Catching Back Up

Hey Everybody,

I know it's been a while, but I've been digging deep, working through some discouragement and also doing a lot of writing and reading.

So, discouragement - fairly common among new writers and probably established writers as well. For me, I feel so ignorant at times, like I have so much to learn. But the truth is - yes I do! But we all do. And a lot from each other.

And now for some good books:

Old Man's War, by John Scalzi - if you're an SF reader, hopefully you've at least heard of this one, but if not and you enjoy military SF or simply a good adventure, get this! I was very fortunate to have met and talked with John at the last ConCarolinas and asked him which of his books I should read first and this was his suggestion. And it was a great read! I finished the first part in a day and had to hold myself back so I could relish it. It takes place a couple of hundreds of years in the future and the human Confederate Defense Leagues (CDL) recruits 75-year-olds who want to be young again and start a new life to protect human colonist in a very hostile galaxy. It is told from a first-person-close perspective and has a nice mix of action, character description, and dialogue, maintaining a brisk pace.

I have just started on his second book in the series, Ghost Brigades.

Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction: How to Create Out-of-This-World Short Stories and Novels, by Orson Scott Card - still reading this one, but so far it has been very useful. If you don't read SF or fantasy, you can probably move on to other books EXCEPT Orson Scott Card is one of the more prolific and successful authors and uses a mix of good anecdotes and great practical advice, so you still might find a lot useful here.

I have been reading several others as well and I'll probably mention them in a future post, but didn't want to simply discuss books, though I hope you find them useful.

Beyond reading, I've been writing. I've been working on my main novel, Sojourners, but also been experimenting with some other stories. In fact, I've got one burning inside that wants to get out. However, I'm trying to take a more disciplined approach.

For example, I'm working on Our Best Selves, a novella / novel about human cloning in the near future. I tried to write this one out a few years ago, when I was working more on screenplays, but wanted to start again, but first, I forced myself to start out using Blake Snyder's Save the Cat approach to a Beat Sheet and it has helped. I've also picked up a book to research the topic of human cloning. I'll let you know if I like it enough to recommend.

Anyway, I wanted to give you a heads up on my writing group. First of all, let me reemphasize that I think writers' groups are absolutely essential for serious writers. We need to cross-pollinate each other and be able to hear critiques from fellow writers so we get a sense of what to apply. However, Sojourners has gone through several drafts and some of my fellow writers are starting to suffer cognitive dissonance. In other words, they keep thinking about earlier drafts instead of earlier chapters, causing them to see issues that are not really there. So I've been starting to send out copies to friends for their feedback. Of course, the risk there, if they are not authors or fellow wannabee writers like me, is that you often get feedback that is more variable in usefulness. So I had two feedback sessions last week and felt discouraged afterwards.

Here is the big challenge - how much criticism can you accept w/o throwing in the towel? Everyone has their own tipping point and, for me, I've not been tipped over yet, but I came close - at least with Sojourners. Part of the reason to move on to something(s) else. But I will give myself some time while my group continues to catch up to my chapters and I give myself some distance for perspective. Still, even that can be a dangerous game. I am determined to finish this draft.

So, I continue on the journey.

For you fellow wannabee authors, I say CONTINUE!