Writing a book

[broganreynik]

I'm not sure how many people frequent this area of the forum, but I thought it'd be interesting to talk about the process of writing, whether it be short stories, poetry or novels. Granted, that'll be a pretty small group. At any rate, I'm in the process of writing a book with my brother. Writing with a partner has benefits, but there's also some struggles.

I've noticed my brother writes a lot better dialogue, and I write more descriptive, so putting that together, to me, seems like it should make for a pretty good read. We're close to finishing it up, and will then go forward with having friends and/or family read and proof reading and all that jazz.

I'm nervous about the self publishing aspect though. My aunt has self-published two books and it seems like those publishers really give her the run around, but then again she's pretty gullible. I work with some people that have written books and screenplays that are getting a lot better feedback than my aunt's books, so I'll look into how they went about it. Since I work at a tv station, and our morning talk show is always looking to fill guests, I feel like I have a bit of an advantage as far as marketing goes.

So go ahead, share what you want about your experiences in writing and self-publishing, etc.

[Secretagentnumber6]

Self Publishing can be a racket. I would be very careful about that. Not speaking from experience just from different stories I have seen or read.

I have written a couple of film scripts (one short, one feature length) but just for fun, nothing i have tried to market really.

If you could, send out copies of your book to publishing companies or perhaps a literary agent, but I would recommend Queries first to see if any companies are looking for books of the kind you are writing otherwise you are probably wasting time. It is a very tough process, otherwise we would all be published.

[OrlandoEastwood]

I write screenplays. I have six full 100 page screenplays laying around hoping to be filmed here in the next few months to years.

[Secretagentnumber6]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

I write screenplays. I have six full 100 page screenplays laying around hoping to be filmed here in the next few months to years.

Eastwood if you need another script I can send you mine. It is not polished but I like it. Others that have read have enjoyed it. I by no means am pro though.

[Moleman1138]

I've been working on the same book off and on for about 12 years now. But the whole thing is finding time to write with a job, social life, going to the movies and doing reviews.

[Al_The_Strange]

I've been writing since I was 15 or so, but I never had anything "good" to write until I was 18. I'm 28 now and have several novels finished, but only one is published (and it kinda stinks, since it was print-on-demand, no editing done, immature writing style... ). I've made some submissions for commercial publishing, but no success so far. I have half a mind to return to self-publishing and/or POD, but it truly is a racket at times.

At any rate, it's National Novel Writing Month, so I've started yet another story, and I hope to finish it by the end of the month.

Got some short stories of varying quality, but never got them published either.

One of these days, I gotta get around to proofreading the whole lot of them and getting them released somehow. As Moleman12 said, it's hard finding the time between working and doing other stuff.

I got a couple of short stories posted on my blog below if anybody wants to check them out (links on the left-hand side).

[Gaius Marius]

I have a few ideas kicking around the ole noggin, but have trouble just sitting down and writing (job and personal life). I work with fantasy primarily and have written a lot of background history for my world. Just need to get down to writing the actual stories.

[Gamma_Winstead]

I'm actually in the process of writing my debut novel right now. I'm leaving college for it. It's scary, but it's always been my dream, and I need to follow it.

[Abby is Q]

I went to college for writing, but mostly I would write short-short stories or screenplays. The past few years I have been working on screenplays, but I've fallen in love again with written word recently, so I'm working on a novel right now.

And it's driving me insane. I forgot what it was like to sit down at a desk and type and type for hours on end. I don't know about anybody else, but the process drives me crazy. I eat less frequently and not as healthy. I sit stationary for hours, straining my eyes. Sometimes I'll rush over something I'm not enjoying writing and then rack my brain over ways to fix it (usually I'll write heavy dialogue in parts I'm not enjoying and it sucks). Other times I'm so wrapped up in a scene or setting or character and I just type until 2AM. Then something else comes to me and I find myself unable to sleep, needing to write notes to myself on what I want to change or add. And I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but if I'm writing horror (which is what my book right now is) I get these vivid mental images of the horrific things I want to write about and then I'm squirming around unable to sit still in the dark (I'm not saying my writing is something special or good, just saying the visions I get can scare me).

