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[Glass Rebel]

Didn't know GAF had a writing thread. I've been writing more in the last few months so I hope to become a frequent contributor here.

Recently finished the first draft of a short play (5 scenes, about 10k words right now) that I'm putting in the vault for now. Without revealing too much, it's basically a series of conversations. I'm pretty happy with the first two and the fourth scene already, the rest needs some work. I'm planning a companion piece that deals with similar themes but is essentially standalone. Would be cool if I could release both together by the end of the year but it's sort of a pipedream right now.

I'm currently trying to get back into prose again after doing scripts for a while. A friend and I started a private writing challenge recently (50k words until the end of February) and I thought I could turn an idea I had for a while into a novella, maybe even a novel. The story is more or less mapped out in my head (I really need to make it a habit to keep written notes) and I think I got a good feel of where I wanna take it stylistically but I'm happy for any advice from people who have written and finished something entirely in first person.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Well, after yet another rejection from The Ninth Life I think I'm officially done shopping that around. When I've got more free time, I'll go back and give it another editing pass. At least this last rejection letter gave me some feedback.

Too much tell/not enough show at parts. Didn't like the world building.

The former I can fix, the latter is subjective and probably won't change because of that.

It really is still like 2k words too long.

Was my first book, and one I wrote over two years ago now. I can hardly even remember writing it. I suppose one good thing to come of this is the writing in my second book was praised more than my first, so I've gotten better.

Killed all my motivation to write for my video game today though...

 

[Soulfire]

How's everyone doing on the challenge? I'm at 26K words and expect to finish book 1 (of 12, at least that's my plan anyway) this weekend. No idea if I can keep up this ridiculous pace. Hard to believe I've written as many words in a single month as I had written in the two years previous on book 2 in my Ahvarra series.

Bizarre.

I'm even tempted to toss the notion of a pen name and just go with my name.

Also, what is everyone doing for a cover? Canva? Do you do one time use of your design for $1 or do you need to buy the $10 use?

I've always just paid the dollar for each non free image I used. I think you need to sell like 50k copies before you need to renew, but I could be wrong. I'm on my phone right now and not able to look it up.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

Lol I gave up on the writing challenge. Atleast for this month, January and February typically are the months that I get most depressed/most bad things happen to me in.. I might try and bust a novella out next month because it is something I want to write.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

I've always just paid the dollar for each non free image I used. I think you need to sell like 50k copies before you need to renew, but I could be wrong. I'm on my phone right now and not able to look it up.

Thanks! I guess I could also use Amazon's cover maker.

 

[Soulfire]

Thanks! I guess I could also use Amazon's cover maker.

Just checked and it's 2k prints. So once you've had 2k downloads you'd just need to renew it I guess. I guess there are a few covers I need to repay for.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

How do trademarks work with titles? I want to call my current novel Toyland but it's trademarked.

https://trademarks.justia.com/860/51/toyland-86051373.html

I know nothing of law D:

I mean, I can just call it Checkmate and be good, but I like Toyland more.

 

[Valdfellgar]

How do trademarks work with titles? I want to call my current novel Toyland but it's trademarked.

https://trademarks.justia.com/860/51/toyland-86051373.html

I know nothing of law D:

I mean, I can just call it Checkmate and be good, but I like Toyland more.

Just skimming, but it looks like books isn't covered in the trademark, so I'd think you'd be okay.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Just skimming, but it looks like books isn't covered in the trademark, so I'd think you'd be okay.

It'll most likely get self published and sell sixteen copies so it's probably a pointless thing to worry about anyhow

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

I would ask an IP lawyer about that before doing something you'll regret. Even mentioning that here might be used as a sign of intent when thrown before a court.

A Trademark is a very different legal structure from basic copyright and using it in any successful manner where the trademark owner can prove that you profited from its legally protected name (like Batman (tm) or Superman (tm) or Iron Man (tm), etc) will put you in a world of hurt. Now frankly, I've never heard of this name before, so I doubt it's that big a deal (certainly if it's only a book, and the author is just a crazy person willing to pay for trademarks), but you really want to avoid crossing paths with either an actual company owned trademark or a crazy person like Harlan Ellison. You need to assume that anyone crazy enough to trademark - and getting it- their stuff is balls to the walls nuts, and you're much better off just dodging that shit altogether.

