Novel Project: Day 4

Day 4

What kind of novel appeals to you? What really gets your juices flowing? Is it a good murder mystery, science fiction, a thriller, romance, general fiction? Think of what to write from what is around you, from what you know and care about.

I like post-apocalyptic type novels where the Protag is struggling to not only survive, but accomplish some great task. I also have a current obsession with the Appalachian Trail and the people who spend lots of time hiking it. I'm in the military and have been for almost three decades.

My plan is to incorporate all this into my writing along with anything I can pull from my imagination.

Novel Project: Day 3

Day 3

In the first week, decide upon the story you are going to write. You might not work out every detail, but today you are going to begin the process. You are not going to procrastinate — procrastination is your enemy.

I pretty much did this on day 1, but let's check it off none-the-less.

I created a one sentence idea that was very simple, then expanded that into a paragraph as you can see on my 12/7/2011 entry. Since then I have been doing a little writing each day. Yesterday I finished my first draft of Chapter 1. I know it needs a lot of work, but I am writing and that is the idea. I will continue to bang out at the minimum amount that I stated in yesterday's entry and I am still having fun.

Day 3, check.

Novel Project: Day 2

Day 2

Carve out specific time to write. This is important because over the course of writing a novel, you’ll get discouraged, bored, angry, or otherwise fed up, and when you start feeling that way, you’ll need clearly defined patterns to keep yourself working.

Ok, I'm going to start out small here, because I'm not sure what I can do. I will adjust as needed and hopefully really get into the swing of things.

1.5 hours during the week (maybe in three 1/2 hours sessions) and 2 hours during the weekend.

That looks like an easy start. I always like small easy goals when I start something new. :)

Am I a Novelist?

For quite some time now, I have been thinking about trying to write a novel. I have written little stories here and there, and they probably suck pretty bad, but I always had this desire to try my hand at writing a novel.

Today I did a quick google search on "how to write a novel" and found quite a few websites that give what appears to be decent advice on how to go about it. All the way to publication if that is what you want and I'm not sure that is what I want yet, but I really want to see if I can do it.

The first site I read talked about a snowflake method of creating a novel. It gives you little steps to start out with and slowly build all these things into a novel. It seemed like it made sense, so I tried my hand at a little plot development. It directs you to write a one sentence statement on your story. I came up with this:

A military man struggles to find his family in a post-apocalyptic world.

And that is where I will start. From there you expand on that one sentence into a paragraph, create and develop some characters and scenes and start expanding on all of it until you have something of substance.

After writing that first sentence I expanded it to this: (I'm leaving the ending off to create suspense)

Sergeant First Class John Kindel has been in the Army for 17 years. During one of his many training evolutions, some very bad things happen. The war that brought on this new world only lasted four days, but it really did the job. John is now separated from his family; his wife Lori, son Shane and daughter Britney by a landscape that looks like hell on earth. He decides to forsake his duties and get back home, where he hopes to find his family still alive and waiting for him. As he makes his away over the 1000 miles he needs to travel to get home, John encounters many challenges along the way. Some are easy to overcome and others threaten to take his life. John finally gets back home and finds...

And that is basically where I am at now. I'm excited, but a little scared. Can I do this? Probably not, but I will at least answer the question and that will still get it checked off my bucket list.

Another site I came across in my search was How to Write a Novel in 100 Days or Less

I will try to go to it each day and see what it has to say. I don't plan on doing this in 100 days, but who knows what will happen. Jump on and enjoy the ride.

Day 1
On this your first day of writing your novel, make a promise to yourself that you are going to do it. This is critical. Without that commitment, you may as well save your pencils and paper. It isn’t going to happen. Remember, write as often as you can. That’s what writers do — they write.

Ok, check off day 1. Promise and Commitment made...

As The Season Turns

Next week is Thanksgiving. Autumn is certainly here. The temperature is dipping lower each night and there have been some frosts. PA and Western MD already had a large snow storm a couple weeks ago. The trees are just about bare of their leaves in our yard and the woods are following suit. Time marches on...

The weather is right to again make my little fires in Shramm's woods. During our walks, Ginger and I linger at the camp site for a while while I pitter around with the shelter and make a fire. The red grass in the field is just about ready to be the perfect tinder. If I don't use that, I use my home made inferno pads.

