Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

Woke up this morning to news that my story “All That Remains is the Middle” will be reprinted in Retro Spec: Tales of Fantasy and Nostalgia.  Some cool ToC-mates listed here.

I’m really happy this one will see more readers.

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

(An occasional reminder to myself of the things I think I’ve figured out about the craft, hobby, business, joy and dismay of writing, being a writer, and having a head full of strange. Feel free to come along for the ride.)

Since Halloween is coming up soon, and I know I’m going to be busy as heck besides, I decided to fill the gap this week with a reprint of an article that appeared in a writing ezine back in 2004, in which I glean writing advice for the ages from a Hollywood stinker.

Panned Helsing: Bad Reviews That Can Save Your Fiction
(c) 2004 by Lon Prater
(Originally appeared in T-Zero)

By now everyone who wants to has had the chance to see Van Helsing, whether in a theater or on video.  Few critics have had good things to say about the film, a fact that’s easily understandable for many of those who saw it.

The thing is, this monster-action movie isn’t without redeeming value, at least for us fiction writers.  We lucky few can watch the writing horrors unfold and–if we pay attention to what didn’t work–gain a bit of insight into our own craft.  Want fiction that doesn’t bite?  Make sure you avoid the monstrous problems staked out by the Van Helsing reviewers below.

1. No one likes a coincidence-driven plot. “Unfortunately, all of the action falls apart in the final sequences, where coincidence plays far too big a role in helping our heroes defeat Dracula.” [Rich Drees, Film Buff Online]  How to fix it: Some minor (read: non-plot essential) coincidences can be made to feel more natural by subtly adding a dash of foreshadowing.  In the case of coincidences masquerading as major plot points, look for ways that your character could accomplish his story goal through some action of his own.  Extensive rewriting may be called for. If you’ve really painted yourself into a corner and can see no way that your character can extricate himself, it may be time to go back a couple chapters and start fresh.

2. Ditto for wildly improbable feats of skill. “There’s one sequence around a stone bridge at Drac’s castle where Beckinsale, Frankenstein, etc. are all swinging around with ease and no inertia on cables that have to be miles long, are attached to what must be mid-air, and are easily viewable on a dark and stormy night. That’s how silly this all gets…” [Garth Franklin, Dark Horizons]  How to fix it: If you’re writing men’s adventure, you can pretty much skip this one.  For the rest of you, it’s a simple fix, really: One good read-through by you or someone you trust should be enough to identify places where you go too far into Action Hero country.  Once you know where the problems are, determine if replotting that entire section or just revising the passage in question would best fill the reality gap.

3. Don’t let info-dumps masquerade as dialogue! ” The dialogue is all exposition, filled with rhetorical conversations between characters that exist only to provide story background for our benefit….” [David Medsker, Bullz-eye.com] How to fix it: Read every line of dialogue out loud.  Does it sound like a melodramatic Bond villain revealing his nefarious scheme, or a gothic heroine telling people things they already know?  When dialogue is slathered too thickly with information, it kills the reader’s willingness to finish your story.  Parcel out the information sparingly in dialogue, and keep it sounding natural.  Other things you can do with that data-dump are sprinkle it into thoughts, reactions and descriptions, or in many cases delete it as unnecessary to the plot.

4. Avoid seat-of-the-pants plotting and world-rules that change on the fly. “[T]hey seem to be making it up as they go along.” [Rex Reed, New York Observer]  How to fix it: A good outline will go a long way toward preventing this.  For writers who love the joy of discovering their story (and story-world) as they write, it’s still a good idea to keep basic story structure–beginning, rising action, climax, resolution–in the back of your mind as you write, and to make notes on decisions you come to in the heat of creating your story.

5. Subplots should complement your “big picture” plot, i.e. Don’t be afraid to delete a plot thread that isn’t working. “But the way to the count is crowded with multiple, confusing subplots. You’re shunted from one earsplitting episode to another with barely a breath in between; none of them seem particularly connected.” [Desson Thomson, Washington Post]  How to fix it: After your first draft is finished, go section by section through your novel or story, writing down when each thread or subplot is introduced and what happens in it during each subsequent section.  Write a one or two sentence summary of the subplot (max 25 words or so) as well as a three or four sentence summary of your overall plot.  Delete or revise any subplots that you can’t link to the big-picture plot or that seem to go nowhere.  Yes, even if it’s your favorite part and you think it reveals so much about your character that you couldn’t possibly live without it.  The reason why: Everything your reader needs to know about your character is best revealed by their actions and reactions to the plot events.