However, I do not believe there is acquired distinctiveness beyond the title, as explained in this blogpost thingy, so you can probably just use the title you want.

Also, if you look at the actual trademark you found, you'll see a few things like: no mention of books, so no overlap there, a wider range beyond what is apparently an amusement park, and lack of anything unrelated to said theme park.
Looking at the classification and filings, I would say someone if trying to develop this thing but so far unsuccessfully, looking at the temporary renewals. Wonder if they also have a wildlife preserve with giraffes (because of reasons). There is no realistic market overlap there or anything more than coincidental relations. You'll be fine.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

I would ask an IP lawyer about that before doing something you'll regret. Even mentioning that here might be used as a sign of intent when thrown before a court.

A Trademark is a very different legal structure from basic copyright and using it in any successful manner where the trademark owner can prove that you profited from its legally protected name (like Batman (tm) or Superman (tm) or Iron Man (tm), etc) will put you in a world of hurt. Now frankly, I've never heard of this name before, so I doubt it's that big a deal (certainly if it's only a book, and the author is just a crazy person willing to pay for trademarks), but you really want to avoid crossing paths with either an actual company owned trademark or a crazy person like Harlan Ellison. You need to assume that anyone crazy enough to trademark - and getting it- their stuff is balls to the walls nuts, and you're much better off just dodging that shit altogether.

However, I do not believe there is acquired distinctiveness beyond the title, as explained in this blogpost thingy, so you can probably just use the title you want.

Also, if you look at the actual trademark you found, you'll see a few things like: no mention of books, so no overlap there, a wider range beyond what is apparently an amusement park, and lack of anything unrelated to said theme park.
Looking at the classification and filings, I would say someone if trying to develop this thing but so far unsuccessfully, looking at the temporary renewals. Wonder if they also have a wildlife preserve with giraffes (because of reasons). There is no realistic market overlap there or anything more than coincidental relations. You'll be fine.

Honestly, the big problem is going to be all the toys themselves, since they're spoofs on real ones like GI Joe's (GI John's), Coba Commandos (Viper Commandos), and My Little Pony (My Little Horsey) I figure parody is in my favor, but it's hard to tell. I might have to go through and rename everything at some point.

 

[Soulfire]

I've been wanting to write these last two days. Since my in-laws left early today and my son let me get some sleep last night, I might try to get some done today in between laundry and everything else. For the challenge I'm still sitting at 21k words, looking to end it at 35k.

I've been reading this thread over on kboards about a woman who rented a motel room for 8 nights to try and write a novel in a week. She's on day three so far, it's been fun to read.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

I've been wanting to write these last two days. Since my in-laws left early today and my son let me get some sleep last night, I might try to get some done today in between laundry and everything else. For the challenge I'm still sitting at 21k words, looking to end it at 35k.

I've been reading this thread over on kboards about a woman who rented a motel room for 8 nights to try and write a novel in a week. She's on day three so far, it's been fun to read.

Congrats, by the way! So happy for you!



I hit 30,256 words today and novella 1 is complete. Gotta figure out how to get it from Google Docs into Amazon format, whether I want to use the cover I made in Canva or something via Amazon's cover creator, whether I want to use the pen name I made or just roll with my real name, then get it published by Feb 1.

Oh, and start novella #2, which I setup pretty well at the end of novella 1.

 

[Soulfire]

Congrats, by the way! So happy for you!



I hit 30,256 words today and novella 1 is complete. Gotta figure out how to get it from Google Docs into Amazon format, whether I want to use the cover I made in Canva or something via Amazon's cover creator, whether I want to use the pen name I made or just roll with my real name, then get it published by Feb 1.

Oh, and start novella #2, which I setup pretty well at the end of novella 1.

