Tuesday, April 1, 2008

The Story of Blackheart Begins

This month, on “The Ghost Writer,” I’m going to be keeping a daily word count.

So I did a quick analysis of what sort of pace I’ll need to keep to reach my 50,000 word goal. I’m changing it up a little. I’m going to treat week days as writing days, and week-ends as days off. So, assuming I have four work weeks, or 20 days total, as long as I write 2,500 words per week-day, I should be fine. I took a look at how that fit spatially in my word processing program, and that’s just four pages. Four pages isn’t bad. I can write that with my eyes closed.

That’s 625 words per page. I still remember my university days when the assumption was 250 words per page. What a joke. (Yeah, I know that’s “double-spaced,” but still…)

Here are the synopses: (Maybe more like teasers)

Forged by Revenge

Macil, a soldier hell-bent on revenge against the gargoyle people for the slaughter of his family and community finds himself conflicted when a childhood friend has chosen to stand by the gargoyles and protect them.

The Man of the Faith

In a world where the clergy are responsible for law enforcement, Caleb, a cleric is sent to investigate the death of a young and loved exotic dancer. On the surface it looks like suicide, but as Caleb examines the dancer’s life, he senses there is something much bigger going on.

Gemini

Alesha, once an assassin, lives her life on the streets of an urban community as a pickpocket and streetear. Investigating the disappearance of a close friend, she learns that he may still be alive, and that she may be able to save him, but now it seems she is being tracked by a former fellow assassin.

Beneath the Abyss

Ivan, a highland warrior is enslaved by a group of pirates and forced into a life of servitude on the sea. As he slowly gains their respect, he learns that their captain is not who he says he is, and that he knows more about the strange whirlpools that have been swallowing ships whole.

The Heart of Gold

A long time before the other stories take place, a heroic knight falls in love with an angel. The angel is condemned for this and banished to the underworld, into which the knight plunges himself to retrieve her.

Genma

Vanquo Zane, a member of a discredited noble family rises to power by cunningly using the people’s discontent to overthrow the old ailing monarchy, quietly, but firmly squashing every obstacle in his path. Like every great conqueror, he has a dark secret.

The Lifelight

Caleb responds to a distress call from a regional slum reporting severe hauntings. As he investigates the apartment complex, a mysterious force has him haunted by his own past.

The Darkest Knight

Ivan unwittingly unleashes an invincible, bloodthirsty demon-knight whose sole purpose is to kill the one woman who is keeping the demon-queen sealed in the underworld. Macil has vowed to protect this woman even at the cost of his own life. When the Black Knight stumbles upon Zane’s secret records, Zane calls in the clergy to stop this demon-knight however they can.

4 comments:

Inkpot said...

Wow, those stories sound fantastic! Good luck with writing them. 2500 words per day is totally do-able. I find I can write about 2000 words an hour, but that is for a first draft. Once my red pen comes out the words start flying faster than a hedge under Edward's scissor hands. I look forward to keeping track of your progress on the blog. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm excited to see how things develop and then steal them and send off to a publisher!

Anonymous said...

Good luck! Judging from the blogs of various professional writers, 2,000 words is a respectable day at work.
- seven ravens

spookygreentea said...

OH VANQUO.

It will be rain to-night.