My mind is whirling with a lot of different thoughts tonight, so I'm going to take a few minutes to unwhirl it. Perhaps through the writing process, I can straighten things out.
First, I must say I am very excited about the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, especially their never say die attitude. It all comes down to tomorrow's game. My prediction: Carp will be sharp.
Yesterday, Freeze put the chills on the Phils with a home run, a double and four runs batted in. The Cardinals can hit the Phillies' pitchers even though they are the best pitching staff in the league. Will the Cardinals win then? I don't know for sure. It's been a fun ride, and I would hate to see it end tomorrow.
I wanted to make a comment about writing, to expand a little bit on what I wrote about a few days ago. I made the comment that no one should give the editor an excuse to reject their manuscript. I used the example of poor grammar. If I'm an editor, I'm not going to read an entire manuscript that has several grammar errors on the first page or two. In fact, I'm not going to read more than the first page or two.
I also mentioned that there are no new stories. There's even a book published by Writer's Digest Books, I think, about the 38 basic plots. (I think 38 was the number.) The book's thesis is that every story is simply a variation of a few basic plots. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy regains girl, as an example. So there is nothing new under the sun.
So what is it that you have as an author? What is it that you can bring to the table that someone else can't? The answer in my mind is voice. Voice is hard to explain, but it's one of those things readers recognize when they see it. Stephen King and Dean Koontz both write weird book, and, I'm guessing, they've written on similar themes. However, they don't write the same; they have their own voice -- similar to a fingerprint. There's only one like it. When someone calls you on the phone, you recognize the voice immediately if it's someone you know. You don't have to see them. I tell my composition students that they should write in such a way that by the end of the semester they wouldn't even have to put their names on their papers because I would recognize their voice. I know when students cheat because the voice they use is not their own.
As a writer I need to discover my voice. Sometimes I can be funny; sometimes, sarcastic; sometimes, gloomy. I am very moody. One of my problems is I might have two scenes in the same novel with two entirely different -- opposite even -- tones. That kind of thing confuses the reader. It's been a long time since I read it, but one of my favorite books used to be A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Parts of that book are absolutely-freaking-hilarious. However, it has one of the most bitter, downer of an ending I have ever read. Perhaps, I need to incorporate those opposites in my own personality into my writing voice. I'd have to do it so that it isn't jarring to my readers. My writing, like me, tends to be mildly bipolar.
How do you create voice? I guess that's the million dollar question. Can you even create it at all? Or do you simply have to tap into it like a vein and let it spill on the page, coloring everything you write?
In other news my book sold the third highest number of copies in my publisher's catalogue for the month of September.
Yes, I am going to insert a link here where you can get it. Please support me and my efforts to get my daughter through college.
http://www.buckscountypublishing.com/portal/BookStore/LancelotandtheTidesofTime.aspx
My smile upon learning I was #3 in my publisher's sales for September
First, I must say I am very excited about the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, especially their never say die attitude. It all comes down to tomorrow's game. My prediction: Carp will be sharp.
Yesterday, Freeze put the chills on the Phils with a home run, a double and four runs batted in. The Cardinals can hit the Phillies' pitchers even though they are the best pitching staff in the league. Will the Cardinals win then? I don't know for sure. It's been a fun ride, and I would hate to see it end tomorrow.
I wanted to make a comment about writing, to expand a little bit on what I wrote about a few days ago. I made the comment that no one should give the editor an excuse to reject their manuscript. I used the example of poor grammar. If I'm an editor, I'm not going to read an entire manuscript that has several grammar errors on the first page or two. In fact, I'm not going to read more than the first page or two.
I also mentioned that there are no new stories. There's even a book published by Writer's Digest Books, I think, about the 38 basic plots. (I think 38 was the number.) The book's thesis is that every story is simply a variation of a few basic plots. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy regains girl, as an example. So there is nothing new under the sun.
So what is it that you have as an author? What is it that you can bring to the table that someone else can't? The answer in my mind is voice. Voice is hard to explain, but it's one of those things readers recognize when they see it. Stephen King and Dean Koontz both write weird book, and, I'm guessing, they've written on similar themes. However, they don't write the same; they have their own voice -- similar to a fingerprint. There's only one like it. When someone calls you on the phone, you recognize the voice immediately if it's someone you know. You don't have to see them. I tell my composition students that they should write in such a way that by the end of the semester they wouldn't even have to put their names on their papers because I would recognize their voice. I know when students cheat because the voice they use is not their own.
As a writer I need to discover my voice. Sometimes I can be funny; sometimes, sarcastic; sometimes, gloomy. I am very moody. One of my problems is I might have two scenes in the same novel with two entirely different -- opposite even -- tones. That kind of thing confuses the reader. It's been a long time since I read it, but one of my favorite books used to be A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Parts of that book are absolutely-freaking-hilarious. However, it has one of the most bitter, downer of an ending I have ever read. Perhaps, I need to incorporate those opposites in my own personality into my writing voice. I'd have to do it so that it isn't jarring to my readers. My writing, like me, tends to be mildly bipolar.
How do you create voice? I guess that's the million dollar question. Can you even create it at all? Or do you simply have to tap into it like a vein and let it spill on the page, coloring everything you write?
In other news my book sold the third highest number of copies in my publisher's catalogue for the month of September.
Yes, I am going to insert a link here where you can get it. Please support me and my efforts to get my daughter through college.
http://www.buckscountypublishing.com/portal/BookStore/LancelotandtheTidesofTime.aspx
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