Author In Progress

[Kali]

Send it somewhere else.  F&SF is always a great first stop for a lot of reasons (pay rate and submission turn-around time chiefly), but they're not the only market.  My recommendation is to prepare for rejection.  Have an envelope ready to go to your next market, so if it comes back you can send it out the same day.  Otherwise, I find stories tend to sit on my desk, looking like the puppy that got left behind at the animal shelter.  Sending it right back out also helps me feel more businesslike about the process, and I tend to brood less over why it got rejected. 

After ten markets or so, I usually stop and put the story away, figuring it needs work or it's just not a story anyone but me wants to read.  I tell myself that after my first NYT best seller, I can collect them all into an anthology and mock the magazines who rejected them.

[mightyutuvan]

Thanks, Kali.  You are right of course, I was just wallowing in self-pity because, well, because it is just so damn easy and really opens up my sinuses.  I'll get back to work soon.

[meg_evonne]

Really?  It helps with the sinuses?  Cool...

[jadedragn]

I have always loved books and while I don't necessarily want to become a full fledged author I want to create a story. I've always liked the idea of someday writing my own book because I love them so much. Great stories fill the world with creativity. Books provide me with something that I can't explain and I want to share that with the world I guess. The thing is that I really know nothing about how to go about writing a book I just have the inspiration that great authors like Jim Butcher and Diana Gabaldon (my two favorite authors) have given me by writing wonderful, detailed books. A friend of mine told me that a good way to do it would be by world building first. Can anyone give me some info and/or advice on how to start world building? I have an idea for a story but it is barely coming to the surface and I want to do this right. I'd appreciate any help that I can get.

[meg_evonne]

Check out JB's writers blog for starters on the home page.  That'll inspire you and keep you busy for a few years. LOL

[Persephone]

So... I introduced myself way way back under an old screen name. But to avoid confusion, I'll just re-introduce myself here. My name's Liz, I love the Dresden Files, and reading, and I've been writing stories since I learned to write. My Mom probably has the stories I wrote in third grade about a dog tucked away somewhere.   
I'm a writer with many neurosis, and I have a tempermental muse that likes to torment me. I only hope that my wirters angst will ultimately make the writing I do accomplish all the more real for the suffering it took to get it on paper.
I used to write fanfic, but I don't anymore. When I was in middle school high school I wrote up fanfic for everything I was into, Star Trek NG, Anne McCaffereys Dragonriders, KA Applegates animorphs... But it wasn't until I actually sent my story idea off to one of the authors, and *obviously* got rejected, that I opted to stop writing fanfic. I think the main reason I went that route is because I only have so much passion and motivation to write with on a given day, I don't want to blow it all on something that will never be published to a wide audience.
And publication is what I want. It's what I dream of, aspire to, and plan to keep chasing until I succeed. It's not about 'fame'. I don't care if -I- never get noticed. But I want to share this world I have imagined with others, I want to know that this fantasy that I can see so clearly in my mind is shared with others, and that they like it enough to want to live there too.
Jim butcher is my hero, I think my ultimate dream is to someday be able to give a copy of MY published book for him to keep, just so I can tell him that he was the inspiration that kept me going. He's an awesome fantastic man.
As far as how close I am to maybe starting on the road to being discovered, well I have book one of my series 99% complete and book two is 75% complete. It was originally going to be one tale, but it got too long. I have the events outlined for another six books in the series at least. It's an epic, but I hope that will make it all the more desirable for a publisher. Oh, and I'm writing it with a partner who I both rely on completely, and want to strangle at any given moment. We're like Harry and Bob.
But enough about me, I'm just like all of you anyway.

[KarlTenBrew]

Jim butcher is my hero, I think my ultimate dream is to someday be able to give a copy of MY published book for him to keep, just so I can tell him that he was the inspiration that kept me going. He's an awesome fantastic mane.

While I agree that Jim is a great guy, I have to say that his mane is rather lackluster.  Especially compared to my own flowing, curly, shiny one that I shamelessly use to garner female attention

Still waiting to get my rejection letter (or not!), but it should only be less than a week now.  The anticipation is torture!  But I'm still working on making the manuscript better for submission if it ever comes to that, and working on manuscripts for both other books in the series envisioned as well as random side projects.

