Writing

[puglover]

I've been working for months on my own fantasy novel. It's going well, and I've just reached 82 pages today. To me, writing is a great source of enjoyment, and a place to go to when I'm bored, so I can whisk myself away to a more exotic, exciting place.



Do you enjoy writing?

Have you ever written anything? A poem? A book? A novel?

If so, have you ever gotten it published?

Did you like your book? Do you glow with pride when you look back at your accomplishment?

Did others like your book?

Finally, do you have any writing tips? What kind of advice would you give to a new writer? What is your unique writing style?

 

[Gogf]

Can we see you book when you are done?

 

[MSTK]

Do you enjoy writing?
i luv writing

Have you ever written anything? A poem? A book? A novel?
Poem - yes, won 1st place in a national competition (at school leve, atleast), and the other won 2nd place
Book - yes, everyone has to start somewhere
Novel - yes, the one i'm writing now is over 200 pages on normal-sized paper (and individual parts of it have won 1st place awards)

If so, have you ever gotten it published?
even if i had the money, i would not know how

Did you like your book? Do you glow with pride when you look back at your accomplishment?
yes

Did others like your book?
i have a pretty big fanbase at my school

Finally, do you have any writing tips? What kind of advice would you give to a new writer? What is your unique writing style?
Read other books and observe how they right to improve your writing. Philip Pulman is a great example of someone who used that technique.
My writing style is more of a Lemony Snicket/Mark Twain/JK Rowling type thing.

 

[puglover]

Originally posted by Gogf
Can we see you book when you are done?

Maybe. I want my book published, so I don't want anyone stealing my idea online. Once I get a copyright I might show it, but it could take a few months just to finish it.

 

[stratego]

I haven't actually written anything as long as a book, but I write on a regular basis. I write for a Democratic magazine in my school doing Republican satires. The way to write a satire is to take the list that Col provided and try to break as many tips as you can in one article (but I highly doubt this advice would help at all with your writing)

 

[Gogf]

You don't need to "get" a copyright. You automatically recieve the copyright for books, I believe.

 

[Achinz]

Yes, some poems in school mag and university mag (a sample in the "Post your writings" thread.

Also some scientific papers and a master's thesis but probably not quite what you're after.

I think the process of writing itself is more engrossing than seeing the final work although there's no denying the sense of achievement.

Re tips - what sort of writing are you referring to?

 

[cgannon64]

I write on and off. Let me find something I wrote...

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from hell?
Dead streets.
Only the changing lights can tell me I’m alive.
Dead stuffed bunny rabbits.
Tossed out, for whatever reason.
Dead supermarkets.
Only the restockers can tell me nothing is wrong.

---

They lived in a modest yellow house, in a suburban-type neighborhood in the outskirts of Brooklyn. The house was attached to another, and in this neighboring house lived a legally blind lounge singer. The boy always thought he was actually blind until one day he waved to him and said, “Hi Brendan!” (Brendan being his brother’s name.). He would often go out to sing in whatever places he played – and chances are they were local, and if they were local, they would probably be second-rate – and Conor, the son and the main character in this work, would help him carry his luggage out to the car. He was surprisingly adept at putting his instruments into the trunk of the car, and John idly wondered if he actually played any of them, and if so, how he managed to learn being legally blind.

Legally blind. The term confused him. It was obviously not regular blindness, which was when someone could not see, ever – but it wasn’t regular nearsightedness or farsightedness, when you just had to wear glasses to see straight. The word legally was in there which raised all sorts of questions. Did it mean that he had permission to be blind? That he could really see but bought some sort of license so he couldn’t be bothered with it? Had he once been able to see before but had it taken away because of some heinous crime, like staring at the sun too long or seeing someone naked?

Anyway, he helped the neighbor (who’s name he never learned) and started to go back inside before waving at his other neighbor. He was balding, and always took to wearing beater’s (sleeveless shirts called wife beater’s often worn by Italian men, a laughable stereotype he wouldn’t recognize until years later) and sweatpants. He was still in blissful ignorance and never knew this type of man was what we adults call unemployed and a waste. He liked him, and sometimes went over his house when he forgot his keys. He would sit in their chair, very still, while the neighbor watched a movie on TNT drinking his beer. The wife worked, and again he was blissfully unaware of how pathetic a man he was sitting next to. Perhaps unaware isn’t the right word, because that implies that there is an inherent attribute that we all see and the child does it; it implies that we are right.

