Any writers?

[Senator Jack]

Contracted with Lightning Source and trying to get the proof out for Monday. I do not recommend self-proofing. You just miss too many typos and punctuation errors. Because you know your own story, you're not seeing the errors that are there.

Learning a LOT about the business by doing this. Everything takes far longer than you can imagine. POD is rough. Amazon wants an automatic 55% discount from publishers, so that means I'd have to PAY THEM .24 cents for every book I sell. So I had to set up a purchase system on the Grand Prix Press site. That's going to cost me about $28 per month, but to be legitimate, that has to be done.

Will catch up with you here after I get the proof out.

Regards,

Jack

 

[Lincsong]

What flavor girls do you like?

Is this a coffee table book?

Anyway I hope you have two chapters; one on Oriental Girls and another on half white and half oriental girls, just as a favor for me.

 

[Senator Jack]

Linc, your favorite people are in there: COMMUNISTS! Well, actually, since it takes place in 1953 and at a newspaper, there is Red Channels. I hope everyone's going to buy a copy. I will say, it is very CLEAN, in that S-E-X is only alluded to, just as it would be in 1953. I'm shooting for Dec 10 release date.

 

[Lincsong]

Excellent Jack. Let us know when it's available. I'll get a copy. Maybe you'll sell enough so you can make a trip out to Las Vegas again. I've got a couple contacts to get into some clubs.

 

[Lincsong]

Jack, is it published yet?

 

[Senator Jack]

Ugh, no. Shooting for Feb. 14 now. The quality of the first pressing was absolutely terrible, so we had to find another printer, and they can't get it out till the end of January. An endless string of setbacks.

 

[CharlieB]

I have an article that I wrote on a local Civil War hero that will be published in next year's (2011) journal of our Historical Society. It kicks-off a big 150th anniversary of the war with many events over the next few years.

 

[martinsantos]

I wrote several short stories for a while. Stopped when tried to write in a "noir" way, like Hammett and Chandler. And discovered that I was just doing carbon copy. And why a copy if I can read the original?! (Ross McDonald made a good work in this way, the best Chandler-copy all-around. But I can't say that it is sincere or original).

 

[AmateisGal]

I have an article that I wrote on a local Civil War hero that will be published in next year's (2011) journal of our Historical Society. It kicks-off a big 150th anniversary of the war with many events over the next few years.

Well done!

 

[AmateisGal]

Nearly finished with my latest work-in-progress. Have about 15,000 or so words to go (goal is 100,000).

 

[CharlieB]

Nearly finished with my latest work-in-progress. Have about 15,000 or so words to go (goal is 100,000).

Thanks AmateisGal. Can we ask what your new opus is?

 

[Undertow]

I wrote several short stories for a while. Stopped when tried to write in a "noir" way, like Hammett and Chandler. And discovered that I was just doing carbon copy. And why a copy if I can read the original?! (Ross McDonald made a good work in this way, the best Chandler-copy all-around. But I can't say that it is sincere or original).

If I'm reading this right, it sounds like you're merely going through the same thing many writers encounter when they begin their journey.

Writing is an art and although nearly boundless, it does have its limitations such as language, grammar, style, etc. When piecing together a story, even a very short story, these limitations can, and typically do, play a huge role in the finished product. As you've noticed, you're shadowing (whether intentionally or otherwise) someone else's style, or use of language. That's to be expected. Just as you learn a craft from teachers, you must feel your way into writing, and you must grow around your own limitations.

From my own experience, and from the guiding hands I've encountered, you cannot simply sit down one day and decide you will write masterpieces in one particular style. In fact, you will find you must write 3 dozen novels that are utter rubbish before you notice that a style has emerged all on its own.

So I would suggest you go ahead and write these "carbon copy" stories of yours; play with them, do something unexpected, create little victories just for yourself, and then move on to the next story. Once you have tackled a few hills, you can really start climbing mountains. And don't worry if you're doing the same work as other rock climbers - that's just part of the game. You'll eventually figure out your own methods!

 

[Undertow]

Nearly finished with my latest work-in-progress. Have about 15,000 or so words to go (goal is 100,000).

Wow, that's great! How many pages is that? (I'm thinking around 200?)

Once the winter subsides, I can thaw back into my writing mode. I have difficulty writing in the winter because Iowa is always so bleak and dead.

I mentioned previously that I finished my novel Among the Damned, but I've been working on an additional chapter that I'd previously discarded. As usual, I'll probably end up stretching this out for the next 5 years. :eusa_doh:

 

[Cricket]

Leisure writing is actually going to be one of my new year's resolutions. I am a reporter here at our hometown paper, and I have found that when I get home from work, I don't want to spend my spare time writing so much. I have several ideas, but it's the act of sitting down at my desk, at home to write that exhausts me because I have done it all day.

