A Little Bit about You and a Little Bit about me

A Little Bit about You and a Little Bit about me

If you clicked on this link you’ve probably read some of my other blogs on writing and publishing online.  I can’t tell you who clicked on my blog but I can tell what country they are from.  I am amazed that my thoughts not only reached across America but across the world, from Korea to Bulgaria, Russia, Spain, Japan, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Netherlands, Malaysia, India and Australia and the East coast of South Africa (Godom) to South America.

The Human race has been trying to communicate with each other since the cave drawings, radio, TV and the Internet.

You are all interested in writing.  I can also tell you that its only one or two people from each country that read my blog.  You are my links around the world.  I would like to thank you, “Thank You” for reading my blogs.  If you have a question or want to discuss something please look up “Lord Skyler and The Earth Defenses Force” on FaceBook and send me a message.  We are here to help each other.  Please keep in mind though that I am a writer trying to sell his books, so if you can buy a copy or share my Web site with your network of friends, I would appreciate it.

A little bit about me.  I am a father, a husband and most of the time a Human just being Human.  I am on a quest for knowledge to obtain wisdom.  Everybody is my teacher.  Every door of knowledge I open I see ten more new doors on the other side.  The more I learn the more I realize how much I don’t know.  I wear a smile on my face because I teach by example.  A Happy Life is made up of Happy moments.  Enjoy each moment.

Thanks for your support.

Matt Schott

http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Skyler-Earth-Defense-Force/dp/0578014181/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322491942&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_11?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=a+program+thicker+than+water&sprefix=a+program+t

What will the difference be between Smart Houses today and Smart houses Twenty years from now?

What will the difference be between Smart Houses today and   Smart houses Twenty years from now?

You know how the internet records every click you make.  I take that idea and apply it to smart houses.  Your smart house in the future will learn your routines and your likes and dislikes.  It will learn that you change slightly as you grow older.  It will learn to anticipate what you will need.

They’re a lot of advantages to having a smart house that preps your food and screen your phone calls.  It could order your food and give you the daily news that is important to you.  It can make small talk with you as it reads the sports news and looks up certain details that interest you.

After ten years or more its programming might develop glitches.  It could, not let you open the refrigerator door because you need to diet.  It could lock your door because you go out and drink too much on the weekends.  What would happen if your life was threatened?  Could your smart house kill someone protecting you from being attack?  I can hear Isaac Asimoz’s voice in my head now, “The three laws of robotics.” 

A robot will not harm a Human or through inaction allow a Human to come to harm.

A robot must obey orders given by a Human except where such orders would conflict with the first law.

A robot must protect it’s own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first and second law.

The problem with the great Isaac Asimoz’s laws is that Humans will be doing the programming.

I’ve worked in the electrical field for more than 27 years.  The tech for smart houses is here.  We have developed so much technology in the last fifty years that we haven’t applied it or engineer it to its full potential.  I’ve written a scifi short story murder mystery called,

“A Program Thicker Than Water”.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005NVRGNU

I take today’s technology one or two steps forward.  Besides showing how smart cars and smart houses will be used I also throw in some tech that allows you to paint the inside of your house without using paint.  You could travel to a space station around Jupiter without leaving your bedroom.  Please download my 9,000 word short story and time travel to the future the next time you have lunch.  Please tell me what you think.

Thanks for reading,

Matt T. Schott

You come up with a great idea for a book, now what?

You come up with an idea for a book, now what?

My Process

I write everything down in a notebook that spews from my brain.  Yes, notebooks spew from my brain.  :-)   I have no idea what the plot is or how the story is going to progress and at this point I don’t think about it.  I know that will come later.  All I know is that this is a cool idea I got.   “A kid takes a disadvantage and turns it into his advantage.”

Next I organize my ideas in some kind of order and the plot starts to grow.   

Now that I’ve got a basic plot I get another blank piece of paper and start coming up with chapters.  In one or two sentences I write down the point I want to get across that supports the plot.

1)    Matt was a talented athlete as a kid.

2)    Matt wants to play pro baseball.

3)    Matt greatest plays in high school baseball

4)    Matt’s devastating injury on the last game of the year.

  

I create a list of chapters headings until I can see a beginning-middle and the end to the book.  It is important to have an idea where you want to be in the plot by the middle of the book, it can change later.  My experience is that I come up with twenty to thirty chapters. 

For me it’s a matter of what comes next.  How do I get from chapter one to the middle of the book?  I find that my character will decide that.  When you start writing the chapters you might find you have to add a chapter to get your charter to the next plot point.

Then I focus on my first chapter.  If it doesn’t flow right out onto the paper I think of how I’m going to get to my plot point for that chapter.  An event with a beginning a middle and an end.  It’s a rough draft the details can come later.  Sometimes I’ll be three chapters away and get an idea and come back to chapter one and fill in some more.

The writing gets easier and easier as I go.  It’s all about what comes next.  Once I’ve gone through the manuscript I take a long good look at all the chapter titles at once.  I find the holes in the story line and fill them in with more chapters.  Some chapters split in two while others I take right out.

Then I rewrite and rewrite for specifics.  I’ll rewrite once just looking to support the plot.  I’ll rewrite another time just to make sure characters are seeing different colors and smelling sweet and sour smells.  Then I’ll rewrite to detail certain descriptions to enhance the moment in the story.

To say I write like this all the time would be another fictional story but I do write like this most of the time.  I believe everybody has their own way of writing but I also believe in the writing craft and still have a lot to learn.  I hoped I’ve helped.

