Joe Hart's Blog, page 9
December 31, 2012
Temporary Lull
So as the title of the post says I've had a short lull in blogging. This time of year always seems to be the busiest for me, as I'm sure it is with most people. I'm about to begin a few final edits on my second novel Singularity which I'll be posting updates on as I get closer to a release date. Also within the last few strides of finishing my latest WIP which should be done in the next week or so.
Part of my absence from blogging has also been attributed to my computer being a major pile of worthless crap as it wouldn't allow me to use the internet for a period of two weeks. Finally got it fixed today and am purchasing a new computer today.
Little side-note, I'm giving away my collection of horror stories away today only for free on Amazon, so check it out if you get a chance. The link is below if you're so inclined-
Midnight Paths
Other than that it's business as usual around here. Hope everyone had a great holiday and be safe tonight if out gallivanting. Cheers!
Part of my absence from blogging has also been attributed to my computer being a major pile of worthless crap as it wouldn't allow me to use the internet for a period of two weeks. Finally got it fixed today and am purchasing a new computer today.
Little side-note, I'm giving away my collection of horror stories away today only for free on Amazon, so check it out if you get a chance. The link is below if you're so inclined-
Midnight Paths
Other than that it's business as usual around here. Hope everyone had a great holiday and be safe tonight if out gallivanting. Cheers!
December 11, 2012
Just tell the story: AKA The first draft
Just a quick thought I had today guys. I heard a quote quite awhile back that Glen Krisch said on Twitter and I'm not sure if it's his own or not, but I liked it and it went something like this: "You know what's harder than writing the first draft? Writing the second draft first."
There's so much truth in that statement I can barely explain it. But I'll try.
As a writer your brain sometimes gets in the way. And this isn't just relegated to the profession of writing, it can happen to anyone doing anything that requires a little bit of instinct. That's right, instinct. The force that guides you back to bed in the dark without rapping your shin against the chair you meant to move earlier in the day. Instinct is a basic sense of direction, content, and character for a writer. I sum up the idea with four words:
Just tell the story.
What I mean by this is when I'm writing my first draft I fly without instrumentation. I try to write by the seat of my pants, without judgement or nail biting. I just try to tell the story. I've gotten trapped before, writing a page so slowly and carefully, making sure I portrayed a scene just right until I realized what I was doing. I was trying to write perfectly the first time through. The first draft is not for perfection. Neither is the second or the third, but definitely not the first.
The first draft is revving the engine and popping the clutch just to listen to your tires burn out. The first draft is jumping off the dock without checking the water temperature first. The first draft is swinging so high on the swing you feel like you're going to fly off. The first draft is freedom.
So I try not to get too wound up about minor errors or if a sentence sounded odd. That's what the second and third and even the fourth drafts are for. That's when you take your nasty looking stone and pop it in the tumbler until it's shining and bright. The first draft is simple.
Just tell the story.
There's so much truth in that statement I can barely explain it. But I'll try.
As a writer your brain sometimes gets in the way. And this isn't just relegated to the profession of writing, it can happen to anyone doing anything that requires a little bit of instinct. That's right, instinct. The force that guides you back to bed in the dark without rapping your shin against the chair you meant to move earlier in the day. Instinct is a basic sense of direction, content, and character for a writer. I sum up the idea with four words:
Just tell the story.
What I mean by this is when I'm writing my first draft I fly without instrumentation. I try to write by the seat of my pants, without judgement or nail biting. I just try to tell the story. I've gotten trapped before, writing a page so slowly and carefully, making sure I portrayed a scene just right until I realized what I was doing. I was trying to write perfectly the first time through. The first draft is not for perfection. Neither is the second or the third, but definitely not the first.
The first draft is revving the engine and popping the clutch just to listen to your tires burn out. The first draft is jumping off the dock without checking the water temperature first. The first draft is swinging so high on the swing you feel like you're going to fly off. The first draft is freedom.
So I try not to get too wound up about minor errors or if a sentence sounded odd. That's what the second and third and even the fourth drafts are for. That's when you take your nasty looking stone and pop it in the tumbler until it's shining and bright. The first draft is simple.
Just tell the story.
November 28, 2012
NaNoOne'sGonnaLikeMyBook
Was just surfing Twitter as I do most days after completing my word count and saw something Joe Hill tweeted about the reception of his work or anyone's work for that matter-
Great message for everyone participating in NaNoWriMo.
