Radio Silence

Hey all,

Sorry for the radio silence. Nothing really new in terms of writing for me right now. Waiting for edits back on the second short. Hopefully that will be received within this next week! Started my next set of classes to attain my Bachelors degree, for anyone who cares haha. Bracing myself for tons of reading... working on some other side projects, how is everyone else?

-Matt

Over Half Way Through NaNoWriMo

Alright, I am a little over 25,000 words into NaNoWriMo... a bit behind! Have to step up to writing 2k words per day to finish on time... challenge accepted :P. I hope you are all doing well! Any updates on your NaNo? Let me know!

-Matt

(Follow me on Twitter! @MattTaylor1776)

NaNoWriMo update!

Alright NaNoWriMo is quite the challenge! The best tip I have heard so far is to only stop writing once you know what will happen next... that way when you start back up, you wont be stuck there wondering what to write. Simple, but brilliant!

I am a little under 10k words in... checking out this program called Scrivener... I've heard great things about it, do any of you know how good it is? Recommend it? Avoid it? Let me know!

Hope you are all doing well both in writing and in life... I am feeling motivational today so here is something I always remembered from my health teacher way back in high school:

"Do the best with what you have, and where you are."

So keep at it guys! Share the blog, leave your comments, if you want to write a guest post then sweet! Let me know! Find me on Twitter (I promise I follow back) @MattTaylor1776

-Matt

NaNoWriMo Day 3!

Alright, so we are three days into NaNo... everyone still breathing? Check your pulses. Stretch your legs. Brace yourself for more... MoMoWriMo (More More Write More?)

Anyway, I fell a bit behind due to Halloween. Derek needs more pressure into starting, I think he is scared, so tweet him words of encouragement! @derekdyer_WF

Comment below and let me know how your WriMo is going!

-Matt

Short Stories!

Short stories are a growing trend among all authors, new and published alike. While old publishing methods arguably did not favor production of short stories, new publishing practices with the advent of the eBook market (Here's lookin' at you Kindle/Amazon) are enabling all writers to produce and distribute short works to a massive audience. Here are some benefits of short stories:

Earning Potential: With the ability to put out multiple short stories within a short length of time, and sell them at a price that most full length novels are being sold for. Shorts offer a great way to make quick income. Per word, a short story can make more money than a novel. Shorts also offer multiple selling options. You could sell: Short 1, Short 2, Short 3. Three options right? Well consider a 4th option which won't cost you anything but a few extra minutes, sell a collection of the first three shorts as a value bundle. More often than not a reader will pick up the first short, and if they like it purchase the collection instead of individually buying the other two -which works out great for you, if you stop to consider what is actually taking place.

Bridge Between Novels: Alright, so you wrote Novel 1, and are getting to work on Novel 2. Meanwhile your loyal fans and ravenous readers are chomping at the bit to get at more of your work. To see other aspects of your world, and to be taken on more adventures. You can use short stories to sate the hunger of your followers while you type away at Novel 2, whether its to include short side stories or introduce other characters.

Networking: Short stories offer a great way for you to network with other writers and readers. You can use it to hook new readers onto your work, or to develop writing skills. Plenty of websites like Figment, and Wattpad service thousands upon thousands of new writers and offer readers looking for the next big thing a source to scour. (Shameless plug: My buddy and I who also run the blog "Wordsmiths Foundry" have made an account on Wattpad where we will be sharing shorts/flashfiction randomly. http://www.wattpad.com/user/WordsmithsFoundry)

Starting up a second blog with a friend!

A friend and I are starting up a second blog pertaining to writing, "Wordsmiths Foundry". It will be launching by Monday! We will have frequent guest articles, and will be posting two days per week: Monday, and Friday. Check it out! Thanks, Matt!

Writing Interesting Characters: Quirks and Hobbies.

Alright, so one thing that I hear talked about a lot, is character creation and making characters that seem well rounded and not flat.

One interesting thing I have learned to do through the various books I have read on the topic, as well as the pod casts and videos I have watched is to give all of my characters interesting quirks or hobbies.

By giving a character a hobby, coin collecting for instance, you add a new dimension to that character. They aren't just existing with only the current happenings of the story to define them, but have something they care about besides the problems in the plot that add more depth. One I have used is dirt collecting. In my fantasy novels, the first mate of the ship -who is a dwarf- collects a little vial of dirt whenever he travels to a new location.

Now to you and me, dirt may seem boring or pointless. But it makes that character seem a bit more real. Why do they collect the dirt? Who knows, he just likes to do it. But I can relate to collecting and so can plenty of others. In real life I like to collect the squished pennies from the penny crushers whenever I travel somewhere new. It gives me something to look back on and remember fun trips I have gone on. My dwarf happens to keep all of his dirt vials in his cabin, on a rack, so maybe he likes to sit down and think about past adventures. Plus, dwarfs and earth (maybe a bit too cliche), am I right?

Besides that, you can use their hobbies to introduce new plot complications, or solutions. Maybe the dirt collector really knows his stuff, so if there's an issue where soil must be identified he can help out and still be believable. Maybe his collection goes missing - bam! new task for the characters to do. Time to catch the dirt-napper.

