Ah, post number one

Well, hello there, people, and welcome to my new blog!

It is my hope that this blog may one day start to generate buzz about a novel I am about to start writing, so that if it ever comes out, I will have a couple people guaranteed to read it. So, let me enlighten you all about my vision.

My goal used to be to write a series of novels, however I came to my senses and realized one novel shall be enough for the moment. Rather than spreading my plot out over the course of the series, I plan to resolve the plot quite nicely in one, longer novel. Of course, I do have plans to write, or attempt to write several spin offs, involving different sets of characters from the main novel.

I have always loved science fiction, and especially the type of science fiction where a group is cut off from their home. It gives people a chance to grow, to change into something better- or worse, than what they were. It makes for a nice, character driven atmosphere in which to write.

I am interweaving current science and current predictions for scientific advancements to create a story that occurs roughly thirty to forty years in the future. In the novel, the very first spaceship capable of traveling faster than the speed of light (well, not technically- I do try to follow our current set of scientific laws) is preparing to go on a voyage to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri. However, a series of somewhat improbable events leads to the ship being thrown far outside our galaxy, to one of the farther clusters of stars.

In this new galaxy, the crew finds a well developed and highly sophisticated civilization, composed not of one race, but of many, many races. It's more than one hundred, definitely, but we're not talking Star Wars infinite races here. I want to keep it somewhat manageable. In this galaxy, there is a race that is very close to Humans (although there will be plenty of difference), however, unlike the majority of science fiction like this, they are not the main players of the galaxy. Rather, they are but one of perhaps five dominant races in the galaxy. They form a government that is very much like that of the United States. That is, on the whole they are a good governing body. However, upon closer inspection, they are actually crumbling away very slowly, patch jobs doing only so much to keep it together.

The crew of the ship, almost entirely scientists, are thrust into this new life, and must learn to adapt. They have to find their niche in a new galaxy. Of course, they get some help along the way, as well as suffering some setbacks.

The novel specifically addresses their adaptation to the new environment. I plan on introducing as many characters as I can without making the readers' heads explode. That way I can flesh them out over a series of follow up novels and short stories, without having to constantly introduce new major characters.

Well, how does that all sound? I have always had an idea to do a novel like this. I have written extensively in the past, but never really completing anything. I do have an unfinished novel sitting on my computer, unfinished only in the sense that I have not done the final edits. It is the entire novel. But I wasn't very happy with how it turned out. But hey, I was sixteen when I wrote it. It's been two years, but in those two years I like to think I have learned a lot about writing styles, and my own writing style.

So, a little about myself now. My name's Sean. I'm a freshman in college, but am not going there for anything to do with writing. This is strictly a hobby, something I have wanted to do my entire life. I do not ever plan on living directly off my writing, hoping instead that it supplements my salary a little, if I am lucky. I like to think that I have something of a gift with words, because it would probably be the only gift I have.

Despite the fact that I am starting a new semester at school within the week, I hope to write roughly at a rate of five thousand words per week. If not a set number, than I want to write at least several hours per week. The former strategy will have me finishing the rough copy of my novel anywhere from five to seven months, although perhaps it may take longer.

If you have any sort of suggestions, comments, anything, I would prefer a comment here, rather than risking spam and writing my email address here. But fear not, I am going to make an email address specifically for this blog. Yay for being able to have as many email addresses as you want! *cough*I have more than ten*cough*

Well, the magic begins tonight. I won't start counting words until Monday (what I consider the start of the new week), so I'm just starting to write today. Just a little writing.

Well, that's it. I have created this blog to keep an update of how I'm doing, and also to potentially get help and/or unveil parts of my story for criticism. Until then, it's time for dinner. Don't forget to add this site to your favorites!

-Sean