R.K. Gold's Blog, page 9
July 4, 2016
July 4th Weekend
I know I am a day late with this post but I hardly think anyone minds. I am far from a blog superstar; in fact I am so far from a blog superstar I could probably write a “my first blog” post again and no one would know better. I am currently finishing up the first manuscript of a YA series.
Not gonna lie, I love it. You know how people always give the advice “write what you want to read.” Well I did it, and the results are fantastic! I don’t know if anyone else will like it but at the very least I am having the time of my life building this world and getting to know my characters. I was hoping to finish the rough draft before my 25th birthday (yesterday) but the book is much longer than I originally expected.
Flirting with 70k at the moment it just keeps going on and on. I don’t want to rush the ending, everything has been so organic up to this point the last thing I’d want to do is have a letdown, lazy ending or a pointless cliff-hanger that screams “I’m Lazy!” or “Buy my next book!”
Other than that things have been going well for me. Taking summer classes to prepare for my Econ Masters program and just wrapped up an extra role in the Thurgood Marshall Biopic starring Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, and Kate Hudson. The amount of talent on set (shout out Sterling Brown, Dan Stevens and James Cromwell) was mind blowing. I haven’t acted since the fifth grade Peter Pan play (I was some nameless pirate) so at first I wasn’t sure what to expect; it was more of a bucket list item for me than a career stepping stone. But holy crap was it more than anything I could’ve imagined. It was a truly memorable experience and I cannot believe how lucky I am to have been a part of it.
So, being 4th of July weekend, I took this extra day to finish this WIP. Tomorrow normal life begins again; I head back to work, and do the final touches on my August release Lost Boys.
As always thank you for reading.
Best regards,
-R.K. Gold
Not gonna lie, I love it. You know how people always give the advice “write what you want to read.” Well I did it, and the results are fantastic! I don’t know if anyone else will like it but at the very least I am having the time of my life building this world and getting to know my characters. I was hoping to finish the rough draft before my 25th birthday (yesterday) but the book is much longer than I originally expected.
Flirting with 70k at the moment it just keeps going on and on. I don’t want to rush the ending, everything has been so organic up to this point the last thing I’d want to do is have a letdown, lazy ending or a pointless cliff-hanger that screams “I’m Lazy!” or “Buy my next book!”
Other than that things have been going well for me. Taking summer classes to prepare for my Econ Masters program and just wrapped up an extra role in the Thurgood Marshall Biopic starring Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, and Kate Hudson. The amount of talent on set (shout out Sterling Brown, Dan Stevens and James Cromwell) was mind blowing. I haven’t acted since the fifth grade Peter Pan play (I was some nameless pirate) so at first I wasn’t sure what to expect; it was more of a bucket list item for me than a career stepping stone. But holy crap was it more than anything I could’ve imagined. It was a truly memorable experience and I cannot believe how lucky I am to have been a part of it.
So, being 4th of July weekend, I took this extra day to finish this WIP. Tomorrow normal life begins again; I head back to work, and do the final touches on my August release Lost Boys.
As always thank you for reading.
Best regards,
-R.K. Gold
June 26, 2016
My YA Experiment
My YA Experiment
I have always loved reading YA novels. They are direct, engaging, and more than fulfill a novel’s duty to entertain its readers. I respect YA Authors’ abilities to create, develop, and adapt rules to new and existing worlds. Their imagination proves time and time again to be their greatest assets.
That is why I decided to finally sack up and try writing my own YA. Just under one month in, I am hovering just under 60k words with only a few chapters to go. It has been one of the most fun manuscripts I have ever written, especially as I look ahead to what I want to do with the series down the line (another exciting thing about YA novels is how easily they can be turned into a series).
It’s been a quick write for me. Even while I am at work (for the past week working up to and beyond 12 hour days) I find myself obsessing about what I want to do my next opportunity in front of a computer. I find myself knocking 2,000 words out before breakfast, worried I wont have another chance to write that day and desperate to put my latest thoughts to the page.
