Comments on: So you want to write a book… http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-you-want-to-write-a-book/ Wed, 8 Feb 2012 02:53:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: pcwrede http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-you-want-to-write-a-book/comment-page-1/#comment-1849 pcwrede Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:02:03 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=381#comment-1849 Esther - While hope springs eternal, remember that nothing is ever likely to actually make writing <em>easy</em>. Persistence is the only thing that really gets the job done in the long run. Esther - While hope springs eternal, remember that nothing is ever likely to actually make writing easy. Persistence is the only thing that really gets the job done in the long run.

]]> By: Esther http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-you-want-to-write-a-book/comment-page-1/#comment-1844 Esther Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:43:52 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=381#comment-1844 I've actually tried ALL of the ideas mentioned here. Also a bunch of ideas not mentioned. *sigh* One of these days I'm gonna give up being a writer and its gonna stick! I’ve actually tried ALL of the ideas mentioned here. Also a bunch of ideas not mentioned. *sigh* One of these days I’m gonna give up being a writer and its gonna stick!

]]> By: Mary http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-you-want-to-write-a-book/comment-page-1/#comment-1687 Mary Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:14:46 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=381#comment-1687 I write incredibly slowly, but once I get in the swing of things, it really starts going somewhere. It's just that I don't always remember to write...unfortunatly. I am renewing my resolve! :) I write incredibly slowly, but once I get in the swing of things, it really starts going somewhere. It’s just that I don’t always remember to write…unfortunatly. I am renewing my resolve! :)

]]> By: accio_aqualung http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-you-want-to-write-a-book/comment-page-1/#comment-1651 accio_aqualung Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:04:13 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=381#comment-1651 HA! I learned my lesson on that ... my NaNo novel is set up and populated in a completely different way, so it shouldn't take *too* long ... HA! I learned my lesson on that … my NaNo novel is set up and populated in a completely different way, so it shouldn’t take *too* long …

]]> By: Tim Silverman http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-you-want-to-write-a-book/comment-page-1/#comment-1650 Tim Silverman Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:48:41 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=381#comment-1650 ... swipe a plot from Shakespeare ... Not only has he been dead 400 years, but he swiped most of his plots from earlier writers, so he could hardly complain even if he were alive! … swipe a plot from Shakespeare …

Not only has he been dead 400 years, but he swiped most of his plots from earlier writers, so he could hardly complain even if he were alive!

]]> By: pcwrede http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-you-want-to-write-a-book/comment-page-1/#comment-1649 pcwrede Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:16:27 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=381#comment-1649 Gray - I like "New Years irresolutions"! Lisa - Welcome aboard! "There is no One True Way" has been my mantra for years, when I talk about writing. A lot of people seem to need to hear it. accio_aqualung - Revising is a very necessary skill for a writer, as long as one doesn't get too carried away! LRK - You might be focusing on "action plots" when you are more in tune with the emotional or intellectual story level, or you might be more of a mood-and-atmosphere writer (which is, unfortunately for you, out of fashion in publishing right now). Or you may be a short-story writer at heart. Of course, if you like, you can always swipe a plot from Shakespeare - he's been dead 400 years, so no lawsuits! Gray - I like “New Years irresolutions”!

Lisa - Welcome aboard! “There is no One True Way” has been my mantra for years, when I talk about writing. A lot of people seem to need to hear it.

accio_aqualung - Revising is a very necessary skill for a writer, as long as one doesn’t get too carried away!

LRK - You might be focusing on “action plots” when you are more in tune with the emotional or intellectual story level, or you might be more of a mood-and-atmosphere writer (which is, unfortunately for you, out of fashion in publishing right now). Or you may be a short-story writer at heart. Of course, if you like, you can always swipe a plot from Shakespeare - he’s been dead 400 years, so no lawsuits!

]]> By: LRK http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-you-want-to-write-a-book/comment-page-1/#comment-1648 LRK Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:41:31 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=381#comment-1648 I love all you said! :) Really, I never had a lack of ideas - they just didn't go anywhere. When I tried to write a "proper" book - with, you know, some sort of plot, I started off merrily enough, wrote a few chapters and - got stuck. And it's not that I lacked imagination - I just never seemed to be able to drum up any interest in a plot. And had I had no imagination, surely I read so much that I could find a plot to pinch - uh, sorry, be inspired by - but no. I just didn't care. (This is probably connected to my utter lack of ambition, or interest in "doing things".) So at last I came to the realisation - plot wasn't for me. I wasn't interested in the book "going anywhere" in particular. So, my "book" is more like a collection of short stories or sketches - with a few chapters that may have a semblance of following some story-line (no, not really :) ) Held together by a very vaguely defined time and place (which exists - also in a very vague form - in my imagination) and a - hopefully - much less vague central character. (At any rate, she's very real to me - she really lives for me. As do the other characters, actually.) Anyway, I generally think that I don't really write much better than I did when I was - say - 13 (being 38 now, this is probably a really bad admmission to make about myself! :) ) - what I am better at is knowing what I am good at and not. Or, what works for me and not. So, if I actually did manage to go back to writing my book, and finished it - I'm very well aware that it will probably interest very few people. But if I did it any other way, it wouldn't even interest me. I love all you said! :)

Really, I never had a lack of ideas - they just didn’t go anywhere. When I tried to write a “proper” book - with, you know, some sort of plot, I started off merrily enough, wrote a few chapters and - got stuck. And it’s not that I lacked imagination - I just never seemed to be able to drum up any interest in a plot. And had I had no imagination, surely I read so much that I could find a plot to pinch - uh, sorry, be inspired by - but no. I just didn’t care. (This is probably connected to my utter lack of ambition, or interest in “doing things”.) So at last I came to the realisation - plot wasn’t for me. I wasn’t interested in the book “going anywhere” in particular. So, my “book” is more like a collection of short stories or sketches - with a few chapters that may have a semblance of following some story-line (no, not really :) ) Held together by a very vaguely defined time and place (which exists - also in a very vague form - in my imagination) and a - hopefully - much less vague central character. (At any rate, she’s very real to me - she really lives for me. As do the other characters, actually.)

