Alright, I wasn't going to, but I'm posting the prologue to the book I started writing for my new writing group. This is unrevised (so it still says vampires, but it will say something else like Ghost, or banshee, or mermaid. IDK, it'll be changed. this scene's overt antagonist is an impossible monster, that's the important take away.)
amn the Writers. Monsters weren't real, this was just a sick twist
in his script. The lights flickered and went out, thankfully he'd come
prepared. It was really the only weapon against the Writers. When the
started to mess with you're story you could only try to prepare for
the inevitable, with luck you come out the hero, the alternative is
usually death. Ben was usually the plucky sidekick. He should be on
the phone while one of his friends guided him through the dark factory
with blood splattered walls. “What did I do? What did I do? What did I
do?” the phrase came unbidden from his thoughts to his mouth, as
little more than a squeak. Why were the Writers putting him in this
situation. There was no such things as monsters. All the same he
adjusted his grip on his wooden spike. The script said he had to kill
a vampire. But there were no vampires, vampires were a cliché, writers
avoided them because their lives depended on it. Why would they
reintroduce them now, after fifty years of avoidance?
Ben's flashlight followed a smear of blood on the wall down to the
floor.
“Oh God. Oh God he's dead. Oh God.” his stomach heaved as it had so
many times since entering the warehouse, and he dry heaved eyes
clenched tight against the horror. This morning he was just an
accountant. His stories hadn't been interesting, not really. His
family always warned him about that. “Ben don't be an accountant”
they'd say, “you know what's interesting about accountants? The way
they die. If you HAVE to be an accountant, be one that travels the
world seeks out adventure. Be one that writes his own story. Make as
little work for the Writers as possible.”
He hadn't listened. He just wanted a comfortable life. Wasn't that
the point of all the stories? Wasn't it all about the resolution
toward peace? Defeating evil and retiring into mediocrity? He'd
achieved that he just skipped the evil step. He avoided evil. But he'd
found the mediocrity and it made him happy. He had a wife a house and
2 kids. He had a dog named spot and a picket fence. He had a cat named
fluffy. He had the dream. Why did the Writers need to take that away.
Carefully avoiding looking at the mutilated body on the floor, Ben
walked deeper into to building. Find the vampire. Kill the vampire.
Maybe they'd let him have his peace then. He would have earned it. He
wasn't fit for this. Vampire! There were no such thing. What did the
writers want then? Did they want him to kill someone dressed as a
vampire. Could he? If it meant his peace, could he kill a normal man,
just following his own script? Damn the writers!
Ben's breath rang loudly in his ears, only the reluctant dragging of
his feet, and the throbbing of his heart were more pronounced. If
there were vampires, maybe that's what they'd hear too. The fear in
his footsteps, the edge in his breath, the panic being pumped through
his veins. He couldn't help but imagine shadows moving in closer,
surrounding him. Why am I doing this? What can they do to me that
worse than this? His steps faltered. Could they do worse than this?
Nobody was going to let him stab them with a steak. And he was hardly
an athlete. Without extraordinary luck he'd die tonight anyway.
He knew why. It wasn't because he was an accountant. Not really. It
was his own fault. He'd cheated on his wife, and worse he hadn't told
his listener. They said it wasn't in his character, which meant he'd
lied about other things. He'd wanted so badly to have that perfect
life that even a fake was better than nothing.
Maybe he did deserve this fate, but that didn't mean he had to accept
it.
“I'm going home. Do you hear me? I'm going home to tell my wife I'm
sorry and I love her. I'm not going to try to kill you, so you have no
reason to kill me. Let's just... Let's just all go home. I'll call the
cops about the body, they'll clean it up. Let's just go home.”
There was no concession, but then, there was no refusal or attack
either. Maybe they didn't want to kill him. Maybe they were afraid for
their own life. Slowly, Ben turned and began to take slow steps toward
the warehouse entrance, stake held tight, ready to defend himself if
he really needed to. Nothing moved. His hopes raised, and with it his
fear of hope being dashed. His slow creep became a walk, soon he was
jogging down the corridor. He could see light shining in through the
newspaper covered windows.
“Your life has been promised to me”
The disembodied voice come from all directions and stopped Ben cold.