The kids have been in the woods again. Riding their quad or "grooming" the trails for their bikes. Kids can be so distructive some times even as they are creating things. I haven't seen any freshly cut live trees lately, but they still like to dig deep holes to gather their dirt to make a ramp or two. Their latest project was to build a ramp over a large dead tree that fell across the trail during a late summer storm. That one is ok, but there was still a hole. I have started throwing logs and sticks into it to fill it up some.

Saturday I head to PA to help out with my Mom and Dad. She is still not right. Currently in a nursing home to rehab from her surgery, but I think those places just kill people. We need to bring her home...

Home Made Fire Starters

An online friend, Roger Fandrich, invented a fire starting item called Mini-Inferno. The actual ingredients are secret, but it is basically a makeup cleaning pad with fire extenders like petroleum jelly (PJ) and or paraffin wax. It works wonderfully and it comes in a nice metal tin that makes it easy to carry and also has some other bushcraft uses. The only problem with this product is it costs around $8 plus shipping for a tin of about 6 pads.

With a little searching and some easy work, I have created my own for continued use. 100 cotton pads cost around $2.60 or so, four bars of paraffin wax cost about $3.00; eight ounces of petroleum jelly and some tins to cook it all in cost a dollar each, so that is less than $8 spent.

I had already made some a while back with just PJ and they work well. Just as good as a cotton ball slathered in PJ, but I wanted to try something that is a little less messy, but still works well.

I melted all the PJ and one bar of the Paraffin wax in two of the tins and dipped the pad in the PJ first, let that dry and then in the wax to make it less gooey and still fire worthy. I was able make 45 tinder pads with what I had melted. That is quite a cost savings from the Mini-Inferno.

I had a little wax left and made a few with just the wax to compare the two. I took one of each out back and made a nice fire with some damp wood with ease. I didn't time the burn length, I just wanted to see if each was easy to light with ferro rod and if it would make a decent sustainable fire. Both performed well.

If I want to buy tins, the are about 50 cents a piece. I thank Roger for thinking this up, but I will be using my own version from now on, unless I want to periodically buy some to provide some support for his products.

Let's go make a fire...

My Yearly Explorations

For the past two years, I have done some interesting things near my birthday. I don't know if it has to do with my approach of the big five zero or if I am just trying to do some things that I will eventually be too old to do before it is too late, but it is what it is.

Last year, I traveled to Ohio and participated in a four day basic survival course and had a great time learning how to make primitive fire and shelters and a few other things. This year, my obsession has shifted to the Appalachian Trail and I went on a one week solo backpacking trip along the AT, just to see what it was like.

I am really enjoying these excursions. I learn a lot about myself and have had some profound experiences.

Now, I think my bride doesn't completely understand my little quirky trips, but she has supported my desire to do them and I am very thankful for that. For our whole relationship, which has spanned almost three decades, we have done a lot of things together. These solo trips appear a bit selfish and I'm sure they are, but the desire that drives me to them is overwhelming I appreciate the indulgence she has granted me to pursue them.

I have plans for more excursions and I'm hoping my bride will be joining me on them. She has expressed the desire to come along, but her sense of motherly duty takes precedence for now, even though I'm sure my babies are fully capable of caring for themselves.

This year, on the day after turning 49, I loaded up my van with a fully loaded backpack and drove to Harpers Ferry, WV. From there I hiked 93 miles north into Pennsylvania. Sleeping on a hammock, in hostels and shelters and I had a very good time. It was hard, but satisfying. I wanted to get the feel of what it like to be a long distance hiker. These seven days of hiking were the most I have ever done at one time. I carried everything I needed on my back. Slept in the woods, sometimes completely alone and met some interesting people.

My obsession with the AT continues. I am completely enthralled with the trail and the people who take a big chunk of their lives and hit the trail to see what they can do with it. It is crazy I think, but for now, it is my obsession.

I got a good feel of what it would be like to hike each day from sun up to sun down and how hard something like that is. But at the same time, I know the satisfaction of doing a big mile day and getting to a shelter where other hikers show up and you meet new people and hear new stories. It is something I feel very strongly that I may want to try before my bucket is kicked.

I kept a journal of my trip on Trail Journals.com and you can read my entries here. I wrote it about a week after returning home using my notes and memories after processing the whole experience in my mind for a while. Even that short of a trip had a strong effect on me.

I traveled the trail as Jefe. I plan on seeing more of the AT and all its challenges and glory.