever be.  

Actually, it's quite intimidating. I set down my laptop and walked away. 

(I'm really not sure how to handle this. But I think it could be the start of a good milestone.)


----------



## seigfried007 (Jul 28, 2019)

Similar to Ralph and Megan. 

Finally started adding onto Pinocchio after 5.5 years of hiatus. I knew about where I wanted to go but couldn't get the characters to do anything. Somebody finally moved two days ago. Now, if I can just keep them moving. A non-POV character is doing all the serious feeling at the moment, and she's making everything difficult because she's _so overwhelmed _and can't seem to think straight or articulate anything. Neither of the men in the scene is terribly coherent--one's doped on morphine, having nearly died from dehydration, blood loss and starvation in the previous chapter. The other man's the POV, but he's caught between the other two and is waiting for his wife to do figure out what she's going to do.  The baby's thinking clearly enough, but he's a baby--though I have used him to break up the silence between the adults and get them to do stuff. He's become a turf war, a hill to die on, for the adults, who are all kind of fighting over and for him at the moment. It's a really weird scene. I'll get through it somehow.


----------



## Rojack79 (Jul 28, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> Similar to Ralph and Megan.
> 
> Finally started adding onto Pinocchio after 5.5 years of hiatus. I knew about where I wanted to go but couldn't get the characters to do anything. Somebody finally moved two days ago. Now, if I can just keep them moving. A non-POV character is doing all the serious feeling at the moment, and she's making everything difficult because she's _so overwhelmed _and can't seem to think straight or articulate anything. Neither of the men in the scene is terribly coherent--one's doped on morphine, having nearly died from dehydration, blood loss and starvation in the previous chapter. The other man's the POV, but he's caught between the other two and is waiting for his wife to do figure out what she's going to do.  The baby's thinking clearly enough, but he's a baby--though I have used him to break up the silence between the adults and get them to do stuff. He's become a turf war, a hill to die on, for the adults, who are all kind of fighting over and for him at the moment. It's a really weird scene. I'll get through it somehow.



I really can't wait to read this. It sounds so complex and intricate. A small update this time, currently on chapter 21. Yay!


----------



## Ralph Rotten (Jul 28, 2019)

Megan: If you put that book down 13 years ago, you may wanna rewrite it entirely.
The reason is that your writing has likely* evolved significantly* since then.
You could edit the tar out of it...but at some point it is like installing a 12 cylinder engine in a Pinto.
The book could end up looking like Frankenstein's monster. :grin:

Most likely your writing is much better now than then.


----------



## seigfried007 (Jul 28, 2019)

Rojack79 said:


> I really can't wait to read this. It sounds so complex and intricate. A small update this time, currently on chapter 21. Yay!


Super happy you've made it to 21!


I don't think Pinocchio's going to be up your alley at all, as much as it pains me to say that. This thing isn't up anybody's alley. Also, it could very well be a traumatic thing for you, and I don't want to put you through that. Intricate doesn't mean pleasant, and some things that seem pleasant aren't.

Here's a quote from a post I made stupid early this morning after trying to write because I couldn't sleep:


seigfried007 said:


> I'm so glad I got back into the forum. This project isn't something that I can really discuss with anyone else, and that's part of why it's so difficult for me. But, thanks to interactions here, I have been able to understand what's _really_ going on in it, and that's helped me get back into the project and add anything at all to it after years of hiatus. I'm especially indebted to Aquilo for the horror comment. *Pinocchio isn't erotica or erotic romance--it's a cosmic horror cloaked in the skins of erotic romance.* I was so paralyzed by feeling like I had to write the nastiest sex scenes as erotic in nature that I'd missed what it was really about. I'd known for a while that Pinocchio was deeply troubled person who functioned as both a cautionary tale on genetic engineering and child abuse (the literal and figurative making of a monster), and as a metaphor for puberty itself (particularly for a sex-abused youth who is terrified of change).
> 
> Kind of worried I'm going to wind up with a sprawling mass of thematic craziness/grandeur that doesn't have a clear climax or work well as a story. POV is rarely active in forging his own destiny--he's basically an innocent blank slate child/man who is seduced/molested/raped on about every level a person can be--and by people he believes love him. I've inadvertently stuck the reader and character into the position of a trusting child, abused them and convinced them (at least partway) that they enjoy this abuse. *The whole story boils down to how child abuse changes someone--*makes them reevaluate everything about the perpetrator, the event and themselves--their identity, what they really want, who they love, what they like, their sexual orientation and preferences, how they remember events, how they feel, what they remember or forget, what reality even is, who they are, if they deserved this, what love is, what abuse is, what rape is, what consent is... it's never-ending


----------



## Rojack79 (Jul 29, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> Super happy you've made it to 21!
> 
> 
> I don't think Pinocchio's going to be up your alley at all, as much as it pains me to say that. This thing isn't up anybody's alley. Also, it could very well be a traumatic thing for you, and I don't want to put you through that. Intricate doesn't mean pleasant, and some things that seem pleasant aren't.
> ...