Thanks Congrats to you too on finishing. I've never used Amazon's cover creator and it's been a few years since I looked at it, but I don't remember it being very good. I am biased though since I love canva. Do you plan on doing any editing before publishing?
Is your novella in the same genre as your already published book? From what I've read about pen names there are two schools of thought. Just publish everything under one name because that gives your readers all kinds of options and most don't just read one genre, plus it's easier to keep track of everything for you. The other option, multiple pen names, keeps everything segmented and if you're releasing under that name your readers know exactly what they're getting. Both have their pros and cons and honestly I don't think there's a wrong choice, it's just what you want to do.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Thanks Congrats to you too on finishing. I've never used Amazon's cover creator and it's been a few years since I looked at it, but I don't remember it being very good. I am biased though since I love canva. Do you plan on doing any editing before publishing?
Is your novella in the same genre as your already published book? From what I've read about pen names there are two schools of thought. Just publish everything under one name because that gives your readers all kinds of options and most don't just read one genre, plus it's easier to keep track of everything for you. The other option, multiple pen names, keeps everything segmented and if you're releasing under that name your readers know exactly what they're getting. Both have their pros and cons and honestly I don't think there's a wrong choice, it's just what you want to do.

I've been editing it along the way. Pretty much write a scene, then go back and edit it. Also, take a look at it the next day before starting up again. Given I have a full time job, my schedule has been Mon-Fri, write 500 words per day; Sat & Sun, combine for 5K. That gives me 7500 words per week.

Since I really didn't start this until Jan 6 and it's Jan 29, I wrote 30K words in 24 days, so I overachieved. But as I've said earlier, this journal format allows for some informality that, to me, gives the writer a little leeway in the grammar and whatnot.

I will probably give it a read before publishing it.

In terms of genre, I labeled Ahvarra as both fantasy and historical, as I had built up how the dual world gets created from the ashes of the fall of the Roman Empire, when a certain group of people learned how to utilize magic to escape the chaos.

This is similarly set in historical terms, but I've avoided magic. That's not to say that, given the time it's written in, there won't be some who assume magic is happening even when it's explainable by today's audiences. For anyone who has read Bernard Cornwell's Arthur series, you will know what I mean. They have shamans doing wild dancing and throwing things into the air that spark and there are people who think the shaman is doing magic. But the reader knows he's not.

So... not exactly the same, but the roots of Ahvarra and the roots of this story are all based in the post-Roman Empire Dark Ages.


I do have a Canva cover which I kind of like, so I may just use that.

 

[Relix]

Man I can't believe I am gonna say this but I am this close to giving up on writing. My style and prose are shit, and my narrator's voice gets lost constantly. Been struggling for years with this stuff. Ugh. So frustrated right now.

 

[Valdfellgar]

Man I can't believe I am gonna say this but I am this close to giving up on writing. My style and prose are shit, and my narrator's voice gets lost constantly. Been struggling for years with this stuff. Ugh. So frustrated right now.

Take a step back and try to analyze your style. Just keep calm and try to figure out what you want to say and how you want to say it. Hopefully a little break will help.

Personally I'm frustrated, but more so with the political atmosphere of late. It makes me wish my novel was ready to be published already. The themes and message in my book would really go along with things, and has a message I really want to start getting out there. Makes me really wish my career was farther along than it is. I'd love to be able to at least make some kind of difference with my writing.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

I've been watching a good amount of martial arts movies lately and just finished with Ip Man 2 and now I want to write a martial arts movie with a black woman, but I think I'm weak when it comes to writing action.

 

[zulux21]

I've been wanting to write these last two days. Since my in-laws left early today and my son let me get some sleep last night, I might try to get some done today in between laundry and everything else. For the challenge I'm still sitting at 21k words, looking to end it at 35k.