---

That's just a sample. The full thing is over 3,000 words long, and growing if I get down to it.

 

[puglover]

I'll give you guys a pretty big sample.

This is the first two and a half pages of the second chapter. Gaius is the main character. Rolan is his father, and Octavius his brother.


---------------------


When Gaius got home he jumped down from his horse and led it to the stable. He was unaware of two short, stealthy figures that waited in the shadows. Then again, there were few people alive in Regnus who could have noticed them. They were as still as trees. They hardly breathed. One had a bow and quiver on his back. The other had a blowgun and several darts. The darts had a poisonous plant sap on their points, making them deadly. One had a red symbol on his left shoulder, a vicious wildcat the official seal of Parojar. They wore long black cloaks and crept along without making a sound. They saw Rolan sitting on a log building a fire. One man signaled to the other to follow and they approached Rolan. Hiding in the bushes, one of them pulled out his bow and readied an arrow. The other kept his blowgun in a position to fire. Suddenly, there was whoosh as the arrow flew from the bushes. The arrow point dug into Rolan’s back. He cried out in pain and then fell over. He fumbled for his knife in his belt, but a dart pierced his neck and injected its deadly poison. Rolan groaned with agony. Rolan lay on the ground dead. Hearing the projectiles being fired, Gaius exited the stable and saw the two men. The men fled the scene, their mission accomplished.
Gaius felt his anger engulf him like never before. He took his father’s knife and flung it at the intruders. The knife was thrown with all the force his arm could muster. It struck one of the men in the arm but he kept on running. A trail of blood was left as he fled. The assassin then hid in the forest. Gaius lost his senses in his rage and grabbed another knife, ready to cut the throats of the murderers. But they were gone. The wound had obviously been patched up with a bandage, because there was no more blood to be seen.
Octavius came running from the shack. “I saw it all!”
“You could have killed the idiots!” Gaius yelled.
Gaius’ sorrow overflowed, spilling a flood of tears on the ground.
Octavius comforted him while trying to hide the tears streaming down his own cheeks, “I’m just as grieved as you are, Gaius, but don’t lose your head. There was nothing we could do,”
“NO!” Gaius cried, “I must find the villains who have done this to my father. I will hunt them down and give them what they deserve. Do you understand? What they DESERVE!”
“Gaius,” his brother responded, “You are overreacting. We must mourn the death of our father, but I wouldn’t go on a wild goose chase to find the murderers.”
Gaius collapsed on the ground next to his father’s lifeless corpse. He hit his hard fists on the dirt and tears dropped from his eyes like rain.
“Nothing can keep me from my destiny, my quest. I must deliver justice to my adversaries. You cannot stop me, Octavius.”
There was silence. The forest grew solemn.
Gaius hugged his brother. “I must go, Octavius. It is my calling.”
“If that is how you feel, brother, do it.”
There was once again complete silence. It was like the world paused at that moment, when Octavius bent down and put his hand on the blood from the cut on one of the murderers, which was caused by Gaius’ knife. It was like melted wax rather than liquid.
“This is not human blood.” Octavius noted. “This murder was the work of Sorcans.”
Gaius growled and clenched his teeth.
“Maybe you should wait until morning. It’s dangerous to ride at night.” Octavius warned.
“The assassins may not be too far away, if I wait, I may never find them.” Gaius replied.
He turned towards the stable in the back of the workshop. When he reached the stable, he decided the strongest horse was Felix, and was thus the best choice for the long trip ahead of him. Gaius grabbed a knife, a bow, and a quiver full of arrows. He hesitated. What if he dies trying to kill the assassins? Then he felt himself drawn to the dark forest. This was his destiny; to go and find his father’s killers. He slung the bow onto his back and mounted Felix. “Yah!” Gaius yelled. The horse took off into the direction of the forest.
"He’ll be back soon." Octavius muttered to himself.

