An Effort to Show Sincerity

Now normally, I post a "I'm back! Whee!," post and have done with it, right? Not so. Actions speak louder then words, and so I'm writing at least three posts post-"I'm Back! Whee!" tonight to really push myself back on the blogging bus. I just hope I don't forget my lunch. Or worse yet, get bullied out of it. Hate when that happens. Good thing I got my dew. I can last days on a pack of dews. A chug, chug here, a chug, chug there... "E" "I" "E" "I" "O"! Everywhere... everywhere... a chug, chug, and I'm good to go. And yes, the dew was wholly responsible for this starting paragraph. I plead the fifth, as I imagine me, the defendant taking the stand in a legal proceeding, and squeaking, "the Dew made me do it!"

I would leap in right, to some hard issues writing, in this post... but... for a more serious post on my perceptions on certain ideas or issues, I want a better title, especially for the next post. So I'll recap my literary and life goals. Yeah, that's always rich.

"I want to be a writer! An author!" I screamed it out on the "Anthony Patton & Gary Forester Show" and I'll say it again here. More on that little episode in the posts ahead. But anyway, time for a super recap of how I got here, which is pretty much the tale of my leap into existence, at least for little old me.

Three or four years ago I believe, I got this weird idea I wanted to be a writer. Or something, who knows, I was a weird kid. And yes, four years senior does allow me to comment from a different perspective on younger days. Eleven to fifteen is a huge maturity gap. And for me, a huge height gap.

Anyway, I'm horrible at spelling, penmanship, and grammar. Or I was. So I believe the first thing I wrote was about three pages of something about rabbits... yeah, I was a weird kid. Of course, it was total trash, so then I wrote some more things, as in a few pages that were at the *most*, utter dribble. I was twelve at the most bout' then, so I don't give myself too much of a hard time though. These little escapades though made me realize how bad my spelling and such was, which is a good thing, and really helped with my understanding of the English language. Made me hate it a lot more. For quite awhile I was pursuing the guitar, and music, as a career choice. Bad choice. I love the guitar though, and practice everyday now... So back then I think I officially swapped out my destiny.

So then I started on a story set in 42 AD. about two Celtic tribes duking it out, with Romans in the mix. Ah... sweet naive days, indeed... that was when I really started getting more interested though in writing, because it was an actual plot, for one. So anyway, first draft was... really bad. Second draft? Bad. I continued that for quite some time, perhaps a year or more, off and on. Good practice even though it was lacking in every single aspect imaginable. All this after I realized, you had to be a pro to make it in the music industry. Plus, I could never pull off power cords. Dang. I can now though. WHEEE!

By that time, my skills were kinda shaping up... barely passable? I wisely sacrificed this "Celtic" story though, after working to about half way through. And I also knew I always wanted to write fantasy. I think back then, I was wonder the impression that stories didn't need plots, or something, because it was pretty light in that area, speaking of the fantasy project I started shortly after the Celtic one.

So right. Here I was, fourteen, August 2006, writing a novella. About some band of youths aiding a village in the defense against the evil dude o' normal-stock villain. I wrote on that August-February. Then I callously abandoned it. Or so it seemed. I've said it in other posts, it's not dead, I just *had* to give it up due to the evolution of my writing abilities. I go back and read some... and cringe, for it's written badly, and the plot is cliche' to the point of drawing tears. I can't let that slip. I have ideas for it though. Like, adding plot. What good ol' "Main Project 1" taught me above all else, is how to *avoid* bad things. Uninteresting characters, pigeon-hole plots, and how to write bad scenes. I owe a lot to it's demise. Current demise. It'll be reborn, in a new form, like a rising Phoenix... rise'n from the ash of status quo and worse. Phoenix's are cool.

I casually call Main Project 1 "Bob". And I must say... Bob will be back, better then ever... oh yes, Bob will... be back... Don't ask what I call Main Project 4 (Yes, I'm up to four, but that's because I'm an idea freak, and not a finisher, and mind you, 4 is nothing more then hordes of collected ideas and a few paragraphs) all the other three though exist in substantial form though... to bad 1 and 2 need so much work.

Zoom to March, 2007. Actually... back a little. January was a good month for me. Back to other things... "Main Project 2"... It spanned from March-July 2007. Sadly it was doomed to failure. A task I couldn't complete due to it's expansive nature. It originally was just like thirty pages I was doing for kicks... but it spiraled into two-hundred p's. Got big. (Point at self, *idea freak*) It was a better plot and it pushed MP1 out of the way, for the better perhaps. MP2 taught me a lot... like how to write. Methods to use, plot hooks, interesting characters, more epic scenes. It's a full draft now. Or 90% draft. But it needs work. Everything does when your learning. You gotta polish things, and I didn't have the patience or something to do it... but that's what I tell myself. The truth is that it was more trouble then it was worth. It wasn't good. It wasn't worth reading. That's a vital part of a story. It will be completed however, and I already, like MP1, have lots of ideas how to improve it. It's a sure fire "one day, done" though because the events need to be told for other projects.

I stopped writing those two projects, because it had to be done. It was the evolution of my own skills, mind, and self. And I can honestly say, what I'm doing now is much more important then them. Books are like kids... you always burn the first batch. Sometimes the second, even.

