Thursday, November 07, 2013

Novel Update Plus Free Bonus Writing Tip!

i z quotes
Oh, hahahahaha! The second draft is finished. What a crawl through gravel that was. But there's a story there. I see it forming. Now I'll let the whole thing simmer and finally PUBLISH SOMETHING ON AMAZON! Yes, within two weeks, an electronic version of my jury duty essay, "Unreasonable Doubt," will be for sale to the general public on Amazon Kindle. (The specific public may also partake. I'm not an excluding guy when it comes to such matters.) Off to find cover art.

Free Bonus Writing Tip
As my spirits dragged toward the end of the second draft, I used a trick to transition me into writing.
I would spend five to ten minutes copying text from a story onto a page, then switch over to my latest chapter. This got me writing judgement free for the few minutes that I needed to warm up. My teaser texts were:

The Mammoth Book of Monsters edited by Stephen Jones

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower.

Incidentally, Tower is a kick-ass writer who can really sling a metaphor. Worth a look.

10 comments:

Roger Eschbacher said...

Well done! Great feeling, isn't it?

Joy McCann said...

Congratulations!

JP Mac said...

Indeed,as you well know.

Time to relax for a a day or two.

JP Mac said...

Thank you for your phine congratulations.

Unknown said...

Congrats!!!! I'm kinda hating you because I'm jealous. Too busy this weekend, and by the time I finished all of what needed to be done.... Anywho, will get some work done late tonight, accompanied by a mug of International House Swiss Mocha coffee.

Right now, I'm LISTENING to Stephen King's Christine on youtube audio books. The Good news is, even the pros make mistakes. The lazy adjectives, forever ending in 'ly' is painful on the ears. In moderation, it's okay but too much.... ouch!

(i.e. : "Don't leave!" she cried Clingingly) Ironically, in his book, On Writing, Mr. King spoke of this laziness with no little annoyance.

Anywho, let me know, if your book will be available in regular book form. Next year, I'll be....more willing to try Kindle. Right now, it's too close to Christmas to be adding more expenses to my list.

Again, congrats on the latest milestone! Keep moving!

JP Mac said...

Thanks, Kayla.

There will be a hardcover version, but probably not until next year.

The shorter piece I'm in the process of putting up now probably won't go to paper unless I marry it up to another longer story.

I also recall reading about the 'ly' stuff in King's book. Be careful what you preach.

Good luck on your writing!

Unknown said...

Perfect timing on the hardcover version. With Christmas shopping season underway, personal book shopping isn't in the immediate plans. :) Have you ever thought of publishing a collection of short stories? Easy bedtime reading. I love 'em!

In fairness to Mr. King, I guess I should have considered that Christine was published in the mid-70's and his book, On Writing came out in 1999. The lazy adjective (ly) issue was probably a 'preaching to the choir' thing. He learned his lesson. :D

JP Mac said...

I have a collection of short stories I'll probably put up next year.

Hopefully, by Christmas, I'll put out a parody of 50 Shades of Grey.

If King had an epiphany on the 'ly' question he should've let the readers know he was a convert.

Unknown said...

Hi John ;

YaaaY! Looking forward to getting it.

Never read 50 Shades of Grey, but I heard a LOT about it. The parody should be a hoot!

Stephen did 'confess' as it were, in On Writing that 'all have sinned' in the dreaded 'ly' category, but his writing HAS improved since. I've got to read that book again.

JP Mac said...

Hi Kayla,

What drew me to 50 Shades was the huge number of people on Amazon who gave it 1 and 2 stars.

There was no middle ground. You liked the book or it ticked you off.

I sense an under served market.

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