29th Apr2011

The Weekender for April 29 – May 1: Negative Advice

by Aaron

Welcome to another blast from the past! The Weekender series is here for another critical thought for your writerly minds. This week I want to talk about writing advice. Two weeks ago I was at I-Con 30 and took the opportunity to sit in on two writer panels: “Managing Your Writing Business” and “Breaking Into Print”.

The business writing panel was really about financials and managing your taxes. This is good information for those who are knee-deep in freelancing or working on their own but for this guy, I was out of my league. Luckily after 10-minutes my friend called that he had arrived and I had to quietly slip out to meet him & get his badge / ticket.

The “Breaking Into Print” panel was much more interesting and featured a number of authors, editors and others who deal with the ‘industry’. The information was nothing new: perseverance is key, keep writing, you’ll get a ton of rejections but if your work is good you’ll get an acceptance, follow submission guidelines to the letter, beware of people trying to scam you.

One interesting point that was made was a panel member stating that we should all be trying to network with each other and them as well. The opportunity to speak to people within the industry was there and we need to make the effort to speak to them. Everyone took the hint and at the end there was a big rush to the table to get some words in. I took the opportunity to thank some of the panelists for their time and advice and then focused on one writer who has been published. This is when things got strange.

I asked a question I’ve heard conflicting information about: ‘how many people should you query at a time?’ My question was met with a vague response on how it doesn’t matter and to simply query. He asked me what I write and when I said novel-length work I was told his company is only looking for short stories. He suggested I write some. I told him I really only write novels but I have a complete work that I’m looking to send out. His answer: You may think it’s complete but it’s probably not. This was said in a dismissive tone. At that time I accepted his business card, smiled and left the room.

I’m not sure where these were from or their intent but it felt condescending and gave the impression that I am incapable of writing a novel-length (80,000 word) book unless I’ve written short stories. Personally I think this is completely wrong and to pass on advice like that is guiding people in the wrong direction. Spirit Hackers is almost 73k because that’s how long it is. I intend for Loopback to surpass that word count.

So was this advice I was given out of line or do shorter works really contribute so heavily to novels that we’re doomed without dabbling in them first? Sound off and let me know what you think.

Enjoy your weekend.

Category : Just me
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28th Apr2011

Lyrically Speaking for April 28

by Aaron

Welcome back to the return of Lyrically Speaking! Since it’s been a while, I’ll quickly re-introduce this part of Copious Notes. Music is really poetry set to sound. It can inspire and really move us emotionally. The purpose of these posts is to help generate the spark of an idea that may hit you.

So with that said, today we’re featuring a song that happened to come up on my iPod last week that just has a great melody but also passionate lyrics. I’m not a big fan of middle-of-the-road generic rock but I make an exception for The Calling.

From the album Two this is Anything by The Calling:

I will be there
Always waiting
Waiting for you
To let me inside
Where your fire burns
In a city of angels
Just like a river rushing straight into the sea
I’m the one thing meant for you and you for me

[CHORUS:]
Whatever you want
Whatever you need
Whatever it takes, I’ll do anything

And as you sleep
Eyes to the window
I’m watching you dream
Well are you dreaming of me?
So why can’t you see
You’re all that matters
You know if this earth should crack
I’ll be your solid ground
I will be there to catch you when you fall down

[CHORUS]

If I have to crawl
Get down on my knees
Whatever it takes, I’ll go anything

I’d take the stars right out of the sky for you
I’d end the world give you the sun, the moon
For all of time, forever loving you

Whatever you need
Whatever it takes, I’ll do anything
If I have to crawl
Get down on my knees
Whatever it takes, I’ll do anything

Category : Ideas
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25th Apr2011

The Picture in My Head

by Aaron

I’ve found it interesting that throughout the past few years I’ve been seriously writing, I’ve heard many ways in which people get the words onto the page. I never gave this much thought until a few years ago.

Back around ’06 I went with my wife to see Jodi Picoult speak about a new book that was coming out. After her reading she did a Q&A with us and someone asked about how she gets her ideas. Without hesitation she said that voices just come to her and she writes what they are saying. The characters are real people within her mind and tell her their story. She channels that and *boom* she has a novel.

Now in ANY other realm of work this would be chalked up to her being crazy or having a multiple personality disorder. Not in the writing world! In our sandbox, she’s making bank.

I’ve heard many others since that day speak about how they write and here I am throwing my method out there too. For everything I’ve ever written, I literally have a movie playing in my head. I can see my characters moving along the streets of New York or fumbling in a lab. Of course some places are real locations I’ve been to but that just adds to the realism of the motion picture of my mind. It’s a theatre of one.

Spirit Hackers was all visual and Loopback is following in the exact same way. I don’t know if writers change methods depending on the book they’re writing but for me, I like my cozy, private screening where the food is free and no cell phones are going off.

So what’s your writing method? You hearing voices in your head or talking to invisible people? Perhaps your private theatre is across the street from mine. Let’s hear it!

Category : Ideas
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18th Apr2011

This Time Travel Stuff is Hard!

by Aaron

Writing is hard. Any writer will tell you that. We intentionally make it harder (also known as ‘challenging’) on ourselves to see what we’re really made of. I did that with Spirit Hackers in the ways of creating a full outline and structure before writing. I also ditched MS Word and Apple’s Pages for a still relatively-unknown app called Scrivener. With Loopback, I’ve done it again by working on a plot involving time travel. This is a subject that can get you in trouble easily if you don’t dot your T’s and cross your I’s.

The odds of hitting a paradox are high and plot-holes aren’t just issues that can be patched. They can completely derail the entire book. Add in the fact that I’m inventing technology as I go and this is a perfect storm of screwing up that I’m trying to avoid.

I’ve taken organization to the next level and created a dedicated document in my Scrivener binder for all technology I’m inventing and also the time travel rules I’m laying down. By having a reference that’s never more than a click away (and if I jump into split-screen view, it’s not even that!) I can keep my head on straight when referencing something down the line in chapter 20 that I invented in chapter 2. So far, it’s working great for me.

Finally, my word count is progressing with Loopback clocking in at 13,754 words. My current goal is to write about 3k a week to keep my original promise of having this book done by the middle of the year.

So what keeps you organized with your writing? How do you challenge yourself in new projects? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Category : Loopback
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