What? You didn't get it? K. Let me go over the finer points of what he's saying:
You create because you need to create.
If you're doing it for some other reason you're hiding behind a mask that will disintegrate and fall away soon to reveal your true self for what it is. Usually this will happen with people who thought they'd get rich being creative ie: painting abstracts, writing indie books, sculpting because it looked easy in Ghost, etc. You'll find out that success comes after patience, diligence, and belief in a long term goal that may or may not include money. If you're the person creating for the simple reason of making money, you'll quit. And that's fine. It clears the road of your ignorant carcass for the rest of us who do the things we do because of one simple thing-
Love.
That's right, I said it. The L word. I love to write. It kicks my ass some days but I love it because I know it will come back to me the next time I sit down and begin again. Some days are 500 word days, some are 3000. It's all based on too many factors to list here, and I'm good with that.
Getting back to what Mr. Hill said and how it applies to NaNoWriMo:
If you've succeeded in hitting your word count each day, you're now sitting with about 50,000 words that weren't there before. Take a moment to do a victory lap. I'll wait. K, back yet? Alright. You did it. You completed something and I'm guessing you did it because you love it. Each day that you had a million things going on this month you made sure you sat down and pounded out a thousand or so words. Its more than most people can do and you should be congratulated. I hope you wrote it as best you could and you're happy with it.
Do you feel that?
The happiness of putting your heart into something and being satisfied with it? I'm not talking end product, polished to a high gloss, done done done. I'm talking you finished something that you believed in. If you feel it then it's downhill from here. I'm talking you down off a ledge right now that you don't even know you stepped out on. I'm talking about...
Self doubt_
|
|
|
|
|
|
Whoa, that's quite a cliff. Here's a few of the thoughts going through your head: "Wow, I'm done! Awesome! Well, I guess I'll hand it around to a few writer friends and family, see what they think of it and then maybe query and agent after I get it properly edited and polished, or maybe I'll self publish and get it out there... What if people don't like it? Did my characters seem flat? Did I miss a plot hole somewhere? Christ, my vocabulary sucks compared to this other writer. Oh God, I just wrote a pile of trash! I need to burn it! Burn it back to the fiery hell it came from!" (Dances around a burning manuscript in the moonlight for about two minutes since it's only 50,000 words long).
K, you need to go back up and read Joe Hill's tweet again. You created something by God, you finished it! It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of your work. You did your best and accomplished something others only talk about. Polish the hell out of it, edit it to the brink of extinction and back again, put it out there whichever way you choose. Lay it bare for people to read it, because guess what?
Someone will read it.
Someone will hate it.
But someone else will like it.
I guarantee it.
Great message for everyone participating in NaNoWriMo.
What? You didn't get it? K. Let me go over the finer points of what he's saying:
You create because you need to create.
If you're doing it for some other reason you're hiding behind a mask that will disintegrate and fall away soon to reveal your true self for what it is. Usually this will happen with people who thought they'd get rich being creative ie: painting abstracts, writing indie books, sculpting because it looked easy in Ghost, etc. You'll find out that success comes after patience, diligence, and belief in a long term goal that may or may not include money. If you're the person creating for the simple reason of making money, you'll quit. And that's fine. It clears the road of your ignorant carcass for the rest of us who do the things we do because of one simple thing-
Love.
That's right, I said it. The L word. I love to write. It kicks my ass some days but I love it because I know it will come back to me the next time I sit down and begin again. Some days are 500 word days, some are 3000. It's all based on too many factors to list here, and I'm good with that.
Getting back to what Mr. Hill said and how it applies to NaNoWriMo:
If you've succeeded in hitting your word count each day, you're now sitting with about 50,000 words that weren't there before. Take a moment to do a victory lap. I'll wait. K, back yet? Alright. You did it. You completed something and I'm guessing you did it because you love it. Each day that you had a million things going on this month you made sure you sat down and pounded out a thousand or so words. Its more than most people can do and you should be congratulated. I hope you wrote it as best you could and you're happy with it.
Do you feel that?
The happiness of putting your heart into something and being satisfied with it? I'm not talking end product, polished to a high gloss, done done done. I'm talking you finished something that you believed in. If you feel it then it's downhill from here. I'm talking you down off a ledge right now that you don't even know you stepped out on. I'm talking about...
