R.F. Gammon Author: October 2019

KNOW THE NOVEL PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

by R.F. Gammon - October 23, 2019

WATCHING//A Flash Fiction Piece by Moi

by R.F. Gammon - October 16, 2019

Hello, everyone! Another week is here, and today I wanted to bless you all with a flash fiction story by me! I submitted it to Havok last month, but it wasn't accepted, so since I still really liked it I'm going to publish it here on The Writer's Song!

Note: This story IS based on a song from the 1980s! If you can guess the song, I don't have a prize for you, haha, but I will give you a virtual high-five and some virtual pizza xD So here it is!

~~~~

Outside the window, a bomb exploded.

This was the only way it could possibly have ended, but at the same time, I found myself wishing for something more. Something better. Something that would have made the effort worthy. An end to justify the means.

We’d burned the planet down, but with time, I could have helped it heal.

“Sir, we don’t have much time.”

The walls of the fortress trembled. My legs rocked beneath me as I turned to see my councilor. He looked at the floor, his military uniform adorned with a dozen medals for his service. Meaningless now.

The window shattered and glass rained down on us. People in the back of the room screamed and ran; I stood motionless.

Rain, one of the women in the room, sank to her knees in despair. I let her. I might be a dictator, and this world might have been formed under my perfect hand, but this was a bit of an emergency.

The rebels, weary of our constant surveillance, had finally gathered enough of a force to attack us. My army fought back, but there was little we could do against the massive weapons of the neighboring nations.

I’d once thought that if I were to be faced with the destruction of everything I’d tried to build, especially so close to the goal, I would mourn. But I didn’t. A strange sense of peace settled over me.

“Rain,” I said, my voice gentle. “I am different from the other men who have seized power, and I would thank you to remember why.”

She looked up at me and sniffled. Another explosion rocked the walls of the building. “Hitler, Napoleon, Julius Caesar…think, what do they have in common? They had a vision. They had a goal. But they made a fatal error, and that was to believe they would rule forever. No man can rule forever.”

I turned away from the window, back towards the other side of the control room, lit by dim electric light. Urban legend said I was a vampire, but I preferred darkness simply because it was easier on the eyes.

“The surveillance machines have been operational for years now. They operate with no maintenance; surely you all know this. We can sleep and they will still keep going. The question…” Something boomed below us, down on the first floor of the building. Behind me, someone screamed, and Rain covered her face with her hands.

I stopped talking. None of them were prepared to listen. Not that it truly mattered; I knew from the beginning this could not last.

That was why the emergency switch existed.

Leaving them to scramble around on the computers, I walked into the backroom, letting the heavy door fall shut behind me. The thundering bombs, falling on the capital, muffled the sound.

In the middle of this room—so dark, lit only by the pale green light from the windows—stood the largest mainframe in my arsenal. The one built specially by my engineers, allowing our surveillance to be all-powerful.

I walked to it, letting my fingers skim over the controls. If only the world had been able to understand. This could all have been avoided if only they’d allowed themselves to see that I was helping. People needed to know the truth about each other and those they trusted. To show them that—it was all I ever meant to do.

Fear was just an unfortunate tool. Not one I wanted to employ, but a tool nonetheless. A gun clicked behind me. I chuckled but didn’t turn.

“What is that thing?” Rain’s voice was suddenly strong. “What are you going to do with it? You were about to explain.”

“Yes, but you weren’t interested, my dear.” I sighed. This wasn’t something I could deal with right now. I simply had to put my DNA into the mainframe and the last-ditch effort would be realized. My safety net.

I could die, but my memory never would.

“Tell me the truth!”

I turned around to see her pale face glowing in the sickly green light, her fingers tight around the pistol. She trembled as she pointed the gun, and yet...there was resolve in that face. I could admire that.

“You have such courage.” I sighed. “But then, the videos have already told us that.” I turned to the mainframe again, letting my hand slip once again down the controls.

“I might just arrest you and let you stand trial,” she said, her voice shaking. “You don’t have to die.”

“Yes, darling, I do.”

My finger slid into the only important slot, the one that only my touch could activate. The mainframe booted up and began to hum, flashing a single word across its one interface:

Uploading.

They would never forget me, even if I did not survive.

“What’s that?” Rain’s gun moved from the mainframe to me and back again.

