L.D. Colter's Blog, page 9
June 21, 2017
A Borrowed Hell On Sale
A Borrowed Hell has a shiny new site at Macmillan's Pronoun with links to Amazon's print and Kindle formats as well as the new iBooks, Nook, Google, and Kobo formats. Even better, all digital versions are on sale for 99 cents for a limited time.
June 10, 2017
To Revise or Not to Revise That First Draft
I'm currently in the throes of revising my first draft into middle draft on my 4th novel, and I have to say I agree with all the conventional wisdom reiterated in the Blackgate.com article linked below, namely: don't revise until the first draft is finished. I also have to say that, like the author, M Harold Page, I don't follow the conventional wisdom. As implied by the title of the article, the author feels it's acceptable to take a break up to the 33% mark, to go back and revise for reasons of solidifying descriptions and deepening the understanding of the world being created.
For me, there's no hard and fast rule about when to stop revising the first draft and push on to the end. Yes, the cons of revising-as-you-go might outweigh the pros for many people but - unlike newer authors - this isn't my first rodeo. I have confidence that even if I stop and fiddle and revise as I go, I will finish my novel and I will finish it, more or less, on the schedule I've set for myself. Is some of my revision nothing more than procrastination because writing new words is harder? Without a doubt. Is a lot of it wasted effort as those words get cut or changed in the middle and final drafts anyway? I think the answer to that isn't as black and white. Yes, a lot of it gets changed anyway; mostly the wordsmithing I fall into more than I should. No, it doesn't necessarily mean it was wasted effort.
I agree with the points made in the article that I learn more about my world when I revise during my first draft. Even if I'm piddling around wordsmithing (because as I re-read I just can't help myself) I'm exploring nuance of feeling and description that makes my characters and world more real to me and helps me to understand them at a deeper level. Another time I'll stop for revision is when I hit a road-block. When the writing gets hard and I can tell it's not just a motivation issue, I know I've usually gone off-track with the plot somewhere I shouldn't have. Stopping, figuring out where I went wrong, and doing the revision right then unsticks those writing cogs that were jammed up and gets the story flowing again. More than that, everything that comes after now works with the revisions I made.
Perhaps, in time, I'll be able to knock all that out of the park on the first pass. Perhaps, since I'm a pantser, I never will. For me, though, I find that revising when I need (or want) to helps my forward momentum when I return to writing new words. I can walk about more comfortably in the skin of my characters and their world, and in a plot I feel sure is working. I feel it prevents missteps in future chapters that would then need heavier revision and, time-wise, would perhaps end up taking as long or longer to write than revising as I go. But, like everything about writing, there's no one right path - just the path that works for you.
For me, there's no hard and fast rule about when to stop revising the first draft and push on to the end. Yes, the cons of revising-as-you-go might outweigh the pros for many people but - unlike newer authors - this isn't my first rodeo. I have confidence that even if I stop and fiddle and revise as I go, I will finish my novel and I will finish it, more or less, on the schedule I've set for myself. Is some of my revision nothing more than procrastination because writing new words is harder? Without a doubt. Is a lot of it wasted effort as those words get cut or changed in the middle and final drafts anyway? I think the answer to that isn't as black and white. Yes, a lot of it gets changed anyway; mostly the wordsmithing I fall into more than I should. No, it doesn't necessarily mean it was wasted effort.
I agree with the points made in the article that I learn more about my world when I revise during my first draft. Even if I'm piddling around wordsmithing (because as I re-read I just can't help myself) I'm exploring nuance of feeling and description that makes my characters and world more real to me and helps me to understand them at a deeper level. Another time I'll stop for revision is when I hit a road-block. When the writing gets hard and I can tell it's not just a motivation issue, I know I've usually gone off-track with the plot somewhere I shouldn't have. Stopping, figuring out where I went wrong, and doing the revision right then unsticks those writing cogs that were jammed up and gets the story flowing again. More than that, everything that comes after now works with the revisions I made.
Perhaps, in time, I'll be able to knock all that out of the park on the first pass. Perhaps, since I'm a pantser, I never will. For me, though, I find that revising when I need (or want) to helps my forward momentum when I return to writing new words. I can walk about more comfortably in the skin of my characters and their world, and in a plot I feel sure is working. I feel it prevents missteps in future chapters that would then need heavier revision and, time-wise, would perhaps end up taking as long or longer to write than revising as I go. But, like everything about writing, there's no one right path - just the path that works for you.