Self doubt_
|
|
|
|
|
|
Whoa, that's quite a cliff. Here's a few of the thoughts going through your head: "Wow, I'm done! Awesome! Well, I guess I'll hand it around to a few writer friends and family, see what they think of it and then maybe query and agent after I get it properly edited and polished, or maybe I'll self publish and get it out there... What if people don't like it? Did my characters seem flat? Did I miss a plot hole somewhere? Christ, my vocabulary sucks compared to this other writer. Oh God, I just wrote a pile of trash! I need to burn it! Burn it back to the fiery hell it came from!" (Dances around a burning manuscript in the moonlight for about two minutes since it's only 50,000 words long).
K, you need to go back up and read Joe Hill's tweet again. You created something by God, you finished it! It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of your work. You did your best and accomplished something others only talk about. Polish the hell out of it, edit it to the brink of extinction and back again, put it out there whichever way you choose. Lay it bare for people to read it, because guess what?
Someone will read it.
Someone will hate it.
But someone else will like it.
I guarantee it.
November 21, 2012
Social Media Won't Sell Your Book
Alright peeps, gotta get a little something off my chest that's been bothering me for awhile.
Social media: the golden god of indie writers everywhere. Published a book? Splatter it all over Twitter, gore it to death on Facebook, and rub it raw on MySpace. Wait, MySpace? Is that even still running?
Whatever, you get my drift. I see all of these articles and blog posts on the value of social media marketing for promoting your book and I'm here as the big rotten grape in the middle of all the other fresh grapes to give you a message.
Social media won't sell your book.
There, it's like a bandaid, rip it off quick and it won't hurt as much. You're saying to yourself right now, "This guy's a tool, I've read tons of articles on the value of social media and how to bring pertinent information, blah blah blah."
Yeah, I know that social media has value but I think there's been a huge disconnect between what is a good marketing plan and stabbing people to death with your book on Twitter. So you ask what is the best way to sell your book or books?
Write more.
You heard me. Write more. I read a blog post the other day reminding writers to write and not spend all their time promoting their books. No shit. Unless you wrote a number one bestseller you need to get right back on the writing horse and get going on your next project. Now. Right now.
I'm not saying don't promote your book on social media, it's a wonderful tool that's opened the door for a lot of great writers to get the word out about their latest project, but it's not the end all be all. Griffin Hayes told me once that an indie can't really expect to get their career off the ground until they've got at least three novels or collections behind their name.
So I ask you this: how the hell are you supposed to get three or four novels out there if you spend 75% + of your day promoting the one you wrote?
The bottom line is the more time you spend writing the better you get at it. The better you get at it the more people will like your work. Pair this with a higher quantity of books on your docket, great covers, well written descriptions, finely tuned editing, and a good marketing plan that includes social media, and you'll be doing well.
Like I said this isn't me telling you to stop using social media, it's a call to arms for writers who spend more time promoting than writing. Click the X in the corner of the tab that you've been flicking back and forth between Twitter and Facebook, and focus on your manuscript.
It'll be done before you know it.
Social media: the golden god of indie writers everywhere. Published a book? Splatter it all over Twitter, gore it to death on Facebook, and rub it raw on MySpace. Wait, MySpace? Is that even still running?
Whatever, you get my drift. I see all of these articles and blog posts on the value of social media marketing for promoting your book and I'm here as the big rotten grape in the middle of all the other fresh grapes to give you a message.
Social media won't sell your book.
There, it's like a bandaid, rip it off quick and it won't hurt as much. You're saying to yourself right now, "This guy's a tool, I've read tons of articles on the value of social media and how to bring pertinent information, blah blah blah."
Yeah, I know that social media has value but I think there's been a huge disconnect between what is a good marketing plan and stabbing people to death with your book on Twitter. So you ask what is the best way to sell your book or books?
Write more.
You heard me. Write more. I read a blog post the other day reminding writers to write and not spend all their time promoting their books. No shit. Unless you wrote a number one bestseller you need to get right back on the writing horse and get going on your next project. Now. Right now.
I'm not saying don't promote your book on social media, it's a wonderful tool that's opened the door for a lot of great writers to get the word out about their latest project, but it's not the end all be all. Griffin Hayes told me once that an indie can't really expect to get their career off the ground until they've got at least three novels or collections behind their name.
So I ask you this: how the hell are you supposed to get three or four novels out there if you spend 75% + of your day promoting the one you wrote?
