The Year, in review.

It's been over a year since I posted to this blog. Interesting, but not unexpected. You see, this last year I left school, left New York, got engaged, and while I'm not exactly 'successful', I'm surviving. Hell not just surviving, but living. (My goal is to get to 'thriving' in the next few months. Then we'll reach 'successful'.

Since I met my fiance, art has been something that I've been immersed in. She's an artist, and a damn good one. She's turned my attention away from writing short stories and novels to writing graphic novels. She inspired me to turn Requiem For Innocence into a graphic novel.

So, some of the things that you may be seeing will be graphic novel scripts. They're a bit clumsy, but I'm learning how to craft a script into something that can be easily read and followed. We'll see.

Are Mormons Christian?

While I know this has little to do with my writing, I felt the urge to share this document my mother sent to me with everyone who's reading this. Those who know me know I am Mormon. Recently a close friend of mine has been enlightening me about some beliefs he's uncovered that I was unaware of. I've greatly enjoyed our discussions, and it is a sign of his friendship that he has discussed his views with me; After all, he wouldn't have mentioned anything if he didn't care.

The article is here: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dq5d6qp_1gcxtq5

My feelings on the matter are thus: I believe anyone who claims the LDS church is not a Christian Religion is conveniently overlooking not just the points listed in the article, but something more basic. Christ said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matt. 11:28–30] Christ isn't discriminating here, and neither should we. I personally don't care what the 'Christian consensus' is, or what 'Christian Orthodoxy' claims. I am a Mormon and I believe in Christ. He is my Savior, and through him I am saved. I don't believe Christ would object to anyone who believes that calling themselves 'Christian'. If Christ wouldn't discriminate, neither will I. I welcome anyone to call themselves a Christian, so long as their belief is true, and they have accepted Christ as their Savior and redeemer. To discriminate beyond that is, to me, offensive, and against Christ's teachings.

The only other thing I wish to do is to point people to Mathew, Chapter 7. In particular, these two sections stand out to me:

"Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." [Matt. 7:1-5]

"Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." [Matt. 7:16-18]

These are my yardsticks, my rulers. Christ is my Savior, and through him my sins are washed clean. I am not alone in this; all Latter Day Saints join me in this assertion. My beliefs have been measured and weighed, and I've found they wanteth not.

That being said, I welcome any and every one to please keep my on my toes, keep challenging my faith. Not only do I enjoy it, but how else can I learn what I subscribe to? However, I will say that everyone who wishes to do so should make sure they've read The Articles of Faith, which are a distillation of the important core beliefs I cling to.

Novel Title Change, refocusing on core themes

As the post titles indicates, my large many-yeared project of writing a novel has been renamed, and I'm now distilling the core themes into what I want to tell, and how I plan to tell it. There is the issue that I've had very little time to work on it, but beyond that, I've been lacking too much of a direction to go with the novel. I mean I know the story by heart, but I've been too fucused on meaningless characters, and themes that really ought not to be in there. So, now I hope I'[ll be able to kill more than one bird with a single stone.

So, what is the title that I've chosen? Well, risking the wrath of a friend, I've decided to rename it "Requiem for Innocence." Yes, this the title of the web comic that Keith and I have been working on for a little while now, however, I must point out that the comic is something that's taken a great deal of time which we both are lacking at the moment, _and_ it is based in the same world, and is telling a story very close to the one I want to tell with my novel. So, I don't see there being an issue with having a comic with the same title as a novel I'm writing. And anyway, "Requiem for Innocence" is a much better title then "The 7th Game". Plus, it makes Precursors make a bit more sense... It is the precursors to the events of Requiem for Innocence. :)

As for the themes I want to cover, I think I'll write about those in another blog post. This one is long enough, and I believe it says what I want it to say.

Chapter 3 Done!

Well, I've actually been doing some work on writing again. We won't talk about what's going on in my classes, to date. Instead, we're going to talk about writing! It's a much better read, I promise.

I've actually finished Chapter 3, and I've been re-reading chapter 1 (and up). I've been going over them with Ginny. (The new girl friend, as of 2 months ago) I'll be working on Chapter 4 soon (outlining it) and I'll be trying to come up with some sort of plan for when I'm finishing the rest of it. The good news, however, is that I'm also working on a Graphic novel with Ginny, and there's some major progress being made on that. There will be something to show of it soon. (Give it a week or two.)

Well, off to work on Chapter 4.

--Chris

Put an end to 1337 speak...

Well, I feel it is my civic duty to share the following animated gif with you.


I feel that says it all. Move along, n00bs.

Chapter 3: Close enough I can taste it.

Well, normally people use blogs to bitch about their personal lives. Me? I keep that to myself, while I bitch about my writing life. As of late, the words haven't flowed. I've skipped all but one of my 5 classes since school started, 3 of which I've not been too.. this is the second week of classes. Ugh.

Still, I sat down tonight, and the words came. They flowed. A bit rambly, but they flowed, and I think it makes for a good scene. I just need to end it, and chapter 3. I'm 1000 words away from my target goal of 7,000 words per chapter. I need to get a move on if I want to finish this by next X-mas. I think I can do it. My Current goal is 10 chapters my the end of the semester. Since I'm almost a 3rd there, it might happen. Maybe.

Arc 3 is a bit on hold right now. I want to change some of Arc 2, and possibly even some of Arc 3. I also don't have the energy for doing much more. I might even start work on arc 5, which might really be Arc 6. I'm going slower than I planned with the Arcs. I need to put another arc in between 3 and the discovery of the Overseer Ship. I still plan that to be early, but I don't think it works to have it THIS early. Though, perhaps it will. That's something to talk to Keith about. I might outline it. That could ease the decision.

Still, I'm excited about the comic. There's plenty there, and there's always room for more. I don't have an end to the comic yet, as it's closely tied to the novel. I don't have an ending for that yet either. I think it will involve some of the characters leaving. Not sure.

Anyway, I need to go do something for a little while. Perhaps do some more writing. Or sleep.

Arc 3: On Schedule

Well, I'm about a fourth of the way through the nominal 20 strips for Arc 3.. I'm digging it. It's an adaptation of a short story I wrote (never finished) and I'm rather proud of how it's turning out. I think Keith will hate me though; there's some demanding art it will need.. like right off the bat.

Something that's interesting about it is how I depart from the main characters. They're in the Arc, but not till about 10 strips in. (Well David's in there from about 3 onward). We aren't following them, we're following a side character, whom may or may not ever show up again. I kinda like splitting up who we're following across different Arcs. Just wait till Arc 4....

Well, back to working on it.