I've been reading this thread over on kboards about a woman who rented a motel room for 8 nights to try and write a novel in a week. She's on day three so far, it's been fun to read.

i've been learning why I should give Yoshihiro Togashi a little more slack (writer of hunter x hunter)

something clearly went a bit wrong with my recent filling and I have been having mouth pain for the last 5 days. during which I can't think straight at all. Typically at work I run through plot ideas in my head, but the past few days I have nothing since I have to focus a bit more on making sure I don't clench at work (I have a bad habit of clenching when bored, but isn't typically an issue but now is with the new pain) I mean i have gotten a bit of ideas done, but my process has been seriously slowed with just a little tooth pain, I can't imagine what bad back pain does.

that being said, I do writing as an extra thing and he makes a living off of it so he should likely have more motivation than me to stay focused, but still I didn't think a little pain would interrupt things so badly.

I am hoping by tuesday night things will be more back to normal and I will be able to continue.

best i am managing right now is in my side project I am writing/voicing a very shonen like character so at the very least I can come up with a lot of random things to yell for the fun of it "THE EDGE OF AGONY!!!!"

 

[Glass Rebel]

I've been watching a good amount of martial arts movies lately and just finished with Ip Man 2 and now I want to write a martial arts movie with a black woman, but I think I'm weak when it comes to writing action.

Weak as in coming up with action scenarios or just describing them? You can find the John Wick script online (as "Scorn", I think) maybe that helps to inspire you.

 

[Soulfire]

i've been learning why I should give Yoshihiro Togashi a little more slack (writer of hunter x hunter)

something clearly went a bit wrong with my recent filling and I have been having mouth pain for the last 5 days. during which I can't think straight at all. Typically at work I run through plot ideas in my head, but the past few days I have nothing since I have to focus a bit more on making sure I don't clench at work (I have a bad habit of clenching when bored, but isn't typically an issue but now is with the new pain) I mean i have gotten a bit of ideas done, but my process has been seriously slowed with just a little tooth pain, I can't imagine what bad back pain does.

that being said, I do writing as an extra thing and he makes a living off of it so he should likely have more motivation than me to stay focused, but still I didn't think a little pain would interrupt things so badly.

I am hoping by tuesday night things will be more back to normal and I will be able to continue.

best i am managing right now is in my side project I am writing/voicing a very shonen like character so at the very least I can come up with a lot of random things to yell for the fun of it "THE EDGE OF AGONY!!!!"

Ouch, tooth pain sucks, go back to your dentist if it doesn't get better. Kudos to you though for staying positive and using it.
Life happens and sometimes you can't write, knowing that I should do a better job staying on target when life is calm, but I get distracted. Something to work on I guess.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Man I can't believe I am gonna say this but I am this close to giving up on writing. My style and prose are shit, and my narrator's voice gets lost constantly. Been struggling for years with this stuff. Ugh. So frustrated right now.

Could be the whether. Winter blues ain't no joke; it turns me into a grumpy cunt who hates myself.

I'm pretty sure writing is supposed to be a life-long struggle with voice and prose and everything though It certainly hasn't gotten easy for me. I don't expect it to.

If you're having problems keeping a consistent voice though, maybe you should try practicing with more shorter pieces. My first experiments with third-person subjective where novellas and short stories. It's easier to keep it consistent when it only takes ten or fifteen days to write the whole thing.

Otherwise, my catchall advice is: fix it in post. First drafts are a mess because that's how it goes. I know for a fact that my current novel is inconsistent in voice, and it's very voice heavy. I start editing on Wednesday and I'm half dreading it.

 

[zulux21]

Ouch, tooth pain sucks, go back to your dentist if it doesn't get better. Kudos to you though for staying positive and using it.
Life happens and sometimes you can't write, knowing that I should do a better job staying on target when life is calm, but I get distracted. Something to work on I guess.

I went back today, as expected they didn't do the final reshape of the filling quite right and thus my teeth were hitting in an odd place causing the pain.

the pain is already a bit better, though it might linger for a week or so.

at the very least I should be able to stop popping so much ibprofine as I was going past the limit per day ^^;

still surprised that cheap pain pills could take my mouth from hurting a lot to feeling no pain for a few hours like they were lol.

