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[zulux21]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Köppen_climate_classification

This will give you precisely what you need.

cool, thanks.

 

[Soulfire]

Which of those books particularly good on the subject of the nuts and bolts of writing? Like just knowing what to write and what to focus on in a scene, almost on a sentence to sentence level?

I've been trying to get back into writing as a creative outlet, but after an abysmal NaNoWriMo, have come to realize I just never know what my next sentence should be. like the scene is pretty clear in my head, but when I go to put it on paper, I'm never sure what details to choose to include , or get overwhelmed trying to cram everything in at once. I just don't know how to distill it all, and end up getting stuck no where. So if you have any suggestions for a book on the more nuts and bolts aspect of writing, I'd greatly appreciate some recommendations.

Strunk and White's The Elements of Style is a good book for the nuts and bolts of writing.

 

[BorkBork]

That quote really hit home for me and a lot of my inner thoughts. I've been feeling like with all that I've written, I should be much better than I am right now, but it's good to remember you really need a lot of practice to get good, and I do feel like I've made at least some strides recently. I'm really hoping with this latest batch of short stories I've been editing, they are actually "winners."

There's an element that we are all too hard on ourselves - we should be better than we are. That is tough to shake, especially when we are in still at the stage where we need validation (though I don't think that ever goes away).

Instead of just sensing, it might be instructive to sit down during a session and go through your early work to critique it, since you've gained some distance now and should be less passionate about it. Does that first story stand up to a critical eye? What works and what doesn't? Can it be changed into something better based on who you are as a writer now? Even if those stories can't be saved, are there elements you can salvage for a new story?

Which of those books particularly good on the subject of the nuts and bolts of writing? Like just knowing what to write and what to focus on in a scene, almost on a sentence to sentence level?

I've been trying to get back into writing as a creative outlet, but after an abysmal NaNoWriMo, have come to realize I just never know what my next sentence should be. like the scene is pretty clear in my head, but when I go to put it on paper, I'm never sure what details to choose to include , or get overwhelmed trying to cram everything in at once. I just don't know how to distill it all, and end up getting stuck no where. So if you have any suggestions for a book on the more nuts and bolts aspect of writing, I'd greatly appreciate some recommendations.

I was going to type out this big thing, but then I went on Goodreads and found a review that fitted your question:

Prior to having read LeGuin's "Steering the Craft," I relied on three books, more or less:

1. Strunk and White - Elements of Style
2. Stephen King - On Writing
3. John Gardner - The Art of Fiction

In that order. Strunk and White covered the bare bones fundamentals; King's book covers the creative process and Gardner gets into some of the more academic, abstract concepts like rhythm, sentence variation and syntax.

LeGuin's book falls somewhere between King and Gardner. She has insight for the budding writer, but makes it clear that her book neither intends to promote writing as a form of therapy or help you get into a habit of productivity. Her advice is concise, terse and poignant, and she focuses entirely on craft.

There's some fantastic advice here, including nuanced and thought-provoking arguments about passive vs. active voice, present vs. past tense. Her insights on crowding vs. leaping (how much do you leave out, and what do you leave in?) were especially useful.

LeGuin covers everything King and Gardner either didn't cover or just touched upon. Her book feels like a valuable corollary, a good addition to a well-rounded reference. A short book, but precise in its advice, with a rare emphasis on those elements of creative writing that no one seems to talk about (voice, perspective, sentence structure, avoiding expository lumps, good use of punctuation).

Don't read this book for advice on plot, dialogue, characterization or pacing. "On Writing" is probably more useful there. This is a book of techniques.

 

[sirap]

Do you mind sharing your 2016 revenue numbers and how many books it is spread across? And what's your word count look like yearly?

I won't go into specifics but I've made well over a million dollars from sales and KU with a catalog of >100 books. Of course that number is meaningless because a large chunk of it is old erotica written during the KU 1.0 days. Besides the occasional sale every now and then they don't really serve any purpose (most have probably been dungeoned anyway)

My heavy hitters are 35-40k romance novels and bundles made out of multiple 15-20k shorts.

I don't write as fast as I used to (complacency is a bitch) but I still make an effort to hit 5k everyday six times a week.

