I’m now elbows-deep into the current project, the one I am giving the public (but entirely unrepresentative) title of The Spank Chronicles, Part One: The Spankening. I’ve been working on it for a bit now, but we’re in the serious, “okay, this thing actually is going become something” phase now. This means that I am also now officially on the “I’m Working” Internet schedule. How this manifests for the rest of you is that every week day between now and when I am done, I pull the DSL out of wall until a) I hit my daily quota of words (which is 2,000 words), or b) it becomes noon. This keeps me focused and means that at the end of it all you’ll have something new to read.
(And you ask, well, why are you posting this at, like, 9am, then? The answer: Today I’ve shifted my schedule a bit because I have a reporter coming to the house at 10am for an interview. That’s why. SO THERE.)
So, basically: for the next few months, if it’s the AM, don’t expect to see too much of me online (or to get e-mail responses, or Twitter/G+/Facebook comments, or blah blah blah). If you do see something here in the morning, I either scheduled it the night before, or I got to my quota really fast that day.
The good news is that I think you’ll enjoy The Spank Chronicles when you see them. Krissy read some of it last night. She was happy. And you know how she is about quality control.
Good luck with The Spankening and its chronicles.
So you’re ceasing Spankening at noon each day (or 2000 words)… do you have a scheduled “be at the desk to work” time? Just curious. (And if you say “11:30″ then I’m both jealous and impressed)
I don’t have a blah blah blah account!!!! I feel disconnected! Someone send me an invite!
The Spank Chronicles? Are you finally writing some weird porn?
As long as you leave time for Butterfat John: The Creamening when you get your 30,000th Twitter follower. (Non-Twitter users, get over there and sign up! He’s <5,000 shy.)
I am like MIke, expecting an S&M story. If it is, I’ll preorder! ;)
“Spank Chronicles” is the name of my next band.
careful you dont go blind…
I will console myself with your absence by listening to Fuzzy Nation. Which I just got last week and can’t wait to listen to!
It must be exciting to get to the point when a book really starts to flow.
On your last book tour, you said that “Redshirts” was a working title and it would probably change. Now we’re all awaiting a book with a red shirt on the cover.
I can’t help being a little apprehensive about the cover of this new book.
A splash of red, a spray of pink, a touch of blue… what’s to make one apprehensive?
Working until it becomes noon? Half days eh?
Writing until noon with the DSL unplugged. That presumably leaves time with the DSL plugged in to do research, give interviews, and deal with business concerns. I wonder if the AMC column is a before-noon task?
I admit, I would think that a day when you get there well before noon is a good day and an indication of a good time to put the pedal down.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, ‘The Spankening’ sounds too close to ‘The Quickening’ for comfort. Maybe it’s porn about the planet Zeist and this is part of an evil scheme to take over the world. Unfortunately the plan is behind schedule, and now Scalzi needs another 5,000 Twitter followers, hence the Butter Cream Gambit.
Spank Chronicles?
John, are you succumbing to Rule 34?
http://boingboing.net/2012/03/05/ios-ukulele-app-the-futulele.html
off topic – but hey – that’s what happens when John lets the inmates run the asylum!
@ Yep: In case you’re not kidding, please note that writing the current project is very, *very* unlikely to be the only work that he has to do. What he’s saying here is that he’s *focussing* on that task in the way he describes, which is an approach that has served him (and his fans) well in the past.
@ John Scalzi: “The good news is that I think you’ll enjoy The Spank Chronicles when you see them. Krissy read some of it last night. She was happy. And you know how she is about quality control.”
I so very much wanted to make a clever remark here, because that paragraph is simply loaded with potential, especially given the working title. But I decided that the risk of sliding into the failure mode of clever was too high. So I shall simply raise one eloquent eyebrow and leave it at that.
I’m looking forward to reading the final product.
I am excited at your work! (That’s kinda weird, isn’t it?)
Since you can’t post until your word minimum of 2k, how about letting Krissy post in the AM?
I am excited at your work! (That’s kinda weird, isn’t it?)
Since you can’t post until you meet your 2k minimum, and we have no idea when that might occur on any given day, why not let Krissy post in the AM. Wildly funny and embarrassing, to you, posts would be best, but getting her viewpoint would be awesome, I presume.
How many days/week do you require this 2k minimum for yourself? Also, approx. how long does it take you to reach 2k? (I realize this would vary depending on what you are writing, where you are in your story, etc…which is why I qualified with “approx.”)
Dude, keep the title. It just works.
Given the title … the content … um. Well. We’ll have to wait and see.
I’m really super happy to hear that you (a real live writer!) unplug your DSL while writing. I’ve been doing it recently to power through my thesis, but I’ve also been feeling like the fact that I unplug my DSL means I’m weak, and if I were only a real writer, I’d be able to keep it plugged in.
You’re finally finishing Shadow War of the Night Dragons aren’t you? About damn time. You have about 25 days…
Okay, stupid question: Does “pull the DSL out of the wall” really mean you physically disconnect the DSL from the phone line? Or does it mean you just power it down (which may also kill any ability to network internally, something you might want if you use networked drives for backups)? Or do you just turn off the network connection (WiFi, wired Ethernet) on your laptop / desktop? In my house, if I were to turn off the modem connected to our FiOS connection (which I call the “MOCA modem”), my wife would be most displeased. And she would express said displeasure in ways I shudder to think about.
Kudos on your self-discipline, regardless of how you do it.
Sounds like there is some hanky-spanky going on here.