J.T. Evans - Author's Web Site

I fell drastically short of the magic number this year. Of course, the magic number was 50,000 words, and I came up with a "mere" 9,172, but I'm quite proud of that paltry number. It's not 9,172 words of cranked out verbiage just for the sake of getting ink on paper. It's top-notch (and even edited twice!) writing that I'm quite proud of. Shouldn't I have been able to write more? Sure, if I had ignored other responsibilities, I could have easily doubled my word count. As it stands, I'm a full time software engineer, full time graduate student, full time father, full time husband, and a full time friend to many. This leaves little time for myself, and what little time I get, I do my best to try to do as much writing as I can.

OK. Enough of the excuses. I didn't make it, but I'm not down on myself. I've heard from others that it takes up to three tries for someone to "win" NaNoWriMo. Will I try again next year and try to beat the odds? I'm not sure just yet. It's too far away for me to know what kind of free time (or not) I'll have when next November rolls around in eleven months. I'll keep you informed, though.

Congratulations to all winners of NaNoWriMo 2008, and best of luck to those that try in the future!

I took the plunge, and entered my first writing contest this afternoon. I entered the annual short fiction contest hosted by Writer's Digest. This was the second-most nerve wracking action in my writing experience. What could be more world shaking than entering the first contest? Well...

The first time I submitted a piece of my writing to the CSFWG Saturday group, I was forced to swallow a good number of butterflies for the entire month while waiting for critiques to return. The story was a cyberpunk (dark future science fiction for those of you that don't know the term) piece entitled THE HACK, which was an appropriate title, since the writing was very hack-ish and poorly put together. I'm so glad they didn't mock me too much for my fresh efforts and juvenile delivery of fiction. After receiving those critiques, I learned that having a good story to tell is only a small part of the fiction recipe. Delivery of the story is just as important, if not more important, than simply telling a tale.

I won't hear back from Writer's Digest until February 13th, if at all. If I don't hear anything, then I know I'm not a finalist. If I hear back at that point, then I know I've made it to the next round. Here's to hoping I get an email or phone call or letter or carrier pidgeon or something on or around that time.

Here's to hoping AUTOPULSE (yet another dark future story) does well in the field!

I recently changed the CSS on my site to include the very slick rounded corners on most of the boxes on the site. I chose the most simplistic method of doing this as it is the most portable across all screen sizes and resolutions. Unfortunately, the method I put into play breaks on IE6 as you scroll down the screen.

The changes work quite well in all versions of Firefox since version 1.5, Opera 9, IE7, and a friend assures me it looks fine under Safari on the Mac. IE6 has always had a problems with standards compliance, and IE7 gets much closer to the end goal, so I encourage you to upgrade to IE7 as soon as possible. If you are unable to do so, then I'm sorry about the slight bit of ugly remaining on my site.

The insanity has set in, and I'm fully prepared to enjoy it. I've signed up for NaNoWriMo for the first time. I've known about for about four years, but never took it seriously until last year. I didn't do it last year due to a severe case of writer's block being too afraid of failure.

I've taken the plunge, and you can find some more details about the novel I'm starting and my NaNoWriMo attempts here. I've you've seen the first three chapters of A DRAGON'S QUEST, you may recognize the concepts in my NaNoWriMo novel which is entitled MAXELOR'S QUEST. I've trashed those first three chapters, and I am starting over with a fresh approach, a fresh protagonist name, and a fresh title.

Why change the name of the protagonist? Why should that matter? I had gone with "Atrax", but there at least two "Artax" characters out there already (the wizard from the Nodwick Comic series, and a horse from THE NEVER ENDING STORY.) Atrax was too close to Artax, and it bothered me. Had my Atrax been a side character with a brief involvement in the story, I would have left the name alone. However, he's my main character, so I'm changing the name.
Wish me luck in my endeavor to reach 50,000 words next month. The 50,000 words won't even be the entire novel. It will be about half of the novel if I have things sketched out correctly. We'll see how it goes, though.

I'm finally getting around to creating my own custom theme for this site. It won't be too much different from what you are used to seeing, but during the creation process there will be quite a bit of mess. Please bear with me for a few days while I get things worked out.

I attended (but did not participate in) Pikes Peak Writers American Icon 4 competition on August 22nd, 2008. I thought about entering, but I wanted to see one in action before throwing my hat in the ring. I'm glad I waited a year to enter (I'll be entering next year,) so I could relax, enjoy the readings, and learn from what the judges said about each writer's two-minute oral reading of their work.

First off: Thanks to the twenty entrants for their bravery in reading their precious work in front of a sizable audience and three very capable judges.

