The Writers Guild of Free Republic ping list
The Writers Guild of Free Republic ping list
AI is only as good as the human behind it. I can always tell when someone is written by AI—it sounds wooden and dead. Write your own book.
i have the sane problem. that class i took in journalism ruined my descriptive style...
Brevity is the soul of wit. ;-)
Cheers! ‘Pod
It’s good not to be wordy. Wordy is boring.
As far as length, your work is going to be as long or short as it needs to be.
Fulfill your vision.
Congratulations. Most don’t even start to write.
Subplots...yes...agree.
Question: How about more plots? Like a mystery, how and why did you start the story where and when you did? How did that occur? Perhaps reveal and tease that as you progress.
Assuming you’re familiar with the hero’s journey and you’ve outlined that. If you want, do the same with your antagonist (s).
With regard to characters, false friends and benevolent antagonists as minor characters can give you things that will add to the twists and of course add words.
Keep going!
It happened.
The writers did all of that in the show “24”.
I know why, because you can only really do about 5 minutes of cool stuff in an hour.
But I would have been good with the show if it had only lasted 5 min every week as long as I didn’t have to ever see or hear about Jack’s daughter.
Write it your way and eff those who tell you it needs to be different/longer/elaborate.
Elaborate writing is for sissies.;-)
And, as an aside, now that you've got me stirred up, minimalist writing can be VERY complex. It takes more work by the writer (and the reader), and it is certainly more interesting...and even more powerful in my opinion.
I’ve written several novels, some of which are on Amazon. The way I addressed all of those things in your excellent list was to create a biography for each character. What experiences shaped their childhood? Were they abused or spoiled? I went into great detail for even minor characters. Then when those characters appeared they didn’t mindlessly advance the plot. Most of these things were never mentioned in story. The characters responded to circumstances, sometimes in surprising and, even to me, unexpected ways. When the characters and their interactions are driving the plot, you’ll find it resembles the way things work in the real world.
If you do this. The subplots write themselves.
I was repeatedly asked by readers, was this or that character actually someone I knew?
” I tend to be extremely concise.”
I also tend to be concise, so I can’t help. My wife however, can take 10 minutes to say hello. I’ll ask if she has any suggestions.
Then rewrite the story to convey the same impression without them.
It is amazing what such an exercise can do to a story.
Recommendation: Scrivener - for Mac or Windows
Very easy to use, does everything including all publishing formats
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/
Includes free 30 day trial.
Specifically for you Laz, it keeps a running word count - a feature that, like many others, can be turned on or off.
Also has different templates for different projects.
https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview#features
A lot of great science fiction is short. Tell the story.
Ray Bradbury, H.G. Wells, and Isaac Asimov were also concise writers. Not everyone has to be Frank Herbert.
You might be a short story writer. A master like Dickens (not a Sci-Fi) can have layers of character development and a number of seemingly unrelated threads tied up after 800 pages. If that is not for you. If you have a main idea that you want to unfold with a twist or two, write that story. If it is really short, write another one based in the same universe, and you might have “I, Robot”.
Describe your world. Employ enough detail so that your reader can feel present at the time and place. Dialogue between characters to enrich the understanding of events. Brevity is not your friend.
I refer you to my novel, The Flickering Torch. It’s over 500 pages of thoughtful setup, action and adventure, and it has received good reviews.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5YVR3NL
Roy Huggins, a young University of California graduate working in the U.S. Civil Service during World War II, began a legendary career by copying in longhand Raymond Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely. Huggins then wrote a Chandler's style detective novel that The Saturday Evening Post serialized, which resulted in conventional publication of the novel and sake of the film rights.
Additional novels, short stories, movie scripts, and film production work by Huggins followed. He moved into television in 1955 with Warner Brothers and later Universal Television. He created Maverick (1957-62), 77 Sunset Strip (1958-64), The Fugitive (1963-67), Run for Your Life (1965-68), The Outsider (1968-69), The Rockford Files (1974-80), City of Angels (1976), and several other TV productions.
Will Huggins' approach work for you? It at least offers a way to start. Good luck.
That perfectly describes a Mack Bolan novel.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mack+bolan+books&iax=images&ia=images
I used to teach creative writing, and I’m willing to look at what you have and make suggestions for development if you’d like to have a human review.
I also think you could approach this as a short story, or even a collection of short stories. It’s okay to think outside the box and forge your own path.
I wish you great success with your writing!
Sounds like you need to develop som LGBTQ characters, that don’t actually contribute to the story, but will expand your potential audience. For instance, include unnecessary sexual encounters that just show up without any connection to the current plot problem or situation, and doesn’t help aid in the solution.
That’s been Hollywood’s go to plot thickener for 30 years.
Sarcastic regards,
Shotgun.
― Mark Twain
On the other side of the spectrum, consider Allen Drury. His first (at least prominent) political fiction novel was Advise and Consent. That got turned into a movie.
Then he wrote a series of sequels, and each one got longer and longer. Bonus points to anybody who can name a movie made from one of the sequels.