One major issue is I have lots of ideas. It's a curse. I hear about some writers being one trick ponies who can't get a second wind after completing their one novel. I forget her name, but the writer of To Kill A Mocking Bird only wrote one story. Most of Herman Melville's work was about whaling. Nicholas Sparks has told the same love story over and over again.
I don't think I could ever work like that. I love so many different varieties of stories. I could never be married to one genre or narrative. I got to stretch my legs.
The problem is that, inevitably, twenty different stories run through my head, and I have no way to give them all form. I need to select the coolest stories, and write them.
The problem is bouncing between them. I have two works in progress right now. One is in the editing phase, another in the early stages. I need to work on both. Now. I have no time to do so, but I need to get it started.
Here's the problem. I get lost in between two worlds, unable to focus on either, which ends with me lost without a story.
I need to get my ass in gear. I need to be motivated.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Sunday, November 2, 2014
NaNoWriMo '14 - Day 1 Report
Start of the second day, and no progress has been made.
Not a word, letter, space--I don't even have a title yet. Nada. As little as you can have in a manuscript. I blame my girlfriend coming over--how dare she be so cute that I can't work?--and my other work-in-progress, keeping me from my new work.
Multiple works-in-progress can be a bit overwhelming. On one hand, it's good to have a wide spread of work to keep you busy. As long as you're writing something, you're doing a good job. On the other hand, sometimes it's a little distracting. My other work is a cyberpunk fantasy story. My NaNoWriMo novel is an urban fantasy. The main characters in my older work are all adults. My NaNoWriMo cast are teens.
And I plan on turning them both into trilogies.
Am I just mental? Crazy? The hell am I doing, going on piling my plate with so much writing? I have no clue. Probably totally mental, going ahead with this silly writing trek. Time will tell...but, by tonight, I plan on getting at least 5k words done.
Not a word, letter, space--I don't even have a title yet. Nada. As little as you can have in a manuscript. I blame my girlfriend coming over--how dare she be so cute that I can't work?--and my other work-in-progress, keeping me from my new work.
Multiple works-in-progress can be a bit overwhelming. On one hand, it's good to have a wide spread of work to keep you busy. As long as you're writing something, you're doing a good job. On the other hand, sometimes it's a little distracting. My other work is a cyberpunk fantasy story. My NaNoWriMo novel is an urban fantasy. The main characters in my older work are all adults. My NaNoWriMo cast are teens.
And I plan on turning them both into trilogies.
Am I just mental? Crazy? The hell am I doing, going on piling my plate with so much writing? I have no clue. Probably totally mental, going ahead with this silly writing trek. Time will tell...but, by tonight, I plan on getting at least 5k words done.
Friday, October 31, 2014
NaNoWriMo - Thoughts
Every year, a bunch of crazy writers get together online to celebrate their obsession with the written word by writing a 50,000 word novel. National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, is, for many young novelists, a challenge that most give up on when confronted with the task.
I have been doing NaNoWriMo since eighth grade or so. Maybe ninth. When I was young, I had this crazy idea that I could be a novelist. At the time, I had virtually no talent but a ton of passion. My early works are cringe worthy. Maybe I'll post passages from my copyrighted--yes, I actually copywrited my garbage--for others' amusement. Anyway, my first NaNoWriMo story was a perfect fusion of everything I was obsessed with at the time. I can extract the individual pieces. My weeaboo anime obsessions especially are so obvious. Not to say that I don't still adore anime. I just am not deluded enough to think that a mainstream audience would catch an Elfen Lied reference. Oh, and the sword fights. Half of the book was a poorly written fight scene. All style, with little tension. I thought I understood what Mary Sues were, but I was so very wrong...
I didn't do NaNoWriMo again until my freshman year of college, where, for one weekend, I pumped out a novel. It was pretty bad. It had awful characters, unsubtle plot twists, and was as brain dead as anything. Still, I wrote it. It was an important novel for me to write, since I learned pacing well from that story. Still didn't make it any less dumb.
Then, there was the vampire story. I might try something with that if I give it a once over. The plot was solid, but the writing style is probably awkward. I haven't looked at it for some time.
