I'm working on my story "Sinspell" I hope to have it finished by the end of the year or early next year so I can send it out to publishers. I've had chapters 1-3 fully edited and completed. and chapters 4-7 complete, save for editing. I'm aiming for around 25 chapters and 75000 words. I'm up to 25000 words so far so I'm 1/3 of the way.
Very specific goals there Kitsune_boy. Good luck with the book.
I currently have three weeks to weedle out a 7 minute solo production. I've built my characters fairly strongly and have written out my first draft. So now it's time to get it down to the time limit. Work with the characters more physically and vocally - Yes I am highly annoying with this.
I drove my family nuts yesterday - they actually went out to town without me bcoz i was so annoying - I marked my 4 by 3m square limit on the garage floor and have been stomping around and yelling, scrreching etc with my characters.
So plays are hard to write. Especially solo's because every character is played by one sole actor alone onstage.
Not too sure on a title "Daughter of the Imagination" or simply "Muse" . . ."Plagued" was also an option. I prefer the simplicity.
Anywayz shall keep anyone informed on the progress if tehy wish to know. 3wks time this piece will premier onstage and then the day after shall be the final slot in my practical drama exam.
~ Tari
For some reason it posted twice??? Sorry
Last edited by Tari; August 19th, 2006 at 05:55 AM.
Kool Tari; I hope it all goes well, and you don't pop a gasket on the way.
B5
thank you luv. . . I'll try my best not too. . . It's slowly making progress. 2mins down and 5 to go. . .Originally Posted by MrBF1V3
~ Tari
I guess I've lurked here a lot, but haven't mentioned what I'm up to...
Lately I've written the fourth in a bunch of flash pieces. I think I'm afraid I won't get into the next Flashspec. (--by no means is it a sure thing.) I have three I really like, and one I like the concept of, but not the way it came out. I may have to rewrite from pixel zero.
I've also started adding to the story I entered into last years sffworld short story contest, A Gift of Fire. It's about twice the size it was, and she's only traveled two days so far.
Also, I have the newest Sharpe story, Virtual Rights, simmering. Which means, I have a draft, but I'm not thrilled with it yet and I'm going to give myself a few days or more to be distracted before I return to it and rewrite it again.
B5
Last edited by MrBF1V3; August 22nd, 2006 at 04:47 PM.
Well, still no news on Oracle, nearly two months since submission. Will give the agent up to three before writing a polite reminder. The wait is eating at me more this time for some reason.
Getting more frustrated with some of the critiques coming in from elsewhere on the first chapter of Hand of Glory. Folks are wanting me to re-write the beginning as it's confusing. Drop the short sharp sentences. Give more description. Some are not sure what's going on in the chapter, the characters are not clear. In fact re-write the whole "mess" to quote one.....
The whole thing is making me unsure about it, totally.
I have nearly finished chapter two, hope to put the last page of the draft in place this weekend. Then what re-write the whole thing??? Goodness knows. My confidence in my writing at present is so fragile, I am so unsure of myself and what skills I have, even attempting to add more is painful.
I am honestly thinking that putting stuff up for critique in various places is doing me more damage now than help….. In fact the only support I have had to keep going is from here….
Holbrook - it's the toughest of times, I know. Jeez, do I know. I spent decades out in the wild lands of submissions and rejection letters and got thoroughly sick of it. It can twist your mind, fill your head with self-doubt, and take away the original enjoyment and impulse to write.
If the guy rejects it, move straight on to the next one. Fast. At the end of the day, it's all about opinion. Editors and agents are NOT gods. They sometimes get it right, but often get it wrong.
As far as feeling fragile, that's a common symptom, my friend, of doubting oneself as a writer. Just write - even if it's rubbish. Keep in the habit. You can review it later, can't you?
My advice, for what it's worth, is forget the criques if they are filling you with self-doubt.
For me, writing is a cozy little bubble that I can enter and create. I love that bit. Then when it's done, you have to put it out there, right? Well I do. I have this deep need to share. That's the hard part - getting the reaction of others.
There are other viable alternatives that can get your stories/books out there. I took that risk over three years ago, and from that desire to be read so much amazing stuff has happened. Of course, there's bad days and resistance, too, but I have my vision, which I feel is vital to all writers. I hold onto the successes, however large or small, and then look to the next project.
