Editing and the size of a book

I had to answer this question about what to do with a 1,000 page book manuscript.

I try to take a 3 or 4 month break from a story, after I have written it. That way 4 months from now when I start editing, it’ll be like I’m reading it for the first time, and I will catch more mistakes than I would have if I had edited it as soon as I finished writing.

The average book is usualy 150 – 175 pages, so you need to do a lot more than get rid of 400 pages… you need to cut closer to 700 pages. Your best bet is to divide and conqure, via a multi volume set. As it stands now you have a 5 to 7 volume set on your hands, not a single book.

You got to ask yourself, would you read a 1,000 book? Take out some book you do read, and look at the page counts. Unless you are reading Harry Potter or Stephen King, you will find a trend in page counts: 95 pages; 121 pages; 157 pages; 179 pages; rarely anything longer than 200 pages. Even the huge Harry Potter only ranges from 225 – 498 pages per volume.

Another thing you need to look at: Webster’s Dictionary and the Bible. Page count? Both 1500 pages each. Yep, your 1,000 page book is as big as the common 15lb. school dictionary or the Bible itself. You’ll have to find a special publisher, one able to deal with a 1,000 page print-up, (which requires special binding techniques btw) and actually there are only about 12 printers world wide that have the equiptment to print up such a massive sized book, and they all only deal with non-fiction. Even getting it self-published via LuLu is not an option for you, because they can’t print up books over 730 pages!

Cutting 400 pages is still going to leave you with 600 pages, roughly the size of the average trilogy. You might want to look at your book and ask yourself if it could be turning into a trilogy. It could be a better option.

Now, because your book is soooooo BIG, I suggest that you literaly divide your 1,000 pages into 3 stacks of 333 pages each. Now take stack #1 and call it volume one of your trillogy. Stack #2 would be volume two and stack #3 would be volume three. Now instead of thinking of it as “you book”, think of it as “your trilogy”. Put stacks 2 and 3 aside and forget about them for now.

Now take your “volume 1″ and start editing that. If you still plan on one book as you goal, than you will want to do deep editing cuts, and reduce you 333 pages to 75 pages (cutting 258 pages). If you want to try for a triliogy set of books instead, aim to reduce your 333 pages to 200 pages (cutting 133 pages). Allow yourself 2 or 3 months to edit this section of your book… up to 6 months if you are cutting it down to 75 pages.

Now, if you have planned to go the trilogy rought, now is the time to start sending out querry letters, and doing your final edit of volume one. Do not start editing stacks #2 and 3 yet. Focus fully on volume one. After you have gotten it published, than you can start editing stack #2. (This will be about 18 months from now assuming a publisher grabs your volume one immediatly.) After volume 2 is published, (about 36 months from now) than you can start editing stack #3. After volume 3 is published, (about 54 months from now) than you can start on you next book or set of books.

However, if you continue as planned in your OP than you will be doing this instead:

If you are going the one book rought, than it’s time to start editing stack #2. Once you have finished editing stack #1, put it aside and start editing stack #2. Again, you’ll need to cut it down to 75 pages, just like you did with stack #1. Allow for 3 to 6 months to get this done. Once finished cutting stack #2, start on stack #3.

Once you have finished editing stack #3, you will have turned your 1,000 page mess into a 225 page book. Now, 225 pages is still a big Harry Potter sized book, but still managible. You next step will be to do a final edit, of the 225 pages all at once to make them read smoothly straight through, from start to finish. Once you have done that you can start sending out querries.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

>Editing and the size of a book

>

I had to answer this question about what to do with a 1,000 page book manuscript.

I try to take a 3 or 4 month break from a story, after I have written it. That way 4 months from now when I start editing, it’ll be like I’m reading it for the first time, and I will catch more mistakes than I would have if I had edited it as soon as I finished writing.

The average book is usualy 150 – 175 pages, so you need to do a lot more than get rid of 400 pages… you need to cut closer to 700 pages. Your best bet is to divide and conqure, via a multi volume set. As it stands now you have a 5 to 7 volume set on your hands, not a single book.

You got to ask yourself, would you read a 1,000 book? Take out some book you do read, and look at the page counts. Unless you are reading Harry Potter or Stephen King, you will find a trend in page counts: 95 pages; 121 pages; 157 pages; 179 pages; rarely anything longer than 200 pages. Even the huge Harry Potter only ranges from 225 – 498 pages per volume.

Another thing you need to look at: Webster’s Dictionary and the Bible. Page count? Both 1500 pages each. Yep, your 1,000 page book is as big as the common 15lb. school dictionary or the Bible itself. You’ll have to find a special publisher, one able to deal with a 1,000 page print-up, (which requires special binding techniques btw) and actually there are only about 12 printers world wide that have the equiptment to print up such a massive sized book, and they all only deal with non-fiction. Even getting it self-published via LuLu is not an option for you, because they can’t print up books over 730 pages!

Cutting 400 pages is still going to leave you with 600 pages, roughly the size of the average trilogy. You might want to look at your book and ask yourself if it could be turning into a trilogy. It could be a better option.

Now, because your book is soooooo BIG, I suggest that you literaly divide your 1,000 pages into 3 stacks of 333 pages each. Now take stack #1 and call it volume one of your trillogy. Stack #2 would be volume two and stack #3 would be volume three. Now instead of thinking of it as “you book”, think of it as “your trilogy”. Put stacks 2 and 3 aside and forget about them for now.

Now take your “volume 1″ and start editing that. If you still plan on one book as you goal, than you will want to do deep editing cuts, and reduce you 333 pages to 75 pages (cutting 258 pages). If you want to try for a triliogy set of books instead, aim to reduce your 333 pages to 200 pages (cutting 133 pages). Allow yourself 2 or 3 months to edit this section of your book… up to 6 months if you are cutting it down to 75 pages.

Now, if you have planned to go the trilogy rought, now is the time to start sending out querry letters, and doing your final edit of volume one. Do not start editing stacks #2 and 3 yet. Focus fully on volume one. After you have gotten it published, than you can start editing stack #2. (This will be about 18 months from now assuming a publisher grabs your volume one immediatly.) After volume 2 is published, (about 36 months from now) than you can start editing stack #3. After volume 3 is published, (about 54 months from now) than you can start on you next book or set of books.

However, if you continue as planned in your OP than you will be doing this instead:

If you are going the one book rought, than it’s time to start editing stack #2. Once you have finished editing stack #1, put it aside and start editing stack #2. Again, you’ll need to cut it down to 75 pages, just like you did with stack #1. Allow for 3 to 6 months to get this done. Once finished cutting stack #2, start on stack #3.