So, what of NaNoWriMo now? I have "serious" novels in the works. I can't afford to hold back now...so, naturally, time to go wild! Time to write this new inkling of an idea. Let's see if I can do it. I want to try out this YA Fantasy idea. I will rant my frustrations here for the time being. See how that goes. >_<
I'm going to go mad...
I have been doing NaNoWriMo since eighth grade or so. Maybe ninth. When I was young, I had this crazy idea that I could be a novelist. At the time, I had virtually no talent but a ton of passion. My early works are cringe worthy. Maybe I'll post passages from my copyrighted--yes, I actually copywrited my garbage--for others' amusement. Anyway, my first NaNoWriMo story was a perfect fusion of everything I was obsessed with at the time. I can extract the individual pieces. My weeaboo anime obsessions especially are so obvious. Not to say that I don't still adore anime. I just am not deluded enough to think that a mainstream audience would catch an Elfen Lied reference. Oh, and the sword fights. Half of the book was a poorly written fight scene. All style, with little tension. I thought I understood what Mary Sues were, but I was so very wrong...
I didn't do NaNoWriMo again until my freshman year of college, where, for one weekend, I pumped out a novel. It was pretty bad. It had awful characters, unsubtle plot twists, and was as brain dead as anything. Still, I wrote it. It was an important novel for me to write, since I learned pacing well from that story. Still didn't make it any less dumb.
Then, there was the vampire story. I might try something with that if I give it a once over. The plot was solid, but the writing style is probably awkward. I haven't looked at it for some time.
So, what of NaNoWriMo now? I have "serious" novels in the works. I can't afford to hold back now...so, naturally, time to go wild! Time to write this new inkling of an idea. Let's see if I can do it. I want to try out this YA Fantasy idea. I will rant my frustrations here for the time being. See how that goes. >_<
I'm going to go mad...
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Why Writing is a Depressing Job Before You Publish
Writing sucks.
I don't mean that as in actually writing is a miserable process. It's not. I find no greater pleasure than telling stories, recording them, transcribing the people in my head and all their actions on the page. Nothing makes me happier. I love thinking about my stories, writing my stories, etc.
The problem is that it's discouraging to consider that no one will read your stuff.
Honestly, I doubt anyone will read this. I'd be shocked if people see this status, and, even more ridiculous, if anyone cares to even glimpse at my blog. I just find it kind of discouraging to consider how little of a point this all holds beyond personal satisfaction in being able to articulate my thoughts. As such, this rambling post can hardly be considered coherent thought. If you are reading, and have read this far, please bare with me on this one.
A writer writes. The reasons vary as to why we write, but I know, personally, I want people to read my stories. I want to share my narratives. If you write for yourself, and want no one else to see, great. Kudos to you. Then you're a lot happier than I am.
However, my ambition is to see my book in the hands of many readers, and see them dive into my worlds. I don't expect to be a JK Rowling or Stephen King or Neil Gaiman. That's obscene and crazy. However, I'd love to see some sort of success. I mean, what writer doesn't?
Then, consider the amount of bookshelves in every book store--or, rather, the massive quantity of books that exist digitally on Kindle or what have you. Where will your book--my book--stand when millions of books park themselves, cover to cover, all ready to be plucked up and read. Hell, unless a book gets good word of mouth, a reader will never know they exist.
And while your book languishes, the equivalent of written fecal matter sells.
Have you ever heard of the Gor series? Probably from poor word of mouth. It's a book series that is incredibly disturbing to me. It's sexist, power fantasy trash that gives science fiction and fantasy a bad name. It sold a lot. It still sells, apparently, seeing as how the writer still publishes these books to this day. To say nothing of bad books like Fifty Shades of Gray. At least THAT book series, while awful, was marketed well, bought primarily either to make fun of it or to sexually satisfy themselves over it. The kind of people who read Gor are probably either nostalgics for an era where all fantasy novels were Weird Tales serials or sexists who enjoy the message that all women should be enslaved.
I really hate Gor.
Also, one of the books is on my bookshelves now.
