That's some good advice. I went through it this weekend and I found some mindless things to do - Video games. I'm reinvigorated today to fix what needs to be fixed and write some more.
52 2018-06-18 16:37:55
Topic: Self-Doubt (9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I'm curious how you all deal with it or try to. Occasionally I'll be hit with the weight of the work required to become a writer. I'll feel like there's just too much to learn, that I lack the talent, work ethic, and luck to ever be successful by whatever parameters I set for myself. There are times it gets so bad I feel like giving up or treating writing like a hobby, not a career aspiration.
Those times are difficult. They can be a day, a week, a month, sometimes longer. It might be after a review, a denial letter from an MFA program, a re-write that finds more issues than I originally thought, any myriad of things. Negatives outweigh the positives, no matter the context.
Time and then working at it some more seem to work best for me but sometimes the really nagging doubt stays. Sometimes a little spite goes a long way but I doubt that's healthy or constructive. Though, there's a place for a chip on one's shoulder.
Who else goes through this? How have you managed it in the past?
53 2018-06-15 17:00:12
Re: Bookbaby Editing - Or similar services (13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Linda Lee wrote:
Can't beat an edit by a real person because they see nuance, style and understand subjective choice. Auto crit apps can never do that. Also, an in person edit will address things like plot, characterization, story arc and pacing...vital elements which nit programs can't handle.
My suggestion for finding an editor is either word of mouth, or see who is offering editing services among your targeted agencies. For example if you really want to be signed by XYZ agency, check and see who in that agency offers freelance editing services. You'd be surprised how many freelancers there are and it's a great way to potentially get your foot in the door.
Great advice Linda, thank you. I hadn't thought about going about it that way.
54 2018-06-15 16:59:03
Re: Many thanks to TNBW Reviewers (15 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Congratulations Randall! Well done my friend. Poke me when you post something on twitter about the release.
55 2018-06-14 18:44:07
Re: Bookbaby Editing - Or similar services (13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Dirk B. wrote:
A potentially useful site: https://kindlepreneur.com/book-editors/
I almost added that link here myself.
56 2018-06-14 17:51:24
Re: Bookbaby Editing - Or similar services (13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Dirk B. wrote:
Also, sign up for Grammarly for a month and run your manuscript through it. It catches many errors. Others prefer ProWritingAid, although I couldn't get it to run on my computer, and the support was lousy (one email reply per day).
I've tried Grammarly and Autocrit both with varying levels of success. I found neither are good at catching comma splices. They serve their purposes well enough, though.
I'm curious about Reedsy as well. Their setup is interesting.
57 2018-06-14 16:49:51
Topic: Bookbaby Editing - Or similar services (13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Hi All,
I was wondering if anyone has purchased any professional editing from Bookbaby or any comparable service? What has your experience been? These are sizable expenses and I haven't been sold on them yet.
The impossible answer I'd like to know is how they compare to publisher-purchased editing.
58 2018-06-14 13:31:51
Re: Writing dialogue (62 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Deckland Oz wrote:
I thought it might be interesting for people following this thread to take a look at the excerpt below. It is from "Lock In," by John Scalzi. If you don't know this author, he is a Hugo Award winning sci-fi writer and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He's one of my favorite writers, sci-fi or otherwise. As for his dialog, it's funny, quick, and crisp. But what I want people to see here is his repetitive use of "said" dialog tags. Notice in the excerpt below he uses one in all but two lines. I can only imagine if this was presented on this site, the fun reviewers would have with their virtual red pens. And yet Mr. Scalzi is probably the most well-regarded sci-fi writer working today. So why is it okay for him to so obviously disobey the sacred rules and overuse said in such a blatant way? Well, because that's his style. Because he is doing so in a conscious and deliberate way for a particular effect. Far from disappearing, the repetition of the phrase has, for me at least, the effect of nearly mesmerizing the reader, like a repeating drum beat. In any case, that is my interpretation of the device. But the point is — it IS a device. And what concerns me is that when one takes a dogmatic stance on any aspect of writing (or art in general) one is in danger of discouraging those who would play with the tools at their disposal to create a given style or effect in an intentional way. In light of this, imagine if some editor had told Cormic McCarthy that failing to use quotation marks for dialog was simply not done because, well, I say so. Just something to consider. Now enjoy (or hate, as you choose) the excerpt below:
“I royally pissed off Trinh tonight,” I said. “I think she hates me more than she hates you.”
