As you are writing, do you hit a part of the story where you need to do some research?  For me, since I'm currently writing science fiction, that occurs often.  As I write, I stumble upon something that makes me go "hmm, is that true?" and then I go off on a tangent, searching reddit and physics books to see if that really is true.  For example, my latest bug is whether or not the crew would feel forces as they did a flyby of a planet.  My instinct is to say no, they wouldn't feel a thing.  Then again, I don't have a doctorate in astrophysics, so what do I know.  It's important to my story, because I'm having the captain force the ships to separate so they can do the maneuver.  It might change my story if they don't need to separate.  I want them to separate so that bad stuff can happen to one of the ships.  So, this pulls me out of my writing, and I go on a long journey of finding out about astrophysics.
If I don't pull out, I could wind up writing a plot thread that isn't possible.  This is the problem with hard physics.  But, I'm assuming this same problem occurs with everyone.  If you are writing a mystery that takes place in another city, you probably have to research that city a bit before writing your story.  However, once in the heat of battle, when you are elbow deep in your scene, you hit some area where you just don't know, and it very well may affect your entire scene.  
What do you do?  Write on?  Stop and research, hoping you don't lose the moment?  Ugh!
Popular wisdom says to just write and don't edit while writing.  You can't control what goes on the page, but you can damn sure control what stays on the page. 
I've found this as the best advice.  So, whenever you see a boulder in the road, just write around it and keep going.  You can always come back to it after you do some research.  If you just can't find the answer, maybe it's time to just re-write the entire scene.

That moment when you send your story to a beta reader, and you realize there is a major plot point you changed in the front of the book, but not the rest of it!  Ahh!
As I'm going through the book on my own, I realized I sent it to two people where major plot points have changed.  I should have taken the time to go over it one more time before sending it out.  But, then again, there are many other issues with it, I'm sure.  I don't get the impression that books are ever "done", you just get them to a point where they are publishable and they go out.  I'm sure Lee Child could look back on a novel and change something about it.  I mean, the same thing happens to musicians after they put out music.  During the live performance, they add in new elements.  The basic structure is there, but minor elements change.
So, why should I worry?  I'm sure they'll get it.  Well, as a precaution, I sent them each a message indicating the major plot point changes.  It's still out for beta, so we'll see what comes back.  
Anyway, continuing on this re-write.  If anyone has any suggestions on when to send to beta readers, or when done is done, I'm all ears.

I've come to a deep realization.  It's one of those life moments you have when you've seen something your whole life right in front of you, but you never really understood it.  Every once in a while, the millions of synapses in the brain line up like some set of planets, and it just dawns on you what people have been talking to you about but you were just too, I don't know, unknowing to not see it.  

I was reading a book on poetry to try and improve my poetry writing.  Ok, let me back up.  I wrote one poem without looking at any books on how to do it and submitted it to three publications.  It was of course turned down by all.  No surprise.  I think if I had an MFA in Poetry and submitted, it had a good chance of being rejected.  NBD.   Move on.  So, I checked out one book from the Joliet public library on Black Road and started reading.  About a chapter or two in, it hit me like a brick.  There is a 4th dimension and I can see it!  Let me explain.

I call the 4th dimension a deeper understanding or a "higher level" if you will, about our three dimensional world.  It's like when you look at an object using a kaleidoscope (the kind with no end on it, not the one with colored things that you rotate).  As you look at an object, you are seeing another dimension of the object in the kaleidoscope.  By seeing something more than just 3 dimensions, you are now one more dimension deep.  That is, to me, the 4th dimension.

Art is our gateway to the 4th dimension.  Science tries to explain it all, and in the lab, they have been able to find evidence of many more dimensions beyond just the three we know about.  But to see the 4th dimension, you have to move over to the art world.  I've tried painting, but that's hard.  Like, really really hard.  First of all, it's usually in 2 dimensions to start with.  And, you only get one image to show the world some subject you have studied, and it's just tough to do.  First of all, you have to understand that object on a different level.  Take the Mona Lisa for example.  Old Leo understood the subject deeply, not just the woman, but the human form, and when he painted it, he's a master enough to pull all of that dimensional knowledge and skill into the painting.  He takes you from a two dimensional painting all the way up to the 4th dimension.  A two level jump!  There are like 3 dudes in the world ever that could do that effectively.  Van Gogh, Da Vinci and Rembrandt.  Maybe a few others, but those are the ones who stick out to me.

At lest with sculpture, you are already at the 3rd dimension, because we readily see the world in three dimensions, and you only have to explain to the viewer, through your chiseling or other sculpture means, to get them to the lower parts of the 4th dimension.  

Once I landed on writing, I found it easier because I could explain in excruciating detail what I'm talking about.  I can write page after page of endless bullshit to describe my world I'm seeing.  I'm currently writing a Science Fiction book, so I get to invent all kinds of stuff.  It will be hard to keep this puppy at 500 pages.  But, it still, even when you have masters pouring out prose, only can get you say to the middle of the 4th dimension.  

Poetry is the pinnacle of the 4th dimension.  It is the only medium where you can get deep enough into a subject to reach the highest point of the 4th dimension.  Why is it better than writing fiction?  Well, it's like when you want to make a sauce.  You start with 4 cups or so of chicken stock, then reduce it down.  Then, add your mushrooms and spices, or whatever, then reduce it some more.  Poetry is the sauce of writing.  When you get it right, you know it and it transcends you deep into the 4th dimension.  From all the poetry I've read, which isn't a lot but enough, I see that it is hard for anyone to master, yet many have peaks that poke through the clouds and really grab you.  I don't think we, as humanity I mean, are able to see just how high these peaks can go, nor just how to do it effectively.  It may be that each of us has at least one great poem inside.  There are many who write huge volumes like Whitman or Ginsberg, and I read each poem three times to try and get it.  Some come through, some don't.  Some are tremendous and moving, some not so much.