The bottom line is the more time you spend writing the better you get at it. The better you get at it the more people will like your work. Pair this with a higher quantity of books on your docket, great covers, well written descriptions, finely tuned editing, and a good marketing plan that includes social media, and you'll be doing well.
Like I said this isn't me telling you to stop using social media, it's a call to arms for writers who spend more time promoting than writing. Click the X in the corner of the tab that you've been flicking back and forth between Twitter and Facebook, and focus on your manuscript.
It'll be done before you know it.
October 31, 2012
Where Do Nightmares Come From?
Hey guys, Happy Holloween! My favorite holiday of the year is here and I wanted to wish everyone a fun and safe outing tonight.
Little update: I entered a flash fiction challenge over at the very talented Chuck Wendig's site TerribleMinds a few weeks ago and lo and behold, I won. You can see my story here .
Now, onward and forward. Just some quick musings this week on the interim of completing a project and beginning a new one.
I just recently finished my second novel and I have a new idea for my third which will be wholly unlike anything else I've done, but I got to thinking about the process of birthing ideas, or more exactly where they come from. I always try to include a little explanation in my books about where I got the ideas for them but then I asked myself, but really, where do they start?
Hell if I know.
This new story spawned from seeing a few dead leaves floating along the ground as I took a walk with my family. In a period of five minutes I had characters stepping out of the darkness and into shadow, a plot that is ambitious but doable, and a new POV for me for storytelling.
All I can tell you is that stories seem to be something organic to each and every one of us. Stephen King says they're always there and we find them, dig them up. I agree. They're inside of us all whether we know it or not. From the quagmire of our dreams, fears, sins, and choices they emerge and slither to the forefront of our minds. In my case they're usually nightmares that come to me in the day. I'm just tickled that I'm able to express them into something that other people can enjoy.
So whether the ideas for your work come from nature, your family, or your subconscious, the most important thing you can do is grab them by the throat and hold them up to the light to see what they're made of. You may be surprised by what you find.
Little update: I entered a flash fiction challenge over at the very talented Chuck Wendig's site TerribleMinds a few weeks ago and lo and behold, I won. You can see my story here .
Now, onward and forward. Just some quick musings this week on the interim of completing a project and beginning a new one.
I just recently finished my second novel and I have a new idea for my third which will be wholly unlike anything else I've done, but I got to thinking about the process of birthing ideas, or more exactly where they come from. I always try to include a little explanation in my books about where I got the ideas for them but then I asked myself, but really, where do they start?
Hell if I know.
This new story spawned from seeing a few dead leaves floating along the ground as I took a walk with my family. In a period of five minutes I had characters stepping out of the darkness and into shadow, a plot that is ambitious but doable, and a new POV for me for storytelling.
All I can tell you is that stories seem to be something organic to each and every one of us. Stephen King says they're always there and we find them, dig them up. I agree. They're inside of us all whether we know it or not. From the quagmire of our dreams, fears, sins, and choices they emerge and slither to the forefront of our minds. In my case they're usually nightmares that come to me in the day. I'm just tickled that I'm able to express them into something that other people can enjoy.
So whether the ideas for your work come from nature, your family, or your subconscious, the most important thing you can do is grab them by the throat and hold them up to the light to see what they're made of. You may be surprised by what you find.
October 2, 2012
What the hell is theme?
Hey guys, just a quick one this week, more or less a random thought. I want to touch on a subject at times glossed over when writers talk about a novel or story they're working on. The topic today is- theme.
Ahh yes, theme. It's the, how would you put it? The very, well, I would compare it to... Yeah. Theme is either there or it isn't in a story. At times I think writers have a theme without knowing it in certain pieces of work. I know Stephen King has said The Tommyknockers was his alliteration of addiction. I'm not sure if he meant to do it or not, but I'll wager somewhere down deep that message was trying to get out.
Because that's all theme really is folks, a message.
Deep, buried beneath the story, plot, and characters, there's a message. For example my novel Lineage (I'm not going to link the title of my book to the Amazon page when I'm just referring to it as an example since I hate when people do that on their blogs) was basically about coming to terms with one's past so as to move on to the future.
Pretty simple, huh?
I have found novels and stories without theme before and they can be entertaining but most times they're not. Personally I think people are looking to walk away from a story holding something inside. A story should touch the reader in some way. It should have meaning, pathos, something that the reader relates to and can sit back in their recliner and say, "Yeah, I get that. Hmmm. I'm gonna think on that a little. Now where's my beer?"