"Onward! Press forth! To the Future I Go!" My anthem in a time of confusion. I picked up a load of writing books one night, and read em'. Turning point in my little life. The concepts instilled into me and I realized... everything? I sat down that night and typed up a shorty called "Ring" about two assassins. It was okay. I think. I mean the plot was skimpy, and some of the interactions were bad, but the writing... it was semi-good. It was coherent. Turning point.

I've changed so much in the last few months that it startles me. Just the whole plate seems to have been given, not the crumbs and I find myself making far less mistakes then before. To which I fully attribute to God, and my good friends, like you reader, who've given me an example to strive towards. Prideful to say it yes, but I just like myself better now. *Trip* Dang pride... seems though I can tackle whatever needs to be done. Kinda.

So that night, after reading up on writing, I launched a template. Three short stories, a compilation of sorts, that sampled content from the fantasy setting I had been working on for nearly two years, and had drastically changed twice, now coming into it's third change, thanks to this compilation. The original stories were "Ring", "?The Crimson Advantage?", and "The Dimiduim Ordeal". I'm not really sure what story two's name was... I think it was the crimson advantage... dumb name. Ring was done, and I started that night on whatever story two's name was at the time. Opening with the iconic lines, everyone has to love... "The man smiled as he washed the blood from his hands." Yeah, doesn't get any sweeter then that! I finished it. One month later. And my goodness... I liked it. It was a revelation that I could actually enjoy something I wrote. Good deal. I also changed it's name quite quickly from whatever it had been, to "For the Sake of Revenge." But that's taken by a really good Sonata Arctica song (About a relationship gone bad) so I had to change it. With a few tinkering switches, "For This Reason of Vice" was born. Nice ring, eh?

It told an original story, with an interesting main character, and an adulterer that you couldn't help but sympathize with. At least I did... but I'm biased. Because I'm it's author, not because I'm an adulterer mind you. :P Like I said a few posts back, email me for a copy. Tell me what you think. For any that got an early version, I've updated it *meaningfully* twice. Good deal...

So with something I deemed *decent* under my belt, I launched forth. My first strike? Ring. It died. Bitterly... muwahwahuh! I replaced it with another story, "The Beast", guess what it's about? I changed it to, "The Beasts", more recently, and then I actually changed the name again, because I thought it was too... quasi-dramatic. Thus, "Faux Pas", was born. Everyone probably knows this, but Faux Pas denotes a social blunder. Awesome. I'm 3/4 done that know. Busy, busy. The third story, "The Dimiduim Ordeal", didn't turn out well, I was almost done it, but decided to abandon it because of it's weakness. "Severed From My Sunrise Confessed Angel", was born, or SFMSCA. It needed a big ol' name because it's events are substantially more epic in size. Notice the progression, short to long, with the names. Their scope enhances with each story as well. From lone seeker, to public figure, to political engineer. Just gotta make story three *epic* enough so that it isn't undeniably cheesy. Maybe it already is... I have a hard time detecting the "cheese factor" in titles and words, sometimes.

So that's the literary tale of the last few years. I'm very much concentrated on finishing these stories, the compilation actually, by New Years time. Which also happens to be when I'm aiming on graduation of high school via the path of the GED. I've really set myself up to be ready for it by the end of the year, and that's made me quite the happier person. With such feats under my belt, compilation, and GED, my options will be quite open. My main focus is to get a job here in Folsom, which is, yes, legal at my age. I need to start raking in the cash.

Good bye folks, God bless you, and thank you for reading.

Back... Again, and Planning On Staying

I'm back! WHEEE!!! From where you ask? Why, from my busy, busy, life, which is becoming more orderly, and thanks to such, I am able to post again. Plus I beat Halo 3... so that freed me up.

I've been really wanting to post for months now, ideas just popping in and out before I've had time to pen em' down, so another main objective is to not lose any of my perceptions by the destruction of time. So I figure I'll write em' here. Like a normal person.

Yes, I know, only a cold cynic would call me normal. Notice I said *like* normal, i.e one who has some semblance of normalcy. Self-proclaim in the method of saying it, I do consider myself to fit that bill.

On with the posting. Just gotta grab a dew... it's getting pretty late, and I sense my dew stream thinning with the resurgence of blood within my system. Pesky blood cells.

Halo 3: Review and Multiplayer Impressions

In the end I concur pretty much to the point with Gamespot. 9.5 out of 10. Editor's Choice. The Story isn't the Star Wars saga it was made out to be by Microsoft reps, but it was pretty good. And Multiplayer is very enjoyable. In a sense it is Halo 2.5. But the leap between the series concerning Halo to Halo 2 is much more evident.

One thing to note: Due to frame rate issues four-player co-op on local is not allowed. Only over Xbox-live. Otherwise the Multiplayer is more then I was expecting. More weapons, more options, and the new "equipment" items are quite enjoyable. So normal Multi is great.

The new Forge, Item Editor, is also a blast. Allowing instant drop in and out of players, the ability to turn into a monitor and create or edit any object, and a great aid to creating new map types.

And saved films are cool. It's nice to zoom around to the other side of the battlefield and watch the enemy fight you. Very cool.

Great game. Buy it.