What's odd is that you will never get rich writing poetry.  I think that's because it's hard to write high peaks into the 4th dimension.  Another reason is you need to find the reader who will follow you to that peak as well, which may be more difficult.

Anyway, that's my thought for the day.  Enjoy the rest of your day.

Writing class has been suspended for the month of December.  I'm still writing, and reading, quite a bit.  I've read a few more books on the craft of writing, and I think I've been able to better know and strengthen my characters using new techniques.  The book "A Writer's Guide to Characterization" is helping.  I'm focusing in on the main few to start.  I've also went back and revised a few scenes by diving deeper into the thesaurus to find better verb choices.  It has improved, I can tell.  

I was reading King's "Secret Windows" and picked up a few of the books he reviewed there to get examples of characterization.  One of them is "Haunting of Hill House" by Jackson.  I'm studying how she made the character Eleanor develop.  I'm also seeing examples of how not to do it from Herbert's "The Rats".  Great story, not so great characterization.

For the rest of the month, I'm continuing to crank out scenes from the next revision.  I'm adding new pieces in where there are holes, and re-writing the last revision to feather in with the new revision.  I'm trying to complete a scene every day or two.  I hope that work slows down enough where I can focus on writing more during the next few weeks.  

I'll report back later.  Keep writing out there!

Writing class is going great.  I started up in September and have been going strong since.  We meet weekly on Monday evenings.  I submit 10 pages or so and we critique.  This is so much better than me discovering my problems on my own.  If you get the chance, I highly recommend you sit in a weekly class and critique your work.  Even if it's just with a few other writers.  The main thing I've discovered is that my characters have no life to them.  I really need to discover their wants and desires and pull that out in the dialog and their thoughts.  It's fairly clear what it lacks when my pieces are read out loud.  The hard part is re-writing it and coming up with something of substance.  

I'll keep working at it.  I consider this first book one type of apprenticeship.  Maybe later, I can pair up with another accomplished writer and further ingrain my training.  

I was briefly considering doing NaNoWriMo this year.  I did it last year.  However, I want to concentrate on this novel and get it finished up before doing anything else.  I need to finish something rather than start 10 things.  I already have last year's NaNoWriMo project sitting on my computer waiting to be edited.  I don't think coming up with content is the hard part for me.  It's editing and coming up with quality content.  That's what I'm working on now.

On my third draft, I'm realizing chapter 3 sucks.  I mean, it doesn't even contain the main character it's referencing.  I am sitting in a suite in the Blue Chip Casino on the 4th floor, the memorial tournament is on in the background, Bubba Watson is leading, and my wife is napping.  I decide chapter 3 must go, and I start decide now is the time I start it.  The best way I know to make sure my antagonist is in chapter 3 is to start the chapter with his name and go from there.  Cool, one word down, 1,999 more to go before I can think about stopping.

I printed out the third draft and edited it by hand with a red pen.  Just last night, I finished it.  Now, I'm going back and typing in all those changes and expanding on the notes I added.  Some of those notes are "rewrite this chapter from the main character's perspective."  So, typing this in might take a bit.  Hopefully I'll be done with it near the end of June.  That's my new goal.  

Going through my third draft, I'm starting to realize I don't know which characters are showing up in which chapters, and why.  So, I'm now starting to write out a chart.  On the left hand side, I'm writing the characters names.  On the top, I'm writing chapters.  In each box on this grid, I'm now adding in basically what's happening to the characters in each chapter.  This will give me a high level view of what's going on in the novel.  

We'll see how that helps.  I'll report back later.

Working hard on the third draft.  I'm about 200 pages into my almost 500 page manuscript.  I spent some time on the deck tonight smoking a cigar and doing some more editing.  The stuff I'm reading now I wrote about a year ago, and it still seems to be holding up.  I do need to amp up the conflict, but I like what I have so far.  My goal is to finish this third draft by the end of May.  I'm meeting up with my writing coach in June, and I want to have something I'm proud of to show her.  

My previous coach, Jerry Cleaver, was great, but unfortunately he passed away.  He was a great man and I'm sorry I didn't have more time with him.  I'm sure all who knew him, especially his family, agree.  He was a great soul.

My new coach is Mary Carter.  I haven't met with her yet, she's taking over for Jerry.  My first meeting will be June 11th, and I'm excited to start this new chapter with her as my coach.  I'm sure she'll do great.  

Oh well, time to get back to it.  A writer never quits!

I started writing a science fiction novel in February 2013 and thought it might be best to start blogging about it at some point.  So, here it is!

I had this idea in my head and just had to write it down.  That's what started the whole thing.  So, each night I would just sit in front of the computer, close my eyes, and write down what the voices in my head were telling me.  Well, after about 80,000 words, I thought it would be best to take some lessons or something on writing to make sure I was doing it the right way.  

I found the writers loft up in Chicago taught by Jerry Cleaver, so I signed up to take some classes there.  Well, it was great but Jerry had some health issues and passed away.  Mary Carter is taking over, which is great.  I look forward to working with her on my book.

Also, my cousin is J.P. Barnaby, who writes gay romance novels.  She has inspired me to do some writing, so that's why I continue to do it.  

Anyway, this is the start of my blog on writing.  I'll try to add more stuff in between my writing to let you know how it's going.

Later,
Keith