The value of different medium

[MatthewD44]

Well, yes, but Dragonlance is rubbish.

While this might be true depending on who you ask, it didn't change the fact about how well they sold and how the books got started..

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

I actually Play some random Text-based RPG while writing on a story. I'll load up word and just start working, and I'll write as much as I can before whomever I am RPing with replies.

I don't know exactly why this works for me, but having a "second Story" being made where I am only responsible for half the action keeps my mind working fresh on my main tale. Provided I have a good partner in the RP, I can write for a good 7-8 hours (though it might be more like 5-6 if you subtract time spent on the RP and not the story)

Gosh.  That would be totally impossible for me, it would completely break my concentration.  But then, I generally do not take coffee breaks or lunch breaks at work, because working a day straight is about four times as productive as breaking the day up every time I get some flow going.

Kipling hit the nail on the head:

"There are nine-and-sixty-ways of constructing tribal lays
And every single one of them is right."

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

While this might be true depending on who you ask, it didn't change the fact about how well they sold and how the books got started..

We care about sales ?

[MatthewD44]

a few publishers might.. personally I like the 1st 6 books and stopped reading them after that..
did the same thing with the Wheel of Time series..

[seradhe]

Gosh.  That would be totally impossible for me, it would completely break my concentration.  But then, I generally do not take coffee breaks or lunch breaks at work, because working a day straight is about four times as productive as breaking the day up every time I get some flow going.

I think it works for me because I cannot do any one thing for so long. I naturally multitask (probably ADD or something, never got tested as a kid, never gonna be). If I sit to work on a novel and do nothing else, eventually I'll drift off mentally and not go back, self-imposed writers laze. When given something equally engaging to focus on from time to time, I go back to my story with a fresh mentality every couple of minutes.

.... I feel I should also mention the TV runs in the background so I don't miss my favorite shows

[Murphy's Stunt Double]

Heh- I think they call that Sesame Street Syndrome - what resuts out of young brains trained to focus on information in short snippets and move on to the next bit of information.


Wholly different from, yet probably the precursor to ADD.


*PS - I totally just made that up.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

a few publishers might.. personally I like the 1st 6 books and stopped reading them after that..
did the same thing with the Wheel of Time series..

I was being snarky, but seriously, the most consistent advice I've hear from the most authors, editors, and other publishing professionals is; write what you have to write, not what you think will sell.  Your job as an author is to write the books; publishers have marketing departments, and you're not doing their job.

[Murphy's Stunt Double]

Interesting.... just this last week at my writer's group one of the leaders said something to the effect of keep in mind, the publishing business is a BUSINESS and publishers are looking for books that will SELL.

Not that I think either perspective is "right" neurovore. But I think the smart writer will keep a blending of both perspectives in mind in producing something created from the soul that will make a profit.

[the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh]

Not that I think either perspective is "right" neurovore. But I think the smart writer will keep a blending of both perspectives in mind in producing something created from the soul that will make a profit.

Nah, the smart writer grasps that the genre fiction market in the US can support about forty full-time professionals, and keeps a tight hold on the day-job.

Most successful senior editors at major publishers have grasped that William Goldman was right; when it comes to what will sell, and to how what sold yesterday will sell tomorrow:

Nobody
Knows
Anything.

[Murphy's Stunt Double]

Heh -