As I stated in my last thinking out loud post that I wrote last week, I decided that since it is not possible to create daily, or even weekly YouTube videos, I decided to start writing my book once again. Getting back into the story line was no easy task after being away from it for nearly five years. But slowly and surly, I am immersing myself into the sci-fi world that I have begun to create.
Sample image from their website
I already had over 39,000 words written, so I had a lot of material already complete and ready to work with. Having bought and downloaded the software called writeitnow 5, I have spent the last week importing my work into the software. This software package was meant to start off with rough ideas, then create a story board, outline and then the actual written text for the book. But since I had already had so much text already complete, I had to this part of the process backwards.
Sample image from their website
After importing all of my finished text, I begun the process of filling out character data into the software, as well as major events, locations and props used in the story. Also I have been reading through the story and have been developing the storyboard and outline so one, I could have an outline for the entire book, and two, to be able to spot mistakes and contradictions in the plot and etc. I have been working on this for a solid week, with the limited free time that I have, and am still not complete. I believe that I still have another three days of work to go before I am able to complete this part of the job and begin to work on the unfinished last half of the book.
Sample image from their website
Yes this is a time consuming process and really I did not have to go through the process of creating an outline for what I already have written, but I believe that this will help me as I begin to write new text and it will help me create the best story possible. As they say, hard work pays off, well it usually does anyway.
Anyway, this is all for today's blog and I need to get back to work. I need to take advantage of any and all free time that I have. Have a great day and don't forget to follow me on blogger :)
**This is not an endorsement for Writeitnow 5 and I am not being paid to promote this authoring software. I just decided to try it myself and really like it. I hope I can help others out there looking for a solution.
As I sit here at the start of a new work week, I am just wondering if I have time for anything else. So many projects, so little time to do them. I have multiple projects that I am working on at this point in time such as the YouTube videos, blogs and I am now picking back up on a book that I started writing in 2011, I am being frustrated with the lack of time to work on them all.
Early last week I received the news that the customer orders were increasing, and at the same time the corporation offered a voluntary separation package to all employees. Many took it, I did not. I just can't see taking a buy out package without having something else lined up to go to. Sure I have my projects, but they are no career path as of now. Although, I would like for them to be.
I watch famous YouTube channels that have millions of subscribers and know that I could do it too, if only I had the time. In order to be successful in YouTube, one has to make stellar video and upload everyday. Or nearly every day. Just like Casey said in one of his videos, just keep uploading.
Well, I can't do that as of now because I am currently working six days a week, not by my choice, but I will continue to make videos as often as I can. But I do have other projects that I can work on while I am at work and on my spare time at home. As I have stated a few paragraphs ago, I had started a novel in 2011 and I got just over 39,000 words into it before I had to quit. My right hand just couldn't take it anymore, so I decided to take a break and rest my hands for a while. Well that break ended up being close to five years.
Early in 2012 I received a promotion that left me with a decision to make. I had been wanting to go back to the university for years to complete my degree, so I spent the next couple of years working on and completing that. And then I felt like it was time to get married, and did that. So by this time I had pretty much forgotten about the book and picked up the video cameras to start the YouTube dream. Due to the work load at my company, making daily or even weekly videos just is not going to be possible. Enter the blogs and books.
The further I went into the book when I was writing it, the more difficult it became to keep everything straight, as far as plot lines and the technology that I am writing into the story. Another words, it was becoming messy, no matter how much I tried to organize it. So, now that I am picking it back up, I recognized that I needed something to help me organize and make sure that the story is the very best that I could make it. So I bought a software program designed for authors called Writeitnow 5. So this is where I am right now, I am loading everything that I have into the program and organizing the characters, technology, plot lines and etc. Once this is done, I will finish the outline for the rest of the book and begin writing once again.
This is seeming to be a perfect time to complete and publish a book. In 2011, it would have been much more difficult. I can now cheaply create my own book cover and have it look pretty amazing. I now have much greater writing skills now due to the rigorous university coursework. Amazon has made it too easy to self publish an eBook and they are paying up to seventy percent profit to the authors. Great deal! If anyone that reads this post has had actual experience with loading your work on Amazon, please discuss it in the comment section below. I am really interested in reading your experience with them.
This is just me thinking out loud, planning for the future. Plan to read more about my progress on the book in upcoming Thinking Out Loud posts. This is the direction that I am going and hopefully I will be finished with book one for Christmas time this year. That is my current target date. Well, speaking of the book, I better get started. Good day everyone and please discuss, follow, subscribe, etc., you know the routine :)
Ok, so this was not an exotic vacation to a tropical island, or a weekend getaway to New York City, but it was close and free. Well free to enter, the gas to get there, the food and drinks were pricey. But we were looking for something to do for the weekend, something close to us, and this is what we found. Rain was on the forecast for this weekend, and it had been raining that day, so we was not sure if we was going to get to go out to the fair or not.
