tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79502991809486788652011-11-27T21:45:57.605-04:00A collection of posts about the writing process. May contain actual work, as well. Be warned.Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.comBlogger241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-21255159449780302212010-05-09T22:26:00.000-03:002010-05-09T22:26:35.956-03:00

So I got chapter 6 back from the editor about a week ago.  I haven't really looked at it yet, and I should have, long and ever ago.  Playoffs, my only weakness. Yes, my beloved Senators got dumped in round one, in a series that was a lot closer than most people think, but I'm still watching.  Because I love hockey.  More than most.  Even if it's two teams that I hate (see: Washington vs

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-61119912950696401792010-03-26T17:11:00.000-03:002010-03-26T17:11:07.773-03:00

Working with my editor a chapter at a time.  After a slight delay on my part, the first two are done.  So far, I am very impressed with his work, and look forward to continuing on with this process.  Oddly, I'm actually having fun with the editing process, now.  With somebody else directing it, most of the tedium and frustration is on somebody else, for which I am eternally grateful.

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-66286912533540840922010-03-13T15:02:00.000-04:002010-03-13T15:02:55.342-04:00

I hate this word.  I've just decided this today. It's a redundant word.  Not in a 'other words mean the same thing' sort of way; every word in every language could arguably qualify for that. It's redundant in that saying something is remarkable makes it remarkable.  You are remarking on it.  Therefore there is no need to say it's remarkable. I hate it, and will no longer use it.

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-23566977326799817382010-03-03T11:40:00.000-04:002010-03-03T11:40:51.781-04:00

As mentioned, I was in the hunt for an editor.  I met with a young man from Kensington a few weeks ago, and I was impressed.  We agreed on a method of feedback, and a fee, and have begun working together.  On Friday, I received the first chapter, with his notes and suggested revisions, and I have to say that I am glad I went with him.  He's good, and I can see this working quite well. I've just

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-42962012353931525862010-02-18T10:02:00.000-04:002010-02-18T10:02:37.227-04:00

In a further attempt to actually get published, and potentially make some money off my work, I have been in contact with several editors.  Two, in particular, seem promising.  One is a young man, fresh out of his degree, who is being very accommodating in regards to my finances and lack of travel ability. The other was very highly recommended by the professor I spoke with about this, though I

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-74506160970111157912010-01-29T10:52:00.000-04:002010-01-29T10:52:45.997-04:00

So I've been sitting on a finished novel for some time now.  I've submitted it to two publishers, and am still waiting on a reply from the second. But it's time I realised that I can't do this on my own.  I contacted a professor, and published author, at UPEI, for some help.  He is pretty high up in the English department at the university, runs the Creative Writing program, and is the sort of

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-58858147929939548672010-01-04T09:56:00.002-04:002010-01-05T09:34:39.362-04:00

I've been reading a lot of Cormac McCarthy and Chuck Palahniuk lately.  I picked up No Country For Old Men and Pygmy with a gift card to the bookstore I got for Christmas.  These two, combined with a read of Jose Saramago's Blindness not that long ago, has brought me to the subject of this much-delayed post. The rules for English grammar are pretty hard and fast.  These rules are what make

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-35225985535548783522009-11-29T13:40:00.000-04:002009-11-29T13:40:26.966-04:00

I started reading the Wheel of Time series almost twenty years ago.  I believe the fourth book in the series, The Shadow Rising, was just released in softcover when I picked up the series, which would mean I started it in 1993 or so, I believe. Robert Jordan's series marks, for me, the beginning of a new era in fantasy literature.  Between the release of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and the first

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-39441168260522643602009-11-23T13:34:00.003-04:002009-11-26T14:59:48.594-04:00

There is a world of difference between proper, dictionary-based English, and proper conversational English.  About the same difference as there is between proper conversational English and the English that you hear most people use in conversation. The English language is, for all intents and purposes, ridiculously complex.  Unnecessarily so.  But it is the complexity that makes me love it so,

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-26570353497074535742009-11-09T14:42:00.000-04:002009-11-09T14:42:00.205-04:00

Every story is true. You have to remember that.  No matter what happens in it, it's true. I'm not talking about fact, or historical accuracy, or any of that.  I'm talking about truth.  Take Star Wars, for example.  True story.  Does that mean that in a galaxy far, far away, there was a domineering galactic empire, who controlled all of the star systems in the galaxy via a massive,

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-27938851407956303762009-11-06T12:03:00.000-04:002009-11-06T12:03:44.574-04:00

Writing a story, is, at it's heart, an accepted way to lie to people.  You make shit up, and tell it to them as if it really happened, and they accept that.  Everybody knows this, but nobody really talks about it.  Even those so-called 'true stories' are fabricated to a certain extent. Some people don't like to admit it, and lash out when it's thrown in their face.  Like Oprah did to James Frey

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-32944296207901618542009-11-03T12:38:00.000-04:002009-11-03T12:38:37.033-04:00

Unless you're Chuck Palahniuk, it'll happen to you eventually.  Probably quite often.  You'll sit down to continue working on your piece, and you can't get going. You'll be halfway through, and it's coming along swimmingly, and all of a sudden it's like you can't form a complete sentence. It's frustrating as hell, and more than a little discouraging.  It's called writer's block, and it happens

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-73420427156773173412009-10-15T12:47:00.000-03:002009-10-16T12:25:51.016-03:00

So I play this game, called Urban Dead.  It's a fun little time waster, and I have a character in a group modeled after a police department.  The game is based in a city combating a zombie epidemic.  Survivors get killed, rise as zombies, and can be brought back to life as survivors again.  Meaning death has little meaning beyond some frustration at having to wait for somebody to revive you.

