[nadinbrzezinski]

Kamut asked for some ideas over a PM the other day... but I was trying to dig myself out from under some projects... so well, here are some sugestions.

For those who love writing... KEEP DOING IT... write every day, ten words, one hundred words, three hundred... or like some of us who do it for some extra income... a tad more. Now here is where things get tricky.

To outline or not to outline that is the question... and this is not an idle question. Some outline first, some people just seat down and write... and some fully develop the whole thing. Is there a right or a wrong way to do this? No, and do not let anybody tell you how YOU SHOULD DO THIS. It is really a matter of how you write best... and whatever you do... REVISE, REVISE and then REVISE... Again, two major schools. Seat down and write the whole thing and then go back and revise it... (Lord of the Rings was written this way, sort of kind of), or revise before you go on to the next chapter, paragraph et al. The pitfall with this method, for me, is that this internal editor gets WAY TOO CRITICAL and I cannot do anything.

Secondly, do not think that those who actually manage to get published have some "special training." The discusion was had at the Maui Writers Conference and you may be surprised... most writers avoid Masters in Fine Arts with a passion. Academic Writing is not quite creative enough, if you get my guist. What most published writers have is that we are hard headed to the point of obstinacy. The other thing writers have, (at least the real kind... it was so nice to hear some Giants say this), is constant fear. Every story, novel, article, et al published we have the fear this is such a piece of junk that our career is OVER... that is why waiting for the yeah or nay is such a pain for profesional writers.

Third, Orson Scott Card's book on Character Development is a MUST HAVE on your book shelf. There are others that are very useful in the Writers Digest series, but that one is so valuable that you will reach for it often...

Fourth: READ... not only what you like to read, but just about anything that falls into your hands. Right now, for instance, my list includes some political books... plenty of news paper articles, a mistery novel and a sci fi novel... as well as some short stories in the mistery, sci fi and fantasy genres. This will actually improve your writing.

If you are going to go ahead and submit, READ the submission guidelines and at least a couple issues of the magazine. One of the most common complaints of Editors is that the material they receive is not bad, but it is not quite what they publish. Here is where reading widely helps.

If you get a rejection, realize you are in good company, spend, if you need to, ten minutes mourning it and then get back on that horse. Trust me, rejections are part of the job... and you will get plenty of them... it is par for the course, especially in the begining. In time the ratio starts to change. It just takes a lot of work.

Find yourself a good writers group, to critique your work and critique others. And realize if you ever get published, editors WILL CHANGE whatever you send in... at times in significant ways, at times in minor ways... this is part of the course as well... and that is their job. Them darn red pens are very useful critters, if you want to feel good about yourself, read the next book with a red pen...and just go thorugh it as if you were the editor... trust me, you will feel better about your writing as well... but will be a good exercise for you to see errors... problem with this.... I now find myself doing this with almost everything I read. The paper is fun, and so is other material...

Ok so now that I have more or less bared my soul as to how this works... get back to that keyboard... I am sure some of you will be obtuse enough and see your word in print. Maybe then you will realize this insecurity that bedevils writers... SHHHH... don't tell anybody....

Nadin

[BunnyPuncher]

Under the read section.. don't just read.. STUDY your subject matter...

But don't study too much or you'll end up not ever getting started writing... it's amazing how engrossing the learning of an interesting, yet perhaps useless, subject can be.

[MinipainterUS]

Another moment of stark, unreasoning fear... You have pitched book ideas to the publisher and they have given you the go-ahead. Now you have to produce!

I am currently working on 3 projects of this nature for a well known RPG publisher, and there are days it gets almost immobilizing! The sheer joy of creating somehow gets lost in the pressure of building a product as large and complete as your concept for it.

I don't know how anyone else deals with it, but I find that having an insane belief in my own skill gets me through those moments. Probably sheer hibris on my part, but there it is.

[KAMUT]

Quote

I don't know how anyone else deals with it, but I find that having an insane belief in my own skill gets me through those moments.

I'm yet to get into the professional arena, but this is kind of where my head is at too, not that I don't take peoples considerations, but rather by the time something I write is commited to the effort, I'm already set with what I plan to do; often to the point, of being outlined, twenty steps in advance.

I do outline everything first, a lot of times, stuff may be outlined in my head, and I'm familiar with the subject matter from a lot more perspectives than just the reader's.

its like actually becoming the character, learning his/her perspective and going with the logical progression based on his/her personality, then of course perspectives collide and thats where you have character interaction. character A may react differently than character B to the same set of circumstances. You get this by observing real people.