Where was he? He searched wildly with his flash light, left right,
before and behind. Everywhere was empty. He began to creep forward
again. He was only 10 yards from the door. “please, I'm sorry. I don't
want to do this. I don't want to die!” Ben realized how helpless he
looked. He knew there was no such thing as vampires, but he couldn't
help feeling like he was looking like lunch. He straightened himself
and raised his stake. “I will defend myself if you attack me! Why
don't we both just go home to our families?” It was quiet and he was
so close to the doors. All the while his flashlight searched. No
sound, no movement. Left, right, before and behind.
And Above. Always look above, vampires hang from ceilings. It seemed
so obvious now. Now, Now that the room was spinning. Now that
consciousness was fading. It seemed so obvious, with the vampire's arm
around his throat, neck pierced and bleeding. “Damn the writers.”
Sunday, May 20, 2012
That old dusty trail
Alright, it's been more than a week since I last wrote, which I didn't want to happen, even if my excuse is that working 60 hours a week with 4-6 hours of sleep a night is exhausting. Even so, I've neglected my blog.
What can I share today? Well, I just got home from my writing group a little while ago, so I should have some, sadly... we're not as productive as I'd like. November is a productive month for us, and March had a slight increase, but on the whole, it's more of a "hang out with like-minded people and get creative juices moving" group, than a writing group. Even during NaNoWriMo, we didn't do much sharing of our writing. I might try to get the group there more interested in actually writing and sharing, and growing, as a group.
It may be that the group majority isn't interested (or at least serious) about getting published, and getting to the point where their creations can support them financially. That is my goal. I want (and believe I can attain) a sustainable income as an author. I've no doubt that it'll be difficult, but it's my goal. I've heard great things about having a strong writing group. I think there's the potential for that with the group I'm in, but I think we need to decided whether or not we want to reach for that. We have a diverse group, and I think that diversity could add a lot to our critiques. If you're in A Ream of Writers, and you're interested in focusing the group back on the writing and growing aspects of the group, hit me up and let's see what we can come up with.
In the mean time, I've joined an online writing group in the attempt to get some feed back. It doesn't provide quite the incentive to write as A Ream of Writers does (during Nov. anyway), but I think there's excellent potential for honing my craft, and helping others hone theirs.
As far as the writing goes, I've written a prologue for a new story, as my first submission to my new writing group. I used a fake vampire (Shampire! oh that's fun! :-P) as the antagonist. I want some uncertainty in the prologue about the existence of monsters. The character is killed at the end of the prologue, ostensibly by the monster. The problem is, that vampires really ARE over used. And the book isn't about vampires, and vampires are in fact fake in the book. Thankfully my group pointed it out to me, and I can change it to a sham-monster of a different variety.
I also realized that part of my difficulty with revising Wielding the Locket, is that I haven't finished it. There's a few things I need to do to finish. Firstly, I need solidify some of the back-stories and world rules enough that I can find the best ending. and secondly I need to just start writing it. I wrote a pseudo-ending back in December so I could share it, but it was too early for that scene, and that scene wasn't meant to be the ending.
Alright, one more thing I've learned about the Writing (or at least about it's peripheries ((peripheries was apparently not a word I learned to spell recently... thank you spellcheck)). I need a website. If I do get published, a website could be very useful for collecting and keeping readers. But even before that, a website would show publishers, editors, and agents that I'm serious about my work, and would give them a taste of who I am and what I do. So my goal for this summer is to set one up. I'll share that on here when it's ready.
Okay, I have to go critique 4 more 1k submissions for my writing group, I need to write a little of WtL. and I need to go to bed.
Random thing of note for the week: Something unexpected, but not wholly surprising, has been happening; I'm getting better at spelling. I've always been pretty bad at spelling, but I hate the red lines under my words, so I often correct it manually until I find the right spelling, and lately I've been getting fewer of those.
Also, I realize that I sometimes don't make sense, I tend to blame dyslexia (self diagnosed), but it's also fatigue that both causes it and keep me from reading and editing these. I'll start doing that in a week or two when I've caught up a little on sleep.
What can I share today? Well, I just got home from my writing group a little while ago, so I should have some, sadly... we're not as productive as I'd like. November is a productive month for us, and March had a slight increase, but on the whole, it's more of a "hang out with like-minded people and get creative juices moving" group, than a writing group. Even during NaNoWriMo, we didn't do much sharing of our writing. I might try to get the group there more interested in actually writing and sharing, and growing, as a group.
