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Posts Tagged ‘creative writing’

Hitting the 30k Wall

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on 01 Oct 2012| 1 Comment »

Kurt R.A. GiambastianiI know I’m not alone. I am pretty sure most writers suffer from it. It presents itself with many symptoms, but the cause is the same. At some point, we lose confidence. Without warning, we are sure that we can’t write, that everything we write is crap, and everything we’ve ever written is crap.

For me, this condition crops up at regular, predictable intervals. I’ll be writing along, and suddenly it all seems so much dross. The outline sounds stupid, juvenile, uninteresting. The story is just so much blathering. I hate what I’ve written, I’m sure everyone will hate what I’ve written, and I can see no point in continuing.

I’ve hit it. I’ve hit the 30k wall. (more…)

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Lightning Mix

Posted in Culture, Fallen Cloud Saga, Movies, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on 29 Sep 2012| Leave a Comment »

We are informed by our experience. A lot of my experience comes from cinema. I am informed by cinema.

Many readers have told me they can “see” the scenes I write, that my style is “cinematic.” I take this as a compliment, as it is something for which I strive. I want the reader to see it in their mind. I won’t provide each hair or feather or leaf in a scene—that would be awful—but I want my words to paint just enough of the picture that the reader has all she needs to move forward and fill in the details she wants.

But I am definitely informed by cinema. Case in point: a scene I just came across during my re-edit of The Spirit of Thunder.  I remember writing the scene, I remember storyboarding it out in my head. I remember knowing exactly what inspired me to construct the sequence as I did.  (more…)

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Proof of Life

Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 28 Sep 2012| 5 Comments »

We have proof!

Yesterday, Brown delivered the proof for FC:I, and once again I was reminded of just how important a hardcopy proof is. For you out there who are thinking about self-publishing a hardcopy book, always get a physical proof copy of the book.

So, how was it?

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The Forest Drooped Glimmeringly

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on 25 Sep 2012| 3 Comments »

Kurt R.A. GiambastianiThere are few classes of words with a worse rep than adverbs. The title of this post, taken from George Meredith’s  The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, is pretty much the gold standard of bad adverb use. Editors hate them; many writers eschew them. I, however, will stand up in their defense.

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Picking a Printer

Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 24 Sep 2012| 4 Comments »

This past weekend, I gave myself some time off to enjoy “Borderlands 2” on Xbox, but that doesn’t mean I did nothing, writing-wise. I did a lot, actually…

Friday I finished typesetting the interior of FC:I and started working with the printer. There were two printers in contention for the job: Lulu and CreateSpace. I chose the latter. Here’s why.

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OLB Award

Posted in Culture, tagged , , on 20 Sep 2012| 7 Comments »

The One Lovely Blog Award has come my way. It’s another way for bloggers to show appreciation and bring notice to blogs that we find intriguing.

Sarah over at Musings of a Steampunk—one of my favorite blogs to follow—has nominated this blog for the award! Thanks, Sarah! It’s truly a pleasure to know that this blog reaches and touches other writers and readers.

The Rules for nominees are simple:

  1. Copy and paste the award logo onto a post.
  2. Thank and link back to the person who nominated you.
  3. List seven things about yourself.
  4. Nominate five other blogs.

See? Easy peasy.

My nominees (in no particular order) are:

  1. Mike and Robert vs. the Movies (irreverent, insightful movie guys)
  2. Untitled*United (movies, books, writing, everything)
  3. The Wildflower Scout (I love this blog! Beautiful photos, great hiking)
  4. Paige Nolley (enthusiastic writer/blogger)
  5. Jumping from Cliffs (passionate novelist)

 My 7 things:

  1. I worked as a pressman in a small newspaper, did everything from paste-up to delivery, and nearly earned the nickname “Lefty”.
  2. Every year I try brie cheese to see if it still tastes awful to me (20 yrs so far, still “ick”)
  3. I’ve been reading Proust for five years; I can only handle the prose for 2 weeks at a time, but when I pick it back up, it’s like I never put it down.
  4. I’m related to Eleanor of Aquitaine.
  5. I can only write humorous non-fiction. Humorous fiction (to date) is beyond my capabilities.
  6. I can’t draw worth spit.
  7. I have a thing for old British cars.

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The Devil’s Typesetter

Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 20 Sep 2012| 1 Comment »

When I decided to publish the new FC books myself, I rather knew what I was getting into. Publishers, for all their flaws, do provide a lot for the writer. I’ve seen it, experienced it, and though I bitched about a lot of it at the time, I surely do miss it now.

Some of the services a publisher provides that are now on my plate: editing, copy-editing, fact-checking, cover art, and typesetting. (And this doesn’t even get into the marketing/distribution side of things.)

It’s that last one, though…typesetting. It’s a bloody mare’s nest of minutia and details. But its importance cannot be understated. I’ve done this before, but it’s always a surprise. (more…)

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