I’ve mentioned the project affectionately called Asplode many times now but I’ve never really told you anything about it. In fact, the #1 most asked question I got throughout both this and last year’s NaNoWriMo was, “No, seriously, what’s your book about?” because I could never give a good answer. So, to anyone who’s curious what this project is about, I’m going to try to explain. This could be long.

You’re going to find it funny that I rarely talk about this book on the blog after you read this because it’s an overwhelming majority of the writing I’ve done this year and pretty much all I think about. You see, guys… this book is the bane of my existence. I’m hoping to help you understand why by giving you a little history.  Continue Reading »

Over the summer, I took a playwriting class. One week, for our assignment, I handed in a scene from The Muppet Play which happens to take place in a subway car. The instructor praised this scene as being an unusual setting, one you didn’t often see in plays, which made me insanely self-conscious. Not because I can’t take praise but instead because…

I realized as he said it that have never written a play for adults that DOESN’T have at least one scene that takes place in a subway. In fact, the entire play of Daddy Issues takes play on a subway platform. There even was a subway scene in TheLibrary before I self-consciously cut it out after noticing my apparent obsession with subways on stage.

Why am I seemingly incapable of not writing subways into my adult stage plays? OK, I did work in New York for many years and commute via subway every day but I also took a bus everyday and I haven’t had the urge to add buses into any of my plays.

Then I noticed something else… The two short stories for adults I’ve outlined recently? Both have subways, one featuring subway cars in a very major role.

But of all the YA novels, short stories and plays I have in various states of finished… there is only one subway and it’s really more of an underground train station, not NYC type subway like the others. My YA is mostly subway free, even the ones that take place in cities.

What the heck? What is going on in my subconscious that content for adults = subways. Is it because I commuted via subway for my first real adult job and I associate it with being an adult? Is it some NYC centric world view that everyone commutes to work via subway train? Is it symbolic of my relationship with rats? What?

I give you permission to psychoanalyze what is going on in my mind here with the subway obsession. Have you ever noticed an unintentional theme in your writing?

Oh, and today is the last day to grab a free copy of Daddy Issues (aka the subway play to end all subway plays) if you haven’t already. You’ve only got until midnight PST so get on that before the train leaves the station, if you will.

Last year, I took an in depth look into my writing habits (see Looking back on past writing goals and tweaking them for the future) and, without repeating myself, I think my tweaks were good. I passed 400,000 words for the year late on 12/30 which was later than I’d hoped to but still pretty good. Though I struggled to meet it this year, I’m going to keep the 500,000 word goal for next year for two reasons:

1. I really was only 100k off from meeting it this year which is close enough to make me want to shoot for it again
2. Adding 100k to what I actually wrote this year seems a good amount to keep pushing myself
3. Even if I don’t hit it, it will push me to write more while trying to reach it like it did this year
4. There’s a random extra bonus day this year because of the leap year! Continue Reading »