I am not sure what the traditions are in countries outside the United States, but here in the states during the summer months we have fairs. First at the county level, and then at the state. These fairs started out in the USA as an agricultural event in the nineteenth century to promote agriculture in the state. These included livestock competitions and farm product displays. But as the industrial revolution took off in the USA during the twentieth century, the fairs evolved into the modern fairs that we see today, such as carnival rides and auto racing.
The Jackson County fair is located in Brownstown, Indiana and this is north-west of where I live. The drive there was pleasant with just light rain falling in various spots along the way. The drive was about forty five minutes across a freeway and winding state roads. We arrive to the fair at around 6 pm and there were already a great many people there. The auto races was already started and the rides were in full operation. We decided that we were going to eat there so we left the house hungry with plans to eat upon arrival. Once there, we were greeted with the smells of food wafting through the air and it led us to a Lutheran church food shack where we picked up some fried fish, onion rings and some fruit.
After eating and resting, we venture on to roam around the fair. We make our first pass through the midway and this is where we spot the lemonade stand. It is a tradition of mine to enjoy one of these sweet drinks at every fair I go to. Yes it is expensive and full of sugar, but hey that is what fairs are for, to enjoy unhealthy sweet and or fried things. The drink was every bit as good as I remembered, after all it has been at least eight years since I went to one of these events, and if I ever go back, I will enjoy it once again. After roaming around the premises, shooting video and pictures, dusk begins to arrive and this is when Joy spotted the Icy booth. She had been looking for this booth the entire time and I had all but given up. Right before we leave and forgot about having a snow cone, there it was. We must have passed this booth three or four times before and was too blind to see it, but when we stopped looking for it, we saw it. We enjoy these on the walk back to the car where I shoot some time-lapse and we take some more video and pictures, and then begin to leave.
As we were leaving we noticed how colorful the lights were on the rides and we decided to stay a little longer to shoot some more video of the rides at night. After driving around the parking lot, we found a front row spot that was perfect for recording the action. I am very pleased at how this video turned out and shows what an older Canon Rebel can do. I believe that it makes a higher quality video than the camcorder, and I will be upgrading at some point to the latest and greatest DSLR, and move away from a camcorder. All in all, it was a fun weekend and was happy that we went to this fair. Thank you for reading and please don't forget to SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL, and please FOLLOW me on Blogger and Google+.
I'm going to tell you, this was one busy weekend. On Saturday, we spent the day baking in the hot sun in Indianapolis. It was a lot of fun, but exhausting. And if that was not punishment enough, we travel south of where I live to Louisville, Kentucky. This would be my first trip to the bridge as it was just completed a few years ago and I work too much. So on this Sunday, July 24, 2016, we make our way to Jeffersonville Indiana to walk across the bridge into Louisville.
The Big Four was originally built in 1895 to serve as a railroad bridge, and was in operation until the 1960's when it was decommissioned. At this time, the ramps were removed and the bridge was left to waste away. In the early 1990's, plans were drawn up called the Waterfront Master Plan to develop property along the Ohio river on the Louisville side into a park with the Big Four bridge tuned into a walking bridge. Phase 1 of the project was completed in 1999 with the Big Four Lawn, and was completed with the walking bridge in Phase 3 of the project. The city is currently working on Phase 4, which is expanding the park along the Ohio on the Louisville side.
So we wait until late afternoon to travel to Jeffersonville because it was so incredibly hot on that day. We left our house at around 4 pm and arrive on the Jeffersonville's side of the bridge at 5 pm. It was still way too hot to take a 2 mile round trip by foot, so we decided to rest at the park. As you can see in the video, the park has a nice setup with picnic tables being placed under a large canopy that provides lots of shade. We stayed here for about one hour where I took the time-lapse and we ventured on into Louisville.
The view from the bridge is spectacular, even though there is still much construction taking place. The development going on in this area is the most I have seen in my lifetime. I have been to other countries that have more development projects taking place, such as the building taking place in Manila, Philippines, but still the infrastructure projects currently taking place is amazing. It gives me great hope for the future of the region.
As we make our way from the Jeffersonville, IN side, we stop many times along the way to take in the scenery. The views of the new Lincoln Memorial bridge and the views of the river were breathtaking, as you can see in the video. The project designers for the bridge smartly placed park benches along the sides of the walking path so people can stop to rest and take in the views. These spots were where we shot most of our pictures and video. One could spend an entire day just sitting there, looking out.
We make it to the Louisville side of the bridge and the design of the ramp is an engineering feet. It is an elliptical spiral ramp that connects perfectly to the bridge. At first glance, one would think that it would take forever to make it from the top of the ramp to the bottom, but we quickly traverse it, stopping to take pictures along the way.
Waterfront Park is a large area along the Ohio River and one of the features of the park is a water park, and as you can see in the video, it is a large Waterpark for kids to play in. There are picnic tables placed around it, and just sitting close to the Waterpark, one can feel the coolness of the water. Since we were overheated from the walk, we decided to spend some time there to cool off and relax. After about a half-hour of rest, we move on through the park to find an unoccupied swinging chair, where we spend another half-hour or so just resting and watching the river. This is where I shoot many of the pictures featured in the video.
