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More talk from someone who's writing full time. I left my job in December and after about a month of good productivity, I tanked pretty hard in being able to meet my day to day writing and business goals. My usual tools and resources weren't working for me any more. Deadlines, pomodoro technique, writing in other physical locations, word wars, toxx clauses, really nasty self-talk, and regular old cloistering until I'd gotten something done were basically failing. Losing the structure I'd gotten used to from school and an office job made it much, much harder to use my new glut of time really well. So after 3 months of doing more research, trying more techniques, and exploiting just about every resource I could to do this alone, and any connection I could to have external accountability for getting drafts done and out, I decided to get my head checked. I went in for a neuropsychiatric evaluation that cost like half of one of my old pre-tax paychecks and came out with  , counseling referrals, a script for some sort of freakily comprehensive blood panel, and a bunch of new advice on how to manage my anxiety and probable inattentive adult ADHD. The problem with getting words out is always with you the writer; but sometimes the exact problem isn't what you think it is. Anyway, this morning I launched on a brand new voyage of brain chemistry and loving yoga so I dunno, we'll see.
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Mar 23, 2016 19:34
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| # ¿ May 13, 2024 21:31 |
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Djeser posted:i'm permahmed user djeser. i would advise all people who "get" td to be careful because that likely means you have a predisposition to a mental illness. peace. 
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Mar 23, 2016 22:30
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I can only title other people's work.
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May 11, 2016 00:01
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newtestleper posted:I have two stories on the shortlist for the National Flash Fiction Day competition here in New Zealand. Super cool, newt! Congratulations!
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Jun 14, 2016 19:57
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change my name posted:After unsuccessfully querying a few more agents for that urban fantasy novel I was asking for help with earlier, I think I'm going to just self-publish it and start on a new project. At least it was good for a dry run? I know "debut novel" is usually like a third or fourth finished book for most authors. We need a :justpublish: version of  . This is what I did. I think eventually I'll manage a tradpub deal and go the hybrid route, but until then, I'm writing more books, more queries, and self-pubbing. Do your best and keep writing.Never not writing. Write good words, not bad, but write bad words if those are the words you got. e: I'm also still on goddamn tenterhooks with Angry Robot Books. I haven't received an R yet, but they're still working through their 2016 open subs pile. I'm in there somewhere.
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Aug 20, 2016 15:50
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crabrock posted:that sounded snarkier than i intended, but i'm gonna let it ride Id buy it if someone made it. Can't buy myself gif making talent with my pubjillions  .
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Aug 26, 2016 02:12
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HIJK posted:How much do you guys think about genre when you're writing? Do you try to keep your story inside the trappings of a specific genre? Do you Just Write and try to apply a genre when finished? What's your goal for the finished work?
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Aug 26, 2016 05:07
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May  soon be a thing.
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Aug 26, 2016 05:10
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flerp posted:the anticipation is killing me  Does anyone have a handy link that explains the gloss technique? I need an alternative way to explain it to someone.
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Aug 26, 2016 05:27
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HIJK posted:To sell, of course! But in terms of content, my goal with my current project is a mystery that's creepy and frightening and some paranormal stuff. If you're trying to self-pub, knowing your genre and hitting the right notes matter. quote:Considering the onset of the self publishing age, I doubt genre matters that much, people search for what they like! This is not my experience so far. Genre defiance might work better with journals and mags, but it's a harder sell on self-pub and querying trad-pub. At least I'm finding that to be the case, ymmv.  anyway
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Aug 27, 2016 01:53
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Keep writing and remember that this is largely a numbers game. There are more than 30 agents out there. Also, I wouldn't self-pub that book if I wanted to keep shopping it to trad pub.
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Aug 29, 2016 20:39
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Danknificent posted:You use your real name in your queries, but you can mention your intention to publish the particular work under pseudonym. This. Theoretically I think you could probably get away with contacting your agent under your pseudonym and signing a contract of representation with your pseud if you've set up a doing-business-as under that name, but that feels really sketchy to me and I wouldn't be surprised if it undermined your relationship with the agent. Not worth it. If you don't trust an agent your querying to exercise good judgement about your penname, you shouldn't be querying that agent. For self-publishing, it's easy; you can put whatever author attribution you want in during the publishing process on basically every platform.