 

[Jintor]

i'm guessing writing is your full-time sirap?

i'd love to make it mine someday but... that's a little beyond me right now with my library of 0

 

[H.Protagonist]

New Year's Resolution Challenge: Commercial Writing - Update

All right, NYE Challenge participants! We're day 4 into the challenge and at this stage you should have decided the direction you're going and put a few words to paper or dusted off that old manuscript and appraised it with an eye for how to make it work in novella form. This week is mainly for getting your engine up and running, but do try to have ~5-10k by EOD Sunday the 8th.

The beginning is the hardest part, but once you start slapping some words down you'll feel better. Remember: It's just a short book. It's not a mountain, just a grassy little hill in the grand scheme of things. Like NaNoWriMo, you just have to run with it. Editing passes can take place end of every week or last week of the challenge, so don't get bogged down during the week fretting over lines or trying to tweak. Just put it to paper.

Week 1 goals:

- General idea of what you're doing
- Silly pen name
- 5-10k down

Coming up in Week 2...

- Amazon account
- Twitter account
- MOAR WORDS


Question: What theme/story direction/genre are you going for?


NYR Challenge Participants:
H.Protagonist
Cyan
Ashes
Angmars
Dolla Dolla
Freeza Under The Shower ?
Delio
FlowersisBritish
Soulfire
mu cephei
Valerie Cherish

 

[Jintor]

i feel like my brain is trying to distract me from writing my first idea by bombarding me with ideas for other garbage to write instead

 

[Osahi]

i feel like my brain is trying to distract me from writing my first idea by bombarding me with ideas for other garbage to write instead

That's normal. I'm working on a beat sheet of a project I need to get out by week's end, and this morning I had an 'amazing' scene just popping in my head under the shower for another project I planned on working next week. (Pretty sure that once I put it to page the idea won't be so amazing anymore). I never knew otherwise. I tent to just write the new ideas in a notebook fast, and focus myself on the project at hand.

As for books in (screen)writing, I am inclined to go against the concensus and say: read as much as you can. Sure, lots of those books are offering just formula's and step-by-step plans withouth the main ingredient (a good idea, and something to tell), but I find them inspiring nontheless. Usually when you read these books it is because you have an idea in mind, and trying to rhyme the theory with your idea is always inspiring. I also find that even after reading a lot of them, new ones often offer a new insight or inspiration that in your case may or may not be helpfull. It's good to read them, it's bad to take them as gospel.

As a screenwriter I also found that those beat sheets and structures like safe the cat, are very helpfull in the planning stage. I also found that they tend to work or not based on the idea and story. Some stories just work great with Save the Cat, others feel like a formula when you use it and need a more natural flow or less strict structure...

 

[AngmarsKing701]

I won't go into specifics but I've made well over a million dollars from sales and KU with a catalog of >100 books. Of course that number is meaningless because a large chunk of it is old erotica written during the KU 1.0 days. Besides the occasional sale every now and then they don't really serve any purpose (most have probably been dungeoned anyway)

My heavy hitters are 35-40k romance novels and bundles made out of multiple 15-20k shorts.

I don't write as fast as I used to (complacency is a bitch) but I still make an effort to hit 5k everyday six times a week.

Out of curiosity, is that all one pen name or do you use different pen names for the different genres?

 

[sirap]

i'm guessing writing is your full-time sirap?

i'd love to make it mine someday but... that's a little beyond me right now with my library of 0

Yup, full-time.

Out of curiosity, is that all one pen name or do you use different pen names for the different genres?

I only write under romance, but I have multiple pen-names for different sub-genres. Christian/Regency Romance readers do not like shifters.

 

[DD]

I've read some writers saying that if you want to write, you should read good books, but also bad books. You can learn with both (what to do and what not to do). I have to say that now that I'm adding the final touches on my first book, reading bad books is (of course) painful, but good for the ego, 'cuz I keep seeing stuff and saying "ew, that's bad, and this guy was published! I can do better than that!". But reading great book ends up being even more painful, and awful for the ego. I'm currently reading Fight Club for the first time, and holy f*, Chuck Palahniuk is brutal! I keep thinking "I will never be nearly as good as this guy". Do you guys feel the same? How do you deal with that?

