Seven: Update #7

Wow! Finally an update this week. This update one has been on the list for a few weeks but I finally got around to it. And the new chapter turned out to be another hard one to break into. (That's why there wasn't an update last week, so sorry for that.) I think based on what the chapter is really about is something that I never went through back in high school. Also, its just not where my head has been lately, so it was hard to get into the mood to write. Anyway, here's the details:

Updated

Chapter 1.04: David remembers something else he needs to do before heading out to school: email his friend Kurt. Also, added a better segue leading into David's surgery after the accident.

Added

Chapter 1.07: David takes his girlfriend, Kim, to the school dance... something he's more anxious about than going hunting with his grandfather.

Enjoy!

Movie Posters Redone

Being an artist and a movie guy, I really dig this:

Movie Posters Remade by Olly Moss. If you like these, you can check out more of his art on his site here. It's all pretty cool stuff.

Video Corner 02

Video Corner is a segment I use to share some cool and/or funny videos I've discovered on the grand and vast internets.

Both vidoes are mash ups of two properties I wouldn't have thought could have been, let alone shared enough 'what-ever' to accomplish it. But these are done very well and I really enjoy them both.

1. Toy Story 2: The Dark Knight

This has the audio of The Dark Knight trailer played over clips from Toy Story 2. Coolness and a little hilarity ensue.

2. Bert & Ernie Gangsta Rap

This one is really cool. Clips of various Bert & Ernie episodes are played to M.O.P.'s song Ante Up. This video was kind of my introduction to hardcore hip hop and I really liked it, so I bought the album this song is on. (One more step in my explorations of various musical genres!) I think it was the similarities in hardcore hip hop I noticed from hard rock and metal (that I usually listen to) that helped this.

Seven: Update #6

Added

Chapter 1.06: Day 3 begins with a lesson for David from his grandfather.

Also

So, I started my NYC Draft #2 updates. And as I figured, it did prove to be a bit of a distraction from my work on Seven Days. The distraction was both good and bad; while it was nice to ponder over a different section of Wolf's life, it was bad because I ended up procrastinating on chapter 1.06 until the last few days and really had to push to finish it (lately, I was keeping a week ahead). I'll probably continue the Draft #2 updates so I'll have something after finishing Seven Days (draft #1) but I'll have to try to not let it be a distraction from the current story.

Enjoy!

Seven: Update #5

This week brings about the wrap of Day 2, which isn't a good day for David.


Added
Chapter 1.05: A few things happen to David at the hospital... and all of them are important. (I swear!)


This chapter was probably the hardest I've written in some time. Day 2 in general was a hard day to get through. I usually dread dialogue heavy chapters, but this wasn't that kind of hard. Day 2 is more about the things that are happening to David (mostly outside of his control), how he deals with these things, and what becomes of them. But just like the ending of NYC, I wanted to word everything just right.


I also made a few discoveries about Wolf and what Seven Days is really about (below the surface) beyond what I had planned in the summary so I'm really excited to see where this goes!


You may also see a little change in how I structure the dialogue. Inspired by a blog article on dialogue, I started using a better format. Some of my updates (to Seven Days and, eventually, NYC) in the future will reflect this style more.

NYC Ponderings

NOTE: This post assumes you've already read NYC; so if you haven't yet, don't read this yet! And read NYC already!

While the story of Seven Days unfolds before us (all of us; me too... just a little ahead of all of you!), I have also been thinking of NYC a bit and some of the updates that I want/need to make. But I kind of don't want to disrupt progress on Seven Days to do them... hence my dilemma.

Some part of me thinks it would be distracting and confusing to you, the readers ...okay, and to me as well! (But it wouldn't, would it?!) Although sometimes it may be nice to take a break from the current story and focus on something else for a little bit... so I may go ahead and do them.

So, what to do then? Well, after some thinking on the matter, regardless of whether I do the updates or not (while writing Seven Days), I think I will postpone actually posting them online until after Seven Days is complete.

The whole idea of writing the entire saga (before seeking out getting it published and what-not) is to allow new ideas and concepts and sub-plots to happen (and the opportunity to implement them). In fact, I realized while writing chapter 1.02 that I hadn't really mentioned the Test later in the story (specifically in NYC); at least as far as my outline and summary are concerned. So I thought of a way to tie that in to NYC but don't want to post that bit just yet. (Sorry! And remember that I'm not Mean, I'm an Artist! It's just kind of a big reveal moment... you know what I'm talking about!)

Also, I have ideas for a few more plot points to address and include. Of course there is the political/world events stuff. But I have a few ideas on what happens earlier in the day and a false lead on Jill's whereabouts (after being kidnapped). The downside to all of these (including the reference to the Test) is that they aren't simply added like a piece that's missing. Rather, they are story elements that require adjusting to what is already there so it comes off as a cohesive story. And some of this adjusting will be more involved than others. (For example, the false lead directly affects 2 chapters, not counting any one referencing it later on. And the earlier happenings will be more of an "insert chapter" but the adjacent chapters will need a slight adjustment to make it all work.)

With that in mind, like I said before, I'll probably release all of the updates as a NYC: Draft #2 after I finish Seven Days (draft #1).

And look out for chapter 1.05 tomorrow morning with the wrap of Day 2 (which is shaping up to be the worst day of David's life; at least until that thing that happens at the end of Triumvirate).