What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

underpope · Sep 21, 2017

CalRazor said:
I have a hunch that if I write something Lovecraftian, I'll get published. Do I really want to go down that road, though?

Depends on what you do with it. I don't see many markets for Lovecraftian horror, and even my Hastur-and-Nodens-Pull-Off-a-Bank-Heist story is having a really hard time finding a home.

CalRazor · Sep 22, 2017

underpope said:
Depends on what you do with it. I don't see many markets for Lovecraftian horror, and even my Hastur-and-Nodens-Pull-Off-a-Bank-Heist story is having a really hard time finding a home.

I was more referring to the short story market where (from my perspective) there seems a decent demand for that kind of thing. While I don't consider myself much of a genre writer, I could see myself writing in that vein. But yeah, with novels I could see that being more difficult. Unless you're the King.

Punk28 · Sep 22, 2017

Got through the basic outline of my WIP's second part. Tomorrow, I work to get through chapter 13 then, hopefully, work on chapters 14-25. It's just time to get this thing on the roll... past time, actually.

MaeZe · Sep 22, 2017

Feeling positive as I get through Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go by Les Edgerton, that it will help me with final editing. I feel like I'm closer to finishing the book as I want it to be.

Hey, what's seven years of your life, it's the thing you end up with that matters. :Thumbs:

Taylor Harbin · Sep 23, 2017

Just got a review on a story (reader is not on this website) and it's clear that the reader's comprehension is absolutely abysmal. They claim they don't know who the protagonist is, what their goals are, etc, when I clearly spelled it out both in narration and dialogue.

Lakey · Sep 23, 2017

Taylor Harbin said:
Just got a review on a story (reader is not on this website) and it's clear that the reader's comprehension is absolutely abysmal. They claim they don't know who the protagonist is, what their goals are, etc, when I clearly spelled it out both in narration and dialogue.

I once beta-read a friend's first novel, and when I started giving her comments about halfway through, it became clear that I had completely failed to identify the protagonist - I had decided the story was about character X, when she intended it to be about character Y, who hadn't really caught my interest at all. And of course the feedback I gave her was utterly beside the point and nonsensical to her.

You might think this was a weakness in her writing but I'm inclined to give my friend the benefit of the doubt, and state as you do with respect to your reviewer that it was a failure of my reading comprehension. I came to the story with certain assumptions (for instance, that the protagonist would be a woman) and with poor knowledge of the conventions of her genre (it's a space opera) and so I read the whole thing sideways. I'm confident that I was wrong because she has gone on to become a quite successful author of self-published space operas.

--

Okay as to what's on my mind about my own writing: I had a lovely little incident / exchange that I wrote down months and months ago, and i've just finally reached the point in the novel where it occurs, and realized that the scene is stronger if it doesn't occur at all.

WriteMinded · Sep 23, 2017

Taylor Harbin said:
Just got a review on a story (reader is not on this website) and it's clear that the reader's comprehension is absolutely abysmal. They claim they don't know who the protagonist is, what their goals are, etc, when I clearly spelled it out both in narration and dialogue.

Well that made me laugh. I think we have all had similar experiences.

You want to shout:
What? Were you reading the words I wrote or someone else's?
What? Did you forget this takes place in ancient times?
What? This is not a romance.
What? There's no dog in the story.

Just find yourself a sober reader.

Taylor Harbin · Sep 23, 2017

WriteMinded said:
Well that made me laugh. I think we have all had similar experiences.

You want to shout:
What? Were you reading the words I wrote or someone else's?
What? Did you forget this takes place in ancient times?
What? This is not a romance.
What? There's no dog in the story.

Just find yourself a sober reader.

If I had had any choice I would.

relletyrots · Sep 23, 2017

I love my plot very much, but for some time now, I've felt as if there were something missing. Moreover, the novel was turning out to be shorter than expected. Today, I realized I'm only telling half the story. I added a POV character, which will tie in to the main plot beautifully in the final chapters, and I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome. I'm so happy, though I have a lot more writing to do now . . .

So, it's really like they say. Sometimes you just have to look at it from a different perspective

JeanGenie · Sep 23, 2017

Wondering what counts as a first draft....just completed the MS (wrote the ending) but the first half has been edited at least 10 times, the first chapter 20. When will it ever stop? :poke:

CalRazor · Sep 23, 2017

Back from the dream world to reality. What do you have in reality? Sandwiches and mundane decisions.

rwm4768 · Sep 23, 2017

JeanGenie said:
Wondering what counts as a first draft....just completed the MS (wrote the ending) but the first half has been edited at least 10 times, the first chapter 20. When will it ever stop?