It may be that the group majority isn't interested (or at least serious) about getting published, and getting to the point where their creations can support them financially. That is my goal. I want (and believe I can attain) a sustainable income as an author. I've no doubt that it'll be difficult, but it's my goal. I've heard great things about having a strong writing group. I think there's the potential for that with the group I'm in, but I think we need to decided whether or not we want to reach for that. We have a diverse group, and I think that diversity could add a lot to our critiques. If you're in A Ream of Writers, and you're interested in focusing the group back on the writing and growing aspects of the group, hit me up and let's see what we can come up with.
In the mean time, I've joined an online writing group in the attempt to get some feed back. It doesn't provide quite the incentive to write as A Ream of Writers does (during Nov. anyway), but I think there's excellent potential for honing my craft, and helping others hone theirs.
As far as the writing goes, I've written a prologue for a new story, as my first submission to my new writing group. I used a fake vampire (Shampire! oh that's fun! :-P) as the antagonist. I want some uncertainty in the prologue about the existence of monsters. The character is killed at the end of the prologue, ostensibly by the monster. The problem is, that vampires really ARE over used. And the book isn't about vampires, and vampires are in fact fake in the book. Thankfully my group pointed it out to me, and I can change it to a sham-monster of a different variety.
I also realized that part of my difficulty with revising Wielding the Locket, is that I haven't finished it. There's a few things I need to do to finish. Firstly, I need solidify some of the back-stories and world rules enough that I can find the best ending. and secondly I need to just start writing it. I wrote a pseudo-ending back in December so I could share it, but it was too early for that scene, and that scene wasn't meant to be the ending.
Alright, one more thing I've learned about the Writing (or at least about it's peripheries ((peripheries was apparently not a word I learned to spell recently... thank you spellcheck)). I need a website. If I do get published, a website could be very useful for collecting and keeping readers. But even before that, a website would show publishers, editors, and agents that I'm serious about my work, and would give them a taste of who I am and what I do. So my goal for this summer is to set one up. I'll share that on here when it's ready.
Okay, I have to go critique 4 more 1k submissions for my writing group, I need to write a little of WtL. and I need to go to bed.
Random thing of note for the week: Something unexpected, but not wholly surprising, has been happening; I'm getting better at spelling. I've always been pretty bad at spelling, but I hate the red lines under my words, so I often correct it manually until I find the right spelling, and lately I've been getting fewer of those.
Also, I realize that I sometimes don't make sense, I tend to blame dyslexia (self diagnosed), but it's also fatigue that both causes it and keep me from reading and editing these. I'll start doing that in a week or two when I've caught up a little on sleep.
Friday, May 11, 2012
First breath in days.
I've got a solution to my afore mentioned problem. If you want to read it in detail, you can in my previous post ("an 'oh crap' moment" I think); the premise being that I thought my novel Wielding the Locket (WtL) was doomed because I forgot to account for magic in my world's economy, religion, and current military strategies which is sort of a problem in my book. Most authors tend to deal with this issue in 1 of 3 ways. They account for the issues. They limit who can use the magic (genetics, chosen one, discipline.) Or they make the cost of using the magic very high ( sometimes a one time price paid on the onset, sometimes a price paid for each act of magic, sometimes an accumulative cost.
Now, since I hadn't accounted for the affect of magic on certain aspects of my world, I was afraid I was going to have to scrap the book, rewrite it completely (and in ways I didn't like). I did not want deny magic to anyone who wanted it. I considered making it religious taboo, too cliche. I considered having it cause insanity, which would have fit fairly neatly, but this is also a bit over done, and probably darker than I'm prepared to make this story.
I fell asleep having decided I was going to need the magic to cause sudden blindness. and it made me sorta sad. I softened the blow to my characters and myself by leaving my characters with an alternative form of sight (sort of a cross between Wheel of time's "seeing the weaves" of the "one power", Neo seeing the code in The Matrix, and Daredevil seeing with sonar). But it had to be a big enough disadvantage that people would be pretty hesitant to accept it as fair trade for learning magic. I had already come up with this concept for one old woman, and I felt it solved my problem, but it was still a bit darker than I was ready to make, especially because it could require extensive rewrites of discriptions at very least, along with rewrites of the character struggle. So I wasn't happy.
