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[FlowersisBritish]

Missed my goal of writing a couple of hundred words a day in September for a few days. Carried on tonight.

I am hopelessly bad about writing myself in autobiographical form. So this is actually good practise.

Meh, I am terrible at autobiography. I made the worse first impression in a writing class once because she asked us to describe ourselves; everyone wrote long flowery prose about their personality, dreams, character traits, and I wrote "wearing a red shirt." Won her over though with some weird abstract dream piece.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

It's virtual book tour. There are companies that are partnered with book bloggers that you can contact and pay to set one up, or you can just reach out to bloggers and ask to make a guest blog post. Chuck Wendig posts a lot of them on his blog if you want to see what they're like, his are normally five things I learned while writing my book that's about to come out by guest author.

Sometimes the blogger has specific questions they want you to answer either about the book or yourself. Sometimes you just talk about your book. Sometimes they just review your book.

OH! I think I follow some people who do things like that on occasion ala wordpress. Cool beans.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

I just did a neat editing technique. I just read a story infinitely better than mine, prose blows mine out of the water. So, burning with desire to self improve and catch up in skill, I edited the best I ever edited, making note of my weakness in comparison to that better other piece.

 

[Timu]

Nano is coming closer now...I got to get everything ready or else I will be screwed.

 

[Delio]

Nano is coming closer now...I got to get everything ready or else I will be screwed.

*Screams* It's like right around the corner. Nano website sending me emails to get ready isnt helping lol. I think I know what I'm doing. I was refining Seasonals vol one over the year so Nano this year is devoted to Vol 2.

 

[toythatkills]

I still haven't decided whether to do NaNo but I've installed Scrivener just in case. Haven't used it before but a few steps into the tutorial I can already see how much nicer it is for writing than MS Word is.

I'm currently leaning towards yes but I'd really need to plan something. I pantsed my way to victory last year but I don't think I can do that again unless I write basically the same thing again - which I obviously don't want to do.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

I'm trying to finish my last Nano before that. I want to have it done by mid October, so I can focus full on planning. Haven't decided what story i'm gonna do yet. Maybe I'll post some breif summaries and see what people think?

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

What's a good way to describe a medium brown skin girl's complexion?

 

[AngmarsKing701]

What's a good way to describe a medium brown skin girl's complexion?

As a beautiful woman I worked with many moons ago described herself: coffee pecan.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

What's a good way to describe a medium brown skin girl's complexion?

I'd look up a color palette and try to find the right color you're looking for.

 

[toddhunter]

What's a good way to describe a medium brown skin girl's complexion?

Halle Berry brown or Beyonce brown.

Spoiler

obscure reference time

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

I'd look up a color palette and try to find the right color you're looking for.

I did and most of those did nothing for me in capturing that tone a lot of them were describing wood..

As a beautiful woman I worked with many moons ago described herself: coffee pecan.

That one doesn't quite click with me.

Halle Berry brown or Beyonce brown.

Spoiler

obscure reference time

Like one shade darker than Halle.

 

[H.Protagonist]

I did and most of those did nothing for me in capturing that tone a lot of them were describing wood..


That one doesn't quite click with me.


Like one shade darker than Halle.

Tawny complexion, caramel tones, mocha, dusky?

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

I can lean towards mocha. Right now I'm trying to write a cover letter for this competition. I underestimated the length they want me to write for this. 1000 words is a lot to just write about myself and why I should win the contest.

 

[Timu]

Ah crap, it's October now...time to prepare for Nano for this whole month. Thank god I know what my story is about, even with all the changes it got.

 

[Ashes]

What's a good way to describe a medium brown skin girl's complexion?

A good description is one that works two fold for those who notice these things - revealing to the reader something about the character.

Is she sweet like chocolate? or withered and beat down with work like a near burnt out log?

 

[Haly]

"Frappacino-esque"

 

[FlowersisBritish]

A good description is one that works two fold for those how notice these things - revealing to the reader something about the character.

Is she sweet like chocolate? or withered and beat down with work like a near burnt out log?

I feel like people get weird with descriptions of PoC, and feel the need to go overboard and make their descriptions these grand things. Not saying you can't, but just the other day I was writing about a girl and something brushed against her pale skin. If she was black, I would write something brushed against her brown skin. Flowery prose is nice, but sometimes simplicity is fine too.