Ok, maybe not the last part, but you know what I mean. Theme flows throughout the story and comes from the character's pores, the plot's twists and turns, the resolution whether good or bad.
So the next time you're reading something see if you can glean what the author's really getting at by writing those hundred thousand words or so. Because it's in there, and if it isn't, it should be. :)
Ahh yes, theme. It's the, how would you put it? The very, well, I would compare it to... Yeah. Theme is either there or it isn't in a story. At times I think writers have a theme without knowing it in certain pieces of work. I know Stephen King has said The Tommyknockers was his alliteration of addiction. I'm not sure if he meant to do it or not, but I'll wager somewhere down deep that message was trying to get out.
Because that's all theme really is folks, a message.
Deep, buried beneath the story, plot, and characters, there's a message. For example my novel Lineage (I'm not going to link the title of my book to the Amazon page when I'm just referring to it as an example since I hate when people do that on their blogs) was basically about coming to terms with one's past so as to move on to the future.
Pretty simple, huh?
I have found novels and stories without theme before and they can be entertaining but most times they're not. Personally I think people are looking to walk away from a story holding something inside. A story should touch the reader in some way. It should have meaning, pathos, something that the reader relates to and can sit back in their recliner and say, "Yeah, I get that. Hmmm. I'm gonna think on that a little. Now where's my beer?"
Ok, maybe not the last part, but you know what I mean. Theme flows throughout the story and comes from the character's pores, the plot's twists and turns, the resolution whether good or bad.
So the next time you're reading something see if you can glean what the author's really getting at by writing those hundred thousand words or so. Because it's in there, and if it isn't, it should be. :)
September 11, 2012
Editing (and keeping your sanity)
Hey everyone! My novel Lineage, is finally completed! My release date is set for next Tuesday, September 18th and I'm very excited, but that's not the topic of this post. Nope, the topic today is editing.
I wanted to touch on this ugly cousin to writing since it's fresh in my mind from staring at my computer for 7 hours last Sunday. There are a few things I wanted to muse on, some helpful, some maybe not- you be the judge. Here we go:
First off, editing is a necessary monster. It's got to be done. You CAN NOT publish your book without editing it first. I mean, you can but for the love of everything holy, don't! I've seen way too many self published books that are so grammatically injured they need a walker, two canes, and a wheelchair just to read them. This will kill your book. Period. No one will read past the sample if they see Jame's walked down to the channel and stopped his motion. He wanted to cross it's birth but couldn't bear to wet his feet, so he looked to his left and then his right but couldn't find away to cross- OH MY GOD PLEASE STOP!
You must edit.
Secondly, I've heard a lot of authors say they're their own editors. That's fine. If you're a competent editor. Spell check and your wife reading through it isn't going to cut it. Even if your grammar and punctuation is perfect you may not see that you repeated a word three times in two paragraphs.
The solution?
Hire a professional editor. Now, once again we run into a quandary because there are people out there charging an arm and a leg for editing when their only backing is a big red A that they got in 9th grade English.
The solution to the solution?
Get a recommendation from another credible author. Ask who they use. I approached Scott Nicholson about editing and he referred me to Neal Hock . Neal's been great and he's affordable. Check him out. Tell him I sent you.
Now onto the real deal. The actual process of editing. I'll run you through my typical process:
After the first draft is written my wife reads through it. (Yeah I know I just made fun of this exact thing a few inches above but just hear me out). She's very critical and actually quite adept at editing (although she's better at formatting but don't tell her I said that). Then I read through it and change anything that doesn't fit or seems out of place. Then it's off to Neal for the real tear-down.
This is where it gets hairy, folks. Having a professional read and critique your work is daunting. You have to keep an open mind when you get your copy back. I'll repeat myself- YOU HAVE TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND. We are not all Cormac McCarthy who can tell such a story, he doesn't have to use proper punctuation. If you read the first sentence of your editor's notes and it doesn't say that you've just created the next great American novel, don't lock you mind up with self-serving BS that feeds your ego. Forget your ego. It doesn't exist in editing world. You are ego-less; an empty shell of a writer who is looking for the path of redemption, and that is- making your work better.
