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What book is everyone writing right now?

Tiktaalik said:
Thanks. The paperback, the price of which is set by Createspace, is quite expensive at $11.25, so I'd get the ebook if I were you (unless you met me in person, in which case I sell the paperbacks at a discount since I get them as an author for a reduced price). The cover's nice on the paperback, but there aren't any maps or anything that make it necessary.

I've heard both ways on prologues, but I also used one in "Stolen" (labeled as Chapter One, though). Sometimes there's backstory that just doesn't fit anywhere else. I'd rather not read long retrospectives in the main text, myself, so I tend to throw a bunch of it together into a prologue. Besides, it gave me a better opportunity, in this case, to introduce the father. So, I don't know - prologues don't bother me, personally.
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I'm one that takes advice with a grain of salt and I haven't settled on the final structure of my story. Goodness I have a key part in the middle that I've not re-written yet, so there's no reason to hurry on ordering the beginning.

But there's two pieces of advice that seem to be writing circle mantras, no prologues and using 'said' in lieu of any other related word. I don't buy either one. I've read the rationale for both.

I get it the prologues are poorly done in some novels. But it's ludicrous how many people hear, "don't use one", and hear dogma. Don't use a prologue if it risks stopping the reader from reading the rest of the story, sure that makes sense. And it also makes sense that some prologues in some books the reader tends to skip. Hey, if it's some dry 'extra' information, it probably doesn't belong in work of fiction anyway.

But some key thing that happened years before the story starts, so what if you call it a prologue? I think yours worked. And I also liked the backstory in Stolen. Neither took me out of the story. I'll probably call mine chapter one and title it "Seven Years Earlier" just to avoid the dogma opinionators.

Then there's the only use 'said' dogma. I've read the reader supposedly doesn't notice 'said' repeated again and again. I sure notice it when I'm writing. And I never would have given it a second thought reading the beginning of "Cornerstone" that you ignored the convention had I not heard the advice. In other words, I saw no reason using verbs other than 'said' was an issue.

I don't get it. What's with that mantra? Sure, extra adverbs and purple prose, when read, one can see why they don't sound like good writing. But when did using anything but 'said' become an issue?



As for $11.25 vs $4.99, meh. That's actually cheap, even for a paperback. Do you ever sell on EBay? Put an autographed copy up and let me know. I'll buy it.

Or PM me your address and I'll send you a check for one. I'll pay the shipping, of course. That will save us the EBay and PayPal cuts. I want that autographed copy for when you become a famous writer. :D
 
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Personally I think the key thing with a prologue is to bear in mind that there is a significant percentage of readers who simply don't read them - so if you're trying to impart something crucial to the plot you're better off making it your first chapter. The only thing is to thing about the plotline. If your prologue is just the beginning of your main plotline, make it the first chapter. But if it differs significantly from the main plotline (setting in time or space, point of view, tone, etc) it's better as a separate piece.

I personally always use them and I use them to set a tone and connect the narrative to a "bigger picture" because my writing is always exclusive 3rd person. The prologue is an opportunity to write things from a different POV and reveal info that otherwise you wouldn't get. In "The Silver-eyed Child" the other crucial thing for me is that my writing is very graphic and adult in style, but the first quarter of the book the protagonist is a child and a reader could be forgiven for viewing it as more suited to young adults. My prologue is in the violent tone of the majority of the piece, so sets the tone of the work at the head.
 
Where/when can I read something of yours, Gumboot? I'm intrigued by, "The Silver-eyed Child". Not the violence, necessarily, but I'd like to see how you handled the 'protag as a child' backstory. Plus, I'd like to read your work.
 
Just wrote a murder mystery, finished it yesterday. My wife wants me to try to sell it. By coincidence, there is a Canadian mystery television series that sometimes films about ten blocks from my house, and they are always looking for a good story....

Basically, there is a murder, and there are very few clues as to who the killer might be. No weapon, no footprints, no witnesses, nothing. Even more baffling, there seems to be no one who had any motive, so it is difficult to identify any suspects. When it is discovered, however, that the victim may have been mistaken for another fellow, then suddenly there are TOO MANY suspects, since this other fellow had loads of enemies!
 
Brown said:
Just wrote a murder mystery, finished it yesterday. My wife wants me to try to sell it. By coincidence, there is a Canadian mystery television series that sometimes films about ten blocks from my house, and they are always looking for a good story....

Basically, there is a murder, and there are very few clues as to who the killer might be. No weapon, no footprints, no witnesses, nothing. Even more baffling, there seems to be no one who had any motive, so it is difficult to identify any suspects. When it is discovered, however, that the victim may have been mistaken for another fellow, then suddenly there are TOO MANY suspects, since this other fellow had loads of enemies!
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I like it.
 
I love mysteries. When I'm not in a reading group where the books are assigned, I typically read non-fiction (western history, environment & evolution, etc.), True Crime, and mysteries. I don't read a lot of fantasy, which is what I (mainly) write.

