The Horror the horror
Banned
Hey, Conkers, how long did you have to wait before you received the responses?
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Writing-GAF: Writing, Publishing, Selling |OT|
- Thread starter AngmarsKing701
- Start date
Hey, Conkers, how long did you have to wait before you received the responses?
I've also been considering picking up a Macbook (or just something affordable in general) purely as a writing computer. I have very little experience with Macs outside of grade school, though.Thoughts? Suggestions?
Unless you're planning on using Vellum or Ulysses, Macbooks are kinda overpriced for writing
Chromebooks or even cheap Windows laptops are more than adequate. I'm a big fan of Thinkpads for their crazy build quality and keyboards.
Unless you're planning on using Vellum or Ulysses, Macbooks are kinda overpriced for writing
Chromebooks or even cheap Windows laptops are more than adequate. I'm a big fan of Thinkpads for their crazy build quality and keyboards.
I actually had some used/refurbished Macs in mind, but I see your point.
tiggerkiddo
Member
I actually have a pretty old laptop I use when I want to go somewhere to write but I may need to upgrade to something that can at least hold a charge for several hours.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Unless you're planning on using Vellum or Ulysses, Macbooks are kinda overpriced for writing
Chromebooks or even cheap Windows laptops are more than adequate. I'm a big fan of Thinkpads for their crazy build quality and keyboards.
I've been using Scrivener on my Windows 10 laptop, but honestly I need some more info on Scrivener's usefulness. I'm really just using it as a Word application, and I think it's supposed to be much more than that.
I also have a Chromebook but haven't used it for writing yet (just got it about a month ago). Are you using Google Docs for writing there or something else?
Scrivener works really well if you're big on outlining. Being able to jump to different scenes or view character dossiers while writing is incredibly useful, especially if you're working on epics or serials. You can embed photos, assign icons, set writing targets and have an infinite number of snapshots of your draft (very useful for editing). It's pretty much my digital scrapbook for writing.
Honestly, the beauty of Scrivener is that it doesn't lock you to a specific workflow. You can write everything in a single document, or separate each scene into its own dedicated folder. Just go with whatever you're comfortable with.
With Chromebooks, I've switched from Google Docs to bighugelab's Writer. Docs tend to get sluggish on older Chromebooks once I push past 30k words, and Writer has a pretty slick looking tracking tool that keeps me motivated.
How good are Chromebooks? I've been tempted before, but I've never heard anyone talk about them in depth.
timetokill
Banned
OK, challenge for Writing GAF.
Give me a good name for a pioneer town in the old west. Has to be fictional ( don't say Deadwood or Dodge City, etc.)
Give me a good name for a pioneer town in the old west. Has to be fictional ( don't say Deadwood or Dodge City, etc.)
I only recently started using it, but is looking to be a great source to keep track of everything. I have a ton of little details, and a decent amount of lore that is riddled with incorrect details (on purpose, one character is hiding how involved he was in something and the other is merely stating the commonly known history instead of the real history, but stuff like that I need to keep track of lol)
thus it's nice to have in one location tons of different things I can pop up and do stuff like keep track in there where each character appears, and what happens to them/ what they learn as a quick reference as far to often I mean for a little thing to happen to a character that is of later importance and I can't remember if it happened because it could fit in multiple spots lol.
I've never used a chromebook but most people i know who have had one don't mind it. For the price you pay they are solid, but if you are looking for a high end laptop you would likely want to look elsewhere.
for the purpose of writing though it should be a fine pick up, especially since last I looked a number of chromebooks focused on long battery life.
AngmarsKing701
Member
I like mine. I picked it up a couple months ago as a replacement for my Nexus 7 (2013) tablet, especially for browsing/commenting/tweeting. Very tough to type on the tablet. When Google announced they were adding Android app support, it seemed a logical step that I'd be able to do a full replacement. I went with the Asus Flip, which is quite a handy device. The app support is still in alpha/beta stage (on the dev channel), so it's not exactly replaced the N7 yet, and the graphical fidelity is a step down (which is a bummer), but honestly I drag it around with me almost everywhere.
Android app support does sound like something I can easily take advantage of.
EDIT: Doing a bit of research, and I've wanted to ask; has there been any progress on getting Scrivener to work on a Chromebook, or would its absence be a potential dealbreaker? I can use Evernote, but I'd like to try the former too.
timetokill
Banned
As disappointed as I am in you for not actually trying to come up with one yourself, I appreciate you not just running the generator and giving me one of the results as though you thought it up. XD
Surely you could do better than a random name generator, right? I mean, it just gave me "Purgatory Ville"
Is it where clichés go to retire and die?