Someone who's edited hundreds of books, read thousands, and perhaps even written a few, will have a different point of view than you do. That's fine. Actually, that's great! Listen to what your editor has to say, really absorb it. If at the center of your creative being, a revision just seems irrevocably wrong, then keep it the way it was. You are still the creator, you have some pull here. All I'm saying is open your mind to the possibility that your book can be rearranged and tightened, even if it's cutting five thousand words or more from the middle that you think cannot be altered a bit.
Lastly but not leastly (Umm, I think I just made that word up) don't hurry through your changes. Really read your story and absorb it. Read it as a reader and see if it flows. Maybe you have a penchant for similes as I do (I cut a bunch from my novel the third go-around.) Perhaps you love a word so much you use it a hundred twenty times throughout your work (if you see a word a few times while you're reading, highlight it and hit the search function.) Maybe adverbs are growing on your manuscript like fungus on a month old piece of salami (I cut these more than anything in my novel.)
All in all, I basically want to say that editing can be an exhilarating process. You get to discover new things about your story. You get to make it better and iron out the bumps that the readers will inevitably notice. You'll be exhausted but blissful when you realize that you've made one of your passions even better. Trust me. You've already done the hard part of writing the book. Now you need to do what's sometimes even harder and take a knife to it. :)
PS
I'm sure there's about a million typos and errors in this post. Don't care. It's my blog as I think J.A. Konrath said. :)
I wanted to touch on this ugly cousin to writing since it's fresh in my mind from staring at my computer for 7 hours last Sunday. There are a few things I wanted to muse on, some helpful, some maybe not- you be the judge. Here we go:
First off, editing is a necessary monster. It's got to be done. You CAN NOT publish your book without editing it first. I mean, you can but for the love of everything holy, don't! I've seen way too many self published books that are so grammatically injured they need a walker, two canes, and a wheelchair just to read them. This will kill your book. Period. No one will read past the sample if they see Jame's walked down to the channel and stopped his motion. He wanted to cross it's birth but couldn't bear to wet his feet, so he looked to his left and then his right but couldn't find away to cross- OH MY GOD PLEASE STOP!
You must edit.
Secondly, I've heard a lot of authors say they're their own editors. That's fine. If you're a competent editor. Spell check and your wife reading through it isn't going to cut it. Even if your grammar and punctuation is perfect you may not see that you repeated a word three times in two paragraphs.
The solution?
Hire a professional editor. Now, once again we run into a quandary because there are people out there charging an arm and a leg for editing when their only backing is a big red A that they got in 9th grade English.
The solution to the solution?
Get a recommendation from another credible author. Ask who they use. I approached Scott Nicholson about editing and he referred me to Neal Hock . Neal's been great and he's affordable. Check him out. Tell him I sent you.
Now onto the real deal. The actual process of editing. I'll run you through my typical process:
After the first draft is written my wife reads through it. (Yeah I know I just made fun of this exact thing a few inches above but just hear me out). She's very critical and actually quite adept at editing (although she's better at formatting but don't tell her I said that). Then I read through it and change anything that doesn't fit or seems out of place. Then it's off to Neal for the real tear-down.
This is where it gets hairy, folks. Having a professional read and critique your work is daunting. You have to keep an open mind when you get your copy back. I'll repeat myself- YOU HAVE TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND. We are not all Cormac McCarthy who can tell such a story, he doesn't have to use proper punctuation. If you read the first sentence of your editor's notes and it doesn't say that you've just created the next great American novel, don't lock you mind up with self-serving BS that feeds your ego. Forget your ego. It doesn't exist in editing world. You are ego-less; an empty shell of a writer who is looking for the path of redemption, and that is- making your work better.
Someone who's edited hundreds of books, read thousands, and perhaps even written a few, will have a different point of view than you do. That's fine. Actually, that's great! Listen to what your editor has to say, really absorb it. If at the center of your creative being, a revision just seems irrevocably wrong, then keep it the way it was. You are still the creator, you have some pull here. All I'm saying is open your mind to the possibility that your book can be rearranged and tightened, even if it's cutting five thousand words or more from the middle that you think cannot be altered a bit.
Lastly but not leastly (Umm, I think I just made that word up) don't hurry through your changes. Really read your story and absorb it. Read it as a reader and see if it flows. Maybe you have a penchant for similes as I do (I cut a bunch from my novel the third go-around.) Perhaps you love a word so much you use it a hundred twenty times throughout your work (if you see a word a few times while you're reading, highlight it and hit the search function.) Maybe adverbs are growing on your manuscript like fungus on a month old piece of salami (I cut these more than anything in my novel.)
