R.R. Haywood's Blog
November 18, 2012
Finally finished the first week
Day Six was completed and put straight online and within hours I was getting a decent amount of downloads. The feeling was strong at that time so I went straight into Day Seven and what a difference it turned out to be!
Day One was a short story that started as 7000 words and because I kept going back to it and messing about it ended up being 20,000 words.
Day Seven is just over 80,000 words on its own and writing it was simply amazing. There were times when the story just poured out of me and my fingers couldnt keep up with the images i was seeing in my mind, but there were also times when it was one word after the other and each one of them was hard earned. Block deletes again and again until it snapped back together and I was off again.
The ending was hard, the entire series is about 300,000 words so the build up was awesome and I was scared witless that no matter how I wrote the end it would never do justice and would always be an anti-climax. I fretted and worried and made a million excuses to avoid the computer. Eventually though, I realised I knew I couldnt leave poor Howie just stood there waiting any longer.
So, with a lot of coffee and some loud music I started it and what came out surprised me a great deal. Even now I scratch my head and think "where did that come from." But it felt right, it just sort of felt right, so it stayed.
The feeling of accomplishment was very strong, coupled with the masisve caffeine crash and I was a wee bit drained after.
I then found an editor / proof-reader through Elance as I was worried that my many, many, many grammer mistakes were letting the side down. I posted on the site, requesting bids from proof-readers and I was inundated within minutes with offers from all over the world, each one of them quoting several thousand pounds.
I gave up then got a message from a lady called Tania. We chatted and she took a look and offered to do the lot for a very reasonable price. She has been fantastic, editing sensitively and being honest enough to say when something did not read properly and being brave enough to make necessary changes. The end result was brilliant, each day was formatted in its own right and then all added together as one big compilation edition.
The feedback has been very good, on here, authonomy and amazon.
For now, I will have a short break and then crack on with the next week.
It's funny, but in my mind, Howie and the rest are still stood where I left them, chatting amongst themselves and waiting for the story to resume while patiently tapping their feet.
Best get the kettle on, more writing to do...
Day One was a short story that started as 7000 words and because I kept going back to it and messing about it ended up being 20,000 words.
Day Seven is just over 80,000 words on its own and writing it was simply amazing. There were times when the story just poured out of me and my fingers couldnt keep up with the images i was seeing in my mind, but there were also times when it was one word after the other and each one of them was hard earned. Block deletes again and again until it snapped back together and I was off again.
The ending was hard, the entire series is about 300,000 words so the build up was awesome and I was scared witless that no matter how I wrote the end it would never do justice and would always be an anti-climax. I fretted and worried and made a million excuses to avoid the computer. Eventually though, I realised I knew I couldnt leave poor Howie just stood there waiting any longer.
So, with a lot of coffee and some loud music I started it and what came out surprised me a great deal. Even now I scratch my head and think "where did that come from." But it felt right, it just sort of felt right, so it stayed.
The feeling of accomplishment was very strong, coupled with the masisve caffeine crash and I was a wee bit drained after.
I then found an editor / proof-reader through Elance as I was worried that my many, many, many grammer mistakes were letting the side down. I posted on the site, requesting bids from proof-readers and I was inundated within minutes with offers from all over the world, each one of them quoting several thousand pounds.
I gave up then got a message from a lady called Tania. We chatted and she took a look and offered to do the lot for a very reasonable price. She has been fantastic, editing sensitively and being honest enough to say when something did not read properly and being brave enough to make necessary changes. The end result was brilliant, each day was formatted in its own right and then all added together as one big compilation edition.
The feedback has been very good, on here, authonomy and amazon.
For now, I will have a short break and then crack on with the next week.
It's funny, but in my mind, Howie and the rest are still stood where I left them, chatting amongst themselves and waiting for the story to resume while patiently tapping their feet.
Best get the kettle on, more writing to do...
