Thinking about writing...

[R.F.]

I've written before, with some success in highschool. After finishing The Dark Tower, my interest in Roland and his tale has done nothing but grow. Seeing as he is in a seemingly never-ending loop, there seems to be a lot of room for following up with the story.

I have never written a novel, so this is going to start out as a short story, and hopefully end up pretty lengthy. I'm interested to see some opinions on a few subjects, so feel free to comment:

So the seventh book ends with Roland back at the beginning of "The Gunslinger," but in a parrallel world in which he stopped to pick up the horn of Eld when he was young. It would seem that pretty much everything else was the same as the previous past. I wonder if when Roland gets to the way station in the desert if it will be Jake, or someone else, or no one at all?

[albert_sy2]

I've taken one piece of advice from On Writing and here it is.........

Write your piece. Then come back and cut out 10% of what you wrote.

Works for me!

[Mattrick]

That's not exactly the most sound advice. Cutting 10% isn't the answer to all the problems. It depends on your style. I think I'll end up adding 10% to mine because I want to add character background etc that I missed. If you get it all out first draft, then the 10% cutting works.

To RF, are you posting this to say you're going to write because of the dark tower or you are going to write in relation to it? I wouldn't advise it as King hasn't even allowed use of his characters and fan fiction is copyright infringement.

If you truly want to excel as a writer then do not do fan fiction. Sure, it may help with the writing process but without creating your own world, characters and all, you're not do much to improve your own creativity.

I tried writing short stories but never could. I haven't worked on my novel in a few weeks but it's around 330 pages. If you ever needs some tips don't be afraid to ask me.

[cozener]

Actually, I write like King himself writes. Always have. I just start writing and never know exactly where a piece is going when I start. At best I'll have an idea of where its going...which is to say I might know how I want it to end, where I might like to be mid way through. I might have certain scenes that the story is written around and the rest of it is just connecting the dots. The impetus of a story might even be something as small as a couple of lines or a situation that I consider interesting or amusing.

I will say that most of the time when I write a short story its usually not been much of a stretch to see it extended into a novel. I've just never been motivated to do this because I've never written inside my own universe. Its always been fanfic. This is something I'd like to break free of but lately there's been so little time for this sort of thing between work, 2 toddlers, and a wife that has no interest in my expanding what she thinks of as a dead end hobby. Ah, thats no excuse really. As the saying goes...writers write.

[Mattrick]

Actually, I write like King himself writes. Always have. I just start writing and never know exactly where a piece is going when I start. At best I'll have an idea of where its going...which is to say I might know how I want it to end, where I might like to be mid way through. I might have certain scenes that the story is written around and the rest of it is just connecting the dots. The impetus of a story might even be something as small as a couple of lines or a situation that I consider interesting or amusing.

I know what you mean. I wanted to write my own take on zombie horror. Also wanted to write about addiction. So I just started writing. After thirty pages I had an ending in mind (this scene I imagined is halfway through instead) and it just kept going. I'm not sure why I can't get myself to sit down and finish it. If I have any more than 30 pages to write I'll be stretching it. I just want to finish it, to say I did, but the ending is so crucial. It's only a first draft but I have to make sure my themes, plots and events all lead up to something meaningful. Not to mention, how do I capture what it would feel like to be a middle-aged alcoholic whose been divorced for a few years and can't see his kids. Being not middle aged, divorced or having kids I've essentially winged his entire emotional spectrum. I hope it's believable.


I will say that most of the time when I write a short story its usually not been much of a stretch to see it extended into a novel. I've just never been motivated to do this because I've never written inside my own universe. Its always been fanfic. This is something I'd like to break free of but lately there's been so little time for this sort of thing between work, 2 toddlers, and a wife that has no interest in my expanding what she thinks of as a dead end hobby. Ah, thats no excuse really. As the saying goes...writers write.

Well, if writing doesn't affect the well being of your family I say just keep doing it. You'd be amazed the feeling of creating your own world, characters and settings. At first its so scary and uncertain. Who will you meet? What will you see? It's all such a mystery. My biggest advice is to not think of an idea but wait for inspiration. I never thought staring at a screen trying to think of what to write was good practise. I find my best ideas come to me on a wind, like a chance breeze. Sometimes I'm stuck on where to go with my story next and for days I'm lost and I'm just buttering toast, nothing thinking about it and BOOM I suddenly know how to write the next 20 pages.

If you do try to write original fiction, try and start with an idea or something you'd like to say. Stories should always be built around that. It seems your style already suits this.


I have trouble with characters names, I grind my mind over this. Not sure why, I just think a characters name is so important.

[cozener]

I find my best ideas come to me on a wind, like a chance breeze. Sometimes I'm stuck on where to go with my story next and for days I'm lost and I'm just buttering toast, nothing thinking about it and BOOM I suddenly know how to write... Funny you should mention that. The DT fanfic I just posted was a situation like that. I was stuck. Then, last week I was walking out to my truck one night and saw the moon over me and it had a profound effect upon me. It somehow jarred my thought processes loose from the glue and I finished the story. The influence of that moon is obvious in the story too. It happens that way sometimes.


If you do try to write original fiction, try and start with an idea or something you'd like to say. Stories should always be built around that. It seems your style already suits this. I have ideas knocking around in my head. I guess I'm just daunted by the scope of such a project and the limited time I have. Nothing is more discouraging than having a string of words you want to put down and not having the time to sit down and do it. With a whole novel I can see this happening a lot. But still...not really an excuse...its just fear of failure. I could have been doing this when I had all the time in the world but I didn't.



I have trouble with characters names, I grind my mind over this. Not sure why, I just think a characters name is so important.Now thats one area that I never had trouble in...or at least trouble that I didn't enjoy. I like the naming of characters...trying to find names that are appropriate to the character or trying to find names that have a profound effect on a character specifically because it doesn't fit them and in this way, ends up being a good name for him/her...if you catch my meaning.

[LadyHitchhiker]

I'm digging the idea...