The point is that these books sell. Sometimes, the awful ones sell more because they're just so awful. It's discouraging to know that you, as a writer, need to either be the very best or the very worst to be memorable to readers.
However, as I wrote this article, I found myself coming to a new conclusion. Admittedly, this rambling is therapeutic in its own right. Here's the point: in the end, everything we do is pointless. Inherently, anyway. All books fall out of print, all books disappear, and all people die. Regardless of your believes in the metaphysical, the point is that, in this material world, materials eventually decay. They rot. We view the world through a very fine, very slim lens. We see a sliver of the universe, through a tiny splinter of time.
So why is this encouraging?
Because we need to appreciate our impact on that tiny splinter. I remember books that have been lost to the winds. I remember the tiny stories that made me want to go into writing. And, every so often, I pass by a blog or Tumblr post or something insignificant that draws attention to these little somethings, which implies to me that these little somethings must be rather big somethings to draw this much of an impression.
This is a silly, probably very immature example, but, in college, one of my short stories was published in the school magazine. Silly thing, yet people came up to me to tell me that they enjoyed it. Whether they were being nice or not was irrelevant. The fact is that the presence of my story gave them some amusement on some level. That's what we, as writers, should all aspire for: some degree of joy, be it from forum posters or literary professors. We find our audience, satisfy that audience, and go from there.
Anything short of that is just depressing.
I don't mean that as in actually writing is a miserable process. It's not. I find no greater pleasure than telling stories, recording them, transcribing the people in my head and all their actions on the page. Nothing makes me happier. I love thinking about my stories, writing my stories, etc.
The problem is that it's discouraging to consider that no one will read your stuff.
Honestly, I doubt anyone will read this. I'd be shocked if people see this status, and, even more ridiculous, if anyone cares to even glimpse at my blog. I just find it kind of discouraging to consider how little of a point this all holds beyond personal satisfaction in being able to articulate my thoughts. As such, this rambling post can hardly be considered coherent thought. If you are reading, and have read this far, please bare with me on this one.
A writer writes. The reasons vary as to why we write, but I know, personally, I want people to read my stories. I want to share my narratives. If you write for yourself, and want no one else to see, great. Kudos to you. Then you're a lot happier than I am.
However, my ambition is to see my book in the hands of many readers, and see them dive into my worlds. I don't expect to be a JK Rowling or Stephen King or Neil Gaiman. That's obscene and crazy. However, I'd love to see some sort of success. I mean, what writer doesn't?
Then, consider the amount of bookshelves in every book store--or, rather, the massive quantity of books that exist digitally on Kindle or what have you. Where will your book--my book--stand when millions of books park themselves, cover to cover, all ready to be plucked up and read. Hell, unless a book gets good word of mouth, a reader will never know they exist.
And while your book languishes, the equivalent of written fecal matter sells.
Have you ever heard of the Gor series? Probably from poor word of mouth. It's a book series that is incredibly disturbing to me. It's sexist, power fantasy trash that gives science fiction and fantasy a bad name. It sold a lot. It still sells, apparently, seeing as how the writer still publishes these books to this day. To say nothing of bad books like Fifty Shades of Gray. At least THAT book series, while awful, was marketed well, bought primarily either to make fun of it or to sexually satisfy themselves over it. The kind of people who read Gor are probably either nostalgics for an era where all fantasy novels were Weird Tales serials or sexists who enjoy the message that all women should be enslaved.
I really hate Gor.
Also, one of the books is on my bookshelves now.
The point is that these books sell. Sometimes, the awful ones sell more because they're just so awful. It's discouraging to know that you, as a writer, need to either be the very best or the very worst to be memorable to readers.
However, as I wrote this article, I found myself coming to a new conclusion. Admittedly, this rambling is therapeutic in its own right. Here's the point: in the end, everything we do is pointless. Inherently, anyway. All books fall out of print, all books disappear, and all people die. Regardless of your believes in the metaphysical, the point is that, in this material world, materials eventually decay. They rot. We view the world through a very fine, very slim lens. We see a sliver of the universe, through a tiny splinter of time.