Once you have finished editing stack #3, you will have turned your 1,000 page mess into a 225 page book. Now, 225 pages is still a big Harry Potter sized book, but still managible. You next step will be to do a final edit, of the 225 pages all at once to make them read smoothly straight through, from start to finish. Once you have done that you can start sending out querries.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

Editing and the size of a book

I had to answer this question about what to do with a 1,000 page book manuscript.

I try to take a 3 or 4 month break from a story, after I have written it. That way 4 months from now when I start editing, it’ll be like I’m reading it for the first time, and I will catch more mistakes than I would have if I had edited it as soon as I finished writing.

The average book is usualy 150 – 175 pages, so you need to do a lot more than get rid of 400 pages… you need to cut closer to 700 pages. Your best bet is to divide and conqure, via a multi volume set. As it stands now you have a 5 to 7 volume set on your hands, not a single book.

You got to ask yourself, would you read a 1,000 book? Take out some book you do read, and look at the page counts. Unless you are reading Harry Potter or Stephen King, you will find a trend in page counts: 95 pages; 121 pages; 157 pages; 179 pages; rarely anything longer than 200 pages. Even the huge Harry Potter only ranges from 225 – 498 pages per volume.

Another thing you need to look at: Webster’s Dictionary and the Bible. Page count? Both 1500 pages each. Yep, your 1,000 page book is as big as the common 15lb. school dictionary or the Bible itself. You’ll have to find a special publisher, one able to deal with a 1,000 page print-up, (which requires special binding techniques btw) and actually there are only about 12 printers world wide that have the equiptment to print up such a massive sized book, and they all only deal with non-fiction. Even getting it self-published via LuLu is not an option for you, because they can’t print up books over 730 pages!

Cutting 400 pages is still going to leave you with 600 pages, roughly the size of the average trilogy. You might want to look at your book and ask yourself if it could be turning into a trilogy. It could be a better option.

Now, because your book is soooooo BIG, I suggest that you literaly divide your 1,000 pages into 3 stacks of 333 pages each. Now take stack #1 and call it volume one of your trillogy. Stack #2 would be volume two and stack #3 would be volume three. Now instead of thinking of it as “you book”, think of it as “your trilogy”. Put stacks 2 and 3 aside and forget about them for now.

Now take your “volume 1″ and start editing that. If you still plan on one book as you goal, than you will want to do deep editing cuts, and reduce you 333 pages to 75 pages (cutting 258 pages). If you want to try for a triliogy set of books instead, aim to reduce your 333 pages to 200 pages (cutting 133 pages). Allow yourself 2 or 3 months to edit this section of your book… up to 6 months if you are cutting it down to 75 pages.

Now, if you have planned to go the trilogy rought, now is the time to start sending out querry letters, and doing your final edit of volume one. Do not start editing stacks #2 and 3 yet. Focus fully on volume one. After you have gotten it published, than you can start editing stack #2. (This will be about 18 months from now assuming a publisher grabs your volume one immediatly.) After volume 2 is published, (about 36 months from now) than you can start editing stack #3. After volume 3 is published, (about 54 months from now) than you can start on you next book or set of books.

However, if you continue as planned in your OP than you will be doing this instead:

If you are going the one book rought, than it’s time to start editing stack #2. Once you have finished editing stack #1, put it aside and start editing stack #2. Again, you’ll need to cut it down to 75 pages, just like you did with stack #1. Allow for 3 to 6 months to get this done. Once finished cutting stack #2, start on stack #3.

Once you have finished editing stack #3, you will have turned your 1,000 page mess into a 225 page book. Now, 225 pages is still a big Harry Potter sized book, but still managible. You next step will be to do a final edit, of the 225 pages all at once to make them read smoothly straight through, from start to finish. Once you have done that you can start sending out querries.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

What your MC can not see…

On Abosulte Write a member posted a very interesting question:

[quote=megan_d;2001327]So my MC is hiding behind a chair. He can hear what’s going on between the four not hiding characters, but he can’t see a thing. And damn, but is this scene hard to write! I never realised how reliant I was upon visual clues to show and not tell!

Has anyone else found themselves in a similar spot in their own WIPs?[/quote]

[quote=megan_d;2001345]But how to you show that someone is angry, shocked, or sad without describing the looks on their faces? It can be done, sure, but it’s tricky![/quote]

Sounds. Tones of voice. Smells. Physical feelings. Gut feelings. Vibrations. Here’s some examples off the top of my head…

[I]“…put your words here…”[/I] he yelled, stamping his foot hard on the ground. He stamped the ground so hard I could feel the chair I was hiding behind shake.

[I]“…put your words here..”[/I] she wailed out desperatly. My heart ached at her anguish. She was sobbing so hard now, that I was almost tempted to come out of my hiding spot. Almost, but not quite.

BTW… have you ever laid on the floor behind a chair? I suggest you try it. It changes your whole sence of persepective if you try to actually do what you are writing about.

Here’s some things for you or your MC to notice while you are squished behind your chair:

What is that smell! Did the cat piss on the back of this chair?

Ugh! I never realized how musty and dusty it gets behind a chair! *cough * cough* sneeze* —oooh how are you going to stop your MC from sneezing?

Good Lord! What is that stain!

Damn, how do people in the movies squeeze into these tight spots? I’m getting a cramp in my leg, but if I move they’ll see me. Why didn’t I think to hide behind the couch instead?

How the hell did I get myself in this position?

Boy does this rug need to be washed.

Oh god! I can’t heard anything from here. Now what?

When will those damn cars stop going by? I can’t hear what they’re saying?

[I](you do realize that if the chair is against the wall near the street, that your MC will be picking up lots of background echo from the cars going by outside? Don’t believe me? Sit on the floor behind a chair that is on the wall by the street and see what you hear.)[/I]

Well, these are some of the thoughts I just had while sitting behind my chair. Try sitting behind your chair and see what you can come up with.

[quote=HeronW;2001487]Most speech is not words, it’s pauses, tone of voice, volume, pitch, speed, clarity vs mumbling, the way someone breathes. If your MC can’t see, he can still identify the four types of speakers, who’s the alpha, who’s the weakest link, who’s the smart one, who’s the grunt doing the heavy work, etc.

The MC can hear feet shifting, a face slap, knuckles popping, furniture moving, guns being checked, a switchblade snicking open, the rustle of cloth, a leather jacket creaking, someone with a stuffy nose or sinus drainage.

The MC can smell/taste body odor, aftershave, woodsmoke, dust, types of tobacco, dogshit someone stepped in, a broken bit of cedar, etc.

The MC can feel dampness, dryness, increase in speed if moving, increase in pressure if in a plane, etc.[/quote]

Oh man! What a great post! Like what I was about to say, only now I don’t have to type it all out myself, I can just repost what you said!

