OK, so I wrote a book after all.
by Davis Ray Sickmon, Jr · 12/04/2008 (8:57 pm) · 11 comments
For about as long as I've had my GG .plan, I've made jokes about people having to settle in to read another one of my novels or novellas.
Then I started a blogging project called The Story of Gamer Zone just a bit over two months ago. Details the cycle of a business from birth to death and beyond, and a lot of the little business lessons learned, etc. It was supposed to be a blog.
In two months I ended up writing the first draft of a novel. 320 pages, 80+k words all written in my spare time. It's pretty rough for about the first 18k words, because it was a blog, and then it slowly shifted formats. Now I've got to edit the damned thing and decide what I'm going to do about publishing it.
So all that time about writing novels in my .plan file / blogs? Yeah... there was more truth to that idea than I expected :-)
Davis Ray Sickmon, Jr
The Story of Gamer Zone
Then I started a blogging project called The Story of Gamer Zone just a bit over two months ago. Details the cycle of a business from birth to death and beyond, and a lot of the little business lessons learned, etc. It was supposed to be a blog.
In two months I ended up writing the first draft of a novel. 320 pages, 80+k words all written in my spare time. It's pretty rough for about the first 18k words, because it was a blog, and then it slowly shifted formats. Now I've got to edit the damned thing and decide what I'm going to do about publishing it.
So all that time about writing novels in my .plan file / blogs? Yeah... there was more truth to that idea than I expected :-)
Davis Ray Sickmon, Jr
The Story of Gamer Zone
#2
12/05/2008 (7:14 am)
Oh yes THE DRAFT!!!, I made a mistake with my book by reading it into the computer and having via-voice translate it into words, lol. The software was able to decipher all of the big words just fine, but to my shock I noticed that it was not translating all of the two letter words. This is what I get for not being able to write stories with anything but the traditional paper and pen. Then I decided that it would not be hard to fix, and went through it line by line, spending ridiculous amounts of time just to get the paper draft into the computer for edits, so please don
#3
@DreamPharaoh - LOL, I actually tried that once. I was driving back and forth from Colorado by myself from time to time, so I loaded NaturallySpeaking or some such software on my Powerbook. Ug. Was not happy with the results when I did it. I never bothered to edit it after getting that far - it was just something to fill the time during the 8 hour drives. I type roughly 100 WPM, so, voice dictation is slower than my typing speed by far :-)
BTW - you didn't finish the last sentence :-)
12/05/2008 (7:45 am)
@Ben - Ooops, fixed/ Thanks for the complement :-)@DreamPharaoh - LOL, I actually tried that once. I was driving back and forth from Colorado by myself from time to time, so I loaded NaturallySpeaking or some such software on my Powerbook. Ug. Was not happy with the results when I did it. I never bothered to edit it after getting that far - it was just something to fill the time during the 8 hour drives. I type roughly 100 WPM, so, voice dictation is slower than my typing speed by far :-)
BTW - you didn't finish the last sentence :-)
#4
I guess I didn't copy and paste all of it into the post section -- it almost looks like someone took me out right before I was able to finish, lol. Anyway I was just saying not to use the dictation software method, but typing 100 WPM is definitely an advantage, and I am glad I am not the only one that tried this. If you want to publish your work, there are many ways to do it without attempting a traditional publisher, which is next to impossible unless you have extreme credentials. Don't ever lose your fire and the best of luck to you.
12/05/2008 (10:11 am)
@DavisI guess I didn't copy and paste all of it into the post section -- it almost looks like someone took me out right before I was able to finish, lol. Anyway I was just saying not to use the dictation software method, but typing 100 WPM is definitely an advantage, and I am glad I am not the only one that tried this. If you want to publish your work, there are many ways to do it without attempting a traditional publisher, which is next to impossible unless you have extreme credentials. Don't ever lose your fire and the best of luck to you.
#5
With this particular endeavor, I'm not too concerned if it gets traditionally published or not - but I'll attempt that route for a bit, because it could prove useful later on. And never underestimate the ego factor. Being able to walk into Barnes & Nobels and purchase a copy of your own book would be insanely cool.
There's a lot of things in life people think are a lot harder than they really are - sometimes just because of the approach they used. Something in that vein covered in the book was the time I walked into a TV station, told them what I wanted to do, and walked out with a contract for a three episode pilot for a TV show (which they accepted after the first pilot, and it ran until the station was sold.) Balls & brains alone is enough to get you a long way - though luck helps a lot too ;-)
12/05/2008 (10:24 am)
Attempting a traditional publisher has a lot of advantages and a lot of disadvantages. I know more than one author who's done it - at least two people I know of off hand that were GG community members (David "RM" Michael and Cody McFadden) pulled it off. You don't need extreme credentials to do it - you need balls, brains, and a bit of luck. With this particular endeavor, I'm not too concerned if it gets traditionally published or not - but I'll attempt that route for a bit, because it could prove useful later on. And never underestimate the ego factor. Being able to walk into Barnes & Nobels and purchase a copy of your own book would be insanely cool.
There's a lot of things in life people think are a lot harder than they really are - sometimes just because of the approach they used. Something in that vein covered in the book was the time I walked into a TV station, told them what I wanted to do, and walked out with a contract for a three episode pilot for a TV show (which they accepted after the first pilot, and it ran until the station was sold.) Balls & brains alone is enough to get you a long way - though luck helps a lot too ;-)
#6
Also, I'm amazed nobody has paid the $5 to read ahead in the story. I've seriously contemplated it several times...
12/05/2008 (10:28 am)
I've enjoyed reading it so far. (Just caught up on the last 8 posts.) I think a book would be awesome. If nothing else, e-book it and get it up on Kindle etc.Also, I'm amazed nobody has paid the $5 to read ahead in the story. I've seriously contemplated it several times...
#7
12/05/2008 (10:31 am)
Hehe - I think everyone does the same thing: Seriously contemplate it :-) Actually, Matt Fairfax bought the first subscription just the other day.
#8
I think that negative individuals at work are clouding my perceptions. Hopefully I can break down some barriers and make better ties by constructing a more can-do attitude. Thank you for sharing with us.
12/05/2008 (1:44 pm)
Oh crap now everyone may know I don't have balls, lol. I think that negative individuals at work are clouding my perceptions. Hopefully I can break down some barriers and make better ties by constructing a more can-do attitude. Thank you for sharing with us.
#9
12/05/2008 (1:52 pm)
Positive attitude helps a lot :-) 
#10
Cheers !
12/05/2008 (3:42 pm)
Davis !! How are you old friend ? I'll definitely have a look see at your writing. Cheers !
#11
Howdy Nic - doin' OK. How goes life in your neck of the (extremely friggin' cold) woods?
12/05/2008 (4:15 pm)
Oh no! The Canukistanies have invaded my .plan!Howdy Nic - doin' OK. How goes life in your neck of the (extremely friggin' cold) woods?
Torque 3D Owner Benster
Internal Inferno