Write a scene that takes place in the twilight as night is about to fall.
Writing Prompt: Day to Night
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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?
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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...
Getting Invested
How are the WIPs going?
I got some work done on my dragon hunters story this last week. It wasn't as much as I wanted, but it was better than the week before. I was hoping I would break 10,000 words, but that didn't happen; however, I'm only a few thousand away, so, God willing, I'll pass that first milestone soon.
I picked up The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker this last week. Made it a little more than half-way through. To be honest, it was getting close to a "Did not finish" for me. I love Barker's work. The Hellbound Heart was instrumental when I was getting through my depression, and I remember the Abarat books fondly. That being said, I found the Books of Blood maudlin nonsense with maybe one redeeming story within its pages and a whole lot of "ew."
There was a whole lot of "suck" at the beginning of The Scarlet Gospel, but yesterday, the book finally drew me in. I was talking with my mom, trying to figure out why I went from, "I can't care less about what's happening," to "I gotta ...
Focus
I am suffering from a lack of focus. Last week, I tried to go through a lot of open calls for short fiction listed on AuthorsPublish.com, and I think I kind of burnt myself out. By Friday, I almost couldn't write. I barely managed to finish up the last half of a chapter I started the week before in my new WIP, and I've completely neglected editing my Eden story.
I'm hoping I can be a bit more organized this week. We'll see.
In general, as I've been trying to recover from my burnout, I've been reading a lot more poetry. I'm on the last act of The Tempest and have been attacking The Faerie Queene. I admit, Spenser has so far defeated me. I've completely lost the plot at this point and am just hoping that something good sticks into my soul; seriously, reading this is like the proverbial drink from a fire hydrant.
Also, I've been trying to just enjoy some good old pulp, and Seabury Quinn has fit the bill. Silence and reading are generally good antidotes to writer's block, and if I ...
Meditations on Dragon Hunters
How are the WIPs going?
Well, I finished the outline for Secundus last week which freed me up, mentally, to start working on a previously outlined story, The Dragon Hunters. This early writing process has actually been a blast. The first few thousand words just poured out of me, and, as I started writing, I discovered a sort of half-humorous sarcastic tone which startled me at first, but I think it may actually make the whole thing work.
The idea for this story sprang out of a little meditation; it came into my head that there are three reasons people hunt dragons: To get the girl, to get the gold, and to be a hero. So, I was thinking, what if there were three dragon hunters who, just for the sake of argument, each represented one of those desires. Three men go out to fight a dragon, one to save the girl he loves, one to get filthy rich, and the third because he simply wants to be a hero. It seemed a good enough idea, but then a twist occurred to me: What if each of the three didn't get...
A Bit of My Writing Process
How I Outline
How are the WIPs going?
I have, over the past few weeks, been working on a pair of short stories I hope to submit to a horror podcast, The Other Stories. They want cosmic horror. On a day off, I wrote one in a single sitting, but felt there was another story there. When I saw that authors were allowed to contribute two stories per theme, I thought I would bide my time and see if I could write the other, more ethereal story that I sensed was there.
Now that I have written this second story, at least the better part of it—it wants a stronger ending—I feel there is still more to be written. A series of these short stories might make an interesting read, perhaps even amount to a novella. Who knows? However, now and again, as regards my posts here, I sometimes think it would be a good idea to share some of my own writing/outlining methods.
One of the things I do when I see a project developing like this is to ascertain what patterns are showing themselves. Very often, when I'm writing poetry, there is some line or couplet that appears to me, and the rest of the poem pours out of that initial inspiration. I study what I have been given and ask myself: What are the patterns inherent in this and where is it going?
So, if I were to do that with this pair of stories I find a few patterns/themes:
- Horror stories revolving around one POV
- Retrospective
- Themes of Love + Death
- Themes of Chesterton's God, the gods, the philosophers, and the demons
- God: Padre C
Believes in a purity of original uncreated/being - The gods: Giovanni
Paradoxically believing in everything and nothing - The Philosophers: The Doctor
Believes in Death - The Demons: Jasper
Hail Satan
- God: Padre C
- Nyarlathotep vs Hastur :: Satan vs Death
- Order vs Chaos
- Nyarlathotep's schemes vs Hastur's madness
- Nyarlathotep's temple vs Hastur's decay
- Weakened will (seduction) vs blackmail (threats)
- Contract vs Betrayal
- Human sacrifice vs suicide
- Order vs Chaos
Anyway, That's just a quick riff. I don't always write these things out; often, I just think them through. The next question would be where the meta story is going, that is, what is its endpoint/cathartic moment. Now, I have one hint as to the next step, to follow the doctor character, who seems somewhat suspicious, and also to fill in the Chesterton pattern. As such, two more stories appear, one following the doctor and one following Jasper.
So, that's just a little insight into how my thinking process works. I don't know if I'll pursue this possible story or not. Either way, let me know what you think, what you're working on, and what your writing process looks like.
Keep writing.
Writing Prompt: Lovecraft
After my disappointment with The Lovecraft Investigations, I thought it would be a good idea to write our own Lovecraft inspired work.
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?
