Crazy Eights
Whew!
Last night I finished a marathon revision of Ch8. It was late when I finished (well after midnight), and I had a headache, so I didn’t update the blog then. It’s morning now and I’m well-rested, with no headache. So, you get a blog post.
Sorry for the dearth of news lately. I’ve been busy with my life, busy at work, and busy with writing. Well, not writing so much as re-writing. Ch8 is a major macro chapter, which covers the beginning of school and more than a month of time. A lot had to happen in a short span of words, if you can call 15,000 “short.”
I want to trim those 15k words into something like 13k—my usual editing and tightening—but I don’t have much room to shave things (pardon the pun). Simply put, things are moving toward a crossroads. Actually, “crisis” would be a better word.
(Side note for the word geeks: way back in college, I had a Western Civ. class where I learned the origin of the word “crisis.” It’s from the Greek krisis, which means “a separation.” It has a different meaning in modern English, but I always think of the Greek root when I want to use the word. In my mind, “crisis” and “crossroads” are inextricably linked. In other words, things are coming to a head.)
Back to Ch8. It was a monster to write in the first place, and my alpha reader came back with loads of comments (macro chapters are very, very hard to write, since they’re so jam-packed with details). I expected lots of comments, but some of them required quite a bit of re-writing.
I probably spent more than a week just on Ch8 revisions. The first draft and second are miles apart, and the second is far better. It hangs together better, and flows more naturally. I removed some fluff, but I added quite a bit of micro-time, to give a sense of familiarity to it. You can judge for yourself when you read it.
Anyway, enough about Ch8. I don’t want to keep touting it, since you won’t get to read it for a while. In the meantime, you have Ch5 to look forward to.
Hands down, Ch5 was one of my favorites to write. I think I cranked it out in less than a week. It just flowed, and I couldn’t stop myself. It’s full of Wren, and she’s a fun character to write. You learn a lot about her, but you also get some unanswered questions. Paul, as usual, doesn’t see the dangling questions right away, but you will. He’ll catch up when she’s not flaunting her body at him. 
On that note, my “quick update” has gotten rather long, so I’ll wrap things up. Look for Ch5 soon.
Thanks for reading.
- Nick
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24 Responses to “Crazy Eights”
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Sounds good!!!
Can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with here…
Keep up the good work.
Arrrrggghhh, I know how the donkey feels when trying to chase the dangling carrot…
Tantalising glimpses of what is yet to come - it is what leads me to check the site daily!
Thank God for RSS feeds!
PS. I’ve no idea of how long I’ve been following SC, all I know is that it is measured in years! When did Chapter 1, Book 1 come out?
@ Will
September 5/6, 2002
So yes, measured in years.
- Nick
My god, it is hard to believe that I’ve been keeping up with the SC series for almost five years!
I doff my hat to you, as this must surely be an indication of how well you write if you can keep someone interested for such a length of time!
I must admit I dread the day when you write ‘The End’ for the final time…
I must admit I dread the day when you write ‘The End’ for the final time…
Oh, I don’t know. It means I’ll have the opportunity to re-read the whole saga uninterrupted. Maybe then I’ll be able to really put the ‘extended fall’ of Book 3 in perspective.
I look forward to more Wren with interest, Nick
-Steve.
I say don’t worry about shaving the chapters! Save the shaving for (some of) the women!
Funny, I was thinking just this morning about how things will turn out in what you’ve just said will be Ch8. I was wondering if Paul’s work and rework at drawing all these homes that he and Trip are building over the summer will lead to an improvement in his class assignment drawings for Professor Joska? And will the stern mentor acknowledge the improvement or keep pushing him to improve further?
Seriously, I have NO life outside SC!
Phil, We all know that Paul will *always* have to do better.
You are entitled to a life and I for one do not begrudge you that. Thanks for the update and the new chapter!!
Thanks for all your hard work, Nick!
