Volume 10 Progress Report #2

Tuesday - 10/20/15
7:30am . . . *Completion 20%

Writing 39% - Editing 0% - Formatting 0%

  I've hit a slowing point, and for me, that means it's time to start moving onto the next phase... Let me enumerate... :)
  I write longhand with pen and paper so that I can't go back and fiddle around/nit-pick with the story. There are only so many times you can change a word or reorganize a sentence when you're writing longhand. Eventually, the paper becomes completely illegible.
  I used to be very picky about paper quality, but over the past year, I've swung the other direction. High-quality, glossy paper doesn't absorb ink as efficiently as low-quality, porous paper. The higher quality the paper, the messier my hands look by the end of the day. For this same reason, I REFUSE to write with gel ink pens.
  While I'm not picky about paper quality, I am EXTREMELY picky about pen quality. I actually only use one type of pen, the Zebra BP F-301, and I have a lot of them.
  These pads are great. You can tear out half the pages without ruining the pad, and the pages you tear out will all still be glued together. It's fantastic.
  Another great thing about these 100 sheet writing pads, is that they are cheap, so I don't feel wasteful about only writing on the front side of the paper. I use the back-side to make notes about changes I want to make in Stage 2.
  Stage 2 is the typing phase.
  When Stage 1, the handwritten portion of my story, starts to slow down, I move on to Stage 2. Then back to 1, then back to 2, until I'm finished. Stage 3 doesn't generally begin until Stages 1 and 2 are complete, but that's not a hard and fast rule.
  I'll update again some time this afternoon. I have a couple things to do today other than writing, but I should still be able to get some good time in on the story. If I have time, I'll try to post the first paragraph or two of Volume 10 on the blog.

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Tuesday - 10/20/15

12:00pm . . . *Completion 26%

Writing 39% - Editing 24% - Formatting 0%

  At my current rate, I should have Volume 10 up for sale by Friday, but I don't feel like it should take that long. That's my #1 problem though. I never think things will take as long as they actually do. I'm always looking at my BEST rate and thinking that I can work at that speed constantly. Obviously, that's not feasible.
  I cut six inches off my hair this morning when I got out of the shower. The scissors were there... My hair was there... and I was getting sick of all the tangles. So now it only comes to my waist. I might cut off even more so that it comes to my shoulder blades. I pretty much just wear it up all the time anyway. Any thoughts, internet?
  I REALLY need to dye it. I have 6" of brown showing above the blonde, but I sorta don't want to have to keep up with the blonde anymore either. I bought some dark blonde hair dye, and I'm going to try to fade the top part into the bottom part, so it can grow out ombre style.

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Wednesday - 10/21/15

9:00pm . . . *Completion 31%

Writing 45% - Editing 31% - Formatting 0%

  So sleepy...
  I didn't get as much writing done today
as I wanted because I spent about half the day trying to find a replacement for my cover art program. It keeps making my computer crash, and every time that happens, I lose the progress on the image. It also takes several minutes to save the file, so I've been trying to find a balance between losing work and saving every few minutes... PAIN...
  I did get some new cover art completed while I was testing out every graphic design program on the internet. Some of the programs I found have some really interesting effects... This is the new frame image for Volume 6. What'd'ya think?

 *As a guide to my completion percentages... The writing phase takes about 1/2 the total time I spend working on any given volume with editing and formatting taking up the other 1/2.

Volume 10 Progress Report

  I thought I might try something a bit new for Volume #10. . . We'll see how it goes.

Sunday - 10/18/15
12:15 pm . . . *Completion: 0%
Writing 0% - Editing 0% - Formatting 0%

  So, I spent the past four days formatting the paperback version of Book #1. That will be Volumes 1-6 compiled into a single book. The file's so big that it's making my computer slow and taking forever. (I have to get a new computer soon. Part of the reason the last two volumes went over schedule was due to my computer crashing repeatedly. ) It's probably going to take me another two weeks to finish it, so I'm going to put that on hold for now and start working on Volume 10.
  I'm at a place in the story that I MASSIVELY changed since I wrote the original version of the series, so for the first time since I started the serialization, I'm going in without a single scene written. Funnily enough, that should make the process a bit quicker. I write much faster than I rewrite.
  *As a guide to my completion percentages... The writing phase takes about 1/2 the total time I spend working on any given volume with editing and formatting taking up the other 1/2.

