Tim's comments (member since Jul 12, 2008)

Tim's comments from the Goodreads Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authors group.

I took part in a live panel discussion on Radio New Zealand (NZ equivalent of NPR) today about science fiction and fantasy writing and publishing in New Zealand. The discussion also involved New Zealand fantasy authors Helen Lowe and Russell Kirkpatrick, and the first part of the discussion was about the difference between fantasy and science fiction.

I've linked to a podcast of the discussion from http://bit.ly/3tdkk2

Going back to #65 - I don't have an agent (one is not really necessary in New Zealand, where Random House will - and did - accept my unsolicited manuscript following an initial query, though I would certainly be seeking an agent if looking to publish overseas), but I have recently posted an interview on my blog with a New Zealand author who, straight off the bat, secured a US agent and deals for six fantasy novels from major US publishers - two YA standalones and a four-book adult series.

How did she do it? By writing well - very well, from the little I've so far seen of her work - and carefully researching the appropriate agent to approach, and how to make that approach. Her name is Helen Lowe, and she discusses this in the interview at

http://timjonesbooks.blogspot.com/2008/0...

I've had one novel published - fantasy novel "Anarya's Secret" (see http://www.earthdawn.com/index.php?categ...) - and am working on another at present. Anarya's Secret is in third person; the new one is in first person.

I tend to echo #2 that description is especially important in third person, but in both books, I have had to work hard to make sure that I include enough physical description, especially of characters. When I'm writing a first draft, I tend to have the characters' personalities in mind rather than their appearances, and I've had to go back and insert descriptions of them at appropriate places when redrafting. (Not all at once, of course - a bit here and a bit there.)

For my new book, I have made a chart of what people look like and where in the manuscript I have described this - it feels a bit mechanical, but I hope that, this time, I won't have to go back and "paste in" those descriptions during later drafts.

I have the same problem - well, I'd like to think I "had" the same problem, but I'm not sure I'm over it yet. My suggestion would be to look at whether a reader will form the impression that your story moves at the pace your characters dictate, or whether they'll get the sense that the author is rushing through parts of the story to set up other parts. If you don't already do it, reading your work aloud may help with that.

Sorry, David. My mistake - that should have been senjmito (at) gmail.com, substituting the (at) as you suggest

I'll have a go at posting it:



It's too hard to try to post code here, so if you email me at senjimto (at) gmail.com, I'll explain what code is needed (you had the structure of the code right - it was just looking at the wrong address)

#5, David: This is the code I included in my comment to post my image. To make this render the image, I would need to replace the opening ! with a <, and the closing ! with a >. You would need to put in the web address at which your cover image is hosted where I have put the address of mine.


!img src="http://users.actrix.co.nz/timjones/ed_novel_cover.jpg"
alt="Anarya's Secret Cover"/!

Even that doesn't really come out as I'd like - but I hope you can work it out.

Regards
Tim

Here's mine. The cover is by Kathy Schad.

I recently read a very good blog post on this topic, by Rachael King, who is, like myself, a New Zealand author who's on Goodreads. It deals with broad questions of story, and it's very thought-provoking, whether or not you feel all the points made apply to your own work.

See http://soundofbutterflies.blogspot.com/2...