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

>What your MC can not see…

>

On Abosulte Write a member posted a very interesting question:

[quote=megan_d;2001327]So my MC is hiding behind a chair. He can hear what’s going on between the four not hiding characters, but he can’t see a thing. And damn, but is this scene hard to write! I never realised how reliant I was upon visual clues to show and not tell!

Has anyone else found themselves in a similar spot in their own WIPs?[/quote]

[quote=megan_d;2001345]But how to you show that someone is angry, shocked, or sad without describing the looks on their faces? It can be done, sure, but it’s tricky![/quote]

Sounds. Tones of voice. Smells. Physical feelings. Gut feelings. Vibrations. Here’s some examples off the top of my head…

[I]“…put your words here…”[/I] he yelled, stamping his foot hard on the ground. He stamped the ground so hard I could feel the chair I was hiding behind shake.

[I]“…put your words here..”[/I] she wailed out desperatly. My heart ached at her anguish. She was sobbing so hard now, that I was almost tempted to come out of my hiding spot. Almost, but not quite.

BTW… have you ever laid on the floor behind a chair? I suggest you try it. It changes your whole sence of persepective if you try to actually do what you are writing about.

Here’s some things for you or your MC to notice while you are squished behind your chair:

What is that smell! Did the cat piss on the back of this chair?

Ugh! I never realized how musty and dusty it gets behind a chair! *cough * cough* sneeze* —oooh how are you going to stop your MC from sneezing?

Good Lord! What is that stain!

Damn, how do people in the movies squeeze into these tight spots? I’m getting a cramp in my leg, but if I move they’ll see me. Why didn’t I think to hide behind the couch instead?

How the hell did I get myself in this position?

Boy does this rug need to be washed.

Oh god! I can’t heard anything from here. Now what?

When will those damn cars stop going by? I can’t hear what they’re saying?

[I](you do realize that if the chair is against the wall near the street, that your MC will be picking up lots of background echo from the cars going by outside? Don’t believe me? Sit on the floor behind a chair that is on the wall by the street and see what you hear.)[/I]

Well, these are some of the thoughts I just had while sitting behind my chair. Try sitting behind your chair and see what you can come up with.

[quote=HeronW;2001487]Most speech is not words, it’s pauses, tone of voice, volume, pitch, speed, clarity vs mumbling, the way someone breathes. If your MC can’t see, he can still identify the four types of speakers, who’s the alpha, who’s the weakest link, who’s the smart one, who’s the grunt doing the heavy work, etc.

The MC can hear feet shifting, a face slap, knuckles popping, furniture moving, guns being checked, a switchblade snicking open, the rustle of cloth, a leather jacket creaking, someone with a stuffy nose or sinus drainage.

The MC can smell/taste body odor, aftershave, woodsmoke, dust, types of tobacco, dogshit someone stepped in, a broken bit of cedar, etc.

The MC can feel dampness, dryness, increase in speed if moving, increase in pressure if in a plane, etc.[/quote]

Oh man! What a great post! Like what I was about to say, only now I don’t have to type it all out myself, I can just repost what you said!

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

What your MC can not see…

On Abosulte Write a member posted a very interesting question:

[quote=megan_d;2001327]So my MC is hiding behind a chair. He can hear what’s going on between the four not hiding characters, but he can’t see a thing. And damn, but is this scene hard to write! I never realised how reliant I was upon visual clues to show and not tell!

Has anyone else found themselves in a similar spot in their own WIPs?[/quote]

[quote=megan_d;2001345]But how to you show that someone is angry, shocked, or sad without describing the looks on their faces? It can be done, sure, but it’s tricky![/quote]

Sounds. Tones of voice. Smells. Physical feelings. Gut feelings. Vibrations. Here’s some examples off the top of my head…

[I]“…put your words here…”[/I] he yelled, stamping his foot hard on the ground. He stamped the ground so hard I could feel the chair I was hiding behind shake.

[I]“…put your words here..”[/I] she wailed out desperatly. My heart ached at her anguish. She was sobbing so hard now, that I was almost tempted to come out of my hiding spot. Almost, but not quite.

BTW… have you ever laid on the floor behind a chair? I suggest you try it. It changes your whole sence of persepective if you try to actually do what you are writing about.

Here’s some things for you or your MC to notice while you are squished behind your chair:

What is that smell! Did the cat piss on the back of this chair?

Ugh! I never realized how musty and dusty it gets behind a chair! *cough * cough* sneeze* —oooh how are you going to stop your MC from sneezing?

Good Lord! What is that stain!

Damn, how do people in the movies squeeze into these tight spots? I’m getting a cramp in my leg, but if I move they’ll see me. Why didn’t I think to hide behind the couch instead?

How the hell did I get myself in this position?

Boy does this rug need to be washed.

Oh god! I can’t heard anything from here. Now what?

When will those damn cars stop going by? I can’t hear what they’re saying?

[I](you do realize that if the chair is against the wall near the street, that your MC will be picking up lots of background echo from the cars going by outside? Don’t believe me? Sit on the floor behind a chair that is on the wall by the street and see what you hear.)[/I]

Well, these are some of the thoughts I just had while sitting behind my chair. Try sitting behind your chair and see what you can come up with.

[quote=HeronW;2001487]Most speech is not words, it’s pauses, tone of voice, volume, pitch, speed, clarity vs mumbling, the way someone breathes. If your MC can’t see, he can still identify the four types of speakers, who’s the alpha, who’s the weakest link, who’s the smart one, who’s the grunt doing the heavy work, etc.

The MC can hear feet shifting, a face slap, knuckles popping, furniture moving, guns being checked, a switchblade snicking open, the rustle of cloth, a leather jacket creaking, someone with a stuffy nose or sinus drainage.

The MC can smell/taste body odor, aftershave, woodsmoke, dust, types of tobacco, dogshit someone stepped in, a broken bit of cedar, etc.

The MC can feel dampness, dryness, increase in speed if moving, increase in pressure if in a plane, etc.[/quote]

Oh man! What a great post! Like what I was about to say, only now I don’t have to type it all out myself, I can just repost what you said!

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

>More than one POV, one novel…yay or nay?

>

On Absolute Write the question was asked: More than one POV, one novel…yay or nay? Here is my answer:

I usually write in third person, but last year I did one in a multi-first person POV, it had 3 POV characters in it. I think it came out pretty good. It needs loads of editing, but for a first draft it was pretty good.

