Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai


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Werner Herzog, film-making and writing

It’s Sunday, so a media-related post, but different.
I was reading this article about German Director Werner Herzog1 , and found a list of his suggestions to young film-makers.

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And indeed, these suggestions apply to writing too – and a lot of other things.
So, what with me being on a writing roll and all that, I decided to see how Herzog’s rules apply to writing, based on what I learned so far. Sort of a personal recap of what’s been going on so far.
And yes, this is incredibly cheeky.
So sue me. Continue reading


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Things to come

Things are getting bigger, fast.
A quick recap.

7c65cbd4602cab352cdd9ed537e0af14I’m working on my new novel – working title, Matter/Energy, a hard science fiction adventure set in the Mediterranean area but aimed at an international audience.
I’m going at a nice clip, doing about 2000 words a day on the first draft (thanks, Scrivener), speed is increasing, and the thing looks promising: some good dialogue is developing, characters are fine, some great science and a very fun venue.
I’m also enjoying the fact of writing a novel with a strong woman as the main character.
Expect periodic updates as the project grows. Continue reading


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My second novel – outline and structure

And so, while I keep piling up notes and resources for my new roleplaying game project (the thing is getting huge), I also started working on my new novel1.

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The outline’s done – I’m letting it cool off, and tonight I’ll send it to the publisher, and barring strong objections and possible redesigns, I’ll slot the outline in Scrivener, and I’ll start jotting down the first draft.
In the meantime, I’m also mind-mapping the setting and the characters2. Continue reading


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My best failures of 2014

Failed Stamp Showing Reject Or FailureI’m stealing the idea for this post from Mike Brooks, and his podcast about his five biggest failures of 2014.
Mike notes that…

Of course I don’t see failures as a negative. To me failure is simply a necessary part of success.

It’s my sort of thing – I’m good at failure.

So – where and how have I failed in 2014?1 Continue reading


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Plans and re-designs

Plans are made to be changed – and so my finely defined writing and publishing plan for 2015 is undergoing some radical redesign.

On the other hand, somewhat unexpectedly, I’m outlining a new novel – the pitch, based on an original request I was sent, is currently being evaluated by my publisher, and while I wait for a (hopefully) positive response, I’m thinking ahead and mapping my story.

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My current modus operandi for fiction is more or less like this…

Continue reading


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The reformed artist

“How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live” ― Henry David Thoreau

walkingrainNow that’s hard.
Because you know, it sometimes feels wrong, sitting in a room writing when we could be out there doing something else.
Like, I love walking in the rain – so sue me.
And yet, sitting in my room while the storm rages outside, and me all warm and cozy, with my cup of tea and biscuits, writing on my old keyboard…
In the end it’s a matter of choices.

Reading feels the same – why am I sitting here and reading this (excellent, by the way) book, when I could be writing my own stuff, or take a walk under the rain (or anything else, really)? Continue reading


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It’s over (almost)

victoryAnd so it’s finished.
Clocking in at close to 68.000 words, my pulp/fantasy novel of high adventure set in Shanghai and parts east in the year 1936 is done.

Well, actually I’m doing the final revision – or the post-revision revision, if you will.

I did my writing in Scrivener, and it was a really pleasant experience.
But now I’m exporting it and I’m making a LibreOffice .odt file for my editors to be able to go through it at their leisure. Continue reading