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 |  A hub for the "Book of Masks" universe. |
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The Interactives "The Book of Masks"  : A high school student discovers a grimoire that can make magical disguises."The Wandering Stars" : Sequel to "The Book of Masks.""Student Bodies" : A high school student is turned into a blue goo that can possess people.For non-WdC Members "The Book of Masks: Archives" : Dodges the "Servers Busy" barrier!"The Book of Masks (Abridged)" : Introductory storylines for new readers.Community "BoM/TWS Message Forum" : Community for readers of the interactives."BoM/TWS/SB Wiki" : Notes and documentation for authors. Spoilers!Current Polls None The Latest 4/29: Interactive: "Some Will Act Where Others Dare Not" 4/29: Public: "Some Will Act Where Others Dare Not" + "Third Thoughts" --> "Casting for a New Part"
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| I wrote some more "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" , and added them to the item. This time I made sure to include something that might appeal to fans of BoM. |
| I still need to tackle those next few chapters. But I made the mistake of buying and starting to read Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, so instead yesterday I tried making up stories like the ones in that collection. In the interest of transparency, here they are: "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" . |
| I don't think it's spoiler-y to say that this story is emerging in 5- to 7-chapter chunks. That's the usual way I write in BoM for instance: I get an idea for where the story needs to be in 5 to 7 to 10 chapters, and write my way toward that destination. The difference between BoM and the UYAN is these chunks aren't just a destination, but conform to a particular "act" structure. You might be able to guess what that act structure is, but to confirm or deny it would be spoiler-y. So I didn't write anything yesterday, but spent it noodling around with ideas for where the next chunk is supposed to go and how long it is supposed to take to get there. I think I figured out a plan. Now I just have to work up the nerve to step over the edge by starting to write it. |
| I posted "Invalid Entry" yesterday, but I forgot to put up a post announcing it. That's okay. I didn't have anything to say about it, and it's probably best read in conjunction with "Invalid Entry" , which I hope is the chapter that lets you know that this is not going to be the kind of story that you probably thought that it was going to be. I'm not going to say anything more, though. I don't want to spoil myself, because I don't know what's going on either. Okay, that's not strictly true. I do know what's going on, generally speaking, and I've a fair idea of the bases to be touched as I run around the field. But how I get from one base to the next, I'm not sure. Like, I'm not sure what's going to go into Chapter 7. Which means I'd probably better get cracking on it. |
| I'm always nervous when I return from a hiatus, even a short one. Not that I think anyone will have burned the place down in my absence. I just worry a little about what might have accumulated while I was gone. Then I worry that nothing will have accumulated. Anyhow ... I promise I have not been playing Minecraft. I can't promise that I haven't been playing Civilization IV, though. Well, I could, sort of. I've been playing a mod of the game, not the actual game itself. It's one that gives the player lots of small challenges and puzzles, and I've been having fun trying one game challenge after another. It was more fun that dealing with the book. Okay, so about that Untitled Young Adult Novel. Oh, that Chapter 3 turned out to be a bitch! I still don't know if it's in anything like its final form. I spent a lot of time banging my forehead against it, which is one reason I kept going back to play Civilization instead. I tried revising the original version, but couldn't come up with an angle. Then I realized it was because the chapter just wasn't going to work in that setting with those characters (Charlie and Derek on the bus to the game), so I threw it out. But it took me awhile to come up with something new, and then to find a new angle into the new thing, and then I wasn't real happy with the results. I've fussed around with it some, and I think it will work for now. But I won't know for sure until I'm deeper into the book and can see if some of the stuff planted there is going to ripen. But, the new "Invalid Entry" is now up, and so is a tweaked version of "Invalid Entry" Tomorrow I will post Chapter 5, which was written a few weeks ago and has been waiting ever since. |
| I posted "Invalid Entry" in the [Untitled YA Novel] yesterday, but I didn't link to it. I was sure it was going to get heavily edited, and I saw no reason to advertise it. You can look at it if you want to get an idea of the "before" for when the "after" shows up, but that's the only reason. I wasn't thrilled with it when I wrote it—it was too much of an actionless "life vignette," and the story already had two of those—but I didn't know how to revise it. I suspected, though, that I would learn how to revise it after writing a few more chapters, so instead of worrying about it, I just pressed on. That's why you can read "Invalid Entry" now.I don't know that that did the trick, but I've an idea now for how to revise it, so that will be my project for today. Tomorrow you might get Chapter Five (but it will need some revisions in light of the revisions to Chapter Three) and then on Saturday, if my plans hold, I'll post the revised Chapter Three. In other words, you're not just getting a chapter at a time, like you get in BoM. You're seeing the crafting in action, only two days behind. Kind of like the Monty Python Novel Writing sketch on tape delay. |
| A great while back I opened up the floor to suggested locations in Saratoga Falls: business names, park names, street names, anything. I took almost all of them, I think, and incorporated them into the lore and onto a map that I made of the town. So now it's time for something similar. If you're the kind of person who thinks up names for bands—any kind of band, any kind of pop music—and want to see it make a cameo in BoM, suggest here in the comments. I can't guarantee that I'll use them, but I will incorporate them into the notes and when I need to introduce or at least mention a band that's playing at the Warehouse, I will draw from the list that you guys provide. EDIT: Thanks for all the suggestions so far, both public and private! |
| So, "Invalid Entry" of [Untitled Young Adult Novel] is now up, for whatever it's worth. Now I have to go write Chapter Four, because so far there's only three chapters. And I've been putting off writing Chapter Four because in it and Chapter Five I will be having to write a football game, which is a little beyond my area of expertise. |
| So, I think the only way I'm going to write this month's project— which was slated to start in October, but which kind of fell by the wayside as I did some more thinking about it —is by gritting my teeth and putting it up a chapter at a time, regardless of whether I feel like it's ready to start going up. So with that in mind: "Invalid Entry" Yes, that's a very generic chapter heading. But at present the book is called "[Untitled YA Novel]", and if you think that's uninformative you should check out the description. Anyway, I'm not going to say anything about it, even though I've got ideas, I'm just going to set it out a bit at a time and let people see it as it comes. And I'll try not to torture myself by watching an initial view count in the low double-digits dwindle to view counts in the single digits ... |
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