So I was lifting weights today, as I do three times a week now, and passed the time between sets as I usually do: brainstorming ideas for the chapter to come or overall remainder of the book. Well, I had so many ideas leading one into another, flooding my head, that it was more like a brain-maelstrom than a brainstorm! I seriously worried that I wouldn’t remember it all in time to write it down before I finished working out.

Luckily, I got it all down (I think). Because if I forgot something, I wouldn’t know it. :D  However, in the past, when I have forgotten cool ideas, they come back to me at a later time anyway. Just to give an idea of what I mean though, I spent six hours today doing nothing but writing down those ideas into my next chapter outline and book overview. Six hours of nothing but note-taking… These are some great ideas, but I also had to make them fit into an existing structure. Holy crap, I literally just remembered something I left out while typing this. Hold on.

Back. Wow, that was a big one to leave out too. Too bad I can’t tell you about it! I would have remembered it though by the time I got to that chapter. It feels like the book is quickly coming to an end. I know I have some 140 pages left, but as far events, scenes, it doesn’t seem like so many. I’ll be glad to have it done though. It really bothers me to have to tell people NOT to order the second book yet.

In other news, I’m being medicated for panic attacks. Awesome! Well, not really. See, a while back, I had excess fluid in my leg, no doubt from excess weight. I could literally push my thumb into the flesh near my ankle, and the print wouldn’t go away. So I of course went to the doctor. They said my blood pressure was a little high, like only 8 points or whatever, so to kill two birds with one stone, I was put on a blood pressure medicine that was also a diaretic. I was lifting weights pretty heavily at the time. In short, I became dehydrated and had a build up of keto-something or other in my kidneys (whatever breaks down from the muscle). The build-up caused kidney failure. I ended up in the emergency room with fun symtpoms like: very hard to breathe, chest pains, dizziness.

They gave me fluids, and I was fine. I stopped taking that medicine right away. However, any time I feel an odd pain or sometimes for no reason whatsoever, I can re-experience all those symtoms. Hence, panic attacks. At least the meds I’m on for it works fine, with no side-effects. They’re supposed to make you sleepy is all, but I yawn all the damn time anyway. Writing wears me out!

That’s enough sharing for now. I just thought I’d make a post, because I was pretty happy at all those cool notes I took today. I didn’t get any kind of writing done, mind you, but hey! Cool ideas abound! One of those ideas was even a tweak for the book’s ending, so I’m pretty happy with that. I’ll be starting chapter 13 tomorrow.

So I just finished the second section of chapter 12, and even though it’s always grueling to make it through each page, there was a lot of fun stuff I put in. I got to fire the gun, so to speak, by confirming some things I alluded to earlier in the book, and I got to mention one of the underlying premises of the trilogy. Quite a bit of revelation going on in this chapter. The bad guys got to be particularly bad, which is always fun, and I alluded to more things yet to come.

One advantage to writing very slowly, as far as breaks between sessions, is that it gives me time for new ideas to pop in and take hold. I had a really cool idea come to me just before I started this chapter that completely changed how a race is viewed and will behave from now on. It almost feels like some enthusiasm is creeping in! Hopefully that means I can improve my progress to a chapter a week. It’d be nice to start editing two months from now. I still have that next novel idea creeping into my thoughts from time to time. Very distracting.

As an aside, who would have thought that the 13th step to giving up candy was orange Tic Tacs? Damn they’re good. I’m still staying away from games, with the exception of facebook stuff. I did log into CoH to check out Issue 14 for a bit. Nice idea, poorly implemented in my opinion. I would have spent some time putting together storylines if it weren’t for all the restrictions and inherent homogeny.

I’m currently reading Wrath of a Mad God, by Raymond E. Feist. I actually have him as a friend on facebook :D  Hi Ray!

No news on the game design front. Last meeting I had, there was talk of putting together a small presentation, but a lot of the material for that is dependent on someone else.

Until next time…

Things are moving along but still at a snail’s pace. I think I’m averaging a page an hour. I’d break that down further, 200 words per page, etc, but I think it would just depress me. Fortunately, new ideas do keep popping into my head as I tweak the outline for the next chapter. Not everything is set in stone once I outline, just major points of interest. It’s the little things that pop up that make writing more fun and less a chore. Those “what ifs” that play out in my mind, usually when I’m nowhere near a computer or something to write with.

Hi, my name is Joe, and I’ve gone four weeks without playing any games. Wait, does facebook count? Damn web applications. I guess I should clarify that I haven’t touched an MMO in quite a while. Heck, I gave up candy too. The two sort of go hand in hand for me. So while it’s good news for my writing, it doesn’t feel like I’m getting any more accomplished than did last time I was off games. I try to force myself to write every day, like sharpening a tool, but sometimes it’s just not in me. I take notes, edit, reread chapters. You know, all the things you shouldn’t do when you should be writing instead.

So I donated my book to the local library and was told they no longer accept donations. Their bookstore, however, does. And if they sell the book, the money goes to the library. Same thing, right?! *grumbles* Ah well, I donated it anyway. Maybe someone will pick it up and get a little enjoyment out of it.

Alright, back to chapter 12…