So if you can take a moment, sit on your stoop and just watch your immediate neighborhood. If your doing Sci Fi or Fantasy, imagine the time period, the slang and little details may be different, but suddenly, your story is full of "People" and not "characters". little unrelated things often dress the setting, but you gotta know how to moderate that. (as I am still learning myself).


.....................................
Principal War Chief Charles Cruz, looked over to his dresser to see the clock reading 6:04. "ack" he said to himself, realizing the alarm was never set. It wasn't unusual for him to be up at this hour, but he had promised his cousin, he would swing by and drive him to work, since his car was in the shop.

A quick shower, sh*t and shave, and he was ready for his bowl of Astro Crunchies, only to realize after pouring the cereal, his daughters had finished off the last of the milk. "dang, no time to run out to the post mini-market" he thought to himself as he grabbed his wallet and proceeded to his vehicle.

It was a cold morning, and he needed to give the engine some time to warm up; looking at his watch, he decided "well, I just switched out breeders and powercells last week, perhaps, I can just wing it." Fair enough, the ride was a short one, being his cousin lived on post so juggling his pocket com, and steering wheel, he dailed up his cousin's number.

On the tiny LCD display, his cousin's face appeared with him still wiping the crud from his eyes. " Oh, yo; Cruzito, sorry homie, I just called my job, and told them I wasn't coming in..........."

[MinipainterUS]

KAMUT, on Mar 31 2004, 08:05 AM, said:

...suddenly, your story is full of "People" and not "characters". little unrelated things often dress the setting, but you gotta know how to moderate that.

I am an incurable "people watcher". Wherever I go I tend to watch who these people are and what they are doing. When I find one who does or says or appears interesting, out comes the pen and small notepad (carried around for just this reason). It is usually no more than 8 to 10 one word entries per person, but serve to remind me what about them interested me.

Often I find that just the act of having observed them and recorded something is enough to be able to recall it at will and use it. Usually in ways I had not originally planned.

It just proves to me that any type of research is never wasted, as it will all come into play when you least expect it.

[KAMUT]

LOL; its good to know I'm not the only "crazy one". and people are funny creatures to watch. especially if you can catch them being people. like a quick pick of the nose, kissing the dashboard of their new Lexus, watching some homie react to a young woman walking down the street.

and kids make it even more hilarious. a good student of the world can make even the most mundane things seem interesting. I guess I enjoy people to a fault, cause one of the things I get alot about anything I write, is dang, Cruz, that's a lot of characters....

then they realize, I have several ongoing stories, all of which have their own set of characters, and finally know that I'm insane for the uncanny ability to remember details of everyone of them, in my head......

LOL.

[nadinbrzezinski]

MinipainterUS, on Mar 31 2004, 01:33 PM, said:

Another moment of stark, unreasoning fear... You have pitched book ideas to the publisher and they have given you the go-ahead. Now you have to produce!

I am currently working on 3 projects of this nature for a well known RPG publisher, and there are days it gets almost immobilizing! The sheer joy of creating somehow gets lost in the pressure of building a product as large and complete as your concept for it.

I don't know how anyone else deals with it, but I find that having an insane belief in my own skill gets me through those moments.  Probably sheer hibris on my part, but there it is.

Yep, I have that one happen... how I conquer that one, just write... and I mean it, just write.

But the starkest fear is when you send it in... the worst is when you send it in and nobody says a dang thing to do your for months.

Hence why I am also trying main stream publishing... at least they are far more profesional about it, and that is a general coment. You will know if the story made the cut or not, within months not years.



And yes that bedevlils this industry.

Now here is a piece of software you may find invaluable

POWER TRACKER... it will tell you who, what or when, and when to follow up as it were.

[MinipainterUS]

nadinbrzezinski, on Mar 31 2004, 08:48 AM, said:

Yep, I have that one happen... how I conquer that one, just write... and I mean it, just write.

Oh, like we have a choice in the matter? It's who we are, its what we do.

[nadinbrzezinski]

Actually we do have a choice, not that we could live with it.

It was funny to listen to Terry Brooks, (and afirming) telling the same things we all fear, and he has been at this FOR YEARS.

[nadinbrzezinski]

Oh one more thing

Once you start doing this profesionally, this is the most valuable piece of advise you will get.

DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, WORK WITHOUT A CONTRACT.

[MinipainterUS]

nadinbrzezinski, on Apr 7 2004, 08:30 PM, said:

DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, WORK WITHOUT A CONTRACT.

AMEN!

[nadinbrzezinski]

Oh and just in case anybody misses what we both mean by a contract... that contract has to be paper... or it is worth the fictional paper is written on.

Verbal contracts are useless folks