Secondly: Congratulations are in order for the winners:

• Audience Favorite: THE OAT PROJECT by Jene Jackson Hanna
• Honorable Mention: BREAK A LEG -- OR TWO by Kari Wainwright
• Honorable Mention: HEAVEN'S LOWER EAST SIDE by Ron Heimbecher
• Best YA: THE CODEX by Ron Cree
• Best Tension: TWO-FACED by Fleur Bradley
• Best Action: THE LIGHT OF DAWN by Matthew Dyer
• Best Premise: THE BEE LADY'S AMULET by Thea Hutcheson
• Best Speculative Fiction: THE SOUL OF A STILLBORN by Natalia Brothers
• Best Voice: NO MORE BULL by John Sharpe
• Best Overall: THE OAT PROJECT by Jene Jackson Hanna

Lastly: Thanks to the judges for their wonderful critiques and feedback. I learned so much from you during those brief few hours. I wish time allowed me to note which judge offered which nugget of wisdom that follows. However, I was feverishly writing to the point where I am sure I missed a few things. The judges were:

• Doris Baker, Author
• Alane Ferguson, Filter Press
• Sandra Bond, Bond Literary Agency

Now for the list... The items are in the order these pieces of knowledge and experience fell from the stage, passed through my existence, and landed on my notepad. There may be some repeats in here, but they are repeated due to their importance. I may expand upon some of these ideas at a later date.

• Get into the story immediately.
• Keep the tension high at the start.
• Use vivid descriptions, but watch overuse of adjectives.
• Get the reader involved by adding an emotional attachment.
• Can't be said enough: Show, don't tell.
• Despite lots of images, make sure plot moves forward. Especially at the start.
• Avoid a background dump at the start. (See point #1)
• Alane Ferguson is funny! (Ok. This does not improve my writing, but it's in my notes.)
• Watch repetitive imagery.
• Don't throw too many people into the first chapter. Keep an "org chart" to keep things simple and organized.
• Use characters the readers feel like they have met (or would want to meet.)
• Dialogue is a good vehicle to move a story forward.
• Avoid repetition in adjective classes: colors, temperatures, emotions, etc.
• Use a clear point of view.
• When you are tired of writing a scene, your writing devolves into description rather than action and movement. This makes the reader tired along with you.
• Focus on the people in the story, but don't exclude what is happening around them. Find a balance. It's not "what you see", but rahter "what the characters feel" about events.
• Add depth to the characters. Put down the cookie cutter!
• Hook hard with the first line.
• Dialogue can provide a sense of character. Don't make the words stiff.
• Put the protagonist in the first sentence... or make the first scene from his perspective.
• Hook into the person to create care. Don't hook into scene or situation. This will make the reader care about the individual on the hook, not "humanity" in general.
• Make the reader want to know what happens next.
• Short stories run at an accelerated pace. Don't waste words. It's a step above poetry on word usage.
• Give background via dialogue by weaving it in.
• Avoid ponderous descriptions. It's a key sign of telling. By showing, not telling, emotion comes into play with the reader.
• Don't use generic adjectives: beautiful, handsome, etc. Use details to allow the reader to decide. This also applies to invoking emotions and responses. Don't say a creature is scary. Describe them so the reader will find them scary. It creates a stronger connection.
• A great quote from Alane Ferguson, "Any time you use a word, it's dead for a while." I need to put that on my cork board to help me overcome my word territory issues.
• Use the strongest images possible for description. Make a full list of words/phrases about each character (objects can be characters, too!) and mark each one as "used" as you put it in the story. Only repeat a word/phrase after the entire list is exhausted. Go through the list randomly as well to avoid a pattern.
• Add some bait to the hook to keep the reader on the line.
• Make the words used match the tension of the scene.
• Make the bad things happening to the characters matter to the reader.
• Take the reader on a ride and let them experience it.

That brings my list of things learned to a close. I hope you pick up something from the list. Even if just one item helps someone else, the time to work on this blog (instead of my novel) is worth it.

Best quote of the night from a reading: "That donkey may have just saved your ass." -- from NO MORE BULL by John Sharpe.

Best quote of the night from a judge: "I've read many memoirs where the character was not real." -- Doris Baker

I read this article on CNN a while back, and it inspired me a great deal.

If Clarke and Pohl, with all their age-related disabilities, can produce a novel, then why can't I? I'm young (my 35 years as compared to their 91 for Clarke and 89 for Pohl), healthy, intelligent, and creative. Other than a severe lack of time on my hands, there is nothing stopping me from producing quality writing. The lack of time issue can be resolved with less time in front of the idiot box, and more time banging away at the keyboard. Now that my vacation is over, I feel it is time to prune the idiot box time back and see what I can do with those extra hours that I will gain each week.

Am I ever going to produce work at the level of Clarke or Pohl? Maybe. I honestly doubt it. That glorious pair of writers have more literary ability in their toenail clippings than I have in my entire existence. I'm not bashing my abilities, mind you, but it's like comparing the brightness of a distant star to Sol during Summer Solstice. Sure, I have brilliance and abilities, but it's hard to see my light when standing anywhere near one of The Greats of fiction.

Rest well, Arthur. Your brilliance will shine on longer than you think it will.

Thank you, Frederik. Your Herculean efforts to bring us the vision of Clarke's last glimmering light are greatly appreciated.