I'll have to chalk it up to my morbid curiosity then. After what happened I became fixated on finding out why it did and why me. I found out it happens to anyone,  anywhere, sometimes even directly under the very nose of the parents. I have to admit that while it might seem strange to some as someone who's come to terms with what happened I still find myself interested in your story. As a fellow writer I feel compelled to read something of yours as thanks for being a decent human being. You don't want me to re-live that horrible nightmare again so I will respect that. Is there anything else you have written up and ready for reading?


----------



## Rojack79 (Jul 29, 2019)

So another small update, got stuck on 21, had to go back and rewrite a few previous chapters so as to switch the plot around a little. Other than that I'm currently working on chapter 22. Off to The Vatican!


----------



## seigfried007 (Jul 29, 2019)

Rojack79 said:


> I'll have to chalk it up to my morbid curiosity then. After what happened I became fixated on finding out why it did and why me. I found out it happens to anyone,  anywhere, sometimes even directly under the very nose of the parents. I have to admit that while it might seem strange to some as someone who's come to terms with what happened I still find myself interested in your story. As a fellow writer I feel compelled to read something of yours as thanks for being a decent human being. You don't want me to re-live that horrible nightmare again so I will respect that. Is there anything else you have written up and ready for reading?



Read what you want. I just wanted to warn you. I don't find it strange, per se, that you're interested (I'm interested in it, too, or I wouldn't be writing it  ) but I didn't want you to get partway into it and go "HOLY PHUCKOLA! MY _EYES_--THEY'RE _MELTING!_" There's some... *ahem* _non-conventional _pairings/threesomes in it, and they're often explicit. In the Red Light forum, I've got the whole work as of last year, but now that I'm working on it again, I can post the newer versions of the chapters there. The good news, is that if you really don't want to read some scenes, I did post synopses in the thread so you can skip scenes and not lose out on the story. By comparison, the abuse is in some ways more explicit in Joanna's Big Secret, and that story doesn't involve male-male relationships (but it does directly involve someone who is and looks like a minor--unlike Pinocchio, who is and doesn't look like a minor).


----------



## Rojack79 (Jul 29, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> Read what you want. I just wanted to warn you. I don't find it strange, per se, that you're interested (I'm interested in it, too, or I wouldn't be writing it  ) but I didn't want you to get partway into it and go "HOLY PHUCKOLA! MY _EYES_--THEY'RE _MELTING!_" There's some... *ahem* _non-conventional _pairings/threesomes in it, and they're often explicit. In the Red Light forum, I've got the whole work as of last year, but now that I'm working on it again, I can post the newer versions of the chapters there. The good news, is that if you really don't want to read some scenes, I did post synopses in the thread so you can skip scenes and not lose out on the story. By comparison, the abuse is in some ways more explicit in Joanna's Big Secret, and that story doesn't involve male-male relationships (but it does directly involve someone who is and looks like a minor--unlike Pinocchio, who is and doesn't look like a minor).



I just saw that one fish from spongebob that screamed "My Eyes! My Eyes!" as his eyes got lit on fire. Wow taken out of context that sounds very dark. I think I'll need to talk to PiP for an invite into the red light district. I've been meaning to ask anyway so I could get some advice on some sex scenes I have planned for this series.


----------



## Rojack79 (Jul 30, 2019)

On chapter 23 out of 27. Introduced Lilith in a believable way and only have 4 more chapter's to go. YEAH!!!!


----------



## Rojack79 (Jul 31, 2019)

Well... just got through with the last chapter of The first book. Not really sure how to feel right now. Excited for having actually completed the outline. Now all that remains is to write. So many other stories are beginning to surface, some are nothing but distractions, others are paramount for this series as a whole. I could get started on the sequel and the parallel Villains Arch for the first book. Man this is almost surreal. Well if i can I'll see if I can post up the outline for critique some time today. Anyone know where to post it for that? My brain is still in shock right now.


