Sarah Monette talks truth to power about The Art of the Short Story. This is actually an article in the sporadic series with a longer title of "Routes to Publication May Vary According to Your Talents" being written unconjunctively by many authors on many blogs.
But she speaks a lot of truth. The first paragraph is what I'd like to discuss, though. In there she says that, basically, Short Stories aren't the same species as Novels. This is a fact. She also discounts the "business route" of writing shorts to make a name for yourself and then start writing novels. This is also true. However, this is the route I've taken. And I think there's a lot of established authors and editors who add on motivations to my move (because they've advised me against it).
I think my natural writing length is a novel. I started out wanting to write novels and I still do want to write novels (as I hope to be working on them this year). Also, novels are where the money is at in this game. So, yeah, novels it is.
However, as my first attempts at writing them showed, I didn't have the foggiest clue as to how to tell a story. I took a community education class taught by a somewhat famous romance novelist that was supposed to help us write novels. It was that experience, the wrestling with the opening chapter, that demonstrated to me that I needed to learn some craftsmanship.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
A Whine to Far
Okay, I've heard this one to many times. Please, both President Bush and anybody who worked in the administration, I am really sick of hearing about how hard the job is. How you've been on call basically 24/7 since 9-11. I'm tired of hearing about how many lunches/dinners/etc you've missed. Your kids have grown up with you not there, blah blah blah.
Yeah, government work is hard. Didn't you know that? Haven't you been paying attention? I guess you have never had real jobs in your life. Government work is not 9-5 with weekends off. This is especially true for those who work around the Oval Office.
Also, hate to tell you this, it's also the same thing for any salaried position these days. Or at least for those of us who are doing all the work.
Stop whining.
Oh, and the rewriting of your history is also getting tiresome. We were there. You weren't that great.
And as a final point, terrorists made it onto Embassy grounds in Yemen last year. We have had many soldiers killed by IEDs. You cannot claim that after 9-11 there have been no terrorist attacks. STFU about it.
Or, you know, I can start researching and write an article with annotated footnotes. You really don't want me to do that.
Yeah, government work is hard. Didn't you know that? Haven't you been paying attention? I guess you have never had real jobs in your life. Government work is not 9-5 with weekends off. This is especially true for those who work around the Oval Office.
Also, hate to tell you this, it's also the same thing for any salaried position these days. Or at least for those of us who are doing all the work.
Stop whining.
Oh, and the rewriting of your history is also getting tiresome. We were there. You weren't that great.
And as a final point, terrorists made it onto Embassy grounds in Yemen last year. We have had many soldiers killed by IEDs. You cannot claim that after 9-11 there have been no terrorist attacks. STFU about it.
Or, you know, I can start researching and write an article with annotated footnotes. You really don't want me to do that.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Confusion or Bust!
I don't think I made this announcement yet, so here it is belatedly.
If you're in the Detroit area later this month, you can stop by and see mebaffle entertain the multitudes with my deft, mad bullshitting panelist skillz at Cryptic Confusion. Yes, given my meh outstanding performances at ConClave, I wrangled an invited to continue spouting drivel above my pay grade sharing my perspective and inflicting irreparable mental damage what little I know and have learned with the masses.
As an added benefit there is the meeting of the Kletcha Clutch (although I think it mostly revolves around Mer Haskell), seeing people I only get to talk with once a year, and in general, having fun.
If you're in the Detroit area later this month, you can stop by and see me
As an added benefit there is the meeting of the Kletcha Clutch (although I think it mostly revolves around Mer Haskell), seeing people I only get to talk with once a year, and in general, having fun.
It's a fresh New Year for Rejection!
Lucy at Andromeda Spaceways writes to tell me they've passed on "Scrimshaw Man." The letter seemed generic, so I'm going with it being a form rejection.
Alas and alack I haven't the knack.
Or something like that.
I think the main problem is still the second stanza (there's only two, so that's 50 percent). I have description but not a lot of action and that's something that I think may need to change. The last line (which Goblin Fruit specifically pointed out) probably still jars the ear. It's sort of like a baseball bat. I think I can change the second stanza to switch the point of view (not the POV character, but where his attention is) to an action stance. It'll be a complete rewrite, but I have two lines already (and have already rewritten them to use stronger language).