Is this why YA is such a popular genre? Not just for the enjoyment it brings readers, but for the writers as well? I have always loved writing and have always obsessed over my work, but YA conjures a different kind of excitement. It’s more concrete. With other work I focus on the themes and get excited over the meanings but with YA I’m actually describing characters as “cool” and “awesome.” It’s far more vernacular. Paragraphs are far more straight forward, with simpler language, because the language is not the focal point; it is the vessel for the story and my main focus is creating a plot the invisible reader in the back of my mind won’t be able to put down.
YA has earned its place as a top genre. It has beautifully intertwined reader entertainment and author creativity to produce one of the most dynamic genres. This experiment with a new genre has been a blast, and I hope to add more YA manuscripts to my archive for years to come.
As always thank you for reading.
Best regards,
-R.K. Gold
I have always loved reading YA novels. They are direct, engaging, and more than fulfill a novel’s duty to entertain its readers. I respect YA Authors’ abilities to create, develop, and adapt rules to new and existing worlds. Their imagination proves time and time again to be their greatest assets.
That is why I decided to finally sack up and try writing my own YA. Just under one month in, I am hovering just under 60k words with only a few chapters to go. It has been one of the most fun manuscripts I have ever written, especially as I look ahead to what I want to do with the series down the line (another exciting thing about YA novels is how easily they can be turned into a series).
It’s been a quick write for me. Even while I am at work (for the past week working up to and beyond 12 hour days) I find myself obsessing about what I want to do my next opportunity in front of a computer. I find myself knocking 2,000 words out before breakfast, worried I wont have another chance to write that day and desperate to put my latest thoughts to the page.
Is this why YA is such a popular genre? Not just for the enjoyment it brings readers, but for the writers as well? I have always loved writing and have always obsessed over my work, but YA conjures a different kind of excitement. It’s more concrete. With other work I focus on the themes and get excited over the meanings but with YA I’m actually describing characters as “cool” and “awesome.” It’s far more vernacular. Paragraphs are far more straight forward, with simpler language, because the language is not the focal point; it is the vessel for the story and my main focus is creating a plot the invisible reader in the back of my mind won’t be able to put down.
YA has earned its place as a top genre. It has beautifully intertwined reader entertainment and author creativity to produce one of the most dynamic genres. This experiment with a new genre has been a blast, and I hope to add more YA manuscripts to my archive for years to come.
As always thank you for reading.
Best regards,
-R.K. Gold
June 18, 2016
1 am Ramble
Things are going well with my latest manuscript, but it is certainly intimidating to see the number of rough drafts piling up in my folder. I think after this one I finally need to commit serious time to clearing out that folder one manuscript at a time.
I have a few pieces I am particularly excited about; writing has been exciting for me lately because after two and a half years of writing novels I feel like I am finally developing my own style/voice. I know which genre my imagination tends to wander to and what kind of characters I like to work with.
I hope this post is somewhat coherent. Currently it’s 1 am. I can’t sleep because I have been reading a fascinating biography on the Morgan family by Rob Chernow The House of Morgan. My dog slept for the past couple hours so now he is wide awake in my bed chewing on a bone and staring at me, wondering why I am not giving him more attention. Ha—I can’t help but laugh knowing he’s going to lick my face in four and a half hours to go out for his morning potty. He’s such a goof ball, but he’s also a big reason why I never get writers block.
Honestly whenever I question what I’m working on or what direction I need to take a story I just pop in some headphones and take him for a nice long walk. Usually they start with day dreams involving me taking a celebrity crush, who will remain nameless, on every date imaginable, but by the end of the walk I am focused on my work and figure out a nice milestone to aim for. As I mentioned in my last post I prefer loose structures during early drafts to let characters develop more organically.
It’s coming in handy with this latest manuscript; the protagonist is going through a major transformation and she hates herself for it.
I might need to knock out 1,000 more words before I hit the hay (or maybe just 500, sleep is starting to set in and I don’t want to drool on my keyboard). Either that or read a little more because Logan’s loud crunching is definitely going to stop me from catching much shut eye. Anyway, thank you for reading. Sorry this was more of a ramble than my last two posts but it was fun to write. I guess I’ll end it with a little bit of advice so you don’t feel like you wasted too much time reading this (unless you think the advice sucks, in which case I’m sorry).
