Argh! Nightwatch is eating my life!

Post by **Robert_Moriyama** » August 21, 2004, 12:06:50 AM

If you need miscellaneous research materials on Afghanistan, cargo planes, Canadair Regional Jets, Manassas Airport, ... I have lots of leftovers. (Also volcanoes, airports in Australia and New Zealand, ...) Anyway, as I've noted elsewhere, Aphelion staff aren't supposed to HAVE lives. Robert M.

Post by **kailhofer** » August 21, 2004, 12:32:32 AM

In short, I've become obsessed.
Is there a 12-Step program for Nightwatch writers?

I know what you mean. Even though Jeff shot down my idea because it was too similar to two upcoming stories, I keep going over it in my head, trying to figure something out that would make it work and not lose any momentum I have going. Sigh. I guess I'll have to write the whole thing as Nightwatch anyway knowing I'll have to rewrite it afterwards and change Nightwatch into some obscure branch of the NSA or something. I can't seem to let the idea go. It's just that Simon gets into your head, under your skin, and you want to set him into action. He's interesting, especially when you start dissecting his motivations. You want this guy in a story! (I'm starting to hope that something shiny distracts me enough to start a different tale.) Hi, I'm Nate, and I'm addicted to Nightwatch.

Post by **Robert_Moriyama** » August 24, 2004, 02:10:10 PM

This probably won't help, but Jeff W. and I chatted a bit about who would make reasonable templates for Simon and Stephanie in terms of facial appearance. We decided on Richard Harris for Simon (I have a 'painting' (retouched from a photo of Harris) I am working on), and maybe Sandra Bullock for Stephanie. Do you have a famous face that 'reminds you' of your Stephanie? Since you are featuring her so prominently, I imagine that you can 'see' her if you think about it. If it makes you feel any better, I have the Simon and Stephanie portraits that we hope to add to the 'bible' to work on, plus bits and pieces of plot for future Nightwatch stories (Jigsaw Creek, and an untitled one featuring a nasty fellow from Simon's past) rattling around in my head -- and I'm not likely to be writing another one for months yet. Robert M.

Post by **Robert_Moriyama** » August 29, 2004, 11:53:21 AM

Jeff expressed some concerns about whether some of the stories in the current batch would be done more or less on time (or at all), and asked if I had been thinking at all about Jigsaw Creek, in case he needed a filler ... Next thing I know, I have 900 and something words written of an opening scene; the following day, I have a second scene mostly done and am up to almost 4000 words ... Diabolically clever and insidious, these American novella editors. Robert M.

Post by **kailhofer** » August 29, 2004, 12:12:02 PM

Next thing I know, I have 900 and something words written of an opening scene; the following day, I have a second scene mostly done and am up to almost 4000 words ...

Good Lord! I'm lucky to write 1000 words on a good day. Life usually intrudes to the point where 250 a day is doing well (especially lately, with a wife and one of the kids with Whooping Cough). Perhaps it's the way I write. If I outline, it stops being fun, so I don't do that. I have to chip away at the marble slowly, until I get a good idea of the statue hiding inside. Nate

Post by **Robert_Moriyama** » August 29, 2004, 11:26:56 PM

Well, for me an outline is a way of organizing what you *wanted the story to be* when you first thought of it. You should always save your outlines. They'll come in handy for when you want to write another story, because the story you finish usually bears little resemblance to the outline you started with. That outline is still perfectly good. You still haven't written *that* story yet... and probably never will 'cause you'll take off on a new tangent next time you try it. LOL!
What I do best is plot out an outline of where I want the high-points of a story to go, then let it percolate in the back of my minds for weeks, months, years, decades- Until the details start dripping out like a good strong coffee. Then I type in marathon sessions when I can get uninterrupted time. ("Baby, here's $500, go to Daytona for the weekend or go shopping or something so I can type in peace.") I let the stream of consciousness run on until it can't run any more. Then I edit and re-write bits and pieces of it until the next time I get a chance for unterrupted writing ...
Dan

Re: Outlines -- hmm, I should try one of those sometime. I sometimes start with nothing more than an image, or a snatch of dialogue, or a situation, and just wing it from there. Of course, you can probably tell I have no idea where I'm going when I start a story, so that's not necessarily a good thing. Re: $500??? Gee, Dan, if you'd like to get the Nightwatch monkey off your back, I'd be happy to finish the story for you -- for say, half of that amount! What a bargain! Dan? Why are you sharpening that pencil? It already looks pretty sharp to me ... Dan? Quick! What's the number for 911??? Robert M.

