Novel Update Plus Free Bonus Writing Tip!

i z quotes

Oh, hahahahaha! The second draft is finished. What a crawl through gravel that was. But there's a story there. I see it forming. Now I'll let the whole thing simmer and finally PUBLISH SOMETHING ON AMAZON! Yes, within two weeks, an electronic version of my jury duty essay, "Unreasonable Doubt," will be for sale to the general public on Amazon Kindle. (The specific public may also partake. I'm not an excluding guy when it comes to such matters.) Off to find cover art.

Free Bonus Writing Tip
As my spirits dragged toward the end of the second draft, I used a trick to transition me into writing.
I would spend five to ten minutes copying text from a story onto a page, then switch over to my latest chapter. This got me writing judgement free for the few minutes that I needed to warm up. My teaser texts were:

The Mammoth Book of Monsters edited by Stephen Jones

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower.

Incidentally, Tower is a kick-ass writer who can really sling a metaphor. Worth a look.

Another Novel Update

crowdflower,com

Work, travel, and other sound excuses have thrown off my schedule. But I'm back at the book this week. I've been attempting to weave the story and may be making things harder. For instance, each chapter is beginning with a flash forward that is filled in later. I might be better off writing everything front to back, then figuring out in subsequent drafts where to drop things in.

This was originally a novella meant to be quickly brushed up then uploaded for sale on Amazon. But the story developed its own wants and needs and will be novel-length whether I approve or not. Alas, the tale is set aboard a small boat afloat on a sea alive with monsters. In many ways, the story is  like a play where all the characters are on stage constantly. They only exit when I off someone.

Right now, I want to off them all and type "The End."

That said, onward.

Goodreads Short Story Labeled 'Mature and Explicit'

Are you really? Then dare  to click the button below.

My short story "Death Honk," now up at Goodreads, carries the above warning. However Wattpad allows the same material with a PG13 rating. And the Journal of Microliterature just assumes you can handle it.

Note: I've included the word 'splatterpunk' in the metadata of this microfiction. (Less than a thousand words.)  The Oxford Dictionary defines splatterpunk as: "a literary genre characterized by the explicit description of horrific, violent, and often pornographic scenes." 

And while there are no pornographic scenes in "Death Honk," there is explicit description of certain actions one might find 'horrific' and, most certainly, 'violent.' I, in no way, disagree with the Goodreads warning. I merely point out how the same tale may be labeled, or not, on different sites.

Mostly, I've never had a story preceded by big red warning labels and it's kind of exciting. 

So long, Tom Clancy

NY Daily News

 Tom Clancy is gone, but leaves behind good writing advice. From back in the day, I recall reading Red Storm Rising and marveling at how fast Clancy could move action while relating highly technical details on military hardware. He was wise to see the potential mix of his books and video games. And he also had some tips for those interested in a writing career:

"You learn to write the same way you learn to play golf... You do it, and keep doing it until you get it right. A lot of people think something mystical happens to you, that maybe the muse kisses you on the ear. But writing isn’t divinely inspired – it’s hard work.”

Clancy thought of himself "as a storyteller, not a writer." He said,  “I think about the characters I’ve created and then I sit down and start typing and see what they will do."

Considering my recent angst, I appreciate the wisdom of a seasoned scribe who will be missed. 

Another eBook Novel Writing Update

Writing hasn't gone very well lately.      (Image: ESPN)

My morale is so low I'd desert if there was anywhere to go. Back on August 31, I was writing Chapter Five. Today I finished Chapter Seven and began Eight. Yes, I had a freelance article and some marketing work, but I fell into a deep rut between Six and Seven. I couldn't wrap them up. Something else always cried out to be added and the new stuff disrupted the old flow. Now I want to dump the novel again. I'm angry, depressed, and hating the work. I feel the book has taken me hostage. But what if it hadn't? I'd be writing something else. And if it were long enough, I'd be hating that too.

Since January, I've been a writing machine. Three novels, a novella, and two short stories are in various drafts. But without some form of completion, I feel like a guy who always trains but never competes. So there's been a change of plan.

Once I finish the second draft, I will pause. In that pause, I will publish an essay on jury duty that I serialized here two years ago and have subsequently rewritten. It's polished and ready to roll. I was going to marry it to another essay based on my adventures in Southeast Asia searching for an old battlefield. But I'm in dire psychological need of having work up For Sale soon. Then it's back to battling the novel.