Okay, my advice: whenever you finish writing for the day add in parenthesis at the bottom of your page a general direction you want to take the story next time you pick it up. That way you don’t have to re-read anything when you return to writing. Most of us are not at the point where we can write full time, and some days you just don’t find time to write much, if anything at all. Personally if I take a day off I have trouble getting back into the right mindset. By creating a shortcut with a loose 1-2 sentence plan of direction it makes jumping back into writing infinitely easier.
Thank you for reading.
-R.K. Gold
I have a few pieces I am particularly excited about; writing has been exciting for me lately because after two and a half years of writing novels I feel like I am finally developing my own style/voice. I know which genre my imagination tends to wander to and what kind of characters I like to work with.
I hope this post is somewhat coherent. Currently it’s 1 am. I can’t sleep because I have been reading a fascinating biography on the Morgan family by Rob Chernow The House of Morgan. My dog slept for the past couple hours so now he is wide awake in my bed chewing on a bone and staring at me, wondering why I am not giving him more attention. Ha—I can’t help but laugh knowing he’s going to lick my face in four and a half hours to go out for his morning potty. He’s such a goof ball, but he’s also a big reason why I never get writers block.
Honestly whenever I question what I’m working on or what direction I need to take a story I just pop in some headphones and take him for a nice long walk. Usually they start with day dreams involving me taking a celebrity crush, who will remain nameless, on every date imaginable, but by the end of the walk I am focused on my work and figure out a nice milestone to aim for. As I mentioned in my last post I prefer loose structures during early drafts to let characters develop more organically.
It’s coming in handy with this latest manuscript; the protagonist is going through a major transformation and she hates herself for it.
I might need to knock out 1,000 more words before I hit the hay (or maybe just 500, sleep is starting to set in and I don’t want to drool on my keyboard). Either that or read a little more because Logan’s loud crunching is definitely going to stop me from catching much shut eye. Anyway, thank you for reading. Sorry this was more of a ramble than my last two posts but it was fun to write. I guess I’ll end it with a little bit of advice so you don’t feel like you wasted too much time reading this (unless you think the advice sucks, in which case I’m sorry).
Okay, my advice: whenever you finish writing for the day add in parenthesis at the bottom of your page a general direction you want to take the story next time you pick it up. That way you don’t have to re-read anything when you return to writing. Most of us are not at the point where we can write full time, and some days you just don’t find time to write much, if anything at all. Personally if I take a day off I have trouble getting back into the right mindset. By creating a shortcut with a loose 1-2 sentence plan of direction it makes jumping back into writing infinitely easier.
Thank you for reading.
-R.K. Gold
June 12, 2016
Plotting
“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” -Mark Twain
As I mentioned in my previous post I am finishing one final manuscript before my 25th birthday in July. Like most of my work I went into this book with a general idea but no set plot. Instead, I have a two sentence pitch at the top of my manuscript to act more as a cardinal direction than actual instructions. As long as I have that course marked as my final destination, the journey can be as free as it needs to be.
Plotting, or my personal preference for plotting, is the main focus of this post. When it comes to plotting, I prefer the flexibility offered by a general idea, with a few milestones. In my opinion it really lets the characters develop a little more. Instead of holding them to rigid personalities, they become more authentic and adjust to the conflict.
In Stephen King’s On Writing he talks about writers being archaeologists who brush away the dirt covering a story. Rather than beginning a dig knowing what the final city will look like, just keep brushing away and uncover the general shape of the civilization. Then through editing add the recurring details that give the story its charm.
Personally when I try detailed plotting before I’ve even written a page, I find some of the items I hope to make meaningful through subtle recurrence turn out to be tacky. For example, a locket I want to be a secret focal point of the story so I introduce it on page 10; then it comes back on 30, 70, 110, 180, by the time I reach the end of the book I’d rather hang myself with the stupid locket than find out what’s actually inside or why it’s important.
I have only written two books with strict plots, and they required the most editing afterwards. Rather than allowing the story to unfold with a natural occurrence of events under a general umbrella I tried forcing strict plot points, which seemed forced into the narrative. The characters were flat, with only a small handful of traits and the antagonists were easy to conquer. It’s impossible (at least for me) to fill every unique detail that makes a book special into a plotting session and the harder I try to specifically designate every allusion, metaphor, and object of importance, the more porous the narrative becomes; the hints I were hoping would be subtle were either too heavy handed or non-existent; the protagonist only had one goal and one or two weaknesses, and the villain was stale. In all these heavily plotted books I found myself loving the supporting characters so much more, and for the longest time I couldn’t figure out why.
