Workspace

By: Kenneth Brown
Published: 12/20/2020

Author Workspace

Time is flying through the Christmas season this year. It seems I'm busy all the time despite the fact we aren't going anywhere or meeting up with friends or family members. The pandemic has made the holidays anticlimatic. I have wrapped all the presents. Well, to be honest, my wife wraps all of them and I just wrap hers. But they're completely wrapped and under the tree.

My Writing Desk and Computer

I thought you might be interested in seeing where I do all my writing. I have the computer on the desk, a computer I built a number of years ago. It's an old, clunky pig of a machine these days, but still quite adequate for my writing needs. I have two monitors. Why does a writer need two monitors, you ask? I place my current manuscript on the monitor on the left and then the copy of the manuscript my editor sends back on the right monitor. Then I go through her comments and corrections and make the corrections on my current working copy. I can't imagine trying to do that all on one monitor. Though I would if needed.

Creating a New Story
As I'm creating a new story, I'll have all my notes on simple Notepad text files on the right hand screen and then writing the manuscript on the left screen. I might have an Excel sheet opened with character details, specific scene notes, images of what the characters are wearing or what they look like and a sheet dedicated to the story outline. For me the outline is key and I hope to write an article or even some day a How to Create an Outline non-fiction book on my methodology.

There's a printer on the desk to my right, which isn't used too much when I'm writing. On the top shelf you can see a row of books. You'll find reference books on writing, programming, marketing and spiritual direction. Some of my most used books these days are books on grammar and using the right word for the task.

Current Work in Progress
As I said in the last blogpost, Zita's Revenge is in the hands of an editor, and also a beta reader. The beta reader is almost complete, and found way too many logic errors. I'm happy she helped. The editor is finding a ton of places where I can use stronger words to help make the story come alive when you read it. Trust me the story will be better for their input.

I'm also editing the prequel to the series, which details the life of King Haskell, long before the teenagers from Earth ruined his plans. This is still early in the process, though I hope to make it available to readers before March 2021.

The Chicago weather might deliver some snow to us the day before Christmas, that'll be fun.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Cheers. Kenneth Brown, Author