“Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” – Gene Fowler
Most of the time, my inspirations come from discussions with family and friends. An image, name, or phrase will trigger and idea that I’ll add to my notes file. Sometime later on, I’ll revisit it and decide if it is worth investing the time to develop.
“Insanity does not run in my family. It strolls through, takes it’s time, and gets to know everyone personally.” – Anon
If I think the tale will become more than a few pages, I’ll create two files. One is the actual Work-In-Progress title while the other is a Notes file. The Notes file contains character names and brief bios, location maps, important vehicles, and world building details. Most of the info won’t make it into the story, but it helps me to visualize each scene as well as keep track of the sequence of events.
“In the force if Yoda’s so strong, construct a sentence with words in the proper order then why can’t he?” – Anon
I’m a HUGE fan of editing… but ONLY after the story is done. The rule is simple. Tell the story first!
Once I’ve wrapped up a story, I resist the urge to fiddle with it right away. I will work on another, unrelated project for at least a week.
After a week or so, I’ll start at the beginning and work my way through, editing and pruning as I go. At this point, I’m looking for plot issues, contradictions, and general flow of the language.
The second edit pass is where I’ll actually read the story out-loud. You will be amazed at what sort of errors will show up while trying to speak while you’re reading. I highly recommend you do NOT skip this step. It feels weird, yeah. Too bad. Just do it!
When I finish the out-loud edit pass, I’ll share the tale with my beta readers and/or with another editor. They will tell me what parts need work or need to be pruned.
You can find all my current books on my Post Orbital Library site. http://postorbitallibrary.com/books/
Feel free in asking me anything concerning writing, graphics, or self-publishing.
Cheers!
Anthony Stevens
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I just got back from an unplanned trip and was pleasantly surprised at the new look of Alternative-Read.
It might be of interest that my desk has grown even more cluttered. I barely have room to type! Time for a ritual cleansing.
The good news is that I’ve a couple of editors working on a final pass of a steampunk/dieselpunk crossover novel that should be published later this summer. I’ll let y’all know when it’s ready.
Congratulations again on the new look. Well done!
Thank you, Anthony! Oh, you should never clean up a desk, without taking a photo first… you of all people should KNOW that! 🙂 Yes, do come back to tell us about your new book asap!