Silly comic book thoughts (not based on any ‘announcement’ or image released today).
If the modern day Batman was became Ra’s Al Ghul in a similar way to whats happening in the ARROW tv series; he would move the entire League of Assassins to Gotham. They would become Batman Inc. and he’d put at least one member on every street corner.
A week later the Joker would have killed half of them with Joker gas.
…Okay, I’m too tired. Going to bed now.
Anyone who follows me on facebook or twitter (or Google+) will know I recently released a new story as an ebook. I really hope to be doing this more often, but for now here’s a little something about this one.
This short story was almost more fun to write than the original novel CLOCKWORK GENIE.
Though it didn’t start off all that fun. I had begun by working up a sequel novel, but all the characters wanted their moment in the spot light and that resulted in distractions from the main plot of the book. So I pruned away some of those side lines and found a very beautiful flower, which I call:
THE COP WHO WOULDN’T DIE: A Clockwork Genie Story
Police Detective Whitney Manning escaped from the horrors of the crimes she witnessed nearly everyday into the fantasy worlds of her books. Then one day, fantasy became all too real when she met a girl with a power genie and her life would never be the same.
Having faced on of the most powerful beings on the planet, and survive battle with a dragon made of living stone, how can Detective Manning return to the everyday world of crime and murder?
She was off duty and wasn’t supposed to be there when the bullet struck her chest. Detective Whitney Manning should be dead.
THE COP WHO WOULDN’T DIE
This is the first short story in a series of stories taking place in the world of CLOCKWORK GENIE, and eventually will all be collected in an anthology.
The next story in the series will be about the handsome homicide Detective Marcus Lambert as he discovers more of the secrets his new wife’s family and the genie of the watch.
After this anthology is complete I will return to the second novel fresh.
To those who have read and enjoyed CLOCKWORK GENIE (which you can purchase at one of the links to the right), let me know which of characters from the book deserves their own short story.
Thank you all again for your support.
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity
I have never considered myself a comedy writer, but that isn’t to say that I don’t write comedy. Rather, I never set out to write comedy, and in so doing the comedy tends to write itself.
If any of that makes sense, I hope what follows will as well.
I am a writer of characters.
Usually, I have a rough outline of a plot, hardly a skeleton to build upon. I start with a simple idea, usually a question. I see something, or read about something, and ask “What if?” Lots of times it has to do with looking at something from a different angle.
A lot, or a few, notes go down next. But that all just sits in a pile and does nothing if there aren’t any characters to march through it and kick up the dirt. Otherwise, it’s just a garbage heap of useless words.
Just writing that paragraph gave me a simple idea. A Garbage Heap. What follows is finding the story, and the first question I ask is “What is it like working on a garbage heap?” You know, those people who take our trash to the dump, and those that sort through it. Some for recycling, and those who scrounge around the dump looking for things they can sell in order to survive. (I know old door nobs can bring a penny or two.) But the job isn’t interesting enough. So what if I changed the question: “What is life like for those who live on the garbage heap?” I think there is some drama in that, and maybe some comedy too.
(Almost forgot my blog’s topic there didn’t I?)
We’ll have to wait and see if I actually discover a story in garbage heap and expand upon it. I see a lot of drama, even depression, about the people living in lean-to huts atop or even inside the garbage mounds.
But is there comedy among that garbage and depression? If you find the right characters there are.
What if our story is about a teenage girl working along side her parents looking for scrap and selling what they can. She has a boyfriend, but when he shows up to take her on a date (what kind of date can there be on a scrap heap), she complains that he was cuter before he took a shower.
Okay, that might not be the funniest thing in the world. Like I said, I don’t write comedy. However, if I wrote this story completely out, I think our little Dust Bunny (yes, I just named the girl Dust Bunny. The boy’s name is Smudge, no, Kruntch ) would have a whole lot of funny things to say as she is clearly the only person on the garbage island that enjoys being there.
The point, if there is one, is that comedy like everything else in a story comes out of character. Creating a funny situation and dropping your characters into it doesn’t necessarily make it comedy.
Learn about your characters; find out what makes them tick, and what ticks them off. Don’t tickle them; annoy their pants off. They’ll tell you what’s funny when they start throwing mud back at you.
Maybe I will write this story sometime. Maybe set it on a garbage planet (this story is getting gout of hand). (Kruntch is out; the boy’s name is Smudge again. The letter K didn’t test well.)