 

[Scirrocco]

I was going to type out this big thing, but then I went on Goodreads and found a review that fitted your question:

Strunk and White's The Elements of Style is a good book for the nuts and bolts of writing.

Thanks for the recommendations. I've actually read a part of Elements, when a friend had it, and thought it was pretty damn useful then, but i never owned a copy myself. I'll try and pick one up/.

My situations just getting frustrating. I feel like i can't improve anymore without getting some actual critiques, but am not actually able to produce anything.

In the mean time, do you guys have any methods or strategies you find useful for putting words on the page? What does a real writer consider when they're putting a paragraph together?

 

[BorkBork]

I've read some writers saying that if you want to write, you should read good books, but also bad books. You can learn with both (what to do and what not to do). I have to say that now that I'm adding the final touches on my first book, reading bad books is (of course) painful, but good for the ego, 'cuz I keep seeing stuff and saying "ew, that's bad, and this guy was published! I can do better than that!". But reading great book ends up being even more painful, and awful for the ego. I'm currently reading Fight Club for the first time, and holy f*, Chuck Palahniuk is brutal! I keep thinking "I will never be nearly as good as this guy". Do you guys feel the same? How do you deal with that?

That's good advice. Along the same lines, what I actually like to do is reread things from way back that I used to love, and see if they hold up, story-wise, prose-wise. That way you have a grounding on what you liked and you can see how your tastes and skill have changed as well. (Hopefully it has changed!)

Thanks for the recommendations. I've actually read a part of Elements, when a friend had it, and thought it was pretty damn useful then, but i never owned a copy myself. I'll try and pick one up/.

My situations just getting frustrating. I feel like i can't improve anymore without getting some actual critiques, but am not actually able to produce anything.

In the mean time, do you guys have any methods or strategies you find useful for putting words on the page? What does a real writer consider when they're putting a paragraph together?

What's stopping you from getting critiques? I feel like that's super important if you are looking to polish your material.

 

[UCBooties]

Well, after a very productive couple of months, December fell apart on me. (Well, I fell apart in December, but whatever...)

So now I'm scratching back to writing a little bit of something every day but, yeah, not much going on...

Part 3 of the story I wrote for Beneath Nexus recently got posted, so that's nice to see, but I don't have any way to see if that's getting any readers or not. At least I got paid for it.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

I've read some writers saying that if you want to write, you should read good books, but also bad books. You can learn with both (what to do and what not to do). I have to say that now that I'm adding the final touches on my first book, reading bad books is (of course) painful, but good for the ego, 'cuz I keep seeing stuff and saying "ew, that's bad, and this guy was published! I can do better than that!". But reading great book ends up being even more painful, and awful for the ego. I'm currently reading Fight Club for the first time, and holy f*, Chuck Palahniuk is brutal! I keep thinking "I will never be nearly as good as this guy". Do you guys feel the same? How do you deal with that?

I do this too. Granted, I get review copies of books on occasion, so the bad books I read are free.

If I finish a first draft and am iffy on it, I'll purposefully seek out a bad book just to give myself some confidence.

But I do agree that knowing what not to do can be just as beneficial than knowing what to do. I like to think I've learned a lot from both kinds of novels.

 

[Master Milk]

new year's not off to a good start

writing everything that isn't dialogue is so hard, even when i know what's supposed to be happening

i feel like this isn't an internal editor getting in the way, and just me not knowing how to write

feels bad

 

[DD]

That's good advice. Along the same lines, what I actually like to do is reread things from way back that I used to love, and see if they hold up, story-wise, prose-wise. That way you have a grounding on what you liked and you can see how your tastes and skill have changed as well. (Hopefully it has changed!)

Yeah, some time ago I got a book that I effin loved the first time I read, but the second time with it was... eh, it's cool. Just cool. And not because I had read it before, but because I was so virgin with literature, and that was one of the first books I bought back then. So my tastes and skills were definitely improved.

I do this too. Granted, I get review copies of books on occasion, so the bad books I read are free.

If I finish a first draft and am iffy on it, I'll purposefully seek out a bad book just to give myself some confidence.

But I do agree that knowing what not to do can be just as beneficial than knowing what to do. I like to think I've learned a lot from both kinds of novels.