“Oh, I doubt that,” Vann said. “But if you got her even halfway there I’ll buy you a drink.”
“I don’t drink,” I said.
“Good,” Vann said. “Then you buy me a drink. Come on. I know a bar.”
“I don’t really think you should be hitting the bars tonight,” I said. “You have a hole in your shoulder.”
“It’s a scratch,” Vann said.
“A hole in your shoulder from a bullet,” I said.
“It was a small bullet,” Vann said.
“Fired by someone trying to kill you.”
“All the more reason I need a drink.”
I might be in the minority here, but those tags didn't dissapear for me. Quite the contrary, they brutalized that passage for me. That's just my opinion, though. I think that's kind of the point. You're never going to please every reader or every editor or every critiquer here on this site. I've been looking to Joe Abercrombie a lot recently for dialogue. Since he writes British English the tags are reveresed (Said soandso) but they're used sparingly. The dialogue shifts between fast paced and laden with descriptive action. To me, personally, this works as a reader. Showing some emotion through descriptions.
For example:
"This is war," said Hunnan, his mouth twisting. "Rights got nothing to do with it. King Uthil said Steel is the answer, so steel it has to be."
Brand waved his hand toward the miserable survivors picking over the wreckage of their homes. "Shouldn't we stay and help them? What good will burning some other village do just cause it's across a river?"
Hunnan rounded on him. "Might help the next village, or the one after that. We're warriors, not nursemaids."
(Joe Abercrombie, Half the World )
59 2018-06-13 13:06:36
Re: Writing dialogue (62 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Well, this became a bear of a forum post.
If I've learned anything in writing it's that hard and fast rules aren't always hard and fast. I still remember spending years learning to never start a sentence with "And", yet I often see it here and in published fiction.
The same can be said about dialogue tags. I've seen excellent use of expressive tags, descriptive tags, no tags, plain tags, what have you. If it works it works. I tend to agree with CJ in this thread from what I've read.
I've made plenty of dialogue mistakes, it's a hard thing to learn, but applying strict rules just limits you and doesn't inform if you don't understand the rule or why its important. Rules without substance are useless.
Deckland had a good point about genre and expectation. Literary fiction is wholly different than genre fiction and as such the rules are different. It's hard to have a coherent conversation, as this thread shows, when everyone is dabbling in different genres and applying their "expertise" with broad strokes.
60 2018-06-07 19:11:11
Re: Winter 2018 Flash Fiction Winners (13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Congratulations you three!
61 2018-06-05 18:44:25
Re: The evil prologue (9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I've always found anyone who spouts hard and fast rules for storytelling difficult to take seriously. It always reaks of personal preference that they've bounced off a few like-minded individuals and decided it should be law.
I actually like some of the points made, especially this one:
6. Treating the reader as if they have to know everything right away
A mystery is good. You don’t need to dump everything you know about this world into the lap of the reader right away. Give it some time. If you craft it right, they’ll keep reading to find out all that stuff.
--
But then you get this gem:
10. Starting with dialogue
I don’t care who is talking if I don’t know them. Give me a reason to care about those words by showing me a character in a particular scene.
--
That's just their opinion at this point and I've seen some brilliantly crafted dialogue starts. There are other examples too that if those rules were followed would discount great swathes of fantastic books out there. This feels more like a "get published" guide than a "good story" guide. They can overlap, but they are different.
