Final Year Project and Final Draft
Final Draft in progress.
Proofreading.
But, let me get rid of my Final Year Project first okay? It ends this coming Thursday =)
- Derick
Quick Update
I can’t give a specific date as to when Specimen Three: Geralt will be released, but I can tell you that it won’ be released before Feb 11th – the date of my Final Year Project submission. My FYP accounts for the delay right now (it came right after internship ended).
Alright, as for my progress, right now I’m going through the story to see which areas are there that I can improve on. There’s a good chance I might add in a major scenes but in the event that I don’t (which is unlikely, really) I’ll be able to proceed to the final draft.
Once the final draft is done… well, the name of the draft is quite self-explanatory =)
Oh and I’m just 13 followers away from writing quick updates on twitter now.
- Derick
Taking A Moment To Reflect
I’m done going through Specimen One: Mythias (And my goodness, that was one badly written story) and right now I’m halfway through Specimen Two: Ixion. So far there aren’t any major plotholes that I need to address, just some minor details that could benefit from some explanation/account for in Specimen Three: Geralt.
No delays coming from that =)
I will admit however that I have a huge urge to rewrite Specimen One: Mythias because as mentioned, my goodness that was one badly written story.
But I won’t.
Project M.I.G.H.T. is for me to learn and by keeping Specimen One the way it is, it will serve as a reminder for myself of how freaking bad I was (still am actually) and how I gradually improved little by little over each story.
The only mistake I did was making it a series as opposed to five individual stories that aren’t connected to each other. Because right now Mythias is a horrible character that was badly fleshed out with a personality that barely reflects the kind of character I wanted him to be.
This will change in coming sequels. You will begin to see more of the real Mythias - the Mythias that I know in my head - through his appearances before… well, let’s not spoil the story for everyone else shall we?
Specimen Three: Geralt.
While normal people would reflect on something after they’ve done/completed it, I’m doing a reflection before the story is finished. Just a short one.
During my attempts to rewrite Specimen Three in order to fix the fragmentation and the horrible, horrible plot it originally had, I kept blaming my SIP (Student Internship Program) for being the cause of it. And I realised now that, that itself was a problem because SIP was pretty much a simulation of how my life is going to be like in the future. It’s how my writing conditions will be like when I get a job and the conditions will only deteriorate further once I get a girlfriend – though the latter does have countless of benefits that justify its absolute necessity =)
Specimen Three will probably suck.
Like what many people have told me, I agree that there was a jump in quality between Specimen One and Specimen Two (Though not Good to Superb, mind you, more like Horrible to Acceptable). And initially my mindset was that there should be another jump in quality level between Specimen Two and Specimen Three, but I’ve come to realise that there won’t be happening.
I’m not saying that I’ve reached my peak - no author or single person will ever reach his or her peak, it’s always a learning process - what I’m saying is that the improvements will be small and at times even unnoticeable. But the improvement is there.
At times it’ll probably even deteriorate as how I believe it would be for Specimen Three.
And that’s good because I’ve now somewhat experienced the effects of transitioning from teenage life to adulthood and how it affect my writing. Now that I know how it’s going to be like - vaguely at least - I can learn how to overcome the problems and issues – I have a head start in adapting now.
Specimen Three will probably suck.
The first story I write after I enter adulthood, won’t.
- Derick
Draft 3
I’m working on Draft 3 now.
By the way, I’ve added an E-mail Subscription widget to this site - it’s on the right side, near the bottom - so you can enter your e-mail address there and click the ‘Sign Me Up!’ button. Whenever I update with a new post, you will receive a e-mail notifying you of the update =)
Be warned though, it can get very spammy when I start flooding my blog with chapter posts.
Then again, it is a sign that something’s coming whenever that happens…
=P
edit: Re-reading Specimen One: Mythias and Specimen Two: Ixion to make sure there aren’t any plot holes or inconsistencies that I missed out.
- Derick
The One With Taking It Slow And Taking Risks
Specimen Three: Geralt is still being worked on.
The story no longer feels fragmented since Draft 2 and right now what I’m trying to do is figure out how I can make the story better and more awesome.
One main thing I’m focusing in Specimen Three is the writing style. The switching perspectives and the double-hypen jumps as well as some other less noticeable ones. There has to be a balance to have often I can use them so Specimen Three is kind of where I try to push the limits I guess.
There’s a good chance I might go overboard, but hey, like I said many times before – Project M.I.G.H.T. is for me to experiment =)
You won’t see me taking such heavy risks once the series is over.
In other news, my typing speed is slowly picking up again! =D
When I first got the new keyboard, I was clocking in like 14 words per minute - I use to do 100 words per minute - but just a few minutes ago, I took the typing test again and I came up to 54 words per minute!
Slow and steady, people, slow and steady =)
- – -
Oh, oh, and I just sold my phone yesterday to get the new Google Phone – Nexus One!
I’m tracking it right now through DHL and it is SO MUCH fun! Hahaha, you’d think that for a guy who enjoys reading political news and playing hardcore-style on World of Warcraft, I wouldn’t be entertained by little things like this.
Well you’re wrong, haha, it’s little things like these that just makes me smile and get all tingly with excitement on the inside when I think about it.
Nexus One~! =D
- Derick
The One With Learning How To Touch-Type 08/01
Every since I’ve learned to touchtype (typing blindly), I’ve been typing with just two fingers on each hand with the left thumb for the spacebar. It’s how most people type but the fastest that I can go with five fingers is only about 100 words per minute.
Not fast enough for me considering that I intend to work as a writer in the future.
The fastest way to type is to apparently use all ten fingers which is quite logical. But I just never got to make myself fork out the time to relearn.
Now, I don’t have much choice but to learn because I got this new ergonomic keyboard recently and the keys are placed so differently from my previous keyboard.
It’s slow and quite frustrating but I glad that my passion for writing has spilled over – I seem to be able to perservere so far and keep on typing with all ten fingers.
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000
This is the keyboard that I’m using now.
I’m typing so slow that I can’t even feel any flow to my writing so I’m going to end this post here.
- Derick
The One Where I Turn 20
I turn 20 today =)
When I turned 16 four years ago, I told myself that I was still a child - a teenager - and immaturity was sinful luxury that I could still afford to bear. Immaturity, which is to indulge myself in expensive unncessary gadgets; habour petty grudges against people who irritates me; deny that my physical outlook is of no importance; be selective about everything and anything…
I turn twenty today.
In a year, I will turn 21 and finally exit teenage life to become a young adult.
Four years ago I told myself that I could still be immature, because maturity wasn’t expected of me at that age. Now that I’m 20, turning 21 in a year, maturity will be the first thing that’s expected me as a person.
Time to grow up.
Throughout this entire year, I’m going to change for the better as much as I can, beginning from today so that by the time I turn 21, I’m at least halfway there to behaving my age.
When I turn twenty-one, my priorities in life will change to the follow:
1. Get a girlfriend.
2. Plan my finance for the next decade.
And once upon time there used to be a third priority – an extremely important one that superceded the first two. Thankfully, I managed to knock out that third point sometime between 2006 and 2007. I just didn’t realise it until last year.
3. Discover what I was born to do.
Fingers-crossed that I can knock out another - particular - point in advance =)
- Derick
The One Where I Look Back And Ask Myself…
Did I achieve my 2009 resolution?
The One With My 2009 Resolution
=)
Yeah I did!
The difference before was a complete absence of a Writing Voice and the presence of one. Right now, I believe that I have a Writing Voice of my own – a style that I can call mine – and what needs to be done now is to refine this voice.
Get better, basically.
Sounds easy enough – bring on 2010 =)
- Derick
