Inside the mind of Sean Erik

December 18, 2017 So last month was a hectic one. I changed positions at work. Nano happened. For those who are wondering I “won” but I’m not done with the first draft of Werewolves of Wall Street. I hit my 50K words more or less on target but I’m not done. I’m currently working through the last quarter of the project. I’ve slacked off a bit since Nano is over but I did last year as well. I have one of the journals that Sun gave me that I’m filling up. I have ideas, plots, and general musings in it. I try to put a date around the time I start writing something new so I think it’ll be interesting to open up Vader in the future and see what was going on. With 2018 so close I have some plans. Once I finish the WWoWS I plan to take the beta feedback from No Souls and go through another rewrite. Then another round of Beta, hopefully more people providing more than one chapter of feedback. Thanks to the one guy who made it through and said he liked it! Once that round of beta reading is done...

  October 30, 2017 That’s right folks, it’s that time of the year again. NanoWriMo. For those of you not in the know Nano is National Writing Month. It’s a “competition” where the goal is to write a novel in 30 days. Maybe not a full novel, but at a minimum 50,000 words. That’s right, 50K. That means you have to write 1667 words every day for 30 days to “win.”  What do you win? Well, first off bragging rights. You succeeded in writing a 50,000 word first draft that you’ll then need to revise. There are also some goodies, discounts on software like Scrivener and other services. You don’t technically compete with anyone but yourself, however. Just crank out 50K+ words and you are a winner. This will be my third year. I failed two years ago but  I did win last year, I also won the summer Nano event. It can be difficult as there are pesky things like real life standing in your way. School, work, family, other obligations. And if you are in the states you have that holiday we’...

  October 15, 2017 I stole an idea from a friends page  and posted it on my personal Facebook. It’s a fun and creative writing exercise. I didn’t think as many people would comment on it and thank you to all who did!  I wasn’t sure what I would do at first. I mean, introducing people I knew into a novel. Then I figured I write fiction so I’d add fictitious versions of the people who responded. Again I wasn’t sure where to go with this but as I got deeper into it I figured I’d make the majority of them villains in a Bondish or Noir style story since I’m currently working in first person. There are spur of the moment with a minor amount of editing but I found the experience fun and I hope the people who participated did as well! Enjoy. In other news October is flying by. I have my outline for my Nano project finalized (more or less) along with some basic character bios. I should be ready for the kick off party and knocking it out of the park! In the mean time I’ve gone back...

  September 25, 2017 So I’ve been trying to organize everything I’m currently working on. The feedback I’m getting from my betas is helpful.  The first chapter of No Soul was a bit racy, I’ll admit, and so it’s going to probably become chapter 3.  I’ve been busily writing a new first chapter that is a bit more actiony. On top of that I’ve started to take stock on what I’ve written and some of the long term goals for the series. So yeah. Taking stock. I have a rough plan of where the overall story starts, where it’s going, and even a conclusion. Amazing right? What’s more amazing and ambitious is that I’m probably looking at a minimum of 14 books. That is a rough estimate based on quite a few assumptions, subject to change without warning.  So that is pretty crazy. And the more I work on this the crazier it gets. In some aspects this project is taking on a life of its own. I’m starting to plan future books, characters, scenes, scenarios, and tragedies. I have no doubt...

  September 17, 2017 I’ve sent out my first couple of chapters to my betas. Scary but done. I’ve gotten some feedback and based on the rule of three I’ll be redoing my first chapter. I can understand the feedback. Chapter one will more than likely become chapter three. The process works! I hate the waiting though. I know people have lives and other things but damn – I want the responses back! When the Death Star started using the phrase “Feedback is a gift” I’d groan because it only ever seemed the feedback was one way. Now, though, it is a good thing. I can hopefully fix things before I publish. Also, like most writers, I have WADD – Writers Attention Deficit Disorder. I’m sending out the beta chapters, waiting for feedback, revising two different stories that are not No Soul, No Service, outlining a new book which will be my November Nano project, AND while taking his Majesty for a walk I came up with a basic premise for another story. Hell, I even have a working title – Demonchi...

  No Soul, No Service lessons learned September 10, 2017 For better or worse the current draft of No Soul, No Service is done. I’ve sent the first chapter out to my Beta Readers. That’s right, five poor souls have volunteered to read it. I sent the first chapter out yesterday and am waiting with trepidation for their feedback. Lessons learned: 1) Pre production can ease a lot of heartache. A lot of us want to get right into the thick of it, putting words down and getting that story told. Had I done more pre-planning, a more comprehensive outline, that kind of thing, I would have probably had a smoother time. It also didn’t help that I was taking a 12K short story and stuffing it full of anti-bionic free chapters to fill it out. 2) Story Bible – this probably falls into the Pre-production category. This is keeping a list, however you do it, of your characters, locations, and story items so that you can keep them straight as you write. I’ve been working on building the bible, startin...

  August 28, 2017 So this week I finished the first draft of No Soul, No Service. I guess this technically would be a third draft as the original story was 12323 words. The the next major revision was 27066. Then I named it and really went to town finally getting it to 51,124 words. Talk about an increase! I guess I’ll call it the first big ass draft! What started as a short story that was more of a quick pantser idea has turned into so much more. So, where do I go from here? Great question! Right now I’m getting the bible updated. I added quite a few things and instead of being smart and updating the bible at the time I didn’t. Coming up? I plan to give No Soul another quick pass and clean and tighten a few things up. Then the scary part. Betas. I’m going to see about recruiting a handful of beta-readers to go through it a few chapters at a time, take their feedback, and revise again. My ultimate goal to get this into a tight and concise story before I start to go for a series edi...