June 6, 2017
Unbound Worlds Showcases Pre-Tolkien Epic Fantasy
Two of these novels in this Unbound Worlds article have been on my to-read list for a long time. I'd also add Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees to this (a book I did finally read a few years ago). Of course, Alice in Wonderland was written in 1865, and the Arthurian legends as well as The Ballad of Tam Lin, along with other fairy ballads, were written over a thousand years ago. Pre-dating those are oral and written myths going back to the earliest civilizations. People who think fantasy began with Tolkien have a lot of catching up to do! 
June 4, 2017
A Brief Book Review of a Book Most People Probably Read Years Ago
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
What a treasure of a book - my only regret is that I didn't read this years ago, when I first learned of it. Published originally in 1967 by an author who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982, the book is a sometimes heartbreaking, often wondrous, and occasionally laugh out loud story of 100 years of one family. The magic realism of ghosts, flying carpets, a levitating priest, and so much more sparkle like diamonds among the more everyday quirks and oddities of generation upon generation of the family. I think the best summary of the story comes from a quote near the end: "...the history of the family was a machine with unavoidable repetitions, a turning wheel that would have gone on spilling into eternity were it not for the progressive and irremediable wearing of the axle."
Another great pleasure was having the Audible version narrated by John Lee, who I first heard performing some of China Mieville's novels. I can't think of a better narrator for this book, and he nailed every nuance of the prose.
As an aside - before reading, I saw comments about the difficulty some people had with the book and took the cue to download the PDF of the family tree that comes with the Audible version. It didn't help tremendously as I read in audio while out and about doing other things where I couldn't refer to it, but I have a helpful background habit of keeping scores of epic fantasy characters in my head, and the times I couldn't tell one Arcadio or Aureliano from another, I let go, enjoyed the story, and usually figured it out eventually.
This is a book I'll look forward to reading again.
View all my reviews
June 2, 2017
Some Thoughts On Horror Tropes and Why They Are Effective...
This article by Stephen Graham Jones came out a couple of days ago on Tor.com. In it, Jones talks about the fact that horror has continued to horrify over centuries of similar stories because, at heart, they're all 'cautionary tales' that play on primal fears so, ergo, will always work. I don't watch, read, or write slasher horror, but I do play a lot with dark fantasy and weird - which both dance around the edges of the 'things that go bump in the night' brand of horror. An interesting read.
Click on the preview below to go to the full article.
May 30, 2017
Amazon Ebook Giveaway Complete - Almost
The Amazon ebook giveaway for A Borrowed Hell is over as of midnight last night. Thank you to all the people entered! According to Amazon, they are still confirming the two winners, so hopefully both the winners and I will know soon who they are!
May 19, 2017
Amazon Giveaway for A Borrowed Hell
I had a lot of fun doing a Goodreads giveaway earlier this month and the two paperback editions of A Borrowed Hell have now traveled cross-country - one to the east, one to the west - to the winners. It was so fun, in fact, that I've decided to follow it up with an Amazon ebook giveaway. Two copies up for grabs again. Have a Kindle or a Kindle reader app? Want to enter? Just follow this link to the signup page:
https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/b9704b93df55678f
https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/b9704b93df55678f
May 16, 2017
Links To The Entire 12-Weeks of Writing Tips 101
Since Weebly doesn't provide a search bar with their basic website tools, here is a list I will repost and Tweet occasionally that has links to each of the 12 Writing Tips 101 posts in order.
101.01 Show vs Tell
101.02 Weak Words
101.03 Detail - Too Much or Too Little
101.04 Descriptors vs Description
101.05 Atmosphere
101.06 Voice
101.07 Plot-Driven vs Character-Driven Storytelling
101.08 Make Every Scene Count
101.09 Themes
101.10 Logistics
101.11 Cut and Revise
101.12 The Wrap-Up
101.01 Show vs Tell
101.02 Weak Words
101.03 Detail - Too Much or Too Little
101.04 Descriptors vs Description
101.05 Atmosphere
101.06 Voice
101.07 Plot-Driven vs Character-Driven Storytelling
101.08 Make Every Scene Count
101.09 Themes
101.10 Logistics
101.11 Cut and Revise
101.12 The Wrap-Up
May 15, 2017
An Interview With Author L. D. Colter
Many thanks to author and blogger Jonuel Negron for hosting me this weekend on his blog to talk about my writing process and a bit about A Borrowed Hell! At Horror Books and Films Blog: Your source for Original Fright Articles, Hollywood Actor Interviews, Published Author Interviews and much more! - Jonuel interviews authors of horror and dark fantasy (A Borrowed Hell falls in the latter category) as well as actors. Hope you'll check it out! 
May 11, 2017
Goodreads Giveaway Has Ended
Congratulations to the two winners of the Goodreads giveaway for A Borrowed Hell! Your books will be signed and in the mail by the weekend. Media mail delivery times are a bit unpredictable, but the books should arrive soon. Thanks so much to everyone who participated! 
