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Archive for the ‘Fallen Cloud Saga’ Category

The Yellow Brick Road

Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 06 Sep 2012| 2 Comments »

The goal of almost every writer is to be published by a big publishing firm. These big publishing houses pretty much had a lock on the whole shebang until about 20 years ago, when small and on-demand presses started popping up. Then, when e-publishing started to take off, authors had even more options open to them.

But, for most of us, the Yellow Brick Road still leads to Oz, and all those other venues are just waypoints for which we must “settle” if we can’t get all the way to the Big Publishing House.

I’ve hit pretty much every stop on the Yellow Brick Road. Under normal circumstances, I’d be taking my new novel down as far down that road as possible, but FC:V is a bit of an edge case. (more…)

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On, You Huskies!

Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 05 Sep 2012| Leave a Comment »

First Reader has come back with comments on Beneath a Wounded Sky (FC:V).

Overall, response was very good. Really good. “I miss them already,” was the comment after the last page.

But, there was room for improvement. Here’s the sort of thing First Reader found:

  • The first major action sequence, written back when I was approaching getting back into a groove, was unclear. I know that I didn’t follow my own advice on writing action sequences, so this is not a surprise.
  • Sequences that referred back to one of the previous books needed more detail. This is because I had re-read FC:I-IV before re-starting my work, but First Reader (intentionally) did not. Since most readers won’t re-read the first four, this was very good feedback.
  • A few of the more complicated sections were unclear as to motivation; why did so-n-so do thus-n-such? Again, great feedback because to be honest, I hadn’t thought it out. I’d cheated, and tap-danced my way through a section to get to a good part. Bad writer! No biscuit! I’d written some action without considering the “why,” and it showed.
  • The denouement seemed rushed. This is a common response, and one I always suspect I’m going to get. With the finish line in sight, I will dash ahead and finish the book, wanting to (a) get it done, and (b) get it to First Reader. It’s nothing tragic; it just needs a little more attention.
  • Throughout the entire novel, only four typos. A record for me.

Now, all the changes have been considered and fixed. The new version is off to a select group of Second Readers. I expect to hear back from them in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, I get to think about what to do next? Agent/Publisher (which could take—literally—years)? Self-publication (which would reap little, monetarily)?

k

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The Art of the Fugue

Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on 04 Sep 2012| Leave a Comment »

A Sixty-Fourth NoteA canon is a piece of contrapuntal music where first one voice performs a melody, and other voices perform the same melody, entering at specific intervals. “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” is a well-known canon.

A fugue is similar, with one voice performing a melody, but when other voices join, the melody is “developed.” It may start on a different note, be inverted, reversed, ornamented, etc.

In writing, I want to emulate the fugue, not the canon.

(more…)

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Back To You, Brian

Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on 01 Sep 2012| 2 Comments »

Beneath a Wounded Sky is now in the hands of First Reader.

First Reader is and always has been my best sounding board for what I call “macro” edits. First Reader is a constant reader of a broad spectrum of works, from fiction to non-fiction, classics to contemporary. First Reader is smart, intuitive, and unafraid to tell me when something pretty basic just plain doesn’t work. First Reader also, because of the aforementioned reading habits, is able to tell me when the Big Things need work, can tell me when I’ve done something someone else has already done, and can comment knowledgeably on the allusions I might draw, be it to Classical Greek or Modern Geek. (more…)

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Trimming the Fat

Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on 31 Aug 2012| 4 Comments »

I thought I’d share some of the things I’m finding in this edit.

I can definitely tell which chapters came out of my pen wholly formed and which I struggled with. I think most writers find this; some chapters are the lynchpins that keep the wheels of my story from falling off the axle. Other chapters are less clear; perhaps they’re transitional or just utility chapters, that I’ve sketched in my mind, but don’t know the details ahead of time. And then there are the places where I assumed I’d be doing “X” in Chapter 20, but ended up doing “Y” when I got there, so now I have to go back and fix the earlier reference.

Other things I have been stumbling across: (more…)

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Postnovel Depression

Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged , , , , , , on 29 Aug 2012| 2 Comments »

“You’ve just finished your novel! What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to Disneyland!”

This, unfortunately, is not the case for me. I’ve been rather blue since writing “Fin” on the last page. A lot of the messages that came my way in the past couple of days congratulated me on the “birth” of my latest novel, so it’s rather fitting that, when I look up the symptoms listed for postpartum depression, I find that I am experiencing a lot of them.

Why isn’t this a happy time? Why am I not ecstatic over having completed a major opus?

There are lots of reasons, many having to do with the sense of loss that comes from any major separation, but there are other factors that I know are weighing on me.

  • Starting a new novel is always a daunting prospect, and I’m facing that whenever I think about my next novel.
  • My writing “career” is in transition, so all the business side decisions are anything but straightforward.
    • I want to move from genre fiction to more mainstream storylines, so any agent I find today may not want me tomorrow.
    • This book just completed is Book V in a five-book series, but the original publisher dropped me after Book IV, so finding a publisher for a lonely fifth-of-five is going to be tough.
  • And the fact that I’ve been ill and not sleeping hasn’t helped, either.

Maybe it’ll rain today. I’m always happier when it rains.

k

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Okay, NOW You Can Edit

Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on 27 Aug 2012| 2 Comments »

Kurt R.A. GiambastianiYou’ve heard it before; my big deal when I’m writing is to “Write, don’t edit.” You know…don’t put off ’til tomorrow what you can put off for months, right?  Well, now that I’ve finished the writing bit, I can’t put it off any longer. I have to sit down and do what I’ve successfully avoided.

Editing is hard; everyone knows that, but why? I mean, why edit at all? Just run that puppy through the spell-checker and send it out, right? Wrong. Seriously wrong. (more…)

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