Here's an example of the first line:
"Give me the nickel and enter the tent"
to
"Surrender your coin and step inside"
(and I'm thinking about those last two words, "pass the bar," "take the pike," "roll the turnstile" although "step inside" works best with the next line as it adds possible meanings, and relinquish also works instead of surrender, but I like the connotations of "surrender").
So at the earliest opportunity I'll need to revisit it, and then I'll need to find another market. The New Year is off and running.
Alas and alack I haven't the knack.
Or something like that.
I think the main problem is still the second stanza (there's only two, so that's 50 percent). I have description but not a lot of action and that's something that I think may need to change. The last line (which Goblin Fruit specifically pointed out) probably still jars the ear. It's sort of like a baseball bat. I think I can change the second stanza to switch the point of view (not the POV character, but where his attention is) to an action stance. It'll be a complete rewrite, but I have two lines already (and have already rewritten them to use stronger language).
Here's an example of the first line:
"Give me the nickel and enter the tent"
to
"Surrender your coin and step inside"
(and I'm thinking about those last two words, "pass the bar," "take the pike," "roll the turnstile" although "step inside" works best with the next line as it adds possible meanings, and relinquish also works instead of surrender, but I like the connotations of "surrender").
So at the earliest opportunity I'll need to revisit it, and then I'll need to find another market. The New Year is off and running.
Big Time! I'm on my way and I'm making it.
Seems some Asian SPAMMERS hit the blog last night. It'll take me a little time to clean it all up (I'm at work after all). They have about three or four standard comments that they've placed in fifteen or so posts throughout. If I remember my kanji correctly, the names they left are Chinese.
And dudes, keep hitting my blog. I'm almost done compiling your router numbers.
If I'm wrong about you, 重庆游戏中心, 安徽棋牌游戏中心, or 贵港热线休闲游戏中心 (those are the top three names) please post here and let me know.
And dudes, keep hitting my blog. I'm almost done compiling your router numbers.
If I'm wrong about you, 重庆游戏中心, 安徽棋牌游戏中心, or 贵港热线休闲游戏中心 (those are the top three names) please post here and let me know.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
And Rewrite, Rinse, Repeat
Rewrote all the way throughout the frame. Added in details and little atmospheric things. We're now at 4987 words (you can tell how much I've rewritten since I've again added things in and we down another five or six words. I think I getting near the end of it. I'll have to print it out and go through it with a fine toothed comb and then let some other people read it to make sure I'm making sense. Hopefully I'll be done sometime in the next two weeks (there's council stuff to do, soon).
In other news, at the doctor's office I was down eight more pounds (nine since the last appointment, as I was up one pound then).
Really tired from not sleeping normally. So we're off to bed.
In other news, at the doctor's office I was down eight more pounds (nine since the last appointment, as I was up one pound then).
Really tired from not sleeping normally. So we're off to bed.
Writerly Linkee-poo
Came back to work and had over 600 posts I haven't read. You all have been busy. I feel like such a slacker, I've barely made one post a day (and sometimes not even that). I'm catching up. Somethings I'm just going to skip (sorry, only so many hours in the day).
Justine Larbalestier is at it again. She's spilling the beans with a whole bunch of writing advice. And better yet, she's taking requests. I always go for Freebird myself, but hey, it's up to you. Here's some link-love for her posts; Choosing POV, and Generating Ideas, and a long one on How to Get Unstuck.
It's something about new writers, we just can't get enough advice, I guess. Or maybe it's just me and I'm overly interested in how other people do it. And, again, just because it's advice from a published author doesn't mean it'll 1) be appropriate, 2) answer your deepest needs and 3) might not work for you. Justine, however, is very entertaining as she gives you her take on the subjects.
Jeff VenderMeer is doing a massive cleaning of his house and sharing some of his finds over on Ecstatic Days. There's some juvenilia going on, so be sure not to miss it. He also finished up his 60-in60 pieces (about reading the Penguin Great Ideas books).
Matt Stagg over at Enter the Octopus is giving some publicity advice. And don't forget to memorize that last paragraph. Really. Very good advice.
