I would read that, especially if the green alien gal is hawt.
Posted on 12/23/2024 8:51:04 AM PST by Lazamataz
Merry Christmas, all!
I'm finding that the act of writing a novel is very hard work. My writing style tends to be very concise. I can pack a lot of thoughts and ideas into a small number of sentences.
This does not work well with my current project. Various sources tell me that 90,000 to 100,000 words is the typical count for a given novel. I'm only at 15,900 words. I have quite a few chapters to go, but it's a struggle to flesh out this work to the right size.
I have a first draft manuscript, and if anyone wants to request a copy of that, I can provide it by email. Perhaps one or more of you have ideas on how I can improve this work.
Laz,
I think I mentioned Philip K Dick once before, mostly because I can imagine you writing frenetically through the night.
Check the word counts of these: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (aka Bladerunner) 67,000; The Man in the High Castle 80,500; Minority Report 14,400 (some consider this to be a novella length); Ubik – 66,600; Valis 81,100.
So I wouldn’t worry about word count per se but the narrative and what the characters are experiencing, and whether or not the reader should care about them. But not so terse that it reads like a computer manual.
Happy to take a look.
Maybe James Patterson can help you flesh it out. He’s great at taking a 250 page story and doubling that page count.
I’ve heard he has sold some novels, too!
Send me an email address by freepmail
I am positively Niven-ian.
Thanks! The core plot remains the same but the novel and development has undergone much revision.
Send me your email by freepmail.
I have produced more than thirty books. History, novels, essays. It strikes me that, from what you imply, you are an essayist at heart. Not a novelist. I certainly can be wrong, but as I cogitate perhaps you should be devoted to the novela form. (I have written five of them.) I was just braced by a new friend who had written a few things. They were short-shorts, but really well done. I told him that when I got started there was the New Yorker, the kingpin, that must have received hundreds of items monthly. There were a score of other much smaller venues that would take a chance with a new author. Now, I had to admit, I was stumped with regard to a magazine, quarterly, etc., that would publish prospective creative writers. However, I feel sure there are those on FR that can be of assistance. Good luck.
You have made long posts here at FR; and, they were always pretty good no matter the subject. They are usually “information dense”, but not in a repetitive or meandering way.
Sent
Send me your email addy by freepmail.
Appreciate your thoughts!
I have no intention of putting steamy sex scenes anywhere in any of my fiction.
I’ve lived too much of it, to make it matter in my writing.
Did he strain his eyes through the windscreen?
He jumped into his junker and split.
I would read that, especially if the green alien gal is hawt.
Writing can be challenging and I know first-hand since I’ve been compelled to record what I’ve experienced firsthand and have about 30,000 words done so far. Nonfiction is very different and in my opinion you shouldn’t force yourself to use too many words although creating a vision in the readers eye is important.
I worked in a news office as a photographer for many years where I worked with many writers. I will never forget seeing a sign in a colleague’s cubicle stating eliminate all unnecessary words. My process so far has been to first get everything important down and then on second pass wordsmith by eliminating words that don’t really add anything.
Boy do I have some stories folks here would find interesting. I’m thinking about rolling out some short pieces on X with photos
write the way you want it to be… if it’s good, publishers will pick it up or you can self publish it…
good luck
Storytelling is paramount. The prose of many famous authors like Vince Flynn and Dale Brown is loaded with grammatical inaccuracies that would make a high school student blush, but they are very effective storytellers and saw their books sell well and get made into films. On the other hand, plenty of expertly crafted crafted novels are sitting in some publisher's slush pile - because the story the author wanted to tell was not interesting to anyone but him or (usually) her.
An excellent short reference - focused on screenplays but adaptable to any fiction - is Michael B. Druxman's The Art of Storytelling. Implementing the Three-act Structure he outlines is pretty much mandatory to create a successful novel.
“He got into the RAV4. It was blue, shiny, and the left rear tire looked slightly low. A bird had crapped on the hood and the sun’s reflection angle drew reluctant attention to it.”
The editor in me says:
He got into the shiny blue RAV4, with the left rear tire looking slightly low. The sun’s reflection on the hood drew reluctant attention to where a bird had crapped on it.
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