Monday, August 10, 2009
How Time Flies! Hanging in There!
I can't believe I haven't written anything here in a while. I've been working on a book by another author -- helping him to publish it. I was out of town for a couple of days and working on and off on a manuscript I've had laying around for years. I attended a book launch party and heard good news from two writer friends -- in one case, her agent got her a two-book deal and in another, her agent accepted the manuscript (after an exhaustive rewrite) and sent it out. I was happy for both of them. It's good to see hard work finally rewarded. I also took both bits of good news, which arrived within twenty-four hours of each other, as a sign that the publishing industry is still alive. (Of course, it is.)
Happiness for my friends, unfortunately, also translated into deepening dissatisfaction with my own lack of success. I have to work harder and more consistently. I'm working on three projects right now -- one for the other writer (it's a paid gig); and two manuscripts of my own, the old one mentioned above and the new one, whose word count is displayed in the right column widget. Oh, and let me not forget the last slew of edits I made in my last manuscript. So I'm working on three of my own projects, actually. I pray that one of them will break through.
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Happiness for my friends, unfortunately, also translated into deepening dissatisfaction with my own lack of success. I have to work harder and more consistently. I'm working on three projects right now -- one for the other writer (it's a paid gig); and two manuscripts of my own, the old one mentioned above and the new one, whose word count is displayed in the right column widget. Oh, and let me not forget the last slew of edits I made in my last manuscript. So I'm working on three of my own projects, actually. I pray that one of them will break through.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Another Big Author Moves Work to Comic Books/ Graphic Novels
Janet Evanovich becomes the latest in a line of big name authors who are publishing stories as comic books or graphic novels. Stephen King's been doing it for a while. Dean Koontz, too. Jason Starr collaborated on a graphic novel last year. James Patterson's putting them out, too. Now, Janet. I'm sure there are many others.All of these authors say they've been comic book fans for years. Makes you wonder how much comic writing has affected their storytelling styles and skills all along.
Comic book/graphic book stories are hard to write. Try one. Everything is condensed. The art tells so much of the story. Everything happens fast. The storyline must be gripping -- and it must be gripping immediately.
Actually, I think writing a comic book is quite a challenge. I'd love to do it. Hmmm ... maybe I'll try. Someday.
Lost My Voice
My writer's voice, that is. I have no idea what I sound like. How did it happen? I think ... because I don't write often enough. Voice is more important than story or plot. It's not the plot or the story or the locations or characters that bring readers back. It's the voice. They become addicted to the sound of your voice. It becomes like that of an old friend. And they want to hear it again.
And it helps you, too. You become confident of your storytelling abilities when you find your voice. You develop a sense that you're talking to a good friend. Stephen King calls this good friend "Constant Reader." It's the person you pretend you're telling a story to when you write. I'm important, he says, to develop a constant reader and to keep that person's image in mind all the time. That's where the sense of intimacy comes in. The intimacy that draws in your reader and keeps him or her turning the pages, page after page. That's how you generate a page-turner.
The May/June issue of Writer's Digest has this article: Writing Advice from Stephen King & Jerry Jenkins. In it, King says that readers "just want a good story, and I think they come to crave your voice even more than the story itself. It’s like having a visit with an old friend."
So to recover my voice, I have to make friends again with my constant reader. I've lost contact with him or her somehow.
Who, I wonder, am I writing to right now? Don't know, but it's to someone. Myself, I suppose. there's certainly a sense of one-to-one. No sense of distance.
If I thought more about my constant reader than about word count or plot or rejection or any of the one and thousand things I often do think about, then my writing would be further along.
Stephen King's Tricks:
1. Develop a constant reader and keep this person in mind at all times. This mimics the old radio broadcaster's trick. When you're behind the mic, pretend you're speaking to one person, someone you know and like, someone with whom you like to shoot the breeze. That brings warmth to your voice, a natural warmth and friendliness and sense of ease. Great broadcasters do it very well.
2. Remember that you're telling a story. Adults are just overgrown kids looking for a bedtime story. Stop thinking you're a novelist. Start thinking about telling a story. Telling a tall tale. (For King, the taller, the better!)
3. The story's in the details.
4. Write about what you care about.
5. Always believe it could happen. Or did happen. So many times you get the feeling that the author himself didn't believe his own story. So the story doesn't feel grounded. Doesn't feel anchored. There are no details 'cause the author doesn't see them; and he doesn't see them because he hasn't immersed himself in the story's world, and he hasn't immersed himself because the story isn't real to him, and if it's not real to him, then how can it be real to the reader?
