Jesse B. Booth's Blog: Cuio Nin Mellyn, page 5

The Network... Part 2

I have finally begun the continuation of writing my current novel, The Network. It has been a few months since I had my break-through. I was reaching about 60,000 words and in the process of concluding this special story when all of a sudden, the main character did something I had not planned.

You see, when I wrote Core of the Nations (for the final time) I knew exactly every event I wanted to include from beginning to end. Sure, there were things that came to me as I wrote, but they just added to the meat of the story. I decided to go about writing The Network a little differently.

I started with one concept. I wrote it out and wanted to see where it would take me. While this is probably not the best way to write, this experience has been amazing. I'm writing things that are surprising me. My characters seem real to me, doing things I don't expect. I feel like I'm best buds with the main character, and I really feel for him at times.

I was reaching what I thought was the tail-end of the story. I felt good about things. Resolution was approaching. And then my main character opened the door for more.

I stopped myself, wondering if I should delete the paragraph and just force the ending. But something inside me told me to continue. So I kept the paragraph and shut the laptop. I haven't opened the Scrivener file since... until this morning. It's been a couple of months.

I had 30 minutes before work this morning. I took the time to go back through a few of the chapters and take a look over some of the events I wrote about just to make sure I could pick things up, and surprisingly, I did! I only wrote a little bit, but what I did write was gold! During my lunch break, I opened my laptop up once again and the writing just gushed out. Beginning part 2 of the story was exhilarating. And I loved every word I dumped! I was disappointed to see the time fly by. Back to work! I couldn't think of anything else the entire time I was working.

My writing hasn't been neglected, though. I wrote a short story for a publication contest coming up in January. Those who win will be notified between September and December, so hopefully I'll get a nice letter saying "Awesome, we loved this story! You're the next big thing!" (just kidding) It was a very fun piece to write! The contest is based around bizarre, out of this world stories. The publication is called "Imaginarium." And it just so happens that I had a bizarre idea infiltrate my mind a month or so ago. Well, once I got the invite, I wrote the story. If any one is interested in reading it or wants more information about it, feel free to contact me.

So, tonight I will continue my writing of The Network. I have fallen in love again with the story, and am devoted to finishing it. We'll see how it all ends. :)

1-Star Ratings

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. If you go to a restaurant and order a meal, and can't find ONE good thing about the food you order, you are entitled to say that the restaurant is a 1-Star Restaurant.

The same thing applies to books. If you can find NOTHING good about a book, the book deserves a 1-Star rating. I just went through my "read" list and found 2 books that I have given a 1-Star Rating. Space Jam, which was a book written for children after the movie came out (need I explain the 1-Star rating?) and Tango Makes Three(for personal beliefs).

Not to toot my own horn, but my debut novel, Core of the Nations has a lot of depth, and although there is a lot lacking in the content (I will be the first to admit that), to call it ALL garbage goes beyond offensive.

The reviewer is entitled to his/her own opinion, which is why I will not personally respond for the reasons I wrote what I wrote. But please don't tell me that there wasn't anything in the book worthwhile.

I may be taking it a little too personal; I know great authors take a lot of flack from people that just can't accept certain aspects of their novels. (i.e. JK Rowling, Tolkien).

Perhaps we need a new rating system. I have always felt that a 1-5 scale, or a 1-10 scale is a little off. A -5 to 5 scale is perfect. Why? It shows the negatives and the positives. Most of all, it shows the neutral number! 0! That added number alone makes all the difference. I would much rather take a 0 than a -5. And that -5 rating is how I feel this unnamed reviewer rated my book.

That novel was something I worked on for 7 years.

Okay. Now I have that off my chest. I will do what all authors do when they are negatively reviewed... continue to write.

A dismal fact I need to remediate...

It's been awhile since I've written a blog post... I guess blogging isn't my forte. However, something jumped out at me today. Something I haven't taken the time to notice before, and here's what I found:

3.2
3.73
3.12

These are more than just numbers; they're average ratings from a few of the people on my friends list! I thought, Wow, why do they read things that end up being just sub-par? Then I decided to check mine. 3.68. Wow. Big WOW. I was hoping to be up in the 4s! Apparently, I read books that are average, too!

So I've set a goal to read books that I can thoroughly enjoy so I can give 4-5 star ratings to them and bump up that average. Why should I take the time to settle for something average?

I have this habit, this compulsiveness to complete a book once I've started it, no matter how bland or boring it might be. A few books come to mind... The Horse and His Boy, Inkheart, Pathfinder, the list can go on. These books I always set aside, but always come back to complete, just to say I completed them. Perhaps I need to change my ways.

As an author, perhaps there are benefits from reading the sub-par books. Learning from what other authors have done wrong could be valuable for my own writing.

Either way, I'm going to have to tweak something. Let's hope I can figure things out!

To read or to write...? That is the question.

Here I am, contemplating the option of my near future. I am about to finish reading The Passage by Justin Cronin. I'm about 20 pages away. Which puts me at a crossroads: do I pick up another book and start reading? Or should I continue on writing my next novel, The Network? Or should I try some strange hybrid of the two? I have always believed that a good writer is one who reads and writes together. Maybe I'm inaccurate in that assumption... I don't know. But I do know that where I have left off in my novel is a very important part of the story, and I need to get back to it. My main character needs me. Who knows, maybe I need him, too.

I recently uploaded 3 of my short stories to the Kindle...

Star Maps

Wind Chimes

The Case of the Oreo Cookies

Wind Chimes and Star Maps are stories from the Terraformance Anthology. I'm still working on the 3rd story, and there are bound to be more added. I love these stories! Take a look at 'em, if you've got a free moment!

Blog Post #1

That's right. I've never created a blog post before. At least for myself. I've had to create a few for work purposes, but this is my first personal blog. I guess this is considered "ground-breaking" or something. Oh, well. I really have no idea who will be looking at this, but maybe there's someone out there interested in me, as an author.

My first book was published on October 19th. That means it's been out for 3 weeks. I've sold 8 copies since release without any real advertising, so I hope to be able to promote my book online soon.

I'm not in this for the money. In fact I think there are very few writers out there that are. I've listed my book at $9.99, which I feel is a very fair price. Others have encouraged me to raise it a few dollars. I've neglected the encouragement. Like I said, I'm not in this for the money. I'm a writer at heart. It's something I enjoy.