One thing that Capsule has me doing is looking into where technology is going in order to create a somewhat believable world set in the 2070s.  In some ways there’s no getting this wrong, in others there’s no way of getting this right.  The farther out you try to project technology, the more likely you are to be just completely dead wrong.  Just look at the original Star Trek as the classic example, where everything except warp drive has pretty much been invented by now, a good two centuries early.

So in order to explore my thought process, and to provide myself more things to talk about here, I’m going to occasionally give a glimpse at the real technology that is moving towards the technology of Capsule.

In part, this was motivate by something that Microsoft unveiled, as reported by Engadget and Gizmodo, the ability to create computer input through tapping different parts of your arm.  In Capsule, I’ve got The Wrap, a piece of technology that was originally based on a Nokia phone concept design called Morph, though more of a full fledged computer like we would imagine available in a laptop, rather than just a phone and personal organizer.  As of today the Morph is still a CGI concept, but the Skinput idea is actually a physical product, requiring just a sophisticated wristband to project images and detect where someone has tapped their arm.  It’s not really a useful thing in it’s current form, but it’s an interesting step towards the ability to integrate computation more thoroughly with the human body.

Hasn’t been much said in here of late, cause there’s been very little to say.  I’ve entered 2010 with a rather protracted illness that, while not dire or anything, has somewhat sapped any interest I have in writing for the time being.  It’s going to be a slow road to recovery, which will either happen with plenty of time and medicine or with a potential surgery, depending on what is determined to be the exact cause of the condition.  Honestly, I’m hoping for the latter, as it would probably be a more immediate recovery.  That’s just the kind of thing it’s been, I’d rather just get it all over with even if it means an invasive procedure rather than put up with it for another couple of months.

So hopefully I’ll be back on pace soon, I’ve been turning over some ideas for getting Capsule restarted (including even a shift in POV for part two of the novel), but it’s likely still going to be a week or three before I really feel up to writing.

There’s always that question about what winning Nanowrimo actually is.  I hit 50,000 words, and that’s what they define as victory, so I suppose I won.  However, I realized near the end of the month that Capsule had only reached the end of Act One, and it really was a proper three act story with three clear climaxes.  I didn’t know I could write those.  So the final length will probably be in the 90,000-120,000 word range, with me shooting towards the lower end, cause that’s what gets published for first time novelists.

So here’s the plan going forward:

December I’m going to do all the writing I can, but between moving the last week of the month and a big photo scanning project with a Christmas deadline, that might not be much.  I’ll be thrilled if I can add 10,000 words to the manuscript by the end of the month.

January I’m going to pick back up.  With my current estimate, that should leave me needing 30,000-60,000 words to finish the draft.  I’d love to get that done in one month, but I’m going to give myself a reasonable deadline of February 15th.

Then I’m going to sit down and do an honest assessment between Capsule and Conqueror Worm, and decide which needs less work to get into a position where I can shop it around.  Once I’ve decided, I’m going to start a chapter-a-week program to get it ready to go.  That will take several months, but once I’m about 2/3 through, I might start actually (gasp) sending query letters off to find a literary agent.

I know.

So there’s the plan.  It’s nearly New Years, a good time for resolutions, and for realizing that I said similar things about last year.  I don’t know how I’m going to do better this year, other than really hoping and trying.  And hopefully engaging some ass kickers to help me out.

I know it’s not quite nanowrimo yet, but I was hoping to make Capsule something more than just a nanowrimo project.  Therefore…it has begun.  The first draft of chapter one is written, comes in at just over 3300 words, and I’m going to get started on chapter two today.  Everything feels so much better than the last time around.  The world, the characters, the plot, everything has come together quite a bit more than when I tried to write the novel this time last year.

I don’t know why I’m reminding the void, but maybe one day when people discover this blog they’ll read back and discover they’re far too late to sign up for Capclave 2009, which is next weekend.  Online registration is available through this weekend, same price as at the door, that’s $60/person for procrastinators like me.  I think this year I’ll just do the advance registration for next year at the event which is something ridiculous like half price.