Then we’ll discover if I can write comedy or not, and see if I am really worthy of being:
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity (certainly not of comedy).
As the sun sets upon this hot-as-hell day, and the shadows creep across the alleyways of our cities, criminals raise their heads to steal your Aunt Harriet’s silver candle sticks, or mad scientists wind up their giant robots to take over the world.
 |
| She never figured it out. Who’s aunt was she? |
The villains who make the heroes…. heroic… are out and about, and soon they are about to get their day in the sun.
No, I’m not talking about DC Comic’s Forever Evil comic book event.
What I’m asking you to do is be careful and look inside the Black Fedora.
In this evening’s twilight I received word of the release of a New Pulp anthology by Pro Se Production entitled the Black Fedora will be released later this month (September, 2013).
I’ll have more to write about it as we get closer to the release. In the meantime, be sure to check under the cover for ancient monsters and alien invaders, the bad guys are about to get their day. Will the heroes survive?
Pleasant dreams.
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity
Well, I’m back from ComicCon and survived being one in 130,000 people on the convention floor.
I won’t tell you how many conventions I’ve been too, and have only missed one in all that time, but what I can say is this may have been one of the most productive cons so far.
Over the next week I plan on writing short blogs about different parts of the con that I experienced. I hope it’s worth the reading.
Shannon and I road the Amtrak Train “Surfliner” down to San Diego and back home again each day. (We didn’t go for Sunday. We needed the rest.) It was a relaxing way to do it, and actually get some writing done. On Saturday we met someone at our hometown train station that was also going to Con, and saw again when we got back late that night. It turned out we had other connections, and this chance meeting may lead into some positive networking with companies down the road. We can only try.
Each day was crowded with people, and sometimes that can be frustrating when you’re trying to keep up with your partner salmon swimming up stream, but it is still fun.
The TV news kept going on about the costumes (or cosplay), but there was so much more to it than that. Though there were some really great costumes. The ones that really got to me were the families. Not just a group of people together, but families. A family that was dressed as Superman/Wonder Woman and Supergirl/Superboy. Another family that was the main pantheon of Star Wars characters. Do what you’re children love, and your children will do what you love.
As stated in my last blog we were going to avoid Hall H and Ballroom 20. However we did make one attempt to get into 20, Steven Moffat was there about the TV series SHERLOCK. The line which began at ground level near went up a long set of stairs and then Disneyland Lined back and forth. We spent 40 minutes in the line, but once the actual program began we knew we’d never make it inside. A friend of ours spent 3 hours in line for the same panel and still never got in.
We never even contemplated going to see DOCTOR WHO in Hall H. Not only getting in line itself can be bad, but also a lot of people decided to camp out in line or in the Hall itself once inside. The simple concept is that you go into see one panel even if you’re not interest in it and stay there until you see the panel you want. Sometimes if you sit in an earlier panel you might discover something new that interests you. Sounds like a good plan, but then you decide to do it for Hall H. Waiting 3 hours might be okay for some, but would you be willing to camp in the Hall our outside the convention center all night long? Well a lot of people did. Not me; no way!
Even avoiding the masses, we did end up in some very good panels. We sat in on one about writing for television and the experience in the “writer’s room.” It was fun that one of our friends was on the panel, would be even more fun if we were friends with the rest of the panel. We got in but the line beyond use couldn’t, this was a much smaller room.
Shannon really got a lot out of a panel on Digital Comics in Schools and Libraries. She’ll be writing her own blogs about that.
There were also a couple of spotlight panels that we attended. Those were cool to hear the people we look up to talk about their careers in their own words. I’ll be writing about one of those later. Of course it was also great to meet people on the floor, in artists alley, they we’ve worked with in the past.
We also attended the Writers’ Guild of America gathering, but could only stay for about half an hour, as we had to get to the train station.
It doesn’t sounds like a whole lot, but the little things are what matters. Each a small part of my #Mission818
We really had a good time.
More Con Blogs to follow.
As I write this thousands of people are arriving into San Diego for Comic Con International and many are attending “Preview Night”. I’ve never been there on Wednesday nights. It originally was a special “Preview” for professionals and retailers, but now it has grown to be nearly as busy as every other day at Con.
Shannon Muir and I will attend the convention Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We are riding Amtrak trains to and from San Diego each day, but it is much more inexpensive and relaxing than trying for a hotel room.
We attend Con to meet up with many of our professional friends and network with many of the companies in attendance.