6. Cool Stuff + Cool Stuff doesn’t necessarily equal Really Cool Stuff. “Desperate to keep goosing the audience, he throws in Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and three of Dracula’s bloodsucking brides. I’m surprised he didn’t give Van Helsing a shot at Osama bin Laden. More, more, more adds up to less, less, less.” [Peter Travers, Rolling Stone]  How to fix it: Make a short list of the coolest creatures, devices, concepts, and other plot elements that you got to write about in the story; the stuff you were really jazzed about when the inspiration came to include it.  Does it all hang together?  If not, take a hard look at what works best for this story.  Take out the ones that don’t seem to fit in well with the others, put the dispossessed “cool” concept somewhere in the back of your mind (and keep a written record too) where it can marinate.  That cool idea may just be the seed of your next story!

7. The fictional world must make sense. “Why would anyone remain in a village that was continually used as a vampire feeding ground, even if the vampires “only” took a villager or two a month? Why would someone build a road right alongside a cliff and not put up any kind of railing?” [Rich Drees, Film Buff Online]  How to fix it: Take a long hard look at the motives of every character (including those without speaking parts, and organizations/cultural institutions) and see if what they are doing in the story really makes sense, based on their selfish interests.  Treat your setting as a silent character.  It wouldn’t make sense for a Giant’s castle in a fairy tale to have man-sized weapons lying about, would it?

8. People like their stories to be about, well, people. “Everybody has issues, which is an interesting touch, but nobody builds compelling characterizations around them, which isn’t interesting at all.” [Bob Strauss, U-Daily News]  This one may be the most important lesson to be learned from Van Helsing; it gets a second quote: “Nor is there a shred of psychology to the characters, human or otherwise, thus foreclosing any emotional connection with them.” [David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor]  How to fix it: Remember those plot and subplot summaries you did up in #4 above?  Read through everyone of them, and see if you can identify whois the most important subject in each sentence.  In every scene of your story, someone is benefiting and someone is losing out.  Make sure your reader can tell that your story is about those people, not just a series of events that reads like Dr. Frankenstein’s lab notes.

[A list of reference URLS to the reviews used to follow this,
but they are mostly dead links now, so not going to duplicate here.]

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

* My poem Desperata: The Desiderata of H. P. Lovecraft, which was a hit at the MoCon reading earlier this year, has been accepted for Dark Faith, the MoCon anthology.  It gives me no end of pleasure to be associated with this project, the editors, and the other writers already accepted.  Look for the book itself next year.  I believe the plan is to launch it in conjunction with the next MoCon.

* “Prelude to a Theme by Dougie Franz” will be kicking off Theme and Variation, a music-themed SF podcast anthology in the next couple of weeks, put together by the uber-talented Michelle Welch.  Watch this space for further details as they come available.

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

* Now it can be told: I just got happy news that Ancient Shadows (formerly titled Eldritch Steel) is due out first quarter of next year.  The book features a who’s who of today’s Lovecraftian and S&S writers.  This one has been a long time coming… I think the story was accepted to Eldritch Steel back in 2005, but numerous issues kept the book in limbo since then; I was glad the rights were such that I could try to sell firsts in the interim.  My story in this one is “Heart of the Southern Isles”, and it hearkens strongly to the ’70s style of S&S, though the subject matter is more like Robert E. Howard’s.  I intended it to be the first of several stories about vengeance-minded Roderick Kingman and his scarred, amnesiac traveling companion Jack Dante,  but when the antho went into its coma I let that world lie and went on to work other things.  (A lesson I learned from the S—– Press fiasco.)  With this news, I’ve started digging up my news and notes for the rest of the arc of short stories.  I may be due to pay Kingman and Dante a short visit when I finish up the current NIP.

