The Writing Thread

[Laevateinn]

Well, I'm about 3/4 done with my novel's final draft. I've gotta say, it's actually pretty frightening being so close to completion. Though I do intend to invest a fair bit of time editing and whatnot, I'm very happy with what I've produced over the past 5 years I've spent working on making this story the very best it can be!

 

[Dilbertmann]

Well, I'm about 3/4 done with my novel's final draft. I've gotta say, it's actually pretty frightening being so close to completion. Though I do intend to invest a fair bit of time editing and whatnot, I'm very happy with what I've produced over the past 5 years I've spent working on making this story the very best it can be!

Congratulations, mang! I got a long ways to go, but that's awesome to hear!

 

[Laevateinn]

Congratulations, mang! I got a long ways to go, but that's awesome to hear!

Thank you! And good luck with your writing endeavours, too!

A terrifying thought has struck me - I'm going to have to start properly thinking about publication at some point. Sure, I've got a fair old bit of editing to do and adding/subtracting scenes, chapters and whatnot, but I've gotta say that the idea of someone looking over my novel with the possibility of finance in mind makes me nervous. sure, I could also try self publishing on amazon, but I'd like to try the traditional method first.

Speaking of which - what are you guys' views on self-publishing vs. standard publishing? Do you think it's a good idea or not?

 

[Dilbertmann]

Thank you! And good luck with your writing endeavours, too!

A terrifying thought has struck me - I'm going to have to start properly thinking about publication at some point. Sure, I've got a fair old bit of editing to do and adding/subtracting scenes, chapters and whatnot, but I've gotta say that the idea of someone looking over my novel with the possibility of finance in mind makes me nervous. sure, I could also try self publishing on amazon, but I'd like to try the traditional method first.

Speaking of which - what are you guys' views on self-publishing vs. standard publishing? Do you think it's a good idea or not?

Depends. I'd go with the traditional method. If any publisher you can think of rejects your work, then self-publish it.

 

[plautistic]

Speaking of which - what are you guys' views on self-publishing vs. standard publishing? Do you think it's a good idea or not?

I have to be honest here. My last novel was the first I bothered to send to literary agents. I might have given up too quickly, but after about five queries I figured no one would want it. Instead, I set up a print-on-demand version with Lulu.com. Since then I've been nothing but embarrassed that I did it. No one has bought it there or on Amazon, either (although I didn't really expect anyone to do so). When someone I know personally asks about my writing, I will tell them that I tossed my book into a POD outfit and then explain what that means. When my girlfriend tells people about my book, which I try to prevent, it's like I add a huge asterisk to the end of whatever she says:

Oh, yeah, he published a book.*

* Not really. Self-published. Practically vanity-published.

I'm ashamed to think of it most of the time.

Maybe others here see it more positively. I had no illusions when I started querying the book, so I'm not really disappointed that . I just think I should have left it as an e-book and made it available for download directly from my web site. I feel like a poser and an idiot: I started researching publishing more than ten years ago and feel like any other vanity-published writer. Most people can claim ignorance, but I deliberately chose this path.

My personal feelings aside, if you are expecting much, or maybe any, money through self-publishing, you have a long road ahead of you. Depending on what you're publishing and what you mean by "self-publishing," you might actually end up in the hole. Self-publishing originally meant doing everything (or delegating everything) yourself: cover, layout, typography, editing, marketing, etc. You'd make arrangements with a printer and have them print an offset. This type of publishing works best, so I've read, with nonfiction books. Nowadays, you have POD outfits, like Lulu, who do the printing for you, but it's not an offset run. It's one copy at a time. Now, too, there is the option of doing ebooks with Amazon, Lulu, and so on. I have no experience there, and maybe there's money in it. Someone else might be able to tell you about that.

Final word: stay away from scams. Never pay to have your book published. This includes places like America Star (formerly Publish America), who will mislead you until your wallet is empty. If you really start looking into commercial publishing, do me three favors. First, research your market and whether it's better to submit to agents than directly to publishers. Also find good definitions of "commercial publishing," "vanity publishing," "subsidy publishing," and "self-publishing." Knowing the difference at all will help. Second, join the Absolute Write forums. They are filled with wisdom, and there are tons of published authors who can advise you. Third, if all else fails, search Google for "XYZ scam" (e.g. "America Star books scam") for prospective agents/publishers. This will save you a lot of grief.