I work early tomorrow so I won't get anything done tonight but if I am good I should at least write tomorrow night.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

It's weird the past couple books I read have some really short chapters like 3 or 4 pages and I just finished reading one in Mosley's Little Green that was only two pages. How common is this in books? It annoys me because I usually use a chapter as a marker to stop reading for the day so it's taking me longer to finish this. These chapters feel more like scenes.

Weak as in coming up with action scenarios or just describing them? You can find the John Wick script online (as "Scorn", I think) maybe that helps to inspire you.

Describing them.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

It's weird the past couple books I read have some really short chapters like 3 or 4 pages and I just finished reading one in Mosley's Little Green that was only two pages. How common is this in books? It annoys me because I usually use a chapter as a marker to stop reading for the day so it's taking me longer to finish this. These chapters feel more like scenes.

Eh, I don't think its that common but I've seen it happen more and more often. I recently read something with like a two page chapter and I didn't mind it. If used right (like a sudden, jarring glimpse at another scene in the story) I enjoy it.

Describing them.

I think action scenes are so hard to do in writing, they might be impossible. Unless you do them in some weird way where some old guy is reflecting on the fight he saw, "Oh it was great! The punch was so fast? How fast? hmmm, just fast, you had to be there." I've written a few straight fight scenes, and I've never been too happy with them. If I had to give some advice based on my admittedly limited experience: brevity really helps. Going into full detail about the nature of the blow, muscles used, damage being done, the whole nine yards, slows down the pacing too much in the fight. Its better to keep each blow and move a little brief unless they're particularly important like a mortal blow or something. Best of luck with them, you madman you.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

It's weird the past couple books I read have some really short chapters like 3 or 4 pages and I just finished reading one in Mosley's Little Green that was only two pages. How common is this in books?

Thankfully not very. Kids books tend to have shorter chapters, but I've really only seen two-pagers from the likes of Dan Brown and other authors I don't care for.

 

[Glass Rebel]

It's weird the past couple books I read have some really short chapters like 3 or 4 pages and I just finished reading one in Mosley's Little Green that was only two pages. How common is this in books? It annoys me because I usually use a chapter as a marker to stop reading for the day so it's taking me longer to finish this. These chapters feel more like scenes.

I'm re-reading King's The Gunslinger right now and it has chapters that are shorter than a page. Guess it always depends on the story. I personally tend to have bigger divisions in my writing.

Describing them.

I mean, if you look at the John Wick script I mentioned earlier and compare it to the film, you'll see that there's nothing particularly exciting about the action described within. The cool stuff happening on screen often comes from the choreography and the storyboards, not necessarily the script. Then again, you have guys like Tarantino who have very colourful

If you want to describe action in prose, that's a different thing, however. I think it's important to know what kind of action you want to depict first. As someone who's heavy into martial arts movies, I don't see the appeal of reading those 10min+ fights. Something like the Princess Bride, however, is way more interesting.

 

[Ghostshark]

I was watching a video showing an editor fixing a terrible speech, and I have to say that I was pretty overwhelmed with what I saw. The entire speech was covered with corrections. I'm not formally educated beyond high school, so I wonder if my first editor will return my manuscript with more red on the page than white. Is this just a reality of being an author? Obviously less editing would be needed for someone like Stephen King due to experience, but talented authors still get lots of marked up pages, right?

Speaking of Stephen King and what was mentioned with his chapters, is there anything immoral about "borrowing" that format? After reading the Gunslinger, I'm a fan of the sectioning of the story. I think that format would work well with my NaNoWriMo novel that I'm taking seriously.

 

[Glass Rebel]

I don't think King has a monopoly on short chapters. And you will notice while writing or editing whether it's too close to his work. I say go for it.

 

[H.Protagonist]

Challenge Update:

Very sorry for being MIA for the last two weeks. Terrible things strike in 3s apparently, and I was sick for several days, my baby completely threw her day naps, and we had an unexpected visitor that stayed...for ages. Because of that I've been grinding work-work until the early morning hours and, well, not much else has happened.

Anyway, for the challenge, aside from my own situation, I've also had a few messages asking about adjusting the dates and/or method (perhaps saving the publication part for the end - all 3 release w/ 1-2 week spacing, etc.), so I'm definitely considering it.