* Speaking of that S—- Press fiasco, not long ago I finally finished the last of three planned short stories set in New Promise.  I’m hoping to sell the new story alongside the first two as part of a short, thematic chapbook  (32,000 words) once it’s through with revisions.  It’s not quite a novella, but more than just three short stories in the same world and characters.  The stories are each more like movements, each building upon a theme of the deals we make with our consciences as we travel through a corrupt and heartless world. Anybody out there know of a publisher who’s into highbrow noir industrial fantasy? Yeah, me neither.  =)

*Things are also moving forward for Tales Out of Miskatonic, which will include my story “Symphony for the Aligning Stars”, representing the School of Music.  No date yet, but I’m told progress is progressing! Added to Frontier Cthulhu, this will make 3 of my stories captured beneath the masterful and creepy cover art of Steven C. Gilberts, which is like icing on the cake.

*Surprisingly positive response to my Writerly Thinks posts.  Aside from the folks commenting on FB and LJ, I’ve also been asked if two of the articles could appear as part of workshops or to be quoted on con panels.  It’s a good feeling to know that the articles are helpful to other writers.

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

Sometimes, staying home is the thing. Especially when you’re graced by a handful of Codex friends (Danielle T. Friedman, Helena Bell, Merrie Haskell, Ted Kosmatka, Kelly Swails) for an impromptu writer’s retreat and have wonderful food, wine and conversation the whole weekend long. Managed to get about 4,500 words done on the new novel, we did a fun reading, talked shop*, and in the middle of it all I learned that some of last year’s work has made the long list of Honorable Mentions for Best Horror of the Year #1.

• “A Road Like This, At Night”, Talebones #37, November 2008

• “Sugar and Old Spice”, ChiZine, October 2008

It’s always great to get that kind of positive feedback.  Congrats to all who are on the list!

In other news, I’ve been monkeying with the look and feel of the home site a bit.  So don’t be too disoriented if you pop over there.

* For writers, I wonder if the phrase shouldn’t be “talking shop”, but rather “talking garret”.  :)

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

Outlined the last scene today, surprising myself at some of the connections that arose in the process.  Writing on my next novel effort (codenamed Mr. Snodgrass Goes to Washington for now) to begin in the next couple weeks or so.  First I need to finish the short story I gave a snippet of the other day, and of course there will be a writing moratorium until I’ve finished reading F. Paul Wilson’s latest, GROUND ZERO.  (Comes out  Tuesday!)

Plus I have a 3 hour documentary on the time period I want to watch, so as to better capture the flavor of the times.

Once those decks are cleared, I’m hoping that with this much preparation I’ll be able to get the first draft banged out by the end of the year.  Ambitious, I suppose.  I’m guessing this will be another short novel of about 60-70,000 words.

There’s a thing going around about pictures of writers in their work space.  I usually write wherever I happen to be: recliner at home, cushy chair at our local coffee shop, in a lawn chair on the back porch or by a river in the park.  Today being some minor sort of milestone, I’ll post a pic of me in my mess of a plotting space.  Shelley will no doubt be glad to get the dining room table cleared off again!

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

Be aware before you click: It’s littered with F-bombs, even in the title.

It rarely takes more than a page to recognize that you’re in the presence of someone who can write, but it only takes a sentence to know you’re dealing with someone who can’t.

(By the way, here’s a simple way to find out if you’re a writer. If you disagree with that statement, you’re not a writer. Because, you see, writers are also readers.)
[...]
Which brings us to an ugly truth about many aspiring screenwriters: They think that screenwriting doesn’t actually require the ability to write, just the ability to come up with a cool story that would make a cool movie.
[...]
Because here’s the thing: not only is it cruel to encourage the hopeless, but you cannot discourage a writer. If someone can talk you out of being a writer, you’re not a writer. If I can talk you out of being a writer, I’ve done you a favor, because now you’ll be free to pursue your real talent, whatever that may be. And, for the record, everybody has one. The lucky ones figure out what that is. The unlucky ones keep on writing shitty screenplays and asking me to read them.

Josh Olson, screenwriter of A History of Violence
More behind the link, and many applications to the fiction world…

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

So a quick question to those others who have opted out of the Google Books Settlement:

Do you get a confirmation screen or email or something along those lines?

I couldn’t tell that anything happened, besides burping me back to the front screen.  No email either.

Also, let this be a reminder that anyone with copyrights at stake should make a decision one way or the other before Friday, September 4.  The worst decision you can make is to neither opt-in or opt-out by the time the deadline passes.  The rest is dependent upon your particular circumstances, principles, and goals.