Finally, while working at Rayovac, I was able to refine that idea into a better fit for the puzzle I'm building.
Not everyone who uses "magic" (or wield the Impeti, as I phrase it.) loose their sight. But the ones who can do serious magic do, the ones who are in complete control of their Wielding will loose their sight.
This will be called "loosing the light" by other wielders. but outsiders (especially those from another city) often assume it's a reference to their goodness. there will be mixed rumors, some knowing about the blindess others not. But they will keep most people away. Many of those that try to learn will give up when they are told the consequences.
It's possible to regain full sight, if you give up the ability to see the Impeti that sorta make up everything.(Will, Reason, Sensation, Life, Nature, Truth/Illusion, Time, Matter, Distance/location/velocity). You could potentially still use magic, but it would be much less controlled. This can't be undone (as of now).
It works well because it will scare people off, help keep people from building their own Wielding armies (with Full wielder help)
Since it doesn't happen until you gain full control over your wielding, and has a build up period, I can keep his sight in the majority of the book; probably with disconcerting periods of blindness.
It also provides a great opportunity for tension in the character, suspension in several scenes, and several excellent plot twists, including one I just thought of now, that probably will remain buried until one of the sequels.
anyway. problem fixed!
Also, I didn't do any kind of reread/edit of this, so I apologize for any nonsense sentences. I literally fell asleep writing this..... Can't wait till I can get more than 5 hours of sleep a day, and work less than 12 hours.
Now, since I hadn't accounted for the affect of magic on certain aspects of my world, I was afraid I was going to have to scrap the book, rewrite it completely (and in ways I didn't like). I did not want deny magic to anyone who wanted it. I considered making it religious taboo, too cliche. I considered having it cause insanity, which would have fit fairly neatly, but this is also a bit over done, and probably darker than I'm prepared to make this story.
I fell asleep having decided I was going to need the magic to cause sudden blindness. and it made me sorta sad. I softened the blow to my characters and myself by leaving my characters with an alternative form of sight (sort of a cross between Wheel of time's "seeing the weaves" of the "one power", Neo seeing the code in The Matrix, and Daredevil seeing with sonar). But it had to be a big enough disadvantage that people would be pretty hesitant to accept it as fair trade for learning magic. I had already come up with this concept for one old woman, and I felt it solved my problem, but it was still a bit darker than I was ready to make, especially because it could require extensive rewrites of discriptions at very least, along with rewrites of the character struggle. So I wasn't happy.
Finally, while working at Rayovac, I was able to refine that idea into a better fit for the puzzle I'm building.
Not everyone who uses "magic" (or wield the Impeti, as I phrase it.) loose their sight. But the ones who can do serious magic do, the ones who are in complete control of their Wielding will loose their sight.
This will be called "loosing the light" by other wielders. but outsiders (especially those from another city) often assume it's a reference to their goodness. there will be mixed rumors, some knowing about the blindess others not. But they will keep most people away. Many of those that try to learn will give up when they are told the consequences.
It's possible to regain full sight, if you give up the ability to see the Impeti that sorta make up everything.(Will, Reason, Sensation, Life, Nature, Truth/Illusion, Time, Matter, Distance/location/velocity). You could potentially still use magic, but it would be much less controlled. This can't be undone (as of now).
It works well because it will scare people off, help keep people from building their own Wielding armies (with Full wielder help)
Since it doesn't happen until you gain full control over your wielding, and has a build up period, I can keep his sight in the majority of the book; probably with disconcerting periods of blindness.
It also provides a great opportunity for tension in the character, suspension in several scenes, and several excellent plot twists, including one I just thought of now, that probably will remain buried until one of the sequels.
anyway. problem fixed!
Also, I didn't do any kind of reread/edit of this, so I apologize for any nonsense sentences. I literally fell asleep writing this..... Can't wait till I can get more than 5 hours of sleep a day, and work less than 12 hours.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
an "oh crap" moment
So, I've started listening to Writing Excuses (as I may have said), and I was just listening to an episode from their first season where they talk about costs of magic.
AND.
MY.
JAW.
DROPPED.
OPEN.
