I've completed the website redesign and have moved closer to finishing the first draft of a new short story (which I should finish after this blog post). I've gotten to a point where I can see light at the end of the tunnel with my second novel's first draft. There are some notes I made while writing it where I noticed that I broke the story's continuity and discovered a change in the beginning that would be more compelling to the story overall.
I've set the novel writing aside in order to write the short story, but I plan to resume the novel writing tomorrow or Friday. I'm excited about the story's potential, but I know I face and arduous editing process. For those of you who keep up with word counts and page numbers, I'm currently at 56 thousand words and 249 pages. Keep in mind I'm still working on it. While the word count is very low for what I usually write, it should go up when I go back and add the pieces from my notes. Also, I didn't go into much character or scene description during this first pass as I just wanted to get the story from my head to the page. I'll flesh out the descriptive stuff during the editing process, after I have a chance to see the forest for the trees. That's the part I love the best: re-reading my work to see what the story "feels" like from a distance.
Also, if that page number sounds high for such a low word count, know that I write all my stories using the standard manuscript format, even first drafts. So, I have double-spaced lines and I use Courier New font with one inch margins.
So, there you have it, where I'm currently at with my work. A second novel's first draft nearly finished, a first novel's initial draft waiting for editing, and a short story that will soon enter the edit process, too. In my future is much editing, a process I don't like, but necessary nonetheless.
I'll probably break up the monotony of so much editing with writing some more short stories--there's always a supply of short story ideas waiting in the wings that want to be written. The good thing is that their creative process is much shorter than a novel's, so that's appealing. I'm already putting together a list of markets where I want to submit the short story.
Stay tuned to find out how things work out. So far, I've got one story published in a commercial magazine. Let's see if I can carve more notches in my keyboard.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Reading outside of your genre
Most writers have probably heard that to improve their craft they should read widely, even outside of their genre. While there are many who do this without hesitation, there are some who find it painful to venture beyond the comfort zones of their favorite genre. In the past, I was also guilty of this latter habit.
My favorite genre has always been horror. My bookshelf had no diversity among the authors that sat atop the shelves. One would only have to look at my titles to see that Stephen King was my favorite author. I had heard the advice to read widely and avoided doing so. Eventually, I received some books a friend was throwing out. While sifting through the boring non-fiction titles in the pile, I came across some John Grisham books. I knew he had a reputation for writing novels about lawyers. While this did not appeal to me in the least (I have a distaste for lawyers, which is a long story in itself), I took them anyway. Who would turn down free books, right? The two Grisham books I took with me were, King of Torts and A Painted House. One night, after having finished yet another Stephen King book and feeling like reading something very different, I scanned the books in my queue and saw A Painted House. I pulled it from the shelf and began reading it.
Never have a enjoyed a book so much! I was delighted to find that John Grisham had written a superb non-lawyer novel. It was like a revelation to me. After finishing that book, I read Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Yet another great book that I should've read in high school but didn't due to ignorant stubbornness. Since then, I've gone back and read many more classics that I never enjoyed when I was younger. I have also extended my tastes, purchasing books from so many different genres. From satirical to crime/drama to literary. Recently, I read Cormac McCarthy's No Country For Old Men after watching the movie and found the book, as thin as it is, to be a gem of a story.
To look at my bookshelves now, one would see a very diverse landscape of book titles. I find myself looking back on the various genres with an extreme sense of joy. I've knocked down the walls of my favorite genre, left the narrow confines of the comfortable and walked into the daylight, experienced the really great and the awful. My writing has begun to reflect changes from the new experiences I've had when reading authors like McCarthy, Bradbury, Huxley, Orwell, and Faulkner, to name a few. I've seen how more notable authors handle character development, desciption, dialogue, pacing, themes, symbolism, and mood. It helps me identify the flaws in my own work and that of other writers.
