Stephen C. Phillips's Blog (4)

Or should I ask: How fast do you write? Reading about the various processes people use to finish their novel, I find that getting through that first draft is a universal struggle. Some people have problems turning off their inner editor. Others second-, third-, and fourth-guess their scenes, characters, or just the entire story itself. And there are those who have a blank-page anxiety -- they never feel like they're prepared enough to sit down and write another scene -- and they waste ho… Continue

Long story short, it's been a month since I've even looked at my one-eighth of a finished first draft. Work, has gotten in the way mostly. I've been on a big project since mid-June, which has a deadline of August 7. I tell myself once I'm back on my normal schedule and not spending 60 hours a week editing technical information for this proposal, I'll start up again. I'm afraid to open the draft and look at it for fear that I won't know what to write next. I have my section sheets, of course, bu… Continue

And that means I've finished the first chapter of my novel! It took me four days of trying to find time, but I did it. I'm calling the book "Upgrade" unless and until I think of something better. It's a soft science-fiction novel, in the darkly humorous subgenre, about a tech journalist who inadvertently starts a war when he tries to pay off a blackmailer. This is chapter one, as ready as it'll ever be for an initial critique. Thanks in advance! ------------- The robot could not even bring h… Continue

I've been a member of this site for a few days but haven't had time to formally introduce myself and describe my current project. Time to take advantage of a self-imposed break at the office. About Me: I'm 23 years old and live in a suburb of Baton Rouge, Louisiana with my wife (married in July 2008 after six years). In May 2008, I earned a B.A. in English at Louisiana State University and took a job as a proposal writer for a Homeland Security/Emergency Management/IT contracting firm. I… Continue