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Writing NaNo is not a winning strategy if you're trying to get published and be famous. Squeezing out as many words is you can in a short period of time is great if you're trying to break free of a dry spell. But it generally leads to unsalvageable over-written crap that doesn't need to be written. To expand on what Nautatrol Rx said about self-publishing: In my opinion, self-publishing isn't a bad concept per se, but it does lead to complacency, especially nowadays when cliques of self-pub writers get together to promote each other's work on Twitter and give each other fake five star reviews on Amazon. Self-pub isn't about improving your craft as a writer -- it's about learning how to market your material, no matter how dishonest you have to be. The average reader doesn't require a good book, only one that's good enough. If your average reader follows up a recommendation and downloads an ebook with twenty glowing reviews, odds are that reader will be satisfied, even if it makes R.A. Salvatore look like Nabokov. And that's what annoys "serious" writers, the ones who sweat blood and bite their thumbs late into the night. I've networked with over a hundred self-published writers, and out of that lot, I'd say at best two or three are competent authors. Yet I know several others who make enough from Kindle sales that they've quit their day jobs and live comfortably writing full-time. I'm talking writers whose prose and storytelling abilities are worse than most of the stories posted in CC, which is a damnably low standard. Given the uncertain future of the big house publishers (especially in print), self-pub might be a more viable path to financial success. But the hugbox mentality I see among self-pub writers suggests to me that going that route will stunt your growth as a writer and a storyteller unless you're uncommonly driven and self-critical.
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Jul 26, 2012 19:06
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 19:49 |
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Nautatrol Rx posted:I don't believe the majority of readers will want to gravitate towards a wasteland of increasing self-indulgent writers. This right here is the only place you and I disagree. I'm probably over-cynical and fed up with how much schlock consumers will purchase. My opinion is that the majority of book readers will buy anything that's marketed to them properly. When the big house publishers inevitably muscle in and crowd everyone out of "indie" (electronic) publishing, I believe that marketing will be the deciding factor, not quality. However, I stand by my statement that self-publishing on Kindle is probably a better route for someone who wants to make money from writing, provided they either know or rapidly learn how to market their work. Since you pointed out the mercenary nature of big publishing -- and I agree they will inevitably figure out their assholes from their elbows eventually when it comes to e-publishing -- I will add the caveat that self-pub is probably the better route for now, but only if you get in on it over the next few years.
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Jul 26, 2012 19:58
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Some magazines (I know Asimov's for a fact does this) will request info about non-fiction pubs if they relate to the subject of your story. Say you're a nurse or an archaeologist, they'll want to know that so long as your story relates to medicine or archaeology or something of that nature.
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Jul 30, 2012 19:22
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This always bears repeating: There is nothing mystical about writing. It is a skillset that can be learned and must be practiced, just like drawing or playing an instrument. Part of writing is investing part of yourself in every story, which makes it easy to feel emotionally vulnerable whenever someone else, someone you don't know, takes it up and reads it with a critical eye. But they really aren't judging some deeply personal aspect of you, your mystical soul-nature or whatever other bullshit words some people have attached to the process of fiction. They're judging the words you put on the page. Those are the only link between author and reader. And that's why you shouldn't worry if people don't like what you write. No one will dislike YOU, personally. (Well, some goons might.) All anyone might dislike is the words on the page. And those are purely mechanical things, tools no more personal or mystical than a charcoal pencil or Zildjian drumsticks. You need critiques, harsh critiques, to learn how to use those tools properly.
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Aug 8, 2012 18:54
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I loved A Clockwork Orange. Never attempt to do A Clockwork Orange, however, unless you are an absolute master of language. Which, if you're posting here, you aren't. In dialogue, a little bit of accent goes a long way. A smidgeon too much distracts me and pushes me out of the story. Make it read smooth: "Saw him runnin an I thought the cops'd catch him sure." Not the greatest example (off the top of my head) but the general idea is not to make a mess with apostrophes and odd spellings all over the place.
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Aug 16, 2012 03:55
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 19:49 |
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Nautatrol Rx posted:Do you have to project your self-deprecation on everyone else so frequently? It's really annoying and serves no useful purpose. Realistic expectations are really annoying? More so than misplaced cockiness? OK. If one of your novels is on a high school reading list fifty years from now, Nautatrol Rx, I'll send you a fruit basket and a formal apology. As a matter of fact, that goes for everyone reading this thread. You hear that? A fruit basket is on the line here, people. A fruit basket. Get to work. I should get to work on some piss-taking "ironically bad" story for one of the writing competitions around here. That should serve some useful purpose, right? Come on now. If you're going to whine about my useless negativity, try not to be guilty of it yourself. Also, this prescriptivist idea that anyone can become an enthralling master of words simply through practice is naive. That doesn't mean you shouldn't take risks or learn specific skills, many of which can be learned through prescribed tips, many more of which transcend mere mechanics and touch upon the nebulous and ever-evolving woo that is art and accepted taste. If you think you have whatever ill-defined quality you think it takes, good on you. Don't let realistic expectations bring you down.
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Aug 17, 2012 01:41
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