You could go through cities and towns in various countries and pick one you like. A settler from another country founding a city might name it after a place in his or her homeland. Add "new" if it needs to sound a bit more English or make it clear it is named after another place. (First thought i had was "Kotka", a city here in Finland, meaning "eagle", so kinda fitting for the US.)
Or are you looking for something more like those places you mention? More Old West in theme (like Red Dead Redemption having Tumbleweed and Armadillo)?
EDIT Drawing inspiration from Deadwood, and adding some mindscrew: Driftwood. No rivers or lakes anywhere near... Go figure how a place gets named Driftwood.
EDIT In case you wonder: i'm tired. I get weird ideas when i'm tired.
Dustbolt. A god-forsaken shanty town held together by dreams of gold, and torn apart by scant water and food pure enough to eat. Lord of the Flies with 200% more belt buckles!
Come to think of it, a western Battle Royale sounds kind of awesome...
timetokill
Banned
Now we're cookin'!
Yeah, I love old west names. I'm mad RDR used Armadillo before I could.
Yeah, I love old west names. I'm mad RDR used Armadillo before I could.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
.
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
I'm no linguist, but I think the word "town" has a more recent origin, since people started to separate 'cities' from 'villages' but 'ville / village' was the norm before.
huh, apparently it's neither:
(edit: it was for France, which is probably why I made the assumption, because that's relatively nearby)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ville
The Horror the horror
Banned
Town names:
Cash
Redhorn
Silverwheel
Oakmill
Deadriver (if you choose this one, make sure there's a river near town lol)
Cash
Redhorn
Silverwheel
Oakmill
Deadriver (if you choose this one, make sure there's a river near town lol)
Freeza Under The Shower
Member
.
Wouldn't exactly trust the water in Deadriver. Probably where they dump their bodies.
The Horror the horror
Banned
Wouldn't exactly trust the water in Deadriver. Probably where they dump their bodies.
SUMMIN AINT RIGHT BOUT THAT WATER, ELI!!!
Any suggestions on current best practice for promoting your works?
I have like 10 short-ish stories (longest is 10k words) I've written and are up on Amazon, sales are ok, nothing crazy, but I'd like to push them more of course. I've tried countdown deals, free giveaways, tweeting shit on twitter, reddit subforums... what else am I missing? Should I just be content with my 15-20 bucks per month I get on Amazon?
I have like 10 short-ish stories (longest is 10k words) I've written and are up on Amazon, sales are ok, nothing crazy, but I'd like to push them more of course. I've tried countdown deals, free giveaways, tweeting shit on twitter, reddit subforums... what else am I missing? Should I just be content with my 15-20 bucks per month I get on Amazon?
The Horror the horror
Banned
Tried consolidating them into a single anthology and finding a publisher?
I'm not sure they are good enough to be properly published, though could be imposter syndrome kicking in. My work is well edited and has gotten decent feedback, but I'm not sure it's really all that great.
I do have a bundle on Amazon of 5 stories since they are part of a series. Kind of an episodic novel, and checks in at around 30k words. I feel like I should have some sort of established market or history of selling at least decently before I pitch it to a publisher yeah? Any "alternative" type publishers you suggest I should reach out to?
It's a realistic, erotic travel series focused on establishing a strong sense of place + sex lol
Android app support does sound like something I can easily take advantage of.
EDIT: Doing a bit of research, and I've wanted to ask; has there been any progress on getting Scrivener to work on a Chromebook, or would its absence be a potential dealbreaker? I can use Evernote, but I'd like to try the former too.
Not anytime soon. They just released Scrivenor on IOS, so that's an option too if you're going for portability.
timetokill
Banned
Thanks for all the suggestions, writer people Some good ones in there, with some fiddlin'
Some good ones in there, with some fiddlin'on the minus side I am failing to outline stuff and put all my lore in scrivenger.
on the plus side I actually broke 60k in july now.
if I can write another 1k words tomorrow night I can reach a 2k words per night on average in july. which is a pace I would love to keep up as it would mean I would finish my rough draft of the entire story in under 2 years assuming everything sticks to my overall outline o.o;
on the plus side I actually broke 60k in july now.
if I can write another 1k words tomorrow night I can reach a 2k words per night on average in july. which is a pace I would love to keep up as it would mean I would finish my rough draft of the entire story in under 2 years assuming everything sticks to my overall outline o.o;
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
SolVanderlyn
Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
Gold Stone
Wagon Hill
Redhill
Stillriver
Pilgrim's Respite
Heaven's Gully
Sandy Rock
Wagon Hill
Redhill
Stillriver
Pilgrim's Respite
Heaven's Gully
Sandy Rock
Blargonaut
Banned
circumstance of founding vs. based off landmarks...
