Friday Update

It's been a while since I wrote an update on here. I've been much more interested in writing creatively than writing on my blog and I've been putting the blog writing off. I do need to get on here more!

I am really enjoying editing and rewriting and improving my rough draft chapter by chapter. Every time I get a chapter done I send it to my wife to look over and offer her thoughts and opinions. She gives great advice from a reader's perspective and helps me refine my writing and make it better. Thanks Honey!

I do need to go back and work on the early chapters soon. I will be breaking chapter 1 up into a few shorter chapters since its just too long the way it is now. I also plan to work on the dialogue and the action's pace at several points.  I've redeveloped some of the opening plot as well.
I am still spending the majority of time working on the rough draft itself, cleaning it, enhancing it and improving it one chapter at a time.
So...work continues and it's all a lot of fun to do. I am working hard to meet my next goal and enjoying this next phase of writing.

Next time I'll give you another sample of the work!

Blessings to you all!

The Next Phase

Well I am happy to report that I did get my rough draft finished and accomplished my goal by the end of June. My rough draft is a bit "rougher" than I had originally wanted it to be at this stage. I will now need to go through almost the entire document changing past tense verbs to present tense, which will be time consuming. There are also some places that need quite a bit of improvement... you can tell I was writing at 4:30 in the morning! I may want to make some additions or explore certain plot lines a little more as well. Even on the last night working on the draft, several new ideas came to me which may add several chapters to the book. I guess that's what happens. It means I still have a lot of work to do, but I am at an exciting place. The whole novel is roughed in and ready for editing, rewriting, enhancing and improving as needed.

My next goal is to have a complete final, polished draft by the end of December 2013. I will be working on about a chapter a week rewriting, editing, rethinking, analyzing and improving each one to meet my goal. I am also allowing some time to get others to read and edit it before I finalize the whole thing.

Check back here as I continue to scribble...hopefully once a week...about my journey.

Now...back at it!!

An update....and a taste of my rough draft...

Well...I need to apologize. It's been forever since I've written a post on here! One reason is that I've been busily trying to reach my goal of a finished rough draft by the end of this month. I'm on track to meet that goal...however I think the draft is going to be a bit rougher than I had originally hoped. There are still many transitions and chapter endings that need to be rewritten or developed....but I guess that's why they call it a rough draft.

I've had many days of frustration as well as moments of victory and joy along the way. My rough draft still has a little ways to go and so I am still feverishly working on it whenever I get the chance.

I've both loved and hated having this goal. I know I need to set goals and reach those goals in order to accomplish a project like this. However I also have chafed under the time constraints. I feel that sometimes it sucks the fun out of the project when I feel the goal pressing down on me and a "deadline" approaching and I'm just rattling off words as fast as I can to fill space. Hmmmm...that's definitely been a struggle for me lately.

I have also decided to write each character in the first person, present tense...which requires some rewriting as well. (They were first person, but not present tense.) I think the present tense is much better for what I'm trying to do and much more vivid and I'm enjoying the change as I write.

Many people have been asking to get a taste of the novel. So...here's a little snippet from the rough draft I am working on. This is my character's (Benaiah's) mother, Serah, talking as her son leaves to join King Saul's standing army. Any thoughts, suggestions or comments are welcome!

I lean against the doorway my fingers around the door frame my cheek pressed up against the rough wood. I watch my Benaiah, my dear son, walking away. We had just said goodbye. He had packed his things and I had given him some supplies I had prepared for his journey. This is the moment I have dreaded the most. I can still feel his embrace, his warm arms that had been wrapped around me a moment before. His words of tender love still sit soft in my ear as I watch him walking away. How strong! How manly he looks as he goes off on his new adventure. His heart is set on war and my heart writhes in pain. I can’t hold back the flood of tears that well up in my eyes. It is a relief to be alone in this moment. Crying is not something I allow myself to do, especially not around Beriah or the rest of the family. I hate being vulnerable and weak and Beriah does not approve of such emotional displays.  I try so hard to arrange my life so that I do not need anything from anyone—ever! Yet this is breaking through all my resolve. My heart leaves with my son. Without him I am sure that loneliness will break my heart. He doesn’t know how badly I want to hold him back. I want him to stay. I know if I had begged him, he might have listened. There was a chance. Our bond is strong. Stronger than most mothers had with their sons at his age. I might have doused the fire in his eyes. I might have snuffed out his burning enthusiasm and excitement. Then he might have stayed. I could have stirred the conflict of desire and duty that often raged in his mind, but really I know I couldn’t have done that to him. I understand how he aches for this change. I know he needs to go. I won’t stand in his way or hang on clinging like a child to his robe. But watching him go, my ancient wounds tear open fresh. The old pain floods my mind again. He is the son of my woe. Yet I love him so. Unbidden, the memories tear through my mind like jagged flashes of lightning. Terrible, unsettling weakness blows through me like a cold, violent wind. I step back again inside the house and sink to my knees on the dirt, tears streaking down my face…skittering down into the dusty floor, shattering into tiny balls of mud.  I feel my body trembling. The images come again, so fresh and raw and real, as if they happened yesterday instead of years before.

