Posts tagged ‘writing’
ELEVEN MINUTES BY PAULO COELHO
Existing somewhere between clinical and raunchy, this novel explores the world of sex through the eyes of a Brazilian woman, living in Geneva, Switzerland, as a prostitute. The work journeys from one extreme to another, following the woman through her profession and experiences, but maintains a level of literature which is both informative and captivating. After experiencing love found, then lost, she stumbles into this profession more by accident than desire. Although, through following her experiences, both desire and love come into play.
What I found most intriguing was the way Coelho mined the thoughts of a women, especially those of a woman in an uncommon situation of love for sale and profound individuality.
I love this author’s work, and treat yourself, start reading his novels.
STRUGGLLING TO GET IT WRITE: AN EPIPHANY
This piece will demonstrate how slow a learner I am and how much I have to learn.
I’m in the process of reading Paulo Coelho’s novel, Eleven Minutes. I’m sure many of you are familiar with his name from his famous novel, The Alchemist, which has been on the bestseller list for years.
As I’m reading, I marvel at how simple the process of his writing appears to be, how characters and scenes just falls into place. As I brooded on this observation and compared it to my own work, lightning struck my addled brain. The process was not simple but born through skill and hard work. The richness I observed was the level of his skill and determination.
I have had a problem for the last few years, well maybe more than one, and have discussed it in my blog in the past. I have a fear of the rewrite, of not getting it perfect. What a fool! The ‘write’ doesn’t make the piece, it’s the rewrite that gives life to the framework.
Looking at a writer as a sculptor, a sculptor of thought, if you will, the first draft is the initial release of the form imprisoned in the rock or marble, the metal or marble; the writer’s mind. It is only through careful chipping away that the work takes form. It is only after editing and living with the work is the work completed. The initial draft is nothing but the birth. I’m going to try to force myself to put these observations to use.
Please, stay in touch.
BLAZE BY RICHARD BACHMAN (STEPHEN KING)
Written in 1972-1973, this novel brought me a new appreciation of the ‘master’ as I have never felt before. In this story, Helen Keller could have seen the gifted writer which would emerge on the horror scene.
Surprisingly, this work, in the strictest sense, in not a horror novel. There is a dead accomplice giving Blaze, the main character, a brain-damaged man, advice, but he only exists in Blaze’s mind and memory. What I found remarkable about this work is how King creates a multi-faceted who kidnaps and kills, yet you’re able to get into his mind and past and find sympathy for his actions.
I’m not giving away any more detail. Buy the book and fill the ‘master’s’ coffers. You won’t be disappointed.
RANTS & RAVES: IS TOO MUCH GOOD OR BAD?
This piece will be about blogging and self-publishing, and some observations I have made.
I have been blogging for some time now; have bloggers I follow and some that follow me. I’ll begin with the negative. In blogging, I fault blogs that merely regurgitate other’s thoughts, ideas and creativity adding no insight or constructive thoughts. I’m turned off by quantity and not quality in what is presented.
Now for the good, and there is a great deal of good. I read the work of a host of talented writers posting on blogs about writing, their experiences in developing their craft along with blogs posting excellent poetry. If anyone out there is interested in reading great poetry for free, leave a comment and I’ll post links. Here’s the kicker. In my daily blog reading, I’ve found too much that is lacking in quality, and at the same time, too much that is excellent. There’s just too much to absorb. The lacking dilutes the excellent and conceals work that is worthy with the flood of work which is available.
How could too much excellent work be a bad thing, you might ask. The growing technology in publishing allows everything to be published with no gatekeeper. I remind you of the add I mentioned in the past which stated, “Write anything. Publish everything”. You can create a blog for free, a website for free, self-publish at minimal cost; all whether or not you have talent or something to say. I feel that the ease with which you can publish allows marginal writers a means of exposure, diluting the efforts of talented writers for gaining a public. In the past, there existed the means to self-publish using vanity presses. The cost limiting the volume. Technology has changed all this, and I feel not for the best. Of course, who is to say what is good and what is bad. But with the volume of work presented, the good is sometimes lost in a sea of the bad.
When I read a great piece on a blog or a great poem I wish more could enjoy the author’s work. Some of the bloggers I read also publish, rarely through traditional mean. The bottom line, I feel that the rapid growth of technology enables the marginal and dilutes the excellent. I see no way to remedy this problem and sure that it will increase as technology progresses.
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
STRUGGLING TO GET IT PUBLISHED: AGE AND TECHNOLOGY
I’m going to, here and now, establish a new term: The Crossover Generation of Writers. You are the very first to witness the birth of a movement, for however brief, will soon be dead along with this blogger. But not too soon.
What am I talking about, you may ask? I’m familiar with that response when I try to explain something.
It is this.
