After my disappointment with The Lovecraft Investigations, I thought it would be a good idea to write our own Lovecraft inspired work.
The Story Ark
Hey Y'all. This is a place for story lovers. Whether you create stories, or you just love to experience them, come join us as we write and talk about the tales which inspire us.
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Sheldon@TaleTold
April 15, 2022
The Wind and the Trees
More Chesterton today. Another short one. Please enjoy.
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Proof Copy of Post Mortem
A little, sneak-preview, if anyone's interested, in my novella. Still waiting for the cover as patiently as I can. (The artist isn't late or anything; I've been going crazy since I placed the order.)
- Are you publishing/self-publishing anything?
- Would you, maybe, want a copy of my story?
- Would anybody want to read my story?
00:01:30
קהלת | Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
So, I tried my hand at writing my own translation of one of my favorite passages in the Bible.
1 The words of the Preacher, son of David, King in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher. Vanity of vanities; the whole is vain.
3 What is left over for man in all his toil in which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation comes and a generation goes; but the earth remains forever.
5 And the sun rises, and the sun goes [down]; And to his place, there he strives to rise.
6 Going to the South, returning to the North—turning, turning, the wind goes; And over its turning, the wind returns.
7 All the rivers run into the sea, but the sea is not full.
[From] the place where the rivers run, there they return to run.
8 All these words are tiresome. Man cannot utter [it].
The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled by hearing.
9 That which is is that which will be, and that which is done is that which will be done; and there is nothing wholly new under the sun.
10 Where is...
Talking About "Talking About Bicycles"
How are the WIPs going?
Well, a new month has begun. It's been a week since I had my wisdom teeth out, and the wounds are still bleeding.
Enough about all that, though. I was listening to some C. S. Lewis essays this last week, and one of them touched upon a very interesting topic, the four stages of riding a bicycle. To give a brief outline:
1. Un-Enchantment
2. Enchantment
3. Disenchantment
4. Re-Enchantment
It was written as a dialogue, and these four stages were used, not just in terms of bicycling, but also of romance and politics. There is a point in youth where you don't care at all about the other sex, at least not in that way, a point where you become enchanted, that is, where you fall in love, and a point where that original passion ebbs. However, after "desire fails" there may come a new thing, a re-enchantment that Lewis's conversation partner struggled to express fully.
The main thing is to recognize the difference between enchantment and re-enchantment and between the ...
The Pain of Painkillers
How are the WIPs going?
My arm's out of its sling now, and though typing still hurts a bit, I think I've got a good pace going. In my own writing, I've been struggling with a sort of dread or fear; in part, it is that I want to be writing more than I am, but also it is that I'm not writing as much as I should, or at least, as much as I've been able to before. What I mean is that, of late, when I try to write, I have been horribly distracted. I can't seem to focus, and I'm just about falling asleep at the keyboard. I don't know if this is a result of the painkillers the doctors gave me or not, but it is depressing.
This last week feels a bit like a bust to me, wasted on YouTube and Twitter. I got in a little work on my long poem and kept my blog going, but that was about it. I didn't even finish a read-through I started last week of my novella. I want to be more productive, but I am so groggy and confused; the caffeine has not helped.
Anyway, a new week is starting. I'm getting my ...
Retrospective
How are the WIPs going?
My arm is in a sling, and it actually kinda hurts to type with both hands. I've received two rejection letters over the last week, and I admit that somewhere between the physical pain I'm in, worrying about my father (did I mention he was in the hospital over this last week as well?), and these rejections, I'm starting to feel a little defeated. My mind has been wandering, and I can't seem to focus on anything for very long. I just want to rest.
Oh well. My vampire novella is moving apace. Once I get the cover, I'll start the process of finalizing everything for self-publishing. I think my short story collection will be my major focus afterward. I'd like to get all of the stories ready and out there because there are a few of them I feel very strongly about but can't find anywhere to publish.
Then, all the while I'm working on these minor projects, there is the novel I wrote waiting patiently on my hard drive. Once I feel I know what I'm doing with ...
My (Insane?) Plans
I saw an interesting question posed on twitter: Would you write an entire book series and not publish a single book until it's all done? Now, that is precisely what I've been doing, or, perhaps I should say, what I've been planning. Right now, I've somewhat given up on traditional publishing, partially as it seems like traditional publishers want me to do the marketing as well as the writing, and partially because it seems like most forms I fill out ask me how well I've self-published my own work so far.
So, I started to consider whether to self-publish the book I have written, and it seemed to me that since I had already organized it into three major sections, each about the length of a short novel, it would make sense to self-publish it in those organic pieces. As my original outline extended beyond this book, I figured I ought to finish writing to the end of my outline. That should make a fourth part. Furthermore, when I finished that outline, I jotted down a few notes for a continuation of the story. I've been working on a new outline, off and on (mostly off), and hope to finish it and add it to this possible series, thereby reaching a total of either five or six parts.
Now, why do I want to chop up my story like this? For one, I think these breaks in the story make sense. Also, one piece of advice I've heard about self-publishing is to keep a steady flow of work coming out. So, before I self-publish, I want have a ready well of titles to publish at regular intervals. My overarching plan is to, over the next two to three years, get ten titles ready, half or so consisting of this series and the other half based on a few short outlines I've jotted down here and there throughout the years. Then, take the leap and self-publish.
- Am I being stupid?
- Would you try something like this?
- Have you written any series?
Why Write
I was listening to a video talking about harnessing creativity. It didn't say much that hasn't been said before, but it did get me thinking about my own reasons for writing. It is, in a sense, a bit of a mystery: I can tell you I write because I want to tell stories and because I love books and language, but why do I want to tell stories? Why do I love books? Why do I find language such a captivating subject?
The question was, "What did the first frog say?" And the answer was, "Lord, how you made me jump!"
~Chesterton
The stories are just there. They pester me. They want time and thought and form, and it's my great joy in life to give it to them. A story appears and demands my attention, and it just so happens that that is what I love to do. I find no answer beyond my own actions; I simply do it.
Books, at least the written word, are my medium, and I can hardly put into words the way printed words make me feel. If I ever won the lottery, I would probably convert my whole house into a library. Here there is some explanation: Certain associations from childhood may have molded this love, but I can remember some fairly bitter experiences here as well as good, in fact some of my earliest encounters with books made me swear I'd never read anything ever again; it was only in my later childhood that I learned to love to read.
But just as the stories I tell come to me seemingly from out of the æther, and just as my love of those stories is something that merely is, so I find another love, an unexplainable delight in language itself. Every tidbit of etymology is my treasure, every quirk of grammar my delight. It is a struggle, the work can even become drudgery at times, and yet I can't escape.
I don't know why I write; I just know I do.
- Why do you write?
- When did you start writing?
- What was the first thing that made you say, "I'm going to be a writer"?
