A boaty writer trying to create his first novel

Hi, I'm Newbie Bill Bishop. I do some writing for boating magazines largely based on my experience with marine electronics. I have a reasonably popular blog that has had over 2m page views with a ton of content I started in 2009. I'm writing a light entertaining Sci-fi novel and am taking a much different path than most. I'm writing mine online a chapter at a time. It has copyright protection so I don't worry about theft. Anyone can read it, but since I don't push it there are only a very few readers and no feedback. My theory is that if it's good enough when done I can push hard it into the ether and see if it gets any readers. If it's decent a publisher may approach me if it gets attention so I don't have to get a ton of rejection letters. I also have another purpose in mind for it if the body of work is good enough. The only awkward thing about the project is Google's Blogger editor doesn't let me do paragraph indents which has forced me to do a dialog workaround. So my 64K question is how can I tell of the work is good? I think the story is good, it's the telling of it that I'm concerned about. I'll be a good participant here and do my best to impart any help I can, where ever I can. Many thanks, Bill

Cobalt Jade said:

Welcome from a fellow boater!

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Thank you. I like the avatar. It looks like bourbon to me

Hi and thanks. I'm a big believer that blogger is not a pejorative word

Chase said:

I'm an ancient mariner, myself, though I left my 17-foot Grumman canoe to younger relatives in Montana where I paddled the Yellowstone, Missouri, and the mighty Milk.

Izzat what you seagoing folks mean by marine craft? Maybe not. My waterproof Casino watch and army compass were pretty low-tech.

, Bishop.

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Thanks Chase, BTW a canoe is a boat, and better than many.

Thanks, Austin. "It's obvious the writer hasn't a clue about boating," said the author as he hauls the anchor rope in. (It's rode, not rope.)

CameronJohnston said:

Hi, Bill, and welcome to AW!

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Thanks Cameron, it's an eye opening experience

Denevius said:

Hello, Bill!

Maybe only time will tell if a work is any good.

Best of luck, though, and welcome to AW!

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Thanks, Denevius, my sense is time, in the end, takes care of all problems.

CameronJohnston said:

Hi, Bill, and welcome to AW!

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Thank you Cameron, AW is a large world.

DanielSTJ said:

Boat on, good sir!

Your qualifications are impressive. A tip of the hat to thee!

I hope you find the forum to your liking! We have a great crew here methinks.

Take care!

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Thank you, Daniel, it's a how to get to Carnegie hall thing. I'm still figuring out how the forum works, albeit it with some mistakes out of the box.

Zan75 said:

Welcome to AW Bill, best of luck with your sci-fi novel.

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Thanks Zan75, I just keep throwing words at the page every day and should be done in July/Aug

Bacchus said:

Hi Newbie Bill Bishop, and welcome to AW - a terrific meeting place for writers of all abilities.

WRT to your question "how can you tell if your work is good?" - you can't really, that is for your readership to decide! What you can do is polish it to the best of your ability, and once you have participated in the community here you can get helpful critique from others (I would recommend that you start participating by offering your own critique to your others, that is a great way to learn!), but, ultimately, if there was a magic formula we would all be best selling authors. I have read books which don't have brilliant plots but are very engagingly written, I have read books which are compulsive page-turners despite seeming a bit sloppy in the words department and thoroughly enjoyed both types.

Now, more importantly, why did my shore-line start tripping the RCD on my mooring every time a barge went by after I fitted a galvanic isolator...? (C:

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Hi Bacchus, good question, and maybe an easy or difficult problem to solve. Your RDC is tripping because it's seeing AC current on your ships ground/bonding system. Your RDC will trip if it sees more than 22ma AC leakage on the ground (Green wire in theory) line. My first guess is that perhaps it's not specifically the galvanic isolator, it's just a diode that stops bad electricity from the dock getting into your boat, but something related to the motion of the vessel when the barges pass. As a guess the first thing I would do is to look very closely at your shore power cable and plugs along with the shore power inlet on the boat. There could be some bridging or arcing caused by corrosion or wear that occurs when the cord is moved. Let me know what you see and will can do a plan B afterwards. Private message me back so we don't stay too much off topic here.

shrimpsdad said:

Hello Bill,
Welcome. I guarantee you'll find a great group of people willing to help. AW is a great place to chat and share work while getting opinions and feedback from so many talented writers. I wish you the best and am excited to read some of your work. Good luck.

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Thanks shrimpsdad. I'm also willing to do beta reads. I'm one of the many writing judges for BWI.org who provides my press credentials and I enjoy the process.