----------



## Megan Pearson (Jul 31, 2019)

Ralph Rotten said:


> Megan: If you put that book down 13 years ago, you may wanna rewrite it entirely.
> The reason is that your writing has likely* evolved significantly* since then.
> You could edit the tar out of it...but at some point it is like installing a 12 cylinder engine in a Pinto.
> The book could end up looking like Frankenstein's monster.
> ...




(LOL!) *Ralph*, I sure hope it's improved somewhat!!! Actually, it was because of the struggles I went through in writing it that I began in earnest to teach myself how to write. I'm glad for them--but at the same time, almost can't stomach reading what I had written back then because it is _sooo_ awful! The plan all along--even while I wrote it (I was aware of issues I--I just didn't know how to solve them back then)--was to rewrite it. Which is why I am so thrilled with (& somewhat terrified of!) the voice I now have in this story. 

Personally, I am much more in favor of rewriting something already having potential and then editing, rather than editing the tar out of something that _might_ someday have potential. One is productive; the other, wasteful.



You know, that Frankenstein feller? I met him once. He came in the guise of a door-to-door salesman dealing in pithy sayings and false optimism. He'd just rant on and on, and you know, I couldn't get him out the door fast enough. He was a costly waste of time; it took me seven years to run him out of town. How did I do that? I read everything I could get my hands on about writing and craft, storytelling, the importance of structure, what makes plot/character/setting and how do they work together in harmony, and etc. I'll agree that reading what we would like to write is great--I'm all for reading everything we can get our hands on. But, reading alone is far too passive. We have to _work_ at shoving bad habits and unwelcomed monsters out the door. If we don't apply what we read, then why bother with advice in the first place? Writers _write_. So, in the end, that Frankenstein guy wasn't so bad after all. He turned into awful good motivation for my gaining an appreciation for the rules of writing and for what that should look like in _good_ writing. 

Anyone out there dealing with a Frankenstein in their work, check out books on writing by authors _you_ like-- preferably books with writing exercises on selected topics the author develops at length in the preceding chapter. Because you like that author, hopefully you'll stay motivated when it does get to feeling like work. And because they're authors you know, they probably won't be teaching you above where you're presently interested in writing. That comes later, when you are ready for Strunk & White and the more literary or academic guides to help you solve more the complex problems in your writing--problems that have been there all along, only, you didn't know they were there. By then, you can thank Frankenstein for his business card and slam that door shut behind him!


----------



## Rojack79 (Aug 7, 2019)

So after my computer died on me I've been looking for a way to use my little Tablet/Computer to write my story. My main issue was the keyboard being way to small. Fixed that so tomorrow my writing can begin.

 However I'm now having an issue with MC drift as i like to call it, meaning that the MC has changed drastically from a pure man of God out on mission to a nice guy who's simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 He's gone from badass hero to badass normal everyman who just wants to get home to see his family. He ends up getting tossed into this highly charged situation and makes it out by the skin of his teeth thanks to his ingenuity, cunning, and faith in God.

 Is this normal for your carefully constructed plans to just go out into left field all of a sudden?


----------



## seigfried007 (Aug 7, 2019)

*^^^YUP*


----------



## Rojack79 (Aug 7, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> *^^^YUP*



Glad i'm not the only one. I have to admit it's jarring to have this all planned out and then all of a sudden boom! "No,No,No! I'm going this a-way!"


----------



## Dluuni (Aug 8, 2019)

Have almost half of my first novel length piece rewritten. Ebook cover finished. Hoping to release in October, if I can figure out how to get timely ARCs. Novella by the end of the year.


----------



## Rojack79 (Aug 13, 2019)

So this update is somewhat troubling for me. With the concept and way that my story will play out my brain decided it would be a good idea to throw me a curveball and try to include two more protagonists based on earlier character concepts I had in mind. This would effectively make itso that I have a protagonist a dueteragonist & a tritagonist all in one book. I know it's been done before but it almost feels like my brain is trying to punish me for my creativity. Do I give in and see where it go's from here or do I force myself to steam forward with my preplaned outline?