Post by **kailhofer** » August 30, 2004, 06:08:32 PM

Re: Outlines -- hmm, I should try one of those sometime. I sometimes start with nothing more than an image, or a snatch of dialogue, or a situation, and just wing it from there. Of course, you can probably tell I have no idea where I'm going when I start a story, so that's not necessarily a good thing.

Nooo. I'm suure we can't tell that. ;) I do a similar thing. I sit down & a scene pops out of my subconscious not unlike the birth of the creature from Alien, (usually with a cliffhanger flashback ending, but not always) and then I start wrapping the story around that scene. (i.e. Where did the events in the scene start from, and how could it get to where it was.) But if I actually do an outline, even like Dan suggested, I stop writing that story right then and there. A lot of the joy for me is figuring what is going to happen next, and if I already know, it's not fun anymore. Nate

Post by **kailhofer** » September 20, 2004, 10:28:17 PM

I wish I could say that my Nightwatch story was chugging along, but it derailed since Friday. I haven't found enough glue to hold together the pieces of my ego long enough to put out a coherent sentence of fiction. Having found a few of the discussions on the net and seen myself termed a bad, bitter writer, and a product of inbreeding, followed by a burning review... Well, it's hard to be at the top of your game, you know? Why can't we get a thousand page views because of the good writing here, the Mare or Nightwatch? Did the page count even spike for the September or August issues, or did everyone just come for the argument? (I can't blame everyone, it was advertised as a "come watch the fun" thing.) So here I sit. Simon Litchfield needs to be set in motion again. Machinations and heroic deeds cry out to see the light of day. Choices must be made, and what follows, must follow. If I can just force my fingers back to the keys... [laugh] Do you all know how much your saving me on therapy by reading this? :) (not that I could afford it, anyway) Nate

Post by **kailhofer** » September 20, 2004, 10:54:00 PM

I'm trying to write mine at the moment too.

That's kind of funny. Tonight Dan was going to be writing his, I'm on mine, you're on yours, and I wouldn't be surprised if Robert was on his. I hope someone is writing something that isn't Nightwatch, or the next issue is going to be awfully short. :) Nate

September 21, 2004, 12:13:33 AM

That's kind of funny.

Tonight Dan was going to be writing his, I'm on mine, you're on yours, and I wouldn't be surprised if Robert was on his.

I hope someone is writing something that isn't Nightwatch, or the next issue is going to be awfully short. :)

Nate

Actually, I'm sitting on mine for now. I will probably have to make adjustments to it to take into account events in the three or four(?) stories slated to come before it (I have read Kate Thornton's Cardenio (scheduled for next month), but have no idea what happens in November, December, March, or April) ... I was too late submitting a story for October (a horror story I had in inventory), so my only Aphelion appearances next month will be here in the lettercol. Of course, the total word output of my lettercol posts probably exceeds the length of some of my stories anyway! Robert M.

Post by **kailhofer** » September 25, 2004, 06:17:02 PM

Finally! Things are flowing again! By the end of today I'll have added another thousand words! It wasn't easy to get enough time for that, let me tell you, especially with my 4th grader's flag football game, friends of his sleeping over, and both my girls at different birthday parties this morning. All week it's been more like fighting creative constipation for the one hour I had free to get one lousy sentence, and then change it the next day because it was crap. This afternoon, though, the kids all managed to entertain themselves, & the wife was busy canning tomatoes, so I finally had time to get some kinks out. (Is it odd to compare writing with plumbing?) Woo-hoo! Nate

September 25, 2004, 07:52:23 PM

Finally! Things are flowing again! ...

All week it's been more like fighting creative constipation for the one hour I had free to get one lousy sentence, and then change it the next day because it was crap. ...

Is it odd to compare writing with plumbing?

Nate

Let's see -- you said things were flowing again after a bout of constipation, and you had been producing crap. Sounds like you were comparing writing with your internal plumbing, not the kind with copper pipes and brass fittings ... so in this case, the comparison seems apt. Robert M.

Post by **kailhofer** » September 25, 2004, 09:45:46 PM

Let's see -- you said things were flowing again after a bout of constipation, and you had been producing crap. Sounds like you were comparing writing with your internal plumbing, not the kind with copper pipes and brass fittings ... so in this case, the comparison seems apt.

(Call the pun police.) Either way, I was relieved. :) Sorry, couldn't hold that. :) Nate

September 25, 2004, 11:03:04 PM

(Call the pun police.)