Stygian Accepts Horror Novels,

Any cover with my name and a hot spider babe is just fine.

 
According to their blog, R. Scott McCoy and company will be in the market for horror novellas and novels beginning in November. Scott edited the horror magazine Necrotic Tissue and selected my short story, "Dagon and Jill," as Editor's Pick in Issue #13 as well as including it in his Best of Necrotic Tissue Anthology. While we're on the subject, Scott also gave me space for a big gabby interview in Issue #14. Glad to have him back in play.

Scott paid his writers and paid on time. He's a pro and a guy you can work with. So if you're sitting on a long form horror piece, clean up your copy and keep an eye on the Stygian Publications blog for more details.

UPDATE: Submissions accepted beginning November 1. Details at Stygian Publications. 

eBook Novel Writing Update

Novel Writer at Work

Chocked full of metrics, this update celebrated the completion of draft one. At that time I was still aiming for a publication date of August 31.

Then on August 14, I guest posed over at Rachael Rippon's Caravan Girl. There I stated:

"As I prepared to start the second draft, I realized that I wouldn’t meet my initial deadline of August 31. I need time to finish the second draft and let the beta readers do their job while I focus on publishing and marketing. However, I’m certain I’ll upload by September 15. And the organization and metrics I’ve gathered will help me shape the time and focus on what’s important."

September 15 will come and go without seeing my eBook uploaded. Please close your wallets and stow the credit cards. Right now, I'm thinking October 15. But mostly I'm thinking of why I've never completed a novel up to this point: it's a lot of hard work. From a forty page long short story, I've expanded this particular tale to around a 200 page short novel. Characters cry out for more attention, back story, dialogue. Scenes rushed through to reach other scenes must be given their moments. It's easier to nap, read history books, or watch The First 48 than it is for me to craft a novel.

Not that I don't have fun writing. I've been doing it professionally for many years. But there are moments of doubt and hating my own work that lead me to tossing the whole thing into the Tartarus of slain books and starting again on something new. (Oh, the crafty witch called "something new.")

Today I'm on Chapter Five of the second draft and in motion. A third draft may be necessary to make the piece presentable to my beta buddies.

But I'm determined to complete this horror story and see it up on Amazon in time for Halloween.  

Image: Independent Voters of America

Lovecraft, Madness, and Lost Notes

en.wikipedia.org

My cousin James spotted a fascinating Slate article on recently discovered handwritten notes from H.P. Apparently Howard Phillips Lovecraft was living on the edge and used the back of an envelope to catalog thoughts for his 1936 novella, "At The Mountains of Madness."

See the scribbled musings of the master over at Slate's The Vault.

Writing Techniques of Famous Writers

How Hunter S. Thompson crafted his colorful prose is absent.

Interesting to discover how successful writers rolled out the words. Some literally banged them out on a typewriter, while others wrote long-hand. Still others stood or sat or wrote in chaos or skipped lunches with other famous people while they worked.

Here's a quote from Hemingway I liked:

"You write until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit it again."

I've also found it helpful to leave a little in the tank. My problem is leaving too much in the tank and veering off to other projects. Then I can't find my juice, though it's usually in a large sippie cup.

Read the rest of Maria Popova's article over at brain pickings. 

Image: junglemagazine.com

io9 and James Rollins Teach Scifi Exposition Tips

"Here's where you'll live, kids. You did bring a lifetime supply of water? Yes?
Gabby, gabby, talk-talk all trip and now you've nothing to say."

 A problem I'm facing now is how to tease out information without using the dreaded exposition avalanche. Sci-Fi author James Rollins lists a few tips, plus many techniques and tools to smarten up your science fiction—or, in my case, horror—tale so that it shines like the accretion of hydrogen on the surface of a white dwarf star igniting into nova.

On the topic of clunky exposition, Rollins writes:

"The bane to all fiction, no matter the genre, is called “info-dumping.” Whether it’s trying to fill in a character’s backstory or explaining the science behind quantum physics, never stop your story to lecture or teach. So how do you get that necessary information into the book without bringing your story to a grinding halt?

 By remembering the adage: story = conflict. Information should be revealed to the readers through a variety of techniques: shared through an argument between characters, or perhaps teased out within the scope of an action scene, or left unresolved as a tool of suspense. Use that spoonful of sugar to help that medicine go down. And it works. After I wrote my novel Black Order, I received a flurry of emails stating “I never understood quantum mechanics until I read those three pages in your book.'"