Since this epiphany, I no longer find myself in Barnes & Noble, scrounging among the familiar aisle searching for quality horror novels. Instead, I walk down the unfamiliar aisles, scanning book titles and covers for something intriguing. I read the back cover and, if it sounds at all interesting, I find myself buying books by authors I may have only vaguely heard about in the past, if at all. Most times, I'm satisfied with the new books I choose and the story they have to tell. Other, less often times, I find that what I've read was disappointing or outright horrible. But, even these bad books have their own lessons; mainly, how not to do something.
When meeting new writers, I like to discover who their influences were and how widely they read. More often than not, I learn that they only read a certain genre and are hesitant to venture outside of it. While I can certainly understand this hesitation and apprehension, I try to encourage them to break out of that habit. Sure, you can learn how other successful writers in a genre do things. You can even see what's been done to exhaustion and steer clear of those pitfalls, but to not expose yourself to the other stories out there is to rob yourself of an excellent writing education. Reading such diverse material will shed light on new techniques that can enrich your writing and strengthen the skills you, as a writer, bring into your stories.
So, if you're one of those new writers flailing in a shallow puddle trying to learn to swim, let me implore you to come over to the ocean of diverse literature. Wade in. The water's fine. Really, it is. And, I'm sure you'll learn plenty.
My favorite genre has always been horror. My bookshelf had no diversity among the authors that sat atop the shelves. One would only have to look at my titles to see that Stephen King was my favorite author. I had heard the advice to read widely and avoided doing so. Eventually, I received some books a friend was throwing out. While sifting through the boring non-fiction titles in the pile, I came across some John Grisham books. I knew he had a reputation for writing novels about lawyers. While this did not appeal to me in the least (I have a distaste for lawyers, which is a long story in itself), I took them anyway. Who would turn down free books, right? The two Grisham books I took with me were, King of Torts and A Painted House. One night, after having finished yet another Stephen King book and feeling like reading something very different, I scanned the books in my queue and saw A Painted House. I pulled it from the shelf and began reading it.
Never have a enjoyed a book so much! I was delighted to find that John Grisham had written a superb non-lawyer novel. It was like a revelation to me. After finishing that book, I read Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Yet another great book that I should've read in high school but didn't due to ignorant stubbornness. Since then, I've gone back and read many more classics that I never enjoyed when I was younger. I have also extended my tastes, purchasing books from so many different genres. From satirical to crime/drama to literary. Recently, I read Cormac McCarthy's No Country For Old Men after watching the movie and found the book, as thin as it is, to be a gem of a story.
To look at my bookshelves now, one would see a very diverse landscape of book titles. I find myself looking back on the various genres with an extreme sense of joy. I've knocked down the walls of my favorite genre, left the narrow confines of the comfortable and walked into the daylight, experienced the really great and the awful. My writing has begun to reflect changes from the new experiences I've had when reading authors like McCarthy, Bradbury, Huxley, Orwell, and Faulkner, to name a few. I've seen how more notable authors handle character development, desciption, dialogue, pacing, themes, symbolism, and mood. It helps me identify the flaws in my own work and that of other writers.
Since this epiphany, I no longer find myself in Barnes & Noble, scrounging among the familiar aisle searching for quality horror novels. Instead, I walk down the unfamiliar aisles, scanning book titles and covers for something intriguing. I read the back cover and, if it sounds at all interesting, I find myself buying books by authors I may have only vaguely heard about in the past, if at all. Most times, I'm satisfied with the new books I choose and the story they have to tell. Other, less often times, I find that what I've read was disappointing or outright horrible. But, even these bad books have their own lessons; mainly, how not to do something.
When meeting new writers, I like to discover who their influences were and how widely they read. More often than not, I learn that they only read a certain genre and are hesitant to venture outside of it. While I can certainly understand this hesitation and apprehension, I try to encourage them to break out of that habit. Sure, you can learn how other successful writers in a genre do things. You can even see what's been done to exhaustion and steer clear of those pitfalls, but to not expose yourself to the other stories out there is to rob yourself of an excellent writing education. Reading such diverse material will shed light on new techniques that can enrich your writing and strengthen the skills you, as a writer, bring into your stories.
