Alm Hlgh's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing"
Slow Reel vs. Quick Thrill
I write, I write and I write. Most of the time it's romance- contemporary; but sometimes it's a mystery or a sci-fi. I enjoy the characters who come to me and tell their stories. I attempt to tell it as accurately and as quickly as possible. But I think I need to slow down. Sometimes in my haste I cut corners or as I like to say 'sum it all up in a paragraph' when it would have been nice to slowly reveal it in a page or two. Are there any other writers out there that have that problem? What about readers, what do you prefer? Do you like for a writer to slowly take his/ her time revealing information or to sum it up and get to the good stuff? Me? I'm impatient, especially with my reading. I like to get to the gist of it and I hate it when a writer takes five pages to describe things that I couldn't care less about or setting up a scene. In my head I am screaming: "get to the story;" therefore I tend to write like I read: getting to the main point sometimes at the cost of summing to much of the story up.
I think there's a time to slowly reveal things and to reel the reader into the story; but then there is a time when like reaching for a orgasmic moment, you've just gotta go for it because you're about to blow. Guess that may have been a bad analogy; but you get my point. Tell me what do you think?
I think there's a time to slowly reveal things and to reel the reader into the story; but then there is a time when like reaching for a orgasmic moment, you've just gotta go for it because you're about to blow. Guess that may have been a bad analogy; but you get my point. Tell me what do you think?
Why I write...
I penned a post in the thread: From A Reader… Dear Author Don’t Do asking for feedback as to why readers whine and complain about lack of good reads when they are so unwilling to move out of their comfort zone and seek a new book shelf to pull from. However I didn’t want to utilize that space to ask this question especially since it is directed primarily at authors (however everyone can participate and weigh in on the question from their own perspective).
After about a couple of hours of house work, I have since had some time to do my own self-reflection as to why do I write… What I learned from my reflection:
I learned that I thought I was writing because I loved to write and then later on to appease to a particular audience; but after some soul-searching and a few bad encounters with the general public (in real life and online) I found the underlying truth as to why I write. I write basically for the same reason many readers have expressed as to why they read: to escape from the reality of life for a few hours. I write about the kinds of people I would love to meet and interact with on a regular basis. People who maybe slightly confused but are not afraid of growth and learning new things from people who are not like them.
I write about wouldn’t it be great to meet a wonderful significant other who’s not a ‘gold-digging-gigolo-shallow-me-myself-and-I-intorlerable-mean-spirited-rude-selfish-impatient-judgmental-jerk-whorish’ person that isn’t afraid of my uniqueness as a person. I write about a world that I would love to live in where you can really find good people and neighbors who don’t spend their time bickering about two inches of land that you happened to have crossed as you were mowing your own grass. I write about people with birth defects, beautiful people falling in love with people who are slightly imperfect, maybe not too smart but have a heart as big as the moon and is everything they’ve ever wanted in another human being.
I write about people who learn to live in the world that they were born into making the best out of a less than ideal situation. I write about people who can find a small ray of happiness just by reaching out to others with no agenda just trying to pitch in and help a fellow human being. I write about people like me who are passionate about life and stays in the fight despite their knowing it’s a losing battle; but yet their spirit reminds them that “you are allowed to die but not to quit.” I write about the people when life is hard they cry themselves to sleep accepting the fact of waking up facing another day in hopes of a better future for tomorrow. Yup I write about utopian living and what if these people really existed in large masses what kind of world would we all be living. I know, I know I’ve been told more than a few times that I’m an idealist, a dreamer and not so conventional; but I can’t help it if I can imagine the world a better place and I write about those things hoping that when others discover my stories they too began to ask, “hmm what if?” I believe changing the world into a better place starts with a single idea of what if…
So why do you write? I sincerely look forward to hearing from you and why you write...