Also, as a kind of rule of thumb, try not to describe people in terms of food. It's way to cliche, and said people aren't usually impressed by those descriptions.

 

[Ashes]

I feel like people get weird with descriptions of PoC, and feel the need to go overboard and make their descriptions these grand things. Not saying you can't, but just the other day I was writing about a girl and something brushed against her pale skin. If she was black, I would write something brushed against her brown skin. Flowery prose is nice, but sometimes simplicity is fine too.

Also, as a kind of rule of thumb, try not to describe people in terms of food. It's way to cliche, and said people aren't usually impressed by those descriptions.

Suppose, you're right, if only because I don't have the inclination to support what I feel, except to say that I feel it. ha!
Although, I don't agree to this idea of impressing people. I don't write to impress anybody. Ever.
And I'm not impressed by people trying to show off either.
Just saying that some people notice these things, where others walk by. And it's a good tool to have in your war chest. And I like it.

Sweet like chocolate is my favourite cliché.

edit: Sometimes my stuff is quite difficult to read. That's a shame. And I do try and help the reader 'get' the piece. I fail over and over again, it seems. Oh well. Never mind.

 

[Delio]

Nano site is up and ready to go!

 

[Timu]

Nano site is up and ready to go!

I'm ready...kinda of.

 

[Delio]

I'm ready...kinda of.

I'm slightly ready. Have a few more things to square away.

 

[Delio]

Fuck it, we'll do it live.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1121272

 

[H.Protagonist]

'Tis the...season.

 

[MattyG]

I'm writing a short story for a creative writing class, but I need some advice on at least one plot point; the general plot is that an ISS astronaut is on the station and goes to do a routine repair. Her and two crewmates go about their routine, but eventually she realizes that she's been hallucinating them the whole time. They're actually dead and she's the only one left, due to an event that not only wiped a majorit of the population of earth, therefore cutting of contact with ground control, but also killing her companions while they were doing a repair outside.

Now, my problem is that I don't know what kind of a cataclysmic event cound wipe out the earth and kill the two crewmates, but leave her and the station largely in tact. I was thinking maybe a massive (unrealistically large) solar flare or something? I just feel like that would kill her and wipe the station out too though. Any suggestions?

Spoiler

And yeah, I know, this is basicaly Gravity, but I realized that after I came up with it so I'm safe!

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Why would the status of Earth matter? You could just as easily have it be on the trip to Mars or in orbit around Jupiter or wherever.

I think everyone has written some kind of similar setup in sf at one point though. Don't worry about being similar, worry about how you're telling it (and why, to some extent).
Btw: Solaris is the granddaddy of this plot. Possibly even the original run of The Outer Limits, as far as visual media go.

 

[MattyG]

It ended up being 11 pages. It kind of falls apart at the end, so that'll need a lot of revision, but that's what rough drafts are for I guess. I'm going to drop a Google Drive link in here, could anyone give it a look just to give me a general idea of how it is? Now that I'm reading it again, I think it may not be so hot, but I'd love another opinion. I haven't written anything in a really long time either, so there's a good chance it isn't that great. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Why would the status of Earth matter? You could just as easily have it be on the trip to Mars or in orbit around Jupiter or wherever.

I think everyone has written some kind of similar setup in sf at one point though. Don't worry about being similar, worry about how you're telling it (and why, to some extent).
Btw: Solaris is the granddaddy of this plot. Possibly even the original run of The Outer Limits, as far as visual media go.

The status of earth matters only because I want her to be trapped on ISS at the end, and to realize and come to terms with that. If earth is fine, then there'd be a rescue mission coming soon to get her, but if earth is wiped out or at least a little fucked up, then she's stuck. I wanted the story to be about what isolation and trauma can do to a person, and how she comes to terms with it. I'm just hoping I can get that across in 5-10 pages. The assigment is for a 5 page story, but we can go over. I'm at 5 now (double spaced though) and I'm not even close to being done.

This is actually the first piece of fiction I've written in a really long time (even though I've been meaning to do it more often) but I'm hoping I can make it work.