August 30, 2012
Day Six
Wednesday, Day Six. Howie, Dave and their group travel to London to find Sarah, Howie’s sister. Meeting more wonderful and strange characters on the way. They find another commune led by the enigmatic Big Chris which lead to an amazing adventure. The infection continues to evolve in a shocking twist. The zombies get faster, meaner and tougher and the battles more intense as they fight to survive. The tragedy strikes…. The Undead Day Six
August 29, 2012
Long story short.
The first story, Day One, started as a project just to see how easy it would be to write a story and self publish. The story came out of nowhere, I wanted a normal lead character, not a soldier or hero, and I wanted it from the first person perspective. So I sat down and wrote a short story of 7000 words and put it online. It got a few downloads and I was going to leave it at that. I had written about a character called Howie being at home when a zombie outbreak happened and his first initial reaction to it. It was amazing fun to write it, but when I read it back it felt awful, like a high school project. So I wrote a bit more to have more practise and it sort of grew from there.
Initially, Day One was a 7000 word short story, then Day Two was about 12000 words. But it was really a continuation of Day One so I put them together and called that Day One. By the time I had finished the second bit, I was hooked, the character and the situations became interesting, so I kept putting Howie into more and more situations to see what he would do, more for my own fun than anything. I put the combined stories back online as Day One and had a few more downloads.
Within a couple of days I was writing Day Two properly and again having so much fun with putting the poor chap into awful situations to see how he would react. I learned a huge amount from doing this. I wanted Howie to do certain things, but, as the character developed, it stopped being me reacting and started being him reacting. Dialogue scared me. The thought of having to write dialogue was very worrying. I've read a huge amount of books and seen some awful dialogue, and I know how fine the line is between good and bad speech. Which is the other reason I chose the zombie genre - they dont really speak back.
But, facing up to my fears and using it as practise, I made Howie get into situations where he would have to speak, it was hard and jolty at first, and I cringe when I read those first stories back, but the dialogue got better.
By then I was hooked, and had to keep going. What started as a small project soon turned into a proper story for me, and I honestly didnt know where he would go next or what he would do. I had a basic idea for a rough kind of plot, but it became down to Howie and how he did it.
Day One was roughly 20,000 words, by half way through Day Two at roughly 10,000 words I was feeling the frustration of writing in the first person present tense perspective and only being able to see through Howie's eyes and I also felt ready for a second character. So, along came Dave. Howie and Dave worked together at a supermarket, and I sent Howie back to his work to get supplies to see him through his travels to find his family. He meets up with Dave. Dave was meant to be just a quiet chap, but I kind of let my imagination go nuts and, as I was writing it, he developed into an autistic 'rain man' type character with a special skill for killing zombies. The simpleness of him hit me instantly and it meant Howie had to do all the talking, which made me practise more dialogue. As I wrote, the relationship between them developed and it became something special. Howie as a strong natural leader, but a bumbling clumsy oaf and Dave as a very quiet but extremely capable person with no social skills.
Day Two finished with an almighty battle scene and within hours of putting it online I was into Day Three.
During Day Three I was feeling my own frustrations and felt the style of writing wasnt developing, it still felt like a high school project to me and it just didn't hit the mark. Writing it was great fun, but reading it back wasn't so good. Half way through Day Three I got some very good feedback from a friend and some very good pointers, it was the right critical feedback at the right time, and halfway through Day Three the writing style begins to develop. The characters become more real, the dialogue flowed better and the scene setting became more natural.
I then got a fairly positive first review on Day One and felt good. What I had written, and what to me seemed awful was actually quite well received by someone else. Day Two then got a glowing review which boosted me even further.
I changed the style completely on Day Four and started working on switching between first person present tense, to third person narrative. I introduced a whole load of new characters - a load of army recruits and their cowardly officer at an army barracks where Howie and Dave go to steal a tank. I started with the intention of having new characters to play with and kill off, but they again developed as the story progressed, and I ended up keeping most of them, and they tagged along with Howie and Dave. Day Four was the first thing I wrote that I read back and felt half positive about. I could see my development, and the use of third person narrative, switched between first person Howie and also, writing from the zombie infections point of view, just sort of worked for me, and I could see the development.