Either way, I was relieved. :) Sorry, couldn't hold that. :)

Nate

Immodium. Often one dose is enough. Say, if Sturgeon's Law says that 90% of everything is crap, then actual excrement is itself only 90% excrement. What is the other 10%? Chicken sandwiches (the kind that indecently lucky people come up with when they fall through the hole in an outhouse seat)? Robert M.

September 26, 2004, 07:20:30 PM

http://www.20000-names.com/female_chine ... AN: peace BING QING: clear as ice BO: precious CHAN JUAN: the moon; graceful; ladylike CHANG: free; uninhibited CONG: Unisexual name meaning "intelligent; clever" FANG: fragrant; sweet smelling FANG YIN: fragrant carpet of grass; breath of flowers FEN: fragrant; sweet smelling FENG: Maple HUAN YUE: joyful; happy HUI YING: bright; intelligent JIA LI: good and beautiful JIANG LI: river beautiful JIAO: beautiful; handsome; tender; lovely; charming JIN: gold JING: crystal; sparkling JUAN: beautiful; graceful JUN: truth LEE: Unisexual name meaning "plum" LEI: flower bud LI: Unisexual name meaning "strength; beautiful" LI MING: beautiful and bright LI MEI: beautiful plum blossom LI NA: beautiful and graceful LI QIN: beautiful stringed musical instrument LI RONG: beautiful Lotus LI WEI: beautiful rose LIAN: Unisexual name meaning "the graceful willow" or (female - "daughter of the sun") LIEN: lotus LIN: beautiful jade; also a family name LIN YAO: beautiful Jade treasure LING: tinkling of pieces of jade MEI: plum MING UE: bright moon NA: graceful PARK: Unisexual name meaning "cypress tree" PING: duckweed QI: fine jade; outstanding; distinguished QING YUAN: clear spring QIAO: handsome; pretty RONG: Lotus; beautiful; elegant SHAN: coral SHU FANG: kind; gentle and sweet SHUANG: bright; clear; openhearted TING, TING TING: slim and graceful WAN: gentle; gracious; beautiful; lovely WEI: valuable; precious XIA: glow of the sunrise or sunset XIANG: fragrant XIA HE: summer Lotus; pure and elegant XIAO CHEN: early morning; dawn XIAO HONG: morning rainbow XIN QIAN: happy and beautiful XIU: elegant; beautiful XIU JUAN: elegant; beautiful; graceful XUE: snow XUE FANG: snow fragrant YAN YAN: two swallow birds; elegant YI JIE: happy and pure YI ZE: happy and shiny like a pearl YI MIN: happy and smart YU JIE: pure beautiful jade YUE YING: happy and smart; kind YUE YOU: happy and friendly YUE YAN: happy and beautiful YUE WAN: happy and gentle ZHEN: precious ZHEN JUAN: precious and beautiful ZHI: Irises; orchids; noble character; true friendship ZI: graceful; beautiful TAO: peach; symbol of long life See also http://www.magma.ca/~mtooker/names/suggest.htm

Post by **kailhofer** » October 08, 2004, 04:28:54 PM

Just updated the Nightwatch Series Bible in order to take a break from working on my Nightwatch story. LOL!

Is is me, or doesn't the picture of Simon look like Race Bannon from Johnny Quest? :) Nate

October 11, 2004, 08:26:52 PM

Is is me, or doesn't the picture of Simon look like Race Bannon from Johnny Quest? :)

Nate

Race Bannon?? Considering that the head is a retouched (painted over) shot of Richard Harris (I gave him a nose job and more hair), I'd say it's just you. (But seriously, now that you mention it -- naw. It's not Race Bannon -- it's the Man from Glad in his casual (khaki instead of blinding white) weekend attire.) Just wait 'til I try to come up with a Stephanie picture. Someone will probably say it looks like (a) ElectraWoman and/or Dynagirl or (b) Rachael from Blade Runner wearing an outfit from the Bionic Woman collection. (The correct answer is (b), since Jeff and Kate have agreed that Sean Young's face is a reasonable basis for Stephanie's.) Robert M.

