What *Exactly* Do You Write?

I write Fantasy, I don't think it's epic in the LOTR tradition, even though it has its fair share of Fay and demons, goddesses and what-nots.

I've written 3 books that deal with the above, and one werewolf-type thing, and am in the first draft of a Holy War book about a male temple prostitute.

I don't think any of them are ready for the submission process.

i've sold a couple of shorts and a poem, but they're not really my forte.

To Maprilynne: Aw, you sound like you need a hug!
I know the feeling; I am the Issue Queen! Let us hug in a non-gay sort of way LOL

I never, ever thought I'd write a book, much less one of over 500pgs that is a fantasy. Is it "high"? Not sure, probably not. It's kind of epic, romantic, spiritual. Not a Quest where the hero goes off to find a magical thing & save the world etc. It is about a prince who survives a war and comes home to find out he is his own worst enemy, so to speak, and goes on a long road downwards until he finds redemption and helps to save HIS little world.

Me lonely? Si. Some of my loneliness comes from being surrounded by people who are of a very different spiritual persuasion than I, in the fantasy-writing world. They are my friends & dear to me, but I'm not into the dark-sorcery-occult-demon-magic thing that seems so pervasive. I know...there's other stuff out there...but not much it seems.

How GREAT you've got an agent!! That's my next goal, after doing a partial of the above-mentioned novel to an editor and not EVER hearing back, at all, after getting all excited an' stuff as a newbie. I haven't queried anyone yet and keep working on polishing this first novel as I dabble with a sequel, and another novel at the same time. But I need to. I guess. Sigh.

PS - isn't your agent looking for a publisher for you, or was that just a figure of speech? Best of luck!

Gee, I started writing novels about 25 years ago, and to date have knocked out about 17 of them. It was mostly SF and some fantasy/adventure. Just lately I've loved writing urban fantasy, books like the stories in Splash, Manikin, Date with an Angle, Wierd Science, Bewitched and things like that. My agent has asked me to go a bit grittier, darker, and sex it up a bit. So now I'm trying paranormal fantasy with some romance elements.

Yes, this is lonely. It's you against the blank page and it just doesn't get an easier. I keep plugged into AW to serve as some kind of night light, I guess, something that will keep me company, whilst I hammer away at this stuff day and night. I would be lost without it, though.

Tri

Well, I'm working on a few things right now, stuff I have barely started, some I can see myself finishing, some just need a polish. Like...

An urban fantasy short,
a horror short,
a fantasy short,
a sci fi flash,
a third of the way through a YA fantasy novel,
a short film script, dystopian-isty,
and a satirical sci-fi playscript.

That's the stuff I'm going to focus on to the exclusion of all the other crazy ideas I get every week. The novel is the priority. All I've got doing the submissions round right now are a sci fi short and a horror short.

triceretops said:

Yes, this is lonely. It's you against the blank page and it just doesn't get an easier. I keep plugged into AW to serve as some kind of night light, I guess, something that will keep me company, whilst I hammer away at this stuff day and night. I would be lost without it, though.

Tri

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Thank all the small gods for the internet, because in SA there seems to be a dearth of SF/Fantasy writers and it helps to be able to go online and chat to like-minded people.

I write what comes into my head to be written.....

So far its:

• A Dark Fantasy trilogy set in 18th Century Scotland
• A creature-feature horror novel set in the Outer Hebrides
• A zombie novel set in Manhattan
• Two novels featuring a PI who gets involved in the occult
• A modern day vampire novel
• A YA Fantasy novel
• A cozy murder mystery novel

Over 200 short stories, split about 60% Horror: 20% Fantasy: 20% SciFi

Willie

I have a complete adventure fantasy (non epic) doing the rounds of publishers and agents. It's been close a few times (made it to the acquisitions committee of one UK publisher), but is still unsold and unrepresented. I have about 20% written of the sequel and I've started a new (more epic) project.
I've had around 25 short stories published across a broad sweep of genre fiction: Hard SF - Fantasy - Horror - Crime. I've sold stuff to the likes of Black Gate and Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, but I've yet to penetrate the premier league mags.