That's an interesting strategy, haha!

new year's not off to a good start

writing everything that isn't dialogue is so hard, even when i know what's supposed to be happening

i feel like this isn't an internal editor getting in the way, and just me not knowing how to write

feels bad

Here's the thing: if you believe that that's a story you'd be proud of and really wants to tell the world, just do it, no matter how bad you think your writing is. No one gets things right from the get go, and it won't be different with you. Just do it til the end. Once you have the first draft, you can start polishing. It will be a shock at first, because it will be bad, and that's the same with you, me and most writers on this planet. You'll fix it once, and it will still be bad. Do it twice, and it will still be bad. On the third pass it will start to get a good shape. Do it how many times you feel you need. It's much much easier to fix it than getting it right from the beginning. Trying to get it right from the start is a recipe for frustration.

 

[Mr-Joker]

How do you guys deal with procrastination? I currently starting to procrastinate and want to nip it in the bud.

Here's the thing: if you believe that that's a story you'd be proud of and really wants to tell the world, just do it, no matter how bad you think your writing is. No one gets things right from the get go, and it won't be different with you. Just do it til the end. Once you have the first draft, you can start polishing. It will be a shock at first, because it will be bad, and that's the same with you, me and most writers on this planet. You'll fix it once, and it will still be bad. Do it twice, and it will still be bad. On the third pass it will start to get a good shape. Do it how many times you feel you need. It's much much easier to fix it than getting it right from the beginning. Trying to get it right from the start is a recipe for frustration.

Agreed, I am currently working on a first draft and I have already accepted that everything that I have written and will write are terrible and that I should continue writing and then fix it up in the editing process after a reread and getting feedback from others.

 

[Valdfellgar]

How do you guys deal with procrastination? I currently starting to procrastinate and want to nip it in the bud.



Agreed, I am currently working on a first draft and I have already accepted that everything that I have written and will write are terrible and that I should continue writing and then fix it up in the editing process after a reread and getting feedback from others.

I do my writing early in the day, before starting work (Anime reviews in my case) so the best of me goes into it before I'm tired and used up from a long day. It helps make sure I stay on task.

 

[Scirrocco]

What's stopping you from getting critiques? I feel like that's super important if you are looking to polish your material.

Literally just can't produce. I just can't get what's in my head into the page. Can't get a critique of nothing.

Checked out elements again. I'd forgotten the 'White' wasE.B. white. I love that guy. OAFK was probably the first time I'd actually enjoyed reading a book for English.

It may be a little to 'nuts and bolts' though. The last chapter was the most helpful, but it's only 15 pages. I'll check out some of the other recommendations this week.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

I do my writing early in the day, before starting work (Anime reviews in my case) so the best of me goes into it before I'm tired and used up from a long day. It helps make sure I stay on task.

That's my time to get to the gym. I am just out of time or energy between gym, work, cooking, sometimes getting in a walk after dinner to ensure I hit my daily steps.

Ugh.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

How do you guys deal with procrastination? I currently starting to procrastinate and want to nip it in the bud.

I tend to write as soon as I get home from work. I give myself a minimum of three double-spaced pages a night when I'm in the middle of a book, which feels like a pretty easily-achieved goal. It's one I can hit every day.

Music can help. I tend to go with instrumental stuff, but lately atmospheric black metal has proven to be a good motivator.

And if all else fails, a shot or two of whiskey never hurt anyone.

 

[Emerson]

I've been writing again recently. Feels good.

I've written a handful of fairly solid short stories over the last couple years but never really seriously tackled a novel (ignoring some abominable efforts in my early teens). The story I'm writing now is one I've been kicking around for the better part of a decade. At one point (in college) I wrote 30k words and trashed it. A couple years later (in grad school) I wrote a similar amount and trashed it again. I never really felt the commitment and drive before, but I do feel it now. I think I've personally and creatively matured to a point where I can actually get this done.

I started in early November. I'm now a full time ER doc so free time is not exactly overflowing, but this week I crossed the 20k words mark. I'm (relatively) happy with what I've got and eager to do more. Good luck to all out there trying something similar. It's a hell of a task.