 

[Laevateinn]

My personal feelings aside, if you are expecting much, or maybe any, money through self-publishing, you have a long road ahead of you. Depending on what you're publishing and what you mean by "self-publishing," you might actually end up in the hole. Self-publishing originally meant doing everything (or delegating everything) yourself: cover, layout, typography, editing, marketing, etc. You'd make arrangements with a printer and have them print an offset. This type of publishing works best, so I've read, with nonfiction books. Nowadays, you have POD outfits, like Lulu, who do the printing for you, but it's not an offset run. It's one copy at a time. Now, too, there is the option of doing ebooks with Amazon, Lulu, and so on. I have no experience there, and maybe there's money in it. Someone else might be able to tell you about that.

My opinions on self-publishing do reflect yours to a certain extent, plautistic, nonfiction books are indeed better in the world of self-publishing. However that doesn't mean a fiction book can't put up a fight - my uncle, for example, decided to self-publish to try and encourage me to keep writing. So far he's sold a couple of the books that he wrote for children (they're really sweet and adorable, by the way) and has received positive reviews, as well as an autobiography about his experiences as a takeaway deliverer. Just remember this: publishing yourself can be an interesting and unique experience, but for every E.L. James out there, there's at least hundreds more who will never have her (somewhat ill-gained) success. I'm only going to use it as a last resort, methinks, and hopefully that won't have to happen (though I haven't ruled it out at all, who knows, it might turn out all right, it might not. You don't know until you try, right?).

 

[The Knife]

I've written my character into a corner! Well, not a corner. More of a tower. She's locked up in a bad situation but I'm having trouble thinking of a reasonable way of getting her own. I would really like to have her escape on her own steam--bringing in a rescue team from outside is a last-ditch effort--but the scenario I've come up with so far just isn't doing it for me and I wanted to get some opinions before I went with it.

Spoiler: The scenario.

Setting is fantasy-medieval.

Character is a political prisoner. She's nobility, so she's been given the privilege of being imprisoned in a tower rather than a dungeon: picture a loft apartment with minimal but adequate furnishings, only with guards at the door and bars on the windows. Previously she was in very bad physical condition, so her day-guard got comfortable with doing some fairly intimate things like helping Prisoner out of bed, helping her dress, and helping her hobble behind a screen to piss. When she recovered, Prisoner decided to continue faking being weak in hopes that Guard will eventually lower her guard.

For the past several days, Prisoner goes through her whole cell to find something she can use as a weapon, but naturally, this being a prison--even a particularly nice one--they've taken precautions. She has to search in short sweeps, since she's being checked on at set intervals. When she finds something, it's also going to have to be something she can put together quickly so that no one has time to ask what she's doing.

Eventually, she finds a broken brick in the stonework and manages to wiggle it loose. Great. Now she has half a rock, but she's desperate to go with it. She plans to put this brick into one of her stockings and then play helpless again to get the guard inside. Then she'll use the improvised bludgeon to attack Guard, hopefully knocking her unconscious so she can steal her keys and weapons and make a break for it. (She's not going to get far, but for this scene I just need to get her down the stairs and outside.)

The trouble I'm having is the likelihood of security around this place not noticing the loose brick. It just seems like way too much of a coincidence, but everything else I've thought of is even more of a coincidence.

If anyone's got further thoughts or a better solution, I'd appreciate the input!

 

[Laevateinn]

The Knife: Hmm... is there anything in the room that might serve as something to cover up the missing stone? It could be masked by being underneath her bed, or something along those lines.

 

[The Knife]

The Knife: Hmm... is there anything in the room that might serve as something to cover up the missing stone? It could be masked by being underneath her bed, or something along those lines.

Originally, it was a loose stone edging the hearth, but several people in chat also suggested having it come from a less conspicuous spot like behind the bed, too. At this point she's pretty desperate, so it doesn't seem unreasonable that she'd start checking every possible corner, so it's looking more like 'under the bed' is the way to go with this. Thanks!

 

[The Knife]

Thanks to everyone who gave advice on writing question here and in chat yesterday. Thanks to you, my heroine is currently splattered with blood and running barefoot for her life while being heavily pursued and she says she hopes you're all pleased with yourselves.

 

[Laevateinn]

Thanks to everyone who gave advice on writing question here and in chat yesterday. Thanks to you, my heroine is currently splattered with blood and running barefoot for her life while being heavily pursued and she says she hopes you're all pleased with yourselves.