If anyone fancies reading any of this - novel or short stuff - drop me a PM

While I usually write gay historical romance (two published, one in progress that I hope will be out by the end of the year), I also have a historical fantasy simmering near the back of the fire. Or maybe it's a gay historical romance with fantasy elements (talk about genre confusion!)--I suppose it's going to depend on how important the dragons and magical elements turn out to be...

For the record, my short stories are all over the place: romance, horror, suspense, humor.

I write mostly humor. I'm word-count impaired and have yet to write anything over 5,000 words.

I use to write light verse: Saturday Evening Post, The NYT, The WSJ, etc.

I now write poems: Rosebud, The Yale Anglers' Journal.

And short stories & essays: Field & Stream, America West, The Front Porch Syndicate, Animal Watch, etc.

And now I'm threatening to write a novel--romantic comedy--set in The NYC Subway System where I spent thirty-three years of my working life.

I denied my urge to write for so long that I am still trying to get control of it. As such, everything is a work in progress.

For instance, there are those things which:
I have put to paper-
one horror and one sci fi short

I am organizing plot and scenes with notecards-
a script for a romantic comedy and a horror script

things I am still arranging in my head-
an urban fantasy and a tragic dark fantasy each of which would consist of more than one book, the latter possibly 6 if I could tell it the way I imagine it

I'm not really trying to focus just now, just write whatever it is screaming to be let out

I ended up with so many half-finished works, and no idea which to focus on first, that I've decided to try a new approach in tackling them. I take the 6 top WIP's, get out my typewriter, and write a page for each of them. Only a page, then I stop, even if I'm in the middle of a sentence. Then I go onto the next WIP. If I finish all 6 pages and still feel the urge to write, I pick the top 3, and do another page for each. Then an extra page for the very top WIP.

I'm making incremental progress on all fronts, but it could be that I'm spreading myself too thin and ruining my chances of turning any of them into decent stories. I dunno. I'll see how it goes.

I'm doing an end of the world SF novel. Still trying to figure out how I want my world to end.
I'm attempting poetry.

I have no agent and only one short that has been published.

Hi Maprilynne, and I hope things look brighter this morning than they did for you last night!

I wish I knew how to classify the stuff I've been writing. I have five unsold manuscripts and several short stories, and am nearly complete with ms number six. Most begin as contemporary fiction, then have some urban fantasy/conspiracy/sci fi aspect sneak into the middle. (Does this sound familiar to the way you think about your work?) I cannot even manage to write a synopsis, and end up sending unsolicited manuscripts, hoping the unfortunate agents will wade through the entire thing.

Right now I'm subbing my Urban fantasy novel.

I also have what might be considered an alternate reality historical fantasy. No wizards, or elves, or anything magical. Just ordinary people being thrust into an adventure. Although I do hint at dragons, but it's mostly mythological, like our reality. I'm not exactly sure what genre this would fall under.

I also have a beginning to a story about a half-elf, half-human orphan raised by a wizard who has a wise-cracking unicorn as a companion. I'd call it fantasy but don't know what type either.

I write SF and Fantasy. At the moment, I am:

--overhauling a military SF novel
--starting an SF novel
--submitting a pair of short stories to market
--putting down notes for two more stories

I've had five stories published online.

I also have an SF action-adventure script completed and I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with it.

Like tri and Nak, I like having AW as a place to chat with other writers. Writing is solitary, yes, and 90% of the time, I can handle it. But that 10% sometimes creeps up and you start to wonder if you're just one tiny person against the whole world.

Times like that, it's nice to go someplace and find you're not alone.

I'd say I write Inspirational Fantasy. I wanted my WIP to be a novella, but it might become a novel. I don't have an agent yet; my story is no where near finished. But I plan to write many books about the same world I created.