I've been pretty proud of my NaNo Novel (here after called Wielding the Locket (Here after referred to as WtL)). I mean, I still have a lot of work to do, but the frame work was there. and the more I add and edit, the more excited and proud I get.
I forgot the books. (Ted Mosbey from how I met your mother tells a story of an architect that built a library but forgot to account for the books, the building sank a little each year and was eventually condemned.
I wanted my magic system to be available to anyone willing to learn, I wanted a years worth of learning to be be a solid start. a year to learn a lifetime to master, sort of thing. The magic system has no health costs (beyond some fatigue, which is cliche) and has no moral cost. the cost is generally in material, time, and the distance of the magic user (wielder) from the affected area. There's other potential costs, but you could get by with just those for the most part. There's also increased random activity surrounding magical activity. I'm actually fairly okay with the cost of the magic. although, I need to do something about the fatigue, it's too cliche.
the problem is, Magic has almost no effect on my world's economy. why wouldn't everyone learn magic to aid them in their every day life? I do have rules set up about being approved as a "student". But there's a large number of people who can wield. Why aren't they making big bucks? well, some are, but why not more?
With the limited number of wielders, why aren't there people training an army of wielders to take over the world?
I haven't thought of any of these things, it very well may be my story's Unmaker.
Bed Time, maybe I'll find another puzzle piece or two that will answer these questions and unify the story even better, while I sleep.
AND.
MY.
JAW.
DROPPED.
OPEN.
I've been pretty proud of my NaNo Novel (here after called Wielding the Locket (Here after referred to as WtL)). I mean, I still have a lot of work to do, but the frame work was there. and the more I add and edit, the more excited and proud I get.
I forgot the books. (Ted Mosbey from how I met your mother tells a story of an architect that built a library but forgot to account for the books, the building sank a little each year and was eventually condemned.
I wanted my magic system to be available to anyone willing to learn, I wanted a years worth of learning to be be a solid start. a year to learn a lifetime to master, sort of thing. The magic system has no health costs (beyond some fatigue, which is cliche) and has no moral cost. the cost is generally in material, time, and the distance of the magic user (wielder) from the affected area. There's other potential costs, but you could get by with just those for the most part. There's also increased random activity surrounding magical activity. I'm actually fairly okay with the cost of the magic. although, I need to do something about the fatigue, it's too cliche.
the problem is, Magic has almost no effect on my world's economy. why wouldn't everyone learn magic to aid them in their every day life? I do have rules set up about being approved as a "student". But there's a large number of people who can wield. Why aren't they making big bucks? well, some are, but why not more?
With the limited number of wielders, why aren't there people training an army of wielders to take over the world?
I haven't thought of any of these things, it very well may be my story's Unmaker.
Bed Time, maybe I'll find another puzzle piece or two that will answer these questions and unify the story even better, while I sleep.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Jumping in
Back in November I participated in NaNoWriMo and managed to write a 50k word novel in the month time frame. The book still wasn't finished and over December I added another 15k ish until I got the story to a point where I felt I could share it with some close friends and family, and it had a facsimile of an ending. Since then I've been working on it. It's not where I'd like it to be, and I'm starting to see the changes that are needed.
This post I'll share a one or two with you and let you know my possible solutions.
The first is the beginning of my story. I'm a world builder in a lot of ways, and it tends to detract from the actual plot and character if I'm not careful. in the first three chapters the character is basically just contemplating his city, and history, and the potential future of both the city and him. Really there's a purpose for it, and it achieves something worth while, but it does through a pretty boring method. I actually really enjoy it, and others might too, but it's not where it should be. and it's not where it could be. despite enjoying the info dump, those scenes have largely felt flat to me.
While J'yon (main character) is recalling what he's heard about the city's history, he mentions that the city has been rebuilding the walls as though preparing for another war.
I decided this is what I needed. I'm now in the process of reworking the beginning of this story to take place a few years down that path. Now the city is AT war, the walls are still incomplete and the city is forcing young men without a master-level trade to march as soldiers against the forces of another city.