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

Joseph Paul Haines recently reminded himself of the following: “1. To write well, you must first give yourself permission to write utter crap. 2. If you write with your right hand and edit with your left, you won’t get anywhere if both hands are trying to hold the pen at the same time.”

Amen to the first and the second as well.  I do a lot of things to make it clear to my brain which I want in charge at any given time, writerbrain or editorbrain. From utterly different formats and fonts for each, to paper vs. computer, and so on. As a beginning writer, every word I wrote was edited within 10 minutes of birth.   Now I rarely “edit” (which in this case is better called proofreading and mild revising than actual deeply organic story-editing anyway) more than bits and pieces prior to first draft complete.  Often this is when I am stuck and trying to figure out why by reading what’s been written so far.

Looking back, it seems like editing so often and deeply in mid-composition served three functions: a) confidence boosting, b) building my overall story skills by making me tinker with all the small parts and seeing how they fit together,  and c) stalling till some part of my brain figured out what was supposed to happen next.  I’m glad I did it then, because I do believe my skillset is better for it now.

Nowadays the idea of halting forward momentum to edit  just seems strange to me.   I understand many good writers do it, but for my own process, it would feel a bit like someone had put the training wheels back on my bike if I were forced to compose and edit at virtually the same time.

Not sure whether that is a matter of less free time, a more thorough appreciation for the role of the brain in the creative process, or if it means I’ve trained my writerbrain well enough that it does a bigger share of the proofreading, revising and editing work beneath the surface.

What about you?  Do you edit as you go, or edit once it’s done?

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

*Here’s the newest thought on weight loss and obesity issues: Periodic intense exercise is no substitute for a lifestyle full of small activity, plus, exercise makes you eat more. Once again, it’s more about portion sizes and the fat/sugar content of those portions than it is a pure “energy balance” equation.  This might explain why Jenny Craig and adding a lot of walking to my week are doing the trick for me of late.  (20 pounds in two months…)

*The post behind this link just validated the internet’s existence. You should go read it, whether you think you know someone with a mood disorder or not.

*A Judge has ordered Microsoft to stop selling Word until XML patent issues can be resolved.

*Science fiction writer and all around smart person Tobias Buckell had a personal encounter with the Candarian, I mean Canadian health care system.

*An interesting article about mystery writer Laura Lippman, as she discusses the interplay between her series work and standalone novels.  WaPo tries to sensationalize by making it sound like she’s going to kill the character, but that’s just WaPo trying to gussy up the lede.

*Speaking of mysteries, MWA made a very kind gesture to SFWA recently.  Hurray for the “big tent” of writerdom!  And thanks, Michael Lister and other MWA members of my acquaintance.  :) (P.S. If you’re a writer type who’s never heard of Writer Beware, go here now.)

*McSweeney’s clears up proper etiquette at other people’s religious service here.

*And as a bonus, they’ve resurrected their JOURNAL OF A NEW COBRA RECRUIT and JOURNAL OF A SEASONED COBRA VETERAN.  Haven’t seen the G.I. Joe movie yet, but it pulls me with the pull of a pulling thing, even though I know it will be a crapfest.

*Jon Gibbs understands where I’m coming from with the anti-partisan thing.

*Can’t forget to publically congratulate my friend Jaime for winning a huge Ohio literary grant with a (genre) ghost story! More people seem to be getting the memo that stories are stories; its the damn salesmen who insist on this thing we call genre.  See this article for a lively updating on the subject of what we call that stuff we like to read.

*One last link on writing.  I’ve not done much posting about my own writing process, because it changes every project.  But this advice is spot-on for newcomers and veterans alike.

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

A list of good things that made up yesterday.  (Obviously not including the part where I didn’t get home from business travel till after 1 am, heh.)

* Mom’s surgery went off with nary a hiccup.  Got to talk to her late in the afternoon, but the meds were making her loopy… we discussed zipcodes for places I’ve never lived.  I’m so glad things are on the upswing for her.  Thank all of you again for your well-wishes.  And thanks also to Pam and Keith for being there with her.

* Found a biography I needed for only $6, and then, lo and behold, Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts was also at that price in hardback!  Snurched both up, rapidamente.

*Got two writing checks in the mail.  First, payment for “Symphony for the Aligning Stars”, an original coming soon in Tales Out of Miskatonic University.  Then, even more payment for the leaner, meaner version of “Deadglass” being reprinted in Triangulation: Dark Glass.  Kinda cool when the reprint nets you over twice as much as the original–what a crazy game this is.