When I attended college as a biochemistry major, all science and engineering majors carried slide rules, the current device for calculations. I still have my bamboo-beauty still nestled in a drawer. Later after I graduated, around 1970, I knew someone who purchased one of the first calculators for around $100. The device could add, subtract, multiply and divide. That was it, with no memory. Today credit-sized calculators, which can do far more, and solar powered are given away. I got one years ago. Do you
What the theme of this piece is the progression from preparing a piece to be published on a typewriter, using correction tape to now submitting manuscripts on the internet. Unless you have experienced that transition, you cannot fully appreciate the impact technology has had on the writer that has lived through that transition. When unable to hire those familiar with the latest technology of publishing and marketing, those of a certain age (I) are lost.
I belong to a host of online organizations providing opportunities to publish and sell your work. All, I feel, are legitimate. Personally, I’m not immersed in the current technology and methods of publishing, distributing and selling my work. My focus is in writing, yet I realize the need for modern technology to be successful, to embrace both writing and the rapidly evolving technology of publishing and marketing of your work.
At times, I find the options beyond my comprehension and ability. Therefore, The Crossover Generation of Writers is born today. I am the first, but not only member.
Writers of advanced wisdom and experience, what do you think about this? Do you agree and identify?
STRUGGLING TO GET IT PUBLISHED: THE SMALL PRESS
Between major houses and self-publishing there lies an alternative which is the subject of this piece.
As far as the major publishing houses are concerned, most cannot be approached unless you have an agent and the agent makes the contact. But acquisition of an agent is not an easy task. An aside, for those writing in my genre, science fiction and horror, the major house, TOR, does accept unsolicited manuscripts. I read an article not long ago in which writers talked about obtaining an agent. In almost every case it was ‘I know someone, or I have an agent. Let me talk to them.’ You get the idea. Yet I’m still naïve enough to feel if your work is good, something good will happen. I could be labeled either a dreamer or an idiot, been called both by those who know me.
The far-end of the spectrum from the top houses is self-publishing. I’ve dealt with this topic in past posts, and will surely again in the future. What typifies my thoughts on self-publishing is an ad I see constantly in Writer’s Digest. In the photo accompanying the ad is a middle-aged woman with short gray hair sitting cross-legged on a mound of earth in the middle of the great outdoors, I can only assume there must be a Starbucks within Wi-Fi distance. She has her arms raised triumphantly while gazing at her laptop nestled in her lap. The ad proclaims, ‘Write anything. Publish everything.’
Really?
I don’t know if this woman is supposed to have just finished writing a classic, or just sent off the classic to be published. ‘Write anything’ I have no problem with, but ‘Publish everything’, give me a break. Does everything written need to be published, especially by someone unencumbered by the process of discovering if what they write is publishable? If you feel everything you write, that is not exposed to scrutiny, is publishable, you can stop reading now.
If you are still reading and feel the product of your mind should be self-published, please, please, please have someone other than your mother or your spouse read your work with a critical eye and who will be gentle, yet honest, with their opinion. Join a writer’s group or seek an online critique. I’ll these options in future pieces.
The purpose of this article is to discuss small presses, and now I will focus on that topic. There are a multitude of small, legitimate presses you are able to approach directly. I was fortunate enough to be accepted as an author by Melange Books. They provided help in editing, designing a book cover and distributing my book to online sellers, Barnes & Noble and Amazon, all free of charge. There are a host of publishers out there that want to publish good work, but do your homework. As with any industry, there are those that are less than honest.
My favorite source of publishing opportunities, Duotrope, https://duotrope.com/, is one place to begin your research. There are many other resources, but I find Duotrope the most complete and easiest to use.
At the same time, I must caution you that all small presses may not have the best interest of the writer in mind. As with any business, there are the unscrupulous and the scams abound.
Do your homework!
In past articles I have discussed Preditors & Editors, http://pred-ed.com/pubagent.ht, and Absolute Write Water Cooler, http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/. Both are fantastic and constantly update their information. Preditors & Editors provides information on publishers, along with agents. This is a site you must use if you want to publish your work and do not want to be taken due to an ego trip. The site provides recommendations and warnings of the unscrupulous.
Absolute Write Water Cooler offers writers’ experiences with publishers and agents. This site is a must if you plan to publish. If you search the internet for a specific publisher or agent, often some of the first references will be from Absolute Writer. Always check these comments by writers who have used these sites and provide first-hand information on their experiences. Both Preditors & Editors and Absolute Write Water Cooler and places you should investigate while seeking to publish your work, and they are FREE.
Good luck fellow writers.
STRUGGLING TO GET IT WRITE: THE SCIENCE FICTION LANDSCAPE
I write from southeastern Pennsylvania, approximately ten miles from Valley Forge, 100 miles from Gettysburg and, perhaps, thousands of years into the future. I am a science fiction writer living in a land of history. In my area, people hold firmly to the past, tenaciously some might say. Preserving houses built hundreds of years ago and land once walked by soldiers in long ago wars.
Yet I, a writer of science fiction, deal in a future denied of the past, where structures gleam of metal and glass and little of the past kept sacred. Perhaps it is time for a reality check. Often, science fiction book covers depict futuristic cities gleaming in their modernism. Yet the reality does not conform to this image, the present truth. The year is 2015, yet how many of us readers of science fiction, the timeline has already past. Think of the years 1984, 2001, 2010, to name but a few of the significant dates in science fiction. Now, look around you and compare the story to the reality.
