Some Advice
I got a message from someone in a Yahoo group a week ago. First is what he wrote, followed by my response:
"--- On Thu, 4/14/11, Mark Langerman wrote:
From: Mark Langerman
Subject: Re: [writing_horror] Virtual Book Release
To: writing_horror@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, April 14, 2011, 2:50 PM
Hey Gerald, I have been working on a book for a while hand writing it and then transfering what I get done later to ms word.
I was thinking about submitting chapters to Amazon but am a little leery because once you put it there and people read it it's kinda set in stone.
Do you just freelance your submissions chapter by chapter or do you usually plan ahead and carefully go over what you have typed before you submit it? I know it sounds funny but there are some stories (the fun ones) that you can just poke around with and not really worry about where its going but then the ones your serious about doing and work hard to finish .....do you submit those on a blog as well?
Thanks for your time.
Mark.
From the desk of Mark Langerman"
I blog without abandon. Some of the stories (including The 5000 Fingers of Bob which I'm blogging now) are oldies, but I blog stuff that I might not otherwise finish and most times it turns out better than expected, but at the very least, even if I am disappointed with it, blogging gives me a direction to turn away from once I'm ready to go back to it. My blog also feeds into my author's page on Amazon (as well as a few other sites), but when you check out the titles I have there, those are stories I've uploaded specifically. And I only upload a story once I've had a chance to edit it to my desire.
I am writing some things that I won't blog. Like the follow-up to my first novel because that's a little more major than a short story. Perhaps I might blog a section I'm excited about or that I'm trying to work through, but The Golden Ones and a couple other babies I have in mind will not be blogged. I would suggest you start one if you don't already have one. It's a great way to reach out to people.
I did what you are doing when I was writing my first novel. I wasn't able to be around a computer all the time and to tell the truth, it helped me focus on the story as opposed to being on a computer and being distracted by email or the internet. I've since moved on to a Neo Keyboard and now I swear by it. I suggest looking into one.
The Ghost Toucher