After spending some time in Waterfront Park, we make our way back to the Indiana side of the walking bridge. Again we stop many times along the way to take pictures and video, and also to enjoy the breeze that flows along the river. We stay on the bridge until the sun started to set on the horizon, which cast a lovely shade of orange across the Lincoln Memorial Bridge, and start walking down the ramp in Jeffersonville. We stop to take more pictures and video of the park on this side of the bride and make our way to our car right at dusk.
As we were leaving, the lights on the bridge came on and this is a beautiful display of colors. I do regret not staying there just a little longer to take some pictures of the lights, but there is always a next time. Thank you for reading and have a great day.
As I have stated in my previous blog, I did not think that we would be traveling back to Indianapolis anytime soon. So when I was told by Joy that she would like to travel there this weekend I immediately went to VisitIndy for ideas on where to travel to in the city. The canal was on our list as the number one activity to accomplish on that day and it was obvious what to visit next, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Ok, so I am just going to say it. I have viewed this monument on TV many times watching football games and such. The networks love filming this from the blimp, and for good reason. The city is beautiful, especially at night from the air with the monument as its center piece. So it was time to inspect it for myself and to see what this tower thingy that I see on TV was all about.
After the canal, we start to make our way to the monument and knowing that it was going to be a long walk, we smartly enter the JW Marriott and make our way through the sky walks. See, it was extremely hot and sunny that day, and after paddle boating for an hour we were already feeling exhausted and overheated. The idea of feeling some cool air and grabbing a cold drink was really appealing. So we enter the JW and make our way up the escalator to the second level where the restrooms were and the entry to the sky walks were, and this is where I became somewhat mad at myself. See, I had been talking into my Fujifilm Finepix camera for quite some time and I had what I felt was really good dialog and footage, which is somewhat of a rarity. It is impossible to tell what this camera is doing when using it because it has a fixed screen on the back, meaning I cannot rotate the screen around to see what the camera is seeing and doing, and there are no indicator lights on the front to tell the operator that it is recording. Hanging this camera several feet out in front of me on a selfie stick made it impossible to quickly turn the camera around to see if everything was going as intended. Well, somewhere along the line I did not press the record button correctly, so when I thought I was turning it on, I was actually turning it off and vice versa. So instead of capturing all of my dialog while I was traversing from the canal and to the sky bridge, I was capturing the times that I was just walking with the camera swinging around upside down hanging on the end of a selfie stick. I had one time, one chance to get the job done right, I failed. So sad :(
When I discovered that I did not capture any of the intended footage, and I got over my initial rage, I switched to the camcorder so I can at least see what the camera is doing due to the fact that it has an adjustable view screen. Through experience, I am discovering why the big time vloggers on YouTube are using high end DSLR cameras and GoPro's. At the time when I was buying my Canons, none of these guys were known on YouTube yet and I could not yet learn from them. Just thinking of it, my original start date on making YouTube content was 2012, maybe I could have been one of those people already. I do not really like using my camcorder because I have to hold it out so far from my face. It does have a really nice video and audio capture, but unless I have it fully extended out on the stick, my face is just comically close in the video. I cannot use the Canon Rebel T2i because of the fixed screen and I don't think that it would stay in focus as I moved around. The newer versions of this would have no problems with this kind of work, but this version is not designed for that. It is much better at taking stills and video while sitting on a tripod. But on this day, from then on, I used the camcorder and it performed flawlessly.
We made our way thru the sky bridge, convention center, more sky walks, thru the Circle Centre Mall and on out to the street. Ok Indy, this is where I am disappointing in you. I know you can do better than this. As soon as we left the mall and started walking on the sidewalk to reach our destination, we were met by the bums and beggars. The cardboard sign brigade was out in force and a few of them yelled things at us. We completely ignored them and walked quickly, and yes I was feeling a bit nervous about having all of this expensive camera gear on me at this point. It was the first time I felt uncomfortable having my gear on me and out for all to see. I'm not a completely heartless person, and for those who are truly unfortunate and downtrodden I feel for. But most of these people that we ran into are probably not homeless and if they were, they got there through the use of drugs and bad decision making. I've seen the true homeless and downtrodden, and these people were not it.
Anyway, we arrived at the monument, and it did not disappoint! Such a beautiful area and there are so many features to view on and around the monument. As you can see in the video, there are pools and fountains on two sides of it. There are also many statues depicting the various wars our soldiers and sailors have fought in. I am not going to go into detail about all of the features of the monument, you can see those in the video and if you are close by, you can inspect it for yourself as I highly recommend you do! In closing, I would have to say that this was a perfect day for exploring a city, as was the entire weekend. Thank you for reading and please SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL and follow me on blogger!