 

[zulux21]

How do you guys deal with procrastination? I currently starting to procrastinate and want to nip it in the bud.
.

it's hard to see since it's at the bottom of the op... but this is great advice for that

 

[toddhunter]

New Year's Resolution Challenge: Commercial Writing - Update

Would love to and I've been writing steadily over the past few weeks. But I'm back at work for the start of the year now and so... yeah.

Best of luck, I hope to read some.

 

[Scirrocco]

How do you guys deal with procrastination? I currently starting to procrastinate and want to nip it in the bud.



Agreed, I am currently working on a first draft and I have already accepted that everything that I have written and will write are terrible and that I should continue writing and then fix it up in the editing process after a reread and getting feedback from others.

For procrastination, there's a nice technique I found during my last job search. Its called kanban. It's teelly more for work production, but it helps me a bit. Set a timer, work for 25 minutes, break for 5 repeat. There's also some stuff about dividing work into columns but when you're only activity is 'write' you don't really need it.

It's also nice to get a token or something, I use a ring bit it could be almost anything, and keep it with you when you write, and when you find yourself procrastinate ing touch it to remind yourself to focus.

I find those helpful. Maybe you will too.

And just remember, no matter how bad you 're writing is, it can't be worse then mine.

 

[Ghostshark]

Hopefully this isn't against the spirit of the thread, but I was wondering if I could get some feedback on the overall idea of my story. I enjoy writing bizarre fiction, especially fantasy and sci-fi. I'm continuing the project regardless of the feedback I get, but I would like some opinions on if this comes across as too erratic. Execution of the story will be key, but this is an overall plot blurb.

The story is about Gilgamimic, a good natured mimic treasure box that contains something horrible. If something tries to open him, he loses control and consumes his victim, assimilating them into his form. With consent, he eats his skeletal girlfriend which becomes the framework of his body. As the story continues, he eats and adds more creatures to his "collection."

The world is ruled by four gods. Only mortal creatures can use magic, which is siphoned from one of the four. During the events of the story, that god will slumber, cutting off magic. This will be catastrophic because the world's economy revolves around it. Especially for the frail giants, the dominate race on the planet, which bury themselves beneath the earth and use magic to pilot human sized golems to interact with the smaller races.

The plot will follow Gilgamimic's life in this world that is alien to him, and his interaction with the giants as society collapses.

This was my NaNoWriMo project from last year which I'm currently editing. This will be the first novel that I will publish, even if I have to finance it myself.

 

[Dolla Dolla]

For procrastination, there's a nice technique I found during my last job search. Its called kanban. It's teelly more for work production, but it helps me a bit. Set a timer, work for 25 minutes, break for 5 repeat. There's also some stuff about dividing work into columns but when you're only activity is 'write' you don't really need it.

It's also nice to get a token or something, I use a ring bit it could be almost anything, and keep it with you when you write, and when you find yourself procrastinate ing touch it to remind yourself to focus.

I find those helpful. Maybe you will too.

And just remember, no matter how bad you 're writing is, it can't be worse then mine.

Sounds like the Pomodoro technique. And it works pretty well.

 

[toddhunter]

The story is about Gilgamimic, a good natured mimic treasure box that contains something horrible. If something tries to open him, he loses control and consumes his victim, assimilating them into his form. With consent, he eats his skeletal girlfriend which becomes the framework of his body. As the story continues, he eats and adds more creatures to his "collection."

Sounds interesting, but maybe the character is a bit limited or hard to relate to? I wouldn't expect a mimic to have a lot of things to do and say besides sitting there mimicing a chest. That would mean in my mind it would have to be a very of wacky/offbeat mimic, which would typically work better as a sidekick character? "Oh FFS, did you just eat another fucking giant?"

But yeah, give it a go, sounds fun.

 

[DD]

Funny thing happened with me yesterday here in this thread. So, I have this new story in my mind (thinking about participating on the challenge :3), but it had two clear problems. The first was how to reveal the good side of a bad character through out the story without revealing that these good deeds and good side as belonging to him. I needed to show mysterious good deeds, but it would be a too obvious plot twist (ooh, the bad guys was actually the good guy!). The second problem was about how to close the story. One way was explosive, where the bad guys get rekd, but that's not necessary good for the rest of the people; and the other way is to make the bad people bleed without even noticing, and the hero dying as a villain, which is good for the good people.