Now I am sure it was from their freedom. Every quirk they had naturally developed on the page because I wanted to conjure an emotion, not just advance the plot. Those quirks enriched their backstories, and came up throughout the text. As did their strengths. They had more engaging dialogue too because I did not enter conversations with them just to move from one point to the next. I found my protagonist genuinely did not know who they were and ended up having the most emotionally engaging conversations with them because it was real.
As for the small details that J.K. Rowling has mastered in her texts I found going into a novel or series knowing one or two items need to be important and left as clues can work but can also be overwhelming. Instead if the item comes up on its own during the first draft I have found success in marking it down in my notes and adjusting its significance in editing. The great thing about writing is no one needs to read your first draft. If you find out at the end of your book a character needs to pick a lock, you can sprinkle a back story of why a supporting character learned how to pick locks so it makes more sense at the end.
The point of this post is not to say there is a correct or wrong way to write. If you prefer the process of plotting I am not here to tell you that’s incorrect. But personally, I have found far more success, and far less backtracking, in plotting my editing rather than my first draft.
As I mentioned in my previous post I am finishing one final manuscript before my 25th birthday in July. Like most of my work I went into this book with a general idea but no set plot. Instead, I have a two sentence pitch at the top of my manuscript to act more as a cardinal direction than actual instructions. As long as I have that course marked as my final destination, the journey can be as free as it needs to be.
Plotting, or my personal preference for plotting, is the main focus of this post. When it comes to plotting, I prefer the flexibility offered by a general idea, with a few milestones. In my opinion it really lets the characters develop a little more. Instead of holding them to rigid personalities, they become more authentic and adjust to the conflict.
In Stephen King’s On Writing he talks about writers being archaeologists who brush away the dirt covering a story. Rather than beginning a dig knowing what the final city will look like, just keep brushing away and uncover the general shape of the civilization. Then through editing add the recurring details that give the story its charm.
Personally when I try detailed plotting before I’ve even written a page, I find some of the items I hope to make meaningful through subtle recurrence turn out to be tacky. For example, a locket I want to be a secret focal point of the story so I introduce it on page 10; then it comes back on 30, 70, 110, 180, by the time I reach the end of the book I’d rather hang myself with the stupid locket than find out what’s actually inside or why it’s important.
I have only written two books with strict plots, and they required the most editing afterwards. Rather than allowing the story to unfold with a natural occurrence of events under a general umbrella I tried forcing strict plot points, which seemed forced into the narrative. The characters were flat, with only a small handful of traits and the antagonists were easy to conquer. It’s impossible (at least for me) to fill every unique detail that makes a book special into a plotting session and the harder I try to specifically designate every allusion, metaphor, and object of importance, the more porous the narrative becomes; the hints I were hoping would be subtle were either too heavy handed or non-existent; the protagonist only had one goal and one or two weaknesses, and the villain was stale. In all these heavily plotted books I found myself loving the supporting characters so much more, and for the longest time I couldn’t figure out why.
Now I am sure it was from their freedom. Every quirk they had naturally developed on the page because I wanted to conjure an emotion, not just advance the plot. Those quirks enriched their backstories, and came up throughout the text. As did their strengths. They had more engaging dialogue too because I did not enter conversations with them just to move from one point to the next. I found my protagonist genuinely did not know who they were and ended up having the most emotionally engaging conversations with them because it was real.
As for the small details that J.K. Rowling has mastered in her texts I found going into a novel or series knowing one or two items need to be important and left as clues can work but can also be overwhelming. Instead if the item comes up on its own during the first draft I have found success in marking it down in my notes and adjusting its significance in editing. The great thing about writing is no one needs to read your first draft. If you find out at the end of your book a character needs to pick a lock, you can sprinkle a back story of why a supporting character learned how to pick locks so it makes more sense at the end.
The point of this post is not to say there is a correct or wrong way to write. If you prefer the process of plotting I am not here to tell you that’s incorrect. But personally, I have found far more success, and far less backtracking, in plotting my editing rather than my first draft.
