Updates about, rants from, and musings of the Kerbel family. Also, the stuttering compilation of Simon’s first book, Uncanny.
March 14, 2007 at 10:40 pm
· Filed under Novel Stats
Uncanny
Today’s Word Count: 1,150 words, 41.9k total
Excerpt:
He was moving now, being carried as by an invisible hand. His feet scraped on the last few feet of the rooftop and then he was dangling like a puppet over the field below. He hadn’t thought of death much—hadn’t had time for it—but now, staring at Nicolas’ cold and murderous face, he became terrified of it. No more sunsets; no more music floating like perfume on the air. No more handshakes from friends, no more raised eyebrows, parted lips. No more knowledge. The thought was too much to bear.
“Please, Nicolas, please!” Dr. Weiss said in his highest voice.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Weiss, you’ve caused enough pain already.”
“I’ll give you anything! Anything, please!”
It was the wrong thing to say, Dr. Weiss saw that immediately. For a moment, he could see fire, real fire, behind Nicolas’ eyes, turning them the color of ash.
“That was what the devil said.”
And then the invisible hands holding him loosened, and Dr. Weiss fell screaming to the ground below. By the time the farmer discovered him in the morning, the crows had picked away most of his clothes.
Nicolas, however, had moved on.
Simon’s Word of Advice:
Don’t have a character that travels through time. Time travel just don’t work. It doesn’t matter how far you get–it always breaks down somewhere. I realized that I had a character go back in time, do something crucial, and then travel with a crucial character for a while. The problem is, I already wrote pieces of his story, and he’s not with the crucial character. And what is his future self doing while he’s traveling?
It just don’t work.
But somehow, miraculously, I was able to salvage most of my scenes and fix the time travel issue (I basically have him return to the present immediately).
And I’ve finally found my groove in my new office(see post below). I’m actually much more inspired here than in previous locations. Things are coming together nicely.
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[...] Novel Stats Uncanny Today s Word Count: 1,150 words, 41.9k total Excerpt: He was moving now, being carried as by an invisible hand past the rooftop. His feet scraped on the last few feet of the rooftop and then he was dangling like a puppet over the field below. He hadn t thought of death much”hadn t had time for it”but now, staring at Nicolas cold and murderous face, he became terrified of it. No more sunsets; no more music floating like perfume on the air. No more handshakes from friends, no more raised eyebrows, parted lips. No more knowledge. The thought was too much to bear. Please, Nicolas, please! Dr. Weiss said in his highest voice. I m sorry, Dr. Weiss, you ve caused enough pain already. I ll give you anything! Anything, please! It was the wrong thing to say, Dr. Weiss saw that immediately. For a moment, he could see fire, real fire, behind Nicolas eyes, turning them the color of ash. That was what the devil said. And then the invisible hands holding him loosened, and Dr. Weiss fell screaming to the ground below. By the time the farmer discovered him in the morning, the crows had picked away most of his clothes. Nicolas, however, had moved on. Simon s Word of Advice: Don t have a character that travels through time. Time travel just don t work. It doesn t matter how far you get”it always breaks down somewhere. I realized that I had a character go back in time, do something crucial, and then travel with a crucial character for a while. The problem is, I already wrote pieces of his story, and he s not with the crucial character. And what is his future self doing while he s traveling? It just don t work. But somehow, miraculously, I was able to salvage most of my scenes and fix the time travel issue (I basically have him return to the present immediately). And I ve finally found my groove in my new office(see post below). I m actually much more inspired here than in previous locations. Things are coming together nicely. [...]
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