I have a couple of intriguing reader questions to answer on Friday, but today I'm just putting out a call to the final winner of the Shadows on the Moon giveaway: Alessandra @ Out of the Blue. She's the only one who hasn't gotten in touch with me to give me her address yet.
I understand that many people are, like me, a little tired out and not entirely on top of their normal internet routine at this time of the year, but I hope you'll get in touch with me as soon as you can, Alessandra. The sooner I have your address, the sooner I can send the package out.
In the meantime, I'm ploughing through The Women of the Underworld
Series by Kelley Armstrong and enjoying them a great deal, although I prefer her Darkest Powers
series just a little, probably because Darkest Powers is YA and the characters don't have to keep stopping to have sex in order to justify a 'romance' label (sorry, kids, but one day you too will be skim-reading or skipping sex scenes because they're boring - it's how you know you're getting old).If anyone has anymore questions on writing and publishing that they'd like me to answer in Friday's post, toss them in the comments or send me an email through my profile. It's going to be a bumper post, so the more the merrier. Take care, everyone.
8 comments:
Zoe, do you ever feel you have nothing to write? That seems to be my excuse right now. I just got nothing.
And, do you feel like that even when you're working on a novel? Because that happened to me when I was working on my first proper story and felt that... eh... everything's over, all fine and fit, the problems have been resolved, but there's still no way I can end my story like this.
What do I do when I'm stuck in this situation?
Hmm. . . well something that's been bothering me of late is how to keep to the main focus of the story. At the moment, my plot just feels incredibly messy with too many things happening that are not important. Even today I had to cut out an incredibly exciting scene because it just wasn't linked to the main focus of the story. Any tips on how to maanage these sub--plots and events?
Megha: I spent like two months last year (Heehee it's 2011 it's so fun to say that sorry) with NOTHING to write. Like I spent a lot of the time crying because I had no story and no inspiration. I thought something horrid had happened to me because I usually have way *too* much inspiration crowding my mind and distracting me from what I'm writing at the moment. Well, now I realize that this isn't the case. There was no shortage of ideas crowding my brain, it was just that I had learned from Zoe in her most inspiring post ever to me called "Never-ending Stories" that we often grasp at fleeting inspiration and start a story that we will never follow through with. But at the time, I was completely depressed. I even lost some of my appetite for reading, because all I could think about was how I'd never be able to be like the person who wrote that story, plus I was reading BRIGHTLY WOVEN, which I loved but you hated, Zoe. That's okay. I don't hate you for it. I can see what you mean, I just don't agree. Anyway, I was reading BRIGHTLY WOVEN, and it kept on inspiring me to write and then i would realize I HAD nothing to write. This rant sounds like a horror story, right? I mean, when Isabel loses her appetite for reading, you know something REALLY BAD has happened. But don't worry, I finally got inspiration and I'm writing a great story right now. You'll find inspiration eventually, Megha. My rant has probably really disappointed you; you probably thought I would provide some useful advice. Well, I must say that you're really lucky to have gotten as far as the resolution in your story; I've never finished one. Believe in yourself. Just give it a few days or even weeks and it will come to you. I was in a situation worse than this for TWO MONTHS! I'd probably aim for a really touchy scene that provides a message that sort of eclipses the entire story's plot in a way that makes the reader satisfied that they have gotten something out of the story. That's just my advice. It depends on your story. What makes it fabulous? Why did you write this? What do you want readers to walk away with? Once I post this I'm going to wince at how long this is, so I'll do my message for Zoe in another comment. Good luck, Megha! I'm sure Zoe's advice will be far more helpful, but maybe this'll help somewhat.
Sorry, when I said "touchy scene" I meant *touching* scene.
Zoe: REBEL ANGELS is SOOOO good!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of my all-time favorites so far. Sophia (my sister) says that the last book is the best. OH MY GOD THAT'S *POSSIBLE*?!?!?! Wait, *have* you read this series? It seems as if you have, but I want to know you've read it before I start a really animated conversation about it with you. If you have, didn't you love it?? Anyone else read it? Didn't you love it? Whoever hasn't, YOU NEED TO READ IT!!!!!! OHHH MYYY GOOOOOSSSHHH!!!!!!!! Okay, now I'm gonna go read...
Megha and Nara: Interesting questions! I'll try to answer them in today's post.
Isabel: I haven't gotten around to the Gemma Doyle books yet. I do have the first one, but I have to admit that the first few pages didn't grab me. I'll probably read it one day, but it's not at the top of my list.
Oh, no, Zoe, please don't base it off of the first few pages!!! When I read the first book (and my sister thinks so as well) what struck me was how different the story really turned out to be than what you would think from the first few pages. I, too, was not completely pulled into the story by the first few pages, but it changed so much! It was a fabulous book, even though REBEL ANGELS is better, in my opinion. Please try to give it another chance! You will not be disappointed! That bratty girl that you see in the beginning COMPLETELY changes, into someone very real and likable. Also, characters like Felicity, (you probably don't know who I'm talking about, but if you read it you will!) as well as Ann, are some of the most vivid, real characters that I've ever read about. It's a fabulous series; you need to give it a chance.
Actually, I'm bringing in A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY in for Kesanet tomorrow. I should put it in my bag...
Ok - I'll try to plough on a bit further when I pick it up again!
YAY!!! =D
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