What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

Watching Dr Blake, miniseries. In this episode they are addressing the injustices done to women in the era. Women couldn't get a loan without a man. Nurses filed complaints against groping doctors and the nurses ended up fired. Injustices, and frustration because of the times, they are difficult to address.

On my mind, how do I translate that emotion, an injustice you cannot do anything about, into my WIP.

So I showed an acquantance some writing I'd been doing lately (nothing important, just a self-indulgent fanfiction or two of the slash variety that will never see the light of day) to terrifyingly get some kind of opinion on it. Apparently my strength as a writer, at least in certain forms and according to someone who was probably only trying to be nice, is writing dialogue. Which is a shock to me, I always thought writing dialogue was something I sucked at.

Apparently I'm good at writing snarky, sarcastic young adults. Wonder why I'd be good at that...

I don’t think I’m going to be writing any straight horror fiction for a wee while. I looked my worst nightmare in the face a couple of weeks back (those of you who need to know, already know ), and came out the other side of it with a different perspective on life, and how I want to spend the rest of it.


I won’t be giving up writing – I don’t think I could at this stage – but my focus will be different.


Quite how that will manifest itself is yet to be seen. I certainly envisage writing more Carnacki tales, and I can’t quit weird fiction entirely, as it’s in my blood. But as I said, I’ve faced my real horror; the written thing isn’t going to cut it for me, at least for the time being.


So right now I’m reevaluating the way ahead. A big project has fallen in my lap that gives me some breathing room, a sprawling, epic, historical thing with only hints of the supernatural, and I’m going to dive into that to see where it takes me.


There’s a couple of invitation stories I need to write first, but neither of them are straight horror either, so they’ll get done in the next week or so. Then it’s head down and head first into something different.


I think that’s what’s needed about now.

Finally got through chapter 16! Now to, hopefully, chapter 17 and onwards.

Got into an OMG mess with Word sharing, jumped out on my own power. Did a bunch of cosmetic editing. Laid down with Mr. Mcgee and the first line indents jumped out at me. They were not the five spaces that have been beaten into my noggin. Looked like 3. So I hopped up and changed my default to 3. All I have to do now is delete the indent of the location at and the first sentence of every chapter and section. No biggie. I'm going to divide it out over several days.

MaeZe said:

Watching Dr Blake, miniseries. In this episode they are addressing the injustices done to women in the era. Women couldn't get a loan without a man. Nurses filed complaints against groping doctors and the nurses ended up fired. Injustices, and frustration because of the times, they are difficult to address.

On my mind, how do I translate that emotion, an injustice you cannot do anything about, into my WIP.

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Self harm is often associated with percieved helplessness

I submitted to the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off today and set a date for the release of my first book (June 30th, one day before the contest begins).

It's scary, but I'm trying not too worry too much about it. If things don't work out with this first book immediately, that's no big deal. I have time, and I'm not in a position where I have to rely on writing for my income.

Trying to figure out an urban fantasy magic system that'll allow me to do everything I want without having to do the "how the hell do they keep this hidden" dance but I just can never nail it down without it becoming incredibly contrived. Like the idea of having the 'magic' battles mostly take place in some kind of overlapping limbo dimension hidden inside ours... but the problem with that is that, well, I watched Doctor Strange the other day where basically that's how they do a lot of their insane CGI magic sequences. Yeah, can anyone say trite and hackneyed?

I'm now officially in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off

*cue biting of fingernails for the next year*

Just kidding. I'm not all that worried about it. My book will do however it does.

rwm4768 said:

I'm now officially in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off

*cue biting of fingernails for the next year*

Just kidding. I'm not all that worried about it. My book will do however it does.

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Awesome. You're about 42 steps ahead of me. Good luck.

Think the hardest part of my current WIP is the chapter length. I'm use to and prefer to write long chapters of over 6k words; in this project, I'm barely cresting 5k on some of them. The point in each chapter is made, but the length is just shocking and a bit disappointing to me. I almost feel like they (the chapters) are 3/4 written.

Punk28 said:

Think the hardest part of my current WIP is the chapter length. I'm use to and prefer to write long chapters of over 6k words; in this project, I'm barely cresting 5k on some of them. The point in each chapter is made, but the length is just shocking and a bit disappointing to me. I almost feel like they (the chapters) are 3/4 written.

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the length doesn't matter as long as the words make a point. I've read chapters a mere short paragraph long. The first chapter in Janelle Taylor's Savage Ecstasy is 90 pages long. Mine are of all lengths.

Punk28 said:

Think the hardest part of my current WIP is the chapter length. I'm use to and prefer to write long chapters of over 6k words; in this project, I'm barely cresting 5k on some of them. The point in each chapter is made, but the length is just shocking and a bit disappointing to me. I almost feel like they (the chapters) are 3/4 written.

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My chapters are usually quite a bit shorter than that. That's just how I write. I also think that length fits with the generally fast-paced stories I like to tell.

rwm4768 said:

My chapters are usually quite a bit shorter than that. That's just how I write. I also think that length fits with the generally fast-paced stories I like to tell.

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I agree.

I've decided to put on the brakes and outline my cat-and-mouse crime WIP.

I think another reason for them short chapters of mine are because I'm dealing with less characters than I use to, and new ones that I've not yet dived into, or am planning to until when they become a more permanent fixture to my series. Right now, I'm just dealing with a father-son duo who's stuck in a house, waiting out the time until when the cure for the present plague is put out.

thinking about my first POD book

Currently writing a prequel novella to my main series, whilst also writing the next book in the series and wondering if I should just focus on one of them.

"What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?"

How I can make it pay my rent.

Oh, screw you subconscious.

Dreamed of a vampire comedian telling a joke that might not have killed in real life, but would have made a great story.

Woke up and everything but the joke was gone and I wasn't lucid enough to store it away in my memory palace.

NateSean, hopefully it will all come knocking at your window again later!

Managed to flesh out WIP2. Also polished this and that. I am so excited about his book! Tried to write it for years and it just would not come together. Now it is! And how! I spent most of Sunday night and early Monday writing up a skeletal outline. All I need do is flesh it out.

WIP2, the crime novel. Back a hundred years ago, when I decided Billy Star would live on a yacht, I started doing research about crafts and living on the water and such. Checked out Time-Life's The Boat Series from the library and found the yacht. It's old, but still seaworthy, priced so that a man with a good wage could afford it easy, 85 foot, twin 150hp kickers, fore lounge, aft saloon, three roomy staterooms, 2 heads, a hold laundry. So what did I do? Failed o Xerox photos and info. Been wanting a copy of it for years. Most of the series is on amazon. But I forgot which volume it was in. Duh. So, I started buying them book by book. Finally found it and still love it. There was another one that had a sand spit in the Exumas that I don't need a photo of, but would love to have one. Might find it on google images or continue buying the series books until it pops up. Got one coming on the 12th. We'll see.

New novel started today, which is always a wee bit scary / exciting in about equal measures, even after 30 of the buggers.

grandma2isaac said:

NateSean, hopefully it will all come knocking at your window again later!

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I started writing later in the day. No idea enters my head and remains there rent free.