Here is how I’m writing mine: Each chapter is divided into three parts; Basicly I’ve divided each chapter into three mini-chapters.the chapter starts out with a page from the diary of a teenage girl, but than in the second section of the chapter you see the same events unfold through the eyes of her father, and than in the third section the events unfold totally differanty through the eyes of her grandfather. Though each of the three sections in each chapter is telling the same story, all three are totally differant, because each character sees only part of the event and each character interprets the events differantly, so you are not actually reading the same story three times.

Of the books I’ve read in multi-POV, the ones that I was able to follow best, used only one POV per chapter (chapters tended to be shorter than average as well).

Another method I’ve seen that worked okay, was useing a differant font-type for each POV, but this is best done with a 2 or 3 character POV, because it can get confusing.

I have seen others that put a “seperating bar” between paragraphs that changed POV; example:

***

new point of view paragraph goes here

***

Basicly as long as the reader can tell which character’s POV they are reading, it works okay. It’s when you start changing POV in mid paragraph that starts getting confusing.

If you need to read a well written example, I’d recommend Ender’s Game as a good example, it uses 3 POV characters.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

More than one POV, one novel…yay or nay?

On Absolute Write the question was asked: More than one POV, one novel…yay or nay? Here is my answer:

I usually write in third person, but last year I did one in a multi-first person POV, it had 3 POV characters in it. I think it came out pretty good. It needs loads of editing, but for a first draft it was pretty good.

Here is how I’m writing mine: Each chapter is divided into three parts; Basicly I’ve divided each chapter into three mini-chapters.the chapter starts out with a page from the diary of a teenage girl, but than in the second section of the chapter you see the same events unfold through the eyes of her father, and than in the third section the events unfold totally differanty through the eyes of her grandfather. Though each of the three sections in each chapter is telling the same story, all three are totally differant, because each character sees only part of the event and each character interprets the events differantly, so you are not actually reading the same story three times.

Of the books I’ve read in multi-POV, the ones that I was able to follow best, used only one POV per chapter (chapters tended to be shorter than average as well).

Another method I’ve seen that worked okay, was useing a differant font-type for each POV, but this is best done with a 2 or 3 character POV, because it can get confusing.

I have seen others that put a “seperating bar” between paragraphs that changed POV; example:

***

new point of view paragraph goes here

***

Basicly as long as the reader can tell which character’s POV they are reading, it works okay. It’s when you start changing POV in mid paragraph that starts getting confusing.

If you need to read a well written example, I’d recommend Ender’s Game as a good example, it uses 3 POV characters.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

More than one POV, one novel…yay or nay?

On Absolute Write the question was asked: More than one POV, one novel…yay or nay? Here is my answer:

I usually write in third person, but last year I did one in a multi-first person POV, it had 3 POV characters in it. I think it came out pretty good. It needs loads of editing, but for a first draft it was pretty good.

Here is how I’m writing mine: Each chapter is divided into three parts; Basicly I’ve divided each chapter into three mini-chapters.the chapter starts out with a page from the diary of a teenage girl, but than in the second section of the chapter you see the same events unfold through the eyes of her father, and than in the third section the events unfold totally differanty through the eyes of her grandfather. Though each of the three sections in each chapter is telling the same story, all three are totally differant, because each character sees only part of the event and each character interprets the events differantly, so you are not actually reading the same story three times.

Of the books I’ve read in multi-POV, the ones that I was able to follow best, used only one POV per chapter (chapters tended to be shorter than average as well).

Another method I’ve seen that worked okay, was useing a differant font-type for each POV, but this is best done with a 2 or 3 character POV, because it can get confusing.

I have seen others that put a “seperating bar” between paragraphs that changed POV; example:

***

new point of view paragraph goes here

***

Basicly as long as the reader can tell which character’s POV they are reading, it works okay. It’s when you start changing POV in mid paragraph that starts getting confusing.

If you need to read a well written example, I’d recommend Ender’s Game as a good example, it uses 3 POV characters.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

More than one POV, one novel…yay or nay?

On Absolute Write the question was asked: More than one POV, one novel…yay or nay? Here is my answer:

I usually write in third person, but last year I did one in a multi-first person POV, it had 3 POV characters in it. I think it came out pretty good. It needs loads of editing, but for a first draft it was pretty good.

Here is how I’m writing mine: Each chapter is divided into three parts; Basicly I’ve divided each chapter into three mini-chapters.the chapter starts out with a page from the diary of a teenage girl, but than in the second section of the chapter you see the same events unfold through the eyes of her father, and than in the third section the events unfold totally differanty through the eyes of her grandfather. Though each of the three sections in each chapter is telling the same story, all three are totally differant, because each character sees only part of the event and each character interprets the events differantly, so you are not actually reading the same story three times.

Of the books I’ve read in multi-POV, the ones that I was able to follow best, used only one POV per chapter (chapters tended to be shorter than average as well).

Another method I’ve seen that worked okay, was useing a differant font-type for each POV, but this is best done with a 2 or 3 character POV, because it can get confusing.

I have seen others that put a “seperating bar” between paragraphs that changed POV; example:

***

new point of view paragraph goes here

***

Basicly as long as the reader can tell which character’s POV they are reading, it works okay. It’s when you start changing POV in mid paragraph that starts getting confusing.

If you need to read a well written example, I’d recommend Ender’s Game as a good example, it uses 3 POV characters.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

My responce to Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

[quote=Strongbear;1959304]Suppose you’re writing a story which is set in the real world as opposed to some imaginary sci-fi realm. Now suppose you wanted to put a completely invented, currently non-existent building or landmark right smack in the middle of a particular location (eg if you stuck a 14th century historic-looking building somewhere in New York or Paris). How would you as either the reader or another writer respond to this? Would you simply accept this as believable since you would know that this building doesn’t exist in real life? And would it raise questions as to where someone either got planning permission or the necessary funds to suddenly erect it there (if you used the argument that it was a newly constructed landmark/building built in a 14th century style)?

And would you as a writer be deterred from creating such an imaginary place because of real-world constraints or would you still go for it?

Thoughts?[/quote]

been there, done that.

Old Orchard Beach, Maine is my very real hometown, The Twighlight Manor is my very fictional vampire infested medival castle built smack dab in the middle of it. I’ve never had any complaints with the series at all. Of course, I also moved Bar Harbor’s very real Thunder Hole to Old Orchard Beach, and no one has really noticed that it should not be where I put it either.

I guess, it’s because I know ever inch of Old Orchard, that I can write about it so well, but it’s a very small town, so most folks don’t know if there really is a Twighlight Manor in the town or not, and most folks know the Thunder Hole is in Maine, but unless they live here, most can’t tell you which town it’s in, so they don’t notice that I moved it some 300 miles away.