Don't worry about counting drafts. Everybody has their own process.

JeanGenie · Sep 24, 2017

rwm4768 said:
Don't worry about counting drafts. Everybody has their own process.

What's your process? Curious...

CalRazor · Sep 24, 2017

As a side project, thinking about submitting to that literary challenge again, but this time under a different genre. Couldn't hurt.

rwm4768 · Sep 24, 2017

JeanGenie said:
What's your process? Curious...

Generally speaking, I have my first draft, which I usually try to keep pretty clean. Then I have a bunch of editing passes, which I loosely consider drafts. Most of what I write in the first draft remains mostly intact. It's a matter of cleaning up certain issues with every editing pass.

JeanGenie · Sep 24, 2017

rwm4768 said:
Generally speaking, I have my first draft, which I usually try to keep pretty clean. Then I have a bunch of editing passes, which I loosely consider drafts. Most of what I write in the first draft remains mostly intact. It's a matter of cleaning up certain issues with every editing pass.

Sounds wonderful to be able to finish a first draft and not change that much! Do you outline? Haven't gotten the hang of it....

CalRazor · Sep 25, 2017

Trying to balance the excitement for new project with the obligations toward my old, not-yet-completed novel. Took the day off from writing yesterday. Hoping to get back in the game re-energized, so that I can tackle both (also freelance writing too).

joeyc · Sep 25, 2017

The thing on my mind today is trying to decide which character is the focus when I start sending out queries. I have the Villain Protagonist (maybe) and the Hero Antagonist (maybe), they alternate chapters, and it Rashomons quite a bit. They're both main characters in my head and maybe that's the problem. Unless I break one of the rules of querying and put both of them in there...

Punk28 · Sep 27, 2017

I finally busted my can to work on my WIP last night and, this morning, I decided to scrap it because it's all wrong. I barely touched the excess usage of My Wife (it's said 67 times, so it needs to be dropped very badly), and I didn't touch the excess usage of My Husband (it's said 28 times, so even it needs to be worked on), and I never fixed the issue with Olia and her son moving in with friends when they're suppose to be staying at home.

Least I know what I need to do with this thing, and that I can do it if I bust myself enough to do so. Now to do the can busting again...

Taylor Harbin · Oct 1, 2017

Grandma died Thursday night. Funeral isn't till Friday. Going to be doing a lot of traveling. Grief is never good for my work

I'm going to miss her so much.

rwm4768 · Oct 1, 2017

JeanGenie said:
Sounds wonderful to be able to finish a first draft and not change that much! Do you outline? Haven't gotten the hang of it....

I do some outlining, but it isn't very extensive. How much I change depends on the story. Recently, my first drafts have been getting cleaner. Mostly, it's about getting a feeling for storytelling. I don't really know how to explain it.

joeyc · Oct 2, 2017

Taylor Harbin said:
Grandma died Thursday night. Funeral isn't till Friday. Going to be doing a lot of traveling. Grief is never good for my work I'm going to miss her so much.

I'm sorry.

edutton · Oct 2, 2017

Taylor Harbin said:
Grandma died Thursday night. Funeral isn't till Friday. Going to be doing a lot of traveling. Grief is never good for my work I'm going to miss her so much.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

Taylor Harbin · Oct 2, 2017

Thanks to all for the sympathy. I just got back from a trip with good friends, was really psyched to get back into my WIP, but I haven't written a single word today. Whole day's gone by in a blur and it's depressing.

Cindyt · Oct 3, 2017

Well, I've been around the block and back. I'll spare you the details, but I started the process of entering a nursing home. It has wifi, but my desktop is wired. So I would not have access to my manuscript. So I decided to publish it on a website and had transferred the first few parts when my sister said "You're not going in a nursing home!" So, I'm not.

Did you know that prowritingaid has an app for checking British spelling? It does, and that's what I've been doing tonight. Some of the words are strange-sounding, but understandable to Americans.

Draft = American
Draught = British

I got my professional critique back during the weekend. She like it, but pointed out the grammar errors and the holes. For one thing "Dust bunnies" is too modern for the 18th century. I searched everywhere a replacement to no avail. And settled on dust daintiez, which makes sense in context.

What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

Power to the pen!

professional dilettante

Derailed

Power to the pen!

The One Who Tells The Story

Such a Greenie

practical experience, FTW

Such a Greenie

practical experience, FTW

Such a Greenie

Power to the pen!

practical experience, FTW

Ni. Peng. Neee-Wom.

Power to the pen!

Gettin wiggy wit it