62 2018-05-23 14:05:59
Re: Punctuation (14 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Hah, maybe this will help me with my damn comma splices. Thank you for sharing, MJ!
63 2018-05-18 18:35:56
Re: My first novel published. (24 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Well done and congratulations!
64 2018-05-18 18:34:40
Re: "Mysterious Ways" now published (14 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Congrats!
65 2018-05-18 18:33:04
Re: Not again! (20 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Happens all the time. I'll say this post has been helpful to me JP because it might be something I'd accidentally tell someone while intending to encourage.
Plot and direction advice can be helpful but I cant imagine my reaction if someone told me my book should be condensed and made into a short story...
66 2018-05-11 14:02:45
Re: My worded thoughts (9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Welcome!
You're certainly not alone in feeling that you're not good enough at times. I've been here for about a year and still feel that way quite often. At some point you do have to have some confidence in your work, though, and this is a great place to find it—usually after a rude awakening.
As you start posting here just remember that no one who critiques or submits here has the final say on your writing, only you do. Writing is inherently personal but there are nuts and bolts to it and many of the critiquers here are wonderful at finding where you've gone wrong in that area. Some may be harsh, some may be overly kind, I hope you'll find enough critiquers somewhere in the middle to help you learn.
67 2018-04-04 15:16:23
Re: Changed my mind (14 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Thinking of you Mike. You've got to be one of the most positive people I've met and I know that can be difficult to maintain when dealing with internal struggles. If you need anything, please reach out.
68 2018-03-30 14:37:46
Re: Temporary hiatus (9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
So happy for you! I look forward to what you come up with next.
69 2018-01-25 14:56:22
Topic: Writing Prompts - Do you use them? (1 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Hi All,
I recently completed a course through Oxford University that made heavy use of writing prompts. I found them helpful in spurring me to write about things that I normally wouldn't.
I'm curious if any of you use writing prompts as a tool to inspire your writing? I know there are several sites that offer prompts, sometimes cultivated, somtimes random, but are there any in particular you want to suggest to your fellow authors?
My favorite prompts have always been the broadest. A picture, a name, a setting, things you can easily use as a grounding point but then go off into wild fancies.
70 2018-01-05 14:23:36
Re: The Telltale Tattoo (11 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Randall Krzak wrote:
jack the knife wrote:I'm trying to think of another story, but the cold weather has frozen my brain.
LOL! Can certainly understand that! We're supposed to drop to -3F tonight (as much as -30F with the windchill). Needless to say, brrr!
Whenever I hear people talk about weather in other parts of the country I feel like a wimp. I thought the world had frozen over just a few days ago when we dipped down to 22 in Central Texas.
71 2018-01-04 14:32:02
Re: The Telltale Tattoo (11 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
It was a great read Jack, so happy for your success!
72 2017-11-22 22:10:01
Re: Editor/Writer from Vancouver, BC (6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Welcome, Craig!
I hope you will enjoy your time here and find valuable critiques and commentary.
73 2017-11-22 15:28:17
Re: Much to be thankful for (41 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Well put.
Especially with the pending Net Neutrality gutting, keystone pipeline leak, joke of a tax bill being hidden as 'reform', and the possibility of electing a child predator in Alabama....it's nice to see a chronicle of the last year in a different light.
74 2017-11-21 16:54:38
Re: What time of day do you buy books online (5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I tend to when the mood strikes, or when I know a book is coming out I'm interested in - My wife though, who is a voracious purveyor of romance novels tends to in the evenings on weekends. I think this is a time for a lot of people where they can divest themselves of work.
75 2017-11-21 15:36:51
Topic: Self-publishing, Agent, or Straight to Publisher - What did you choose (4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Hi all,
I'm just curious to see how everyone went about this ever-evolving question. Did you self-publish? Find an Agent? Go straight to an open-submission publisher?
What made you choose this particular path?
To be clear, I'm not trying to figure out "what is better" here, so try to keep it civil, just curious to see people's motivations for one route or another.