And the moral is? If you know the area well enough to write about it like you are the town historian, than folks are not going to question all the little fictional details you add in, at least not until they show up on your front door step and ask you for directions to your fictional landmark, that is. It’s the mark of a good writer when you can blend fiction with reality and your readers can’t tell the differance.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

My responce to Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

[quote=Strongbear;1959304]Suppose you’re writing a story which is set in the real world as opposed to some imaginary sci-fi realm. Now suppose you wanted to put a completely invented, currently non-existent building or landmark right smack in the middle of a particular location (eg if you stuck a 14th century historic-looking building somewhere in New York or Paris). How would you as either the reader or another writer respond to this? Would you simply accept this as believable since you would know that this building doesn’t exist in real life? And would it raise questions as to where someone either got planning permission or the necessary funds to suddenly erect it there (if you used the argument that it was a newly constructed landmark/building built in a 14th century style)?

And would you as a writer be deterred from creating such an imaginary place because of real-world constraints or would you still go for it?

Thoughts?[/quote]

been there, done that.

Old Orchard Beach, Maine is my very real hometown, The Twighlight Manor is my very fictional vampire infested medival castle built smack dab in the middle of it. I’ve never had any complaints with the series at all. Of course, I also moved Bar Harbor’s very real Thunder Hole to Old Orchard Beach, and no one has really noticed that it should not be where I put it either.

I guess, it’s because I know ever inch of Old Orchard, that I can write about it so well, but it’s a very small town, so most folks don’t know if there really is a Twighlight Manor in the town or not, and most folks know the Thunder Hole is in Maine, but unless they live here, most can’t tell you which town it’s in, so they don’t notice that I moved it some 300 miles away.

And the moral is? If you know the area well enough to write about it like you are the town historian, than folks are not going to question all the little fictional details you add in, at least not until they show up on your front door step and ask you for directions to your fictional landmark, that is. It’s the mark of a good writer when you can blend fiction with reality and your readers can’t tell the differance.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

My responce to Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

[quote=Strongbear;1959304]Suppose you’re writing a story which is set in the real world as opposed to some imaginary sci-fi realm. Now suppose you wanted to put a completely invented, currently non-existent building or landmark right smack in the middle of a particular location (eg if you stuck a 14th century historic-looking building somewhere in New York or Paris). How would you as either the reader or another writer respond to this? Would you simply accept this as believable since you would know that this building doesn’t exist in real life? And would it raise questions as to where someone either got planning permission or the necessary funds to suddenly erect it there (if you used the argument that it was a newly constructed landmark/building built in a 14th century style)?

And would you as a writer be deterred from creating such an imaginary place because of real-world constraints or would you still go for it?

Thoughts?[/quote]

been there, done that.

Old Orchard Beach, Maine is my very real hometown, The Twighlight Manor is my very fictional vampire infested medival castle built smack dab in the middle of it. I’ve never had any complaints with the series at all. Of course, I also moved Bar Harbor’s very real Thunder Hole to Old Orchard Beach, and no one has really noticed that it should not be where I put it either.

I guess, it’s because I know ever inch of Old Orchard, that I can write about it so well, but it’s a very small town, so most folks don’t know if there really is a Twighlight Manor in the town or not, and most folks know the Thunder Hole is in Maine, but unless they live here, most can’t tell you which town it’s in, so they don’t notice that I moved it some 300 miles away.

And the moral is? If you know the area well enough to write about it like you are the town historian, than folks are not going to question all the little fictional details you add in, at least not until they show up on your front door step and ask you for directions to your fictional landmark, that is. It’s the mark of a good writer when you can blend fiction with reality and your readers can’t tell the differance.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

My responce to Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

[quote=Strongbear;1959304]Suppose you’re writing a story which is set in the real world as opposed to some imaginary sci-fi realm. Now suppose you wanted to put a completely invented, currently non-existent building or landmark right smack in the middle of a particular location (eg if you stuck a 14th century historic-looking building somewhere in New York or Paris). How would you as either the reader or another writer respond to this? Would you simply accept this as believable since you would know that this building doesn’t exist in real life? And would it raise questions as to where someone either got planning permission or the necessary funds to suddenly erect it there (if you used the argument that it was a newly constructed landmark/building built in a 14th century style)?

And would you as a writer be deterred from creating such an imaginary place because of real-world constraints or would you still go for it?

Thoughts?[/quote]

been there, done that.

Old Orchard Beach, Maine is my very real hometown, The Twighlight Manor is my very fictional vampire infested medival castle built smack dab in the middle of it. I’ve never had any complaints with the series at all. Of course, I also moved Bar Harbor’s very real Thunder Hole to Old Orchard Beach, and no one has really noticed that it should not be where I put it either.

I guess, it’s because I know ever inch of Old Orchard, that I can write about it so well, but it’s a very small town, so most folks don’t know if there really is a Twighlight Manor in the town or not, and most folks know the Thunder Hole is in Maine, but unless they live here, most can’t tell you which town it’s in, so they don’t notice that I moved it some 300 miles away.

And the moral is? If you know the area well enough to write about it like you are the town historian, than folks are not going to question all the little fictional details you add in, at least not until they show up on your front door step and ask you for directions to your fictional landmark, that is. It’s the mark of a good writer when you can blend fiction with reality and your readers can’t tell the differance.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

My responce to Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

[quote=Strongbear;1959304]Suppose you’re writing a story which is set in the real world as opposed to some imaginary sci-fi realm. Now suppose you wanted to put a completely invented, currently non-existent building or landmark right smack in the middle of a particular location (eg if you stuck a 14th century historic-looking building somewhere in New York or Paris). How would you as either the reader or another writer respond to this? Would you simply accept this as believable since you would know that this building doesn’t exist in real life? And would it raise questions as to where someone either got planning permission or the necessary funds to suddenly erect it there (if you used the argument that it was a newly constructed landmark/building built in a 14th century style)?

And would you as a writer be deterred from creating such an imaginary place because of real-world constraints or would you still go for it?

Thoughts?[/quote]

been there, done that.

Old Orchard Beach, Maine is my very real hometown, The Twighlight Manor is my very fictional vampire infested medival castle built smack dab in the middle of it. I’ve never had any complaints with the series at all. Of course, I also moved Bar Harbor’s very real Thunder Hole to Old Orchard Beach, and no one has really noticed that it should not be where I put it either.

I guess, it’s because I know ever inch of Old Orchard, that I can write about it so well, but it’s a very small town, so most folks don’t know if there really is a Twighlight Manor in the town or not, and most folks know the Thunder Hole is in Maine, but unless they live here, most can’t tell you which town it’s in, so they don’t notice that I moved it some 300 miles away.