“It contains every bit of data we’ve ever collected. Every cry of a baby. Every death. Every moment of intimacy. Every little thing that no one ever knew we were watching. And I’ve just released it to the public so all it will take is a quick search to find out everything there is to know about anyone.” I smiled. “Many have tried. But no one will be remembered as long as me. Because there are no more secrets.”

Rain cried out and shot me in the chest.

Pain spread through me, but as I fell, calm washed through me, along with true peace for the first time in years.

No one need ever regret this but me, and I had done what the people needed. After all, what was a world without trust?

If only I’d had longer. After all…I’d almost made it.

7 comments

How To Win NaNoWriMo: MY GAME PLAN (may include satire, be warned)

by R.F. Gammon - October 09, 2019

THAT TIME OF YEAR IS UPON US. NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, the time of year when writers lose their minds and hundreds of thousands of words are written in a single month across the globe. It's an amazing event, and one I always look forward to.

This will be my fifth time participating in the November event (I've done a number of Camps but I'm not counting those), and my third time going for the full 50k (the first two times, I was a kid so I used the kids' program and got a smaller goal. 25k the first year, 30k the second year.) I'm actually going to attempt a double NaNo, 100k, which is probably insane and I'll probably die.

I don't want to die, and I don't want you to die either, if you're attempting NaNo, so...Here is a list from a veteran of WAYS TO SURVIVE NaNO!!!!!!!!!!

Don't: GIVE UP YOUR ENTIRE LIFE FOR WRITING

This is a mistake that a lot of us fall into. We want to write, so we decide to throw everything else we're doing to the wind. Nothing matters besides typing, clacking, slamming out those 50,000 words. Everything is amazing.

That's not how it works.

Things like keeping up with the laundry, doing the dishes after every meal, and going out to get dinner every week are the sort of thing you can allow to slide off the priority list. Taking a blogging hiatus? Do it if you think it'll help! (More on that later.) But throwing off all relationships, priorities, and everything else is a BAD idea. You still have a life, even if you're a writer on a deadline. This reminder goes to me, too. So we all need to remember that.

Hack: SET APART A COUPLE OF DAYS WITH BIG GOALS!

There's this thing called #10k1Day (also comes in the slightly less daunting flavor of #5k1day), where you set apart one day to write as much as you possibly can, with a goal of getting 5,000 or 10,000 words in one go. These can be really helpful for upping your word count quickly.

My plan is to pick a couple of days when I won't have to work or go to church, get all my schoolwork done on the day before, and write as much as is physically possible for me. I'm thinking one of those days, I might even attempt a 20k1day, which is probably the last thing I'll ever do, but we'll see.

It's always a good idea to schedule these in advance, as soon as you've got a schedule that you know for a fact will exist. One tip I'd extend is: try to stagger them out a bit. Do a couple of big ones at the BEGINNING of November, when you're still excited about this project and the writing is exciting and doesn't feel like drudgery. However, it's not a bad idea to schedule a couple of big writing days toward the end of the month, so you get that big writing push to finish strong.

Hack: DECIDE AHEAD OF TIME HOW YOU PLAN TO HANDLE BLOGGING. MAKE A PLAN!

I'm a blogger as well as an author. I know a lot of y'all are, too. So obviously figuring out how to fit blogging into this crazy writing month can be a bit of a struggle.

I'd say there are three options when it comes to blogging over NaNoWriMo, which are:

>Take a hiatus and don't post at all. (Definitely the easiest way to do it, and not a bad idea at all.)

>Schedule out your posts in advance so they're written and still posting, but you don't have to make time to write them. (Probably what I'm going to do this year.)

>Or, pull a Christine and put out insane update posts every week that could probably add 25k to your total word count by the end of the month. (This is definitely a cool way to keep your readers in the loop, but honestly I'm not sure how Christine is still alive.)

My plan is to do a combination of the last two options this year. I'm going to write some "regularly scheduled" posts, but only two of them, and the other two November posts will be writing updates shrieking about my novel and my progress. There will likely be a handful of snippets! There will be aesthetics! It'll be a nice break!

Whatever method you choose, the most important thing about blogging in November is this: make a plan, and stick to it.

Hack: PICK A PROJECT YOU'RE GENUINELY PASSIONATE ABOUT

This isn't the time for exploration writing. This isn't the time to pick a vague back of your mind idea and go with that. You need something that burns you with passion, a project where the characters and premise intrigue you and keep you up at night, a story you love and having a burning need to tell the world about.

My project for NaNoWriMo this year is....*deep breath* *screams* PENTEGREENS BOOK 4!!!!! (title under wraps because #Spoilers). I've been slaving away at this series for years now, and I'm finally, finally, FINALLY going to be writing the last book. That's surreal, you guys. It's not even possible. How am I finally wrapping up this epic? How am I supposed to put the last book of the story of my heart out on the page? I don't know, but I see no better time to do it than this November.