Wednesday Fun...

My wife does this Friday Fun thing on her amazing health and wellness blog: Your World Natural every week and it inspired me to do the same. I won't do it every week, but every once in a while I'll include some personal updates on what's going on in my life and things I'm thinking about and doing....just for fun. It's not Friday today...so I guess I could call it "Wednesday Fun" this week...

 Here goes:

In my life this week... (or maybe I should say this month...since it's been so long since I've written!)
Crazy busy at work. I started a new schedule in the beginning of May as I am training under a new guy. I meet him at a parking lot 30 minutes or so from our house, depending on traffic. He has to be at the first jobsite by 7am, which means we meet at 6:15 Am, which means if I want to work on my book in the nice quiet hours of morning I need to get up early...like 4:30 or 5am at the latest. That's been a challenge. Then we've been working past the normal end of shift which is 5 pm....so I don't get home until 6, 7, 8pm at night on a normal shift. This has been taking a toll on my writing and my health and our family. Just this week I caught some kind of cold...with a nasty sore throat.
On my day off I tried to dig up our garden and ended up cutting the line to our cable service ...fortunately I was able to patch the line together so we still got internet, phone and TV...the cable guy is coming out today to fix it for us. Always something crazy right?

 I am inspired by...
My wife and my kids. My wife is absolutely amazing. These long shifts have been tough on her and the kids. I hate being away from them for such long stretches of time. It's been affecting her health too as she does an amazing job every day mothering 3 kids, writing on her blog, and teaching fitness classes and personal training at the local fitness center. She's also been dealing with some strange symptoms from stress. Yikes! She's still so amazing and sweet to me despite the crazy schedule.

 My favorite thing this week was...
 Any time I got to spend with my awesome wife and my cute, silly kids.

What's working/not working for me...
Working- switching to the 1st person present tense in my book...its helping revive some of my passion for the project and it is an interesting more vivid way of writing. Previously I was working in the 1st person past tense.

Not working - being away from my family for large chunks of time, only being able to work on my book for an hour or less each morning, getting up early and staying up late is still taking a toll...

Questions/thoughts I have...How do I reach my writing goals with such limited time each day for my writing? When is this schedule going to ease up? How on earth does my wife go through so much stress and still love me like crazy???


Things I'm working on...Still doing a lot of research for my book so that I know the culture, time period and setting thoroughly. Of course...writing every morning and trying to craft interesting, unique and vivid prose. Being a better husband and father...always. Learning as much as I can each day on the job. Trying to deal with this new schedule.


I'm reading...Still plugging away at the second book in the Gods and Kings series, just finished Doctor Dobson's Bringing up Girls on audio book in the car. The Way it Was in Bible Times and several Samuel commentaries for my writing project.


I'm grateful for... A good job that pays the bills, not everyone has one. Amazing projects God has given me to do in my life. A family that is so full of love and support. A house over our heads during all this rain we've been having lately. My amazing, talented, hard-working, positive wife! Looking forward to a long weekend off of work this week and going to my parent's house in Wisconsin.

Progress

It's funny how music helps me write. I've been playing dark edgy music while I write the darker scenes. Sometimes I'll play some classical music during some of the more transitional parts. I try to choose music that fits the kind of scene I'm writing. For some reason it helps me get into the groove and make progress. My writing is more vivid when I do that. I also think it helps me get into an emotion that fits the scene ...after all a large part of this is about transferring emotions. I'm trying to make you feel something, concern, shock, anger, joy, relief, peace as it corresponds to what's happening in the story.

I'm making slow progress and staying positive. I just started writing a scene that comes right out of the pages of the Bible. What an amazing responsibility to stay faithful to God's revealed truth and yet how interesting and enjoyable it is to recreate the scene and imagine what it would have felt like or looked like to be in the middle of it. It has given me a whole new perspective on a short paragraph in the Bible that I'd read many times, but often without thinking much about it or its significance. Many of the scenes I'm writing are simply products of my imagination without a biblical parallel...simply fiction that tries to stay true to the historical situation of ancient Israel, but in several key places I'll be taking my readers right into the middle of biblical stories and that is a very exciting (and sobering!) undertaking.