Here's my opening paragraph, it's literally a first draft, and it's not perfect but its an enormous imporvement
J'yon looked up from his uncle's work bench and the lion head he'd been carving for a banister knob. The sun blossomed over the city's skyline, its light supplementing that of the glow off the oil lamp. He was finished. The last hour of sanding and detail work had been the hardest. Maybe staying up all night to finish his project hadn't been strictly necessary, but he wanted to impress his uncle. Now Hayben would have the whole day to inspect the house and double check all the details before its new owners moved in. The house was J'yon's master piece, his final piece of carpentry done as an apprentice. Hayben had been keeping an eye on his nephew's work, of course, to make sure he made no large or dangerous blunders; but he'd left the project largely in J'yon's hands. They'd hired men to help with the labor and it had been J'yon's job to lead them and to make sure they didn't make any mistakes either. Now, a year later, the manor was finished with the placing of the banister knob and his uncle's last inspection.
Placing his city at war has also opened up much greater chance for character depth, added a side plot that will provide several types of conflict/ friction. it also adds greater opportunity for a foil charcter early on, and provides better tension in the opening scene.
I'm going to leave you there for now. comments are of course welcome.
Darren
Only a Sith deals in absolutes
This post I'll share a one or two with you and let you know my possible solutions.
The first is the beginning of my story. I'm a world builder in a lot of ways, and it tends to detract from the actual plot and character if I'm not careful. in the first three chapters the character is basically just contemplating his city, and history, and the potential future of both the city and him. Really there's a purpose for it, and it achieves something worth while, but it does through a pretty boring method. I actually really enjoy it, and others might too, but it's not where it should be. and it's not where it could be. despite enjoying the info dump, those scenes have largely felt flat to me.
While J'yon (main character) is recalling what he's heard about the city's history, he mentions that the city has been rebuilding the walls as though preparing for another war.
I decided this is what I needed. I'm now in the process of reworking the beginning of this story to take place a few years down that path. Now the city is AT war, the walls are still incomplete and the city is forcing young men without a master-level trade to march as soldiers against the forces of another city.
Here's my opening paragraph, it's literally a first draft, and it's not perfect but its an enormous imporvement
The air hummed with the deadly murmer
of war, making sleep impossible. J'yon had spent most of the night
meticulously carving, sanding, and staining a lion's head as the
finishing touch for his master work. His salvation. He could hear the
quick march of armored foot-falls on the cobbled streets, a fate he
knew he would face if his master-work didn't pass a council
inspection. His apprenticeship would be called a failure and he would
be a forced recruit in the city's military. If he was lucky they
would make use of his experience as a carpenter's apprentice and he'd
build catipults and cross bows, more likely he'd face the army of the
lost empire with sorely inadequate training, and no taste for death.
"The forward lines will cure you
of that weakness soon enough" Captain Jol had told him, "cure
you or kill you, you got no problems too long on the forward."
J'yon's stomach churned with anxiety,
for better or worse he'd meet his fate today. Carpenter and well
paid, or nameless soldier on a line.
For comparison, here's the original first paragraph.
For comparison, here's the original first paragraph.
J'yon looked up from his uncle's work bench and the lion head he'd been carving for a banister knob. The sun blossomed over the city's skyline, its light supplementing that of the glow off the oil lamp. He was finished. The last hour of sanding and detail work had been the hardest. Maybe staying up all night to finish his project hadn't been strictly necessary, but he wanted to impress his uncle. Now Hayben would have the whole day to inspect the house and double check all the details before its new owners moved in. The house was J'yon's master piece, his final piece of carpentry done as an apprentice. Hayben had been keeping an eye on his nephew's work, of course, to make sure he made no large or dangerous blunders; but he'd left the project largely in J'yon's hands. They'd hired men to help with the labor and it had been J'yon's job to lead them and to make sure they didn't make any mistakes either. Now, a year later, the manor was finished with the placing of the banister knob and his uncle's last inspection.
Placing his city at war has also opened up much greater chance for character depth, added a side plot that will provide several types of conflict/ friction. it also adds greater opportunity for a foil charcter early on, and provides better tension in the opening scene.
I'm going to leave you there for now. comments are of course welcome.
Darren
Only a Sith deals in absolutes
I watched startrek before it was cool
I'm returning to this blog after an extended hiatus. My imaginary (for now) audience may be wondering "why did you stop posting?" The answer is simple. I didn't feel like I had anything worth sharing or chronicling except perhaps my fiction. The problem with publishing fiction in a place like this is, three-fold (because I like the phrase and it probably will work here.)