June 5, 2016
Approaching 25
Well. It’s Sunday again!
I hope everyone had a great week! Personally, I was able to cross something huge off my bucket list. I worked as an extra for the Thurgood Marshall Biopic.
It really was a fun experience; one I feel so lucky to have been a part of. Not to mention I got to spend over 15 hours next to Josh Gad and Chadwick Boseman. It makes their movies that much more enjoyable when you know they are genuinely good people. Josh could tell a few extras were a little uptight and cracked a few jokes to loosen them up. As for Chadwick, it was rare to find a moment he wasn’t smiling (when the camera wasn’t rolling). He was also quick to coach/encourage the extras after every shot to help generate the feeling/emotion he was looking for.
It really has been amazing to see the turnaround in Buffalo. I grew up in a city on life support, now life seems to gravitate to our returning downtown (I definitely made the right decision to return home).
But now I’m back to work, and back to writing. For the past month I have been editing a YA manuscript. It deals with typical high school struggles, and the search for self-identity. The protagonist, Jessica, finds wisdom from a woman named Maud (inspired by/paying homage to Harold and Maud). However, editing is a slow process, and no matter how much work you get done on any given day it just doesn’t give the same satisfying feeling as creating something from scratch.
That’s why, when I realized a few days ago that I turn 25 next month, I decided to put editing on hold. I want to complete one more project before I hit the quarter century mark; one more manuscript for the ever growing vault of rough drafts I can spend my 25th year on earth actually editing.
So I’m excited about this project. I’m aiming for a short 60 thousand word manuscript. One week in and I’m over 12 thousand words so far—so a little ahead of schedule.
It should be a lot of fun. I love the story so far, but I can’t tell if it’s actually good or if I’m just in the honeymoon stage where I could literally write “poop” 500 times and think I’m an innovative genius.
The working title is The Feast and it takes place in a halfway house for teenagers. That’s all I’m giving away! I don’t want anyone to tell me how stupid the plot sounds before I finish—nothing will deflate me faster.
Once again I would like to thank everyone who took time out of their day to read this post. It makes me feel pretty special and I very much appreciate it.
I would like to give a huge shout out to Arlo Guthrie! I’m sure he isn’t on this site, but if he is I just want to say I love your work. I saw you live at Jazz Fest this year and became an instant fan. In fact while writing this post I listened to “The City of New Orleans.” Your music always makes me smile and always reminds me just how beautiful the world can be. (Cheesy I know but why not end a post with a little cheese?)
For those of you who want to hear the song here is a link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMS_...
Thanks again!
I hope everyone had a great week! Personally, I was able to cross something huge off my bucket list. I worked as an extra for the Thurgood Marshall Biopic.
It really was a fun experience; one I feel so lucky to have been a part of. Not to mention I got to spend over 15 hours next to Josh Gad and Chadwick Boseman. It makes their movies that much more enjoyable when you know they are genuinely good people. Josh could tell a few extras were a little uptight and cracked a few jokes to loosen them up. As for Chadwick, it was rare to find a moment he wasn’t smiling (when the camera wasn’t rolling). He was also quick to coach/encourage the extras after every shot to help generate the feeling/emotion he was looking for.
It really has been amazing to see the turnaround in Buffalo. I grew up in a city on life support, now life seems to gravitate to our returning downtown (I definitely made the right decision to return home).
But now I’m back to work, and back to writing. For the past month I have been editing a YA manuscript. It deals with typical high school struggles, and the search for self-identity. The protagonist, Jessica, finds wisdom from a woman named Maud (inspired by/paying homage to Harold and Maud). However, editing is a slow process, and no matter how much work you get done on any given day it just doesn’t give the same satisfying feeling as creating something from scratch.
That’s why, when I realized a few days ago that I turn 25 next month, I decided to put editing on hold. I want to complete one more project before I hit the quarter century mark; one more manuscript for the ever growing vault of rough drafts I can spend my 25th year on earth actually editing.
So I’m excited about this project. I’m aiming for a short 60 thousand word manuscript. One week in and I’m over 12 thousand words so far—so a little ahead of schedule.