This year I am bringing #MISSION818 with me.
If you’ve been around my blog long enough, or a regular visitor and follower of my facebook or twitter feed you’ll know what #MISSION818 is. For those that don’t here is a brief description.
Shannon and I are engaged to be married, and I plan to move to be with her in the Glendale/Burbank area, and so my Mission is find employment in or around the 818 area code before our wedding.
I would prefer to find employment with an animation production company or comic book publisher, but am open to other positions and companies in that region.
I am a scriptwriter, having written professional in television animation, and been hired to develop series for independent producers. I am also a comic book illustrator, novelist, and book cover artist.
If I could have the exact job I’m after it would Senior Vice President of TV Animation Series Development, but that’s not going to happen right away. In the mean time I’ll be quite happy to assist the guy in the position now. I’ll even bring my own broom.
For my professional friends on facebook and twitter, you know that as I further my career I tag them with #MISSION818. So, this year I will be wearing a #MISSION818 T-Shirt and you all can find me in the Comic Con crowd. See the photo to know what you’re looking for:
Feel free to stop me and say hi, and like my facebook post. More importantly, lets talk about what I can do for you.
Hope to write a Post-Con Blog next week, or maybe some on spot posts to my facebook page while I’m there and let you all know how #MISSION818 worked out.
Thank you all for the support.
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity
Do you have someone who’s willing to give you a good swift kick in the pants? You should.
Someone willing to tell you when you’re heading in the wrong direction, or not moving at all. Who can pull you off the couch and down into the desk chair and stand over your shoulder to make certain you start working.
They’ll remind you of what your original goals are and help you refocus on your target once more.
You might get momentarily upset with them. After all getting kicked in the rear hurts. But the sting will fade, and it’ll be soon be forgotten as you thrown yourself back into the work that is your passion, whether it be writing the novel that’s been collecting dust, or finishing the next page of your comic book.
Or, get back to writing that blog you left hanging several weeks ago. (Who, me?)
For me, that person is my fiancée Shannon Muir who last night wanted to know what I was currently doing in my writing. I told her of all the plans for this project or that.
That’s when she gave me that strong swift kick in my pants.
She didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know, but reminded me of all I was capable of, and what I should do to get myself moving again. I had no right to complain I didn’t have enough time (that’s an easy one, I know you’ve used it too), but she gave me the kick saying that I’m only working three days a week while she works a full five days and sometimes more and is still able to find the time to write the latest installment in her WILLOWBROOK SAGA series of novels.
Shannon also gave me some guidance towards how to get myself and my books noticed and revive my existing websites to use them for the best outcome and promotion.
So with her standing over my shoulder ready to give me that next hard kick, expect to see more of my work, and more activities out there starting this week.
Thanks Shannon it only stung for a little while, I still love you.
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity
When I first attended the San Diego Comic Convention, I couldn’t believe there would be that many people interested in comic books and get together in one location. That year there was this shocking number of over 5000 people in attendance.
This year the Convention Center has capped the attendance at 130,000 people.
That’s quite a bit of a difference, and that’s a whole lot of years in-between.
Through those years my goal has been work in the industry; first as a comic book artist, then as a writer both in comics and in animation, and pursuing a career in production as both.
As Image Comics is celebrating a major anniversary in its existence I remember how it was through them I got my first professional credits (though my name only appears in one of the books I worked on), that year I got to sit in the company booth and I even signed my autographs on a few items.
I’ve only missed one year over all these year. And though I have never completely gotten over all my nerves each year I get better and better at talking with the professionals as I am one of them. I am.
So once again, I am heading down to San Diego to schmooze with my fellow script writers, authors, artists, editors, actors and producers. And Mission 818 is going with me.
This is the third year that I am taking the train down and riding it back home each night. It’s a relaxing trip, and it is a whole lot cheaper than any hotel you’ll find (or not find) in the entire city this weekend.
Can’t promise that I’ll be blogging all through the weekend, but check out my twitter feed at @Kevinpsb00 I’m sure I’ll have something to say.
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity
UPDATE – Sept 17. 2012 – See bottom of post.
What is #MISSION 818?
The name of my blog is “Four Names of Professional Creativity” and I have posted about my writing, about my artwork, about comic books and movies. I’ve also given suggestions and guidance to new writers on how to find ideas out of the world around them. I’ve promoted my novels, and written reviews of the novels of others. This week I’m writing about employment and my continued long-term career search and what I call Mission 818.
