A Dull Knock On My Writer Brain
Originally I had started writing this explaining how much I hated the new blogger layout because it made it so I had to figure out all my little linky gizmos on the right hand side all over again. Then someone explained to me that I can actually just add the html for those using the ‘add html/java’ feature in the layouts. I didn’t even know it had it. Needless to say I figure it out. That being said, I’ve a few things to discuss.First, I started writing two shorts for two different anthologies (S&S 22 and Machine of Death) in hopes that I can actually finish and edit them for submission. I’m not too sure about how my S&S 22 submission will turn out. It’s an alright story I think and might prove rather entertaining. My Machine of Death concept is really an awesome idea in my opinion. I might be going in a more original route than most are in regards to the theme of the anthology. Next, I had written in the part two of Critique Groups that I wanted to start a little group of speculative fiction writers. I got a few responses suggesting things, but nobody actually said if they wanted to join up. I know there were a couple that were interested, so please speak up now. I’d really like to have a group going. Also, you all might have noticed that the blog is changing significantly as far as organization and the like. Enjoy it. It’s very WP I think. I have categories, better archive organization, etc. And once I got over the ridiculous hurdle of figuring out the new layout features it all came together rather nicely. And lastly, this weekend has been only semi-productive as far writing goes. Yes, I have started two stories, but I’m not nearly finished with them. Why? I had to move all of my stuff from my room to another room so that we can make this house presentable for sale. That meant hours upon outs of going through stuff I’ve stockpiled and figuring out what I wanted to keep and the like. Needless to say I have not put much more than a tiny dent in the process. So, as a result my writing has somewhat suffered, but not enough so that Fate would receive another point against me. Nope, I did do some writing and some reading, so Fate can just skip away. And isn’t today April Fool’s or something? I think so. So, umm, let’s see. I got an arm transplant and three new kidneys so now I’m a super human……April Fool’s!.Yeah, I know, not very original. I mean really, we’ve all heard of people getting extra arms and kidney’s right? Well, and there’s the fact that I mentioned April Fool’s before the trick…darn. Have a good next couple days all!
Have You Ever Felt Crippled as a Writer?
For the first time ever I actually felt…crippled in regards to my writing. How is this possible you might ask? Well here goes.I’ve been desperately trying to force my creative self to start writing other work aside from WISB. I love WISB, don’t get my wrong, but I do need to write other stuff. Mostly this means short stories and editing of stuff. Well, I finally got all my Moleskine books and brought the large ruled one with me to my cousins’ b-day party and suddenly had some sparks of amazing creativity. But, there was a catch. I had completely forgotten what the word ‘planar’ meant. I’d put it in the title for really no reason at all, and then it dawned on me that I hadn’t a clue what it meant. I didn’t have access to a computer so I couldn’t very well go off to dictionary.com and check, and there was no dictionary book anywhere in site. I literally sat there and felt my brain fizzle away into nothing; it couldn’t take the strain I suppose.How did this situation resolve itself you might ask…I had to text–yes I mean text message on a cell phone–my friend to have him look it up for me. I sat waiting for his response for a few minutes, all the while feeling those lovely surges of creative thought dying because of some stupid word.Later that evening I finally decided I would go to the nearest Borders and see about getting some sort of super pocket dictionary and possibly a super pocket thesaurus. I figure of all places, Borders has to have it. Here comes problem #2. Apparently they don’t make super pocket dictionaries. They make pocket dictionaries with about 1/10th the definitions in them, and that’s it. It wouldn’t have been so bad if ‘planar’ had been in said pocket dictionaries, but because that particular word is rather obscure, it wasn’t. Now, if someone can explain how you can get a full edition of the bible in a tiny key chain book, but not a tiny little dictionary…I mean really. Take the size 10 font in the book, drop it to a 4 or 5–tiny I know–you could easily cram 300,000 definitions in there. But alas, no.So, I started looking online for an electronic one. I don’t like that feeling of being crippled in my writing. Well, so far there hasn’t been a lot of luck because all of the electronic ones are a little confusing. Which one do I pick? There are a dozen that do the same thing, but there’s no magic comparison of them all to figure out which one is actually the best one. In a nutshell, this whole process has become rather crazed. Anyone else experienced a similar ‘crippling’?