It should be a lot of fun. I love the story so far, but I can’t tell if it’s actually good or if I’m just in the honeymoon stage where I could literally write “poop” 500 times and think I’m an innovative genius.
The working title is The Feast and it takes place in a halfway house for teenagers. That’s all I’m giving away! I don’t want anyone to tell me how stupid the plot sounds before I finish—nothing will deflate me faster.
Once again I would like to thank everyone who took time out of their day to read this post. It makes me feel pretty special and I very much appreciate it.
I would like to give a huge shout out to Arlo Guthrie! I’m sure he isn’t on this site, but if he is I just want to say I love your work. I saw you live at Jazz Fest this year and became an instant fan. In fact while writing this post I listened to “The City of New Orleans.” Your music always makes me smile and always reminds me just how beautiful the world can be. (Cheesy I know but why not end a post with a little cheese?)
For those of you who want to hear the song here is a link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMS_...
Thanks again!
May 30, 2016
First Post
I am very new to goodreads, well not new but new to actually being active on the site. I guess I am still just finding my way as an indie author, but I am definitely having a lot of fun doing it.
This seems like an interesting tool goodreads offers so I thought I would try it out. I figure why not start a weekly blog post on this site.
For my first post, I figure what better topic than an introduction.
My name is R.K. Gold and I am from Buffalo, NY. After going to University of Maryland for 4 years I moved out west to see a bit more of the country, before moving back to my hometown (You don't realize how much you love your city until you're gone). Being back home also makes cheering for my favorite sports teams a lot easier. When I was living in Montana I had to go to Buffalo Wild Wings (or find a shady internet site) to watch my Bills lose.
I now research and write articles, blog posts, and white papers, for a financial firm in Downtown Buffalo and am returning to school to pursue a Masters Degree in Economics.
When I am not at work I spend my time reading and writing in my living room, usually with my dog asleep on my lap. I love listening to music (every genre but I'm partial to hip hop) and my favorite city to visit is New Orleans. In fact as I'm writing this I am listening to Arlo Guthrie City of New Orleans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMS_...
I began writing novels in February 2014; I was in a bad car accident the month before. My ex and I were stopped at a red light when this car came speeding off the highway, lost control, and clobbered us. While recovering, I sort of had an epiphany; no matter what you are doing in life, no matter how safe you are or how well you take care of yourself, it can all come to an end in an instant; so it's best to spend your life pursuing something you are truly passionate about. I had always loved writing but never thought it was something I could make a life out of. Boy was I wrong.
I currently have two books out with my publisher (Weasel Press) and a third coming out this August.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
Feel free to comment below and tell me more about yourself. If you're an author shoot a line about when you realized it was a dream you wanted to pursue.
This seems like an interesting tool goodreads offers so I thought I would try it out. I figure why not start a weekly blog post on this site.
For my first post, I figure what better topic than an introduction.
My name is R.K. Gold and I am from Buffalo, NY. After going to University of Maryland for 4 years I moved out west to see a bit more of the country, before moving back to my hometown (You don't realize how much you love your city until you're gone). Being back home also makes cheering for my favorite sports teams a lot easier. When I was living in Montana I had to go to Buffalo Wild Wings (or find a shady internet site) to watch my Bills lose.
I now research and write articles, blog posts, and white papers, for a financial firm in Downtown Buffalo and am returning to school to pursue a Masters Degree in Economics.
When I am not at work I spend my time reading and writing in my living room, usually with my dog asleep on my lap. I love listening to music (every genre but I'm partial to hip hop) and my favorite city to visit is New Orleans. In fact as I'm writing this I am listening to Arlo Guthrie City of New Orleans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMS_...
I began writing novels in February 2014; I was in a bad car accident the month before. My ex and I were stopped at a red light when this car came speeding off the highway, lost control, and clobbered us. While recovering, I sort of had an epiphany; no matter what you are doing in life, no matter how safe you are or how well you take care of yourself, it can all come to an end in an instant; so it's best to spend your life pursuing something you are truly passionate about. I had always loved writing but never thought it was something I could make a life out of. Boy was I wrong.
I currently have two books out with my publisher (Weasel Press) and a third coming out this August.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
Feel free to comment below and tell me more about yourself. If you're an author shoot a line about when you realized it was a dream you wanted to pursue.