[Kali]

While I agree that Jim is a great guy, I have to say that his mane is rather lackluster.  Especially compared to my own flowing, curly, shiny one that I shamelessly use to garner female attention

Still waiting to get my rejection letter (or not!), but it should only be less than a week now.  The anticipation is torture!  But I'm still working on making the manuscript better for submission if it ever comes to that, and working on manuscripts for both other books in the series envisioned as well as random side projects.

We have ample pictoral documentation of Jim's mane, and none of yours.

Piks plz.

[KarlTenBrew]

We have ample pictoral documentation of Jim's mane, and none of yours.

Piks plz.

Casually Dressed Up

plus

Free Flowing (in the best tux ever)

oh, and:

Eagle Scouts can have ponytails too

Obviously I'm not too concerned about my identity being known.  As I'm hoping to be a published author as well...yeah, doesn't matter :p

[meg_evonne]

And piks are needed for???   LOL   Like your piks.   

[KarlTenBrew]

And piks are needed for???   LOL   Like your piks.   

Apparantly I was required to back up my faux vanity remark, so I did.  Which ALSO reminds me: I'm now in touch with my aunt, who is actually in the business of writing, about making said manuscripts both better in the general sense and better in the marketable sense.  Another step forward to more rejection letters!

[Persephone]

While I agree that Jim is a great guy, I have to say that his mane is rather lackluster.  Especially compared to my own flowing, curly, shiny one that I shamelessly use to garner female attention

LOL. I had to fix my typo now, but at least it was a funny typo. My browser has taken issue with the Butcherboards so if I type anything half the length of the screen it won't let me see what I'm writing until after I post it.
And Jim does have good hair. He has confessed that he stores his creativity in his beard.
KTB I need someone who's in the business to hopefully tell me whats wrong before we start sending it to publication, but I'm not there yet so I'm just waiting until it's all finished before I really get anal about the revising.

[Kali]

LOL. I had to fix my typo now, but at least it was a funny typo. My browser has taken issue with the Butcherboards so if I type anything half the length of the screen it won't let me see what I'm writing until after I post it.

That's a compatibility issue with Explorer 8.  To the right of the address bar is a little icon that looks like a piece of paper torn in half.  Click that, and it should fix the issue.  It will reload the window, though, and if you were in the middle of a post you'll lose everything.  Fair warning.

Also, I dunno...

Reddish hair > brown hair.  Long brown hair > reddish hair. 

On the other hand, Shannon can kick my ass, so I better not sigh too much over Jim's hair.  Ok, you win.

[KarlTenBrew]

My hair experiences have certainly supplied material for writing both humor and gender comparison...even the more unnerving stuff is funny now that I've got time and distance from it.

As to strategies beyond constantly taking advantage of willing alpha-readers and helpful assosciates I'm picking up a diversification of portfolio plan set out by others here.  By the end of the year I'm geared to having three seperate novel projects [in different genres] each being considered by multiple agents.  Talk about setting myself up for an ego bruising!

[edit]First rejection recieved!  Personalized and considerate, and the trouble appears to be the premise...)_)...(_(...*rushes to the drawing board and starts scribbling*

[Slapdaddy]

Howdy all,
I'm Eddie. I just found this site so am a little late to the party, but I'll be polite and introduce myself real quick. Unlike most of the posts I've read here I haven't been writing my whole life. There has been a story banging around in my head for a long time and I finally decided to try to get it out on paper. It's Fantasy-ish and I am currently outlining/getting to know my characters. I finally figured out the beginning of my story but don't know the end yet. 
Anyhoo, JB is one of the two authors that finally inspired me to get my rear in gear and start working earnestly on it, and finding his writing tips journal was a minor epiphany for me, (it's amazing how easy something can seem to the person who has no idea how it actually works) and this forum is great. Knowing there are others attempting this makes me feel less crazy in trying to pursue what is quickly becoming an obsession. So, good to meet all of you (in an internet-y sort of way) and see you on the forums.