Reviews and Decisions
Well, it seems that I’ve come to a different conclusion over the possible creation of an overall map for the world of Traea–of course including Angtholand, the Farthland, and the other two major countries and their prospective landmasses. I was looking around quite a bit online, mostly at other maps from series I’ve either read, heard about, or simply have yet to read, and concluded that while a map may come in handy for readers, it’s also a terrible issue for me as a writer. The story is not finished, so I don’t honestly know where all the landmasses are–only the ones I’ve written about or intend to write about–and to draw up a map of things that have yet been placed in the story itself–whether in my mind or in the plot–would put a terrible restriction on my ability to change things. I can’t draw up a map for all my readers to see, and then simply change it within the story or the map itself and expect readers to remain. So, what I have decided to do is wait. Whatever part of Traea James and his friends happen to wander will be noted and put into a map whenever I happen to finish this book–which may put a conclusion to the entirety of the story, or may just place me into a position to continue writing more on these characters. After I’ve finished the book I can at least draw up a map of the ‘known’ locations and landmasses according to what has been written. That way there is no concern over changing things, since they have already been sealed in stone within the writing. And on to other things… I just finished reading Eldest by Christopher Paolini and have to say that I very much enjoyed it. I’d already become a fan of the first book, Eragon, and this being the second in the trilogy I was pleasantly surprised by it. My biggest complaint is that much of the book could have been edited out for sake of space, or for the sake of adding more riveting elements to the other storylines. However, this is a great work, I must say, and must give the young lad a bit of credit for his excellent grasp of language and emotion.The book is, as most fantasy stories are, very much ‘derivative’, but then, so is most everything you will ever read within this genre. This is something that many complain about in reference to his writing, and I find that to be rather deplorable. First off, there are few, if any, great works of fantasy that do not acquire their elements from things previously written or discussed, or that have previously happened in the past. That’s impossible. I’m sorry if you think that everything within the fantasy genre is capable of being purely original, because nothing is original anymore. You might have a few elements nobody has ever done before, but you are following a heroic archetype that has been used by thousands if not millions of people before you. So, right from the start you are already sitting in that derivative bin. Even my own work can be called derivative, something of which I don’t much like. If you look at it, I’ve drawn up elements from all sorts of stories already told, taken some things from English mythology and folklore, and of course fallen into some already used heroic archetypes, which cannot be helped mind you. Tolkien’s work is derivative, drawing many elements from heroic poems and mythologies that he had read throughout his school experience and after. So for anyone to say that something is derivative should probably take a step back and realize that everything is derivative. Even regular fiction…or literature.Now, as for Eldest. There’s much to be said about this. First, Paolini has put Eragon into some terrible positions within this book and by the end of it you start to think about whether or not Eragon and those that follow him have much of a chance against the Empire. That is an incredible thing to do when you’ve gone throughout the book thinking he might stand a chance to realizing he hasn’t the ability as of yet to do much of anything against Galbatorix or his minions. I was drawn very closely into Roran’s story and found that to be one of the most riveting parts of this second installment since much of the work with Eragon is rather dull. You start to actually want to learn more about what Roran is doing–and Paolini does a great job doing that for you.So I have to say that if you liked the first book, give this one a go. It is more than worth the time and effort!