Anyway, that's just a quick little thought I had on the topic. Wanted to share it with you all, nothing earth shattering or revolutionary, but useful.

Happy writing!

Matt

Got my first line edit back!

Well great news! Editor had good things to say, made some changes that I think will really help the story flow better and tighten it up! 2 more overviews to go. No progress on the cover art though, my last cover artist bailed due to other things he had to deal with, so hopefully I will find a new one soon!

How has everyone else been?

-Matt

Blogger?

So, going through some revisions of my first SciFi short story: "Heedless". I've already completed the second short stories manuscript, "Black Hearts", and am currently working on the third, which has no title yet! I find it interesting getting feedback from all of my alpha and beta readers. You notice that people look at different aspects, and notice different things. Anyone working on any other projects?

On the Warhammer side, I'm almost done painting up my Crimson Hunter, for my Eldar, the Renia Craftworld. Looking pretty good, if anyone wants to see pictures, let me know.

Now about blogger, anyone out there good at formatting this thing? I've noticed some other people have tabs on theirs. I've been trying to figure out how to do it, there is probably a youtube video somewhere I should watch... I just want to divide the blog into sections... such as "writing", "complete stories" and "hobbies" or "misc" and get some semblance of organization here. If you have any insight, let me know!

-Matt

Update!

Well, I was in the hospital for a little under 24 hours. Had a severe case of Pericarditis.

Here is a little bit about what that is: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pericarditis/basics/definition/con-20035562

I didn't get any new writing done unfortunately. The hospital was literally full so I was in the hallway of the emergency room for about 16-17 hours. The nurses and doctors were all great, the little bed I had was one of those rolling cart things paramedics push around. (If you know the official name of it feel free to enlighten me in the comments!) I finally got my own room an hour before I was released. But I'd rather be home than in a hospital any day! I've been ordered to "take it easy" so no working out or anything like that. I may actually play some WoW... been away from that for a long time but hey, I can't write 24/7. I hope you all are well!

Best wishes,

Matt

Happy fathers day to all of the dads out there!

I've got a pretty bad fever so I'm going to sleep, just wanted to make sure I wished all of you dads/male role models out there a happy fathers day. Hope it was safe and full of fun!

About Me 2.0 (AKA: Do I do anything other than write? Answer: Yes!)

Alright, I figured it would be nifty (yes, I said it, NIFTY.) to write a short “about me extended.” to share some of my other hobbies and interests.

I am 23 years old, from beautiful SoCal, Cali, The land of “Uber”, NOT “Hella” (Southern California). We have two seasons here, Fire Season, and Not.

I have my associates degree in political science. Politics, and how states relate/deal with eachother interest me greatly! When I am not reading fiction, I will usually be listening to (audiobooks are pretty awesome for when you’re at work) a book on politics or some form of history, examples: “Asia’s Cauldron”, “Theories on International Relations and Zombies”, “Guns, Germs, and Steel”, “A History of Warfare.”, and “The Art of War”.

I enjoy paintballing, being outdoors, writing, eating, and modeling. I play a game called Warhammer 40k, which is a tabletop wargame made up of miniatures the player builds and then paints. Once you have all of your minis together you make an army and use a tabletop to duke it out! Hopefully the dice gods are on your side and you roll high (or low depending on the situation.) Below are a few examples of some older models I have done.

I have five pet tortoises, two turtles, and a plethora of goldfish. The tortoises are: Rommel, Rocky, Houdini, Victoria, and Titan. Rommel is the Alpha Tortoise (Yes, they have a pack-like heirarchy, a group of tortoises is called a “Creep”.) he is very speedy (for a tortoise) and aggressive. We call him “Rommel The Backyard Fox”. (Thats a reference to a key WW2 figure, General Erwin Rommel, who commanded the Afrika Korps and earned the title “The Desert Fox” from the allied forces because of his success in Africa.) Another nickname for him is “Top Rommel”, kind of like Top Ramen. Houdini got his name because he digs holes and disappeared the first year we had him, for the whole winter, until popping out the following summer. I will post pictures of them later. If you guys want to see them.

The turtles (who live in the pond with the goldfish) are named Red October, and Calypso. Whenever I can’t find Red October (brace yourself this is going to be terrible.) my search for him becomes “The Hunt for Red October”. Ha?

Anyway, that’s a brief “about me”, covering more than just what I like to write. Go ahead and follow me on twitter! @MattTaylor1776.

Have a good day all,

Matt

Dark Eldar

Grey Knight, Inquisitor Coteaz

Dark Eldar Archon

A little about, me.

My name is Matthew, but I go by Matt. I am a new science fiction and fantasy writer, looking to start sharing my projects with others. My most prominent work right now that I am hoping to edit, revise, and publish on Kindle, is a science fiction piece about a young government agent dealing with the challenges work -and his love life- bring. The working title for the series is “The Department of Inquiry”, the title for the first book of the series right now is undecided… but as soon as I have settled on a title, I shall let you all know! Let’s have an adventure!, Matt. Follow me on Twitter! @MattTaylor1776