And check out this cover!  Click through the link for more info. (I tugged on my shirt collar with pride when I realized they were talking about my story in the very first sentence of the sales copy, yes I did.)  :)

Ain't it purty? I'd be thrilled to be a part of any future PARSEC project. I think the "P" must stand for "Professionally" because that's how they've behaved throughout.

*In Whisperer news, I have completed my query letter and synopsis, all standing by to send off into the world.  Revised and proofed up through chapter 7 on paper.  Five more chapters to go, then all of that gets plugged in to the electronic file and that’s when the fun nailbiting really starts.  Note: I’ve changed the tag for posts about this novel from “unholy mashup novel” to “The Whisperer in the Willows”, for those keeping track at home.

* Been doing more research reading and viewing for my next project than any before it.  I’m about 20 hours into it, and I suspect this will be the first long work I’ve ever had so fully plotted out before beginning to actually write it. It feels a bit like a Tim Powers sort of story as I have imagined it, but this one is definitely intended to be more of an American myth than an alternate history.  Code name for tagging future posts: Mr. Snodgrass Goes to Washington.

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

Tonight I finished the first draft of The Whisperer in the Willows, an unholy mashup of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows and H.P. Lovecraft’s Arkham in the near future.  Rat and Mole are replaced by Nat and Cole, a homeless man and his slightly learning disabled protege.  Badger is now Rodger, an academic with something to hide.  Joad (nee Toad) is no longer obsessed with fast cars, but rather dark secrets and eldritch mysteries.  All around them, the world is grinding to a halt as the reign of man creaks to an end and the Great Old Ones struggle their way into the world.

Throughout the book, Grahame’s values of home, friendship and kindness are put to far worse tests than his simple river gentlefolk ever dreamed of, and some of them even manage to hold firm to their life and sanity!

It weighs in at 238 pages, or approx. 60K words.  A short novel, then, but a novel nonetheless.

::sighs contentedly::

It’s really weird, what with the concept, and hanging on to Grahame’s style, tone and theme. Probably too weird to be salable, except to those who get a large charge out of Lovecraftiana.  But damn it was fun.  Well, off to a couple of first readers.  If anyone out there is a big fan of HPL and would like to take a gander at it, I’d of course be happy to return the favor.

Now for a couple weeks gloriously OFF.  Time with the kids and visiting family I’ve not seen in too long.  Some video games, reading, amusement parks and camping are in store, no doubt. Then I’ll be ready to edit my industrial fantasy fix-up novella “Dirt: A New Promise Concerto” and of course begin primary research for my next novel project, which I probably won’t start actually writing till fall.

Somewhere in there I need to work on marketing my stuff.  No one can accept or reject what never leaves my hard drive.  Time to get those shiftless stories out and earning their own keep!

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

<kibbitzing>

Joseph Paul Haines states his case, and I tend to agree with him, particularly when it comes to being a creative businessperson or hobbyist.  Should you consider ways to make your product more appealing to the masses?  Sure, consider away, and to the extent that it does not diminish your unique end product, knock yourself out.  But do not be a slave to the market’s current fetish.  Especially not under the mistaken idea that “once I’ve made my fortune writing stuff I don’t care much for, THEN I’ll have time and traction to write the weird little stories that only I could write.”   You’d darn well better care about the stuff you’re writing now–it’ll show if you don’t.

One point I think could have been elaborated on more in JP’s post was that there really is room for both in a career (or business or hobby).   But finding your niche should come first.  Build that audience.  Do one thing and do it really well. Later, if you are of a mind to, use the leverage created by your successful niche to branch out into other areas THAT MAKE SENSE and are consistent with what your niche expects.   Don’t make the mistake of assuming that just because you do one thing well, you can do anything else just as well and under the same business shingle.  Get a pen name (open or secret), but make sure that your brand actually stands for something.  (Remember HQ and how at the very end you could hardly tell if you were in a home improvement retailer,  a pet supplies store or a bulk discounter?)