1.) people can copy right any good ideas you post.
2.) You're not as likely to spend time editing, and even if you do you don't have the anxiety of showing editor or publisher to force you to really examine your work, so its easy to be sloppy and not improve.
3.)if you manage to write something of quality despite number 2, and people don't steal your ideas like in 1, You would have just published your excellent idea for all the world to read for free. Making later professional publishing a head ache if not an exercise in futility.
Thus the Hiatus. But I've come up with something I think I can consistently write about. My Journey as a write. That may be of zero importance to the entire world. But it offers me a new perspective on my writing, yours, or what I imagine my imaginary audiences perspective might be. As I learn to write better and better I can make note of it on here, as a reminder to myself. As I read magazines, listen to podcasts (writing excuses), and any other method of growth, I can share what I've learned, what's stuck with me most and do some live editing.
I was also given the idea of limiting what I share from my as-yet-unpublished works, for two reasons. first it avoids the afore mentioned problems, and secondly, it allows me to get a more targeted feed back. Instead of getting an opinion of a story as a whole I can post a section, scene, or sentence, that will be judged on its own merits. Its true that this will limit the usefulness of the comments as the whole story and purpose will often be lost to the reader, so I may do some explanation before and/or after, as seems fitting.
I've also decided that I will eventually be a published author. In the past this wasn't really a thing a person could truly decide, luck and skill and a market were important factors in getting published. But you can publish an E-Book on amazon now really easily. This isn't my preferred path, and I think I have what it takes to be an excellent and well received writer of speculative fiction novels. So I plan to chronicle my attempts at getting published too, when that comes up.
I don't really seeing this blog having a sizeable audience, but it may be of interest to other aspiring writers, some of my friends and family, and one day maybe my fans. But for now, this is mostly just for me. But please read and comment (always comment!) and share with friends and family that you think might enjoy this, or any enemies you think will hate it! :)
1337, bow ties, are cool, may the 4th be with you, don't forget your towel, there are 10 types of people in the world (those that know binary and those that don't), Brown coats!, make it so.
Geek cred. established.
I'm out
You can know where I am, or you know how fast I'm leaving, but you can't know both.
1.) people can copy right any good ideas you post.
2.) You're not as likely to spend time editing, and even if you do you don't have the anxiety of showing editor or publisher to force you to really examine your work, so its easy to be sloppy and not improve.
3.)if you manage to write something of quality despite number 2, and people don't steal your ideas like in 1, You would have just published your excellent idea for all the world to read for free. Making later professional publishing a head ache if not an exercise in futility.
Thus the Hiatus. But I've come up with something I think I can consistently write about. My Journey as a write. That may be of zero importance to the entire world. But it offers me a new perspective on my writing, yours, or what I imagine my imaginary audiences perspective might be. As I learn to write better and better I can make note of it on here, as a reminder to myself. As I read magazines, listen to podcasts (writing excuses), and any other method of growth, I can share what I've learned, what's stuck with me most and do some live editing.
I was also given the idea of limiting what I share from my as-yet-unpublished works, for two reasons. first it avoids the afore mentioned problems, and secondly, it allows me to get a more targeted feed back. Instead of getting an opinion of a story as a whole I can post a section, scene, or sentence, that will be judged on its own merits. Its true that this will limit the usefulness of the comments as the whole story and purpose will often be lost to the reader, so I may do some explanation before and/or after, as seems fitting.
I've also decided that I will eventually be a published author. In the past this wasn't really a thing a person could truly decide, luck and skill and a market were important factors in getting published. But you can publish an E-Book on amazon now really easily. This isn't my preferred path, and I think I have what it takes to be an excellent and well received writer of speculative fiction novels. So I plan to chronicle my attempts at getting published too, when that comes up.
I don't really seeing this blog having a sizeable audience, but it may be of interest to other aspiring writers, some of my friends and family, and one day maybe my fans. But for now, this is mostly just for me. But please read and comment (always comment!) and share with friends and family that you think might enjoy this, or any enemies you think will hate it! :)
1337, bow ties, are cool, may the 4th be with you, don't forget your towel, there are 10 types of people in the world (those that know binary and those that don't), Brown coats!, make it so.
Geek cred. established.
I'm out
You can know where I am, or you know how fast I'm leaving, but you can't know both.
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