Writing • Page 23

Personally, I have big problems with writing. And all because of the fact that when writing I make a lot of mistakes and my work needs to be edited, and sometimes even rewritten. Therefore, in such situations, I turn to the service papersowl.com, because they can rewrite my essay and do it quickly and efficiently. And all because they are true professionals. I am very pleased with the result.
Still, I hope that over time I will start making fewer typos and my writing will get better.

 

When you sit down, write whatever chapter/section feels the most interesting to you in that moment. And when you're writing, don't double-back to edit. Just get it all out there. You can rewrite, restructure, and fine-tune afterwards.

 

I'll echo the sentiment about not doubling back for editing. I'll usually alternate sessions of writing and editing. One day I'll just write, and the next day I'll edit what I wrote last time and then add a little more if I'm feeling it.

 

agreed. i have about a thousand doodles on my iphone notes app. some are almost completed pieces. i can always re edit later, but i think the priority is getting the thoughts or ideas documented in is rawest form rather than lose the train of thought over editing what i've already written.

 

Think the person up there edited their post so it's no longer a question. Oh well.

I'm currently on a creative streak with these online classes I'm taking. Wrote a ten page short story last week, getting feedback tonight.

Then also this week, I'm working on a poetry chapbook of my own for a separate course. Been working on this thing on the side for awhile now, and it's ACTUALLY guaranteed publication in a little over 8 weeks. It's through an online course Toho is providing which is pretty dope. I did have to shell out the dough for the course itself, but it's gonna be my first official published full-length. It's already been a lot of work drafting the manuscript and I haven't even started the course yet, but I'm so psyched to finally go all in on something like this. It's gonna be LITTTT.

 

hell yeah

 

omg I didn't know this thread existed!!! I'm really stoked to hear about what y'all are working on

I've been working on a novel for a little over a year and I'm anticipating I'll finish the draft in the next month or two (which is very scary). I also intermittently share creative stuff on my blog The Fluxy, which is mostly (but not entirely) creative nonfiction stuff.

Edit: oh and I write about music too lol I keep another blog up-to-date with that stuff

 

welcome :) congrats on your novel. that last stretch feels magical--enjoy it. if you ever need an editor/proofreader when you're done, hit up yaboi right here.

also, if anyone is interested, i'm running a virtual workshop tomorrow night. you can find the info here at this link.

 

hell yeah jordan

 

pausing the novel draft to work on a short-story for a local literary magazine. might hit some of y'all up for editing since I have a month before the deadline

 

I'm up to maybe 115,000 words, taken about 1.5 years so far. Slow but enjoyable process.

 

the main thought process is shooting for roughly double your ideal word count, expecting to edit/cut about half of it, no?

 

Depends on what kind of writer you are. Everyone's different. My stories tend to be plot-lite but heavy on detail--so I usually end up having to add story after my first draft, cut down on detail. I personally can't even imagine writing over 100K words for a story, so I'm always amazed at those capable of something that sprawling.

I worked 7 years on my 28K word novella and it's DENSE, but I'm proud to consider it finished.

Recently edited an 80K word book with tons of extraneous plot and dialogue--cut about 10K words, but if it was my book, I might've cut another 20 or 30K from it. Really depends on what you're going for.

 

ah, okay, yeah. i think my mentality seems to be closer in line to yours, but I have been reading from a lot of places that seem in line with @theagentcoma and wasn't sure if I was "doing it wrong" haha

 

there's no "doing it wrong" when it's your art IMO. there are definitely some writers who can spill chapters of plot in a sitting, cutting out entire subplots in revision, then adding in sensory stuff afterward. I cannot. I often fixate over figurative language and punctuation and word choice, and sensory description comes easier to me than weaving plot. the way sunlight hits the patch of grass and how it makes my MC feel comes easier to me than figuring out what the hell to do with them... but then it might randomly come to me one day while showering or taking a dump and I'd then be able to finally produce a lot at once. it's a weird process that's unique to everyone and I think it's a lifelong lesson in discovering what works best for you

 

Oh man editing is gonna be a mess. So much cutting and moving things around. I won't even know where to begin lol

 

general rule of thumb I’ve always heard is don’t care what the first draft is, remove a ton in the second, fix all the problems in the third

I typically have to add a lot in the revision stages.

 

I don't know why the thought didn't occur to me until today, but I don't have to finish my book before I send samples out right? I just googled it and apparently the average novel is 90,000 words and I'm sitting around 120,000 and I'm only about a third of the way done.

Are you supposed to wait until the whole thing is done and reworked? Or should I edit a chapter or two I'm proud of and send it out? Am I even allowed to send samples unsolicited?

I only know the writing part, the rest of this stuff is a mystery to me lol

 

samples as in excerpts to be published? because you can totally do that. in fact you can publish an excerpt then change it a bunch before it's actually published in novel-form. feel like there are no rules for that kinda thing.

if you mean sending out samples to agents, then i probably would wait until the book is done/edited/finalized.

 

but then again, you can just cut your novel into parts--let's say the first 120k you've finished now is edited down to 80k--that's still considered a long novel. then when you send it out and say you're already working on the sequel, that looks good on you. just something to consider

 

Any good resources for self publishing? I want to start looking into it

 

Anyone know any good impressionist-style artists who may be willing to have their work used as colored illustrations for a poetry collection (cover and inside pages)? My friend's friend who woulda been the initial artist is not responding to my messages anymore so I think I'm back on the search lol

 

Guess I had to get it out there in the world. He responded earlier tonight while I was getting a lot of good poetry work done for the collection. Hypedddd. Can’t wait to see all this stuff come together. Man, it’s this rare feeling of things aligning that makes me love being an artist.

 

hey guys, hope all is well. A few months back, an older short story of mine was accepted and the journal just finally released. Looks gorg-- they also translated all the pieces into Russian which is kinda neat lolz.

I think some of y'all may dig my story if you're down to check it out. It's about a blind 18-yr-old who undergoes sight corrective surgery and she doesn't respond well to the change (dark stuff- not for the faint of heart). If you're interested in supporting me, consider buying a print or ebook copy of this journal for only 15 buckaroos

https://www.nightpicnic.net/volume-3-issue-2

 

Anyone know where I can find some reliable book reviewers with a fair rate? Need blurbs for my upcoming chapbook (which is coming along excellently I might add).