6. Put interesting characters into interesting situations and see what happens. Interesting characters? But how do you create them? Sometimes they come to you, yes, but suppose they don't? I've heard one author say that she always starts out with real people, people she knows. She uses their real names, too, when writing that first or second or even third draft. Later, when she's got a cohesive, coherent story, she does a general replace, changing the names of the guilty and innocent alike.
7. One of the most interesting things to write about: good versus evil. It's something everybody can relate to. Everybody's facing some version of the struggle and everybody's looking for strategies and inspiration and advice on how to win it.
Okay, so now back to writing. Trying to amuse myself. Talking to a best friend. Writing about good and evil. Trying to do all this stuff. My writing to-do list online.
Read more »
And it helps you, too. You become confident of your storytelling abilities when you find your voice. You develop a sense that you're talking to a good friend. Stephen King calls this good friend "Constant Reader." It's the person you pretend you're telling a story to when you write. I'm important, he says, to develop a constant reader and to keep that person's image in mind all the time. That's where the sense of intimacy comes in. The intimacy that draws in your reader and keeps him or her turning the pages, page after page. That's how you generate a page-turner.
The May/June issue of Writer's Digest has this article: Writing Advice from Stephen King & Jerry Jenkins. In it, King says that readers "just want a good story, and I think they come to crave your voice even more than the story itself. It’s like having a visit with an old friend."
So to recover my voice, I have to make friends again with my constant reader. I've lost contact with him or her somehow.
Who, I wonder, am I writing to right now? Don't know, but it's to someone. Myself, I suppose. there's certainly a sense of one-to-one. No sense of distance.
If I thought more about my constant reader than about word count or plot or rejection or any of the one and thousand things I often do think about, then my writing would be further along.
Stephen King's Tricks:
1. Develop a constant reader and keep this person in mind at all times. This mimics the old radio broadcaster's trick. When you're behind the mic, pretend you're speaking to one person, someone you know and like, someone with whom you like to shoot the breeze. That brings warmth to your voice, a natural warmth and friendliness and sense of ease. Great broadcasters do it very well.
2. Remember that you're telling a story. Adults are just overgrown kids looking for a bedtime story. Stop thinking you're a novelist. Start thinking about telling a story. Telling a tall tale. (For King, the taller, the better!)
3. The story's in the details.
4. Write about what you care about.
5. Always believe it could happen. Or did happen. So many times you get the feeling that the author himself didn't believe his own story. So the story doesn't feel grounded. Doesn't feel anchored. There are no details 'cause the author doesn't see them; and he doesn't see them because he hasn't immersed himself in the story's world, and he hasn't immersed himself because the story isn't real to him, and if it's not real to him, then how can it be real to the reader?
6. Put interesting characters into interesting situations and see what happens. Interesting characters? But how do you create them? Sometimes they come to you, yes, but suppose they don't? I've heard one author say that she always starts out with real people, people she knows. She uses their real names, too, when writing that first or second or even third draft. Later, when she's got a cohesive, coherent story, she does a general replace, changing the names of the guilty and innocent alike.
7. One of the most interesting things to write about: good versus evil. It's something everybody can relate to. Everybody's facing some version of the struggle and everybody's looking for strategies and inspiration and advice on how to win it.
Okay, so now back to writing. Trying to amuse myself. Talking to a best friend. Writing about good and evil. Trying to do all this stuff. My writing to-do list online.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Found a New Distraction from Writing!
InkyGirl.com! What a joy! I can distract myself here for HOURS!!!!! Cute comics, too!
Today, by the way, was "Write 10,000 Words in a Day" day. Unfortunately, it's no 12 noon. I haven't written a word and I certain don't think I'll be able to write 10K.
Read more »
Today, by the way, was "Write 10,000 Words in a Day" day. Unfortunately, it's no 12 noon. I haven't written a word and I certain don't think I'll be able to write 10K.
Cleaning, Writing, & the Scarecrow
So Michael Connelly's The Scarecrow kept me company this morning while I hauled bags of old clothes, dirty clothes, paper cram and stuff around the apartment. Started a cleaning offensive at 6 am. Held out for two hours. Then it overwhelmed me. Retreated. Do feel as though I'm at war, with a cunning enemy. Dirt, disorganization. Incredible.
Anyway, what's fascinating about the Scarecrow is that it involves so much technology. Great story, mentions of hacking, Facebook, digital stalking, identity theft. Yeah! Plus all the usual insider intrigue. Good stuff, real good stuff!