So why is this encouraging?
Because we need to appreciate our impact on that tiny splinter. I remember books that have been lost to the winds. I remember the tiny stories that made me want to go into writing. And, every so often, I pass by a blog or Tumblr post or something insignificant that draws attention to these little somethings, which implies to me that these little somethings must be rather big somethings to draw this much of an impression.
This is a silly, probably very immature example, but, in college, one of my short stories was published in the school magazine. Silly thing, yet people came up to me to tell me that they enjoyed it. Whether they were being nice or not was irrelevant. The fact is that the presence of my story gave them some amusement on some level. That's what we, as writers, should all aspire for: some degree of joy, be it from forum posters or literary professors. We find our audience, satisfy that audience, and go from there.
Anything short of that is just depressing.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Why won't this sound better? Editing Probems
So I've been editing this novel for the last month. It was something I started over the summer. Probably took a total of eight weeks to write. Maybe twelve. I don't usually keep track of that sort of stuff, but I know that I started it in the middle of the summer, and, come the end of September, I had finished the last chapter.
I read online that some writers take a week to completely edit their entire manuscripts. Well, it's been three, and I'm barely halfway through with the second draft. Those writers must either be mega dedicated, or a little mad.
Some parts are a breeze. Even a joy. Simple, straight forward, without unnecessary writing jamming up the flow of the passage. Even then, it's not rushed. It's not too quick. That's a joy to edit. I can tell that those are the days I either had some music pumping as I typed away or maybe just had the right amount of coffee before starting up my computer.
Then, there are the rambling days.
The days where I had no idea what the hell I was doing, and just rambled on and on and on and on about nothing. I imagine my thought process there was like this:
"BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"
Other days, I remember like twenty plot points that had fallen to the wayside, so, in order to remind myself later when revising, I awkwardly bring them up in narration.
"Do you remember that Mitch has a metal leg? You don't? Well, he has a metal leg. Look how metal it is. Do you see the part where the bone goes away? That's because it's metal! Metalmetalmetal!"
The funny thing is that, when I reach these passages, I suddenly slip into that same mindset. I don't know whether to revise a few sentences, delete some stuff to draw focus to the good sentences I wrote, or, in some particularly frustrating moments, I just throw whole paragraphs away, and rewrite scenes from scratch.
I don't know how some writers plow through their writing like this. If I did that, the work I produced would be so carelessly written, so thoroughly without merit. It's a little unrealistic to expect a novel to be finished in a week, or rewritten in a week, especially when you're like me, pouring over the digital page, looking for any blemish you can iron out.
Seriously, I'm concerned for younger writers. I'm not old, mind you, but I know, back in my middle school years, when a bright eyed nerdy boy was looking for answers on how to write a good book, I'd probably look up posts from writers saying "Oh, a week at most! That's how long you edit a novel!" and just assume that's what I had to do to be like the pros. I don't think this post will totally make sense. This is coming in unironed, unedited, but, at the very least, I want to get my thoughts out there.
Take as fucking long as you want editing, so long as you're hard at work and making sure you get that thing done right.
I read online that some writers take a week to completely edit their entire manuscripts. Well, it's been three, and I'm barely halfway through with the second draft. Those writers must either be mega dedicated, or a little mad.
Some parts are a breeze. Even a joy. Simple, straight forward, without unnecessary writing jamming up the flow of the passage. Even then, it's not rushed. It's not too quick. That's a joy to edit. I can tell that those are the days I either had some music pumping as I typed away or maybe just had the right amount of coffee before starting up my computer.
Then, there are the rambling days.
The days where I had no idea what the hell I was doing, and just rambled on and on and on and on about nothing. I imagine my thought process there was like this:
"BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"
Other days, I remember like twenty plot points that had fallen to the wayside, so, in order to remind myself later when revising, I awkwardly bring them up in narration.
"Do you remember that Mitch has a metal leg? You don't? Well, he has a metal leg. Look how metal it is. Do you see the part where the bone goes away? That's because it's metal! Metalmetalmetal!"
