So yes, the outline for book five has been completed. What does that mean, it means I have everything generally laid out that’s going on in the story and can now start writing out the story. I’m not sure how everyone else does it. I’ve been asked what writing method or template I use to sketch out my story line and I’m always like, “What are you talking about?” I don’t use any templates or writing method nor have I ever researched them. Honestly I’m not interested in anything like that.
My perspective for the story comes from two places. First, I picture how the scenes would look from the perspective of watching a movie. If the action or scenes aren’t interesting to me if I were watching it as a film, then I need to change it around. Second, I’m playing a video game. No really, I’m mentally playing the best video game I’ve ever played. Sometimes I’m just as surprised about what happens as the reader. While a non-gamer wouldn’t understand that, you gamers do. The whole thing with Fylreh was a complete surprise. How things fell together once Helgath became my soulmate, all a freaking surprise. I was stunned and amazed at how that brought the entire story together. Cough … cough … kissing Fylreh and having a centaur girlfriend … Yeah that was a total surprise. When I wrote it, I just pictured what my friends would say to me the next day if they saw the stream and that’s how the whole chat came out. Would Hefe had really sent a pink shot? Yes, yes he would have and everyone else’s reaction would have been the same. Domenic and I laugh about our friends antics as we discuss the story. I just remembered that’s one I have to share with him since he hasn’t made it to book four yet.
Anyway, my outline is what keeps me focused and on track for the story. I had a little bit more of an issue this time getting into my mental ‘outline mode’ and kept trying to write the story. Finally, at midnight last night, I just said to myself. “Stop writing the story and write the god forsaken outline.” I got a good ways through and stopped at 2 AM and then woke up and finished this morning. Yeah, now that I have the outline finished, I’ll be going back to a 5 to 6 AM schedule to start writing and probably stop somewhere in-between midnight and 2 AM. I have no idea how long the story itself will be until the characters and scenes start building. Then, I’ll misjudge everything like usual. I like how the outline looks and think it’s going to be an excellent story. Not as creative in some ways as book four and it will be ugly in a different way than the last story.
While it might be somewhat upsetting to people, it’s a part of the story. PKers are not nice to real people which means they are even uglier to people they think of as ‘cardboard cutouts’ for their enjoyment. I’ve noticed and have heard that several writers in our genre have been treating NPCs in the game that have full thought process and feelings as nothing but tools to be used and thrown away. I find that quite unsettling to be honest. It’s not just a reflection of an ugly soul, it’s the same perspective a serial killer when they’re looking at their victims. The good thing, it shows just how ugly people can be and fits into the brutality of my world perfectly.
From my abusive childhood, my time in the service in various third world countries and even my trips now, I’ve seen a lot of the horror regular people can do to one another. I’ve also seen a lot of the beauty caring people bring into the world and how simple kindness can change someone’s life. Gaming tends to be a microcosm of the world. You see the good, the bad and the ugly sides of people in the micro-virtual universes we call MMORPGs. The whole Syndicate story is directly taken from my own in-game experiences in the past. Most of my situations are taken directly from our game play. So, to you griefing asshats and writers who uncaringly treat their NPCs like slaves and cardboard cutouts, thanks for making my world that much real and a reflection of reality.
Ugh, I meant to put Eric’s plug in before the NPC story. I had no idea how much editing cost and have never looked into purchasing professional editing for my series. I knew I simply didn’t have any money for the cost of paying for a professional editor. While getting attacked by jealous writers was somewhat unsurprising, what did surprise me was how many editors got nasty and basically gave me bad reviews as a way of promoting their services. Eric looked it up and found a good article: https://mirandamarquit.com/how-should-you-charge-for-freelance-editing/
Basically, just checking for misspelled words is a minimum of $7 per page. If you want grammar correction or straightening out the story you’re talking a starting price of $11 to $20 per page. Seriously, what Indy Writer could possibly afford that? That professional writers charging $16.99 for their books slam Indy Writers for grammar and spelling when they are selling their books for only $2.99 is pretty ridiculous. We all do the best we can and if not for the fans of The World series, the books wouldn’t be in the good shape they are in now. That’s because, no matter how hard I try, I suck at finding spelling errors. Luckily, I get visits from editors who like to point out glaring errors on levels or points which I gladly apply immediately. I’ll take a bad review to make the correction any day of the week. Anyway, Eric is quite affordable and he’s open to helping people if your story is interesting for an affordable price. Here is his email: totenliste@yahoo.com if you’re interested. While he’s not an expert, your get more for your money working with him, trust me on that. It’s the least I can do for all the volunteer work he’s done on my series.
Also, I picked up the Discord chat client. I’m suggest emailing me ahead of time if you want to drop me a line at jasonacheek@gmail.com because I’m somewhat careful about my contacts. For those of you who know my job, you also understand the reason. I’m pretty easy to talk with albeit not that I have a lot of time if I want to have any hope to get book five out in a decent time. Anyway, with that said, here is my Discord chat contact information: JasonACheek#7422
Lastly, thank you for all of the support. The last few days is the first time I’ve kept my 4.3 star rating on book one without it being pulled back down to 4.1 or 4.2 stars from trolls. I can’t thank everyone enough for the support and know that book four, five and six which are mostly already planned out would have never seen the light of day without your support.