So choose a story that pricks you with fascination, one that you love and know you can keep loving even when it gets tedious and you don't know how to keep on. Pick a story that reminds you of why you write.

Hack: HAVE ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERS

On Goodreads, there's a group called Year-Long NaNo where the members can keep each other updated on their word counts, goals, and other such things. This is a really great idea and it definitely helps to have someone to yell at you if you're getting behind on your goal.

My best friend Nicki Chapelway and I, for the months of September and October, have been trying to duel to write the third books in our series. We're holding each other accountable for getting them written, but we're also forcing ourselves to write faster, write more, and stay on track. I also have one of my lovely alpha readers, Lila Kims, reading my book in sections, and ensuring that I keep ahead of where she's reading and have new sections to send her is also helping me write fast so I can finish my goal.

Whether it's a group, a single accountability partner, or daily updates on your Instagram stories, find a way to get people to encourage you in your journey. You CAN write on your own, but where's the fun in that? Get your friends to help you out--and help them, too!

Don't: SPEND ALL YOUR TIME MAKING AESTHETICS/PLAYLISTS

My plan for the month of November is to ban myself entirely from Pinterest. I spend far too much time over there, and I need to be focused. If I'm not spending time on Pinterest, I'll have more writing time.

However, I also plan to use October to make a healthy serving of aesthetics for my book, my characters, and my storyworld, and then save those to my computer so that if I need inspiration, I can scroll through and remember why I love this series. I've also made all my playlists in advance, and I'm going to spend October padding them out and making them longer so that I don't have to spend all my time looking for new music when I get bored.

Aesthetics are helpful tools, but they're also time wasters. Plan accordingly and give yourself the tools you need to succeed, without giving yourself the chance to get sucked into the infinite black hole of Pinterest or Spotify.

Don't: IDOLIZE YOUR GOAL

This is so important. Sometimes, we can't win. Things pop up in life that we weren't planning on. The story is a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. The story ends 45k in and we don't know what to do after that. Your school piles up. Work suddenly puts you on overtime. You get sick.

If you CAN keep writing, do. Don't just give up. But if you CAN'T write anymore, if you CANNOT do it, do not let your goals make you a miserable human. You're still a beautiful, worthy writer, and the words you've gotten out are still valuable and precious. It's okay if you can't win. I've had to quit a number of Camps, and I barely thought I was going to finish my goal in November 2018.

Your worth is not tied to hitting 50k. Have fun, do your best, but don't despair if you don't win NaNo. Hitting 50k is not the only way to win. You still wrote words. And I know that feels empty at first, but as someone who's had to quit four separate times, I understand. And I'm telling you right now: It's okay. It's tough. But it's gonna be okay.

Your words still matter. And you wrote them.

And there you have it: Faith's Guide to Surviving and Thriving in NaNoWriMo! I hope this was helpful and you'll have something to take away from it xD

Are you doing NaNo this year? What's your best survival tip, if you've done it before? Chat with me in the comments! I want to hear allll about your November plans!

32 comments

ANOTHER Havok Publication: The Quintessential Assassin Story

by R.F. Gammon - October 03, 2019

13 comments

KNOW THE NOVEL PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

PENTEGREENS BOOK FOOOOUUUUUURRRRRRR

1. What first sparked the idea for this novel?

2. Share a blurb!

3. Where does the story take place? What are some of your favorite aspects about the setting?

4. Tell us about your protagonist(s).

5. Who (or what) is the antagonist?

6. What excites you the most about this novel?

7. Is this going to be a series? standalone? something else?

8. Are you plotting? pantsing? plansting?

9. Name a few things that makes this story unique.

10. Share a fun “extra” of the story (a song or full playlist, some aesthetics, a collage, a Pinterest board, a map you’ve made, a special theme you’re going to incorporate, ANYTHING you want to share!).

WATCHING//A Flash Fiction Piece by Moi

How To Win NaNoWriMo: MY GAME PLAN (may include satire, be warned)

Don't: GIVE UP YOUR ENTIRE LIFE FOR WRITING

Hack: SET APART A COUPLE OF DAYS WITH BIG GOALS!

Hack: DECIDE AHEAD OF TIME HOW YOU PLAN TO HANDLE BLOGGING. MAKE A PLAN!

Hack: PICK A PROJECT YOU'RE GENUINELY PASSIONATE ABOUT

Hack: HAVE ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERS

Don't: SPEND ALL YOUR TIME MAKING AESTHETICS/PLAYLISTS

Don't: IDOLIZE YOUR GOAL

ANOTHER Havok Publication: The Quintessential Assassin Story

READ IT HERE!!!!!!!

About Me!

Follow Me!

STALK ME

Grab My Button

Popular Posts

Blog Archive

Contact me!

Report Abuse