*I took a week off FB and some other online places and got a lot of work done. I completed a decent first draft of a new story for the CafeDoom/Shock Totem contest and will enter as soon as the story is tightened up! I plan on wowing them, but a lot of people might hate it. I like to take risks. Also pounding this new novel, Within This Garden Weeping, into the ground before it can do so to me (actually, I don't think it's going to be a novel. I think it's going to be a longish novella, and I also think I'm going to send it out after editing and try to sell it because I haven't been very active with trying to sell longer work. That's right. I suck.)
I have another Dark Sci-fi story that needs tending but I think there's too much sex and crying, but what can you do? Really, what can you do? I say, "Give the characters what they want." :P
Reading "Jack Cady's "Street, which is an amazing book. I'm copying it out by hand, which is a slow process but I feel like I'm learning and internalizing a lot. That man could write!
Also reading Haunted Legends (edited by Ellen Datlow and Nick Mamatas) and have yet to be disappointed--all stories being very good and some of them outstanding. Well worth the money.
Since I took a week off I'm extending the deadline for The Scary Talent Show until Oct. 15th! We have some great entries so far but it never hurts to have more! Send your short story (up to 3k), poem, photo, video of you dancing or singing, poem, whatever you want in, as long as it's entertaining to more than just your imaginary friends, and you'll be in the running to win a one-year subscription to Dark Discoveries, a kickin' tee from The Bag and The Crow, or a sexy novella from Tasmaniac Publications. All fine prizes. All things I own too, and I have very good taste.
On Oct. 16th those entered people can cast their votes for their favorite at the new Scary Sad Stories blog :D The winner will be announced on Halloween! One entry per person to: scarysadstories (at) yahoo.com
My story, Daddy Screamed With Us, is also on the bestseller list again at Horror Mall! And it's been recommended for a Stoker Award a few times! Not very exciting for you if you don't like me, but very exciting for me and people who do like me! If you haven't read it, it's a good way to sample my fiction for a cheap price (a buck forty-nine).
I'm pretty happy with what I've been splaying on the page this past month or two and can't wait for people to read it. There is a maturity, perhaps, that was only hinted at before. Of course, I could be full of shit. But I don't think I am. :P
Treat yourselves and those you love well! (<--Yeah, I'm bossy, but it's good for you.)
Friday, October 8, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
I have no idea what I'm talking about...
*** but someone did ask me what I thought about writing short stories, my take on it. And here it is. These things help me. If they don't help you that's not my problem. :P
#1: Find the Meaning of every story, even if what you feel you’re writing is drivel, because something is trying to get out, be understood, and you owe it to yourself and the story to uncover/discover that meaning, to understand it, and display it to the reader and let them agree or disagree.
#2: Write as clean as possible on every first draft. Saves time later to actually live.
#3: Expose as many of your character's weaknesses as you do his strengths.
#4: Put your ego to the side when creating. It only gets in the way. In fact, put it aside in general, it gets in the way of everyone.
#5: Let your imagination run wild. Trust that it and your subconscious will develop something wondrous and somewhat original. Something you can be proud of because it’s truly yours.
#6: Find three good people who can read your work and give you honesty without much back patting. The more they point out what you’re doing wrong, the faster you can absorb it and improve.
#7: Once in a while sit down and copy one of your favorite short stories, by hand, in a notepad. Just don’t try to sell it. (the story. You can sell the notepad.)
#8: Read more non-fiction about history, autobiographies, music, hobbies, special interest, psychology, religion, pretty much anything. There are hidden treasures all around you that you can use in your work, things that will pop up naturally in a story because they’re right, they fit. Go on. Don’t be scared.
#9: Give as much as you get. No one likes a taker who takes, takes, takes. Thank people. Give back.
#10: Experiment outside your genre (if you write only Horror, write something else for a bit. Write a Romance short, a Sci-fi short, a Fantasy short.) and read widely. Very widely. Being narrow minded only makes your stories narrow minded. By opening up to other ways of thinking and by pushing your boundaries you can have a subway, a gigantic tunnel that attracts more people. Then you can squash them with your genius. But be humble about it.
That's my drivel. Use what you can. Don't sue me if it gives you a headache or gives you cancer.
#1: Find the Meaning of every story, even if what you feel you’re writing is drivel, because something is trying to get out, be understood, and you owe it to yourself and the story to uncover/discover that meaning, to understand it, and display it to the reader and let them agree or disagree.
#2: Write as clean as possible on every first draft. Saves time later to actually live.
#3: Expose as many of your character's weaknesses as you do his strengths.
#4: Put your ego to the side when creating. It only gets in the way. In fact, put it aside in general, it gets in the way of everyone.
#5: Let your imagination run wild. Trust that it and your subconscious will develop something wondrous and somewhat original. Something you can be proud of because it’s truly yours.
#6: Find three good people who can read your work and give you honesty without much back patting. The more they point out what you’re doing wrong, the faster you can absorb it and improve.
#7: Once in a while sit down and copy one of your favorite short stories, by hand, in a notepad. Just don’t try to sell it. (the story. You can sell the notepad.)
#8: Read more non-fiction about history, autobiographies, music, hobbies, special interest, psychology, religion, pretty much anything. There are hidden treasures all around you that you can use in your work, things that will pop up naturally in a story because they’re right, they fit. Go on. Don’t be scared.
#9: Give as much as you get. No one likes a taker who takes, takes, takes. Thank people. Give back.
#10: Experiment outside your genre (if you write only Horror, write something else for a bit. Write a Romance short, a Sci-fi short, a Fantasy short.) and read widely. Very widely. Being narrow minded only makes your stories narrow minded. By opening up to other ways of thinking and by pushing your boundaries you can have a subway, a gigantic tunnel that attracts more people. Then you can squash them with your genius. But be humble about it.
That's my drivel. Use what you can. Don't sue me if it gives you a headache or gives you cancer.
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