Author In Progress

[Aminar]

Hit 100K words today on page 266.  Which is exactly 2/3 of the planned page and word count.  WIN!

[USMCWolf]

Hello my name is Pfc Clem(or Alex if you want to be normal) and my writing career is much like a broken jet.....it looks pretty but hasnt gone anywhere. I have only written papers and short stories so far nothing published! But that would be due to lack of trying or any trying whatsoever and also due to pure ignorance.....I have NO IDEA how to get started. I am a big fan of scifi/fantasy.  I read more books in a week than most in a month i read ALL the dresden files in about two weeks and was instantly in love. Sure i may have no life but hey they will surely go on discount some day. My big conundrum(lovely word that) is how do i get started? Please throw me a lifeline or just throw a club at my head so i will drown quietly! Any help is appreciated!!!!

[Snowleopard]

Hey USMCWolf - boy is that a mouthful or would that be typeful.
Anyway, I'm afraid that the best way to get started is to just sit down, and as one author says - "get black on white."   Put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.
Have you a type of Science Fiction or Fantasy that you like?  (Well, beyond the Dresden Files. )
Have you an idea for a story or an idea for a protagonist?  Sit down and just start noodling out
things about your plot or your character's history.
You could always set yourself a writing exercise.  Like - character A is stuck in a stranded mars crawler - how does he/she get out of that situation or does he/she.  Ask a friend for a writing exercise.
If getting started is really a big bugaboo for you - look for a writing group or a writing class near you.
Having someone to cheer you on or having to do an assignment might help get things rolling.
I hope that's of some help and good luck.

[jeno]

http://www.marthawells.com/writingguide.htm

^That's a good resource for beginning writers who are thinking about breaking into publishing.

But as for writing...it's the Ass in Chair method that will get you a novel. Brainstorm until you come up with an idea you love, then park your rear in your chair and see where your idea takes you. There's a popular saying that your first mumbletythousand words will be crap, which is true, so just keep plugging away and eventually you'll get to the good stuff. (another rule of thumb - your first draft is NEVER good. revise, revise, revise.)

[cenwolfgirl]

Hi my name is CHarlotte an i just finished wrighting my first draft of my first fantercy novle out side of school projects.
I have been working on it for nearly two years and i have never done anything like this but. I'm alowing one of my friends to read it. She got me back in to reading fantercy but I'm kind of sceared as I am very new at this and not quite shore if its any good.
Maybe one day I'll have it compleatly finished and will try and get it published.
But I don't know.

[meg_evonne]

Just write cenwolfgirl. It's good for the soul. And let your mind fly on other stories too! Welcome to our humble writing space.

[Snowleopard]

Hey cenwolfgirl, you've already done more than a lot of would be writers.
You've got your first draft.  Some only talk about their story for years and never get pen to
paper.  So congratulations.  Keep up the good work.
Just to let you know - JR Tolkein worked on  The Hobbit for ten years and would have kept
working on it, except as I understand it, his editor or a friend came to lunch, and stole the
manuscript and took it off to be read/published.

[cenwolfgirl]

thanks knowing my frinds they may actualy do that but its not compleatly finnished yet after the holidays they are going to give me feed back so i can inprove it then if i work up the curage i might try to publidsh it but
well i am kind of shy so i don't know yet
but to day i am trying to finish the second chapter of another bookl with the same carictors i thinki have just got an idea how to get started Thanks!!!

[JeredMayer]

I just finished and published my first novel, Waypoint, on the Amazon Kindle. The description I have is as follows:


Salem, a young orphan searching for his destiny, is faced with tremendous obstacles and staggering tragedies as he sets out for the northern city of Tsebb.

Con man Donovan Swan and his stoic friend, the monk Cale Farari, move to bustling Sandaria in search of fortune and adventure. They soon find themselves thrust in the middle of a power struggle between a corrupt political council, a brutal constabulary and an organization of killers and spies.

Basker is a retired soldier who has taken up handyman jobs in an effort to escape his violent past. But when his sister is brutally murdered, he embarks on a furious journey in an effort to track down the one person who knows who's responsible.

The lives of these four characters are set on a collision course with each other full of high risks, betrayals, assassinations, psycopaths, revelry, pit fights, gun fights, riots, dangerous women, and daring escapes. In the end, the decisions they make have far- reaching ramifications. Find out all of the explosive details in WAYPOINT by K. Jered Mayer.

It's 186,000+ words at only $6. Well worth your money!