Angmars? Soulfire? (Anyone else that I haven't already spoken to?) You guys are by far the farthest ahead right now. What do you think about still aiming for a novella every month, then launch at the end? Would give more time to set up marketing stuff/editing for sure and give others a chance to catch up a bit.

How's everyone doing on the challenge? I'm at 26K words and expect to finish book 1 (of 12, at least that's my plan anyway) this weekend. No idea if I can keep up this ridiculous pace. Hard to believe I've written as many words in a single month as I had written in the two years previous on book 2 in my Ahvarra series.

Bizarre.

I'm even tempted to toss the notion of a pen name and just go with my name.

Also, what is everyone doing for a cover? Canva? Do you do one time use of your design for $1 or do you need to buy the $10 use?

You're doing amazing, Angmars! Once the ball starts rolling the momentum can really keep you going. To have the first one under your belt puts you in a great position, and if you're going to put your name on it, then you must feel pretty good about the output quality, right?

For the cover, Canva is super easy and good fun. I liked them, anyway. And for the formatting, in the challenge details, I linked a template that worked nicely for Kindle if you want to give that a try.

I've been wanting to write these last two days. Since my in-laws left early today and my son let me get some sleep last night, I might try to get some done today in between laundry and everything else. For the challenge I'm still sitting at 21k words, looking to end it at 35k.

I've been reading this thread over on kboards about a woman who rented a motel room for 8 nights to try and write a novel in a week. She's on day three so far, it's been fun to read.

Amazing work, especially considering all the other stuff going on in your life right now. I don't know how you're managing with two (and one very new). Writing is a lovely escape when you have a moment, though.

Lol I gave up on the writing challenge. Atleast for this month, January and February typically are the months that I get most depressed/most bad things happen to me in.. I might try and bust a novella out next month because it is something I want to write.

No worries. I had some unexpected stuff throw a complete wrench in my Jan and more to come in Feb, as I mentioned above. I swear Jan and Feb are cursed. Looking to 'adjust' some of the details for the challenge, though, so don't count yourself completely out.

ehm, ditto.

However, I also received some good news, and assuming the world doesn't end in the next month (or days), I will commit to writing something.

It's been a spectacularly bad month for many, it seems. Hoping your good news sees more writing in the future, though!

 

[DD]

The Nature of the Fun: David Foster Wallace on Why Writers Write

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Angmars? Soulfire? (Anyone else that I haven't already spoken to?) You guys are by far the farthest ahead right now. What do you think about still aiming for a novella every month, then launch at the end? Would give more time to set up marketing stuff/editing for sure and give others a chance to catch up a bit.


You're doing amazing, Angmars! Once the ball starts rolling the momentum can really keep you going. To have the first one under your belt puts you in a great position, and if you're going to put your name on it, then you must feel pretty good about the output quality, right?

For the cover, Canva is super easy and good fun. I liked them, anyway. And for the formatting, in the challenge details, I linked a template that worked nicely for Kindle if you want to give that a try.

So yeah, I finished the first novella on Sunday and spent yesterday editing it. I have a cover and plan to upload it for publication later tonight. I'm going without a pen name.

To be honest, I'm not exactly an international best seller. I'm also being pretty consistent in terms of sticking with post-fall of the Roman Empire setting (though in this one I won't shift out of that). There's nothing controversial in terms of content (like the erotica challenge last year) that I'd be worried about tying my name to.

In short, it fits my "brand" if I have such a thing. Also interesting, the co-authored work I'm doing with a friend around Hansel & Gretel's witch is also set in the Dark Ages. I guess I have a thing for filling in history where there is very little documented.

I'll start writing the second one tonight.

 

[Soulfire]

Since there's no way I'm going to be able to publish my first novella tomorrow I'm fine with waiting. Whatever works for everyone else.
I've written 2 k in the last couple of days, still have a ways to go but I'm on the home stretch, just need to wrap things up.