The funny thing is that, when I reach these passages, I suddenly slip into that same mindset. I don't know whether to revise a few sentences, delete some stuff to draw focus to the good sentences I wrote, or, in some particularly frustrating moments, I just throw whole paragraphs away, and rewrite scenes from scratch.
I don't know how some writers plow through their writing like this. If I did that, the work I produced would be so carelessly written, so thoroughly without merit. It's a little unrealistic to expect a novel to be finished in a week, or rewritten in a week, especially when you're like me, pouring over the digital page, looking for any blemish you can iron out.
Seriously, I'm concerned for younger writers. I'm not old, mind you, but I know, back in my middle school years, when a bright eyed nerdy boy was looking for answers on how to write a good book, I'd probably look up posts from writers saying "Oh, a week at most! That's how long you edit a novel!" and just assume that's what I had to do to be like the pros. I don't think this post will totally make sense. This is coming in unironed, unedited, but, at the very least, I want to get my thoughts out there.
Take as fucking long as you want editing, so long as you're hard at work and making sure you get that thing done right.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Enough Harry Potter Knock-offs
Purchased Holly Black and Cassandra Clare's newest book, The Iron Trial, on sale. It's part of their new Middle Grade book series. It's a quick read, but, after two hours of reading, I had to put it down. I only have a hundred or so pages left, so I will probably get around to finishing it, but, at this point, I don't know how much I care anymore.
This book series is Harry Potter and Naruto's love child.
It incorporates the "magical school" element, while throwing in Naruto's squad based narrative. The bad guy wants to conquer death, which leads me to believe he's essentially Voldemort. The magic is all elemental based, which gives me flashbacks for Avatar the Last Airbender. The work feels incredibly derivative, which is not a good thing.
Now, that's to say that I don't have a problem with works drawing from preexisting stories. The Percy Jackson series draws from Harry Potter, but I don't have a problem with that because enough original material is added to make it stand on its own. The Mortal Instruments series, which was Cassandra Clare's first novel series, draws heavily from Harry Potter--especially considering that elements of the series face-lift components from her old Harry Potter fanfiction--but enough is added to make it feel fresh and different. Also, The Mortal Instruments also borrows a lot from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so it all balances out, maybe.
The problem isn't drawing from other sources, but how much originality is added to the mix.
Two of my least favorite YA novels are Fallen by Lauren Kate and Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. These are both the epitome of what I'm getting at: unoriginal writing that leaves you cringing at how derivative the two works are of other books such as Twilight. I'll even give Twilight props for once: at least that series had Alice. At least that series had the cool dad. At least that series had werewolves that actually acted kind of like werewolves. Even the vampires, as terrible as they are, had some interesting powers that, if explored more, might've made the work a lot more fun.
But no, these books are about fallen angels, both of them, where the angelic choir has almost no role in the narrative. Angels are incredible, fascinating characters. There are so many directions a writer can utilize the lore to make a great story. Many writers have. Even Cassandra Clare did something interesting with it in her books. It wasn't necessarily the best story in the universe, but it was cool to read, unlike--
Getting off track.
My dislike aside, what bugs me the most is how so many books decide to just do the same thing another writer did, without changing anything. A lot of fantasy books are just Lord of the Rings with different names. Or Harry Potter. Or even, in a few cases, Twilight. Originality is hard, but let's at least try to diversify our stories. Rather than just repackaging what we already know and love, let's try to take our favorite works, draw from them what we like, and then make something distinct that maybe, in ten years, new writers can draw from to make their stories epic.
Just a thought. Maybe?
This book series is Harry Potter and Naruto's love child.
It incorporates the "magical school" element, while throwing in Naruto's squad based narrative. The bad guy wants to conquer death, which leads me to believe he's essentially Voldemort. The magic is all elemental based, which gives me flashbacks for Avatar the Last Airbender. The work feels incredibly derivative, which is not a good thing.
