Comments (0)

By Ellie, August 2, 2010 10:54 pm

I can’t come up with a decent title for this one. BECAUSE, that’s why.

No mini book review this Monday, either. I love Cornelia Funke’s writing. She’s done some gorgeous work… but, man, it’s a chore getting through Inkspell. I’m not even a quarter of the way through. But once I’m done with all three books, I’ll write about my general musings. For now… well, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll think of a book I’ve already read and write a review on that for next Monday.

Just thought of three: the Mortal Instruments trilogy. Now I just gotta remember all the characters I didn’t like and write about why I didn’t like them.

But the truth is that I’m not reading much these days. I don’t want to. I’m so involved with writing, looking for a job, and planning on going back to school that I’m loath to get lost in a novel. Sounds silly, I know, but I’ve learned that I can finish a project I’ve started. The only other time I’ve finished a novel was… damn, back when I was ten. It was an adventure story with animals, written in a composition notebook no longer than 100 pages.

So as you can imagine, writing a novel that could go past 500 printed pages is a damn big deal with me.

So what happens after this? There’s that Webcomic. I’m going to start posting concept art and sketches pretty soon. (Our printer doesn’t like to print anymore, but at least it’ll scan.) I’ve got the plot figured out for the most part. Now it’s just a matter of drawing and inking everything. Backgrounds are going to be a bitch.

Welp, back to Inkspell. Maybe I can get through a whole chapter!

Comments (1)

By Ellie, July 30, 2010 9:08 am

Wish I could think of a snappier title for this post, but I just woke up about a half hour ago. I don’t do snappy so soon after getting out of bed, except at people who’ve forced me to get up.

WIP: “Evan & Ronny”
122,234/ 130,000 Words

Look at those numbers. I’m thinking that a three-week break might be in order. When I say a break, I mean that I’ll be taking a break from this particular project. I’ll probably be writing notes on what to add and take out, what kind of new twists I can introduce, that sort of thing, but I’ll do my best not to touch the document itself.

But I can’t stop writing. It took me years to get into the habit of writing regularly (five to six days a week, with Fridays and Saturdays being “off” days due to my work schedule). So I’ll be tackling two of the dozen projects I’ve got waiting around. There’s that Webcomic I’ve been sketching out for the past month; it’d be nice to start inking the first pages. Then there’s a middle-grade novel that needs to be fully formed, concept-wise. It’s gone from a fun, freewheeling story to a dark and gritty tale of loss and finding a sense of self (think Harry Potter and the last three books)… and it might return to fun and freewheeling. The only thing that hasn’t changed are the aliens.

Writing drama’s hard. If I didn’t know that already, “Evan and Ronny” would have taught me. I wrote a particularly miserable scene yesterday that actually had me in tears (and it didn’t help that I was listening to “mood music” at the time). I need something fun and–I’m almost ashamed to say this–easy to write. I think both a 30K-word middle-grade novel with fun science-fantasy elements and a PG-13/R goofy comic about inept survivalists are in order.

But going back to the current project: I’m beginning to doubt Evan’s voice. Is it too much like my own? Is it too to-the-point? Moreover, does it sound like an observant fortysomething man who never went to college? That’s the main point I’ve been agonizing over ever since I wrote the first paragraph. College-educated people have a different voice from non-college grads… as do twentysomething women from fortysomething men.

I’ve been watching myself, trying not to be “girly” in my descriptions, using concrete imagery and thinking in action instead of feeling. I’ve considered reading Hemingway, but the only stories I’ve ever been able to sit through were The Old Man and the Sea and White Elephants. (My friend Richard would be so disappointed.) I’ve read James Patterson, and while his stories have kept me turning the pages, he’s a bit slapdash for my tastes. Besides, if I were to emulate either of these men, it’d show.

Or maybe I should believe that I’m doing my best, that I’ll never be totally perfect by everyone’s standards, accept that I’m a bit inexperienced, and aim to improve my voice techniques as my career matures. First-time authors don’t always get it “right” in the first book after all.

“Just tell a damn good story to the best of your abilities.” I should make that my wallpaper.

Comments (0)

By Ellie, July 7, 2010 10:39 pm

Whew. So many words.

WIP: “Evan & Ronny”
79,422 / 100,000 Words

Writing sci-fi isn’t as sucky as I’d thought. Why, I could design a galaxy just like that shown in Star Wars or Futurama! My characters can planethop to their hearts’ contents, scoping out new landscapes, meeting new alien races, having kick-ass battles in space…

What’s that, Cracked.com? None of it’s possible? No! My dreams! My project! If I publish this, I’ll be laughed at by the science community and other sci-fi writers! I’ll never be taken seriously! I’ve got to follow real world rules, after all. Crap, maybe I should have stuck with just fantasy after all.

But, wait… what’s this? A rash of angry sci-fi fans and space dreamers? They’re disappointed in a Cracked.com article? But Cracked.com articles are the raspberry chocolate cheescakes in a fridge of moldy pizza slices and soggy fries.

Yet I’m curious…

Most of these fall under the presupposition that these hurdles will never be changed. It’s like in the 1800’s when patent offices were closed down–they literally believed nothing new could be invented.

I adore science and I think it has more say than religions do (no offense to those that disagree), but still, science is pretty damn arrogant that it will never change, even though it does and they should know that. Not that its frequent changes discredit it, but assertions are made based on these aspects of science never changing. I am willing to bet my life on the fact that the speed of light will be bypassed. It seems blatantly obvious. Einstein said we couldn’t. So? Why do people give him so much credit? He was a great physicist, but that doesn’t give him authority and ultimate judgment over subjects.