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Sep 7, 2016 16:51
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flerp posted:sports good sprot blood
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Sep 10, 2016 21:52
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Well, Battuta is among the few and proud here who've successfully secured representation, so he's got to have strong query skills.Sitting Here posted:This is 100% unrelated to the topic at hand but I really enjoy the evolution of your avatar It's really taken on a life of its own, I think. From ACG to Parts Kit to Yobgoblin and HaveARottenDay of BYOB... I'm very festive right now. Naerasa posted:EDIT In retrospect this might just be a magic Beerfest. This reminds me of a couple things. 1. Some Twitter folks' rich fantasy lives which are currently being lived out in my twat feed. Or whatever we call it. 2. Did you ever read the long form article about that failed race-walker? Naerasa posted:I seem to recall the main guy from the Magicians working very hard to remind everyone how he's not cool at all and instead extremely misunderstood and edgy, like Reaper. And this just makes me glad I haven't read the series. Status update on my sub to Angry Robot's last open call: no update, still in "received" status on Submittable. Going to die of blue balls.
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Sep 10, 2016 23:48
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Naerasa posted:I don't know what a race-walker is, but in my head I'm imagining it as some kind of day-walker style vampire that can switch races at nighttime, giving them the ability to write in the 'own voices' category for multiple diverse narratives. Trans-ethnic.  But no, it's actually an Olympic sporting event. Here's the story I was thinking of.
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Sep 11, 2016 00:16
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Naerasa posted:I have no idea what the gently caress I just read but I think I was moved by it. Mission accomplished!
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Sep 11, 2016 00:33
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sebmojo posted:tinder What is this poo poo? Go grindr or go home. (Make friends with readers/writers you trust and get their feedback. See if there are local writer organizations in your area, those often hold workshops. Be careful about posting your work on display sites if you choose to go that route for critique.)
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Sep 23, 2016 00:48
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sebmojo posted:if you want to write, you must also read it is very important This is a lie. I'm illiterate and people pay to read my poo poo. (Please read good words, lots of good words, in a variety of genres and forms both fiction and non-fiction. Reading literary criticism of works you've read is also useful, in my experience. (Yeah, that's words about words.))
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Sep 24, 2016 02:49
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anime was right posted:who pays to read your poo poo.  Check out the self pub thread, read systran's posts.(Or be like Battuta and nail down a publisher!)
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Sep 24, 2016 05:00
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anime was right posted:yeah but how do i do it without any talent or effort this is important to me, a person who builds huge imaginary worlds in my head that i think have consistency but are really just a hodgepodge of anime tropes This is perhaps something that the hypothetical "you" will have to sort out with TCC and/or a religious megathread!  A few years ago I was at a panel on writing professionally and another audience member asked exactly this but without a hint of irony. The panel members patiently supplied a bunch of alternatives (none good enough, ofc) until they finally gave up in that old, familiar way.
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Sep 24, 2016 05:15
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Sitting Here posted:discipline, above anything else, is the most necessary tool for writing.
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Sep 24, 2016 18:31
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Clean living?! Well I never. The Long Walk threads were helpful for improving my discipline w/r/t output and deadlines. Keeping your workspace tidy and relatively distraction free is also good for obvious reasons. Outlines are loving great. I'm never going back to winging it, gently caress that poo poo. It's too easy to say "oh, I'm not feeling it today, no inspiration" when you're winging it. With an outline, especially a detailed outline, that excuse rings hollow. A good outline will help you write more words more quickly than you believed you could. I don't think you have to write Every Day -- I usually like to take weekends off and recharge -- but you can't beat the results of regularly and frequently writing. Not just panic-writing once a week to the TD deadline, either (though I'll maintain that that's better than never writing at all, and only thinking "I should be writing" or "I should have written").
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Sep 24, 2016 20:52
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anime was right posted:outlines are p useful. They also help your words be less poo poo! 
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Sep 24, 2016 21:02
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anime was right posted:my words are 100% grade a bullshit that's some pretty good poo poo, man, good job
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Sep 25, 2016 01:22
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Naerasa posted:The more he wrote, the more he shat, and the more he shat, the more he wrote. I'm sure you thought you were referencing GRRM, but you were in fact posting prophecy.
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Sep 25, 2016 19:10
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General Battuta posted:There's nothing to bloat your wordcount like a protagonist who pauses after every loving line of dialogue to consider possible hidden meanings, clues about secret alliances, and ramifications for the grand global conspiracy It seems hard to find a sweet spot on this sort of thing when you've got a close pov with a single protagonist.