For over a year I have been in a part-time job with the Fullerton College Foundation where I design, assemble, and write content for newsletters, event programs, and advertisements that have increased the Foundation and it’s scholarship programs. They tell me I do a good job.
I am blessed by this job, and glad to help to the Foundation and my alumni of Fullerton College, however I know it is time I turn my focus towards the future.
I am engaged to one of the most – no, make that the most – wonderful woman in the world. We’ve been together for years and we share so much including a lifelong passion for television animation. It is time we get married and I become the best husband she deserves.
To make that happen, I need to find a full time job and join her in the 818.
With that intent, I can’t continue the way I have. Whether it be at an animation studio or not, I must find employment now and it must be near her in the Burbank area, hence the 818.
So, what is Mission 818?
It is my quest to find employment, be married, and live in the 818 area code.
As I’ve mentioned before, since heaven knows when I have wanted to work in comic books and animation. My goal was patricianly achieved in comics, but I still intend to do more with it and I keep my hand in with the webcomic “Flying Glory and the Hounds of Glory” (now in it’s eleventh year). As for animation I got my first script writing credits on several episodes of a show called “Midnight Horror School” in Japan. Unfortunately it has never aired in the U.S. I have also professionally written and developed series.
Additionally I have worked with numerous studio executives and producers as a contracted assistant from time to time over the years (read temp.) With every job, no matter how small, I have gained experience, which I bring to the next one.
Though my dream is to be a scriptwriter on a long running animated television series, or better yet, create my own show that runs for multiple seasons with fantastic rating numbers (I really am dreaming), for now that’s not what Mission 818 is about.
I will not to give up that dream (even those ratings) and will keep fighting for it. Yet, right now, I need a concrete foundation to build that dream upon. I am seeking a “day job,” a secure position in the production offices of an animation studio or prod co. Yes, I know there is no such thing as a long-term secure position in our industry, especially now, but that’s what I’m after. Receiving a regular paycheck while helping produce the best animated television series.
So what type of position am I looking for? It would be so easy to say, I want to get my foot in the door. Well, that’s not enough any more; I need to get my entire body in the door and down the hall. A Production Assistant or Coordinator on a show would be great start, and wouldn’t turn it down, but with my experience and skills I’m looking for something more.
The assistant position I am seeking is in the Television Animation Series Development department of a major studio. A few years ago, I had a temp job in the development department of one such studio, and even though I was there for a short time, it was an extremely thrilling experience as new and potential shows passed across my desk. I fell in love with those offices and am looking to return and be part of that work on a long-term basis.
Additionally, working in a studio’s development department may have a whole lot more stability than in the production of a show.
As much as I would like the above jobs and working in animation, I won’t say no to other positions in or out of the entertainment industry. My only requirement is that should be in the 818, preferably Burbank/Glendale area.
So Mission 818 has begun, seeking employment, and planning for marriage.
Part of this is asking my friends in the industry if they know of or could keep an eye out for any job opening inside or outside of television animation.
All help is appreciated. Know that this isn’t just for me but for the woman I love.
Who knows, one of the studios might need someone to work on their newsletters. I’ve been told I’m pretty good at them.
UPDATE – Sept 17. 2012 – I’m still pursuing employing with in the 818 Area code and the studios. This coming Friday I will be visiting the offices of an Animation Production Company and have the opportunity to pitch a television series. I’ve prepared a pitch bible for a action adventure series, and a pitch for a short, and have also have a back up in case the producers ask “What else you got?” This is very important.
I’ve had the opportunity to pitch before, and even if the shows are bought or turned into successful series, the experience is always good. A little scary, a little fun. It’s a great learning experience.
Hope to write a blog about the experience next weekend.
My #Mission818 continues.
Thanks for the support.
REVENGE OF THE MASKED GHOST revealed.
Over the last year a lot of you stuck with me as I released chapter after chapter of my pulp mystery serial REVENGE OF THE MASKED GHOST.
With in the next week I will be releasing it as an eBook.
Before that happens, I wanted to let you get a preview of the cover art.
I painted it using Corel Painter, just as I did for CLOCKWORK GENIE.
Thank you all for the support. Hope you enjoy the art. I’ll let you know when the book is released.
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity
A short post holiday blog.
There was an annoying commercial that ran for about two weeks before Christmas, and then it vanished when the company ended up making a terrible mistake.
Here’s are my thoughts on it.
