| 2 3 4 | > |
We've all experienced those dark days when the muses that normally inspire us pack their bags, wave farewell, and head off to a family retreat--probably on or somewhere near Mount Helicon. I'm sure many people have written books suggesting how to spark creativity during these desperate hours, but I already have a solution that has worked pretty well for me in the past; take some time off to read stuff that other authors have written. It's a self-indulgent impulse, I won't deny that, but it's also netted me spinoffs of some pretty cool ideas that I've later managed to work into my own stories. (Please note, before someone writes me screaming about plagiarism, that's NOT what the above sentence is talking about. Anyone who truly loves to write can tell you that what they do, in part at least, is an homage to authors whom they've read and admired.)
Browsing through SOL's wide variety of offerings, I've frequently encountered a writing style I've dubbed The Outline. It's very common in DoOver stories, although I've certainly read it elsewhere as well. Typically, the author creates an interesting group of characters, and then hopscotch's passed days, weeks, or sometimes even months of their lives. To be clear, I'm not talking about the abbreviated writing style where everything accept sexual encounters gets pushed to the background, that genre already has its own label, Stroke Story.
Why do so many authors do this? As far as I can tell, it doesn't necessarily indicate a lack of writing ability, although it's certainly frustrating as Hell when I do encounter it. I'm not suggesting that every action, no matter how minuscule, has to be recorded in order to make a story realistic, but when you devote just a few sentences to time spans covering days or weeks of your characters lives, I would suggest that you slow down, and let the reader live a few of those intervening experiences with them. That's what makes your story and the people in it believable.
Am I missing something? If there's any light you can shed, I'd enjoy hearing from you.
Okay, so perhaps another way to dodge a lack of creativity is by writing a pointless blog entry.
AR
I wonder, do all authors have half finished stories cluttering up their hard drives, or is that just my specialty? For the most part, I'm glad that I've kept an archive of my past endeavors, although it can certainly be a bit disheartening at times.
A couple years back, I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo, and began a story I eventually called Inkrah's Choice. When November ended, I had written eighteen chapters, fallen short of the NaNo word count by something like five thousand words--writing under pressure hasn't ever been my strong suit--and was left with a story, like Future's Path, that periodically seized my attention and demanded to be finished.
So, I'm bowing to the inevitable, and finishing Inkrah's Choice as well. As with Future's Path, I'll start by editing what I have, and then add new content until it's all done. How many chapters will there be, and how long will it take me? Dudes, I have no idea!
Before anyone asks, no this doesn't mean that I've given up on writing a sequel to Future's Path. I want a break from Gavin and Elena's world however, so that when I do return, it will inspire me with lots of new shiny ideas, instead of just being a repeat of their first adventure. Right now, I need to think about something completely different for a while.
My thanks to everyone who has expressed interest in my next writing project, as well as those who have continued to send in feedback about Future's Path. I'll update here once I have more to report.
AR
I was reading my archive of past works today, browsing through old ideas, and looking for stories I might wish to continue, and happened across this one I wrote several months ago. I've always loved Greek mythology, and it was a lot of fun playing in that universe, even for a relatively short story like Callidora. I mean, did any other people's gods get busy with humans as often as the Greek ones did? At the same time, I didn't want to write another "super being gets it on with mortal woman" story, and instead chose to write about the love affair's aftermath.
As for my original mission, I found a few stories that I'm considering expanding, but Callidora felt complete to me, and I decided to post it.
I hope you enjoyed reading this short story, and look forward to your feedback.
AR
(Spoiler Alert!)
Late yesterday, I noticed that some of the telepathic dialogue in-between Gavin and Elena in chapter fourteen was missing from the version posted on SOL. I set apart conversations they and the attacking couple had through their link by enclosing the words in braces, {like this.} Apparently, SOL's editor decided that lines beginning with a {th} should be hidden. As usual, Lazeez corrected the problem in record time, but I wanted FP readers to know about it, in case any part of that chapter didn't make sense to you.
Thanks!
AR
I've noticed a couple of recurring questions in the comments I've been receiving about Futures Path, and thought it might be useful for readers if I answered them here.
1. Will there be sequels to FP, and if so, when?
Yes, I have several ideas for follow-up stories in this universe. At the moment however, that's all they are, ideas. While I certainly don't intend to take as long to write the sequel as I did to write FP, six years, I think it will probably take me at least eight months to a year to finish another story. I absolutely love writing, but simply don't have enough free time to get stories out any faster. I will do my best to post periodic updates here, to let you know how I'm doing on the sequel, as well as other projects.
2. Why did you write FP in present tense? The frequent tense changes from present to past were distracting, and made the story difficult to read.
Although I realize many people can't stand it when authors choose to do this, I actually enjoy stories that are written in present tense. As a result, I don't shy away from doing so myself, unless it just doesn't feel right to the story being told. To me, that's the key, what feels right to the characters I'm writing about, and what brings the most flavor to the story. FP was a challenge in several respects, not only because it was told in present tense, but also because I chose to switch in-between the point of view of two characters, and in later chapters, introduced a style of communicating telepathically, words enclosed by braces. Could I have told the same story in past tense, or from the point of view of only one character, or without any telepathic communication? Of course, but then it wouldn't have been my story.
In the end, I'm sorry if writing FP in present tense made the story unreadable to some of you. I post stories here because I want people to gain as much enjoyment reading them as I do writing them. That having been said however, I have to be true to myself as a writer, and inevitably, not everyone will like the choices I make.
Again, my sincere thanks to everyone who has read, voted, and commented on Future's Path.
AR
| 2 3 4 | > |