Zen Master: Blog

I hate reading unfinished stories. When's the next chapter coming out? Some authors are regular, every Wednesday or whatever. For those, it's like a serial TV show and we wait for the next exciting episode but it's not a problem because we know it's coming. Some stories, however, haven't been updated in four months or three years and you know that the author never finished it.
I have one long story, the Swarm Cycle "Ending This Mess" which is done except for going through all the proofreader comments. I have another short story "Learning to Please" that is almost done and I'm trying to concentrate on filling in the last couple of gaps. Right now those are my priorities.
I have 20 or so unfinished stories in my own files. I work on one or another whenever it seems right. Are any of them ever going to be completed? I don't know. My life is getting busier again, and as I get older it seems my ability to concentrate is fading away anyway.
I don't want to post them on SOL yet 'cause they ain't done. Still, that's an awful lot of labor that I don't want lost, and I'm egotist enough to think that some people like to read my stories. I was talking to another author here about one of his unfinished stories, and something that's been in the back of my mind for a while jumped forward.
What if I started publishing them with titles like "Unfinished: Lessons" and "Unfinished: The Burglars" and "Unfinished: After the Party"? That gets them out where people can enjoy what's there without any expectation of another chapter soon. All three of those examples are over 100K, so there's something there if people want to read an unfinished story.
Pros? Cons?

-ZM

One reader has asked me how much longer it's gonna take. I don't have a good answer for that, yet. I've gotten the manuscript back from one of my proofreaders, and I'm going through the mass of red ink. I really like TomKen, he's a good friend, but dammit when he sends my masterpieces back with all that I don't like him very much for a while.
I'm expecting similar from several other people, and I frankly have no idea how much longer they will take. It's not like I'm actually paying them for their work, ya know?
And I can't just say 'screw them, I'm publishing', because the day after I do, I'll get their work back, showing me another 40 typos and a horrible plot hole that I never noticed. I gotta wait patiently.

-ZM

...The Swarm Cycle novel "Ending This Mess" has been sent out to the proofreaders. What is on SOL right now was just a scene and I was happy with that, but the damn thing kept growing. Sometime soon I'll be publishing a new story with the same title. What do I do with that old story, that's just one scene from the novel?

I just submitted the 3rd and last part of my short story "PCSS7". It's not a typical story. It is formatted as a letter from a charitable foundation's director to a prospective donor, explaining what the next fundraiser is about. Clearly, it's touched some nerves as I've gotten both '10' scores and '1' scores.

I've received email telling me how awesome it was. I've also gotten email from one reader who took the time to explain why he gave me a '1'. It's not really a story. There's no plot, there's no characters, and it's boring.

I have to admit that he's right, he's right, and that depends upon the reader's interests. If you have an imagination, you can provide your own character. Think of it as one of those reader-participation books where "If you go down the stairs, turn to page 36. If you continue through the door, go to page 31". No, those things have no 'plot', either. You're supposed to provide the character.

(And I'm really hoping that it will spark someone into writing a story of their own, using the contest as the background. Whoever wants to do that has my permission and best wishes.)

-ZM

For all three of my readers, I've been out of town for most of the last couple of years. I've done a lot of writing, but it all needs going over with several fine-toothed combs. I've started posting my 3-part short story "PCSS7".
I'm almost done with "Ending This Mess", the quasi-novel that describes the fight for Earth in Thinking Horndog's "Swarm Cycle" shared science fiction universe. Of course, I've been saying THAT for over a year, right? Still, I think I'm down to one or two nits so it should be going up soon.
I'm probably a third of the way through "Squadron Command", the sorta-sequel to "The First Command". I'm slowly slogging through some of my other unfinished works. I think that "Learning to Please", another B&D short story, will be next after ETM. Dunno what's after that, probably "Lessons" or "The Burglars."
-ZM