Writing Progress 06/11
Didn’t write last night much, about a thousand words after getting home from an MBA class. I liked what I generated though. I’m kind of in a weird spot right now and having a hard time pushing through this part of the story. It was a moment where things just kind of jumped off the rails (literally, actually) and now I was driving the story in a direction I hadn’t anticipated. With a character I hadn’t planned on. But this is how it always is for me when I’m creating new content. Transitions are difficult for me and are usually doe on the second run through, like seams. Dialogue, much to my shame, is also a difficult part to handle in these moments, especially when they’re are more than two characters. That’s something I’m trying to work on as an author as a whole. So now, I’m just writing the…
Outlining
I see my story as a movie. That’ s just how my imagination works. I see scenes from camera angles and imagine the little black blips that pop up on the movie screen at the theater. And it always tends to be like a trailer from the beginning. You know what I mean, two minutes of the best scenes mashed together with big, bold words cut in between. You see a dozen of the movie’s best lines, three or four amazing actions scenes, all narrated by a gravelly voice. I have always been a sucker for a good trailer. And that’s how I see my story. I see all my favorite scenes, the ones that are the reason I’m writing the whole book to begin with, where the tension is at its height and the most memorable events happen. But a good story is an undulating wave of tension. It…
U.S. VS Apple
Fortune has a good article summing up the whole deal between the Department of Justice and Apple (and the publishing industry). Thanks for Passive Voice for the article. There’s not a lot I can add here because I’m not a legal professional. I can’t speak to the legality or moral authority of any of the parties involved. However, I would like to say this. A lot of people say Amazon sicked the DOJ on Apple and big publishing because, well, they’re Amazon and that’s what they do. That’s how they compete, they drive down the little guys like Microsoft was doing against Netscape. Here’s the thing, when Netscape “sicked” the DOJ on Microsoft, it was a desperate act to try and compete with Internet Explorer. Whether or not it was warranted or if they did it at all aside, everyone said they did it because they knew Netscape was in…
A Conversation With Stephen King
I wrote that title and realized it looked like I had a conversation with Stephen King. Damn, I wish. I would give my left arm to do that. On Writing changed the way I thought about writing. Stephen King isn’t my favorite author, and I hate some of his stuff, but if there is one thing I can say about him, he is unique. He takes risks, he is unafraid to be criticized, and he writes. And writes. And writes. And…well, you get the idea. What it really is is the video below. Whether or not you like his work, there is a ton you can learn about writing. Around the fifteen minute mark he talks about how he came up with the Green Mile and Cujo. Holy crap. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, at least watch that.
Deciding On a Publishing Path
I’ve been thinking I would actually publish this book for about three years. Not the wistful fantasies of what if, but the blood curdling idea that it might actually happen. As with anything I involve myself in, the first thing I do is research. It was a pleasant surprise to find multiple options. It was less pleasant to find the “right” path was hotly contested. Well, I’ve made a decision. I will be self publishing. At least for now. I am not writing this as a condemnation for traditional publishing or to uphold the standards of indie publishing. This is the first post in documenting the choices and challenges going down this path. I hope it is educational, and not in a “I won’t do that!” kind of way. There are a bunch of blogs that cover this, I recommend you read them first. My perspective is someone entering, and…