Which book are you reading now? Volume XIII

[Lexicus]

This book is quite good so far (I'm on page 30).

 

[EnglishEdward]

On Wednesday I finished reading another Sci-Fi space opera:

Noumenon

by

Marina J Lostetter

 

[Takhisis]

Finally finished Roots. Wo-wee. A great narrative even if a lot of the supposedly ‘accurate’ stuff is historically inaccurate.

 

[Birdjaguar]

On Wednesday I finished reading another Sci-Fi space opera:

Noumenon

by

Marina J Lostetter

And was it good? Worth reading? Don't leave us in suspense.

 

[Zkribbler]

This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley.

(oops. I;ve been doing it all wrong. )

 

[Birdjaguar]

This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley.

(oops. I;ve been doing it all wrong. )

So what is the right way?

 

[Zkribbler]

So what is the right way?

His main point is to write everyday without distraction & without getting sidetracked.
Mosley writes 3-3 1/2 hours every morning, 7 days a week, until he's finished his first draft. Then he continues this schedule with his second, third, fourth, etc. draft.

I've been writing whenever I want about whatever strikes my fancy. Nothing's been getting finished.

My plan is to set my alarm for 02:00, work for four hours, get up, have breakfast, watch the morning news, then tottle off to the bank, the dentist, etc. We have some construction workers due to start repairs on the house tomorrow at 06:00.

 

[Takhisis]

His main point is to write everyday without distraction & without getting sidetracked.
Mosley writes 3-3 1/2 hours every morning, 7 days a week, until he's finished his first draft. Then he continues this schedule with his second, third, fourth, etc. draft.

I've been writing whenever I want about whatever strikes my fancy. Nothing's been getting finished.

Oh yes, that is the only method that works for me. Speaking of which, I have to get my two hours in.

 

[Kyriakos]

Hm, 3 hours is good, provided you aren't tired by the end. At times i wrote from start to finish for that time, completing new short stories that are around 5k words.

 

[EgonSpengler]

His main point is to write everyday without distraction & without getting sidetracked.
Mosley writes 3-3 1/2 hours every morning, 7 days a week, until he's finished his first draft. Then he continues this schedule with his second, third, fourth, etc. draft.

I've been writing whenever I want about whatever strikes my fancy. Nothing's been getting finished.

My plan is to set my alarm for 02:00, work for four hours, get up, have breakfast, watch the morning news, then tottle off to the bank, the dentist, etc. We have some construction workers due to start repairs on the house tomorrow at 06:00.

I saw an interview with Nora Roberts years ago, and she said her First Rule of Writing is "[Butt] in the chair."

 

[JollyRoger]

 

[Cutlass]

I saw an interview with Nora Roberts years ago, and she said her First Rule of Writing is "[Butt] in the chair."

Nora Roberts has probably one of the largest lifetime outputs for a published author. Up there with Stephen King. She definitely treats it as a job.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Nora Roberts has probably one of the largest lifetime outputs for a published author. Up there with Stephen King. She definitely treats it as a job.

Strictly in terms of number of novels, Nora Roberts has written over 200. To some degree, it's apples and oranges; King likes to write those 600-page tomes, while Roberts write series of shorter books. I think Roberts' "J.D. Robb" side-project is up to 50 books, by itself, but those are the types of novels you can buy at the airport, read on the plane, and leave in the seat-back pocket for the next person. Still, a novel is a novel, with a story and characters and everything, whether it's 250 pages or 750. R.L. Stine is another one like that. I think he's written over 400 books. There was an English romance novelist who published over 700 novels in her lifetime, starting in the 1920s. She holds the Guinness World Record for most novels published in a single year - I think it was 20-something. Anyway, yeah, all of these people illustrate the "10% inspiration and 90% perspiration" adage. That's how I interpreted Roberts' quote, anyway.

 

[Mouthwash]

How could you guys not mention Asimov? He wrote about 500.

 

[AmazonQueen]

Just finished "The Changes" by Peter Dickinson, a children's trilogy about a Britain that has developed an aversion to technology and reverted to the Middle Ages, a pretty horrible time and place (in the story at least before anyone leaps in to argue it was an agrarian and spiritual idyll). It was made into a TV series in the 70s so it was a bit of a nostalgia trip for me. Started on "Civil War: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1638-1660" by Trevor Royle which I picked up remaindered.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Close enough to being finished with M.A.S. Haleem's English translation (Oxford's World Classics) of the Qur'an, the holy text of Islam revealed by the Archangel Gabriel to Muhammad and considered the basis of Islamic thought. It is divided into 114 Suras, generally from longest to shortest, with repetition of important topics such as the power of God and the Judgement of believers and disbelievers. This particular translation takes note of certain elements of classical Arabic, such as iltifat ("turning", shifts in personal pronouns to emphasize a point) and wujuh al-Qur'an (context-dependent meaning shifts for key terms). The Qur'an traditionally also has no paragraphing or punctuation.

The teachings of the Qur'an demonstrate a continuity with the Prophets of the Jewish and Christian traditions, the so-called "People of the Book". There are shared events such as the Resurrection and the Judgement, and shared figures such as Iblis (Lucifer/Satan) and Jibril (Gabriel). Where Islam differs is in denying the divinity of Jesus and emphasizing the eminence of Muhammad as the last of the Prophets. Suras of particular note include The Cow (2: basic beliefs, outlines the Pillars of Islam, disallowed foods, and lists certain lawful practices) and Women (4: regulates inheritance, sexuality, etc.). The historical context of the emergence of the Qur'an in the deserts of Arabia are evident in the descriptions of Paradise (shade, water, fruits, etc) and the Fire (destination of the disbelievers), and certain clarifications on Arabic tribal practices. The presence of the Jinn (mythical unseen beings, supposedly blind to the revelations of the Qur'an) may even be due to the integration of Arabian pagan beliefs.

It is easy to see how convincing the Qur'an can be, with the many examples given of God's glory, mercy, and retribution, depending on whether you believe or not. It prohibits certain practices such as the female infanticide of the Arabic tribes, and calls for believers to treat each other and even their enemies fairly. There are still certain problematic aspects. The Qur'an can be hostile on occasion to Jews, accusing them of trying to obscure the revelations and working against the Muslim community (which apparently happened with a certain Jewish Arab tribe that betrayed the believers). Christians are also sometimes condemned for equating Jesus to God. The text can also be construed as valuing women less, as they are entitled to smaller shares of inheritances and one particular verse (4:34) can be seen as tolerating domestic violence, even if it is only one slap to the wife. While it calls for treating slaves fairly and occasionally freeing them, it does not condemn the practice of having slaves. While that may be chalked up to historical context, one then wonders why the Qur'an is used by some as a guideline for creating laws in the 21st century.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

Because why not.

 

[Takhisis]

That's written by Tom Baker?

Edit: I got into Wikipedia and after getting sidetracked onto researching about Little Britain USA I did verify that Mr. Baker is also a published author.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

There is a co-writer too, but he's not important enough to get on the cover

 

[Kyriakos]

Probably called D. Alec.