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Boarders Writing a Novel, Part 9


Gabriele

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Anyone got suggestions for a good map building software? And tips on names would be nice. What I've been doing is imagining what I'd like characters to look like by region and naming them according to the culture I equate them most too. For example, if I have characters growing up in an area that's similar to the Middle East, I'll pick an Arabic name for them. And so on and so forth.

I have a great one...it's called pen and paper. Spend your time and energy writing.

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I'll look into making bits of what I've written available :) How have you guys been getting others to read more than just snippets?

Well, I handed a first draft to my parents, they couldn't refuse of course. But then again, they're less likely to review it in an impartial way. Finding impartial readers is tough, but better some feedback than none.

I'd be willing to read things fellow posters put online and give feedback, if anybody's interested.

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I'll look into making bits of what I've written available How have you guys been getting others to read more than just snippets?

I’ve never shown my work to my parents – the thought of them reading the romp in Chapter 3 is enough to put me off! You’re right about the less than objective viewpoint, though. My mum has read my recent job applications and she’s very praising of them – says she’d give me any type of job from reading them. She was the governor of an Outstanding college, but even still… hard to believe her!

I’ve always been very lucky in finding sound beta readers for my work. I’ve had two work closely with me in previous years to really develop my writing and iron out the easy errors that amateurs make. You can’t be afraid of putting yourself forward. Make your opening chapters as brilliant as they can be so people want to read on, too. And if they only help you with five-ten chapters, you should apply their advice to the rest of the novel.

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I'll look into making bits of what I've written available :) How have you guys been getting others to read more than just snippets?

well, my story started out as a role play so there are naturally people who are interested in the novel because a lot of people participated in that role play and made characters for it and now they want to see how their characters are written in the books.
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I just do maps by hand, I find it works easier. Then I do a draft in Windows Paint. The way your world looks might affect the story, so you have to think about it.

As for names, it depends on the sort od novel. Is your Robot vs. Beast (was that it? sorry, I forgot) on future earth or another planet altogether? Because if the last, you could change existing names a bit or just stare at the wall and write what pops into your mind.

What you could also try is categorizing letters by region,kinda like GRRM is Essos, i.e.:

West: y, o, u, t, r, i

East: e, a, g, h, l

Someone from the west could be called Troy, and from the east Eagel, just to name something. This works better when you work with more letters and clangs (is that how you say that?) like ch, th, rh. This gives exotic and distinct names.

Hope that helps!

technology vs beast and thanks for the advice. It's been a huge help.
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From Chuck Wendig's blog.

50 RANTYPANTS SNIDBITS OF RANDOM WRITING AND STORYTELLING ADVICE

34. THE THREE C’S (CREATIVITY, CLARITY, CONFIDENCE)

Creativity: Watch me pull a Pegasus out of thin air. Clarity: I will convey the Pegasus clearly and completely so that I am understood. Confidence: I am the god of this place and the Pegasus does whatever the fuck I want it to do. These are your Three C’s. Write with these in mind and nothing will stop you. Except maybe a bear. Because bears are dicks.

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From Chuck Wendig's blog.

50 RANTYPANTS SNIDBITS OF RANDOM WRITING AND STORYTELLING ADVICE

34. THE THREE C’S (CREATIVITY, CLARITY, CONFIDENCE)

Creativity: Watch me pull a Pegasus out of thin air. Clarity: I will convey the Pegasus clearly and completely so that I am understood. Confidence: I am the god of this place and the Pegasus does whatever the fuck I want it to do. These are your Three C’s. Write with these in mind and nothing will stop you. Except maybe a bear. Because bears are dicks.

That might actually be quite useful, it's like the writer's bible.

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I'll take reluctant issue with #4 Think About Writing More Than You Think About Publishing. Not that it's bad advice in a better world, but in this one...well, my little saga through the publishing industry taught me that if you want to get a deal you're going to have to allow the publishing considerations to influence what you're writing. The agents expect it and so do the editors. My coauthor and I were told we couldn't have a fantasy book with a female protaganist, and even if we could she had to be a Hot Chick, also a virgin, blah blah. That's what drove us out of the industry and to self-publishing. We wanted to tell our story, and not the story someone else wished we had written.

