576 Reply by Tom Oldman

(107 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

As Steve Martin would say: Well, excuuuuuse me! I am a member of many forums and pretty much every one of them has strict rules about diversions from the main point of the OP (Original Post). Some of my comments as well as others have been either deleted or the whole thread locked from further comment when it went off the tracks. My railroad simulator (Trainz) forum is regularly policed and entire threads have been deleted for what I considered a minor infraction. The Ubuntu forum is the same way.

It is refreshing to note that this won't occur in this forum, because I happen to believe the same as you, Dill and you, Vern. A forum is precisely the place to diverge in a logical manner, otherwise, why call it a "forum"?

~Tom

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577 Reply by Tom Oldman

(19 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I am almost certain that I will do my own publishing of my book using KSP (Kindle Self-Publishing). It is pretty straightforward and lets you take charge of nearly all of the options available. KSP appears to be a boon for those who can't pony up the cash to get their works published by a firm.

~Tom

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578 Reply by Tom Oldman

(107 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Aaaaaaand, Sol's thread is effectively hijacked.

~Tom

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579 Reply by Tom Oldman

(17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

That depends on how you want to have your chapters reviewed. If you leave the old ones up, then someone can go back to the previous review and see what changes were made. There is nothing wrong with taking previous chapters down either. I usually go on a chapter by chapter basis. As I post a new one, I hide the earlier one. I can still see them to check if I've acted on reviewers, but nobody else can.

~Tom

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580 Reply by Tom Oldman

(107 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I like the old joke about finding two corpses on a damp rug surrounded by broken glass. Turns out they were goldfish and the cat tipped over their bowl.

The closed room idea has merit. I'll have to think about that some.

~Tom

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581 Reply by Tom Oldman

(107 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Charles_F_Bell wrote:
Charles_F_Bell wrote:
Tom Oldman wrote:

One of the most famous contests every year is the "It was a dark and stormy night..." contest. I absolutely love those contests. Some of the entries are extremely funny, and some a entirely sober, but so inept and inane that you have to laugh. It's a great way to let off steam and get all the bad writing out of your system.

Here's is the LINK: http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/

My $0.03 (adjusted for inflation)

~Tom

Except for the presumption of Bulwer-Lytton as a bad writer is absurdly false, and absurd, too, that his first line of Paul Clifford (1830) is poorly written even in the context of today let alone of his times:

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

Two "purplish" words, scanty and struggled within a well-constructed, informative, descriptive, and inviting introduction.

Why double-post me, Charles? Wouldn't once have made your point? I mean, starchy is one thing, but a full-court press is another. Writing is supposed to be fun, not a Doctoral dissertation. Loosen up a little.

~Tom

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582 Reply by Tom Oldman

(107 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

One of the most famous contests every year is the "It was a dark and stormy night..." contest. I absolutely love those contests. Some of the entries are extremely funny, and some a entirely sober, but so inept and inane that you have to laugh. It's a great way to let off steam and get all the bad writing out of your system.

Here's is the LINK: http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/

My $0.03 (adjusted for inflation)

~Tom

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583 Reply by Tom Oldman

(17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Excellent, Max! What a wild ride Prunella gave us all. Looking happily forward to more of her antics.

~Tom

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584 Reply by Tom Oldman

(17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Cobber's suggestion is a good one, Nita. Even when I write short stories, I create a whole outline and then go back and fill it in. For a novel, I might put a short paragraph on what I want to accomplish in a given chapter and move on the the next one. Once I get most of the novel in shape, then I flesh out chapters and being posting the first draft.

~Tom

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585 Reply by Tom Oldman

(4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Ah. I was unaware of that, Sol. Every one of them thought they'd have to pay the money to read my story or join Facebook. I'll pass that along.

Actually, adding that bit to the bottom of the invite might be beneficial and garner a few more writers.

~Tom

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586 Reply by Tom Oldman

(4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Well, it isn't just "2 cents", but I get what you're saying.

There ought to be some provision to allow those specifically invited to read a story without having to join tNBW.

~Tom

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587 Topic by Tom Oldman

(4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I wanted to invite family members and some friends to read my republished novel. They received the request, but were immediately asked to log in. So far so good for those with a Facebook account. BUT, what of those who are NOT on Facebook? How do they get to read the story? Now, I realize that it is near-blasphemy to say "I don't have a Facebook account", but there are people who don't. I can't think of a single way to let them read except by sending a PDF as an attachment to an email.

Is this the way it is supposed to work? If so, then that limits who can read it. If I publish the story to "Internet" then I could run into the problem of "previously posted" when I try to actually publish the novel.

~Tom

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588 Reply by Tom Oldman

(17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Thanks, Sol. That's what I did a little while ago. It's out there now.
~Tom

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589 Reply by Tom Oldman

(17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Virtually every chapter is now around 2100-2600 words, so I've added a lot - mostly dialogue, but also some more cultural tidbits and scenery descriptions.

~Tom

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590 Reply by Tom Oldman

(17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

That does indeed help, Dirk. I was leaning in that direction already, but your reasoning is sound. I also have a couple of new chapters to introduce near the end, and they would throw off the chapter count. I'll wait until this afternoon before I make a final decision. I want to start the new year off right with my novel. I also like the fact that republishing would put it up as "new" to everyone. That was one of my main concerns - getting it out there that I'd revised the novel.

~Tom

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591 Topic by Tom Oldman

(17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Starting today, I will be republishing my novel You Only Love Twice. There are quite a few reviews attached to the current version (0), and the changes I've made sometimes significantly alter a given chapter. It is also quite possible that I will create additional chapters that fit between two chapters of the original novel. In order to keep things from getting out of hand, do I:

1) simply update the version number to 1, add my changes, and publish? (Even if the chapter is a completely new one and displaces what was originally there?)

or

2) Start another novel with the same name + (V1) and add chapters as I go. At the same time, "hide" those chapters previously released?

I also need to know that if I do (1) above, will I be charged additional points to publish the altered chapter? I have over 1000 points, so that isn't a problem to do either one of my choices. I think that simply re-publishing a new thread of chapters would be the "cleaner" way to go.

Any help here?

~Tom

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592 Topic by Tom Oldman

(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

We have just a little less than 4 hours here to go, but I'm sure that others have already celebrated. Happy New Year, my friends.

~Tom

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593 Reply by Tom Oldman

(5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Same to you, Randy, and everyone else from me and my family.

~Tom

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594 Reply by Tom Oldman

(6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Voted

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595 Reply by Tom Oldman

(1 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I can see him now, doing Shakespeare: "To be .... or whut?"

~Tom

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596 Reply by Tom Oldman

(10 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Congratulations, Dags. *does happy dance for you*

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597 Reply by Tom Oldman

(8 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I was trying to do the same thing and ran into the same problem. I second the request. "Find a Group" is fine, but if you don't know the name, then what?

~Tom

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598 Reply by Tom Oldman

(27 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Good idea.

~Tom

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599 Reply by Tom Oldman

(27 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Thanks so much, Karin. #1 is quite simple, I agree, but I think that after removing the train #2 will probably be the one I go with. My daughter is visiting us from Texas for the holidays, so she is reading over my shoulder. She thanks you for the compliment.

~Tom

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600 Reply by Tom Oldman

(27 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Good advice, Janet. I may do something like that myself. The trouble with rabbit stew is that you first have to catch the rabbit. I may use the red idea by putting the same red sun with the Kanji character on the spine. I have several books in my shelves here that have red on the spine (or are red entirely), and my eye does gravitate to them easily.

~Tom

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