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-40726975238713766572009-10-15T09:25:00.001-03:002009-10-16T12:25:35.345-03:00

As a passionate lover of words and language, I get very annoyed very quickly at a lot of things.  Little things, that most people wouldn't even notice.  Things so insignificant that my wife doesn't understand my anger, and just rolls her eyes as I rant about it. You've all seen it, and likely had the conversation about it.  A handwritten sign in a small shop window, advertising some sale with

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-86543967548532098722009-09-26T22:42:00.000-03:002009-10-16T12:26:15.625-03:00

So I've been getting the itch to do some actual work lately. But starting a new novel is daunting, and I've been avoiding it. This evening, though, I remembered a long-abandoned manuscript, only half complete, that has been dying on my hard drive.I opened it up tonight, and have been plugging away at it, off and on, for the past few hours. It's rough, getting back into something so long unused

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-29935601113361924352009-09-16T10:21:00.003-03:002009-10-16T12:26:15.625-03:00

I do all of my writing on a laptop, in Roughdraft 3.0 (great, great software, I highly recommend it). Theoretically, I can write anywhere with these tools. Going for coffee? Take the lappy with you, bang out a few pages in the Horton's. In practice, however, this is not really possible. I need to be in my chair, at my desk. The reason I need my chair is, as I have mentioned, that I need a

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-4551363477168710612009-09-08T13:54:00.004-03:002009-10-16T12:26:32.271-03:00

You never know when an idea will hit you. See my earlier post, about always keeping a notebook handy. You could be driving to work, you could be watching the clouds, or playing in the backyard with your kid.That last one just happened to me, over the weekend.You never know what will trigger an idea, either. It could be something as innocuous as the position of a rock against a fencepost. Or

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-76146656052850796522009-09-04T22:21:00.004-03:002009-09-16T10:32:47.335-03:00

No, not the public one that smells like hobos, though that one is awesome, too.I mean your personal library. The one you have in your bedroom, or your living room, or, like me, in your office. A person's library says a lot about them. Some people don't even have them, and that makes Neil Gaiman sad. Why do you want to make Neil Gaiman sad?What you have in your library, or, in my case, what

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-40747344976604815672009-08-31T14:23:00.003-03:002009-09-03T14:40:49.636-03:00

So, some recent drama over at a blog I read (The Over Educated Nympho, great read), has brought a few things to mind. Primarily, the notion of entitlement. A lot of readers will tell you that once they read a book, or a story, that it no longer belongs to the author. Hell, a lot of authors will tell you the same thing.They are all completely wrong.No matter what happens with it, anything you

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-24185510970005436652009-08-28T11:09:00.002-03:002009-10-16T12:26:15.625-03:00

So you've finished your masterpiece. You've polished it, and edited it, and trimmed it down to a level of awesomeness that astounds even you, it's creator.You've taken the advice that is offered on every writer's website, and waited three months before reading it again, just to make sure.You've selected a viable publishing house, filled out the paperwork, and sent it off to them. And now you

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-23155274671391949032009-08-27T09:10:00.002-03:002009-10-16T12:26:15.625-03:00

Alright, that may have been a bit strong.....The man has some talent. Well, more specifically, he had some talent, got ridiculously wealthy, and has spent the rest of his life rehashing the same money-making techniques that got him rich in the first place. Which is fine for him, really. Whatever works, right?But what pisses me off is his fans. Ever talked to a Stephen King fan? They're like

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-90117420330623914052009-08-25T10:10:00.000-03:002009-10-16T12:26:15.625-03:00

So, there are a few things that you need in order to write effectively. The first, obviously, is an idea. But we'll assume you have the idea, you have a basic layout of where you want to go with it, and so on. So, you have The Story.Now you just need to write the damn thing. Here are some tools that I have found very helpful in this process.1 - An extensive library. You've all heard it

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-69635982910562156252009-08-25T09:15:00.000-03:002009-10-16T12:26:32.271-03:00

So, this started with a dream I had one night, and it's been kicking around in the back of my head for quite some time. I'm working on a kids' book. Not, you know, actively working on it, but laying some groundwork, getting some ideas down, that sort of thing. The problem is, I have another one, definitely not a kids' book, that I have more fleshed out. I have chapter outlines, a full plot,

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950299180948678865.post-5701950528301702802008-08-04T00:50:00.001-03:002008-08-04T00:51:07.238-03:00

This will be a little thing, to post some writings, and whatnot. Also will be used to discuss ongoing projects, et cetera.

Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17330195228793843987noreply@blogger.com0