All in all, I basically want to say that editing can be an exhilarating process. You get to discover new things about your story. You get to make it better and iron out the bumps that the readers will inevitably notice. You'll be exhausted but blissful when you realize that you've made one of your passions even better. Trust me. You've already done the hard part of writing the book. Now you need to do what's sometimes even harder and take a knife to it. :)
PS
I'm sure there's about a million typos and errors in this post. Don't care. It's my blog as I think J.A. Konrath said. :)
August 18, 2012
Quick Review of The House on Mill Street
I'm typically not a book reviewer and my blog wasn't really set up for that purpose, but the folks over at December House publishing inquired politely if I'd review their most recent release,
The House on Mill Street
. So without further ado, here's my take:
This is a short story penned by Henrietta Smethurst-McIntyre. This was the first work I've read by the author who seems to have a fairly adept storytelling talent.
The story is basically a haunted house tale that intertwines the past owners and their misfortunes with the current resident who has a devious streak a mile wide. Various objects in the house have a malignant power although the author doesn't really delve into their origination. Not really sure why the house wasn't cleaned out by whomever owned it in the interim between tragedies, but the same items are accounted for in the present portion of the story.
Some areas of the story are disturbing but nothing within the tale really has the creeping affect the author set out to accomplish. Myself, I wasn't left haunted by the happenings within or taken with the concept. I think it was the vagueness that threw the story off for me. Perhaps for some this would be an element that would bring the scares and if done correctly telling less has exponential effects on the reader.
In closing the story is fairly sound with disturbing elements that make for a quick if not extremely memorable read. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a copy of the author's other work as I think she has talent at pacing and shock value. Personally I give it 3 out of 5 stars. For only $.99 it is worth the money. As always this is just my opinion and you should pick up a copy yourself to get your own take on the tale.
This is a short story penned by Henrietta Smethurst-McIntyre. This was the first work I've read by the author who seems to have a fairly adept storytelling talent.
The story is basically a haunted house tale that intertwines the past owners and their misfortunes with the current resident who has a devious streak a mile wide. Various objects in the house have a malignant power although the author doesn't really delve into their origination. Not really sure why the house wasn't cleaned out by whomever owned it in the interim between tragedies, but the same items are accounted for in the present portion of the story.
Some areas of the story are disturbing but nothing within the tale really has the creeping affect the author set out to accomplish. Myself, I wasn't left haunted by the happenings within or taken with the concept. I think it was the vagueness that threw the story off for me. Perhaps for some this would be an element that would bring the scares and if done correctly telling less has exponential effects on the reader.
In closing the story is fairly sound with disturbing elements that make for a quick if not extremely memorable read. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a copy of the author's other work as I think she has talent at pacing and shock value. Personally I give it 3 out of 5 stars. For only $.99 it is worth the money. As always this is just my opinion and you should pick up a copy yourself to get your own take on the tale.
July 30, 2012
A Writer's Blessing
May your fingers be nimble on your keys
And the blank page a welcome instead of a foreboding sea of white
May your characters speak to you and for you with voices of their own
May you write a thousand words of truth everyday
Without a hint of self doubt
May your critics enlighten you
May your friends and family encourage you
To step after your dreams
May your plots be tight and without holes
And your adverbs limited
May you find your audience or your audience find you
May your ideas flourish in the light of a thousand minds
And blossom into stories that will never be forgotten.
And the blank page a welcome instead of a foreboding sea of white
May your characters speak to you and for you with voices of their own
May you write a thousand words of truth everyday
Without a hint of self doubt
May your critics enlighten you
May your friends and family encourage you
To step after your dreams
May your plots be tight and without holes
And your adverbs limited
May you find your audience or your audience find you
May your ideas flourish in the light of a thousand minds
And blossom into stories that will never be forgotten.
July 9, 2012
New Short Stories
Hey everyone. Really excited because I just hit the publish button for my latest short story Outpost. It's uploading as we speak and should be available for purchase sometime in the next 12 hours. Here's a cover reveal for Outpost and my next short story The Edge of Life. Both of these awesome covers were designed by the very talented author Kealan Patrick Burke.
So, that's all for now. If you're so inclined look for these new shorts on Amazon and as always I would love to hear what you think!
So, that's all for now. If you're so inclined look for these new shorts on Amazon and as always I would love to hear what you think!
