690
« Last post by kyrathaba on July 26, 2013, 10:24 PM »
@TucknDar
First off, thanks for buying a copy of the book! I really hope you enjoy it and are able to give it a good review on Goodreads. Where'd you buy from, Smashwords? The advantage there is buy once and then download in as many different formats as you like (and as are available: usually nine). So, thanks for the purchase!
I agree with everything that wraith said above, about finding inspiration or "getting it done". I'll be honest: in this case of this particular book, I'd had an idea to run a roleplaying campaign set in the not too distant future, in which VR became a bit more real than expected (tip of the hat to Tad Williams). The alien angle was just a dash of seasoning thrown in because, "Hey! Who doesn't wanna see humanity show ingenuity, bravery, and even a touch of panache when dealing with an overpowering alien foe?" Post-apocalyptic fiction has long been a favorite of mine. Loved Stephen King's "The Stand" and anything in that vein. The movie "The Road"? Loved it!
So, I had two advantages going in: (1) I had some idea what I wanted to write, and (2) I was writing the kind of fiction I personally enjoy reading. I know YA Romance is THE genre to be writing in right now, but doesn't interest me as a reader and so I figure I'd totally suck at it.
Like wraith said, you set a goal. I'd make it words/week because there'll be a day now and then you just can't write (flu, family, computer crash). 3000-6000 words per week is doable, and quickly adds up to a novel 70-90K words.
The other bit of advice I'd give is show, don't tell. A little bit of exposition is fine, even needed. But make the story progress by the words and actions of the characters, not (by and large) by describing how they feel, what they do. Show, don't tell. As you'll see when you read my book, there's a lot of action and dialogue, relatively little exposition.
You might also, depending on how you like to work, prefer to do everything at first (as a rough draft) in a minimalist text editor, such as Darkroom or Q10, to name a couple. If you go that route, and you think "Hey, I'll want this italicized later on...", then put some set of symbols enclosing that phrase: *hey, I'll want to italicize this later.* Choose a different set of matching symbols for where you'll want to bold +Hey, I'll wanna bold this later+. Or even *+Hey, I will wanna italicize and bold this later+*.
You WILL need proofreaders. I can't stress that enough.
The only other thing I can think of to tell you is that I did chapter by chapter outlines. For example, my Prologue outline looked something like this:
What do I want the Prologue to contain?
1. Sethra sitting in his cubicle, journaling using his implant computer
2. Best friend Byron comes by with the news "I have it... (reader interest piqued)
3. Dialogue between the two elucidates the matter, gives reader an inkling of what they hope to achieve.
4. Make it clear that the compound personnel are dying out, and that Sethra and Byron know it.
5. Show their radiation illness affecting them.
^ That's it.
And I found it easier to write chapters, and that they were 1,000 to 2,000 words longer, when I had an outline to go by.
Recent Posts