Goal end date: August 31, 2019

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    Sometimes when I write, I'll find pictures that prompt me to start thinking up storylines. When I saw the picture above, one of the main characters in my story came into existence. I haven't yet developed him to the depth of character that he is, but I am enjoying exploring what he might sound like in the character chat thread. At this point, I'm not exactly certain if he's friend or foe, I just know that he has an insatiable thirst for hunting, and acts as a leader among his pack hunting buddies.

    He also seems to have a destiny that is intertwined with the other characters. Sort of like a medieval quest that he and the others must complete, but they're set in a futuristic world. The plot has just begun to introduce all of these key players to each other and there seem to be eight core participants.

    I created a mock-up of a book cover and chose a publisher I had read many great books from. Tor is also a publisher that I will end up sending this particular story to. I feel by creating this cover, I am making it a reality.

    In some way, it reminds me of a quote from 'The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' by Steven Covey and another reminder from 'Fierce On The Page' by Sage Cohen.

    Mr. Covey's instruction tells us to 'begin with the end in mind'. So while my novel isn't quite yet finished, and requires a lot of rework I am living as if, writing as if it already were complete.

    Ms. Cohen's instruction indicates that when we live as if, and write as if, this plunks us directly into the future state we intend to inhabit, and once we've visited there, we have a far greater chance of ending up there.

    A self-fulfilling prophecy if you will. The prediction which causes itself to come true due to the positive feedback between belief and behaviour. With this in mind, I'm going to put to page what short term goal I have set for myself. To solidify the behavioural piece in this prophecy.

    By the end of summer 2019, I will have a complete manuscript which is ready to be sent out to publishers. The timeline is ambitious, but if I stop fiddling with things that aren't writing I'm certain the timeline is achievable.

    How will I work at accomplishing this?

    I have to revisit the planning board. I'll be doing this via paper, and possibly through cartooning of some sort. I have also been taking each character and subjecting them to a battery of situations and seeing how they react.

    Additionally, each of the characters who have come together has his or her own backstory. As I wrote, I experienced a splitting of the works and needed to parse off certain sections in order to not muddy the current plot. Yet, each of these tangents away are still relevant. It was at this point I realized that my current novel would be part of a set. I suspect a trilogy, but I could surprise even myself.

    Each book will focus on one of the main characters, and their interactions with the others. Their titles: Aphelion Delta, Nebulae Sky and Dahm War. While Aphelion Delta is currently the most complete of the three, the other two are also beginning to take shape. Dahm War is a much darker book already than the other two. I am not certain why yet, but its tone is distinctly different.

    I commit to creating the best story I can without reverting to cliched tropes, and not deviating away from what science fiction really is. Plausible science, surrounded by fiction. I also commit to fact-checking for scientific accuracy. There is nothing worse than reading something dubbed as sci-fi and they've got basic science doing something improbable.
    Maverick_nc likes this.

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