Writing Snags: What do you do?
Problems with writing have struck me again. This isn’t as bad as it sounds, but here’s an update anyway. The Lies of Venicia is on hold at the moment. I’m still writing it, but I’m needing to re-evaluate where I want it to go. I have two very different storylines going on and I’ve hit that point where I need a transitional period. I may try to add a fourth POV to the story, but that might extend the word count well beyond the 90,000ish word mark I was shooting for. I want it to be a relatively short, less-epic novel. I’ll figure it out though, don’t you worry. Asher is a short story I’m basically finished writing, but I mentioned having a problem with it. My girlfriend didn’t get it. I’m thinking about either rewriting it or assuming that it is simply a ‘she-doesn’t-read-SF’ problem, which means the story might still be good. I’m leaning somewhat in the latter direction, but again, if anyone reads a lot of SF that could read Asher and tell me their opinion I would greatly appreciate it. Now for my new problem. I have far too many of them actually. I’m currently writing a story called “Marx Ignatia For Hire!” (working title), which is actually the story of a character that is mentioned in passing in Asher. I just loved the name Marx Ignatia and when I started thinking about the character I realized it would be really awesome to tell a story that takes place in the same time period as Asher’s story, but from an entirely different perspective. What happens in Marx Ignatia is far different from what happens in Asher, since both events take place at the same time, but are entirely opposite.Here’s my new problem. The story is turning out to be a lot longer than a typical short. I can’t fit this into 3,000 words, considering I’m at 1,566 and that’s maybe 1/3 into it. The middle section alone is going to take up a lot of space. It’s sort of a detective story, so there has to be plenty of time for Marx to, well, investigate. This means the word count could go anywhere from novelette to novella size. The longest it could go is novel size but I think the likelihood of me stretching it to that length is slim.So what do I do in this instance? Is there even a good market for novelette or novella sized science fiction? How hard is it to sell something like this? I like this story a lot, so I am going to write it anyway, but if the chances of finding it a published home at those lengths is slim I might write a short story that involves the character, but a different story, and save this one until I can come up with enough to make a novel. I just think this story works well, at this point, as a novelette or novella (most likely novelette though, since that goes up to 20,000 words and I think this story will sit in around 15,000). What are you thoughts everyone?
Neil Gaiman Is Awesome!
I was reading about this over on Grasping For the Wind and thought it would be interesting to talk about. This is a good reason for saying that Neil Gaiman may be one of the coolest writers in the world right now. I’ve not read any of his writing and I’ve only heard one interview with him, but for him to do what he did for that couple is just amazing.I’ll give you the really basic version of what happened and then you should go off and read the full version in the link above.So Mr. Gaiman was doing a book signing and Jason decided he wanted to ask his girlfriend, Maui, to marry him. Jason’s brilliant plan (no sarcasm, this is a brilliant plan) was to ask Mr. Gaiman to sign his girlfriend’s book by putting Jason’s marriage proposal in the message. Now, Mr. Gaiman could have said “well that’s not for me”, but no, he agreed (score one point for Mr. Gaiman). He wrote the note and handed the book to Maui and, she being such a fan, didn’t read it. Mr. Gaiman said “you have to read what I wrote”, she glanced at it and got all excited, even though she hadn’t read it. So Mr. Gaiman insisted, over and over, until finally she broke from her moment of starstruck paralysis and realized what was going on. In comes Jason, kneeling with ring in hand.That’s the short version and it doesn’t have the lovely pictures of the actual story. But let me just say that this is by far one of the coolest things a writer could have done and what an amazing way to propose to the woman you love. Congrats to Jason and Maui (I don’t know you personally, but congrats anyway) and I hope you two have a great life together!What an amazing way to propose!