- Old Hand
- Sleevesville (made colloquially over time into?) Sleeville, Sleville
- Sicksville
- God Man (maybe a place of breathtaking natural beauty?)
- Circlet (had its origin in a treaty after a wagon-circle standoff?)
- Peace Mill
- Legging
- Mundane
- Oblige
- Hard Sell (made colloquially over time into?) Harsel, Harcel
- Nine Ton
timetokill
Banned
You guys rock . Lots of great ones!
Something that's interesting about some old west town names is that they might be named after a prospector who made the find that sparked the town into becoming a boom town or a mining town. Or named after the resource he found (silver, gold, etc).
. Lots of great ones!Something that's interesting about some old west town names is that they might be named after a prospector who made the find that sparked the town into becoming a boom town or a mining town. Or named after the resource he found (silver, gold, etc).
Conkersbadfurday
Member
So I've had this novella idea for awhile that I might finally get to since not writing feels strange. Story is about a kid and his creepy imaginary friend that lives inside him.
Thing is, I want to tell it from a first person perspective as if the kid is talking. The frame work is that he's going in for experimental surgery and chatting away as he falls asleep. As the story gets more surreal, you figure he's now dreaming.
I guess the worry is that 50 or so pages of a nine year old narrating might get annoying. I'd want it in his voice from start to finish, with the occasional interruption from his imaginary friend. This means that details are going to be all over the place as he tells what he thinks is important. He'll forget conversations and probably paraphrase a lot--basically how someone would talk and tell a story off the fly.
Thoughts on how this might work? I tend to get annoyed at first person stories that feel too clean, especially when the framework is, "I'm telling this story to you." I get that it's a writing convention to keep it that way, without pauses and ums and "i forget what happened"s, but ti's also really unrealistic for me.
Thing is, I want to tell it from a first person perspective as if the kid is talking. The frame work is that he's going in for experimental surgery and chatting away as he falls asleep. As the story gets more surreal, you figure he's now dreaming.
I guess the worry is that 50 or so pages of a nine year old narrating might get annoying. I'd want it in his voice from start to finish, with the occasional interruption from his imaginary friend. This means that details are going to be all over the place as he tells what he thinks is important. He'll forget conversations and probably paraphrase a lot--basically how someone would talk and tell a story off the fly.
Thoughts on how this might work? I tend to get annoyed at first person stories that feel too clean, especially when the framework is, "I'm telling this story to you." I get that it's a writing convention to keep it that way, without pauses and ums and "i forget what happened"s, but ti's also really unrealistic for me.
Conker actually reminded me of a perspective question I'd like to ask.
I've been toying with the idea of making my protagonist "genderless", in the sense that readers would be able to identify with them regardless of their gender identity, as well as make up their own minds as to the character's gender. I appreciated Undertale for doing this in a way that was nice and respectable, and the fandom easily latched onto it.
What do you all think of this approach? Have there been any books or other media that has done this as well?
I've been toying with the idea of making my protagonist "genderless", in the sense that readers would be able to identify with them regardless of their gender identity, as well as make up their own minds as to the character's gender. I appreciated Undertale for doing this in a way that was nice and respectable, and the fandom easily latched onto it.
What do you all think of this approach? Have there been any books or other media that has done this as well?
Conkersbadfurday
Member
I can't think of any. I do know that, despite being grammatically correct, seeing "they" used as a singular drives me fucking bugshit. A novel filled with that would probably make me lose my mind
I believe that John Scalzi did something like this in his novel Lock In.
I think it's a great idea.
Neoleo2143
Member
Hmm, my first decent writing idea and I've already hit a roadblock.
The narrative is that of the first documented time that magic was used in warfare. Basically, it was a giant mess and not even the strategists familiar with magic could really predict the damage. But at the same time I want to describe the positive influence that such a leap in technology would grant to two nations prior to and post war.