 

[SeleucusNicator]

As a rule, I don't write fiction. As Jeff K would say, I suck at the fiction-writing. I have attempted several times and failed each time.

I do write nonfiction, however. Mostly for class, but sometimes for fun. I submitted an article about Millard Fillmore to the World History forum, for instance. I've been "working" on a follow-up, but don't expect it anytime soon.

 

[Giotto]

I write often, but not in fiction. Especially fantasy. I find that all fantasy novels are basically the same! (see the thing about fantasy novels in the humor and jokes forum). If I do write fiction, I try to have a message involved in it. By writing non-fiction... I do not write just expository essays or research, I try and write about ideas.

 

[Turner]

I've written a few poems, started a couple of novels. And 4k+ posts here, as well. Does that count as writing?

Looks good, Pug. Keep it up.

 

[Chieftess]

I came in the top 3% in a poetry contest (tens of thousands of entries). The winner was a poem about former Yugoslavia (this was in the early 90s). I've thought of writing a story, but I can't see writing over 100 pages.

Now, writing about computers and games, that's another story.

 

[Dark Ascendant]

I have about a grand total of THREE poems and write fanfiction. How pitiful is that...

 

[naervod]

I write poetry and am just delving into songwriting, but I wouldn't really care to share much at the moment. I usually don't write fiction, I am a miserable failure at that, but I like writing non-fiction, as well as research papers and expository essays. I have submitted a couple articles to the History Forum, and plan to do more if I can find some time.

 

[Achinz]

Regarding tips.

On the craft and mundane business of writing (format of manuscripts, genres, tax, markets...) it is useful to subscribe to a writing mailing list. There used to be an excellent portal called "Inkspot" but that's now defunct like a lot of sites from the dot.com crash.

A worthwhile substitute is Writing World:

http://www.writing-world.com

 

[Perfection]

I never write anything that is fiction unless it's a short amusing tale, or a class assignment. My hard-wired science-math brain prevents me from engaging in such worthless activities.

 

[Goober]

Do you enjoy writing?
I can stand writing with a Pencil, preferably Mechanical, but I cannot stand writing with Pen. It annoys me so much, I have only used Pen for assignmnets 5 times this school year.

Have you ever written anything? A poem? A book? A novel?
I have been force to write Poems, Novels, multiple Essays, many a Paragraph for English. I am starting a Story involved Civ3, but I lost it. I have a brilliant idea for a Novel, I may sit down one day and start it.

If so, have you ever gotten it published?
In the School newsletter.

Finally, do you have any writing tips? What kind of advice would you give to a new writer? What is your unique writing style?
I am very factual when I write, it comes from the Debating I have done with the Debate Club at my school. I tend to lay out the points, facts, whatever, then support them. That is my writing style, it is good, very good, I have a natural ability to write, but apparently, according to my english teacher, my writing is not good enough to gain me full marks. I shall have to live with 22/24 because I do not use any English literary terms and devices. I cannot think of any advice at this time, other then don't fall asleep too much in English, because, although it is VERY boring, it is a somewhat important class, apparently . . .

 

[Pongui]

I enjoyed that, puglover. Thanks.

I have two pieces of advice proven, when used together, to start fire. The first is to paint. This means to stay clear of archetypes, because readers don't sense archetypes. "Home" conveys no flavour but "ranch" does, for example. Also "trotted" or "galloped" colours "got", and "gray" or "arabian" colours "horse", and so on. The second piece of advice is to be brief. You can do that by saying one thing while saying another, ideally while painting. We already saw how "the gray" does as much as "the gray horse". You can also suggest things by making them logically obvious. You as good as told us it was night time, for example, with Rolan building a fire and the figures in the shadows. Of course the fire and the shadows paint a picture of night time better than the fact alone.

***

Cgannon64. You know you're good. Flaunter.

 

[MrPresident]

Originally posted by Gogf
You don't need to "get" a copyright. You automatically recieve the copyright for books, I believe.

While this is true it is best to be able to prove that your work is yours and that it was written when it was written. The best way of achieving this is by mailing your work to yourself with the post office stamping a date on it.

On topic, Yes, I write. I mostly write humourous skits and sketches, with a distinctly Monty Python flavour.