SeanDareOnline.com

Simon Haynes, the creator of the fantastic yWriter and yBook software, has released his first novel as a free e-book download.  You can read the entire first book of the Hal Spacejock series for free by downloading it from his website.  I read the book and found it pretty entertaining.  It is a comic take on the traditional space adventure novel.  If you download it and enjoy it please tell a friend.

To get to the download page on his website you can click the link in the sidebar to the right or you can click here.

- Sean

NOTE:  I will leave this announcement post up till Sunday night.  Scroll down for my newer posts.

I consider myself a novice writer. I believe I have some God given talent, and I think I can improve to a professional level, but I am at the beginning of that process. One of the roadblocks to improvement is my inability to determine weaknesses in my own writing. I find myself re-reading, and re-writing, drafts over and over without ever feeling like the story is finished.

As with most problems there is a solution. In this case I felt the hand of God move when he had a friend of mine, Dave, tell me about a friend of his, Patty, who is starting a Christian writers group with a focus on critiquing each others work.

Check the side bar for a new poll about the iPhone. Notice the textual emoticons associated with each answer.

- Sean

Jenn and I are each getting one. ‘Nuf said.

- Sean

I have a couple of RSS feeds that I read every day. One of which is John Augusts excellent blog on screen writing. Although I don’t aspire to be a screen writer the information he relates is still pertinent. John offers excellent advice on how to build plot, develop characters and frame scenes. John also entertains questions from his readers. In a recent post John answered a question from a working screen writer about how to continually improve ones skills while being gainfully employed. The question dealt specifically with how to move from an intermediate/advanced level of screen play writing to an exceptional level. John’s advice is well grounded, and actually applies to more than just screen writers. Specifically he suggests that you take a great story and dissect it. Breaking the story down into it’s basic building blocks allows you see how the story was constructed, and in turn you will gain insight into ways you can improve your own writing skills. Think of it as reverse engineering a story.

I sometimes suffer from bouts of depression. They usually last anywhere from three to six weeks. You will notice that I have been absent from SeanDareOnline.com for a while and…well…you guessed it, I was depressed.

I sometimes wonder if I should go on some sort of happy pill. I understand that it will regulate my depression to a manageable level. On the flip side my depression comes in infrequent waves and isn’t debilitating. It feels more like I really tired and have no ambition or energy. I still make it to work but my drive to complete personal projects, like posting to my blog, seems to dry up during these times. I am curious what you my faithful readership think. Would you suggest I go on medication for depression? If so, would you recommend it to yourself if you felt like I do? I tell you it takes a lot to admit you are “broken” and that you need medical help. It isn’t as easy as it sounds.

All of this to say I am feeling better now and hope to pour out a steady stream of posts that have been bouncing around my head.

Stay tuned!

- Sean

Have you ever watched a cat toying with a mouse? Have you looked on as the cat batted the mouse around with his paws, while the mouse tries to escape every chance he gets, only to be held down by the tail and then batted around again? I can empathize with the mouse. This past weekend I felt like I was being toyed with spiritually. It all started on…

Friday

Friday my father retired after 28 years with McDonnell Douglas/Boeing, and as is the custom, there was a small retirement party held in a Boeing conference room where cake and soda were served.

Aside from the large number of Dad’s coworkers, around 40 or so, there were Dad’s two brothers, my aunt and cousin, my brother and his wife, my nephew and my mom in attendance. We were all seated in a large conference room in Boeing’s St. Charles campus where Dad’s boss and a couple of co-workers said a few words. Then, my Father stood up and spoke to the group. I have always viewed my Dad’s public speaking abilities as…er…shall we say “sub par”? So I was especially interested to see this part of the festivities.

Guys, I will tell you I was never more proud of my Dad. Not only was his speech funny and entertaining, it was peppered with references to great projects and achievements that he accomplished during his career. You had to know my Dad to know he was bragging, to an untrained ear it would have just sounded like a list of projects, but seeing Dad’s face, and seeing him command the other engineers attention, along with the response he garnered from them, told me that he was in his element. Dad was, and is, an incredible thinker and teacher. He left a mark on Boeing that will be there for some time, as well as a mark on his coworkers that they will never forget.