But if you’re a creative person, I’m inclined to think you should be very careful about when in your career you  explore wildly different arenas under the same brand.  The decision to diversify should never be based solely on whether or not it will make you money.  There’s gotta be some other drive there, and I would think that established niches need some measure of protection from the new and experimental ones.  Don’t whore your brand name out.   If John Scalzi suddenly decided to start selling hand-knitted kitty booties instead of science fiction–well, maybe with his savvy and audience he could pull it off.  But it would be the exception to the rule that it is usually a  smarter idea to broaden your existing niche or create independent spin-offs than it is to just go adding in *random stuff you also sell* willy-nilly.

And there is another time that diversifying may be the best course as a creative businessperson.  When you are just starting out and can’t actually be called a creative businessperson yet because you your product base hasn’t really been defined or built a customer base yet.  Absolutely, consider yourself a creative businessperson (and for FSM’s sake, behave like a professional!) while you are still in the very earliest stages.  But at this point, I’d argue, what you’re doing isn’t so much diversifying your portfolio as DISCOVERING your niche. Experiment, find what works, try to understand why it works.  See where your bliss is taking you and how many folks want to come along for the ride. Then make damn sure you give them the ride of their lives–every single time.

</kibbitzing>

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

* I’ve seen the cover of Triangulation: Dark Glass and it is made of awesome.  A crisper revision of my WotF story “Deadglass” will appear within.  Look for it in to be released one month from now, in conjunction with CONFLUENCE ‘09.  Sadly for me, that’s a con too far.  No hope of being there for the release.  And it’s going to be such a gorgeous book!

* All of a sudden I’m busy with writer work!  Received galleys to proof on the aforementioned “Deadglass”, plus “Symphony for the Aligning Stars” (Tales Out of Miskatonic University).  And both are now done and turned in!

* Got to hang with Charlie Finlay, Rae Carson and Jaime Voss the other night at a signing/reading for the last of the TRAITOR TO THE CROWN trilogy.  A great time, apart from some weirdly bad service from the Turkish restaurant.  The books are about the American Revolution, with espionage by witches, plus demons and zombies!   What’s not to like?  I’ve been waiting for this set to complete, and now it is in queue.

* Had my girls this weekend and the theme park junkies were out in full force.  Hours in the sun at water park and connected amusement park left me a tired, sore-footed, sunburned Dad.  But damn is it a good sort of tired.

* One of my favorite albums from the early ’90s is Songs from the Rain by Hothouse Flowers.  Just an awesome bit of musical amazingness from Ireland.  It came up on the ipod today and I got swept up into it again.  Imagine my surprise to look them up and see that they are doing a US tour this year.  No  place close to me, alas.  I hadn’t heard a peep from or about them in over a decade.  Looks like they put out a few more albums since.  Anyone know whether their other stuff holds up as well as this?

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

Ugh.

Had some writerly/computerly turmoil over this weekend.  Started doing the old “submit stories to people who might buy them” thing, and encountered a problem.  Back when Vista was all I could get on a new computer, I opted to run Ubuntu instead.  Felt adventurous and I’d always wanted to learn a little about Linux.  Ubuntu had Open Office on it, and I’d been using that primarily anyway on my last laptop before it died.  Open Office worked fine for RTF docs at the time, which all my stories were in.

Flash forward a couple years.  As I start submitting these stories, I notice the format is going crazy.  Randomly switching from single to double space. Headers that were obviously on LSD…

So I did some research.  Turns out Open Office no longer really supported RTF.  I know, right? So I converted all my stories (grudgingly) to DOC. I checked they were all formatted correctly, and then saved.  I reopened the files: Still good.  Then I submitted them to markets electronically.

And that, kiddies, is where the magic gremlins live and thrive.  Because apparently, based on the emails I sent out, the formats have all regained some measure of their former dicked-uppedness.  Even though they were now in DOC.  A weekend of submissions going out and they all look like a typesetter sneezed for as much as I can tell on my end.

Kept me up all night, I’m not kidding.

Decided to give Vista a[nother] shot.   Desperate times and all…. It’s sat on a partition of the laptop unused for most of the past two years, except occasional excursions into molasses-time to do iTunes.  (The biggest criticism of Ubuntu I had before all this was the lack of itunes and webcam/Skype support.  Now, I’ll be fair and say Ubuntu itself is fast and easy to figure out for basic purposes–hence its popularity in netbooks, but if they can’t find a single word processor that can be taught Standard Manuscript Format, I’m Audi.)  After some consulting with a buddy, turns out what I needed to make Vista work–now that it’s had time to get out of “customer sponsored beta-testing”–was simply a RAM upgrade.