Anyway, the book is based on a screenplay I wrote in college. I'm about 170 pages in and I'm assuming probably another 150-200 left to write. Then come revisions and disgust over my style and voice.

[Gamma_Winstead]

Originally Posted by Abby is Q

I went to college for writing, but mostly I would write short-short stories or screenplays. The past few years I have been working on screenplays, but I've fallen in love again with written word recently, so I'm working on a novel right now.

And it's driving me insane. I forgot what it was like to sit down at a desk and type and type for hours on end. I don't know about anybody else, but the process drives me crazy. I eat less frequently and not as healthy. I sit stationary for hours, straining my eyes. Sometimes I'll rush over something I'm not enjoying writing and then rack my brain over ways to fix it (usually I'll write heavy dialogue in parts I'm not enjoying and it sucks). Other times I'm so wrapped up in a scene or setting or character and I just type until 2AM. Then something else comes to me and I find myself unable to sleep, needing to write notes to myself on what I want to change or add. And I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but if I'm writing horror (which is what my book right now is) I get these vivid mental images of the horrific things I want to write about and then I'm squirming around unable to sit still in the dark (I'm not saying my writing is something special or good, just saying the visions I get can scare me).

Anyway, the book is based on a screenplay I wrote in college. I'm about 170 pages in and I'm assuming probably another 150-200 left to write. Then come revisions and disgust over my style and voice.

Oh but the disgust is the best part!

That's my biggest problem, and why I stopped writing for a while. The actual act of writing stressed me out. I recently got a job at a publishing company, and I'm not gonna lie, I haven't been more inspired in years. It's crazy how much junk actual gets published. It reminds me that I really should just take a chance on myself and give it a try!

[Abby is Q]

Originally Posted by Gamma_Winstead

Oh but the disgust is the best part!

That's my biggest problem, and why I stopped writing for a while. The actual act of writing stressed me out. I recently got a job at a publishing company, and I'm not gonna lie, I haven't been more inspired in years. It's crazy how much junk actual gets published. It reminds me that I really should just take a chance on myself and give it a try!

Absolutely! You should definitely go for it and just get something out there. That's what got me going again. After I realized so many people have gotten books published (success is another thing, but that's not something I'm worried about right now), I just had to put myself in a chair and start typing.

I'm far from finished, but I had to go back and do several re-writes and revisions on stuff I had written earlier because the whole thing was getting messy and not as coherent as I'd like. And revisions are oh-so stressful. I wasn't as disgusted as I thought I would be, but it's even more tiring than just writing something fresh when your mind can just flow.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Abby is Q

Absolutely! You should definitely go for it and just get something out there. That's what got me going again. After I realized so many people have gotten books published (success is another thing, but that's not something I'm worried about right now), I just had to put myself in a chair and start typing.

I'm far from finished, but I had to go back and do several re-writes and revisions on stuff I had written earlier because the whole thing was getting messy and not as coherent as I'd like. And revisions are oh-so stressful. I wasn't as disgusted as I thought I would be, but it's even more tiring than just writing something fresh when your mind can just flow.

Ugh, revisions are daunting. I have several finished manuscripts, but all of them need rewriting. A few actually need to be re-written in full for various reasons. When they are done though, it does feel gratifying to know that they're the best they can be.

I joined an official writing group earlier this year, in the hopes I can get some helpful feedback / critiques on my work. Found out that my first chapter was in need of serious work and had to redo most of it. It's distressing at first, but now I feel better about it.

[Abby is Q]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Ugh, revisions are daunting. I have several finished manuscripts, but all of them need rewriting. A few actually need to be re-written in full for various reasons. When they are done though, it does feel gratifying to know that they're the best they can be.