 

[toythatkills]

It sounds to me like it doesn't matter what happened on Earth. As long as you introduce the idea that Earth is gone, I don't think you'd need to explain how in any great detail. The actual background doesn't sound relevant to what she's going through, if it's a story about her and not "this is what happened to Earth."

 

[MattyG]

It sounds to me like it doesn't matter what happened on Earth. As long as you introduce the idea that Earth is gone, I don't think you'd need to explain how in any great detail. The actual background doesn't sound relevant to what she's going through, if it's a story about her and not "this is what happened to Earth."

Yeah, I ended up making it just like "hey, this solar flare wiped out your friends and you suppressed the memory. Oh by the way Earth's gone too". Nothing about what was going on on Earth or anything, just mentioned so that she knows that she's stuck on the station.

I'm starting to feel like the pacing may be a bit off. Too slow in the beginning, too fast in the end. I think I started with a lot of dialogue and detail and exposition, and then ran way over the 5 page minimum and felt like I needed to wrap it up. Then again, I've always had trouble with endings. That's definitely going to need tweaking. Pretty much everything from the space walk on needs the most work, and maybe some of the early stuff I went to too long with (though those were my favorite parts to write, so I don't want to cut too much there).

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

It ended up being 11 pages. It kind of falls apart at the end, so that'll need a lot of revision, but that's what rough drafts are for I guess. I'm going to drop a Google Drive link in here, could anyone give it a look just to give me a general idea of how it is? Now that I'm reading it again, I think it may not be so hot, but I'd love another opinion. I haven't written anything in a really long time either, so there's a good chance it isn't that great. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

I read and added comments because that's my gut reaction to Google docs.

I enjoyed the story well enough, though I think your biggest thing right now is to make the sensation that something is "wrong" more apparent, so when the twist hits, it feels like a logical flow and not just a, "Wait what?"

Also, I'm like 99% positive that solar flare are radiation only and not actually fireballs, so while the electronics would have been fried, they wouldn't look like they were burned up.

 

[MattyG]

I read and added comments because that's my gut reaction to Google docs.

I enjoyed the story well enough, though I think your biggest thing right now is to make the sensation that something is "wrong" more apparent, so when the twist hits, it feels like a logical flow and not just a, "Wait what?"

Also, I'm like 99% positive that solar flare are radiation only and not actually fireballs, so while the electronics would have been fried, they wouldn't look like they were burned up.

Ahhh, that's a great way to descibe it. So you think I have to build the tension more when she's starting to see the signs that something is up? It does feel far too sudden as it is.

And yeah, I think you're right about the solar flares. I wanted a way to visually show that something was wrong so I figured the outside being charred would make sense, but now that you mention it that really... doesn't make any sense at all. I also feel like it kind of telegraphs what's about to happen a bit too much. I can probably just take that stuff out and expand on the bit about the two tethers that are floating free.

As for the watch vs alarm clock thing, I guess it was just an oversight on her part. The real reason; I honestly just suck at beginning and endings, so I figured starting in the morning would make sense and I liked the idea of that scene. In hindsight it does seem a bit silly that she didn't bring one in the first place (I'm sure any real astronaut would just shake their head and laugh at the stupidity of it), but I'm gonna keep it just because I think it's a decent way to introduce those two characters. I could always write in a line where Yuri asks her whey she would even bring an alarm clock if it's bigger and heavier, and she says something about making it feel more like home (or something along those lines).

Thanks so much for taking the time to read it, I really appreciate it!

Ahh, and good catch on the Nostromo thing. I knew I was forgetting something! Alien: Isolation was the one that was on a station.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Ahhh, that's a great way to descibe it. So you think I have to build the tension more when she's starting to see the signs that something is up? It does feel far too sudden as it is.

And yeah, I think you're right about the solar flares. I wanted a way to visually show that something was wrong so I figured the outside being charred would make sense, but now that you mention it that really... doesn't make any sense at all. I also feel like it kind of telegraphs what's about to happen a bit too much. I can probably just take that stuff out and expand on the bit about the two tethers that are floating free.