Post by **kailhofer** » October 12, 2004, 09:59:43 AM

I ought to give credit anyway. I can retouch a photo with some skill, since there you're really copying parts of existing image over the top. But painting... that's something I can't do to save my life, unless you want Simon to be a stick figure. He looks good. Nate

Post by **kailhofer** » October 15, 2004, 11:00:39 AM

Alright! Break open the champagne- last night my Nightwatch story cleared the 8000-word barrier. And that's only four scenes! LOL!
Seriously, I'm feeling great about the text so far: Action, adventure, and really wild things... If I can sustain the level of quality that I've been hitting so far, then everyone is in for a treat.
Wish there was someone about to share it with.

Good for you! When I finally reach a writing goal that I've really worked at, I often wish I could shout it out loud... Except I'd wake the kids up, and maybe my wife. (I had to pick something to give to have enough time, so I picked less sleep.) I'm stuck at about 11,500 right now, trying to figure out how to shift gears for Act II. I'm used to thinking like a SF writer, not a spy novelist. A space ship, wormhole, time machine, magic gone awry, or alternate reality... that doesn't break my stride a bit. A spy story, however, is another animal entirely. (But the challenge of that is why I signed on in the first place.) I'm reading some Ian Flemming, trying to get in the mood for it. Nate

Post by **kailhofer** » October 15, 2004, 11:02:32 AM

I have been slogging about in my story - I may have to scrap and re-write (I only have about 3000 words done) because I am too close to the setting. I think if you are either too close or totally unfamiliar with a setting, you have a hard time writing about it with any ring of truth. You either can't picture it or picture it in so much detail that you forget the reader doesn't see what you do.

Don't re-set any scenes because of my timeline, Dan - I may have to start all over with another idea. I have one, too...

Oh, no! I was digging what you had. Maybe you can recycle it in your new idea & not lose that work. Nate

Post by **kailhofer** » October 18, 2004, 01:20:15 PM

Wow. The past week sure has been quiet around here. 4 Novelettes and 10 short stories is a big issue, and it seems like they should be drawing more comments than they are. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have several of the "usual suspects" working on next year's Nightwatch stories at the same time. It seems to have cut the discussion quite a bit. Even without trying to write new stuff, I know I've been pressed for time, but I never expected to see a Friday and Saturday to go by with so few posts. (My mother-in-law was visiting last week, and that chopped up my spare time. I hope to do better this week.) Nate

October 26, 2004, 01:37:16 AM

FYI to Kate, Nate (hey, that rhymes), Dan, and Jeff -- I have sent a big hunk o' text for your perusal.

Post by **kailhofer** » November 20, 2004, 12:14:03 AM

Argh! My head hurts. I've just spent two hours trying to find info online from the dang blammed government. I decided that you just can't find out how much electricty is used on any given day in this country. It's a secret, apparently. Or maybe I'm just not bright enough to cut through all the alphabet soup. DOE, FERC, EIA... who really tallies this stuff?! I tried looking for info from individual utilities. Fruitless, except PGE. That's either Portland General Electric or Pacific Gas & Electric (the guys from Erin Brokovich). Whichever they are, they have propellerheads who made nice web charts that update every five minutes. Except, I just can't believe that Dec. 7th is the lowest power day of the year for the whole country. Especially, that much less than the rest of the year. My own personal nitpicker (read, wife) found several potential holes in my story as far as it is, and I was trying to find out if I was right or not. That way, I know to start backfilling now, instead of later. I suppose it's my own fault, for pestering her until she finally read what I had... Nate

Post by **kailhofer** » November 20, 2004, 02:57:04 AM

Yeah, I've been to a disturbing number of the links on that page. I'm not looking for an average. I'm looking for a graph of the whole year that shows which are the peak and which the lowest usage days. I'm sure someone knows this info, but it doesn't seem to be in an easy to carry package... Nate

November 20, 2004, 09:12:12 AM

Yeah, I've been to a disturbing number of the links on that page.

I'm not looking for an average. I'm looking for a graph of the whole year that shows which are the peak and which the lowest usage days.

I'm sure someone knows this info, but it doesn't seem to be in an easy to carry package...

Nate

Here's a possible approach: for peak usage days, try finding the hottest days in densely-populated areas (New York, L.A., etc.). Air conditioning is often cited as a major element in demand for electricity ... During the winter, consider the load generated by skazillions of Christmas lights! You may be able to find stories that give clues to how much extra load this sort of thing may cause (if not the actual peak values); you could then add this to an average value based on the annual total (assuming that weekday consumption is higher than weekends, try dividing by about 300 instead of 365). I don't know how one might determine a minimum consumption day -- what circumstances put people outside and not using electricity? July 4th or other barbecue / picnic days? Robert M.