Nineteen eighty-four is one date which rings most true. In our ever-increasing need for technology and connection to the communication grid, we have given up our freedom as an individual. Barely a day goes by without the revelation of immense security breaches, all our personal information gone. What I find frightening is that we live in a world where we don’t know who ‘big brother’ is. Is he a computer genius youth, a foreign government, or some criminal out to make a buck? In the end, except for monetary loss, what difference does it make? The difference is, our life is revealed.
Sorry, my mind wondered, back on topic, the futuristic element of science fiction and the fact that some of that future is already here.
As mentioned earlier, the area where I live is steeped in history and clings to the past. How does the need to hold onto the past meld with science fiction? I think that connection of the past and science fiction is kept alive in the relatively new genre of steampunk, a sub-genre of science fiction which I will not attempt. My mind does not twist in that direction. However, steampunk is alive and growing and I’ve included a link to further your understanding of the genre.
Interestingly, Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are referred to in this article as authors writing in the imagery of steampunk.
This piece is just my thinking of the world of science fiction, keeping the past alive, and what direction reality is taking.
STRUGGLING TO GET IT PUBLISHED: WRITER’S RESOURCES, ALSO, WHAT LIES AHEAD
As I stumble through the maze of trying to get my work published, I run across websites that may be helpful. I’ll let you be the judge on how helpful they really are, but I’ll share them.
Next week, I will perhaps make many enemies and maybe one or two friends.
My new series, Rant & Raves, will take a personal look at retirement for that is where I am now. I find the process not difficult and share my ‘insight’.
Most of my enemies will come from the gurus lecturing on how to retire with no worries, the term ‘snake oil’ comes to mind. This will be a personal journey, not meant to be chiseled in stone, merely etched in sand. But having gone through the process, i.e. living to this point, I feel the need to share my ‘wisdom’.
Anyone wishing to ease that retirement from my first life, my writer’s life is still in process, look below.
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
BEGINNING A NEW YEAR, 2014 in review
This is the time we make promises to ourselves, most of which we won’t keep. Time to reflect on the year past and the one that approaches. Time to get on with life.
As in the past, my blog will focus on writing, on where and how to publish your work, and how to endure this absurd profession. If I have any successes, I’ll share them with you. Failure will find itself under the rug.
For the coming year, I’ve decided to begin a new category, one I’ve felt growing for some time now. I already have a category, Observations and Opinions, but I find the title too mellow for what I observe as I travel through space and time. Rants & Raves will be the new category I plan to visit often in this upcoming year. It will encompass subjects which, to me, make little sense, or in general, just piss me off. The older I get, the larger this category grows.
“How does that apply to writing?” you may ask. As I read I find many current authors address issues in their fiction nudging important topic into public view. My last post, Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, is a case in point where she addresses climate change incorporated in a fantastic story. But this trend is not new. Currently, I’m reading Charles Dickens’, Hard Times, an author whose work constantly addresses the wrongs in English society. Then, there is Upton Sinclair writing The Jungle, altering the meat processing industry. The list goes on and on where fiction is used to alter fact.
Let me finish this post by thanking you for entering my life and thoughts this last year, and hope that our relationship continues.
Finally, I’ve included my past year’s blog life as reported by WordPress.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 23 trips to carry that many people.
STRUGGLING TO GET IT WRITE: ONCE AGAIN, A WRITER’S OBSERVATIONS AND THE POTENTIAL STORY
Once again, I shall visit the importance of the power of observation in a writer’s life, and once made, to lock it into your memory for future reference. Come to think of it, here’s a question. Does the power of observation form the writer, or does the need to write develop the power of observation? In other words, which came first, the writer or the observer?
I’ve been walking our dog, Millie, taking advantage of the pleasant autumn weather before they’re replace by the harsh days of winter, and in the process, reviewing memories.
My family enjoyed tent camping, and one of our favorite destinations was Rickett’s Glen State Park located in the middle of northern Pennsylvania. A large man-made lake (a site I used in a horror story) is set in the park amongst the campsites and trails. We always brought along our canoe or Folbot (a collapsible kayak) and set up camp at a site right on the lake’s edge so that a short walk had us in the water.
The park is a popular place for families, and the occasional group of teenagers, to enjoy nature and bond. I distinctly remember one camping trip when, as usual, the park was full of families, mostly with young kids riding their bikes along the dirt and gravel trails and enjoying the vacation. The campsite next to us, however, gave off distinctly different vibes. Occupied by a solitary man, perhaps in his fifties, with a modest tented campsite along with a kayak for one. I watched him one morning as I cooked breakfast. His breakfast consisted of a couple beers, then he carried his kayak to the lake and was gone. The rest of the campground was filled with laughter and the sounds of children at play.
I often think of that lone camper, for observing him provided a wealth of story possibilities. All the other campers seemed to enjoy their time in the park – nothing there.
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble. Com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
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