Keep Writing,

Matt T. Schott

http://www.amazon.com/Skyler-Earth-Defense-Force-ebook/dp/B004SI4AR4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1314264816&sr=1-1

Using Description Wisely and Purposely

Using Description Wisely and Purposely

             Good description takes on many forms and doesn’t rely solely on adverbs and adjectives.  A simple description, “The man looked upset.” could be all that is needed.  It’s not the number of adjectives in a sentence it’s in the accurate detail and relevance of what you are describing.

The man looked upset.  He pushed the ticket, to the movie that already started, through the small glass window.  His foul mood disappeared from my mind when I turned my gaze into Ginger’s deep brown loving eyes and time seemed to stop.  I was captivated by her rained soaked brown hair.  A droplet of water rested comfortably on to her soft flushed cheek that I gentle brushed away with my finger.  The sunshiny kid’s smile that burst from her heart on to her face from my gesture defied the gloom of the torrential rain fall outside the theater.   I knew then that her beaming smile would guide me to happiness for the rest of my life.

I put as much description in when I’m writing a book.  I try to be like I’m the Sherlock Holmes of writing with out telling the reader directly.  Some details I give are not always relevant until the next chapter.  Some details relate to the plot as a subliminal hint.  When I rewrite I take a step back and make sure that my descriptions are relevant to the moment in the story or tie in with the plot in some way.  If they are not, no matter how good I think they are, I take them out.

The moment in the story two paragraphs above isn’t about the upset man giving me the movie ticket.  It’s about the moment I realized I am in love with Ginger.  If I was to describe the upset man too much it would draw the reader’s attention away from what was important in the scene.  If the ticket guy had a pirate’s patch over one eye with bright red clown type of hair that a veteran circus performer would be envious of, it would take away from the romantic moment and the point of the scene.

It is a tricky balance of not making your descriptions the star of your book.  I believe it should share the stage with the plot too.

Keep Writing

            Matt T. Schott
https://sites.google.com/site/lordskylerandtheedf/

Constant Conflict Can Give you a Head Ache

Constant Conflict Can Give you a Head Ache

I love writing action adventure.  I learned though that constant conflict can dull the action. 

I make sure that each of my chapters has the set up for the action but at the same time making the “action” part contrast the moment in the story to make the “action” part really pop.  A calm before the storm type of idea.

I also rewrite to make sure that the action part of the chapter doesn’t always happen at the same part in each chapter.  I find it easiest to "set up" the action in the beginning, then the action, and then the result with a cliff hanger.   I try not to make this the norm throughout the book ether.  I learned to move the action part or the conflict part to the beginning or the end of the chapter.

I usually look for the book’s rhythm after a couple rewrites.  I lay the chapters out on a table and find the slow spots and the fast spots. I want to make sure they blend together perfectly.  I want the reader on a roller coaster ride for the whole book but I want them to take a breath now and again so they can appreciate the next thrill.

I also noticed another pattern of my writing.  The chapters near the end of the book are shorter and the action is bigger.   I think the shorter chapters near the end of the book make the book feel like the action is picking up speed.   It’s like a trick of the writing trade I learned in a writer’s magazine a long time ago.  If you take a paragraph of action and break it up to smaller paragraphs the reader’s eye will read quicker, there for making the action seem to pick up.

This part of writing isn’t so much the passion on the page a reader will notice.  The reader reads the final product but doesn’t see the hard work underneath the clever ways you turn a phrase or set up the action. He sees the paint on the walls but not the framing in the walls.  I think not noticing the structure of a story is sign of a writer good at his craft.

Keep Writing

Matt Schott

"Lord Skyler and The Earth Defense Force" now only $2.50 on Kindle

http://www.amazon.com/Skyler-Earth-Defense-Force-ebook/dp/B004SI4AR4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1313508286&sr=1-1
my storefront has a paperback version and a PDF version and is available on 33 online book stores
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Shotc

"A Program Thicker Than Water", a short story of scifi murder mystery now only $1.25
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005NVRGNU

I Write For The Adventure!

I write for the Adventure

I think I would love fame and fortune at least I know I wouldn’t mind the money.

The real reason I write is for the adventure. I immerse myself in the action and drama the story provides.  When I read or watch a movie it’s for the adventure and the thrill of discovery.  Like most readers when reading I live in the moment the character does.  The writer has taken me on his journey and he keeps it exciting and mysterious.   

I’ve battled the Death Star and fought evil wizards but I never realized how much more exciting it is to write an adventure.

When I’m writing I follow along with the characters not knowing whats next.  When they get into trouble I have to figure out how to get them out of trouble, they never thank me.  Then again I did kind of lead them into trouble.  I become one of the crew.  I get mad when one of them gets hurt.  I get emotionally involved with my characters and believe in their cause a lot more than when I’m reading.  I think that’s because most of the characters in my book are people I know and care about in real life.   I think they really like it when I send them to other planets or give them a hero’s death.

 I am also aware of my reader on the adventure with me and what they might want or expect and then think outside that box. 

The greatest thing is once the adventure is over I realize I have written a cool adventure book and to me that is the treasure at the end of the story.  Writing is not always easy.  There is a lot of rewriting and rewriting.  It can be a lot of hard research that kind of screws with your story.  It is always a battle to finish the book but that’s how most adventures go.

Keep Writing

Matt Schott

In Kindle format

http://www.amazon.com/Skyler-Earth-Defense-Force-ebook/dp/B004SI4AR4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1313152805&sr=1-1

Also at my storefront in paperback or ebook

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Shotc