I *finally* got set up today with the ‘Flix 🙂 I know what I’m doing, I got started today, and I think I can finish by Friday. I think that’s what they want/need. We’ll see how it does tomorrow.
Writing this one a little bit later than usual because I sat down and played some Fallout to close out the day. I’m getting towards the end of the main story quest, I can feel it…and that’s kind of exciting. Things start to happen, you know, and that’s fun. I’ve decided to side with the Railroad (and the minutemen, of course). It’s been fun, actually, playing the different sides in this one. That was definitely not so much a part of Skyrim (though I never did the side quests with the rebels or the imperials…but that’s kinda my point – in Fallout, the side-choosing is built into the main story).
I got my reading done. Almost done with this book…which is unfortunately not that good. It’s not terrible, but it’s not that good. It’s still incredibly, incredibly educational. I’m learning what my tastes are, actually. What I know already is that I like a story with adventure. I don’t really need romance at all, but that might just be because most romance plot points I’ve read to this point have been terribly dull and just detract from the main plot.
I’ve also learned that it’s really important as a writer to keep a laser focus on where the REAL action of a story is…every scene you spend away from that real action is a waste. The reader doesn’t care. They want to get back to what’s actually happening. That means if you have more than one plot line happening at once, you better damn-well make sure each of them holds equal weight and importance in what’s going on. As soon as you have a discrepancy between the two, you have to be very, very sparse with cutting away from the good stuff.
I’ve learned that I really like secrets, mysteries, fun settings, I really like “organizations” and conspiracies, I really like a team, I like to have humor…and mostly, I like a character who’s not stupid. The Ho and I definitely agree on this…don’t ever have your main characters (or your villains) get into trouble because they were stupid. It’s so, so annoying. As soon as I read the words “I should have known better,” I’m like “yeah! You fucking should have.” And I’m checking out, or at least rolling my eyes. It’s a reminder to me to always make my characters as smart and resourceful as they can possibly be. It keeps the readers on their toes, right with the heroes, or maybe even a slight step behind them…but I think ideally you want a reader right with the heroes. But definitely not ahead of them.
Anyway…I’ll be done with the book tomorrow if I get my reading in. I’ve got kind of a busy day planned, so we’ll see how it goes, but I’m an hour away from finishing the book. And I’ve got my next one all lined up. A bookbub deal. I want to see what they got, you know? How much quality do they really represent?
That’s all I got for y’all tonight.
Mwah!
Artwork tonight is from Gene Szafran. So. Friggin. Cool. I wonder if it’s a book cover…