What are you writing at the moment?
Between Christmas and the New Year I started writing my first novel. Last night I finished Chapter 3, I am now 12,000 words in and really enjoying it as well as getting into the flow of it.
It's a post-apocalyptic tale with echos of 1984.
So who else here is currently writing?
It's a post-apocalyptic tale with echos of 1984.
So who else here is currently writing?
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I'm writing a horror, about 4 chapters, 15000 words in. Also my first novel, although I've done a few shorts. Started off quite gruesome so far but I'm hoping to make it creepy, a look into the dark corners of the human soul!
Echoes.
My less important advice is that you should write for your own amusement and assume no-one will ever want to read a word you've written. You won't be disappointed if you stay true to that.
Probably more important, pick up a copy of Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style". Unless you have a solid grounding in grammar you're never going to be taken seriously. The original (Strunk only) text is here:
The Elements of Style
But that's a little more hardcore than the E. B. White revision.
Don't listen to people who tell you that writing more will make you better. Reading more will make you a better writer. Writing more will make writing easier. It may well be crap but it'll be easier crap. Only critical analysis of your writing will actually make it better. And if writing is ever easy, you're doing it wrong.
Publish your writing freely at first (it takes, on average, ten years for a writer to be published and the accepted rule is that you need to write a million words of crap before you know what you're doing - own this. What you write at first is worthless as anything but a springboard for improvement). Welcome opinions. Value criticism, and dismiss praise. People are wormy sheep and don't want to upset you. One valid criticism is worth a hundred people's empty praise.
Keep writing. Write like your life depended on it. Only by writing can you make yourself happy. These are just three lies wannabe writers tell themselves. Get a hobby, meet people, do things. Then write about it. If writing is your life, your life sucks.
But you're right, everyone whose read it so far has told me it's good. One person pointed out a couple of repeated words and a mixture of tenses in a sentence.
I read about 2 books a week on average.
Sadly I am creatively malnourished
If any of you ever self publish for the Kindle I'll give you a read. Been some little gems I've found on their freebie/70p/99p self published stuff. A couple who have then gone on to write a second novel that I've happily paid full price for.
I would love to be able to write, but sadly I'm rubbish. I do however love a good post apocalyptic tale so feel free to send yours my way if you want an honest opinion.
I have PMd you. :cool:
Finishing this is a goal for 2013 though!
Good luck with it. :cool: What's the basis of your fanfiction?
The musical Rent. It starts about 2 years after the musical finishes.
I've done dozens of Doctor Who fanfictions too and started (though not finished!) some Narnia ones.
That sounds very interesting. You'd probably have some luck with getting the Dr. Who ones published though?
Where did you slot your Narnia ones in?
I imagine not, I like writing fluff about the Doctor and Rose :D
The main one I've written is set during the time the Pevensies are ruling Narnia (i.e. the last section of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe) and adds in a character of the Witch's ward who is placed in their care after she 'dies'. All very sentimental rubbish.
Takes the fun out of writing when I need to get all these in for around the same time.
My writing is very research-heavy, so I may spend weeks or months researching - but write very quickly. For the past two years, I have done 'book writing' interspersed with research and article writing. That means the writing is not very fluid, but I get bored of doing just one thing. I will live, breathe, eat, sleep it and then a week later, when it's gone, forget all about it.
This week I am putting the finishing touches to something that will be part of a book a lot of people are contributing to, and will also go out as a stand-alone thing. That will probably generate more income for me than my own book! I enjoy collaborating with other people as writing can be very lonely. But since xmas I have slowed down a lot, as I was working crazily for months, before that.
I've also written the intro to a re-issue of a 1940s' book, that will be coming out at the same time. That was exciting to do, but also scary.
Will be working on some things that tie in (essentially, self promotion) for several magazines I already write for, but not for a couple of months. I tend to knock out a couple of thousand words in a couple of hours, and tend to work close to deadline so future projects sort of float round and percolate in my brain for some time before I get to writing them.
Have an article to write in a couple of weeks, for a magazine I write for regularly. No idea what I'm doing, yet - but will come up with something. Have several more in the pipeline, and an editor I have written for in the past contacted me last week to ask for something new.
A link to my efforts is given below. Check them out, if you are so inclined.
https://www.fictionpress.com/story/story_tab_list.php
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Murray-McDonald/e/B0046XZJMQ
Have just downloaded "Scion" onto my Kindle. You have some mixed reviews there
Looks good, looking forward to having a read
Fantastic, thanks. I really do hope you enjoy.
Yep, the wonderful amazon review system! You should see the American reviews, where 90% of my sales are generated, they take politics far more seriously than us and as such some interesting reviews!
I try to write exciting thrillers, not aiming to win any literary prizes. So far sems to be working as I sell a few thousand every month.
I'll let you know. Its next on my list after the one I'm reading. It sounds like just my sort of thing so hopefully my review will please you
As for literary prizes, my exerience of books that win these is they tend to be quite dull
Is your cousin well known? Sounds like a recipe for a family feud!
I've hit the 21,000 word mark now in my book. Still going really well.
Sounds great, go for it. Good luck...