So, if you're one of those new writers flailing in a shallow puddle trying to learn to swim, let me implore you to come over to the ocean of diverse literature. Wade in. The water's fine. Really, it is. And, I'm sure you'll learn plenty.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Banned Book Week: I'm a little late with this...
but, better late than never. Yes, I'm blogging today about Banned Book Week. I've been poring over the lists and statistics of banned books and I'm amazed. There are some real party poopers out there that want to ruin the fun that literature brings to people. Mainly, these people that challenge a book's worth and merit are parents. They do so because they are supposedly looking out for their child's best interest. Well, that's pretty noble, I guess. I have three boys of my own, but I've never taken to the streets or written my local library or school board because of what my kids are reading. Hell, I'd love it if they showed more interest in reading! Here's some of my opinions about such behavior.
First, be proud that little Jimmy or Sally is reading at all! It's bad enough for books to compete with cable television, movies, video games, and cell phones. Most kids that I know only read a book when it is assigned in school. I must admit, I used to be the same way, shirking the reading assignments my teachers gave me. Now, however, I would be lost without a good book to read while I lay in bed before dozing off, or sitting on the back deck during a pleasant day.
Second, stop whining about what your child is reading (be glad they're reading at all-see first point above). The statistics for people intiating the banning of books show that the largest percentage are parents. Like I said above, trying to protect your child from profanity and sexually explicit material is noble, but do you really need to try to get a book banned because it has the words damn, hell, and ass inside? I think not. Also, I think that shielding your child from such expletives adversely effects them when they get out into the real world. I happened to look at the list of banned and challenged classics and I was amazed at some of the books on the list. There were books that I've read and never would have imagined being targeted for banning. One was To Kill A Mockingbird. I believe it was challenged because the intiator thought the content promoted racism. All I can do is shake my head at such narrow-mindedness.
Third, most of the reasons for these challenges against the books are brought up by people who want the world to see things as they see them. They majority of these people might be religious fanatics, I don't know, but I do know that they want to squash intellectual freedom by imposing their views on the rest of us. Why is it that because someone out there disagrees with something, they have to get up in arms and start a crusade? Reading is just like watching the TV: if you don't like what you're seeing or hearing, turn the channel! In the case of books, close the cover and return it to the library or get a refund, but do not try and ban the book and ruin the entertainment value for the rest of us. Just because we don't see eye-to-eye doesn't mean I have to do things your way, and vice versa.
Now that I've had my say and gotten that off my chest, here is a link to the banned books week website: Banned Books Week
First, be proud that little Jimmy or Sally is reading at all! It's bad enough for books to compete with cable television, movies, video games, and cell phones. Most kids that I know only read a book when it is assigned in school. I must admit, I used to be the same way, shirking the reading assignments my teachers gave me. Now, however, I would be lost without a good book to read while I lay in bed before dozing off, or sitting on the back deck during a pleasant day.
Second, stop whining about what your child is reading (be glad they're reading at all-see first point above). The statistics for people intiating the banning of books show that the largest percentage are parents. Like I said above, trying to protect your child from profanity and sexually explicit material is noble, but do you really need to try to get a book banned because it has the words damn, hell, and ass inside? I think not. Also, I think that shielding your child from such expletives adversely effects them when they get out into the real world. I happened to look at the list of banned and challenged classics and I was amazed at some of the books on the list. There were books that I've read and never would have imagined being targeted for banning. One was To Kill A Mockingbird. I believe it was challenged because the intiator thought the content promoted racism. All I can do is shake my head at such narrow-mindedness.
Third, most of the reasons for these challenges against the books are brought up by people who want the world to see things as they see them. They majority of these people might be religious fanatics, I don't know, but I do know that they want to squash intellectual freedom by imposing their views on the rest of us. Why is it that because someone out there disagrees with something, they have to get up in arms and start a crusade? Reading is just like watching the TV: if you don't like what you're seeing or hearing, turn the channel! In the case of books, close the cover and return it to the library or get a refund, but do not try and ban the book and ruin the entertainment value for the rest of us. Just because we don't see eye-to-eye doesn't mean I have to do things your way, and vice versa.
Now that I've had my say and gotten that off my chest, here is a link to the banned books week website: Banned Books Week
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