Got R Done and whammy-zammy, Batman, the Vista side is running fast!  It’s like having a whole new computer!

And then of course, in my abrupt abandonment of Ubuntu and Open Office’s unwriter-friendly issue, I discovered Windows 7 was out for testing.  OF COURSE I WAS SKEPTICAL.  But three IT guys I trust, plus the little dude at Best Buy all said they’d been running it just fine.  And I do have a problem with not being able to resist cutting edge techie stuff that’s free.  (I’ll never learn….)

Giving Win7 the old college try on the partition formerly occupied by Linux Ubuntu.  It is incredibly fast.  Thus far, not even one crash.  It has a bit more of the sense of fun that only rarely peeked its head out in earlier editions.  The themes and backgrounds have personality.  One of the pictures that came up on the desktop slideshow looked like the Space Needle and its reflection in the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle.  I’m fairly sure that’s what it is, anyway.

Win7 is very fast, and the most intuitive Windows yet.  It seems like they’ve learned something from Ubuntu and Mac (as usual) and  netbooks AND THE FLUSTERCLUCK THAT WAS VISTA’S EARLY RELEASE. There’s a neat feature where if you drag the window all the way to the left or right, it automatically takes up that half of the screen.  Makes it great for comparing documents, websites, etc. when you have the two windows on opposite sides.  Also good for file transfer.  If you drag the window to the top of the screen, it maximizes.  And the fun part is if you grab the top of a window and shake it, all the other windows fall away.  Shake again, and they’re back.

There’s a bit of coolth in the Show Desktop function too.  Roll over the button and you can peek behind all the open windows.  One huge improvement is the reduction of all those constant PITA reminders and “just making sure you wanted to do that” messages.  They wore me out.  There’s still some in Win7, but they’re like shy wallflowers now.  You hardly notice them.

And fast!  It is much faster than Vista, and at least as fast as Ubuntu was on my machine for booting, shut down and file transfers.  Yes, I did compare times with the extra RAM in.  I’m no more Anti-Ubuntu than I am Anti-Windows.  I only care what works and doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg for the privelege.  Oh, and using Wordpress website admin over the web was very draggy on Ubuntu.  Especially in regard to keyboard responsiveness.  Not so with Win7.  As I wrote this blog entry, I was transferring 16G of iPod music and movies over to this part of the partition.  Not a bit of lag!

So anyway, probably more Win7 geekery coming as I play with it.  It’s on a 50GB partition, with Vista still safely ensconced in the remaining 100GB.

I’ll keep the weeping and gnashing of teeth over my poor crap-formatted story submissions to a minimum.

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

Finding Your Voice Writing in Fragments and Pieces Workshop

And only 30 bucks!!! What a bargain.

::begins preparing next great American “Tw-ovel”::

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

I’m not much of a daily writer.  Sometimes, I go a month or more without actually making new words on the page.  I have more of a binge and purge muse.  She is always on the job, stirring the pot, but when it comes to making new copy, she only works in fits and starts.  I think and plan and mulch my subconscious, even outline on occasion, and edit a lot. Then when the urge to write is there AND I have a large block of time to do it in, I sit down and write.  Usually, if I have a couple hours, I can drop anywhere from 8-16 pages.  This is why writers’ retreats (formal and self-created) can be so productive for me.

For a long time I kicked myself for not being one of the BIC2000 (Butt-in-Chair, 2000 words a day).  But over time I realized I’m not doing too bad, all things considered.  I have periods each year where I do write every day.  The single biggest thing I’ve noticed that keeps me from writing is the guilt feeling that I should be writing (new fiction, specifically) every day or else I’m just not doing it right. Over time, I’ve come to the realization that for me, writing whatever the hell I want (rather than something contracted) getting an average of a page a day over the year is pretty good.  Probably the best I can aim for, so long as I keep a dayjob and some kind of family and social life.  In previous years, I’ve only managed about 50-60,000 words a year, with an occasional blip around that lofty goal of 90K.