I joined an official writing group earlier this year, in the hopes I can get some helpful feedback / critiques on my work. Found out that my first chapter was in need of serious work and had to redo most of it. It's distressing at first, but now I feel better about it.

Critiques and discussions can be heartbreaking at times, but they're extremely helpful and can make your work better. You kinda have to filter feedback though, because some people have a set style they read and write in and believe everything should be done just like that. So sometimes you can get comments from people who "didn't get it" or want you to change the point you were trying to get across to begin with.

I miss those though. I miss college when there were tons of classes to share your work with others. I definitely need to look into joining a local group.

[dallywhitty]

I've got a novel in the works which I've been returning to the past two and a half years. I've only written about fifteen pages, though, which is terrible considering how much time I've had to work on it. I guess I procrastinate a great deal and between work life, socialising and watching films, I always end up doing something else. I have had ideas floating around for a potential second novel, and I wrote various character bios a few days ago, but I'd much rather get stuck into the previous one first and get it finished.

[Gamma_Winstead]

Got hit by a bolt of inspiration today. I'm at work now, but I can't wait to go home and start plugging away at this. I haven't felt this good about an idea in a few years.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Gamma_Winstead

Got hit by a bolt of inspiration today. I'm at work now, but I can't wait to go home and start plugging away at this. I haven't felt this good about an idea in a few years.

Get it jotted down in a notebook, quick!

[Abby is Q]

Originally Posted by Gamma_Winstead

Got hit by a bolt of inspiration today. I'm at work now, but I can't wait to go home and start plugging away at this. I haven't felt this good about an idea in a few years.

Ideas? This is why you carry a notebook or tablet with you everywhere. I can't sleep sometimes because I just get ideas and have to sit up and start typing away on my ipad.

[Gamma_Winstead]

Originally Posted by Abby is Q

Ideas? This is why you carry a notebook or tablet with you everywhere. I can't sleep sometimes because I just get ideas and have to sit up and start typing away on my ipad.

Oh, I write it down in my emails via phone. There's something I just love about the actual clacking of typing on a keyboard. Makes it feel more real in a sense.

How has your writing been you two? Anything new?

[Abby is Q]

Originally Posted by Gamma_Winstead

Oh, I write it down in my emails via phone. There's something I just love about the actual clacking of typing on a keyboard. Makes it feel more real in a sense.

How has your writing been you two? Anything new?

Yes. Lots. This novel I'm working on was originally supposed to be split into three different parts, but because of revisions I've decided to do recently, it's become clear five parts makes most sense. I had imagine maybe a 350 page novel, but I'm thinking more like 500+ because of all the stuff I've been adding. No idea if that's good or bad at this point (it could be good detail readers love or so boring people trash it after 50 pages).

I was about 3/5ths of the ways done with the second part when I realized I needed to do some early revisions to keep everything from getting too messy (like, characters were acting out of charater because certain stuff wasn't fleshed out earlier and so later chapters were being affected by my lack of detail early). So I'm just slowly going through the first 10-ish chapters and fleshing things out in more detail.

Right now I have about 300+ pages double spaced, but once it's formatted more like an actual novel it goes down to about 230 pages. I'm pretty happy with that right now since I am still less than halfway through with everything. I feel like there's still so much missing though. But (like I've said earlier) this stuff drives me insane, so the past few days I've slowed it down more to simple revisions and taking notes. I'll probably dive harder into it next week when my schedule clears up and I'll feel pressured to sit down and type some more.

But let me know how your stuff goes. You don't have to divulge in details if you don't wish, but sometimes it's good to get out some steam and let people know the progress you've made. I know it helps me when I vent some stuff to people and can reflect on the actual progress I've made (which then also inspires me to keep going).

[Forehead_of_Security]

Originally Posted by Gamma_Winstead

Oh but the disgust is the best part!

So it is true what they claim about writers. They love self-torture.