Hopefully the new year and motivation will change this. I need to learn the difference between work and pleasure writing. Although many characters I meet via work are excellent starts to ideas.

 

[AmateisGal]

Thanks AmateisGal. Can we ask what your new opus is?

Charlie, it's a historical novel, set in a small (fictional) eastern Nebraska town during World War II. I've had great fun writing it and plan to make it first in a series set in this town. I've discovered that I rather enjoy setting my novels in my own backyard. Once upon a time, I ran as far away from Nebraska settings (and Nebraska history) as I could get - I studied European history in college and my novels always took place in England or France. Grad school saw a shift in my thinking as I wrote my thesis on the German POW camp at Fort Robinson in northwest Nebraska. The research also spawned a novel that, unfortunately, never sold, but heck, my grandmother read it and loved it!

I also suppose I appreciate where I grew up much more now than I did as a kid anxious to "get out of town and explore the world." I think I'm turning into a regional writer. The sense of place is very prominent now in my work.

 

[AmateisGal]

Wow, that's great! How many pages is that? (I'm thinking around 200?)

Once the winter subsides, I can thaw back into my writing mode. I have difficulty writing in the winter because Iowa is always so bleak and dead.

I mentioned previously that I finished my novel Among the Damned, but I've been working on an additional chapter that I'd previously discarded. As usual, I'll probably end up stretching this out for the next 5 years. :eusa_doh:

Thanks, Undertow! Yeah, it will be around 200 pages when all is said and done. Now is the tough part - weaving all those threads together at the end. I'm just taking it one step at a time.

Ironically, I get a lot more writing done during the winter. But I'm one of those weird people who loves fall and winter, gray, dreary, snowy or rainy days, and absolutely DESPISES summer.

 

[AmateisGal]

Leisure writing is actually going to be one of my new year's resolutions. I am a reporter here at our hometown paper, and I have found that when I get home from work, I don't want to spend my spare time writing so much. I have several ideas, but it's the act of sitting down at my desk, at home to write that exhausts me because I have done it all day.

Hopefully the new year and motivation will change this. I need to learn the difference between work and pleasure writing. Although many characters I meet via work are excellent starts to ideas.

I've had this same problem. My day job as a copyeditor plus my freelance writing (plus sitting at a desk all day!) tend to wear me out for my own writing. My solution has been to write my fiction solely using my laptop. I never sit at my desktop at home (besides, my husband or daughter is always on it!) and either write in bed, out in the living room, and when the temperatures are nice, out on my balcony. It has helped tremendously.

 

[AmateisGal]

If I'm reading this right, it sounds like you're merely going through the same thing many writers encounter when they begin their journey.

Writing is an art and although nearly boundless, it does have its limitations such as language, grammar, style, etc. When piecing together a story, even a very short story, these limitations can, and typically do, play a huge role in the finished product. As you've noticed, you're shadowing (whether intentionally or otherwise) someone else's style, or use of language. That's to be expected. Just as you learn a craft from teachers, you must feel your way into writing, and you must grow around your own limitations.

From my own experience, and from the guiding hands I've encountered, you cannot simply sit down one day and decide you will write masterpieces in one particular style. In fact, you will find you must write 3 dozen novels that are utter rubbish before you notice that a style has emerged all on its own.

So I would suggest you go ahead and write these "carbon copy" stories of yours; play with them, do something unexpected, create little victories just for yourself, and then move on to the next story. Once you have tackled a few hills, you can really start climbing mountains. And don't worry if you're doing the same work as other rock climbers - that's just part of the game. You'll eventually figure out your own methods!

^^^What he said.

It takes time to find your voice. But you have to start somewhere. Just start writing and KEEP writing. Eventually, your style/voice will start to emerge.

 

[Cricket]

I've had this same problem. My day job as a copyeditor plus my freelance writing (plus sitting at a desk all day!) tend to wear me out for my own writing. My solution has been to write my fiction solely using my laptop. I never sit at my desktop at home (besides, my husband or daughter is always on it!) and either write in bed, out in the living room, and when the temperatures are nice, out on my balcony. It has helped tremendously.

Good idea. Perhaps the scene change would help motivate me even more.

 

[EvangelineH]

100,000 words is actually 400 pages (In MS Word, 1 page=250 words).

But I write as well; mostly set in the Edwardian period, but the 1930s are looking pretty spiffy at the moment.