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I'll take reluctant issue with #4 Think About Writing More Than You Think About Publishing. Not that it's bad advice in a better world, but in this one...well, my little saga through the publishing industry taught me that if you want to get a deal you're going to have to allow the publishing considerations to influence what you're writing. The agents expect it and so do the editors. My coauthor and I were told we couldn't have a fantasy book with a female protaganist, and even if we could she had to be a Hot Chick, also a virgin, blah blah. That's what drove us out of the industry and to self-publishing. We wanted to tell our story, and not the story someone else wished we had written.

This makes me grateful that Evelyn is a hot chick virgin (even if she's a lust-ridden, physically scarred and bitter hot virgin).

I am half and half. I spent a lot of time two years ago working on a novel that did not fit into a genre clearly and rode the line between YA and adult too much. This meant total rewrite or shelving it as a hobby novel. I still wish to rewrite it but I went into my latest project with a clear "This is the genre, it is well and truly for an adult audience, and this is how I am going to make it so."

Having said that, especially in the early drafts, you do have to write for you and enjoy your story. I have beta readers who love it and others who do not, but if I tried to please everyone, I believe the story would be bland.

On Laura update... After having a real breakdown in confidence on Saturday night, I sat and rewrote the first 700 words of Chapter 1 last night. Already had one person really like it and another give me some great concrit for it, so it looks like I am off and rolling again.

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Sent out another nine query letters today. Must keep trying...

A multitude of wishes sent to you my friend. Best of luck in your endeavor.

I took the weekend off as I had to work on Friday, and had company visit on Saturday and Sunday but I am back at it today. I am still in the middle of character creation, and it has become a bit of a chore. I think that it is productive time spent as it is allowing me to really contemplate on the story I want to tell, but it is also a lot of work. The nature of my story means that I am going to have to have a fairly large cast of characters and they all have a really long back story. Even though I have the ability to create them using somewhat of a formula, I am still finding it a bit of a drudge to sit down and think of names, descriptions and basic personality types.

This is the first time I have approached writing in this manner. In the past, I have always just written scenes and had characters appear in them as it served a purpose. What I was wondering is if anyone else does work on their characters before they start writing, and if so, what is that process like?

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I’ve never shown my work to my parents – the thought of them reading the romp in Chapter 3 is enough to put me off! You’re right about the less than objective viewpoint, though. My mum has read my recent job applications and she’s very praising of them – says she’d give me any type of job from reading them. She was the governor of an Outstanding college, but even still… hard to believe her!

I’ve always been very lucky in finding sound beta readers for my work. I’ve had two work closely with me in previous years to really develop my writing and iron out the easy errors that amateurs make. You can’t be afraid of putting yourself forward. Make your opening chapters as brilliant as they can be so people want to read on, too. And if they only help you with five-ten chapters, you should apply their advice to the rest of the novel.

I once showed my mum two chapters of a currently shelved project I was writing. She told me I couldn't write. :stunned:

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A multitude of wishes sent to you my friend. Best of luck in your endeavor.

I took the weekend off as I had to work on Friday, and had company visit on Saturday and Sunday but I am back at it today. I am still in the middle of character creation, and it has become a bit of a chore. I think that it is productive time spent as it is allowing me to really contemplate on the story I want to tell, but it is also a lot of work. The nature of my story means that I am going to have to have a fairly large cast of characters and they all have a really long back story. Even though I have the ability to create them using somewhat of a formula, I am still finding it a bit of a drudge to sit down and think of names, descriptions and basic personality types.

This is the first time I have approached writing in this manner. In the past, I have always just written scenes and had characters appear in them as it served a purpose. What I was wondering is if anyone else does work on their characters before they start writing, and if so, what is that process like?

My approach is not a recommended approach. It's simply to start with the most basic concept of what the character is like, then let the character develop as I write. In my current novel I have a character who is a third son. At first I intended him to be quite sweet and shy, hiding in his brother's shadow... but when I decided to write a chapter from his POV, I ended up making him react to the situation in quite a shrewd way. His personality developed around this.

As for names, Cleon had several names before I settled on Cleon (have I settled on Cleon?). I wouldn't agonise too much over it. The 'Replace All' tool comes in handy when renaming characters from generic names to ones that fit their personality.

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