I managed to get 15,000 words edited during the 48-hour challenge. It feels good to make so much progress. It helps to work with a crowd of other writers who are doing the same thing.
Now I've embarked on a three day challenge to write between 10,000 and 30,000 words. It looks like 10K is reasonable. I spent today planning the novel and working with characters. Then I wrote about 2000 words.
I was thrilled to find this novel on the shelf at our local library because it isn't just any novel by John Steinbeck, it is his FIRST novel. According to the account in the preface, this book was first published the year he was 27. This means that in reading it I just took a 267-page romp through the mind of a 25 year old young man.
Steinbeck's first novel is well-written. In it one could see he'd be a great writer, and within a few years, after Tortilla Flat was published, the world knew him well. But the subject matter of Cup of Gold is questionable. By the time I finished the book I detested the main character, a wretched privateer (a pirate with governmental permission to be bad) who (according to Steinbeck's account) demonstrated almost every bad trait known to man. His name was Henry Morgan.
I realize Steinbeck, who wrote this in the 1920's, probably didn't have access to the how to write books I've been reading. How was he to know the pitfalls of making an unlikable man the protagonist? I wonder, would the book have been better if written from the POV of Morgan's sweet, virtuous wife, Elizabeth? Probably not, since she was most likely clueless about Morgan's cruel exploits.
Morgan was a 17th century seafaring terrorist who left a trail of misery everywhere he went. Were it not for Steinbeck's attempt at portraying his life, I would never have known what a wretch he was. I hope Steinbeck exaggerated the facts.
After reading this book I'm convinced my writing will probably never be as good as his. This was his first novel in which he was supposed to have made all his worst mistakes. But from the looks of it, he was always a literary genius. He was like a moth emerging from its cocoon, struggling, soon to fly.
While doing research tonight I found a great biography of Steinbeck. I also found two biographies of Henry Morgan: 12
I just had to try out this edit challenge offered on Forward Motion... (thanks MarFisk!)... so today I got up and started editing at about 8:30. By 11am I was done with 3 chapters, in excess of 7000 words. My morning went so well I've decided to increase my goal from 10K words to 15K.
On Saturday at 12:00midnight, the "Labor of Love" challenge begins... 10K daily new material, for 3 days!
I listened to this book on tape... finished a few weeks ago and already am having a hard time remembering the details. Pathetic, I know.. my memory is going downhill. I don't want to confuse it with the other pirate book I'm reading, Cup of Gold by John Steinbeck.
The protagonist in The Dark Frigate was a young man whose father had been a sea captain. He wanted to sail too and unfortunately fell in with a bunch of pirates. There was a lot of violence in the book, most of it necessary to tell a story about seafaring criminals. At least the main character was likable and fairly innocent.
The other pirate book, Cup of Gold, has a main character who's despicable though human. It isn't a children's book. It was Steinbeck's first novel and I'm getting close to the end. I'll say more about it when I finish.
My only big criticism of The Dark Frigate (the second Newbery Medal winner, back in the 20's) is that its the only book I remember reading that went on and on and on long after the story ended.
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Brian, age 18, is charged with a felony for writing a story about school violence!
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Planning a new novella
I'm taking part in a three-day "Labor of Love Challenge" featured on Forward Motion... that's to be happening next weekend starting on Friday at midnight. I'm challenging myself to write 10,000 words/day (my family will forget who I am)... not sure I'll make it since I never wrote at that pace before, but am willing to try. I've been having fun plotting... so far its about a lonely child living with her grandmother in San Francisco. I expect that part won't change. :)
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I've been reading this website about the author of Esperanza Rising. She's just about convinced me to join SCBWI... its about time. I haven't read her books yet but intend to do so soon.
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