First off, one of the earliest legends of Saint Nicholas comes from three young women needing dowry moneys before they could be wed. In one version of the tale hearing of their need Nicholas left a bag of gold just inside the door of two of the girls, and the third girl the door was locked and so he climbed to the roof and dropped the bag down through the chimney.
Another version of the story has him tossing the money in through a window and it lands mysteriously in a stocking hanging to dry over the mantel.
Whether the story is true or exactly how it happened, Nicholas did it out of caring for people who had nothing. He heard of a need and provided for it.
So Santa Clause visits and comes down the chimney with gifts… (side thought: Nicholas didn’t have a naught or nice list… just a list of those in need.)
Anyway, the point at hand…
BestBuys produced a series of commercials this holiday season. At least two that I saw, but only one matters.
After ordering online, a mother has come into the store to pick up her purchases, and is amazed by this…
“Looks like Santa’s got some competition this year?” The sales clerk says, and the mother agrees.
Cut to Christmas Eve and the mother is standing on the roof (or in the other commercial standing by the tree) when Santa Claus arrives. She’s holding her own gifts and laughs at the jolly ol’elf, as if saying ‘I beat you’. She even frightens Santa when she kicks a light up likeness off him off the roof.
What is the point of this commercial? What did she win?
Does she think she’s in a competition with Santa for her children’s love? That’s extremely sad.
Nicholas helped children or gave them what they needed, because it was the right thing to do. Parents give gifts because they love their children, not because of some sick competition.
I had already thought up this blog before other news broke just before Christmas…
Bestbuys was having to cancel orders that had been made online going all the way back to Thanksgiving because they didn’t have enough of the merchandise.
The above ad suddenly vanished when this news was announced. (The ad no longer appears on YouTube.)
May we all remember Nicholas’ caring service to others, and live it through this New Year.
Blessed Christmas to you all.
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity.
Well, my novel CLOCKWORK GENIE has been available online as an ebook for purchase for nearly a week now (you can click on the link to the right to purchase it at Amazon.)
So far I’ve had two sales. I’m still smiling.
This week I’ve decided to blog about the cover art of the book, which I can talk about since I drew and painted it, myself.
If you’ve been reading my blogs, or following me on twitter and facebook, you know that I am a comic book artist and draw the online comic book FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY. I wanted to be in comics from an early age and started off as an artist, but soon realized I was a storyteller first. The art has kept up with the writing, and here’s an example.
The hardest part of art that I’ve found, even back in my illustration course in college, was the thumbnail stage. I usually draw something once and like that I have trouble trying to draw it in other designs. It was no different for this cover.
My original idea was to show an image of a golden pocket watch in the center of the art. Perhaps even superimposing a woman’s face with in it. But that didn’t quite work. The two panels of my thumbnails here represent that. Have the watch laying on a cobblestone path, or hanging from the title. Discussion this with Shannon, who has been a great help as my editor on this book, she suggested that the watch should hang from the text to one side as the woman walks off into the distance, yet looking back over her shoulder. I liked that idea; especially having the woman approximately placed helped it fit in with the Paranormal Romance of the book’s genre and market.
I liked that but thought that there might be a better way of tying the woman to the watch all the more. Read the book, the watch is very important to her.
So I brought her closer into the foreground holding the watch on her shoulder.
Either of these were still good ideas, so I decided to take them both to the next stage.
Using the 3D program POSER I set up a female figure into the poses I though best fit the images I had in mind.
I don’t usually use Poser in my artwork, but do use it to set up poses to find the right angle and position of the body for the shot. By the time this was done, I knew I’d be using the close up image.
Using the Poser images as a starting point I sketched up and then penciled the pose. I would then add the hair and the pocket watch into the image on separate layers.
Using these detailed pencils, the painting began. Both the pencils and painting were done in Corel Painter.
The way I paint is not what I would suggest for others, do what works best for you. Coming out of my comic book coloring experience, I laid in flat colors first, her flesh tones on one layer, her hair on another, then the watch, and her dress.
Putting the flats against a grey background, I began to paint in the shadows and shades on each of the layers. I like to use a Gouach, Broad Cover Brush for putting in the colors. Then I blend it all in using a Blender tool, different ones create different effects in the paint, and currently I’m using the Grainy Water Blender. Change the size of the point for different areas and purposes.
The same is done with light side of the figure, blending in a lighter color and finish with highlights. Sometimes the brush doesn’t create a thin enough line so I use my Variable Tip Pen, or even the pencil; again adjust the size for what’s needed.