Posted on 6/27/2010 9:17 PM
agamemnon16

So… basically, all the problems on this list could be solved with artificial gravity, continued research and development, and a warp drive.

So really, just continued research and development.

If we could move on from cramped, dank, and disease-ridden pirate ships to humongous luxury cruise liners, I think we can eventually figure out how to make space travel an awesome experience.

Don’t be such a killjoy and have a little faith in Earth’s scientists, won’t you?

Posted on 7/4/2010 5:26 PM
Kaori242

100 years ago learned scientists would have called many of today’s inventions ludicrous, and we laugh at the science fiction our forefathers produced. Who’s to say in the future scientists won’t discover some new aspect of the laws of physics that allows them to build technology that makes space travel comfortable?

I might agree that military starships might be uncomfortable to live in. The US Navy doesn’t build it’s aircraft carriers like a luxury liner – they favor designs that emphasize utility and cost-effectiveness. We can only hope that in the future, comfy leather chairs will be cheap enough that any crewmember can be afforded one.

Posted on 5/26/2010 9:22 AM
Kurzo

I agree with the principle of your argument. I’m sure humanity will eventually find a way to travel across interstellar distances in relative comfort, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be in a comfortable starship. For all anyone alive today knows, we might perfect teleportation or wormhole generation to the point that we don’t even need a ship and can just walk through to another planet (although we’d probably need to send a cramped, uncomfortable ship full of sleeping engineers to the destination to set up things on that end first.)

I’m sure the future will be wild and fantastic beyond what we can imagine now, but that doesn’t mean we’ll “fix” the issues brought up in this article. We might just find a different way to get there.

Posted on 5/26/2010 9:52 AM
Steve-O

All right, so there are a few rules that still need to be followed (humans can only breathe oxygen, a robotic arm can’t lift a two-ton car without its owner wearing some equally strong exoskeleton suit, that kind of stuff), but reading these gives me a lot of hope for my project.

In a way, it’s kind of like having sci-fi fans’ blessings.

Comments (0)

By Ellie, July 2, 2010 10:22 am

Guess it’s that time in the show where I talk about my project, huh?

WIP: “Evan & Ronny”
66,352 / 100,000 Words

Nifty little contraption, huh? That’s Jen Hayley’s writing progress bar. You can get the code here.

But looking at that little bar fills me with a little dread. Research tells me that most publishing houses are content with long books. Just as long as they’re around the 80k mark. These days, that’s the average length of a book (at least in the U.S.), which comes to around 300-350 pages, depending on page and font size.

Granted, we are seeing more thicker books, and some first-time authors do land their doorstop novels in bookstores. And I read somewhere–can’t remember the article title, magazine, or writer, blast it all–that most people place a greater importance on bigger things, and that includes books. It makes sense, right? Longer story, bigger world and more conflicts to explore. Characters with deep, deep problems that will require hundreds of pages to resolve. It’s gotta be an adventure worth following.

But many editors are wary of long works, especially from newcomers. They’re going to be putting a lot of money into printing those bad boys, and it’s a big risk.

This is probably the longest novel I’ve ever written, and at this point, it might exceed 100k words. Thing is, I’m writing as tightly as I can, keeping heavy description to a minimum, summarizing where needed, fleshing out action and dialogue where appropriate. Yet there are certain scenes, conversations, and little bits that add color that are impossible to leave out, at least at this point. This is only the first draft, and I have every intention of murdering the darlings that have no business existing in my work.

That’s the damndest thing about worldbuilding. In order to give it life, you need to throw in some details to round it out. Especially when you’re recreating Earthling society in another galaxy and throwing in some extraterrestrial elements.

This is going to be a hassle to edit, and I’m almost dreading it. Yet at the same time, I love writing each word, even as the counter in Word climbs higher and higher towards the mighty and intimidating 100,000 mark. Cutting out extraneous material… well, first I have to determine which bits are extraneous… is going to be a nightmare.

But what if it turns out that I can’t edit much out? How do I explain that to an agent or editor? Would they be willing to let me pull a Gabaldon and publish a 100k+ behemoth?

Or… maybe I should worry about this when it comes time to edit the third draft.

Comments (1)

By Ellie, June 15, 2010 11:15 pm

You know what’s the hardest part about writing? I mean, besides coming up with a believable plot and engaging character? And stringing together coherent sentences? And keeping track of all the various subplots? Making sure that gun from the first act makes it into the third act?

Okay, you know what’s one of the hardest things about writing? Making sure all your creepy fetishes don’t cram themselves into your work.

Look, we’ve all got them. One man’s foot rub is another man’s path to body-wracking orgasm. One woman’s penchant for spangling bracelets is another woman’s arousal. One woman’s quick trip to the grocery store to pick up a pack of shredded barbecue meat is another woman’s foreplay. Most people are careful not to leak their more unusual interests. While I have nothing against a man literally loving cars, I’m not quite sure how I’d react to actually knowing such an individual. Maybe carefully guard that lever in my car that opens the gas cap.

And then there are my own unique interests. Unconventional ideas that float under the thin membrane of self-control, ready to break the surface and bleed onto the paper, revealing horrible details that could shatter my career. But the temptation is strong. Just as I explore these worlds I’ve created, I’m also exploring my thoughts, prejudices, and desires. My stories are workshops, testing grounds for ideas I can never explore in real life. Society dictates that I keep to myself these shameful thoughts. And yet…

It’s tempting to keep them in these unpublished documents. Tweak them just a little, maybe delete that odd dialogue or inside joke. Make them palatable. But they’re still there. Dare I leave them be and trust that the world will only see them as part of the story? Or will they recognize the despicable?