It’s probably not a secret to anyone who follows this blog – and I’m actually convinced that no one does – but I haven’t even touched the novel in weeks.  My plan to write 2 pages per day was derailed by a serious lapse in confidence, and a general lack of motivation.  It also doesn’t help that most of every day is spent engaged in some really soul-draining work.  Still, there is hope.

God's Debris

Recently I’ve been reading the works of Scott Adams of Dilbert fame, not the Dilbert books themselves, but God’s Debris and The Religion War.  Apart from the stimulating content of these works, Adams chose to write them in a way that would appeal to people with short attention spans – like young people.  My attention span of late has shortened, just in that I find a need to fill my every waking moment with some sort of stimulation.

So I’ve found Adams’ works to be enjoyable in that he spares the reader the usual excess of details.  Both books can be finished in one sitting – a few hours at most, and in a way, it’s refreshing.  Applying this to Poguri and the Land of Nou, I think that perhaps I have been stalled by some need to write the next epic children’s novel.  In my determination to write something that was “literature” as well as entertainment – i.e. socially and/or culturally relevant – I’ve gotten caught up in the details.

The thought occured to me before to write the Land of Nou story as a series of chapter books – short 150-200 page affairs that a child could tear through in an afternoon.  My commitment to writing an epic sidelined that idea before it had the opportunity to blossom.  Now the idea has returned, and I’ve come to realize that the chapter book format does not necessarily preclude the work from being classified as literature.

The tenative plan now is to give each major character individual attention – to tell the overall story from each of their perspectives as they travel back and forth between the waking world and the Land of Nou.  With my current day job scheduled to end soon due to lay-offs, I should have more time to devote to the projects which really matter to me.  Poguri and the Land of Nou, of course, is at the top of that list.

As I tried to write the “Great Freeze” Tale, it felt more like a distraction from the novel than anything that added to the overall story or the Poguri universe. I found myself using similar themes – particularly the spreading of some worldwide condition. The “Freeze” felt a lot like the “Blight”. So I scrapped it. I still think that the Tales from the Land of Nou is a good idea, and I do intend to work on something along those lines soon, but for now, the novel has returned to top priority.

For my upcoming Jabberwocky meeting I completely reworked Maddie’s introduction chapter, taking all of the feedback I received from various sources into consideration. I feel good about this version. Like before, it is available for everyone to view on the website.

Maddie’s Nightmare
http://www.poguri.com/maddies-nightmare/

I hope you all like the rewrite, and whether you love it, hate it, or don’t feel one way or the other, I encourage you to leave me any feedback that comes to mind.

Thanks!

Greetings all…

A whole slew of new concept art has been posted to the illustrations section, including the second full-scale illustration, which shows the bogeys attacking Daywatch and the effects of the Blight. The contrast between this image and the “Fun in Daywatch” image sets the tone for the novel.

In other news, I am working on the first Tale from the Land of Nou, tentatively titled Poguri and the Great Freeze, which I hope to have complete by October 15th, in time for a writer’s event being hosted by Philadelphia Stories, as well as another meeting of Jabberwocky – a small writers’ critique group.

Based on the feedback I receive from these two events, I hope to be able to put Poguri on the [not-so] fast-track towards publication. For the few of you out there actually following this thing, you may be happy to know that Poguri and the Great Freeze will be posted on the website once it is complete. The Tales are not intended to generate any kind of profit for me, but to help me flesh out the Poguri universe and to familiarize all of you out there with the characters and setting. So I’ll be looking forward to your feedback as well. Well, that’s all for now. Stay tuned for the next Pogress Report and other information from the Land of Nou…

After receiving feedback from other writers, I have decided, finally, to take a crack at writing short stories. The catch for me will be coming up with a something that is simple enough to cover in a small space, yet also compelling enough – for ME. I tend not to be dissatisfied with stories if they are too simple, so this is really going to be a challenge.

The plan is to create several Tales from the Land of Nou, self-contained short stories that will not only help me hone my skills for writing the novel, but will also flesh out the Nou universe for my future readers. Who knows, maybe they’ll help me generate a following, too – a legion of fans eagerly anticipating the release of the novel! Wishful thinking, I’m sure, but how could I ever hope to write Poguri without the ability to dream?

One of the reasons I was aiming to complete the book by the end of the year was so that it coincided with the start of an MFA in Creative Writing Program in which I planned to enroll. However, a reality check flew in with the subtlety of a brick when I was rejected by not one, but two separate MFA programs.

At worst I could see these rejections as evidence that I am not a good writer, and at best…well, frankly, there is no silver lining. I am wrestling with the possibility that I am not a writer, but rather a “conceptualizer” – the guy who comes up with good ideas, but may not be so great at delivering them.

On the other hand, I am aware that if the idea is good enough, the writing doesn’t have to be, as long as it doesn’t “get in the way” of the idea. I can think of at least one popular book series for which this seems to be true, although I wouldn’t really say the idea for that series is too good, either. While the rejections dampened my enthusiasm towards this project for several days, I’ve decided to forge ahead. I am now determined to spite these two schools by writing the “next great children’s novel”. Whether or not I can achieve that, of course, remains to be seen…

The “Pogress Reports” [sic] will be semi-regular updates on the progress being made in writing the novel. As of now I have committed to write an average of 2 pages per day in order to finish the book by the end of the year. I think it’s a pretty modest, if not underachieving goal, because some days I’ll be able to write 5 pages and some days I won’t be able to write anything.

So far I’ve done pretty well and I’d say that the book is 40-50% complete, which is not taking into consideration the extensive edits I’ll have to make once that first draft is at 100%. This is where the goal of finishing by year’s end becomes more daunting, but I am sticking to it.

Also worth noting is the promotional artwork being done by Angga Satriohadi, which not only allows all you folks out there to visualize what’s in my head, but really helps to motivate me to write. As of right now he’s already fully completed the first of three that I’ve hired him for, which is available for viewing in the illustrations section, and he’s 95% finished with the second, which I’ll be sure to post once it’s complete.

So that’s it for the first “Pogress Report”. I hope you’ll all stick with me…