My Goals for June 2008

May is finally done. Since I no longer have writer's block to deal with, I think I can actually achieve my goals for June. These are:

1. Rewrite the Spanner script. This is a Script Frenzy thing, using the old month (June) as the "EdMo". The deadline is June 30. In addition to the script rewrite, I'll do the accompanying page layouts.
2. Finish the second draft of Bad Company. This is when I'll start fitting the old scenes and plotlines from the first draft back into the rewritten story alongside the new ones.
3. Complete my self-instruction course on how to draw the human figure, then begin drawing my character designs.
4. Learn how to play the guitar, learn at least a little about how to play the piano (or keyboard), and learn to read music better. This is for the "50 Songs in 90 Days" thing I'm doing in lieu of FAWM.
5. Start relearning French, German, or both.

I should have a better chance at pulling this off now that I'm able to write again. The script rewrite should be the easy part.

For Spanner, I'm doing my world building this month, especially in the first week or so. I've got a few background ideas I need to work with in order to understand the story better, mainly dealing with the social, political, and historical context. I need to fully embed this story in its context if I want it to have its full impact. Even with this understanding, though, context has never really been my strong suit. I'm going to start with the gigantic political kludge known as the Euro-American Union, particularly its origins and the conflicts that threaten to tear it apart. Future entries will focus on other subjects, including the "New Caliphate", the Asian techno-countries, and Social Darwinism.

I've already started adding new scenes to Bad Company, including the excerpts I posted last entry. I haven't actually put them in the manuscript file, but I will when I get back to it. Soon I'll post the opening chapter here in two parts.

I'm even going to edit the four chapters of Black Science I've managed to write so far, and I might even post them here too. Here's the story so far in a nutshell:

• Chapter 1: The suicide bombings by the terrorist Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus, intended to assassinate scientists for the sin of believing in the alleged heresy of evolution. The last intended target — our heroine, Dr. Willa Richter-Thomas — foils her attacker with a single well-aimed shot.
• Chapter 2: It's revealed that the murdered and injured scientists were connected with the impending debate with creationist firebrand Rev. Joseph Creel, a fiery black preacher with a reputation for ripping his evolutionist opponents to shreds. Defying pleading friends and a mentor determined to stop her, Willa agrees to debate Creel and refuses to allow anyone or anything to stop her.
• Chapter 3: The evolution/creationism debate. Willa proves such a formidable debater that she stuns everybody, including Creel himself. When she defeats him, his fundamentalist fans get into a brawl with her militant atheist supporters, and the whole thing degenerates into a riot.
• Chapter 4: The victory party for Willa, held despite the riot. She finds herself the darling of atheists and secularists far more militant than herself. However, slimy Dictel corporate lawyer Marshall Brinkman (Drusilla Becket's personal lawyer in Bad Company) crashes the party to give Willa a Faustian bargain she can't refuse. She laughs at him and refuses it. When the Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus tries to attack the party, Brinkman leaves with warnings of dire consequences.

I'll remove the dead scenes, completely rewrite the first two chapters, make chapter 3 read far more quickly and add the illustrations that Willa shows on the big projection screen, and add all the characters I need to start with and remove those I have no more use for. Then they'll be ready to post.

Since I'm both doing all the art for Spanner and designing the covers for the novels, I need to finish my drawing self-instruction and learn both graphic design and how to use The GIMP and other graphics programs. After all, I want to get Spanner #1 drawn and ready so I can post it on September 9.

I'm getting back to learning how to play the guitar because I want to be able to write songs for "50 Songs in 90 Days". Come to think of it, I'll actually post some of the songs I write right here in Spanner's World, especially those I can get Bad Company heroine Charlie to sing. I'll eventually record some of my songs myself, and I'll have them available for download somehow.

These are the major goals I've set for myself this month. This time I intend to achieve them all!

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