Maprilynne said:

So I've been feeling a little lonely in my genre (I have issues, okay!) and I know there are more people like me here. What I'm wondering is what you write (genre and novel/novella/short story/etc.) and what stage you're at (WIP/ finished/submitting/have agent/have publisher/ have magazine/think about writing sometimes/etc.)

I hope this isn't too probing.

I write novel-length high fantasy,--I've completed one novel, have one in progress, and one in my head--I have an agent--I'm looking for a publisher. I am just not talented in the short stories area so I don't have any of those.

Anyone else want to share?

Thanks!

Maprilynne

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Wow, that really sounds familiar. I write low fantasy, focused heavily on characters and their inner conflicts. I finished the first book this fall, am working on the second one, and am planning a lengthy series in the universe, though not always featuring the same characters. Like you, I don't think I have any skill for short stories. I don't have representation, have no writing credit or accomplishments to tout, and am only just beginning to understand the writing world.
So far I've only had two agents express an interest, and am awaiting replies on the partials I sent. Though with the help of this site I've been improving my query letter, and hope to get more replies.
My only spot of hope is that my beta readers, non-professionals though they may be, are very pleased with my style and storytelling, so I guess I can afford some faith in my work without being egotistical.
At least you have an agent. Congratulations on that, and good luck!

I'm working on a YA urban fantasy novel (hopefully with a unique kind of fantastical creature) that goes in fits and starts in line with my day job workload. Plan is to have a first draft finished by the end of the year. There's potential for a series, but given that it's not finished yet, thinking about a series is not only putting the cart before the horse, but the horse before the rider ...

In terms of forthcoming projects, I've got ideas for a YA urban SF novel and a more conventional fantasy novel (complete with worldbuilding, something akin to magic, not so much swordplay as rapier play etc etc), which I jot down ideas for when I get inspired (but the focus is on the WIP).

I write short stories - crime/suspense (mostly child killing/abuse, which makes me realise that I have serious issues and means no reader asks me to babysit for them), SF (in progress) and fantasy (also in progress). No credits to my name so far but I'm plugging away at it!

MM

I seem to gravitate toward urban fantasy/superhero fiction. There's just something about people with cool powers that fascinates me.

I am now a little over a year into submitting one novel to agents (don't know whether to laugh or cry). It's been through one major rewrite, so technically the sub process started over. Right? Right!!

One short story (same genre) on submission. Nine weeks and counting....

My current WIP is definitely superhero-centric, with a strong romance element. I'm hoping to give this one an HEA, since I tend to...uh, kill off characters with wild abandon. *crosses fingers*

I'm also expanding on a short story I started for the Flash Fiction Challenge (every Sunday night, 9pm EST /end shameless plug). Same genre. Duh.

I write mythological type fantasy that follows most of the Greek conventions of epics. I am still outlining my world (this world in particular will take forever since I have to pretty much create everything down to the tales and songs the people sing). I have about 20 stories ready, all I need to do is write them. The beauty of this style of work is that it leaves so much room for whatever I feel like doing and I don't need to be one of those writers who writes 10 fat 1000 page books on one story.

I write short novels -- science fiction, fantasy, and murder mysteries. The mysteries and SF are very light, with comedic elements. The fantasy novels are darker, with a lot of bloodshed. I'm working on my 15th book, which is a cosy mystery. I'm about 3/4 of the way through this one. I do not have an agent because I usually write for the eBook market and have a close relationship with the publisher. If she doesn't like something, we talk about it.
I said "usually" up above, because I'm writing this current book to submit to a specific hard-copy publisher. If they don't care for it, I'll probably submit it to my usual publisher. (She's got my last book, which hasn't come out yet, so it's not as if I'm shorting her on anything.) I do occasionally write short stories, but usually only when the publisher asks me for one. They've mostly appeared in "Nemesis," which is an electronic "pulp magazine."

I write short stories: mysteries and space opera science fiction. I mostly write for magazines, online venues and print anthologies, but I'll write anything for anyone, I guess.