Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged books, creative writing, editing, Fallen Cloud Saga, novel writing, self-publishing, The Ploughman Chronicles, Unraveling Time, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips 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.
Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged creative writing, e-readers, ebooks, editing, Fallen Cloud Saga, Kindle, novel writing, publishing, self-publishing, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips 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…)
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 on 18 Sep 2012| 1 Comment »
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.
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 on 14 Sep 2012| 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?
Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged Beneath a Wounded Sky, books, creative writing, Fallen Cloud Saga, FC:V, novel writing, novels, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips 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:
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
Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged Beneath a Wounded Sky, books, creative writing, editing, Fallen Cloud Saga, FC:V, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips on 04 Sep 2012| Leave a Comment »
A 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.
Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing, tagged Beneath a Wounded Sky, creative writing, Fallen Cloud Saga, FC:V, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips 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…)
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 