 

[mu cephei]

Challenge Update:

Very sorry for being MIA for the last two weeks. Terrible things strike in 3s apparently, and I was sick for several days, my baby completely threw her day naps, and we had an unexpected visitor that stayed...for ages. Because of that I've been grinding work-work until the early morning hours and, well, not much else has happened.

Anyway, for the challenge, aside from my own situation, I've also had a few messages asking about adjusting the dates and/or method (perhaps saving the publication part for the end - all 3 release w/ 1-2 week spacing, etc.), so I'm definitely considering it.

Angmars? Soulfire? (Anyone else that I haven't already spoken to?) You guys are by far the farthest ahead right now. What do you think about still aiming for a novella every month, then launch at the end? Would give more time to set up marketing stuff/editing for sure and give others a chance to catch up a bit.

Sorry you're having it rough I'm not anywhere near ready yet, but I am working on it. So I would prefer to leave the publication of all three to the end

So yeah, I finished the first novella on Sunday and spent yesterday editing it. I have a cover and plan to upload it for publication later tonight.... I'll start writing the second one tonight.

Woah.
(T_T)

 

[Relix]

I missed that novella challenge dammit

 

[SolVanderlyn]

About 64k words into my sequel now. I don't even give a fuck that my first book still needs some reworking and might never be published, I'm on a roll and having fun writing it.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

Wait. There's a writing challenge going on right now? I want in! Oh wait. Sounds like I missed it.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

I missed that novella challenge dammit

Wait. There's a writing challenge going on right now? I want in! Oh wait. Sounds like I missed it.

Here's the details of the challenge.

You are not too late. Most of those who signed up are looking for extra time, or looking to maybe do one novella in this timeframe, or maybe just smoosh them into a tighter release schedule nearer the end of the challenge period.

 

[Relix]

Here's the details of the challenge.

You are not too late. Most of those who signed up are looking for extra time, or looking to maybe do one novella in this timeframe, or maybe just smoosh them into a tighter release schedule nearer the end of the challenge period.

Hmm... I have a story I could use that I was already writing and cold fit this criteria perfectly.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Hmm... I have a story I could use that I was already writing and cold fit this criteria perfectly.

Boo
Fucking
Yah

Where's the H.Pro signal! We have another

Spoiler

victim

entrant!

 

[Ashes]

Completely forgot about this challenge.

 

[DD]

welp, I reached just 10k words. To be honest, this is kind of big for my standards. Still have to finish and then revise it, tho.

It's a kids novella, and I'm kind of happy with what I'm doing. This feeling will vanish when I start to revise it, but let's do it anyway... :c

EDIT: I've sent my full book for some friends two months ago and nobody seems to give a shit. Some guys gave me their opinions, but just about the beginning of the book. And I asked them if they could do it for me, and I told them that it wasn't something one can read in just 5 minutes, and they all agreed. I feel like an idiot.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Okay, first novella is up on Amazon!

So just to share a bit more about this effort. I had an idea on how I wanted to craft this. The bare bones are still here, namely: in post-Roman departure Britain, a monk accompanies a knight to document his heroics. Now, originally, I wanted the monk to be a debauched, cynical man who had been told by the church that their crumbling world needed heroes, and so he would be responsible for playing up the actions of this knight to make them more heroic than they actually were. In essence, this was going to be "The (Mostly) True Tales of Sir WhatsHisName." The knight was going to be this paragon of virtue and chivalry who would eventually win the monk over to the fact that his heroics actually were authentic.

But when I sat down to write that, the story and the characters decided we'd go in a different direction. The monk remains, and while he has sinned, he is not a cynical character. He takes his responsibility to the church quite seriously. He is also charged with accompanying the 3rd son of a knight, who wants to become a knight instead of a monk, and who is given 12 tasks to complete for his father to allow him his knighthood rather than sending him off to the monastery.

This book is the first of those tasks. The plan is I'll have 12 novellas, each one a task. Sort of like the 12 Labors of Hercules. Figuring out exactly what those 12 task will be is something I'd welcome input on. Hercules appears to have slayed a lot of monsters, and that's not really the plan here. I have maybe six or seven tasks identified and figured that was enough for now, because it's clear that planning things out in my head isn't always going to be where the story wants to take me.

