Plodding on

Hmm interesting how you always remember things being easier than they were. Four weeks in and its a real hard slog. It didnt help that the weekend was my Birthday, and i didnt then want to do any work for two days. Also it didnt help the fact that I played a few computer games too, the classic (and should be remade) "Xcom Terror from the Deep", and a new game (demo in this case) of a new war game RST (the name which escapes me right now). Well ive had to tear myself away from it, so i can get back on track.

Im currently about 19 pages down, havent yet submitted my first two chapters (though i have more than two in progress), but I also havent got my contracts back yet, so Im kinda ok for the moment - well fingers crossed ;). Unfortunately the way I work means that there are 4 chapters in progress, but none are done.

Im still working on Chapter 16, which is a CDROM menu program (in fact two menus one for a game and one for a business). It's taking a while, and its hard work for some reason. It's just not flowing easily. Apparently I was like this last time (so I've been reliably informed).

Chapter 16 is a good chapter in theory, because its all based on fact, and exact steps and so is more finishable than a chapter where i have to think and type (you always have to go over that more).

Ive got Friday off as holiday this week again, and so hopefully i can scratch out some pages.... not much fun eh! Problem is that its really early days and its going to be like this until at least Christmas.

Current Page calculation 55.7 pages. Target for September 75.

Seems that my calculation of 30 pages a week might be over doing it. We shall see the second week in October when ive scheduled thats how many i will do a week. Seems that i am generally doing a couple of pages a day. Weekends I should be able to get 10. So in theory 30 shouldnt be a problem, but alot of time is spent taking the example files apart and rebuilding them (as you have to do this to write the exact steps of what to do).

So time to get back to it, hopefully when i post my blog again towards the end of the week or weekend i will have reached my 75 and got my two chapters done! Lets hope so.

October will be hell :)

Jason

Listening to some A-ha and Talk Talk today

Progress update

The new website/domain has been completed for the new book. It does use the same template as makeamazing's website, but i think it doesnt require anything different or more fancy than that. Once i have more content i will post the web address.

Finally, I'm slowly getting back into writing again. I decided to stop writing chapter 3 which I wouldnt say was a difficult chapter to write, just one of those chapters that take time and effort to put together (its alot of graphics and explaining things).

Ive started on Chapter 16, and have made good progress on that chapter so far.

Im now at around 41 pages (book not manuscript). That leaves me about 14 pages down off Last Mondays target, so about 17 pages down overall including this week. I have a days holiday on Friday, so i'm hoping i can at least cancel out the original 14 pages i am behind and start making a dent on the 20 pages i need to do by Monday next week to keep to my 75 pages for the week.

The target for this week is to complete two chapters of the book and upload them for approval/checking by the publisher. This process is very common, and allows the publisher to check that you are writing the pages in the correct format and also writing in an ok style. This is one of only three milestones, and though the two chapters could be very small, completing it means that your one step nearer to completing the book. In my case the two chapters might not be any more than 20-30 pages (depends on which chapters you write to be uploaded). It could easily be two very small chapters, there is no requirement set down to say what it should be.

The milestone after the first two chapter uploads, is a biggie. Its the half manuscript milestone, where you need to put in half the chapters or half the book pages (doesnt really matter which, again its just and indicator for the publisher to make sure progress is being made). That milestone for me is the end of October, and that is alot more of a challege for me.. serious work is going to be needed to complete that target.

In the next couple of blog posts i will start to reveal what projects are included in the book, and hopefully some idea of what the book is all about.

Jason

Oh So Slow

Last couple of weeks have dragged by. This hasn't kinda been helped by my normal day job, and i've been feeling what i call "Repetative PC use syndrome". I use a PC at work for 7.5 hours, then coming home to do writing, at times i've just not wanted to touch the keyboard.

3 Weeks in and ive done around 33.6 pages. Ive scheduled 55 at this stage, so im currently about 21 pages down :(. So ive got to pick up the pace soon. I think once ive got my mind into it, things should start to get quicker, but at the moment, im really on a go slow. Ive got to complete 75 pages by the end of September to be on target for the month. Oh well lets hope the purchase of a couple of Enigma albums off iTunes will help me speed up? It's not helped by me having so many other things going on (company accounts and returns and all matter of other things).

My graphic artist/Example maker has been making excellent progress though, which is a great positive thing for me. The work I've had back so far has been A++, so thats exciting, and will mean that i can really get some book pages written when i get to it.

I do have two days of holidays coming up, which should help keep the book page alittle bit more healthier.

Well thats it for now, really need to be writing for the book and not my blog :)

Jason

Slow Progress

Well a few days have passed, and it's been really quite difficult getting back on the writing pony. Before the contracts turned up, I made sure I got some of the basic details done (so i don't have to waste a day doing silly little things), like:

Dedication
Acknowledgements
Introduction (not classed as part of the chapters)
Chapter 1 (60% done).

Just for a little perspective this equals probably only about 6 pages... so still lots to do. Unfortunately except for the small amount done for Chapter 1, the dedication, acknowledgements and Introduction dont actually count towards the final page count anyway.

Ive started work properly on it today, well i say properly. Having sat at my computer i had only done 3 manuscript pages (in one day). Ive only been working on Chapter 2 not finishing Chapter 1 which I've already started. That equals out at about 2 proper book pages, so not very good. In fact pretty rubbish really. Ive targetted to get 20 pages done by Monday, so it's looking bad :(

My main target is 30 book pages a week, so thats alot of manuscript pages (1.6 manuscript pages per 1 single book page). So im looking at 48 manuscipt pages a week. So 6.8 pages a day....oh dear, it feels a little bit like trying to catch up a run rate in cricket... the worse you do each over the harder it gets.

If you remember, I have two chapters to complete by Friday. So why so slow? Well kids were running around crazy :) , I had some screenshots of the installation of the program I am using to do (not slow using Fireworks but all takes time), but also i just couldnt concentrate. I think i am much better at 6am and 11pm, than middle of the day etc.

In total Ive got 24 Chapters set aside. Over the next couple of weeks, i will be letting you know how its going, how many chapters have been written and how many are left. I think this will provide anyone who is looking to be an author with some insight into what happens. Of course you may be a much faster writer, or slower, may have a book with more pages. So its only a guide.

This progress is also good for me to look back and see how fast or slow I am, so i can better plan any next book that i might write (which you try not to think about while writing, because its such a tiring and slow process).

So Progress on the 24 Chapters is

Chapter 1 - 60%
Chapter 2 - 60%

Total Pages done today = 3 Manuscript

Oh just so you know there is alot more to this writing lark than just writing the book, but we will cover that when i get to it :)

Ive got to pick it up tomorrow alot, but at least Im on a very easy bit, which will add a couple of pages quickly within an hour. The weekend is my main work part, so i have to get alot done then to ensure i dont have to worry so much in the week (when i might be too tired to do it because of being at work all day).

I will post again tomorrow, to show you if things have improved any.

Jason