dim sum diaries

New Chair

2010-09-07T14:17:38Z

My back has been hurting for several weeks now and I think it has a lot to do with how I've been sitting at my computer. I have the posture of a lazy teenage boy watching TV. In an effort to stop myself from turning into a question mark, I've set up a kneeling chair. It's kind of weird to be sitting at it right now, but I do feel good.

Anyone use a kneeling chair? Any suggestions for how long to use it before taking a break? Any pitfalls I should avoid? I want to use it as a go-kart, but I think that would be unwise on the carpet.

Anyway,I'll see how this thing works. Today, I put the chair to the test as I try to revise 10 pages of Code Breakers Club. Wish me luck.

Great news

2010-09-03T15:55:55Z

I received a Facebook message from the editor who has been assigned to work with me on the Barnabas Bigfoot Series. I'm thrilled to announce that it is Diane Tucker. She was my editor on The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul and The Mystery of the Mad Science Teacher. She's great at finding kid moments in books, and she can kick my butt when I'm off base with the story or characters.

We'll be working on all three books over six months (2 months per book). I'm looking at my speaking schedule and watching my personal time shrink. It'll be a lot of work, but I'm going to enjoy it. Yay!

Molasses Manuscript

2010-09-01T16:10:54Z

Two days and I'm still polishing the prologue. It's only three pages long and I'm fussing over it like an overprotective parent coddling his sick kid. Time to let it go and work on other sections of the novel. I can always come back and futz later. Hmm, maybe just one more tweak to the second paragraph...

Cracked the Code

2010-08-31T16:16:08Z

I'm grinning ear to ear as I reread my revised prologue. It works so much better now. The problem with the previous prologue was that there was no mystery to drive the reader forward. Instead, there was exposition that didn't offer any conflict. All I did was waste a lot of ink describing a doomsday machine that would be important to the story. While I knew the machine was important, the reader wouldn't care about it because I didn't give them a reason to care.

The new prologue starts with a character running away with a part of the doomsday device. There are hints to the destructive power of the machine, but they come out in a confrontation between two adversaries rather than as long-winded exposition. Now there is a reason to care about the machine and, as a reader, I want to know more about it. I think this prologue will hook readers faster.

I have to remind myself that the start of a novel should be like a carnival barker enticing people to go into a house of horrors. Don't show everything that's in the funhouse. Just show enough to make the reader want to go inside.

Code Breakers Club

2010-08-26T15:32:48Z

I think I figured out why my prologue wasn't working. There's a complicated back story to the novel which involves characters we won't see in the main story. While the amount of detail I went into is great for shaping the back story and the incidental characters, I don't need to show my work. I fell in love with the back story so much that I forgot that it was background.

Now, I'm going through the novel and simplifying the back story and trimming away the exposition. That will hopefully allow me focus more on the present day action and main characters rather than on the past events. I think I'll call this the Star Wars prequel axiom. Back story for the writer; main story for the audience.

I'm moving!

2010-08-24T16:46:02Z

Well, not really, but I've noticed I spend more time on Facebook than I do checking on my blog, so I've started a Marty Chan fan page. On that site, I'll be posting updates about my books for kids and share some tidbits about my writing (or not writing) process. If you like following the kids' fiction stuff, please find my Facebook fan page (Marty Chan) and follow me there.

I'll still blog here from time to time, but my topics may vary. Have a wonderful west of the summer.

Blah, blah, blah...

2010-08-19T20:12:35Z

When I work on a play or a novel, I feel like one of those awful party guests who just goes on and on about the most mundane and random of topics. "Oh you'll never guess what happened to me when I went to the store. I found the best pair of shoes and then when I went to pay for them, I found a stick of gum in my wallet, and it made me think of the day I met Brad Pitt's stunt double... blah, blah, blah." Now I know why I need to revise. Back to it.

Back from vacation and a hard week of writing

2010-08-16T23:45:33Z

Apologies for not posting any entries, but I was enjoying sunny and mosquito-free Vancouver. When I came back last week, I launched myself into what was essentially a page-one rewrite of Bad Hair Day (the third book in the Barnabas Bigfoot series). I had originally thought I was just going to clean up the draft for the editor, but when I looked over the manuscript, I hated it. There were too many unanswered questions and flat plot threads. Rather than try to string together bits that fundamentally weren't working, I opted to start over. Thank goodness I did. The resulting revision is much clearer and has a definite and logical progression. The characters show different sides to themselves and I actually felt like the climax had me on the edge of my seat. I showed my wife the draft and she said it was easily the best of the three books.

The process wasn't easy. I forced myself to write a minimum of 5,000 words per day, starting on Monday. By Saturday afternoon, I limped to the end. To be honest, I think the draft is in pretty good shape as story goes. Now I have to do some polishing. I know, I know. I'll have to do more to it once the editor gets a hold of it, but I'd rather hand in what I believe is my best work and improve on that rather than hand in something shoddy and have to waste the editor's time doing something I should have already known to do.

Tomorrow, I'm cycling through the draft. I should also remember to jot notes for the fourth book in the series before I lose momentum.

Abraham Lincoln Weighs in on City Centre Airport Debate

2010-07-30T15:33:50Z

Mayor Mandel and Ungentle Debaters of #ecca:

If we could first know where we are and whither Twitter is trending, we could better judge what to do and how to do it. We are now far into the 15th year since a plebiscite was initiated with the avowed object and confident promise of putting an end to the airport debate. Under the operation of that plebiscite, that agitation has not only not ceased but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this city cannot endure, permanently, half #ecca and half #eia. I do not expect the city council to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of #ecca will arrest the further spread of it and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the province, old as well as new, North as well as South. I urge all in the debate to see the facts beneath the emotions and seek a solution that benefits all Edmonton. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go see a play at Ford's Theater.

Wheels Fell Off the Bus

2010-07-26T20:44:10Z

I was doing so well on the first two books in the Sasquatch series. I cleaned them up and all I have to do is cycle through for a quick polish and I can send them off. I was feeling pretty good about myself until I started reading the third manuscript in the series, then my heart sank. Oi, the third manuscript is an eyesore. I have to pull it apart and rebuild it nearly from scratch. The plot is unfocussed. The characters are non-existent. The descriptions are a joke. Sad to say that I have some work to do on this draft before I can send it.

The good news is that I had asked the publisher for some time to deliver the first draft. I'll spend this week shining up the first two manuscripts, send them off by the end of the week, and then use the month that I have to retool the third book. Who knows? Maybe I'll be able to generate enough momentum to get cooking on the fourth book in the series.

Anyway, it's a setback and I'm not happy about it, but I'd be even more cheesed if the editor saw this shoddy manuscript.

Still alive and still working

2010-07-22T21:45:14Z

Apologies for not blogging, but my time has been eaten up with revisions to my 3-book series. I'm about halfway through the second book and I hope to finish by the end of this week, so that I can tackle the revisions to the third book in the series before I take off for summer vacation. Nose to the grindstone this week.

Summer Time Schedule

2010-07-13T15:27:42Z

I'm on a lazy writer's schedule, pecking away at revisions to A Close Shave and procrastinating from reviewing Code Breakers Club. Summer has a way of making me not want to sit in my basement. Thankfully, it's raining today, so it will mean I should be mildly productive.

The weird thing is that I'm suddenly reading everything I can get my hands on. I'm doing research for a potential y/a book about Harry Houdini. I'm reading The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. I just finished the Passage.

Barnabas Bigfoot Series

2010-07-05T15:16:59Z

I'm printing A Close Shave this morning so I can shine up the manuscript in preparation for the editor. I know the editor will kick the manuscript around and give me feedback but I want to make his job easier by catching any gross errors now. It's exciting to jump into a brand new series, but scary at the same time. In some ways, I feel like I'm getting ready for my first day at school. The only thing I'm missing is a Hello Kitty backpack.

First Draft Finished

2010-06-30T23:41:42Z

Coming in at 64,879 words, I have completed the first draft of the Code Breakers Club. Wow! I'm over the moon with joy. The climax came together pretty well and I feel like I have most of what I want in the book. I'm going to celebrate an extra long weekend and then look at the novel next week to bang it into shape before I show it to anyone and get feedback. Yes! I'm quite excited about this project.

Here's the only weird thing that I have to deal with. I have to review my Barnabas Bigfoot series before I send it off to the editor for notes, so it looks like I'll be doing double duty this month as I revise two different novels. It's a bit daunting, but I'm up for the challenge. Just have to make sure I keep the two separate.

The easiest solution is to set aside a time of day for one book, followed by a workout, then I'll tackle revisions to the other piece later in the day. I'll see how that works. Hmm, let me super ambitious and try to start work on a new project as well. Am I insane!!!??? Let me stick to two novels for now.

Closing in on the end

2010-06-28T16:52:49Z

I'm so close to the end of Code Breakers Club. Last week, I did some research in Drumheller to figure out what to do for the climax of the novel. Now I just have to screw myself into my chair and write. The only problem right now is that I have a bit of heat stroke (note to self: bring water for future bike rides). I might not be able to focus on the novel until tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure that I'll be done the first draft by the end of this week. My incentive to finish is I've promised to buy a new computer when I've completed the first draft. Let's see how it goes today.