NitroDad

New Site

2008-08-05T11:18:00.000-06:00

I've decided to move the blog to wordpress as I work to give the book some viral marketing boost through social media. Follow along at www.tsfranklin.com.

The Great Wall

2008-07-24T10:53:00.001-06:00

I've been on a roll the last week or so, surpassing my goal of a minimum 400 words per day. But now I've hit a wall. Not writer's block or anything, I just don't know how I want the story to progress.

It's also been a dark storyline for a while, with the topic haunting my subconscious. I need to switch to the other side of the plot for a change, but I'm also feeling like I need to wrap up this section first.

These conflicts are encouraging my procrastination. I need to snap out of it!

~NitroDad

Painful and Challenging

2008-07-11T15:07:00.002-06:00

I've just finished a very challenging portion of the book. The darkness and evil that are core elements of the topic I find hard to write. I honestly couldn't include the detail that I think was needed because of the emotional challenge. And this is only the first one. Multiple levels must be built.

But the anger and rage must be built before the readers will understand the result. Please stay out of my dreams....

~NitroDad

Progress, What Progress?

2008-06-18T15:15:00.002-06:00

Since my last post, I have written exactly nothing in the book. I've opened it up a few times, browsed through, and then been pulled back into other projects. I need to focus more energy into this rather than goofing off in the evenings and on the weekends! Damn this nice weather...

~NitroDad

Slow and Steady

2008-06-09T14:10:00.000-06:00

The book is coming along.....slowly. I'm struggling to build a rythm as I try and write while working my 9 to 5 and keeping up with the family happenings. I need the next winning lotto numbers so I can dedicate my entire day to the book!

Until then,
~NitroDad

Words Flowing

2008-05-30T13:43:00.000-06:00

I've started writing! It is unbelievable how invigorating it is to express myself through written word. I feel like the burdens are lifted off of my shoulders and a peace takes over me. Maybe it's because I can pretend I'm the character I'm writing about or I can shift my darker thoughts onto the shoulders of the nemesis. Regardless, it's good to be doing something.

On the other hand, I find myself rewriting each paragraph everytime I read it. I need to focus and bang out a lot more copy before going through that process. Ah, the learning experience is in full swing!

Until next time,
~NitroDad

Transition

2008-05-23T10:23:00.001-06:00

Some people call it fate, others refer to it as destiny; I prefer to view it as God's guiding hand. Whatever your beliefs, we have all experienced times when it seems there was a reason events occured. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend two hours having coffee with a guy who helped open my eyes during my search for the ultimate end-game. Marc Warnke has been extremely successful in his life and has written a book about what he calls "ONO", or Options Not Obligations in which he hopes to teach others not how to do, but rather how to think. Check out his blog (www.marcwarnke.com/blog) for details on the book and his expert advice.

Prior to our meeting, Marc and I both had different expectations for the meeting. It had been set up through a mutual acquaintance, so Marc and I had only met briefly at a workshop. I was looking forward to meeting an author and someone who had successfully matched his personal brand to his career. Marc thought I was an entreprenuer looking for a joint venture. But as we talked, we each came away with a different experience than what we expected. While I did get some great insight into the writing and publishing world, I found the conversation encouraged me to continue reflecting on what I am trying to accomplish with my life. It gave me ideas on how I want to live my life, and how I want to be able to have -- to quote Marc -- options, not obligations.

As I've shared in other posts, I feel like I am in a transition in my life. I am too young to be having a mid-life crisis (though I do have a tremendous urge to go purchase a new 'Vette), so I prefer to believe that I've reached a fork in the road. Both paths lead to different forms of success, I just need to--if you'll allow the motorcycle analogy--point my handlebars down the path best suited to my bike's performance abilities. It looks like both roads run parallel for now, so the decision is more simple; I can just cross the median if I choose. But soon, I know that one road will turn East, the other West, and there will be no turning back.

Until then, hold on tight, there are curves ahead.

~NitroDad

What If...

2008-05-16T13:52:00.001-06:00

I've spent the last several days thinking a lot about how to best proceed as I make my attempt at becoming a world-famous author. Well, at least a published author!

The questions posed in my earlier post are challenging and have led me to wander through many paths in my dreams. Ultimately, though, I must write about what I have a passion for, and that passion fits best with an adult audience.

Without going into great detail yet, I must admit this will be a challenging subject to write about. The subject matter will very likely cause me to have nightmares (no I'm not writing a horror book -- well not a Steven King type horror book), and will probably make me question a lot of my personal beliefs.

But ultimately, that's why I want to write -- to make people think about the "what if's" that present us. My book will ultimately make people wonder what they would do if a situation presented itself, make them question the morality of mankind, make them wonder, "What if..."

Until next time,
~NitroDad

Pen to Paper (Well Keyboard to Microsoft Word)

2008-05-12T14:23:00.001-06:00

Here lies my next greatest challenge: What should I write about?

I’ve made the commitment to begin writing my first book, but what should I write about? I have several topics floating around in my mind, yet picking one seems to be challenging. The two leading topics at the top of my mind are galaxies apart, and I have a passion for both, but I can only work on one at a time. One is slightly ahead in the race to the page, but should it be held back until the next round?

Of no lesser importance, who am I targeting with my book? Should I write for kids, youth, or adults? On one hand, I’d love to be able to read my story to my kids at night. On the other, the topic leading my aforementioned race to the page is not at all appropriate for kids.

Hmmmm…..

~NitroDad

The First Step

2008-05-12T10:24:00.000-06:00

What does it take to be a writer?

It's a question I've pondered since my first stab at storytelling on an old Apple IIe back in the '80s. I had been given an assignment by my teacher -- though I can't recall exactly, I believe it would have been 5th or 6th grade -- and I was to write a story. That was it. No subject. No guidance. Simply "write a story."

So I sat down in front of the blank screen and started pecking away at the keyboard, watching the green letters flash up on the screen with every keystroke. An idea had formed in my head and my hero -- Marley Tuesday -- set upon finding his wife and son after they'd been kidnapped by some unknown menace. Where it went from there, I can't recall. But I was hooked. I loved watching my idea become transformed onto the paper.

After turning in that assignment, I found myself writing other stories. I tried various themes, different plots. Anything to download my mind onto paper. Secretly, I saw myself as the next Louis L'Amour or Franklin W. Dixon (author of the Hardy Boys series). I saw myself as...a writer.

Today, a quarter of a century later, I'm still fascinated by putting word to paper. But today, I no longer write stories about a father in search of his family. Instead, I try and convince the reader that one type of product is better than another. That one should hurry in so my company can sell you something better than the competition. Flowery prose, marketing trickery, fancy adjectives, word games, whatever it takes to get the buyer in the door.

But I want more. I crave the days when I wrote for fun, or told a story. I love telling my children stories about growing up on a farm. Or complete fantasies, such as my life as a pirate, sailing the seas in search of treasure. So what do I do? Can I become a story teller? Or will my soul continue to wander, waiting for me to take the next step?

Again, I ask: What does it take to be a writer? I don't know, but I'm going to find out. I attended a tremendous "Personal Branding" workshop last Friday by the guys at Tricycle (www.thetricycle.com). It really made me think about who I am and what I want to be when I grow up. I want to be a writer, and now is the time to start branding myself as such.

Going forward, this blog will become my personal diary, a journal of my effort to tell the world a great story. This blog will become my conscience, my publicist, my editor….and perhaps my salvation.

~NitroDad