The Writer’s World
I was doing a lot of shopping for myself, since it was black friday and lots of deals and what not. I came across several things that I think are lacking in the writing world, so I decided that for this week I would put up a list of things that make the writing world week. Sort of a strange and hard to describe list, but hopefully it makes sense. Reasons Why the Writer’s World Needs Help(in no particular order) 1) Lack of Selection: Stores such as Walmart, Kmart, and Target almost always have a very limited book supply with Target being the most on track. They aren’t supposed to have a lot of things, obviously, but there’s almost never any Scifi or fantasy for either adults or for children–and if there are some for children they are limited to the major series (Chronicles of Narnia, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Inheritance Trilogy, and Harry Potter). Target is the only one of the three stores mentioned that actually has a large YA section with lots of fantasy, but like all the others it rarely has anything for adults or any scifi at all.2) Lack of Reference Books For YA, SF, or F: There hasn’t been a good book released that really gives you a writer’s perspective on writing for those three genres. There are some, but always books aimed towards straight fiction or literary fiction control the market. With series like Harry Potter dominating the entire fiction market there needs to be some good reference books for people who want to write YA. As for SF and F, while there are some reference books out there (and some good how to’s by people like Orson Scott Card), there’s just not enough coming out. You’re lucky to get one or two in a year that are worth forking out fifteen bucks for.3) Lack of Internet Resources: The Internet, of all places, should have some really fascinating resources for people who are writing in the more speculative fiction genres. Unfortunately, unless you want the same information, and overly complex scifi based things, crammed down your throat you’re out of luck. There are great places such as Fantasy Worldbuilding by Patricia C. Wrede, a complex list of questions to answer when creating your own world, or Robert J. Sawyer’s Website, which gives you all sorts of fantastic info on both writing and query letters.4) Lack of College Coursework: Somewhere along the line creative writing in all its forms (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama) took an amazing turn and secured itself a position in the academic community as a legitimate and powerful educational ideal. The problem? Where’s the curriculum for people who don’t write literary fiction? There are exceptions, most particularly where Orson Scott Card may teach a class or where there are colleges where writers either in the field or intimately engaged in works within that field are present. However, the majority of colleges don’t even have literature classes aimed towards lovers of scifi/fantasy, and even if they do they don’t count towards general ed requirements, leaving people little choice but to revert to ‘classics’ in British or World literature. This is absurd. There are plenty of scifi/fantasy works that date back to well before we started even calling them that. H.G. Wells, Jules Verne anyone? Heck, even Mark Twain wrote a story that could be seen as a somewhat modern fantasy which involved the son of the devil and the bringing to life of clay figurines. So, why don’t we have curriculum for those of us that love scifi/fantasy? Why aren’t there fiction classes geared towards that, or perhaps geared towards certain aspects of it. We have short story classes, novel classes, etc. Why not world building or development of a scifi/fantasy novel?5) Lack of Representation: There’s lots of real easy ways to find out all the new buzz about upcoming fiction or horror. There’s a best sellers list, plenty of reviews in all your favorite mass appeal magazines, posters, etc. Unless you are gifted and have a cool book store there won’t be any easy access to all these goodies for speculative fiction. There’s bound to be websites somewhere, but why can’t you get something that offers loads of reviews of upcoming work from more than just your overdone writers like Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan? Is there a magic magazine you can get that keeps you updated on all this? I’ve found that I had to do a lot of searching on the Internet to find much of anything that was useful, and even places like Borders weren’t all that much help because Borders advocates very specialized books rather than your typical things. So, I think that does it for my silly list. I know, annoying, but hey what can I say. I’m disappointed in the writing world right now and I’d like to see some more public admiration for people who do write in the speculative fiction field.So have a good day!
Sweet sweet author-hood!
