I’m been very busy working on other non-writing projects. I am currently posting on two other blogs and working to get a third website operational. Well, I’m not working on it exactly, but I have to bug the guy who is so maybe we can get it done by March 1. Even though I’m not writing so much now, I do get in editing a chapter or so every week or two so I am making progress. In the meantime, I am doing a lot of reading, spit-balling and outlining ideas for future writing projects.
Problem Solved
I have finally figured out how to make up the ground I lost by cutting the whole first part of my manuscript. After thinking about it off and on for the last three months, I finally figured out that if I change the ending and add in some events on the back end then I would not have to change as much of what I have I already written.
While I am still going to do a better job on developing the plot and the characters, I will not have to add in as much of what would have ended up being fluff and not essential to the story.
This way I can still cut away the fluff, drill down on the plot and characters and still have a story of respectable length.
If I was smarter, I would have thought of this 2 1/2 months ago.
Writing is HARD
OK, that’s not entirely true. The actual writing is not that hard, but carving out the chunks of time that allows one to actually get anything done is HARD. While I did write my short story about Roy in September and October since then I have not done anything about getting my manuscript edited.
I started working on it again last week. My plan was to stay late at work and spend at least one hour a day working on it.
I managed to get four paragraphs edited last week.
Four. Stinking. Paragraphs.
Here’s to being prolifically efficient this week on all three days that I work.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody.
Part III Is Done!
Finally! Hope you like the ending.
I am going to enter the story in a wrinting contest. I need to cut the story down from the 9500 words it currently is to 4000 words or less to meet the contest guidelines, and I could use your help.
My wife wants me to keep the story as it is and shorten it with the same ending. However, as I wrote the story I had some ideas that would make the story a lot darker with a surprise ending which I feel is more in line with what is expected in the horror genre.
So what do you think? Keep it or change it?
Short Story Part III
Part III is wrtten, but I need to go back through it and tighten things up a bit. Part III is as long as Parts I and II combined so it took a little longer. Sorry about that and thanks for your patience.
Reasons Why I’m Not Done With My Short Story Yet
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- Four weeks late getting the yard mowed. I realized yesterday that I have only mowed the yard 4 times this summer.
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- Tried to go fishing with my dad.
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- Watered my papaya bush.
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- Checked on my lady in red hydrangea.
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- Admired my hostas
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- Took a picture of my endless summer hydrangea
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- Babied my plumeria that has finally bloomed
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- Worked on the sink.
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- The bane of my existence – a kitchen faucet diverter. This is the first replacement part I received. Look closely and you can see the crack on the plastic coupling on the top.
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- Fed the dogs.
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- Hard at work in my office.
The Locust King Part II
Part II is finished and posted you can get there by clicking on the link on the right or by clicking here.
Hope you like it!
The Locust King Parts II and III
As usual things never work out the way you plan. I had originally planned to be done with this story when I returned from vacation, but that didn’t happen. Then, the more I wrote the longer the story became.
So, anyway, I am in the process of editing and proofing Part II, and Part III is almost done. I can see the end of the story. I did hit a bit of a roadblock on what the Locust King looks like, but I think I’m past that now.
I hope to have Part II posted this weekend and maybe be able to have Part III up by the end of next week.
Unfortunately, this short stroy has distracted me from rewtiting my manuscript. On the plus side, it feels good to get creative and to be writing again.
Would it not it be great if writers could just write and let someone else deal with all that piddlely stuff like proofing, editing, researching agents and publshers, synopses, cover letters. addressing envelops, mailing queries and reading the rejections?
Writing Rules
I was reading Steve Berry’s 8 Rules of Writing on Writer’s Digest and thought I would share them with you along with some comments of my own.
1. There are no rules. You can do anything you want as long as it works.
A very liberating thought for a writer as long as you don’t over do it. Just because you can turn Aunt Gertrude into a shameless huzzy with a few keystrokes doesn’t mean you should. It should only be done if having a shameless huzzy helps your story move forward. Otherwise it distracts your reader from the story. The story is everything.
2. Don’t bore the reader. You can bore the reader in a sentence, in a paragraph, by misusing words, poorly choosing words, using the wrong length, etc.
I once read a book that had over 40 pages of a guy hiding in the bushes in front of a house so he could do surveillance. That book is what prompted me to start writing. The moral of the story is that boring writing contributes to the next generation of writers.
3. Don’t confuse the reader. Don’t misuse point of view. Don’t do too much at once.
If you have a hard time finding the best way to write it then your readers will probably have a hard time reading it. That’s what rewrites are for. Don’t use a paragraph that can be conveyed in a sentence. I misuse point of view often. It is probably my most prevalent mistake I find in editing. As for doing too much, I find that it helps to break things down into short paragraphs that deal with individual sequences in a series of events. This is hard to do when writing action sequences.
4. Don’t get caught writing. Don’t let you, the author, enter the story. (E.g., “And he never would see Memphis again.” How would anyone other than the author know that the character would never see Memphis again?)
Guilty (See The Locust King Part I)
5. Shorter is always better. Write tight. It makes you use the best words in the right way.
In Stephen King’s On Writing, which i highly recommend anyone who is thinking about writing to read, he suggests that your second draft be 10% shorter. Basically, cut the fluff. It is usually not all that tough to do once you start cutting. Also being concise goes along with #3 and not confusing your reader. If you need the fluff for the word count then your story is not there. Cut the unnecessary stuff and do a better job developing your plot and characters. I know this because I had the word count but not the story, and I am in the process of practicing what I preach.
6. Don’t lie to the reader. It’s OK to mislead, but don’t lie. If you say the character’s motivation is A and it turns out to be B (and you haven’t foreshadowed it at all), the reader will feel cheated.
In business it has been said that you should always tell your customers what they want to hear. It is my humble opinion that my customers what to hear the truth. Your reader is your customer, and they do not like to be tricked. I will be necessary to mislead and foreshadow, but never hit them out of the blue with something that hasn’t at least been hinted at.
7. Don’t annoy the reader. Don’t use names that are hard to pronounce or write choppy sentences throughout the entire book. It keeps people from getting close to your characters.
Two words: Aloysius Pendergast. A hard to pronounce name hasn’t hurt Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child so I don’t know about that, but sentences and paragraphs that flow well are very important and not just for getting your readers from getting close to your characters. Another thing that might annoy your readers is long, run-on sentences (see previous sentence). You should probably stay away from those as well.
8. You must tell a good story. Bad writing can be forgiven with a good story. A bad story with the most beautiful writing cannot.
Hallelujah! There is hope for me yet . . . if I can come up with a good story. As an amateur I do not feel qualified to comment on good writing since I am pretty sure i am not capable of it yet. However, I do feel like I can say something about the story. Your focus should always be on the story. If anything you write doesn’t move the story forward then leave it out.