5 is one great chapter. Great development of Wren. She is pure torture/pleasure rolled into one. The editing must be fun as you sculpt her character. Thank you for taking the time to share.
As usual, it’s another great chapter Nick. Thanks plenty for sharing your talent with us. Wren is a classic, no other word seems to describe her. Kudos for the way you describe her.
Looking forward to Ch. 6
Just finished Ch 5….loved it! Wren is my favorite character. Wren’s flirtiness made me hope she would be more than an ancillary character when she and Christy made their first few appearances in B3. My hopes came true and I quickly fell in love with her character.
While the monthly wait between chapters is driving me insane, the silver lining is we’ll have many more months to enjoy the on going story. And like Will mentioned above, I can’t believe I’ve been hooked by this story for nearly five years.
Keep up the great work Nick!
I just finished reading Ch. 5, and I totally agree with you that it was a lot of fun (for you to write, for me to read). If we didn’t already know who Wren ends up with in the present-day, I’d be tempted to beg you to extend the story further into “Book 5: Wren.”
Definitely looking forward to the next several chapters.
I’m also halfway through re-reading the first three SC books, and wanted to thank you for that passage in Book 2 where Paul is reading Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” at the quarry. I checked it out from my local library today, and am really enjoying her stories so far. So I guess this means “Summer Camp” is educational, too!
i was bit frustrated waiting for a month. But after reading it, i think i slept smiling the whole night
Nick, Keep it UP (pun intended).
With such a build up about Ch 8, my guess is
Paul breaks with Kendall in Ch 8 or 9.
Now what will be the reason? Will it be Wren?
This is good literature. But let’s also invent a new word—-cliterature.
CT
Personally, I think the 3 or more weeks between chapter release is just about perfect… gives me time to do other things in between reading/enjoying Nick’s writing skills.
Awesome
My favorite character: Sandy followed by Kara then … a dark horse, Elaine (she has two lil’ children that’s why!)
Again, just plain AWESOME Nik!!!!
Karen
Nick, u`re such a brillant writer, ch 5 was such fun can`t wait for the next chapter….
It’s rather like getting paid once per month. You dread the time between, but when payday arrives…!
Thanks just for writing, Nick. If you weren’t, I would be reading something else, but probably would not be nearly so entertained.
Wow! Just finished Ch.5 and also left with big smile as our hero of the story. Romance with a big dose of lust thrown in at its finest! The only words that seems appropriate that comes to mind is the title of a video that I saw with the girlfriend the other night is “some kind of wonderful!” that best describes this latest chapter. Thanks Nick!
Well… Chapter 5 was nice in doing an ode to Wren.
I wonder if I am the only one “climbing the walls”?
- is it a case that I got spoiled with the one chapter a week routine (or rather I got all fired up once the whole [previous] stories had been written)?
- no chance for a 4-th of July chapter? A nice way to break-in the close of the week.
Meh. “He’ll catch up when she’s not flaunting her body at him.”
And you, sir, have been flaunting her body at us for too long! It’s torture! Well I guess we got a little taste.
Now lets see. Wren AND Christy. Hmm. Paul has been known to dabble in a three-way or two. Hmmm.
Great story so far. I love the detail you put into it.
I can’t help but reference to the same age in my life though. While I had not the wide varied experiences of Paul, I did have a relationship that I found life changing. When I was 19, I had a girlfriend that played me along, like a violin string. I began to suspect things when a close friend of hers called me one night and offered me anything I wanted from her. Then I began to suspect that there were more motives other than just love involved. I quickly realized that my girlfriend was playing me for what she wanted and didn’t have any long-term plans for us. Neither did her close friend. They only wanted what felt good to them and to hell with my feelings. This was a major change in my life. I went from a trusting, but still loving guy to one that watched the behaviors of my dates. Maybe I became more skeptic that most early but I’m glad I did. Up to that point I had been hurt several times. Someone as smart and savvy as Paul should be on top of deceit also.
But it is a great story.
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