And the moral is? If you know the area well enough to write about it like you are the town historian, than folks are not going to question all the little fictional details you add in, at least not until they show up on your front door step and ask you for directions to your fictional landmark, that is. It’s the mark of a good writer when you can blend fiction with reality and your readers can’t tell the differance.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

>Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

>

My responce to Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

[quote=Strongbear;1959304]Suppose you’re writing a story which is set in the real world as opposed to some imaginary sci-fi realm. Now suppose you wanted to put a completely invented, currently non-existent building or landmark right smack in the middle of a particular location (eg if you stuck a 14th century historic-looking building somewhere in New York or Paris). How would you as either the reader or another writer respond to this? Would you simply accept this as believable since you would know that this building doesn’t exist in real life? And would it raise questions as to where someone either got planning permission or the necessary funds to suddenly erect it there (if you used the argument that it was a newly constructed landmark/building built in a 14th century style)?

And would you as a writer be deterred from creating such an imaginary place because of real-world constraints or would you still go for it?

Thoughts?[/quote]

been there, done that.

Old Orchard Beach, Maine is my very real hometown, The Twighlight Manor is my very fictional vampire infested medival castle built smack dab in the middle of it. I’ve never had any complaints with the series at all. Of course, I also moved Bar Harbor’s very real Thunder Hole to Old Orchard Beach, and no one has really noticed that it should not be where I put it either.

I guess, it’s because I know ever inch of Old Orchard, that I can write about it so well, but it’s a very small town, so most folks don’t know if there really is a Twighlight Manor in the town or not, and most folks know the Thunder Hole is in Maine, but unless they live here, most can’t tell you which town it’s in, so they don’t notice that I moved it some 300 miles away.

And the moral is? If you know the area well enough to write about it like you are the town historian, than folks are not going to question all the little fictional details you add in, at least not until they show up on your front door step and ask you for directions to your fictional landmark, that is. It’s the mark of a good writer when you can blend fiction with reality and your readers can’t tell the differance.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

My responce to Buildings/Landmarks that don’t actually exist…

[quote=Strongbear;1959304]Suppose you’re writing a story which is set in the real world as opposed to some imaginary sci-fi realm. Now suppose you wanted to put a completely invented, currently non-existent building or landmark right smack in the middle of a particular location (eg if you stuck a 14th century historic-looking building somewhere in New York or Paris). How would you as either the reader or another writer respond to this? Would you simply accept this as believable since you would know that this building doesn’t exist in real life? And would it raise questions as to where someone either got planning permission or the necessary funds to suddenly erect it there (if you used the argument that it was a newly constructed landmark/building built in a 14th century style)?

And would you as a writer be deterred from creating such an imaginary place because of real-world constraints or would you still go for it?

Thoughts?[/quote]

been there, done that.

Old Orchard Beach, Maine is my very real hometown, The Twighlight Manor is my very fictional vampire infested medival castle built smack dab in the middle of it. I’ve never had any complaints with the series at all. Of course, I also moved Bar Harbor’s very real Thunder Hole to Old Orchard Beach, and no one has really noticed that it should not be where I put it either.

I guess, it’s because I know ever inch of Old Orchard, that I can write about it so well, but it’s a very small town, so most folks don’t know if there really is a Twighlight Manor in the town or not, and most folks know the Thunder Hole is in Maine, but unless they live here, most can’t tell you which town it’s in, so they don’t notice that I moved it some 300 miles away.

And the moral is? If you know the area well enough to write about it like you are the town historian, than folks are not going to question all the little fictional details you add in, at least not until they show up on your front door step and ask you for directions to your fictional landmark, that is. It’s the mark of a good writer when you can blend fiction with reality and your readers can’t tell the differance.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

>Finding Your Writing Style and Voice

>

On Absolue Write today, I found myself answering this question:

[quote=Chris M;1965671]So, I can tell when a book is
beautifully written, but I cannot tell if my own book is written well enough.
Can anyone speak to this? [/quote]

oh yes, know the feeling. I can be so critical of everyone else’s writing, but when it comes to my own, I’ve got not a clue.

[B]-How did you find your own writing style? (I feel
like I have a style and a voice, just not sure if they are as good as they need
to be)[/B]

Well, I write off the top of my head a lot, meaning ideas pop into my head, say at the store, and I’ll just drop the groceries, pull out a pen and paper (which I’m never without), sit on the floor (yes, right in the middle of a busy super market) and start writing.

Basicly I write in the same “voice” I use in my day to day talking. How did I find my own writing style? Well, I wrote my first book at age 3, and in the years since than I’ve done more writing than reading, so I never really got influanced by anyone else’s work. I was an only child in a strict religous family that did not allow contact with the outside world… meaning I was 17 years old before I had any non-family peer influance. My early writings as a result were heavy in the “rebel voice” and preached the importance of freedom. It became the style I was known for: protesting opression, protesting religous dogmas, protesting compound-living doomsday families, protesting and doing it all in the form of science fiction. In my stories the victims were aliens trapped on earth after a crash landing and held hostage here against their will.

What resulted was The Twighlight Manor series (first volume was released in 1978), a graphicly bloodly horror set in a sci-fi world and written in the voice of complete and total protest against the entire planet earth and every evil human in it. It became my trademark writing style and what people expect to see me write more of in the future.

The problem with a writing style is that people change, ideals change, desires change, goals change, and over the course of time your writing will change with your personality. Your fans expect you to write the same stylew forever and ever, and when you evolve to a new style they may or may not like it.

[B]-How did you know when it was good enough?[/B]

For me, I know my writing is good enough, when I know the moral of the story has hit on some major heartstrings and makes the reader think:[I] “OMG! I must do something about this!”[/I] Since I tend to write in a tone that speaks out against opression my goal is to spurn readers to action, wither they realize it or not. In other words, I strive to make people actualy think and want to make a differance in the world. If I’ve gotten that message woven into my story without it affecting the story, than I know it’s good enough.

However, overall, I well never think my writing is “good enough”, because there is always room for improvment. It could always be better. That’s what editing is for, and that’s also what “revised editions” are for

[B]-Was there an ah-ha moment?[/B]

I don’t recall ever having any, no.

It’s just years of writing and writing and writing, that eventualy developed my “voice” and “style”.

I don’t think a writing style happens overnight. It’s a mix of things, only one of which is the actual writing. Every event in your life effects how you write. A death in the family will change your tone… it did mine. Getting a new pet will change you tone. Losing your house to a flood will change your tone. Rebuilding your house will change your tone. Losing your new house to a fire less than one year after the flood will change your tone. All of these things happened to me, and reading my writings you can almost see when each event occured during my writing. It’s freaky really, but it’s true. Your “voice” is truely your unique voice and every event in your life changes you and helps you grow, both as a person and as a writer.

