R.K. Gold's Blog, page 7

The Middle of OH NO!

Okay, so editing sucks, I get it. Especially editing a manuscript I wrote a couple years ago when my writing was complete shit as opposed to the doo-doo it is today, but I digress.

So, I'm having trouble focusing on editing that manuscript I keep talking about. The one that in my head is such a heart felt story but on paper makes my eyes bleed. I try to get through a chapter and end up banging my head against the table asking myself "why? why did I write so poorly? Do I even care about future R.K.?"

So, I'm struggling as you can tell if you've made it this far. And of course, when I struggle with editing, I do what I always do, write a new project. Because lord knows I need more shitty writing rough drafts in my life.

Anyways, I decided since I'm going to make the same mistake yet again and shift my attention to a new project instead of finishing an old one, I thought I should try something new. So rather than doing the usual write 1.5-2k words a day on a manuscript that'll sit in a folder for years before I decide to polish it up, I thought I would do what the hip kids are doing and release it chapter by chapter on here and wattpad.

I don't know how it's turning out, I do know I'm having fun writing it though. It's cool having that instant gratification of putting it up for people to see the second I'm done with it.

It’s been a blast tying all my worlds and characters together. Throughout some of my writing, not Lost in the Clouds but my first two books and bunch of rough manuscripts, I've had this idea for a greater universe. I've been playing with the idea for some time, creating sort of gatekeeper like characters who watch over my universe and connect all my books. For those of you who have read Just Under the Sky you've met one of them (Zimriah).

My plan is to connect all of these worlds with a single mythology and tell the stories of the three gate keepers through different champions (or mortal protagonists).

I can say in the future you will be seeing a lot of familiar faces in my work (particularly Milly from Brinwood). What can I say, as anyone who's spoken to me about writing knows, Stephen King is everything I want to be as an author. He has his Universe, I'm excited to make my own.

So-So

So-So

I don't know I'm feeling pretty good lately. My first week of grad school was a bit of a success, nothing too daunting at the moment. I'm hopefully going to finish Wizard and Glass this weekend.

I'm also finding time to edit one of my older manuscripts. I know I mentioned it in an earlier blog. It's the one inspired by one of my top five movies of all time, Harold and Maude.

Other than that, I think the biggest accomplishment in my life has been the discovery of Halo Top ice cream. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Halo Top it's a super low calorie ice cream but TASTES SO GOOD! They have this oatmeal cookie flavor that's making my mouth water at the moment just thinking about it.

This ice cream has come in handy since my gf has finally decided to give Game of Thrones a chance, and ya know, ice cream and game of thrones go pretty much hand in hand. I can't believe how much I'm enjoying watching this show from the beginning. There are so many small details that just jump out the second go around and it's making some characters who I loathed the first time (like Catelyn Stark) seem far more sympathetic. Though I still question all of her decisions I can understand more why she did it.

Well I have a lot of work to get to this weekend, but it's friday so that's future R.K.'s problem. Clearly the best course of action now is to get in a quick workout so I can justify the copious amounts of pasta I'm going to eat tonight.

First day down!

So I finished the first day of my second year of grad school. The topic of the day: People! Lol what I learned in boating school is! (In a Spongebob voice).

No really, pretty much we went over historical investing data and rate of returns. It was a good overall first day, nothing too dry or too dense to digest.

Now I'm back home, and since I only have one homework assignment I'm thinking it's a good day to finish Wizard and Glass. Then again any day is a good day to read Stephen King.

The movie adaptations of his work scare the living shit out of me but his books are just MUAH! Perfect.

Since I had such a good first day of school, I think I'm gonna do a little giveaway (outside of the giveaway already running for my book on here).

Yeah, I like that. Anyone who signs up for my Newsletter and replies to the welcome email with their favorite subject (past or present) in school will be entered to win a free paperback or digital copy of Lost in the Clouds .

If you never had a favorite subject just tell me the thing you hated most about school instead.

Thank you for reading!

What am I gonna do now? No seriously, what am I gonna do now?

That Game of Thrones episode was everything! I feel such a void in my life and it's only been 90 minutes since the episode ended. I need to put the computer away because, despite them not actually filming until October, I find myself magically hoping for a time traveler to pop up in my Safari window and somehow download all the future episodes onto my hard drive.

Sure there are other shows for me to get hooked on, and god knows there are plenty of books on my TBR list to keep me entertained for a lifetime, but there's only one Game of Thrones, and now it's gone for a year.

There's no way I'm the only one. I know all I need to do is sign on to twitter and in just a matter of seconds I can find people who feel my pain, but wallowing as a group just isn't doing the trick.

Wallow, wallow, wallow

See nothing. I'm still stuck here silently contemplating starting the show over from scratch just to re-immerse myself in the world of Westeros.

I have my first class of the new semester tomorrow at 9 am, so I should probably get some sleep.

Just wanted to air my feelings one last time before I turn off the light.

