Outlining and Comic Books

Oops! Finally missed a day. Or, alternatively, I decided that I had better slow down on the updates before I give myself an aneurysm trying to keep up. Let's shoot for three a week, shall we? Excellent.

I've taken a step back from the NaNoWriMo writing blitz to try and get a better idea about how to organize a novel. To that end, I picked up my copy of Helsreach, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, and started thumbing through it to get an idea of how he works out pacing, balances battle action and character action, things of that ilk.

(Why Helsreach? Because I want to write something about Space Marines fighting in a city. And Master Dembski-Bowden managed to make random switches between first and third person perspectives work in this book, so I expect I'll have plenty to learn from tearing it apart and inspecting the gribbly bits.)

I've been outlining the book in Scrivener. Here's what it looks like so far:

Haven't even gotten into scenes yet.

So, um, yeah. I might end up burning a week on this, for uncertain gain. Still, I figure this falls under the heading of deliberate practice, and I've also got some reference books to read through before my next big writing push. And I'll be outlining my manuscript while I'm at it, so even in the worst case it won't be a week lost.

Some good comic books out this week. Darkseid is currently dead, but if you're a fan then be sure to check out Action Comics Annual #13, featuring a flashback to Lex Luthor's first encounter with the master of Apokolips. This isn't Grant Morrison's Darkseid, and it ain't the Superman-obsessed, might as well be a stock supervillain one either; this is Jack Kirby's Darkseid, complete with talking in "quotes" and a penchant for hyperbole, and it's a blast to see him back. Lex also meets Ra's al Ghul in a backup story written entirely in verse.

While I'm at it, if you're a fan of the Ryan Choi Atom then check out Secret Six #28. You're welcome.