----------



## seigfried007 (Aug 13, 2019)

Rojack79 said:


> So this update is somewhat troubling for me. With the concept and way that my story will play out my brain decided it would be a good idea to throw me a curveball and try to include two more protagonists based on earlier character concepts I had in mind. This would effectively make itso that I have a protagonist a dueteragonist & a tritagonist all in one book. I know it's been done before but it almost feels like my brain is trying to punish me for my creativity. Do I give in and see where it go's from here or do I force myself to steam forward with my preplaned outline?


Do either. Do both. If one sucks, do it the other way.


----------



## Rojack79 (Aug 28, 2019)

Well I had to rewrite all of my outline up till chapter 7 just to make the prologue and first chapter fir in more with the feel for the story that i want to have but so far so good!


----------



## seigfried007 (Aug 28, 2019)

Rojack79 said:


> Well I had to rewrite all of my outline up till chapter 7 just to make the prologue and first chapter fir in more with the feel for the story that i want to have but so far so good!



I'm getting mindraped by my own book, if it's any comfort


----------



## Rojack79 (Aug 28, 2019)

seigfried007 said:


> I'm getting mindraped by my own book, if it's any comfort


 
Comfort? no. But it is good to know that I'm not the only one having trouble with keeping the narrative going in the direction that i want it to go. Still I wish you the best of luck in your writing. I know just how hectic it can be to have an idea try and run away with you. Sometimes it succeeds and other time you have to beat it down into submission.


----------



## seigfried007 (Aug 28, 2019)

Rojack79 said:


> Comfort? no. But it is good to know that I'm not the only one having trouble with keeping the narrative going in the direction that i want it to go. Still I wish you the best of luck in your writing. I know just how hectic it can be to have an idea try and run away with you.




No, I'm talking about something much worse than "hey, these people are not cooperating" at this point. This book is bringing out all kinds of weird stuff in me IRL. I can't sleep. I can't breathe because my chest gets so tight. I'm always nauseous and hurt everywhere. I'm having to wrestle with my own dissociative tendencies--but instead of them getting better, they're getting much, much worse. It's like a boil though--it'll get worse before it gets better. I've got to lance this thing and finish it off. Maybe then it'll be laid to rest, and I can resume a vaguely normal-ish life. 

I'm having to empathize with characters who are doing and feeling horrible things just to write them right. I'm having to wrestle with how much I have in common with all of these people--and how I can't seem to do anything to change these awful things about myself. Writing this thing is making me anxious, clingy when I'm not antisocial. I'm perpetually confused, helpless and doubting myself. I'm afraid of change--far more now than I was before I got back into the project. This level of mindscrew and character writing has a drastic effect on my personality.


----------



## Rojack79 (Aug 29, 2019)

Quick update, on chapter VIII so far for the revised outline. That is all.


----------



## seigfried007 (Aug 29, 2019)

Realized that there's yet another way to view Pinocchio's narrative today: That he's the critter presented at face value, but he's the one with multiple personalities because he's absorbing the psyches of people he's eaten. In which case, he and David might be separate people, and either or both might have DIDS/multiple personalities. 

And I know it's going to end roughly where I thought it would from the beginning, but setting and motivation for Pinocchio killing David will be very different.


----------



## Rojack79 (Sep 2, 2019)

Well. I'm done. Finally got the two biggest story ideas in my head down and outlined. Got to say that while the ancient mythology story is interesting I'm really finding myself drawn to the Holy Warrior out to destroy evil. I really want to show how a holy, God fearing character would react in a world filled magic & monsters. I know it'll be controversial but I really just don't care. 

The story is to much fun for me at this point. So I'll go through that outline refine it, trim it up, cut a little here, add a little there and then finally I'll get to writing. Wish me luck guys. I'm about to go poke a very sleepy bear.


----------



## Rojack79 (Sep 4, 2019)

I hate my brain. Woke up at 4 this morning with an old idea resurfacing in my head. It won't leave me alone. Might as well write it down and see were it go's.


----------



## Rojack79 (Sep 16, 2019)

Ok so, just had an idea on how the characters could potentially meet up with one another in as little as two to three chapters. So far I've got up to chapter ten of the revised outline done. It's looking good so far but I am definitely going to have to polish it up some.


----------



## Rojack79 (Oct 17, 2019)

Just a quick update. Have to revise the outline for a third time, but I'm back up to chapter 9 like last time & the story is on track for once instead of flying off the rails as I try shove in some filler chapters. So far everything is going great.


----------



## Rojack79 (Oct 19, 2019)

Well a huge update this time. Went from nine chapters done to me getting started on chapter Sixteen! Yes! Now that the creative juice is flowing there's no stopping until I'm finally finished! I can't wait!


