Hello, World

The programmer's inside joke is this: The first program you write in a new programming language simply outputs, "Hello, world." It doesn't do much of value, but it does prove that one can use the new language at least minimally.

This blog entry is establishing the basic proficiency I need to write this blog. The bigger goal is, of course, to stay in communication with you.

God as Author

I've been actively practicing the craft of fiction writing since about 2016. In that time, I've read a lot of books by authors, some of which I recommend (see my bookshelf). I have also sought out other writers and listened to their advice in-person and via email. (I'm particularly fond of my interactions with Bryan Davis and Orson Scott Card 🔗.) But it was just on Friday that I wrote this down in my journal:

Who has written
  the most complete,
  powerful, applicable,
  published, read, and
    beloved book
  of all time?

The LORD God Almighty!

I can read and study His book.
More than that,
I have access to Him myself.
I can ask the Author of Life
 for help and direction

and, yes! even for writing advice.

Writing Progress: Notecards FTW!

This year, I've been working on "Miracle" (novel 6 of the "Solar Diaspora" series). It started as a brain-dump back in 2016 and I've struggled through three different rewrite attempts, getting better each time. My struggle at present has been with my tools. Spreadsheets are great for capturing data with columns, but it's hard to reorder rows quickly. Text documents are great for capturing free-form ideas, but they are terrible with organization. Even my favorite writing tool, Scrivener, doesn't present the information how I need to see it.

So I threw away the computer.

Not really. But I did move away from electronic tools for the moment. I'm copied every scene idea onto a notecard yesterday.

This allows me to reorder scenes easily. I can spread out sections of my novel on the table any way I need. I can jot down new ideas and insert them in a flash into the story wherever they need to go. I can finally incorporate a hundred other notecards I worked on years ago that have languished in my notecard holder until now.

And, I don't get distracted by email. I can focus on the story and the story alone. It's fun, watching the story shape up and fill in the gaps. I'm getting excited as the plot begins to make sense. And, it's more efficient than struggling with technology. I hope to have the plot nailed down this month, so I can start writing scenes in November. I can't wait!