 

[Valdfellgar]

welp, I reached just 10k words. To be honest, this is kind of big for my standards. Still have to finish and then revise it, tho.

It's a kids novella, and I'm kind of happy with what I'm doing. This feeling will vanish when I start to revise it, but let's do it anyway... :c

EDIT: I've sent my full book for some friends two months ago and nobody seems to give a shit. Some guys gave me their opinions, but just about the beginning of the book. And I asked them if they could do it for me, and I told them that it wasn't something one can read in just 5 minutes, and they all agreed. I feel like and idiot.

If it makes you feel any better my friends rarely read my stuff, even when I was just writing screenplays. One of my friends is, to be fair, super busy, guy works multiple jobs just to get by. The other has far less an excuse, but he also hasn't bothered to call/message me in over a month now

Spoiler

Another, long frustrating story

and so neither has actually given me their thoughts on my work.

The only people I can reliably expect to look at my writing are my Wife and my Father. Everyone else is all talk.

 

[Relix]

Man that novella thing fired me up I have a few ideas just going back and forth. Would a multi part novella count for the challenge?

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

How come books aren't as popular as movies, games, and music? Hardly seems like I can find people to talk in depth about books I read, but the same isn't true for the other mediums. There doesn't seem to be big announcements and marketing for books compared to others. It's just every few years there seems to be that one big that everyone seems to read, but on average silence.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Man that novella thing fired me up I have a few ideas just going back and forth. Would a multi part novella count for the challenge?

H.Pro is the leader of this movement but I say "yes" !!!

Jump in!

 

[H.Protagonist]

So yeah, I finished the first novella on Sunday and spent yesterday editing it. I have a cover and plan to upload it for publication later tonight. I'm going without a pen name.

To be honest, I'm not exactly an international best seller. I'm also being pretty consistent in terms of sticking with post-fall of the Roman Empire setting (though in this one I won't shift out of that). There's nothing controversial in terms of content (like the erotica challenge last year) that I'd be worried about tying my name to.

In short, it fits my "brand" if I have such a thing. Also interesting, the co-authored work I'm doing with a friend around Hansel & Gretel's witch is also set in the Dark Ages. I guess I have a thing for filling in history where there is very little documented.

I'll start writing the second one tonight.

Bravo! Love the cover too. It's very classy. I also really like the premise. Seems like it might be something quite cool to read to your kids. A bit in there for your boys? Keep us posted on how it goes. Your task for this week for that book is to post it on/sign it up on at least 1 advertising site like Awesomegang, or Pretty-Hot, etc. Every week you'll have to do another, FYI.

On to book #2!

Since there's no way I'm going to be able to publish my first novella tomorrow I'm fine with waiting. Whatever works for everyone else.
I've written 2 k in the last couple of days, still have a ways to go but I'm on the home stretch, just need to wrap things up.

Cool. Updates/details tomorrow, then~

Sorry you're having it rough I'm not anywhere near ready yet, but I am working on it. So I would prefer to leave the publication of all three to the end



Woah.
(T_T)

It was all going quite well...until it wasn't. -_- I just want to sleep, hit my work-work deadline, then dive back in. Keep plugging away at yours in the meantime. Updates to come shortly.

Completely forgot about this challenge.

You still have two months to produce, so get producing!

H.Pro is the leader of this movement but I say "yes" !!!

Jump in!

YESSSSSSsssssssss

Spoiler

Relix, you're in. Get rolling!

Man that novella thing fired me up I have a few ideas just going back and forth. Would a multi part novella count for the challenge?

Sure! Anything goes! The goal is to make and sell. What you choose to make and sell is up to you.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Draft two is officially underway! Chapter one was...half a mess? Not as bad as I thought, but bad enough to make me think this will be a long month.

Still, an hour and some change later and it's in a much better state than when I started. I fixed a plot hole.

There was a plot hole in chapter fucking one what is wrong with me ._.