On Tue, 07 Dec 2004 10:12:27 -0500, Brian Vanskyock <brian.vanskyock at zimmer.com> wrote: > > The Sky Pirate > > I cannot stop reading this story. Very well done. > > Now you get to hear what every author dreads.... > > "When is the next book coming out?!" > > brian NaNo2k4 ended at Midnight a week ago. I finished up the odds and ends for the rough draft, posted links to what I had in .doc and .pdf form, and then sat back, waiting for the inevitable responses of "isn't that nice" or "well, at least you tried". Instead, there was a great silence which I have not known how to correctly interpret. I was afraid that it was so bad that people didn't want to bring it up, or worse, it was so pedestrian that people weren't able to get into it and simply didn't have the energy to even hate it. (It's weird, I'm more eager that people like this story (as amateurish and as hurried and as rough as it is) than I was that people liked how my kids looked when they were born. "Desperate" may be the more accurate word. It's pathetic how badly I want for people to enjoy this story, even though I had very humble expectations going in - 'finish on time', 'try not to suck'.) If you've made it as far as the rather long section on ten precepts for maintaining morale aboard ship, you have my hearty permission to skip ahead a bit. Most of that section was Captain Flynn chewing through exposition in a mad dash to get back on schedule after I'd gotten behind. It was the beginning of the dreaded second week, where the enthusiasm and momentum of the first week had burned off and I was left with the need for a solid five thousand word night to get back into the picture. That was the night that I first debated whether or not to quit, deciding instead to employ what is surely a popular NaNo trick. It's the only time I really resorted to that sort of desperation. Don't miss the last couple paragraphs of that chapter, though, as a creature that I wasn't prepared for popped up and went 'boo'! The cool thing was that I was casting about looking for a way to unify the crew and this character's introduction did in one brief encounter what the Captain couldn't do in page after page of fruitless rah-rah speechifying. He (and I) learned from that and never went there again (much to the relief of the reader, no doubt). In the week since I posted the story, I've had a chance to go back and re-view my copy of _Master & Commander, The Far Side of the World_. In doing so, I've discovered that I haven't peopled my ships with nearly enough men, and with nearly enough detail. I'm cringing just thinking about it. My hope is that people are able to get past these relatively major gaffes and find something in the characters and the plot that is compelling. If the basic foundation has room for traction, I might be able to take this somewhere and do something with it. The feedback that I'm getting (ok, both comments, lol), has been encouraging. I have a year until next NaNo - that should be enough time to horse this first book into more polished shape if I stick with it. The feedback received will ultimately help me to determine if it's worth the effort, or whether I should focus on another, better novel, or other, better short stories. I'm sorry - I am rambling badly in my giddiness over the slightest positive feedback. Gathering my wits, allow me to simply thank you ever so much for reading the draft and commenting on it. It means more to me than I quite know how to express at this moment. (Apologies to Steve and the list for the tangent. Re-read the Vladiad - I did.) Kind regards, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . johne cook wisconsin, usa johne.cook at gmail.com / jcook at apostate.com http://www.phywriter.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .