Lately

Lately I've been trying to get assignments done. Between thinking up what content I want to use, procrastinating to apply for jobs (failures in some cases, unknown in others) and trying to get my assignments physically complete, I haven't done much writing.

However, come May 10th, everything will be in full swing for doing whatever the hell I want. Unless I somehow do get a job between now and then. Unlikely, but yeah. So much more writing.

In the mean time, I am thinking of creating a proof reading service to you guys. To anyone really. I'm still thinking up the details and such, but if anybody is interested, go find my email on my "About" page, drop me an email, or DM me on Twitter and I'll get back to you. Seriously, let me know if you would like help with your work.

Seriously. I want to help you guys. I do. I like helping people.

Happy Writing.

3 weeks left

I have pretty much, three weeks left of Uni before I'm out in the big wide world. Now, some of the people I've talked to already know where they want to go. But me? I'm 21! I don't know what I want to be doing (other than writing) for the rest of my life?

I mean, adults expect us, from the age of sixteen, or even fifteen, to know what we want to be doing for the rest of our lives. Some people do and some people have had that idea of life within their sights for years.

But for a lot of us, there's a variety of choices and some of them are easier said than done. I've considered teaching, then didn't really find it appealing. Considered publishing but the question is finding local ones that are hiring and will still be in business a few years from now. Considered internships, but they just don't appeal to me.

After that, *shrugs* there doesn't seem to be a whole lot on offer. At least, nothing that appeals and is easy to see. You know there's always those sites that say they're offering jobs, but you can't really see where. Or London. London has a lot of jobs. But I don't live in London.

Even so, I'm 21. How am I supposed to know if what I choose as a career now, is what I want to be doing in ten years time? Or even five? Or three?

And I'm going to have a degree to show to employers. "But where's your previous work history?" "Erm, I don't have any." "Well, we're not gonna hire you then." Rinse and repeat that conversation with every single employer ever. Seriously. Back in the day you could walk into a place that was hiring and bam, job. Now? No, you need experience to get a job. But how do you get  that experience? By getting a job, which, you can't get because you don't have the experience... <- This is the "logic" of employers. And people wonder why so many graduates don't have jobs.

Then there's old fashioned retail jobs. You know, HMV, Next, River Island, Waterstones... all of those kinds of places. But then you have people asking "But what about your degree? What are you going to do with that?"

It sounds nice having a degree, and yeah, a lot of people are going to be leaving Uni thinking "Lul wut?" with their degree. But hey, we were dedicated enough to go onto higher education, to get into debt and stick to it until we graduated. Give us that will ya?


Ugh. Life. Sucks.

My conclusion?

Don't grow up. That's a valid reasoning right?

A little bit of fun

Hey guys, listen, me and my friends have created a website here: http://mulitverse.proboards.com/

What this website is, is a role playing forum. Now, for the uneducated who are asking "what the hell is that?", I'll break it down for you.

On the forum are two main role playing sections: RPG and Fan RPG. Yeah, yeah, you're probably thinking "Pfft, gay" or whatever. But let me tell you a little more. Underneath each title lies several boards with different titles.

For RPG:
Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, Modern Day, Hitorical, Other.

In any of these boards you create a new thread with a starting post. Within this starting post you lay down the basic rules of the world and what kind of characters you may or may not be looking for. Let me give you an example. I created a science fiction thread (on a different forum) called 'Melting Endeavours'. The only type of characters I asked for was five, (from other people), to have some sort of tie to a military system I'd put into place.

Now, you also need to lay in a simple, very basic idea of what the overall plot is going to be. If you create the thread you are in control of the plot, or at least where it needs to end up. But the idea is that other people can create a character that will interact with your character and you reply back. It seems a little meh, "but what if we're just talking to one another." Trust me, there'll be ways to get around it.

And the great fun is that you have no idea what other people's characters are going to do next.

Now, Fan RPG:
TV shows, Films, Books, Comics, Anime, Other.

These are a little different. The basic understanding is that you use a universe that already exists, you just add different characters in a different life. So, it's borrowing a world that already exists and making a different set of characters to play around with.

The trouble for these ones always come from making different characters from those we already know and love, but it can be done amd again, it leads to some fun and amusement at times. (Just take a gander at the Star Trek RP (USS Oblivion) we have going on. We got some cloning, wish fulfilling planets parallel universe and red shirts dying of course)

Again, if you create a thread, then you are in charge of it and should have some sort of idea of whats going on.

What I am saying is come along and have some fun with us. All you need is basic grammar, the ability to make different and interesting characters (they don't have to be detailed in any way shape of form, but please give them some substance) and an open mind to what is going to happen next.

Real names not necessary.

Oh, and there's also a section somewhere down at the bottom to show off your original pieces of work is yours and not up for RP. Wanna show off some art work? Go ahead! Need some feedback on some work? We'll do our best! Same goes for poetry!

Be sure to check in regularly to it though, sometimes, we move along quickly, but at other times, we coast along like a gentle breeze.

Thank you.

Happy Writing.

Little bit of creepin

I've just started chapter 10, at 22,638 words, and chapter 9 leaves me feeling creeped out. Just a little. And it most certainly creeps my characters out too.

Without context, the last two lines of chapter 9 are this:

Captain O’Donnell, welcome to Vanguard.

Enjoy the show. 

Now, IN context, they've just entered Vanguard to get back their kidnapped crew members. They came to two locked doors. One of them opened up to a series of stairs that led to a large room. They get locked in this room and it's obvious that somebody wanted them in that room at that time. One side is just a window that overlooks a large room, and I'm talking MASSIVE, with lots of smaller rooms inside it. Each room is just four walls, no ceilings. It is assumed that people are pacing in these rooms and the entire room is dark.

Anyway, the other wall is a series of TV screens and the middle one lights up with the above message. Still a little creepy right? Well, it's what I'm going for.

Happy Writing.

Excerpt

As promised, I said there would be an excerpt at some point. Well, here's a little something. Enjoy:

When they reached thirty yards Charlie felt somebody close in on her left and she turned her head to see the faint outline of Rhodes. The Doctor made a point of taking out her ear bud and Charlie did the same. Rhodes’ voice was low when she said, “Trouble?”

        She fixed her gaze on Eliot’s form in front of them, following him around the edge of the room and towards a large ship. Aries was bigger than Redux and newer too. It looked more appealing than hers with smoother edges and a cleaner feel to it. But Charlie would take her old girl over the newer models any day of the week.

        “Maybe. I’m not sure.” She lowered her rifle and let the strap hold the gun to her chest as she let go. She pulled her handgun free and pressed the button that released the magazine. Charlie could feel Rhodes staring at her, but chose to ignore it as she pushed the newly released clip into a pocket on her vest and replaced it with a magazine that had a red dot. “Just to be safe,” she said back as she pushed her gun back into its slot and reclaimed her rifle.

        “You’re not filling me with confidence.”

        “You’ll be fine.”

        “That’s not what I mean.”

        Charlie glanced over to see a determined expression set into the woman’s features. Rhodes didn’t look at her and the Captain turned her attention back to the looming doorway that was open. “Whatever this is, we’ll get through it.” She took a quick step forward and laid a hand on Eliot’s shoulder. The man stopped and Charlie approached the door first. She swung her rifle into the doorway and eyed the sights on her gun. 

Happy Writing. 

New Summary

So, I'm almost at the 10,000 word mark - which will make me up to date. In the mean time, as I said a few things have changed and I think I have a new working summary.

The crew of Redux had one day left of duty before they went on a three month leave. But when Command calls them up, telling them to take part in a new training exercise in exchange for two extra weeks of leave, the crew are hesitant to take up the offer.

But orders are orders.

And Captain Charlotte "Charlie" O'Donnell has a bad feeling about this training exercise.

Interesting enough? Not interesting enough?  Needs more? Needs less?

Let me know.

Happy Writing.

So far

Okay, so I pretty much just hit 6000 words (only 2.3k behind now - oops) ANYWAY there are some distinct differences between this second draft and the first draft.

Firstly, although they may be a military ship, they don't act like they're in the military. A lot of the time they act like teenagers. But they're all fun to write and they make me smile. They're so informal to one another. But - that's what I was kind of aiming for. I may tweak their attitudes so that  they're a little more professional but Charlie is an unconventional Captain so, it's interesting.

Secondly, it isn't an emergency beacon they must investigate, but a mysterious new 'combat system' (I'll figure out the wording at some point) that they're being ordered to test in a training exercise. Yet they only had one more day left of duty before they're leave... which makes everybody a little curious and angry.

Thirdly, Charlie is lax on the proper command structure on the ship. Or at least the level of professionalism everybody has to adhere to. Making her fun to write because hey, not what you were quite expecting.

Erm.

Fourth-ly? I don't have a fourth-ly point yet. But it's still early days.

I'll post an extract later on today - or tomorrow - depending upon what I get written down. I hope you're all having fun with your writings, NaNo or no NaNo.

Happy Writing.

Change of plan

So, I won't be doing whatever I said I would be doing for NaNo. Now, I'm doing the COMPLETE second draft of Redux. I will not be allowed to restart it until it is finished.

And I kind of have a plan.

Kind of.

Not really.

I still don't know how it'll end.

Tune in this month for Redux - the Second draft

Time to catch up. Laters!

Happy Writing