Think images, scenes, and instancy. Writing is a different art than when .... Don't get frustrated and quit -- get even -- blow them away!
In my opinion, written word is decades behind consumer demands and people who write are torn between tradition and innovation that is actually mainstream. I want to barf on the shelf of every bookstore that stocks another novel with a "sword."
Hang in there. Your critics have been programmed by the "authorities." There was a time when new was welcomed. Now, redundancy is assured the profit margin. Just look at the moldy shelves.
Robert Eggleton
"Rarity from the Hollow"
You are so right, Robert.
I'm finishing a story called 'The Taurutor' for my anthology...
It's my take on the Minotaur curse but set in an Egyptian/African culture. A large part of the story revolves around the Predulac, or 'The walk to the maze' and how the people in this world accept and implement the sacrifice... or at least, most of them!
My protagonist has already lost a sister and a brother to the Predulac, and upon returning to his village after a hunting trip, finds his betrothed has been sent to meet the Taurutor. He brings great shame on his family by beating the snot out of the religious leader in the village and decides to take-on the maze to find his woman.
Great fun to write and I unashamedly tip my hat to the great Robert E Howard with this one. It's not sword and sorcery per se, but having devoured the recent Conan Chronicles I had to write a quest-based adventure with plenty of blood and guts... and there is PLENTY.
I take a little bit of pleasure in knowing that I will make Robert barf, should he happen upon my book in a store.
I don't think a writer who is torn between tradition and innovation will write anything worth publishing. Surely a writer has to believe and be passionate about what they are creating? I also believe, and I mean no offence, that you know very little about the consumer, let alone their demands.
Last edited by juzzza; August 23rd, 2006 at 07:05 AM.
I know from experience how readers—even a good number of them—can make complaints or correction suggestions that obviously don't fit the story if they just use their brains. At least one of my fan fiction stories is misunderstood by at least half its readership (despite the fact that the narrator tells you directly that she died at two, I get a number of complaints on how childish she sounds).
Remember that some readers like critical entertainment whereas some like mindless, and you likely won't appeal to both audiences. My mother, for example, is absolutely bewildered by my stories because she expects all the details to be handed to her point-blank. If my 6-year-old narrator is thinking how her daddy's dead, she's probably not going to be thinking how or why.
While the aspect of reader opinion and reader type means you need to take every critique with a healthy helping of salt, it also means that you might want to examine it closely for the cause of their complaints. Perhaps you are a mite lacking the description, or if you're not, maybe you need to reconsider how you're presenting it. Would it be more effective if presented another way?
Often, a complaint isn't legitimate per se, because the reader doesn't know exactly what you're (trying to) do, but it can tell you where you're failing. In my in-progress novel with a paranoid narrator, I realized that I managed her paranoia a bit too well, since readers missed that entirely and were getting furious with her very reasonable friend who was trying to help her over it while doing what he could to save her life.
But when you're consistently using the archaic spelling "faerie" with similar speech and have most readers trying to correct your spelling, obviously critique isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be.
Critique must be evaluated. And I've noticed that requesting a complete rewrite is something of the easy way out, since you don't have to identify the problem directly. I doubt it'll be necessary if you're merely lacking description. Just a little revision.
[e-hug] Cheer up!
ON TOPIC
Speaking of my paranoid narrator novel, I'm around chapter 5 in my revision & expansion of that story; it was overconcise, lacked description, and needed more depth. And world planning's going well. I'm working on the calendars. By the time I finish this novel I should have the groundwork for others in this world; I already wrote a fun short story on it.
-Misti
Last edited by Misti; August 23rd, 2006 at 07:03 AM.
*sigh* The style of chapter one, the stacato sentences, the stark descriptions, the equivocal vision coming Hardy's point of view, are all essential to the scene! My god, who are these people and do they still breast feed? Holbrook, there are people who do not want to work when they read and people who just want to read more of the same pap. Don't listen to them.
Sounds like fun, Justin. When's the antho being published?
Last edited by juzzza; August 23rd, 2006 at 07:59 AM.
I'm negotiating the date with my publisher... first draft is due in mid september but I would like to include The Taurutor so that may change. Spring 2007 is likely.
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