Anyway, I generally think that I don’t really write much better than I did when I was - say - 13 (being 38 now, this is probably a really bad admmission to make about myself! :) ) - what I am better at is knowing what I am good at and not.

Or, what works for me and not.

So, if I actually did manage to go back to writing my book, and finished it - I’m very well aware that it will probably interest very few people. But if I did it any other way, it wouldn’t even interest me.

]]> By: accio_aqualung http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-you-want-to-write-a-book/comment-page-1/#comment-1647 accio_aqualung Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:33:47 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=381#comment-1647 New Year's Resolution: floss. the resolution pertaining to writing - take the almost-finished draft I have (thank you NaNoWriMo!), finish it, and edit it to a submittable level of finish. If I don't I have to tell my stupid-faced manager at work I love him as much as he loves his own reflection. New Year’s Resolution: floss. the resolution pertaining to writing - take the almost-finished draft I have (thank you NaNoWriMo!), finish it, and edit it to a submittable level of finish. If I don’t I have to tell my stupid-faced manager at work I love him as much as he loves his own reflection.

]]> By: lisa http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-you-want-to-write-a-book/comment-page-1/#comment-1646 lisa Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:13:00 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=381#comment-1646 Thank you for this post! I've been following your blog for probably a year but have never commented. All your entries have been so helpful and supportive and entertaining; I've saved several of them to a folder on my computer for reference and encouragement! I spend my time balancing several creative projects, three of which are books of various sorts (one prose, two graphic novels), and it's great to be able to read your blog and get smart advice on writing. I especially appreciate what you say in this post -- take all advice with tons of salt -- because that's something I had to realize for myself before I could even *start* writing. I used to be in academia, so I brought a habit of diligent note-taking and processing to my writing... and so I'd apply myself to each new piece of writing advice as if it were a school project, and then get frustrated because I felt like I was writing in someone else's mold. Thankfully I'm mostly over that now, but I still have to tell myself constantly: "You don't have to do things the way anyone else does. When you succeed, it will be in your own way." I like that you send this same message in many of your posts; it gives me hope that I'm onto something! :) Thank you for this post! I’ve been following your blog for probably a year but have never commented. All your entries have been so helpful and supportive and entertaining; I’ve saved several of them to a folder on my computer for reference and encouragement! I spend my time balancing several creative projects, three of which are books of various sorts (one prose, two graphic novels), and it’s great to be able to read your blog and get smart advice on writing. I especially appreciate what you say in this post — take all advice with tons of salt — because that’s something I had to realize for myself before I could even *start* writing. I used to be in academia, so I brought a habit of diligent note-taking and processing to my writing… and so I’d apply myself to each new piece of writing advice as if it were a school project, and then get frustrated because I felt like I was writing in someone else’s mold. Thankfully I’m mostly over that now, but I still have to tell myself constantly: “You don’t have to do things the way anyone else does. When you succeed, it will be in your own way.” I like that you send this same message in many of your posts; it gives me hope that I’m onto something! :)

]]> By: Gray Woodland http://pcwrede.com/blog/so-you-want-to-write-a-book/comment-page-1/#comment-1644 Gray Woodland Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:37:09 +0000 http://pcwrede.com/blog/?p=381#comment-1644 Two of my New Year's irresolutions - my own take on that custom, tailored to the fact that diletantte whim motivates me better than heroic will - feature writing this year. One involves the application of bum to seat, and the other is a shortlist of things that I will positively <i>not</i> get sucked into writing this time around. There is nothing about finishing any of the many yarns I would like to over the next twelvemonth, since this would serve no purpose other than to jinx the victim. Deadlines I can do, but only when they're real ones. As to the indefinite 'write a book' aspiration in general, I don't understand that so well. It strikes me as kind of like an aspiration to 'find a lover' - there are an awful lot of tacit assumptions that have to lie behind it, if it's to be anything other than completely crazy. Most hopeless romantics at least know about those, when they stop to think about 'em. I wonder how many of those bitten by the Writer-Romance bug could say as much? My own first bite came when I was about eight. I'd read <i>Lord of the Rings</i> twice, and I wasn't ready to read it again, and I very badly wanted to write something just as good but different. With more dragons and monsters. I managed everything but the 'good' bit, and the habit was so addictive that I never did get out of it. Two of my New Year’s irresolutions - my own take on that custom, tailored to the fact that diletantte whim motivates me better than heroic will - feature writing this year. One involves the application of bum to seat, and the other is a shortlist of things that I will positively not get sucked into writing this time around. There is nothing about finishing any of the many yarns I would like to over the next twelvemonth, since this would serve no purpose other than to jinx the victim. Deadlines I can do, but only when they’re real ones.

As to the indefinite ‘write a book’ aspiration in general, I don’t understand that so well. It strikes me as kind of like an aspiration to ‘find a lover’ - there are an awful lot of tacit assumptions that have to lie behind it, if it’s to be anything other than completely crazy. Most hopeless romantics at least know about those, when they stop to think about ‘em. I wonder how many of those bitten by the Writer-Romance bug could say as much?

My own first bite came when I was about eight. I’d read Lord of the Rings twice, and I wasn’t ready to read it again, and I very badly wanted to write something just as good but different. With more dragons and monsters. I managed everything but the ‘good’ bit, and the habit was so addictive that I never did get out of it.

]]>