As for the watch vs alarm clock thing, I guess it was just an oversight on her part. The real reason; I honestly just suck at beginning and endings, so I figured starting in the morning would make sense and I liked the idea of that scene. In hindsight it does seem a bit silly that she didn't bring one in the first place (I'm sure any real astronaut would just shake their head and laugh at the stupidity of it), but I'm gonna keep it just because I think it's a decent way to introduce those two characters. I could always write in a line where Yuri asks her whey she would even bring an alarm clock if it's bigger and heavier, and she says something about making it feel more like home (or something along those lines).

Thanks so much for taking the time to read it, I really appreciate it!

Ahh, and good catch on the Nostromo thing. I knew I was forgetting something! Alien: Isolation was the one that was on a station.

As far as Solar Flares go, Knowing had em as a big ol fireball and no one gave a shit as far as I know. It's probably one of those "passable" things as far as scifi goes. And I haven't looked into them in so long that I could be wrong anyways.

And thanks for sharing your story.

 

[toddhunter]

The problem is how do they survive? There are not many options out in space and being on the toilet isn't going to cut it.

 

[Relix]

I am not entirely sure if this is allowed but after 7 years holding back the stuff I've written I decided to finally publish something out there. Its not a book, but a web serial (I posted about that idea several months ago). I finally got around to buying a domain, setting a website, getting a simple design, working around it, and posting stuff. I'll be updating each Sunday for the next 23 weeks or so (tried to do it like a TV Season... 24 chapters ).The URL is at http://chroniclesofanthem.com/ if anyone wants to read the Prologue and Chapter 1. Reviews are very appreciated.

If this isn't allowed let me know and I'll take off the link.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

Neat, I might give it a read in my free time if I have free time. Super curious about some of the stuff you've done for the serial, how planned out are you?

 

[Relix]

Neat, I might give it a read in my free time if I have free time. Super curious about some of the stuff you've done for the serial, how planned out are you?

It's cool, this is the right place for this sort of thing.

I'm gonna echo flowers's question though--are you writing as you go, or do you already have it mostly done?

First 24 chapters (90k+ words) are written already, but I am already tweaking certain things in the middle and if I get feedback I can definitely make changes on the go. I do already have a loooooong vision of where I want this to go, and I'll probably jump on writing the next "arc" of the story when I am mid-way publishing chapters for this first part. I also want to add custom art and drawings in the medium term; of course that has a cost so I am trying to budget from my own money to invest into this even if I (quite probably) lose money.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Working on the narrative to my video game and have stumbled upon a plot hole, or perhaps holes.

Premise for the game: Continent has constructed portals across its various countries to make travel/commerce easier. Portals open and out come monsters from a different dimension. Depending on the characters you chose, you'll be closing the portals for different reasons.

For the two Areen characters, they're on a religious mission. They were originally going to use the portals to wage a holy war with one of the countries, and when the monsters started coming out, they jumped to the conclusion that their God abandoned them.

The problem is, their lore states magic comes from this God, and magic most certainly hasn't left. I shrugged it off early on as a joke because the plotline there is that they're wrong, but now I've realized I never really addressed it in a meaningful way.

I'm not sure how to tackle this at all, either. The idea that they're going around to fix this mess in an effort to appease their God is something i want to keep, and this means their God has to be upset with them in some way. Fine. Gods work in mysterious ways. But I'm not sure what to do about the magic thing. It too is important. The end conclusion is that magic is more a Druidism thing: it comes from the Earth. The main character is just the only one of his people to really discover that because he's secretly not religious at all.

So if anyone has any ideas here, I'm game. Hoping just typing this out will help me think things through a bit.

 

[Relix]

^^ Maybe God hasn't abandoned them? Maybe he's testing them (or so they believe)?

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Ugh I haven't written anything in like three weeks.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

Maybe God hasn't abandoned the characters? Maybe God has abandoned everything else, but the MC have clearly been chosen by God because they're using Magic. God doesn't like the portals, so he sent them on a "fuck you" kind of quest? And the very Religous MC could be very narcissistic and up their own asses because they've clearly been chosen by god?

I dunno, just the first thought to come to me.

 

[Megalosaro]

I want to write but I never feel inspired. I've also wanted to try poetry, but I'm too intimidated

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Ugh I haven't written anything in like three weeks.

I want to write but I never feel inspired. I've also wanted to try poetry, but I'm too intimidated

I don't know what your lifestyle is like, but going for a run or a walk outdoors, especially with music player in hand, ends up being inspiration city for me most of the time.