Tell her I said "I'm very pleased with myself!" .

Seriously though, it makes me happy to help other writers with their work! Good luck with whatever you decided to do with your story next!

 

[Loke]

Thank you! And good luck with your writing endeavours, too!

A terrifying thought has struck me - I'm going to have to start properly thinking about publication at some point. Sure, I've got a fair old bit of editing to do and adding/subtracting scenes, chapters and whatnot, but I've gotta say that the idea of someone looking over my novel with the possibility of finance in mind makes me nervous. sure, I could also try self publishing on amazon, but I'd like to try the traditional method first.

Speaking of which - what are you guys' views on self-publishing vs. standard publishing? Do you think it's a good idea or not?

I've been submitting my first novel to small presses for a few months now, and every time I get a rejection letter, I print it out and put it on my wall. I'm working on a new one, one that is much shorter and (I hope) easier to sell, but honestly, why even consider self-publishing? Without access to marketing, who is going to buy it?

 

[Ryker]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread but what the hell, I'm quite excited and would like to share. I have a chapter being published in the next month or two in the following book:

http://www.cambridgescholars.com/the-event-the-subject-and-the-artwork

It's not fiction of course but it is something ~ and there is the opportunity for another chapter in a book next year. I just have to write it!

 

[Connor Bible]

This is the farewell speech I delivered to my Public Speaking class last year. I haven't posted any non-fiction related material here, so why not?

A Farewell to My Public Speaking Class​

When I initially signed up for Mrs. Locke’s Public Speaking class this semester, I didn’t know what to make of my decision. The knowledge that it was a requirement for my degree program put a slight sense of dread over me. Because of my childhood diagnosis with an autism spectrum disorder, I have had difficulty reading people’s emotions and expressing myself verbally over the years. When engaged in a lengthy conversation, I tend to stutter, pause, or lose my train of thought. I was afraid that when I got up to the class podium for the first time, I would have a complete mental breakdown. My history of depression and anxiety did not help matters. Before I came here, to the Beaufort campus of the Technical College of the Lowcountry, my life was a mess. In high school, I was frequently bullied, and I had attempted suicide twice. I had developed this emotional armor that I eventually found myself trapped in. Fortunately, that all changed the moment Mrs. Locke walked through the door. Her welcoming smile, sunny sense of fun, and understanding nature convinced me to come out of my shell. The speeches that I gave in this room only added to its unraveling. For the first time in a while, I was participating in a class that actually made me happy. There was no favoritism or infighting like in high school; everybody, big or small, had something important to contribute to the whole, and Mrs. Locke showed no partiality. When giving speeches in this class, I never dwelled much upon my methods of delivery or what other people would think of me. Rather, I focused on what I had to say. Personally, I think that when giving a speech, you should think of your audience as a friend or confidante. I realize, now, that this is what we’ve been as a whole; a group of friends, never judging, always open to new ideas, and willing to spread our own without fear or hesitation. To wrap things up, there are many lessons that I have learned from this, the public speaking class of Mrs. Joy Locke, but what I find to be the most important bit of knowledge passed on to me is that it doesn’t hurt to speak your mind, so there’s no need to worry about the judgment of others. I hope that this has been passed on to you, the audience, as well, and that we can apply this to the world beyond this campus.

Goodbye, my friends, and goodbye, Mrs. Locke.

 

[EI 903]

You definitely don't worry about the judgment of others.

 

[TheRedRanger]

Decided to start work on a sci-fi novel.

Set in a universe where there is a gigantic human empire, modelled around Europen aristocracy. Every child in the Imperial family is expected to do some kind of military service, and so the youngest daughter, just turned 17, is sent aboard a Navy vessel to get a taste of life before she joins at 18.
The ship goes on a safe patrol, and is attacked, apparently with the intention of capturing the Princess. It turns out there has been a military coup back home, and the Princess is now the Empress-in-exile, and the ship is one of only a few vessels still loyal to the Imperial family not destroyed, captured or grounded.
So now they're on the run, and trying to figure out how to fight back.

 

[Connor Bible]

I'm ahead of the other students in my math class, so perhaps I'll write some tomorrow.

 

[Connor Bible]

I may not have worked on the contest story today, but I did start quite a few short pieces in a five-subject notebook I never used.

 

[HG 400]

You are a fat whiny faggot.

 

[Connor Bible]

You are a fat whiny faggot.

Thank you.