Anyway, you can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006PBBKIY/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1324855892&sr=8-1

Writing it was a blast most of the time and a nightmare some of the time. It started out as a very basic idea and a slim outline. I ended up crafting a story that almost didn't resemble the original plan at all: some events didn't happen, some happened differently, some characters fate to die lived (and a few of those have become crucial characters), some who were supposed to live died. And chronology and consistency were a whole other story.

In the end, though, I'm satisfied with the finished product and so far I've had nothing but positive reviews from those who've read it. I sold 45 copies on .PDF form before it was published and another 19 since it hit the Kindle four days ago. I'm currently working on the sequel which has a much tighter outline and allows me to explore different sides of some of the characters and further fleshing out some ancillary figures from the first novel.

At least read the free sample. If you like it, give it a shot. And if you like THAT, tell your friends.

[Sir Aeon]

Hello all

I'm attempting to write a 20 chapter novel (each chapter around 2500 words) , Abjuration of Catacombs. Anyways the story is about a rag tag group of heros(yes I know this has been done many times) are trying to stop a necromancer from releasing six arch devils.

I have the first two chapters done. The story original was going to be first person veiw from the necromancer's veiw but I ended up as a third person with the heros. The necromancer I based off of cowl at first but it soon jumped off of the train tracks and he became something else. He is a creature from another plane of reality who wants to cause chaos in the world just for the fun of it and he does not have a concrete plan

[Aminar]

Book 1 is DONE!  40 chapters, 127,200 words.  Super happy.  My bet is 100k after editing is done, which I'll start in June or July.  Till then I start book 2 tomorrow.

[Breandan]

I would like to state for the record that I write too bloody much. The first Dark Nova book which got published last year was just shy of 500 pages, and 251,600 words. The second book which I am working on now is rapidly nearing that... I'm doomed....

[meg_evonne]

I would like to state for the record that I write too bloody much. The first Dark Nova book which got published last year was just shy of 500 pages, and 251,600 words. The second book which I am working on now is rapidly nearing that... I'm doomed....

  Well, epic is epic...  You might be doomed, but I'm sure it will be in several chapters of mental and physical agony as befits the genre!  LOL Best wishes on your sequel.

[cenwolfgirl]

I have found i love wighting more than reading
my second draft of the first book is being profred by my amazing frined who checks things like gamer and that my plot makes sens to other humans
my second book has about two chapters but i am working on it
my frined wants me to publish the first book but i am kinda nurves about letting her read it let aloune the rest of the wourld and don't have mutch nolige about how one would do such a thing

[The Deposed King]

I have found i love wighting more than reading
my second draft of the first book is being profred by my amazing frined who checks things like gamer and that my plot makes sens to other humans
my second book has about two chapters but i am working on it
my frined wants me to publish the first book but i am kinda nurves about letting her read it let aloune the rest of the wourld and don't have mutch nolige about how one would do such a thing

I just completed my very first novel.  Tentatively Titled Admiral Who  Its between 116K-133K depending on the right cut off point since its intended to be the first book.

Got my brother doing the first pass for basic grammar and word repeats.  With every possible hint of facetiousness intended I should be called The Comma King instead of The Deposed King.  That said after the first pass I'm taking it straight on over to http://baenbar.com for a chapter by chapter review.

For other hopefuls looking for people you don't know to tell you if your manuscript is the bomb or something closely resembling dog feces.  Here's direct link to their slush pile http://bar.baen.com/categories.aspx?catid=48.  Remember this is a members only site sponsored by the Baen Books Publishing house.  Now despite it being called the Slush Pile, the Publishers don't actually look at it.  This is just a place for like minded individuals, aspiring authors, and voracious readers to comment and help point you in the direction each individual thinks best.  You can post as little or as much of your book as you want.  I've never heard of anyone having a problem with anything they posted being 'pirated' or 'stolen'.  And that's in the 9 or 10 years I've been there.

For hopefuls needed advice and encouragement I think on the Jim Butcher website nothing speaks more directly to that than the words of the man himself.  Here's the link:  http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/4217.html

As for me.  Once its gone through my first volunteer editor.  (I've found maybe a third to 40% can't stand to read your work if its too poorly formated with bad grammer and punctuation)  I'll run it through the Bar and then if I think its good enough its off for a test run of the Amazon Kindle.  I'll let you guys know when its available in snippet form on either my blog http://aspiringauthor1.blogspot.com/ or the Baen site.  You can follow my progress on the self publishing front as well as the writing of my second novel, Admiral's Gambit on my blog.

Have a blast guys!!!  And remember to always follow the dream.


The Deposed King