Another thing that helps is watching or reading other entertainment or literature that I enjoy - it reignites that spark to give something similar back to the world.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

I don't know what your lifestyle is like, but going for a run or a walk outdoors, especially with music player in hand, ends up being inspiration city for me most of the time.

Another thing that helps is watching or reading other entertainment or literature that I enjoy - it reignites that spark to give something similar back to the world.

Work has been very stressful lately, so that's sapping a lot of my energy. That and each of my kids have some health issues (one with a messed up knee, one with chronic headaches). So there's some stress involved in dealing with those.

I normally find the reading to be hit or miss, actually. Sometimes I'll read something (usually by Guy Gavriel Kay) that just makes me want to give up writing because it's just so wonderful that I find myself thinking "holy shit I can never write that well." Then I'll pick up stuff that's just so bloody boring that it gets me back to writing.

What I am realizing is that the fantasy market is just flooded with stuff that I find mediocre. Even the published stuff. I thought Words of Radiance was a padded, dull novel that needed to be cut down by about 40%. It took me 6 months to read it. I'm reading Mitchell Hogan's A Crucible of Souls right now and I'm just stuck at about 2/3 through it. I don't think I've read it in almost a month.

So... yeah. Just in a lull at the moment on reading and writing. Need something to spark me and so far just not finding it.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

So... yeah. Just in a lull at the moment on reading and writing. Need something to spark me and so far just not finding it.

Perhaps you should return to something you know you really love and reread it? If I'm in a major lull, I usually grab an old Stephen King novel like It and go through that. The man just makes me want to write.

Dunno who that author is for you, but that's my suggestion.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Perhaps you should return to something you know you really love and reread it? If I'm in a major lull, I usually grab an old Stephen King novel like It and go through that. The man just makes me want to write.

Dunno who that author is for you, but that's my suggestion.

Thanks. That's a great idea.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

Got a really tough question.

I have two short stories that I want to turn into into full length books and self publish them. One is a space adventure book and the other is a YA epic fantasy. I would like to eventually turn them both into stories but with editing costs and limited time I have to write, I need to focus on one for the time being.

I'm wondering if anyone here knew how big the audience is for either in the self publishing space. I would like to know before I dive into the writing.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Got a really tough question.

I have two short stories that I want to turn into into full length books and self publish them. One is a space adventure book and the other is a YA epic fantasy. I would like to eventually turn them both into stories but with editing costs and limited time I have to write, I need to focus on one for the time being.

I'm wondering if anyone here knew how big the audience is for either in the self publishing space. I would like to know before I dive into the writing.

Hit up the YA one first and try and get an agent. YA novels are selling like hotcakes now, and pretty much every agent is willing to look at them. Shoot for the stars man!

 

[toddhunter]

Got a really tough question.

I have two short stories that I want to turn into into full length books and self publish them. One is a space adventure book and the other is a YA epic fantasy. I would like to eventually turn them both into stories but with editing costs and limited time I have to write, I need to focus on one for the time being.

I'm wondering if anyone here knew how big the audience is for either in the self publishing space. I would like to know before I dive into the writing.

I would say there is a huge audience for each, with a correspondingly huge pool of writers publishing in it.

I wouldn't worry about the payoff in those terms. Getting something done and out there will be far more rewarding in the long run.

 

[Soulfire]

Got a really tough question.

I have two short stories that I want to turn into into full length books and self publish them. One is a space adventure book and the other is a YA epic fantasy. I would like to eventually turn them both into stories but with editing costs and limited time I have to write, I need to focus on one for the time being.

I'm wondering if anyone here knew how big the audience is for either in the self publishing space. I would like to know before I dive into the writing.

If you go to Amazon and look at their ebooks you can see that Science Fiction Adventure has almost 33,000 books in that category. YA Science Fiction is a lot smaller at 6931 with only 1142 in YA Science Fiction Adventure. Most self-publishers do their best on Amazon which is why I'm posting those numbers.

Like Conkersbadfurday said, though, it seems like everyone is looking for YA books right now so you could try traditional.

 

[ElTopo]

What are some surreal/dream-like and highly visual books you guys like?