I published Day Four, and then also put all the four stories together as one book called 'The First Four Days.' Then set about starting Day Five. Within a few days I received a 5 star review for The First Four Days with a very good indepth analysis. This was amazing and boosted me no end!
Day Five was completed, and even though I was fairly happy with the story progression, it kind of felt that I hadn't developed from Day Four. I was happy with it, the characters developed and everything flowed, but it didn't feel special like Day Four did.
I am now on Day Six and have developed the style further, I won't say what this is yet, but it has changed from the previous style. I am really enjoying writing Day Six, it feels so much better and the story, narrative, prose, dialogue, characterisation are all flowing nicely. I am very happy.
In all honesty, I don't know where the story will go. It sounds cliched, but I can set the scene and send them all a certain direction, but after this length of time (140,000 words and counting in total) it's up to them, how they react and get themselves out of it.
Initially, Day One was a 7000 word short story, then Day Two was about 12000 words. But it was really a continuation of Day One so I put them together and called that Day One. By the time I had finished the second bit, I was hooked, the character and the situations became interesting, so I kept putting Howie into more and more situations to see what he would do, more for my own fun than anything. I put the combined stories back online as Day One and had a few more downloads.
Within a couple of days I was writing Day Two properly and again having so much fun with putting the poor chap into awful situations to see how he would react. I learned a huge amount from doing this. I wanted Howie to do certain things, but, as the character developed, it stopped being me reacting and started being him reacting. Dialogue scared me. The thought of having to write dialogue was very worrying. I've read a huge amount of books and seen some awful dialogue, and I know how fine the line is between good and bad speech. Which is the other reason I chose the zombie genre - they dont really speak back.
But, facing up to my fears and using it as practise, I made Howie get into situations where he would have to speak, it was hard and jolty at first, and I cringe when I read those first stories back, but the dialogue got better.
By then I was hooked, and had to keep going. What started as a small project soon turned into a proper story for me, and I honestly didnt know where he would go next or what he would do. I had a basic idea for a rough kind of plot, but it became down to Howie and how he did it.
Day One was roughly 20,000 words, by half way through Day Two at roughly 10,000 words I was feeling the frustration of writing in the first person present tense perspective and only being able to see through Howie's eyes and I also felt ready for a second character. So, along came Dave. Howie and Dave worked together at a supermarket, and I sent Howie back to his work to get supplies to see him through his travels to find his family. He meets up with Dave. Dave was meant to be just a quiet chap, but I kind of let my imagination go nuts and, as I was writing it, he developed into an autistic 'rain man' type character with a special skill for killing zombies. The simpleness of him hit me instantly and it meant Howie had to do all the talking, which made me practise more dialogue. As I wrote, the relationship between them developed and it became something special. Howie as a strong natural leader, but a bumbling clumsy oaf and Dave as a very quiet but extremely capable person with no social skills.
Day Two finished with an almighty battle scene and within hours of putting it online I was into Day Three.
During Day Three I was feeling my own frustrations and felt the style of writing wasnt developing, it still felt like a high school project to me and it just didn't hit the mark. Writing it was great fun, but reading it back wasn't so good. Half way through Day Three I got some very good feedback from a friend and some very good pointers, it was the right critical feedback at the right time, and halfway through Day Three the writing style begins to develop. The characters become more real, the dialogue flowed better and the scene setting became more natural.
I then got a fairly positive first review on Day One and felt good. What I had written, and what to me seemed awful was actually quite well received by someone else. Day Two then got a glowing review which boosted me even further.