Well, that first chapter went up (it’s the post right below this) and actually the one blogger I have been talking to that I had hoped would enjoy it, well, enjoyed it! I don’t know who else has read it, though some friends said they would check it out, but there is something more fulfilling about having a fellow blogger say that they are hooked and want more. This is not to say that my friends are incapable of giving me honest opinions, but more that I think they would spare my feelings when being honest by saying something like “well it’s not my cup of tea” or something to that nature. Don’t get me wrong, if a friend says they love it, I will be happy and glad, just feels more powerful coming from someone I don’t know who has no reason to lie or soften the blow. So, Mr. Bramage (his blog is here! ) likes the work and for that reason I am without a doubt going to continue this project. I had intended to keep it going, but only for at least a few chapters if nobody seemed to enjoy the work. So thanks Mr. Bramage for being so kind with your comment :). I appreciate it! Okay, now on to other things. Scheduling. I know, having chapters up fast so you can read them as you would read a book would be absolutely awesome. Unfortunately, I’m like every other writer who hopes to someday be published and be recognized as one of the great scifi/fantasy writers of all times with a few Hugo’s and Nebula’s under my belt. This means, I have to have a job to support my passion, well, one of my passions (reptiles is my other passion). So, I’m going to promise this as a minimum: I will post one new chapter a month. That is what I promise to be consistent with. What I will try to do is post every other week (one week to write, one week to edit and then a post). I cannot guarantee I can keep up with that, but I will try my damndest and keep the world posted on the progress. Some chapters might turn out to be much long than anticipated, which would delay things. So for chapters such as the first chapter, I imagine I could get those up in two weeks. For really long chapters, three weeks, and if for some reason (such as during finals for college) I am so overwhelmed I will post once a month. Hopefully that is reasonable. Now, for those that read my little blog novel, I’d like to ask for a few things. Comment! What do you like, what don’t you like? Is there something maybe I glossed over that you would like to know more about? Am I not showing you the characters well enough? Those sorts of things. I want to know what you think! If you love it, say so, if not, say so. Honesty is a must here. My job on this blog is to entertain with my writing and I hope to do that for as long as I am able to. So, off to class, off to more writing, off to a bright and enjoyable future as my crazy fantasy world builds and collapses within my slightly abnormal mind :).
TGIFF
What exactly is TGIFF (a.k.a. tiggiff)? It stands for Thank God It’s Finally Friday. The general consensus among my multiple personalities is that Friday is the best day of the week. Why? It’s the first day of my weekend (I get 3 days off, four 10’s…) and it means that I don’t have work for two days. It’s in the best position because it’s the first day I get to sleep in, and it’s just an all around happy day. I figure with this post, as I prepare to post the first chapter to The World in the Satin Bag, I can do a little book review of something I read recently and do a little talking about my writing in general. So here goes. Eon by Greg BearIf you haven’t read this book and you like hard scifi, then you should read this. It was originally printed in 1986 by Tor and has been reprinted a few times now. I found it at Walmart and bought it sort of on impulse. I’ve never read Bear’s works before, nor heard much about him other than the few times I have seen his name. After reading the back, something I rarely ever do, I had to give it a shot.This book is by far one of my favorite books of all time. It revolves around a couple of characters set in a slightly futuristic Earth (we’re talking only slightly more advanced than where we are at now, but not so much so that it’s too fantastical). This giant asteroid swings in and sets up orbit around Earth, on purpose mind you. It actually slows down and sets up orbit. Anyway, this is in an Earth where the Cold War hasn’t yet ended (and when this bookwas written the Berlin Wall hadn’t been torn down yet, so it makes sense). Inside the Stone they find humanesque cities and mankind begins exploring it, well certain people do because most of the info is kept pretty secret on purpose. So, basically it starts there with the research and there is a big plot twist that comes and such.I can’t ruin how the book goes. I just can’t. All I can say is they find out that the Stone is from an alternate future and it parallels the events happening on Earth only it shows what happens in their future. Does that make sense? The explorers basically are reading about a future that has not happened yet on their Earth but something that had happened on the Earth where the stone is from.The book tells you a lot more about what is going on and how all that is possible and some other amazing aspects that you can’t miss. Seriously, give this one a thought. It’s a great book. Alright, so writing has been interesting. I have some stuff up on Critique Circle, this great website that gives critiques obviously. I was also reading some previously written things and really enjoying them. Some of my stuff is a lot more complicated than what I am writing for this project, and rightly so as I write a lot of scifi shorts and such. This is more of a longer work obviously and since it is fantasy based it won’t be as complicated.Anyway, I think this is going to work really great for me. I think :).