Greetings Hatrackers- I am returning to the forum after an absence of a decade and a half or so, and I am kicking off my return with a party and you are invited!
Why do we need an aspiring authors' pity party you ask? Because let's face it, you participate on this forum because you are a nerd, and not just any kind of nerd, you are a sci-fi bookworm nerd. All of that is easy to deduce based on the author who created this place. It is equally easy to deduce that like most nerds of this sort you like to read. In fact you probably read voraciously, and like any relatively clever voracious reader you have thought from time to time as you read 'this book is tripe! How did this even get published? I could write something better than this!"
And voila- you're unintentional transmogrification is complete: you are now an aspiring author and you are therefore worthy of participation on this thread.
Posted by Jacare_Sorridente (Member # 13443) on :
OK, so the scope for this pity party is vast and deep. Have you discovered that the gap between cool idea and written word is unbridgeable? Just received your one hundredth rejection letter? Let it all out and experience the cathartic sympathy engendered by sharing your pain!
I will start: Aspiring Authors must first and foremost recognize that no one cares that you are writing (or have written) a book. Your family members and friends may be forced into reading your tripe by expenditure of vast amounts of social capital, but nothing else will induce anyone to care that your book exists. A vague shrug of the shoulders and a hasty change of subject is all you must hope for if you ever mention the existence of your book in polite company. Do not get your expectations up for anything more than that.
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
I've got the raw idea,but it's just sitting there like a lump of clay on a potter's wheel. I have no idea how to start shaping it into what I want. Posted by PanaceaSanans (Member # 13395) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jacare_Sorridente: And voila- you're unintentional transmogrification is complete: you are now an aspiring author and you are therefore worthy of participation on this thread.
*your
Yes, I'm fun at parties.
Actually, I don't go to parties. This is an exception.
Is it still funny to call oneself a "grammar nazi" when one is of German descent? Or is that too soon? Thus should the question be 'is it funny yet?'?
[ August 23, 2016, 08:58 PM: Message edited by: PanaceaSanans ]
Posted by Jacare_Sorridente (Member # 13443) on :
Panacea- you raise another great point. When you are working on your own books who are you going to get to edit them? Since no one cares but yourself your only fallback is to use your own skills. What if you don't happen to be a grammar Nazi? Then who will catch your mistakes?
Derrell- having been there myself many times I gotta say that the only way forward is to write something even if it doesn't capture your idea well. You can always refine and revise, but the act of writing itself may help to clarify what you are after.
But be prepared: for even after you have reworked your idea into a form you like, still no one else will care. You may send it to hundreds of agents and editors, but unless you happen to hit the latest zombie craze in stride or write about some hot-button social issue your book will just blend in to the thousands of other books they see in a month.
Posted by PanaceaSanans (Member # 13395) on :
“The woods would be quiet if no bird sang but the one that sang best.”
And then, moods may change. Having read mostly OSC novels recently, I find myself unable to enjoy those fantasy books I loved deeply before. Those rich descriptions, the emphasis on scenery, the tireless walking, chancing upon monsters, fighting them, more walking, ugh. I cannot bear it right now. Which doesn't mean I will not love it again when the time is right.
What are you writing about?
Posted by Sean Monahan (Member # 9334) on :
I find myself to be in the enjoyable position of being just a little bit dumber than the authors I really love. This allows them to lead me exactly where they want me to go, and I experience their stories as they intend. Invariably, as I read, I say to myself, "I see where this is going." But no... that's just what the author wanted me to think, and they always end up taking me somewhere else.
But once in a while, it occurs to me that what I *thought* was going to happen would have made a good story as well. Only once have I ever attempted to actualize it. I am certainly no writer, but I wrote this short story about 10 years ago. I finished it in the course of about a week or two, and I've pretty much forgotten about it since then. I think a total of about 5 people have read it.
As I've said, I'm no aspiring author, so I really have no pain to share, but... well, there you go.
Posted by Jacare_Sorridente (Member # 13443) on :
Panacea- I know the feeling. My tastes have changed several times over the years and some of the authors I used to love best I now tend to find annoying. I am writing a series of historical novels set in ancient Sumeria. There is a lot of fun mythology from that place and time which is the direct forebear to Hebrew, Greek and other Mediterranean mythologies, so I enjoy the mix of the familiar and the exotic that the setting gives me.
Posted by Jacare_Sorridente (Member # 13443) on :
Sean- beware. I started off with the occasional short story and a few years later wrote a novel and then a few years later another...
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
I've gotten relatively picky as a reader, compared to how I used to be, and good at finding fault with other people's writing.
But the last time I really tried to do any writing was (let's see now...) about ten years ago. And it's stuff I'm way too picky to read, now.
My aspirations have asphyxiated.
Posted by PanaceaSanans (Member # 13395) on :
This thread also contributed to my recent decision.
I thought it was a quite an interesting topic but the quantity of responses was underwhelming.
Posted by PanaceaSanans (Member # 13395) on :
Along with this awesome quote, I might add:
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: ... my ambitions -- which were, at the time, to rule the world. Not literally, of course. But I wanted to set it on FIRE. My words were going to be gospel. People would want to BE me. I would write something, and a week later bushmen would be clicking their tongues over it between bites of gazelle. I would write one line, and start a government; I would erase a word, and start a religion. [...] No one EVER starts out dreaming of being an accountant, or a waitress, or a network engineer. And everyone, deep down, wants to write a book.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I'll probably never submit my book or short stories anywhere to be published. The statistics suggest it's basically impossible that I'll ever be published. So I'll continue to toil away in obscurity and when I die I'll ask the books be cremated along with me so our ashes can intermingle forever.
Posted by PanaceaSanans (Member # 13395) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: When I die I'll ask the books be cremated along with me so our ashes can intermingle forever.
That's both sad and strangely romantic.
So do all of you write to be published? I.e. to earn money? I figure it would be a nice asset, but it should not be the ultimate goal... Sharing worthwhile thoughts with the reader should be, right?
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
quote:So do all of you write to be published? I.e. to earn money?
I won't answer for everyone, but yes, I do.
I humbly request you to pay me to lie to you.
Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :
I just finished a mid-grade novel (aimed at 7 to 10 year olds) last month. So far I've gotten a few people to read it, both adults and kids, and they've liked it.
Jacare, your setting sounds interesting. If/when I have a little more time, I'd be interested in reading anything you have finished.
And yes, I do plan on submitting my novel to agents when I finish revising and editing it. I don't expect to make a cent beyond the advance if I do sell it, but it would still be fun to say I have something published.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
If you publish something, Brinestone, I will buy it. And if I like it, I will use every platform at my disposal to promote it.
Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :
You are awesome. Thanks, Scott R.
Posted by Jacare_Sorridente (Member # 13443) on :
quote: I humbly request you to pay me to lie to you.
Isn't it strange how much humans hunger for the types of lies that good authors invent? Of course we don't think of them that way, but that is exactly what fiction is.
quote: So do all of you write to be published? I.e. to earn money?
Money is cool and all, but that isn't my primary motivation. I write books because I enjoy making up stories. I want other people to read those stories and enjoy them, I suppose primarily for the same reasons as Tom Davidson posted- to leave a mark on the world.
quote:Jacare, your setting sounds interesting. If/when I have a little more time, I'd be interested in reading anything you have finished.
Thanks Brinestone- that is very kind of you. If you like listening to audiobooks email me at princeoferidu@gmail.com and I'll send you a code you can use to download my audiobook for free from audible.com .
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