My goals for last week were derailed a bit, though I was productive. My short story, Crystal Vendetta, needed more polish and formatting before I could submit it. I did eventually submit it, and I'm very excited about the possibility that it will be accepted. We'll see

This cut back my productivity on other tasks, such as reading Auralia's Thread and getting a subforum. I think I'm eligible, I just need to upload my map. I made great progress on origins for my world, the magic system and family rivalries that I'm really excited to post about.

As for Auralia's Thread, I stopped reading it. I just wasn't interested in the style and characters. I need more action, and this was more focused on the setting and "art". (Listening to a podcast interview on Fiction Addict here, I see his intention was creating a world of beauty to escape into after his boring day job. That just isn't what I'm interested in reading about right now.)

My goals for this week are:
1) Build enough history so I can continue my outline in present day. This may be biting off more than I can chew, but I need to get going on this outline if I want to have the book written by Aug 12 (The Ragged Edge conference).

2) Options of working on a few short stories.

I want to keep working at Script Frenzy, and write a synopsis for Alcaydan so I can post it on the sci-fi challenge of the month thread. I'm also working on an essence map for one of my character and I'd like to get that done this week too, I think.

My main goal for this week is to finish the beat sheet and any other preparatory work for my feature script My Pet Dragon, and then start drafting.

Also, I'd like to do something for my novel Faded, something I can post on the forums in response to the lovely pestering I've received... I am not sure what yet, though.

I'm excited about both of your projects, girls. How is Script Frenzy going?

These threads have become mostly a post your goal and that's it type of outlet, but I'd like it to be more. I say this more as guilt that I haven't achieved what I set out for. I'm not getting much response, other than the handful of regulars (you are greatly appreciated!). How can I make these threads better?

I don't want to ask too much either. There is a benefit in just posting a goal, because you've made it public. More effort should be put into achieving the goal than the thread about the goal, unless you need help. These threads can be where you ask questions and/or point us to the threads that you've worked on.

One question I have is if you think it is a good idea to post story background on my website. Today I touched up a map for my world and wrote a summary of the Haven Age. I have applied for a subforum, so I'll have that to post stuff, but I'm also trying to find stuff to post on my website instead of just book reviews... *takes minute to post on website*... If you get a chance to check out my post, is this a good first post? Would a chart of the children's birth order and how they were paired for marriage have helped?

Also, I didn't post this on the Sf forum because it has become a copy of this thread (same people, same posts). If someone in the SF forum wants to start this over there, feel free. This is one way of saving me time, as well as you faithful folks that have been copying your post to that thread.

Script Frenzy's going pretty well for me. I'm currently several pages ahead, and likely to stay that way unless I run into a hard wall of not-knowing-what-to-do-next.


I took a quick glance at your website. It looked like a pretty good post to me. I don't think you need a chart of the birth order and planned marriages, but it wouldn't hurt.

Well, I finished my Sci Fi story today which was one of this week's goals I'd like to get my synopsis for my historical novel all polished off over the next few days.

Makes sense about the HWSF thread. Maybe when these threads take off, and HWSF has grown, we can start having a thread in both places again.

Script Frenzy went great! I'm done. I finished the beat sheet for my second feature, except for pacing out the final battle. I think I'll have to pace that as I write it, as I'm having trouble visualizing it. I have all of my other miscellany notes done, I think, so I'm ready to start drafting. I hope to get a decent amount done this week and then finish it up next week when I can assume a faster pace.

Perhaps we should use these threads to post mid-week updates on our progress... and ask for help & inspiration. Is that what you're thinking of, Tim? If so, I could use some suggestions on *what* I should do that involves Faded. Post a world-building thread? Post an excerpt? It's not my main project right now, so I'm clueless...

Tim, could you post a link to the article you posted? I think posting world-building material on your site is a good idea if you think it will help promote your book and/or your site. Right now I'm not posting world-building material on my stories because the details are still subject to revision. Once my novel got into the editing stages, I might start posting some tidbits to help promote the soon-to-be-released book. Just my thoughts.

Philli, go to my website http://www.timothycward.com for the latest post and (here) for the first post. The help I could really use right now is determining population growth and how long each age would take. Specific questions can be found at the end of each post.

I'm making good progress, but the population issue is challenging me. Specifically, how many children each of the original families would have and how fast the population would grow. I've written two ages so far, and start Dark Age today...

Great post! Your history looks well-developed. 300 years, plus a few for the eldest son to grow and be called in the first place, and then a few years or a decade or two for people to move to the other continents, makes sense for this age. But population growth is one of the things I don't have a good grasp on. Your numbers seem reasonable to an uneducated reader.

I think you'd want to allow a little bit of time, after the families disperse, for them to get settled in their new homes before attacking.

It's hard to tell if the continents are over-crowded, because we don't know the area of the continents. It's a nice creative layout, though.