After about a couple of hours of house work, I have since had some time to do my own self-reflection as to why do I write… What I learned from my reflection:
I learned that I thought I was writing because I loved to write and then later on to appease to a particular audience; but after some soul-searching and a few bad encounters with the general public (in real life and online) I found the underlying truth as to why I write. I write basically for the same reason many readers have expressed as to why they read: to escape from the reality of life for a few hours. I write about the kinds of people I would love to meet and interact with on a regular basis. People who maybe slightly confused but are not afraid of growth and learning new things from people who are not like them.
I write about wouldn’t it be great to meet a wonderful significant other who’s not a ‘gold-digging-gigolo-shallow-me-myself-and-I-intorlerable-mean-spirited-rude-selfish-impatient-judgmental-jerk-whorish’ person that isn’t afraid of my uniqueness as a person. I write about a world that I would love to live in where you can really find good people and neighbors who don’t spend their time bickering about two inches of land that you happened to have crossed as you were mowing your own grass. I write about people with birth defects, beautiful people falling in love with people who are slightly imperfect, maybe not too smart but have a heart as big as the moon and is everything they’ve ever wanted in another human being.
I write about people who learn to live in the world that they were born into making the best out of a less than ideal situation. I write about people who can find a small ray of happiness just by reaching out to others with no agenda just trying to pitch in and help a fellow human being. I write about people like me who are passionate about life and stays in the fight despite their knowing it’s a losing battle; but yet their spirit reminds them that “you are allowed to die but not to quit.” I write about the people when life is hard they cry themselves to sleep accepting the fact of waking up facing another day in hopes of a better future for tomorrow. Yup I write about utopian living and what if these people really existed in large masses what kind of world would we all be living. I know, I know I’ve been told more than a few times that I’m an idealist, a dreamer and not so conventional; but I can’t help it if I can imagine the world a better place and I write about those things hoping that when others discover my stories they too began to ask, “hmm what if?” I believe changing the world into a better place starts with a single idea of what if…
So why do you write? I sincerely look forward to hearing from you and why you write...
Try As You Might
What is it? Someone please explain it to me; preferably slowly. Why is it try as you might, no matter how delicate and considerate you try to be; why oh why are people so easily to get offended? Have you ever been speaking and happen to maybe use the word "well" or "So" only to be chastised by an unknown public "why must you use that word so much?"
Sometimes you may pronounce a word a certain way that is not traditionally pronounced in another person's everyday language and before you know it someone has made a snide little remark or comment about your usage. Suddenly you find yourself in the middle of chaos and you're wondering "what the hack happened?"
I've recently learned that no matter how much I try and how careful I am, someone, somewhere at some unknown time will be "offended" by something I said or didn't say or the way I wrote this and not that. Recently I was chastised because apparently my blurbs on my books were too long. I found it utterly mind-blowing because not recently enough it had been brought to my attention that the blurbs were too short and not enough information such as word count was given.
I don't know how many other authors have experienced similar situations like this; but I just thought I would write this blog to let you know you're not alone. Someone long ago wrote: "you're damned if you do and damned if you don't... and you can please everybody..."
The best that I can offer is to do what's in your heart let God be your guide and hope that the masses will feel your heart and know your passion. Whatever you do, don't let it discourage you, just laugh it off and keep on writing the very best that you can.
Sometimes you may pronounce a word a certain way that is not traditionally pronounced in another person's everyday language and before you know it someone has made a snide little remark or comment about your usage. Suddenly you find yourself in the middle of chaos and you're wondering "what the hack happened?"
I've recently learned that no matter how much I try and how careful I am, someone, somewhere at some unknown time will be "offended" by something I said or didn't say or the way I wrote this and not that. Recently I was chastised because apparently my blurbs on my books were too long. I found it utterly mind-blowing because not recently enough it had been brought to my attention that the blurbs were too short and not enough information such as word count was given.
I don't know how many other authors have experienced similar situations like this; but I just thought I would write this blog to let you know you're not alone. Someone long ago wrote: "you're damned if you do and damned if you don't... and you can please everybody..."
The best that I can offer is to do what's in your heart let God be your guide and hope that the masses will feel your heart and know your passion. Whatever you do, don't let it discourage you, just laugh it off and keep on writing the very best that you can.