While I was writing the post, the lose pieces suddenly get fit in the puzzle and everything made sense, so I deleted everything and moved on. But thinking about it now, I think I've seen someone recommending people to write their problems, to put them on paper. I don't know if this is true, or if it's something from my mind, but whatever, I think that putting things on the screen really helped me, so I suggest you guys to try it when you face similar stuff.

Hopefully this isn't against the spirit of the thread, but I was wondering if I could get some feedback on the overall idea of my story. I enjoy writing bizarre fiction, especially fantasy and sci-fi. I'm continuing the project regardless of the feedback I get, but I would like some opinions on if this comes across as too erratic. Execution of the story will be key, but this is an overall plot blurb.

The story is about Gilgamimic, a good natured mimic treasure box that contains something horrible. If something tries to open him, he loses control and consumes his victim, assimilating them into his form. With consent, he eats his skeletal girlfriend which becomes the framework of his body. As the story continues, he eats and adds more creatures to his "collection."

The world is ruled by four gods. Only mortal creatures can use magic, which is siphoned from one of the four. During the events of the story, that god will slumber, cutting off magic. This will be catastrophic because the world's economy revolves around it. Especially for the frail giants, the dominate race on the planet, which bury themselves beneath the earth and use magic to pilot human sized golems to interact with the smaller races.

The plot will follow Gilgamimic's life in this world that is alien to him, and his interaction with the giants as society collapses.

This was my NaNoWriMo project from last year which I'm currently editing. This will be the first novel that I will publish, even if I have to finance it myself.

Seems like an interesting universe, although you're not revealing much of the plot. How many types of creatures you'll put on this story, and which one you'll try to use to make the reader feel sympathy for?

 

[AngmarsKing701]

I still haven't started anything on the challenge... ugh.

For pen names, if one is contemplating fantasy/romance, go with female or male or does it matter?

 

[Soulfire]

Was doing pretty good the first few days of the challenge, have just under 9k words, but yesterday I felt like hell and didn't accomplish anything. Things aren't looking too good today either. Was hoping to end the week at 15k, we'll see what happens. With the snow this weekend, as long as the power doesn't go out, maybe I'll have the time to write. We'll see.

AngmarsKing701- I think female pen names do better with romance. You could try a gender neutral name maybe.

 

[H.Protagonist]

Would love to and I've been writing steadily over the past few weeks. But I'm back at work for the start of the year now and so... yeah.

Best of luck, I hope to read some.

Boo, was hoping you'd join. You can totally squeeze it in! Perhaps do like Freeza was thinking and shoot for the lower range (20k) or even limit yourself to 1-2 books instead of 3. 1 page a day! Easy~

Funny thing happened with me yesterday here in this thread. So, I have this new story in my mind (thinking about participating on the challenge :3), but it had two clear problems. The first was how to reveal the good side of a bad character through out the story without revealing that these good deeds and good side as belonging to him. I needed to show mysterious good deeds, but it would be a too obvious plot twist (ooh, the bad guys was actually the good guy!). The second problem was about how to close the story. One way was explosive, where the bad guys get rekd, but that's not necessary good for the rest of the people; and the other way is to make the bad people bleed without even noticing, and the hero dying as a villain, which is good for the good people.

While I was writing the post, the lose pieces suddenly get fit in the puzzle and everything made sense, so I deleted everything and moved on. But thinking about it now, I think I've seen someone recommending people to write their problems, to put them on paper. I don't know if this is true, or if it's something from my mind, but whatever, I think that putting things on the screen really helped me, so I suggest you guys to try it when you face similar stuff.




Seems like an interesting universe, although you're not revealing much of the plot. How many types of creatures you'll put on this story, and which one you'll try to use to make the reader feel sympathy for?

Yessssssssss... It'll be a great trial run for when you decide to move forward with your serious work. :3

I still haven't started anything on the challenge... ugh.

For pen names, if one is contemplating fantasy/romance, go with female or male or does it matter?

