 Faith Hunter
read all posts by Faith HunterI’ve been talking recently—well, I guess recently is a bit confusing as I’ve had so many weeks off—but I’ve been covering questions we writers can ask ourselves about our own book to understand it better, spot weaknesses, and make the book better. These are things we can do before we write a book and during the writing of a book, but mostly, it’s things we can ask ourselves after we finish that first draft and we are getting ready for the first major rewrite.
Wait. You don’t rewrite? Interesting. Most writers, professional and soon to be professional, know our books need to be rewritten before they are ready to be seen by NY. We know that we need to know as much as possible about our book/plot/character/conflict before we start with the actual rewriting. It is simple stuff, but important.
Disclaimer: All of us go through certain procedures and the Q&A [...]
Continue reading Top Ten (Okay Eleven) Things You Should Know About Your Own Book, Part Four
Faith Hunter
read all posts by Faith HunterWhile writing a novel, and particularly when we finish a book—especially that first book—there is usually an intense joy and pride and utter feeling of success and accomplishment. Unfortunately, that finished project, that *the end* we type at the bottom of the last page, is really only the beginning. The first draft—sometimes a very rough first draft—needs polishing, rewriting, often (dare I say always?) a professional editing before the reading public takes a look at it.
But there are things we can do ourselves before we start with the actual rewriting, and that is to know as much about our book/plot/character/conflict as we possibly can. It is simple stuff, but if your WIP or WF (work finished) is missing that vital something, that special element that sets it apart from other unpublished books on the market (or hopefully someday on the bookstore shelves) perhaps you’ll spot it here. The better [...]
Continue reading Top Ten (Okay Eleven) Things You Should Know About Your Own Book, Part Three
Faith Hunter
read all posts by Faith HunterPicking up from four weeks ago, I have a new post on the top things you should know about your own book. It is simple stuff, but if your WIP is missing that vital something, that special element that sets it apart from other unpublished books on the market (or hopefully someday on the bookstore shelves) perhaps you’ll spot it here. The better we know our books, the more likely they will interest an agent or editor, and the better they will interest the reading public. Knowing our books better can make us more confident writers, and take us to the next level in our writing. And if we discover that we can’t answer a question or two, that is an area of weakness that we can address now, before an agent sees our baby.
09. Where does your story begin?
Most wannabee writers forget that the story begins the [...]
Continue reading Top Ten (Okay Eleven) Things You Should Know About Your Own Book, Part Two
Faith Hunter
read all posts by Faith HunterSome time ago, I was on a panel with romance writer Andrea Parnell. (http://andreaparnell.com/) She had a list of the things every writer needed to know about their own book. Over the years, I’ve changed, rearranged, renamed, and made her list my own. Even though we have gone over most of these here at MW, perhaps we have not made them into a comprehensive set of posts, so I thought I’d start a Top 11 this week.
It is simple stuff, but if your WIP is missing that vital something, that special element that sets it apart from other unpublished books on the market (or hopefully someday on the market) perhaps you’ll spot it here. The better we know our books, the more likely they will interest an agent or editor, and the better they will interest the reading public. Knowing our books better can make us more confident writers, [...]
Continue reading Top Ten (Okay Eleven) Things You Should Know About Your Own Book: Part One
Faith Hunter
read all posts by Faith HunterSomething happened last week, and, as usual, I stuck my foot in my mouth. I’ve had a week now to think things through and re-assess and reconsider and … sadly I stand by my comments, even though they left skid marks on my tongue and ticked off some people. Worse, I am going to expand on my comment and expound on my statement: poop or get off the pot. My thoughts begin with —
I …
That is a dangerous word. Who we are changes every year, every week, every day. Sometimes every hour. How we define ourselves is subjective, is marred and punctured and uplifted and focused by events and other people.
I am rude, kind, evil, good …
When I do something nice for someone, I am a good person. When I do something less than nice (even cutting off another car in traffic) I am not. Even [...]
Continue reading Pots and Black Kettles
Faith Hunter
read all posts by Faith HunterThis will be our last post on the Kickstarter project for the Rogue Mage RPG. The previous two posts were mostly about the networking part of the project: how we all met, the pivotal push we got from Mike Pruette, and some of the difficulties — namely, the huge problem of translating the Rogue Mage series, its world, and its magical system into a game, about why it took so long, about how life got in the way, and how we lost one of our writers, Raven Blackwell.
Even with losing some high-priced backers to their own life disasters, we have exceeded our goal of $6,000 and just passed $7,000. We will be able to publish the Rogue Mage RPG, with all the fiction it contains. I believe that we will make it, though there is always the possibility of losing more high-supporting backers. Therefore, I’m keeping true to Mama’s [...]
Continue reading Kickstarter, Third and Last Part
Faith Hunter
read all posts by Faith HunterLast week I posted a form of this, discovered that it was not my week to post, pulled it down, and now have rewritten and reposted it. With changes.
Three weeks ago we started to tell you all about the Kickstarter project for the Rogue Mage RPG. It was mostly the networking part of the project: how we all met, the pivotal push we got from Mike Pruette, and the start of the difficulties — namely, the huge problem of translating the Rogue Mage series, its world, and its magical system into a game. Wow. Difficult!
Today, I’d like to address several things: first, the Middle of the Makings of a Project and Why It Takes So Long. Oy. Four and half years, and we are still not *quite* done. CLOSE! Very close. And the Kickstarter has been very successful so far. The original goal was $6,000. And with 12 [...]
Continue reading Kickstarter part Two
|
How To Write Magical Words
|
Latest Comments