As you’ll see I did the watch on a different layer, but dropped in the shadows on her flesh tones here.
The next part of the job, done in a separate file, was to create a background. Coming up with the right colors for the background had to be just right for the foreground figure to stand right out and not just be flat. I adjusted this several times as my original colors blended too much into her dress.
I then had to design the house for the background. This house is extremely important to the story, so it had to stand out yet not distract from the figure. I did researching and looked at a dozen or more big houses in Bel Air owned by Hollywood stars back in the 1920s and 1930s. Not wanting to copy any one of them, I found something I like and in several and blended into something new. I drew it and painted it at a large size but on a separate layer that I would be able to shrink down and adjust the shade and tone as need be.
Once pleased with the background, I dropped in my figure in front of it. Here you can see how the watch finally was incorporated.
The background would be adjusted a few more times until I was really happy.
The next assignment was to figure out what font would work best for the title on the cover. I liked several fonts, both in what came with the computer, and some that I purchased. Here is a selection of them that I was considering.
I decided to go with Baskerville SemiBold, but without the Italics.
In Photoshop I started off with the title in the same color as her hair, but it didn’t stand out well enough, so changed it to a brighter yellow. Which I then used the Layer Styles to create an appropriate bevel effect on the letters.
The only problem I had now was my ‘four names of profession creativity’… my name was almost too small to visible. I had to adjust the size slightly, and then dropped a black bar underneath the text so it didn’t vanish into the flesh tones of her arm.
So the Clockwork Genie finally had a face and a cover. I hope you like my art, and I hope you really like the novel.
Thanks.
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity
Last time I celebrated all the great authors who are fighting with blood, sweat, and tears to produce a complete novel in a month as part of National Novel Writing Month. I also told you about what came out of my experience NaNoWriMo.
With hard work since that November of two years ago, I am now able to announce the release of my contemporary fantasy novel:
CLOCKWORK GENIE.
Cecilia Orchard lives alone.
She writes fantasy and mystery stories to escape a humdrum data entry job that barely pays for her apartment, food, and bus fare. Then a handsome police detective arrives with news that she is the prime suspect in the murder of her grandfather whom she never knew existed. If inheriting a fortune from a man she doesn’t know isn’t madness enough, Cecilia finds herself the owner of a powerful genie that could make all her dreams come true, but what are her dreams and is she willing to make the wish?
There’s a real great thrill to know that an idea I had years ago, and all the hard work it took to turn the idea into a story and then into a novel, now exists for others to read.
In the weeks to follow I’m sure to write more about this book, including on how I designed and painted the cover art.
The book currently can be found on Smashwords, and soon will be through distributors including Kindle. I’ll let you know.
Thank you all for the support.
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity.
Am very proud of my fiancée Shannon Muir as she begins working on her latest novel as part of NanoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). As she types away at her keyboard, I know several of my online friends are doing the same thing.
I was contemplating starting one as well, but have too much to do this month.
You see, just days ago, I types the two most glorious words to an author, and I typed them twice.
“The End”
I typed it first on a short story, which I submitted to a publisher for consideration as part of an anthology.
Then I typed them again on my first novel.
Two years ago I did participated in NanoWriMo, and completed the novel I worked on that November, but it was far from perfect and had so much in it that there is no way I could truly consider it finished. Even now I know it needs a page one rewrite.
However, about two weeks into that NanoWriMo, I had an idea for a new story. The concept came to me whole, and while not wanting to interrupt the book I was working on; I jotted down a full page of notes of this new tale and put it aside.
But the more I worked on the story for Nano, the more my thoughts lingered to the new one. So when December rolled around, I jumped head first into the new novel.
The first draft of the story flew from my finger over the next few weeks, though I had to admit that the climax stunk. So in the rewrite I discovered other characters that lived with in my novel’s world and had their own parts of the story to tell.
As I asked more questions about the characters and the world they lived in the story expanded and became much better.
With Shannon acting as my editor, I went through several rewrites and the story kept getting better. Much more so than what I had originally jotted down in a flash.
Now the novel is finished and I am currently painting the cover art and formatting it properly to be release as an ebook, by the end of November.
All this resulted from NanoWriMo. My original book sits in a virtual sock drawer, and one day will come back to life.
This has been a great experience for me, and I wish an equally great experience to all my friends that are writing their novels this November.
Keep Writing.
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity
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