I changed the style completely on Day Four and started working on switching between first person present tense, to third person narrative. I introduced a whole load of new characters - a load of army recruits and their cowardly officer at an army barracks where Howie and Dave go to steal a tank. I started with the intention of having new characters to play with and kill off, but they again developed as the story progressed, and I ended up keeping most of them, and they tagged along with Howie and Dave. Day Four was the first thing I wrote that I read back and felt half positive about. I could see my development, and the use of third person narrative, switched between first person Howie and also, writing from the zombie infections point of view, just sort of worked for me, and I could see the development.
I published Day Four, and then also put all the four stories together as one book called 'The First Four Days.' Then set about starting Day Five. Within a few days I received a 5 star review for The First Four Days with a very good indepth analysis. This was amazing and boosted me no end!
Day Five was completed, and even though I was fairly happy with the story progression, it kind of felt that I hadn't developed from Day Four. I was happy with it, the characters developed and everything flowed, but it didn't feel special like Day Four did.
I am now on Day Six and have developed the style further, I won't say what this is yet, but it has changed from the previous style. I am really enjoying writing Day Six, it feels so much better and the story, narrative, prose, dialogue, characterisation are all flowing nicely. I am very happy.
In all honesty, I don't know where the story will go. It sounds cliched, but I can set the scene and send them all a certain direction, but after this length of time (140,000 words and counting in total) it's up to them, how they react and get themselves out of it.
My first book and people are enjoying it
My name is Howie. I was named after my father Howard, but it became too confusing to have two Howards, so I became Howie. I am 27 years old and I work as a night’s manager in a supermarket.
I will tell you what happened.
On Friday the world fell apart. A zombie infestation has ravaged Europe. Howie was at home and quickly had to learn to fight and survive in this new world as he battled through hordes of undead, desperately trying to reach his family...The Undead Day One.
On Saturday he went back to his town but an undead stripper and her psychotic boyfriend awaited him. Then he met Dave and everything changed as they went to war on the undead...The Undead Day Two.
On Sunday, Howie and Dave have to travel across country still searching for Howie’s family. Their travels bring them into contact with many strange people as they battle with zombies and other survivors...The Undead Day Three.
Monday. Day Four. Howie and Dave have to battle their way out of the police station and make a disturbing discovery. They finally reach Salisbury Army Training Centre and find a massive army of undead soldier zombies, new recruits, an arrogant and cowardly officer and more battles. Meanwhile the infection is learning to control new species…The Undead Day Four.
Tuesday, Day Five. Howie, Dave and the teenage army recruits drive the Armoured Personnel Carrier through villages, killing every horde they find. The infection evolves and learns more skills and starts to target Howie and his group of resistors. Introducing Sarah, Howie’s sister at home in her apartment in London. Fighting to survive with any method available. Howie and his group find a fuel station when things go horribly, horribly wrong…The Undead Day Five, 42, 573 words.
I will tell you what happened.
On Friday the world fell apart. A zombie infestation has ravaged Europe. Howie was at home and quickly had to learn to fight and survive in this new world as he battled through hordes of undead, desperately trying to reach his family...The Undead Day One.
On Saturday he went back to his town but an undead stripper and her psychotic boyfriend awaited him. Then he met Dave and everything changed as they went to war on the undead...The Undead Day Two.
On Sunday, Howie and Dave have to travel across country still searching for Howie’s family. Their travels bring them into contact with many strange people as they battle with zombies and other survivors...The Undead Day Three.
Monday. Day Four. Howie and Dave have to battle their way out of the police station and make a disturbing discovery. They finally reach Salisbury Army Training Centre and find a massive army of undead soldier zombies, new recruits, an arrogant and cowardly officer and more battles. Meanwhile the infection is learning to control new species…The Undead Day Four.
Tuesday, Day Five. Howie, Dave and the teenage army recruits drive the Armoured Personnel Carrier through villages, killing every horde they find. The infection evolves and learns more skills and starts to target Howie and his group of resistors. Introducing Sarah, Howie’s sister at home in her apartment in London. Fighting to survive with any method available. Howie and his group find a fuel station when things go horribly, horribly wrong…The Undead Day Five, 42, 573 words.