Thank god for the Dark Tower series. Halfway through book four, I still have three and a half books to go before that leaves me. . . (begins to tear up realizing the series will come to an end). Shit all good things come to an end. . . shit I'm gonna die one day!!!! Lol okay, I'm not that pathetic, just tired and should probably go to sleep.

Thank you to everyone who actually reads my ramblings. To those of you who don't. . . well, I understand.

Now What?

Well, Lost in the Clouds has been out for less than a month, and I just finished the rough draft of my latest manuscript. I gotta say, it’s not that I’m at a loss for things to do, but I feel like I’m floating between ideas; it’s strange not having a must do list. It's so easy when you're in the groove of things, working on a project, whether it editing an old draft or writing a new one, but this in-between period just feels strange.

To make matters worse better stranger, I start my second year of grad school tomorrow. So good luck me finding that valuable free time to figure out what my next plan of action is (ya know besides trying to get a masters degree).

At the moment I'm just putting out a new WIP chapter by chapter, which is nice in the way that Nicorette is nice for someone trying to quit smoking. I still get that buzz from writing every day and meeting a word count goal, but I don't know if it's gonna go anywhere. The premise is cool at the moment, and it's helping me work on my YA writing, but shoot I don't know if it's gonna go anywhere.

It's still too soon for me to even think about editing the manuscript I just completed, so I think I should take this time to edit one of my older manuscripts sitting on the shelf. I have a few to pick from but one that keeps jumping out at me is this coming of age story loosely paying homage to one of my all-time favorite movies Harold and Maude.

Though in my manuscript the protagonist is a high school girl, and bears little resemblance to Harold, she does come into her own and find her self-confidence with the guidance of her new, elderly friend Maude.

Yeah, that seems best. I remember how much fun I had writing that manuscript; maybe it's time to make it pretty.

Speaking of pretty, I wrote this post while listening to Valerie by Amy Winehouse so if you need a music break go listen and it'll make your day better. . . probably.

It's Done! It's F***ing Done!

Holy shit! It's actually done. I can't believe it. This rough draft felt like the draft from hell. It just wouldn't obey me. I went in thinking it would be 50-60k words; ya know, just a short little satire. Something fun to write in-between stories to poke fun at the celebrity obsession culture today.

I didn't expect a 115k word giant slapping me in the face until my cheeks were bruised. Day in and day out I pumped 2k words into this thing that just swallowed them up and asked for more. Ha outline? This thing didn't want an outline. It swallowed my outline up in minutes and had my MC going on sidequests out the ying yang.

But none of that matters now because it's EFFING DONE!

Now, I know this is the rough draft; I know that my manuscript is currently a complete piece of shit crap right now, but I also know that's future R.K.'s problem. All the plot holes, grammatical errors, and magical fixes are future R.K.'s problem.

Present me is just going to enjoy this victory. I can now go into this next semester of grad school knowing whatever writing endeavors I take on are not looming ones taunting me with their incompleteness.

I'm done, and I'm so happy right now.

The Greatness We Don't Deserve

It's funny, when I was in high school, I used to have visions of being a rapper. Yes feel free to laugh away, it's fucking hilarious. I 100% fit the stereotype of dorky jewish kid trying to spit hot bars (also feel free to laugh at this sentence). I laugh at myself about it still. To make matters worse, I had (and still have) a HORRIBLE case of stage fright. I can usually get over it, after a few shots motivational pep talks, but there's always that shake in my voice, my inability to keep my hands still, and the tremble in my legs.

For those of you suffering from the same fear you know exactly what I'm talking about; how we just become a passenger in our own body seeing and feeling all these ticks popping up but no ability to stop or fix them. Good times on the stage.

Anyway, as I was saying, I used to have these dreams that all I had to do was turn twenty and bam! I'd be the shit. Like age was the only thing holding me back. It had to be right? I mean how could someone with as much (lack of) talent as me not already make it. I used to joke with my good friend Conrad that I was giving myself until 25. Tupac only needed 25 years to change the world so why should I hold myself to a different standard?

Ha! Well I'm 26 now, and I can't help but wonder what teenage R.K. would think of me now. No longer taunted by delusions of grandeur, I now have a dream, which I whittle away at daily in between work and grad school.

The funny thing is, I wouldn't have it any other way. I mean sure, I wouldn't mind a few extra zeros at the end of my savings account, and I would never say no to a few more Goodreads messages from people who actually read my books to tell me how much they enjoyed them (really I've discovered there's no greater social media joy than one of those messages. . . unless it's a video message that includes puppies). But really, I'm happy. And I know why.