My perspective for the story comes from two places. First, I picture how the scenes would look from the perspective of watching a movie. If the action or scenes aren’t interesting to me if I were watching it as a film, then I need to change it around. Second, I’m playing a video game. No really, I’m mentally playing the best video game I’ve ever played. Sometimes I’m just as surprised about what happens as the reader. While a non-gamer wouldn’t understand that, you gamers do. The whole thing with Fylreh was a complete surprise. How things fell together once Helgath became my soulmate, all a freaking surprise. I was stunned and amazed at how that brought the entire story together. Cough … cough … kissing Fylreh and having a centaur girlfriend … Yeah that was a total surprise. When I wrote it, I just pictured what my friends would say to me the next day if they saw the stream and that’s how the whole chat came out. Would Hefe had really sent a pink shot? Yes, yes he would have and everyone else’s reaction would have been the same. Domenic and I laugh about our friends antics as we discuss the story. I just remembered that’s one I have to share with him since he hasn’t made it to book four yet.
Anyway, my outline is what keeps me focused and on track for the story. I had a little bit more of an issue this time getting into my mental ‘outline mode’ and kept trying to write the story. Finally, at midnight last night, I just said to myself. “Stop writing the story and write the god forsaken outline.” I got a good ways through and stopped at 2 AM and then woke up and finished this morning. Yeah, now that I have the outline finished, I’ll be going back to a 5 to 6 AM schedule to start writing and probably stop somewhere in-between midnight and 2 AM. I have no idea how long the story itself will be until the characters and scenes start building. Then, I’ll misjudge everything like usual. I like how the outline looks and think it’s going to be an excellent story. Not as creative in some ways as book four and it will be ugly in a different way than the last story.
While it might be somewhat upsetting to people, it’s a part of the story. PKers are not nice to real people which means they are even uglier to people they think of as ‘cardboard cutouts’ for their enjoyment. I’ve noticed and have heard that several writers in our genre have been treating NPCs in the game that have full thought process and feelings as nothing but tools to be used and thrown away. I find that quite unsettling to be honest. It’s not just a reflection of an ugly soul, it’s the same perspective a serial killer when they’re looking at their victims. The good thing, it shows just how ugly people can be and fits into the brutality of my world perfectly.
From my abusive childhood, my time in the service in various third world countries and even my trips now, I’ve seen a lot of the horror regular people can do to one another. I’ve also seen a lot of the beauty caring people bring into the world and how simple kindness can change someone’s life. Gaming tends to be a microcosm of the world. You see the good, the bad and the ugly sides of people in the micro-virtual universes we call MMORPGs. The whole Syndicate story is directly taken from my own in-game experiences in the past. Most of my situations are taken directly from our game play. So, to you griefing asshats and writers who uncaringly treat their NPCs like slaves and cardboard cutouts, thanks for making my world that much real and a reflection of reality.
Ugh, I meant to put Eric’s plug in before the NPC story. I had no idea how much editing cost and have never looked into purchasing professional editing for my series. I knew I simply didn’t have any money for the cost of paying for a professional editor. While getting attacked by jealous writers was somewhat unsurprising, what did surprise me was how many editors got nasty and basically gave me bad reviews as a way of promoting their services. Eric looked it up and found a good article: https://mirandamarquit.com/how-should-you-charge-for-freelance-editing/
Basically, just checking for misspelled words is a minimum of $7 per page. If you want grammar correction or straightening out the story you’re talking a starting price of $11 to $20 per page. Seriously, what Indy Writer could possibly afford that? That professional writers charging $16.99 for their books slam Indy Writers for grammar and spelling when they are selling their books for only $2.99 is pretty ridiculous. We all do the best we can and if not for the fans of The World series, the books wouldn’t be in the good shape they are in now. That’s because, no matter how hard I try, I suck at finding spelling errors. Luckily, I get visits from editors who like to point out glaring errors on levels or points which I gladly apply immediately. I’ll take a bad review to make the correction any day of the week. Anyway, Eric is quite affordable and he’s open to helping people if your story is interesting for an affordable price. Here is his email: totenliste@yahoo.com if you’re interested. While he’s not an expert, your get more for your money working with him, trust me on that. It’s the least I can do for all the volunteer work he’s done on my series.
Also, I picked up the Discord chat client. I’m suggest emailing me ahead of time if you want to drop me a line at jasonacheek@gmail.com because I’m somewhat careful about my contacts. For those of you who know my job, you also understand the reason. I’m pretty easy to talk with albeit not that I have a lot of time if I want to have any hope to get book five out in a decent time. Anyway, with that said, here is my Discord chat contact information: JasonACheek#7422
Lastly, thank you for all of the support. The last few days is the first time I’ve kept my 4.3 star rating on book one without it being pulled back down to 4.1 or 4.2 stars from trolls. I can’t thank everyone enough for the support and know that book four, five and six which are mostly already planned out would have never seen the light of day without your support.
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