Counting words used to be important. It also used to be arcane.
As the physically printed word goes slowly out of style, the importance of word count diminishes. When I worked as a head pressman at a small newspaper, word count was king because word count translated to column inches, and you only had so many of those in each issue. Reporters typed up their story, handed it to the typesetter who typed it into a machine the size of a van. Long strips of paper came out the far side which we then painstakingly—and absolutely literally—cut and pasted onto the page mock-up. Word count gave us an idea of how much space each article would use. But it was not a literal count of the words.
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Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing | Tagged Beneath a Wounded Sky, creative writing, ebooks, Fallen Cloud Saga, Kindle, novel writing, publishing, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips | 1 Comment »
Fifty followers. Fifty.
That may not sound like a lot to you, but it does to me. I’m not even 100 days into this experiment, and already there are 50 of you who found it interesting enough to click the “follow” button. Not bad, in my estimation, especially since most of you 50 (if not all of you) are new to (the thing that is) KRAG. That’s a pretty good reach, in my book.
Mostly, though, it proves a point: Blogging is powerful.
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Posted in Culture, Hi Tech, Writing | Tagged blogging, collective culture, long distance phone call, long distance telephone, Writing | 2 Comments »
Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing | Tagged amazon, Beneath a Wounded Sky, books, creative writing, e-readers, ebooks, editing, Fallen Cloud Saga, FC:V, Kindle, novel writing, novels, publishing, self-publishing, Writing | Leave a Comment »
“I did not, in the course of my response to the matter in April, 1861, consider within the limits of credibility that these heretofore stalwart men—many of whom were well-known to me—could be anything but misguided or deceived by the machinations of others. I did not and could not conceive of the authors of such actions as reasoning, civilized members of an otherwise flourishing country.”
Abraham Lincoln, A War Remembered, 1875
See what I did there?
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Posted in Writing | Tagged creative writing, Fallen Cloud Saga, Harlan Ellison, Lincoln, milk in the icebox, novel writing, Stephen King, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips | Leave a Comment »
There were several topics in my head this morning, all vying for attention.
Yesterday was a bad day—personally, nationally, internationally—and the opinions, the frustrations, the anger built until, about 9PM, the dreaded pall of futility and depression began to creep upon me. How to battle not only the news of terrible events, but the rash and unwise reactions that predominated the blogosphere? After so many years, after so many trials, have we learned nothing?
I tried to shake it and turned back to my work prepping The Year the Cloud Fell for re-release. Editing—even a quick review edit like I’m giving these books—may seem like an odd method for lifting one’s mood, but it paid off, for out of the blackness of my mood, there came a warm and friendly light. Continue Reading »
Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing | Tagged blogging, books, creative writing, editing, Fallen Cloud Saga, Libya, novel writing, publishing, quiet living, Writing | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday, several of my writerly-feeds went nuclear after The Huffington Post reported that Abigail Gibbs was awarded a six-figure contract for her first novel. Every writer I know decried the state of writing when a newbie author would get such a deal for what was essentially (their words) “glorified fan fiction.”
First, nothing in the article leads me to believe that this is fan fiction. Though “inspired” by the Twilight series, there is nothing in the article that says she’s used characters from the series (a hallmark of fan fiction). Sure, she posted articles on Wattpad, but that doesn’t make it fan fiction, so, let’s drop that label, shall we? Continue Reading »
Posted in Culture, Movies, Writing | Tagged Abigail Gibbs, books, creative writing, harper collins, HarperCollins, novel writing, novels, publishing, self-publishing, Snooki, Twilight, Writing | Leave a Comment »
Up on a shelf, next to some old journals, I have a box filled with memories.
Tonight, I’m going to a concert, and I won’t be able to put it in that box.
The concert is down at the Seattle Town Hall tonight and the music is a collection of piano trios. I bought my tickets to the series through an online vendor. As is my habit, I paid a little extra ($6) to have the tickets sent to my home.
The tickets didn’t arrive, and there was a little back-and-forth between myself and the vendor. For some reason, mailing physical tickets is sometimes beyond their abilities (despite the additional cost), and remailing them or issuing a second set is Just Not Done.
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Posted in Culture, Hi Tech, Low Tech | Tagged e-ticket, high tech, low-tech, memento, new technologies, print at home ticket, seattle town hall, ticket stub, ticket stubs, tickets | 2 Comments »
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Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 