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Nov 9, 2016 07:02
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Shageletic posted:Hey, what's the easy way to search twitter for query letter requests by editors again? Getting close to the flagging my novel phase over here. Do you mean who's accepting queries or do you mean manuscript wish lists? Latter is #mswl.
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Nov 27, 2016 00:16
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anime was right posted:so uh Take a brief break from looking at the manuscript and start researching agents and how to write query letters if you haven't. If you're into small presses, research those. Make sure you have an idea of what the sales expectations are for your book's genre and try to find out how many copies the small press manages to move in the release month of a new book before you get your heart set on that place. (Never sign up for a publisher/small press who moves fewer copies per month than you could manage as a self-publisher.) In about a week, go back to your manuscript and re-read it. Take notes on poo poo you want to change for consistency or style or whatever, then do those revisions. Write query letters and start contacting agents. Make sure that when you contact them, you follow the directions they've supplied about how to do so and what information to include. Work on a synopsis for your novel. Consider working on the outline if you didn't use one to write the book, some agents will want one and it's better to be prepared. Write the blurb. Take up drinking, then quit drinking.
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Dec 6, 2016 16:34
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Chokes McGee posted:quitters never win where'd the fuckin trump riot go
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Dec 6, 2016 16:42
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Chokes McGee posted:I realize Stephen King has made enough money that he can wipe his rear end with twenty dollar bills but every advice I'm seen him give is terrible. To me, at least.  At least his expression of the advice just doesn't work for me. One resource I find myself returning to is the Sin & Syntax style guide. It's brief and has some great examples (poo poo, it's a good resource for a wonderful reading list).
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Dec 9, 2016 17:46
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crabrock posted:all advice is bad. feedback is better. just write and have people tell you if they like it or it sucks. but other people are terrible 
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Dec 9, 2016 22:46
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Naerasa posted:I just threw myself back into the querying pool after finishing out a writing contest where my manuscript was chosen for a free round of professional editing. The book and the query are both much stronger for the editing, but I'm still not holding my breath about getting an agent to take a gamble on my heroin-supervillain-near future-alternate history. I figure I definitely won't get an agent for it if I shelve the fucker, though, so I'm gonna keep at it while working on something else. Hooray?? Keep marchin' on. You're definitely not alone.
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Dec 10, 2016 00:00
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anime was right posted:how so Because you're still not published yet.
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Dec 10, 2016 00:50
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Some of the things that happen after signing for representation can't be foreseen by you or your agent and are totally out of both of your hands, and those kinds of things happen not infrequently. They can kill deals and launches and pennames. That bit really isn't hyperbolic.
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Dec 10, 2016 01:17
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Djeser posted:Actually if you grab a pyromancy flame and put on Flash Sweat you're going to be fairly well protected from chaos weapons and for luck builds I think weapons do dark damage so just grab the Black Set or something. blue blood or death
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Dec 10, 2016 03:48
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This just reminds me that Banks passed away and we won't be getting any more of his fantastic work. 
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Jan 11, 2017 20:00
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LeGuin's handling of the officially unofficial hierarchy among the anarchists is just really fascinating stuff. I read it around the time I finished up the Ancillary books, though, and wound up with the same unsatisfied feeling that the conflicts I was most invested in weren't resolved. I don't know whether those were conscious decisions on the authors' parts; I assume they were. I took away some thoughts from that on my own craft, though -- I don't want to invest much time in subplots I don't intend to wrap up one way or another. (Or in Ancillary's case, potentially confuse readers about which conflict is actually the primary question the work is exploring.) It's not profound, but it's still something to keep in mind. IF you're choosing not to conclude an open question in your work, be conscious about why.
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Jan 11, 2017 22:25
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You probably won't get enough of them back to bury, so it's fine!
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Jan 11, 2017 23:15
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| # ¿ May 13, 2024 21:31 |
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Yeah, getting into the no true Scotsman thing about Utopias is something best avoided. Even in a society where the institutions of power aren't systematically stacked against any particular group of people, there will still be micro and macro level conflicts. Those don't even need to be tied to scarcity. Sometimes you've just got bitch eatin' crackers issues. Sometimes you've got massive philosophical conflicts.
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Jan 12, 2017 17:32
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