Rick Ferrel is continuing with his dragons of creativity series all about release our inner writers. If you're not reading it you should be. Also, please note, to "slay the dragon" and pass the test you must give into them, not actually kill the dragon.
Several people I know have had book releases lately; S.C. Butler, Josh Palmatier, Jim Hines, and Karl Schroeder. I know I'm missing a few people. Sorry. But if you're looking for some good reading to fill those long winter nights, you don't have any excuses now. And most of these are mmpb (mass market paperback) releases, so it won't cost you an arm or a leg (maybe just a few hairs).
Oh, and there's about a gazillion contests out there to win books. If you're surfing you've found some of them.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go read that "Unstuck" post (although I think she's talking about sticky plots, and that's something Dawn just doesn't help with, sticky pots on the other hand it works wonders).
Justine Larbalestier is at it again. She's spilling the beans with a whole bunch of writing advice. And better yet, she's taking requests. I always go for Freebird myself, but hey, it's up to you. Here's some link-love for her posts; Choosing POV, and Generating Ideas, and a long one on How to Get Unstuck.
It's something about new writers, we just can't get enough advice, I guess. Or maybe it's just me and I'm overly interested in how other people do it. And, again, just because it's advice from a published author doesn't mean it'll 1) be appropriate, 2) answer your deepest needs and 3) might not work for you. Justine, however, is very entertaining as she gives you her take on the subjects.
Jeff VenderMeer is doing a massive cleaning of his house and sharing some of his finds over on Ecstatic Days. There's some juvenilia going on, so be sure not to miss it. He also finished up his 60-in60 pieces (about reading the Penguin Great Ideas books).
Matt Stagg over at Enter the Octopus is giving some publicity advice. And don't forget to memorize that last paragraph. Really. Very good advice.
Rick Ferrel is continuing with his dragons of creativity series all about release our inner writers. If you're not reading it you should be. Also, please note, to "slay the dragon" and pass the test you must give into them, not actually kill the dragon.
Several people I know have had book releases lately; S.C. Butler, Josh Palmatier, Jim Hines, and Karl Schroeder. I know I'm missing a few people. Sorry. But if you're looking for some good reading to fill those long winter nights, you don't have any excuses now. And most of these are mmpb (mass market paperback) releases, so it won't cost you an arm or a leg (maybe just a few hairs).
Oh, and there's about a gazillion contests out there to win books. If you're surfing you've found some of them.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go read that "Unstuck" post (although I think she's talking about sticky plots, and that's something Dawn just doesn't help with, sticky pots on the other hand it works wonders).
Monday, January 5, 2009
Beware the Dayplanner, my son! The days that bite, the entries that catch!
So, while I'm waiting for the mac to process the updated file request, I'm flipping through my new day calendar. In the back there is a section for "Internet Resources." The page flopped open on the second page and up at the top is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (www.fdic.gov in case you're wondering). Not a good omen.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Hopeless romantics, here we go again
I know it's not catblogging Fridays today, but I couldn't resist.
So here's the new kittens.
I alluded to them a while back, and now that they've been with us almost a week, I think it's time to introduce them. Here is Vivian and Cleo(patra), a mother a daughter team. The mother is Vivian and she's only a little over a year old (we're estimating). Cleo was born October 4th. They were drop-offs at a house in farm country twenty minutes east of us (well, Vivian was, the others came later).
Vivian is pretty well socialized, Cleo isn't, yet. We're working on that. Cleo also had her leg broken. The person we got them from said in the past week, the vet says soon after her birth. The bone has healed, but not well. It had calcified into the muscle which had locked her back right-leg up on her body. The vet massaged it a little, and we've done some more. She's using the leg a little now (although it is visibly smaller than her other leg). So she's a little gimpy/limpy cat.
So far we're doing okay. We're trying to get them on a schedule (but with being off for the holidays and everything it hasn't helped). The first night they did sleep with us, but since then they've sleep on their own bed. I'm a little more allergic to them, but that may just be an adjustment to having animals and the general closing up of the house because of winter. I would also have episodes with Isis. It may also be with having two cats.