Like all things, writing gets better with age, so just keep writing and writing and as the years go by, one day you’ll look back and see that you really do have your own unique voice and you just never knew it. It’s an evolving thing and it’ll grow and change over time, and that’s a good thing.

[quote]I’ve had two out of eight agents request partials of
my work and now I’m terrified that my writing is not sharp enough to make them
want more.

Thanks,
Chris[/quote]

Well, the best you can do is send them the partials and see what they say. If they like it they will let you know. And if they do not like it, than any agent worth their grain of salt will tell you how to improve your work.

I hope some of this may be of help. Good luck with your work and let us know what the agents tell you.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

Finding Your Writing Style and Voice

On Absolue Write today, I found myself answering this question:

[quote=Chris M;1965671]So, I can tell when a book is
beautifully written, but I cannot tell if my own book is written well enough.
Can anyone speak to this? [/quote]

oh yes, know the feeling. I can be so critical of everyone else’s writing, but when it comes to my own, I’ve got not a clue.

[B]-How did you find your own writing style? (I feel
like I have a style and a voice, just not sure if they are as good as they need
to be)[/B]

Well, I write off the top of my head a lot, meaning ideas pop into my head, say at the store, and I’ll just drop the groceries, pull out a pen and paper (which I’m never without), sit on the floor (yes, right in the middle of a busy super market) and start writing.

Basicly I write in the same “voice” I use in my day to day talking. How did I find my own writing style? Well, I wrote my first book at age 3, and in the years since than I’ve done more writing than reading, so I never really got influanced by anyone else’s work. I was an only child in a strict religous family that did not allow contact with the outside world… meaning I was 17 years old before I had any non-family peer influance. My early writings as a result were heavy in the “rebel voice” and preached the importance of freedom. It became the style I was known for: protesting opression, protesting religous dogmas, protesting compound-living doomsday families, protesting and doing it all in the form of science fiction. In my stories the victims were aliens trapped on earth after a crash landing and held hostage here against their will.

What resulted was The Twighlight Manor series (first volume was released in 1978), a graphicly bloodly horror set in a sci-fi world and written in the voice of complete and total protest against the entire planet earth and every evil human in it. It became my trademark writing style and what people expect to see me write more of in the future.

The problem with a writing style is that people change, ideals change, desires change, goals change, and over the course of time your writing will change with your personality. Your fans expect you to write the same stylew forever and ever, and when you evolve to a new style they may or may not like it.

[B]-How did you know when it was good enough?[/B]

For me, I know my writing is good enough, when I know the moral of the story has hit on some major heartstrings and makes the reader think:[I] “OMG! I must do something about this!”[/I] Since I tend to write in a tone that speaks out against opression my goal is to spurn readers to action, wither they realize it or not. In other words, I strive to make people actualy think and want to make a differance in the world. If I’ve gotten that message woven into my story without it affecting the story, than I know it’s good enough.

However, overall, I well never think my writing is “good enough”, because there is always room for improvment. It could always be better. That’s what editing is for, and that’s also what “revised editions” are for

[B]-Was there an ah-ha moment?[/B]

I don’t recall ever having any, no.

It’s just years of writing and writing and writing, that eventualy developed my “voice” and “style”.

I don’t think a writing style happens overnight. It’s a mix of things, only one of which is the actual writing. Every event in your life effects how you write. A death in the family will change your tone… it did mine. Getting a new pet will change you tone. Losing your house to a flood will change your tone. Rebuilding your house will change your tone. Losing your new house to a fire less than one year after the flood will change your tone. All of these things happened to me, and reading my writings you can almost see when each event occured during my writing. It’s freaky really, but it’s true. Your “voice” is truely your unique voice and every event in your life changes you and helps you grow, both as a person and as a writer.

Like all things, writing gets better with age, so just keep writing and writing and as the years go by, one day you’ll look back and see that you really do have your own unique voice and you just never knew it. It’s an evolving thing and it’ll grow and change over time, and that’s a good thing.

[quote]I’ve had two out of eight agents request partials of
my work and now I’m terrified that my writing is not sharp enough to make them
want more.

Thanks,
Chris[/quote]

Well, the best you can do is send them the partials and see what they say. If they like it they will let you know. And if they do not like it, than any agent worth their grain of salt will tell you how to improve your work.

I hope some of this may be of help. Good luck with your work and let us know what the agents tell you.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

Finding Your Writing Style and Voice

On Absolue Write today, I found myself answering this question:

[quote=Chris M;1965671]So, I can tell when a book is
beautifully written, but I cannot tell if my own book is written well enough.
Can anyone speak to this? [/quote]

oh yes, know the feeling. I can be so critical of everyone else’s writing, but when it comes to my own, I’ve got not a clue.

[B]-How did you find your own writing style? (I feel
like I have a style and a voice, just not sure if they are as good as they need
to be)[/B]

Well, I write off the top of my head a lot, meaning ideas pop into my head, say at the store, and I’ll just drop the groceries, pull out a pen and paper (which I’m never without), sit on the floor (yes, right in the middle of a busy super market) and start writing.

Basicly I write in the same “voice” I use in my day to day talking. How did I find my own writing style? Well, I wrote my first book at age 3, and in the years since than I’ve done more writing than reading, so I never really got influanced by anyone else’s work. I was an only child in a strict religous family that did not allow contact with the outside world… meaning I was 17 years old before I had any non-family peer influance. My early writings as a result were heavy in the “rebel voice” and preached the importance of freedom. It became the style I was known for: protesting opression, protesting religous dogmas, protesting compound-living doomsday families, protesting and doing it all in the form of science fiction. In my stories the victims were aliens trapped on earth after a crash landing and held hostage here against their will.

What resulted was The Twighlight Manor series (first volume was released in 1978), a graphicly bloodly horror set in a sci-fi world and written in the voice of complete and total protest against the entire planet earth and every evil human in it. It became my trademark writing style and what people expect to see me write more of in the future.

The problem with a writing style is that people change, ideals change, desires change, goals change, and over the course of time your writing will change with your personality. Your fans expect you to write the same stylew forever and ever, and when you evolve to a new style they may or may not like it.

[B]-How did you know when it was good enough?[/B]

For me, I know my writing is good enough, when I know the moral of the story has hit on some major heartstrings and makes the reader think:[I] “OMG! I must do something about this!”[/I] Since I tend to write in a tone that speaks out against opression my goal is to spurn readers to action, wither they realize it or not. In other words, I strive to make people actualy think and want to make a differance in the world. If I’ve gotten that message woven into my story without it affecting the story, than I know it’s good enough.

However, overall, I well never think my writing is “good enough”, because there is always room for improvment. It could always be better. That’s what editing is for, and that’s also what “revised editions” are for

[B]-Was there an ah-ha moment?[/B]

I don’t recall ever having any, no.