It's tangible progress. Look, if yesterday's NYT Best Seller debacle shows us anything it's that overnight success just doesn't happen. Obviously, when I say it doesn't happen I just mean statistically unlikely. The happiness I'm finding in my writing career is not stemming from a list. I enjoy sneaking time out of my day to work on my passion; I enjoy watching an authentic audience (though still small) grow; I enjoy watching each milestone come into sight, then pass by and be replaced by the next one, going from reaching out to blogs, to having podcasts reach out to me; seeing only 1 or 2 sales a month, to a week, to now a sale a day--I know still extremely modest and many are doing far better, but those small steps are great to me. That's the thing about greatness, it isn't a set milestone, it's something that grows with you.

Anyway, I'm sorry for this rambling.

If you were bored while reading this feel free to let me have it in the comment section lol.

The Need for the Meh

I would like to start this post by saying thank you to the honest reviewer. Without you, navigating an industry as large as this would be impossible.

So as I was getting ready for work this morning, reading the WSJ mobile app, I got a notification on my email. Brinwood had received a new review; a new three star review. I, being more sensitive than I care to let on, of course allowed my imagination to take control. All I could think about was a shadow face behind a keyboard with a wide fanged grin cackling as they told the world what a shitty writer I was.

This of course wasn't the case, but my imagination (especially in the morning as the coffee is still taking its effect) has a mind of its own. When Safari finally loaded and I read the review, I was actually sort of flattered. Sure the star count was meh, but the review was absolutely fair:
"It was pretty good, but a little too much violence for me."

It actually made me grin a bit. I read it a second time and thought to myself, "this could be good." I don't know about you but when I'm looking up books to read I often start with the critical reviews. I don't know why, but I feel like I get more of an understanding for the book when I read what people disliked about it.

I then applied this method to my own book. If someone like me were to look up Brinwood and read a review saying it's a good story with excessive violence, I mean that could be what's best for my book. Those who know they don't like violence will take a pass and those who are further intrigued may take a risk.

So, as I said at the top of this post, thank you. Thank you to all the honest reviewers out there for the honest job you are doing. Buying a book is an expensive investment, not of money but time. No one wants to feel cheated out of days of their life on a misguided review. Your efforts ensure those who buy our books are the right audience, the audience who will get the most out of our work.

So thank you.

Finishing the project

Shit! Uh, I mean, well you know what I mean. It's happening again. It's funny, you always assume you have a handle on your weakness (well one of your weaknesses) until you're confronted by it. At least that's what I thought this go around. I started this WIP with so much energy, nodding at every suggestion my imagination threw at me like it was the best idea ever, only to find myself in the same place I end up with every project: The NOT End.

Yeah, that wonderful place where you are so close to finishing, you just find yourself putting the work off until tomorrow like a bad diet: Oh, I can knock out a few thousand words in a day no problem, I think I'll just sleep a little more and do it tomorrow. WRONG! So wrong, just stop it R.K. stop it. You're being a goof.

This WIP is so ready to be done, I can hear it begging me to tie it all together, but my fingers just won't obey my mind's desire. They're typing out new scenes that'll probably just get cut in the first round of edits anyway, just to prolong this 110k word manuscript.

Even right now, I am writing for the day, and rather than finishing this scene I am choosing to blog about myself not finishing the scene.

I swear, the closer I (and probably others) get to the end, the harder the writing gets. I'm not energized by the finish line, I justify putting it off instead.

Maybe that's why I'm writing this post. To hold myself accountable, to put it out to the public (or the few people who actually read this blog) that this is the week I finally finish this WIP.

Yeah, that's it. This is the week. By the end of the weekend, this manuscript will be done!

As always thanks for reading.

What is Greatness

It's funny, I'm reading the Dark Tower series and find myself constantly in awe of King's brilliance. However, as I admire his work another name comes to mind: James Patterson. This is not because I see these two men as the pinnacle of literary greatness (though they obviously should be included in that conversation)but more as foils in style.

What I've learned from King, in his memoir/writer's guide book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is that he allows the story to write itself. Even at the end of The Waste Lands in the author's notes section he goes on about how he didn't see this novel ending where it did and it came as much of a surprise to him as his readers. His brand is allowing his mind to tell the story and his process is to not get in his own way while writing it. This is far different from what I've learned about James Patterson's process in his master class.

Patterson stresses that writers who go into a novel without a detailed plan are doomed to write themselves into a corner they can't escape. He swears by an outline, and not just an outline, but a detailed outline. One of the perks of his master class is he supplies all his students with a copy of his original outline for Honeymoon. What one sees is an incredibly intricate chapter by chapter breakdown. There isn't one detail forgotten. Patterson says this offers the writer the opportunity to work on a project without the pressure of ever staring down a blank page. He emphasizes how important it is for him to know exactly what it is he's going to be writing that day and this process eliminates writer's block.

Two prolific authors, two incredibly different philosophies. It got me thinking that the key to greatness is not necessarily finding the "great template," but rather perfecting the style that fits you. I know this in itself isn't a profound comment and others have said it before me, but I'm writing this blog because I have finally had that moment where I truly believe it.

When it comes to anything in life it's not about trying to find the perfect way to do it, but rather working on doing it your way perfectly.