@squidge
Active 1 month, 1 week ago-
Bella posted an update 7 years, 2 months ago
30k words in and I’ve stalled. It’s not that I don’t know what happens – far from it. I just cannot get myself to write it.
The problem is that I need a different narrator. Part of me wants to get on and finish the first draft, switching the narrator now, and then going back to edit the first 30k. Part of me doesn’t want to write another word…[Read more]
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Sandra posted an update 7 years, 2 months ago
Excellent writing advice here: https://lithub.com/what-being-an-editor-taught-me-about-writing/?fbclid=IwAR2PZYarO1Zfrw5jm_eK4nAuKHsj1GHgvdDvAvUqn_KXENvBeQbQoJkqomY
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Raine posted an update 7 years, 2 months ago
How’re your mondays? I am procrastinating between projects…
Tea?-
Coffee if you have it, please. Monday OK so far. Trying to edit. Present rate about one line per hour.
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Busy. Pilates, meeting with the new vicar, mending an altar cloth, cooking dinner. Tonight…finishing off the Fifth Elephant and maybe some knitting. 😉
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Work, work, work… of the non-writing kind.
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I decided to do beta edit replotting, but have RUN OUT OF POST IT NOTES! Disaster. :-O
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Jules replied to the topic Monster Anthology opportunity in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 7 years, 2 months ago
Sounds like my kind of novella, Stevie 😁
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Athelstone replied to the topic Richard's Literary Byways: Robert Aickman's Bad Dreams in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago
Sounds like my kind of writer and you’ve definitely sold him to me.
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JaneShuff replied to the topic Richard's Literary Byways: Robert Aickman's Bad Dreams in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago
Thanks Richard. I’d never heard of him but have down loaded a collection of his and will have a look – maybe not at night with the wind howling round the house like it did yesterday evening!
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RichardB started the topic Richard's Literary Byways: Robert Aickman's Bad Dreams in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago
Very likely, many of those who enjoy cruising Britain’s canals in narrow-boats have never heard of Robert Aickman. Nevertheless, they owe him a huge debt, for his founding, together with L T C (Tom) Rolt, of the Inland Waterways Association in 1946 was the initiative that that resulted in the restoration of the then neglected and largely derelict…[Read more]
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Daedalus replied to the topic My Publishing Nightmare – the story of a book deal gone bad (Part 1) in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago
That’s definitely one of the problems Bella – people, self included, really want these things to go well and can easily blind themselves to the problems. There’s that siren voice of ‘yes, but you’ll be published…’ – as if that means anything by itself
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Jules replied to the topic Monster Anthology opportunity in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 7 years, 2 months ago
Go for it, Stevie. I bet you can knock out more words in 5 months than you think. And worst case scenario, you’ll still have the makings of a story if you don’t hit the deadline.
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Bella replied to the topic My Publishing Nightmare – the story of a book deal gone bad (Part 1) in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago
I don’t think you should feel silly at all. It’s very easy to fall into such traps, especially when we’ve been trying for EVER to get published. Someone I know fell hook line and sinker into the claws of a fake/vanity agent and there was no telling her, though I and several others tried.
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Daedalus replied to the topic My Publishing Nightmare – the story of a book deal gone bad (Part 1) in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago
Thanks @philippaeast – you’re most welcome. I feel very silly having made all these avoidable errors, but I wouldn’t want anyone else to fall into the same trap. Mostly I don’t want people to get stuck with publishers who act in bad faith.
Would you mind retweeting the link the next time you’re on Twitter? Just to get the highest circulation…[Read more]
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Philippa East replied to the topic My Publishing Nightmare – the story of a book deal gone bad (Part 1) in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago
Oh goodness, @daedalus. How awful. Please put Part 3 up soon! I can’t bear seeing you in this awful pickle!!
Thanks again for sharing. I really hope your own experience will serve successfully to protect other authors who may otherwise have gone down the same line.
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Daedalus replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
And you’re doing brilliantly at it John 😉
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Newbie replied to the topic Monster Anthology opportunity in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 7 years, 2 months ago
Thanks, Bella, will take a look 🙂 x
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Daedalus replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
Congrats and good luck both – John, don’t do yourself down, you have a talent with the short story
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Philippa East replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 2 months ago
Amazing news, John and Elle! Fingers crossed for the shortlist…
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Daedalus replied to the topic My Publishing Nightmare – the story of a book deal gone bad (Part 1) in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago
I’ve just published Part 2
My Publishing Nightmare – the story of a book deal gone bad (Part 2)
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Bella replied to the topic Monster Anthology opportunity in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 7 years, 2 months ago
@Newbie – your stuff would seem to fit the bill here. Can’t see anything to say you can’t have self-pubbed, but I have not read the terms in detail.
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Raine replied to the topic Monster Anthology opportunity in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 7 years, 2 months ago
Queer, Asexual, Intergender and Pansexual. These all sort of fall under a Non-binary umbrella but the acronym includes the separate forms.
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RichardB replied to the topic Monster Anthology opportunity in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 7 years, 2 months ago
Er, scuse my ignorance. I know LGBT, but what’s QAIP?
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I know the feeling – you have my sympathy. All the advice I can offer is to go for whichever option will help you keep moving forward. If the nagging in your head is so insistent you can’t go on, then go back and fix. If the thought of fixing the first 30k is too onerous and you want to head on to the conclusion, then do that. Although there’s…[Read more]
Oh Bella. I do feel for you. FWIW that often happens to me. I get a good way into something and then have a blinding flash of inspiration as to a better way to write it. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Maybe fix the opening 3-4 chapters (10k or so), so you know you can do it, and then skip ahead and plough on the with the rest? Either way, hope you install soon x
*un-stall
Oh, the dreaded 30K running-into-a-brick-wall-at-full-speed. Happens to me all the time – about 1/3 of the way through, or about 25 / 30K words in. FWIW, the last two times, I went back and edited from the start as I couldn’t face the idea of getting to the end of the draft and then having to go back and fix the start. It also meant that once…[Read more]