It’s just years of writing and writing and writing, that eventualy developed my “voice” and “style”.

I don’t think a writing style happens overnight. It’s a mix of things, only one of which is the actual writing. Every event in your life effects how you write. A death in the family will change your tone… it did mine. Getting a new pet will change you tone. Losing your house to a flood will change your tone. Rebuilding your house will change your tone. Losing your new house to a fire less than one year after the flood will change your tone. All of these things happened to me, and reading my writings you can almost see when each event occured during my writing. It’s freaky really, but it’s true. Your “voice” is truely your unique voice and every event in your life changes you and helps you grow, both as a person and as a writer.

Like all things, writing gets better with age, so just keep writing and writing and as the years go by, one day you’ll look back and see that you really do have your own unique voice and you just never knew it. It’s an evolving thing and it’ll grow and change over time, and that’s a good thing.

[quote]I’ve had two out of eight agents request partials of
my work and now I’m terrified that my writing is not sharp enough to make them
want more.

Thanks,
Chris[/quote]

Well, the best you can do is send them the partials and see what they say. If they like it they will let you know. And if they do not like it, than any agent worth their grain of salt will tell you how to improve your work.

I hope some of this may be of help. Good luck with your work and let us know what the agents tell you.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
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*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

>How Do You Choose Character Names?

>

I was on Absolute Write today, and the question came up, of how do you go about nameing your characters. Here is my answer.

I have never “picked out” names for any of my characters. I just start writing about them and a name somehow “appears” in the course of my writing. I go with the flow of my writing so I do not stop and question the name or think about wither I should change it. Basicly my characters have a life of their own and I let them name themselves…. literaly. I get most of my stories from dreams and nightmares. I keep a pen and paper on my pillow at night, and I wake up at night a jot stuff down…. I guess you could call it sleep writing, like sleep walking, because in the morning I look at what I’ve written during the night, and I ave no memory of haveing written these things down, but usualy the characters are already there, and already named, so I just go with it.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

How Do You Choose Character Names?

I was on Absolute Write today, and the question came up, of how do you go about nameing your characters. Here is my answer.

I have never “picked out” names for any of my characters. I just start writing about them and a name somehow “appears” in the course of my writing. I go with the flow of my writing so I do not stop and question the name or think about wither I should change it. Basicly my characters have a life of their own and I let them name themselves…. literaly. I get most of my stories from dreams and nightmares. I keep a pen and paper on my pillow at night, and I wake up at night a jot stuff down…. I guess you could call it sleep writing, like sleep walking, because in the morning I look at what I’ve written during the night, and I ave no memory of haveing written these things down, but usualy the characters are already there, and already named, so I just go with it.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

How Do You Choose Character Names?

I was on Absolute Write today, and the question came up, of how do you go about nameing your characters. Here is my answer.

I have never “picked out” names for any of my characters. I just start writing about them and a name somehow “appears” in the course of my writing. I go with the flow of my writing so I do not stop and question the name or think about wither I should change it. Basicly my characters have a life of their own and I let them name themselves…. literaly. I get most of my stories from dreams and nightmares. I keep a pen and paper on my pillow at night, and I wake up at night a jot stuff down…. I guess you could call it sleep writing, like sleep walking, because in the morning I look at what I’ve written during the night, and I ave no memory of haveing written these things down, but usualy the characters are already there, and already named, so I just go with it.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

How Do You Choose Character Names?

I was on Absolute Write today, and the question came up, of how do you go about nameing your characters. Here is my answer.

I have never “picked out” names for any of my characters. I just start writing about them and a name somehow “appears” in the course of my writing. I go with the flow of my writing so I do not stop and question the name or think about wither I should change it. Basicly my characters have a life of their own and I let them name themselves…. literaly. I get most of my stories from dreams and nightmares. I keep a pen and paper on my pillow at night, and I wake up at night a jot stuff down…. I guess you could call it sleep writing, like sleep walking, because in the morning I look at what I’ve written during the night, and I ave no memory of haveing written these things down, but usualy the characters are already there, and already named, so I just go with it.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral

>Average Amount of Hours it Takes to Write an Article

>

I found this question on Absolute Write:

[quote=littlebee;1959632]Hi There!

I’m hoping someone may have some feedback on the average length of time (hrs.) it takes a writer to write a non-fiction article (500 words) that requires research. For instance, I have an assignment to write a short article on a historical figure. Other than the person’s name which I recognize, in order to write a piece on this person, I must read and understand this person’s life.

I’m wondering if it’s better to present a flat-rate vs. a per hour rate to a client. And as a general rule, does one just double the amt. if it’s a 1,000 word article instead (and the increments thereof if one does quote a hourly rate?). Thanks for any feedback and have a super weekend ahead! [/quote]

Time for me varies on the article topic and how much I know before hand and how much research I end up doing.

Ok, 500 words, for a historical figure that I’m well aquanted with (have already studied and researched), would take me about 15 mins to a half hour to write.

But, 500 words for a historical figure, whom I’ve merely heard of, would take me about a week, because I would first Goole to see what other writers are already writing about him; than I’d head to the library and take out as many biographies as possible, usualy 2 adult novel-type bios and 5 or 6 children’s DK or picture book type bios. It would take be a week (maybe two if I found a lot of them) to read those books. After I finished my research, however, again, a 500 word article would take only 15 to 30 mins to write.

Also, I have only heard of being paid on a per word or per assignment basis. Per hour pay is a nice dream, but in the real world, no one wants to pay a writer more than a couple of pennies per word, so pay per hour is out of the question in their minds… I bet they’d demand pay per hour if they were the writer though!

EDIT: Just reading the comments now…

[quote=Billingsgate;1962628]

The trick in this case is to do the proper research, however long it takes to get the facts straight, write the 500 word article and get paid for it, then use the research to write even more articles, each targeted to different publications, focusing on different angles.

….

So use any commissioned work as a springboard for other work. It’s more inspiring to do the research when you know you’ll be getting paid for at least the first article.[/quote]

I totally agree with this. I do the same thing. I often write 10 or 15 articles all at once. Say for the historical figure already mentioned: I’d write the 500 word article, requested, than I write one on his childhood, another on some important event he was involved in, etc. etc.

Usualy the extra articles end up sitting on my harddrive for months and months before I find a use for them, but I almost always find a use for them in the end, so it’s good to write them while the info is fresh in your head, that way you’ll have them on hand in the furtue.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

————-

Copper Cockeral
Publishing Your NaNo Novel?
Do You and I Read the Same Books?
Want to Give Me a Reward for Reaching 50k?
*I Love Phookas!*
Copper Cockeral