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Anyway, what's fascinating about the Scarecrow is that it involves so much technology. Great story, mentions of hacking, Facebook, digital stalking, identity theft. Yeah! Plus all the usual insider intrigue. Good stuff, real good stuff!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Michael, I'm in Love with Michael!
The postman just arrived. He dropped off a copy of Michael Connelly's new audiobook, The Scarecrow! I'm so happy! Oh, I'm so happeeee!!!!!
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Yay! Another Landmark Achievement in Proscrastinating
I am an expert at procrastinating. Somewhere I think a wrote a post wondering about what I'm good at. I mean, really good at. The answer is ... (drumroll) ... procrastinating. I have managed to toodle away at least an hour and a half recoding my various blogs to show expandable entries. As you can see with this one, I finally succeeded. But at what cost!
So now, I'm going to dredge up my courage and go back to writing. (Yeah, right. If you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell ya.)
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So now, I'm going to dredge up my courage and go back to writing. (Yeah, right. If you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell ya.)
My New Novel, A New Love Affair
So I've started writing a new book. I can add it to the other six incomplete novels on my hard drive. Some authors are addicted to starting novels. If I don't look out, I might be one of them. But this book is different. (Aren't they all?) But seriously, I have an excellent feeling about it. (That's why I'm blogging about it instead of writing it.)
Starting a new book is like starting a new love affair. The possibilities are endless. You just know this one is the one. It's going to work out. It's going to go the distance. It's going to be the one that you're most proud of. It's going to be ... everything.
Then you start working on the book. Some days, it's wonderful. You're euphoric. You and your book are on a honeymoon. Then the days go by. The weeks. You two are starting to get to know one another. Cracks in the relationship are showing. Maybe the storyline isn't as fascinating as you thought it would be. Maybe your skills aren't as strong at bringing it to life and you hoped they'd be. Each side is a bit disappointed in the other. Your story is feeling let down by you and you're feeling let down by your story. Then you start two start to avoid each other. It starts slowly, of course. You spend less time writing the story, less time thinking about it, more time finding other "crucial" things to do. Your story, of course, isn't happy with this state of affairs. It tries to lure you back. So every now and then you return to it, take a stab at continuing it. Maybe you read what you've written and some of the old enthusiasm returns. This story -- this relationship -- had possibilities. Why not give it another try? So you do. But soon the old sense of frustration, of disappointment, sets in. You tell the story, "It's not you. It's me." But that doesn't help, does it? You're both disappointed. And so, in the end, another story that should've been remains just that, a should've been. And years later, you find the story on your hard drive, read it one more time, and think , "I should've.... If only I could've.... It would've...."
Hmm.... Where did all that come from? Was it the story of my relationships? The story of my stories?
Oh, god, I'd better get off this blog and get back to work. I don't want to ruin my new love affair with such negative forecasting. I love this one. This one loves me. We can go the distance. I know it. I just know it.
Read more »
Starting a new book is like starting a new love affair. The possibilities are endless. You just know this one is the one. It's going to work out. It's going to go the distance. It's going to be the one that you're most proud of. It's going to be ... everything.
Then you start working on the book. Some days, it's wonderful. You're euphoric. You and your book are on a honeymoon. Then the days go by. The weeks. You two are starting to get to know one another. Cracks in the relationship are showing. Maybe the storyline isn't as fascinating as you thought it would be. Maybe your skills aren't as strong at bringing it to life and you hoped they'd be. Each side is a bit disappointed in the other. Your story is feeling let down by you and you're feeling let down by your story. Then you start two start to avoid each other. It starts slowly, of course. You spend less time writing the story, less time thinking about it, more time finding other "crucial" things to do. Your story, of course, isn't happy with this state of affairs. It tries to lure you back. So every now and then you return to it, take a stab at continuing it. Maybe you read what you've written and some of the old enthusiasm returns. This story -- this relationship -- had possibilities. Why not give it another try? So you do. But soon the old sense of frustration, of disappointment, sets in. You tell the story, "It's not you. It's me." But that doesn't help, does it? You're both disappointed. And so, in the end, another story that should've been remains just that, a should've been. And years later, you find the story on your hard drive, read it one more time, and think , "I should've.... If only I could've.... It would've...."
Hmm.... Where did all that come from? Was it the story of my relationships? The story of my stories?
Oh, god, I'd better get off this blog and get back to work. I don't want to ruin my new love affair with such negative forecasting. I love this one. This one loves me. We can go the distance. I know it. I just know it.
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