Hopefully I can get a good picture of Vivian so you can see her distinctive markings. It's like a cross between a tabby and calico. They have stripes and calico markings. The stripes become spots on their backs. Vivian also have ear tufts which give her a distinct wild cat look. Cleo has the same markings (with some variation), but so far isn't displaying the ear tuffs. Also Vivian has green eyes and Cleo has brown.
They like to play, chasing strings and sometimes just picking something and batting it around. They're slowly discovering their new world. They just found the cat tower the other day. Cleo loves it, Vivian not so much. Or I should say, Cleo loves climbing up and down, Vivian just likes sleeping up high.
So here's the new kittens.
I alluded to them a while back, and now that they've been with us almost a week, I think it's time to introduce them. Here is Vivian and Cleo(patra), a mother a daughter team. The mother is Vivian and she's only a little over a year old (we're estimating). Cleo was born October 4th. They were drop-offs at a house in farm country twenty minutes east of us (well, Vivian was, the others came later).
Vivian is pretty well socialized, Cleo isn't, yet. We're working on that. Cleo also had her leg broken. The person we got them from said in the past week, the vet says soon after her birth. The bone has healed, but not well. It had calcified into the muscle which had locked her back right-leg up on her body. The vet massaged it a little, and we've done some more. She's using the leg a little now (although it is visibly smaller than her other leg). So she's a little gimpy/limpy cat.
So far we're doing okay. We're trying to get them on a schedule (but with being off for the holidays and everything it hasn't helped). The first night they did sleep with us, but since then they've sleep on their own bed. I'm a little more allergic to them, but that may just be an adjustment to having animals and the general closing up of the house because of winter. I would also have episodes with Isis. It may also be with having two cats.
Hopefully I can get a good picture of Vivian so you can see her distinctive markings. It's like a cross between a tabby and calico. They have stripes and calico markings. The stripes become spots on their backs. Vivian also have ear tufts which give her a distinct wild cat look. Cleo has the same markings (with some variation), but so far isn't displaying the ear tuffs. Also Vivian has green eyes and Cleo has brown.
They like to play, chasing strings and sometimes just picking something and batting it around. They're slowly discovering their new world. They just found the cat tower the other day. Cleo loves it, Vivian not so much. Or I should say, Cleo loves climbing up and down, Vivian just likes sleeping up high.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Rewriterly Rewriting Revision
Okay, time for bed. I've made it through the opening frame, 1246 words (1121 words in the old draft). I'll see if I can cut a little more. Total word count, though, it at 4992, only one word less than the last draft. I haven't touched the closing frame yet. There's a few words I want to put in there, to flesh out the world they live in. So, I'll cut some and add some tomorrow, or later.
1, 2, 3 What are we fightin' for
So what am I doing this last full day of real vacation? I'm rewriting the frame for War Stories. It's a little darker and the character set is greatly reduced, just Bobby and Fenny now (and an unnamed nurse or two). Most of it was from handwritten notes I had made, some of it came from the original frame. The middle, Bobby's story, isn't changing (until I get edits), but the editor (::waves toward Michigan::) made a comment earlier about how the frame wasn't working for him, and in review I agree. Most of the characters, who had some part to play in the full story (where they told more stories) now are just guys in funny hats. So out they went.
Most of the concepts have transfered over. I don't think I'm as fair to vets as I was in the original, but it's a story. And to make the story, Bobby needed to have more problems. Sorry about that.
Current word count, (for frame and middle) is 5130. So I'll need to get rid of another 140 or so words. I think it's doable. I cut out 200 on the first run through. I think the new frame has some of my better writing, but there's also soft parts. Heck, while bouncing back and forth (yeah, I do that, call me Mr. Distractible) I'm down eight words. So yeah, there's some poof that can be cut, some redundancies to eliminate. Keeping under 5000 should be easy.
I should probably do an entry over on Genre Benders about the first paragraph. It's a pretty good example (if I say so myself) of including small details that fill out a whole scene. How in 30 words you can include all the senses and paint a picture of where the story takes place. In the original frame it took two paragraphs to get it all in.
Anyway, now I've got meetings to go to and errands to run. Hope you all are having a good start to the fresh year.
Most of the concepts have transfered over. I don't think I'm as fair to vets as I was in the original, but it's a story. And to make the story, Bobby needed to have more problems. Sorry about that.