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Monday - 10/19/15
12:24 pm . . . Completion: 10%
Writing 20% - Editing 0% - Formatting 0%

  I thought I'd be a bit further in by now, but the first chapter of Fate Lock Volume #10, which I might call "Lost Without You", took longer than anticipated. It's hard for me to start writing a scene if I'm not sure how the characters are going to react to a particular situation. I tend to sit, staring at a blank page, trying to work out what I'm going to write before I write it. I keep forgetting to remember that I write better when I'm completely clueless and winging it.
  What I thought would be the first three (separate) scenes of Volume 10 actually merged into one giant and LOOONNNGGGG scene that will take up at least the first 2 chapters.
  Technically, it's my damn book, so I can say where the scenes begin and end and cut them up however I feel like. But to me, it never feels like the scene is over until there's a time skip, usually accompanied by exposition... i.e. Four hours and four florist shops later, my mother finally decided that we had found enough flowers. 
  I just love the alliteration in that sentence. If you hadn't noticed, I really like alliteration.
  I'll try to update again during my next break ~3:00pm or so.

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10/19/15

4:00pm . . . Completion 14%

Writing 27% - Editing 0% - Formatting 0%

  

  Just a quick progress update, and back to work I go. Let me know if you like these mini-updates, and I'll start doing them for each volume. The next scene should really fly, so I'm hoping to hit 50% on my writing completion before I run out of steam today.

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10/19/15

7:30pm . . . Completion 19%

Writing 37% - Editing 0% - Formatting 0%

  I didn't quite hit my goal of 50%, but I managed to tack on another 10%, and now it's bedtime. I'll update again tomorrow. 

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Fate Lock Volume 9: Lost and Found is LIVE!!!

One misunderstanding after another is driving a wedge between Kylie and Riss. Kylie is desperate to fix their marriage, while Riss seems content to scatter its ashes.

Finally! Volume #9!

So, what's up with my lateness issues???

I am incapable of moderation. When I start to approach a deadline, I panic, and I stop sleeping and eating. One might think that would get my work out early, right? Um, no... See, when I'm exhausted, sleep-deprived, stressed, and malnourished, my efficiency takes a massive hit. It doesn't just half my productivity, it quarters it. I go from producing 800-1,000 words per hour to 200-250 words per hour.
 It's not healthy, so I'm trying to get things on a more even keel. There's some bugs to work out, but I'm hoping that by Volume 11 or 12 I'll be back on a real schedule. I'll post updates on my progress.

To check out Volume 1 of the series, click here.

Current Mood: ANNOYED

I can't believe how many dislikes this trailer has...



Jem was my favorite cartoon when I was little. (I think I mostly liked her name because it sounded like mine.) I used to watch Jem, immediately followed by Transformers, which I didn't like as much, but She-Ra and He-Man were my peeps! When I was five, I begged my mother to take me to Fantastic Sams to get my hair cut just like Cover Girl from GI Joe... which turned out to be a mistake... but hey... learning opportunity.



While I don't remember much about the original show past the pink star earrings and opening credit theme song, this trailer irked the hell out of me.

Jem was magic.

Jem was special.

Jem was my idol...

This girl is none of those things.

Aside from the names of the characters, this show shares absolutely no similarities with the 80's cartoon.



Hollywood needs to stop repurposing and dismantling my childhood!!!

I win Twitter

I'm not sure what I did, but my twitter followers increased by 25% yesterday.
I updated my profile.
I changed my header photo.
I retweeted a few interesting articles.
And I've begun to use hashtags in my promotional tweets...
I've never thought that twitter was that interesting as a social media platform, but I'm beginning to see the appeal. It's an opportunity to be a part of a world-wide conversation.



Follow @JimmieHammel

Update on Fate Lock: Volume 9

I haven't written in my blog in awhile, but since not all my readers are on Facebook, I thought this might be a better way to keep people updated about my series, Fate Lock.

I'm currently working on Volume 9, and I think I should have it up for sale by Wednesday evening... However, I SUCK at estimating time... Generally, I need about twice as long as I say I will.

So Fate Lock #9 should be available sometime between Wednesday evening and Friday morning.

To check out Volumes 1-8, link below.

Amazon.com

Gamify Your Life

      I found an awesome app in the Google play store. It's called Task Hammer. Essentially, it's a to-do list, but with a twist. It exploits a loophole in your brain to keep you motivated and on-task. 

   

   Basically, a person will be perfectly happy to perform an annoying or monotonous task, if you can find a way to make it a game. I'm ashamed that for several months when I was 8, my mother used this little loophole to play a game we called "Cinderella". She would sit and watch soap operas while my sister and I put away our toys, did the dishes, and cleaned the bathroom, and whenever there was a commercial, my mom would come in and scold us theatrically for not working fast enough. I eventually got wise to this game and she created another one called "Fairies" which involved magic wands (feather dusters) and pixie dust (Windex). 

   But this app is WAY better than the Cinderella game. It's an RPG and in order to level your character, you  create a to-do list and then cross items off of it. You set the importance of the tasks, and the more important the task, the more XP you receive for completing it. I think the best part of it is that you can set a task to repeat daily, weekly, or monthly. You can also select "postpone" to move the task to the next day if you don't think you'll be able to finish it. the GUI is really cute and so far it is helping me get more crap done. . . Hence... three blog posts in one week. :)

Jimmie Hammel

JimmieHammel.com