But I just looked at my stats, given it’s midyear and all.  So far, all is well.  193 pages (in SMF) of new copy logged, plus 1 salable poem.  Seeing’s how June isn’t over and the year not quite at half-done, I’m actually a bit ahead of my 1 page per day average.  Not bad, considering I’ve only had 16 actual writing days this year.  Average day is 12 pages.

Most of it on the unholy mashup novel, but some on a new short story from start to finish and yet more to finish an older short story.  Also, an older, unfinished novel (or novella, I think)  got some of my attention at the beginning of the year.  I think it’s this transition over the past couple years from short stories to novels and longer works that makes me kind of crazy.  The feeling that I rarely finish anything equates in my brain to the feeling that I’m not actually accomplishing anything.

I know this isn’t true, but typing END on those two short stories sure did feel good.

The place I’m sucking more and more these days is marketing stuff.  I have a back log of inventory which is tended by an equally binge-and-purge clerk.  Every couple of months I try to get religion and put those stories out there into the wild and make them fend for themselves.  

 My daytime work involves significant editing (a big honking textbook) so I ought to be counting at least some fraction of that  as “writing” work I get paid for.  I guess all in all, I’m not doing too bad. Plenty of room for improvement, but not enough room to wind up and kick myself.

Much.

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

Just after Sunset by Stephen King. (audio) Listened to this on audiobook recently. Brilliantly produced and cast.  I think “N.” was my favorite story of the book.  Naturally, it was the  modernized take on traditional horror that drew me in:  Lovecraftian/Machenian themes and plot delivered obliquely through a series of letters, news articles, and stories nestled within conversations nestled within stories.  The gist of the horror:  Spontaneous OCD as a response to (and defense against) otherworldly terrors attempting to break through into our plane of existence.  But it’s far better than that weak synopsis, Trust me.

Also, this collection highlighted for me a lesson I’m occasionally  delighted to relearn.  A hallmark of satisfying fiction, a trait ceded wrongly and often to the exclusive care of  the “literary/mainstream” style, is that it makes the characters’ inner landscape and the events that transpire there seem as real as the outer one.  It emphasizes what is happening inside the POV’s head, and in such a way as to endow the reader with a sense of verisimilitude of the subjective alongside that of the fictionalized “objective” world of the story.   Things happen inside the character, not just out there in the world.

Makes sense to me, at least.  Especially as regards to Horror and Weird fiction.  Because Inside is where the  horror and weird are really happening, anyway!

I wonder if I’d have arrived at this renewed realization from reading the book alone, or if to some degree the challenge of writing so much omniscient viewpoint for UHM, with a focus on tone and theme, has brought this into sharper relief.

Originally published at LonPrater.com. You can comment here or there.

Some thoughts I posted elsewhere that I want to be able to find again one day. Subject of a discussion came around to what exactly people mean when they say writers need to have a thick skin.

My thoughts:

To me, “thick skin” means being open to what truth or value there may be in criticisms of your work or technique or skill, while ignoring any implications or direct statements that disparage “you” as a person or artist. It means seeking the constructive in all criticism and not letting the fact that you aren’t perfect (and–GASP!–people know it!) sway you from continually striving to improve yourself, work hard and reach your goals.

Having a “thick skin” as a writer means practicing what Eleanor Roosevelt preached: Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.

And especially: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

After more thought, and the suggestion that if a rejection didn’t hurt then it might mean the writer’s heart wasn’t in the story:

For me, some rejections do sting–in the sense of dashed hopes of landing that particular sale to a market that I thought was a great match, but not in terms of “this must mean my story is bad and I am a bad writer and Simon Cowell won’t let me go to Hollywood”–but many rejections do not sting. Most do not. Early on, this wasn’t true. I’d get my hopes up with every submission and come crashing back to earth with every reject. I’m approaching 1000 rejections now (counting poetry) and honestly, if I let them all affect me I’d need medication.

Nowadays I am able to separate the passion of art from the business of trying to sell it. This may make me an odd bird, I dunno. But anyway, all this rambling has just been to point out that a rejection not stinging doesn’t necessarily mean your heart wasn’t in the story. It just means that you have a firm grasp on the statistics involved, and realize that even pocket aces can lose. And when they do lose, it doesn’t devalue them as cards in your hand…

Honest writing does require laying bare your heart, etc. Honest selling calls for knowing the story is the best you can make it and then putting enough effort into the selling process to beat the statistics stacked up against even the most brilliant of stories (and authors).