Now, that's to say that I don't have a problem with works drawing from preexisting stories. The Percy Jackson series draws from Harry Potter, but I don't have a problem with that because enough original material is added to make it stand on its own. The Mortal Instruments series, which was Cassandra Clare's first novel series, draws heavily from Harry Potter--especially considering that elements of the series face-lift components from her old Harry Potter fanfiction--but enough is added to make it feel fresh and different. Also, The Mortal Instruments also borrows a lot from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so it all balances out, maybe.
The problem isn't drawing from other sources, but how much originality is added to the mix.
Two of my least favorite YA novels are Fallen by Lauren Kate and Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. These are both the epitome of what I'm getting at: unoriginal writing that leaves you cringing at how derivative the two works are of other books such as Twilight. I'll even give Twilight props for once: at least that series had Alice. At least that series had the cool dad. At least that series had werewolves that actually acted kind of like werewolves. Even the vampires, as terrible as they are, had some interesting powers that, if explored more, might've made the work a lot more fun.
But no, these books are about fallen angels, both of them, where the angelic choir has almost no role in the narrative. Angels are incredible, fascinating characters. There are so many directions a writer can utilize the lore to make a great story. Many writers have. Even Cassandra Clare did something interesting with it in her books. It wasn't necessarily the best story in the universe, but it was cool to read, unlike--
Getting off track.
My dislike aside, what bugs me the most is how so many books decide to just do the same thing another writer did, without changing anything. A lot of fantasy books are just Lord of the Rings with different names. Or Harry Potter. Or even, in a few cases, Twilight. Originality is hard, but let's at least try to diversify our stories. Rather than just repackaging what we already know and love, let's try to take our favorite works, draw from them what we like, and then make something distinct that maybe, in ten years, new writers can draw from to make their stories epic.
Just a thought. Maybe?
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Despite the Title, I Doubt This'll Be a Writing Blog
I read in a few different places that most prospective writers need a blog. I just never knew for certain if anything I had to say would be very meaningful.
Sure, most people feel they have something to say. Every waking thought gets a Tweet to accompany it, no matter how dull or unimportant it may be. Genuine mourning can be a trending Twitter topic alongside with leaked photos of celebrities, and all of it holds the same value to the world.
So what can I, a twenty-something sitting in my pajamas with a mug of Earl Grey watching Justice League cartoons contribute?
Just about nothing.
Doesn't mean I won't write it anyway.
That's the thing with writers in general. Even if our thoughts mean nothing, we need to talk.
So, what to talk about? My obsession with writing? My drive to be a published author? My love of fiction? Maybe all of those, perhaps, and more.
I think I'll keep this blog a writing blog, or, rather, about writing. Not simply writing tips and writing hints, but more the things I notice about how things are written. Books, film, media in general. That sort of thing. whatever crosses my mind, I'll post. Maybe pointless, maybe fun, but still, I'll do it.
I think I'll probably focus more on books than anything else, though, and keep the outside media comparisons as a fun side detail. Maybe.I dunno, I'll figure it out as I go. I don't have this blog all that figured out anyway.
Now, time to watch Wonder Woman use the lasso of truth on that protester....
Sure, most people feel they have something to say. Every waking thought gets a Tweet to accompany it, no matter how dull or unimportant it may be. Genuine mourning can be a trending Twitter topic alongside with leaked photos of celebrities, and all of it holds the same value to the world.
So what can I, a twenty-something sitting in my pajamas with a mug of Earl Grey watching Justice League cartoons contribute?
Just about nothing.
Doesn't mean I won't write it anyway.
That's the thing with writers in general. Even if our thoughts mean nothing, we need to talk.
So, what to talk about? My obsession with writing? My drive to be a published author? My love of fiction? Maybe all of those, perhaps, and more.
I think I'll keep this blog a writing blog, or, rather, about writing. Not simply writing tips and writing hints, but more the things I notice about how things are written. Books, film, media in general. That sort of thing. whatever crosses my mind, I'll post. Maybe pointless, maybe fun, but still, I'll do it.
I think I'll probably focus more on books than anything else, though, and keep the outside media comparisons as a fun side detail. Maybe.I dunno, I'll figure it out as I go. I don't have this blog all that figured out anyway.
Now, time to watch Wonder Woman use the lasso of truth on that protester....
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