Brown, are you planning on finding a publisher or going the Indie route? Be sure to join Goodreads and take a look at the author groups; you can get a lot of good info there, whichever route you take.

As for me, I've just been thrown from one world into another, as I'm now working on finish-editing the third book of the 'Stolen' series, which will (hopefully) be out in June. Yay! I'm pretty ready to be done with that world for a while! I'll be submitting cover-art notes today.

SkepGing, Gumboot had some of his story posted on a fantasy forum, but I can't for the life of me find the link right now...
 
Tiktaalik said:
I love mysteries. When I'm not in a reading group where the books are assigned, I typically read non-fiction (western history, environment & evolution, etc.), True Crime, and mysteries. I don't read a lot of fantasy, which is what I (mainly) write.

Brown, are you planning on finding a publisher or going the Indie route? Be sure to join Goodreads and take a look at the author groups; you can get a lot of good info there, whichever route you take.
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The story is written in the form of a script for a television series, complete with commercial breaks, timed for about 45 minutes of air time, and with "room" to incorporate subplots and series story lines. The story involves no special effects or undue expense to produce, although the scene of the crime may require a little work to set up because the arrangement of buildings and bushes and landscape figures prominently in the story. In other words, the script discloses an easy-to-produce story, and it could be a stand-alone episode or could be worked to include mini-plots that extend across several episodes.

Publishing (as a book or short story) is not really an option. It could be done, but the story would have to rewritten with different characters. I have written a couple of spec scripts in the past (for other shows) and was advised that getting an agent is the way to go, but I do not know if that is still the case. Any advice about spec scripts would be appreciated.
 
Ah, I see. Unfortunately I know nothing about scripts. I think Gumboot may be your person for that...
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
I can't find the rules of submitting to the contest so I sent her an e-mail.
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It looked pretty basic:
The rules: You must be 50 or older to enter. Writers can submit only one story per year, and all pieces must be 5,000 words or less. Please send your original submissions, as well as your contact details, to 50fiction@huffingtonpost.com. We can’t wait to hear from you and showcase the best work!
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So I submitted my story (after checking it for length), my name, address, phone number, email address ... and my year of birth.
 
Brown said:
It looked pretty basic:So I submitted my story (after checking it for length), my name, address, phone number, email address ... and my year of birth.
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Well I e-malied them for a clarification but the answer suggests Ms Hanks is quite the novice about this.

Please just submit as an attachment or in the body of an email. No more than 5,000 words.. piece has to be unpublished and original.. and the writer has to be 50 or older. Thanks.
This is an ongoing project.. there is no deadline.
Shelley
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There's nothing there about who retains the rights to publish subsequent to HuffPo publishing the story. Will they have an exclusive right to publish and for what time period is that right exclusive?
 
I got another email linking to the original article saying I could find the rules there so I replied:
"Thanks but it is a circular answer that doesn't give the most important information. Who retains the rights to publish subsequent to HuffPo publishing the story. Will they have an exclusive right to publish and for what time period is that right exclusive?

Thanks, Ginger"​
 
These guys are great for quick replies:

Hi Ginger,

The author retains the rights to republish anywhere, and HuffPost doesn't claim any exclusivity. Hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,
Alex E.​

Looks good to me.
 
I submitted my piece without any expectation of payment. That is not to say that I would donate it to the world and let anybody use my story for any purpose whatsoever without consideration. But my purpose was not necessarily to make income; rather, I basically submitted my story because my wife said that I ought to try submitting some of my stories for publication. Maybe something will come of it, but I recognize that the chances of that are slim.

My wife actually wrote a non-fiction first-person account and sent it to a Canadian magazine about a month ago. This took a great deal of courage for her to do. She does not know whether her account will be accepted for publication or rejected, but she knows the odds favor rejection. Even so, she wanted to try. Her father (now deceased) had submitted a piece about toy-making to a different magazine a couple of decades ago ... it was a wonderful piece and it was published, along with some excellent artwork!
 
Okay so after 3 months of inactivity I've knocked off another chapter, which is a nice feeling. Only five to go. However, because I don't like to make things easy, I've come up with a way of fixing a tone issue with the beginning of the book and adding interest during the set-up, which will involve some minor rewrites of the first ten chapters or so.
 
Some months ago I mentioned the novel I was working. After feedback I've finished a second draft and I'm planning on publishing it as an e-book after one last round of knocking it into shape. Doing some reading up on the things that can help sell a book and the cover art is one that gets mentioned repeatedly. So while I'm waiting for a couple of people to finish reading the second draft I'm working on an idea for a cover. It's a 'space opera' style novel and this version of the cover is a mix of a high res painting from Deviantart for the background and a crop from an advertising image for a 3D rendering model of a spaceship so it's just a rough sketch basically. Anyway I'd like some opinions on it so here it is:

sccover.png
 
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