Well...that's all for this brief update on my progress. I'm inching toward my goal. Please continue to keep me and my project in your prayers!

Friday Fun

My wife does this Friday Fun thing on her amazing health and wellness blog: Your World Natural every week and it inspired me to do the same. I won't do it every week, but every once in a while I'll include some personal updates on what's going on in my life and things I'm thinking about and doing....just for fun.

Here goes:

In my life this week...
Last Friday I had 2 wisdom teeth "extracted" (which is a very misleadingly nice word for what actually occurs) I've been in some pain ever since then. Even this morning there is a dull throb back there and eating isn't as enjoyable as it used to be. I've been struggling with my writing...struggling to find motivation and inspiration and feeling a bit stuck, but I have a plan to get positive and get going. I have a goal to reach in less than 3 months now! Yikes how time flies.

I am inspired by...
Easter. There's nothing more amazing than knowing my Savior experienced all of hell for me and all sinners, experienced my death and then shattered death itself and proved his victory by rising to life again on Easter morning. What a price he paid to set me free. How awesome to have confidence and overwhelming joy knowing that whatever happens this side of the grave I know that my Redeemer lives and I know what my future holds. What grace! How can I not be inspired to thank him by living my life for him 100% all in, all out, all the time!

My favorite thing this week was...
Wrestling with my kiddos in our living room, the happy smiles, giggles of laughter, the goofy joys and the outright love they can't help but show.

What's working/not working for me...
Working- work is going ok. I'm eager to keep learning and growing in my trade and eager to do more and more on my own.

Not working - being away from my family for large chunks of time, only being able to work on my book for an hour or less each morning, getting up early and staying up late is still taking a toll...by 10 pm at night I've got very little left in the energy tank. My attitude lately has also not been working the best...maybe its partially the tooth pain, but I've been a bit of a bear lately and there's no reason for it.

Questions/thoughts I have...How do other authors keep going when the going gets tough? What's the best plan to reach my writing goal?


Things I'm working on...Still doing a lot of research for my book so that I know the culture, time period and setting thoroughly. Of course...writing every morning and trying to craft interesting, unique and vivid prose. Being a better husband and father...always. Learning as much as I can each day on the job.


I'm reading...The second book in the Gods and Kings series, just starting a new audio book in the car today, forget the title. The Way it Was in Bible Times and How the people of the bible really lived. Plus other dictionaries and a biblical background encyclopedia as well as several commentaries.


I'm grateful for...A taste of spring weather finally! A good job. Amazing projects God has given me to do in my life. A family that is so full of love and support. Teeth...seriously we take them for granted until they hurt!


A photo, video, link, or quote to share:
A truth we hate to admit:We are all idol worshippers and the chief god in our personal pantheon is SELF. Thank God we are saved, loved, rescued from SELF to serve and worship Him above all else.

Growing up in those days...

There's nothing quite like being a father. I can't fully explain how my heart swells with pride when my 2 year old daughter says her prayer at night or I catch my 4 year old son helping out around the house or my little 6 month old gets up on all fours for the first time. There's nothing like holding them up in your arms and feeling their tender love or helping them out with a project. There's also nothing quite like dealing with their sin and disciplining them and being disappointed when they act out or act up. It's a roller coaster ride. For a few days this week we've enjoyed some time off going to my parent's house in Wisconsin. It's fun to be at the house I grew up in, relive some of those memories as a kid and spend some quality time with my wife and kids and parents too. 
It's making me wonder more and more what it would be like to grow up in ancient Israel. What did the kids play with and do for fun? Did they play much or was it almost all work all the time to help support the family and the self-subsistence lifestyle? What chores did they do? What was the relationship like between parents and children? How did they raise their kids? What kind of education did they give? How did they discipline? I need to find answers to some of these questions or at least have an educated guess. My character is a product of his upbringing. What experiences would he have gone through as a child growing up during that age? How would they shape him into the man he is as the story begins? How do his early experiences affect the path of his life later on? Does he have unresolved issues that he needs to overcome?
I've been having fun digging into these and other questions as I continue to develop Benaiah's character and tell the story of his journey. What a joy to be able to draw on my own experiences as a father or as a child as I try to imagine myself back into that time period and write this story. If anyone has any suggestions or resources that would help in this area, I'd welcome them!