----------



## Rojack79 (Oct 20, 2019)

Currently on chapter 20. Ten more to go, maybe. It'll depend on if that many are necessary to finish this first book.


----------



## Umree (Oct 20, 2019)

It's awesome that you're being so productive, Rojack! I'm glad the creative juices are flowing around here. I haven't hit any milestones as of late, but I'm revising a year old short story -- it's driving me nuts! :highly_amused:

I hope you keep your momentum going, well done!


----------



## Rojack79 (Oct 27, 2019)

So got done with the outline only to realize that I completely ditched the theme of this novel about half way through and then completely went ham on the last half with it having no real structure, ryme or reason to it happening. So I've scrapped it and went back to the drawing board. Let me tell you it was the best decision I've ever made. Currently back on chapter five and have been able to A) establish the setting and characters for the story and B) have already put in motion the theme and plot of the overall adventure to follow. Things are looking great for now. This will be the final draft for the outline so I have to make sure I get it just right. I have to villains to introduce which will hopefully go off without a hitch but hey I've got the beginning done so it's all smooth sailing from here.


----------



## J.T. Chris (Oct 27, 2019)

I am proud of you, Rojack. Killing your darlings is a difficult thing to do, but you've learned an important lesson: writing is rewriting.


----------



## Rojack79 (Nov 10, 2019)

Yup. And it's also just plain scrapping the idea sometimes completely and just starting over from scratch. Of course I won't be starting over completely from scratch, I'll just be telling a different story that I've previously worked on and just put on my back burner. 

One of the many benefits of having an overactive imagination and years of research on my hands. This is yet another story that I've thought to death of writing but I was to afraid of it being a bit to controversial to write. Now i just want to start something and then finish it. I'm sick of lounging about & bouncing back & forth between story ideas. 

This one is even more completely woven into my brain thanks to a fairly easy premise based around two questions, what would happen if all the old, ancient god's were real? Then what would happen if they were reincarnated and got into a fight with each other?


----------



## Rojack79 (Jan 20, 2020)

Well I'm on chapter 26 out of the 30 planned for this novel and I can't help but feel that some of my themes have been lost along the way. But I'll only need to go back and change some details do I'm not to worried. In fact my only worry so far is that I might have tried to shove in to many plots and not focused to much on the main conflict of the novel. Honestly I can't wait to get these last five chapters done so I can go back and look over the outline with a fine tooth comb.


----------



## Rojack79 (Feb 8, 2020)

Been a while since I posted on here. The latest update that I have to offer is this,

1. Had a slight mental breakdown and deleted the entirety of my work on my ancient mythology story. 

2. Got to work on a science fantasy project that's been in my head for some now.

3. Currently on chapter 19 of that outline and loving every second of the outlining process.

4. Going to get back to work on my ancient mythology story now that I've had some time to de-stress and work through some personal issues.


----------



## Rojack79 (Feb 19, 2020)

All right so got back into the swing of things and am now on chapter 14 of my final outline. It's coming along beautifully. I'm constantly having to rethink whole chapters in order to fit in a new idea or rework a character. It's great! I'll be back with you all when I make another dent in this project.


----------



## Rojack79 (Feb 20, 2020)

Ok great news! I'm on the home stretch for my outline! I've got 5 more chapters to go then I can officially start writing! Now i can only hope that my imagination hasn't doomed me to mediocrity.


----------



## Rojack79 (Feb 23, 2020)

So got those last five chapters done and just found the whole story was all over the place in some areas and lacked a real solid foundation from the start. So I'm redoing it once more. So far gotten 5 chapters in and it's flowing much smoother than before.


----------



## Chris Stevenson (Feb 23, 2020)

I'm gearing up for the launch of book # 2 in my series and I'm coming apart at the seams. I'm sick to death with worry about performance and potential sales and reviews. This is a make or break for this new pen name I've adopted for my YA stuff only. It's like becoming an author all over again.


----------



## Rojack79 (Mar 17, 2020)

So a big update at least in scope.

1. Got a new puppy.

2. Got fired for no real reason.

3. Currently on employment.

4. Still working on story. I've reworked the setting in order to have it take place in the wild west of North America. It fits so much better than old 14th century Europe. Plus i can literally just shift the characters over to this new setting with very minor tweaks to their character and be all set.

5. Currently working on chapter 17 of the outline and all is going well.


----------