Post by **kailhofer** » November 20, 2004, 11:57:55 AM

Here's a possible approach: for peak usage days, try finding the hottest days in densely-populated areas (New York, L.A., etc.). Air conditioning is often cited as a major element in demand for electricity ... During the winter, consider the load generated by skazillions of Christmas lights! [snip] I don't know how one might determine a minimum consumption day -- what circumstances put people outside and not using electricity? July 4th or other barbecue / picnic days?

They don't list any individual days. You can get reports for the month for each state (and I didn't see anything that listed past months, either), or you can get an entire year in review. I don't know how tiny lights, but billions of them, at Christmas, compare to how much AC is used on July 4th. (A lot of the country is hotter than we are in Wisconsin.) There are warnings of blackouts in the summer in major metropolitan areas and the Southwest US about electrical use from AC, but I've never heard of one at Xmas--not everybody celebrates it, and not everyone who does, "lights up." In the words of almost every early SF computer or robot, "Insufficient data. Does not compute." Nate

November 20, 2004, 01:51:48 PM

This might narrow it down a bit, although it goes by month, not day. In 1999 and 2000, peaks occurred in July (the air conditioning thing), but minima varied (Feb. in 1999, April in 2000?). http://www.clevelandfed.org/Research/Et ... pdf

Post by **kailhofer** » November 20, 2004, 08:18:13 PM

Thanks, Robert. That will do nicely. Nate

Post by **kailhofer** » November 21, 2004, 04:30:31 PM

That was another hard-fought thousand words! At this pace I ought to be done, oh... about 3 hours before it has to go up next September. Does anybody else think their Nightwatch story is the hardest writing they've ever done? I may have to see a dentist from grinding my jaw. I mean, I do love these characters. They get under your skin and you want to start moving them around, and that should be testament to the skill Robert and Jeff used in thinking them up. I like my storyline (I suppose I should, since it was my idea), but I never thought it would be so much work to sweat out each sentence as I went. There are standards to be upheld, and I don't want to be the first to flop. The episodic nature of them might be a culprit, at least for me... No matter what happens in a story, all the principals have to be back where they started (and in a "mostly" normal frame of mind) before the next episode begins. That means you have to craft not only a good plot with a good resolution, but that resolution has to get things back to the way they were, more or less. It's more a "ship show" than a serial--more like the Mare and less like Al Majius. Each one of Robert's adventures there builds on the previous until he finally gets down to it with Morganstern, someday. I like to leave the future unchained, so I can feel free to go in any direction I want. I can do that to a certain extent, but I always know I will have to "retard" the character growth at some point in the future. I volunteered, and I'm not giving up--but it's a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Nate

November 21, 2004, 05:23:40 PM

... Does anybody else think their Nightwatch story is the hardest writing they've ever done? I may have to see a dentist from grinding my jaw.
... The episodic nature of them might be a culprit, at least for me... No matter what happens in a story, all the principals have to be back where they started (and in a "mostly" normal frame of mind) before the next episode begins. That means you have to craft not only a good plot with a good resolution, but that resolution has to get things back to the way they were, more or less. ...

Nate

I'm not sure I agree that everything has to get back to the way it was, at least not immediately. The characters are allowed to grow and change, and can go through experiences that affect their behavior in future episodes. For example, the death of Max Cory has permanently affected Simon's cockiness -- he is more reluctant to risk the lives of others (if not his own) than before. Simon's arthritis will also progress with time, although the amount of trouble it may cause will vary with the climate (hot climates may make him feel better; cold and damp may make him feel worse). Jeff has also hinted at changes in Simon's personal life. Kate threw a hand grenade into Stephanie's history and life in 'Cardenio', and J.R. Murray spent some time and effort dealing with the aftereffects in 'Ghost Rockets'. While Kate suggests that Stephanie will recover in the months to follow, certain situations (particularly anything that involves the Gryphius name) may always cause her some distress. Callow -- well, it would be nice to see something change HIM, but I suspect that he's too self-assured to let anything bother him. Dan, of course, has big plans for Tom Weldon that will reveal some of his history and affect his future role in the series ... So -- Nightwatch is not The Simpsons. The Murderhorn (mountain) will not be visible from the Simpsons' home in one episode, but never be seen or mentioned again. Marge's kitchen may not undergo a renovation that takes two years and seems to double its size, then reverts to 'normal'. I think the only real limitation is that none of the core characters can be killed, and even that may not be true if the story is good enough. Jeff, your opinion? Robert M.

Aphelion

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