I understand all things begin with an idea. But I'm struggling to create to think up original characters to fit the world I'm thinking up. I'm not surprised since this is probably my first time writing a narrative like this. WritingGAF do you have any suggestions for character inspirations?
The narrative is that of the first documented time that magic was used in warfare. Basically, it was a giant mess and not even the strategists familiar with magic could really predict the damage. But at the same time I want to describe the positive influence that such a leap in technology would grant to two nations prior to and post war.
I understand all things begin with an idea. But I'm struggling to create to think up original characters to fit the world I'm thinking up. I'm not surprised since this is probably my first time writing a narrative like this. WritingGAF do you have any suggestions for character inspirations?
FlowersisBritish
fleurs n'est pas britannique
So i submitted a short story I have probably put the most work into my entire life, and I am so nervous about a rejection letter. Been through the ringer plenty of times, but it's been a long time since I put so much effort into a story and so much time since I last wore my heart on my sleeve like this. Hoping for the best. Side note, hit all my submission deadlines for the month and that never happens. Woot.
I tend to like to find unusual analogs in the real world for weird fantasy stuff. What if it worked like the stock market? Where the magic is pretty much random, but there are tons of experts who say they know how it works but all of them have different opinions and it's just a giant clusterfuck. So, look at a stock market guy and see if any of those assholes would be fun to watch dick around in your universe.
I tend to like to find unusual analogs in the real world for weird fantasy stuff. What if it worked like the stock market? Where the magic is pretty much random, but there are tons of experts who say they know how it works but all of them have different opinions and it's just a giant clusterfuck. So, look at a stock market guy and see if any of those assholes would be fun to watch dick around in your universe.
Conkersbadfurday
Member
I tend to start with characters first and plots second, but as far as plots go, you got yourself a fucking winner. Best of luck!
Neoleo2143
Member
Thanks! My real world inspiration was a combination of the American Civil War and World War 1 and I wanted to operate on one basic rule while reading so many fantasy novels. It was that magic is effectively technology. Therefore any fantasy setting post magic in the short term would be dramatically be impacted in terms of the technological scale, economically and socially, a phenomena not unlike the Industrial Revolution, unless education or some societal function (usually class distinction) causes a roadblock. Then if a war were to occur after that...and the picture starts to make a bit more sense in terms of my thought process. There's more to that and I don't want to focus on magic entirely, but the perspective of magic within war, society and strategy. So I need to inject a human element into the narrative, and the narrative will likely mostly occur from the strategist perspective and likely a handful of soldier accounts. It's my first big writing project so I hope I haven't bit off more than I can chew.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Apparently, there is/was a TV adaptation of Octavia Butler's Dawn in the works.
http://io9.gizmodo.com/how-the-tv-show-of-octavia-butlers-dawn-will-stay-true-1728791278
Never read it myself, but I feel like at least one of Octavia's works should make it to a mainstream format, speaking of which a recent article from Fusion talks about this issue.
http://fusion.net/story/319408/octavia-butler-books-need-to-be-films/
I've heard stuff for a while, but nothing ever got off ground. There is a graphic novel version of Kindred coming out in January, but the art is looking pretty bad.
http://io9.gizmodo.com/how-the-tv-show-of-octavia-butlers-dawn-will-stay-true-1728791278
Never read it myself, but I feel like at least one of Octavia's works should make it to a mainstream format, speaking of which a recent article from Fusion talks about this issue.
http://fusion.net/story/319408/octavia-butler-books-need-to-be-films/
I've heard stuff for a while, but nothing ever got off ground. There is a graphic novel version of Kindred coming out in January, but the art is looking pretty bad.
Yeah, that one-two punch of being a black creator with black protagonists means that she may as well be Tyler Perry in the eyes of Hollywood. Minorities getting categorized and written off, oh so easily. :/
The Horror the horror
Banned
Fuck those who think that way.
True fans of sci-fi know her worth and contribution to the genre.
Conkersbadfurday
Member
After a month and a half of agenting, I got my first bite! Doing much better statistically with the second book than the first then, since it took like four months to get a bite with that.
Problem is this one was for a straight query letter, so who knows what'll happen when she sees the writing. I hope it's good but at this point I figure everything [redacted for being a pointless, self hating rant]
Problem is this one was for a straight query letter, so who knows what'll happen when she sees the writing. I hope it's good but at this point I figure everything [redacted for being a pointless, self hating rant]