Read more over at io9.

Image: mst3

Read Rachael Rippon's Horror Tale 'The Bagman'

Who the deuce is the Bagman? Is giving a teenage girl seven wishes to be used in seven days really a smart idea? Learn why you should watch what you wish for and pay less than a dollar for the info over at Amazon.
 NOTE: Rachael Rippon was kind enough to ask me to guest post on her blog Caravan Girl. In turn, I have promoted her book of my own free will. In addition, I have used the occasion to again plug my post on organizing for writers. Thus, in small ways, does one scribe freely help another in this vast Web of ours. Or we're backscratching. Either way, it works.

Caravan Girl: Organizing for eBook Writers

 My prose organizational musings on Rachael Rippon's blog.

Caravan Girl: Guest Post: Organizing for Writers: Perhaps, like me, organization does not come naturally. And perhaps, like me, you need a kick in the pants on occasion. Even better, perhap...

Splatterpunk Microfiction 'Death Honk' Descends on Wattpad

www.fordesigner.com

A neo-noir microfiction morsel. Enjoy a gritty splatterpunk tale of desperation, moral confusion and clown-bear clashes out in the California desert—and all under a 1,000 words.

Death Honk - Page 1 - Wattpad

eBook First Draft Finished

writerswin.com

On Monday. That wasn't so bad. In 100 hours over the course of 15 days I wrote 41,862 words. Not all of them stellar, but genuine English words nevertheless. My labors resulted in 170 pages averaging 2,790 words a day with an hourly average of 418. Vital metrics in planning future works.

This week  has passed assembling more research and interviewing people with nautical experience as the shank of my novella takes place aboard a small boat. Researching as much as I can in advance maximizes my interview time and allows me to ask more salient questions.

Next week will see the second draft commenced, followed by Beta reads. While I'm waiting for feedback, it'll be time to finalize cover art, read all 19 pages of the Kindle Direct Publishing contract, and line up reviewers as well as hone my marketing plan.

I am stoked to self-publish. 

i09 Presents Scifi Fiction Worldbuilding Don'ts

coolvibe.com

Before you write a great scene with a flying car, Charlie Jane Ander has a few suggestions on how not to craft a futuristic and/or fantasy realm. Hat tip to author Roger Eschbacher who has cobbled together a few worlds of his own.

37 Days to Publication #1

This man is a worry eater whom I've hired to devour my doubts.

Since Monday of this week I have written:

A. 17, 073 words.

B. 83 pages.

C. In 50 hours.

This still puts me only about halfway home on Draft 1 of my horror novella. I ran all those marathons back in the day and now the discipline stands me in good stead.

But first drafts are the worst for me and I fear if I do not push, push, push then I'll never finish. My office is a graveyard of books that never made it past draft one. I enjoy rewrites but this is the Dark Night of the Writing Soul.
(Image: thejoyfulorganizer.com)

H.P. Lovecraft Mythos eBook Impresses Goodreaders

  When it comes to Lovecraft, nothing says madness like the Megapack. Filled with old school H.P. classics such as "The Dunwich Horror" plus homages like my own "Dagon and Jill," this collection of mythos tales is enough to knock your world spinning into another dimension. (Assuming you'd like that.) See what the Goodreads folk write about this Lovecraftian bonanza.

51 Days to Publication #1 and Heroboy

Time evaporates like water on the devil's head. I write, research, sleep, write, eat Cheetos and watch old movies. Will I publish three books on Amazon in 2013? Below are my thoughts on success. h/t: UnManuel

Mythos Safety Matters

www.wallpapername.com

Vital that pedestrians heed clearly posted signs. An unseen mythos menace can often engulf the unwary citizen out for a summer evening stroll.

Heinlein's Five Rules for Writing

Science fiction ace Robert Heinlein composed these aids to crafting the written word  back in 1947:

1. You must write.
2. You must finish what you start.
3. You must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order.
4. You must put it on the market.
5. You must keep it on the market until sold.”

Then he added: “The above five rules really have more to do with how to write fiction than anything said above them. But they are amazingly hard to follow — which is why there are so few professional writers and so many aspirants, and which is why I am not afraid to give away the racket!” More on the subject here.