Don't stress, A. First order of business is to decide on your silly pen name. From everything I've read about the matter, it seems people tend to prefer female handles for romance. Not sure about Sci-Fi. I'd say just make that one ambiguous. For your writing goal, just try to shoot for 5 pages by end of Sunday. You can whip out 5 pages in your sleep. It's a totally doable number and will get you off the starting blocks. So get movin'! Pen name must be decided tonight! No excuses!

Was doing pretty good the first few days of the challenge, have just under 9k words, but yesterday I felt like hell and didn't accomplish anything. Things aren't looking too good today either. Was hoping to end the week at 15k, we'll see what happens. With the snow this weekend, as long as the power doesn't go out, maybe I'll have the time to write. We'll see.

AngmarsKing701- I think female pen names do better with romance. You could try a gender neutral name maybe.

9k is great! I'm barely over the 7k mark on my end. On the plus side, being snowed in sounds like an amazing setting for writing, so you'll definitely hit at least 12k, I bet. All we get here is gloomy chill which inspires...not much.

 

[Soulfire]

Was working on getting the last of what I have already written moved into my new word doc, making it cohesive and making minor adjustments, when I had a contraction. Was about to stop but that gave me the motivation to just go ahead and get everything transferred over. I think I added about 2k new words total and I'm up to just over 16k.
Originally I had planned for the book to be about 70k since that's about standard for a cozy, but now I'm working toward 30-40 for the challenge. A body doesn't turn up until just under 10k so that might be something I'll have to fix in editing.
Everything from here on out is going to be new so it's going to take longer and it's possible the little lumberjack could make his presence known soon so who knows what I'll get done. At least I've made a sizable dent.

 

[Jintor]

How are you finding plotting a mystery? The outlining process is hell

 

[Soulfire]

How are you finding plotting a mystery? The outlining process is hell

Lol I think that's where I'm going to have issues because I haven't done any plotting or outlining. I've focused on the characters, but this was an experiment. I really like to read cozies and they aren't gruesome or heavy on specific details so hopefully that will help me. I've got a red herring for the reader and one of my main characters is being set up for the police to go after so that will inspire the MCs to figure out who really did it. I just have to figure out who really did it and why. It's a supernatural cozy so I'm leaning toward the person that was murdered was for an item that was really special maybe by the demon mayor because politicians. Not sure. Once I figure it out I can go back and hopefully spread little clues for the reader.

 

[Jintor]

Oh.

Maybe I should stop freaking out so much about plotting then. But I'm writing a procedural, so...

 

[Emerson]

I don't know how outliners do it honestly. To be fair I've never written a mystery story and that certainly seems to ask for an outline more than most, but I just can't even tolerate writing that way.

 

[Soulfire]

I normally have an idea of what I want to accomplish, occasionally have certain things that have to happen, but that's as far as I plot. Rarely do I write it down, unless it's a later book in the series and I know I have several questions that have to be answered. If I plot too much it ends up boring me because I know what's going to happen. But so far that works for me, it doesn't work for everyone.

 

[Jintor]

I'm still not sure of my style. I've tried sans outline and I just end up spinning my wheels, but then I've not written a full (or more traditional-style) story yet either.

 

[Soulfire]

Just keep trying eventually you'll hit on something that works for you. Maybe a fusion of the two? There are different plotting methods I believe, maybe the one you're using isn't working for you and you should try another? Maybe you need to just stick it out and force yourself to finish just so you know that you can and the next book will be easier? It's a learning experience either way so it's not wasted time.

 

[Klendathu Club Owner]

Hi guys, how do you approach editing your stories?
I have a finished story of about 70k words.
I thought about first quickly going thourgh it to correct glaring spelling/grammar mistakes. Then I wanted to print the whole damn thing (with line numbers) and highlight parts that need work with markers.
Suggestions would be very much welcome.

 

[Emerson]

Hi guys, how do you approach editing your stories?
I have a finished story of about 70k words.
I thought about first quickly going thourgh it to correct glaring spelling/grammar mistakes. Then I wanted to print the whole damn thing (with line numbers) and highlight parts that need work with markers.
Suggestions would be very much welcome.

Personally I wouldn't bother doing a complete revision pass solely looking for spelling/grammar issues. It's actually pretty easy to miss your own mistakes unless they're really obvious, so I'd recommend getting someone else to check you on that stuff.