Current word count, (for frame and middle) is 5130. So I'll need to get rid of another 140 or so words. I think it's doable. I cut out 200 on the first run through. I think the new frame has some of my better writing, but there's also soft parts. Heck, while bouncing back and forth (yeah, I do that, call me Mr. Distractible) I'm down eight words. So yeah, there's some poof that can be cut, some redundancies to eliminate. Keeping under 5000 should be easy.
I should probably do an entry over on Genre Benders about the first paragraph. It's a pretty good example (if I say so myself) of including small details that fill out a whole scene. How in 30 words you can include all the senses and paint a picture of where the story takes place. In the original frame it took two paragraphs to get it all in.
Anyway, now I've got meetings to go to and errands to run. Hope you all are having a good start to the fresh year.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
It's the End of the World for a New Year
(Cross posted on Genre Bender)
If you've been paying attention to the publishing world lately, you know that they've been predicting Armageddon for all of the past November-December. As the economy hits the skids, publishers haven't been immune from the bird-flue epidemic of layoffs and cutbacks. Since Harper-Collins' executive announcement about not purchasing new manuscripts leaked out, it's all been doom and gloom.
Well, genre sales have gone up this past Xmas buying season. You wouldn't know that except for actually looking at bookscan data (no, I don't have access, but those who do tell me it's true).
But things aren't all rosy. Since the 70s, genre publishing has been on a downhill slope. This was made manifest to me by going to a panel honoring Betty Ballantine at the 2007 World Fantasy Convention. Part of that panel interviewing and honoring her covered how the industry has changed since she helped start Ballantine Books. Of the major changes, print numbers and sell-through (how many actually sell) have been the most drastic (besides the switch from paperback to hard-cover and the rise of the trade paperback). In the 70s is wasn't uncommon to print 30,000 books for a new author and sell 90% of those. These are numbers a best-selling author would envy today. 30M (30,000 in print speak) books is the same as the combined total of the first, second, and third printings of a new author. And 70% sell through is considered good.
Here are two blog posts that shed light on not only the current state of genre publishing but also the history of how we got here (thanks, BTW, to Jay Lake's link salad).
First up is Charlie Stross' Why SF & F novels are the length they are.
Here's another from Scrivener's Error on the Publishing Squeeze.
Hope that helps with perspectives. As for me, I'm going to spend my Xmas Borders' gift cards as quick as possible and hunker down on the new work for the new year. Here's hoping with have happier news to talk about at the end of 2009.
If you've been paying attention to the publishing world lately, you know that they've been predicting Armageddon for all of the past November-December. As the economy hits the skids, publishers haven't been immune from the bird-flue epidemic of layoffs and cutbacks. Since Harper-Collins' executive announcement about not purchasing new manuscripts leaked out, it's all been doom and gloom.
Well, genre sales have gone up this past Xmas buying season. You wouldn't know that except for actually looking at bookscan data (no, I don't have access, but those who do tell me it's true).
But things aren't all rosy. Since the 70s, genre publishing has been on a downhill slope. This was made manifest to me by going to a panel honoring Betty Ballantine at the 2007 World Fantasy Convention. Part of that panel interviewing and honoring her covered how the industry has changed since she helped start Ballantine Books. Of the major changes, print numbers and sell-through (how many actually sell) have been the most drastic (besides the switch from paperback to hard-cover and the rise of the trade paperback). In the 70s is wasn't uncommon to print 30,000 books for a new author and sell 90% of those. These are numbers a best-selling author would envy today. 30M (30,000 in print speak) books is the same as the combined total of the first, second, and third printings of a new author. And 70% sell through is considered good.
Here are two blog posts that shed light on not only the current state of genre publishing but also the history of how we got here (thanks, BTW, to Jay Lake's link salad).
First up is Charlie Stross' Why SF & F novels are the length they are.
Here's another from Scrivener's Error on the Publishing Squeeze.
Hope that helps with perspectives. As for me, I'm going to spend my Xmas Borders' gift cards as quick as possible and hunker down on the new work for the new year. Here's hoping with have happier news to talk about at the end of 2009.
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