I think it's really important to take a decent amount of time away after writing it. Several weeks at least. Then just read it. A lot of issues will jump out at you.

 

[BorkBork]

Yeah, putting it away and letting your mind clear is a necessary step. Then come back, read the thing out loud, and make notes.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Okay, 3,000 words today. I have started.

 

[Mr-Joker]

it's hard to see since it's at the bottom of the op... but this is great advice for that

Thanks for that, it really helped a lot and I actually managed to finish my goal of the week, which was to finish chapter two.

So I am going to spend all day tomorrow relaxing while also making notes for chapter 3 and set that for next week goal.

And just remember, no matter how bad you 're writing is, it can't be worse then mine.

Ha ha, how about this? We shall both strive to be good writers by stop worrying about being a bad writer.

I mean if a some poorly written work can get published then we can do one better.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

I'm going with the journal format, which for various reasons makes chapters obsolete (it's really more of a diary split into days) and makes editing less important (i.e., hey I was just writing in my journal and didn't ever think anyone was gonna read this so why should I give a shit about grammar).

 

[toddhunter]

Boo, was hoping you'd join. You can totally squeeze it in! Perhaps do like Freeza was thinking and shoot for the lower range (20k) or even limit yourself to 1-2 books instead of 3. 1 page a day! Easy~

Sorry but your charms are powerless against me ... although I do have something in that range that I have meant to edit for a while and it could be stretched out into multiple stories and oh my god I'm doing this now.

Hi guys, how do you approach editing your stories?
I have a finished story of about 70k words.
I thought about first quickly going thourgh it to correct glaring spelling/grammar mistakes. Then I wanted to print the whole damn thing (with line numbers) and highlight parts that need work with markers.
Suggestions would be very much welcome.

That approach seems similar to what I have done in the past. My process has been as follows:

* Phase 1: Read it. This is the most terrifying and difficult stage because every part of your body will not want to read it. Push through, because you'll find it is probably better than you thought. As you are reading, correct any huge errors, sentences that don't finish, words that are missing etc. You'll be surprised at the really obvious things that you messed up. The goal here is to get something that you can read from start to finish.
* Phase 2: Edit it by chapter. I still wouldn't print it out at this stage, because that can be a bit pricey. Instead I would set aside a night to go through each chapter with a fine tooth comb. This is the part where you might chuck things out, re-write little bits and make notes about things you need to fix/include/expand/contract in later chapters. The goal here is to refine each chapter until you are mostly happy with it. Don't be surprised if you have problem chapters here, need new chapters or take a few out. This is fine.
* Phase 3: Print and read it. This is a lot easier than phase 1. The idea here is to read it and not edit as you are going. Just read through and see how it has all come together. You may like to highlight as you go here, just to pick up the odd mistake that really bugs you, but try not to worry too much.
* Phase 4: Give it to someone else. You have probably reached the point where you have read everything 10 times and will not pick up the incredibly obvious mistakes you have made. So get a really nice person to go through it and highlight all the problems you have. Repeat for as many nice people as you know, but be careful about your choice of person. Partners are notoriously bad for taking an interest.
* Phase 5: Fix it. Take all the phase 4 feedback, ignore most of it because those people did not "get" your vision, but incorporate everything else and fix all the typos.
* Phase 6: Final read. You are really over it by now, but it'll be good enough. Try to pick up any errors you made in fixing errors, save it, get it published and then take a bit of a break because editing flat out sucks.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Hi guys, how do you approach editing your stories?
I have a finished story of about 70k words.
I thought about first quickly going thourgh it to correct glaring spelling/grammar mistakes. Then I wanted to print the whole damn thing (with line numbers) and highlight parts that need work with markers.
Suggestions would be very much welcome.

I start a secondary document for notes and the like, and just read through it and fix what I think needs fixing. I keep notes on plot points, character descriptions, character motives, etc and assign them to each chapter. When the book is done, I highlight which subplots are done and make note of when people die.

It's messy but it works.

I then do this four more times

 

[SolVanderlyn]

This is going to be a weird comment, but my new novel is fueled with the spirit of New Retro Wave.

It's all I listen to while I write it. The whole thing is 80's retro-future inspired. lol